Happy Birthday Simon Says Stamp!

My favorite challenge blog is celebrating their birthday this week and so I am entering this CAS birthday shaker card for a chance to win one of the gift certificates! Happy Birthday to Simon Says Stamp (being celebrated on their Wednesday challenge blog here.)  I love making shaker cards and bought this circular Happy Birthday die from Tessler Crafts with that type of card in mind. I stamped the fun  background from Fun Stampers Journey, then cut the center piece out. I sponged on aqua blue ink and attached the HB circle on the acetate piece on the back. I dumped in a bunch of birthday sequins and attached the shaker front to an A2 card base. Here is another view all shook up:

I am also entering this card in the "Use a Die-Cut" challenge at Creative Card Crew.

My First Guest DT Blogpost for Scrapy Land

I am very happy to participate this week as a Guest Designer at Scrapy Land which is one of my favorite challenge blogs. The theme of this challenge is Anything Goes as long as you use at least one of the die brands Scrapy Land sells. Here is a list of the over 40 different brands Scrapy Land carries. I have chosen to use Sizzix and Impression Obsession dies on my card for this challenge.

I created the card base for this card with a Sizzix Jen Long die called Thinlits Fold-A-Long and some two sided cardstock. The front also features the Sizzix Pete Hughes Magical Butterfly and “For You” by Impression Obsession. 

This is how the card looks when the baker’s twine is untied and the card is opened. I added another Sizzix die called Graceful Flourish to the center of the fold up card.

Why don’t you pull out your favorite dies and create a card for this challenge? The prize is a $15 Scrapy Land gift certificate and you know you can find something great you want there!

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Craft Your Passion.

Die-Versions Thank You Layered Card

Hope you are having a great day! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing this Thank You card featuring Die-Version’s new Stitched Nesting Combo and a couple other Die-Versions dies. I die cut four layers of different sizes of the Stitched Nesting Combo dies out of a blue polka dotted cardstock. I used mounting tape to raise each layer a little higher as I attached them. Then I cut a funky stitched circle out of white cardstock and attached Die-Version’s “Thanks” out of the same polka dotted blue. I added Die-Version’s Scrolly Bow on the bottom of the card front. It is a shame to waste any of the fun stitched shapes I had cut out, so I put a few in the inside of the card to write a personal note on.

**Remember you can get a 15% discount on any of Die-Version’s great dies by simply using my discount code karen15 when you check out at the Die-Versions website.**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting from the Heart and Craft Your Passion. Also at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

School Color Crazy Bird Grad Card

I love making graduation cards in the school colors of the grad, and purple and gold are the colors of the high school my nephew is graduating from this spring. When I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to try a card using it. The center flap lifts up to reveal another oval in the center to write your message on: 

I started the  card with a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of purple cardstock. I embossed the slightly smaller gold layer with a "congrats" embossing folder by Cuttlebug. I cut two white ovals with stitched dies from My Creative Time and stamped the "hats off" sentiment from Crackerbox Palace. I stamped the Crazy Bird (from Tim Holtz) on the larger white oval and again on a patterned dp and paper pieced him. I stamped and cut out the graduation hat and diploma from Crazy Bird Things in gold and attached.

A strip of purple cardstock is attached behind the gold layer and comes down the center of the front where I attached the front oval. I decided to put a strip of cardstock behind the larger oval and slipped in a money gift for the grad. I love it when a card comes together exactly as it was designed in my head:)

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends.

Sneak Peak at Let's Create Tonic Studio Cards Inside and Out

I was so excited about my new Tonic Studios dies and some cards that I created for a Take 5 article in Scrap and Stamp Arts to be published in the fall, that I shared them with Franki of Let's Create in Wisconsin Rapids while taking one of her classes. She was so impressed with the Tonic Studio dies and Nuvo Crystal Drops, she ordered a whole bunch of them for her shop and asked me to teach a special class sharing some different ideas for using them. The cards above are the ones I am going to be teaching on April 29th at 5:00 and April 30th at 10:30. To get registered for the class, just call 715-424-1343. I can tell you even if you are a ways away from Wisconsin Rapids, the road trip will be worthwhile. Let's Create has the best selection of new dies and stamps and everything else new and crafty! I would sure love to see you at one of these classes!

For a Mom or Special Female (From the Kids) at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is For Moms or Special Females (From the Kids). Create and link any card appropriate for a Mom, and you could win one of our great prizes.

We are doing this challenge now to remind you that now is the time to make and send in cards that the kids in the hospitals we serve who are inpatient on Mother’s Day can give or send to their Mothers or Grandmothers. Having a special card for Mom or any other loved female on this day will make the child and the recipient feel special. You do not have to send in your cards to participate in our challenges, but our kids would sure love it if you did!

We have two very generous sponsors for this challenge: Sami Stamps is giving their winner a $12 gift certificate! And the winner from Dies R Us gets a $15 gift certificate! 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.

I created an easel card for this challenge featuring the sweet "Covered in Kittens" digital stamp from Sami Stamps. We love kitties at our house so I could not resist this stamp. I printed the stamp on white cardstock and paper pieced her outfit, hair and the cute kitties. I stamped a "purrrrfect" sentiment from Tonic Studios. 

The easel top of the card is held up with a Cat's Whiskers kitty die from Tonic Studios. I cut it in brown and black, offset the two slightly and popped it up with pop dots.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

What Else Can We do with our Dies Colorful Edition

I am sharing three more cards I made with Tonic Studio's Plush Peony Entwining Trellis die set today. All three of today's colorful cards will fit into legal size envelopes.  I played with different colors of Magenta Nuance watercolor powders on the two cards above. I love the trellis look on the inside of this die and the flowers can be popped on top or cut out and then placed back in the holes the flower dies created. I used alcohol inks on glossy paper before cutting out the oval trellis on the last card I made:

I cut the  flowers out of white cardstock scraps and added different colors of Nuvo Glitter Drops while the flowers were still in the die. I added a sentiment by Dina Wakley for Ranger to complete the card.

I am entering the second card in the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and 613 Avenue Create.