Best Birthday Yet

At CHA, I stopped at a make and take and got to play with the Knifty Knitter from Provo Craft. So cool! I had been admiring the look of these flowers in a Martha Stewart magazine, so to get one of these to bring home was fantastic! The flowers are larger, so I needed to make the card base 5.5x5.5.” It was fun to make my own embellishment. They are addicting. So addicting, that I have been finding more patterns online. Even one to make a whole blanket! :)

And yes, yarn is as addicting as paper! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Background Basics Diamonds, Big and Bold Wishes, Turning a New Leaf), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink (Stamper’s Select White, Smokey Shadow, Spring Moss), Patterned paper (Chatterbox), Ink (Versamark Watermark, Palette Landscape), Embossing Powder (Stampendous-Detail White), Brad (Basic Grey-Origins), Yarn (Michael’s), Knifty Knitter (Provo Craft)

Its here! Its here! Its finally here! My love for all things baking and cake decorating is huge, so when I saw the sequel to “Hello, Cupcake” was available, I grabbed my copy quick at Amazon.com.

This one is called, “What’s New Cupcake.” Its filled with fun and amazing cupcake designs. The best part about these books is, you can make all of these with candy you would find anywhere. Those ducks are donut holes and marshmallows frosted onto a cupcake. The whole thing was dipped in melted canned frosting. Isn’t that cool? If you are interested in baking, here are some posts of things that I have done in the past:

• Using Stamps To Make Chocolate Pieces
• Sundaes in a Box
• Baking With Impressabilities
• Brownie Pops and Shiny Cookies
• Blaze Orange Cupcakes
• Cupcake Mini Recipe Album

Hello dear!

The deer image from Pink Persimmon is so cute! There are actually three deer images in the Oh, Dear! Silhouette set. I stamped this deer with a glue ink pad and then applied Fun Flock. Once everything dried, then I carefully cut him out. The background image is from the same set. By stamping some of the leaves in green, I was able to make grass. The sentiment was stamped onto acetate and placed behind the frame I cut out. Cute set, huh?

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Pink Persimmon-Oh Dear Silhouette), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), Ink (Palette-Landscape, Spring Rain, L’Amour), Twine (Divine Twine), Fun Flock (Stampendous-Carmel Latte) Spellbinders die templates (Classic Ovals Large, Classic Scalloped Ovals Large)

for my friend

The Polka Dot Mushroom set from Pink Persimmon was a perfect match to the newer Basic Grey Origins papers. You can stamp the outlines only, or you can stamp the solid images and then add the outline. For the polka dots, on this particular mushroom, I stamped them onto text patterned paper. I cut them out and glued them over their matching dots on the yellow top. Pretty neat. Time consuming, but you know me, I love to cut things out!! :)

The circle frame was made from Spellbinders™ die templates. You can see a video tutorial I did on making frames HERE.

Did you have a good weekend? We did nothing as the little man and I are both feeling under the weather. Oh, well, sometimes doing nothing is good! :) Have a fantastic day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Pink Persimmon-Polka Dot Mushroom, Sweet Greetings), Ink (Stewart Superior Palette-Paris Lights, Burnt Umber, Jardin Moss), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Dark Chocolate), Patterned papers (Basic Grey Origins), Chipboard (American Crafts-Letterpressed Collection), Twine (Divine Twine), Punch (Martha Stewart), Spellbinders die templates (Classic Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large)

if friends were flowers

Out of all the cards I made for the Stampendous catalog, this one is my favorite. The colors, the simplicity, and that cute tag stamp were tons of fun to work with. The stamp set, Hand of Friendship, has a ton of great images to color and I couldn’t put it down! Hope these flowers brighten your day, my friends!

thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Stampendous-Hand of Friendship), Cardstock (Neenah Solar White) (Bazzill), Ink (Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black), Ribbon (Creative Impression), Twine (May Arts), Copics (Y15, YR04, RV29, YG03, YG25, G07), Spellbinders die template (Classic Rectangle Large)

The Scrap Review: Pink Paislee “Queen Bee”

Over at The Scrap Review, is my article and three layouts reviewing the newest line from Pink Paislee called, “Queen Bee.”

And if you leave a comment at The Scrap Review (NOT HERE) by midnight PST on Thursday, you have a chance to win the entire collection!!!

Here are a few peeks from my projects:

Close-up of the Borderlines Clear Stickers

Close-up of the Ribbon Pleats, Cork Buttons, and Bella Brads

Close-up of Punch Outs die cuts, Expressions Weathered Wood chipboard letters, Cork Buttons

Close-up of Punch Outs die cuts and Cork Buttons

And one last close-up of the Ribbon Pleats and Cork Buttons.

Stop on over to The Scrap Review and see the layouts, they are pictures that I have been waiting for the perfect papers to scrap!! thanks for stopping by!

JustRite Mega March Blog Hop

Welcome to the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop!!

As soon as I saw the “thank you for being my sunshine everyday” sentiment from the Romantic Sentiments set from JustRite, I had to make my favorite sunshine using Spellbinders™ die templates. :) Not to mention that the dies fit the stamps perfectly. One thing I have been experimenting with on my new shabby chic kick, is ink distressing in different colors. Instead of using brown, I grabbed grey ink, which worked better with the colors of the paper. I will have to stick this inside my hubby’s work bag one morning, because I always tell him he is my sunshine!! Enjoy the rest of the hop!!

All the details:

25 designers, FIVE shopping sprees each day!! No one knows where the prizes will be! Each day of the hop JustRite will have five Mystery Blog Candy Prizes hidden along the hop with a total retail value of $600. JustRite will randomly select five mystery blogs each day of the hop and randomly allocate each of the shopping sprees. For your chance to win, simply leave a little love (a comment) on each designer’s blog including the JustRite blog. The more designers you leave comments with, the better your chances of winning. Each day’s comments will remain open for three days. A winner from each of the mystery blogs’ comments will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Consult the listing of designers at the JustRite blog each day (each day’s designers will be different) and start out on your way! Beginning Friday, March 26, summaries of all the winners will be posted on the JustRite blog. Good luck to everyone and enjoy all the JustRite eye candy along the hop!

Today during the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop (Day One) JustRite and its sponsors will be giving away the following five prizes:

· $200 JustRite Shopping Spree

· $100 Spellbinders Shopping Spree

· $100 Stampers Dream Shopping Spree, and

· Two additional $100 JustRite Shopping Sprees!

Blog comments for Day One will be open until Thursday at 6pm EST. On Friday, JustRite will announce on their blog which five blogs have the mystery candy for Day One. You will need to go to the JustRite blog to determine where you need to go to find out if you are one of the five lucky winners.

Today’s Blog Hoppers:

JustRite Inspiration Blog

Becca Feeken

Tosha Leyendekker

Kazan Clark

Laurie Schmidlin

Kellie Fortin

Amy Sheffer

Jerri Jimenez

Denise Marzec

Michelle Rodgers

Stephanie Kraft

Sally Lynn MacDonald

Cindy Lawrence

Jenyfur Pohl

Silke Ledlow

Carolyn King

Dawn Easton

Holly Simoni

Julie Overby

Karen Maldonado

Colleen Schaan

Kimberly Crawford

Karen Taylor

Maren Benedict

Eli Harlan

Linda Beeson

thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (JustRite-Romantic Sentiments), Wood Handle (JustRite-1 5/8”), Patterned paper (Pink Paislee-Queen Bee 6x6), Ink (Palette Noir) (Colorbox Chalk Grey Whale), Spellbinders die templates (Classic Circles Large, Inverted Scalloped Circles Large, Labels 6, Labels 8)

shabby birthday

I was playing around with crazy ideas in my head one day, and this was the result. Wanting a shabby look, without having to do tons of distressing and what not, I decided to not completely ink up my Damask Designs images. It turned out pretty cool. And really “missing” a spot on the stamp, left me a perfect spot for the sentiment.

Did you have a wonderful weekend? I hope so!! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Damask Designs), Cardstock (Prism-Intense Kiwi, oh how I will miss thee…), Patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye), Ink (Stewart Superior Palette Beaux Arts Blue, Landscape), Ribbon (American Crafts), Lace (Wright’s), Twine (May Arts), Button (Blumenthal Lansing)

Video Tutorial: Emboss Resist

Welcome to the last day of the “week of heat embossing tutorials!” In case you missed it, here are links to Day One: The Basics, Day Two: Gradient Color, and Day Three: Create a Scene with Powders. And today is Emboss Resist. This is one my favorite embossing techniques. The possibilities are endless!! I must have made 6 cards with it in the last couple of weeks.

Here is the direct link: VIDEO

This is the butterfly I created in the video, die cut into a circle with Spellbinders™.

Well, that wraps up the week of embossing. I know it is something that all you stampers know how to do, but I hope that you picked up some new ideas or just got inspired to use up some of your stash of supplies!!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:Stamps (Stampendous-Butterfly Beauties, Formal Frames), Ink (Tsukineko Versamark Watermark) (Ranger-Distress Inks Broken China), Embossing Powders (Stampendous-Clear Detail), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Stamper’s Select White, Dark Chocolate), Patterned paper (Basic Grey-Nook and Pantry), Spellbinders die templates (Classic Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large, Label Trio)

****And for those of you who asked, the storage container I am using for my embossing powders, is from Scrapcessories. You can see more about the container, photos and all, on this post HERE.

Video Tutorial: Creating a Scene with Powders

Day three! Are you inspired? I hope so!! And in case you missed it, here are links to Day One: The Basics and Day Two: Gradient Color Embossing.

Today’s technique is Creating a Scene with Embossing Powders. Its basically Fran’s Painting With Powder Technique. Fran is amazing, please check out her video!!

Here is the direct link: VIDEO

A very simple card today, but with that cool scene, who needs the rest to be fancy?! :) Are you enjoying the videos? I hope so! I hope you are being inspired to emboss!!

thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Stampendous-Cling Poppy Scene), Ink (Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad and Pen) (Stewart Superior Palette Burnt Umber), Embossing Powders (Stampendous-Rich and Rugged Embossing Kit, Coastal Express Embossing Kit), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft), Patterned paper (Graphic 45)

Video Tutorial: Gradient Color Embossing

Welcome to day 2 of heat embossing week! (I think we need to come up with a catchier name. :)) The tutorial today is about a technique that I am calling, Gradient Color. Super easy and super trendy!

Here is the direct link, if you need it: VIDEO

This card uses the technique twice, once for the background and then again for the pumpkins and sentiment. I used the same technique for last Friday’s card, which you can see HERE.

Let me know what you are heat embossing-I would love to see your projects! Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Stampendous-Damask Fall), Ink (Tsukineko Versamark Watermark), Embossing Powder (Stampendous-Rich and Rugged Collection), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Rustic White, Terra Cotta Tile), Twine (May Arts)

Video Tutorial: Basic Guide to Heat Embossing

Good Monday morning! Because of your enthusiastic response to my card last Friday and all your questions, I thought it would be fun to do a series of videos on heat embossing. :) Today’s video is all about heat embossing. I talk briefly about inks, powders, and a heat gun, and give a demonstration or two.

Here is a direct link to the video for those that need it: VIDEO

Each day this week, I will also be showing you a card using the technique of the day. On this card, I embossed the butterflies with clear embossing powder. Butterflies that were stamped with Colorbox Chalk Ink. I then cut them out and glued them to the card. And here is just a little more info about embossing tools:

Types of Embossing Powders:

Opaque Powders-these are your “usual” colors. They leave a solid color. Many great colors to choose from. They also come with in a metallic sheen.

Detail Powders-perfect for fine line images. If you are looking to heat emboss fancy images like Flourishes, or House Mouse, these are stellar. But, I just love how well they work, so I use the Clear, Black, and Gold powders as my go-to powders.

Transparent Powders-these look opaque. They are slightly more shiny in finish also. There is color, though.

Sparkly Powders-glitter added to embossing powder.

There are also thick embossing powders used for many techniques. I will try and keep it simple for this series.

Embossing Heat Gun:

I use the Milwaukee Heat Gun 1400. This is my first heat gun. Its been in my possession for almost 11 years. It puts out intense heat, without blowing too much air and messing up the powder. Please be very careful when you are using this tool. The end gets very hot, along with the powders. When you buy a heat gun, please make sure that you get one with a stand so when you set it down, the hot parts do not lean on your table. And please unplug your heat gun when you are not using it. The switch is easily turned on and could get accidently bumped.

Hope you had a good weekend! Tune in tomorrow for Day Two: Gradient Color Embossing. thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Stampendous-Butterfly Beauties), Ink (Tsukineko Versamark Watermark) (Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Berrylicous) (Stewart Superior Palette Enchanted Evening) Embossing Powders (Stampendous-Clear Detail), Patterned paper (Pink Paislee-Bayberry Cottage), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)(Core’dinations), Lace (Wright’s), Spellbinders die templates (Petite Scalloped Ovals Large)

Heat Embossing

Thank you to your enthusiastic response to my card on Friday! I am thrilled that I could inspire you to get in your rooms and create!!! The teacher in me loves it!! :) So many of you emailed me with questions, that I thought it would be a fun to do a video series on heat embossing. Yep, I made 4 videos this weekend. So each day of the upcoming week, I will have a video tutorial and a card to show you using the technique!! I hope you learn something new and are inspired to give it a try!!

Monday-Basic Guide to Embossing

Tuesday-Gradient Color Embossing

Wednesday-Creating a Scene With Embossing Powder

Thursday-Emboss Resist

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! thanks for stopping by!

hello

Spot Dot is such a cool stamp set. What a great idea. Its been fun experimenting with all the ways to use the images. With the Painting With Powder technique from Stampendous on my mind, I thought, why not layer embossing powders over the circles? I think the results were pretty cool. And the gradient look is so trendy right now.

I also embossed the sentiment with two color powders, and the frame in one color. (the frame was easily cut by hand) When I am going to emboss, my go-to ink is Tsukineko Versamark Watermark ink. It stays wet a long time, and when you are using several different images and several different powders, it helps. And since I began stamping, Stampendous powders have always been the embossing powders I use. They are the best. Especially the the detail powders. Detail powders allow you to emboss fine lines, without problem. Their powders heat up evenly and quickly. And with all the new colors out in coordinating kits, you are going to get addicted to this!

I think I will try and get a little video together to show you how easy this and a few other embossing techniques really are. Maybe this weekend, ok? (I am starting feel more settled in our new place, but keep your fingers crossed for its completion! :)) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Spot Dot, Fillable Frames #1), Ink (Tsukineko Versamark Watermark), Embossing Powders (Rich and Rugged Kit), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft)

you’re so sweet

Oh how I love this card! I know, that’s weird, but I really do. It was a good mix of papers and I don’t often mix my patterns together. It was picked up for the March/April issue of Paper Crafts magazine. It didn’t make a full photo in the issue, but you can see it online HERE.

And yes, I am still playing around with my lighting. In the townhouse, I don’t have a permanent place to set up my light tent. So, I am shooting in batches, at weird times, in bad light. It just makes me more grateful for my old space and for my future space! :) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Everyday Button Bits, Text Style), Patterned paper (Basic Grey-June Bug), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Vintage Cream), Ink (Palette-Dark Chocolate) (Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown), Gems (Heidi Swapp), Twine (May Arts), Spellbinders die templates (Classic Rectangles Large, Labels One)

welcome, little one

There is no particular reason for this card, just playing around with papers and stamps. I guess what started it was the circle paper from American Crafts. It reminded me of the “o” in the Baby Button Bits set from Papertrey Ink. Ok, so I didn’t end up using the stamp, but I think the paper reinforced the idea of the “o”. Well, that was too much analysis into a simple baby card! LOL!

have a splendid Tuesday! thanks for stopping by!

and sorry for the odd photo...I am trying to figure out some new things with my camera and white balance...and of course, I dropped my light and it broke...its all bad! :)

Stampendous Scene Stamps

Today I wanted to share more of the Stampendous scene stamps from you. I love these new Cling images.

Cling images are grey, foam-backed, and have the images printed on them. Meaning, when you stick them to your acrylic block, the image shows up. Its great to get the foam of a traditional red rubber stamp, but the see-through ability of a clear stamp. Now, I know what you are thinking, Kimberly, grey is not see through. Yes, I know. BUT the stamps are cut to the outline of the image and it makes a big difference.

I wanted to give these olives a shiny and dimensional look. By using the Blender Pen, I removed the black (W10) along a curved path (following the outside lines of the olives). Because the color was so intense, it took a few passes. Happy with the results.

To make the background on this one, I used a recipe card stamp. The lines made it easy.

The lavender was colored with Copics first, then I applied Fun Flock over the top. Just apply a little bit of glue, pour the flock over, push it down, and wait a minute to tap off the excess.

Now I did color all these images with Copics, but you could paper piece, or try the new Painting With Powder technique from Stampendous. Pretty cool. I will be showing you a project with that soon!

I hope that you had a good weekend! The weather here was beautiful. We found a new church (New Covenant) that we loved, and just hung out. We also got the chance to do a little house hunting. There are very beautiful houses here! Alright, I have talked enough for today! thanks for stopping by!

Card 1: Stamps (Stampendous-Olive Scene), Ink (Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Watermark), Copics (BG000, G40, G82, G94, Yg91, YG95, YG99, E55, E57, E59, E27, E37, W10, O), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado (Neenah Solar White), Patterned Paper (Chatterbox-Fabulous), Embossing Powder (Stampendous-White Detail)

Card 2: Stamps (Stampendous-Lavender Scene), Fun Flock (Stampendous-Purple Pleaser), Ink (Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Watermark), Copics(BG000, YG91, YG95, YG99, G40, G82,G94, V17, E55, E57, E59, YG03, YG25), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate), Twine (May Arts)

Card 3: Stamps (Stampendous-Sunflower Scene, Sunflower Bouquet), Ink (Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Watermark) (Palette Dark Chocolate), Copics (E55, E57, E59, BG000, Y21, Y35, YG91, Yg95, YG99, E27, E37, Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft)

cherish

Good Saturday morning! I had the chance to play a bit yesterday. New stamps, a sketch, and a great nap from the little man equaled inspiration. :)

The sketch is from CPS. And when I saw my new Rococo stamps from Technique Tuesday, they were a perfect match. The cardstock with the text is from Core’dinations. It is the Jenni Bowlin designs line. By sanding the top of the cardstock away, the core color, and the embossed text pops out. I stamped the image in dark brown ink onto the same color cardstock. Core’dinations cardstock is textured, so to get a cleanly stamped image, I flipped it over to the smoother side. Once the background dried, I stamped the sentiment from Baroque’n Blooms and heat embossed it. The pearls are from Zva, but they were light blue. I wanted turquoise (you know it had to be), so I grabbed a Copic (BG15) and colored. Pretty unique look. Pretty happy me! :)

If you get the chance, pop on over to the Core’dinations Blog and see a cute layout I made with their cardstock and Spellbinders™ limited edition Nested Apples.

Have a super weekend! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Technique Tuesday-Baroque’n Blooms, Rococo), Cardstock (Core’dinations-Jenni Bowlin, Scarlet), Patterned paper (Jenni Bowlin-Front Porch), Ink (Palette Dark Chocolate) (Tsukineko-Versamark Watermark), Embossing Powder (Stampendous-Brown), Gems (Zva Creative), Copics (BG15)

chase the gloomies away

Spring, oh how I love thee! And now in our new town, we will actually have a spring! WAHOO!! Its been so warm here, the snow is almost gone.

One of my favorite lines at CHA (and color combos) was the Quite Contrary Jack and Jill line from My Mind’s Eye. Bright reds, yellows, turquoise (you know I love that), and greens. Darling umbrellas and patterns and perfect for pairing with Papertrey Ink’s Scattered Showers and Scattered Showers Additions. And you know I couldn’t stop at just ONE card…

or even just two cards…

Yes, the spring fever is here!! Hope that your day is warm and sunshiney!

thanks for stopping by!

all things grow with love

The March/April issue of Paper Crafts magazine is now out. Its such a wonderful issue, one that I found myself looking back at several times! Great color combo ideas and so much more!

This card is one of three in the issue and it is my favorite. The article is about trees and you should see the other projects!! SO clever!!!

Thanks for all your advice about the smelly townhouse! I appreciate it!! :) Makes me just want our house to sell so we can stop renting!!! Have a terrific Tuesday and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Everyday Button Bits, Text Style I), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Stamper’s Select White), Patterned paper (Papertrey Ink-Text Boxed), Ink (Palette-Dark Chocolate, L’Amour), Buttons (Papertrey Ink-Ripe Avocado), Glossy Accent (American Crafts Flair), Twine (Martha Stewart), Spellbinders die template (Classic Rectangles Large)

Baking with Impressabilities™

WOW! Can you believe the news that topped off my week? I made the Spellbinders™ design team for another year!! What a huge honor and thrill!! I adore Spellbinders™ products and I cannot wait to spend another year creating with the product and all the wonderful people! Check out the announcement HERE!

A.J. Otto
Ashley Cannon Newell
Deborah Young
Gina Hanson
Judy Hayes
Julie Overby
Kazan Clark
Kimberly Crawford
Latisha Yoast
Mona Pendleton

And to all my new teammates-I can’t wait to start working with you!!

I thought for today, I would share one of my favorite ideas and tutorials from last year. Here is how I combine two of my favorite things: baking and paper crafting!!! Yummy!

This is a brownie that has been dusted with sugar, using the Flowers Impressabilities™.

I used dusting sugars that I picked up in the baking aisle at Michael’s. Its a very fine powdered sugar with added color. The brownie was cut with a cookie cutter and then covered in frosting. (the frosting helps the sugar stay in place better, in my opinion)

Place the Impressabilities™ over the brownie, gently pushing it into the frosting.

I placed the sugars in a strainer, so I had more control and even coverage. Tap gently.

You can see how the brownie is covered with sugar. Gently lift the Impressabilities™ straight up, so you do not disturb the sugars. Serve and enjoy!!

We spent the weekend back at “home.” We took in our last UMD hockey series at home and spent some time with the family. It was nice to be back in MN, but so hard to leave again. Things are settling down and I feel like I might be getting a handle on everything again! :) I have been working on getting us involved here-swimming lessons are on the schedule and we found a wonderful pre-school for the fall. My biggest complaint is the townhouse, yes its small, but I can handle that. What we cannot handle, is the smell of smoke. The people who lived here before us must have been smokers. Every time the heat or the bathroom fans run, yuck! Anyone have any suggestions for removing that smell? It has permeated our clothing, so we smell too. Thanks ahead of time for the advice!

hope your week is looking great!! thanks for stopping by!