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