Has it been that long? Multiple posts

Just wanting to share some cards that I have done over the last month. Been away for awhile....

I had to try out the flower pot card that I've seen so many times. This was so fun. And so easy when you have the die cut for the leaf shape. I also completed a box card/pop up card using some rub-ons. I kept it simple and easy and really like how it looks. It folds down flat so mailing is a snap. Next are some cards that I made for my son's baseball coaches. Their team The BlueJays won the playoffs and now Axel has been selected to be on the AllStar team to represent New West in another tournament. This is quite something as this is Axel's rookie year in baseball and he has shown great skill and ability. Way to go Axel. I wanted the card to be a bit flashy so I embossed on the textured card stock and it really pops. I created a "roster" type signing area for all the players to sign their names. We also gave the coaches an autographed team picture (with trophy) and the boys signed their names on the matting and said a few words of thanks. What a great season.

Last club night we finally made the build-a-brad bracelets courtesy of Patty Bennett. She has full instructions on her blog and they turned out so elegant. Here are just a few of the completed bracelets. It was a little tricky getting the rhinestones to lay flat but the larger brads were a snap. So many possibilities with this project.

Happy stamping.

Karen

a couple of tramps...

I must share this video of my kids on their new found trampoline (thanks to my very bestest of friends, Gayle). They are in heaven. Just watch the video.

Karen

Amazing watercolour technique...

Have you tried it?? I just did!! It's amazing. The new watercolour technique. This technique originated from Crystal French from Denver, and was demonstrated at the Stampin' Up! Seattle Regional Seminar by Connie Ingram. It is so easy. Just ink up an outline image with versamark, emboss with white or other coloured embossing powder. Spritz your image with a water spray bottle enough so you actually see the droplets on the paper. I've used regular whisper white paper and vellum. Then drop several drops of reinker ink onto a palette and using your aquapainter, dip into a colour one at a time and touch an area on your image and the colour "flows" into the space with the water that is there. Amazing. The lilies were done on whisper white card stock and the rose was done on vellum. Quite different effects but so beautiful. I will be showing this technique at my stampers club meeting next month.

Happy stamping...

Karen

Finally!! Here are the swap cards!

As mentioned in my previous entry, here are the other creations in the East-West swap that I had the privilege to be included in.

The first group of cards are from Alison Solven. In the top card she used the Sense of Time stamp set and in my opinion has perfected the Soot technique. It is perfect for this set. Her other cards are using Soft Summer (and my ultimate favourite DP Parisian Breeze) and Great Friend sets(my favourite colour). These two sets I believe are going to be very popular.

The next group of cards belongs to Liane Binder. I love how she popped up the butterfly and frayed the edge of the white satin ribbon. Also, adding the pearls gives it such elegance.

She also chose Sense of Time stamp set and combinedit with a background stamp "Sanded" to add texture.

The next set of cards belongs to Elaine Paget. She used the new printed window sheets to show off their beauty. I've heard she is the queen of 3D and now I see why.

Her spinner card is fabulous and I love how the images appear as you turn the wheel. Her last card used the Forest Friends set. The deer is so cute and this little card sits on top of your desk like a tree. Very clever.

The next group of cards belongs to Mo Dickie (sister of Alison). I love how she made the scallop circle into a card and also love the added sparkle to the butterfly. It really catches your eye.

What a great card for the Sense of Time set. Stamping on acetate allows for the use of many stamps. In her last card, she chose to use the Top note die cut using the Big Shot to enhance the clock face. How perfect. I can see this set being used for many masculine cards.

Another group of cards belong to Leslie. Wow, her colours are fabulous and using the pretties flower and pearl really adds elegance to her card. She also used the Great Friend stamp set (see I told you it was going to be popular) for two of her cards. All three of her cards use great colour combinations and they really "pop". Thanks.

The last group of cards belongs to Pam Lee.

She chose to use the stamp set And Many Mower. How funny.

I love the humour in this set. Perfect for the man in your life.

She paired it up with the fabulous designer paper called Manchester.

Love the colours! Her third card used the new scallop oval punch that coordinates with the stamp set Oval All. Wow, thanks for sharing.

East west swap...it's all good

Well, I was asked to join a swap to highlight the new mini catalogue and I was delighted to do so. We were to make 21 cards - 3 designs - 7 each. I decided to use the Just beachy, Sense of time and Scene in a garden sets from SU! now available to anyone who wants them until June 30th, 2009.

This first card uses pink flamingo DP and the stamp set Scene in a Garden. I added crystal effects to the boots so that they would look wet. You can't see it but the words say "I miss you". This set also comes with a windmill, flower pots, pumpkins and gourds and a tall reed flower in a pot. Very versatile and fun to use.

The next card uses Sense of Time set and I've paired it up with Manhattan DP. This card could be for the man in your life as it comes out quite masculine. I used the scallop edge punch, corner rounder punch and circle cutter to add different shapes and layered these with dimensionals.

This last card I did uses the Just Beachy stamp set. I wanted to make it look like the fish were under water blowing bubbles. I used the large hole punch on the crop-o-dile for the small circles and layered the other circles using 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 circle punches. The open circles stamped on the bashful blue cs is from A Good Egg set. It's hard to see but I used the new Walk in the park DP as one of the layers. The circles on it seemed to fit perfectly.

I will be posting the other swap cards soon so you can see all the talent these ladies have -- east to west. Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

Karen

Squash is good...

I saw a tutorial on Dawn Griffith's blog on how to create a squash book and so I added it to my monthly stamp club projects. We did an Easter theme but this book could be about anything. It's all about the folding and is quite simple to put together. It would make a really nice little photo book for mother's day or easter or a birthday filled with pictures of the family or a sports event. I used the stamp set "A good egg" from SU! and used raspberry tart designer paper to decorate the inside. Try one and send it to someone special.

Another project that we completed at my monthly stamp club was making a frosted cocktail glass complete with a scratch and sniff strawberry as a garnish. We traced a small cup onto paper and then used this as a template on the vellum and cut out the shape. We sponged 2 colours of ink onto the vellum and added sticky strip to the top and covered with chunky glitter to add the "sugar rim". We then used craft ink to stamp the strawberry and added a mixture of koolaid and clear embossing powder (1 tbsp koolaid and 1 1/2 tbsp clear EP) and used the heat gun to set. We attached the cup to a sponged background using sticky dots and made sure we bent the cup up before adhering the last side to give it a roundish appearance. I used an old hostess stamp set for the greeting. Everyone loved it and I think it turned out really nice. The strawberry really smells of strawberry when you scratch it. Thanks for looking. Happy stamping.

A hole-in-one

I love it when people punch holes in the cardstock. It's like peek-a-boo. I combined a few stamp sets on this card...Inspired by Nature , a level 2 hostess set Echoes of Kindness and Flight of the Butterfly. These sets seem to work well together -- something SU! strives to achieve-- versatility and coordinating images. I added some dazzling diamonds around the edges of the flower petals to add a little sparkle (courtesy of my daughter). She really has a great eye for detail and she often gives me "pointers". I backed the front onto a piece of textured designer paper called Parisian Breeze (my ultimate fav) and then added a little narrow eyelet scallop edge to the bottom of the front flap. Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

Karen

Bloomin' beautiful but sad...

Well, my friend's dad just passed away and I made this sympathy card for her. It seems lately, more and more people are leaving us but I guess that is all just part of life. My friend just purchased this stamp set and I knew she loved it. I also stamped part of the inside to add colour. Hope you like it. Hope everyone is happy and having fun. Happy stamping.

Karen

Blog candy give away

I wish I could say it is from me but I can't. A fellow BC stamper is giving away a whole-lotta goodies on her blog http://paperintheworks.blogspot.com/ . I feel like we are neighbours as we are only one body of water away from each other. Also my dear momma lives on one of the gulf islands which is even closer to Kim. Kim's blog is nothing short of amazing. Her ability to paper tole and add colour is extremely creative. Her blog has had 100,000 hits and now she wants to share the love. Congratulations Kim and here's to 100 more.
Karen

It's lookin' like spring...something to sale-a-brate

If there is any colour that says "spring" it is yellow. Daffodils, tulips, irises crocuses all yellow. I thought the perfect colour to make my next matchbook box filled with chocolate (because chocolate knows no boundries when it comes to season) would be yellow to signify spring has begun to arrive. I wanted to use some of the Sale-a-bration gifts I got from Stampin'UP and so I paired up some of the delicate dot designer papers with the new textured Parisian breeze paper and made myself a masterpiece. I tried making another scallopped flower and this time it was alot easier the second time around. I topped it off with a button and hemp thread. I also got to use one of the stamp sets "Yummy" for my sentiment and the so saffron grosgrain ribbon. The box itself was made using so saffron textured card stock. I love how SU! coordinates their products so that mixing them up together is a breeze. I filled this box with "kisses" and will keep it close by. Happy stamping and thanks for looking. Go out and check your garden... you'll be surprised to see what has popped up.

Karen

I bought it!! Becky's tote-ally awesome tote

Well, as soon as I bought this fabulous tutorial to make this amazing suitcase complete with bloomin' cards, bookmarks, notepad, and that darn cute suitcase I ran downstairs to collect my supplies. Everything was in order except for those nasty little adhesive velcro dots. Where did I put those? I know we have some... maybe I used them to hang those small pictures on the wall, or did I use them all when I made that marvvvvalous carousel purse from "Jan Tink"? All I knew was that I wasn't going to waste any more time looking for them ... my tote was a-waitin'. Isn't it jor-juice!! You have to visit Becky Roberts blog here to get your own.

http://www.inkingidaho.blogspot.com/ Go now and then come back of course. Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

Karen

Matchbox in Paris...

Thanks to http://www.flutterbyatomicbutterfly.blogspot.com/ for such inspiration to make this elegant box using the new textured Parisian DP from Stampin'Up! It's so easy to put together and following the instructions was a breeze. This was the first time I tried the scallop flower (see http://www.memystampsandi.blogspot.com/) and while it did take some patience trying to stick it together it turned out just right. I also watercoloured the little swallow stamp (also from SU!) and added some itty bitty background on top. The image was stamped on very vanilla cs and was layered onto baja breeze. Both these were cut out using my nesties and cuttlebug. I think I will give this to my next hostess at one of my card classes. Not sure what I will fill it with yet but of course, one item will be chocolate.

Twistin' the night away...

Well, just made a few thank you favours for my "All Occasion" card class tomorrow night. I was given these instructions and given a private demonstration by one of my club members Susan, who just amazed me at how she could make these so fast. I tried and tried but could not get the twistin' right. After many failed attempts, I realized I was scoring on the wrong side and therefore, there was no way it was gonna twist for me. Now, I believe I've got it!! And I'm so thrilled. I've filled these with truffle chocolates and kisses and each person who signed up for my class will get to choose a treat and have their very own "twisted" treat box. These could be the perfect favours for birthdays, weddings, Easter, or Valentine's. I've used the new Good Morning Sunshine designer paper from SU! You start with a 6X6 piece so you can make 4 out of one piece of DP. How cool is that!! Lots of scoring (goes quick if you have a scor-pal) and twistin' and voila.... your own twisted treat box. Well, time to eat the left over chocolate. It always seems that you just can't fit all the chocolate in so I guess it's my duty to consume it. Wish me luck.

Karen

Ya' gotta love 'em

This is for animal lovers out there. I was on the computer and was looking over at the cats on the bed snuggling nicely under their cat blanket when Tangi starts cleaning Miso's face. OMG!! I ran for the camera to catch it on video. We adopted these two last summer and they are like two peas in a pod. Very different personalities but equally endearing. And they sure do take care of each other. Hope you enjoy the video. Karen

Oh my sweet Valentine

Well, this year I said to my mom, "Let's all send Valentine's to each other this year". She says" well, I'm not really into Valentine's so I don't think so". Well, what came in the mail today...you guessed it... a valentine's card from my mom. The little stinker made one and I thought it was a no go so of course I was letting it go but now I quickly made up one to send in the mail today. I have seen so many Season of Friendship cards using hearts for "the leaves" that I knew exactly which one I would make. I gathered lots of ideas from SCS and this is my creation. I got to use my nesties for the scallop circle and the framed circle inside and popped up the hearts on the branches. I added a little bird in pink pirourette perched at the bottom of the tree. My greeting comes from "Happy Heart Day" stamp set. Hope you like it. I think mom will be surprised to get this one in the mail. Happy stamping.

Karen

Valentine's bundle

I'm going to offer this sweet but simple Valentine's class this year. I found this suspension card tutorial http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stamping_thoughts/2008/01/valentine-supen.html and made a Valentine's card. I paired it up with a cute heart treat container I found at Michaels and filled a cello bag with Hershey Kisses in silver and red. I then just added a "Happy Valentine's Day" tag and tied it with some organza ribbon. It's cute and simple and filled with chocolate. Happy Stamping.
Karen

Gotta love Purdy's chocolate

I've been playing around making little boxes and found this one, perfect for some Purdy's chocolate hearts. I left the window open but you could also put a circle of acetate on the inside to close it off. The DP make it so beautiful and I really love to give these as gifts. Hope you like it.

P.S. I found my inspiration from Julie Buhler's blog www.paperpleasing.typepad.com so please check it out. She has alot of lovely projects.

Karen

Milk does a body good

I recently purchased this tutorial from Becky Roberts http://www.inkingidaho.blogspot.com/ to make these adorable milk boxes nestled inside a carrying case. This could be used for christmas, valentine's or easter with lots of room for hiding chocolates, socks, little treats etc. Very fun to make and so cute to give. Check out her blog and if you're interested, for only about $5.00 canadian you can purchase your own multi paged directions to make one for yourself. Great for a class for easter I'm thinkin'... I made mine with Valentine's in mind hence the pink and red. Happy stamping.

Karen

All occasion - finally!!

Well, finally I've put together an "all occasion" card class for my gals at work. I'll be bringin' an arm load of greetings for them to choose from. The class will be making 8 cards in total (2 of each design). I'm trying to do more masculine cards so I included a few here. I'm having fun with my new SU! goodies from the new catalogue. I really love the DP again (not a surprise) and especially the new textured DP. Great for boxes and other 3D projects. I love the funky tree stamp set and will play around with this set soon. Well, happy stamping and good night.

Karen

Scrapbooking revisited...

Well, it was time to try scrapbooking again. This time one page for each child. Thought I'd do a Valentine theme and try doing different techniques. This is a 6X6 page stepped up to a 8X8 and I chose a nine block pattern. Thank you to Alison Solven for inspiring my with this layout. She did a page awhile back using the same pattern and I fell in love with it. I did the heart using faux metal technique, glittered the chipboard letter, sponged the chipboard heart and used rub-ons for my words. Since there were many colours, I printed the photos in black and white. This was one of the projects for one of my club nights. I think framing each page and hanging them on the wall would be an alternate way of displaying the pages. Thanks for looking and happy stamping.
Karen