4th of July themed Master Board and Tags

 Early this morning at 3 am I was wide awake. 

Made this 5x7 master board with red, white, and blue pattern papers. 

The flower is a stamp from Tim Holtz wild flowers. 

The master board was cut into three tags. 

Decorated them with Tim Holtz paper dolls, and some other embellishments. 

I think they turned out pretty cute! 

Going to be a long day!!!!!! Hoping it will not be as hot as the past 

few days. Yesterday afternoon we went to the mall to walk as it was just too

hot outside. There were several stores that were closed with signs that

said closed due to short staff. There are plenty of jobs right now in the service industry

if people are willing to work. Restaurants have 200 dollar signing bonuses. No reason

for people to be drawing unemployment. Get back to work!!!!! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Coffee Themed Sleeve Journal

 This is a little coffee themed book made using a sleeve

from Starbucks, and some natural coffee filters. 

I used parchment paper for the inside pages. I crumpled them up after

cutting them to the size of the sleeve then used vintage photo ink to lightly 

go over the wrinkles in the paper. 

Pages were decorated with stamps, stickers, and other embellishments. 

Love these washi coffee themed stickers. 

Made a few pockets, and added some ephemera pieces. 

Coffee goes great with donuts. Am I right? 

Center of the book. I used two holes, and jute to bind the book. 

Know what else goes good with coffee? Little Debbie snack cakes. 

I cut out this image from a box of them. 

Little side pocket. Added some stripes of color with markers then

stamped the image of the girl drinking coffee. 

This little journal loves coffee and donuts! LOL

More stamping. 

And we have reached the back. Happy with this little

book. It went out as a swap. I'll be making a few more

as I cut extra pages while making this book. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Paper Pieced Dolls

 My desk is clean! Ready to be a creative mess once again! 

Had a great afternoon with my son John yesterday. 

We did some junking, and stopped to visit a new toy store in Medina. 

I did take pics, and will be posting them to facebook. 

On Friday I spent some time doing a weekend challenge that was posted

On Beverly Crafting FB group. 

These are pieced together abstract dolls. 

I used a stamp for the one on the left to create the head. 

The other two dolls are pieces from Tim Holtz ephemera. 

Calling these my dress form dolls as each one has a dress form. 

This one has a Tim Holz die cut for the body. After

stamping the face it was colored with prisma pencils. 

Body for this one is a playing card. You can see

the 3 of clubs at the bottom right. 

Stamped the dress form after I glued down some different papers. 

Last one used a sticker spool for the body. 

Added a moth for a head piece. The dress form is a printed tag. 

So these were fun to make. I'm going to make a few more. 

Will be fun to use them for tuck spots in my journals. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Happy Father's Day Tag, ATC, and matching Envelope

 In honor of Father's day I made something a bit different.

I took a business size envelope sealed it then cut off a bit of one short end. 

Then I took out some ephemera pieces, and a Tim Holtz male paper doll. 

Everything is just layered, and collaged. 

Used hemp and wrapped it around to close. The closure is a metal gear. 

So the feel of this piece is steampunk. 

This artist trading card has a boy Tim Holtz doll sitting

on a chair. 

And I made this tag. Both pieces are going in the 

decorated envelope with additional Tim Holtz dolls, and

blank tags. Will be sent to a swap partner. 

The kids are coming over today to celebrate Father's day with their dad. 

Since we are still without a kitchen due to the remodel Sarah is bringing over lunch for

us. She is such a sweet girl! 

Happy first day of Summer. The summer solstice is here. 

And Happy Birthday wishes to my friend Kat. Hope you have a great day! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Envelope Folio

 Now this was a fun project that I would love to make more of. 

It is a folio made using different sized envelopes. This one was made 

for my friend Kathleen, so I have her initials on the cover. 

I did lots of stitching on the pieces, and for most of them I left

the ends of the thread untrimmed. I loved the shabby chic look. 

Turning the first page to find lots of envelopes. All decorated of

course. I think I really have a love for decorating envelopes. 

When the envelopes are folded they provide 

great tuck spots. 

I love this mixed media design. 

So many places to hide things. 

I embossed the top envelope on the right with a script folder. 

Okay here I thought I was really being clever by adding

a belly band under the two flip out envelopes then adding

the two smaller envelopes to the band. 

Of course those two envelopes also flip out for more pockets. 

This is the back of the folio and when you turn that over.....

You guessed it. More envelopes! 

This really is like a never ending folio! 

Those two little envelopes on top of the pockets also

flip. 

See...told you they flip. 

Getting to the end here. With more pockets, and embossed envelopes.

I don't know what it is here lately with my projects. 

They are mostly made for swaps however I want to keep them all! 

Now my friends will tell me why don't you just make another one if you

want to keep it. Well I'll tell you I don't like to duplicate anything I make. 

I consider them originals, and one of a kind. Hope my swap partners

know that! I like to think I'm giving them something special. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Distress Oxide Stamped Envelopes

 I've been into making decorative envelopes lately. 

The group I'm posting today I made for a private swap with my friend Deb. 

For all of them I used Tim Holtz distress oxide inks. 

This one has some stamping done using SU retired Botanical set. 

The coloring on the flower was done with more distress oxides using a 

small paint brush with water. 

Love these lady images! They are stamped with Jet Black StazOn ink. 

Added washi tape that has vintage cameras on it. Perfect addition with

the lady stamps, and I also added a black script washi tape. 

This one is a bit on the funky side, but I love it. Done

mostly in shades of red. 

Saying on this one is too funny "you'll always be my friend, you know too much"!

LOL

Really in love with this Washi tape girl! Of

course I used lots of different washi tapes to decorate it. 

I also decorated some window business size envelopes. 

Done in blues, and rust. This is a beautiful carousel stamp. 

Dancing in the rain. I used a multi line stamp with blue ink

and dragged it on angle to make the rain. 

This one is a Tim Holtz stamp set. The butterflies were

stamped using leaf green archival ink. 

Well that is all for today. I've been a busy girl!

Good news on our countertop. The install has been moved from the 16th to the 6th of July.

I can't wait to have a kitchen again. Been over a month already. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Altered Paper Clips

 

Been working on some altered paper clips. 

After visiting Hollo's Paper store I picked up some Graphic 45 sheets. 

They are printed faux postage stamps. Very easy to cut out and use to make the clips. 

I added some fibers between the front and back with the paper clip

sandwiched in the middle. 

Closer view of the songbird stamps.

I also got a Mother Goose themed sheet. 

I sandwiched bits of lace, and coffee dyed cheese cloth between

the front and back. 

Added little bows. So loving how these turned out. 

I made a little clutch using stamped and dyed onion skin paper. 

Perfect for holding the clips. I need to make

another one to hold the Mother Goose ones. 

Stamping trails

Karen