Freshly Made Christmas

Hi All,
I was able to carve out a little time for myself today and made some Christmas cards for my Great Aunt's upcoming 103rd birthday. I was rather proud as I was able to make about half of what she needs today, no small feet with a 6 week old! Anyhow I had gone on over to Freshly Made Sketches and thy had this great sketch:

This is what I created:

 

 

 

 

I used a base of Cherry Cobbler, some Early Espresso and Artichoke along with some Deck the Halls DP I had saved, which worked perfectly for the look I wanted. I punched out the ornament with a sentiment from Short and Sweet and I was done. Hope she likes it!

Karin  

 



Better late than never!

Evening All,
Well later post than I had planned but at least I finished three cards!! Course I started days ago!! Needless to say I missed the awesome challenge deadline over at Pals Paper Arts but I still used their great sketch:



Here is what I came up with:

 

I needed more Thank You's  and a "Welcome Baby" card for a co-worker. I used some of my soon to retire Gumball Green, with Afternoon Picnic DP and some pieces of Very Vanilla that I ran through the Big Shot with my Vintage EF. I used the image that I borrowed from a friend and frankly cant wait until my order from the new catty gets here as there is an adorable baby set that coordinates with framelits! Perfect for all my thank you's and scrapbooking that I have to do!! Though I am a bit sad to see some of my favorites go. If your like me then run on over to Stampin Up and check out their retirement blow out!! Its up to 50% off!!!

Have a great night!

Karin 

Sanded Butterflie

Evening All
A quick post before I pack it in! Sad to say I am looking forward to a normal routine with a seriously nasty headache that has just not let go for days amongst other things, I am just spent! So I thought I would share one of Stampin Up's new and coolest (well in my opinion!) products! Their stamping system! They have thicker 12x12 cardstock in three colors (Pool Party, Primrose Petals and Rose Red) and new sanding blocks that are super easy to use!! Here is an example of something that only took minutes to put together:

I used the PrimRose Petal paper and ran it through the Beautiful Butterflies Diez,ran them through my Vintage folder, sanded the butterflies, adhered to the Canvas ribbon on a piece of Tea for Two DP, Lucky Limade Cardstock and Primrose Petals Cardstock on the base of Very Vanilla. A few Pearls and I was done. My club loved this! Super fast with a great "WOW" factor!! You will have to try it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karin

Just Add Success!

Hi All,
I am very excited to share my card of the day with you today!! I had been struggling with a design for my Great Aunts's Halloween cards but was finally motivated by the great sketch over at Just Add Ink

I was also excited as I was finally getting a chance to use some of my new "goodies" from the New Holiday Mini! Lets see if you can spot them:

I used the new "Howlstooth & Scaringbone DP! So so cool! I love the patterns as they are not over whelming for accenting a card and can also be used for some of my Thanksgiving crafts! In addition, I added the "Frightening Feline" stamp and the new 1/2" stripped Satin Ribbon! I heat embossed the "Feline" and cut him out and added some "bling" for his eyes . I also dry embossed the Basic Grey panel with my Vintage Wall Paper folder. Finally, I added the sentiment from the "new to me" Wicked Cool" set. Halloween cards and crafts always make me smile! Hope she loves it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karin

Pumpkin's galore!

Hi All,
Thought I would try my hand at Create with Connie and Mary's sketch this week:

And as I am still working on my Aunt's cards I knew it would have a Fall theme:

As you see my need for pumpkins has continued!! As I have mentioned before I love using all of my scraps and especially love the Spice Cake DP! I ran my Very Vanilla cardbase through the Big Shot in the Vintage Wall Paper embossing folder and then "distressed" it with some Early Espresso ink. I think used my Bitty Banners Framelits to cut out the "Thankful" banner! I just love the Framelits!! Thanks for stopping by!

Karin

Owl Mojo!

Hi All,
I have been trying to come up with a Halloween card design for my great aunt. She is 100 (almost 101) and is legally blind so as part of her birthday present every year I make her her Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas cards. I need to be able to make a large number so the design has to be easy to replicate. I had gone over to Mojo Monday for inspiration and their great sketch delivered:

Here is what I came up with:

I just can't resist all the ways you can use the Build an owl punch!! I ran the Basic Grey panel through the Vintage Wall Paper embossing folder and added a few more of my Night and Day scraps. I am a BIG proponent of using your scraps! I took a little creative freedom and instead of an element on the lower left hand corner I used it for my speech bubbles up to the right! Hmmm I like this so much maybe I should find another design for my aunt! LOL!!

Have a great day!

Karin

Freshly Made Halloween!

Hi All,
I am still on my Halloween card making stint and wanted to share my latest creation. I had gone on over to Freshly Made Sketches and they had a great sketch as usual:

I am also still fascinated by the "Soot" technique so I combined everything and here is what I came up with:

I decided that I liked the images rotated. I used my House of Haunts once again and some retired black and white DP that I have some scraps of. I love when some of the scraps I end up hoarding work for a project! To recreate this technique you need glossy cardstock. It really packs a "Wow" in person! Have a great day!

Karin

A new Camera!!

Hi All,
Been fighting the camera issue again but finally, after a little research, I went out and bought a new camera!!! I was itchy to try it out tonight so I went on over to Freshly Made Blogspot and they had another awesome sketch:

And here is what I came up with:

I LOVE my new camera! It is Wifi capable so I could email the picture to myself. Very cool for the "non" techy like myself! Anyhow, I needed a vintage themed card for an upcoming stamp a stack and loved my Everyday Enchantment paper so I pulled it out, combined it with Simply Soft (also retired) and ran my Pool Party paper through the Vintage wall paper folder. Very easy, but I thought it was very pretty :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karin

Freshly Made Sketches

Morning All,
Well I had more "time" to stamp late last night as my knee was throbbing and there was no way I could sleep. I do love my "hobby" as it does help take your mind off of things. Anyway I had gone on over to Freshly Made Sketches and they had a fabulous sketch:

And here is what I came up with:

I decided to rotate the sketch and really like the end result. I used the Everyday Enchantment DP from Sale-a-bration (seriously my most favorite paper ever!) and the beautiful organza ribbon as well. I popped up my sentiment from Short and Sweet in the center. I LOVE that set and will never ever part with it! It is slated to retire at the end of this month so grab it before its gone! Well thanks for stopping by, back to the "icing" of the knee!

Karin :)

Another "two for one"!

Happy Easter Everyone!
Decided to relax a bit this morning instead of running to the gym and complete at least one card. My sister's birthday is mid April and I am meeting up with her at my fathers place in Florida and thought I would replenish her "card box". I need to add some birthday cards to the mix and I had gone on over to Pals Paper Arts and they had a beautiful color challenge:

Perfect colors for Spring! Now that I had my color palette I needed a sketch so I went on over to Stamping 411 and this was their Saturday Sketch Challenge for the week:

So I combined the two and here is what I came up with:

Here is what I used:

Stamps: Well Scripted (sadly retired) and Elements of Style (hope it never retires!)

Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft ink, Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink

Punches: Decorative Label and 2 1/2 Circle punch

Embellishments Clear Embossing Powder, Beautiful Wings Emosslits, Vintage Wall paper folder, Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon and Pearls

Tools: Blender Pen, Big Shot and Heat Tool

I had actually heat embossed the flowers with the chocolate chip craft ink so I could color the flowers with the blender pen and give it different tones.

Have a great Easter!

Karin

Saturday Sketch Challenge

 

Hi All,
Gave myself a good amount of time to craft this weekend, as I was trying to get a few Easter cards done and make plans for an upcoming stamp club. I wanted to complete at least one of the cards that I will present to the ladies and was fresh out of ideas, I knew the DP I wanted to use and had an idea for a technique to showcase, just needed a layout. I happened on over to the Saturday Sketch Challenge at Stamping411 Blogspot and this was their great sketch:

And here is what I came up with:

I took a little bit of liberty on the center panel and really liked how it came out. Here is what I used:
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso and First Edition DP (great stuff!)
Ink: Early Espresso
Stamp Set: Elements of Style
Punches: Small Oval, 1" circle and Modern Label
Other: Victorian Lace, Large sticky back pearls, brights brads, Big Shot and Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, water color pencils and blender pens
Thanks for stopping by!
Karin



PPA131 and a new venture!

Hi All,

I am very excited to share this card with you. I had gone over to my neighbors yesterday (she ran out of coffee pods for her Keurig gasp!) and as we were talking I ran this idea by her about doing a "Workshop in Basket". You see I am scheduled for my "first" surgery on the 23rd for my knee and may, potentially be having a few more, which will limit my ability to do some of my more "physical" hobbies (i.e. horseback riding, going to the gym...a lot!) so I want to really focus on my crafting. The catch is I'm not sure how well I will be getting around, so instead of teaching at workshops I could send a kit out with instructions on how to complete a card that I have included the parts for. So long story short my WONDERFU:L neighbor is going to bring a basket into work and we will see what happens. SO! Now I need a card that is elegant yet easy to put together. Hence I went on over to the Pals Paper Arts Blog and they had, as usual, a wonderful sketch:

And their designers and challenge participants had wonderful cards to be inspired by. Here is what I came up with:

I REALLY like how it came out and am so appreciative of all the Bloggers who take the time to create and/or participate in challenges! Here is what I used:
Paper: Every Enchantment DP, Pool Party, Peach Parfait and Naturals White
Ink: Peach Parfait
Stamp Set: Kindness Matters
Punches: 1 1/4" Square
Other: Big Shot and Vintage Wall paper Embossing Folder
Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy your Sunday!
Karin

Stampin Queens Challenge

Hi All,
Finally got a chance to do a little crafting for myself. Yesterday was a crafting mini marathon! Today has been a paperwork marathon, definitely not as much fun!! I promised myself I could complete a challenge before moving onto more paperwork! So I went on over to the Stamping Queens challenge. Here is their sketch for the week:

And here is what I came up with:

Here is what I used:
Paper: Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DP
Ink: Early Espresso and Crumb Cake
Stamp Set: Fresh Vintage Stamp Set
Other: Big Shot, Vintage Wall Paper Embossing Folder and Pool Party Seam Binding.

I am such serious trouble when the Everyday Enchantment paper retires!!! I love it!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karin



Stampin Success Contest Cards

Hi All,
Been a busy morning! Happy to report the "storm" was a bust so I got to spend time raking in front of the barn!! Can't imagine that in any past February I would be able to do that!! Anyway I wanted to share three cards I sent into Stampin Up's Demonstrator Magazine's contest in January. They have three categories and I chose to enter two cards that I would "Demo" at a workshop. Here they are:

I also entered one card that I would offer as a "Make and Take" which means you get to make and take at a workshop. Here is that entry:

Sorry the pictures are a little tilted!! Not much of a photographer!! Well off to go ride my horse! Enjoy the day!!
Karin

PPA 118 & Friday Mash Up!

Hi All,
Well tried my hand at two more on-line card challenges. I was very interested in the color challenge at the Paper Pal Arts page. The challenge was to use River Rock, Early Espresso and Soft Suede. I thought this would be perfect for me as I find that I rarely reach for River Rock and Soft Suede and this may get me to expand my horizons! After reading their challenge I clicked over to the Friday Mash Up. Their challenge was to use Heat Embossing or make a "Thank you" (Greatful) OR "Mash" them together! So I mashed everything together!! I used River Rock as my base, embossed half the base with the Vintage Wall paper (for texture), and ran some satin Early Espresso ribbon across the center after sponging with Soft Suede on the embossed images and edges. For the top portion I heat embossed the greeting from kindness matters with versa mark and Early Espresso ink and did the same with the center butterfly, cutting it out and mounting in the center of the ribbon. Finally I mounted the greeting on top of soft suede and ripped both edges, sponging with Soft Suede. Wow! Now that I read it, it sounds like quite a bit, but honestly this came together very quickly. I really love the soft, vintage look of the card and was thrilled that I used colors and a stamp set that I don't normally use!!
Hope you enjoy!
Karin