DCC at Repeat Impressions

It’s another Designer’s Choice Challenge at The House that Stamps Built, Repeat Impression’s blog. It’s Joy’s turn and she is challenging us to make a card with some kind of water element.  After you make your card, you can enter it for a chance to win some awesome Repeat Impressions rubber! Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's cards for this DCC challenge. 

One of my favorite stamps from Repeat Impressions is this “Bottoms Up” stamp- those little duck buts just make me smile. I think the sentiment (also from RI) is just perfect for them. I stamped the ducks in black and sponged blue for sky and water. The frame is created simply by tearing down the top and bottom of a kraft piece, rolling up the center up and attaching with a strip of strong tape. I sponged the edges before attaching over the blue duck piece. I layered all on a black piece and also offset the white sentiment circle on a black circle, before attaching all to a kraft card.

I am entering this card in the Cute Critters challenge at The Kraft Journal and the “Things with Wings” challenge at Whoopsi Daisy.

Stamping smiles, Karen

613 Avenue Create and Crafts 4 Eternity

Anything Goes at Crafts 4 Eternity and 613 Avenue Create, with an optional theme of Friends at 613 Ave. I could not resist this sentiment from Prickley Pear when I saw it recently at my local Stamp Shoppe because it is so true. Me and my buddies are all shapes and sizes, but it really doesn't matter when it comes to friendship:) I am still having fun with my Stampin' Up dressmaker dies, and here is another dress I was inspired to make after seeing something similar on Pinterest. The background paper is my new favorite dp again from Stampin' Up.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Totally Gorjuss and Card Crafter's Circle Challenges

Christmas in July is the theme of the challenges at Card Crafter's Circle and Totally Gorjuss this week and I have been in the mood for creating holiday cards recently. I just purchased this beautiful Penny Black stamp at my local Stamp Shoppe so it was sitting on my desk when I started playing with the ice skates cutting file from Silhouette America for a friend. I decided to hang them on a pine bough border cut with a Martha Stewart punch and the card came together easily. I love it when that happens:) The dp is my favorite two sided paper from Stampin' Up.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Kids Cards on Silhouette Sunday

I love my Silhouette Portrait electronic cutting machine and one of the main reasons is because it makes it so easy and inexpensive to create cards specifically for a family member or friend. This card for my grandson- obviously a big Harry Potter fan- was created with two cutting files I purchased from Silhouette America for less than a dollar (with my subscription. Without it would have been less than $2.) Harry Potter was a print and cut file and the sentiment was simply cut out and attached.

I admit this card was quite a bit harder- or should I say time consuming to put together. There are a bunch of these fun animals from the back and front available at the Silhouette America store and many of them are print and cut, but I chose one that was not. I had a lot of little pieces to shade and put together, but it turned out cute. I have seen cards with punched bunny buts going into a hole and then on the other side, coming out. I wanted to try this idea, so I created a black circle hole and embossed a brown card to look like a tree. The green branches were also cut with a Silhouette American cutting file.

This is the inside of the card. The hippo is coming out of the hole- although why a hippo would be going into or coming out of a tree hole is a good question...But he is cute:) I cut the HI! with the Silhouette as well. I think my grandson will like this card sometime in the mail.

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenge at Sister Act and the Emboss It challenge at Milk Coffee Challenge. 

Stamping and Silhouette Smiles, Karen

Simon Says Stamp and Crafts 4 Eternity Challenges

Summer Food and Drinks is the theme of the challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp and Anything Goes at Crafts 4 Eternity. I am sharing a card I made recently with some new stamps from Joy's Life Stamps. She has many sets of punny stamps and I love her sense of humor. The border punch is from Recollections. I made this lemonade card with the velum glass  before and decided this time to make a fancier drink with a couple colors of sponging on the back of the velum. Not sure what kind of liquor is in this drink, but it definitely looks refreshing to me:) The paper and the lime stamp are from Stampin' Up.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Crackerbox Palace Friday Peaking Cat Frame Card

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and I am sharing a card I made with Crackerbox Palace stamps and a fun frame fold. I first saw this frame here on this blog, but did not have the diagonal scoring board. Then I saw another way to fold the two sided paper here and was able to do it easily. I love this Peaking Kitty image from Crackerbox Palace and tore around her before putting her inside the folded frame made with two sided designer paper from Stampin' Up. I added a perfect sentiment and attached all to an aqua blue card.

I like how the card turned out and hope you do too. Please visit the website to see these and many other awesome Crackerbox Palace stamps.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafts and Me and Divas by Design.

Crackerbox Palace smiles, Karen

TTCRD and Crafting with Dragonflies Challenges

Crafting with Dragonflies is having a fun week with a blog hop and lots of prizes and their challenge this week is to make and link a wedding card. Anything Goes at Through the Craftroom Door every week, so that has become one of my favorite challenges to participate in. This is a romantic card I created for my daughter and her fiance' whose initials are M and C. All of the elements on the front of this card were cut with my Silhouette Portrait electronic cutting machine.

 The Celtic Knot heart was created for us by Debbie of Paper Pulse Blog Spot.  My daughter wanted a specific Celtic Knot for her wedding invitations and Debbie does special requests for cutting files very reasonably and quickly. She is amazingly talented and has an awesome blog with many freebies shared.She did share recently that a family member is quite ill, so her blog may not be as active right now as it was. But do check it out and subscribe and/or follow.

The initials and Love heart are cutting files from Silhouette America. So this elegant card was so simple to make and I love how it turned out. I am working- or should I say playing:) with my daughter's wedding invitations and thank you notes- I just love the process of designing them just perfectly for someone special - what fun!

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impressions What If? Wed. Sketch Challenge

It's time for another fun sketch challenge at The House that Stamps Built and we are challenging you to make a card using the sketch below and link it up for a chance at some great Repeat Impressions rubber! For all the details on what you can win and to see the other Rock Stars cards using this sketch, please visit our blog.

I love this Ballerina Pig stamp from Repeat Impressions- she just puts a smile on my face! I paper pieced her tutu and colored the rest. I added a perfect sentiment on top and a bow I made with my Silhouette Portrait electronic cutting machine, a Silhouette America cutting file and my favorite embossing folder from Cuttlebug. The background was also embossed (Sizzix) to complete the card.

Here is the sketch for you to follow when you create a card for our challenge. You do not need to use Repeat Impressions stamps to enter our challenges, but you get an extra chance to win if you do!

I am entering this card in the Pretty in Pink Challenge at Cutie Pie and the Anything Goes challenge at Kaboodle Doodles.

Stamping smiles, Karen 

CAS-ual Fridays and Challenges 4 Everybody

CAS-ual Fridays wants us to use numbers on our cards this week, and Anything Goes at Challenges 4 Everybody. I am sharing a card I made with a new set from Kitchen Sink Stamps and some Washi tape. I love my stamps from Kitchen Sink because even though I am not good at coloring, I can still stamp beautiful images with shades of color. Both the book stack and the feather pen were stamped with a series of shades of dye inks to achieve the realism of the images. The sentiment is from the same set. The ruler and black script are decorative tapes that I attached to a kraft corner.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week

The stamp of the week this week at Repeat Impressions is this fun Leisure sentiment stamp, and it is available this week only for 50% off with the discount code found at Repeat Impressions blog. What a deal! Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's cards using this stamp.

I stamped the oh so true sentiment twice, and cut out and raised the red Leisure to make it stand out. The park bench was stamped and colored before layering on a background created with triangles of dp. CAS sketch and card- my kind of card.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Celebrations on Silhouette Sunday

The challenge this week at the Silhouette Blog Weekly Challenge is to use an interactive element in our card. I love making cards that surprise the recipient when they open the card. Here is what pops up when this one opens:

Both the front and the inside are completely Silhouette America cutting files, so I simply cut and attached. So easy but the result is a fun holiday card.

My second celebrations card is for a friend who likes margaritas. I cut out  all the pieces in the different colors and simply put them together and added some glitter on the glass to complete the margarita. I embossed the yellow piece with a celebratory embossing folder (Crafts Too) and added the sentiment.

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at Through the Craftroom Door and Sister Act.

Stamping and Silhouette smiles, Karen

Christmas in July 4 Kids at SAS4Kids!

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is Christmas in July 4 Kids. Create and link any holiday card for a child and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have three very generous sponsors this week: Crackerbox Palace is giving their winner a $15 gift certificate! And Clear Dollar Stamps is giving their randomly picked winner a $15 gift certificate! Di’s Digi’s winner will receive a $10 voucher!  TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

My first card above features a very cool reindeer from Crackerbox Palace. I paper pieced him and his scarf and layered him on a couple circles cut out with my Nestabilities. I added some white gel pen snow to the perfect sentiment.

My second card features a sweet colored digi and sentiment from Clear Dollar Stamps. I made the front of the patterned card stock card look like a present and the white card on the top opens to reveal another colored digi that is part of the same set wishing you Happy Holidays. 

I am entering these cards in the Christmas in July challenges at Cut it Up and Clearly iStamp. 

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen 

Humor Me DCC Challenge at Repeat Impressions

It’s another Designer’s Choice Challenge at The House that Stamps Built, Repeat Impression’s blog. It’s Joyce’s turn and the name of her challenge is “Humor Me.” In other words, make and link a card that uses humor in some way. After you make your card, you can enter it for a chance to win some awesome Repeat Impressions rubber! Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's cards for this DCC challenge. 

I love, love, love using humor in my cards. It the reason I was drawn to Repeat Impressions stamps well before I became part of their design team- Repeat Impressions has tons of funny lol stamps. If the person who receives my card can laugh out loud or even just smile, I am happy and so are they.

I have chosen the Old Fart swing set of stamps to design with. I did a partial cut/embossing technique (with a Nestabilities scalloped circle) I learned about here. I stamped the rose and paper pieced the red and green. Then I stamped the first part of the sentiment and added some red sticker gems. 

Then punch line is in the inside of the card and it cracks me up. Hope it does the same for you.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Speedy and Friends and Simply Create Too Challenges

Favorite Technique is the theme at Speedy and Friends this week and Christmas in July is what Simply Create Too wants to see. I tried the Dryer Sheet Glitter Technique recently and it has become a favorite. It is a subtle way to add glitter to a card.

I am leaving in a minute for a day with family, but if you want to learn more about the technique, here is a tutorial. Or email me with questions- I am always happy to help.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Silhouette Sunday Super Hero Projects

My grandson's birthday is coming up and he is big super hero fan so I decided to use my Silhouette Portrait and Silhouette America cutting files to make him some fun projects for his birthday celebration. This week at the Silhouette Blog Weekly Challenge, they want us to use circles or the free file from Silhouette this week. The free file was these blackboard alphabet circles, so I used them for this shield I made for Nate. The shield, kapow shape, ninja and sword are all Silhouette America cutting files. Could you image how much this project would have cost me if I had purchased all these shapes in the traditional dies? With my subscription, all the files cost less than 50 cents each except for the chalkboard circular letters which were free!

This the card I made for Nate and this is the inside:

So easy to personalize a special birthday card for someone you love. One more card to share- this is the very first card I made with my Silhouette Portrait when I set it up. I bought a Batman file from the Silhouette store and tried some letters with the Text function. Pretty basic, but Nate loved it when I sent it to him.

I am entering the birthday card in the Anything Goes challenge at Sister Act Card Challenge.

Stamping and Silhouette Smiles, Grandma Karen 

CAS-ual Fridays and Annabelle Stamps Challenges

Polka dots is the theme at both Annabelle Stamps and CAS-ual Fridays this week. I am sharing a card that has polka dots on the Legos. I simply punched some little circles of the same color as the Lego shapes and added a little white gel pen to make them look like Legos. The background is an embossing folder from Cuttlebug.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Mosaic Shapes and Sequins with Crackerbox Palace Stamps

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday today and I am sharing two different cards made with Crackerbox Palace stamps, sequins and a mosaic shape from Silhouette America. One of my favorite sentiment stamps from Crackerbox Palace is featured on my first card. Isn’t it just perfect for those of us who make and send cards we put our hearts into? I cut a frame (also from Silhouette America) with my Silhouette Portrait electronic cutting machine and then cut the mosaic shapes out of monochromatic shades of blue patterned paper from Stampin’ Up. I layered them in a fun pattern and added some sequins to complete the card.

For my second card, I created an embossing plate with the same mosaic shape cut out a little larger in chipboard. I embossed a red piece of Tim Holtz’s new Kraft-Core Shattered Core’dinations paper with the embossing plate and the No More Shims thick embossing pad, then sanded the embossed shapes a little. I love the Cool Beans stamp from Crackerbox Palace and I cut it apart for this fun CAS card. The black sequins were added for the final touch. Have you tried adding sequins to your cards? They are so cheap and are a great alternative to brads or candies. A mini-glue dot is perfect for attaching them.

I like how the cards turned out and hope you do too. Please visit the website to see these and many other awesome Crackerbox Palace stamps.

I am entering this card in the Monochrome challenge at Paper Pretties and the CAS challenge at Whimsical Designs.

Crackerbox Palace smiles, Karen

Crafty Sentiments and LEJ Designs Challenges

Christmas in July is the theme at Crafty Sentiments Designs and at LEJ Designs this week and I am sharing my very first ever white on white card. I am so proud of myself:) I have admired so many white on white creations, but whenever I tried, I always gave in and added some color somewhere- usually in the sentiment and then some more some where else on the card. But I played with some dies and texure from embossing and raising the word for dimension and I love how this turned out. The hope die is from W Plus 9 and includes the snowflake for the the o. The deer are from Memory Box and I placed them over Swiss Dot "snow" (Cuttlebug.) The birch tree frame is a Silhouette America cutting file that I cut out with my Silhouette Portrait electronic die cutting machine.

Stamping smiles, Karen

What If? Wed. Sketch Challenge

It's time for another fun sketch challenge at The House that Stamps Built and we are challenging you to make a card using the sketch below and link it up for a chance at some great Repeat Impressions rubber! For all the details on what you can win and to see the other Rock Stars cards using this sketch, please visit our blog.

I am fascinated with the positives and negatives of images and die cuts. I own both Wings Positive and Wings Negative stamps now from Repeat Impressions and just love stamping both over a patterned or script designer paper with black ink. So when I saw this week’s sketch, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I stamped, cut out and rounded the corners. I added a sentiment piece and a dragonfly brad for fun.

Here is the sketch for you to follow when you create a card for our challenge. You do not need to use Repeat Impressions stamps to enter our challenges, but you get an extra chance to win if you do!

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Through the Craftroom Door.

Stamping smiles, Karen 

Di's Digis and All Sorts Challenges

Paper piecing is the theme this week at Di's Digis and at All Sorts they want to see our favorite things. This card combines two of my favorite things: paper piecing and roses. Paper piecing is my favorite way to "color" on my cards. I stamped the rose corner from Stacy Stamps on white and paper pieced the roses with yellow and green. The single rose in the corner is from the same set and was "colored" the same way. I raised each corner piece with pop dots. The sentiment (from Woodware) was stamped diagonally in the space between the two raised corner pieces and I added some gens to complete the card.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Repeat Impression's Stamp of the Week

The stamp of the week this week at Repeat Impressions is this fun Damselfly at Rest stamp, and it is available this week only for 50% off with the discount code found at Repeat Impressions blog. What a deal! Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's cards using this stamp.

I stamped the Damselfly at Rest on a white card front with the summer sentiment and colored him with gel pens. I stamped him again on a scrap piece, cut out and colored the wings and attached for extra dimension. I die cut a sun with a Memory Box die and attached all to a black card with the corners rounded.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Challenges 4 Everybody and Sister Act.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Silhouette Sunday 3D Cards

The challenge at the Silhouette Blog Weekly Challenge this week is to use 3D elements in our cards. I have three cards to share with you and in the last two, the 3D elements are on the inside of the card. My first card above was made with a floral card shape from the Silhouette America cutting files store and my favorite new paper: Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Shattered paper from Core'dinations. It is kraft on one side and colored with kraft cracks on the other side. I added floral punches and pearls for the 3D elements. The sentiment is from Technique Tuesday.

I created a romantic card for my husband with a beautiful sentiment cutting file from Silhouette America, an embossing folder from Craft Concepts and a line of black script Washi tape. But the inside is the fun part:

I love this heart shape that spreads out as you open the card. I paid about 10 times as much for a circular similar die a few years ago and now for 99 cents (or less with my subscription), I can get hearts and circles and other shapes that surprise the recipient when they open the card.

My third card today is a birthday card I made for a special friend. I cut the friendship sentiment with my Silhouette Portrait cutting machine and attached it to a white piece with an embossed frame (Sizzix) and embossed butterfly (folder by Cuttlebug, punch by Martha Stewart.) But again the fun part is in the inside of the card:

The whole inside of the card pops up in a fun frame with the Happy Birthday letters inside. Another great 3D element you can purchase at the Silhouette America store for 99 cents or less, make it any size or color you want and personalize the sentiment for the lucky recipient.

I am entering these cards in the Texture challenge at Nutcrafters and the Anything Goes challenge at  Bearly Mine.

Stamping and Silhouette smiles, Karen

Punches and/or Diecuts 4 Kids at SAS4Kids!

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is Punches and/or Diecuts 4 Kids. Create and link any card for a child featuring punches and/or diecuts and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have three very generous sponsors this week: Delicious Doodles is giving their winner 4 digis of their choice! And Sassy Studios is giving their randomly picked winner 4 digis of their choice! QKR Stampede’s winner will receive 5 digis of their choice!  TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

My first card above features a sweet image from Delicious Doodles called Bear and Baby. I paper pieced both bears and cut out a circle with my Nestabilities. I cut another larger circle and then cut out a slice to frame the bear circle over a fun patterned cardstock. The love is a die from W Plus 9 and I die cut it with the same patterned cardstock.

My second card features Princess Arial from Sassy Studios. I paper pieced her dress and colored the rest with my Copics. I framed her with a fancy square die cut from Spellbinders. I figured she was a princess so she needed a castle, so check out the inside of the card which I cut with my Silhouette Portrait and a Silhouette America cutting file:

Perfect for a little princess! The doors and windows even open:) I am entering these cards in the Child's Play challenge at Crafty Catz and the Anything Goes challenge at Sister Act.

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen 

Crackerbox Palace Cupcake Birthday Card

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and I am sharing a birthday card made with Crackerbox Palace stamps. I decided to make this card CAS (Clean and Simple) with the fun Happy Birthday cupcake circle as the focal point. I saw this scoring suggestion on a card on Pinterest and she called it the Handkerchief look. It does remind me of my Dad’s handkerchiefs – does anyone even use them anymore? I just scored 4 lines along the side and lower middle and layered the white piece on a pink one. 

If you follow my blog, you know I am having a blast with my Silhouette Portrait die cutting machine. I cut this fun sentiment for the inside of this card: 

I like how the card turned out and hope you do too. Please visit the website to see these and many other awesome Crackerbox Palace stamps.

I am entering this card in the Diecuts and/or Punches challenge at Scrapper’s Delight and the Birthday challenge at Ladybug Crafts Inks.

 Crackerbox Palace smiles, Karen

TTCRD and Papertake Weekly Challenges

Anything Goes at Through the Craftroom Door and at Papertake Weekly (with animals) and I am sharing a card I just made with my new favorite paper. Have you seen the new Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Shattered card stock by Core'dinations? I just discovered it this week at JoAnn's (on sale!) and I love it so much I am going back today to get some more. It combines kraft paper - a favorite of mine- with awesome colors with a crackled look! As you can see through the stars border (Martha Stewart punch) the other side is kraft colored. I embossed the horse (DRS Designs) with black embossing powder. I cut several stars with my Nestabilities, and scored from each point on the larger one. Then I folded the lines and pushed out the center to make it dimensional, and attached with a couple pop dots.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Designer Choice Challenge at Repeat Impressions

It’s another Designer’s Choice Challenge at The House that Stamps Built, Repeat Impression’s blog. It’s Deonna’s turn and she has challenged us to make a card with a Monochrome color scheme. After you make your card, you can enter it for a chance to win some awesome Repeat Impressions rubber! Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's cards for this DCC challenge. 

I just love this zebra and frame stamp from Repeat Impressions and decided to make it the focus of my monochrome card. I stamped it again and cut off the frame to put under the bottom right and upper left sides. I cut a circle set in half and framed the other sides with it. I added the perfect sentiment from RI to complete the card.

I am entering this card in the Monochrome challenge at Lady Anne’s and the Animal challenge at Paper Nest Dolls.  

Stamping smiles, Karen

Love to Scrap and Scrapbook Stamp Society Challenges

Anything Goes at Love to Scrap and Scrapbook Stamp Society and I am sharing a card I made recently with some Hambo digital stamps I won for being published with their stamps. This balloon bird makes me smile, along with his funny sentiments. I paper pieced him and his balloon which sticks above the card. The second part of the sentiment is here:

HA- so true:) Have a great day!

Stamping smiles, Karen

The Squirrel and the Fox and Sister Act Challenges

Christmas in July is the theme of the challenge this week at The Squirrel and the Fox, and Anything Goes at Sister Act Challenge. I make Christmas cards all year round, and this is one I made with a new die from Tim Holtz that had not been used before. I cut one reindeer out of thicker chipboard and on with black card stock. I embossed the designer paper with the thicker one and my No More Shims embossing pad, then sponged with a distress ink to bring out the embossed reindeer. I layered the black reindeer just to the left of the embossed one, stamped the sentiment and attached all to a square kraft card.

Stamping smiles, Karen