Stampavie & More Christmas Card

 

The challenge this week at Stampavie & More was to make and post a Christmas card. I am so past Halloween (and can't wait until after Tuesday and the political ads stop!), so have been in the mood to make holiday cards. This one I copied off a site that had various faces - sorry don't remember where it was... Santa was pretty easy to make- circle punches, CB embossing folders and a crimper were all that are needed to make him. Too cute.

Stamping smiles, Karen

CCEE #1043 & Fab & Funky #46 CAS

 

The challenges at CCEE & Fab & Funky this week were to create Clean and Simple cards. CAS is me so this was easy to do. This card was totally inpired by a card we made at our stamp club- Thanks Phyllis! The embossing folder is from SU and was sponged with a brown ink. The focal image is simply an oval cut out with nesties and then the outer edges of the hole are sponged with brown ink. Then a branch was stamped in the center of the oval. I layered on black paper, punched corners and added the pearls. CAS but lovely for a sympathy card or any kind of card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Crafty Calendar Birthday Card Challenge

 

The challenge this month at Crafty Calendar was to make a birthday card. I did some awesome cards at a make and take session at our local Stamp Shoppe and combined some of Heidi's ideas to make this card. Isn't it just beautiful? The embossing folders are all Tim Holtz and so are the flower diecuts. I used a SU punch on the side but there is a longer side punch like it available as well at the Stamp Shoppe. All the pieces of the card front are sponged with distress ink and I used blue liquid pearls for the finishing touch.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impressions #O2010 & FTTC90 Challenges

 

I had fun with the sketch at Repeat Impressions and this card also qualifies for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge of "Anything but Buttons and Bows". I used a picture of a cardinal in a frame as my focus, added a circle nestie frame and a snowflake border (Martha Stewart) and a few gems and the card is complete.

Stamping smiless, Karen

Cardvaarks & Crafty Pad Challenges

 

The challenge this week at Cardvaarks was to make a card featuring the front and the inside of the card and the theme at Crafty Pad was Christmas. This is a tri fold card and I embossed the whole green part with a holly folder. The front was made with many pine needles punched (Martha Stewart) and put together in the shape of a wreath. A few punched balls and a ribbon complete the wreath. The red piece is attached to the inside and folds to the front of card.

 

Stamping smiles, Karen

OWH Masculine Card

 

The midweek challenge at OWH was to make masculine cards and this card using rented stamps from Raisin Boat would qualify. Lately I have been enjoying using orange and aqua blue together and this set with the GPS and other fun elements was so fun to use. The sketch is an older one I copied from the internet.

Stamping smiles, Karen

MMSC76 Sketch Challenge

 

I used the fun sketch at Midnight Madness to create this card. The side ribbon is woven in and out of the SU border punch. The green and white pieces were embossed together with an SU embossing folder and then attached to the gold piece. The flowers (also SU) were stamped and cut out and pearls added to them before attaching to the card. I used an oval nestie to lightly sponge an opening and added a TAC "happy b-day" to complete the card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

FTTC#89 Challenge Thank You Card

 

The challenge this week at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday was to focus on sentiments and this card's focal point is the Thank You stamp in the middle. As with most of my cards, I also used punches, nesties and embossing folders in the making of this CAS card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Paper Playtime, Creative Belli & Simon Says Challenges

 

Lots of pumpkin, fall and "give thanks" challenges out there and this card qualifies for three current ones: Paper Playtime, Creative Belli, and Simon Says Stamp. It is another CAS card that uses just two embossing folders, a couple of layers and two leaf brads.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Critter Sketch & Gingerloft Challenges

 

I used the sketch from Critter Sketch and the theme of Winter from Gingerloft together to inspire me on this winter thank you card. The blue and gold are craft foil from Spellbinders and are much more vibrant in real life. I also used the square lacy corners from Spellbinders, an embossing folder from CB and the thank you stamp from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

Stamping smiles, Karen

AiFactory #52 & Craftalicious#10 Challenges

 

The challenge at AiFactory this week was to use animals as our theme, and the challenge at Craftalicious was Anything Goes. This card was designed with rented stamps from Raisin Boat. It is not too often that we need a sympathy card for someone who has lost a special pet, but when we do this set is wonderful for that. Aren't the "paws to remember" and pawprints on the heart and flowers and sentiment just perfect? The top fold of the orange piece tucks under the circle on the right of the card. It opens and the bottom half folds down for the sender to write a personal note inside.

 

Stamping smiles, Karen

OWH Anniversary Card

 

The midweek throwdown this week at OWH Stars and Stripes was to create an anniversary card that a soldier could send back to a loved one at home. This card features a beautiful stamp from Inkadinkado and the sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

Operation Write Home is in desperate need of Any Hero cards to send with the boxes of cards they have ready to go to our troops. Any Hero cards are cards that feature a hand written note from us to the soldier. Please visit this page on their website for more information. They are looking for anyday cards as well as seasonal ones, so if you can help out, that would be awesome.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Play Date Cafe Color Challenge

 

The colors this week at Play Date Cafe are beige, soft blue and light green and worked beautifully to make this card. I got a new embossing folder from Craft Concepts with rays coming out from a circle and just had to try this idea. The beige front piece with green and blue circles were all embossied together and then attached to light green card. The center circle sentiment is from Fiskars. CAS and fun.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Fall & Pumpkin Challenges Card

 

I designed this card for the following challenges: Shabby Tea Room, Totally Papercrafts, and Stampin for the Weekend, all of which wanted a fall card or one with pumpkins. I used my new fall embossing folder from Sizzix and simply cut out the pumpkins and flowers from different colors and popped them up. Little sponging and I am done: simple but effective.

I am on my way to see my grandson and family for the weekend:) Hope you have a great one too!

Stamping smiles, Karen

2S4Y #63 & Color Chef #67 Challenges

 

I had fun designing this card using the colors from Color Chef and Kazan's great sketch at 2S4U. I used a new embossing folder from Indentz, a Martha Stewart deep border punch that I punched twice and the funny sentiment stamp from Inkadinkado. Out of the mouth of babes- a different perspective.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Speedy the Cat's Challenge #24

 

The challenge this week from Speedy the Cat was to use stripes on our card and so the paper I chose to paper piece with on this darling little boy's card was perfect. I couldn't resist this stamp set from My Favorite Things- too cute. Can you tell I am a Grandma to a little boy? "Rawr means I Love You" and on the inside it says: Rawr, Rawr, Rawr, Rawr...

Stamping smiles, Karen

Our Daily Bread Challenge

 

The challenge this week at Our Daily Bread was to use leaves in our cards. I made this card with a beautiful set of stamps I rented from Raisin Boat. I used a kaleidacolor ink pad to stamp the leaf on glossy paper and framed it with a ribbon frame. If you watch for a future Scrap and Stamp Arts issue, you will find out how to make the frames in an article of mine they are publishing.

Stamping smiles, Karen

PDCC50 & Repeat Impressions #O610 Challenges

 

I used the colors from Play Date Cafe of red, white and green and the sketch from Repeat Impressions to make this holiday card with my greatest wish for Christmas: peace. The beautiful dove and sentiment are by Skipping Stones Design. I raised the dove with mounting tape and of course, used CB folders on some of the layers.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Stars & Stripes & Craftalicious Holiday Card

 

The challenge this week at Craftalicious was Anything Goes and at Stars & Stripes (OWH), the challenge was to make a holiday card before their deadline for holiday cards. I just got the new MS large snowflake punch and this cool holiday stamp from Unity and they paired up nicely for a CAS but lovely holiday card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Simon Says Stamps & Paper Romance Challenges

 

THe challenges this week at Simon Says Stamp and Paper Romance Challenges are to make Halloween cards. I love this card based on a SU box we made last year at our club. I used the nesties and punches I had on hand and came up with a pretty good monster for my card. So good my grandson and daughter made this card for all his friends at his daycare. Now that's a great compliment for a Grandma:)

Stamping smiles, Karen

I Did It & One Stitch at a Time Halloween Card

 

I made a fun Halloween card for the challenges at I Did It and One Stitch at a Time. I used a combination of the fence wheel from SU and the Martha Stewart punched fence, a fun stamp from DRS and a bat sticker to make this CAS but cute card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Paper Players #18 Monochromatic Card

 

The challenge at Paper Players was to create a monochromatic card so I chose shades of purple for my color and used another great set I rented from Raisin Boat for the stamps. CAS and fun.

Stamping smiles, Karen

SSS76 Sketch Card

 

I really liked the sketch at Sweet Stop this week and had fun designing this card using it. I got this trike stamp from Unity recently and wanted to use it - it reminds me of when I was a child. The sentiment is from Papertrey. A border punch from Martha Stewart and flower embellishment complete the card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge & Stamp Simply #159

 

I used the sketch from Stamping 411's Saturday Sketch Challenge to make my card today, which also qualifies for Stamp Simply's challenge to use Three of something in our cards. All the stamps in this card are from Raisin Boat's Navigator set and I cut the GPS image into 3 panels and layered each piece on black. This card would work great for retirement or a promotion or new job.

Stamping smiles, Karen