Publishing Update

Hi Kids, Publishing update today. I have a card in Just Cards Volume 21. It uses a Stampsmith Stamp. Hope you will take a look.

Have a great day!! Love ya.

Karen

Getting Geographical Challenge

Hi Everyone,

It is time for the Getting Geographical Challenge over at the Stamping Vacation Challenge blog. And the geographical location this month is:

CAIRNS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

and here are a few facts:

Great Barrier Reef

Wet Tropics Rain forest

mountains

waterfalls

named after William Wellington Cairns

sugar farming

beaches

I took my inspiration from the fact that there is a big Surfing culture in Australia. This would be a good challenge to pull out any stamps you have with kangaroos, koala bears and beach themes. Pop over to the Stamping Vacation blog and link up your entry. You have until April 28 to complete the challenge. All challenge entries qualify for the monthly gift certificate drawing. Here is my card.

I used a cute stamp from The Greetings Farm - Surfer Ian. The flip flops are from Art Impressions. Happy Birthday sentiment is from Penny Black. The Blue CS and water paper are from DCWV. I stamped with Memento black ink and colored with Copics.

Some fun challenges for Surfer Boy:

Dutch Dare: Celebrations

Pile It On: cutie patootie

Wee Memories: Anything goes

Scrapbook Sisters: Anything goes

Crafts and Me: Anything goes

The Greetings Farm: Spring Break

The Pink Elephant: Sketch

Stamps R Us: Spring theme -I used the theme and interpreted it as spring "break".

Birthday Sundaes: Birthday spring theme -I used a spring Break theme

Hope your Monday is going smoothly. I better get to work on our taxes.

Karen

Clean and Simple at the Stamping Vacation

Hello Crafty Ones,

(Well, it looks like the Clean And Simple Challenge was posted early. So, I thought I would go ahead and post today. )
It is Clean and Simple time over at the Stamping Vacation Challenge Blog. The theme for this month is:

The use only one tool - an embossing folder.

An entry in this challenge will make you eligible for the monthly drawing of a $25 gift certificate. And, get this - you get to pick the store!! Wow!!

Here is my card using only an embossing folder.

The card base is made from Barely Banana Card stock (Stampin' Up). I ran a piece of Minty Green CS thru the Cuttlebug with an EMBOSSING FOLDER. This cute bird is a digi image from the Cardmad Fairy.

I printed out the digi and colored it with Copics. I cut it out and attached with dimensionals. Here is a close up. Isn't this a cute little bird!

Challenges for my Little Love Note bird:

Do It With Digis - Cardmad Fairys challenge: Back to Nature

Phindys Place: All about animals

The rubber cafe: Embossing

Paper-crafting Journey: Up in the air

Southern Girls: Animals

Color Create: Pastels

Have a great day!

Karen

Nifty Fifty's Phone in Gray with Lawn Fawn

Hello again!

I have been wanting to try out my new Lawn Fawn stamps. I found a cool challenge over at the Lawnscape Challenge blog and they have this cool photo to inspire us and they combined it with a color challenge. Pretty fun. I used the apple green color for my "splash" of color. I used the phone from the "Just my Type" Lawn Fawn Set. I used the grays and blacks in the inspiration photo. I colored the phone with gray Copics and went for a Fifty's nostalgic feel.

The dark gray CS and numbers DP are from DCWV. The Apple green is from The Paper Company and Sahara Sand from Stampin' Up. Here is a little close up photo.

I added a paper clip, some green rhinestones, and a gray ribbon (SU) for accents. I also entered my Nifty Fifties Phone in Gray Card in the following challenges:

Res-Q: be inspired by one of the scrubs shown. I choose this one: The third one.

Creative Belli: Embellishments that start with C: I used a paper CLIP.

Stamping Vacation -Start here: with Nestabilities

That's it for now. Come back tomorrow for the Stamping Vacation Clean and Simple Challenge. I have a sweet little bird card for you. See you then!

Karen

Stamping on Tissue with Blockhead Stamps

Hi Everyone,
I have been stamping on tissue paper again. You know I just love this Faux Silk technique. It is simple and can be made with materials you will have on hand. Be sure to pop over to the Blockheads Blog and check out my tutorial there. Here is a sneaky peek at the card that is on The Blockheads blog.

Now on to today's Blockheads Paper Arts Design Team projects.

Materials:

Stamps: Blockheads Stamp sets Chinese Princess *

Tuxedo Black (Memento) Dye Ink*

Stickles - gold *

White, Black, Cream, Brown, and Green Cardstock
DP: Black/white papers are from Basic Grey and Jenni Bowlin.

Tissue paper in white, red, and brown

Black ribbon, Fabric scraps

*Click on items with asterisk to go to the the Blockheads Store. Check out all the original Stamp sets too.*

I used the Fuax Silk technique on all of the three cards here. So, take a look at them.

I Stamped on brown tissue and layered with brown CS and DP. I punched small holes in the spine of the card and pulled a strip of fabric thru. It was then tied in a knot. Stickles were added to some of the circles in the DP.

For the next card, I stamped on red tissue and cut it with a tag die and tied a strip of real silk fabric at the top. I layered the tag onto Mellow Moss CS (SU).

And, the last project was stamped on white CS. I stamped off once before stamping on the tissue. I die cut a frame from DP and layered. I added black rhinestones, Velvet black ribbon, and sheer black ribbon for accents.

I also have a few close up photos for you.

For more Blockheads inspiration be sure to check out Leigh's amazing tutorial on making Pendants from dominoes and Diana's Wish Jars.

Okay, that's it for me today. Hope everything is going good for you today!

Karen

Stampsmith Mini Travel Album

Hello Friends,

Here I am today with a Mini Travel Album. I used another of my fab Audrey Hepburn Stamps from The Stampsmith. I thought this would be a nice little album to write reminiscences and add photos. Take a look. The "Bon Voyage" is from the Paris Full sheet also The Stampsmith.

I used several Lavender and plum CS's from Stampin' Up and Hot Off the Press. The Perfect Plum CS is dry embossed with a Tim Holtz folder. The edge punch is from Martha Stewart.

The photo image is stamped with black dye ink on glossy white CS. I added three ribbons and a medallion for accents. I beaded a piece of wire to attached the medallion and also glued on a Chinese coin. These were pieces I picked up in the jewelry section of my local craft store.

I made the album with several blank pagers. Here is a photo of the inside.

I think this would be a nice gift for a friend.

A few fun challenges for Mini Travel Album:

Shabby Tea Room: bingo. I used the bottom row Punches- Embossing- Ribbon.

Simon Says Stamp and Show: Show a word.

That's all for now. Hope you are having a great day! Love ya.

Karen

Having Coffee with DeNami

Happy Saturday Everyone,

The weekend is here. Let's celebrate with a cuppa' joe. I've got my coffee brewing as I type.

In keeping with my love of coffee, my project for today is coffee themed. I used one of my new Mimi stamps from DeNami. This stamp reminds me of all the cups of coffee I have enjoyed with dear friends. I have used the color scheme from the Play Date Cafe Challenge: Peach, Lavender, and Wine. DeNami is sponsoring this week. Oh, hold on a minute, the coffee is ready. Hmmm, vanilla nut. Yummy. Sorry, back to work. I decided to use a scallop cut card mounted on a background of lovely lavender, peach, and wine CS and papers.

The Mimi image is stamped with black Stazon on white CS. Cardstock used: the base is Razzleberry, Almost Amethyst, both from Stampin' Up; lavender - The Paper Comp; Peach - World Win. The DP is from SU. I colored the image with markers (SU and Memento) and by water coloring with inks. Here is a close up.

And, I thought a nice coffee themed sentiment would be fitting for the inside. This one is from Sweet N' Sassy. I hand drew that swirl with a marker.

And a few challenges for Coffee Ladies:


Play Date Cafe: Color challenge
Mark's Finest Papers: Recipe - 3 pastel colors, 3 bling, 1 image
Stamping Vacation: You name the challenge. I name my challenge coffee themed.
Creative Cottage: Spring theme. I used spring colors and Mimi and Maddie are wearing their new Spring dresses.
Anything Challenge: Die cuts
By the Cute and Girly: Springtime - I used a springy color palette.

Have a super weekend!! Love ya.
Karen

Blockheads Design Team First Post

Hello Crafters,
I am so pleased to be posting my first post as a full time Design Team member for the Blockheads Paper Arts. I am so exited to be bringing you projects made with these amazing stamps. Stacey Dunning is the owner and she also carries all your ink, stamp mounting, and die cutting supplies. I have three

projects today and they all use the stamp set Chinese Princess. This set comes in a half sheet unmounted or with cling. I used the dragon stamp and the two kanji stamps for my cards. I began by stamping up a bunch of the dragons in Forest Moss ink (Ranger) on various CS colors. I also added the kanji stamp to the background. I distressed with the Distress ink and heat embossed with clear powder.

On this one the dragon is stamped on Rust CS. And, a close up.

For the card base, I started with Kraft CS. I stamped the kanji with forest Moss and distressed with the same ink.

This is what it looked liked before adding the dragon.

I made one of these base cards and found it was too small. So, I used it to make this card. The dragon is stamped on White CS here.

And, a close up of this dragon. I added the kanji behind the dragon on both of these cards. You can see it better on the close ups.

And, the final project was made in the same manner. Dragon stamped on white CS. I ran the two top layers through the Cuttlebug with an embossing folder and distressed with the Forest Moss ink. I added two of the Chinese coins (also in this set) and embossed them with gold powder. I mounted this piece on a lime green piece of CS from DCWV.

The fibers are ribbon, yarn, and some crochet thread that I had in my stash. I knotted both ends and glued on. I have some detail photos too.

If you would like more Blockheads inspiration check out my fellow Design Team members! Leigh has a vintage domino tutorial that will knock your socks off!! Click on the names below to go to their sites.

Leigh and Diana

And, of course a few challenges

Color Create: Dragon inspiration picture and colors green and brown.

Paper Play: embossing

Sassy Studio Designs: Make your own embellishment - I made the fiber knotted accent and the embossed coin squares.

Kraft Journal: ST pats or green- green dragons

Hope you enjoyed my Blockheads projects. Stay tuned for more this month. Have a great day. It is sunny and warm here. Just amazing for March.

Karen

Operation Write Home Shipment

Hi Friends!
I finally finished all my Operation Write Home cards. I have them all packed up and ready to ship out. I will take them to the Post office on the way to the doctor's office. My husband has an appointment with the Oncologist today. He is hoping to get the feeding tube removed. He has been doing so well he really doesn't need it anymore. So, we will see what the Doc says.

I made lots of Mother's Day card, b-days, and general. The deadline for Mother's Day in March 31. I am so happy I got my cards done in plenty of time before the deadline. I shot lots of pictures so you could see how busy I was this weekend! This batch will go out with the bird cards I posted last week. I have a total of 42 cards that are going out. Here are the ones I finished last night. I made nine cards using this Humming Bird stamp from Stampin' Up. Sentiments from Gina K, My Sentiments Exactly, Impression Obsession, and SU

And, here is a cute lighthouse card. I put one of these in the box. This was a card I designed for my Card Ministry. The Lighthouse is from Stampin' Up, birds from Impression Obsession, sentiment from Gina K.

Here is the whole bunch that was finished last night.

And, this is a pic of all the cards that went in the box to ship out today.

Well, I think I'll head over to Facebook and post some of these on the OWH wall.
A few fun Challenges:

Papertake Weekly: three of something - I used three humming birds on my card.
Creative Inspirations Paint: Animals
Sentimental Sundays: a sentiment and Green - the color of recycle. I used the color green.
Woodware-USA: Spring
Paper Sundaes: Keep it simple
The stampman: Mother's day
Stamping Vacation: Monochromatic challenge - pink
Have a great day! Love ya.
Karen

Stampsmith Color Challenge

Hi Everyone!

It is time for a new Stampsmith Challenge! But first, I would like to say thank you to everyone who entered the Try Something New challenge. You all really rocked it!! I plan on trying out some of the techniques!

I am hosting the new challenge, which means I got to pick the theme. I thought it would be fun for everyone to try a color challenge.

It is your challenge to create a project using the colors Blue and Brown. I have always liked Blue and Brown together. There is so much scope in this combo. You can use light to dark blue and brown. You can also pair these two colors with neutrals. I like this combo so well I used it for my bedroom. You may make any type of project: a card, ATC, 3-D, etc…Have fun with it!! Make your project and link it up on the Stampsmith Challenge Blog here. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Here are the rules: Since it is 15th of the Month you must use at least one Stampsmith image to be eligible for the random drawing - a $10 gift certificate to the Stampsmith Shop. The winner will be announced on the 1st of April.

Here is my Blue and Brown card:

I used a Stampsmith image: Billie Holiday single available at the Stampsmith Shop. I don't know anyone who sings the "Blues" better than Billie. That's why I chose her image for this card. I stamped the image in Chocolate Chip ink (Stampin' Up) on glossy white CS. The image was cut with a Spellbinders die. I layered with blue and brown papers all from Basic Grey (some papers in a blog candy from the lovely Laurel - thank you!). The card base is Chocolate Chip CS (SU). I wrapped a piece of blue tulle around the card and tied on a scrap of cotton fabric from my stash. I added a little safety pin (SU) and some gem stickers. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things. Here are some detail photos.

Isn't this a fabulous image!! I just love the Stampsmith stamps. I hope you feel inspired by my card and will take the Color Challenge. Have fun!!

A few challenges for Blue Billie:

Our Creative Corner: use fabric

Simon Says Stamp: anything goes

Sunday Postcard Art: the number one - the number one female blues singer Billie Holiday

CCEE: blues and nuetrals

Do You Stack Up: layers

The Rubber Cafe: favorite Spellbinder die- Deckled Rectangle

Dutch dare: photo insprired_ I was inspired by the floral fabric in the photo.

Ginger Snap Creations: Jewel colors and gold- royalty- Billie Hoiday the queen of jazz.