Happy New Year!

So, you know I make lots and lots and lots of cards. Yes, I made lots and lots and lots of Christmas cards this year, but didn't get even one mailed out before Christmas! Horrors! Well, now it's too late, right? So, I am going to make some New Years cards. This is the first.

I just got some new Spellbinders die/stencil/emboss sets and I love them. This is my first try with this one called Timeless Heritage. If you want more details of how I did it and what I used, check it out in my SCS gallery at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1174001?cat=all&what=keywords&si=SC209. I'm too lazy to type it all out again today. hee hee hee

I truly do hope you all have a very very Happy New Year! Me too! I'm due for a really good one!

Hugs,
Karen

Treehouse Stamps - sneak peek!

Hi there! I am back from my wonderful Christmas holiday. We had a great time and I think everyone was happy! Isn't that fabulous?

Here is my first card since getting back. I stamped this new image from Treehouse (being released soon) with versamark and clear embossed. I highlighted two of the words in the sentiment by stamping in the Bravo Burgundy and cutting out and popping up. I also colored the heart she is holding and used stickles to really pop it out. I added the beautiful organdy ribbon bow with a pearl button for the center.

Be sure to run over to Treehouse to check out the new releases this month. If you're Irish, you will be very pleased with the other set being released in January! What a hint! lol

Prayers and good thoughts

This card is for Francesca's parents - to let them know prayers are being said for their sweet baby girl. Please check Andrea's blog for details: http://craftyengineering.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-candy-for-cause-ii.html
She is giving away blog candy for cards sent to her friends. Can you send a card and a prayer? Or just a prayer! There is power in prayers.

Merry Christmas!

Recycle and reuse!

Dawn's challenge to us today on SCS was to reuse and recyle. Well, I had made this tree some time ago, but it was in my reject pile. It had some other stuff on the top of it. Maybe that is why I didn't care for it. Anyway, I took that off and added the sentiment with the boughs behind it and the designer paper. I also added some chunky glitter called snowy slope. Isn't it pretty? It's a new addition over at Treehouse Stamps - be sure to click on over there and check out the great deals going on right now. You'll find a link several places on my blog.

Have a great weekend!

A Christmas gift for you!

Treehouse stamps is offering a great gift just for you! A 20% discount off of everything!!!! Can you believe that?

AND - ***PLACE AN ORDER BETWEEN DECEMBER 10TH AND JANUARY 1ST TO BE ENTERED TO WIN A $30.00 TREEHOUSE GIFT CERTIFICATE!***

Monday Magic!

Here is my project for today. Well, I actually did a couple of things. Should I show you both? Oh all right, you don't have to beg!

I made the wine glass vellum lamp shade by cutting the scallop edges with my good old Fiskar decorative scissors. How long has it been since you used those? Goodness, we used to use them all the time. I also embossed it with a cuttlebug folder. I love that wreath, and almost forgot I had bought it a few months ago.

The second project is using my Stampin' Up! Decor Elements. I used paint and a sponge to age this canvas before applying the lettering. The ribbon is also a Stampin' Up! product. I left it quite simple, and hung it on the purple wall in my dining room. The tree is in there too. Ooooo, I worked on that today too. I should take a photo!

I went to Salt Lake City for my aunt's funeral last Saturday, and while there visiting my cousin, she and I went to the festival of the trees! Oh my goodness, there were some awesome trees there. One I particularly loved had the nativity nestled into the tree, so I did the same when I came home. I really love it. What do you think?

Good morning!

Ahhhh, it's so nice and cool outside. I'm loving this change in the weather, without the big change of snow and ice, that is. lol The high today is supposed to be 73. Perfection!!!!!


So, here is my card for the day. I actually used some lovely wrapping paper I got at Hobby Lobby last week. It is such a nice heavy weight and has a slight glimmer to it. I attached the panels of that onto the Bravo Burgundy cardstock before running it through the cuttlebug with the snowflakes folder. The bg for the sentiment is also the Bravo Burgundy cs with a Martha Stewart punch snowflake attached before embossing it. The sentiment is stamped with versamark and then embossed with gold. I curled it a bit so it would have that nice shape. The bow is gold organdy ribbon which was heated slightly with my heat gun to get that texture. How do you like it?

Two for you!

So I got up early and started stampin!

The top card is using three neutrals. I love this look. The creations look so classy and elegant. For this one I stamped the swirls from Baroque Motifs using black craft ink onto the Sahara Sand top note shape. Now, the die for this has a perforation just inside the shape, so I just used scissors to trim using that line, and then mounted it onto the black one. I ran all that through the cuttlebug using the textile texture folder. The sentiment is stamped using the black craft and then clear embossed and cut out, embossed and mounted onto the black layer using the nesties. I backed the sentiment with just a little ribbon to set it off. This card is for my Aunt Flossie's family. She passed away yesterday. She is such a dear and will definitely be missed.

The second card is for Dar's challenge to make postcards and save some $ on postage when sending out your holiday cards. I couldn't resist participating, so I came up with this one. I love this Santa image from Stamp Francisco. I used close to cocoa ink for Santa and for the branches from the Peaceful Wishes stamp set. Then I overstamped that with the sentiment which was inked with close to cocoa craft ink and clear embossed to make it stand out just a little. I sponged more close to cocoa around the edges to give it a more vintage feel.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I got to stamp again today!

I do enjoy stamping and I took the opportunity this morning to make this little card. I used images from Treehouse stamps to create this frosty looking card. I stamped the tree image several times, using versamark, vanilla craft ink and then making sure those were dry before stamping once more with versamark and embossing with white. I sponged around the edges with versamark and white craft and then used more embossing powder for that frosty window pane look. I love how that turns out. I mounted that onto night of navy cs. The sentiment was stamped with ballet blue ink, as were the snowflakes on that layer. I mounted it onto more night of navy cs and the bottom scallop was embossed with my cuttlebug, then I cut around the scallops. Crazy, I know, but it was worth it. It wasn't very difficult. The largest blue layer was stamped minimally with the same snowflake and embossed with white ep. The whole thing is mounted onto a white card base. Now this will be an easy mail card, but I think it looks pretty good. What do you think?

New stamps are coming!

I just got some new stamps that are being released from Treehouse all the month of December. I thought I would give you a sneak peek at one of the sets today. It's called Owlentine and is obviously meant for Valentine's Day, but it worked well with today's color challenge on SCS and the sentiment is perfect for my dh (Al) pronounced Owl by the little ones. lol

SNEAK PEAK ALERT! I stamped the image with basic gray, coloring in with my Watercolor Crayons. I used the cuttlebug for the backgrounds and the break between the image and the sentiment.

How do you like my owls?

There are other things!

So, you know there are other things than cards to create, so I wanted to show you my altered clipboard. The challenge on SCS was to use chocolate. Well this paper is really a beautiful showing of chocolate, don't you think? This was much easier than I thought it was going to be. I just took the 12X12 paper and cut it to fit the front of the clipboard. Now, how do you go around that clip? I just notched out the top of the paper so it would slide right up to the clip. Then there were two bare little triangles left, so I just took a bitty scrap and glued it under my main paper there. You really can't tell when all is said and done. I used mod podge to glue my paper down and then applied a couple of layers to the top of it. The trick was finding a way to keep that clip up while it dried. I tied it open to allowe drying time. I added a beautiful ribbon bow and some punches of the same paper. Now I wish I had mod podged them too, just to make them a bit sturdier and the same sheen. Oh well - lesson learned. The problem with it now is, it is just too pretty to cover up! lol What do you think of my chocolate clipboard?

Stamping day!

Okay, so I haven't accomplished much - except for stamping today. I'm still in my pj's and I must confess, I've had a great time.

So, here are the cards I came up with.

The pick up is for a friend whose 15 year old son has been really sick and in a lot of pain for weeks. He really does need a pick up.

I loved a card on SCS by ponygirl40, so I did my interpretation of it, using stamps I have. I don't have the ones she used, but I like how my vintage postcard turned out.

And then the believe card was for the ways to use it challenge on SCS to use pearls. I wasn't sure I like the pearls added to this, but it really does help balance that big bow!

I hope you enjoy my cards today. Thanks for stopping by.

Tag!

My daughter Wendy got tagged and has now tagged me. So, if you want to get to know me a little better, read on. If not, read no further.

Four places that I go to over & over:
Church
Wal Mart (it is the closest grocery store to me. I wish I had other options.)
Allen's work (when I choose to keep the car, I have to drop him off and pick him up.)
Mesa (to see my kids and grandkids!! Oh happy day!)

Four people who E-mail/call me regularly:
Wendy
My sister Kathy
Julie N.
Allen

Four of my favorite places to eat:
Joe's Farm Grill - YUM! I love their Ahi Tuna sandwich (we are NOT talking canned tuna fish by any means!)and their sweet potato fries.
Carrabba's - The scallops are delish!
PF Chang - The spicy dishes are my favorites
Rancho De Tia Rosas - Oh man, the salmon fish tacos are exquisite! Not to mention the chips and salsa.

I just thought you might like to know what I order there.

Four places I would rather be right now:
With my kids and grandkids
Casa Rubio (with my kids and grandkids)
At a park enjoying this beautiful day (with my kids and grandkids) Do you see a trend here? lol
Eating lunch with friends

Four people I love:
Allen
Wendy (and her children) that counts as 1, right?
Ben (and his baby) same rule applies here
Jed

TV shows I watch: (when I get a chance)
Dancing with the Stars
Pushing Daisies
Good Morning America
Everybody Loves Raymond

Four people I tag:Oh gosh, these people have to have blogs, huh? And read mine! lol Uh oh.
Kelly Jean
Terri Honz (you don't have a blog, do you?)
Ashley Bowen
Vicky Gould

We will see how this goes. lol At least I did it, right Wendy?

Busy, busy, busy!

Doesn't it make you go - hmmmmmm? When you are so busy and there is no time to stamp (or whatever else you like to do) but you can't really tell what you are so busy doing? Sheesh, it feels as if my wheels are spinning, but I am not getting anywhere! lol

I did take a few minutes last night to stamp, and I created this card. It is such an easy sketch and works up so quickly. Give it a try! For this square card, I used textured paper and stamped using versamark and then embossed with irridescent ice which is so nice for that ice crystal effect.

Thanksgiving Decor

More Thanksgiving decorations

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I really love Thanksgiving and like to decorate for that more than Halloween! GASP! Yes, it is true. So, before Halloween I start putting up fall decorations - nothing really Halloween at all, and then once it is over, I pulled out the Thanksgiving decorations. I even found a few more I just love - like these Pilgrims. I put the Decor Elements on a floating frame and a few autumn leaves between the sheets of glass.
I have been wanting a small entry table, but my entry really is too small. Well, I had made this autumn wall hanging several years ago and it hung below this little shelf. Then I said to myself, Self! You can hang that shelf in the entry - so I did. I love it. It's just right for this small entry area. But now I need to get busy and make my other seasonal wall hangings. It's on the to do list.
I went to my sister's this week and she has this incredible embroidery machine, and I made this gorgeous cross-stitched kitchen towel. Isn't it awesome? I love it. It took quite a while, but nothing like it would take to do it by hand. Thanks Kathy!

The Have mercy turkey and the other wood thingy is from years past. I had to re-glue them, but they have found great places in my home.

Anyway, I hope you like my Thanksgiving decorations. I'm pleased with all of them.

Mail Friendly Thanksgiving card

I needed a mail friendly card, so I kept this one simple.

I used a scalloped oval nestie to cut the designer paper and then the wrought iron punch was done only in the center top and bottom. I connected them with my craft knife to complete the oval to frame the sentiment. That is stamped in chocolate chip. I sponged cranberry crisp ink around the edges. The inside has autumn leaves stamped inside with the sentiment, "Happy Thanksgiving". What do you think?

Watercolor paper

Watercolor paper always adds so much texture to a project. For this card, I used the top note die cut and watercolor paper. I dampened the paper before stamping the flowers. The stamp was inked with markers in four different colors before stamping. I then used black craft for the detail stamp and clear embossed that before blending the colors with a dampened paint brush. I used itty bitty backgrounds for the splatters and then a damp sponge and bravo burgundy ink to soften the edges. The black strip behind the main panel really makes it pop and then I added just a touch of the gingham ribbon. How do you like this?

Candle Boat

I put up a shelf in my entry today and I needed a candle there. Well, what's a girl to do if the candle just doesn't go? You make a candle boat for it!

I inked the leaf image with Marigold Morning and then rock n rolled in Cranberry Crisp. I stamped them onto the vellum card stock and embossed with clear embossing powder. The sentiment is stamped with chocolate chip craft ink and clear embossed. I cuttlebugged the side panels and punched through with the crop a dile and tied with ribbons. What do you think?

Oh my word! Treehouse stamps is exploding with new WONDERFUL products. I am so excited! Papers and ribbons and containers - OH MY! Be sure to keep checking the Treehouse Stamps website. There will be a big coming out party on Friday, Nov. 28th and the release will be on the 29th! You won't want to miss it.

Here is my card for today, combining the SCS sketch challenge and Ashley's blog color challenge using Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze! They look great together, don't you think? I stamped the snowman using the Baja Breeze ink and then went over some of the details with markers. I highlighted the snow with dazzling diamonds. Of course the card base is cuttlebugged. I love my cuttlebug!

November project

Here is the project you crafty ladies can make for November. The center of the turkey is a peppermint patty, sandwiched between two scalloped circles. I used an old calendar for the tail feathers on this one, but who knows what the next one will look like. Wouldn't they be great for name cards on your Thanksgiving table? Come make a few!

I'm back!!

Oh, I have had such computer problems! I lost a hard drive, but I am back, thanks to my dear son, Ben! Thanks Ben!

Here is my challenge card for today. I absolutely love this image of Santa and thought it was perfect for today's sketch.

I stamped the image with Riding Hood Red ink and distressed the edges. I mounted it onto Bravo Burgundy and then onto basic grey's figgy designer papers. The Bravo Burgundy layer also has irridescent ice snowflakes on it. I wound the ribbon around a pencil and baked it for a few minutes to get the curl, but when I opened the oven - oh what a surprise! I didn't know you could melt a pencil! Well, here's the proof.

Thanks for looking! Have a great week!

Halloween!!!

I just had to post a picture of my cute grands all ready for trick or treating! Oh they are precious!

Pink Chocolate Kiss

I am not so sure I like this flower done with the light pink. I guess I just prefer it in more intense colors. Not that it isn't pretty, I mean, how can you go wrong with this stamp set? I really do love it. Oh well, these were the colors we were to use for today's color challenge. I used daubers to ink up the stamp before staming it. Amazingly I used cuttlebug embossing on it. I'm not sure I can make a card without it. lol Anyway, this is what I came up with for today.

What a great day! Well, almost!

Oh what fun! I got together with Terri, Me, Barbara, TJ, Melissa, Jean and Chat for lunch and a swap. Awesome cards, but even better is the friendship. Thanks ladies! I just love getting together with you! Here is a photo of my friends at lunch! Sorry it is so out of focus!

TJ (Mel's little boy) developed a HUGE crush on Barbara's daughter, Kelsey at lunch. What a cute couple they are! Look at those TJ eyes! Mmmmmmm!

But just before I was leaving my house I got a call from my sister telling me she had broken her back! Oh my word! I couldn't believe it. The poor dear! Yikes! She was riding in a speed boat when they slammed onto the quake from another boat and bam, she broke her back in two places. She lived with it for a couple of days before going to the hospital and finding out what had happened. Oooooo, I feel so badly for her.

More blue snowflakes

So this card was made for the limited supply challenge. I masked a square and sponged blue onto the white cardstock, then embossed white snowflakes on top of that. The top layer is vellum on which I embossed an irridescent ice snowflake. The dp is one of SU's from last year I believe. I really like that paper, and it was perfect for this challenge. I attached the vellum using eyelets, and I had to do it the old fashioned way, as I loaned my crop a dile to a friend. Wouldn't you know I would need it for this. I added the stitched ribbon as well as the taffeta ribbon to this one. I like the combination.

I love snowflakes, but only on paper! lol I don't enjoy living in the snow and ice, but cards made with these beautiful snowflake images work for me! I used the Snow Swirled stamp set with Bashful Blue classic and craft ink. I heat embossed with white to give it a frosty look around the edges. The ribbons are blue taffeta and white organdy together. I like how that looks, do you?

Have a great Wednesday!

You can't go wrong

with Pink, White and Black, can you? I love this color combo and had such fun making this card. I really cased a great card by Susie B.

The right side of the card was embossed with my cuttlebug floral fantasy folder and then I used my dauber with chalk to enhance the design. The flowers on the left are also a cuttlebug folder with metallic dots added to the centers. The whole card is mounted onto the black cs and the black and white gingham used to tie the stems together.

How do you like this look?

Fun technique

Today's technique challenge was this fun fold called stair step. That is what it looks like when you have it horizontal, or it can be a vertical card and then it is more of an accordian fold. So fun.

When I looked at the samples, I immediately thought of a tiered/layered cake, so I made a birthday card. I used pale plum card stock and then added perfect plum scalloped icing. That was a fun look, then I thought of these fun silver thingamajigs that Terri sent me for my birthday. Thanks Terri! I added them to the scallops. Then I thought that back layer needed a bit of somethin', so I used one of the cuttlebug folders on it. Oh yeah, that looks like some nice icing detail, don't you think? I cut a slit in that top fold to add the candles which are just strips of cs run through my cuttlebug. I then used one of the petals from the old SU daisy punch as each flame with a little yellow stickles added to that. Oh, I like that look. What do you think?

For the Wedding Cake, I used the cuttlebug to add dimension to the layers, then used the taffeta and organdy ribbon and added layers of the flowers from the pretties kit with a clear rhinestone brad for the center. I stamped the love and embossed it before punching it out with an oval punch and then mounted it onto an embossed scalloped oval. There is plenty of room to write a message for the happy couple.

So, what do you think of today's creations?

The weekend is coming!

Are you looking forward to the weekend? I am. I get to go to my daughter's house and play "Stamping Bunco". Oh, that is going to be fun. I am generally the biggest loser, but even the loser goes away with a prize, so . . . even I can't lose! I'm really looking forward to it. And as long as I'm there, I get to see my grandkids too! I love those kiddos and miss them so much, even though I'm only 60 miles away I don't get to see them as often as I like. Hugs and kisses, coming your way kids!

So, this is my card for today's challenge: ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS! Hee hee, isn't that fun? Lol. Judy challenged us to limit our supplies today to scissors - which can be a straight cutter or decorative edge scissors only. Okay, I used the decorative scissors. I hadn't used these in a very very long time. Paper - any paper at all, including decorative paper. I used a bit of the decorative paper. And ROCK - was to be hardware or anything with bling. Okay, I may have stretched this one a bit using diamond dust on the liquid applique, but diamonds are rocks and of course diamond dust is just ground up rocks! Right? And I used the diamond (oooo, that's good too) brads in the corners.

This image is a new one released today from Treehouse stamps. Isn't he cute? I colored him with my watercolor crayons. I love those things. Even I can color with them and make it look pretty good. Oh yeah, I love success. lol So, this is it for today.

Have a great weekend! I will!

Another Christmas card ready to mail

This time of year I find myself making a Christmas card here and there and then use those to send out to friends and family. This year is no exception. In fact, I have a little gift bag I throw all of them into so I can be ready when it comes time to mail them. This one will be added to the stash.

This is a sketch challenge on SCS. I wanted the sentiment to be the main focus for this card, so stamped it onto the real red cs with versamark and embossed with white. I also added a little touch of dazzling diamonds. I used the ticket corner punch on all the corners before adding the white dot border with my signo gel pen. I added the red heart brads and poopped it up. The white layer is stamped with the sprig from Peaceful Wishes and white embossed, again adding some dazzling diamonds for a bit of shimmer before cutting with the nestie rectangle. The red layer is embossed with the cuttlebug folder, Textile Texture. That may be my favorite/go to folder. It is so versatile and lovely. I also used the ticket corner on that layer and added the white heart brads. btw, thanks to Judy for those brads! Hmmmm, I wonder how many Christmas cards I have now. I'll have to count.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Another look at those colors

So, I just couldn't quit with the color challenge colors and made one more card. Look at what a difference when you use more of the one color! This time the emphasis is on the Kiwi Kiss color. It's perfect for Halloween. I seem to make a lot of Halloween cards. Maybe I should actually send them to folks! Yeah, that's it - I'm actually going to send them to people.

Anywho, I just love this little witch hat stamp by Treehouse. I stamped it with black craft ink and clear embossed, then went in with my craft knife and punch to cut out all those holes. I also stamped the image onto the Tangerine Tango cs and used dazzling diamonds on the holes so that would show through the green hat. The large spider is part of the Creepy Crawly image, but the little web and spider are a $1 Michael's stamp. They were also stamped with black craft ink, and clear embossed with just a hint of dazzling diamonds added to give it that web glisten. So, is it creepy?

Warm fall colors

Well cards are the only place I will be seeing fall colors around here! These colors were the color challenge on SCS this week, but I didn't really want to do a fall card specifically. In fact, this is a birthday card for a friend. Oh all right, a late birthday card for a friend if you must know. Oh well, it just keeps the celebration going! Right?

I love this stamp set. I have used this lovely flower for so many different cards and with so many color combinations. It is always just right. Don't you just love those butterflies!

A card presentation

The mini pizza box was so fun to make I had to try another. I changed the measurements so that regular sized cards and envelopes will fit into this one. Now to make the cards to go inside.

I used one of Treehouse stamps designs as the main element, using Handsome Hunter craft ink and clear embossing. I then sponged the color around it to make it seem to glow. Do you see the glow? lol It was cut out using a scalloped oval nestie before popping up with dimensionals. I added dimension on the other layers with cuttlebug embossing folders, of course, and then a little glitter around the edges of the main panel and on the star atop the tree with stickles. It looks like an old fashioned Christmas to me. What do you think?

Frankie, you blockhead!

Oh what fun this little project is. Why? Cuz it's easy peasy! This is a mini pizza box and the perfect shape for a Frankie, don't you think?

I used circle punches to create the eyes and nose and a black marker for the stitched mouth and scar. Oh so cute.

I created the screws by using the round tab punch, cutting out a notch for the screwdriver and running it through the crimper for the threads.

You may need to make a few of these for your favorite trick or treaters.

Pink & Red Rose

This card was created as a CASE (copy and steal everything) from Love Stampin!!!!!!!! 's gallery on SCS.

I just love my Roses in Winter stamp set and looked forward to using it again. I used watercolor paper which changes the look. I inked the stamp with pink pirouette ink and then rock and rolled it in riding hood red ink before stamping. I masked that and then used my overlooked background stamps, cheesecloth and weathered using creamy caramel, kiwi kiss and always artichoke inks. I then sponged the edges with the greens too. The main image is mounted on riding hood red card stock before being placed onto the pink pirouette card front. That was embossed with the Just my Type cuttlebug folder and then the beautiful pink taffeta ribbon was added. The sentiment is stamped with riding hood red ink.

What do you think of my rose?