Warmth & Texture and a Color Challenge

 So who's ready for another color challenge??  I don't know about you but I'm ready for those 75-80 degree days to stick around permanently so I had to come up with something WARM!  The Mojo Monday challenge was a perfect way for me to incorporate each of the three colors in the background.  Had some fun with texture and mixing a few different stamp sets. 

 I had fun experimenting with these colors and will be back again tomorrow with another one.  I hope you'll play along this time.  I've left the linky open a bit longer this time (a whole month).  Once it closes I'll pick a favorite or two to post here and share some love! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Up in the Air, Fresh Vintage, Silhouette Sentiments

Colors:  Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, stamp punch, mini silver brad, tiny tag punch, dotted Crushed Curry Ribbon, Scallop trim border punch, markers

Long Lost Challenge

Hey, remember that brilliant idea I had to post my own color challenge back in January?  This was the color challenge and I had two wonderful participants (one of them I might have begged to play along).  Well, I had promised to not only have more challenges (which I haven't) but also to choose a favorite and show you (which I didn't). Since I had only two I wanted to feature them both on this post FINALLY, but for whatever crazy technical reason, I cannot post Ellen's card.  When I try to save it to my computer it won't show the picture, so it also won't let me upload it here.  I've even tried linking from the URL but that won't work either.  So please just click on her name there and go see it for yourself and maybe, just maybe she'll want to play again if I ever get another challenge posted.

But here is Lisa's card.  Isn't it just the cutest thing?  Lisa has 3 boys so she ROCKS at making cute kid/boy cards espeically! 

Thanks for playing along ladies.  Next time (and I'm hoping that is soon) I'll leave the challenge linky open indefinitely since I make no promises to post challenges at regular intervals. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Love to hear from you!

~K

Door Prizes

Good morning!  Since I remembered to take pictures of my door prizes for the Stamp-a-Stack I thought I'd pop in and share them today.  Each of the 4 demonstrators made 6 so we had a pretty nice variety and EVERY SINGLE PERSON got a prize!!  Mine were 6 yards of Baker's Twine in 6 different colors (Cherry Cobler, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo and Early Espresso).  I put them in a cello bag with a quick Top Note topper complete with a cute little Easter chick.  Isn't she cute?!  I did a search for Easter chicks and combined several that I found.  Very simple to do with a few punches.  

Her body is the 1 3/4" circle punch, wings from the Bird Builder punch, feet from the large Snowflake punch, little thing on top her head is from one of the punches in the Punch Pack set of 3 punches and her beak I did by folding a piece of orange cardstock then using the point from the Pennant Punch.  The twine is wrapped on round tabs punched out.  Quick and easy and I sure didn't mind sharing some twine- it is fun to use and comes in 25 yard packs! 

Here are the 3x3 notecards I shared.  These were the leftover make 'n take I had from the small business expo I did a few weekends ago.  That blossom punch and the Mixed Bunch stamp set made these a snap to put together.  And Petite Pairs stamp set too!  I divided these up into 2 sets for two of our bigger door prizes. 

I didn't get a picture of two of my other door prizes, but I can easily describe them.  I basically put together kits to make these same 3x3 notecards.  Punched several prestamped flowers out and centers too, in different colors and put them all in a recyled plastic brad case (be sure to save them-- these flowers fit perfectly!), added a few buttons then set them on top of a stack of plain notecards and tied with a bow.  They were cute, easy and cheap too.  Love it when I can recycle!  The only thing the recipient will have to do is choose a flower, a center then add a sentiment. 

So our Stamp-a-Stack was a wild success!  It went so smoothly without a hitch and I think everyone enjoyed it!  A perfect day and so enjoyable.  I can't wait for the next one! 

Thanks for stopping by.  If I get permission from everyone I might just post the other ladies' cards as well. 

~Kristin

Monograms

I've always enjoyed making Monogram Notecards for gifts or to sell at craft shows.  I gave my sister a set for a holiday last year and she recently sent me her last one, with a note asking for more.  :)  I am happy to comply, but am still working on the perfect design.  Since they are notecards and I want to make several, I like to keep them simple.  Here are a few I've tried so far.  These top two were inspired by Dawn O.  She even has a video with some neat tips. 

Here's another that I came up with.  When I finalize my design I'll make them in a number of colors for a variety and so she can kind of taylor them for whomever she wants to send them. 

I thought it would be kind of nice to have a lot of examples in one place, so here are a few I've made over the years as well: 



Shoot, the last set I made my sister didn't even get photographed. I'll have to do that and add it.  You may be noticing one thing in common on every one of these... the Monogram is done with the Lovely Letters Alphabet set.  There are other current alphabet sets that would be pretty for monogram cards, but this is the one I have so I use it every time.  The good thing is, it is still available in the current catalog. 

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

Stamp-a-Stack today!

Are you ready to see what you are missing out on today?  Our Spring Stamp-a-Stack, remember?!  That's OK if you forgot, but that's where I am today and these are three of the twelve cards our guests will be making.  This first one is a CASE of Debra Currier's original!  It is one I saved in my "Cards to Copy" folder but didn't include her name or wesite.  Took me forever to find it! 

 Here is my second card.  This one is another one closely inspired by someone else's card.  Julie Davison's idea HERE got me rolling on this one.  I used a different pattern of the Everyday Enchantment DSP (a FREE Sale-a-Bration option with a $50 order through March 31!), and added the ribbon (another FREEBIE option) with my sentiment on a little tag. 

Here is the third that you've already seen, designed entirely by yours truly.  I can't wait to see what the ladies think of our designs!  Thanks for stopping by,
~K

Flower Garden Butterfly

Here's one I've been anxious to share.  Initially I planned to punch the butterfly three times in a row with different colored ink behind each of them.  However, only one would fit on my basic gray paper so this design evolved.  Not sure what made me try to emboss all the layers with the Flower Garden embossing folder, but I'm so glad I did!  It worked as good as I had hoped.  I love the look of one of the flowers from Mixed Bunch behind the butterfly opening.  Wish I'd had this designed earlier and we would be making this at my SAS on Saturday.  Maybe next time.  

Here's a quick shot of the inside.  Simple.  Gotta run.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

~K

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors:  Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Accessories:  Big Shot, Flower Garden embossing folder, butterfly punch, Baja Breeze seam binding, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, pearl

Totally Unique Blossom Window

(yes that title was sarcastic!)

Have you seen this concept yet, of the Blossom punch cutting a window off the edge of the paper?  Well it is all over the place.  I am officially THE LAST CRAFTER to try it.  But I did my best to make it my own.  Still in love with the long-retired Bermuda Bay In Color and this Thoroughly Modern DSP!  Other oldies but goodies I added to this one include the Rhinestone brad (Oh wait- those are still current!), the chocolate epoxy flower brad and the Natural Rope Twine. 

What's current??  Well, all of my punches and the sentiment, from Bring on the Cake stamp set!  And that mini silver brad too. 

Let's see if I can round up a few other examples of this same design:  Here's the one that I was inspired by, another one, and another.  Tried to find more but got distracted and lost in blogland.  If you have one like this and would like to link it in comments that would be great too!  Would love to see it! 

And yes, the inside is done, but it is fairly boring so I didn't bother with a photo.  So I'll quit there.  Thanks for visiting!  I'd love to hear from you so I can come and visit my visitors! 

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Bring on the Cake, Mixed Bunch

Colors:  Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Mini silver brad, chocolate epoxy brad, Rhinestone brad, Boho Blossom punch, Blossom punch, Triple layer flower punch, circle punches, Natural Rope Twine, Bitty Punch pack

Good Enough to Eat

I recently saved THIS CARD by Lynn Weiss in my favorites and told her I was planning to CASE it but using my Vanilla Scented Embossing powder which I hadn't yet used.  Well, my card is a far cry shy of Lynn's but I wasn't actually looking at hers when I made this.  All I remembered for sure was the main panel with that Birthday stamp and the cupcake.  AND, mine smells heavenly!  How many cards can you say that about?!  I can't wait to see the response I get from this at our Stamp-a-Stack this weekend! 

My photo of the inside leaves a lot to be desired but I was tickled with how it turned out.  Hope you like it, and if you haven't yet tried out the scented embossing powders from the current SU Mini Catalog you just must!  Tell your demo I suggested it (or feel free to let me know if you don't have a demo and I can order it for you!)  My next card will probably have an ice cream cone on it somewhere. 

By the way, are you wondering how I got the embossing powder to stick to the frosting?  First I stamped it in Blushing Bride ink on the same color cardstock, then punched it out.  Next I went over the image with the fat end of the Versamarker.  Powder sticks wherever you color.  Isn't that genius?  Not of me, but of whoever invented that Versamarker.  Mine is starting to show signs of age (it is probably close to 8 years old!) so I may be in the market for a new one soon.

Thanks for stopping by again.  Can't wait to show you everything I've done lately.  I'm tempted to just post it all at once in one long post... but I'd rather drag it out.  LOL!

Have a great day!
~K

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Happiest Birthday Wishes, Create a Cupcake, Confetti

Colors:  Naturals Ivory, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Build-a-Cupcake punch, scalloped dotted ribbon border punch, Big Shot, Striped embossing folder, Vanilla Scented Embossing powder, Versamarker

Vellum Softness

Isn't vellum neat?!  It can just add a bit of softness that is just perfect.  Even better when you find it in your stash of previously embossed but unused tidbits.  Remember yesterday when I mentioned the layering technique with the new Blossom punch and the Modern Label punch?  Well, here it is.  How fun is that to use something you've already got with something you just got to make something really cool?! 

Actually got a decent shot of the inside so here it is for your viewing pleasure.  Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great week.

~Kristin

PS- Only 12 days left for getting FREE stuff, like the designer paper & designer brad used here, with a $50 order.  It's Sale-a-Bration and it's ending soon!  Let me know if you'd like to place an order or schedule a workshop.

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Silhouette Sentiments, Happiest Birthday Wishes

Colors:  Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Accessories:  Blossom Punch, vellum, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, Everyday Enchantment DSP & brad, Modern Label punch, Rhinestones, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, sponge dauber

Wedding Card Stash=1

I don't know about you, but I NEVER have a wedding card when I need one.  They just don't get made that often, probably because I don't specialize in "elegant".  So when trying to decide on a sentiment for this one I figured it might be a good idea to build up my stash.  Wedding card stash=1. 

This striped embossing folder keeps making appearances in cards that are drawing my attention.  So it came to mind when putting this one together.  Like how it takes a lot of plain white area and adds some interest?  Texture can do that!

My ribbon is pretty sad.  Considering I tried to duplicate a neat tutorial for making it all curly and bouncy like (wrap around a pencil and heat).  Well it was for awhile but, just like my hair, it went flat.  Since taking the picture I've tied the ribbon in a bow so it isn't so sad looking. 

Wondering about the sentiment piece??  Well, obviously it is the Modern Label punch.  But behind it is one petal from the new Blossom punch.  Not entirely necessary since I have the Movers & Shapers die that would layer perfectly, but since someone pointed out on their blog that they layer nicely I had to give it a go.  Maybe tomorrow I'll show you a better example.  

 Yes I did the inside too.  Kept it simple as well.  Just layered a smaller label framelit with the Modern Label punch and added a few pearls.

Funny thing.  After I completed this card the other day I was browsing around the internet for more inspiration and came across this sketch which I think is darn close (given some creative license) to my card.  So off to Stampin' 411 to enter! 

Hope you like it!  Off to play some more. 

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Fresh Vintage, Petite Pairs

Colors:  Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, White

Accessorie:  Big Shot, Framelits Labels Collections, Pearls, Modern Label punch, Stripes embossing folder, Blossom punch

Birthday Duo

I looked up the other day and saw two random rolls of ribbon on top of each other.  They weren't doing anything wrong, but the colors together struck me!  Then last night I had some time to stamp (in fact, LOTS of stamping time this weekend- Yeehaw!!) and this is what came of it.  Lucky Limeade and Black.  Funny thing is, I didn't use either roll of ribbon as I had intended- left them alone to do their thing. 

I borrowed the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches because it is fun and I felt like it.  And you know, my mood is pretty much what drives everything I do... laundry, stamping, exercise, cooking.  If I don't feel like it, I don't do it.  Anyway, this set which I earned for FREE with a $50 order (until March 31) hadn't seen ink yet so I whipped it out. 

 Here's a shot at the inside.  Does that look anything like a banner underneath the sentiment??  My daughter swore up and down that it did, but I'm not so sure.  I loved the idea of a fun birthday banner on the inside but didn't feel like putting the effort into a full blown pennant banner full of layers etc.  So I punched a large star and cut off it's legs.  Voila.  I guess.  It's fun anyway and I figure this will be a birthday card for one of my son's friends one of these days and they don't even read them... just give them a shake to see what falls out.  LOL.

Just for fun I made a second card at the same time as the first, just reversing the colors and stamps basically.  I NEVER do that, so it was nice to end up with two cards in nearly the time of doing one.  Who knew!

Well guess what.  I've got 11, YES ELEVEN more cards to share with you over the next several days.  You won't know what to do having something new actually show up if you decide to stop back soon! 

Thanks for visiting with me today and I hope you have fabulous weather to enoy, wherever you are!  Off to do some yard work.

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Party This Way

Colors:  Lucky Limeade, Black

Accessories:  Crimper, Linen thread, narrow ribbon (in Old Olive and Black), Vanilla craft ink, Stampin' Dimensionals

Words With Friends Birthday Card

In February one of my good friends, who happens to play Words With Friends with me, turned 40... so I had this brilliant idea to make a Words With Friends themed card at the last minute.  Well, last hour.  OK, maybe two hours and that is how long it took.  If I'd started sooner it would've been square and had other squares filled in, and in general looked more authentic.  But I barely made it out the door on time with this one and it was a surprise party so my typical lateness would not have been very effective!

But it was FUN!  Here's a shot of the inside that didn't take near as long as the front.  I wanted to glitter up the "40" and the cupcake, but I knew it wouldn't dry on time so had to skip that step too. 

Well, that's my attempt at a humorous homemade 40th birthday card.  She got a good laugh out of it so that's what matters! 

I've been enjoying this beautiful spring weather, and trying to get some other projects done which is why I haven't been on here much lately.  If this weather keeps up then that might not change any time soon.  We'll see.  I'm ready to sit and stamp today, but my desk is a disaster from the last few weeks of hecticness.  Did get my taxes done yesterday though- huge relief! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristin

Sneak Peek!!

Shhhhh, don't tell that I've spilled the beans... but here is one of my three designs for our upcoming Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday March 24th!  There is still room so if you'd like to make this and 11 other designs just leave me a quick comment or shoot me an email and I'll get you the registration information.  Cost is $35 and that includes 12 cards, lunch and snacks, door prizes and a $5 coupon towards an order that day.  And don't forget the laughter and entertainment!  Hope you can join us- it isn't just for the crafty types, all are welcome, we're glad to help you along the way. 

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

PS- All of my cards have a little surprise inside!

On Pleasant Pond

How about quick scrapbook layout today?  I had fun with this one, especially since it uses full size, uncropped pictures and 6 of them to boot.  Of course I managed to squeeze two more little ones on there.  I was thinking this was a sketch I copied, but since it was so long ago now I can't find it.

The papers I used are Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, plus some black and whtie.  Also put my pennant punch to use, and some other SU stuff from my stash.  I love putting things to use that I've hung onto for a long time! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Stop by tomorrow for a sneak peek of one of my cards for the SAS coming up on March 24th.  I'd love to have you so if you are local let me know and I'll get you a registration form. 
~Kristin

PS- This layout is of a playdate we had with my BFF and her girls.  The little one in the yellow swim vest is my now 10 year old!  So fun looking back at these pictures from when they were so small!

Stamping Ego Boost

I owe some thank yous that are well over due!  And they are all related to the SAME card!  I apologize for my lack of acknowledging these folks.  Tiffany Bauer at My Crafty World honored me by featuring this card of mine as one of her picks on her awesome blog back in February!!  Here's the post. 

Also, Chat (Nitestamper) at Me, My Stamps & I chose to use that same card for her weekly Consider it Cased post!  She made her own beautiful version too.  Check it out!

And finally, the ever-so-sweet Nancy Riley featured that card as one of her weekly iPicks!  How exciting!  I always look forward to seeing what Nancy will choose each week- she finds the best stuff!

So there you go.  Thanks ladies, for boosting my stamping ego just a smidge!  ;) 
~Kristin

Catch Up Mode

Good morning!  Sorry I've been away so long.  Scheduled a last minute 8 day trip to Florida with my dad and just got home on Friday.  It was great- 83 degrees every day, beautiful, sunny, perfect days.  Couldn't have been better!  But now I am playing catch up.  The downside of every getaway I suppose. 

Here are a few of the scrapbook layouts I completed awhile back and never got around to sharing.  The first one went fairly quickly, for me, with the Pina Colada Simply Scrappin' Kit.  I love those when I actually put them to good use and stop hoarding them! 

This one took forever.  I'm happy with how it turned out but not how long it sat on my table while I fretted over it.  It didn't help that the kit I used was not by SU so it didn't really match anything I had.  But, I did have fun using my daughter's Cricut to cut a bunch of flowers.  Even so, I still waited to get my new stamp set Mixed Bunch to finish the page.  This layout came from a sketch on Let's Scrap.  Not sure if I can remember where my other one came from- maybe a magazine or my stack of sketches I have printed that I have kept in my bag for years. 

Well, I've got an event for a variety of vendors this Saturday (Yikes!) and our Spring Stamp-a-Stack to prepare for on March 24th so I'd better skeedaddle.   Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristin