Gus & Gertie - 4th of July

The 4th of July holiday falls on a Tuesday this year, so I get a 4 day weekend to celebrate!  I recently received the Gus & Gertie - 4th of July Stamp and Die Combo as a freebie with purchase from Taylored Expressions, and thought it was the perfect stamp for a set of July 4th cards.  It was a limited time and exclusive set, so it is not currently for sale.

After coloring the stamp with Copic markers, I die cut it with the coordinating dies. To give both cards a focal point, I die cut the TE Open Scallop Circle die from TE Cherry Pop cardstock. 

The layout for this card is based on the #TEMakerChallenge June Sketch.  I am barely squeaking this in on the last day of June!

I used some blue paper with white stars on the left side of the first card, with red and white stripes on the right side.  I finished this first card off with a sentiment from Mini Strips - Patriotic.

For the second card, I used a Z-fold base with the same papers, which shows the red and white striped paper when opened.  To give the inside of the card some definition, I used the larger TE Masking Stencils - Rectangles stencil to blend on TE Confetti Cake ink. To finish off the second card, I used a small sentiment from the TE All Tucked In - Patriotic stamp set (retired) on the bottom right of the 'inside' of the card.

Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends!

Have a good day.
Kayla

Craft Roulette #169 - Peeking In

I am playing along with Craft Roulette again this week.  For this week, Craft Roulette episode #169, the parameters are:

Project: See Through
Colors: Rustic Garden
Element: Fashion
Random: Hexagon

I started by pulling out acetate and Taylored Expressions Hexagon dies.  The color scheme of Rustic Flowers was throwing me off, but I pushed through and decided to not use white cardstock at all.  By stamping the TE Look Who's Talking stamp set (retired) on TE Toffee cardstock, it made the card more rustic. After coloring the images with Copic markers, I added that bowtie and party hat to make him a fashionable bear. I used the same Copic markers to color a bit of the cardstock green to stamp the sentiment. 

I made a hexagon frame from TE Woodgrain Cardstock - Kraft with 2 of the Hexagon Stacklets.  I blended TE Toffee ink to give the woodgrain a little more depth to finish off the card.

Have a good day.

Kayla

Space Cadet

Do you ever start making a card (or set of cards) with one thing in mind and end up doing something completely different?  I started this set of cards with a simple plan to have a full background of outer space, but they turned out a little different!

Recently, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a card posted by Sara Zoppi (le_cosebelle_di_sara) for the new My Favorite Things release.  (Please click the link to go take a look.  It is simply GORGEOUS!)  Her card featured a stripe of vibrant color on the right side of the card with blank white space and a sentiment on the left side of the card.  It was so striking that I randomly thought about it for days.  I knew I had to use this layout on a card, and thought this set of space cards was the perfect time.

I started the space background by ink blending Taylored Expressions ink in random spots on a half sheet of cardstock.  I then went in with Distress Oxide Black Soot ink over the top to make the space part of the space background.  After it dried, I flicked Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White and Tsukineko Silver Sheer Shimmer Spray on the background to make the stars. I cut the background into pieces and glued them to the card bases.

After stamping the Taylored Expressions Space Cadet (retired) images and coloring them with Copic markers, I die cut the images to have them float around in space.  I had planned to make 2 cards but had almost enough images to make 3.  To finish out the third card, I found the TE Whole Wide World die set (retired) had the perfect size Earth to use for the aliens to abduct the cow from.

To finish the cards, I added the sentiments to the white blank space on the lower left of the card.  I am just in love with how these cards turned out!

Have a good day.
Kayla

Craft Roulette #168 - Let's Fly a Kite

While winding down for bed every night, I watch a few YouTube videos.  Recently, YouTube suggested a live video from Craft Roulette.  It sounded interesting, so I started watching.  Craft Roulette is a Live show (almost) every Friday night where the host, Mary Gunn and a guest spin a wheel to get 4 parameters to make a card.  I was hooked and started watching the episodes every night, as a kind of routine.

For this week, Craft Roulette episode #168, the parameters are:

Project: Kid's Card

Colors: Citrus Orchard

Element: Spring Scene

Random: Metallic or Foil

I stewed on it overnight and thought of a card to fit the parameters.

I used the Taylored Expressions Let's Fly a Kite die set to meet the Kid's Birthday and Spring Scene parameters. For colors, I used the Rose Gold Foil, Lemon Meringue, Peapod, Candy Corn, and Sprinkles cardstocks to meet the Citrus Orchard and Foil parameters.  The background is the TE Cloudy Skies Piercing Plate and TE Stitched Rectangle Stacklets.  To finish off the card, I used the coordinating TE Mini Strips - Carried Away stamp to add a punny sentiment.

Have a good day.
Kayla

Color Trend - Blue and Yellow

I was recently shopping for some new summer clothes and noticed that there was a lot of blue and yellow pieces.  Sadly none of the clothes worked for me, but I loved the color combo.  It feels so fresh and summery, and I couldn't wait to use it for a card!

With this in mind, I set to looking through my stash to see if I had any blue and yellow paper, and I found this super cute lemon patterned paper from the Sunny Studios Summer Splash paper set.  I paired it with yellow striped and blue polka dot papers to complete the color palette.

I stamped the girl from the My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Happy Birthday to You stamp set (retired).  Using the blue and yellow color palette, I colored her and the present with Copic markers.  To help ground the image, I die cut a vellum circle from the Taylored Expressions Circle Stacklets.  I finished the card with a sentiment from the Taylored Expressions Mini Strips - Birthday stamp set.

Have a good day.

Kayla

Fin*tastic Birthday

Summer is such a busy time for birthdays in my family.  Just in June, we have 6 birthdays, so I need to bulk up my supply! I flipped through my stash and was inspired to color and create with the Darcie's Fin*tastic stamp set.

After coloring the image with Copics, I die cut the image using the Taylored Expressions Stitched Oval Stacklets.  I then used the TE Petite Scallop Oval Stacklets to mat the oval with TE Mint Julep cardstock. To finish off the card, I used the TE Make a Dash stencil with TE Pink Champagne ink.

My color palette was inspired by the Color Throwdown Challenge #746 - mint, grey, and pink.

Have a good day.

Kayla