Sketch Frenzy Friday 013015

Well here we are almost to the end of January. I'm 

happy about that...it means that Winter is getting shorter. 

I really stepped out of the box with today's Sketch challenge. 

I combined Adventure Bound designer paper with a girl card. 

The Adventure Bound paper is in the Occasions mini and is more 

of a masculine paper.

 

The background is Something Lacy. I stamped it on vanilla using 

 

Sahara Sand ink. 

 

I also used the new Sahara Sand lace. Its so delicate and just

 

so pretty! 

 

Other things used: Butterfly Basics, an Crazy about You stamp set, 

 

pearls, and Hello thinlits. 

 

Base card is Mossy Meadow. 

 

Don't forget to check out the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog to see what the 

 

other great designers have done with this sketch. 

 

We got some rain yesterday morning. It melted some of the snow at least it

 

did where hubby had plowed. I'm sure it turned into ice overnight. 

 

Glad I don't have to go anywhere till next Wednesday. 

 

Sarah's wedding plans are moving along. A hall has been found and the date has been 

 

set. She's picked out her colors, now she just has to find the perfect wedding gown. 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

 

 

 

 

Hello Sunshine

So I'm feeling sunny even though the temps are in the 20's. 

Want to know why? 

My ortho doctor told me I can have the knee replacement! 

YAY!

I have to go back next Wednesday for x-rays, and talk about the 

replacement. He said I can have it done within 6 to 8 weeks. 

Okay back to the card. 

The background was made with a SAB set called Best Day Ever. 

I stamped it with Island Indigo turning the stamp a 1/4 of a turn each time. 

Other things used Hello You thinlits (cut with Calypso Coral),

 

and Crazy About You stamp set. 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

 

 

Take a Tip Tuesday

Since StampinUp! came out with foam pads I've had a love 

hate affair with them. 

While they are really juicy and give great ink coverage on stamps,

I don't like using them for sponging. 

I just didn't get the same effect that I did with the felt pads. 

I solved the problem the other day. 

I took a window sheet and inked it up on the foam pad. 

After pulling the sheet away from the ink I was left with plenty of ink.

I used a sponge to pick up the ink from the sheet then used that to sponge the

edges of the card. 

I sponged the edges of the layer with Blackberry Bliss. 

Stamp set Lotus Blossom. 

I also used the new Painted Blooms Cotton Twine. Love that stuff!

Its so soft! 

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the ortho doctor. We are

going to discuss the knee replacement. Wish me luck! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Mailable Monday # 95

This card may look like it has three layers, but it only has two.

 

I masked off the edges of the white panel using washi tape before any

 

of the stamping and sponging was done. 

 

Color palette: So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Always Artichoke, 

 

and Baked Brown Sugar. 

 

Stamp set Sheltering Tree, and Kinda Eclectic. 

 

Wow only five more Mailable Monday posts before I hit 100. 

 

I think maybe some blog candy maybe in order when I reach that milestone. 

 

Speaking of milestones.....my weight now is at 175. I'm only two pounds away

 

from losing a total of 100 pounds. Wouldn't it be funny if I reach that when I hit

 

100 Mailable Monday posts? 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Mini Treat Bag and Painted Petals

I didn't post much this week. 

I had a two day prep for a procedure I had on Thursday. 

I'm glad that it is over. Turned up nothing so I'm back

to square one which means more tests. They are still

trying to find the reason for my lower hemoglobin. 

I did feel better yesterday so I played with the mini treat bag thinlits die. 

It makes a cute little bag. Next time I'm going to cut two, and glue them together

to make a larger bag. 

Love the designer paper in the occasions mini. Its called painted blooms and 

it goes really well with the stamp set I used on the tag Painted Petals. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Clean and Simple Sponging

Just a clean and simple card for you today. 

I used the paper from SAB and added color using

Blackberry Bliss, Tangelo Twist, and Hello Honey. 

Greeting is from Kinda Eclectic. 

Finished it off with Blackberry Bliss ribbon. 

 

Starting my two day prep today so I'll be ready for my

 

procedure Thursday morning. Third time is a charm so they say....

 

I sure do hope so. 

 

Right now I'm pretty much living in arthritis hell. Can't wait till 

 

I can get back to living again. 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Creative Blog Hop

Well I was thrilled when my cyber/stamping buddy

Terri Tank invited me to do the Creative Blog Hop. 

 

This hop has been touring around a very long time and

 

I'm not sure who got it started, but I love blog hops so

 

I'm glad to join it! 

 

 

 

 As many of my followers know I've been doing Mailable Mondays for

awhile. I'm almost at 100 posts with this feature. What is Mailable Monday?

Simple cards that can be mailed using one 1st class stamp. These cards

don't have lots of embellishments, but they still make a good showing!

Since its Monday I thought I'd still work one in. 

This card has stamps From the Herd. Image is done on 

shimming white card stock and colored with aqua painter with Smokey Slate, 

and Basic Gray. Inside card reads "and hope you are feeling better soon" 

I also like to think out of the box. This card features the new 

Artisan kit. It comes with two laser cut pieces that you can use for a focal point

on a card. I decided to use one as a stencil. I laid the die cut on white card stock and held it

in place with post it notes. Then I used sponge daubers to color in the roses with Soft Sky, 

Pool Party, and Marina Mist ink. The leaves were sponged with Old Olive. 

This piece was then layered on black. The next layer uses Shabby Chic style. One of 

my favorites! I grudged up Pool Party card stock with pool party, and early espresso ink. 

Next I ran it through the big shot with the Lovely Lace embossing folder. 

The greeting was cut using Project Life cards and labels framelits. 

The paper doily and decorative piece are also from the Artisan kit. 

I know I have two cards for the hop that are in shades of gray...but hey its

Winter where I am and that is what inspired me to do this card. Since its

snowy and gray outside. 

I used Sheltering Tree stamp set on Smokey Slate cardstock. Tree trunk inked with 

Early Espresso. The rest was inked with white craft ink. I added more snow to the branches using

a white gel pen. 

The greeting is from the same stamp set, and I again used the Project Life framelits. 

For the 1st part of this hop I was asked the following 4 questions.

What are you working on?  

Right now I'm just working on things to post on my blog. I try to have a post for my readers each day. I'm also researching craft projects for my daughters wedding. I'll be making the table decor, invitations and other things. That is going to keep me pretty busy all year! 

How does your work differ from others in your genre?

Hmmmmm.....I don't really think I'm different. I try to think out of the box and add a different 

twist to the things I make. Sometimes cards that others have done are so darn cute that they need to be CASED. I love when I see that someone has CASED my cards. Mixed Media is also a favorite of mine. I like to mix stamping with sewing and other crafts. Also very popular with me is Shabby Chic, vintage, and collage style.

Why do you create what you do?

For the sheer fun of it! I love to craft. Been crafting all my life. I learned how to knit in 4th grade then found out crochet was faster then learn that. Taught myself how to sew, and do needlepoint. One craft led to another then yet another. I've been stamping since 2001. I have to laugh at that now as I first learned about stamping from a friend while my husband was stationed in Guam. I thought this is not for me and couldn't see myself doing it, but X amount of stamp sets, and supplies later I'm still enjoying it! 

How does your creative process work?

This is an easy question for me......it just comes to me. I get inspired by all things around me. It could be a color palette I see in a magazine, or on TV. I like the Property Brothers and get some color combos from them. The seasons also inspire me. Other stampers for sure. There are so many talented people out there who post on there blogs and Pinterest. 

For the 2nd part of my part in this hop I was asked to find two

other stamping bloggers who would love to join in this swap. 

I'd like to thank Gwen

and Patrice 

 

for joining. 

 

You can click on there names to see there great blog sites now, and

don't forget to view them on January 26th when they will doing the

Creative Blog Hop. 

 

WHEW I'm tired!!! I think this is my longest ever blog post!!!!

 

I enjoyed it! 

 

 

Stamping trails

Karen

Sketch Frenzy Friday SSF 011615

Sketch Frenzy Friday! 

Base card white. 

Layer Stacked with Love designer paper.

Red heart strip is also from that paper pack. 

I used the hearts from Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set with

Crisp Cantaloupe, and black ink. 

Greeting is from You Plus Me. 

I had fun with this sketch.

Be sure to check out the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog

for more great cards using this sketch.

Stamping trails

Karen

Butterfly Basics

So where have I been the past two days?

First our internet was too slow to allow me to upload anything. 

Thanks to dear son John he called the company and got that squared away. 

Second I had an appointment with a gastric specialist on Tuesday. 

Every time I do anything that I'm not use to it takes me a day to recover. 

I'm not use to walking so much due to the knee problem. 

At any rate they are still trying to figure out why my hemoglobin is still low. 

It did come up a bit but something is still wrong. 

So next Thursday I'm going for yet another colon scan. Third time is a charm. 

I'll let you know when I know the results. 

Its been very cold here. Not to much snow but really chilly! 

Counting down the days till Spring! 

Today's card uses some new things. Butterfly Basic stamp set, and matching 

butterfly thinlits. Also a stamp set called Perpetual Birthday Calendar that I know

will be a big favorite of mine. It has lots of great little background stamps. 

The little butterflies are inked with Hello Honey. 

Hello is attached to the card with mini staples. 

I have so many great new stamps and supplies to work with! I'm a happy girl! 

I asked hubby not to come home for lunch today as I'm not cooking. I'm going

to be working in the old stamping studio! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Mailable Monday # 93

Another new stamp set from my Christmas box. This one is 

called Painted Petals. 

It has a three line stamp in the set. That is what I used to make the 

plaid design using Daffodil Delight ink. 

The bow is made using the new bow builder punch. I used designer paper with it. 

Other colors Wild Wasabi, and Blackberry Bliss. 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Simple Valentine

Well yesterday was Easter and today is a Valentines card. 

I think I have my holidays mixed up. 

This is just a simple card using designer paper pack Stack with Love. 

Also uses stamp set You Plus Me. 

The designer paper pack is so pretty. Color for the pack are black,

Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Real Red, and Whisper White.

I also made a little matching treat box. 

So cute! I love these little tiny treat boxes. 

Skip had yesterday off. So that is two snow days already for the year. 

He was happy to be home, but still had to get out and plow the driveway and 

sidewalk. I must say it does look so pretty and white outside. I'm glad I don't

have to go out in it. As it has been bitter cold. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Sketch Frenzy Friday 010915

On this edition of Sketch Frenzy Friday I'm dreaming of Easter and Spring! 

Yesterday was hubby's first snow day of the year, and it wasn't due to snow.

It was bitter cold and with the wind chill it was deemed to cold for the

kids to wait for the school bus, so hubby got to stay home. Of course we did

have some snow and he had to run the snow thrower for the first time of the year. 

I used For Peeps' Sake for today's card. 

Layer is new designer paper called Painted Blooms.

 

Other layers are Blackberry Bliss, and Daffodil Delight. 

 

I love this fun little Easter set. It has some cute words in it which include

"For Peeps' Sake", and You Crack Me Up!" 

There are several different chicks one is coming out of an egg. 

This set can be found in the new Occasions catalog. 

Be sure to check out the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog 

for some other great designs using this sketch.

Stamping trails

Karen

 

Love is Kindness Stamped Card

This is a single stamp in the new Occasions catalog called Love is Kindness. 

Its a perfect stamp to used the blendabilites on. 

I used the new Pink Pirouette, and Cherry Cobbler on the tulips. 

Wild Wasabi on the leaves and stems. 

To give the card some texture I used some folded designer paper over the image and attached it

with twine. Base layer was stamped with Gorgeous Grunge and Old Olive.

Stamping trails

Karen

Take a Tip Tuesday

Another great new set. This one is called Sheltering Tree. 

It will be in the Occasions catalog which begins today!

Colors used for the tree: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, and Early

Espresso. The grassy hills were stamped with Old Olive, Wild Wasabi, and Pear Pizzazz. 

For the background sky I used a sponge and Soft Sky ink. 

This is a single layer card pretty much as only the greeting is popped up on the front. 

I used the word window punch and made the strip longer to fit the word. 

Now for the tip.

To keep the polymer stamps neat in the case I've been taking the printed acetate sheet

that they come on and use glue dots to hold it in place in between the plastic case

and the plastic sleeve. On the inside I place the stamps over the images. Make sure

if you do this to have the word images pointed out so you can read them. 

This set is so large that it came in a large wood box case. So I removed the paper image sheet so

I could place the other half of the set the opposite side.

I cut the binding part away from the main sheet and slid it back into place. 

This way when I store the sets I can still see the name on the binding. 

Here is bonus tip for you....save the top layer of the acetate sheets. I've been

using these for window sheets! 

And one more piece of info before I sign off for the day.....polymer sets will

take on the color of ink even after you clean them. If you look you can see that

the tree stamp looks red, but it doesn't effect the stamping process with whatever ink

 

you choose to use, just make sure to clean the stamp after each use. 

 

Stamping trails

Karen

Mailable Monday # 92

Welcome to the first Mailable Monday of the new year! 

This is a no layer card. 

I stamped the image on white base card using Memento ink. 

It was colored in using blendabilities:

 

Cherry Cobbler, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, and Smokey Slate.

 

Stamp set is a new one coming in the Occasions catalog which starts tomorrow Jan 6th and runs 

 

through June 2nd. 

 

Stamp set is called Moon Lake. It features three main images that are perfect for

 

coloring. 

 

 

Since the blendabilites are an alcohol based ink the colors 

bleed through to the other side of the white card stock. 

To cover that up and make it look pretty I used a Soft Sky layer and stamped the

image again in black. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Guy Greetings To a Classic

Working with Guy Greeting again. This is such a cool vintage set. 

Totally me! 

To dress up the stamped panel I used the fringe scissors at the bottom. 

I also used some new washi tape from the Occasions catalog.

 

What's a car with out a racing stripe? 

 

Designer paper from Adventure Bound pack. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Tiny Treat Box Valentine Style

Happy 1st Saturday of the New Year.

I took two of the tiny treat boxes and glued them back to back

using tombo liquid glue. I then

cut six 1 3/4 squares using the new Stacked with Love designer paper stack. 

After adhering the paper I used white organza ribbon and tied it around the 

boxes. 

Here is a side view. I used another new stamp set call You Plus Me. 

Its a Valentine set that will be in the Occasions catalog. 

What a fun little project, and the paper pack has the cutest Valentine prints! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Sketch Frenzy Friday 010215

Happy Sketch Frenzy Friday. 

 

Welcome to the first Sketch of 2015! 

I used blendablities to color in the bird from A Happy Thing stamp set. 

I went a bit out of my comfort zone with the color selection. 

Bird was colored with Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, and Crumb Cake. 

Designer paper is from the SAB catalog that I sponged on the color with Old Olive. 

Also used a new punch from the large catty, Spiral Border. 

Base card Crumb Cake.

Be sure to check out the other great card ideas using this sketch on the

Sketch Frenzy Friday Blog.

Stamping trails

Karen

Love Life Journal

When I was doing the great exodus from the basement stamping studio

a black craft color journal found its way into the stuff 

I took upstairs. 

Since there is a wonderful artisan embellishment kit in the Occasions Catalog

It occurred to me to use it on the blank journal.

 

There is a few new embossing folders coming out. The one I used on the 

 

journal is called Spring Flowers. 

 

After running it through the big shot. I sponged some Garden Green just

 

along the bottom and some of the binding. 

 

The butterfly was cut with Rose Red cardstock. 

 

Word Love Life is from Lotus Blossom stamp set. 

I love everyone has a very Happy New Year!!!!! 

I know I'm going to do my best to stay positive and get 

through all the medical stuff that I'll have to face this year. 

I have Sarah and Jason's wedding to look forward to. So that will

keep me going. 

Stamping trails

Karen