Theme & Variation

Here is a version of a card from a while back. The sponging of the shimmer paint takes this card from good to great!

Christmas Workshop Class is Comin' to Town

Check these super projects that are comin' to town Friday, December 11th.

Choose from "SNOW" Blocks, HO HO HO garland banner, and/or HO HO HO 12" x 12" canvases. All three projects coordinate beautifully for a great look for your home, or give them as gifts.

It's going to be fun so come join the party.

Thanksgiving Week SALE!!!

It's big, it's huge, it's a Stampin' Sale of Sales!

• To see the amazing sales click here to link to my website, then click the "Shop Now" in the upper right corner to browse the bargains. Once the "Shop" opens find the "Online Extravaganza" on the left and click.
• You can place orders directly online, or email me and I will place your order.
• Who say's you have to get up at 5:00 a.m. to get the best prices of the year?

I'm Back!

Hopefully I'm back for good. I have had on and off AT and T problems--massive problems. No phone and no internet can drive a girl crazy.

I love the soothing color combination of this card made by Julie B. The Petals of Plenty embossed paper brings such texture and interest to the card. I only wish I had the ornament stamp set and punch.

Tag Punch Petals

Using the either size of the tag punches you can make these happy flowers. Simply punch out 10-12 pieces of DSP to create a full flower. Fold each piece in half lengthwise and then fold one half in half diagonally from the center fold line down to the outer corner. All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

It's REALLY Little!

Happy Halloween to all my ghoulfriends--you're bootiful. Check out my bitty boo banner. Each piece is the size of a business card. As I finished cutting the supplies for the full size boo banners I ended up with all these extra scraps so, I created this little cutie and a bunch more.

Serene Snowflakes So Pretty

Anything you stamp with this gorgeous snowflake set come out superb. Thank you Chari B. for making it for the swap--I love it.

SALE!

Now through October 25th at 9:50 a.m. MT

Item: 114348 - Basic Jumbo Grommets - Reg. $6.95

NOW $4.49 - pg. 179

Item: 109857 - Mini Library Clips - Reg. $12.95

NOW $8.99 - pg. 179

Item: 122571 - Circle Designer Brads - Reg. $5.95

NOW $3.99 - pg. 179

Item: 112581 - 1/2" Library Clips - Reg. $6.95

NOW $3.99 - pg. 179

Click here to shop the Deals of the Week!

More Ornaments

A few more cards made by Julie B. using the Ornate Ornament stamps from the Holiday Mini. At first I wasn't so sure about the coordinating punch and set, but I have seen such fabulous samples that I am now sold. I love them both.

Look What Julie Made

I just love this card. My friend Julie B. made it for a swap and I think the entire composition is super awesome. What do you think?

Lovin' This Card

I absolutely love this card made by Dena R. The color combo is fabu. The use of the flocked paper is perfect. The addition of the white scallop boarder adds a pop of pizazz. And, the accessories are to die for.

Petals-a-Plenty

Do you love this card or what? The Petals-a-Plenty Impressions Folder is such an awesome Big Shot accessory. For $7.95 I HIGHLY recommend the product. Every time I incorporate a piece of cardstock embossed with the folder in a project it looks fabulous. For this card I also used the Merry Embosslit. If you look close I made two of the Merry embosslit tags. One in Old Olive and one from the printed Snowfall window sheets. To make the letters stand out I lightly sanded the letters.

Click here to shop from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

A Perfect Pair

Any leaf stamp from the Autumn Splendor stamp set and the technique "poppin' pastels" make a perfect pairing. Simply stamp the leaf using Versamark ink and gently dab pastels on the image using a sponge dauber. Designed by Julie B., this autumnal card is so pretty in person, she did an amazing job!

The Falling Leaves

Is this card gorgeous or what? Mary C. designed and made this beauty using the Autumn Splendor stamp set and the Autumn Meadows designer series papers. Both products are found in the Holiday Mini Catalog.

Do You Love Shopping Sales?

Jump up and stomp your feet because Stampin' Up! has launched a new Clearance Rack section of their on-line shopping store. All items are retired or discontinued and priced for awesome savings!!

Click here to view & SHOP the Clearance Rack.

Charmed I'm Sure

Another card made using the Charmed stamp set. The flower is from the Pretties kit. I used a sponge dauber to add a light coloring of Not Quite Navy classic ink. Then I stamp the text image from the stamp set to add interest and dimension.

Leftovers

I had a bunch of leftovers in my scrap box from a class, and I had a swap to make. I had just enough pieces to make seven of these Charming cards. Charming a new stamp set found in the Holiday Mini Catalog and it is absolutely perfect for collage style stamping. The set was designed to coordinate beautifully with the Simply Adorned jewelry pieces.

My Digital Studio is Here!

Check out my very first My Digital Studio card. I know what you're thinkin', another Halloween card, but I did it a couple weeks ago. I have moved on to making holiday projects other than Halloween, I just have not posted them yet. I have been working on a digital scrapbook and hope to send it off to print in the next few days. For this card I made it in a matter of about 10 minutes. What a blast this software program is and it is so much simpler than Photoshop Elements.

Boo-tiful Garland Banner

Were making this fabulous banner at my MONSTER MASH MADNESS class. Hopefully you can come. See the sidebar for more details. Interested in a kit, send me an email.

The Best Embossing Folder!!

I just am super crazy for the  great new Petals A Plenty embossing folder. You can find it in the Holiday Mini Catalog and I highly recommend adding it to your collection. Everything I have made with the folder is awesome :0)

Super Cool

In person the focal point on this card is super cool. I embossed just the spider which gives the card a creepy look perfect for Halloween.

More Inspiration From Convention

I was mesmerized by the Halloween display room at Convention. These pictures are of a few more ornaments I made which were completely inspired by ones from the Gathering Place. All supplies are from the Stampin' Up! catalog.

Holiday Mini Catalog is Here

Click here to see the AWESOME, I am telling you it's totally AWESOME, Holiday Mini Catalog.

Sponging is Making a Comeback

Maybe you have never stopped sponging, but I have not done any sponging in a super long time. So long that I didn't even have any sponges.

I wanted to get some good layering of ink color and sponging is the best, most blended way to achieve that look. My card sample here was inspired by Maria K's. swap from convention. 

To sponge without getting those splotchy blotches use a swirling motion starting off of the piece of cardstock. Start by covering 100% of the cardstock with your lightest color ink, then move to a medium shade covering about 60% of the cardstock, then just sponge about 30% of the outer edges with your darkest color. I started with Crushed Curry, then More Mustard, and last Pumpkin Pie.

Shimmer Paint with Dasher

At convention we learned that Dasher was the number 2 selling stamp. You can find the single stamp in the very back of the Stampin' Up! catalog in the under $10 section. There are some great finds on that page so check it out.

For these two cards I made my own custom stencil by cutting the Swirly die out of window sheet. I sponged with Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, and then Champagne Mist shimmer paint. I purposely designed these cards without dimensionals. If you know me and my #2 motto (when in doubt pop it out) you'll know how difficult it was to refrain from building up layers. My reason was to keep the designs thin is so they will go through the mail without having to add postage. To still give dimension to the one card I added the vellum swirl. 

The card with the vellum swirl was one of my Technique Time! projects from Friday. The second card was a make-n-take for an Inkerbelles group meeting yesterday. I always enjoy hanging out with my upline, Tami W. and all my side and downline buddies :0)

Can You Tell I Love to Make Halloween Things?

Enjoy these cool ornaments I made. I was inspired by Convention displays. To make glittering much quicker, easier, and WAY less messy use sticky strip to adhere the chunky colored glitters. All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

At my TECHNIQUE TIME! class this month we made the orange version to learn the accordion fold flower and the sticky strip tip.

Spooky Window

Take a close look at this card--I love the use of the window sheet. It looks kind of like a window on a scary house. I first used a rub on from the Spooky Treats set and then punched it out with the large oval punch. I really like how it looks layered over my background. I stamped the background with white craft ink and an image from From the Crypt.

Halloween With a Vintage Feel

This card was inspired by all the vintage ornaments that have made a comeback over the past several years. I can't get enough Halloween decorations. I like them spooky or vintage in style which makes for quite a juxtaposition.

To get all the dimension on this card think accordion folds. The arched piece on top was cut from the scallop circles #2 (the larger of the two). Take the cut scallop and center it over the groove/cut line of your personal cutter. Score the scallop in half right between the dips of two scallops. Twist and repeat until the entire piece has been scored all the way around. Cut the piece in half, accordion fold on the scorelines, glitter the edge, and attach to card base with sticky strip.

This card features Stampin' Up!'s From the Crypt stamp set and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter!

Watercolor Wicking Technique

Here is another card using the From the Crypt stamp set found in the Stampin' Up Idea Book and Catalog. This card's focal point features a watercolor wicking technique that looks fabulous, yet is super simple. To start, stamp your image on watercolor paper using a Staz On pad. Next, paint the entire piece of cardstock with water. Then, add ink to desired areas using a paint brush or Aquapainter. Allow the water which you painted on the cardstock to do all of the work to spread the color. This is known as "wicking." For this card I squeezed my inkpad and then used the lid as my ink source. For a more intense look use ink refills. Finish by adding more colors of ink until the piece is covered.

More From the Crypt

Check out these two samples made by my mom. Again she used the same elements as the shutter card in the previous post. I especially love the black grommet over the one eye--how spooky.

Halloween Shutter By K8

Check out this awesome shutter card created by my mom. Isn't it super cool? She used the From the Crypt stamp set, Spooky Treats rub ons, and the Cast a Spell Designer Series Paper.

Cottage Wall + Shutter fold = Sweet Fun

I have to tell you all as I typed the title of this blog I spelled shutter with an "i" and that would not be very lady like.

In my last class we made shutter cards (I just did it again, I hit the "i" instead of the "u") where the color story was developed around the Cottage Wall DSP. I used brush markers to ink up the birthday greeting stamp from the new set "Everything Nice" for the front of the card. I know it is one of the most basic techniques, but I use it so often.

I Love Leftovers

I am the only one in my house who likes leftovers! It is so easy. You don't have to cook. There is not much to clean up.  Just heat and eat. That is what makes leftovers so good! 

I also like paper leftovers. I had a huge pile of Cottage Wall DSP scraps left on my table so I decided to try a quilt card. What is really hard to see is that after I cut the quilted square in my Big Shot using my Top Note die, I ran it through again on an embossing die. 

I love the new DSP and if you enjoy greens and purples you'll love this new set of papers.

I Told You I Am Garland Crazy

I have made bunches of garlands lately. Here is the garland I hung for my husband's birthday. I like the masculine papers. Just a note, if you use the textured designer paper cardstocks the accordion flowers are trickier to hold in place. I finished this garland and then quickly hung it over the mantle. When I came home every piece had popped open and letters and the accordion flowers were just dangling. I re-glued using the Tombow Multi Purpose glue and now the garland is sealed like Fort Knox--it is solid!