Barbie Shelves are Up!

The two Barbie display shelves are up in the new craft room!

For those who know me, you will notice that I've only

displayed several of my favorite Barbies. 

I still have a ton of them, but I didn't want to crowd

the stamping chateau with an entire wall of them. 

I took this picture from the hallway looking into the room.

The Barbie's will be a nice focal point on the wall. 

Along the bottom of the shelves I'll have all my rolling carts

full of stamping, and crafting things. 

Getting closer to move in day. Hubby just

needs to build the shelves in the closet, and I'll be all 

set to complete the move. Have to thank him for doing all the 

details that I really wanted to have in the new room. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Pics of the Stamping Chateau still under Construction

I'm slowing moving things into the stamping chateau. 

Can't fully start the move until the closet shelves, and 

wall shelves are up. 

We are still getting lots of rain which makes it hard

for hubby to cut anything out on the back deck. 

Our garage is stuffed full of items for the upcoming yard sale. 

Don't want to tackle that till the room is finished and I'm all moved in. 

Had to share Emily's doodle on the floor of John's old room. She

drew her hand, and put down the wedding date. I thought it was cute. 

Photo of the bare floor leading up to my new craft room. 

You can see it at the top of the stairs just to the right. 

Carpet was put down last Thursday. So happy

not to hear an echo when I talked, and walked on the bare floor, and

empty rooms. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Paris Accent Pillow

I bought some Paris fabric at Wally world

the other day, and a 16x16 pillow form. 

Makes a cute little accent for my chair. 

This will be perfect for the new stamping studio. 

Hubby saw on a blog post that I was calling it my stamping studio, 

and he suggested a new name.....the room is now called my

Stamping Chateau. 

Works well as the room has the Paris theme going. 

I found these cute Paris nesting boxes at the dollar store. 

They will be perfect for extra storage, and with all the craft stuff

I have I'll need all the storage I can get! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Rhododendron, and Cherokee

Our rhododendron is in full bloom. This photo was 

actually taken last week when they were coming out. 

I should have got a recent photo as now they are exploding with color. 

Was raining this morning so I didn't want to tramp out in the wet to

get a new photo. 

More greenery in the flower bed. 

Little Cherokee is 5 years old now. Can't believe we have

had her 5 years. Time flies! 

Her favorite spot to sleep is still on my lap. Thankful for that. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

My First Junk Journal

My first junk journal! 

So what is a junk journal? Just a book put together using

scraps, and "found" items. I made this one with odds, and

ends that was sent to me with the many swaps I join. Clippits

of this and that. The butterfly on the cover is actually

an artist trading card I received. 

Side view of the binding. I bought wax linen thread at Joann's and

the sewed the inside pages to the binding. 

the front and back of the journal was made with a file folder. 

Fully opened view. 

There are 42 pages total. 

Won't show them all, but I will highlight a few of them. 

I attached a few charms to the linen thread before I tied them off. 

Made a pocket and added a few more found items. 

This book had a coffee/tea theme. 

Most of the pages were stenciled using Tim Hotlz stencils. 

I found a little piece of ephemera that had "the end" printed on it. 

Of course that had to go on the last page. 

The finished journal went to my crafty buddy Kathleen in the last swap we did. 

I'm going to make another junk journal for myself. Soon as I get moved

into my new stamping studio. I've been saving bits and pieces to do a Paris theme. 

Can't wait! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

May Swap from my Crafty Friend Kathleen

Received a beautiful grouping of projects from my crafty

friend Kathleen. 

This one is the inside view of a tall standing album. 

She filled the pockets with die cuts, and gems. 

Front view of the album. Love how it stands! 

Lots of handmade envelopes in different sizes. What a great

way to use up pattern paper. 

Card/envelope clutch. Great folding to create this one.

Inside view. 

Mini purse album. 

Isn't that little girl on the cover adorable!!!!!

Inside view. Pockets were filled 

with dies, and ribbon. 

Mini envelopes also filled with die cuts. 

grouping of 6x6 paper, crafty stamp set, and a mini album.

I'm going to use the album to hold my smaller dies,and thinlits. 

and another elephant for my collection. Didn't have a gold one. 

Cute. 

Thanks bunches Kathleen. Always a pleasure to swap with you my friend! 

Carpet went in yesterday. OMG I love it! Hubby got an extra layer of padding with

it, and it is so bouncy! So nice to walk on. I'll post photos soon. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Paris Themed Easel Drawer Card

I made this for my friend Kathleen. She

received her swap, so I can post this now. 

This is a easel card that has a drawer attached to the bottom. 

Side view so you can see how the card gets propped up on the greeting 

on the base of the drawer. 

Front view with the drawer opened. Next time I make

one I'm going to make the drawer pull a bit shorter. I'm 

thinking it is to long. 

Really fun to make. 

So the carpet is being installed this morning. Can't wait!

I'm that much closer to being able to move into my new stamping studio! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Dance to the Beat by Kathi

I received this very pretty card, and artist trading card

from my crafty friend Kathi. 

We swap ATC's monthly with a group of wonderful ladies, and this

was Kathi's swap for May. 

So the new carpet gets installed tomorrow. 

Can't wait. Only thing its suppose to rain tomorrow. 

Hoping they can get it in the house between the raindrops. 

Yesterday hubby got all the trim cut for the second bedroom, and

the hallway. Today he has to change out two of the bedroom doors. 

Busy, busy!!!!

Stamping trails

Karen 

Paris Themed Pocket Memorydex Card

So I have Paris on the brain seeing how I'm designing my

new stamping studio with a Paris theme. 

Recently I joined a pocket memory dex swap. 

Of course it was perfect to use my new Paris stamp set. 

There are four pockets. 

Each pocket holds a different tag. 

Really love this set!!!! Found at Joann's made by Hampton Art. 

The images were stamped with Ranger Archival ink jet black then colored

with Prisma pencils. 

The black and white gingham ribbon was a perfect accent. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Mother's Day 2019

Happy Monday. 

This is the new Vera Bradly bag that my daughter Sarah

got me for Mother's day. Love it! 

We went out shopping at Summit Mall last month, and

she remembered that I fell in love with this bag. I have the best of both

worlds with this one as it is a wallet, clutch, and cross over bag. 

Hubby got me this cactus terra cotta pot. Always

wanted one. I have a thing for hens, and chickens, as my

mom always had them. She said it was the only plant she couldn't kill. 

Now I have another reason to like them as Emily is using succulents for her

table centerpieces for the wedding. 

Snapped this photo last Sunday using the new cell phone John gave me. 

Still learning how to use it. I'm so technically challenged. 

Still learning

Karen 

Center Pieces for YA Event

I wanted to share the table centerpieces I made for 

the Youth Appreciation event last Wednesday. 

The star favor boxes I posted last month on the blog. 

Used some star framlits, and formed a box in between two

large stars. Filled with candy. 

The large blue star was made really simply. I hand cut

two large stars, and made one slit coming from the top point to the center, 

and one slit coming from the center bottom. 

The two stars were then interlocked together at the slits. 

After putting them together I added a few streamers of white

curling ribbon. Also placed a few silver and blue stars on the table

around them. 

The garland going around the check in table was made

with Tim Holtz bigz star die. Love that die as it

scores the stars so you can make them 3 dimensional.

All the stars on the top of the table were also hand cut. 

These were used as name tags for the winners. 

This is member of the club Dipa. She was working the check in table. 

I should have taken more photos, but it was a pretty big

job setting up 24 tables with center pieces. 

Everyone enjoyed the event. The kids were thrilled that they 

won an Optimist award. 

Stamping trails

Karen  

Box to hold Assorted Adhesives

Have you been missing me? 

I have been very busy. 

Last weekend I made it through the Fishing Derby hosted by

the Brunswick Optimist Club. Then

on Wednesday at the Rec center the group hosted

Youth Appreciation. I'll be posting some photos of that event

tomorrow. And of course last Sunday was Mother's Day so I spent

the day with the kids. On top of all that the house is a mess as the remodeling is

still underway. We decided to also paint the small bedroom. This also worked its 

way into the steps, and hallway. New carpet is arriving this coming Thursday. 

Can't wait! Still along way from being finished. 

Okay.....

back to today's project. I made this cute holder to carry glue. 

Made with three different sized boxes to hold Liquid Tombo, mini glue dots, 

sticky strips, and tear tape. 

Love the greeting on the front of this box. Just might have to 

make more for my crafty friends! 

Stamping trails

Karen  

Working the Polls

Great day working at the polls yesterday in Brunswick. 

We didn't have a big turnout which made the very long day

go slower, but we had great people working so that helped a lot! 

Starting at left: Gail, Tim, Richie, and me. 

Tim didn't work with us, but he stopped by to say hi, and show support. 

The only thing on the ballot was the Brunswick school levy, which passed. 

Today I'm going to take it easy. Will be shopping for carpet for my new craft room. 

Doing some laundry, and relaxing! 

Tired!!!!!

Karen 

Meet Littlefoot

Went and had dinner with John, Emily, and Anne yesterday. 

Chinese buffet....yum! It was an early Mother's day celebration. 

Here is a pic of Em with the wedding album that my friend Kathleen

made for her. 

and look at Emily's new pet. 

Meet Littlefoot. He is a bearded gecko. 

He has got a pretty great habitat. 

He is so cute. Reminds me of when we

lived on Guam. There was always geckos in the house. 

Have to run to Medina today, and pick up supplies

for the election on Tuesday. Not really looking

forward to working the polls this Tuesday. Going to be

a very long day! 

Stamping trails

Karen