I'm an Aunt (again!)- woohoo!

My new niece Lauren Elizabeth was born on Thursday June 24th at 10:33 pm weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces and 18" long. Thank goodness for modern technology- we saw a video of her within hours even from a different state!

Welcome Lauren!

Take me out of the ball park!

***Alert: special bragging post. Although there is absolutely no crafting in this posting, my best creations ever are! No offense taken if you aren't interested. I'll be back next week with more cards and stuff.***

Almost done! It's been a long season of baseball this year. My little first baseman finished her season last night. She was glad for it to be over since we get to go visit grandma & grandpa now, but a little bummed about only one win this year.

This guy will be playing with his team for the Championship sometime next week then the traveling team will be left to play. Having three different teams going at the same time got a little crazy.

Thanks for tolerating my non-crafting post about my ball players and my attempt at some creative photography! Be back next week!

~Kristin

Dog-gone good friend!

Guess what, it's time for another Diva challenge. And let me tell ya, it's a toughy! I am the first one to admit I'm not a fan of bold bright colors... well, I should say I'm not a fan of them together! I love a splash of bold even a tidal wave of bold with some neutrals or other less bold tones. So this really challenged me and I feel like I almost cheated adding in my favorite Crumb Cake (kraft) neutral and totally skimping on two of the colors. But I'm in charge around here and I say I didn't cheat- so there. LOL!

With all that said, I am pretty dog-gone happy with this card! I initially intended to add my old Paw Tracks wheel to the mix with this super cute new doggie stamp from the new Level 1 Hostess set Long Fellows, then it dawned on me that I haven't used my Pawsitively Sizzlit that die cuts and embosses this paw print at the same time. How cool is that?! If you're not familiar with this Sizzlit it is part of the Build-a-Bear line of SU products. If you're not familiar with them that's my fault- I don't "do" Build-a-Bear stuff. Just not my thing and fortunately we don't live close enough that my kids have ever asked to go build a bear or any other animal for that matter. But I digress.

So I first stamped the image in Basic Brown so I could watercolor him without worrying about smudging. Then squished some Crumb Cake ink into the lid and watercolored the little guy with my aquapainter. I sponged some Crumb Cake ink around the edges of my paw prints as well. The one in the metal edge frame was punched out with the 1 1/4" circle punch so it would fit. I was somewhat going for a dog tag look there, in case you didn't put that together.

Anyway, I hope you'll rise to the challenge and play along with the Divas yet again this week! At the very least go visit the blog and see more fun samples with this crazy color combo.

Thanks for stopping by and bearing with my wise cracks.
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Long Fellows

Colors: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Basic Brown

Accessories: Big Shot, Pawsitively Sizzlit, Circle punch, Heart to Heart punch, aqua painter, Metal Edge tag, Tempting Turquoise brads

Happy Father's Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Father's Day today! We sure did- what a great day for enjoying family. I'm finally getting a chance to upload the father's day card I made for my dad. I decided to use my new Newsprint DSP again- this time using a piece that includes an add for an optician which, as an optometrist, my dad will surely notice. The sketch I've used is from the sketch challenge on SCS this past week. I used Circle Circus layered with Dusty Durango and the new Cajun Craze for my three squares on the right. It took me forever to figure out which Father's Day stamp to use from my stash- I just couldn't decide on placement so ended up going with clean and simple.

Here's the inside. Since I punched the Word Window through the front I "did up" the inside a bit and thought I'd show you.

I managed to get in a few different challenges for this one so I'll link them here:

CCMC103 to make a Father's Day Card

SC285 Sketch Challenge

WKD0610A Wicked challenge to use Dusty Durango

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

~Kristin

PS- I got too tired to post this yesterday so my Father's Day wishes are belated!

Loving Long Fellows!

I'm on a mission- to make everyone love this adorable stamp set as much as I do! Long Fellows is a Level 2 hostess set in the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog that will be available July 1. I was able to preorder this set and am so glad I did. Here is my first card with this set that also has a bit of the stunning new paper collection called Greenhouse Gala!

My daughter helped me with this card- picking colors and making those final decisions on placement and layout. She also did the coloring on the turtle with the fabulous new In Color Pear Pizzazz.

Stay tuned for more from this set!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Long Fellows

Colors: Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Accessories: Pinking Hearts border, square punches, Playground and Sherbet Designer buttons

Newsprint Birthday

Good Wednesday morning! I hope it's sunny for you right now- it is bright and beautiful here this morning. You ready for a new Diva challenge?? I've got a sketch for you which I made into an aniversary card for my hubby. Yesterday we celebrated 14 years with shopping and dinner, with kids at grandpa's house! It was a nice evening!

So for this sketch I was itching to use some of my new goodies that came in my preorder from the new SU Catalog available July 1st. The designer series paper here is called Newsprint- I am just positive it will be wildly popular. It has several great newsprints, as well as a page of numbers, vintage looking ledger papers, sheet music etc.

Are you wondering what this luscious red color is?? That is the new Cherry Cobler which I think might be my favorite new color!! I also used my new Crumb Cake (Kraft) ink- woohoo, I'm so excited to finally have ink in that awesome neutral! And the bitty button from the Summer Mini catalog. Guess what- the tiniest heart in the Heart to Heart punch (the one with 3 hearts) fits the heart button perfectly!

Finally, in case you can't see it, the Crumb Cake strip of cardstock has been textured with the "Distressed" texture plate by SU. Unfortunately I can't find my silicone rubber piece that is needed to the texture isn't as deep as I'd hoped.

Oh yes, almost forgot to mention... the stamped print on my main oval panel is from the old background stamp called By Definition. Told 'ya I don't get rid of stuff! ;)

Have a great day! Be sure to check out the other Diva cards with this sketch then join us!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Inspired By Nature, By Definition, Well Scripted

Colors: Cherry Cobler, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Big Shot, Texture Plates, Curly Label punch, Heart to Heart punch, Bitty button

A Thought Away

Now that my mojo is back I've been trying to keep stamping for fear of it disappearing again. I whipped this one together pretty quickly Thursday night using the Pals Paper Arts color challenge to use Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay. Yummy- I really enjoyed using these colors together!

I also thoroughly love using Jackie Topa's idea of the bird wing from the Two-Step Bird Punch as a petal for a flower. Isn't that awesome?! Used some Crushed Curry ink around the edges (applied with a sponge dauber) for added dimension that makes a HUGE difference! The centers are just 1/2" Crushed Curry circles punched out then stamped with Soft Suede ink and the old Canvas background (I told you I NEVER get rid of stamps), then covered with those clear sticky circles from the Build-a-Brad. I have a bunch of the circles left but only 3 of the metal brads... go figure.


All the edges on this card are distressed with Soft Suede ink. I also used the distressing tool and the perforator tool on the suede piece. Added a library clip and some linen thread and called it quites. What do you think?! I adore the curry flowers on the suede and am so glad I found not only the color challenge but also Jackie's neat flower petal idea.

Well, gotta run! I'm out the door to head north for the weekend. Was dragging my feet because the UPS guy is over 3 hours late with my new catty but I just can't wait any more. At least I got this post done so you'll have something to see on Saturday (a rare treat from me, I know)!

Thanks for stopping in,
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Whimsical Words, Canvas

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Build-a-Brad stickers, distressing tool, Curly Label punch, Library clip, linen thread, sponge daubers

Wings of Friendship

I made this card with the awesome FTL93 sketch in mind, although I didn't exactly stick with clean and simple. I do love how this card came out, but I also plan to try again on this sketch and do it justice better.

My stamped image from Wings of Friendship stamp set is stamped in black craft ink then embossed with clear powder. I trimmed it so just a tiny bit is "out of the box" on the right edge. The sentiment (on Kiwi Kiss) is from the retired set "Designer Label" and is also embossed.

What do you think of this color combo (did I say that yesterday too?!)? It is Cool Caribbean (oh yeah, do you have any of that leftover??), Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss and Pumpkin Pie. Funny thing is originally I was going for all greens and blues (had Old Olive out also) and a watery theme (like whale from Pun Fun) plus a totally different sketch. Isn't that wild how things take a turn or two?! Once I put the Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon on there (thanks Lisa!) I knew it worked- at least for me. I don't think to use black very often so I went out of my way to get it in there today- knowing I wanted some drama.

Anyway, I hope you like it too. Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Wings of Friendship, Designer Label

Colors: Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Black EP, Filigree brad, Striped Pumpkin Pie ribbon

Live, Laugh, Love

Guess what?! I think I'm back! Well, my stampin' mojo is back anyway. At least it was yesterday when I made this and another card that I'm happy with which I'll share tomorrow. It took me a while to find a few challenges that seemed to speak to me, then it was happy stamping. For this card I used the Mojo Monday sketch challenge (Mojo 142) in a simplified form. The glittery butterfly was punched from a sticky sheet then covered with glitter. I didn't actually peel off the backing since I wanted it to be raised with a Stampin' Dimensional.

What do you think of this color combo? It isn't for a challenge anywhere, but I came up with it on my own: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry and my trusty favorite retiring Ballet Blue!

Did you notice the embossed dots around the edges of the Crumb Cake layer? Well you know me and my SUO mentality... but I just couldn't resist ordering a pack of these strip embossing folders a while ago while doing some shopping online (got myself a really cool portable Ott Lite in lime green to take on my crops and for a better light on my desk). Can't believe it has taken me this long to use one of them, but that's where those dots came from. They are just like SU's Textured Impressions Embossing Folders which I can't get enough of. The texture from just one pass through the Big Shot is amazing!

Anyway, I hope you like it. I'm tickled that I do since I've really struggled with my crafting lately. It might be that I've been reading too much instead- I'm "between" books right now so have energy to focus on card-making!!

Well, off to do 3 loads of laundry so ball uniforms get clean for games tonight. Have a great day!
~Kristin

PS- Gosh, I thought I'd gotten such a great picture but this one really doesn't show the glitter at all, and the colors aren't quite right. Guess you'll have to imagine!

SUO Supplies (except where noted)

Stamps: It's Your Birthday

Colors: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (kraft), Rich Razzleberry, Ballet Blue, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Butterfly punch, sticky sheet, Superfine glitter, Heart to Heart punch, Scallop border punch, Dotted Rich Razzleberry grosgrain, Provocraft Embossing Borders With Love

DCBD #180- A Color Challenge

Good Wednesday morning! I hope you're ready for a challenge- a color challenge from the Diva's that is. This week we are using Bashful Blue, Gable Green and Pixie Pink. This was a tough one for me... but I can tell you my Stampin' Tip for a tricky color combo: Choose two of the colors that you like best together and put the third aside for a while. Start with those two colors and use them as your primary and secondary colors then slip in a bit of the third color. At least that's what usually works for me.


So what do you think of the new Square Lattice Textured Impressions folder?? I love all texture so of course I think it's pretty nifty!

Well, I hope you'll go check out the other Diva's and then decide to play along with the Diva's Coffee Break Design Challenge.

Thanks for visiting!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Great Friend

Colors: Gable Green, Bashful Blue, Pixie Pink

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions folder, Scalloped border punch, distressing tool, bitty buttons, bitty punch

Day late and a dollar short?!

OK, well more like 6 days late but anyway, here's my Diva Coffee Break Design card for last week! We had a great sketch to work with which I turned on it's side to accommodate this gumball machine that I hadn't yet inked. For fun dimension I punched out all the gumballs with the new itty bitty circle punch (in the current Summer Mini Catalog) then layered them and popped a few up on dimensionals. Then I went out on a limb and covered the entire piece with Crystal Effects which just so happened to have changed the pink ink color- honestly the sentiment matched the pink gumballs originally!

Anyway, it's late and I'm exhausted from baseball games, camping, weeding, strawberry jam making among other things besides stamping. Maybe one of these days I'll get my full mojo back and be ready to create. Until then stop back Wednesday for a new Diva challenge and card... and yes, it'll be here because I actually made it already!

Thanks for visiting!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Something Sweet, Short & Sweet

Colors: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Close to Cocoa

Accessories: circle punch, Crystal Effects, Tempting Turquoise grosgrain, eyelet border punch