A Lovely Mother's Day

Warning:  this post is full of pictures!  Not only do I have the weekly Diva challenge for you but also some RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) I've received recently that made my day!  Enjoy!

 Here is my Diva card using the color combo Soft Suede, So Saffron and Regal Rose.  I've also employed the fabulous sketch by Card Patterns. 

Here's a peek at the inside as well.  I enjoyed working with the Medallion background stamp again- it's been awhile.  Also, the Big Shot came in handy with the Framed Tulips embossing folder as well as the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and the Beautiful Wings embosslit for the butterlflies inside and out.

This is a birthday card I found in my mailbox from my good pal and frequent virtual stampin' buddy, Lisa Henke!  Isn't it beautiful?!  It did have a rhinestone in the center of that bottom flower when I opened it but lost it from the mailbox to here. 

Here's another from Lisa who thought of me and cheered me up when I needed it most.  Perfect timing and friendship to make a gal perk up! 

And to make me feel even more special, this card and the next both arrived from perfect strangers who just send RAKs out of the kindness of their hearts!  This is from Joan aka Smileyj on Splitcoast...  thank you Joan!  Oops, looks like the other one didn't load.  I'll work on that and see if I can't show you tomorrow. 

Here is the DCBD color challenge for this week if you are inclined to play along.  We'd love to have you join us!  Heck, we might even choose your card to feature on our weekly "Featured Artist" post. 

Ooh, almost forgot.  My before and after bathroom redo pictures...  well, I've got them taken just need to upload.  Any last minute gueses as to what color it is?  I'll work on that post for tomorrow... my power is supposed to be out this morning so I feel like I'm working on borrowed time as it is or else I'd just add them right now.   

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristin

A couple of RAKs and Blog Awards

Since I'm still catching up on blogging, surfing, emails and paying bills on-line I haven't actually stamped yet... so thought I'd share these two very sweet cards I got from a few very sweet gals I know.

First up, this from Lisa Henke. I just happened to be the first to answer a question correctly on her blog so she sent this card as my reward! Isn't it striking?!! Lisa is so creative in finding funky and fabulous new color combos! not to mention her awesome layout design. If you want to see some good scrapbook pages be sure to check Lisa's blog!




Color combos and a CAS style happen to be some of my favorite things about Becky too! Look at this adorable birthday card she sent me back in April! (all the little dents at the top are from me having this hung up above my desk for so long!) I love how Becky made this little snail glossy and dimensional.

Thank you to PattyB for nominating me for this blog award recently:

How sweet of you to think of me!

And a special thanks also to Elizabeth for sending me this blog award way back in May!! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to respond!!

Blog awards are always a treat to recieve and they are appreciated. Someday I may even pass them along!

~Kristin

Art from the Heart

Thought I'd post a few more birthday cards I received last month. It's always a treat to get happy mail, and even more special if the card is a handmade piece of art from the heart! The first one is from Nancy, a friend and loyal customer of mine and the second one is from my sister. I was so tickled to get them and to see them using their Stampin' Up! supplies that I just had to post them. I hope they don't mind!

I'm hoping to finish a scrapbook page to share with you later today and I might even go try a new challenge. If you're looking for a good stampin' challenge check out this sketch challenge, or this color challenge, or this Ways to Use it challenge or if you're an SU demonstrator you can try out yesterday's demo challenge. These challenges are all brought to you by Splitcoaststampers.com!

Well, we've got a 2hour fog delay this morning so I'd better go tend to the kiddos while they are still home. I'll be back later hopefully!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kristin

Another Birthday RAK !!

This is from my great pal Lisa Henke! Isn't it adorable? This uses the Big Bold Cupcake Sizzlits 4-pack on page 201 and guess what she cut out with them?! FELT! That's right- she found some awesome felt and ran it through the big shot and this is how it turns out! It is even better in person because you can feel the texture too. And she actually sewed on here too- for real! I gotta get my machine out of the closet and do this!


Thanks so much Lisa for parting with this gem and sending it my way. You made my birthday extra special!


Thanks Lisa!

In other news, did you see THIS thread on SCS? It is in the demo only forum so if you're not an SU demonstrator you won't be able to see it (sorry!!) but you can all see the projects HERE. This lists the TOP 100 SUO projects in the entire SCS gallery based on views and # of times it was favorited. Guess what!! I'm listed twice and one of them is the #2 project listed! I am in complete shock! How exciting!! I hope you click on the link and check it out because there are so many cool things to see!

~Kristin

Birthday RAK!!

This is from my good pal Vera Schoeters whom I had the pleasure of hanging out with at SU's convention last year! I just love the colors and how she cut out the glass and layered it on the textured cardstock and metal edge tag! Thanks so much Vera- you helped make my day great. So did all of you with your birthday wishes- what a great day! I topped it off with a little shopping trip (hey, I had money in my pocket and some extra time on my hands)- picked up a new pair of jeans, a wallet, shirt, ring and necklace all for ME!

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I'll have something I've stamped myself later today, we'll see... sun is shining.
~Kristin

Sweet RAK from Lisa & A birthday thank you

My good friend Lisa Henke sent me this card last weekend wishing me luck for my craft fair activities. Wasn't that sweet?! She's always so thoughtful to her stampin' sisters (not just to me by the way). Thanks Lisa- you made my day sending me some happy mail! I owe ya!

My DD and I designed this quickly the other day because she has LOTS of Birthday Thank You notes to write. After I cut out all the paper and she stamped many of the flowers to punch out I remembered the new stamp that was to arrive yesterday: the Simple Birthday Thanks giant cupcake with a thank you note included in the stamp. This is on sale right now for SU's birthday celebration so I had to order it. So we scrapped this idea and set the cardstock aside until the UPS guy showed up!

Well, we stamped a bunch of the cupcakes and worked together to color them in today while she's home sick. I'll show those tomorrow once they are mounted on the Gable Green bases I have ready. They won't be works of art since we had to do them so quickly, but I can see all kinds of possibilities with this giant cupcake stamp!

Also coming tomorrow, a few more Christmas card ideas. Thanks for stopping by! (BTW, did you notice my Stampin' Top 50 number going up above 400 recently?!? How fun! That's all thanks to YOU!)

Oops, almost forgot my Stampin' Supply List for my Thank You card above:

Stamps: So Many Scallops, Wow Flowers, Little Pieces

Ink: Pink Passion, Pumpkin Pie, Marigold Morning, Lovely Lilac

Cardstock: Whisper White, Gable Green

Accessories: Scallop punch, pop dot

More Birthday- RAKs

I just have to share these as well! These came yesterday- my BFF took me to lunch for my birthday and gave me the turquoise and brown sparklin' flower- it is beautiful! The Happy Bird Day card came from a sweet Great Swap pal, Jimmi Mayo! I love her colors and the wheeled background- she even coordinated the envelope with the wheel! Thanks Nicky and Jimmi!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I started posting this yesterday (on my actual birthday) but life got in the way... I really wanted to show you this birthday card Lisa sent me Saturday with all the goodies- it is so beautiful! I just love the colors and stamps and the dew drops- aren't they lovely?!!

I am also going to add several other B-RAKS (Birthday random acts of kindness) that I've gotten- I LOVE having stampin' pals! Thanks for making my birthday so special everyone!! These are from Deb Albright (crafty Turtle), Vera Schoeters (Vera) & Becky Carafa (Beccabatgirl). Aren't they awesome?!!


I'll be back later with more hopefully (crossing fingers)!

Lisa Henke: My On-line Pal!

{OMG, I just found this post in DRAFT that I never published, I have no idea why! DUH! Anyway, here's one from back on April 21!}

I have made a dear on-line friend, Lisa Henke, via Splitcoast Stampers and our Great Swaps group and she surprised me with an early birthday surprise on Saturday!! My birthday isn't until tomorrow but she sent me a package full of wonderful stamped images, gorgeous dew drops, a variety of ribbon and even some paper embossed with my favorite embossing folder (Swiss Dots)! She knows I rarely to never use Non-SU products so is doing her best to enable me! Anyway, I was gone much of the day Saturday but managed to make these two cards with all her wonderful stuff before I got tired Saturday night. Thanks so much Lisa!! I love it all... Oh, and the best part is, the card she made for me! WOWzers. I will run and take a picture of it to upload tomorrow!

PS- Check out the link to Great Swaps- there is a new color challenge on there today! Try it out and be sure to link your card!

SU supplies are:

Cardstock- Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Berry Bliss, Basic Gray, Soft Sky, Watercolor Paper

Accessories: Watercolor Crayons, Aqua Painters, oval punches, square punch, Eastern Elegance Rub-ons

Non-SU supplies are:

Stamps: Bellas

Ribbon: May Arts

Accessories: Dew Drops (not sure of brand??), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder