Friends

Making friends for the world to see
Let the people know you got what you need
With a friend at hand you will see the light
If your friends are there then every thing's all right

OK. I know. You have to be a diehard Elton John fan to know those lyrics. So, I am. (Such a fan, in fact, that I had my firstborn on Elton's birthday. Just sayin')

I made this sweet card for this week's retro sketches challenge. Here's the sketch:

 

And here's my card.

 

(Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Sweet Essentials; Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush; Card Stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Blossom Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Burlap Trim, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls)

I used the Envelope Punch Board to round the corners on the card, the tag, and the Very Vanilla panel.

CASEing Minders!

At last year's Stampin' Up convention, I stalked met one of my fave stampers, the famous Minders (aka Mindy Backes)! She makes awesome art, which you can see at her blog Bada-Bing! Paper-Crafting! I was thrilled that Mindy had one of her cards leftover and that she swapped with me. I've had her card on my own throw-back Pinterest board (an actual ribbon board) ever since. I look at it quite often and think I ought to CASE it. Well, I finally did!

This week's Fab Friday Color Challenge (38) was the perfect opportunity to CASE Mindy's card. 
 

Mindy's card used different colors, but I love the design elements she used. Here's Mindy's card.

All images copyright Stampin' Up Artwork by Mindy Backes

Here's my not-as-wonderful CASE of Mindy's card, using the Fab Friday colors.

 

(Stamp Sets: Six-Sided Sampler, Yippee-Skippee!, Papillion Potpourri; Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding; Card Stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding, Sahara Sand; Accessories: Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Pistachio Pudding Ruffle Stretch Trim, Tea Lace Paper Doily, Chalk Talk Framelits, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Baked Brown Sugar and Pistachio Pudding Stampin' Write Markers, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones)

I used the Six-Sided Sampler set and the Honeycomb Embossing folder. I colored the Yippee-Skippee! stamp with Baked Brown Sugar and Pistachio Pudding markers and then stamped onto Sahara Sand. The tag is cut from the Chalk Talk Framelits. I liked the way Mindy added some bling to her card, so I followed suit.

Thanks for the inspiration Mindy!!

Exciting News! #SUConvention2014

I'm so excited!! I'm all registered for the 2014 Stampin' Up convention in July. I can't wait! I have my room reserved at the funky Kimpton Hotel. I'm signed up for a Splitcoast Stampers all-day UNWIND stamping event the day before convention starts. All I have left to do is make my flight reservations--and I have a $500 voucher from last year when I volunteered to get bumped from my flight home because the plane was too heavy to take off in the 110+ degrees. (No, I wasn't the only one who got bumped. It wasn't ME,personally, that made the flight overweight. They actually took half the passengers off!)

I'm also registered for the new Stampin' Up catalog reveal party on April 28th. They're revealing the new catalog--to Stampin' Up demonstrators--at movie theaters all over the country. I think that's a cool idea and I know Stampin' Up will do it right! My BFF Lynn and I are going together.

I'll be tweeting live from both the new catalog reveal party (what they will let us reveal; I'm sure there will be some secrets) and I'll be tweeting live from the convention in July, too. I'm starting to use Twitter for SU news. And if you follow me by the end of this week (Saturday April 12 at midnight EDT) and I get 20 followers this week, I'll enter your name in a random drawing. The prize is 5 hand-stamped cards of your choice from my blog!!

Follow me on Twitter at @kkstamps.

Oh, and I have another bit of exciting news to share....but I can't just yet. You'll have to keep reading the blog to find out what that might be!!

Monochromatic Bird

Anyone who knows me know that my favorite color is black (it's so slimming!) Actually, I like black because it goes with everything. It can be elegant (think: little black dress) and it can be grungy (think: punk). Black also enhances any color with which it is paired and really makes the color pop. After the next spring rain, take a look and see what I mean. The rain will make the tree trunks darker and the leaves will seem so much more vivid.

For this week's Paper Craft Crew Sketch challenge, I grabbed a stamp set that I love, but never know how to use: Papaya Collage. The set has so many cool elements.  I've never inked up the bird and I thought it would look great in Basic Black on Very Vanilla.  I got out the Modern Medley DSP and discovered a piece I'd never used that had birds on it! That was enough to get me going on my creation.

Here's the Paper Craft Crew Sketch (PCCS #87) for the week



And here's my card.

(Stamp Sets: Papaya Collage, Sweet Essentials; Ink: Stazon Jet Black; Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black; DSP: Modern Medley; Accessories: Ovals and Banners Framelits; Oval and Hexagon Punches; Antique Brads)

I wanted to use Basic Black to mat the main image and I knew I had a 1/4 piece laying around on my mess of a desk--when I realized I was using it for one of the layers. So I cut the Basic Black oval out of the layer since all you see is the very edge!

For the  banners, I used another sheet of Modern Medley DSP.  I thought using the Oval Punch for the sentiment would echo the Oval Framelits used for the bird image. The Antique Brads are my favorite embellishments, ever! I've been hoarding them--I can't believe I used two on this card!!!

Yikes! Where does the time go?

Ever had one of those days, weeks, months....lives where time seems to go so fast you can't catch your breath? Yeah, you say. Welcome to my world. I think we all have those days. I usually "catch up" on my stamping over the weekend, but I spent Saturday with my darling daughter at a volleyball tournament, squeezed in a family movie night watching "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (spoiler alert: AWESOME!!). Then Sunday was an inspiring worship service with Keith Lancaster leading our singing and our preach returning to the pulpit for the first time since starting cancer treatments. Followed by a soccer game, finishing up my Stampin' Up taxes (ugh!), and an evening Bible study. By the time I got home, I was too pooped to stamp.Well, Monday was a full day of work, followed by a volleyball club board meeting, then I had to run some errands and I didn't get home until 9:30. I'm still too pooped to stamp, but I made quick card any way because I made a commitment that I'm going to blog every weekday this year. So here it is, almost 11:00 and I'm keeping my commitment.

This card was made for another of the Create with Connie and Mary challenges. It's sketch challenge this week. Thank goodness it's a simple sketch.  Here's the sketch...




....and here's my too pooped to stamp card. My DD deemed it "really cute" without prompting. I hope you enjoy it. And I hope I have a little more time to stamp tomorrow night so I can make a few things in "reserve" for the rest of the week's blog entries.

(Stamp Set: Birthday Cake; Ink: Pacific Point; Card Stock: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Pacific Point; Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder, Modern Label and Word Window Punches; Pacific Point Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Pacific Point 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Pacific Point Candy Dots)

 Nighty-night!

It's a Faithful INKspirations Color Challenge!

Woot! I have some great colors for you in this fortnight's color challenge. I hope you'll play along with me.

As usual my inspiration comes from the great website Design Seeds, which shows two color pallets every single day. My inspiration for this challenge comes from the pallet posted on March 29, 2014, called Chi Tones.

(Website http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/chi-tones3)

Isn't that puppy cute? Approximate Stampin' Up Colors from left to right: Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, and Crumb Cake. If you want to play along, post a link to your card at the InLinkz link at the bottom of this post. You can also email me a photo of your creation and I'll post it for you!!

Here's my creation. I totally CASEd a wonderful card made by Connie Babbert. It's such a wonderful layout that Connie even CASEd herself! I realized I haven't used Pear Pizzazz or Perfect Plum in quite a while. These are two of my favorite "standard colors" and I really like them together. I think using Very Vanilla on this card makes it so soft and sweet. And it's got polka dots galore, so that makes me happy.

I hope you'll play along!!

(Stamp Sets: Yippee-Skippee! Petite Petals; Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride; Card Stock: Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake; DSP: Modern Medley; Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Ovals Framelits, Hexagon, Petite Petals, Itty Bitty Shapes Punches, Basic Pearls)

 

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

I'm so jazzed about Stampin' Up's new Hip, Hip Hooray Card Kit. For a mere $19.95 (plus shipping and tax, of course), you get ALL the supplies you need to make 20 super cute note cards!! My BFF and Stampin' Up downline, Lynn, bought the kit for me as a thank you for helping her with a stamp camp. What a wonderful gift! (Hint, hint!) Who wouldn't want to make quick and easy hand-made cards to give to friends and family? The only thing you need is a pair of scissors. Everything else is in the kit...including instructions (which you won't really need, but, hey.)

Look at what you get.

Here's a close-up of the stamps and Basic Gray Stampin' Spot and the acrylic block that also comes in the kit.

And here are two cards I put together in less than 10 minutes. Cute as a button, aren't they? Remember, you can order the Hip, Hip Hooray Card Kit (item number 134998) from my online store any time--or contact me to host a workshop and you and your guests can make and take your own Hip, Hip Hooray cards--and more!!

Addicted to Wheels

I've gotta admit:  When I saw the codeword WHEELS for this fortnight's Addicted to CAS challenge, I thought, "Well, I guess I'll have to pull out Timeless Talk again." It's the only set I have that has anything at all to do with wheels. But I also have to admit, Timeless Talk was the first set to go on my wishlist when the 2013-14 catalog came out. It was vintage, but it was fresh. That's kind of my style. Plus I really liked the sample cards shown on page 18 in the catalog--they're just one bright color on whisper white. Totally CAS! Here's my take on that idea.

(Stamp Sets: Timeless Talk, Pennant Parade; Ink: Calypso Coral; Card Stock: Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Whisper White; Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder, Calypso Coral Chevron Ribbon, Calypso Coral Bakers' Twine)

I had some Calypso Coral Chevron Ribbon, so that decided my color scheme. I also had some Calypso Coral Bakers' Twine to add to the mix. I used the Chevron Embossing Folder on the top half of the card to mimic the ribbon. When I was about finished, I had a brainstorm to add a teeny, tiny sentiment and I found just the right one in the Pennant Parade set. Cracks me up that "Wish Big" is so tiny! I used a panel of Basic Gray to give just a little bit of pizzazz and pop to the monochromatic theme.

Breaking (Stampin') News! I'm a Featured Artisan!

You would not believe how surprised, humbled, and honored I was to learn that I'm a featured artisan on the Paper Crafting Crew Challenges Blog.  This card was voted in the Top 4 and is featured on the PPCC Challenge blog. I'm so stoked!!!

Life Isn't Perfect

Life isn't perfect--but that's what makes it interesting, right? Sometimes stamping isn't perfect either. In fact, most times, stamping is imperfect. It's those imperfections that make our artwork interesting. What's the motto? There are no stamping mistakes, only stamping opportunities. 

So I appreciate the sentiment from the Perfect Pennants set that says "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful!" I guess I'm the little apple that didn't fall too far from my mother's tree: she always had a positive attitude and always looked on the bright side. (And, man, that was totes annoying when I was a teenager.) But she was right about not sweating the small stuff. If you dwell on the imperfections, you'll never see the wonders of this life that God has blessed us with. 

I grabbed the Gorgeous Grunge set and thought I'd just grunge up the card in this week's colors from the Create with Connie & Mary color challenge. When I first saw the colors, I thought they were yucky imperfect together, but when I saw the wonderful creations from the design team, I was wowed!! Who would have thought to put together Pacific Point, Summer Starfruit, and Smoky Slate? Connie & Mary of course!



Here's my wondrous work of imperfect. And look, ma, no ribbon, no buttons, no bling! Just direct-to-paper and a couple of layers.

(Stamp Sets: Perfect Pennants, Gorgeous Grunge; Inks:Summer Starfruit, Pacific Point, Smoky Slate; Card Stock: Pacific Point, Smoky Slate, Whisper White; Accessories: NONE!!!)

Sale-a-Bration Pop-Up Box Card

Today is the last day of Sale-a-Bration. You can STILL order on my online store and get a FREE SAB item with every $50 you spend. You also have time to subscribe to My Paper Pumpkin and get a FREE set of In Color Marks. Time runs out for both deals at midnight (MT) tonight (March 31, 2014). 

I'm always a little sad when SAB is over. I fall in love with the products and then they have to be put away. I always hope a couple of items will carry over to the new catalog, but we have to wait to see. Personally, I'm hoping the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder and the Banner Punch carry over. (Oh please, oh please!)

So for my last SAB hurrah, I created one of those pop-up box cards, AKA explosion box cards. Our office is going to give our administrative secretary a gift card for Secretary's Day later this month. I said I'd make a card--and I made a doozy! I've seen lots of these pop-up box cards and wanted to learn how to make one myself. I went to a number of websites and watched a number of You Tube videos and used a hybrid of instructions to make my card. I think it turned out pretty well, don't you?

(Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Layered Labels, Petite Petals, Papillion  Potpourri; Inks: Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit; Card Stock: Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Blossom, Elegant Butterfly, Petite Petals, Oval, 3/4" Circle Punches, Apothecary Accents Framelit Dies, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Basic Pearls)

I used SAB Sweet Sorbet DSP because I love, love, love that paper. The colors are so Spring-y and, well, sweet. And I thought adding flowers from the Mixed Bunch and Petite Petals sets would make a lasting flower arrangement for our administrator. I showed the card to my work group today--and even the "boys" were impressed--I'm guessing that's because it looks like it's an engineering marvel! Little do they know--it's all about the tools!

Pretty in Pink

I'm a sucker for pink. Now, I'd never wear pink, well, only occasionally. I'm not really a girlie-girl. But there's something about pink that makes me happy when I stamp. I particularly like to pair pink with a darker color--especially black. This week's Nacho Average Challenge combines three colors of pink, including one that I rarely use--Rich Razzleberry. Lookie:

 

Aren't they pretty together?! I love this combo. As I was driving the girls to volleyball practice last night, I was thinking how I could use the colors without getting too garish. I knew I wanted to use a neutral. The Rich Razzleberry is dark enough not to have to fall back to my fave neutral, Basic Black. So I went to Bizarro World and used Whisper White!

So here's what I made for the challenge. I had the Layered Labels set out for another project (that you'll see next week if I can pull it together). I went with a polka dot theme:  Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder and the polka dotted flowers from the Petite Petals set. Even the "for you" medallion from the Layered Labels set has polka dots! I only wish the Rich Razzleberry ribbon were dotted. Oh well. I added some small Basic Pearls to the flower centers. I started off with only one pearl in the center, but they were too small, so I settled on three per flower. I curled the ends of the flowers a bit, to give them some dimension and movement. I stamped the medallion in Rose Red and again in Blushing Bride. I cut out the "for you" sentiment with the Oval Punch and layered it together.

(Stamp Sets: Layered Labels, Petite Petals; Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Rose Red, Blushing Bride; Card Stock: Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White; Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits, Oval Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls, Rich Razzleberry Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon)

"Ugly Paper" Challenge

One of my fave stampers, Lyssa Zwolnek, has an entry on her blog today called "What To Do With Ugly Paper."  One of the sheets of the Sale-a-Bration Sweet Sorbet is not like the others. I can see why some would call it "ugly," but I actually like it. I've seen some great samples using that particular sheet of Sweet Sorbet. Lyssa has some wonderful examples, too!

This week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge is a sketch challenge. I decided I'd follow Lyssa's lead and see what I could do with that "ugly" paper for the PCCCS #86. Here's the sketch.



I used the "ugly" paper as my accent piece and built the rest of the card from there. The banners are pieces of the other Sweet Sorbet sheets. The Champagne Glimmer Paper circles are from this month's Paper Pumpkin! I think they add a nice bit of bling.

(Stamp Sets: Label Love, Timeless Talk; Inks: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party; Card Stock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White; DSP: Sweet Sorbet. Accessories: Artisan Label and Banner Punches, In Color Boutique Details)