Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you! I hope you get to enjoy a day filled with family, friends and good foods. Be safe!
Along the lines of being thankful, here is a set of 5 quick thank you notes. You know where the color scheme came from? The shirt I was wearing that day... seriously! I have zero desire to take a self-portrait and post it here so you'll just have to take my word for it that this shirt is Mellow Moss with Rich Razzleberry and tiny bits of white. These are all 3x3 cards which were fairly quick to whip up. Here are a few closeups since I struggle so trying to get them all clear in a group shot.

Stamp set I used for all of them is the Level 1 hostess set called Of the Earth. It is so versatile because the stamps look great together and by themselves.

Same colors and stamp set again with the exception of the "thank you" on the first one which is from Short & Sweet. I used the butterfly punch then rolled it through the Big Shot with a dotted embossing folder which will be available soon (think upcoming mini catalog!). The little "thank you" on most of the other cards is from All Holidays- a very versatile greetings set.

Here's the last one. Isn't it neat how white ink on Rich Razzleberry ends up looking a bit like Pale Plum, which incidentally is also in my shirt!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend! I'm thankful for each and every one of you and for your always kind comments that put a smile on my face!

~Kristin

Do your Black Friday shopping right here!

Don't miss it, this week only is Stampin' Up!'s great Online Extravaganza! Up to 50% off on selected items. To find out more click here so you can browse through all the products on sale! If you'd like to place an order through me please email me at stamp_for_smiles at embarqmail dot com (got that? There should be an @ and a . in there) or leave a comment here with your email address so I can contact you. Hurry, this sale ends Monday, November 30th!

~Kristin

Christmas Cardinal & Poinsettia

EXACTLY ONE MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS! Sorry, just had to get that in there!
Good Wednesday morning everyone! This morning I've got for you... surprise... a Diva Sketch! Be sure to play along with this one- remember, in December we'll be randomly drawing one of our Featured Artists to win a prize from the Divas! So go play- your chances are GOOD!

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 between 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

Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, All Holidays, Stitched

Colors: Sahara Sand, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects, sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua painter

Pumpkin Patch

I saw these adorable pumpkins on LeeAnn Greff's blog and just had to copy them! They are fun, smell good and will be perfect for the Thanksgiving table! My daughter even enjoyed making one. The stem is a Cinnamon stick which makes it smell wonderful, and the vine piece is from the Scribbles Swirls Sizzlit. The large and medium pumpkins were done with 8 (each) scallop circles from the Circles Scallop#2 die and the Big Shot. The shorter one is done with 8 scallop oval punches.

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

Peace, Love and Joy

Sick of Christmas cards yet? Sorry charlie! LOL. Here's a quickie- stamp a few snowflakes, sentiment in the middle, a few scallops and some ribbon. Not tough! I used Bashful Blue craft ink and Whisper White ink to stamp the snowflakes if you can see the slight difference.


Stay tuned for a cute fall project- perfect for the Thanksgiving table!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: All Holidays, Patterned Pines (one snowflake), Berry Christmas (other snowflake)

Colors: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Accessories: Scalloped edge punch, White organza ribbon, notched corner punch

Christmas Card Class Projects

Here are the last two projects for my class today. This one is obviously a remix of THIS card of mine you've likely seen before. I simplified it by making the embossing all in one color- no more white sentiment. I also changed the sentiment because I wanted to use the Season's Greetings on the card below. I'm not sure how I feel about eliminating the black scallops at the end of the tag. I doubt my customers will mind, but I think they were the fun unexpected little detail that I liked so much about the first design. Don't be surprised if I add them back in at the last minute. I also made this a one layer card instead of having the Kraft base mostly because another of my cards has the Kraft base and I didn't want to worry about running out.

Here is my last design for this class and I am excited about this one too. It is a very simple one layer card but I think it really has a WOW factor. The snowflakes were first stamped in white ink (Itty Bitty Backgrounds) then later I decided I wanted a little sparkle so I made tiny dots all over using the Tombo Mono Multi glue then dumped some chunky white glitter on top! Not only does the glitter sparkle but it also is chunky enough to add some texture and dimension to the card! I think this would be a great card to mass produce because it takes so little supplies and is fairly quick. Isn't that white organza ribbon gorgeous?! Did you know that it is actually cheaper than the taffeta ribbon? Yep!

As promised, here is a peak at all 5 cards together. This class will cost the attendees $16 and they are doing 2 each of 5 designs. The hostess is providing a light lunch and her class fee is FREE as a gift from me. I work really hard to keep the costs down for the guests (and who can beat 10 cards for $16??) which is why these are designed to be low cost, few layers, minimal embellishment cards that hopefully pack a WOW punch!

I hope you like them! If you live nearby and would like to schedule this same class be sure to contact me soon. Time is running out as my calendar, and yours too I'm sure, is getting full fast!

Thanks for visiting!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies (for 2nd card only, supplies for the top card are listed on the post for the original design)

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Many Merry Messages, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Colors: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Accessories: Chunky white glitter, White organza ribbon

Holiday Designs Using Berry Christmas

OK, so first up are these two cards with the exact same layout, colors and stamp set. I came up with these using a simplified version of this week's Mojo Monday sketch while designing for a Christmas card class I'm doing this weekend. I always enjoy trying to find non-traditional colors for Christmas because I make so many different designs and I get bored with red and green combos. However, these cards got scrapped for the pool of possibles... mostly because my husband said "eh. They just look like scraps thrown together on a card." That's what he said about the oen in the background, but I didn't yet have the front one done which I think is better. Doesn't matter because I've got my five designs all decided on finally.

Besides this one and this one that you've already seen, here is the third design that my guests will be doing 2 of. I CASEd this idea from this wonderful card by Sharon Graham which shows a fabulous way to use this set in a non-holiday way (sorry if you can't click on Sharon's card- she has it in the demonstrator only section of SCS). I love her idea, but obviously I needed the holiday in there so changed it up to be white poinsettias. They are my favorite at Christmas time.

The only change I'll make to this card for the group is that we're going to be using Versamark with white chalk for the flowers instead of white ink as shown here. This is for two reasons: one, because we'll be using the white ink for another project and I try to not duplicate so that we can split into two groups and work more efficiently. But also because the chalk effect looks so neat because it appears to leave a glow around the flowers. I'll post one of those when I have it put together so you can see the difference.

In case you're not familiar with the DSP that I used with the ornament punch for the vase it is in the Christmas Cocoa collection and is actually flocked- so it is fuzzy on the white areas and the recipient will get extra enjoyment from this unexpected surprise! My turning the ornament punch upside down you can easily see where to punch this pattern so that it aligns perfectly. Isn't that neat?!

Stop back tomorrow and I'll show you the last 2 designs (one of which is a remix of a previous card of mine) and the group of all five together! Thanks for visiting me today!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

(Top two cards)

Stamps: Berry Christmas, Party Punch (retired)

Colors: Rose Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Regal Rose

Accessories: Regal Rose wide grosgrain, Rose Red and Old Olive brads, circle punches

(Vase card)

Stamps: Berry Christmas, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors: Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Whisper White, Ruby Red

Accessories: Ornament punch, Old Olive Marker, Large Oval Punch, Scalloped oval punch, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Shimmer Paint Designs

I've got an annual Christmas card party this weekend for a special group of customers and am in the design phase right now. Don't worry- I always do this. If I design too soon I get tired of the cards before the party rolls around. I have decided to use two designs I did this season so far- two of my favorites. When I have all 5 designs chosen I'll show you a group photo.


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

For All You Do: A Diva Color challenge

Sorry for the delay! My Tuesday was full yesterday and I just couldn't get to my Diva card... then this morning I couldn't find my mojo anywhere... that happens sometimes. But I finally found some and got to work. I'm actually way happier with this card than I anticipated being. I am ashamed to admit that I have so many stamp sets that none of them individually get a ton of use... this one definitely falls into that category.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: For All You Do

Colors: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Real Red, Sage Shadow, Whisper White

Accessories: Real Red wide grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, Fire Rhinestone Brad, Eyelet border punch, large oval punch, scalloped oval punch

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.

Next up is the final scrapbook page I did last weekend. When I saw this title box (and coordinating paper) at a scrapbook store earlier this year I knew exactly who it perfectly fit! Living out loud is what my son does every minute of his life almost. I wouldn't trade him, although I do need some Tylenol every now and then. LOL! My other favorite phrase that I plan to do on a page for him someday is "Boys: Noise with dirt on them!" How true?!!!

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

SUO Supplies (for the card, not scrapbook page)

Stamps: Wonderful Favorites

Colors: Basic Black, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Marigold Morning, Whisper White

Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, Big Shot, Daisies die, scoring blade, Jumbo White brads

Priceless Memories

Here's another one of those birthday sketches I mentioend. I really never get good pictures of blowing out candles like this. I just love these! The pics on the right side of the spread aren't great, but they hold good memories for me.

Here's a closeup. For this page, which is 100% Stampin' Up! I used the At Home Simply Scrappin' Kit I believe. The patterned strips, and decorative embellishments including the word Memories are all from this kit so made this page a snap!

Added some Designer Circle brads and a corner punch to tie it all together and finished it off with some journaling at the bottom. Not real detailed, and not overly exciting, but DONE!

So, does anyone at all know where I can get some Top Loading 12x12 pages for a Strap-hinge style book? I've searched high and low and they are either sold out (nearly everywhere!) or are so grossly overpriced with shipping (Amazon) that I refuse to buy them. In 2008 when I first found them I bought 5 packs of 5 pages each for $3.48 each!

Glad you stopped by today! I'm hoping to actually get some stamping in now that I've got my laundry underway and house picked up. Have a great day!

~Kristin

Today You are 5

Here's another of the layouts I finished this weekend. I really like how this turned out, especially since I didn't have the best pictures. Both pages use sketches that I believe came from the most current Creating Keepsakes magazine sketh insert. I love starting with a sketch when I scrapbook- somehow it makes me feel more creative by giving me a starting point then the freedom to do what I want with it.

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.

As far as I recall all the chipboard I used is from SU (or was) but I have gobs of chipboard and some of it is mixed up. The giant 5 was cut with my friend's Cricut. I think the punched stars really add impact and make a big difference on this layout- before I added them it was a bit plain and boring. On the page below did you notice there is a star punched from the corner of the picture! I love the look this adds in person- some extra dimension I guess.

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...

~Kristin

SUO Supplies: Small and large star punches, Modern Label punch, vintage brads, Playground button, Chipboard, Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel and Always Artichoke Craft ink, marker.

Getting Closer to my Goal!!

That's right, my scrapbook goal for 2009! I adjusted it after failing miserably last year so this year it is more attainable but still pushes me a little bit. I'm so excited to say that I've gotten 7 pages done this weekend!!

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.

So here is the left side of this spread. I must say this was such an easy page and came together super quick (it helps that I actually had some really great pics from Christmas that year!). Just cut 2 matching strips of Thoroughly Modern DSP to put across the center of the Bermuda Bay textured 12x12 cardstock and barely trimmed a few pictures. Punched some labels, stamped a few trees (from Patterned Pines) and added some Felt Flurries Snowflakes! Ooh, I guess I should mention that my title was cut with my friend's Cricut... forgot about that little detail.

So here is the other side, closeup. I hope you like it! Can't wait to share the other pages with you... but I need to space them out so you don't get bored and so I have something to post for the next few days.

Gotta run, big football game tonight for our Wildcats!

Thanks for visiting! Hugs,

~Kristin

PS- my photography is still not the best and I don't have the greatest editing software for scrapbooking... please bare with me!

Wrapping Paper Inspired!

Hello! I've had one of those days so I didn't get any stamping in until this afternoon, and this card took all of 10 minutes to make, tops! My daugher wanted a card to match this present she wrapped for a birthday party this weekend. I love how easy it was and how great it matches the wrapping paper! We ended up using Chocolate Chip as the base with 1 1/4" circles in Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and WHisper white. Isn't that fun? I think I will make a few more since I have more of the paper left...

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts

Colors: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and WHisper white.

Accessories: 1.25" circle punch, Spring Bouquet flower punch, jumbo chocolate brad.

It's a Diva Wednesday Sketch Challenge!

Good morning ladies and gents! Today I've brought to you this week's Diva Coffee Break Designs sketch challenge. As you can probably see I did everything I could to make this sketch my own but still follow the general design. That's called stretching it a bit! Anyway, I saw an amazing card using thie stamp set Greenhouse Gardens with craft ink on dark cardstock r

ecently and knew I wanted to try that. My card is nothing like the one I saw other than the stamps and the fact that I used craft ink. Anyway, In order to not cover up too much of the stamping I decided to use vellum for my layers. Do you ever think to use vellum?? It doesn't happen much for me, but when I do it is always fun and new.

To get the look of the three circle images at the left I used Pewter Jumbo Eyelets with the trusty Crop-a-Dile... but decided to tone them down a bit so not too harsh looking on this soft pretty card by tying a bit of dotted Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon through each.

Well, I sure hope you'll join us this week for this great challenge! I'd love to see your take on this sketch!

Thanks for visiting me today,

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Greenhouse Garden, Full of Life

Colors: Soft Suede, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Blush Blossom, Whisper White

Accessories: Vellum, Ice Rhinestone brad, Pewter Jumbo Eyelet, Soft Suede dotted grosgrain, eyelet border punch, Markers for sentiment

Design Team Wannabe!

So here are two more cards I made yesterday for the CAS Design Team call for Winter term. They are both for the sketch challenge, which provided two different sketches we could use. I liked them both so did one for each!

This first one uses the little trees from the Merry Details sizzlit and Thoroughly Modern DSP. Add a silver brad and the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and voila! Easy Peasy!

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!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Short & Sweet

Colors: Rose Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Accessories: Circle punches, Rhinestone brad, Merry Details Sizzlit, Vintage Brad

Bring on the Holidays!!

That's right I'm ready... as ready as I'll ever be. I am on a roll today and have made 4, count 'em FOUR Christmas cards! Wanna take a guess how many of them are non-traditional? Yep, all four! Don't get me wrong, we've got trees and poinsettias, Christmas sentiments and even some Christmas colors but in one way or another they are all a bit unconventional. Just the way I like it!

This first one is for today's Clean & Simple challenge on Splitcoast to use white and ONE other color (black counts!). So this one fits the bill- all white with some Melon Mambo. I knew texture would be a requirement for such limited colors so started out using the Petals a Plenty Textured Impressions embossing folder in the Big Shot on the white. Then I changed my mind a few times and ended up making a poinsettia bloom with the 5 petal flower punch and some little dots from my standard hole punch. Added some Crystal Effects (Yes I do own this stuff... I just never think to use it) with a bit of Dazzling Diamonds on top for a little sparkle! Embossed the sentiment and called it done. So what do you think?

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

Phew!

Wow, I haven't been here since Thursday and my hits are showing it. LOL! Sorry for the long delay. It's been a weekend let me tell ya! Long story short we had a very near tragedy with our puppy; my DH's football team won their first football playoff game!; and my sister let us know she is expecting! WOOHOO! I can expand on these after the real reason you came here, a creative fix, but for now here's what I've got. The colder it gets the more I get motivated to scrapbook, so here is the layout I did this weekend.

This layout is a sketch from Lyssa's blog: Song of My Heart Stampers. I loved this sketch and was excited to use it, even though it meant serious cropping of some great photos... but what better way to focus on the really important feature of a picture?! For this one I used some parts of a new-to-me Simply Scrappin' kit that I've been so anxious to use- Hoppy Memories. This kit is retired but I can honestly say that all SU Simply Scrappin' kits are AMAZING!! I'll have to count someday but I am willing to bet I have at least 20 differnt SS kits!

This is the second half of the spread which is why it has no title. This sketch is from a challenge on SCS back in May. You see, there is this awesome gal on Splitcoast who hosts a weekly Scrapbook sketch challenge. She has a huge gallery of wonderful scrapbook sketches, so when I need one I just head over there and scroll through until I find something that would work with the pictures I've got. This is an amazing resource! CLICK HERE to view this gallery.
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!

OMG, it was the most horrible site- her front legs couldn't touch the ground, her back legs couldn't touch she was wedged so tight she was cut in numerous places. The worst part was her little tail wagging as soon as she saw me and I had to leave her to run for help and wire cutters! I felt terrible. Anyway, when my kids and I finally got her out her back legs were so grotesquely swollen she couldn't move. I wish now I'd taken pictures, but at the time I thought she wasn't going to survive and I really didn't want to have those horrible images. She slept the entire day and night after we took her in the warm house and lo and behold, early the next morning she was up walking around! By the afternoon she was running, albeit limping, all around our property. Today she was romping and wrestling with her sister and mama! My poor kids- we prepared them for the worst- but they were so thrilled to see her moving my son said "either this is a miracle or she is one tough dog!" He wanted to change her name from Crystal Ann (long story) to Miracle. I told him if her name gets changed her new name will be "Stupid"!

This dog has already been into mouse poison at about a month old (because she escaped), and today she cut her mouth while playing somehow and she swallowed a squirrel tail that was tied to a string so the string was hanging out of her mouth while she was running. I had to pull it out and let me tell you it was disgusting! Who knows what that would've done had she swallowed the entire string. Isn't she a cutie though?

As for the other news, yes football season will be at least one more week long (go Cats!)... and while my parents and sister were visiting this weekend my sister gets a call from her husband who wants to talk to my son. They talk a while and when they hang up my son says "Mom, I think Uncle R just told me that our cousin is going to have a baby brother or sister." And I say "what do you mean you think? Is she or isn't she???" Now he's confused and not so sure. Well, sure enough, that's how we found out they are expecting baby number 2! WOOHOO! We're so excited for them! I told my sister I hope she has a boy so she can experience first hand just how different they are-having a boy is a whole different world.

So if you read this far (wow, you deserve an award!) now you know why I've been away and hopefully this makes up for the last few days of nothing!

Thanks so much for visiting,

~Kristin

PS- My supplies are SUO (Stampin' Up! Only) as always, but I'm just too tired to type them out. If you have any questions just let me know.

Razzleberry Peace

Somehow I managed to squeeze in 2 different challenges on Splitcoast without even realizing it... Tuesday's color challenge to use all neutrals plus one color or something like that. The other is the sketch challenge on Wednesday.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: none!

Colors: Rich Razzleberry, Black and White

Accessories: Night and Day DSP, Big Shot, Snowflake Sizzlit, Billboard alpha, Square punch, scallop edge punch, Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain, jumbo silver brad

Are you up for a color challenge?

I'ts Wednesday and you know what that means... time for another Diva Coffee Break Designs challenge! I gotta admit, Christmas isn't where I was going with this at first... but that's where it ended up somehow. These colors weren't the easiest to work with for me- too similar in tone I guess. I decided to focus on the two I liked best together- Creamy Caramel and Bravo Burgandy and go from there. Turns out I like the Ruby Red flower on there and the Always Artichoke... well, it's on there.

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!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Flowers, All Holidays

Colors: Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgandy, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Embossing folder, Key tag punch, White gel pen, White Organza ribbon, Modern Label punch.

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

Stamps: Love You Much, I {heart} Hearts

Colors: Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Real Red (or Riding Hood Red?) and Cameo Coral

Accessories: Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain, black brads, boho Blossoms punch, Heart punch, Pink Flamingo DSP

Party Hearty Dude!

Today's Clean & Simple challenge on Splitcoast was to follow a given sketch. it is an awesome sketch and I really enjoyed creating with it. Today I started out in a different mode (imagine Roses and Rose Red) but somehow ended up going a totally different direction! I enjoy making masculine cards from time to time, especially because so many people find them hard to do and are often looking for ideas.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Extreme Surfboard, Party Hearty

Colors: Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

Accessories: Bermuda Bay Dotted Grosgrain (flip side), large oval punch, Big Shot, Scribbles and Swirls Sizzlit, corner rounder, Thoroughly Modern DSP, Stapler

Equestrian Christmas

I've borrowed some stamps from a friend of mine who is a horse enthusiast to make some coasters. While they are here I thought I'd make a quick card with a few of them. This is for today's Featured Stamper challenge on Splitcoast. I used to play along with the FS challenge often, but haven't in a long time. This week I chose THIS card by Miss Boo as my inspiration. Obviously I've changed it quite a bit- but I did keep the general layout the same. Nearly everything I've used is retired including all the stamps except the little embellishment in teh croner and on the horse. The ribbon and hodgepodge are both retired as well. Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Equestrian Dream, Bareback, Gifts of Christmas

Colors: Kraft, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Rustic Retreat ribbon originals, Hodgepodge Hardware

Your Friendship

Sorry I've been a bit irregular with my posting this week- it's been a busy one! Between a sick kid (again!), volunteering at school, Trick-or-Treating and the normal stuff I just haven't done much stamping. We also had our last regular season high school football game last night (my DH coaches) and their team went undefeated in the league! They are ready to head to the playoffs which could extend the season another 5 weeks potentially.

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

Stamps: Wings of Friendship

Colors: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Apricot Appeal, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie.

Accessories: Stampin' Up! Markers, Scallop Edve punch, Vanilla Taffeta ribbon, Big Shot, Texturz Plates #4

Go with all your heart!

Bordering Blue, Elegant Eggplant and Rich Razzleberry... so what do you think of this color combo? I really like it and think it could be done in so many ways that would be even better than this. This color challenge came from the Color Throwdown this week, #66. Great choice LeAnne! The flowers are colored with a combination of watercolor crayons and ink from the Rich Razzleberry lid with and aquapainter to blend them all. I didn't intend to cut them out at first, due to such detail, but the white paper I stamped on had some random rust colored smudge and I just couldn't trim it off. The sketch I used here is from this week's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast - SC252.

Did you notice the Medallion stamped in Versamark on the top and bottom of the card? My pictures seem to upload darker than they appear on my photo editing software, so it might not be visible. Try clicking on the picture if you really want to see this detail.

Anyway, thanks for looking today. If you are stuck in a stamping rut, why don't you check out one of these challenges I've linked... or better yet, look at the very bottom of my sidebar on the right and click on "The Daily Dare" button for an entire list of challenges on any given day. It is a wonderful resource to get you going!

Have a great day!

~Kristin

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.

Diva Coffee Break Design Sketch Challenge- DCBD151

Are you ready for another Diva Coffee Break Designs Wednesday?!? This week we've got a sketch for you and we'd love to have you play along! If you haven't noticed we've started showcasing a "Featured Artist" each week and that artist is chosen from those of YOU that play along with our challenge and link to the DCBD blog! There is a VERY good chance of being chosen... in other words get on over there and check it out. We'd love to drive a little traffic your way and let you bask in the warm compliments you'll surely receive!

Here's our sketch this week... I've taken some liberties with it, but I think you'll still see a resemblance! I do have three panels even though the center one is larger 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.

Did you notice the ribbon treatment? Both the top and the bottom ribbon are threaded through a slot punched through the main flower panel. The black strip at the bottom I found in my scraps- already punched with the Curly Label punch! Let's see what you can do- go visit the DCBD blog and get inspired by even more great designs!

So glad you decided to visit today! Thanks for your sweet comments, as always!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Inspired by Nature

Colors: Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Basic Black

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Ribbon, Horizontal Slot punch, Modern Label punch, Curly Label punch

Thank Ewe!

Was finally able to enjoy some stamping today! This is for this week's Mojo Monday sketch as well as the Color challenge over on Splitcoast today! I love them both and am so happy I decided to combine them. What a fabulous color combo!

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.

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Pun Fun

Colors: Kraft, Basic Black, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Mambo dotted grosgrain, Liquid Applique, Heart to Heart punch, scallop edge punch, Latte button, black embroidery floss, and and the DSP is from Razzleberry Lemonade!

Stamped and stamped and stamped and stamped and stamped....

That's what I've done all evening last night and all day today so far and guess what I have to show you?! Zip, zilch, nada, big fat zero! Why, you ask? Well, this weekend I suddenly became overwhelmed by my stamps. I don't know how it happened- it came out of nowhere, but I had an overwhelming urge to purge!

No I'm not selling them (the hoarder complex ingrained in me will not allow that) but I had to get them out of here. At some point over the last year I realized that (a) I no longer know everything I have, (b)I found myself recalling particular phrases or images that I knew I had, but couldn't recall in what set and (c) became unable to come up with a name for a set when necessary.

So, on Friday night while listening to the football game on the radio I grabbed one of those large storage tubs from the garage and completely filled it... I mean overflowed it with retired stamps that I'm sick of (for now). I still have probably 100 retired sets left plus my current stuff, but now my stacks aren't leaning perilously close to toppling on my head.

I sent a few home with my mom this weekend (with the express and implied stipulation that I can take them back at any given time in the future). The rest I decided need to be cataloged! I'm tired of knowing I have a "thank you" in a pretty script about 2" long but can't find it anywhere. So, I am maybe halfway done with stamping every image from every set I own on to paper which I will categorize in a 3-ring binder for quick and easy reference!! I am excited to have it done, but am actually getting VERY TIRED of stamping right now. My right arm and shoulder are actually feeling very overworked. I may not be able to play volleyball tomorrow night and that would be a near tragedy!

When my binder is all done I will probably show you, but for now I am going to get cleaned up and go out on a walk. I'll leave you today with at least something good to look at, the last Deal of the Week from Stampin' Up!

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

Girlie Girl Christmas

I've never been real big on "Girlie Girl" as a style, but I can handle elegant, sophistcated femine from time to time. The Limited Supplies Challenge on Splitcoast on Friday was to do a "Girlie Girl" card with no patterned paper. As yesterday, I made this with really little direction- I wasn't even consciously going for the LSC challenge. To get started I went to my Favorites folder in my gallery on Splitcoast (which I use add to frequently, but rarely remember to go back and use the ideas I loved so much) and just searched for something that "spoke" to me at the time. This card did it- I decided I loved the monochromatic layer on layer look. Mine started out that way, but in the end I caved and added the silver mat. I know, these cards look nothing alike... that's kind of how I CASE stuff.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Serene Snowflake, Fancy Flexible Phrases

Colors: Pretty in Pink, Pin Pirouette, Silver

Accessories: Vellum, silver EP, Silver ink, silver elastic cord, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, Sunflower scallop scisor.

Brayered One Layered

Have you ever sat down with some time to stamp but no real direction on what to do? I rarely do- either I have some designing to do for a class or workshop or design team, or I've got a challenge or several in mind that I've been wanting to play around with. However, every now and then I sit down with nothing concrete in mind. That's what I did last night and this is what happened.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly

Colors: (top to bottom) Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Bravo Burgandy

Accessories: Brayer, butterfly punch

Extreme Friend!

Hey hey hey, guess what?! All new stuff today! I've gotten two new FREE sets this week from SU and couldn't resist combining them in one card. Extreme Elements entails all those elements in the background. The other set with the hearts is called "I {heart} Hearts" and will be available in 2010 in the SU Occasions Mini catalog I believe so this is your Sneak Peek!!

This is one of those cards that started out kind of rocky- I tried to embrace the "less is more" rule of thumb, but just couldn't stop myself (or wasn't satisfied so kept going). I tried to do distressed funk- do you think I succeeeded? LOL! In the end it finally worked out for the best I think. It screams pre-TEEN to me and I know my daughter will just love this!

The colors: Purely 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!

Thanks for visiting me today! I'd love for you to drop me a line saying you were here. Gosh that reminds me of high school when it was popular to sign each other's notebooks with grafiti that said "Kristin wuz here!" No wonder I want you all to let me know you've visited- it's nostalgia!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Extreme Elements, I {Heart} Hearts

Colors: Purely Pomegranate, Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Accessories: Spiral punch, square ice rhinestone brad, My Way arrows punch, Heart to Heart punch

Patchwork Snowmen

Today's Ways To Use it Challenge (WT241) on SCS is to use patchwork on a card somehow. This idea of using various patterns with the Top Note die is not at all original- you've probably seen it everywhere! But I've never done it until today. I love the look of these retired textured papers called Parisian Breeze Specialty. I just used my square punch and glued them all on a base scrap of cardstock with the intentions of running it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die... but then I noticed a HUGS pile of these Top Note frames sitting in my leftover pile and decided to go that route instead.

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

SUO Supplies (mostly all retired)

Stamps: The World Over

Colors: Baha Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kraft, Basic Black

Accessories: Clear Embossing powder, square punch, Snowflake die, Big Shot, Top Note die, sponge, chocolate felt ribbon, Baha Breeze Corduroy button

Seeds of Friendship

My friend Lisa and I try to challenge each other each week so we can virtually stamp together. Last week our challenge was to do an on-line challenge we'd never participated in. Well, I failed miserably. I was too busy so when I did stamp I just quickly found my old reliable challenges that I am familiar with. However, I still wanted to play along since she did so I did with this card. The sketch for this card is from Taylored Expressions (TESC87) which I've never done. I also used this week's color challenge on Splitcoast (CC241) to use Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgandy, Cameo Coral and Very Vanilla. I also slipped in some Ruby Red.

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

Stamps: The World Over

Colors: Bravo Burgandy, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke (ink only)

Accessories: Flower Burst Embosslit, Daisies #2 die, Big Shot, markers, gel pen, eyelet border punch, paper piercing tools, sponge

Good Morning!

Hello! After some sporadic posting I am back. I had a few SU events which all went well but kept me busy. Had sick kids home yesterday and had some yard work to do since it was so nice out, but today I'm solo and ready to stamp. Well, I still have some yard work to do and think I'll vacuum out my car one more time before it is too cold... plus washing some bedding so I can take advantage of this warmer weather and use my clothesline today. But FIRST, I will be stamping!

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Real Rust and Basic Gray

Accessories: Distressing tool, Paper Piercing tools, Wide Old Olive grosgrain, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Versamark, markers

Deals of the Week!!

This is my second post today- scroll down to see a Christmas card project!

Don't miss this week's Deals Of The Week!
First up is Circle Designer Brads

Regular Price: $5.95 Special Price: $3.99

Next up, 1/2" Library Clips

Regular Price: $6.95 Special Price: $3.99

Don't miss the

Basic Jumbo Grommets

Regular Price: $6.95 Special Price: $4.49

And finally

Mini Library Clips

Regular Price: $12.95 Special Price: $8.99 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!!

Yes, I stumbled upon one of my favorite Christmas card ideas this morning while I was supposed to be preparing for a workshop tonight, but first I needed to clean up my desk which meant putting away scraps and leftovers from previous projects. Then, like magic these three pieces of paper- Elegant Eggplant card base, Textured Kraft piece and already cut Real Red Scalloped Envelop- just came together at the center of my workspace! Immediately I thought I could take just a minute and put together a real quick card with these instead of doing what I should be. So this is what happened...

Today, like every day on the SU Website there is a group of cards featured in the Stamper's Showcase. One of them features this envelope on the front of a card, slightly angled with ornaments peaking through. I liked the idea enough and started playing around.

I wanted my envelope closed so the scallop part would show more, and then I got the idea to hide the cute ornaments inside as a fun bonus to the recipient. One idea lead to another and I decided the "bonus" could be school pictures of my kids in the shape of ornaments complete with some elastic cord so Grandma can hang them from her tree!!

Every year my mom manages to load her GIANT tree down with favorite collected ornaments, many handmade with past school pictures of her grandkids as well as all the photo cards she receives throughout the season. It is so fun to have all those memories hanging there, as well as cherished family photos of friends and loved ones. So I KNOW that Grandma will not only hang these pictures but she'll also cherish them for years!

Even though I never do the same design for my Christmas cards I am seriously thinking of reproducing this one! We'll see how many pictures I have of my kiddos.

Anyway, one final note about this card- the little stamped snowflakes on the Eggplant card base are done with a stamp from Delightful Decorations which is inked with Champagne Mist shimmer paint found in SU's Holiday Mini Catalog right now! The shimmer paint perfectly applied to the stamp with a Sponge Dauber.

I'm so glad you decided to visit today!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors: Elegant Eggplant, Kraft, Real Red, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Champagne Mist shimmer paint, Sponge dauber, Scalloped Envelope Die, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions Folder, Big Shot, Modern Label punch, Kraft Taffeta ribbon, Ornament punch, Silver Elastic cord

Elegant Christmas Wishes Trio

As promised, here are the three versions of this card I made, CASEd by Lyssa Z. I think this first one is my favorite and am regretting that this isn't the one we're doing today for my SAS. It is an unusual color combo for me, but the color wheel helped. Rose Red and Cameo Coral!

Here's the one in Night of Navy. I also used Bashful Blue with some Brocade Blue ribbon.

This is the one we're doing today. It is in Elegant Eggplant and Almost Amethyst. The sparkle on the dove is a key element that I left off the first two, but I do plan to go back and add it. I was just worrying about color choices at the time of design.

Here are the three of them together. So let me know which one you like best?

Have a great day! I know I will be enjoying a great group of ladies making Christmas cards most of the day- then I'll be home to nap!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies
Stamps: Gifts of Christmas

Colors: Listed above (plus whisper white)

Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions folder, sponge, White organza ribbon

Lots to do!

If you've read my blog for any length of time (even a week would do it) you'll know that I am notoriously a procrastinator on things like planning! But, I have got all three of my designs done for my Holiday Stamp-a-Stack which is tomorrow!

This is the third and final design and it was CASEd from sweet blogger Lyssa Zwolanek. Now another thing you may have picked up from me is that I don't CASE (Copy And Share Everything) very often and when I do I generally change it up enough to be called my own with an influence or inspiration from someone else. Let me tell ya, not this time! I only made a few minor changes and mostly they were to accommodate the large numbers I needed the supplies for.

My colors for this card are Elegant Eggplant and Almost Amethyst. My Amethyst has been textured with the Big Shot and the Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions folder. That's about the only difference. I so enjoyed this card that I actually made it in three different color combos then let my daughter choose her favorite and this is what she chose. I'll post the trio tomorrow.

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.

Two more Christmas cards

Well, here are the two cards I'd already decided on for the Holiay SAS this weekend. This first one is very clean & simple and of course traditional. So many people prefer traditional colos so I try to accommodate them on at least one of my designs.
Of course you know me and I do prefer a bit more non-traditional so I always get those colors in there as well! This one is Almost Amethyst and Elegant Eggplant with some silver (one of my favorite color combos). The is regular and dry embossing on this card... but,

I have an idea for another card using this set so I just might change my mind AGAIN! It's not too late until Friday night, right?! I work best under pressure so it's all good. Although, I'm not the best mom under pressure so my family might not appreciate me being so wishy washy. This is EXACTLY why I don't try to design for events too far in advance.

Both of these cards are fairly straight-forward I think. The second one, I should point out, involves coloring in the dove with the White watercolor pencil- isn't it neat how the colors ends up looking almost Amethyst?! The corners were all punched with the Eyelet border punch (have you tried that before?!) and the silver piece is embossed with the Big Shot and the Petals-a-Plenty Textured Embossing folder from the Holiday Mini.

Well, gotta run and get some ideas out of my head! Thanks for visiting me today. I promise I will finalize my SAS projects by Friday and at some point will post them all together. Have a great day!

~Kristin

PS- Any more guesses in my Candy Corn contest?? I'll reveal the answer tomorrow and send a card to the person with the closest guess!

With All Your Heart!

For today's Diva's Coffee Break Designs challenge and the Color Challenge on SCS yesterday. to use Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay and Apricot Appeal. My first thought when I saw the long narrow panel on the left was this bird on teh branch from Asian Artistry (a level 2 hostess set).
The bird is was stamped a second time on some textured Apricot Appeal and cut out then watercolored slightly with some Pumpkin Pie.

I've been seeing the trend of using a larger scallop for a scallop border so I glued several 1" circles on in a row at the bottom then covered the seam with the Bermuda Bay ribbon.

Added details include the Lattice Die, Modern Label punch, and a Latte Button.

Thanks for visiting!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Asian Artistry

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Lattice Die, Big Shot, Latte Button, 1" circle punch, Modern Label punch, Aqua painter, Pumpkin Pie ink, Bermuda bay dotted grosgrain

Need your help! Blog Poll!!

Hello! I need your help. I have joined 3 other demonstrators to present a Holiday Stamp-a-Stack this Saturday and I really want to use the stamp set Serene Snowflakes for one of my three cards. However, I can't decide which of these three cards to use. So, vote for your favorite, keeping in mind that I will have 20+ ladies making this card. The poll will be at the top of my side bar for a few days.

Season's Snowflakes

(this one involves embossing in black and white plus gel pen accents)

Holiday Snowflakes*

(This one involved cleaning the snowflake three times per person.)

Christmas Snowflakes**
(This involves embossing in white only.)

*This card was CASEd from this one by KKenedy Designs.

**This is a CASE of my own card that was published in August 2008 seen here.

Thanks so much for your help! And if you live nearby (Kenton, OH) it is not too late to register for our SAS! Cost is $30 which includes 12 Christmas cards including envelopes as well as snacks, door prizes and lunch! Plus, we'll also have a table of some retired SU products for sale.

Glad you stopped by today! Please go vote in my poll!

~Kristin

Extreme Surfer Birthday

Extreme Surfer! I had so much fun using this new stamp for the first time! I am waiting on the Extreme Elements to go with it (for FREE for winning an SU contest) but just couldn't wait any longer to ink this guy up!

Can you spot the ancient SU products I used on this card?? Some of you may have never even heard of these: a strip of Mint Melody cardstock (this was a color several years ago that got dumped!) and the surfer is actually stamped in white in then dabbed with 2 shades of Pearl Ex! He is shimmery from different angles and looks pretty cool.

The sketch is from Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch challenge seen here.

In order to funk up this card I decided to distress only the bottom edge of the ovals to mimic the look of water spray. The Brilliant Blue piece is stamped with Itty Bitty Backgrounds and white ink, then sponged on the eges. My grommets and silver eyelets at the top right are intentionally not lined up- I thought that would add to the motion of thisc ard... however, I punched the holes for the eyelets too big and the grommets made a mess so then it just looked messy. Later I got the idea that they kind of look like grommets on swim trunks so wished I'd lined them up just right. Ah well. So I tied some individual threads of the rope (on Clearance Rack right now!) through each hole and tied some at the bottom as well.

To emphasize the area with the sentiment I layered a jumbo grommet, regular grommet, and silver eyelet- not an easy task and believe me this card looks ugly inside. I'll have to put a layer in there to cover up this mess! Finally, the edges are distressed (of the Bermuda only) and the bottom edge is crimped. Hope you like it and that you can go have fun stamping something yourself! Why not- take a chance and do something a bit different for you! You never know what you'll end up with.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Extreme Surfer, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, All Holidays

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Brilliant Blue, Mint Melody (retired!), Whisper White

Accessories: Silver eyelets, Jumbo Grommets, Small Grommets, rope, Pearl Ex (retired), distressing tool

Birthday Thank Yous!

Well, with the hustle and bustle of the weekend behind me I decided to get right on making some cute and simple thank you cards for my daughter to write in. This is my first use of the Movers and Shapers die the way it was intended- as a window. The Curly Labels with the cupcakes are actually mounted on the inside of the card.


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!

A Success!!

**No stampin' related talk whatsoever on this post. Feel free to skip to the next one if you aren't interested in birthday party pictures- thanks**

Birthday Girl- in her glory!

What a blast we had last night! This was the best birthday party we've ever done- the hay ride was great fun with 17 of us squeezed on. The birthday girl opened her presents on the way there which worked out just great!

Here she is with a few friends roasting hotdogs in the woods. This woods that we "borrowed" from some friends was an amazingly perfect setting. We took the wagon deep into the woods where there was a clearing the perfect size for a campfire and the games we had planned. Plenty of room but very secluded and the trees blocked all the wind!

This is her getting Mummy Wrapped! (I wouldn't have known it was her if I didn't see the bottom of her shirt sticking out!)

Here's her great dad who did a great job pulling the wagon with his four-wheeler. He also made sure the fire was just right and the straw bales got all arranged where they needed to be.

Here they are doing the Spider Relay- which was hilarious. I kind of made up my own because the internet game I read said to sew some extra legs to hang over the child while they bear walked. Whatever- no sewing involved. I just made the kids pick partners and they had to bear crawl while one was on top of the other. So they had the appropriate number of legs for a spider but 1 too many heads! I wish I had gotten the video camera out- the squealing and screaming was probably heard for miles! Zombie tag was a hit also but way too chaotic to get great pictures.

Here are all 16 of the kids on the hay ride (1 arrived late)! Birthday girl is way in the back. The only two boys invited were her brother and one of his friends.

I almost forgot, the hayride back home was so fun as well. The kids all took turns with the flashlight to their chins trying to tell made up ghost stories- oh my gosh I needed my video camera! It helped that we were going past all these corn fields! And as we neared home we all raised our glow-stick bracelets in the air and sang happy birthday at the top of our lungs!! It was truly a party to remember.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back to my regular stamping posts hopefully by tomorrow if I've recuperated suficiently.

~Kristin

Supplies:

17 cute kiddos, gobs of candy, hotdogs, apples, grapes, chips, fun games and prizes (more candy), cake, beautiful setting, nice fire, wagon and straw bales, presents and more candy!

Busy Weekend!

Sorry, nothing new right now. Busy working on my daughter's birthday party for tomorrow. We're hoping for a hayride and wiener roast, but with the amount of rain we're getting we are scrambling to plan some indoor games and activities.

Anyone hosting a Halloween or fall birthday party soon? I've done all the work already. Games should include Ghost Charades (win, lose or draw style), Eyeball relay, Zombie Tag, Mummy Wrap, Spider Relay, Slime Relay and Shrinking Island to name a few. We also have candy bracelets complete with skull candies to put together, a jar of candy corn to guess how many, we have glow stick bracelets, and gift bags for everyone. Plenty of candy and prizes.

Just to be sure everyone goes home good a sugared up we've got S'mores, cake and ice cream and did I mention candy?!

I'm always glad to get a birthday party behind me. Phew- they are work! I'm also excited to finally give our daughter her new bedding to match her room that you may remember I worked so hard on this summer. She knows it is coming but doesn't know what it looks like. She agreed she'd like me to have it all washed and on her bed when she gets home from school on Monday (her actual birthday).

Anyway, does anyone care to guess how many candy corns in the jar? I might send the winner a card but sorry, the candy will be long gone after tomorrow night. In case you are wondering, there are absolutely NO broken corns in this jar because I ...ah, kind of picked them out when counting. Just to make it fair, you know. By the way, I put the card in there so you'd not have to ask how big the jar is.

Thanks for visiting and being patient with me. I'm far too tired to be stamping tonight!

~Kristin

Tutorial: Scallop Envelope Die Note Card Holder

Well I've finally completed a quick tutorial to make a cute little box that will easily hold 3x3 note cards and envelopes! This is very quick and easy and makes a fun little gift. I also have a quick tutorial on the little ornament tag on the front which I'll either add to the end here or post separately.
First you need 2 Scallop Envelopes. Mine are in Melon Mambo here.

Next, cut the bottom flap down to only a 1/2".

Add some sticky strip to ONE of the envelops on the three flaps.

Remove the backing from the Sticky Strip and attach the two envelopes together on the tabs. Hint: at this point you will fold down one of the scalloped edges. However, it looks nicest if you fold forward the one whose flaps are folded back over the other one. If you do the opposite then all the open creases will show.

Next, cut a strip of decorative paper to 1.5" by 8.5" and wrap around the box. I usually adhere to the front with a bit of Snail adhesive then overlap the ends on the back and adhere there as well.

Last, decorate however you want and make some quick 3x3 notecards to fit inside. SU's Mini Square Envelopes (107309) are 3 1/8"x 3 1/8" will fit perfectly. This does not have to be a holiday project and would be great with any of SU's designer papers for any occasion!

I hope this is helpful! Let me know if you decide to try this out. Also, I need to reiterate that I did NOT invent this box but I have no idea who did come up with the idea so I can't give proper credit.

~Kristin

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?
For the inside I used the Tunnel fold and also the Suspension technique. Took me all day, and I won't go into the morbid details but it wasn't pretty! Screw up after screw up... seriously! Anyway, I'm happy with the end result so that's what matters.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: For All You Do, Great Friend

Colors: Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Daisies Die #2, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Build-a-Brad, Vintage Brads, Scallop punch, fishing line

ETA: I've added links to the Tunnel & Suspension card techniques on Splitcoast. Please click on the words above in the description to find out how to do these great techniques!

To my Wonderful Husband

Oh boy did I struggle this week. I guess because Garden Green and Crushed Curry are not my 2 favorite colors. I didn't feel very inspired making this card and fully intended to make another one with these colors just so I'm satisfied but didn't get around to it yet. I do have something in mind so maybe I'll get to it later today... although I have a tutorial I'm supposed to be working on that you've requested.

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.

Anyway, so glad you stopped by today. Now please go visit the Diva blog to view several other samples and to play along with our challenge.

Gotta run, chat with ya later!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Branch Out, Wonderful Favorites

Colors: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Garden Green, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry

Accessories: Cutter Kit, Vintage Brads, wide Chocolate grosgrain

A Mojo Sketch and a Beautiful Butterfly!

I was admiring my ribbon collection today when it dawned on me that I hadn't used much of my Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain. So I made this card with the Mojo sketch, intending to use that ribbon. Well, in the end I decided not too, but at least I did use my favorite Razzleberry color! The patterned paper is the Night and Day Specialty DSP from the Holiday Mini- the paper in the Build-a-brad is from Cottage Wall DSP.

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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: none

Colors: Rich Razzleberry, Black & White

Accessories: Night and Day DSP, Cottage Wall DSP, Build-a-Brad, 1/2" circle punch, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Daisies #2 die, Big Shot, Black Chunky Glitter

Pillow Inspired!

Oh boy am I procrastinating! I have a list of 5 errands I should be out running right now, but I am messing around with my stamps instead. Gotta smile though because I love how this quick card turned out! Today's CAS challenge on splitcoast is to be inspired by a pillow HERE.


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

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Medallion, Cute & Curly, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors: Black, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

Accessories: Bermuda Bay dotted grosgrain, Curly Label punch, black EP, small oval punch, white gel pen