Diagonal Ombre Birthday Card

Hi friends,

This is a rare event for me,  and I am making is just under the wire, but nevertheless I am popping in this evening to share a card that I made for a card challenge or two (!).  I still can't believe it myself. :)

I was inspired by the latest Runway Inspired Challenge to make a card using pretty shades of coral along with bold diagonal stripes.

I created the stripes by using this stencil from My Favorite Things.  I applied the ink with a sponge applicator taking care to mask off the areas that I already inked. 

The sentiment is from Mama Elephant's Happy Everything stamp set.  I love how the loopy 'happy' contrasts with all the straight stripes.  A few enamel dots finish off the card. 

In addition to the Runway Inspired Challenge, I am also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Katie

Hello Super {Avery Elle Blog Hop}

Hello friends,

Today I am so excited to be participating in Avery Elle's blog hop introducing the Spring 2015 new release.  My card today features the new Super stamp set and coordinating Super Elle-ments die.

I stamped and die cut the city scape onto Fog and Silver Fox card stock.  I layered the die cuts and adhered them to a Sapphire card base from the new Caribbean Collection Folded Notecards. I added a strip of patterned paper from the Harvest Collection Paper Pad to the bottom of the card. 

I stamped and die cut the searchlight and sentiment on Daisy card stock and adhered it to the card, tucking it under the rooftop satellite dish.

Blog Hop Prize Alert!!

You can't have a blog hop without an awesome prize and Avery Elle is giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to one random winner.  To enter to win just comment on this post.  There is no purchase necessary and you must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  This giveaway is void where prohibited.  You can also do options 2, 3, 4, 5 or all 6 of the following to increase your chances of winning. You have until midnight Sunday, March 1st to enter.  The winner will be announced on the Avery Elle Blog on Monday, March 2nd .  All products are available for purchase in the Avery Elle store right now.

To enter to win you can do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or all 6 of the following to increase your chances:

1. Comment on any of the design team's posts and/or on the Avery Elle Blog
2. Follow Avery Elle on Twitter and tweet the contest (we are @averyellestamps )
3. Follow Avery Elle on Facebook (we are www.facebook.com/AveryElle ) and share us with your friends - make sure they tell us you sent them.
4. Follow Avery Elle on Pinterest
5. Become an Avery Elle blog follower through email (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already follow AE)
6. Join our Flickr group (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already belong)

Be sure to check out even more amazing inspiration from the awesome team: 

Avery Elle / Jamie

Karolyn Loncon 

Chunyuan Wu

Caryn Davies

Heather Campbell

JJ Bolton

Yainea

Melania Deasy

Katie Gehring - you are here

Maska Vanacker 

Well that's it for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by and good luck! 

Katie

Watercolor Succulent card set {Waffle Flower Crafts}

Hello friends,

Today, I wanted to share with you a little card set I created using Waffle Flower Craft's Planted Stamp Set along with some Distress Inks for a little "no line" watercolor fun.

First, I stamped the succulent images onto watercolor paper using Antique Linen Distress Ink. I began to fill in the images with a bit of the ink mixed with water taking care to allow dry time before shading in two connecting sections. 

I stamped the "For You" sign onto card stock, trimmed it out and adhered it to the planting.  With a ruler, I drew a stick with a brown ink pen to hold up the sign.  

I kept the rest of the layout pretty simple, adhering the watercolored panel to kraft card bases matted with light yellow and aqua card stock. 

Wrapped with a bit of twine, this card set is ready to go for gifting or for your own personal use. 

Well, that's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Katie

Wool Done {Avery Elle}

Hello friends, 

I am on the Avery Elle blog today with a card I "Made with Love" using the Made with Love stamp set.  This knitting-themed set is filled with all kinds of punny goodness including "Darn It" and the hilarious "Knit Me Baby One More Time."  For my card, I decided to go with "Wool Done." 

I stamped the yarn balls on Fizz, Aquamarine, Raspberry and Mimosa card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossed the images using clear embossing powder.  I trimmed out the stamped images and before adhereing them to the white card stock panel, I inked and stamped the knitting needles with black ink.   The frame on the white card stock panel was created with the Finished Frame Elle-ments die.  

Be sure to stop by the Avery Elle blog to see even more inspiration from my talented teammates.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

A Positive Trend {Waffle Flower Crafts}

Hello friends, 

I am on the Waffle Flower blog today sharing some photos that are "positively inspiring."  That's right, it's all about the plus sign, and I used the iconic plus sign border in the Pattern Play stamp set to create these Birthday cards. 

I am sometimes asked how I stamp borders evenly and I wanted to share my secret for even spacing and alignment- the Fiskars stamp press.  

The foam feet on the corners of the press allow me to position the stamp and make sure that everything is lined up before pressing the stamp down completely. 

For the two Happy Birthday cards, I staggered the plus sign pattern, but still made sure that the horizontal line was lined up with the edge of the card stock. 

For the Shake It Off card using the DT Mix stamp set, I aligned the stamp press with both the horizontal and vertical edges of the card stock to line up the plus signs. 

I do hope that you will stop by the Waffle Flower blog today and check out even more plus sign inspiration.  I promise that the "added" click will be "positively" worth it. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Pucker Up {Take 2 Thursday}

Hello friends,

Lindsay and I are back again today with another round of Take 2 Thursday.  This week, we are both using Avery Elle's Berry Good stamp set.  I have to say that Berry Good is one of my very favorites from the past release and while these fun fruits offer so many possibilities, but for some reason, I have been inclined to watercolor with the images.

On a watercolor panel, I stamped the lemon image repeatedly with black Archival ink.  I used Distress Ink (Scattered Straw and Mustard Seed) to color in the lemons and (Peeled Paint) leaves.  Once the lemons were dry.  I added a watercolor wash with Worn Lipstick ink.  

After allowing some more time for everything to dry, I stamped the sentiment in black Archival ink and added a few gems to accent.  Finally, I adhered the watercolor panel to a pink card base. 

Well, that's it for me today, but I will be back tomorrow with more fun things to share.  Be sure to stop by the awesomely talented Lindsay's blog to see what she made with Berry Good.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Sweet Valentine Treats {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello friends!  

Today starts another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week is an ANYTHING GOES challenge, so albeit a day late, I thought I would share the Valentine's Day treats that my girls handed out to their classmates on Friday.  

Valentine's Day is like the winter equivalent of Halloween whereby sugar and all things sweet seem to rule the day- at least for the classroom set.  The girls LOVE Pixy Stix and begged me to figure out a way to make these sticks of sugar into a Valentine.  We ended up fashioning them into arrows complete with feathers and heart arrowheads. 

We die-cut hearts using the Hearts Dies and glued a heart to the end of each stick.  Colorful card stock cut with the Feathers Dies adorn the other end of the arrow.  I wrapped the base of the feathers with a bit of washi tape to help keep them in place.

It's just not Valentine's Day without a punny sentiment, so the Love Struck stamp set came to our rescue with the fitting "Quill You Be My Valentine" sentiment.  We stamped the sentiment onto a circle punched from white cardstock and mounted the circle to pink card stock cut with the Pinked Circles die before glueing it to the Pixy Stix. 

Once dry, the girls could write the to and from information on the back of the circle.   From what I was told, most of these arrows didn't make it out of the classroom parties and were consumed on the spot.  So now, a moment of silence for the 2015 Gehring Valentine's... we barely knew thee, and are grateful for your contribution in making this Valentine's Day just a bit sweeter.  

So, now it's your turn!  Make anything you like using Paper Smooches Stamps and link up your creation to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by Saturday, February 21 at 11:59 PST.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches shop!  Yay!!! 

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other Paper Smooches SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie