festive little bird

Good morning! It is 1 AM and I'm not at all sleepy.... So I thought I'd bring you a quick post and then I'm off to bed. I've been wanted to make a card for Taylor's sketches forever and so tonight I just went for it and used my Sunny Day simply scrappin' kit to make a quick and easy card. I loved this sketch {TESC90} and have had it bookmarked since Friday! The only stamp is the sentiment, which is from Short & Sweet.

Ok, that should do it for tonight/this morning - have a wonderful day!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: short & sweet
paper: textured tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie, whisper white card stock, sunny day simply scrappin' kit
ink: tempting turquoise
accessories: circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), stampin' dimensionals

july key ingredients challenge

Good morning! Today, Taylor has challenged some of the Baker's Dozen to create a home decor item or housewarming gift using the July Key Ingredients kit. The minute I saw the kit, I was SUPER excited to start crafting with it - it is SO cute! The paper this month is from Cosmo Cricket {Early Bird} and the colors are so trendy!

When I saw all the flower chipboard pieces in the kit, I instantly thought of making a little flower bouquet, but wondered what I should do with it. Do I add buttons to the centers, or brads, or bows....? oh hey, I'll put photos of my precious little ones in the centers and make a fun little gift for one of the Grandmas. I looked up some quotations about grandmothers online and I found this one, which is so perfect, "A garden of love grows in a grandmother's heart." ~ unknown. I used Photoshop Elements to make my sentiment and printed it on Choice Buttercream cardstock and added it to the chipboard center of the big oval flower. To add the paper to the chipboard I used Tombo Multi Adhesive and then cut the shapes out with a hobby blade. I used a precision file set to smooth out the edges. Here is a new product for me - Liquid Pearls! I added little drops of Liquid Pearls in the petals of the big round flower and I have to say that I'm very disappointed in myself for not using this marvelous embellishment before. Love it! This is why I love these monthly kits - they introduce me to new products! I used sticky strip to wrap more paper around pencils and then tied the stitched olive ribbon around the stem to make it look like the leaves. What do you think? I just can't decide which grandma to give this to now - might have to make another one, haha.

Don't forget to sign up for the 3-month or 6-month KI subscription - you can get your Key Ingredients delivered right to your doorstep at a discounted price!

Want to see more fantastic projects? Check out the rest of the Baker's Dozen participants for this month's challenge.

Ana Wohlfahrt
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jodi Collins
Laura Fredrickson
Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by today!
Karen


recipe -
paper: choice buttercream cardstock (taylored expressions), early bird paper (cosmo cricket)
accessories: {flower chipboard, lemon yellow liquid pearls, olive stitched grosgrain ribbon, olive satin ribbon, all from july key ingredients - taylored expressions}, sherbet buttons (stampin' up!), ecru embroidering floss, pencils, sticky strip, mini glue dots, precision file set (basic grey)

simple pleasures

Happy Monday - It might be a Verve Stamps week here at my blog. It all started when I entered a sketch challenge sponsored by Verve for the Stampin' Out Alzheimer's event and I was completely shocked when I WON! I got my freebies in the mail on Saturday and I can't put them down. Love them! I might sneak a Stampin' Up! or Taylored Expressions card in here somewhere, but it's like when you get new shoes and you find every excuse to wear them, lol! I'm trying my hand at one of the challenges from the Verve Forum and this week's sketch with a {twist} is you must use 3 colors of cardstock (white does not count), 3 different embellishments, and 3 different stamp sets. WOWZERS! This one ended up being a lot harder than I first thought. I used the colors from Stacey Schafer's Jewelry Color Inspiration - Garden Green, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, and Whisper White. I also used my new sets from Verve Stamps - the background is stamped with the flourish from Beautiful Kindness, the flowers are from Miracles Blossom, and the sentiment is from Floral Whimsy. I added a few pink buttons, ribbon and dew drops on the flowers - that was the tough part! 3 embellishments is more than I usually use, so I hope it isn't too over the top. Ok, off to try the next challenge...

Have a wonderful day!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: beautiful kindness, miracles blossom, floral whimsy (verve stamps)
ink: memento tuxedo black, regal rose, garden green
paper: certainly celery, garden green, pretty in pink, whisper white cardstock
accessories: savannah buttons (taylored expressions), dew drops (taylored expressions), rectangle/scallop & oval/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), scallop edge punch, 5/8" certainly celery grosgrain ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, tombo multi adhesive

bringin' back cool caribbean, baby!

Kelly Jo emailed me and told me she was starting up a new color challenge and I just had to swing on over to her blog and check it out. I was blown away by the colors - they are stunning together! I used Whisper White, Cool Caribbean (yes, I have a TON of this paper left), and Certainly Celery. Aren't they gorgeous? I was having trouble finding my mojo, so I hopped over to Clean & Simple Stamping and found this card and I was inspired. To create the look of patterned paper, I stamped Pretty Petals in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I really like the look it created against the Cool Caribbean - I was pleasantly surprised! Thanks Kelly Jo for a great challenge today.

Thanks for swinging by!
Karen



recipe -
stamps: on your birthday, pretty petals
ink: versamark, cool caribbean
paper: cool caribbean, certainly celery, stampers select white (papertrey, ink)
accessories: certainly celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, white embossing powder

double the challenge, twice the fun!

Hello! I'm doubling up on challenges today - first is Amy's Friday Sketch #55 and the other is Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 2. Amy's sketch just screamed at me to put it on paper and Dawn's colors (teal, brown, white, and celery) looked so soothing, so I went to work. The sketch didn't work with layers (I tried and failed miserably), so I just kept it clean and simple. I ran the flowers and long rectangle through my Cuttlebug with the Spots & Dots and D'vine Swirls embossing folders to create some texture since I didn't use any patterned paper *gasp*! I know!! (say that in your very best Craig Ferguson voice, k?) I used paper to thread my button again and just attached it with a glue dot. Loved these challenges today - go give them a try :)

Hey, don't forget to try out this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge for a chance to win some yummolicious blog treats. All the details are in THIS POST. Only 2 days left to participate!!

Have a wonderful day!
Karen




recipe -
paper: chocolate chip, certainly celery, taken with teal, stampers select white (papertrey, ink)
accessories: 5/16" brads, button (bag-o-buttons), certainly celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, card sayings rubons (making memories), flower layers die cut (sizzix), d'vine swirls/spots & dots embossing folders (provocraft), large corner rounder, stampin' dimensionals

wonderful

This week's featured stamper at SplitcoastStampers is the always fabulous, Beate! Her gallery is packed full of wonderful cards and I chose to CASE this card. I changed the stamps, paper, and embellishments for my card and I wish Stampin' Up! still had Maine Blueberry paper available - I love these colors together! One of these days I'll get some current paper to show off - I'm just trying to work my way out of the piles of old paper in my desk at the moment.

So can you tell what I left off of this card??? Do you know?? Ribbon! It's a rare day when I don't use any ribbon on a card - ha!

One of the blogs I visit all the time is Jen Tapler's and she has some yummy blog candy to give away - you only need to send her a brand new, never seen before card. She's going to collect all the cards and put them together for her Stamp Out Alzheimer's event in May. You can see all the details at her blog, HERE. Such a wonderful idea!

Enjoy your day -
Karen


recipe -
stamps: wonderful favorites
ink: not quite navy, bashful blue
paper: bashful blue, not quite navy, old olive, whisper white cardstock, maine blueberry dsp
accessories: 6-petal punch & 5-petal punch (ek success), vintage brads, circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), mini glue dots, stampin' dimensionals

simply magic

Do you ever sit down to create something with an image in your head and when you finish, stare at it with complete amazement? This is how I felt when I finished this card for Kristina's color challenge today. It is exactly the way I pictured it in my head - and that rarely happens! I'm SO excited to post this card for you - it just makes me happy! Kristina inspired me with her fabulous color choice today - Riding Hood Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black and Bashful Blue. Do they not work fantastic together?!! You may have noticed I copied the fabric with the flowers on the black background, but it's so cute - I just couldn't resist. The little butterfly from Flight of the Butterfly is back (love him!) along with the sentiment from Absolutely Fabulous.

I'll be back with another post very soon - Thanks for stopping by.
Karen


recipe -
stamps: flight of the butterfly, absolutely fabulous
ink: riding hood red, bashful blue
paper: riding hood red, bashful blue, regal rose, pretty in pink, basic black, whisper white cardstock
accessories: silver brads, circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), flower trio punch, stampin dimensionals

ready for spring

I am SO ready for spring! I noticed our grass is starting to turn the faintest shade of green and our tulips are peeking out of the soil too. I love this time of year in Colorado. It won't be too long before the trees start to bloom. I thought I'd capture some spring in my card today by using Branching Out and Branching Out Coordinates again. I just can't get enough of these cute sets! I watercolored the branch, leaves and flowers about a week ago when I was first finding ideas for this set, but I never used the image. So when I saw this week's Limited Supplies Challenge over at SplitcoastStampers, I thought this abandoned branch would save me! This week, the challenge is to make a card in under 30 minutes. Now I don't know about you, but most of my cards take more than 30 minutes to make and often leave a huge pile of unwanted scraps and mistakes along the way. But today... today I completed this card under 30 minutes - yay me! Since I had my main image stamped and colored already, that saved me major time and then I found Sketch Challenge 215 (also at SplitcoastStampers), which saved me more time trying to figure out a card layout. I had time to add the mini Twinkle dots to the flowers and run some cardstock through the Cuttlebug with embossing folders, and here you have it. My 30-minute card.

Don't forget to hop on over to Taylor's blog to check out today's Birthday Party specials. She's giving away fun treats all weekend. You can also pick up Branching Out and Branching Out Coordinates in a fun bundle from Taylored Expressions through Sunday.

Karen


recipe -
stamps: branching out, branching out coordinates (taylored expressions - leave a lasting impression)
ink: basic brown
paper: choice bright white (taylored expressions), chocolate chip, razzleberry medium (taylored expressions easter key ingredients kit), tiny dancer patterned paper (my minds eye - from taylored expressions easter key ingredients kit)
accessories: watercolor wonder crayons (pretty in pink, regal rose, close to cocoa, creamy caramel, certainly celery, always artichoke), small watercolor brush, standard tag shapabilities (spellbinders), pink grosgrain ribbon, 1/8" circle punch, small/large oval punch, mini twinkle dots (a.muse), d'vine swirls & birds and swirls embossing folders, stampin' dimensionals

color inspiration 43

It's Friday - I'm doing the happy dance right now! Kristina has posted a new color inspiration challenge this week and I'm so happy to be able to get the chance to participate again. It's been 4 weeks!! I love her challenges. Lots of colors to use - Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Old Olive, and Brocade Blue (with a splash of white, hehe). I already had my Pumpkin Pie Patterns paper out on the desk, so I just jumped right back into the pack. And eyelets!! Do you know how long it's been since I've used eyelets??? They look so cute with this stamp too. To make the button fit properly on the card, I punched out a little space for it with the 3/4 circle punch. If you look really closely you can see how the button nests right in there.

That's it for now - enjoy your Friday,
Karen



recipe -
stamps: say it with scallops
ink: pumpkin pie
paper: ruby red, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip, whisper white cardstock, pumpkin pie patterns dsp
accessories: latte buttons, fresh favorites II eyelets, old olive 5/ 8" grosgrain ribbon, scallop square punch, 3/4" circle punch, stampin' dimensionals

a very exciting anniversary!

Taylor is celebrating the one year anniversary of the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge! Each of the ladies on the Weekly Cupcake Crew has designed their own sketch for the celebration. I'm featuring Jami Sibley's sketch challenge. You can check out the sketch on her blog and find out about the prize you can win by participating!

Don't forget to check out Taylor's blog, the anniversary celebration headquarters, for all of the sketch challenges as well as an awesome grand prize for one random winner who participates in ALL 9 sketch challenges and believe me you are going to want to win this fantastic prize! We hope you'll help us celebrate this yummy occasion!

If you are planning on uploading your card to SplitcoastStampers, please use the keyword TECC52JS - Good luck!

Hop on by these fantastic blogs to see more samples of Jami's wonderful sketch too!
Jami Sibley
Charmaine Ikach
Steph Kraft
Renee VanStralen


recipe -
stamps: love is sweet (exclusively at taylored expressions), short & sweet

ink: ridinghood red, black, pink pirouette, close to cocoa, sahara sand

paper: ridinghood red, pink pirouette, white cardstock, candy lane dsp

accessories: ridinghood red taffeta ribbon, blender pens, nestabilities rectangle/circle and scallops die templates, stampin dimensionals

color inspiration 39

Hello again! It's time for Kristina's color inspiration this week and it's a DOOZIE! Basic Black, Real Red, Green Galore, So Saffron, and Whisper White. Wow... I don't think I've used Green Galore in a looooong time. I was just slightly frightened by the thought of putting this bright green on a card, but then I thought, hey - what a perfect opportunity to get rid of some Green Galore buttons I have. Sweet!!! See, you always have to try and find the positive in a situation... haha! Somehow I felt the need to make a 'get better' card since we've all been so sick (but on the mend!) and this little stamp is so perfect! It's from Event Full, which I believe is an old hostess set. I hope you like it - it's growing on me and I'm so happy I stuck it out using the Green Galore. Reminds me of Sour Apple candy actually, so it can't be all that bad, right?

Karen

recipe -

stamps: event full

ink: staz-on black, real red

paper: basic black, so saffron, gable green, stampers select white (papertrey, ink) cardstock, so saffron prints dsp

accessories: real red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, bold brights buttons, blender pens, stampin dimensionals, mini glue dots, nestabilities die templates

color inspiration 38

Hello and HAPPY FRIDAY!! I am so ready for the weekend - we've been so busy, and sick, busy this week and I'm ready for a rest. It's time for Kristina's color inspiration and this week she's chosen Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty In Pink and Whisper White. I would have never thought to put these colors together, but I love the way they work! For this card, I stamped my own background using the heart and sparkle images from Sweet Shapes (retired). I haven't used this set in a LONG time, but I love it still. I also used chipboard letters from Loads Of Letters and glued Pretty In Pink cardstock to the front of each letter and then filed the edges to smooth them out. I bought a set of 6 precision files from Basic Grey that are (in my opinion) a must have for chipboard. You can really get in the little grooves and crannies of the chipboard. The Pumpkin Pie heart is cut from the Sizzlits die template, Hearts Set.

That's it for today - don't forget to enter the drawing for my blogoversary candy!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: sweet shapes (retired)
ink: pretty in pink, ruby red, pumpkin pie
paper: pretty in pink, ruby red, stampers select white (papertrey, ink) cardstock, pumpkin pie patterns dsp
accessories: on board loads of letters (chipboard), pumpkin pie striped grosgrain ribbon, hearts set sizzlits die template, tombo multi adhesive, stampin' dimensionals

color inspiration 37

Wow, I am really excited to show you today's card - it turned out SO much better than I was picturing in my head. I love it when that happens! I'm still using up my Love & Happiness rub-ons from last year's Sale-A-Bration - that's my resolution this year: Stop Hoarding Supplies!!! Sheesh... I used Kristina's color challenge for inspiration today; Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White. Now leave it to me to take perfectly good masculine colors and girl it all up! I did substitute Soft Sky for Baja Breeze because I don't have Baja Breeze yet.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Karen

recipe -

paper: chocolate chip, soft sky, old olive cardstock, pumpkin pie patterns dsp

accessories: pewter hodgepodge hardware, vintage brads, pumpkin pie striped grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, trio flower punch, mini glue dots

color inspiration 36

It's another fantastic color challenge from Kristina and it's very Valentine's-y colors too, but I'm taking a break from hearts just for a moment. I have a bunch of January birthdays coming up soon, so I thought I'd make a card for a friend, who I hope likes pink, ha! This week's colors are Rose Red, Pretty In Pink, Old Olive, and Whisper White - and isn't that little pin cusion too cute?

Stay tuned! I have somthing fun to share with you in just a few moments....

Karen

recipe -
paper: pretty in pink, whisper white cardstock, berry bliss dsp (retired)
accessories: pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon, flower fusion accents & elements, soft subtles brads, love & happiness rub ons (retired), stampin' dimensionals

and on to valentines day...

Well, we still have one more round of Christmas coming on New Year's Day so I can't say I'm completely done with Christmas, but my mind is already moving on to the next holiday - Valentine's Day, yes! You may get a little bombarded here the next few posts, but I'll try and switch it up for you - I'm trying to get some cards in my Etsy store in time for Valentine's Day. Anyway... today I thought I'd give Taylor's Cupcake Challenge a try and ink up my new A Happy Heart set all at the same time. I am loving this set! There are so many cute stamps in it.

Have a wonderful day!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: a happy heart

ink: regal rose, tempting turquoise

paper: pretty in pink, close to cocoa, tempting turquoise, whisper white cardstock, loves me dsp (retired)

accessories: clear buttons, stampin' dimensionals

more new toys

New stamps!! Finally, I have some new stamps to get dirty - today I got to play with Season of Simple Grace. I love this set and have been eyeballing it since the Holiday Mini catalog came out a couple months ago. The card sketch comes from Julee's Mojo Monday sketch this week and works perfectly with this image. I added some diamond Stickles over the star to give it some sparkle and make it stand out a little bit and I used black embossing powder for the sentiment at the bottom. I was impressed the letters didn't get all jumbled together when I melted the powder! The patterned paper is retired and I don't know the name of it, so sorry.

Thanks so much for stopping by -

Karen

recipe -

stamps: season of simple grace

ink: so saffron, bordering blue, versamark

paper: bordering blue, basic black, whisper white cardstock, retired dsp

accessories: old olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, 1/4" circle punch, vintage brads, diamond stickles, black embossing powder, stampin' dimensionals

color inspiration 35

Ok, so it's become very sad that the last couple posts have been for Kristina's color inspirations and hey, here's another one, ha! I DO need to find more time to stamp so I can post more for you. The good news is I'm DONE shopping for Christmas, so I don't need to worry about going out in the morning for that anymore. Thank goodness because it's a balmy -4 as I'm typing this. Nothing like walking out into cold weather that makes your lungs hurt! To be fair, it is 10 PM, so it's not like it's -4 at noon, but it didn't get past 5 today, so that's still stinkin' COLD!

Mr. Brown battled the snow-packed streets and delivered my new toys today, yeah baby! I ordered some of the new Big Shot die cuts and had to use the Flower Layers die for my card today. I have a Cuttlebug and wanted to see if the Sizzix dies would work with it and they do!! I had to sandwich the Flower Layers die in between two B cutting plates for it to work and I'm not entirely sure it is good for the plates, but it worked. So until I can save my pennies next quarter for the Big Shot machine, this will do. The other dies work wonderfully though. I also got some fun new stamp sets and I have a new card for you tomorrow - oooh, teaser! Yes, I really will post at least twice this week - hehe.

Man, I'm chatty today! Kristina's challenge this week is Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze (I don't have it so I used Sage Shadow since she mentioned 'minty green' in her post), So Saffron, and Very Vanilla. It was a fun challenge, so go check out the other entries and give it a try.

Have a fantastic day!
Karen

recipe -

paper: chocolate chip, sage shadow, so saffron, very vanilla cardstock, autumn vine dsp

accessories: close to cocoa grosgrain ribbon, love and happiness rub-ons (retired), flower layers sizzix die cut template

color inspiration 34

Hello -it's been a looong time! Life has been so busy and time consuming these past couple weeks and with Christmas right around the corner, I don't see it slowing down. I will try my best to post though! Today I have my little creation for Kristina's color inspiration. Her colors remind me of frosty cold days (which we've had many!), but I don't have any snowman stamps - say what? I don't know how that happened because you should see all the little snowmen I have in my house at the moment. This week's colors are Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Bordering Blue, Sage Shadow and Certainly Celery - so fun together!

Ok, I'm off to shop and battle the crowds. Have a fantastic day!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: party hearty, twinkle wheel

ink: bordering blue, certainly celery, perfect plum

paper: pale plum, perfect plum, bordering blue, whisper white cardstock, autumn vine dsp

accessories: white tafeta ribbon, circle scallop punch, stampin' dimensionals

color inspiration 33

Ok, this card had a whole different look in my head and THEN when I added the white rub-on my heart just went, NOOO! Ugh, the rub-on is so blurry! So, this is what I have now - cute little flowers and fantastic ribbon with a blurry image. blah! Do not buy cheap rub-ons, k? I think these are a pack of Making Memories Card Sayings rub-ons, just in case you'd like to avoid them. hehe. Hopefully I just got a bad pack and they aren't usually like this. Anyway, Kristina has a tough color challenge this week: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Taken With Teal and Whisper White. Now I'm off to see the other entries - everyone always has such great work so go check them out when you get a chance. It's snowing here today, so please excuse the once again blurry photo. Seriously trying to find the deal of the century on a nice camera!!

Have a wonderful day!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: polka dot background

ink: versamark

paper: whisper white, chocolate chip, taken with teal cardstock

accessories: flower punch (ek success), felt fusion flowers, antique brads, celery grosgrain ribbon, chocolate chip double stitched 1" grosgrain ribbon, clear embossing powder

featured cupcake sampler

YES! Can you believe it? I'm the Featured Cupcake Sampler over at Taylor's blog this week!! My jaw hit the floor when she emailed me the good news and I went right to work on making my sample. I have had my Dashing designer paper on my desk all week so it seemed like a good choice to run with and went with a Christmas theme - sorry, no cupcakes this week. You can see more fantastic samples of this sketch over at Taylor's blog too.

I apologize for the photo - I took about 40 pictures and all of them were blury somewhere and it the sun didn't want to peek out of the clouds, so it's a bit dark. Anyway, one of these days I'll get a better camera - mine is a cheap point and shoot and I'm about ready to throw it out the window, ha!

Now how many of you are hitting the sales today and have been up since 5 AM to do so?? Yeah, not me, but I really have admiration for all of you that hit the stores and battle the crowds to get those amazing deals. Me? I sleep in (or as much as I can with 3 little ones anyway) and stay in my jammies until lunch. Pure laziness for me, that's how I roll!

Edited: The card dimensions are 4-1/4 square and I usually will mail this size in a regular A2 envelope (fits a standard 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 card) to avoid paying extra postage for a square envelope.

Have a fantastic Friday!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: season of joy, short & sweet

ink: real red, old olive

paper: very vanilla, real red, river rock, old olive cardstock, dashing dsp

accessories: old olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, mini twinkle dots (a.muse), fire circle rhinestone brads, circle nestibilities die templates, stampin dimensionals