Life is so Much Better!

Recently I finally broke out my "Petal Palette" stamp set. I know, I know. It seems like everyone has this stamp set and had stamped the living daylights out of it. And I have loved all the things that I have seen. But it seems that when there is a really popular stamp set and I own it also, I just have a harder time coming up with things to make using it. But I have finally put ink to rubber and made a card. And I must say that I love how it turned out!

Take a look:

 All supplies used are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp Set: Petal Palette

Inks: Blushing Bride, Night of Navy, Emerald Envy (oops, this one is now retired), 

StaZon Jet Black Ink, Daffodil Delight

Card Stock: Blushing Bride, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Blender Pens, 

Watercolor Pencils (Melon Mambo only), Whisper White & Silver Baker's Twine, 

Dimensionals

On the rose images I used a blender pen with the Blushing Bride ink. I then used the Melon Mambo Watercolor Pencil on the inner edge of the rose images. It gives the roses depth and shadow. You can see it better on the close-up image, I think. Aren't they pretty!!

I hope you know how much better life is with YOU in it! I appreciate you stopping by to visit my little blog, and I hope you come back again soon!

Thanks,

Kathryn

Remarkable You Friendship card

I love to color. Whether it is with colored pencils, watercolors, or blender pens, just put a pen, pencil, or paintbrush in my hand and I am a happy camper! The card that I am showing you today, I used a blender pen and a puddle of ink in my inkpad lids to bring some lovely color to a beautiful Magnolia blossom. The stamp set that it comes from is called "Remarkable You" and it has some wonderful images for coloring. This one I used a kind of sketchy design to color it in, because my blender pen was not the most "moist". (It might be time to get some new ones! LOL!)

Take a look at my card:

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp sets: Remarkable You, and Watercolor Wings (greeting)

Ink Pads: Powder Pink, Berry Burst, Early Espresso, Lemon-Lime Twist

Card stock: Powder Pink, Whisper White, Early Espresso

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Basics Embossing Folder, Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies, Flourish Thinlits Dies, Blender Pens, Classic Label Punch, Dimensionals

A close-up:

Do you like to color? Let me know. Maybe I can do more coloring and watercoloring to show here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kathryn

A Truly Artistic Color Challenge -- #tgif115

I love to do the challenge blogs. I know I haven't done very much of it lately...because...well, you know...LIFE. Anyway, I was checking out some of my favorite ones, and saw this one over on tgifchallenges.blogspot.com. It was a color challenge this week, using some of Stampin' Up!'s new In-Colors for 2017-2019. The colors are: Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, and Tranquil Tide. I really like how it turned out. Take a look:

All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated:

Stamp sets: Feathery Friends, Just Add Text, and Thoughtful Banners

Cardstock: Whisper White Thick, and Whisper White Regular

Ink pads: Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Archival Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Blender Pens, Berry Burst Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Foam Adhesive Strips

Just a few things about how I made this card. On the background, most of the blocks of color I stamped off once on a piece of scrap paper, so they wouldn't be quite so dark. And I fussy-cut the flower stem embellishment. I know. It would have been nice to have a die that cut it out, but I guess we can't have everything we want. (LOL!) The upper piece of Whisper White card stock is mounted on the Foam Adhesive Strips to give it some extra lift. And the die-cut circle and flower stem are just lifted up on regular Stampin' Dimensionals. I colored the flower stem using the ink pads and a blender pen. I gave a little shading to the leaves and stem with a touch of Tranquil Tide.

How do you like it? I think it turned out really cute! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think, okay?

Anyway, go check out tgifchallenges.blogspot.com and have some fun with their weekly challenges too! (Here is the graphic for this weeks challenge.)

Thanks for visiting,

Kathryn

I Died and Fell off the Earth...But Now I'm Back!

Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way of your fun?!

I had to get a full-time job, and it has seriously put a crimp in my crafting time, what with having to take care of my family, cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry, etc... I am really having a difficult time getting up to my desk to create! But recently, my sweet husband helped me out with dinner duty so I was able to sneak up to do some card making.

Stampin' Up!'s 2016 Occasions catalog is my source of inspiration for this card. Take a look:

All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated:

Stamp sets: Carousel Birthday, Thoughtful Banners

Card stock: Peekaboo Peach, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral

Inks: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Peekaboo Peach, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Cupcakes and Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack, Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Marker, Blender Pens, Paper Snips, 3/8" Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack (from Sale-a-Bration), Clear Wink of Stella Brush, Paper Snips, Large Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals

In the close-up you can see the sparkle and shine from the Wink of Stella brush. And the gold shine on the ribbon is so pretty in person, but it just doesn't show up in the photograph.

Anyway....I hope you like my card. And I appreciate you all who have kept coming back to visit even though there hasn't been anything new to see. I hope to correct that in the near future!

Thanks again,

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 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

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

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

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

Global Design Project #027: Theme Thank You Card

I really should do more of these challenge blogs. Sometimes, though, I just don't see them in time to get something created, photographed and posted to my blog in time. But TODAY was different. I know that the time is getting close to the challenge being closed, but I think I made it! YAY!

I have been admiring and loving the inspiration pieces that I see on the Global Design Project blog for several months now, but have not participated in it up until now. The theme for this challenge was  "thank you". Here is my card.

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

Stamp sets: Remarkable You, Bloomin' Love, and Crazy About You

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Ink Pads: StazOn Jet Black, Pink Pirouette, Cucumber Crush, So Saffron

Accessories: Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper, Big Shot, Ovals Collection Framelits, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Blender Pens

I know it is hard to tell that the flower image is cut out, so I included another view of it. It is also a Z-Fold card, which is a bit easier to tell from this other image. The banner is also "fussy cut" and popped up.

Here is the banner from the Global Design Project Challenge blog:

I hope that you like my challenge entry, and enjoy all the other entries that have been posted as well. #GDP027

Thanks for visiting,

Kathryn