Frosty Treat Cup

My daughter and I spent an evening recently making a bundle of cards like this for teacher gifts.  We found the idea on-line and were inspired to use leftover treat cups we had here.  The ultimate goal is to print the Snowman Soup poem for the inside and include a packet of Hot Cocoa Mix and a little candy cane stirrer on the inside.  I gotta tell ya, it took a LONG time just to get the front done on four of these.  First we put together the snowman body, complete with his hat with sparkly band, face, black brads for buttons and his gingham scarf. 

Then adding the treat cup and making sure the holes lined up through three layers. We did that by first punching the 1 3/4" circle in the top layer (Baja Breeze) then lining it up on the Real Red layer and tracing it with a pencil.  Once that one is punched we then line up the inside layer and once again trace the circle.  I know that is clear as mud.  Without a tutorial it really takes some thought! 

Once I get the inside done I'll take some more pics and maybe attempt a tutorial... don't hold your breath though.  This is a busy holiday season coming up! 

Thanks for visiting!
~Kristin

Quick & Easy Santa

No Santa isn't easy, this card is easy!  Three silver glimmer brads on a Cherry Cobler layer, on a white layer on a Basic Gray card base with a black satin ribbon and some hodgepodge for a buckle.  Fun, easy!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Have a safe holiday weekend!
~Kristin

Using Punch Potpourri

Good Wednesday!  Sorry I've left you hanging ever since last Thursday with nothing to look at except that bragging post... how embarassing!  Life has just gotten in the way- in a good way though, nothing stressful really.  Although my husband's football team lost in the third round of the playoffs last weekend so that was a bummer.  But, it was a great game and really came down to the end.  The bright side is football season is now over.  Phew! 

I'm enjoying this first day of Thanksgiving vacation and have something to be thankful for.  I left my weekly volleyball night early last night (which I NEVER do) because I started feeling really sick.  By the time I made it home I thought for sure it was going to be the flu, but within an hour or so I felt much better and woke up this morning feeling fine.  I don't know about you, but I think avoiding the flu is definitely seomthing to be thankful for!! 

So, on to this card which is the main reason you are here!  The Divas have a color challenge again this week for you.  It is Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink and Early Espresso.  Not a challenge at all in my book- pinks and browns always look lovely together.  I used the Punch Potpourri set for this card and combined it with the French Filigree and Elegant Lines embossing folder.  Can you see the French Filigree background?  It is embossed in clear powder on the white paper for a subtle elegant effect.  I wish my clear powder wasn't dirty though- it has flecks of darker powders in it I'm afraid.

I colored the flowers on the main heart image using my aquapainter and Watercolor Crayons- almost forgot I had those it's been so long.  Did you notice the frilly heart layer?  That is the embosslit called Scalloped Heart of Hearts.  Fits perfectly behind our large heart punch- love that! 

Other details include some tiny pearls, a bit of the scallop trim border and some Early Espresso narrow ribbon- that stuff is so dainty! 

In the end I decided to leave a sentiment off and just add it in the inside.  This could be a wedding card or valentine, love or even a miss you kind of card.  Hope you like it and you decide to play along with the Divas! 

Ooh, I almost forgot to mention that I used the wonderful sketch from Create with Connie & Mary... and yikes, I only have 12 minutes left to upload!  Gotta run!

Thanks for stopping by, I've got more planned for the next two days. 

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Punch Potpourri, French Filigree background

Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Early Espresso

Accessories: Early Espresso ribbon, Heart of Hearts embosslit, Big Shot, Basic Pearls, Elegant Lines embossing folder, clear embossing powder, scallop trim border punch, large heart punch, watercolor crayons, aquapainter

Kudos!!

ku-dos: statements of praise or approval

Oh boy, I'm so excited to have received such accolades recently!  I was a "PPA Pick" on the classy and stylish Paper Pal Arts blog with THIS CARD and again with THIS CARD!  I am always drawn to blogs that feature challenges especially when their gorgeous samples feature Stampin' Up! products!

And to compound my pleasure I also was named a Stampin' Royalty Goddess Pick at the Stampin' Royalty blog with THIS CARD for their sketch challenge.

Thanks ladies for the honors- I will display my badges with pride!

~Kristin

Butterfly Trio

Good Wednesday morning!  The Divas have a wonderful sketch challenge for you today... but I am still having trouble loading any images after my first... I'm sure it's a blogger problem because I never used to struggle with this.  Anyone else having this issue??

Anyway, you'll have to trust me on this and go check out the sketch on the Diva blog!  I've rotated it (as usual) but this card could easily go either way, especially since I decided to leave off a sentiment.  This actually came to me pretty quickly and came together even more quickly.  The card base and butterflies are all stamped with the Stitched background which I'd forgotten is retired.  The Designer papers I used are from the Newsprint collection.  And the color combo came from my handy dandy new Color Coach- LOVE that thing! 

Anyway, I hope you'll play along.  This sketch provides endless possibilities!  Make sure you go link your creation to the Diva blog so we can stop by and leave some comment love! 

Have a great day!

~Kristin

Stamps: Stitched

Colors: Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turquoise, Black, Vanilla

Accessories:  Newsprint DSP, silver brads, butterfly punch, distressing tool

Confucius Says...

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."  Yep, I like that.  Hope you like this card.  Used yesterday's CAS sketch and today's color challenge (Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum) on Splitcoast! 

Gotta run, hope you're having a great day!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Asian Artistry

Colors: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum

Accessories:  Big Shot, embossing folder, Beautiful Wings Bigz Die, Basic Pearls, Striped Baja ribbon

Elegant Christmas

This week's PPA challenge is to find inspiration in the given photo for a card of your own.  To me the photo (which, once again Blogger will not allowe me to include) is elegant and refined and I noticed the lovely color combo of plum, gold and vanilla and white.  I tried to mimic both the feel and the colors in this Christmas card.  Also, the Just Add Ink challenge theme this week is Christmas.

The shimmery white cardstock layer was embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder then punched through with the ornament punch.  The Rich Razzleberry layer was also punched with the ornament punch.  I added a snowflake and gold glimmer brad on the inside to show through the ornament "window".  My final details were added with some white organza ribbon, narrow Rich Razzleberry ribbon, gold cord and some gold embossing powder.  The gold embossing powder was easy to apply just in specific areas by using the fine tip of the Versamarker!

My photo isn't the best, although I tried believe me, but the shimmer is really pretty in real life. 

Thanks for visiting today!  Hope you are staying warm wherever you are!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: All Holidays (embossed in gold inside)

Colors:  Rich Razzleberry, Shimmery White, gold

Accessories:  Big Shot, ornament punch, Elegant Lines embossing folder, Merry Details Sizzlit, white organza ribbon, gold cord, Rich Razzleberry narrow ribbon, versamarker, gold embossing powder

Simple Christmas

Boy this sure did not turn out as I had it planned in my mind.  Not sure what happened but it evolved into something totally different.  The only design element I stuck with was the color scheme of Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede and Vanilla.  I've used the Elegant Lines embossing folder for the background and the ornament is from Tags Til Christmas punched with the ornament punch.  Tied on some Chantilly ribbon and added a few basic pearls too.  The sentiment is from Many Merry Messages. 

I'm gonna have to trim the bottom of this card off.  This card was in my stash of precut and scored cards and it has a yellowish tinge at the bottom.  It is really bugging me! 

Hope you have a wonderful day! 
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Tags Til Christmas, Many Merry Messages

Colors:  Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Big Shot, Elegant Lines embossing folder, Ornament punch, Basic Pearls, Chantilly ribbon

Party Pieces Birthday Layout

Yes, I'm scrapping 2003 right now.  Have I mentioned that I noticed not too long ago that I skipped about a one year period in my family album??  Well, of course I had to go back and fill it in.  This is a layout from my daughter's 2nd birthday.  I used up most of the rest of my Party Pieces Simply Scrappin' Kit.

Everything except the brads and the ribbon came from this kit.  Oh, well, I also made my own title piece on the first page.  The ribbon came from the Pigtails Ribbon Originals that I picked up on the Clearance Rack at some point.

The journaling box also came with the kit but it said "Guests" at the top so I just covered that up with my own stamped label and listed fun details about my daughter at that age. 

Do I have any scrapbookers stopping by?  I've noticed I get far fewer comments on scrapbook pages so I'm assuming the interest just isn't for the pages.  Just wondering- I will continue to post them anyway, for my sake or for any "lurking" scrapbookers.  :) 

Thanks for visiting!
~Kristin

Fright Night- a Scrapbook Page

Good morning!  I'm back today with a few scrapbook pages I finished this week.  They are of two different subjects but are in chronological order so I've made them coordinate so they can be side by side.  I used the Simply Scrappin' Kit called Summer Home.  I adore these colors and patterns. 

I hope you like them.  Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Newsprint Alphabet

Accessories:  Summer Home Simply Scrappin' Kit, Chocolate Chip Felt Ribbon

B is for Birthday

Good Wednesday morning!  Today the Diva's have a fabulous color challenge for you!  Don't be afraid- get out your Concord Crush, Old Olive and Tangerine Tango and see what you can do.  By itself Tangerine Tango is not one of my favorite colors- however, when paired with these two beauties in a small amount it can be a real standout! 

Initially when I made this the popped center of the B was in Tangerine.  However, it actually detracted from the bold focal nature of the star.  So I stamped the package in olive and just glued it on top.  Simple fix!  In case you are wondering, the Old Olive piece that is the mat behind the main image has been through the crimper for some texture and dimension.  When was the last time you pulled out your crimper??  That's what I thought- ages! 

The sketch I've used for my inspiration is this week's challenge on Just Add Ink!  Loved this sketch and see many possibilities with it!

When I had this mostly together I realized it just needed something.  I'm a fan of Clean & Simple but there still needs to be balance and interest.  So, out comes the white gel pens for a few dotted touches around the top 3/4s of the card.  Finally, I added a fun Concord Crush glimmer brad to the layered stars for a bit of bling! 

Such fun!  I just love stamping!  Thanks for visiting me today!

~Kristin

PS- Having trouble loading more than one image for some reason.  I'll try again later to see if I can get the 2 challenge photos to show up. 

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Party Hearty

Colors: Concord Crush, Old Olive, Tangering Tango, Whisper White

Accessories:  Crimper, In Colors Glimmer brads, Concord Crush twill ribbon, white gel pen, large & small star punches, Stampin' Dimensionals

*smile*

*Apologies if you got a sneak peek of tomorrow's post this morning.  I messed up the scheduled date.  It will return tomorrow!*

Hello and happy Monday!!  If you are in Ohio you are probably enjoying lovely 60 degree weather which is a welcome relief after the bitter cold of the weekend.  I should know because we sat through two football games and nearly froze!  The good news, besides that it is sunny and warm today, is that our high school team won the first round playoff game and my son's midget league football is OVER.  Not that I didn't enjoy watching, I truly did, but 6 hours of practice a week was really overwhelming our family schedule.  It was a great season and they ended up the champions of the league with only one loss.  Great job Sharks!

The card I'm sharing with you today puts to use the PPA67 Color Challenge to use Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade and Basic Gray.  LOVE these colors together... but just not for Christmas.  Trust me.  I tried and it didn't work.  I've also used the sketch from the Stampin' 411 blog (SSC176) which I've tried to upload but am getting resistance from blogger for some reason. 

Now for details about this card...  the Poppy flower was made by using the bird's wing from the Two-Step Bird punch- 7 of them to be exact.  The Daffodil Delight center as well as part of the card base were both embossed with the Dotted embossing folder and the Big Shot.  Details were added with Filigree brads, Daffodil Delight narrow ribbon and the Modern Label punch.  The "smile" is from Fabulous Phrases, stamped in white. 

Hope you like it!  I had fun working out the details!  Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to stop back again on Wednesday for a fun Diva challenge!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases, For All You Do (for the flower stem)

Colors:  Basic Gray, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight

Accessories:  Big Shot, Dotted embossing folder, Filigree brads, narrow Daffodil Delight ribbon, Modern label punch

Rolling Acorns

Quick post today... using the sketch FTL114 from the Clean & Simple Stamping blog and this week's color combo challenge from SCS CC2945 (Cajun Craze, Early Espresso and Peach Parfait) I came up with this card.  It's not quite as simple as the beautiful sample by Heather on the Clean & Simple blog... I just couldn't be satisfied for some reason.  But it is still pretty simple I think.  I used the acorn from my old set Autumn Fest (since I still had it out from the scrapbook page a few days ago) and decided to make it roll in the autumn wind. 

One is cut out by hand and popped up for some dimension and interest.  Cajun Craze card base is embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder (you're seeing a lot of that from me lately, eh?!). 

Gotta run to an honor roll assembly that starts in 20 minutes.  Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Autumn Fest, Fabulous Phrases

Colors: Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Peach Parfait, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Pinking Hearts border punch, linen thread

Thanksgiving Trees

Wow!  It has been a LONG time since I pulled out Lovely as a Tree stamp set.  I know it's a classic, but I just don't reach for it very much any more.  Well, for some reason this sketch just called for a quick rotation and a reach for those trees! 

I started out with a Very Vanilla oval and embossed the trees with Early Espresso (by inking with Versamark first then the Espresso) and clear powder.  I was going for a fall look by dabbing some fallish colors into the trees, but the background looked so bare so I just kept layering and layering color until I was about to go overboard.  LOL! 

Today is another Diva Coffee Break Designs sketch challenge.  We'd love to have you play along with us and check out all the designers' creations! 

Thanks for stopping by and a hello to all my new followers from Stampin' Connection!  Great to have you!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies:

Stamps:  Lovely As a Tree, Holidays and Wishes

Colors: Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Clear EP, Big Shot, Lattice Embossing folder, Modern Label punch

Kiddos: A Scrapbook Layout

I'm excited to share these with you today!  It's been a while since I've scrapped but the weather is turning cooler and this is what I do during hibernate mode.  This is one of the FEW single photo pages I've ever done but I love it.  It is also one of the few times I've heavily edited a scanned non-digital photo for a page. 

 This photo was one of my favorites of the bunch (shown on the next page) but I wanted it cropped.  I lost some clarity when I cropped it but fixed that by changing it to a Sepia tone.  Have you played with your camera and printer options like this before? 

Can you believe I'm still scrapping some non-digital photos??  I started using a digital camera in 2004 (not exclusively though) and recently found a huge 1 year gap in my chronological albums.  Not sure why I skipped most of 2003 but I am determined to go back and fill in!

This layout was inspired by my most recent Stampin' Success magazine that Stampin' Up! publishes for all it's demonstrators.  It is full of beautiful examples of cards and scrapbook pages.

Here is the facing page.  I just had to get all these pictures on here, especially now that my kids are 7 years older than this!  I suppose I would be less sentimental if I'd scrapped this back then.  But it worked. 

Inspired by a magazine page from the Nov. 2009 Creating Keepsakes- I cropped each picture to a small rectangle and just haphazardly spread them across the Newsprint DSP.  Added a few stamped leaves (Autumn Fest) to coordinate the pages and some twill tape with an Antique Brad.  The other designer paper on both pages as well as the journaling boxes are all from the retired specialty paper called The Write Stuff which I got from the Clearance Rack recently. 

So here's the spread together.  I'm pretty happy with it.  The journaling, if you're interested, reads:  "One guess who sent you home with the glazed donuts today.  Yep!  I'm sure it was grandma Wandy's idea!  And look at those ornery kiddos with their pumpkin and their Roscoe (our dog)...  Too Cute!  Love mom"

Thanks for visiting today!  Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a fabulous Diva challenge! 

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Autumn Fest, Collage Alphabet (both retired), Confetti (tiny leaves in background on first page), office type date stamp

Colors: So Saffron, Ruby Red, Soft Suede

Accessories: Newsprint DSP, The Write Stuff Specialy Paper, Twill Tape, Chipboard K, Antique brads

Tea & Crumpets Birthday

Good morning folks!  Long time no see... I won't even bore you with my sob story of being busy- that's a poor excuse for not enjoying my craft more frequently.  However, I DO have this card to show you and even a 2-page scrapbook layout I managed to complete this weekend which I'll share tomorrow. 

Today's card is possible thanks to the lovely Stampin' Royalty Sketch shown below (click on the picture for a link to their blog post) as well as the Just Add Ink #41 challenge to do an "Out of the Box" card with a birthday theme.  Well, this isn't exactly out of the box, but all the fussy cutting and layering is for me kind of. 

Ooh, I just remembered another challenge that really got me started was Friday's Free For All challenge (F4A36) on Splitcoast to use stamped paper pieced images.  For me that meant stamping these Fifth Avenue Floral flowers onto the retired Tea & Crumpets DSP that I recently purchased from SU's Clearance Rack.  

I textured the card base, which is Mellow Moss by the way (have you missed that color??), with the Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder and the Big Shot. 

The stems of leaves were super easy with the Two-Step Bird Punch.  Popped on a few pearls and some white taffeta ribbon, embossed the sentiment and layered it on a pierced mat then called it quits. 

Thanks for hanging out with me this morning!  I truly enjoy reading all your comments, so thank you. 

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Fifth Avenue Floral, Well Scripted

Colors:  Mellow Moss, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Extras: Tea & Crumpets DSP, Basic Jewel Pearls, White taffeta ribbon, Big Shot, Lattice Embossing folder, paper piercing tool, distressing tool