Happy Mail from Kym

 I got happy mail yesterday from my good friend Kym. 

Take a look at these specimen cards. So pretty! 

Great job! Love them. 

She also make me two vintage tags. 

Just darling! Love the little girl with flowers in her hair. Too cute! 

and she made me two rolodex cards. Love the colors, and background

paper! Thanks Kym! 

Kitchen floor is in! So happy that it is finished. Today we are 

heading out to get the trim. Hoping we can move the fridge, stove, table, chairs and

hutch back. Will be wonderful to have a newly remodeled kitchen! 

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 

I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Everything is coming up pink!

Received this adorable pink Christmas swap from my crafty friend

Kathleen. We got back to the basics with this one. 

So what is more basic to swap than a flip bag? I think the first

swap we ever done with each other was a Fall themed flip bag. 

I pulled out some goodies that were in the bag so you can see. 

She made memorydex cards, and embellishments.

Check out those dies to make tags! How cool! 

Love all the pockets this bag has. 

The one in the front with the little Santa on it. 

Then the pocket at the top that has a fun closure. 

And of course there is one more pocket behind that. 

Some more goodies. Love those gift tags! 

We have a thing going back and forth about the importance of 

drinking wine. The napkins in the back read Grateful for Grapes. How true! 

Love how she packaged everything. She is so talented with the extra 

special touches. 

Big thanks Kathleen! 

Had fun yesterday ringing the bell at Giant Eagle. Wore

my Santa hat. Sorry no pictures. I forgot to bring the camera,

and it was pouring out. Didn't want to wade out in the rain more than 

I had to, and get the camera. Today we have sunny skies, and a whopping 

59 for a high. I'm going to the lake for a walk in the sunshine before the you

know what hits the fan again. Going to be cold for the rest of the week. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Bunny Frame Art, and Other Things

A bunny frame art I made for the holiday a few years ago.

 

I have it displayed on a wall in the kitchen. 

 

 

We got a foot of snow the other night. Winter isn't finished yet. 

This was after hubby ran the snow blower on the deck. 

My Christmas cactus is ready for Easter. This plant blooms

for every holiday except Christmas! But since the plant is 23 years old

I'm going to give it a break, at least it hasn't died on me. 

 

 

This mum Sarah gave to me on my birthday last September. I'm

 

trying to winter it over so I can plant it outside. I did a close up shot

 

you can see it has a flower bud on it. 

 

 

and Julie sent me an Julie Nutting Easter Memorydex card. Now doesn't 

that just say Spring! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Paris Themed Memorydex Cards

I made a few more memorydex cards while I was

visiting with Betty on Friday. Poor girl is 

in pain. I know it is hard to deal with, but Betty

you will get though it! 

As you can see from these cards I have a Paris theme going. 

 

After stamping the image on designer paper I colored part of it in with

 

colored pencils. The tower is a set from Tim Holtz called Paris Adventure. 

I came across this very old retired StampinUp set. Set is 

called French Twist. I really like the little poodle. 

Not much going on round here. We had some sunshine this weekend. 

Nice after having the snow on Friday night. Made a large pot of taco

soup Friday night so I didn't have to cook on Saturday, and I'm thinking

hubby wants to go out for dinner today so yay me! I can live without cooking. 

Well its not the cooking so much as is it the cleaning after! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Seeing Double Memorydex Card

Okay you might think you are seeing double, and

you sort of are. Earlier this week I posted an

artist trading card that had this Julie Nutting doll wearing

bunny ears. Today I'm back showing the one I did 

on a Memorydex card. This is also going to be swapped. 

In case you missed it this is the artist trading card I posted. 

I'm trying to decide if I should add eggs to the bottom

of the memorydex card as I did on this one. 

I really like the fence and don't want to cover it up. 

So what do you think? 

Should I put eggs at the bottom or not? 

Stamping trails

Karen

Valentine Memorydex Cards

These are memorydex cards I made for Kathleen's swap. 

I used one of the new sets I got from JN called Lots of Love. 

The paper is the Valentine pack I got at Hobby Lobby. 

The little hearts on her leggins I drew with a glitter red gel pen. 

Hair, and body colored with Prisma pencils.

This one I used a paper white heart doily, and added

the rose red heart over it.

Had fun with Betty yesterday did some shopping and had lunch. 

The day started out warmer, but while we were out the clouds moved in.

First we had rain, then snow, back to rain. It didn't know what it wanted to do! 

Suppose to warm up a little bit by Friday. What a crazy January! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Valentine Swap from Kathleen, and Happy Birthday Emily

I got Valentine goodies from my crafty buddy Kathleen. 

Have no idea how she manages to outdo herself with each

swap but she does! Here is the tag she made. 

Pocket letter. 

assortment of goodies, lights, buttons, and cherry Tootsie pops. 

altered clips. Love how she does the crochet flowers using thread. 

Shaker flower embellishment, and I also have to add

how much I love her packaging! 

Memorydex cards. 

trims that she got from Michael's. Got some great Halloween stuff she

got on clearance. 

 

 

love the bling I can put on pumpkins this coming Halloween. 

Flip bag. 

and all the goodies out of the bag. 

Thanks bunches Kathleen!!!! As always you put such care and thought

into your swaps. You are the best!!!! 

Today we will be celebrating Emily's birthday. I'll be

back tomorrow to post a pic of the card I made her. It turned out great. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!!!! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Winter Memorydex Cards, and Snow

I made some memorydex cards for a swap. Kathleen

has received them so I wanted to post them to the blog. 

Doll by Julie Nutting. The tree is a thinlit die by Tim Hotlz, 

and the paper is one from Michael's Hot Buys. 

You may remember seeing this one in a smaller artist sized trading card. 

I liked that card so much I made one to fit a memorydex. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We got

some snow yesterday. Hubby had to break out the snowblower. 

Thankfully it has an electric start so he didn't have any problem getting

it started. There is more snow on the way. So for my friend Kym.....we will

take the snow here for you, so you won't have to bother with it! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Memorydex Holder

Since I've been collecting, and trading memorydex cards

I really needed a place to store them all. 

Have been meaning to make a box to hold them, and 

finally got a chance to do that yesterday afternoon. 

Shhhh don't tell anyone, but I had to make a craft store

run to find the wooden spools I needed to make the legs for the 

holder. 

Thought the bare spools was a little pain so I wrapped them

with twine. 

Flowers on the front were purchased at Hobby Lobby. Only

.75 cent for a package of 4 in the clearance section. 

I'm wishing now that I would have used the same designer paper

on the bottom of the box. Also thinking that I should have 

sponged the dowels with some brown ink. 

Well I'm sure I will need to make another holder at some point so

I've learned from my mistakes on this one. 

Pretty cool that the holder can be made with just one sheet of 12x12 cardstock. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Fall Themed Coffee Sleeve

I received this cute Fall themed coffee sleeve swap

in yesterday's mail. 

So full of fall colors. 

Love this little girl sitting on a pumpkin!

 

 

Janie also made a memorydex card to put in

the coffee sleeve. 

Here is a closer look on how the front was decorated. 

It always amazes me that the coffee sleeve can hold so many goodies! 

Speaking of Fall....I finally made some pumpkin spice cupcakes yesterday. 

I was in the mood to bake and what goes better in the fall than pumpkin baked anything?!!!

 

So is anyone afraid to go out on Friday the 13th? 

Stamping trails

Karen

Fall Themed Shaker Memorydex

I tried something different for this memorydex card. 

Instead of using cardstock I used patterned acetate.

After cutting two layers I stitched them together on the sewing machine, 

and added some sequins, and printed acorns like the one that is on the front. 

The leaves were attached with hot glue, and the clip art at the top finishes is off. 

Trading this with a girl on the Swappers Corner group. 

Rained yesterday so I didn't get out much. I did find a little pocket 

of time to take a walk around the neighborhood. 

Went to the library earlier in the week and borrowed Pioneer Girl, so

I spent time reading that. I don't know why that I always assumed that

the Little House on the Prairie books were true. I read them in grade school and

have always been a fan of the books then later the TV show (which I knew most was made up) 

My first memory of fractions was with one of the books. Remember when Laura and 

Mary each got a cookie, but they only half of the cookie and brought the other cookie home

to Carrie? Didn't seem fair that Carrie got a whole cookie and the other girls only got half.

The problem our teacher gave us was how to divide the cookie evenly between the 3 girls. 

I'll never forget that problem. Anyway getting back to the books no being a true account. 

Laura used some of her real stories in the book, but a lot of it was fiction. I didn't 

know that till I started reading Pioneer Girl. Of course it doesn't change my mind about the 

Little House on the Prairie books. I still love them. Mrs Wilder was a good author, so was

her daughter Rose. She was behind her mother writing the stories, and she also edited them. 

Okay I'm rambling on now. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Halloween Memorydex Cards

Back with some more Memorydex cards. 

Of course I'm in full swing Halloween mode. 

I'm thinking about doubling back on this one and stamp 

the greeting (witching you a Happy Halloween) in cream

then popping it up on the black bat layer. I think as it is now

it is hard to read. 

Yup the wicked witch can be bribed with chocolate! 

The hat and greeting is a little set that my friend Kat got me 

a few years ago while she was visiting. They were being sold at Pat Catan's. 

I thought it would be a cute idea to use actual candy wrappers. These were miniatures.

The row of black rhinestones was not put on one by one. These are from a roll

of washi tape that I got at Target last season. Pretty handy having them on a roll as

you know they will always be in a straight line when you use them on a project. 

 

I'll be making a bowl of pasta salad today. Its been way to hot to cook anything. 

 

I swear it feels like July outside. We need some rain and cooler temps! 

 

Where are you FALL!!!!!!! I'm missing you!

Stamping trails

Karen

Little Miss Witchy Poo

This cute little witch is nothing to be frightened by. 

Little Miss Witchy Poo is a Julie Nutting stamp. 

I made this memorydex for an upcoming swap. 

Here is a closer view of the witch. I got to use

the gamsol I bought at the craft show on Saturday. 

I blends the Prisma pencils really nicely! I was able to shade her face, and

hat just using small circular motions with a paper blending nub.

It is easy to change color on the nubs. Just rub the tip over the

sanding block. 

You may recognize the black designer paper I used on this as I also used a scrap of it

 on the Mailable Monday

card I posted yesterday.

Stamping trails

Karen