The Paper Players Challenge #74

Hi All,
Well been burning the "midnight oil"  (for me anyway) writing reports for work so I took a break and clicked on over to the Paper Players page to see this weeks challenge sketch.  Here is the sketch they challenged us to use:

Here is what I came up with:

I am still enamored with the colors from the Friday Mash Up's challenge so I had to use the same color scheme. The "recipe" is as follows:

Paper: Pool Party, Early Espresso Whisper White and Spice Cake DP (ummm is there any other??)
Ink: Pool Party
Stamp sets: Lovely as a Tree and the Tiny Tags set.
Punches: Jewelry Tag and Ornament
Embellishments: White Bakers Twine, Big Shot for the Petals a Plenty embossing folder, Heat Tool and White embossing Powder.

Thanks Karin

P.S. Remember that today is the last day for the online Extravaganza!!

On Line Extravaganza!

Hi All,
Quick reminder that the online extravaganza ends tomorrow! Click here to shop!
Have a great day!
Karin

Friday Mashup #34

Hi all,
Had a chance to make a card for another awesome challenge at the Friday Mash Up. I think the reason that I love these challenges so much, as its helping me get a bunch of Christmas cards accomplished! Anyway the Mash up for this week is as follows:

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project featuring "A Christmas Theme".
2. Or Make a project using the colors "Aqua, Chocolate and White".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Christmas themed project using the colors Aqua, Chocolate and White".

The photo inspiration was:

Love these colors! The blue really reminded me of Pool Party so I used the Spice Cake DP that focused on Pool Party and Espresso, I embossed the snowflakes from Northern Hearts (a beautiful retired hostess set) in white, layered that on a piece of Pool Party, rounded all the corners to soften the look, I dry embossed a piece of Early Espresso with the folder Petals a Plenty and finally used the White taffeta ribbon and folded it under on both sides. I finally topped it off with the Rhinestones in the center of each snowflake. I really have to say I love this color combo and this card! Enjoy your crafting!
Karin

OCCC Christmas Tree Challenge

Morning All,
Before I set off on my crazy day I wanted to post this challenge card for the challenge at Our Creative Corner. There challenge was to design a card with a Christmas or pine tree. I love the look of "the" Christmas tree before you cut it down to bring home. So I recreated that. I stamped the pine tree from Christmas Lodge after coloring the stamp in Always Artichoke and Early Espresso, than I got out my Versamarker and adhered white embossing power for snow (I am loving that look!!). Layered on a piece of Frostwood Lodge DP which is on a white base. I adhered the Mini Jingle Bells with Linen Thread. I have found the trick with them is to unravel the thread so it is slightly thinner to go through the tiny holes. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks Karin

CCMC177 - Color Challenge

Morning All!
Well I am very excited to share this card challenge with your this morning! I really enjoy the challenges at create with Connie and Mary and this week was no exception! The challenge was to use the colors Night of Navy, Lucky Limeade and River Rock. I had the TOUGHEST time when I first sat down to try this! I came up with a few cards, but ended up incorporating a different third color so I put it down and went to work on something else. As I was working it dawned on me one of my favorite memories of Christmas as a kiddo was waking up to the beautiful tree with all the gifts wrapped in different papers. It was an "Ah Ha!" moment so I punched a few pieces of Night of Navy DP with square punch, did the same with River Rock but ran them through the Big Shot on three of my favorite embossing folders (Petals a Plenty, Snowflakes and Vintage Wallpaper. I then "wrapped" the Navy presents with white Bakers Twine and made bows for the River Rock presents! I used the fir tree from Lovely as a Tree multiple times to get the look of a partial Christmas tree and "hung" a Christmas decoration on the wall using more Navy DP and the Very Merry sentiment from Short and Sweet. Finally everything was layered on a piece of Lucky Limeade. I am very happy with the results! Hope you are enjoying your Christmas crafting!
Karin

PPA121 Pearls!

Hi All,
Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving celebration! I definitely did but did make a point to remember family members who have recently passed. Unfortunately I have a friend who has lost a number of people close to her recently so I wanted to send her a sympathy/thinking of you card. I was thinking of a very clean, minimal layout and liked the challenge at Pals Paper Art Blog. The challenge was to use Pearls on a clean and simple card. So I made my card base Naturals White, with a layer of Spice Cake DP (my fav!), ran some Early Espresso ribbon across, put a small square of Naturals White on again, ticket punched the corners on both papers, added my sentiment and used the flower stamp from Thoughts and Prayers (great set to have on hand). I then added the pearls to the flowers and three on either piece of ribbon. I really liked the look from adding the pearls. Thanks for checking in!
Karin

Freshly Made Sketch #12 & The Paper Players Challenge #73

Hi All,
Got home a little early from work and was procrastinating about going to the gym so thought I would take up a card challenge (or in this case 2!!). I went on over to the Paper Players Blog and was interested in this weeks color challenge. They challenged you to use Silver, Whisper White and Night of Navy and I really loved the samples. These colors are great together! Well the next step was a sketch so I hopped onto the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and checked out this weeks sketch:

I really liked the layout. So I used Whisper White as my base and added a layer of Night of Navy. For the center band I used Silver Glimmer paper, edged it with Whisper White and did a simple layer of the White Organza ribbon. For the circle I started with a circle of Glimmer paper with a layer of Night of Navy that had been stamped with the tree from Christmas Lodge in the Silver Frost paint. Hard to tell in the picture with the lighting, but it is very pretty! Finally my sentiment was stamped in Whisper White craft ink. I am really happy with the results! These challenges are great for the creativity!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Karin

EXTRAVAGANZA is ON!!!

Hi All,
Check out the on-line extravaganza! You can go to my on line store and click "Shop Here". Then click on ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA  on the left hand side .
Items are limited  and  are while supplies last .
Have a Marvelous Monday friends! 
Karin :) 

Online Extravaganza

Online Extravaganza, our annual sale to kick off the holiday shopping season, will begin Monday, November 21, 2011, and run through Wednesday, November 30, 2011. While this promotion is perfect for online orders during an especially busy time of year, sale prices will be available on all order types (online store, individual, workshop) so you can call (978-317-3086) or email me krando01@yahoo.com to place your order.
Log in to my online store on Monday, November 21, to see the great savings, like...

• FREE digital downloads valued at $40 when you buy My Digital Studio Express
• 60 percent off select Designer Fabrics
• 30 percent off an exclusive ribbon bundle!

In addition, there will be two items on sale for 24 hours only (November 21, 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM [MT])-so make sure you don't miss the first 24 hours of Online Extravaganza to see what will be on sale!
Watch for more detailed information to be posted on Monday, November 21. 
I am excited myself for a little "retail therapy!"
Karin

CCMC176 Challenge

Hi All,
Well sitting here on the couch coughing away and trying to motivate to catch up on some paperwork but instead of traditional "paperwork" I decided to do my own paper crafting. I went on over to create with Connie and Mary's blog and checked out their sketch challenge.

I really liked the block design. Here is what I came up with:

I actually had cut a few of the small scallop images from the Holly Berry DP, but never used them for the intended project. So I cut out a few more, layered them on the back of a small scallop punch of a different piece of the same DP and then added the image from the Pines and Poinsettias stamp set on a 1 1/4" circle punch. For the rectangular layers I used more of the Holly Berry, but layered them on Early Espresso (just loved the "pop" it gave) and added twine over the bottom piece after I ran it through the Petals a Plenty embossing folder. It actually came together very quickly and I really enjoyed the challenge!
Karin

Freshly Made Sketches #11

Hi All,
Well, I have been stealing some time here and there to complete some card challenges. I really love the R&R that stamping gives me! Lately that has really been needed! Anyway onto the challenge. I went on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site and checked out this weeks sketch.

I liked the layout and here is what I came up with:

I used my Oval Die for my Big Shot with the Holly Berry DP and the coordinating Pines and Poinsettias stamp set. I liked having the softer look that the oval die cut and then embossing folder offered. Instead of using an actual horizontal layer I decided to stamp across and really liked the result. I finally topped it off with the Christmas banner and popped it up with a dimensional. Hope you like the result, I really enjoyed the challenge!
Karin

CCMC175 - Color Challenge

Hi All,
Well needed a little crafting time tonight. So went over to http://www.createwithconnieandmary.com/ and checked out their color challenge. Their challenge was to use a color combo of Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and More Mustard using only Stampin Up! products (ummm are there really any other????). I thought perfect and grabbed my Flower Fest set as I was feeling the need for some flowers and set out to make a card with clean lines and a simple layout. I stamped the flower repeatedly and colored them in Cherry Cobbler and More Mustard, mounted that on Basic Black and mounted the final piece on Cherry Cobbler. I added a piece of black grosgrain ribbon with a sentiment from the Short and Sweet set in Basic Black on Cherry Cobbler and was done. Hope you like it!
Karin

PPA119 Fashion Inspired Challenge

Hi All,
I wanted to upload a card I made for the Pal Paper Arts Challenge. They have this great holiday pic:



and the challenge was to be inspired by the pictures textures, colors,and theme. So I really loved the texture of the trees and the glamor you can see during the season. However, my take was on the glamor you can see from your window during the holiday season, where the trees themselves are decked out. I just love the Lovely as a Tree set with the Dazzling Details used for the snow! Putting the image on glossy paper kept it very crisp and allowed me to shade the sky with Baja Breeze.

Thanks for such a great challenge!
Karin

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #10

Hi All,
Needed a few thank you cards for some wonderful people I met at a workshop last week and was trying to think of a layout...So I went on over to the Freshly Made Sketches blogspot to see this weeks challenge.

I really liked the clean layout. I always find it challenging to stick to a clean design even though they appeal to me. I am one of "those" people who has to add this or that. So I used the layout, turned it horizontally and added a sentiment in the center. I used my crimper on the Soft Suede paper to give it texture and used a piece of Spice Cake DP for the center panel. Hope you like what I came up with!! It was a lot of fun to play along!
Karin

I Rocked the Mash Up!!

WOW!!! I "Rocked" the mash up at the Friday Mash Up #31!! I am so honored and it really was a nice shot in the arm after a very long day! I just happened over to the Friday Mash Up Blog to check on this weeks challenge and scrolled down and found out that I was last weeks pick! I was so impressed given the entries. Anyway, thought I would share as I am very excited! Thanks to the Mash Up Design Team!!

Have a great night!
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

Friday Mash Up #30 "Recycle, Renew, Reuse

Wow 2 posts today! Shocking considering the day! Anyway I actually came home sick as a dog with the worst head cold ever (didn't know I could sneeze so much!). So sitting on the couch, sneezing like crazy and surfing some blogs I checked out the Friday Mash up! The theme from last Friday was about using or reusing items you have on hand or you can copy their sketch OR "mash" them both together. I chose to "mash" them as I had all these pieces and knew I could complete the sketch in 5 minutes! I have the house from Christmas Lodge already cut out for another project that didn't come together like I thought, ribbon I had pulled off another "old" project that wasn't working for me and left over pieces of my favorite retired designer paper "Deck the Halls". To top it off I had some Close to Cocoa paper I couldn't bear to part with and pre-cut Top Note Die. All I did was add the sentiment on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla! So here is my very first on-line contest entry in an attempt to turn this day around!
Hope everyone is well! :)
Karin

Another great promotion!!

Hi all,
Check out this awesome promotion from Stamping up!! From now until December 15th they are rewarding hostesses with even more free merchandise!! Once your workshop hits $350 they are adding an additional $35 of merchandise to your goodies! Great time of the year for getting together and creating wonderful cards and gifts. In addition, this promotion is good on a catalog show. Contact me for more info!
Have a great day!
Karin

Big Shot Promo extended!

Hi All,
A quick post before I run off! Stampin Up has extended their Big Shot offer! If you have ever been interested in becoming a demonstrator now it the time! You can chose the amazing Stampin Up Big Shot(or your choice of $100 in FREE products)!  You now have until November 11th to take advantage of this great offer! Take Stampin' Up! discounts and benefits for a test drive through March 31, 2012 (with no obligation to purchase anything further) and enjoy up to $440 in products for $175 Plus, they ship to you FREE! YOU can be your own best customer, enjoy exclusive creative resources ! Contact me with any questions!
Have a good day!
Karin