Keep Warm and Snuggle Up (Wrapped in Warmth)

A good card for today, as it snowed some more this morning. Not a lot, but we all want to be warm and snuggly on a chilly day, right?!

Christmas is closer and closer. Only 4 days to go! Are you ready? 

Here is a card that will help you keep warm and snuggly today. Using the Wrapped in Warmth stamp set and the Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I love it! Simple, but it gets the point across, with just a touch of sparkle.

 All supplies are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamps: Wrapped in Warmth (#142054)

Ink: Island Indigo (#126986)

Cardstock: Whisper White Thick (#140272), Island Indigo (#122923), Garden Green (#102584)

Accessories: Big Shot (#143263), 

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (#143537) 

Gold Metallic Thread (#138401), Gold Sequin Trim (#132983), Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430)

Hope you are staying warm and getting lots done today.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Cookie Cutter Christmas Card with Tin of Tags

10 days and counting down! Christmas is getting closer and closer!

I love the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set! Santa, reindeer, gingerbread man, teddy bear, and this cute little guy, an eskimo! Isn't he adorable!? I also used the Tin of Tags stamp set that coordinates with the Tin of Tags Project Kit. The greeting and the big snowflake in the background are from it. I  used the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch to punch out the little eskimo. So EASY! Love it! And I colored it using a blender pen and my ink pads. That cute little red heart is one of the shapes punched out by the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch too.

 All supplies are available from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp sets: Cookie Cutter Christmas (#142043), Tin of Tags (#142180)

Inks: StazOn Jet Black (#101406), Real Red (#126949), Island Indigo (#126986),

Crumb Cake (#126975), Blushing Bride (#131172)

Card stock: Whisper White Thick (#140272), Real Red (#102482)

Accessories: Cookie Cutter Builder Punch (#140396), Rhinestone Basic Jewels (#119246), Dimensionals (#104430), Blender Pens (#102845)

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope everyone is about ready for Christmas, or whatever holiday you might be celebrating at this festive time of year!

See you soon,
Kathryn

Merry Mice are Decking the Halls

I love to color! Whether I am using an aqua brush and paints, or my blender pens, or my Prismacolor Pencils, I am one happy camper if I can be coloring an image. I have a few coloring books, but one of my favorite things to color are the images in my stamp sets. This set is called "Merry Mice" and it has 3 images that are just adorable and so fun to color. On these three little cuties, I used my blender pen and my ink pad lids with a little ink smooshed on to it to color them.

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise specified:

Stamp set: Merry Mice (#142145)

Inks: StazOn Jet Black (#101406), Dapper Denim (#141394), Cherry Cobbler (#1269660, Cucumber Crush (#138324), Crushed Curry (#131173), Crumb Cake (#126975), Blushing Bride (#131172), Smoky Slate (#131179)

Card stock: Crumb Cake (#120953), Whisper White Thick (#140272)

Accessories: Blender Pens (#102845), Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack (#141991), 

Metallic Foil Doilies (#138392), 5/8" Burlap Ribbon (#141487), Dimensionals (#104430)

These little mice are so cute! When I saw this stamp set for the very first time, I just knew that I was going to be getting it! I hope you like it too!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

A Christmas Card Wrapped in a Cable Knit Sweater

So. I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to even think, let alone post on my blog. It is so frustrating being so tired that I can barely care for my family, let alone craft a card or write a blog post. But here I am today. I have a small stash of cards to show you, so I will do the best I can to share with you for a few days coming up.

Here is my first offering. A Christmas card! I love the set "Suite Seasons". It is full of fun greetings that cover many of the holidays that occur at this time of year, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and...Christmas! It even includes a greeting for cards that you might need for sending comfort. Here is my card:

 All supplies used are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp Sets: Suite Seasons, Warmth and Cheer

Inks: Archival Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler

Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 1" Circle Punch, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack, Gold Glimmer Paper, Tomboy Multi Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

In the close-up, you can see that the little circle heart punch is composed of a few punched layers that I glued together and stacked up on top of each other. I believe I used four layers. I have heard it called "Faux Chipboard". Sounds good to me, so that is what I will call it too! I also love the "Cable Knit" Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder,. It gives so much texture to the background piece! I can't wait to see what other kinds of Dynamic Embossing Folders Stampin' Up! comes out with in the future!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Kathryn

A Paper Pumpkin Cookie Cutter Fall Card

A Happy Hello to You today! What a beautiful Autumn day it is. I hope you are having some nice weather where you are, also.

I'm not quite ready to retire my "Cookie Cutter Halloween" stamp set quite yet. I think this little scarecrow is quite acceptable to use for a fun Fall card, so I whipped up this little offering for your enjoyment. I also used the September 2016 Paper Pumpkin kit for the pumpkin background and the greeting.

Here is my card today:

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise specified:

Stamp sets: Cookie Cutter Halloween, 

Something Good to Eat (Sept. 2016 Paper Pumpkin kit stamp set)

Inks: StazOn Jet Black, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Crumb Cake

Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Cookie Cutter Builder Punch, Banner Triple Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Vellum Cardstock,  Delicate White Doilies, Linen Thread, Blender Pens, Dimensionals, Garden Green Stampin' Write marker

I hand-stamped all those pumpkins on the background, but it wasn't hard. Because the stamps in the Paper Pumpkin kits are the clear photopolymer, it was easy enough to see through it to place it where I wanted the image to show up. (I also hand-drew little curlicues on the pumpkins.) In order to soften the bright colors of it though, I placed a piece of the vellum card stock over it. I also extended the Decorative Label Punch (underneath the scarecrow image). It wasn't quite long enough to show out the other side of the image, so I punched another image, trimmed it up to fit just right, and mounted the scarecrow so that the "joining" lines were covered. 

Anyway, I hope you are having a great day. I am home from work today, struggling with some back pain and muscle spasms. Hoping to feel much better really soon.

Thanks for visiting,

Kathryn

Flourishing Phrases Thank You Card #tgifc80 Color

I got a new stamp set and some die sets the other day, and I was just itching to play with them, so I looked around on the web and found a color challenge that looked interesting. ( #tgifc80 )

Over at tgifchallengesblog.blogspot.com, the color challenge this week is inspired by the color palette from the Specialty Designer Series Paper called "Petals & Paisleys". It is a beautiful palette that includes the Stampin' Up! colors Rich Razzleberry, Delightful Dijon, and Mint Macaron. Such beautiful paper! But alas, I don't have any...YET!

Anyway, here is my card:

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamp set: Flourishing Phrases

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Card stock: Whisper White Thick, Rich Razzleberry, Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron

Accessories: Big Shot, Magnetic Platform, Precision Base Plate, Flourishes Thinlits Dies, Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies,  Rhinestones Basic Jewels

Here is the TGIF Challenge Graphic:

The Flourishing Phrases stamp set has so many versatile greetings in it, I just had to get it! I choose to use the "Thank You so very much" greeting because I have so many opportunities to tell someone thanks, plus it is coming up on that time of year when we should be extra thankful for those people in our lives that are so good to us. So even though I can't give each one of you a thank you card, I just want to let you know that I am thankful for all of you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Basket of Wishes Thankful Card #GDP060

My husband needed a couple of thank you cards this week, so I gladly obliged him by making some for him with one of my newest stamp sets, Basket of Wishes, by Stampin' Up! I love this cute stamp set, full of fun, different types of baskets, and the fun stuff you could put in them. I love the different kinds of greetings you could add to them as well: birthday, thankful for you, and a couple of friendship-type greetings as well.

As you can see, I made these cards out to be thankful-for-you-type cards. I love coloring the images in this set. With it being Autumn, I decided to use the big sunflowers floral basket. I colored the image in using my Stampin' Up! blender pens, then cut out the basket image and popped it up with dimensionals. Love it!

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamp Set: Basket of Wishes

Card Stock: Whisper White Thick, Crumb Cake

Inks: Jet Black StazOn, Crumb Cake, Delightful Dijon, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Smoky Slate

Accessories: Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack, Blender Pens, Paper Snips, Dimensionals

As you can see, it was a pretty clean and layered card, which is what I was going for. Because this card was inspired by the amazing designer over on global-design-project.com , Brian King. Here is the challenge graphic:

I hope you go over and check out the other designer's cards, as well as those playing along in the challenge. Oh...and leave some comment love! We all love it, and hope you enjoy our efforts, as well!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kathryn

Merry Everything Card #tgifc79

Over on the TGIF Challenge Blog this past week, they have been trying out a new challenge. It is called the Designer Spotlight Challenge, and the designer this week is Krista Frattin. Krista is a member of the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team, and she is A-MA-ZING!

Here is my card, inspired by Krista, for the #tgifc79 challenge!

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamp Set: Suite Seasons

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Accessories: Warmth and Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack, Big Shot, Layering Circles Framelits Dies, Garden Green Stampin' Write Marker, Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker, 

Circle Punches: 1-3/4", 3/4", 1/2", Gold Metallic Thread, Dimensionals

I created the holly leaves by punching a 1-3/4" circle. Then, using the same punch, I punched two leaf shapes from that one circle. Then I took the 3/4" circle and reverse-scallop punched the edges so that they looked like holly leaves. The berry was a 1/2" circle punch.

When trying to decide what to use as inspiration, I went over to Pinterest to find some of Krista's boards to be inspired for my card. And boy did I find some! She has some very amazing boards, and they are linked to her wonderful blog. Here is the card that inspired my creation.

I hope you like my card, and that you check out the other cards and designers over at tgifchallengesblog.blogspot.com . 

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Happy Halloween! (Cookie Cutter Halloween)

Happy Halloween everyone!

I love the Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set from Stampin' Up! Such cute images for Halloween and Fall.

Here is my card for this fun-filled day. I used my Aqua Painter brush to color in the majority of the background using my Sweet Sugarplum ink pad, after I had stamped all the skeleton images using Jet Black StazOn ink. I felt the color was too flat, but I didn't want to add any more water to the paper because I didn't use watercolor paper, so I picked out some ink daubers and some other colors of ink, and carefully added some color on top of the watercolor portions of the background. I used Marina Mist, Pear Pizzaz, and Daffodil Delight. It came out just the way I wanted! Take a look:

 All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise specified:

Stamp Sets: Cookie Cutter Halloween, Suite Seasons

Inks: Jet Black StazOn, Sweet Sugarplum, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzaz, Daffodil Delight

Card Stock: Marina Mist, Sweet Sugarplum, Whisper White

Accessories: Silver Glimmer Paper, Big Shot, Layering Circles Framelits Dies, Aqua Painters, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals

I love the tiny, little scallop border that you get when you layer two of the dies from the Layering Circles Framelits Dies set. Such a sweet, little detail!

I hope you have a fun Halloween today! See you soon!

Thanks for stopping by,
Kathryn

Merry Mice Christmas Card

When I first saw the Merry Mice stamp set in the Holiday Catalog, I just knew that I had to get it. Not only are the mice adorable, but this set lends itself so well to coloring in one form or another. So here is my first offering for you to see.

I watercolored this little cutie using my Classic Ink Pads and an Aqua Painter.

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise specified:

Stamp Set: Merry Mice

Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White Thick

Inks: StazOn Jet Black, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Daffodil Delight, Dapper Denim, Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Aqua Painter, Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Dimensionals

I have more to show you, and I just hope that life doesn't get so busy again that it takes 2 weeks to get around to it! (What?!!! That never happens to you, does it?!)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!

Kathryn

Cookie Cutter Halloween Scarecrow Thanks Card

Fall is here! The colors around us are changing to beautiful Autumn tones. There is a nip in the air, and the days are noticeably shorter. There is also a change to the type of cards being created. The holiday seasons are upon us, and people are wanting to create more cards to give to others. Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter, and, of course, Christmas, are among the many kinds of cards popping up all over the place. So I will do my part and create. And create, and create, and create!

My first card of the season is a Fall-type Thanks card. I used the Seasonal Decorative Masks to sponge the "wheat" pattern all over the Delightful Dijon card stock layer. What a quick and easy way to add some dimension to a large, plain area without it becoming too overwhelming.

 All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamp Sets: Cookie Cutter Halloween; Suite Sayings

Inks: Jet Black Stazon; Delightful Dijon; Pumpkin Pie; Old Olive; Dapper Denim; Crumb Cake

Card Stock: Very Vanilla; Delightful Dijon

Accessories: Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack; Seasonal Decorative Masks; Stamping Sponges; Linen Thread; Cookie Cutter Builder Punch; Banner Triple Punch; Paper Snips; Blender Pens; Dimensionals

Oh, how I love this cute little scarecrow! The Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set is full of adorable Halloween images, but I think I love this little image (and the crow) the most! And I love that there is a punch that will quickly and easily cut him out!

I have some other cards made from this set that I will share at another time, but for now, I hope you have enjoyed my cute little thank you card.

Thank you for stopping by,
Kathryn

More Swap Cards to Share (Part 3)

Here are some more cards to share from the Demo Event I attended a couple of weeks ago. Don't worry, almost done!)

This beautiful set of cards uses the Star of Light stamp set and the Starlight Thinlits Dies. (Everything is from Stampin' Up!) Such a beautiful set. And it makes beautiful cards and projects!

And these two cards are equally as beautiful. From left to right: Peaceful Pines stamp Set, Perfect Pines Framelits, and the "Noel" comes from the Wonderful Wreath Framelits dies to make the great card on the left. The Santa's Sleigh stamp set and the Santa's Sleigh Thinlits Dies make up the adorable card on the right.

Now these two cards are very fun. The card on the left uses the Happy Ornament stamp and the Warmth and Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack. The card on the right uses the Wrapped in Warmth stamp set and the Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. It is a very textured embossing folder, and gives the impression of a cable knit sweater! It is amazing!

I hope you enjoyed these cards! I really got so many amazing ones I just couldn't put them all in to one or two posts.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kathryn

Swap Cards to Share (Part 2)

Sorry it has taken me so long to get to sharing some more swap cards, but you all know how busy life can be. That is how it was for me this past week! So without further adieu, here are some of the Christmas cards that I received in the fun Demonstrator Event swap! I photographed them by what stamp set they used.

This first stamp set is called Christmas Pines. They also uses the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies, among other items.

This next couple of cards uses the Merriest Wishes stamp set, as well as the coordinating Merry Tags Framelits Dies. (I think the "Ho! Ho! Ho!" stamp is from the Greetings from Santa stamp set.)

And the third set of cards uses the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set and the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch.

If you look carefully, you can see that there were a couple different embossing folders used, as well as washi tape, and designer series papers.

I'm not sure who created each one of these cards, but they are all adorable! Thanks to all the different demo's/crafters who participated in the swap!

(I will try to get another post up showing you the rest of the cards I got soon.)

Thanks for stopping by,
Kathryn

Lots of Swap Cards to Share! (Part 1)

I told you all about the fun Demonstrator Event I went to last weekend. I decided to share the swaps I received from some of the others that attended also! So many people were swapping that I didn't get to have one of everyone's, but I did get quite a few. I got so many swaps that I am going to break them up into 3 or 4 different groups and share them over a few different posts.

So here is the first group. Let's start with the Halloween cards. 

This is the inside of one of the cards in the previous picture. It is so cute! You open up the little "coffin" and a vampire is inside!  

Aren't these cards just so adorable?! I don't know who made each one, because most of them were not marked, but they are all so cute! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! So much great inspiration! Thanks to all those who shared in the swapping! (Oh, and all the supplies to make these cards are  from Stampin' Up!)

I will be back soon with the next group of swap cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kathryn

Swirly Bird and Suite Sayings Card

Some cards just make me smile. And this is one of them! 

I must admit that when I first got the Swirly Bird stamp set and the Swirly Scribbles Framelits Dies, I was overwhelmed with all the adorable things that were being posted online. SO MUCH CUTENESS! I struggled with what to create! But once I actually started using it, and stopped looking at Pinterest, the inspiration started to flow.

Here is my card for today:

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp Sets: Swirly Bird (#141749), Suite Sayings (#140712)

Inks: Daffodil Delight (#126944), Marina Mist (#126962), Pear Pizzazz (#131180), Soft Suede (#126978), Mint Macaron (#138326), Archival Basic Black (#140931)

Card Stock: Whisper White Thick (#140272), Whisper White (#100730), Pear Pizzazz (#131201)

Accessories: Big Shot (#143263), Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies (#141497), Rhinestone Basic Jewels (#119246), Dimensionals (#104430)

I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon/evening, and that you have something in your life that just makes you smile!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Stampin' Fun, Suite Weekend!

This past weekend I attended a wonderful Demonstrator Team Event in Salt Lake City. There were about 60 people in attendance, and it was amazing! Not only did we have wonderful demonstrations centered around the great suites in the new 2016 Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog, but we had two very special demonstrators attend who were the keynote speakers. They were Natalie Travis and Robyn Cardon. Such amazing presentations, lots of great advice, and wonderful friendships were renewed or made!

Here are some of the adorable projects that were shared and displayed:

I had so much fun! And I received so many wonderful ideas and great inspiration! I can't wait to finish up my projects and show them to you here! 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kathryn

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Swirly Scribbles Suite Sayings Card

It has been a couple of weeks of celebrations around here lately. My great-nephew turned 2, and my youngest son turned 16! Parties and fun times were had all around. This card was not given to either one of them (because I feel that the colors are a bit too feminine for either one of them), but it is a card that could be given for a birthday, if you wanted. It could also be a card for any other celebration-worthy event. I hope you like it!

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp Sets: Suite Sayings, Swirly Bird, Watercolor Wash

Inks: Daffodil Delight, Archival Basic Black

Card Stock: Whisper White Thick, Pear Pizzazz, Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies, Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Marker, Decorative Label Punch, Linen Thread, Brights Sequin Assortment, Fine Tip Glue Pen, Dimensionals

On the Whisper White panel (underneath the Flirty Flamingo swirls), I used the Watercolor Wash Background Stamp. It is kind of hard to tell, because I stamped it off twice before stamping it on my panel. I used Daffodil Delight, but I wanted it to look very much like a watercolor wash had just been used on it. You can see it a bit better in real life, but I like it. I didn't want it to "jump out" at you, and take away from the other elements on the card.

I hope you all have something to celebrate today!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Happy Birthday Balloon Celebration - #GDP050

When I see balloons I always think of birthdays. What do you think of? When I saw the sketch challenge over on Global Design Project I thought about the stamp sets and DSP that I had and this is what I came up with. The Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack has so many wonderful photographic realism papers, and the one I chose to use was of the sky and clouds. I thought of balloons floating away into the big blue-ness and lots of wispy clouds. 

Here is my card:

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamp Set: Balloon Celebration

Ink: Island Indigo, Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad

Card stock: Pool Party, Whisper White, Island Indigo

Accessories: Big Shot, Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits Dies, Balloon Bouquet Punch, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Dimensionals

It is hard to see in the first picture, so I included a close-up of the balloon. I used gold embossing powder to make it look like the balloon is filled with gold confetti! It gives a fun bit of glimmer to an otherwise simple card. I hope you like it!

Here is the inspiration sketch that was provided by Global Design Project. It is #GDP050 .

It was a fun sketch to use, and I hope you enjoy my card!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Oh Happy Day Shaker Card

Life is good. My family is good. Things are going well. What a happy day!

I like shaker cards. All the fun, sparkly things that jiggle and shine inside a happy, little card! I might have used too many sequins inside this card, but...they are so fun! Shake, shake, shake! I used one of the dies from the Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits to give myself a great big window for all those sequins. And the background paper from Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack was just the right touch for conveying that happy feeling!

All supplies used are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Scenic Sayings

Ink: Archival Basic Black

Card stock: Old Olive, Delightful Dijon

Accessories: Window Sheets, Gold Sequin Trim, Foam Adhesive Strips, Big Shot, Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits, Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful day today, also! Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!

See you later,

Kathryn

Remarkable You Card - Fab Friday #93

Summer is winding down, but I'm not quite ready for Fall yet. I love the bright green leaves on the trees, and the vibrant colors of the Summer flowers. School has already started for some of the elementary school kids, and it starts in about a week and a half for the older kids, including my youngest son. In fact, he has been going to the high school for a couple of days now, to get some extra training for one of his CTE classes. (CTE stands for Career and Technical Education, I think.) He has been loving it. I think it is because they are feeding him pizza and candy bars, though! Anyway, keep it coming, Summer!

Well, here is my card today. I was checking out some of the challenge blogs that I follow, and I decided to participate in the Fab Friday challenge (http://fabfridaystampinchallenge.blogspot.com). It is a sketch this week, and I love it! Here is my card:

All supplies used are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp sets: Remarkable You, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink: Whisper White Craft, Early Espresso, Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, 

Smoky Slate

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Cucumber Crush, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Blender Pens, Aqua Painter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1/2" Circle Punch, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Dimensionals

Here is the challenge logo with the sketch:

I stamped the leaf image from Remarkable You in Early Espresso and then colored it in by squeezing my ink pad to get a "puddle" of ink on the lid. I then used my Blender Pen to color in the leaves using Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay, and a touch of Daffodil Delight. I wanted the branch to have a bit of a shadow, so I used my Aqua Painter brush and a bit of Smoky Slate along one edge. Using the Aqua Painter gave me a much lighter swash of color, just right for a bit of shadow. The small punched circles along the bottom of the greeting are in reference to the colors I used in the leaves. They also add a nice little pop of color without being too overwhelming.

Well, I hope you like my card today. Leave me a comment, if you did!

Thanks for visiting,
Kathryn

TGIF Color Challenge #tgifc67 : Suite Sayings Thank You Card

Life is so hard sometimes, and sometimes we can't always do what we want to do, can we? That is how it has been lately with stamping. I had some issues with my legs recently and so I had to keep them elevated...which makes it difficult to sit at my desk and create. So I colored in my big easy chair, when I had good light, until I was able to be up and about and able to sit at my desk. And I LOVED IT! If my life was perfect, I would create and make cards and scrapbook to my heart's content. But in the meanwhile, I will do what I can when I can.

Over at TGIF Challenge Blog, they have a color challenge this week, #tgifc67 . The colors are Smoky Slate, Island Indigo, and Flirty Flamingo. This is the first time I have used Flirty Flamingo. I don't know why I haven't used it yet. It is one of my favorite new In-Colors, along with Dapper Denim. I must have been saving it up to use on something really special. And boy, do I love this card! I think it turned out amazing! Love, love, love it! Take a look:

All supplies are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamp sets: Kinda Eclectic, Suite Sayings

Inks: Island Indigo, Whisper White Craft

Card stock: Whisper White Thick, Whisper White (regular), Smoky Slate, Island Indigo, Flirty Flamingo

Accessories: Petite Petals Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, Mini Brads (retired)

Here is the challenge badge from TGIF Challenges:

I hope you enjoyed my card. You could leave a comment if you like it!

Thanks,

Kathryn

Hello Watercolor Card #tgifc65

I made today's card in response to the challenge blog "TGIF Challenges". The challenge  ( #tgifc65 ) was to cut something out and use it on your project. It could be die cut, fussy cut, or even punched. You just had to CUT something out. My card used die cutting, using my Sizzix Big Shot and two different die sets. I was also inspired by Kristina Werner's blog post from a couple days ago where she watercolored her background. You can see her post here: http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=16235

I used a piece of watercolor paper that was 5 inches wide by 3-3/4 inches high. I sprayed both sides with water to help prevent it from curling up on me while I was painting it. and to also help the ink to blend together and spread.  I squeezed a few drops of Melon Mambo ink refill into the lid of it's corresponding ink pad, and also squeezed a few drops of Calypso Coral ink refill into the lid of it's corresponding ink pad. Then I took one of my aqua painters, loaded up my aqua brush with water and some of the Melon Mambo re-inker and started painting along the top of the wet watercolor paper. I painted about 1-1/4 inches and then I cleaned out my brush. Then, I picked up some of the Calypso Coral with my aqua brush and started to paint underneath the Melon Mambo. I wanted the two colors to blend so I went over the first color close to where I had stopped painting to mix the two colors slightly. (Remember, my paper is pretty wet, so the color was being pulled down by gravity a bit.) I used less and less ink the closer I got to the bottom, so that it would become lighter and lighter. After the paper dried (I helped it out a bit by using my heat tool), I wanted to give it the look of having little water droplets splattered on it. I wasn't sure if I actually dripped water on it, if it would look like I wanted it to, so I decided to use one of the splatter stamps from the "Gorgeous Grunge" stamp set. I used Whisper White craft ink, and I really like how it turned out. I think it looks great, and I love the colors! I also decided to turn the watercolor paper upside down so that the Melon Mambo was on the bottom instead of at the top so that it didn't feel so top-heavy.

 All supplies used are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Gorgeous Grunge

Inks: Melon Mambo Classic Ink Refill, Calypso Coral Classic Ink Refill , Whisper White Craft Pad

Card stock: Whisper White Thick, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Watercolor Paper, Aqua Painter, Big Shot, Hello You Thinlits Dies, Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Dies, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Dimensionals

Now, like I mentioned earlier, the TGIF challenge was to use something you cut out on your project, so I decided to use the "Hello You" Thinlits Dies, and also the "Bloomin' Heart" Thinlits Dies. I layered the little flower dies to give them some dimension, and on the greeting, I cut out four "hello" dies. I layered all four of them one on top of the other to give it some depth also.

Here is a picture of the challenge post from TGIF Challenges blog:

I hope you like my card today, and that it might inspire you to create something yourself!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Scenic Sayings Thank You Card

For the last several weeks I have been working on a job for some friends. Their son is getting married and my friends asked if I could help them make some wedding favors. Hundreds of little flowers and even more hundreds of tags/labels later...and I am all finished. But...I didn't take any pictures to share!  Maybe I could make something using the same kind of little flowers and then I could share that with everyone.

Today I have a thank you card that I made a little while back, and I told you that I would share it with you at another time. And today is that other time! So here it is:

All supplies used are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp Sets: Scenic Sayings, Flower Patch

Inks: Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Cucumber Crush, Daffodil Delight, Archival Basic Black

Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Accessories: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Paper Snips, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Dimensionals, Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker

Remember when I told I did a class where we did a One Sheet Wonder? (Did I tell you about that?) Well this is one of the cards that I made with some of that patterned paper that I had stamped and created. I love the color combination! I also stamped two of the greeting, then fussy-cut the banner that was in the middle and popped it up on some Dimensionals foam dots. It still felt like it needed something, so I added the rhinestone basic jewels and then scored a frame around the edges of the card base using my Simply Scored scoring board.

One other thing. I just want to take a moment to thank those of you who visit my little blog here. It means a lot to me. If it weren't for you, I don't think I would even have a blog. I enjoy sharing my cards, and I hope you enjoy looking at them. So...thank you so, so much!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

#GDP044 Theme: "Case The Designer" Thank You Card

Lately I have meant to post more often, but I have had a job working on some wedding favors for a friend and neighbor, so I have been sort of really busy trying to get things done for that. I decided to take a break and make some cards. I did some Paper Pumpkin cards for some friends  that I was going to visit, and my son needed a thank you card for another friend who gave him a gift for his high school graduation, and I still need to make a couple more cards for my husband who wanted to give them to some other friends that he was going to visit...so I have been pretty busy with paper crafting...just not for my blog!

Finally a moment for me to craft for myself! YAY! I decided to check out some of the challenge blogs that I participate in and found that the Global Design Project had a challenge that was still open, so I sat down and started to work. The challenge this week (#GDP044) was a "Case the Designer" challenge, where you would make something inspired by a project made by someone on the GDP Design Team. This week it was Steffi Helmschrott and a beautiful card she made with a big butterfly in the bottom right corner. I was inspired by her layout, and also sort of by her colors. I say "sort of", because she didn't use Rich Razzleberry or Delightful Dijon. But it did look like she used a Crumb Cake base, and it also looked like she used a Very Vanilla layer. She did use Gold Foil Paper, but I decided to use the Delightful Dijon as it is kind of a golden color.

Anyway, here is my card:

All supplies are (c)  Stampin' Up!:

Stamp Sets: Flower Patch, Thoughtful Banners

Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Delightful Dijon, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Delightful Dijon, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Big Shot, Big Shot Magnetic Platform, Flower Fair Framelits Dies, Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Duet Banner Punch, Paper Snips, Dimensionals

I die cut the flower parts so I could layer them for more dimension, and I embossed the Very Vanilla layer to give it the brick wall texture that I wanted. I also inked up the embossing folder to make the "grout" on the folder stand out more, and to give it a little bit of "grunge". This card has a lot of texture, which I like a lot! I also stamped and punched out two of the Delightful Dijon banners so I could cut the tails off the top one to make it look like it was folded under. I also used the Thoughtful Banners stamp set, which is a Photopolymer stamp set. This kind of stamp set allows you to "curve" the stamp a little bit, which I did, so that the greeting appears to curve on the waving banner. I initially stamped the greeting in Crumb Cake but I didn't like that it appeared too light in color for my taste. So I pulled out my Soft Suede ink pad and very carefully stamped over the top of the first stamping to give it a darker, but still brown, color. (I thought Basic Black would be too dark.)

Here is the inspiration piece from the Global Design Project challenge blog:

I hope you check out their blog: www.global-design-project.com

Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment if you like my card!]

Kathryn