happy christmas

I love making Christmas cards every year and I just love it when a card turns out as cheerful and happy as this one did. Maybe it's the stripes and polka-dots mixed together {grin!} I'm using SC255 from Splitcoaststampers for the layout and a sweet little Wings of Joy stamp from Taylored Expressions. I started by stamping the tree in Memento Rich Cocoa and coloring it in with Copics. I love the little strip of paper that runs between the two panels - it's such a fun element to the sketch and is a perfect backboard for a big ribbon and bow.

Thanks for swinging by today - have a wonderful weekend!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: wings of joy (taylored expressions)
paper: old olive, real red, very vanilla card stock, retired holiday paper (SU!)
ink: memento rich cocoa
accessories: real red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, copic markers, stampin' dimensionals

key ingredients challenge

Happy Friday! Today I'm so thrilled to be showing you a little snippet of the November Key Ingredients kit, available today at Taylored Expressions! Once again, Taylor has coordinated the perfect papers and accessories to make all of your fall projects super easy and since it is the time of Thanksgiving here in the states, I thought it would be really nice to make a fun and simple Thank You card. We are travelling this Thanksgiving and are staying with family in New Mexico - this year we are staying with my husband's cousin and her wonderful family and I wanted to make something special and heartfelt for them to let them know how much we appreciate their hospitality.

So what is the challenge for this month? We need to use Skeleton Leaves on our "Giving Thanks" project. Have you ever used Skeleton Leaves? I have to say, this is the first time I've used them and I'm hooked! I love the simple texture they add to a card or project and they are transparent, so you see all the detail behind them. I layered the leaves in my card over the leaf flourish from Celebrate Life. To add a little more detail, I added some Wine Rhinestones around the image and on the bow.

The November 20th Key Ingredients include 12 sheets of 8.5" x 11"card stock (2 of Desert Coral Dark, Birchtone Dark, Rose Dark, Wizard Light, and Candleglow Dark with a Snow White neutral), 20 sheets of 6" x 6" patterned paper from the Basic Grey Indian Summer collection, 5 yards of coordinating ribbon (1 yard each of 5 different styles), an assortment of coordinating skeleton leaves, and a package of Kaisercraft rhinestones. You can participate in this month's challenge - just stop on by Taylor's blog for all the details! More fabulous projects are waiting for you from:

• Taylor VanBruggen
• Laura Fredrickson
• Jodi Collins
• Sharon Harnist
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Karen



recipe -
stamps: celebrate life (taylored expressions)
paper: prism desert coral dark, rose dark, choice snow white card stock, indian summer patterned paper (basic grey)
ink: memento rich cocoa, versamark
accessories: wine rhinestones (kaisercraft), white embossing powder, pink organdy ribbon, petite ovals & scallops nestabilities (spellbinders), skeleton leaves, sponge daubers, stampin' dimensionals

sweet sunday sketch winner

Hey, hey! It's time to announce this week's sketch winner!! Random.org has chosen #35.... Arielle!


I LOVE Arielle's card - the snowmen sparkle, the colors are happy, the scalloped edge - they all make me smile. Stop on by Arielle's blog, Snappy Stampin, and take a peek at all of her gorgeous creations - you won't be disappointed!

Karen

fabulous fall blog hop!

I'm excited to participate today in the Taylored Expressions Fabulous Fall Blog Hop! Taylor has put together some really sweet Key Ingredients Kits at an incredible discount. These kits are in limited quantity and slightly different from the regular KI's. For details see Taylor's blog post today. My cards today feature the Penelope's Potpourri Kit. It was fantastic to work with because the rub-ons are super thick and really pop on colored card stock. The papers are so fun and cute, not to mention they have some tulips, which are my all time favorite flowers! I love the assortment of ribbon included in this kit - each ribbon fully compliments the paper's pattern and color.

There are 4 kits available for a limited time: Penelope's Potpourri (which I'm showcasing today), Winnie's Walls, Paisley & Polka-Dots, and Morning Meadow and each kit is only $12.95!! Quantities are limited for these kits, so don't miss out on this exceptional deal.
Included in each kit is a full color inspiration sheet with 6 samples created by members of the Baker's Dozen - so not only will you have a great coordinated kit, you will have amazing samples and layouts to give you loads of inspiration.

All of my cards feature the glorious Penelope (SEI) Rub-ons and ribbon from the Penelope's Potpourri Key Ingredients and I love all the little flower accents included - In this card, I used the circular flowers to create a nice little border along the edge of the card and the sentiment really stands out on the red card stock. I really love how bold the images are on dark card stock.


In my next card, I layered 2 different rub-ons, the flower and the sentiment.


Finally, I used my Small Oval Nestabilities to cut out the tulip rub-on and then added the little "Thank You" sentiment from Beary Special Accessories.


Taylor has really picked out some great treats for you in these kits, so hop on over to the other Baker's Dozen members who have wonderful samples to show you today!

• Taylor VanBruggen
• Denise Marzec
• Charmaine Ikach
• Karen Motz
• Donna Baker
• Sankari Wegman
• Jodi Collins

Thanks so much for stopping by ~
Karen

a special birthday

Welcome to the blog hop celebrating Nancy McKinney's birthday! You may know Nancy from her darling illustrations for Taylored Expressions - she designs stamps for the Whimsical Wishes line - I LOVE her style! Happy birthday, Nancy!! Wishing you a very happy day for you and your family :)

I started by using Taylor's TESC91 sketch for my card this morning as well as stamps from For the Love of Cupcakes {designed by our friend Nancy, of course!} I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored them with Copics - and of course used my Nestabilities to cut them out. For something different, I looped the ribbon and attached it to the card with a candy brad. I couldn't figure out where to put my sentiment, so I added another little circle with the greeting inside. Uh, call it creative license?? LOL! Stop on by Nancy's blog, Card Worthy, and wish her a happy day!

There are more birthday wishes to see, so stop on by to see:

• Karen Motz: Paper Playhouse
• Dana White: Dana's House of Cards
• Michelle Leishman: Miche L. Designs
• Janet Rossi: Corrosive Creations by Janet
• Wendy Bond: Bond Girl Bliss
• Jodi Collins: Stamping A Latte
• Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
• Sankari Wegman: Sankari's Sunshine Corner
• Charmaine Ikach: Oodabug Alley
• Laura Fredrickson: Scrapnextras

Thanks for stopping by today -
Karen


recipe -
stamps: for the love of cupcakes (taylored expressions)
paper: prism nautical blue light, prism frosted yellow, prism razzleberry light, choice snow white card stock, patterned paper from doodlebug
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: copic markers, pink polkadot grosgrain ribbon, candy brads (doodlebug), mini/micro dot twinkles (a.muse), blossom & circle nestabilities (spellbinders), stampin' dimensionals

perfectly pink

Thanks for hanging in there with me while I made my card for this week's SSSC - whew!! I found some scraps of Spring Fling paper (love this stuff!) and that inspired my colors for this card. I added a scallop border for the ribbon panel and a few rhinestones for some sparkle. I was going to stamp some circles, but opted to use buttons instead - you know how I am about buttons - LOVE them! LOL!

Have a wonderful afternoon!
Karen



recipe -
stamps: back2basics (the stamps of life)
paper: pretty in pink, regal rose, sage shadow, whisper white card stock, spring fling dsp
ink: regal rose
accessories: mini & micro dot twinkles (a.muse), sherbet designer buttons, scallop edge punch, circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), certainly celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, white embroidery floss, stampin' dimensionals

sweet sunday sketch challenge #44

Good morning - It's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Here is the deal: make a card with this layout and use the Mr. Linky box down at the end of my post to enter your card. On Thursday at 10 PM (Mountain Time), I'll randomly select one card to feature on my blog. So, as long as your card is linked in the Mr. Linky box by 10 PM Thursday, your card will be in the drawing. Be sure to link directly to the blog post or gallery image which features your card. You may post a picture of the sketch on your blog, but please save the image to your computer first. Use the keyword SSSC44 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

So apparently I'm a HUGE goober and haven't had a chance to make a fun sample yet. OK, well that isn't intirely true - I used my sample for this month's Fan Club Gallery, so if you are a Fan Club member at Splitcoaststampers, you can see it in my gallery or the SSSC44 gallery. BUT - I do plan on making a card for you, in fact I'm in process right now and am running just a bit late. I'll post it in a new entry soon!

Edited to add: I have a sketch sample ready for you in this post.

The Sweet Sunday Stampers have samples to show you today (they aren't slackers like me), so don't forget to stop on by to see:

• Jennifer Tapler
• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Nancy Riley
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Now it's your turn! Have fun!
Karen

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