Critter Sketch Guest Designer

Guess who is the Guest Designer at the Critter Sketch Challenge Blog this week? ME! I was honored to be asked to participate as a Guest Designer and even more thrilled when I saw the super cute digital stamps from Soft Pencil that we could use and the fun sketch they have to inspire us this week.

The ladybug and flower are a digital stamp from Soft Pencil and I first printed it on the green piece and again on orange patterned paper and in red. I paper pieced the flower and the ladybug and layered all together as per the sketch. The background was embossed in a new Sizzix embossing folder after I attached the orange strip.

Critter Sketch has great challenges and I have participated in many of them, which is how I got this great opportunity to be a guest designer. So take some time this week to play with this fun sketch and check out their blog for all the details on this week's challenge.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Hambo Hoedown and Art Impressions Stamps Challenges

Fun challenges this week at Hambo Hoedown and Art Impressions Stamps: At Hambo they want us to use their stamps to make a masculine card with stripes somewhere and at Art Impressions they want funny cards. I love Hambo stamps because so many of them crack me up and I love to make funny cards. I had these papers picked out from Tim Holtz because they looked old and so I just added my own lines with a thin black marker. I paper pieced the caveman and sponged his oval and the sentiment piece to look aged. The shape of the card was fun- I just cut the whole card down and matched red and aged map pieces when layering.

FYI- did you know some companies give you free stamps when you are published using their stamps? Hambo is one and I won these and others recently when I was published in Just Cards Birthday issue. Repeat Impressions also rewards stampers who get published with their stamps and also has a gallery you can enter and earn free rubber at as well. Check it out- both companies have buttons on the side of my blog. The key to getting published is sending in your cards- just do it!

Stamping smiles, Karen

Woodware USA and Lexi's Creations Challenges

The challenge at Woodware USA this week was "Anything Goes" (love those!), and at Lexi's Creations it was Flowers. I love how this card turned out. I started with two designer patterned papers, one for the card base and one for the focal point. I taped down a floral mask and sprayed the lighter colored piece with a Smooch Spritz. After letting it dry (is that not the hardest part- waiting for something to dry when in the middle of creating something!), I cut apart and reassembled on a slightly large dark brown piece. Adding the large sparkly rose is the final step.

Stamping smiles, Karen

Scrapbook Friday

We took our grandson to Disney on Ice a few weeks ago and had so much fun I had to scrap those memories right away. I got some Mickey Mouse paper (because he was our host) and put the pictures to the paper.

This is Grandma and Grandpa with our Nate before the show started.

I used my zoom and got some pretty good pictures of the various charactors we saw. As I said in the journaling, the best part was watching the joy and excitement on Nate's face. So fun to share that with him!

Stamping and scrapping smiles, Karen

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge

The challenge this week at Fussy and Fancy Friday was to use paper piercing or embossing on our cards. Well, that is no challenge for me- I do both all the time:) This a fun image I got free at Paper Smooches, a new stamp company with the cutest images and great fonts for their sentiments. I just downloaded this month's free image and will be playing with that one soon- check it out! I am a newbie to digital stamps but am starting to figure it out and since I have no more room in my stamping room for storage of stamps, figure this is the way to go for atleast part of my stamp purchases!

The background on this card was fun and easy. Just emboss (Cuttlebug folder) three different colored sheets of cardstock and then cut them together in various angles and put them back together as shown. The Paper Smooches bird was printed on two different dps and cut out and attached to circles cut with my nesties.

Stamping smiles, Karen

RI What If Wed? Case Harriet Challenge

Today for the What If Wednesday? Challenge at Repeat Impressions. we are challenging you to case the card above by our Rock Star Harriet. Make a card using Harriet's for inspiration, upload to your blog or gallery and link it to the RI blog, The House that Stamps Built for a chance to win a great prize. Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the great cards created by the othe Rock Stars (or just click on the links on the side anytime for inspiration.) You have until Tuesday March 15th to enter.

For my card I used the same vertical butterfly stamp stamping it over patterned paper for a look I just love. The edge butterfly punch is from Martha Stewart. The embossed (folder by CB) area is a new technique I learned at a class at our local Stamp Shoppe and uses a crayon for resist and spray color mists. I will be demonstrating the technique with others at the Madison Mingle later in the month. Ribbon, a velum butterfly and a pearl complete the card.

So come and join us for the fun and easy challenge. You can use any stamps, but if you use Repeat Impressions stamps, you get an additional entry in the random drawing!

I am entering this card in Crafty Emma's challenge to use flowers or flutterbys in our cards.

Stamping smiles, Karen

ECP and Critter Sketch Challenges

The challenge this week at ECP Challenges is to make something for the boys, and at Critter Sketch Challenges it is to highlight the sentiment. The shape and the circle sentiment on this card are from The Cutting Cafe'. I bought the files that gave me the shapes to cut out and also the cute circular sentiments. This card opens at the top and will be perfect for the boys I send cards to monthly.

Stamping smiles, Karen