With Grateful Heart

I created this card this Memorial Day in honor of all the men and women who have served and continue to serve this great country. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My Father is one of them. He served in the navy during World War II. I am on my way to the cemetery to remember him today.

This is called a tent card. The image on the inside was inked with markers before stamping. It says "God bless America". I used a Spellbinders Star to cut through all three layers of the card front and a smaller star to cut/emboss the vellum heart to dangle in the opening. The sentiment was stamped and the edges torn before adhering to the front of the card with brads.

I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by.

I'm so amazed!

Okay, it is time for me to share! Take a look at my before photo and what I look like today! I can't say before and after because I'm not finished, but I am well on my way!

I have lost 37 pounds - so far! What do you think? I am on the best program ever! You know why I say that? Because it works! I have tried so many other things and nothing has worked and kept me motivated. Watching the weight drop every week is the big motivator for me! Oh yeah baby! It's coming off. lol I feel like I am renting clothes, as I only wear them a short time before, as my daughter says, "You have droopy drawers!"

You know what's funny though? I still think of myself way bigger. Yesterday I brought home a pair of size 10 shorts. I began trying them on thinking they wouldn't even go over my knees! Imagine my surprise when they not only went over my knees, but over my hips, and I could button and zip them without laying on the bed, exhaling and using pliers to get the zipper to go up. AND I could still fit my hands in the pockets!!!!!

Can you tell I am on cloud 9????? Oh yeah, this is the best. And trust me when I say, if I can do it - ANYONE can do it!

If you would like more information, please email me coachkarenh@gmail.com

Christmas in May

I created this card for a challenge on the Justrite blog to create a Christmas card in May.

I wanted to create a card that was easily mailable (not so bulky) and so this is what I came up with. I really like to use a religious image for my Christmas cards and this set has two images that I really love.

I stamped this beautiful Justrite image onto vanilla cardstock using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then clear embossing. This was cut using Spellbinders Circles dies. Next I stamped the sentiment onto vanilla cardstock with Versamark ink and embossing with Gold detail embossing powder. This was cut/embossed using two Spellbinders circle dies, creating the open circle. The base card is chocolate cardstock and the paper on it is from Crafty Secrets Classic Paper Designs. I layered a brown velvet ribbon onto the darker chocolate ribbon, wrapping the top around the dp layer and tucking it behind. The image was added using foam squares to pop it up just a bit, then when I added the sentiment border, it was popped up even a little more. A simple card that is easily mailed.

What do you think?

Black Magic

Today's challenge is to create something using the Black Magic technique - which is to stamp an image (today I did the same thing for my sentiment) with white craft ink onto a dark cs. I heat set it before coloring over the white with watercolor pencils. I added a few highlights with a white gel pen. I also added the white border with a white watercolor pencil and the white gel pen onto the image panel. The sentiment panel is cut/embossed using Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles. That sentiment panel is mounted over a strip of pink which is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.



Here is what I used:
Rubbernecker: Floral 496-02, Flourish bg 462, Blooms 237
Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder
Cardstock: White, Black, Pixie Pink
Ink: White craft, Pixie Pink
Other: Watercolor pencils, White gel pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Interesting colors, don't you think?

I created this card for the color challenge on SCS which was to use: So Saffron, Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Durango together. Now I never would have put these colors together myself, but they do go.

I stamped my rose using versamark ink onto shimmery white cardstock and embossed with gold embossing powder. Then I sprayed it (soaked it really) with water and added the three colors, letting them float around a bit. It's much prettier in real life than you can capture in the photo. I matted the cut rose onto a so saffron layer which was cut/embossed with Spellbinders Lattice Pendant. I also stenciled it before removing from the die and also sponged a bit of the Rich Razzleberry ink onto it as well. The next layer a square of Dusty Durango cs, the corners punched with the ticket punch and the wrought iron corner punch. All this was mounted onto the Rich Razzleberry card (4-14" square). I then added the half domes in the corners and a bow. What do you think of these colors together?

Babies, babies everywhere!

Wow, everywhere I turn there are new babies! I created this card for a niece that just adopted a sweet new baby boy. It is also combining two SCS challenges: one to honor Cathleen (ctorina) and the other to create a frame on your card.


I stamped the Rubbernecker image onto vanilla cardstock using Vintage Photo distress ink and then coloring with Copic markers - B21, E11, and E15. This was cut with Spellbinders circle nestabilities. The round frame was created by using two sizes of the nesties together. I colored it with my Copic marker to get it to match just right. The card base is vanilla, but I colored a border around the edge with my blue marker and then added a stripe of the dark suntan. The plaid paper is created with the markers as well. I colored the word JOY on a sentiment stamp with a marker, so I would only get that word and stamped it. That panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The mat for that is cut with Spellbinders scalloped rectangle and then colored iwth the marker to match. I added a button tied with embroidery floss as the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon!

Asian influence

I helped a sweet friend (hi Jill!) with some bridal shower invitations recently. Her sister really likes Asian, so this is what we came up with.



We stamped the Rubbernecker Bamboo Background with versamark and embossed with black detail embossing powder. We really wanted to use these lanterns but didn't want to cover up all the beautiful bamboo background, so using versamark ink again, we stamped them onto vellum and heat embossed with gold detail embossing powder. This way the beautiful bamboo background shows through. We cut with Spellbinders Labels Two and attached with black brads. We then mounted the whole thing onto black. I think they turned out great! What do you think?

Here is what I used:
Rubbernecker Bamboo Background SKU:250-10
Rubbernecker Chinese Lanterns SKU:1080 SO
Spellbinders Labels Two
Gold Detail embossing powder
Embossing powder Black Superfine by Ranger
brads: unknown
Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Vellum

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon!

JustRite Manly Card`

JustRite is showcasing new stamps being released and part of the fun is a contest creating manly cards. Now, those seem to be difficult for lots of people, including me. I generally tend to lean towards flowers, ribbons, and sparkle. Well, most men don't really like that - for themselves anyway. So here is my attempt at a manly card.

I used JustRite's By The Sea set. This set is great for manly cards, but really isn't limited to just manly, for sure. They are such lovely images for summer.

I stamped the image using versamark ink onto a light blue cardstock and embossed with clear. This was cut using Spellbinders Classic oval and mounted onto another from Not Quite Navy cardstock. The card is Riding Hood Red with another layer of the Not Quite Navy and then a panel of Daisy Bucket designs Garden Gate Evening Primrose paper. I actually used the reverse side (the stripe). I used foam squares to mount the image oval. On the right side of the card, I used twill tape which is adhered with Xyron adhesive. I tied a figure eight knot using regular old twine and adhered the knot with a pop up glue dot. I adhered the ends on the back of the panel using hot glue, since there is so much bulk there. It looks manly to me. What do you think?

Happy Mother's Day

"Be a Mother who is committed to loving her children into standing on higher ground than the enviroment surrounding them. Mother's are endowed with a love that is unlike any other love on the face of the earth."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"The family is eternal. Love must be nurtured. It must be spoken. We must put away our pride, our haughtiness, our shyness, our misunderstandings, and with humility say, "I love you. Is there something I can do to help you?" You can never be completely happy under any other circumstances."
-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are." — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"Home is where you are loved the most and act the worst."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Charity Never Faileth

"Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It may be to get an education, it may be to rear children, it may be to be a grandparent, it may be to care for and relieve the suffering of someone you love, it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible, it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own. Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time. Don't take them lightly. Give them your full heart and energy. Do them with enthusiasm. Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling." — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead." — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"We are all in this together. We need each other. Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are young, and hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old...We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other. These friendships are a necessary source of sustenance. We need to renew our faith every day. We need to lock arms and help build the kingdom so that it will roll forth and fill the whole earth."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"I know it is hard for you young mothers to believe that almost before you can turn around the children will be gone and you will be alone with your husband. You had better be sure you are developing the kind of love and friendship that will be delightful and enduring. Let the children learn from your attitude that he is important. Encourage him. Be kind. It is a rough world, and he, like everyone else, is fighting to survive. Be cheerful. Don't be a whiner."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"As we got closer to marriage, I felt completely confident that Gordon loved me. But I also knew somehow that I would never come first with him. I knew I was going to be second in his life and that the Lord was going to be first. And that was okay. It seemed to me that if you understood the gospel and the purpose of our being here, you would want a husband who put the Lord first."
-Marjorie Hinckley

"The grand and the simple. They are equally wonderful."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"There are some years in our lives that we would not want to live again. But even these years will pass away, and the lessons learned will be a future blessing." — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"With intellectual curiosity the world will always be full of magic and wonder."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"The thing about growing old is that when you wake up with a new pain, you can just about count on it becoming a permanent part of your life!"
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

"Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, "We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn't any around!" I would add, the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

“I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. … I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass” Gordon B. Hinckley

Try a little harder to be a little better. Gordon B. Hinckley

Sparkle and shimmer!

I just love sparkle and shimmer. This project has lots and lots of it, trust me. You just can't see it very well in the photo.



I wanted to do a smoosh background, so I dropped some reinkers onto my craft mat, misted lightly with water and this is where the smooosh came in. Smoosh, smoosh, smoosh the tag and dry. Then I sprayed with gold glimmer mist. Oooooo, it is so pretty in real life. The bottom of the tag is punched with a Martha Stewart punch. Now I always get the back of my project messy when I do the smoosh technique, so I adhered it to a folded piece of artichoke cardstock. The green was just too flat with all that sparkle, so I misted it with the gold as well. Oh yeah, that's the ticket. I scored the top of the tag and the card so it would bend and open properly and then punched through all layers and tied the ribbons. So pretty. The image was also stamped onto a tag and clear embossed, then colored with Copic markers and AtYou Spica pens. I added some liquid pearls to the pin heads. This was cut/embossed using Spellbinders scalloped circle, misted with gold glimmer mist and then popped up with foam squares. What loveliness!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful day full of love and happiness!

Hugs,
Karen

I love stamping!

I really do enjoy creating with paper and ink.

I created this card using colors that I really enjoy. Do you like them too?

The sentiment is stamped and clear embossed before adding the flourish, top and bottom and airbrushing to match the designer paper. The next layer is stamped with the polka dots in brown to coordinate. The teal layer is a patterned paper which was also lightly airbrushed just to get it to match better and darken it a smidge. All panels are matted with chocolate chip. I hope you like it.

I used:
Stamps: Rubbernecker Petite Heart, Flourish, SU Polka Dot
Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, My Mind's Eye Free Bird "Passion" Robin's Egg
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Copic BG45
Accessories: Clear embossing powder

Rubbernecker has come out with some wonderful new vintage stamps and I absolutely love them.

Here is a card I created using one of the new images. It is similar to the other sisters image, but slightly different.



As some of you may have noticed, I love vintage. For this card, I stamped the Sisters image from Rubbernecker with Chipped Sapphire distress ink onto vanilla cardstock. This was cut/embossed/matted using Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles. The lace was white, so I airbrushed it with Copic markers to achieve a vintage look and adhered it to the back bottom edge of the image panel. The pin is woven through, adding pearls here and there. The sentiment is from Rubbernecker stamp that says Believe in your dreams. I omitted the rest of the sentiment, wanting just the beautiful dreams portion. That was cut/embossed/matted with Spellbinders Classic ovals and popped up with foam squares. I added a half pearl to the sentiment panel. The card front is stamped with the Rubbernecker Victorian Damask background stamp using Chipped Sapphire distress ink onto blush blossom cardstock, then embossed with Cuttlebug Textile Texture folder. This is mounted onto The Paper Company dark blue shimmer cardstock. I hope you like it.

I used:
Stamps: Rubbernecker Victorian Damask BG, Sisters, Dreams text
Paper: Vanilla, Blush Blossom, Dark Blue Shimmer
Ink: Chipped Sapphire distress ink, Copic B97, E11, C5
Addessories: Spellbinders dies, Cuttlebug Textile Texture folder, lace, hatpin, pearls, foam squares

A Giveaway!

I love giveaways, don't you? If you are interested in a fun one, head over to my friend Karen's blog to find out the details. Nikki Sivils is giving away some delicious papers.