Valentine I Love You

Hi,
     My computer crashed today so I'm doing this on my tablet. I sure hope it works.
     My card today is a fairly simple one, but I love how it turned out.

SUPPLIES:    

Spellbinders die  S2-022 Vines of Passion (heart die)

Altenew   Creative edge-Lace die (double cut down center)

Altenew   Forever and Always stamp set (I love you)

Altenew  Patterned paper (Reflections 6x6 paper pad)

American Crafts   glitter cardstock (Rouge)

ColorMates  cardstock (red)

Neenah solar white cardstock

The gold cardstock is labeled MFBGLD-1212-1

     I will be entering this card in these challenges:

Altenew February Inspiration Challenge

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ( It must be love)

Power Poppy Power + sparkle challenge

Have a very crafty day!

God Bless,

Karen

  

The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge-(Days 4&5)

Hi All,

      Had some difficulty linking my project to Kathy's blog, but I finally figured it out. I guest when I read the first blog I forgot that all Links are to the first 30 Day challenge blog. I did post them on the 30 Day challenge Facebook page, but now that I know where I'm going I will be posting through my blog post.

       So (Day 4) was a Penny Black slapstick/cling and my Altenew markers. I haven't used the markers much yet but after watching several YouTube videos I went to work coloring this beautiful stamp. When I got done I decided to fussy cut it out, I love to fussy cut, and pop it up on a spellbinders A2 card creator die. I was very happy with the result.

Products used:

Penny Black #40-428 scented beauty

Altenew markers set A

Spellbinders Card Creator #S5-218 for A2 card

     For (Day 5) I went back to my Prismacolor pencils to see if the card I created with them on day 3 was a fluke. LOL. I used another Penny Black stamp and went to work. This one, I got for Christmas from my Hubby and I just love it. It has several different flowers and leaves so I could use lots of color, I was very excited to see how I would do.

     After I finished coloring it I went back and used my black pencil, very sharp tip, and  outlined the leaves and some of the flowers, this made everything pop and I love it.

I then added a few extra touches. I used my Tim Holtz brick stencil and some distress in to create a wall in the background and a sentiment from Penny Black. I used foam to pop the whole thing up on the card.

Products used:

Penny Black #40-466 Flower cascade

Penny Black #30-105 gratitude

Prismacolor soft core colored pencils

Tim Holtz Brick Stencil #THS038

Ranger distress ink

Ranger Archival ink

I will be linking these cards to: The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge (Day 1)

Thanks for stopping by.

God Bless,

Karen

 

One-Of-A-Kind

Hello,
    I've been doing a little experimenting, trying to see if I can make my own glimmer paste. I have some Dreamweaver's translucent embossing paste and I wanted to make a pretty textured background for my card. I took about a tablespoon of the paste and added some Martha Stewart green glitter, about a teaspoon. I didn't measure it, but when I mixed it, it was very green. I used a stencil and pallet knife to apply the paste to my card and let it dry. I was thrilled at the result. I will definitely use this technique again. the best thing is no glitter mess coming off the card.
 (for full instructions http://simplypaperaddress.blogspot.com/2017/02/be-mine.html)
     I stamped Altenew's One-Of-A-Kind mini flower on watercolor paper, colored it with my Zig clean color pens and fussy cut it out. I used a spellbinders die, and dimensional tape to pop-up the flower on the die. Then I used a 1" piece of white paper, stamped One-Of-A-Kind, and used my Ranger distress ink (Picked Raspberry) and my blender tool to color the strip and the edges of the frame. Then popped up the front panel on a white card with foam.

     Here's a close up of the glimmer

     Products used:

Altenew mini stamp One-Of-A-Kind

Dreamweaver translucent embossing paste    

Martha Stewart Malachite glitter

Spellbinders die

Joggles stencil#30-33714 (branches)

Bristol vellum surface paper By Strathmore

Core'dination cardstock

Craft foam

3m dimensional tape

     I will be entering this card in these challenges:



Altenew Feburary 2017 Inspiration Challenge

Make My Monday Shimmer and Shine Challenge

Sunday Stamps Sketch #146

Happy crafting!

God Bless,

Karen

      

Snowman Shaker card

Hi all,


     Made this card for Christmas and decided to enter it in the Addicted to Stamps Challenge-
( Frosty Friends) I loved how this little guy turned out and I hope you do too. By the way, this is my first shaker card.



Addicted To Stamps Challenge

     The Snowman is From AI and Hampton Arts the set comes with 2 snowmen, 2snowflakes a sentiment, a snowman and snowflake die #ASTM D4236. 

The trees are from Fiskars, snow globe mini set. The snow globe is just a spellbinders circle die and the base is a digi. I colored using Ranger distress inks. I used Recollections stars glitter shapes for snow.

     The card was a big hit with my family and friends I hope you like it too!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy crafting!

God Bless,

Karen

My Journey to Card making

      I have been crafting one thing or another most of my life. My grandmother started me off at 5yrs old doing cross stitch and needle point. My Mom was a seamstress and taught me to sew as soon as I could sit at the Singer and work the knee pedal. I taught myself to crochet when I was 18 to make a blanket for my first nephew.

    

      In 1998 I began scrapbooking. I loved creating something that was more than a photo album, something that brought the pictures to life. Something that my now grown children and grandchildren love to open up and relive the good times in there lives. I never dreamed at the time that I would someday have a room dedicated to just crafts, and that I'd have enough of that stuff to stock a store. LOL

 

      Card making came as a direct result of my love for stamping on my scrapbooking pages. I love to give gifts that I have created myself so I started making gift tags and cards for friends and family. Card making then became my favorite craft. Oh, I still scrapbook to keep up with the grandkids lives and I still crochet, but Card making seems to be my greatest love and I do it as much as possible.

       I love discovering new stamp companies and recently I stumbled onto the website of JustRite stamps. (http://justrite-papercraft.myshopify.com/) I love all these beautiful stamps and have used them on many of my cards. This company is affiliated with Spellbinders.

 

       My card today is made with a JustRite background stamp that I just fell in love with. I'm always inspired by cards with lots of colors and flowers. They make me happy so in turn, I believe they will make others happy.

Products used:

JustRite #CL-05089 Blooming Vines

Hampton Arts  (Smile)

Canson watercolor paper

Ranger distress inks

Ranger Archival ink

Misti

     I started by placing the stamp in the Misti, inking with archival ink and stamping it. The beauty of the Misti is that if the first impression isn't perfect you can re-stamp until it is. When I was happy with the outcome I started water coloring using my ranger inks and a paint brush. First the leaves, I used Peeled Paint distress ink, I painted a very lite watered down layer. When that was dry I went back to each leaf with the same color, with less water and added just a touch to the bottoms of each leaf for shadow and texture. I did the same with the flowers using Shaded Lilac distress ink.

    

     After I was done water coloring I placed my paper back into my Misti, making sure it was in the exact spot as when I stamped the first time, and stamped it again to define the out lines. Then I used Abandoned Coral distress ink and a blending brush and did the outside edges of the card.

      I cut it down to 41/8 x53/8 and wrapped a piece of purple nylon ribbon around it and tied a knot. Then I adhered it to a violet card.

      I stamped the word smile and the frame from the same set and fussy cut it out, popped it up with dimensional tape and I was done.

I will be entering this card in these challenges:

Color Throwdown Countdown #411

House of Cards Challenge (Add a Bird and/or Colors)

Love to Scrap Challenge Blog #86 (Anything Goes)

Muse Challenge #185

   

Thanks for stopping buy.

Have a wonderfully crafty day!

Karen 

    



Falling for You

     What a beautiful day it was yesterday! Fall is definitely in the air. It was Grandparents day and Chris and Lindsey invited us for dinner and Ice cream. It was so nice to spend time with them and the kids. the only low point of the day was the Miami Dolphins losing in the last minute of the game, Dale, Chris, Luke and Michael (from Hawaii) were very bummed.

     

       My card today is all about fall.  Recently I got some happy mail which included a background stamp from IO with large maple leaves. That's where my card began.  I came up with the idea for the background while trying to fall asleep last night. The rest fell into place when I decided to use the Sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Some embossing powder, distress inks, spellbinders dies and some ribbon made it all come together.

Products Used:

Canson watercolor paper 130lb.

IO #CC067 C-A-C Maple Leaves

Inkadinkado Sentiment  #98555 Harvest Expressions

Versa Mark

Ranger Queens Gold embossing powder

Ranger distress inks ( Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Vintage Photo)

Spellbinders # S4-116 Standard Circles small

Spellbinders Nestabilities #S4-490 Triple Tear

Orange ribbon

     Using Versa Mark on my large IO background stamp I stamped (1) 41/4 x 51/2 and (1) 31/2 x 41/2 pieces of Canson watercolor paper and then embossed them with Queens Gold powder.  Then using my ranger blending tools I add Peeled Paint, Broken China and Vintage Photo to my background. I then used Rusty Hinge to cover and blend all. then I used a paper towel to remove ink from the embossing to make it pop.

     I used dimensional tape I popped up the smaller panel to give some dimension to the card; then wrapped the ribbon around both panels and tied it in a knot, and trimmed the ends.

     To finish the card I repeated the embossing with the sentiment and the distress ink on a piece of scrap watercolor paper. Then cut it out using my spellbinders die. It needed just a hint of a background mat so I used a scrap of burnt orange paper and my circle dies to make one. I added just a little Rusty Hinge to the edges and adhered it to the card. Done.

I will be entering this card in these challenges:

Impression Obsession Challenge "Falling For You"

Freshly Made Sketches #253

Time Out Challenge #65 "Inspired By Words"

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderfully Crafty Day!!

Karen

Hello Friend Mermaid card

I've had this beautiful Stampendous Mermaid stamp for a while and I couldn't  resist using her for Simon Says challenge Go Fish.

 

 

Products used:

Spellbinders Majestic Labels Twenty Five

Spellbinders S4-237 Floral Flourishes

Stampendous Mermaid

Penny Black 30-172 April Showers

Imaginisce Sea Shells

Yasutomo shimmer paints

Ranger Distress ink, watercolor paper, Archival ink

Deep Red bubbles background M1N4B5

Colorbox pigment White

Spectrum Noir clear Glitter pen

Misti

I started with my Spellbinders die and cut the outside frame from some beautiful aqua blue card from my stash. Then I cut the center panel from watercolor paper. I placed it in my Misti making sure to mark where it edges were for later. I stamped the Mermaid and painted her with the shimmer paints then stamped again on the Misti.

Then using masking paper I covered her and Inked my background with my distress inks and randomly stamped the bubbles all around her. Using dimensional tape I popped up the outside frame and then adhered the Mermaid flat onto the center of the white card. I took another piece of watercolor paper and using my distress inks I painted it green with two shades of green and a large paint brush, then I cut the floral flourishes for sea weed. I stamped the sea shells, painted them and fussy cut them out, then arranged them using dimensional tape and glue. I used my Glitter pen on the sea weed and stamped my sentiment using archival ink.

Here's a close up of the shimmer of her tail and the glitter on the sea weed.

I will be entering this card in these challenges:

                                                                          Simon Says Monday Challenge "Go Fish"

                                                                          All Sorts"Use at least 2 Dies"

                                                                           Love to Scrap " Anything Goes"

Have a wonderfully crafty day!

Karen

 

Just around the corner

September is just around the corner and I have so many cards to make I'm getting dizzy. Two of my Grandchildren have birthdays in September. Evelyn who is turning 7  and Mark who is turning 5, I can't believe how fast they're growing up. It feels like yesterday they were babies. I also have several birthdays for friends and there little ones and my Niece is getting married. So I've been very busy.

My first card is for my Beautiful Niece and her very handsome Hubby to be:



 Products used: Spellbinders die set  5x7 Elegant Labels 4

Altenew Peony Bouquet set

Ranger Queens Gold Embossing powder

Versa Mark

Paper Pizzazz Gold

White Card stock 110 lb.

Craft foam

Misti

I started by cutting out the frame with my Spellbinders die, I love this die and I have use t quite often when making cards. I also cut out the outside frame out of craft foam. I then carefully removed the backing of the foam, so it wouldn't stretch, and adhered it to my frame. I like to do this because it gives it better stability and it's easier than cutting foam tape strips for the small areas. I cut a piece of Gold paper to cover the whole front of the card, after sticking the gold paper down I added the frame to the front making sure to get it centered. I then glued the center piece to the front of the card and placed the whole card in my Misti. I centered my sentiment and stamped it. I'm not sure what company the sentiment is, I took it off the wood and didn't label it. Sorry, 

Then I stamped and embossed the peonies and fussy cut them out. I arranged then on the front of the card and adhered them using dimensional tape and my tape runner. My Nieces Wedding colors are White and Gold. 

I will be submitting this card to: Simon Says Wednesday Challenge"Make for the Border"

                                                    All sorts Challenge "Fabulous Florals"

  

My next card is a Birthday card I made for my wonderful husband Dale:





We love to go to the Ocean any chance we get our favorite place is Virginia Beach VA, so I went with that for his card.

Products used:

Inkadinkado  #97521 Coastal/ Maritime

Ranger inks

Wood Anchor

Twine

First I stamped the lighthouse and then colored in the beach, the fence, the vegetation and the lighthouse stripes, then fussy cut it out. I tore a sheet of white scrap to shape the beach and used my Ranger ink and a blending tool to give it the look of sand. I then took another piece of torn paper to make the waves, moving it up and down and back and forth using a blending tool and 2 different inks to get the wave effect. Then I punch out some circle punches, of different sizes, and glued them to a piece of paper along the edge: and using my blending tool I did the same as with the waves to create the clouds, on a piece of white card cut to 61/2 x41/2 . When I was done with the background I attached the sand and wave piece to a 5x7 card  and then using some dimensional tape added the Lighthouse. I drew the birds and the light coming from the lighthouse on then attached it to my card. I used the twine to frame the scene and added the anchor, which I used my Ranger markers to color black,  I also stamped the Happy Birthday and framed and popped it up, to finish the card.  

I will be submitting this card to:Little Red Wagon Surfs Up"

                                                   Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"











Good Morning!

I've been busy these last few days. I got several more new stamps in the mail. It always amazes me that when the mail comes and I have several packages, for days in a row, my husband never says a word. He is so good to me he says, if it makes you happy, I'm ok with it. Just don't break the bank.

I'm a very lucky girl. I digress, these are the stamps I received in just the last 2 days.

Of course I went straight to my craft room and got to work. My first card reminds me of when my boys were little and how much they loved to blow bubbles, ah....those were great times.





Products used:

PB slapstick/cling # 40-229 bubble boy

PB T for transparent #30-358 happy snippets

Ranger distress ink

Ranger watercolor paper

Ranger Archival Ink black

Gellyroll glitter pen and

Spectrum Noir clear glitter pen

Misti

I stamped the bubble boy in archival ink on my Misti  and then using my distress ink and a watercolor brush I colored him in, then back in the Misti to freshen the outlines. I used my distress inks to create the background, and the Gellyroll pen to add a little depth to the grass. I used the Spectrum Noir glitter pen on the bubbles, then stamped "life is great play" and mounted on yellow then onto a blue card.

I will be entering this card in: PB "Anything Goes With a Stamp"

                                                Simon Says Monday Challenge" Summer Fun"

Card #2 Happy Birthday

Products used:

Altenew Mini One of A Kind

Hampton Arts #SC0586 celebrate life

Ranger distress ink markers

Ranger watercolor paper

Ranger archival ink

Ribbon from my stash

Spellbinders dies #S4-425 Elegant Ovals and #S4-324 Ribbon banners

Misti

I fell in love with this little stamp as soon as I saw it. I began by inking my stamp and stamping it around the entire paper including the center. I wasn't sure where I was going with it at this time but I loved the way it looked. Then I took my water brush and lightly brushed over the stamped image and blended the colors, and used a blending tool to add color to the edges. I decided to use this background for the sketch from MOJO Monday, and the Inspiration challenge at Altenew.

So I stamped another flower and cut it out with my spellbinders die. I then cut out the next size die in the same set for the background, and the banner for Happy Birthday.

I wrapped the ribbon around the center of the background and then using a blender I added the same color to the background frame as around the edges of the card. I adhered it to the center of the card and using some dimensional tape I popped up the framed flower up in the center.  I stamped Happy Birthday on my banner and blende the edges, then attached it to the bottom of the framed flower.

I will be entering this card in:

                                               Altenew 2016 Inspiration Challenge "Flamingo Inspiration"

                                               Mojo Monday "MOJO461"

                                               Seize The Birthday "anything Goes" 

                                             

Have a wonderfully crafty day !

Karen

Searching my stash

I spent the last week trying to better organize my stamps so I could find them by company. Unfortunately, last year, I took all my wood block stamps of the blocks. In doing so I have several, not several  a lot,  that I don't know which company they belong to. I also removed many stamp sets from they're original packaging when I opened them, so again I don't know what company they are from. So when looking for stamps to create a card for the IO challenge "Squared" I had only one choice, Christmas. I really love the traditional colors of Christmas, Red, Green, Gold and Silver, so I went to work. This is the result:





Products used:

IO stamp #F2268 Winter Wonderland (tree)

IO stamp #B5462 Christmas Joy

VersaMark

Ranger embossing powder Queens Gold

Queen and Comp. Sunflower Yellow Pearls

K&Comp. Christmas Cheer Gold Words paper

Paper wishes  Red Holly paper

Darcie 110lb. white card stock

Spellbinders curved rectangles #S5-006

I stamped and embossed the tree and on my white card stock and the cut it out with my spellbinders die. I wanted to mat it in gold so I traced the die on another piece of white card stock and fussy cut it out. I ran the edges over my VersaMark pad and then using the Queens Gold, embossed the edge. I matted my 51/2 x 51/2 card  with a 5/14 x51/4 piece of Christmas Cheer paper, then I matted the Embossed Christmas tree onto the embossed piece of white card stock. I cut a piece of  the red holly paper 1/4' bigger than the matted Christmas tree. Using dimensional tape I popped up the tree on the red paper and then adhered to the left side of the card. I stamped and embossed the Christmas Joy  sentiment on a piece of scrap paper and matted it in red and green cutting it to make a banner. I added the Pearls and banner. Simple but Elegant. 

I will be entering this card in: IO challenge "Squared"