Blue Shoe Mojo

Hey, say that title fast and it sounds like a dish on a chinese food menu! LOL! 

When I finally sat down to stamp tonight at about 8:30pm, I looked at the colour challenge on Splitcoast (Not Quite Navy, Kraft, Baja Blue) and decided to make a card based on that and the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. 

I pulled out my Shoebag image from Stamping Bella cause I thought I could do a lot with the blues on it. Then my brain kicked into high gear...I've been wanting to give my Lyra pencils a little lovin', and wouldn't they show up beautifully on Kraft cardstock? Really...it was a question to myself cause this is only the second time I've used them. So I stamped the image with Memento black onto Kraft and coloured it with Lyra pencils, OMS and a stump. I did lots of layering and blending to get this result. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it! I painted the bag with Angel Wings Shimmerz then added some Hero Arts gemstones. The image was cut out with circle nesties and layered onto a scallop of Not Quite Navy.

The card base is Kraft, then a layer of Not Quite Navy. The patterned paper is from the Making Memories Paperie line. I used just a smidge of Baja on the card...the little circles behind the white flowers from my SU Pretties kit. I finished off the flower centers with some shimmery blue jean dots from Stamping Bella. 

Mmmmm...shoes....can we ever have enough???  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Miles Buzzin' By

I'm back on my boy birthday card kick, well, for today anyway. My friend Leslie {waves...hi Leslie!} sent me this a-dorable little Miles (the dragonfly) Huggabugg from Stamping Bella a while back and I thought Lauren's sketch would be a perfect opportunity to use him. Plus, he's the sweetest little dragonfly evah, so I turned him into a birthday card for another of my nephews. During the summer, at the cottage, the kids are reminded that dragonflies are our 'friends' and my nephews like to try and get them to land on their hands. Sometimes if we time it right, we're there when the dragonflies are emerging from their larval skin. It's super cool to watch them unfold themselves, dry their wings in the sunshine and fly away. I know...I'm a nerd, but nature is so interesting! Ok...enough entomology...on to the card.  :)

I started by stamping Miles with Memento Black onto Gina K pure luxury carstock, then I coloured him with copics. I wanted him to be bright and vibrant, just like the papers I'd chosen to use from October Afternoon's Night Light series. Since this is a boy card I didn't make his wings all shimmery, but I sure wanted to! Instead, I painted crystal effects onto his glasses for the look of real lenses. I cut him out with my Coluzzle then finished off his wings with my scissors. He's layered onto a circle of the green patterned paper then onto a circle of Not Quite Navy, which I cut out with a nestie and pierced. 

The card base is Gina K 120lb pure luxury, followed by Pumpkin Pie, which I ran through my 'Diamonds in the Rough' cuttlebug folder. I know SU paper is coloured all the way through, but I still sanded the raised areas to give it just a slightly lighter shade of pumpkin for a little definition. The other base layers are also from the Night Light series of papers...sooooo colourful and fun! My Janome sew mini has been neglected lately (well, that's not true...I tried to use it on my Elzy card yesterday but it was jammed for some reason, so I re-threaded it today and it's working like a charm) so I ran a straight stitch along the patterned panels for some interest. 

For the sentiment, I didn't have a stamp like this so I turned to my computer and printed both the outside and inside sentiments. A few paper layers, a button, and the outside was complete!

Then I moved to the inside of the card. I knew I'd be inserting a gift card so I made a pocket with layers of paper. Another line of stitching ties it all together nicely.

This is the first one that has to go in the mail in the next day or two to make it to Canada in time for the big day. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

3rd one's a charm

I can't believe it...another blog award! Thank you so much Michelle at Stamp and Smile for the fabulous award. I so appreciate it! Now I need to pass along the award to 10 more delightful bloggers. 

Janet - Corrosive Creations

Dana - Dana's House of Cards

Nancy - Cardworthy

Nicky - Stamping Creations by Nicky

Emily - Stamping Bella

Helen - All Things Stampy

Andrea - Sunny Stampin'

Jan - Stamps, Paper, Scissors

Jodi - Stamping a Latte

Megan - Megan Lock Designs

The recipients should nominate 10 other bloggers and post links to their blogs. Add this award to your blog and share the love! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Elzy's Road to a Friend

I made this card for Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I love her sketch challenges. She's also giving away some great blog candy so pop over and have a peek. 

I haven't used this little Elzy yet (and yet she's still smiling!) so it was high time to get her inky.

I stamped the Elzybells 'Girl in Car' stamp with Memento black onto Gina K pure luxury white. Then I stamped her again onto one of the patterns in my new Basic Grey Bittersweet 6x6 pad. I paper pieced her car and even gave her some custom hubcaps! She's one cool Elzy! The rest of the image is coloured with copics. My friend Miche does the best little details on her cards with crystal effects, so I borrowed her idea and painted some crystal effects onto the headlights for the look of real glass. The sentiment is from A Muse Artstamps. The image was cut out with nesties and layered onto a scallop of chocholate chip.

The card base is Gina K 120lb pure luxury, followed by a square of chocolate chip with distressed edges. Next I a square of pink from the Bittersweet pack through my D'vine Swirls folder (only the bottom 3/4 of the square would fit but it worked well for my card). Then I sanded the raised areas so they'd stand out a little more. The strip across the top is also from the Bittersweet pack. 

I layered a Heidi Swapp gel blossoms with a pretty white shimmer flower from MFT, then with a couple of pink Primas. I finished off the flowers with a small SU pink rhinestone brad. Finally, I added three pretty buttons on the left side of the image.

Pink and chocolate...those are definitely my colours! So that must be me waving hello, on my way to a friend's house. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Flopsey in a Single Layer

Usually, when it's cold out, you dress in layers to stay warm. Well, I figured that since Flopsey already has a fur coat, that he only needed one layer to stay warm. :)

This is my attempt at a no-layer card. I started out with some Gina K 120lb for my card, cause I knew it would be super sturdy. Then I embossed the centre panel with my labels two nesties. I then stamped Snow Bunny Flopsey with Memento black ink. I wanted it to look like it was snowing, so I pulled out my much neglected light table, a brass template and my stylus, and got to work dry embossing the dots around the central frame. The template I was using only has 4 small circles in a diamond shape so I had to keep moving the card and lining up the circles again. It took for-ever, but it was worth it! Oh, and that super sturdy Gina K 120lb paper is maybe not the best choice if you're going to be dry embossing...it gave me a good workout though...the stylus needed lots of pressure to make a decent embossed dot.

Once that was done I coloured Flopsey with my Lyra pencils (also a much neglected item), odourless mineral spirits and a stump. I really need to give those pencils some more lovin' cause they're just wonderful to use! The lovely Nickabella turned me onto them when I went to her classes with my BFF at Stamping Bellaland. Thanks Nicky!!! They blend beautifully on Gina K paper. Yes, I know...I have a love affair with Gina K paper. :)

The hat, scarf and mittens were coloured with a blue copic, B95, and the mug with a brown copic, E49. I added some liquid applique to the hat and mittens, and also to the mug to make it look like whipped cream. There's also some Waterfall blue Stickles on the hat and scarf. I made the snowflake embellishment by punching an acetate sheet with my MSL snowflake punch, then covering it with Waterfall Stickles. While that dried I painted the background inside the frame with Star Dust Stickles. The whole card is super sparkly IRL!

I think I'll go back to layering tomorrow, cause the weather is supposed to turn chil-ly here by the end of the week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

One Chick to Another

Wow, I can't believe this is my third post today. Don't get too used to it though! LOL! Taking yesterday off seems to have kicked me into high gear today.

I made this card for a combination of two challenges: Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration Challenge #37 and Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #50.

The stamps are brand new...picked them up yesterday at Ink About It (told you there were lots of things jumping into my basket). Really...how could I resist these little birds! They're a set of four, Decorative Birds, from Hero Arts. The sentiment is by A Muse. I stamped the birds with Memento black onto Gina K pure luxury and coloured them with copics. I popped the wings on the top and bottom birds. Then I punched each bird with a circle punch, 1 1/4" for the largest, then 1 1/8", then 1" for the smallest. I layered them onto circles of chocolate chip that were punched just 1/8" larger the the image. I had them lined up and was about to adhere them when I touched one and it moved so it was offset on the chocolate circle...hmmm...that seemed to work nicely with these quirky birds so I offset them all. I love it when there's a happy accident in stamping.  :)

I attached an SU mini library clip to each one and tied a piece of olive ribbon (it's a retired SU ribbon). The card base is Gina K 120 lb pure luxury, followed by a layer of chocolate and a layer of baja breeze. I rounded the bottom corners of each layer. Once my chicks were attached with dimensionals, I stamped the sentiment and pierced the 'hangers' for each one. My last step was attaching a piece of chocolate felt ribbon (again, SU from this past Holiday Mini). 

That's it...pretty quick and simple, as seems to be the theme of my day. When my card was all done I wanted to show someone...Shadow (our mini schnauzer) just happen to come into my stamp room (probably cause it was feeding time) so I put the card down at his level and said "Shadow, come see what I made". He actually sauntered over, stood real close looking at the card then looked up at me and grunted. Too funny!!! I swear he understands everything I say.

Tonight is movie night so I'll be colouring images. {wink!}  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Take Flight

Yesterday was a fabulous day. First of all, it was Friday and that just makes it great anyway. But, it was even better cause I received my Gina K order...yippee...AND my friend Joanne and I went on a road trip to Ink About It. They have lots of wonderful stamps and supplies that were screaming to come home with me. {wink!} I was on a bit of a mission though...my friend Nancy has started a fun challenge on her blog. It's a colour and texture challenge, she's calling it a CAT Challenge, so I was keeping my eyes peeled for products to use on a card for her challenge. 

This card came together in my mind over the past day, and it was really quick to make because I had all the ideas. I used my brand new Gina K set "Take Flight" (that was the free with three set...yippeee). I stamped the butterfly with versamark and embossed it with white powder onto black cardstock. Then I stamped the butterfly again with versamark and embossed it with iridescent ice powder onto an acetate sheet, then cut it out. I cut out the white butterfly with a rectangle nestie. It's layered onto a beautiful piece of metallic sparkly silver paper (which I picked up at Ink About It yesterday). I adhered the body of the clear butterfly onto the white one then bent the wings up for dimension. The sparkle of the iridescent ice powder over the white image is super pretty! The sentiment is stamped with Brilliance Moonlight White ink.

The card base is Gina K 120lb pure luxury white, then a layer of Basic Grey. The patterned black layer is another beautiful paper I picked up yesterday. The floral pattern is embossed and sparkly all over...sooooo pretty! I used my ticket corner punch on all four corners then added some small Hero Arts clear gemstones. I had also purchased a very pretty sheer silver ribbon with a black swirl in it, thinking I could work it into my project some how, but it didn't look right so I'll save that for another time. 

When I was all done and looking at the card, I thought it would be a perfect card for someone graduating from college or university...a completely unconventional graduation card.

This was a super fun challenge. Hope you'll pop over to Nancy's blog and play along.   :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

I'm Blushing...

My friend Janet has given me another blog award. Thank you...I'm blushing! This is an easy one, I just have to pass along the award to 7 fab bloggers. I've gone WAY out of my comfort zone and given it to people I don't know in person, but I visit their blogs often. Here goes:

Taylor V. - Taylored Expressions

Jackie P. - The Scalloped Edge

Nancy R. - iStamp

Lauren M. - My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence

Amy R. - Ink About Me

Michelle W. - Mish Mash

Cindy L. - The Creative Closet

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll have a card to post later today...just working on it now. I took yesterday off after my 4 card marathon Thursday night.

Karen

If I Set My Mind To It...

I can accomplish quite a bit in a short amount of time. My friend Dana emailed yesterday afternoon, saying she found a challenge on the Verve forum on Splitcoast and that we should participate. Ok...I'm game...the prize is free stamps, and I'll do just about anything for free stamps. {grin!} 

So, she emails the link, and I check it out. Cool challenge, but we're jumping in on Day 4 of a four day challenge, we have to play catch-up and the deadline is today, Friday at noon. Yikes!!! That means I had to make all four cards on Thursday night cause I'm going on a little roadtrip with Joanne to a stamping store on Friday. {even bigger grin!}.  Also...thank goodness for our PVR because it was Grey's and Private Practice night. 

Now, I have to tell you, that ever since I've been "stamping for pleasure" and not preparing for classes or workshops, I've really started taking my sweet time with my creations. I'll stamp one, maybe two cards a day, and I like to "let the ideas come to me". So this business of creating four cards in a short amount of time was like a marathon for me. AND...I did it! Yippee!!! So let me show you the fruits of my labour.

Butterfly Trio

This is the first card I made, for the Day 1 colour challenge, Ridinghood Red, Blush Blossom, and Kraft. I totally took my inspiration from the colour swatch sample and  pulled out my still uninked SU Flight of the Butterfly set. I stamped each butterfly twice, with Blush Blossom then Ridinghood red, ofsetting just a bit for a shadow effect. The circle panel was cut out with nesties then I ran the blush piece through my D'vine Swirls cuttlebug folder. The card base is Kraft, followed by a piece of blush blossom, then a piece of patterned paper from the SU Ridinghood Red designer paper pack. I added crystal stickles to the centers of the flowers on the background paper and also to the dots on the butterfly. The layout for this card is from Lauren's weekend sketch. 

Mug Trio

Next I moved onto the Day 2 sketch challenge, which you can see here. Since I was under a time crunch, I decided to use this mug image which has been sitting, all coloured, on my desk for over a month now...gasp! The image is from MFT...they're single cups but I stacked them. They're stamped with Memento black onto Gina K pure luxury and coloured with copics. The background paper is from Making Memories Paperie line. The solid colours are Chocolate and Pink Pirouette. 

I "Joanned" my tailored bow by adding a pink button and linen thread...love that detail.  The chocolate dots along the side are from Stamping Bella. 

Dear Friend

Next I tackled the Day 3 sketch challenge, which you'll find here. I felt like colouring, but I needed a small image with not too much detail, so I chose an image from the SU set A Flower For All Seasons. 

Then I decided on a pattern from the Basic Grey Mellow line (the 6x6 pack) and started colouring. I know...I used a ton of markers on this little image...don't be turned off by that, I'm just a bit of a colouring freak and I love layering the shades. {grin!} The card base is Brocade Blue, then a layer of More Mustard. 

The ribbon is SU Spring Moss and I did a mini button bow in the corner of the image. Oh, the sentiment is from the SU set Bella Blossoms. 

Upsy Daisy

FINALLY...the Day 4 sketch challenge. Let me start by saying I was getting tired at this point and pretty much lost my mojo, and it totally shows with this card. It's definitely NOT my favourite. The stamp set is SU Upsy Daisy, which I first inked with Baja Blue, then I sponged on some Not Quite Navy, then I used my Not Quite Navy marker to shade the stems. The entire card was really quick to make but I don't love it. The base is Not Quite Navy, followed by Baja Blue, then a piece of patterned paper from K & Company. The ribbon is SU celery grosgrain and the sparkly blue bonbons are from Stamping Bella. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Rumor Has It...

As soon as I saw yesterday's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast I KNEW it would be a perfect layout for my brand new Rumor Has It Girl stamp from Stamping Bella. And, since this is a brand new stamp, I'm also using this card as my submission for the Bella-riffic Friday blog. The theme this week is 'New Beginnings' and I think these two are starting a new rumor. {grin}

The stamp comes as one image with the two girls connected by a string line, but I chose to ink each girl separately. I did my best not to get any of the string inked because I knew I wanted to use some hemp for the string. The girls are stamped with Memento black onto Gina K Pure Luxury white and coloured with copics. I added a bit of green shimmer to each of them using my Melon Green Atyou Spica glitter pen, but it doesn't really show in the photos. 

The girls were cut out with a rectangle nestie, then layered onto either Regal Rose or Baja Blue and Chocolate. I distressed all the layer edges. The card base is Gina K 120lb Pure Luxury, followed by a piece of distressed Chocolate. The patterned paper it from Sonburn Designs, the Frolic Collection. 

I used my SU Ticket corner punch on the patterned base layer and added a green Bella Bonbon to each corner for a little sparkle. The ribbon is from Making Memories, I think. To attach the black hemp I just pierced a hole in each can, threaded the hemp to the back and secured it with scotch tape. 

I decorated the inside of the card this time cause I was going to be stamping inside as well. I really like decorating the insides...must do it more often!

Did you ever do this as a kid? I can totally remember making a tin can telephone with my friend when I was young and being completely amazed that it actually worked...to a certain extent anyway. Much the same as being able to hear the ocean in the big conch shells.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen