Valentine Tags, and Cold

Well I am frozen! This Arctic freeze they can keep. 

BRRRRR is it ever cold. 

I spent the day in, and most likely will stay in today as well. 

Hubby checked and it was -4 this morning. 

and this was the temp last night. 

Chilling!!!!! 

So I'm getting caught up on some projects that needed to 

be completed. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Altered Valentine Clip Art

I  forgot to show a closer 

look yesterday of the altered paper clips I made for 

that Valentine stand. 

These are just pre-made jar stickers. 

I added some wings to the back of the jars with red

heart punches. 

Pretty simple, but so cute! 

Another cold day here in my neck of the woods. 

Boy am I ready for Spring!!!!!

I even started my spring cleaning. I'm hoping

that by starting early Spring will arrive quicker. I 

know, I know....pipe dream! 

But a gal can hope. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Valentine Stand made with Coffee Sleeve

How adorable is this Valentine stand? 

Would you believe the base is just a coffee sleeve I got

at Starbucks? 

Covered it with fun patterned paper. 

The canopy is also patterned paper. Just a few score lines, and

a scallop border punch was all I needed to create it. 

The canopy is held in place with two paper straws. I wrapped

matching paper around them. 

Here is a view of the back. 

and another look at the front with out the goodies inside. 

 

 

Hope my partner enjoys this one. Made for the swappers corner FB group. 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Thimble Case Gets a new Home

Since the kids are grown, and gone I have

two bedrooms to use. The smaller one is

going to be used for my sewing room. 

The thimble case use to set on my dresser, and

you can imagine how much space that took up! 

The case got moved yesterday. It now sits on 

top of a filing cabinet that I keep my fabric in. 

Another thing I have on top is this 18" doll kit. 

Love the little sewing machine, desk, and chair. 

As I get more organized in the sewing room I'll 

post more photos. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Who Wants Chips?

I joined this fun chips swap. 

You use cardstock to make a little pouch that

looks like a bag of "chips". Then

fill it with embellishments. 

Of course I went with a vintage doll theme for my chip bag. 

Didn't want to seal the top of the bag as the person receiving

it would then have to tear the bag, so I created a little

chip clip instead. 

I thought it turned out cute. Great way to 

swap some embellishments with your crafting friends. 

Just in case you want to make your own chips here is the link

that I used. 

There is even a download for a nutritional label to put on the back of the bag.

So now I can't make just "one" "chip"!

Here is the second one I made. Filled with butterfly die cuts.

How fun is that? 

Stamping trails

Karen

Snowman, and Gingerbread Man Note Cards

While I was going through some stored Cuttlebug folders

I came across a few that were only 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches. 

So of course those are the perfect size for 3x3 note cards. 

Since it is so cold out, and snowing I'm still in the mood 

to make Christmas stuff. Never to early for Christmas crafting!

Isn't this little snowman too cute? The only

accent I gave him was the red heart buttons. 

and here is the inside greeting.

The gingerbread folder had to be used on kraft cardstock. 

Used red cardstock for the buttons. The mouth, and eyes added

with a black marker. 

The ric-rack around the arms, and legs were added with a white gel pen. 

Hope these festive cards made you smile! 

Not getting out of the teens today. I'm boarding myself up

in the craft room with a hot cup of tea, and my cat. That

should help keep the cold away. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Happy Birthday 3x3 Gift cards

Back today with two more 3x3 gift cards. 

The little border stamps are perfect for a gift card. 

The little scallop border also came with the stamp set. 

I used Prisma pencils on the elephants on parade card. 

The band of mice was water colored with different shades

of gray. 

Birthday embossing folder is an old one from Cuttlebug. 

I must admit I'm having fun making these little 3x3 cards. 

It was warmer yesterday. Got up to 45 with rain. A lot

of the snow we had started to melt, but with that

comes flooding. Thankfully none in our area. 

We went to the mall just to do some walking, and

there was a very large "lake" going into the Strongsville mall. 

We had to drive through that, but the van can handle it. 

Big thanks to my son John for getting me the Neil Young Archives. 

Been enjoying it. Some of the very early stuff I had never heard before. 

Today I need to hit the post office, and the grocery store. Later

I'll be working on another swap I joined. This one is a coffee sleeve

Valentine pocket. I'll post photos of that when I'm finished. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Chipboard Valentine Card

Playing around with some Valentine cards. 

This one uses a chipboard black heart that

I've had since forever. 

Oh and look! Is that mulberry paper behind it?

I think it is. Is that a blast from the crafting past or what? 

Inside view. 

Well the official snowfall for our area is 9.2 inches. 

I've been housebound since Friday afternoon. Looking

forward to getting out today. It is bitter cold, and the schools

are closed because of it. 

When I went to bed at midnight it was -2 out. BRRRRR

Sun is shining today so that at least helps. Going to brave

it and go out as I have a serious case of cabin fever! 

Frozen trails

Karen 

Snowstorm of "19" Continued

Hubby outside yesterday with the snow thrower. 

He'll have to run it again today as it is still snowing. 

The first pass with the blower. Just wanted to show you

how deep the snow was. This was shot from my nice warm 

kitchen while Skip was outside doing all the work. 

and just look at all that snow fly! 

Here he is in the front yard digging out the van. 

Now as I said I was in a nice warm kitchen making 

oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies. 

On the pan going in the oven. 

They didn't last long. John and Emily came over for

spaghetti dinner. Happy birthday to Emily!!!! 

Stamping trails

Karen

The Snow Storm of "19"

The snow started yesterday around noon, 

 

and it snowed pretty much all day. 

 

In hindsight I should have took the wreath

 

on my front door down. It is snow covered! Looks pretty though. 

 

 

This is the snow that blew up against our front door. 

 

 

The van in the front, and the walkway leading to our front door. 

 

 

Look at all the snow hanging off the back porch! Hubby

 

is concerned that the weight might break off the gutters. 

 

He hasn't been out to run the snow thrower because

 

it hasn't stopped snowing. 

 

 

More snow hanging off the back roof. 

 

 

Snow drift up against our sliding glass patio door. 

 

 

The deck has a brick wall going around it. You can only

 

see a small part of the end cap. The rest is covered with drifting snow. 

 

We got about 8 inches, but it is much higher in the snow drifts. 

 

The snow is suppose to stop sometime today. 

 

Good thing tomorrow is a holiday, or I'm sure they

 

would have closed the schools. Thinking by Tuesday everything

 

will be cleared out, but the temps are going to be in the teens. 

 

Happy Winter!!!

 

Snowing trails

Karen 

Butterfly 3x3 Thank You Cards

While the snow is gently falling I'm making cards. 

These little beauties are 3 x 3 thank you cards. 

Used different layers of cream cardstock. The top

layer was punched with a butterfly punch. 

Shades of purple patterned paper is layered under the punched

piece. I also used pop dots on the top layer to give

the piece some added dimension.

I used the punched shape from the card for 

the front of the envelope. 

Used a marker to draw the antenna.

 

To keep the kitchen cozy, and warm I made a large pot 

 

of meatballs. Going to make spaghetti  for dinner. 

Not planning on leaving the house today or tomorrow. 

I have plenty inside to keep me busy. 

Stamping trails

Karen

You make my Heart go Boom Boom

Made this card yesterday while stamping with my friend Betty. 

Used Groovy Love stamp set by SU for the outside card.

The first heart was stamped at the bottom, then masked before

I stamped the red heart. I continued masking and stamping till

the edge was full of hearts.

Next I cut along the edge of the hearts. 

This is what it looked like cut. 

Next a layer of pink, and brown was used on the inside. 

Greeting was stamped then two more hearts added. 

Going to give this to hubby for Valentine's Day. 

Well we are all bracing for a snowstorm that is suppose to start tomorrow

around noon. I need to hit the grocery store today, and make a quick

dash to Hallo's as I need some card protectors for a project I'm working on. 

Since I'm not going to brave the storm this weekend I'll have to get my

running around finished today. Keep warm everyone! 

Stamping trails
Karen

Thank you Treat Boxes

These are the mini treat favors I made

for business appreciation night for the Optimist club. 

Side view. Most of the scoring was done on the score board, but

see how the sides of the boxes fold in. Those scores all had

to be done with a bone folder, and ruler. 

Some of the Optimist club members

This engraved crystal vase and silk flowers were given

to Debbie. She runs the Danbury where our group holds it's meetings. 

Liz, Norma, and Debbie. 

It was a great evening. The businesses that donated

to the cub during the year were given a certificate in a frame. Just a 

way to say thank you from the group for their support. 

The appetizers that the Danbury Chief made were excellent.

 

 

They even served beer, and wine for the event. 

 

I think everyone who attended had a great time. 

 

Well the temps are dropping. Going to be a cold and snowy weekend. 

 

Think I'll be staying indoors and keeping warm! 

 

I have plenty of crafting to do, so I'll stay busy. 

 

Stamping trails
Karen

Dress Up Set

Made this card yesterday. I think she looks a bit

retro. 

This is one of the new stamp sets I purchased with Christmas $$$$

Called Dress Up stamp and cut made by Hero Arts 

I got some of my desk cleared off. Still looks like a wind storm hit

the craft room, but it is getting better. 

Need to start working on Valentine cards which I'll start tomorrow 

as I'm going over to my friend Betty's house to stamp. 

Hopefully we can just stay inside, drink tea, keep warm and create. 

 

Tonight I'll be heading over Danbury for an Optimist Club meeting. 

We are recognizing  businesses that have given donations, and support to 

the group during the past year.

Stamping trails

Karen

Valentine Themed Loaded Envelope

This is a loaded Valentine themed envelope that I made

for an upcoming swap. 

The "envelope" was made with one sheet of 12 x 12 paper. 

Bottom is folded up to create the pocket. 

Altered clothes pin that I made using a 3D sticker, and some pearls. 

The front has two pockets at the bottom, then

there is the larger pocket. The flaps were folded down a 

bit so you can see the double sided paper. 

and I made one more pocket on the back to hold

some embossed heart cardstock. 

Hope my partner enjoys it. 

Today I'll be shoveling out the craft room. 

Looks like a wind storm kicked in. Funny how

that wind storm only hits my craft room, and misses the rest

of the house. 

Stamping trails

Karen

gemini, and gemini go machines

So Christmas 2017 my hubby bought me the large gemini machine. 

It is a wonderful electric operated die, and embossing machine. 

Cutting plates for this bad boy is 12 1/2 by 9. Perfect for

when you have a lot to cut, or want to run 4 embossing folders at

one time, but what to do when you have little tiny thinlits that you 

need to cut? 

No problem meet Christmas gift 2018 also from my hubby. 

This is the gemini go. Does everything the large machine does, 

but the cutting plates are only 3 1/4 x 6 1/4. Perfect for those

little dies, and even the smaller embossing folders. 

Took a photo of them together so you can see the size difference. 

The gemini go is so small and lightweight I can take it over to my

friend Betty's house when I go to craft. 

 

Both machines have found a permanent spot on my desk. 

Happy Monday! 

Stamping trails

Karen