Izzie Goes a Little Country

I didn't do it on purpose, but my card ended up with a country kinda feel! Must be that red gingham paper, but quite frankly, I love the result!!!

I used one of my newest Izzies from the April release at Stamping Bella, Izzie with a Cherry on Top. I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured her with copics. I stamped the image a second time so I could pop the cupcake for dimension and added some clear Glaze pen to the cherry.

The layout is SC278 from last week. This card is a little smaller than my normal square cards...it measures 4 1/4" square instead of my usual 5 1/4". I just found the image got a little lost on the larger size. I ran the kraft squares through my D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder before stitching them down to the base layers.

Don't forget to play along with this week's Bellarific Friday challenge...use soft pink, celery green and chocolate, along with any Stamping Bella image then email your submission to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

It's Raining Pure Innocence

Actually it's bright and sunny here today, but I couldn't resist this sweet Pure Innocence girl any longer. I'd like to introduce you to My Umbrella from My Favorite Things (but she appears to be so popular that she's out of stock at the moment so I couldn't find the direct link for you). Doesn't she just light up any day...rain or shine?!? Well she certainly cheered me up when I created this card on a rainy, windy Saturday this past weekend. The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try, which is sponsored by MFT.

I have a big secret that I've been keeping and I FINALLY get to tell you!!! Today I'm a Fabulous Friend over on the MFT blog!!! I {heart} my MFT stamps and I was tickled when Kim emailed to ask if I'd like to be a Fabulous Friend. Sign me UP!!! Thanks so much Kim for honouring me this way!!! Your stamps are all so adorable and super fun to work with...you make it easy to be creative with them! I created a special project for the occasion and Kim is sharing it on the MFT Blog so I hope you'll pop over and take a peek!

So would you like to know about this card or have you already left to head over to the MFT blog? LOL! I stamped My Umbrella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and cut it out with circle Nestabilities. The umbrella and boots are paper pieced and all the patterned papers are from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop 8x8 pad (except the clouds...that paper is from Fly a Kite). The rest of this little sweetie is coloured with copics. I gave the umbrella, boots and rain drops a couple of coats with my clear Glaze pen to make them shine. Notice the new Die-namics??? I used both the Jumbo Scallop and the Clouds dies...swoon!!! I did plenty of sewing and distressing on this card including crumpling the clouds for texture.

Don't forget to pop over to the MFT blog to see my Fabulous Friend Project!!!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Elves

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC68. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

I went for Christmas with this card since I fell off the Christmas-card-a-week wagon a couple of weeks ago! This fun Give a Little set from The Cat's Pajamas has been sitting patiently on my stamp table since February and yesterday Poochie called out to get inky, so I obliged. I {heart} Poochie...he reminds me of our sweet mini Schnauzer, Shadow. This image takes me back to when we were kids and we'd pile the presents around us before opening them...good times!!!

Anyway, on to the card...I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream three times. Everything is coloured with copics and I popped the presents for dimension, then popped the little teddy bear one more time cause he's out in front. The patterned papers are from the October Afternoon Good Cheer 8x8 pad and I did a little stitching around all the edges. The sentiment is punched out with my SU modern label punch, sponged with black around the edges, then I added two red Tiny Twinkles. I finished the card with pink and red buttons.

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation to Karen's blog. Now let's go see what fabulous eye candy the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers came up with.

• Jen Tapler
• Joanne Basile
• Karen Giron
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Nancy Riley
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

I totally spaced on today being Mother's day...see, we don't have kids, my Mom is travelling so I won't be talking to her and she lives in Canada so I won't be seeing her, and my MIL already received her gift on Friday and she's in Canada too with plans for today. So, for me, today's just another Sunday. But, for all the Moms out there, Happy Mother's Day and I hope you have a fabulous day!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Happy Birthday Janet!!!!

Today we're doing a fun little hop to celebrate my friend Janet's birthday! If it wasn't for stamping I never would have met Janet...so glad you're a stamper my friend!!!

Janet loves all things music so I just naturally pulled out my You're my Hero set from Taylored Expressions along with my Rock Star patterned paper. I used TESC112 for the layout. The circle background is stamped with three different colours, brocade blue, kiwi kiss and more mustard then I stamped the people with Brilliance Graphite Black. The sentiment was inked with really rust and black. The little Glitter brads below the sentiment were lost on that fun patterned background so I placed them on black circles that I punched with my 1/4" circle punch to make them pop. Then the left corner seemed a little empty so I added more brads and punched stars.

Janet, I hope you have a rockin' birthday!!! And by the way...this card is gonna be late arriving to a mailbox near you! Really though, did you expect me to be on time?!? I pride myself on extending the birthday wishes/celebrations!!! Hugs!!!  :)

Now it's time to hop on over to Joan's blog to see what she's created. And don't forget to pop over the Janet's blog at the end and wish her a BIG happy birthday!!!

Here's the entire list of hoppers:

Karen: http://paperplayhouse.blogspot.com/

Joan: http://scrapmum.blogspot.com/

Dana: http://danashouseofcards.blogspot.com/

Mary: http://mbryt1.blogspot.com/

Nancy: http://cardworthy.blogspot.com/

Anita: http://www.hoveyhut.blogspot.com/

Michelle: http://micheldesigns.blogspot.com/

Anne: http://stargrovesblog.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bellarifically Tea-riffic!

Happy Bellarific Friday! This week's challenge was flowers...flowers of any kind...stamps, paper, embellishments, etc. I did my darndest to use as many types of flowers as I could. Really though, it wasn't a tough challenge...flowers are wonderful and go with pretty much anything!

So on to my card...I stamped Tilly the Teacup Girl from Stamping Bella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream Paper and coloured her with copics. I adore her hair...OMG!!! I was on the phone with Dana while I was colouring her hair and I just kept oooh-ing and aaaaah-ing at all the gorgeous swirls. It was quite funny, actually! I stamped the teacup a second time so I could cut it out and pop it for dimension.

The colours are totally inspired by the piece of sweet flowery patterned paper from my October Afternoon Thrift Shop 8x8 pad. I added some kraft cardstock into the mix because my fellow Babe Jeanie has a That's Krafty challenge over on her blog. It's simple...just use some kraft cardstock on your creation. I even used kraft ribbon too! Oh, and the layout is the Sweet Stop Sketch, SSS53, from last week. The flowers were punched from cardstock and I added some light amber Bonbons to the centers.

Next week's Bellarific Friday Challenge is a colour challenge...chocolate, soft pink and celery green. Use any Stamping Bella image along with these colours to create your project then email a photo to Em by next Thursday to be included in the Friday round-up. You could win Bella Bucks just for playing along.

Don't forget to hop over to Bloggabella to see this week's flowery creations and leave some love while you're there for a chance to win Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bee Happy it's Release Day!!!

Woo Hoo...It's release day at Taylored Expressions!!! Today the Baker's Dozen is sharing two new Father's Day a-la-carte images and a recap of the super sweet sets we shared over the past two days. All the new products are available now in the TE Store and be sure to check out the Fresh Out of the Oven category too for more new things.

The first card I want to share today uses one of the new Father's Day a-la-carte images, Real Classic. This car is amazing and comes with two sentiments too!

I used the In The Kitchen Project Pantry for this card...see, I told you I'd use it for a masculine card! The colours and patterns work well for just about any occasion, not just for Cuppie in the Kitchen! I started by stamping the card with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream (included in the Project Pantry) then I coloured it with copics. I added some sparkle to the chrome parts with my clear Spica glitter pen then gave the windshield and headlights a glossy shine with my clear Glaze pen. The layout is Mojo137.

I added stitching and piercing for interest and used my copic Multiliner to spell out DAD on the license plate. The sentiment fit perfectly in the largest size of my Spellbinders double ended tags and I added two pewter brads to finish it.

This next card is just buzzing with cuteness, in my humble opinion!!! I used Garden Party Critters and the Garden Party Project Pantry along with a piece of kraft cardstock from the In the Kitchen Project Pantry for the bee hive.

The bees are pretty basic but I added some sparkle to the black parts of their bodies with my pitch black Spica glitter pen then coloured the wings with my clear Spica glitter pen...fun! The real star is the bee hive though. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black onto kraft several times then cut out the different layers a popped them on foam tape for dimension. Then I added some shading with Copic markers. I just love how this hive turned out...doesn't it look like a hive of activity with all those sweet bees buzzing around!

I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch, MTSC72, for the layout and made the cute bow with my Bow Easy...I still use it all the time even though I may not always mention it! I couldn't resist adding a bee to the center of the bow and of course, no flying bee is complete without a trail of Crystal Twinkles!!!

So there you have it...this month's fabulous release!!! You can see more of the Father's Day a-la-carte images on the rest of the Baker's Dozen blogs along with more projects with the sets we already shared.

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Sandra MacLean-Guest designer for May-June
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Hangin' Out in the Kitchen Sneak Peeks

It's day two of sneak peeks from Taylored Expressions and we have a sweet line-up for you today...two new sets and another Project Pantry! Everything will be available in the TE Store tomorrow starting at 8am PST.

The first project I'm sharing today uses the new set Hangin' Out. This set was a concept by our very own Sankari and illustrated by Nancy McKinney as part of the Whimsical Wishes line.

I decided to jazz up a canvas tote for my mom...she carries the clothes pins from the house to the clothes line with every load of laundry. After watching this colouring on fabric tutorial on Sherrie Siemens' blog I set to work.

The canvas bag I picked up at Michael's isn't a very smooth surface so I wasn't sure how it would work, but I love the result! I lined up the images on a large clear block then stamped them all at once onto the canvas bag using SU black craft ink. When the ink dried I heat set it with my iron. Then I coloured the images with Copic markers...very patiently because the ink spreads along the fibers in the fabric. Then I hand-stitched the clothes line with linen thread and added buttons to the poles. This clothes pin bag is so much prettier than the plastic bucket my mom was using!

My next project takes us from the laundry room to the kitchen with Cuppie in the Kitchen and the In The Kitchen Project Pantry. Cuppie is cooking up all sorts of fun things in this set but I decided to use the cookie image...I love cookies!!!

I used SC277 for the layout. First I stamped Cuppie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream (included in the In The Kitchen Project Pantry) then I stamped it again onto kraft cardstock from the Project Pantry so I could paper piece the cookies. The rest of the image is coloured with copics then cut out with rectangle Nestabilities.

I punched the sentiment (which reads "life is short eat dessert first!" and I'm totally on board with that sentiment! LOL!!) with my SU modern label punch and added two Tiny Twinkles to the ends. I love the colours and patterned papers in the In The Kitchen Project Pantry, and you'll see in my post tomorrow that I used them for a masculine card too! Stop by Taylor's blog to see the full In The Kitchen Project Pantry kit.

The Project Pantry kits are available for purchase individually for $22.95 or you can bundle this kit with Cuppie in the Kitchen for just $41.50 until May 9th only. After May 9th the bundle will be the regular price of $44.90. The great thing is all the Project Pantry kits are completely separate from the Key Ingredients Subscription so anyone can purchase them starting tomorrow at 8am PST.

Now let's hop around to the rest of the Baker's Dozen to see what everyone cooked up today with Hangin' Out, Cuppie in the Kitchen, and the In The Kitchen Project Pantry.

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
• Sankari Wegman
• and Taylor VanBruggen

Tomorrow is release day and I'll have another new A-la-carte image to share so be sure to pop in.
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Garden Party Sneak Peeks

It's day one of sneak peeks from Taylored Expressions. The stamps and supplies you see today will be available in the TE Store starting Friday, May 7th at 8am PST. Today the Baker's Dozen is introducing a brand new stamp line created by Taylor herself, called "TE Stamps"! To kick off this line, Taylor designed and illustrated two sweet coordinating sets, Garden Party Blooms and Garden Party Critters along with our first big background stamp, Cloudy Days. The background stamp is a nice large size, 5.75 inches square so it'll cover even large square cards. The Garden Party sets include a fun mix of whimsical images in both bold and outline style so you can either whip up a quick card with the bold images or take a little more time to colour the outline images.

But wait, there's another new product line to tell you about...Project Pantry! When you're cooking you head to the pantry for the perfect ingredients, right? Well Taylored Expressions is satisfying the ingredient list for your creativity with a new line of kits called the Project Pantry!!! These kits are a variation of the popular Key Ingredients kits and Taylored Card Kits. We'll introduce new Project Pantry kits each month at release time and you'll have the option of purchasing them with or without the stamps.

The first card I'm sharing today is a quick one using the bold images from Garden Party Blooms and the Garden Party Project Pantry.

I used chalk inks in yellow ochre, tangerine, aquamarine and olive pastel to ink the images then stamped them onto Choice Buttercream (included in the Garden Party Project Pantry). I used this week's Card Positioning System sketch, CPS165, for the layout and this week is sponsored by Taylored Expressions! My Big Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities made an appearance on this card...love them! Aren't the colours in the Garden Party Project Pantry so much fun! I added some stitching, a strip of grass punched with my MS grass border punch and two Crystal Twinkles then called it done!

Next I inked up some of the critters from Garden Party Critters with Memento Tuxedo Black and stamped them onto Choice Buttercream. I used my Garden Party Project Pantry again for this card.

The images are coloured with copics and I added some sparkle to the bee's wings with my clear Spica glitter pen. The image is cut out with circle Nestabilities. The layout for this card is TESC111. I used the Cloudy Days background stamp for the strip along the left side to show you that you don't always have to use a background stamp for a background!

The Garden Party Project Pantry is full of wonderful card-making supplies for only $22.95. Taylor will be sharing all the details of today's Project Pantry kit on her blog. Or you can bundle it with Garden Party Blooms and Garden Party Critters for just $59.95 and save about 10%, but only until May 9th...after that the bundle will be the regular price of $66.85. There are so many fun sentiments in these sets that they'll quickly become favourites in your collection for just about any occasion.

Now let's go see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has cooked up with Garden Party Blooms, Garden Party Critters and the Garden Party Project Pantry kit.

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Butching
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• and Taylor VanBruggen
• 
  
• Sneak peeks continue tomorrow with two more fun sets and another Project Pantry kit.
• Thanks for stopping by!
• Karen

Mother, defined

I saw this fun layout on the Paper Dolls challenge blog and thought it would work perfectly with the  wonderful Mother Definition from Stamping Bella. Have you read it? I know...it's a definition, but it's quite a nice sentiment and this is the card I'm sending to my mom for Mother's Day.

I know the green flower looks like it's really "in your face" but for some reason it's showing up quite a bit brighter in the photo than it does on the real card. I tried playing around with the colours in Photoshop but it didn't seem to make a difference. Instead, just imagine it's the same colour as the green in the patterned paper, which is a mix from the Quite Contrary collection. The pink cardstocks are Prism frosted pink and intense pink. The sentiment is popped on foam tape for a little dimension and I also stitched around the patterned panels for interest.

This week's Bellarific Friday Challenge is All About Flowers!!! Use anything with flowers, embellishments, paper, Stamping Bella stamps and email your submission to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up. Oh, and of course there's some Bella Bucks for one lucky challenge participant, so get your flowers out and play along!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Sentiment

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC67. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

For my card today I decided to make something completely outside my normal style. This idea came to me as soon as I saw this week's sketch. I recalled seeing a twisted ribbon flower tutorial on someone's blog several months ago (sorry, I can't recall who you are, but if it's you, please let me know so I can give proper credit) and knew it would be perfect for this sketch. Plus, my Signature Greetings from Papertrey Ink arrived this week and these sentiments are pretty enough to take center stage on a card.

I stamped the sentiment with chocolate craft ink and embossed it with clear detail powder to give it a little more presence. I used my corner chomper to chomp the top right corner of the white panel then did a little paper piercing border. The white panel is layered onto Prism frosted pink (which I ran through my textile Cuttlebug folder) and chocolate chip. As if there wasn't already enough texture with the flower and cuttlebug folder, I wanted the ribbon strips to have some interest so I pleated the green one and stitched it "saddle stitch style" before adding two ribbon leaves. I tried adding different elements to the flower center but nothing looked as good as the plain flower.

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation to Karen's blog. Now it's time to see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers created with this week's sketch.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen