I am playing along with Simon's Wednesday Challenge to make an Easter card or a card featuring sweets. Well, my niece is pretty sweet so there ya go. Basic Grey products are being featured this week so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ink up my brand new Capture Prism background stamp which is part of Hero Art's Basic Grey collection--absolutely love it! I got a BUNCH of Hero Arts goodies from Jennifer McGuire as a 'thank you' for helping her with her swatch book files so I'm in heaven right now :-) Thanks to my friend Kim for these CA-YUTE elephant stamps and die cuts from Lawn Fawn--oh my they're adorable. Thought they would make for a sweet card for my little KellBelle. I stamped them with Adirondack ink and colored them in with Copics. I then inked up the background on the card panel using a sponge dauber with ink and Simon's Falling Hearts stencil--a nice subtle detail. I have yet to try embossing paste with any of my stencils so maybe that will be a goal for later this week. I used the folded banner die from SSS and the sentiment was a perfect fit. I mounted that onto my stamped panel and then popped that entire piece up using Stampin' Up! dimensionals. I adhered the smaller elephant with Tombow Mono adhesive and then popped the other elephant up for some added dimension. This card was a fun one to make!
I know--elephants don't exactly scream 'Easter' but here's a card I'm sending to my niece in California for Easter. One would *think* that I would have my TWIN sister's birthday card ready and in the mail so that she would get it on time for our birthday later this week but that would just make too much sense. So, instead she will get a late birthday card and Kellie will luck out and get an Easter goody or two along with this card. My sister was telling me that the last card I sent her with some other stuff was a bit of a shocker to my niece because there was actually nothing in the box for her. You see, 99.99% of the time they receive a package from me, it mainly stuff for my niece and maybe something thrown in for my sister. So, I would feel really bad sending something for only Kim twice in a row so don't worry, Kellie--Emo will not disappoint you again!
I am playing along with Simon's Wednesday Challenge to make an Easter card or a card featuring sweets. Well, my niece is pretty sweet so there ya go. Basic Grey products are being featured this week so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ink up my brand new Capture Prism background stamp which is part of Hero Art's Basic Grey collection--absolutely love it! I got a BUNCH of Hero Arts goodies from Jennifer McGuire as a 'thank you' for helping her with her swatch book files so I'm in heaven right now :-) Thanks to my friend Kim for these CA-YUTE elephant stamps and die cuts from Lawn Fawn--oh my they're adorable. Thought they would make for a sweet card for my little KellBelle. I stamped them with Adirondack ink and colored them in with Copics. I then inked up the background on the card panel using a sponge dauber with ink and Simon's Falling Hearts stencil--a nice subtle detail. I have yet to try embossing paste with any of my stencils so maybe that will be a goal for later this week. I used the folded banner die from SSS and the sentiment was a perfect fit. I mounted that onto my stamped panel and then popped that entire piece up using Stampin' Up! dimensionals. I adhered the smaller elephant with Tombow Mono adhesive and then popped the other elephant up for some added dimension. This card was a fun one to make!
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I enjoyed my Clean and Simple 3 online card class so much that I am going back and doing the first two C&S classes at my leisure (thanks, JM!). Gradient stamping was a technique shown by Jennifer McGuire in C&S 2. I like the ombre effect as that trend has been seen pretty much everywhere the past couple of years. I decided to put my pinks to work as I set out to create this background for A Blog Named Hero's 'Build a Background' Challenge. I didn't seem to get as much variation in my ink colors as I thought I would and I will say that this card coupled with my swatch book has me thinking that either Stampin' Up! inks are practically identical to one another in some cases OR I am not really cleaning my stamps well enough in between colors. Of course there were some instances on this card where I didn't clean the stamp in between inks intentionally so that my colors could transition gradually but still...am really surprised at how similar some of the inks are to one another. I feel that the photograph makes the card look more red than pink, but my eyes are also getting old so it may look this red in person :-) Product notes: Also used a retired SU! ink called Regal Rose. Would use Stampin' Up!'s Ultrasmooth White next time since I ended up using the stamped piece as a layered panel--originally I thought I would have a white base which is why I used the Neenah. Check it out--Jennifer McGuire has added all of the swatch files I was telling you all about earlier this week! I am most excited about the Word editable for those who do not have Photoshop. I kept seeing people comment that they couldn't use the Photoshop editable so I worked to try and find a solution using Word since it's a more common program. It's a little more 'glitchy' than using Photoshop but it should work. If you want to use the same font that Jennifer uses on her files, you'll need to purchase it or find a free download--it's called Code. The Stampin' Up! Inks have been updated to accurately reflect the current collections so the In Colors won't be duplicated for those colors that are now part of the current collections. For other companies I helped her complete, I mainly went with what I could find online so there might be some colors that I missed. Hopefully with the editable files Jennifer shared, people will be able to fill in any gaps that are missing. There are a bunch of other ink companies we worked on as well so hopefully you'll have everything you need to make your own swatch book. Love all of the organizing solutions she shares on her blog! What an awesome experience it was for me to help her with this project. As I mentioned before, it's really inspiring to see how much she cares about her blog readers--she truly wanted to provide everything they were asking for with these downloads. So generous! She's sending me some more happy mail which should get here later this week--woohoo!!! Now, let me see if I can actually get my own swatch book completed sometime soon :-)
Michael Collins is a guy I never really knew personally--met him in passing once when he was probably around 14 or so. His mom Kelly and I worked together at a local scrapbook and stamp store before my daughter was born. Kelly is the kind of mom who just beams with pride and love when talking about her kids--didn't matter if it was something good or bad her kids were up to, her love for her family was evident in almost everything she ever said and did. When I heard about a local drunk driving accident, I was upset. When I started seeing pictures pop up on Facebook of Kelly and Michael, I was sick and heartbroken. I couldn't believe that this victim with the serious brain injuries I had been reading about for a couple days was Kelly's son. The hashtag #MCSTRONG started appearing everywhere as friends and family took to social media to pray and show their support for Michael. Sadly, after several days and no chance for recovery, Michael passed away on April 2nd. He blessed many with his tissue and organ donation which was a final act of love and compassion. His legacy has truly been inspiring. Countless peers of his are involved with Random Acts of Kindness campaigns in his honor, Designated Driver schedules are being made and many are signing up for organ donation themselves. The call to action that so many in our community are feeling right now shows how much Michael and his family have impacted others in a positive way. The countless people who showed up yesterday for Michael's visitation was a humbling reminder of how one person can make such a difference in others' lives. As I sat waiting in the church, I looked around and saw an entire community of people wanting to pay their respects for various reasons. I saw how Kelly, her husband and son stood there for hours graciously accepting hugs, stories and handshakes. Two guys next to me looked rather uncomfortable in their dress clothes which looked a little worn and outdated. As we made our way up to see the family, I overheard one of the young men telling Kelly that they went to high school with Michael and that while they were not close friends, they came to pay their respects and wanted her to know what a great person Michael was. One boy explained that Michael always had a big, warm smile on his face and was just always inviting and welcoming to everyone--always made sure everyone was included. The fact that these guys came and waited two hours just to tell her this about her son really made me think about all of the people in that room who had come and gone and the stories they had to share and the impact Michael made on others simply by being kind. We can all take a page out of Michael's book that is for sure. First up--a quick and easy card using Kristina Werner's Happy Every Day stamp set. I wanted to make a birthday card for Simon Says Stamp!'s Wednesday Challenge: Happy Birthday! They are celebrating 5 years of challenges and giving way a $100 gift card so you know I had to try my luck with this one. I chose this set (Happy Every Day) because it's the FIRST set that I ever ordered from Simon Says Stamp. I have loved Kristina Werner for years but as I kinda fell off the stamping grid there for a while, I missed that she had begun designing products for SSS. I happened to pop by her blog one night and saw this card which I fell in love with so I ordered that set and the rest is history. Now, I'm a Simon junkie. I love this big, bold sentiment and the other versatile pieces included in the set--the stripes are a nice easy touch to add with almost any card. Now, clearly I did not clean my strip stamp very well the last time I used it as my ink has a pinkish undertone...grrr...but I left it as is since I didn't have any other cardstock or inked pieces it needed to match. If I were to make this card again, I would bump down the sentiment and stripes just a tad and use smaller enamel dots...live and learn! Since I had the set out anyway, I decided to make a second card using the same sentiment. One can never have enough birthday cards. I had this new Kaleidescope Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! that I wanted to use so I chose a couple of patterns to layer along the bottom and then popped the sentiment above mounted on some Bermuda Bay textured cardstock left over from a few years ago. I wish they still offered the textured papers but being the hoarder I am, I have plenty left of this particular color. I used my little Sale-a-Bration banner punch to add a little accent flag to the side of the sentiment--love that punch! I could not find my thin black Washi tape so I added a black line using one of my American Crafts journaling pens across the top of the papers for a little finishing touch. Make sure you check out Madeline's card for the challenge over on her new blog :-) Back with another card for Simon's Work It Wednesday challenge to make a card inspired by spring. I am partial to this color combo no matter what the time of year is, but it does really evoke spring and Easter eggs, doesn't it? I have never been one to use stencils but I have recently picked up a couple as I've seen them used so much these days. I keep threatening to bust out my embossing paste so having these stencils will hopefully encourage me to do that. For this card, I just used sponge daubers to ink the large dot stencil to create my background. I used the daubers to ink the edge of the card and sentiment panel as well. The little enamel dots on the sentiment panel are a new favorite--must get more of those. They STICK so be careful when placing them--I had trouble bumping one to line up and so next time I will definitely be a little more careful as I am placing those--maybe even use my nifty tweezers or something! Off to sub an extra couple of classes to make some $$$ to pay for all of these purchases and to buy some more enamel dots :-) I wanted to participate in Simon's 'Work it Wednesday' for March--the challenge was to make a card that was inspired by spring. I had just gotten a bunch of new Simon goodies in the mail so I was a little overwhelmed with all of my choices! That's a good problem though so I'm not complaining :-) I thought about spring and immediately thought of spring break, which led me to thinking of flying to somewhere warm which then led me to wishing I could have visited my grandpa in Florida. I decided to make him a card and to let him know that I hope to fly out to see him later this summer! I used some new patterned paper that came with my monthly card kit from Simon and then I also used my new Wink of Stella brush to add a little shimmer to the plane. I think I'm in love with this product and will have to get a few extra colors! The stamps are from Watt's Up! I was very excited that my swatch set of stamps finally arrived so that I could start on my swatch book! Jennifer McGuire posted hers a few weeks ago and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make one. I found the page protectors a couple of weeks ago at a local coin shop so those were ready to go. I only got a page of pinks/reds completed but I hope to get the entire book done next week. I will say, I was surprised that several of Stampin' Up!'s inks were so similar--I almost feel like my Real Red is way off from what it should be. I will look in the morning and see if there is any change once the ink has completely dried. Make sure you check out Jennifer's blog for a bunch of additional downloads for other ink companies. I am really excited to say that after some questions and comments back and forth, I ended up having the opportunity to help her add some of these files--very exciting! Words of advice: say yes if Jennifer McGuire asks for your help with something. She is so sweet and generous to boot! You come across so many bloggers in this industry, but a few really stand out and she is one of them. Her work speaks for itself but what really impresses me is how important her blog readers are to her. They ask, she listens and tries to provide them the best resources...FOR FREE!!! Very cool. Spring Break has flown right by and I'm feeling like I need some more time off so that I can get caught up on laundry and spring cleaning. We had much of our floors redone so our house is now in much disarray. Madeline has decided she wants to switch bedrooms so we worked on setting up her new closet which is smaller than her old closet. I love how she decorated the top of her storage unit with random knick-knacks. We are ordering new furniture for her so she is very excited to be getting a 'new' room. We figured this was a perfect time to go through all of the items in all of our bedrooms and purge. Decluttering is time-consuming, but I love the end result. We've been so busy that I had to burn the midnight oil just to get a little time to myself to craft. All of those goodies from my last order were just WAY too tempting! Thanks for stopping by! Since I just got a bunch of new Papertrey Ink products in the mail, I decided to participate in their Blog Hop this month. I adore the Wet Paint sentiment set that they just released. The font reminds me of the old Penny Black stamps I used to collect and even though I'm waiting on this Winnie and Walter set, I went ahead and added this one to my collection. I also got this Sketched Shape sets designed by Maile Belles that is very versatile. I bet I'll get a lot of use out of both of these! To make the card, I started with a Neenah Solar White 110# card base and masked it off with some Post-It tape. I then used an ink dauber to add some color (Audrey Blue from Simon Says Stamp! which might be my new favorite) around the edge of my rectangle and I pulled the color towards the center. I then stamped my Sketched Shape images using Audrey Blue and Doll Pink. I traced the rectangle using a Jolly Exakt Extra Fine pen before I carefully removed my Post-It tape. The sentiment was then stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black and then stamped over in clear embossing so I could add some black embossing powder. I felt like the embossing on its own did not give enough gloss and I seemed to have forgotten how my Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel worked so I covered the embossing with Stampin' Up!'s Crystal Effects. I was very pleased with the end result! Thanks for stopping by today :-) I was working on my card for Simon Says Stamp!'s glitter challenge and Madeline hopped in as well. Passing over the blog to her today so she can tell you about her card--enjoy! This is made by a 7 year old little girl.My name is Maddie.I LOVE to make cards like my mom.Some people might think the thing in the middle in the glitter is a flower but its not. its stars put in one BIG star.Its a birthday card just for kids!This might be a good card for your kids to start with if they want to try to make a card.Easy tips---1.glitter glue dots 2.stamps 3.little gem stickers Thanks for stopping by to hear from my amazing guest blogger. She makes her mama proud. She is asking to make her own blog so keep an eye out for HER blog coming soon! I've been wanting to make another card for the Simon Says Stamp! Wednesday Challenge: Glitter It. I've also been wanting to make a balloon-shaped card so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Since I've been short on time (FUN outing with my family and some neighborhood friends this weekend along with some renovations around the house and a crafty side-project), I decided to use some scraps I had left from my chevron card-making frenzy a couple of weeks ago. I used my balloon die from Simon Says Stamp! and cut out a card base by folding my card and running it through my Sizzix Big Shot with the top edge outside of the framelit. I hadn't made a shape card since this oldie but goodie from 2008! I love larger dies that are fun for shape cards. I saw this GORGEOUS card by Jennifer McGuire and knew I had to make a balloon card as well. Now, let's be honest...the chevron and glitter would make for a FUN Easter egg card!! I think if I cut off the tip of the balloon, replaced the black cardstock with white or Crumb Cake (kraft) and turned it around, I'd have a pretty 'egg'cellent card, don't you think?! HA! Madeline agreed with me that it looked like an Easter egg so I think we will make some for Easter so I will post those when we do :-). Edited: Added Clear Embossing The Dazzling Diamonds was getting everywhere after I made my card last night so this morning I decided to use the same embossing technique I learned last week to help 'seal' the glitter in place. Ah, a lot less mess now and the chevron pieces are a little less 'fuzzy' looking though the pictures don't seem to show much of a difference.
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AuthorKaren Kelly Archives
February 2016
CategoriesFavorite DesignersKristina Werner
Julie Ebersole Jennifer McGuire Cristina Kowalczyk Laura Bassen Emily Leiphart Shari Carroll Kelly Purkey Dawn McVey Debby Hughes Favorite Places to Spend $$$Published Work |