What if? Wed.- My Designer's Choice Challenge

I am hosting the Designer's Choice Challenge at Repeat Impression's blog this week and I am challenging you and the Rock Stars to make a card For the Guys! I love the Legacy series at Repeat Impressions and I chose the Pocket Watch and Geneology background stamp to make this card perfect for a man. Doesn't the watch look so authentic and like an antique? Of course, you have to tease them a bit too, and RI has many funny sarcastic sentiments to make you laugh. I stared with a card and blue layer already cut for me by a paper company that I bought at a stamp show. I stamped the Geneology word background stamp all over the blue layer, removing some of the ink with a baby wipe before stamping to give it a worn look. I stamped the watch and sentiment on the inside and added the Bakers twine for the finishing touch.

You have almost two weeks to make and post a mens or boys card and enter it for a chance at a great prize. Please visit RI's blog for all the details and to see the other great cards by the Rock Stars.

I am entering this card in the challenge at C4C for Male Themed Cards.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Divas by Design and Some Odd Girl Challenges

The challenge this week at Divas by Design is Christmas in August and at Some Odd Girl it is paper piecing (my favorite:) I saw these funny reindeer with this sentiment at Paper Smooches and I just could not resist them! I give money to my nieces and nephews for Christmas and I think they would love a card like this. I started with a piece of two sided holiday dp 5 1/2" by 12" and folded in thirds to create the pocket for the money. I cut some other holiday dp in pennant shape for the front as shown and attached using staples. The reindeer was stamped three times and paper pieced with different dps. I stamped the "few bucks" sentiment, cut out and embossed with nesties and sponged while still in the nestie. I stapled that on too for a fun finish.

This is what the inside looks like with some bucks in it.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week

This Nubble Light stamp is the Stamp of the Week at Repeat Impressions so you can get it for 50% off with a discount code found on Ri's blog, The House that Stamps Built. What a beautiful scenery stamp this is and I combined it with a sentiment stamp that I just love. Even before I joined the design team at Repeat Impressions, I was a huge fan of their sentiment stamps selection. Check it out!

I stamped the Nubble Light scene and masked and sponged a sun and the sky and water and attached it on the inside of the card. I used my nesties oval to cut a frame from the front and added a ribbon to complete this CAS card.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Paper Crafting Journey.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Critter Sketch Sketch Challenge

The challenge this week at Critter Sketch this week is to make a card using the sketch below. Our sponsor is Jen's Digi Stamps and this cute pile of critters is hers. I paper pieced them with different dps and followed the sketch with the ribbons and pennants to make this cute card for a boy.

I am entering this card in the Just for Boys or Men challenge at DYSU.

Stamping smiles. Karen

Let's Shower Ryan with Cards!

I heard of a young man on a dear friend's blog and just had to share the story and send a card to help out a little. Here is what a friend of the family shared with us:

My brother's dear friend and former roommate, Ryan, was involved in an accident on a Saturday afternoon in April 2011 in New Orleans, while riding his bike to meet up with friends. The facts of the accident remain unclear but Ryan did sustain a brain injury. As a side note - Ryan moved from CA to NOLA after Katrina to live there and help/work with the relief efforts to help the citizens of NOLA rebuild. Ya...he's an amazing young man. So - what am I asking of you? I'm asking you to think of him, send blessings, prayers, white light, love and healing (however you manifest those thoughts and feelings) in the form of cards to send his way. Here is the post that his family put up:

Here is the link to the call for cards for Ryan.
On a separate note, Ryan has received a few cards recently and seems to really enjoy opening them and looking at them. We would really like to continue showering him with cards! Below is his address at the hospital if you'd like to send him one. These can also be useful with his rehabilitation by triggering memories.

Ryan’s Address: (I have edited for a new address)

Trinity Neurologic Rehabilitation Center

Attn: Ryan Porcelli, Room 131B

1400 Lindberg Drive

Slidell, LA 70458

If you could be so kind to send a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) card to Ryan, and bring him encouragement and strength for the long and healing road that lies ahead of him, that would be great. To avoid confusion, please write somewhere in the card that you are an online friend of Meredith Winston - Ethan Goldstein's sister. That way Ryan will have a frame of reference as to where the card originated from.

You could also help by blogging about this or forwarding to stamping friends who might be willing to help as well.

My card is a CAS square card where I started with some dp in a square and punched a large Martha Stewart border punch on each side of the square. I trimmed off the corner squares left and stamped the I Thought of You Today stamp from Just Rite in the center. I attached to a square aqua blue card and added some gems to complete the card.

I am entering this card in the challenges at Crop Stop and Aud Sentiments for Anything Goes.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Flutter By Wednesday and Tuesday Throwdown Challenges

The challenge at Flutter By Wednesday is anything with butterflies, angels or fairys, and at Tuesday Throwdown they want us to use Dimension or Texture. The pin holes and pearls supply the dimension and texture and I used Hero Arts butterfly stamps. I started this card with a pretty but subtle dp and a lovely swirl pattern from Fred She Said. I printed the original dotted swirl on velum and then poked the holes through the velum onto the dp for this pretty pattern. I stamped the butterflies, rounded the corners and added the Pearl Pen pearls to the swirl and the corners to complete the card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Paper Take Weekly and Lollipop Crafts Challenges

The challenge this week at Paper Take Weekly is to use our diecuts and Lollipop Crafts wants us to Make it Masculine (for men or boys.) I used my wocky rectangles nestablilites to frame this darling digital stamp from Sliekje Digitals. I printed the stamp and then cut and embossed with the nestie and then sponged the edges while still in the diecut. I paper pieced the cutie's pants, shirt and hat and colored the rest with my copics. The Dance! was colored with sparkly gel pens. The front of the card was cut and then the edge punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I added some dp to the front and stamped the sentiment (TAC) twice along the side of the inside. Fun card for a boy!

Stamping smiles, Karen

What If? Wed. Sketch Challenge

The challenge this week at What If? Wednesday on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House that Stamps Built, is to make a card using the CAS sketch below. You always have almost two weeks to get your card done and linked for a chance at a great prize! You do not have to use Repeat Impressions stamps, but if you do, you get an extra entry into the random drawing! For all the details and to see the other Rock Star's cards, please visit the blog or click on their names on the side of my blog.

I used a couple stamps from the new Summer Series to make my card for this sketch challenge. I love watermelon in the summer- it is my favorite summer treat. I used the colors from the watermelon in the card and added a perfect ribbon and the fun sentiment to complete this CAS card.

I am entering my card in the Anything Goes challenge at Stamps R Us.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Stamping With The Dragon and Forever Friends Challenges

The challenge this week at Forever Friends is to use an animal in our cards and at Stampin with the Dragon the challenge is to make a holiday or birthday card for a child. What is so neat about the Stamping with the Dragon challenge is that they are doing a surprise card drive for Send a Smile 4 Kids!! They are encouraging anyone who makes a card for the challenge to send it in to SAS4Kids and of course, we are thrilled to hear that.

I made a CAS card using a new Cuttlebug embossing folder I hadn't tried yet. I embossed on Core'dination paper and sanded so the color came through. I stamped the sentiment on a circle diecut with my nesties and popped that up with mounting tape. CAS but perfect for one of our kids inpatient in a Children's Hospital.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week

The Stamp of the Week this week from Repeat Impressions is this fun Puffins stamp. It is available for 50% off with a discount code found at the RI blog, The House that Stamps Built this week only.

I have to admit, I did not know what a Puffin looked like or what color they were. They are found in Maine (where the owners of Repeat Impressions live) but not in Wisconsin where I live. So I looked them up on the internet and found pictures and went with the black and orange on my card to match the bird colors. I colored the puffins with my copics and framed them in an embossing/cutting folder from Cuttlebug, then layered onto an orange card.

I have scheduled this post in advance as I am out of town until late Monday visiting my son in Chicago.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Send a Smile 4 Kids "Punches and Diecuts for Kids" Challenge

It's time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time we are challenging you to break out your punches and diecuts and make a card for a child. Easy Peasy- we all have them, right? I use my nestabilities and punches everyday and I bet you have a lot of them too. We have three great sponsors this time, so you have three chances to win a random prize! The sponsors are: Stamp Shoppe Creations (my local favorite stamp shop which is my home away from home:) and Heidi's prize is a $15 gift certificate; Sassy Cheryl's 

Digital Stamps and her prize is a $5 gift certificate; and Crop Stop whose prize is a $15 gift certificate.

My first dt card for this challenge uses "Flying Jay" stamp from Stamp Shoppe Creations. Isn't he cute? I stamped him on white paper and paper pieced his plane, helmet and shirt. I used a corner rounder punch, a window punch, a star border punch and a nestabilities circle to make this card and most if not all of them would be available for purchase at Crop Stop. The card front was cut off and I punched the star border and the window for the tab to tuck onto. The front was also embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder.

My second card uses a super cute image from Sassy Cheryl's which I paper pieced (of course:) I punched the border with a large Martha Stewart punch and also punched the butterflies and the circle with the sentiment. Sweet!

Please visit the blog for all the details on this fun challenge and also information on how to help put a smile on children's faces who are inpatient in Childrens Hospitals. You can also see all the great cards by TEAM S.A.S. on the blog or by clicking their names on the side of my blog. We have a guest design team member this time and are introducing a new member of our design team today too.

I am out of town this weekend visiting my son in Chicago so this was scheduled for today. I will be back Tuesday after I hope a lovely long weekend visit. (Edited to add- and of course while I am away and can't fix it, I see Blogger didn't show the pictures again- so sorry to my followers and subscribers.)

Stamping smiles, Karen

Let's all help Lyndall!

I found another cause on line for us stampers to rally around. Please visit this site to read about Lyndall and to see how you can help. Here is a little about Lyndall written by a close friend:

Lyndall is the most incredible and inspiring person I have ever met.She fought and won her battle with Cancer Ewing’s Sarcoma in her late teens, this battle meant she had to have her finger amputated to totally beat it. Heart breaking as it was. She soldiered on.This battle took a toll on her, but her can do attitude got her through. Years passed and the cancer lay dormant and what we thought was totally gone.But this year the rare cancer she had in her late teens manifested its ugly head yet again. This time it came back as a tumour resting on her heart.For the past 4 months she has undergoing extensive Chemotherapy to try and eradicate it. With baited breathe we have prayed and prayed for yet another recovery. But this time we are not as lucky. Her specialist is of the belief that the tumour is not going to shrink away totally from the chemo and radiotherapy and it remains inoperable. This means that it will most likely start to grow again and may start to spread.If I can quote from Lyndall during her battle she has said to her family and friends “Believe you me, long before Lorna Jane put it on a t-shirt my mantra has been “Never Give UP!!”

I read this and just had to help in any way I could. I bought this really cute dragon and the coupon digital stamps at the site and also sent a card to Lyndall to be opened at her fundraiser in September. I created the background out of dp and a border punch from Stampin up. The digital stamps were just printed and cut out to create this CAS but fun card for a child.

I entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Art Impressions and Craft Us Crazy.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Paper Playtime and Cards for Men Challenges

Anything Goes is the challenge at both Paper Playtime and Cards for Men this week and that is my favorite kind of challenge! I made a card similar to this one at a stamp camp recently and was inspired to create one for myself to donate to my kids. I started with a tan card base and taped a green triangle onto a blue piece and embossed both with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The tree and wolf stamps are from Stampin' up and the moon and blue sky are sponged on using masks. Layer and attach and add a ribbon and you have a CAS but nice card for a man or teenage boy.

Stamping smiles, Karen

What if? Wed Designers Choice Challenge

The Designers Choice Challenge this week at RI's blog, The House that Stamps Built, is hosted by Darsie and she is challenging us to make a scenic card using black and white and just one more color. Since green is my favorite color, I chose Green. I had fun with this challenge- I had seen a card on line a while back that used this masking idea and had been wanting to try it. I masked both sides of the card leaving just the strip stamped unmasked. I stamped the larger pine tree several times without reinking in between and repeated that one more time. After removing the masking, I stamped the small pine tree and the sentiment and layered on black and then on a white card. The three black pearls in the corner complete this CAS card. Of course all the great stamps are from Repeat Impressions.

I am entering this card in the challenge at Southern Girls for Black and White and a Pop of one Color.

Stamping smiles, Karen

PCI Show Us Your Flowers Challenge

It's time for another great challenge at Paper Creations Ink! This time we are being challenged to use flowers in our cards. Our sponsor for this challenge is Crop Stop and the winner will get a $15 gift certificate to their online store! As an added bonus, Crop Stop has awarded all of us a 10% discount to their online store for the duration of the challenge! Please visit the PCI blog for all the details and to see the other flower cards from the PCI design team. Why don't you grab some flower stamps or paper or embellishmnet and come play along?!

For my first card I used alot of supplies available at Crop Stop at a discount with the code. I started with a Cherry Blossom embossing folder from Craft Concepts bought at Crop Stop and I colored in the stems and added Flower Soft for the blossoms. The flower is created with Nestabilites and the border punch and butterfly punch are from Martha Stewart. And of course Crop Stop carries all these brands too!

My second card is a CAS design using beautiful digital paper with flowers from DezinaWorld at Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps and a Mrs. Grossman's Laser Cut Sticker. That's it- CAS and I love the finished product, but it was super simple to make.

I am entering these cards in the challenges at Your Next Stamp for beautiful borders and at One Stitch at a Time for Anything Goes.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week

This is my second post today- for my Critter Sketch post, please scroll down. Mondays are fun because I get to share a new stamp every week from Repeat Impressions and this week, the Stamp of the Week is this Large Blueberry Cluster. This stamp is available for 50% off this week with a discount code found on the RI blog, The House that Stamps Built.

I decided to go CAS with this card. The dark blue background is embossed with my favorite embossing folder, Swiss Dots by Cuttlebug, although it is hard to see in the photo. The scalloped circle was cut and embossed then sponged while still in the nestie. I stamped the blueberry cluster in blue ink and attached it to the ribboned piece with mounting tape.

I am entering this card in the CAS challenge at Cute Card Thursday.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Critter Sketch Wedding or Anniversary Card

It's another fun Monday here on my blog as I get to share ideas from two of my design teams. First up is Critter Sketch and their challenge this week is to make and link a Wedding or Anniversary card. Our wonderful sponsor this month is Jen's Digi Stamps. To find out all the details on what you can win and to see the other dt cards, please visit the Critter Sketch blog.

For my card I used an embossing/cutting folder from Cuttlebug. I started with some glossy red paper and punched both sides of the piece with an ek success border punch. The inside heart punches out and I sponged the edges and also the center with red ink and popped it back in raising it a bit with mounting tape. The ribbon is the final touch in this CAS card (which is based on one I made at our local Stamp Shoppe.)

I am entering this card in the Emboss It! challenge at DYSU.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Gingerloft Challenge and some Sneak Peaks

It is my dear Aunt Helene's 90th birthday party this weekend so I created this sparkly card for our family to give her. The challenge at Gingerloft this week is "Make it Sparkle" and even though the photo doesn't show it that well, the whole front of this card sparkles with glitter. The beautiful background stamp is from Heartfelt Creations and I colored the flowers with copics and added the 90 stickers and then covered the front with fine glitter. The sentiment is from Flourishes and of course the tag is Nestabilities. I will not be blogging this weekend because I will be celebrating with my family in Chetek.

If you are local to Wausau Wisconsin, here is a sneak peak of the cards I will be teaching at Jo-Ann's Fabric and Crafts in September and October. The class is called Fall Cards with Punches and Diecuts and it is available for 50% OFF this Saturday only if you sign up during the open house either at the store or by phone (715-355-1007)! To be honest, corporate sets the prices of the classes very high, but if you sign up on Open House Day, it is a great deal. There are three instructors offering stamping classes and many more doing other crafts. I will also be teaching Scrapbooking Basics and Beyond in September and October too.  So if you are interested and local here, please stop by JoAnns Saturday August 13th or call that. The complete samples are available for your viewing at the store.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Speedy the Cat's Friends and Paper Creator's Crafts Challenges

                                       

The challenge this week at Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge is to create a card any shape but A2 and at Paper Creator Crafts they are all about flowers this week. My card is square and is all about flowers:) I started with a pretty dp from Stampin' up for the card base. I was playing with my punches one day and decided to see what it would look like to punch my large Martha Stewart flower punch once on each side of a 4 1/2 inch square. This pretty frame is what it looks like. I added some flower eyelets in the corners and the flower in the middle is a $1.00 find at Jo-Ann's Fabric and Crafts from Inkadinkado.

(I have edited this to add back in the picture that disappeared - sorry to my subscribers for the big X the first time.)
Stamping smiles, Karen

What if? Wed. Sketch Challenge

It's Wednesday and time for another fun What If? Wednesday Sketch Challenge at The House that Stamps Built. We are challenging you to make a card using the sketch below and enter it for a chance to win some great Repeat Impressions rubber! I had fun creating this fun CAS summer card using Ri's new summer stamps Dandelion Breeze and Happy Summer available here. I started with a yellow card and added the blue and green strips. Then I stamped the Dandelion Breeze and embossed the whole front with a Stampin' up embossing folder. I added the Happy Summer circle with some more Dandelion seeds and raised that piece with mounting tape. The final touch was a piece of baker's twine.

You have almost two weeks to play with this sketch and enter our challenge. You do not need to use RI stamps but if you do, you get two entries into the prize drawing. So come join us!

I am entering this card in the Outdoors/Summer Colors challenge at Just Some Lines.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Stamp Something and Raise the Bar Challenges

The challenge at Stamp Something this week is to use a digi and at Raise the Bar it is Anything Goes. I am excited about this card for two reasons: a fun new fold I learned here, and an awesome digital stamp called Oliver Cheesehead I found at Kelley's Kids (a division of Stitchy Bear.) I love love love the Packers and am not ashamed to admit it. I am so excited to have the lockout over and soon to be back to watching football every week. When I saw this stamp at Kelley's Kids, there was no way I was going to resist it:) I printed him on white paper and paper pieced his cheesehead, clothes and football. Tooo cute! The sentiment was just printed with my computer.

The card design is called a "Stand up Card" and this is how it looks when laying flat. Pretty easy to make - here is the tutorial.

Stamping smiles, Karen