Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thankful
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Do your Black Friday shopping right here!

Christmas Cardinal & Poinsettia
So I followed the sketch pretty well this time, but we try to use current SU product which I sort of slacked on here. The ribbon is a retired Riding Hood Red taffeta and the background stamp called Stitched is also retired. Other than that- everything is current!
You all probably know how I am by now... that I do my best to steer away from the obvious in a challenge like this. Whatever first comes to mind I try to go in another, usually opposite, direction. So with this type of sketch I thought color blocking- meaning each panel a different color. SO, the exact opposite of that would be not only that they are all the same but the same as the card base as well- Sahara Sand in this case. To delineate be
tween the two I stamped them with the background and sponged all the edges. First I sponged them with white, but that just didn't show up enough so I went over it with Sahara Sand ink. Much better!In order to really make the red touches pop I decided to keep the other colors on the flower image very neutral- Sahara Sand with a bit of Mellow Moss for the leaves. That's it. But really I wanted the flowers to be the primary focus so when all was said and done they got a touch of Crystal Effects to make them shine. What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by today! I sure hope you'll play along with us this week- go post your creation with our Mr. Linky so we can vote for YOU as our next Featured Artist and a chance to win some blog candy in December!
~Kristin
SUO Supplies
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Pumpkin Patch
You can make these fuller if you want by simply adding in more scallops. They would probably stand a little easier as well the fuller you make them. Since these (plus another big one I gave to my hostess recently) took 4 full sheets of cardstock I pulled out a not so favorite color Tangerine Tango. I just didn't want to use up the last of my Pumpkin Pie paper.
Sorry it took so long for me to post these. Since I gave the only completed one away I had to take the time to make more... and I've just not gotten much stamping done lately. Although I do have all our Christmas decorations up (except the tree)! This is extremely early for me!
Come back tomorrow for a cool Diva sketch challenge!
~Kristin
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Peace, Love and Joy
Stay tuned for a cute fall project- perfect for the Thanksgiving table!
~Kristin
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Christmas Card Class Projects
SUO Supplies (for 2nd card only, supplies for the top card are listed on the post for the original design)
Friday, November 20, 2009
Holiday Designs Using Berry Christmas
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Shimmer Paint Designs
This design utilizes a Mojo Monday sketch I missed last week (MOJO112) and some Christmas Cocoa DSP. Did you notice that these two patterns have a sheen to them? Oh yes! It is quite pretty- but subtle. It also very nicely coordinates with the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint in SU's current Holiday Mini catalog. In fact, that is what I inked up this flourish from Baroque Motif with- Shimmer Paint. Isn't it lovely?!
This is an alternative my ladies will be able to make if they prefer. I've always wanted to try this 3D type of card so this is the perfect opportunity.
If you would like a Christmas card class of your own contact me soon because time is running out and dates are getting harder to schedule.
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope to have more for you tomorrow.
~Kristin
SUO Supplies
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Delightful Decorations
Colors: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Accessories: Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Ornament punch, gold elastic cord, Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain, 1" circle punch, Christmas Cocoa DSP
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
For All You Do: A Diva Color challenge
The color challenge for today is Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Real Red and Sage Shadow. I was really struggling to get the Sage Shadow on here at first, but after it was all stamped I decided to go ahead and add a bit more too, just to tie it in and be a little bold. This card is a bit over the top for me- all the extras that I sometimes leave off.
So go visit the Diva blog and see what great samples the other Divas did to inspire you. Then please play along- we'd love to have you join us this week! Gotta go chase down my puppy who is still recovering but feeling frisky and getting bored of being separated from the other dogs.
Thanks for stopping by today! Why don't you leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite part of my card is.
~Kristin
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Vera Inspired and Living Out Loud
Yesterday's Clean & Simple challenge on SCS was to be inspired by something on the Vera Bradley website and make a CAS card with that in mind. Here is the bag I chose- more importantly, the fabrice I chose. This fabric is called Carnaby and I just loved the colors! They closely resemble SU's Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and I threw in some Morning Glory as well- all on a Basic Black background.The zippered wallet shown here has a diamond pattern quilting so I tried to mimic that with my partial diamond embossed background. Since I don't have a fancy tool to do lots of score lines with I just used my 12" trimmer and the scoring blade. After a while I got tired of it so I decided I really liked the look of just half the card done like that. That's why you can't see score marks on the left side- there aren't any! I added in some Big Shot Daisies with some jumbo brads and voila.
The little blue journal box attached with Vintage brads is from the SU Simply Scrappin' Kit, Hoppy Memories (retired). I'm still not sure how this page will fit in my 12x12 albums- it will hang over the edges of the page protector I guess... but you gotta love that scrolled border! One thing I wanted to point out is the row of brads at the right of the picture- they are actually bullet points for details like his name, age, teacher and school... but I covered it with vellum for the photo just to be safe (and so grandma doesn't call and give me a hard time- LOL).
Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to come back tomorrow for a new and fabulous Diva Coffee Break Designs challenge... and if you haven't yet played along with last week's challenge be sure to do that so we can pick YOU as our next Featured Stamped!
~Kristin
Monday, November 16, 2009
Priceless Memories
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Today You are 5
I cannot boast that all things used here are Stampin' Up! Namely the cardstock is from some stack I had- I have used up most of my favorite colors of SU 12x12, especially the textured, so I had to dig deep into my stash for this. The nice thing is that they were a close match to our Night of Navy and Always Artichoke and Creamy Caramel- at least close enough to use the craft ink for the chipboard letters.
I used the Modern Label punch to add some... I don't know, hinges or buckles maybe?? Put a Playground button and some brads and called it done! IN case you noticed, yes this is the second layout of my son's 5th birthday and believe it or not, there is another full layout coming as well. I guess that's what happens when you get lots of pictures at three different events celebrating the same thing. These won't all be in the same album so it won't be quite as redundant at least. LOL! The funny part was writing my journaling... the last sentence says "I can't believe our baby boy is 5 already!" but soon he will be 10! Yep, that's how far behind I am.
Thanks for visiting! More to come...
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Getting Closer to my Goal!!
Here is the layout which uses 100% Stampin' Up! products. This is not unusual for me with my cards, but I've been scrapbooking for nearly 20 years (since I was a teenager!) so I have lots of products from before my last 5 years as an SU Demonstrator. Speaking of which, I celebrated my 5 year anniversary with SU in October and I think I forgot to mention it! What a blast it's been.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wrapping Paper Inspired!
However, I am off to the vet. Our puppy I mentioned last Friday isn't doing so well. She has a gaping wound that we hadn't noticed until today so we're thinking she may have torn it open playing with the other puppy. Anyway, she's going to get some work done and I'm going to be stuck with a hefty bill, I'm sure. Ugh!
Kids are home from school due to fog this morning and parent teacher conferences this afternoon so they are cramping my stamping time as well. LOL! Actually, if it wasn't for my daughter hounding me I might not have stamped today at all so I shouldn't complain.
Have a great day, and hopefully I'll have some scrapbook pages to share sometime tomorrow or Saturday. That's what I have planned to do tomorrow...we'll see if it happens.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
It's a Diva Wednesday Sketch Challenge!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Design Team Wannabe!
This one is also for the sketch challenge (we had two choices). Another one using the Merry Details Sizzlit! This time I used the bird and snowflake. Hope you like them! TFL and thanks for stopping by!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Bring on the Holidays!!
Announced today is a new call for the Winter term Design Team for the Clean & Simple challenges. I tried out last term and didn't make it so I'm trying again. I love these challenges and would really enjoy getting them early and making samples for everyone to be inspired by!
Of the 3 challenges this time I've done two of them with three different cards... so far. I fully intend to do the last challenge as well. This one is for the Inspiration challenge which was to go to THIS website and pick something to be inspired by. I chose THIS cute little spun glass ornament. Of course I reached for my Wild About You set with this cute alligator. His hat is made from the large Star punch with some white felt I had used for my daughter's skunk costume this year for Halloween. The sentiment is from an old set called Punches Three- a hostess set from 2008. Ribbon is a retired Old Olive twill which I love and really wish it would be a mainstay in the SU catalog! Funny thing is I designed this card with the Sleigh Bells ribbon from the current Holiday Mini in mind. Things happen!
The other two cards I made today I'll save for tomorrow. They are both for the sketches provided for the CAS DT tryouts. If you just can't wait you can check out my gallery on Splitcoast- I'll be putting them in there shortly.
Gotta go check on the pups and get my oil changed! Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin
SUO Supplies
Card 1: Stamps- All Holidays; Colors- Melon Mambo, Whisper White; Accessories: Big Shot, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions embossing folder, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, 5 petal flower punch
Card 2: Stamps- Punches Three, Wild About You; Colors- Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Old Olive; Accessories: Scallop Square punch, felt, large star punch, scallop edge punch, Old Olive twill
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Phew!
The specific one I used is the right side of this one. This side of my layout is a little lacking on detail but the colors are pretty bold and I thought I'd better leave well enough alone.
So about my puppy... oh my! This sweet little face is only 3 months old and she is a little Houdini! She has managed to get herself into and out of some tight spots... until Friday. I went out to our kennel to feed her (and the other 3 dogs) and when I open the door to the building she was hanging by her hind haunches caught in the wire fencing that is supposed to keep her in! It appeared she might have been like that all night!Thursday, November 5, 2009
Razzleberry Peace
Believe it or not parts of this card came to me almost in a dream- rather, with the first thought that popped into my head one morning. Seriously, I almost couldn't go back to sleep, ALMOST. Then I looked at the sketch challenge it fit so here it is.
The sentiment isn't quite what I had in mind but for a variety of reasons this is what I ended up with- using the Billboard alpha and Big Shot. The snowflake is also done with the Big Shot and a sizzlit.
Can you believe there is no stamping on this thing?! That's right- the patterned paper is all from the Night and Day DSP pack.
So glad you stopped by today... gotta run!
~Kristin
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Are you up for a color challenge?

First thing I did was emboss the Creamy Caramel piece with the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions folder with the intent of using the other side but somehow I liked this better and decided to cut it into a trio. Added the cut out flower, stamped sentiment and some white organza ribbon and called it quits.
Now, why don't you stop lurking and go play along with the Diva challenge this week. Pretty please?!? Tell them Kristin sent ya too so everyone knows that my gals like a good challenge! Go on!
Thanks for visiting again and for your humbling comments!
SUO Supplies
Monday, November 2, 2009
Love you much
For yesterday's Mojo Monday contest challenge... My main image is stamped with black Staz On on glossy white paper, which my photo didn't exactly capture. The flower ended up black since I inked it that way so I just covered it with a red punched out flower with black brad. So what do you think of this color combination? It just kind of happened... I grabbed my Pink Flamingo DSP from SU since I didn't get much use out of it before it retired, and went from there. The Cameo Coral in it use paired with Ballet Blue on the trusty Color Wheel so that's where the blue came from.
This morning I woke up with another idea for this sketch so I may be doing it again today after I take the kids to school.... we'll see.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin
SUO Supplies
Party Hearty Dude!
It took me a while to figure out which sentiment would be perfect since I don't have any teen slang sets. "Party Hearty" seemed just right to me and the look of stamping it over and over again seems to add a more casual feel. Did you notice the frayed end of the ribbon, held on by a staple? Those little touches are always what I strive to find, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. LOL!
The Bermuda Bay swirls meant to simulate water in motion is from my brand new Scribbles and Swirls Sizzlit die for my Big Shot. I can think of so many uses for this die and this is only the beginning- you can count on seeing it much more in the future!
Enough chatter, enjoy your day and thanks for visiting me! If you can't think of anything better to do why don't you go play along with this challenge?! Anyone is welcome! Or better yet, go play along with last week's Diva challenge for a chance to be made famous by being our next Featured Artist!! We'll be making our selections tomorrow probably so hurry!
~Kristin
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Equestrian Christmas
Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Your Friendship
Anyway, on to the card... I used some of my new stuff for the first time including the stamp set Wings of Friendship which is a level 2 hostess set, the Texturz Plates Kit #4 (has the definition of Friend in it) and this beautiful vanilla taffeta ribbon. It is always a thrill to use new goodies for the first time! I am just loving the look of texturing the vanilla cardstock!
I also used the Fall-to-Layout #65 from the Clean & Simple challenge blog for the sketch. The color combo I just came up with myself. It is Rich Razzleberry, Apricot Appeal, Old Olive and a tiny touch of Pumpkin Pie on the bird's wing and chest. Speaking of the bird, in order to follow the sketch I first stamped the entire image including the bird, then trimmed it to a long narrow piece. Then restamped the bird and cut it out to pop up with dimensionals so it kind of stands off the card.
I hope you like it and am happy that you stopped by today! Have a great Saturday!
~Kristin
SUO Supplies
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Go with all your heart!
SUO Supplies
Stamps: Asian Artistry, Medallion
Colors: Bordering Blue, Rich Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White with some touches of Old Olive and Always Artichoke on the leaves, and black craft ink for embossing the flower image.
Accessories: White organza ribbon, clear embossing powder (EP), 3/4" circle punch, stampin' dimensionals.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Diva Coffee Break Design Sketch Challenge- DCBD151
r and overlaps the smaller two. Speaking of the smaller two, they each have been stamped with the grass stamp from Inspired by Nature in Vanilla ink- I'm pointing this out because it was tough to capture in a photo. I love this stamp set and had neglected it lately with all my new rubber- so it gets a chance to shine today. This is a perfect stamp for using those markers on! Here I used Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand and Basic Black. Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thank Ewe!
I hope you like it, but I gotta run. I finally get to volunteer in my son's 4th grade class today! I've been scheduled to for the last 3 or 4 weeks but have had a kid home sick every Tuesday!
Have a great day and be sure to stop back tomorrow for our weekly Diva challenge- it is a sketch and a good one!
~Kristin
PS- Ooh, in my haste I forgot to mention that the black piece is textured with SU's large dotted Texturz Plates.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Stamped and stamped and stamped and stamped and stamped....
Princess Party Kit, Regular price $15.96, Special price: $9.99
You can make your princess's fantasies come true with our Princess Party kit.

Pirate Party Kit, Regular price $15.96, Special price: $9.99
Hoist the Jolly Roger and get ready to have a swashbuckling good time!
Have a great day, and thanks so much for stopping by today!~Kristin
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Girlie Girl Christmas
After stamping the snowflake in Pretty in Pink on this Pink Pirouette paper I then embossed the same snowflake in silver on vellum and cut parts of it out. Attached the two together with a square rhinestone brad then embossed the sentiment, tied some ribbon with silver cord and trimmed the edge with my favorite 10-year old decorative scissor called Sunflower.
Hope you like it, and thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Brayered One Layered
I found an oval template laying on my desk leftover from a workshop this week and started just playing around. My first idea didn't fly, so I kept playing. I haven't used a brayer in a long time and am not sure if I've ever done it like this. Anyway, after coming up with the sunset-like background I decided to be very basic and use my new butterfly punch in solid black- no frills. What do you think of the result?? I'm pretty happy with it, but I can't WAIT to show you what my 8 year old DD did with this technique after watching me! I'd share it right now but she wrote a thank you note on it for Grandma and Grandpa who are visiting and we can't find it right now. As soon as it shows up I'll show you.
Hope your weekend is great! After a big full week I'm joying watching some women's volleyball on TV and just chilling. Thanks for checking in on me today!
~Kristin
Friday, October 23, 2009
Extreme Friend!
ly Pomegranate (oops, I lied, this is retired but you can pretend it is Rose Red), Certainly Celery and Taken With Teal are from the color challenge #65 at Color Throwdown! Thursday, October 22, 2009
Patchwork Snowmen
The inside edges are sponged a bit and the ribbon runs underneath the edge of the Top Note frame. Since I was on a roll with using a retired stamp set and paper, I went ahead with the retired Baha Breeze corduroy button and chocolate felt ribbon! Baseically the only thing current on here is the use of the Snowflake & Top Note dies... oh, and also the black craft ink and clear embossing powder.
You know it's a good day when a challenge inspires you to try something new instead of forcing you to do something you'd rather not! Thanks for stopping by today! And don't worry- tomorrow I've got a card made with not only no retired products, but TWO brand new stamp sets you've never seen me use! In fact, one of them isn't even current yet and has never been seen in a SU catalog.
Have a great day,
~Kristin
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Seeds of Friendship
There are several things I think are worth mentioning on this card. First of all, if you don't recognize this stamp set it is because it is from 2006 and it appears from looking at the rubber, it's never been used EVER! It is called The World Over and I think it was a hostess set. The other thing is that the sketch I used involved 2 separate panels at the bottom which left a gap that I wasn't crazy about.... until I noticed that it actually serves as the stem for my flower! Very accidental, I can assure you.
The flower itself is made with the Big Shot as well as the Daisies #2 die and the Flower Burst embosslit. Embosslits are great because they emboss and cut out at the same time! Not to fill you with regret, but this is the one that was part of the Deal of the Week last week.
The rest is fairly obvious- some eyelet border punching, some paper piercing, a bit of sponging on the flower, use of markers and white gel pen to color in the flowers... that's about it. FUN I tell ya!
So thanks for stopping by today, again! And thanks for all the sweet comments- you guys are the best!
~Kristin
ETA: The flower in the center is not the shape of the Flower Burst Embosslit- I actually punched it out with a circle punch.
SUO Supplies
Good Morning!
I made this card for today's Diva Color Challenge. Sometimes I really struggle with color challenges- isn't that funny since I'm a "color person"?! I
guess I have strong ideas about color so of course every challenge isn't going to appeal to me. Next to each other these colors look a little drab, but it didn't take me long to get working with them. Funny thing is my biggest challenge was getting the gray in there once I had this designed. That's funny because I LOVE Basic Gray!This week's Clean & Simple challenge on Splitcoast is to do a CAS Sympathy card. I didn't mind doing one because I usually don't until I need one, so now I will have one ready for an unfortunate time when I might need one. I also managed to fit in a sketch challenge from Monday's Mojo challenge. I'm not normally a fan of combining many challenges (I know you are laughing at me Lisa) but this one just fell together that way, so it isn't forced. KWIM?
Anyway, thanks for stopping by! I am hoping to play a little while today so I'll definitely have something to post for tomorrow. Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine if you have some where you live!
Oh Hey, I forgot to say, go check out the Divas today! (Like my rhyme??)
~Kristin
Monday, October 19, 2009
Deals of the Week!!
Don't miss this week's Deals Of The Week!First up is Circle Designer Brads

These fabulous products can all be seen on page 179 of Stampin' Up!'s current Idea Book & Catalog. These specials are good only through October 26th at 9:50 am (MT) that's 11:50 am (ET). If you would like to take advantage of any of these deals please contact me via email at: stamp_for_smiles (at) embarqmail (dot) com and I'd be glad to place the order for you! Stumbled upon a fun idea!!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Elegant Christmas Wishes Trio
SUO Supplies
Stamps: Gifts of Christmas
Friday, October 16, 2009
Lots to do!
Here are the three cards that I've designed for tomorrow. I'm happy with them. They demonstrate a number of different Stampin' Up! products, stamps and tools and are a variety of colors. Two of them are fairly traditional in color which is what my customers prefer generally. I'm looking forward to our event- wish all of you on-line pals of mine could join us!
{So I promised to announce the winner of my Candy Corn contest today. If you'll recall from this post you had a chance to guess the number of corns in the jar. The answer is 319. So the winner is: "I will guess 268..Melissa in WI"
Melissa in WI, won't you please contact me with your address so I can send you a card? }
Thanks for visiting today and for all the sweet comments you guys leave me, you're the best and make my day! Gotta run, I've got lots to do.
~Kristin
SUO Supplies
Stamps: Gifts of Christmas
Colors: Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst
Accessories: Top Note, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions folder (Holiday Mini), Big Shot, Dazzling Diamonds, White Organza ribbon, sponge.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Two more Christmas cards
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
With All Your Heart!
The bird is was stamped a second time on some textured Apricot Appeal and cut out then watercolored slightly with some Pumpkin Pie. Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Need your help! Blog Poll!!
Christmas Snowflakes**
(This involves embossing in white only.)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Extreme Surfer Birthday

Birthday Thank Yous!
The one on top was my prototype- the white cupcake is embossed. I scrapped the embossing idea for efficiency. Also decided to make them all different so I could use a variety of ribbon instead of finishing off my Melon Mambo dotted grosgrain. The top portion of these cards are dry embossed with an embossing folder and the Big Shot. Two cards can be done at a time by placing them on opposite sides of the folder and running through the Big Shot! I'll try to list all the colors in my supplies at the end. Now I realize I'm not done- I should've made at least 3-4 more.
Since today is her REAL birthday I thought I'd post this picture. Yesterday her dad took her squirrel hunting- I think this is a new tradition for the two of them- squirrel hunting on her birthday. This time I got to go along as the photographer (I was also on trash duty cleaning up what we might have missed in the dark the night before). I remembered my zoom lens this time so got some nice shots. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
Thanks for stopping by to visit today!
~Kristin
PS- I suppose I should add that the pink .22 wasn't a birthday gift. She's had it since Easter! LOL! No, her gift was her newly redcorated bedroom remember?! And the new bedspread that she hasn't seen yet... I'll have it washed and on her bed by the time she gets home from school today!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
A Success!!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Busy Weekend!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tutorial: Scallop Envelope Die Note Card Holder
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tunnel Suspension Mojo
How's that for a title?? This is actually the first card I made for this week's Mojo challenge but I've had this idea for the inside and didn't get to it until today. So what do you think?
Gotta get to bed, but tomorrow I'll be back with the long-awaited tutorial that you've been asking for. OK, well, maybe not that long-awaited, but it's coming anyway.
Have a great evening!
~Kristin
To my Wonderful Husband

Most of this card is pretty self-explanatory but one thing I did want to point out is the edges of the card. I used the perforating tool on the Cutter Kit and just free-handed some rolling lines on all four sides. I felt they sort of mimic the path a fallen leaf might take before it hits the ground.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A Mojo Sketch and a Beautiful Butterfly!
I also put my Big Shot to use for the buttefly and the white daisies! I am completely out of black brads so in place of the three dots on each side of the sketch I put little dabs of mono-multi glue and added black chunky glitter for a touch of bling.
I do have another card with this very same layout that I did for the sketch challenge but I'm doing something "special" to the inside and didn't get it done today so I'll have to post that tomorrow!
Be sure to stop back tomorrow for another Diva Color Challenge!
~Kristin
Monday, October 5, 2009
Pillow Inspired!

Well, here is the one I chose and I'm sure you'll some resemblance! I love inspiration challenges because the sky is the limit... not sure why I don't do them more often.
Anyway, to duplicate the look I embossed my beloved Medallion background in black on Bermuda Bay, then added some white touches with the White Gel Pen. Finished off with a sentiment and some ribbon and done. Actually, very quick and easy.
Gotta run, thanks for stopping by today!
~Kristin

















