More fun!

It was so great to finish all my swaps and have time to do the three Dirty Dozen challenges on SCS today. Here are my cards.

Whew!!!!

Yea!!!! I have finished my swaps for convention, so now I have time to play and do the SCS challenges, or whatever else comes my way! Do you want to take a peek at my swaps? I'm going to show them to you right now. So, don't tell anyone going to convention. I want them to be surprised.

I used some of the new sets from the Fall/Winter catalog which will come out in August. I also used some of the new colors! Take a look and let me know what you think.

SCS dinner swap

I had to make 46 of these cards, so I tried to simplify it a bit. Hmmm, there were still lots of steps, but I am happy with the result.

I used sanded as the background stamp. This is the new SU! color, Tangerine Tango. What do you think of it? I like it quite a bit. The other color is Kiwi Kiss. It's not my favorite of the new colors, but I like it with the Tangerine Tango. I used the butterfly from the Dreams du Jour stamp set once again, and the sentiment is from a new set called Heard From The Heart. Very nice, don't you think?

Well, there you have it - sneak peeks at my two swaps for convention 2008! I can't wait!

Swap at Wendy's

Here is the card I made for Wendy's swap on Friday night.

This is showing the new stamp set Dreams du Jour. I love this set. I used Floral background stamp, stamping with Riding Hood Red onto Very Vanilla card stock. I cut out every one of these circular stamp images. I'm glad I only had to do 20 cards. I also used the new scallop edge punch. You're gonna love it when you get yours. Everything else is pretty self explanatory. How do you like it?

A little break

So, I've been so very busy thinking up a good swap card, but I took a little break to do the Dirty Dozen challenges. This is what I came up with to be inspired by ribbon and use vellum on my creation. What do you think?

Think, think, think!

I leave for the Stampin' Up! Convention in only 12 days and I cannot for the life of me come up with a swap for the SCS dinner. Oh my goodness, the turmoil I am going through. This is ridiculous! I did finish 21 cards for another swap I am doing that week, (and I really like what I came up with), but the other is giving me fits! Why is this so hard? I don't know! but I'd better come up with something soon or . . . oh my, I don't know what I will do.

Well, I am going to be off line for a few days, but I will be back. Hmmmm, should I post my swap or keep it a secret until after convention? What do you think?

Glowing Faith

Do you think my card has a glow about it? I really like the look you can achieve with a little emboss resist and a sponge with ink.

I stamped the flourish and the word faith with versamark and clear embossed before adding color around it with a sponge. I love the way the colors blend. The medallion is made with mustard seeds. I just filled the hodgepodge hardware with mustard seeds and then used crystal effects to seal them in. I think it looks great in real life. Then I added the satin chocolate ribbon. That stuff is so yummy! It really is a simple card, but I think it is very fitting. I wonder whom I will send it to?

Thanks for dropping by!

BWC#15 take two!

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by.

I changed up my last card to make this one for the sketch challenge on SCS today. Hmmmm, which one do you like best?

I used the out of the box technique for the main flower image. I really like using that technique. I like the combination of the Paisley bg and the dp for this one. The colors are Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Whisper White.

I colored the stamp with markers and then water colored it with the watercolor crayons. I love how they work. They are so easy to work with, as the color blends so beautifully. I stamped around the image with Bravo Burgundy and the Itty Bitty Backgrounds. After cutting it out, I run the marker around the edge, just to get rid of that just cut white edge. I think it makes such a big difference. I think most everything else is self explanatory, but if you have questions, I'm happy to give you my answer or opinion. lol

Thanks for stopping by. Please come again!

BWC #15

When is the last time you checked out Ashley's blog and took on her brain wave challenge? Well, it's time to do it. Hurry, pop right on over there and take a peek. You can click on her name just above this post and "poof" you are there.

This is my card for this week's challenge.

I used markers on my image and then stamped it. I then watercolored the image with watercolor crayons. They are so easy to use. I love 'em. Today I found my good Stampin' Up! brushes, so it was such a happy day! I had been using some cheapo yucky ones and the results were not so good and they were so hard to use. Ahhh, now I'm happy. lol I then used Itty Bitty Backgrounds around the image, and colored the edge of it with the Bravo Burgundy marker. I then mounted it on the scallop trim created with the new SU! scallop edge punch which will be available in August. You're gonna love it! It's awesome. I used both the Bravo Burgundy and the Chocolate Chip scallops and punched through all the layers with my trusty crop-o-dile, which added more dimension as well as making the green visible through the holes. I stamped the sentiment with versamark and embossed with white ep. I mounted that low on the card and then added the chocolate grosgrain ribbon, being sure to leave just a sliver of the green showing between them. I like the result. What do you think of it?

Amethyst Dreams

I made this card for today's SCS color challenge: Always Amethyst, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron. What a beautiful color combination.

I stamped the Dreams image after inking my stamp with versamark and then Almost Amethyst and clear embossed. Now that's a surprise, isn't it? lol I love clear embossing powder. I use it on almost every project. I then went in and colored the image with markers. I didn't like the look at first and almost threw it away, but the more I added color, the more I liked it. It really does look a lot better in real life, but we know that about all of our projects, right? The rest is self explanatory, but if you have any questions, please ask. I'm happy to help with anything I can.

What a fun Monday!

Wooo hoooo, time to stamp! What a great way to start the week!

Today's SCS challenge was the grid technique. My first card is using the monogram K and I kind of like the card, but thought I could do better, so I made another, the blue one.

My sweet Aunt C had colon cancer surgery and I want her to know I am thinking of her. I talked to her yesterday, and she is doing really well. Get your colonoscopies done! I'm so glad she did and they caught it so early! She is a dear!

So, take a look at my two cards and let me know what you think! I love to hear from you!

Have a great Monday! Now go and stamp stamp stamp!

I love this layout!

Cindy gave us this layout for the sketch challenge on SCS today. Wow, it is a really great layout and so many wonderful cards were created using it today. Be sure to check them all out.

I stamped the tree with versamark and embossed with copper ep. I love the close to cocoa, white and black together. I used the rough diamonds cuttlebug folder for the bg. I like how it coordinates.

So, what do you think?

BWC #14

Hello, hello, hello!

Whew, it's been busy around here. I spent a few days at my daughter's home and then came home with her two youngest for a few days. It's great having little ones around, but they do require some time. lol

So, I got some time to stamp today and used Ashley's Brain Wave Challenge in combination with the SCS color challenge. Ashley came up with the layout. Be sure to visit her blog for more information and ideas! http://www.ashleyscreativecorner.com/

I love the look I got on the main panel. I stamped the image with versamark and then clear embossed. Then I stamped the same image (flower) again, using the Groovy Guava ink. The image is Delightful Dahlia from Treehouse Stamps. I then sponged the Groovy Guava into the blossoms and around the edge. It almost glows! I think the rest is easy enough to recognize. The Merci is popped up just to catch the eye a bit. What do you think?

Two fun!

Today's scoring challenge was just too fun, so I had to try one more thing with it. The scoring seems to show up on white much better than on the colors, so I went with a very simple - white - card.

I scored the border one way, and the inside score lines the other way. Can you tell? I then stamped the images over the scored lines. I stamped the flower again, clear embossed it, cut it out and popped it up. I love how that looks. I had to add just a bit of pink taffeta ribbon and voila! How do you like it?

Score!

Today's challenge was to use scoring on your creation. Well, I first tried scoring on the designer paper, but you just couldn't see it, so . . . adapt. I cut the dp just to use as a bg for the images. I then scored above and below the dp panel. It still needed something, so I knotted the brown taffeta ribbon, aligning the knots with the centers of the medallions and used glue dots to hold it in place. I love the colors, perfect plum, pale plum and mellow moss. It used to always be my go to color combo, cut I hadn't used it for a long time, and enjoyed seeing it again. What do you think?

Purely Wild Butterfly

I haven't had a lot of stamping time this week, so I combined a couple of challenges on this card, the colors and the sketch.

The image is from Treehouse stamps. Be sure to head over and check out their fantastic specials!!!!! Hurry so you don't lose out. The link is on the home page of my blog.

I stamped the image with black craft ink and clear embossed before coloring with a blender pen and ink. Fun stuff. I love the looks of the embossed layers (especially the designer paper) and the black that really pops each layer.

What do you think?

Brain Wave Challenge #13

So, what do you think of this stamp image? It is just The overalls, and I added the photo of my darling grandson Dylan. Kind of cute, don't you think?

I used Ashley's brain wave challenge colors on this card: Sage Shadow, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana and Very Vanilla.

I'd love to know what you think!

And stay tuned to this blog (and the other Treehouse Design Team member's blogs) for some blog candy - COMING SOON!!!!!!

BWC#12

I made this card for Ashley's Brain Wave Challenge for the week. Check it out on her blog. http://www.ashleyscreativecorner.com/

I used stamps from the Treehouse American Dream set. Good news!!!! It is on special thru July 4th!!!!! It is such a cute set, with the little children holding either a flag or a sparkler! I used the sparklers for the fire works on my card. How do you like the double colors on the stars. So easy to do with markers. I just inked the star with red and then used the blue marker around the edges. I think it gives a great look to the stars, don't you? I embossed the fireworks with white, irridescent ice and gold embossing powders.

Happy 4th to all of you!

Long time coming or ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

I had my card nearly finished when I saw smudges around my main image! How did that happen? So, I tried my technique, I meant to do that! I should have remembered the technique, never try to fix it! lol It got worse and worse until I had to throw it in the trash and start over. That's where the arghhhhhh comes in.

So, I stamped the image with black craft ink and clear embossed. I watercolored with markers scribbled onto my stamp a ma jig mat and a watercolor brush. A lousy water color brush I might add! I haven't found my good ones since the move. For all the handicaps I had this morning, I think it turned out pretty well.

I am trying ribbon treatments that have less bulk so I can afford to mail these things. lol This ribbon is just looped a few times. I think it works. What do you think?

Stamps are by Treehouse!

I've almost caught up!

So, this is my last catch up post.

I made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge, spotlighting Diane, aka Lost in the 60's. What a fine stamper she is! It was such a treat to browse through her gallery and choose a beauty to case.

This is the card I came up with.

For the main image I used the generation stamping technique. That is to stamp the image repeatedly without reinking. It really adds depth. Well, that just wasn't enough for me, so I stamped the outline of the image a few more times with versamark and clear embossed. I'm sure you find that hard to believe. It seems to be my favorite technique, doesn't it? lol Well, it added just the right touch to this image. Diane's creation had brads in the four corners, but I still haven't located all my brads, so I made faux brads. I really wanted to keep this monochromatic and I think it works. I did a little Faith dotting around the outer layer of the main image too. The background is stamped with Sanded and French Script. Nope, no cuttlebugging this time. The luscious satin ribbon is the icing on the cake, don't you think? I love the richness of this creation. What do you think?

Double butterfly

Can you see the two butterflies on this creation? I'll bet you can pick out the first one. lol

Yes, for this limited supply challenge we were to make a shape other than the typical card. I found a nicely shaped butterfly online and enlarged it to a standard card size and cut it out. I outlined that with my black marker. Then I stamped friend on it using black craft ink and clear embossed it. Isn't that a surprise? lol I used my SU! markers to color in the word, then stamped a few flowers around to fill in the white space. But wait! It needs something more! Ribbon? Sure, but how? So, I decided to make a ribbon butterfly. Yes, if you look closely you will see I trimmed the ends of the ribbons to resemble the shape of the wings on my main image. I used the rhinestone brad for the body. I really like the look. What do you think?

Ric Rac or Rick Rack???? You decide!

So the ways to use it challenge on SCS was to use that trim stuff on your creation. Well, I went straight to Wikipedia to find out the correct spelling and guess what! They like it spelled either way. Whew! No incorrect spelling for anyone! lol

I seem to reach for blues this week, so here is one more. I cuttlebug embossed the largest portion of my background card stock and using the same color ink, ran that over the embossing to catch those edges a bit. I then ran a strip of paper trim up the edge and layered on the ric rac. Isn't it pretty?

For the main image and the tag I reached for my favorite, clear embossing powder once again. For the bird panel, I sponged around the outside edge and using some of the ink from the lid, I watercolored it in for a bit more emphasis. Don't you like that? I really like the look. I then mounted that panel and the tag with vanilla card stock, and I added a snip of organdy ribbon to the tag. I then heated it with my heat gun for a bit of dimension.

There you have it - another blue card!

Am I blue?

I really liked this week's color challenge, so I reached for it again today. I stamped the silhouette image with black craft and clear embossed once again. I love this look on a light colored card stock. The sentiment was also stamped with black craft and clear embossed, on kraft card stock. I backed that with black and then with kraft once more. Well, when I put that onto my blue card stock it looked a little weak and boring, but I didn't want to add ribbon. What to do? I took a thin line marker and made a frame all the way around and then added black brads at the corners. I really like that finishing detail on this card. Oh yeah, notice the three little cross stitches between the layers? They are faux - again using that fine line marker.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blah, blah, blah! lol

Playing with color!

Isn't color powerful? Different color combinations are so exciting. Don't they inspire you?

This one is using Kraft, Soft Sky (blue) and black.

I began with my center flower. I stamped it with black craft ink and then heat embossed with clear. I find this much easier than using black embossing powder. That makes such a mess and I find little bits of it all over areas I didn't want embossed. So, forget about it! lol On this flower, I used my craft knife to cut out the center of the petals. I then took the little sentiment stamp from this set and made my own background paper for the kraft colored scalloped square. I really like how that turned out, and I like how that color shows through the flower, which I mounted with dimensionals. That was mounted onto the black to really make it pop. The soft sky background was embossed with swiss dots and I used a black marker to just highlight that edge a smidge, then mounted it onto kraft to repeat that color one more time. I added the black gingham ribbon and a scrap of organdy ribbon and here you have it. Whatdayathink?

Thanks for stopping by. Come again soon!

Technique

I really love to play with different techniques. This card shows one using shimmer and glimmer. Now, it is hard to get a great photo of the shine, so you have to take my word for it, but it is so fun in real life.

I made a shimmer spray with hairspray, pearl-ex and a bit of re-inker. I sprayed my cuttlebug folder with it before embossing it. The sparkle is subtle, but it is there. Look closely. I also used that spray concoction to paint my image. Ooooo, she's purdy! Try a little shimmer on your project. Such fun!

Newly committed!

No, they haven't come to take me away . . . well, not yet. I have re-committed to keeping my blog up to date. Now that the move is more under control I have time to stamp, so I must keep my blog updated with my daily projects.

Treehouse stamps is rolling out some new stamps July 10th, and beginning Thursday, I will have some sneak peeks for you. One of the new stamps is a very unique idea. It has such potential for fun, you must check back and see how cute it is! You won't want to miss it!

So, have I sparked your interest? lol Have a great week!

Brain Wave Challenge

Here is my take on Ashley's brain wave challenge for this week. I hope you like it!

I love love love this snail. Isn't it the cutest? Notice the sparkly slime trail. Ewwww! Not when it's glittery! lol

Head on over to Treehouse stamps and get your snail. Be sure to post a link here so I can check it out.

Have a great Wednesday!

Knotty Summer

Today's challenge on SCS was to use a knot on your card. I love these summery colors and used the new Treehouse stamp set, Life's a Picnic. Several of the grapes are cut out and popped up for more dimension. The edges are distressed and inked for even more dimension. I hope you enjoy your summer!

Hugs,
Karen

We moved, yes we did!

I don't know if anyone is interested, but here is what has been going on in my life the past little while! So, we closed on our house last Tuesday, June 3. I did the final walk through with my realtor. Well, the house was empty, but so not clean. I mean these people left their doggy doo in the back yard, the floors were filthy, the oven really, really dirty, the refrigerator hadn't even been wiped out, the dust on the blinds was thick, let me just tell you. You get the idea. Ewwww, who wants to clean up the house before you can even move in? I don't. I always knock myself out cleaning out my crud when I move out of a house. I wasn't too happy, and neither was my realtor. He was very generous though and hired a cleaning service to come and clean it the next day. They did a pretty good job, but you know, you just have to do your own thing too. At least it was better than it had been. But they left the doggy doo, unfortunately.

The previous owners didn't leave us the code to the security system. I'm still trying to get that. It doesn't really matter, unless we actually want to use it! lol

So I had the carpets cleaned and then we moved to our new home last Thursday. The water here is harder than a rock, so we had a water conditioning system installed a couple of days ago. As the plumber was hooking up the RO system in the kitchen, he said, "Hmmmm, that's odd. Do you get hot water when you turn on the tap here?" I said that I did, then he said, "but the dishwasher is hooked up to the COLD line." Well, that's ridiculous! So, I turned on the dishwasher and filled it and then felt the water. Guess what! It was cold! This house is 2-1/2 years old. Do you think the previous owners even knew that they didn't have hot water in the dishwasher? Oh for heaven's sake. This guy said it is a complicated job, not just switching the hoses. Okay . . . so, we have to get another plumber to come and fix it. Add that to the to-do list.

So, it is June and we live in Phoenix. It's hot! So we called an air conditioner service just to come and check out the system. Well, he found oil all over the motor and said it is just a matter of time before it overheats and binds up and burns out the compressor! Oh yeah! I believe I mentioned that this house is only 2-1/2 years old! Okay, so that is about $400 to replace. Well, we are supposed to have a home warranty on this place, so I called my realtor. I have yet to hear back from him about it. Oh goody! So, we are gambling a bit here and hoping the thing doesn't burn out before we can take advantage of this marvelous home warranty. It had better pay off!

Other than these few annoyances, I am liking my new home and have actually found most of the things I need to survive and be comfortable. I did have a time finding my camera to post a photo of my project today, but I finally did find it - in the kitchen JUNK drawer! lol But at least I found it.

If you've read through all this, you deserve a medal. lol I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!!! Y'all come back now, hear?

I'm back!

Whew, I have finally gotten settled enough in our new house to stamp once more. I've missed it! It seems so long since I could stamp! So today, I used Ashley's Brainwave Challenge #10 for the sketch. I stamped the image from a new set released today by Treehouse stamps called Lovely Lilies. I used versamark ink and clear embossed it on the different layers. I love how that turned out. The sentiment is tiny but reads: Just because you are wonderful.