Matchbox Teapot

I love this little teapot! Made using SU matchbox die, and a few punches. Teapot is Crumb Cake, accents made with Chocolate Chip. Had to free hand the spout, but the handle was simple enough to make with small and large oval punch. Top is made with two oval punches and 1/4 circle punch. I joined an ABC swap (anything but a card), and this is the project I'll be swapping. Stamp set used Matchbox messages. Stamped the frame with Chocolate Chip craft ink then embossed with clear.



Inside just holds a teabag. Since I was using a Gingerbread teabag I decided to use the gingerbread man stamp from Got Treats. He was also embossed with clear then accented with white gel pen.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Zoo

Skip took me to the Zoo on Sunday. First time I've been there since they moved the elephants. They are back now after two years of being gone. They got an entire new habitat and a bull! So they will be mating. Can't wait to see a little baby elephant calf.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Simple Bird Card

I've been into making clean simple cards lately. I think I just have the need to have uncomplicated simple things in my life right now...that goes for my artwork as well.

This card uses Nature Walk, and Warmest Regards stamp sets by SU! Designer paper is the new paper that coordinates with Four Frames stamp set also from SU! The thin strip of designer paper is popped up with adhesive foam that comes in 1/8 x 3 3/4 inch strips. This I found at Pat Catan's but I'm sure you can find it in most craft stores, company that makes it is Darice. This card may look like it wouldn't fit in a A2 size envelope but it will. I cut the base card down by 1/4 inch so the thin strip of designer paper would extend just a bit over the edges of the card. Bottom layer of designer paper was cut using Spellbinders Curved Rectangles. Bird was stamped with Soft Suede on the base card then inked again with Soft Suede and just the wing was gone over with Chocolate Chip marker to give it some definition. This was then popped over the bird on the base card. Hate to try to cut around those legs! This makes it so much easier. Finished it off with some rhinestones.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Petal Punch Flower

This card was fun to make. Flower was made using 5 petal flower punch from SU. Punched two from Cherry Cobbler, then punched one with More Mustard. After punching the Mustard one I glued a long thin strip of card stock to it then slid it back into the punch, turned it a little bit then punched again. The result is an entirely different looking flower made with the same punch. COOL! Used 1/2 circle punch for the brown center then added some little dots with a white gel pen. The designer paper is made by Cloud 9. I found a large pack of it at Big Lots. Got 24 double sided sheets for 3 bucks. Just love a good deal!

John took me to see the new Pirates movie yesterday afternoon. Really entertaining. Great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Going to mom in law Kate's house later today. She is getting ready for a neighborhood garage sale so I'm going to help her get set up. Still looking for things to keep myself busy.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Odd Card

I was going to get this ready to post earlier this morning, but we have been having severe thunder storms so I thought it best not to have my laptop on last night.

This card is odd. Just didn't know what direction I was going in....seems to be happening a lot to me this week. Anyway....I had this embossed confetti white cardstock from a a card I made a few weeks ago, and I knew I had to find a way to use it as I liked the rays. Looks like the sun shining and I can use some sunshine in my life right about now. Broke out the watercolor wonder crayons to color in the bird (blush blossom and Not Quite Navy), and sun rays (So Saffron,More Mustard). After the card was finished I sprayed the entire surface with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Iridescent Gold. Talk about a runaway card....this one got away from me because I just kept adding things and changing elements. Made it for my sister. Not sure why I'm sending her a sympathy card, but felt I needed to do so. We are not very close, and I haven't seen her in the past 5 years even though she lives on the other side of town from me. Enough said about that.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Empty Seat.

There is an empty seat where you once sat, and no one can ever fill that place.



Message says it all.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Easter Blossoms

Kat let me borrow her Easter Blossoms stamp set so I made a few cards with it before mailing it back to her. Used Basic Gray for the base then Pink Pirouette, and cream for the layers. Simple card but I think it came out pretty.

Sarah will be stopping by this morning. She has been a real blessing to me this week. Don' know how I would have made it without her.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Thank You

Just wanted to thank my reader and friends for their prayers, thoughts, and cards that have been sent to me and the family. It does help to ease the pain. Still not ready to talk much about it, but I will soon. Planning to do a little mom tribute on the blog with more pics of her during her lifetime.

Thanks again

Karen

Mom Has Went Home

Sorry to say at this writing that my mom Gladys Keith passed away early this morning just a bit after 3 a.m. She went peacefully in her sleep. Which I am truly thankful for. After the last stroke she had a few days before Mother's Day she just didn't recover from. She was suffering, now I know she is pain free, and moving on to meet my dad and brother who has passed before her.

I'm taking a few days off to reflect on her life, and grieve. Thank you for you thoughts and prayers.

Karen

Spoiled

Kat spoiled me while she was here last week. First she brought me Four Frames and designer paper from SU as a thank you give. You didn't have to do that Kat, but I'm ever thankful that you did!!!! Of course I had to start using the new stamp set and paper right away!



She also surprised me with an early birthday gift from Pat Catan's. Isn't this just the cutest sewing box? Love the shape, and the natural look of this container.



Shot of the inside box.

You're the best Kat!!!!

Stamping Trails
Karen

Deer, Ship in a Bottle, Mom

So last Monday shortly after Kathy arrived this little deer wondered into our backyard. We were standing in the kitchen and I gave Kat the camera to snap pictures. And let me tell you that is one gal who knows how to get a good shot. She tapped on the sliding glass door to get the deer to look her way then she was able to get this great pic. Pretty cool as we don't get deer in our yard very often.



Sarah gave me a some movies for Mother's Day. One of them me and Kat watched called the Red Violin. In one of the scenes the violin was being taken to China by way of ship. Made me think of a ship in a bottle for some reason so that is why I made this card. Stamp set Set Sail, and Weathered. Colors Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, White, Always Artichoke. I free handed the bottle and cut it from white, sponged the edges in Chocolate Chip, cut a piece of cork for the bottle top and wrapped some brown bakers twine around it.



RAK thanks to one of my VC Rocker friends. Big Thanks Robin love this card!

Mom does have pneumonia. They are treating her with antibiotics. She is a long way from being better. Still taking it one day at a time.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Floral Dress on a Skeleton?

So Lisa put in Day of the Dead stamps into our stamping challenge. Not really loving the stamps, but I did get my mind in a different direction and really helped to give me a much needed distraction from my mom's health problems.

Day of the Dead is a Mexican tradition, and from my research it is very colorful with lots of flowers. That is why I decided to make the skeleton into a Senorita with a floral dress. The colors used are Tango, Turquoise, and Olive. Very vibrant colors. Used the trio flower punch and highlighted the center of each with Stickles. I stamped the skulls on the base card then ran it thought the Cuttlebug using a paisley embossing folder.

If you want to see more craft projects centered around Day of the Dead holiday check out this link
also the history of the holiday here

Stamping trails
Karen

Holiday Tag Matchbox Set

I had a great visit with Kat while she was here. We made one project together, this cool Christmas tag box. Cardstock for drawers is Cherry Cobbler, and the designer paper used is by Basic Grey.



The base is made from 4 matchbox dies. Two of the drawers hold tags and the other two hold bakers twine and jute.



Here you can see the tags that where made. Just so much fun to make, and super easy.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Teddy Bear Card

Bedtime Stories by Stampabilities was put in for one of our stamping challenges. I had fun coloring this sweet little bear using my Prisma colors. Wood embossing folder by Sizzix, and see that little button at the top left? That was one of the buttons in the big bag of buttons me and Kat bought and shared while she was here.



The buttons where sold in big bags for 5 dollars each. Thanks for dividing them up Kat!

Oh and did you happen to see the wooden stand that the bear card is resting in? How cool is that! Lisa's hubby Geoff made it for me at my request to hold my cards. Makes it so easy to photograph the cards this way. Big Thanks Geoff!!! I'm still debating as to staining the stand or leaving it natural.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Sharing more Pictures

Just wanted to share a few more pics from my visit with Kat and her mom earlier this week. Kat's mom Rosie said cats didn't like her. Not the case with my cat Burbank. He jumped right up on her like she was his best friend. I think Rosie was a bit surprised!



Here all of us are looking at the doll clothes I've been making for the 5 inch dolls. Kat said they were pretty on the blog but even more pretty looking at them most closely.

Just found out Mom is not doing so good again. Her white blood count is up again. She doesn't have a fever so they are puzzled as to why the count is up so much. They are going to x-ray her chest and check to see if she might have pneumonia. She is also giving the nurses a hard time about taking all her meds. Since she has been on antibiotics for 5 days now they don't want to keep her on them if they can't find out the cause. Prayers are still needed.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Hollo's Damage

So the first shopping stop was at Hollo's. Of course I had to take a picture of the total. Actually Kat was under the dollar amount she expected. She also got to spend her early birthday gift card I got her for Hollo's



Now here is a pic of one happy stamper! This is in the ever poplar cardstock room.



And here is a pic of the full cart. 6 boxes of cardstock, and lots of other paper goods. Roughly 85 pounds of cardstock went in the back of my car. GOOD JOB, and GOOD paper fun!

We are off to Pat Catan's next. Just waiting for my daughter Sarah to arrive as she wanted to go stamping with us.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Mom Status

Mom is doing better. We got her to swallow today, so she was able to take her meds. Also had a bit of apple sauce, and water. We were able to get her up today, and get her cleaned up and dressed. Blood pressure is still high, so she is not out of the woods yet. Thank you for all your prayers.

My friend Kat and her mom are visiting with me today and tomorrow. So glad they are here as after this weekend I really need some support and distraction.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Mom

I won't be posting for a few days. My mom is not well. Say a prayer for Gladys for me.

I'll post more later.

Karen

Birthday Tag

So I have some birthdays coming up, and have been making tags for the packages. I really like to wrap in just plain brown paper then dress the package up with tags and string. Since I have large cones of bakers twine I'll be using that for birthday and Christmas.

The tag was stamped then slid into a glossy bag. Love the tag and bag together.



Used Sanded background first in Crumb Cake ink. Then stamped with Nature Walk. Been really liking Rich Razzle Berry lately. I used markers to color in the flowers. Old Olive for the leaves. I also used Inspired by Nature to stamp the grass along the bottom of the tag. Word from Sincere Salutations. I reach more often for Sincere Salutations than any other word stamp set. So versatile.

My baby is moving to Cedar Point today. He'll be there till the end of October. I miss him already. Me and Skip will get a taste of what its like to have an empty nest. Good thing warmer weather is around the corner (hoping anyway) I'll be able to get out of the house to take my mind off it.

I do have Kat's visit to look forward to. Looking forward to visiting with her this Monday.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Card Folio

Since I took family pictures on Easter I decided to make a little folio for my mom in law Kate. Super easy to do. I dug through old designer paper and found some Looks Like Spring. Only used one sheet to make plus some So Saffron cardstock for mats.



The flower at the top was made the same way that I made the flower on the flip flop. Attached it to the mat with a pop glue dot.



On the family picture I used a Mother's day stamp across the bottom. Happy with the finished piece, and I know grandma will love it.

Skip is taking the day off. He is going to attempt to till the garden. We will see how that goes. We took the tarps off last evening when he came home for lunch at 7, but the ground under the tarps was soaked. I think he is going to end up slinging mud everywhere. I'll be sure to not be outside for that! But I will sneak some pics. LOL

Stamping Trails
Karen

Box Kite Card

What a cold wet yucky day it was yesterday. Can you believe here we are in May and it was only 45 degrees outside. And did I mention it rained all day? YUCK

So I stayed inside and stamped. It helped my mood a bit.

I love how the box kite card looks. Just like a box kite...maybe I should have added a tail LOL

Ingredients
Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso cardstock and ink
Nature Walk, and Congrats stamp set
window sheet
1/2, 3/4, 1 ", 1 1/4, and 1 3/8 circle punches

Strips of window sheet were used to hang the bee and flower from the kite.

Wish the weather was going to get better today but its not.

Stamping Trails
Karen

Friend Card Shares

Had a very happy mailbox yesterday. Received this beautiful Anniversary card from Connie. Too cute!!!! Love all the elements going on. Is that a Martha Stewart punch? Love it!



Also received this very pretty card from Kat. I'm still kicking myself for not buying that punch from SU!...but a girl can only get so many punches in her hanging shoe organizer.

I'm feeling a bit better today. Back of the thighs are still a bit sore. Didn't do much yesterday, but I did manage to clean the inside of the fridge. It really needed it. Gotta love housework...NOT.

Stamping trails
Karen

Flowers

I'm back. Feeling a bit better than I was earlier this morning so I went outside and snapped some pics of the front yard. Of course I had to do this in between rain drops as its still wet. April maybe over but the April showers have flowed on over into May. Our tulips are closed today as its only 50 out and overcast. They were really pretty on Saturday. Skip took this Thursday off work. He is hoping to be able to till the garden. We've had it covered with tarps to keep the rain off the soil. I think its still going to be a wet, muddy, and soggy job. Glad he is running the tiller and not me!

Stamping Trails
Karen

Sore

No post again today stamping buddies. I did yard work on Saturday, and woke up really sore. Guess I over did it. Hoping to be back to myself sometime today!!!!


Hurray for the Red White and Blue!


Stamping Trails
Karen