A new calendar for Emma

Hello friends. I started a new calendar for my sweet "Great" niece on National Scrapbook day and I finally finished it. A little late but her Momma was still thrilled. Thought I would share it.

First here is little Miss Emma on her first Birthday.

I always start their calendars the month they are born and end also with their birth month. So the new calendar started with June.

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I had so much fun using my silhouette to die cut most of my images and then coloring them in with Copics and accenting with stickles and glossy accents. Here are just a couple of close ups of some of my favorites.

Well Thanks for stopping by! Hope your summer is starting off warm and wonderful!!!

HUGS!!

Karen



Hey there bloggers

It's been about a month since I last posted and although I have had some moments where I was able to create I just havn't had the time or energy to post here or over at flicker. Yesterday I spent some time visiting blogs and was so inspired by all the creativity but I was also inspired by one blogger who was struggeling with the idea to take her blog down or not. Just because of the time commitment involved and then feeling the pressure of haveing to post all the time ect. I really appreciated all the comments I read there and decided that yes it's ok to just blog when you have time and not to feel pressure if you don't.
SO....what I guess what I'm trying to say is I will keep my blog intact but I will only be posting occassionally. I will still be visiting blogs and commenting when I can.

OK now that I've said all that....here is a card I did a while back when I received my new Tim Holtz Distress Markers....LOVE them!

I added a little stickles here and there for some added sparkel and just love the simplicity of this. On National Scrapbook Weekend I started a new calendar for my "great" neice Emma, she had her first birthday at the begining of the month. It's almost finished so I hope I can get it posted soon.

Well there you have it.....Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words and continued friendship. Have a great weekend!!!

Hugs!

Happy Easter...a little late but

what the heck. Better late than never right!  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday filled with family and friends. We celebrated Passover on Saturday and Easter on Sunday...I love it when the 2 holidays are at the same time.

I thought I would share a few fun photos of some crafty things I did, the 2 cutest great nephews & neice a girl could ask for and ....wait for it.....

First of all here are the little Easter bags I did for my nephews...

H
here are my nephews with their Dad...

And my niece....who unfortunatly wasn't feeling well that day but she did try to give a little smile.

I created 100 "Happy Easter" labels on my silhouette for the leader of the children's ministry and she gave all her volunteers these wonderful jars of flowers. I have enjoyed mine all week at work.



and now a little video of the fun group I work with! So glad I found this creative bunch....this is a video they created to honor their volunteers during their Ovations Awards night. Thought this would be a fun way to share a little of my new environment. (One of these guys is my boss!!!!) LOL...the one in the pink!

Hope this made you smile!!!

Hugs!!!

Karen

Hello Friends!

It's been over a month since I've posted or really sat down to create anything. I sure have missed it. I figured I would share a couple of cards I did this weekend. I logged in over at the Hero Arts Flicker site Saturday afternoon and found a scramble starting. So I thought well why not, so here is the card I created.

I had a few of these die cut labels sitting on my desk so I grabbed one and went with it. The challenge was a tic tac toe theme. We were given a tic tac toe board where we could choose a row. I choose the row that required you use a die cut, green and patterned paper. It was so much fun and I won the random drawing for a digi kit from HA. Again feeling so blessed!!!!

Then I was inspired by another card I saw from the challenge created by Nancy here's a link http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyheartstudio/6845015800/ ... I decided to get my inks out and do a little distressing. I sure do LOVE my distress inks.

I hope you are all well. I sure have missed hangin' out and crafting, visiting all the wonderful card blogs out there. Sometimes you just have to go through a season and for me that time is now. If your the praying kind please pray for my family. This past year has really been a difficult one. Don't get me wrong I have seen blessings along the way, however the struggles continue to test us. May your week be blessed and Thanks for stopping by!!

Hugs!

A few new cards

Here are a few cards I did this past week. I have to say January was very good to me. First I started my new job, then I won Barb's blog giveaway and I also won another drawing on the Hero Art's Flicker site. How cool is that !!!!!! The first card was done with one of the new Hero Art's stamps that Barb sent to me!

I love this new BG stamp. It's called "Flower Dot Pattern". I can't wait to use the other fun things that Barb sent.

This card was done with the background stamp I won over on the Flicker site. I just love all that fun text.

For this card I used 2 of the new Hero Art's stamps I ordered. I was so inspired after the clean and simple card class that I just had to have that chevron background, and I love the new word shadow circles stamps.

I'm loving my new job!!!! And today our Pastor had the staff and their spouse's over for a Superbowl Party. We had a great time, even if my husband's team didn't make it to the big game.

Have a blessed week, and Thanks for stopping by!!!

Hugs!

Karen

CHA Fun

CHA 2012 is in full swing and I was lucky enough to attend, at least for one day this awesome show. It was my 11th show and I'm still in such awe of the incredible creative talent of the industry and it's designers. I used to say "certainly they couldn't come up with anything cuter, or more creative" and every year, they do!!!!

I thought today I would share a few photos of my favorite part of this industry....the People.
First of all I finally meet some of my online Flicker sisters...

from right to left...Myself, Jennifer McGuire, Ivy, Sharri Carrol, Sally Traidman, Nancy, Linda and Gina. Nancy was so sweet to talk with me over the phone to set up this meeting. It was a great way to start off the day.

Next I had the pleasure of meeting and doing a make-n-take with Jill Foster...

talk about a sweet girl and so very talented as well. If you haven't already been over to her blog you really should check it out, http://www.stampinginspiredby.blogspot.com/ 

The highlight of the show for me was getting to spend time with Laura and Merilee!!! For those who may not know, Laura worked for me and then bought my store this past April. I feel so blessed to have given up my baby to this wonderful girl! Yes I really do feel like the birth Mom to her baby, lol.

I enjoyed watching her in action. This girl really has an eye for all the fun new product and if you shop at her store you will be thrilled with all the exciting new product coming your way....wish I was there to enjoy it with you all. I can't wait to get my hands on those new Distress markers!!! Be sure to check out the Scrapbook Paradise Blog for all the coming fun. http://renoscrapbooking.com/

Well I hope you all have a great week. I was back at my new job today and feeling very blessed to be there. Even if it was a little bitter sweet not to be back at the show today.  Thanks again for stopping by!

Hugs!

Karen

Clean and Simple

I can't believe Monday is the last day of the Clean and Simple Cards Class... :-(  I really have enjoyed each and everyone of the On line card classes even when I don't get a chance to try each technique. The good news is when you sign up for class you get  lifetime access!!!! So I will eventually get to try everything. Here is a card I did from day 8. I needed a couple of Thank You cards for my new Co-Workers. The lady I'm sharing an office with started my first day off with flowers, candy and a card!!! Another lady that I will be working closely with took me to lunch on my second day! Talk about a warm welcome. Yes I do believe, God is good, and I'm feeling so grateful!!

I used the Hero Art's Friend Definition stamp for the background and another set for the Flower and Thank You.

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Karen

Check this out...

My sweet friend Barb from the Hero Art's flicker group has a fantastic give away over on her blog. Check out this prize package...

To enter just go over to Barb's Blog  here. 

Barb was one of the first girls I "met" over on the Hero Art's Flicker group and she has been such a source of inspiration and encouragement. I feel blessed to call her a friend.

Here is a quick card I did yesterday for a special young couple I know. I started my new job today and it was a wonderful start. A very welcoming group of people and I'm looking forward to working with them, so.... I probably won't get much time to do my homework from the Clean and simple card class but I will try to catch up over the weekend.

As always thanks so much for stopping by and be sure to hop over to visit Barb's blog!!
Hugs,
Karen

And another CAS Card

I found time to try one more technique from the Clean and Simple Card class. I was really excited to try this technique which Jennifer McGuire calls "Watercolor Blocking". It uses distress inks and the foam applicator dipped in pearlized water.  I look forward to practicing this technique, for now here is my first attempt.

I hope I get to play some more tomorrow!

Hugs!!

Another CAS Card

Here is another card I did earlier this week for the Clean and Simple card class. I just finally had a moment to finish it up.

For this one I decided I wanted to do a little bigger square card. It measures 5.5 x 5.5, the only problem...my background stamp did not cover the whole card. Luckily I have a stamp positioner and I think I did OK lining it up. I used Sail Boat blue Adirondack ink against a soft blue cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm looking forward to another week of class!

Hugs!

It's been a crazy couple of days....

I had really hoped to get more of my homework from class done but sometimes life just happens! My husband had surgery on Thursday, outpatient shoulder surgery and I really thought being home taking care of him would give me plenty of time to enjoy my craft room, Ha! I feel like all I've done is cook, clean the kitchen, Ice duty, med's, laundry, taking out the garbage ect. ect. It made me realize how much he does help around here!

Anyway here are a few Valentine's Day cards I did a while back. I had actually submitted them for publication but they were not picked. So I thought I would share them here with you.

I just love these little owls and that Tim Holtz sentiment worked perfect for a heart.

For this one I did a lot of layering and masking. I found the big doily when I was unpacking from our move and kept it handy just for this purpose. 

This was a fun CAS card that I added a little stickles to.

Oh and in the midst of all the craziness with my husbands surgery I received a call that afternoon that I got a job!!!! It is working in the church office where we started going back in October. It has been a long process but I landed it!!! I can't tell you how grateful I am for this opportunity. God is good!!!!

The remaining....

peices of my last card came to rest here on this card, LOL. I used the third sketch from Day 1 of Clean and Simple Card Making to create this.

I'm really enjoying this class, and going through the student gallery. So many talented ladies out there!!! and so much inspiration.  I hope I get to create another card tonight ;-)
Hope your having a great week!!!!
Hugs,
Karen

Another Sketch from CAS Card Class

Here is another card I created from a sketch from the wonderful Kristina Werner. I'm loving this Clean and Simple Class!

For this clean and simple card I used my Silhouette to cut out the word "Be Mine" from a 4.5 x 1.5(ish)

rectangle. I used the negative rectangle on the card and have the words left over for another project. I cut

a couple of hearts added some stickles and a ribbon, which was white and I colored with Copics.

Thanks again for stopping by, I really appreciate your comments!

Hugs,

Karen

A CAS Card...

Well here is what I created after day one of the Clean and Simple Card Class.



This was one of three sketches provided today. This card is 4.5 x 4.5.

I placed a post it note in the center to mask it off.

I wanted to add a some color to this monocromatic card with the little butterflies.

Thanks for stopping by...Hugs!

A New On-line card class...

The next online card class begins tomorrow!! I'm so looking forward to it. Here is a card I did for the pre-class gallery.

This sweet little butterfly die is from "Memory Box" and I just love it. I borrowed it from a friend and die cut a few cards to play with. I used some fun Basic Grey paper behind the opening.

Hope you all have a fabulous week and if your participating in the card class I look forward to seeing you there!

Hugs,

Karen

Scramble Cards

These are the cards I did for the Hero Art's Flicker Group Scramble...

It was so much fun and it was my first time hosting. 

The challenge was to use patterned paper with your stamping, and we had a great turn out.




The ladies did an amazing job. If you would like to see the fun cards they created you can search the Hero Arts Flicker group with the work "quickcard30"...no spaces.

Thanks for stoppin by!
Hugs,
Karen

Hero Arts Challenge

Hero Arts has a new challenge for January....

So I've been playing around a bit with the color challenge. Here are 2 cards I made using the color family.

This is not a color scheme I would typically use and it did prove to be a bit of a challenge but fun!

On this one I added the sentiment at the end and then was sorry I did.

 Oh well I should have known better, LOL.

Remember tomorrow, Saturday Jan 7th I'm hosting the scramble on the Hero Art's Flicker group at 11am.

I hope you will come and play.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!!!

First Hero Art's scramble of the New Year...

I want to let you know that I am hosting the first Hero Art's Flicker group online Scramble. If your not familiar with a scramble it's a 90 minute challenge. Here is how it works.

• Log in to the Hero Art's Flicker group Saturday morning (the challenge begins at 11am Pacific time)
• Look in the discussion thread where I will post the scramble challenge
• Create a card using the challenge guidelines
• Use at least one Hero Art's stamp
• Post a picture of your card within 90 minutes
• Tag your card with "quickcard30" for a chance to win prizes!!

Please think about joining in on the fun. If you've never joined in on a scramble here's your chance!! and here is a link to the Flicker site http://www.flickr.com/groups/heroarts/

Here is a fun little card I did on New Year's day. I just love this tree, it's an old stamp by Wendy Vecchi.

Here's a close up...I was trying to capture the shimmer of the glitter embossing powder I used.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start and I hope to see you on Saturday over in the Hero Art's Flicker group.

Hugs!!!!