Canvas Art

How awesome is this? 

My friend Kat attended a stamping camp and this is 

what they made. 

She asked me if I would like one and of course I said yes!

So.....she prepped all the flowers using card stock, and punches.

She even did all the sponging around the edges of the pieces. 

All I had to do was pick up the 16x20 canvas and assemble. 

Kat was so sweet she even supplied the pop dots, glue dots, and embellishments. 

The only thing I added that was different is the words at the upper left 

"Create Art".

After the words were stamped I trimmed them to look like banners,

and sponged the edges. 

To cover the canvas I used 4 sheets of designer paper which

Kat also sent me. One corner of each sheet of paper met up in the center of the canvas,

and I used Tombo Liquid glue to adhere it. 

I then wrapped the remaining edges of the paper around the sides of the canvas.

After wrapping it around I used a stapler to tack down the edges. 

And here is a closer view of the upper right part of the canvas. 

I am very happy with how the project turned out, and

all of the prep work finished I was able to put it together pretty fast. 

Thanks again Kat!!!! What a lovely "way early" b-day gift. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Butterfly Basic Frame Art

Love how this 5x7 frame art turned out. 

I'm hosting an ABC swap (anything but a card), and

decided that I would also join the swap. Last

weekend me and Sarah were out hitting the thrift stores and

I found these black frames for .90 cents each. So I bought the 5 that they had. 

The designer paper is Typeset (SU retired). Stamp set Butterfly Basics. I also used butterfly

framlits. 

Here is a close up view of the butterfly I put on the outside of the glass. 

First I cut it with the framelit. Then inked up Lacy background with Island Indigo and 

stamped. 

Next step was to ink the butterfly with VersaMark then dip in clear embossing powder, and

heat emboss. 

Added some pearls and the antenna was made using black hemp. I like

how I could curl the hemp round my finger. 

I made a total of 5. The swap is 5+1, but since I'm the hostess I didn't have to make one

for myself, but now I think I want one! 

 

Stamping trails

Karen

Strawberry Cake

I had such a good day yesterday with Sarah. 

She wanted to make a strawberry cake for Easter Dinner, but 

didn't have a stand mixer or a food processor so she spent the 

afternoon baking in my kitchen. 

We had to alter the cake a bit as it called for a spring form pan which I don't have. 

The cake as pictured was suppose to have 3 layers, but we made two using 8 inch cake pans. 

We needed lots of strawberries!

Building the second layer. 

Here is the top. 

Side view. 

Happy girl with her completed cake. 

I have never made a cake from scratch, and neither had Sarah. 

We followed the recipe and it came out pretty darn good. I should

have taken a photo of the first layer after it was finished because it also has

a strawberry filling that we made. Skip thought we were making cheese cake as 

he saw the package of cream cheese that we needed to make the whipped cream layer. 

Sarah told him she had a recipe for a New York cheesecake that she'll make for him next time. 

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter. The family will be gathering here around 4 for dinner. 

Bunny trails

Karen

Snowman Frame Art and Pumpkin Muffins

My friend Kat sent me this fun snowman frame art. 

I think she used the Cricut machine to cut out the greeting. 

I was going to hang him in the living room, but I thought

my kitchen hutch could use the warmth of his smile

so I place it there instead. 

I made chocolate chip pumpkin muffins the other day. 

I found a great recipe on line that used applesauce, and no eggs. 

Don't they look yummy? They are!!!  

I was able to get 14 muffins out of the batch. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

set oven to 375

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

 

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup milk

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup un sweetened applesauce

1/2 cup chocolate chips 

 

In a small mixing bowl combine the 1st 7 ingredients 

In a large mixing bowl combine the pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, and applesauce

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Fold in the chocolate chips. 

grease muffin tins, or use non stick spray. 

Fill wells 2/3 of the way. I use an ice cream scoop for this. 

Bake in pre-heated oven for 16 to 18 minutes. Remove to cooling rack and let them

 

cool just a bit. I like to eat them warm. YUM!!!

 

Stamping trails
Karen

Home for Christmas Frame Art

Frame art using Home for Christmas designer paper. 

Frame is 8x8.

I used different stamp sets, and embellishments. 

I got lucky and caught the frames while they were on sale at Pat Catan's. 

Gotta love a sale. 

Suppose to be bright and sunny today and in the mid 50's. 

Think we will be going outside and just soak it in before we

get more snow. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Thanksgiving Frame Art, and Christmas Cactus

My friend Kat sent me this wonderful Thanksgiving frame art. 

Which gave me yet another reason to visit my favorite craft store in 

search of a frame. 

Since it was a beautiful day out I drove down to Pat Catan's, and

found the perfect wood frame for the piece. 

Thanks Kat! 

This is my Christmas cactus which I share a photo of most every

year since I started my blog. I bought this from K-Mart way

back in 1995, and since then it has been transplanted 4 times. 

It was just a tiny little thing when I bought it. 

I'm thinking I may have to transplant it again in the Spring. 

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while you

will remember that my cactus is mixed up about when to bloom. 

This started to bud mid October and was full of blooms just in time 

for Halloween, and it will continue to bloom though the end of November. 

However....it also has been know to bloom in February, and April. 

I know if I take it out of the light longer in the summer it will bloom closer to 

Christmas but I keep forgetting. Maybe next year! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Easter Crafts

Since I've been into frame art I decided to use a silver frame that I had picked up at the Goodwill a few months ago. For the background I used Natural Composition designer paper. I like that the paper is embossed. 

The eggs are from Oh Hello. I thought that oval background stamp in this set would make perfect Easter eggs. The center egg is So Saffron while I did stamp it I turned it around and used the unstamped side so I could have a place the Happy Easter word stamp.

Bunny is made with circle, oval, and heart punch. 

Grass is Wild Wasabi. Since the picture was more 3-D I omitted the glass from the frame.

This cute little chick treat holder was made using 2 large scallop circle dies cut from Daffodil Delight.Both circles were scored at 1 inch on one side. The flaps are then overlapped to form a base to add candy.
Eyes are 1/2 circle from black, beak Tangerine Tango
Wings 1 3/4 scallop circle punch. The wings were rounded just a bit and sponged with Daffodil Delight.

In your Easter Bonnet with all the frills upon it...well you get the idea. I wanted to make a head for the dress maker form so I could top it with a Easter bonnet. The bonnet is made with parts from the Blossoms Petal builder punch. The apron on the front of the dress also uses the same punch. 

Color Pallet: Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Tea for Two designer paper

Stamping trails

Karen 

Frame Art

So I wanted a little picture to put on the wall above my kitchen sink. First was a trip to the thrift store to pickup a frame. This frame had a picture of a irises, so I had to take the back off and remove that. Then I cut a piece of cardstock the same size of the mat. Stamp set Tea Shoppe (love this set!),ink colors: Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, and Wisteria Wonder. Used a pop dot to pop the center small tea cup.

I had some empty space left at the top and since I didn't want to start over (as I'm prone to do, mostly due to poor planning on my part) I took a 4" paper doily and cut it in half. Attached it at top to make it look like lace curtains. Bottom trim for the table I used Tasteful Trim die with Early Espresso. Pretty happy how this came out.


Stamping trails
Karen