A Valentine and a Thank you.

I haven't had much time to blog this week.....just not enough hours in the day!! We are now at the half way point of winter, can't wait to see what that silly groundhog will predict this week..we have had 100cm (39in.) more snow than a normal winter here. No wonder I am sluggish...lol.



This is one of my favorite Valentine cards so far. The heart is from Impression Obsession. I embossed it with black and painted it with Tombows. I started in the center and graduated the colors from there. When it was dry I went over it with oyster H2o's. I added some stickles to the ends of the flourishes and around the heart. I used a Stamps by Judith branch and embossed the background on the purple card. I used my cb folder for the white bg. I cut the tag with my spellbinder tag dies. I used my hockey stick shaping tool to round the edges of the heart to give it some shape and used foam tape to lift it.

I hope you like it.


AWARDS

I also have to say a HUGE Thank you to Bonnie and Tasha for giving me these awards. I'm so sorry ladies I just haven't had time to do them or pass them on. I hope you can forgive me. I truly appreciate you thinking of me.






I hope you all have a great weekend and Thanks so much for stopping by. I am touched by the wonderful comments you have left for me.

Take care
KAREN x

More than just a Cupcake!

Hello everyone;
I picked up a copy of Paper Creations yesterday and it is just full of beautiful valentine creations. Linda Howard made these fabulous paper cupcakes "Eye Candies".
I just had to make one....however people who know me well, know that I can't leave well enough alone! I love fancy folds, cards that move and anything that is really different. So I have put a little spin on my cupcake.

 

This cupcake is made with a paper cup cut down to 2" measured from under the lip. I cut 3 strips of 2" x 12 dp. Accordian fold these strips and glue them together. Glue them to the outside of the cup. Glue a length of pom pom trim to the edge of the lip.
I used a 3" styrofoam ball for the top. You are supposed to insert the whole ball into the cup and decorate it with 1" punched circles. Now here is where the spin comes in......I cut the ball in half and glued it to a cardboard circle the same size as the cut ball. I did this because I wanted a more than just eye candy, I made it into a container.

 

I had these tiny hinges in my stash and they worked really well. I cut the lip of the cup just enough for the hinge and used the grommet to secure it. I did the same to the cardboard covering the styrofoam ball before I glued it to the ball. I punched 3 differnt pink dp with a 1" punch and glued them to the ball. I gathered a piece of sheer white ribbon for the top and added a bead that I covered with red stickles. Of course I had to add some stickles somewhere!! lol Once the circles were all in place I covered them with glue and glitter. My cupcake is a little more peaked at the top than I would have liked, next time I will layer them closer together to get a more rounded shape.

Well there you have it....my take on Linda's cupcake. I was pleased with the way it turned out. Oh, I almost forgot....I filled it with Hershey kisses trio, they are dark and milk chocolate with white chocolate swirls. Mmmmm good!

I hope you like it.
Have a great Wednesday and Thanks for stopping by....

KAREN x

High Hopes Challenge #15

Hi everyone;
I hope you all had a great start to your week. Its still freezing here, but supposed to warm up by the end of the week. Sounds like I give a weather report everyday, eh!...lol.

Anyway this is my card for the High Hopes Challenge #15. The challenge is "Hearts". I don't have any HH Valentine stamps, which by the way are fabulous, so I used adorable Albert.

 

I embossed the image with black and colored him with Tombows. I stamped 2 images and cut out and layered one. I punched a little heart and covered it with stickles. I cut a tiny slit beside his hand and glued the heart into it. I wanted it to look like he is holding it...but it looks more like he is wearing it. lol. I painted 2 wooden hearts for the sentiment. I used a piece of mulberry paper behind the dp. I added some wire curls to the bow and some flower gems inside the hearts. I also added some stickles. The bottom border is done with a martha stewart punch.
I hope you like it.

Thanks so much for stopping by....
Karen x

I've Been Tagged!!

Well, I wondered how long I would get away with not getting tagged. My friend Sharon has finally caught up with me. Its not too difficult though....
Go to the 6th folder of your pics and pick the 6th picture and write something about that picture. I have 2 places where I keep pics. Both of the 6th folders were of Layla....our dog! How lucky is that. LOL



So here she is.
This is our 60 lb baby in a wadding pool last summer. She just loves the water and the hose. It's hard to water the flowers with her around, she keeps jumping at the water. So we decided to get her a pool. We fill it up before her walk and as soon as she gets home...."Splash", she jumps right in.

Now for the best part its my turn to TAG someone......5 someones to be exact!
Renee
Bonnie
Jolene
Lauri
Theresa

This was a fun tag, I rather enjoyed it.

Have a great day everyone
KAREN x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 33

Hello every;
I hope you all had a great weekend. We are having some frigid weather here in Southwestern Ontario. I keep telling myself that spring is on it's way. The weeks are just flying by, so it will be here before we know it!

 

This is my card for the PBSC 33 this week. The challenge is "framed". This PB stamp is " Squeeze til I squeak".
I embossed the image with black and painted it with Tombows and H2o's. I stamped the flower twice, colored it with icicle H2o's and layered it. I also added some stickles. I used my nesties for the frame. I also layered the dp and the frame. The punched botttom is done with my Martha Stewart punch. I picked up the ribbon last week and I'm really glad I did. I think it really suits this card.

Well there you have it, I hope you like it.
Thanks for stopping by.....

KAREN x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

I have been wanting to try these matchbook cards for a while now, so I thought they would be great to use for the PBSC. The challenge this week is "Let's get Dotty". I think I would use this size more for tags, but I just love the design. Enlarging them would make a great card, too.



The measurments for the matchbook are 7 5/8 X 3 1/8, scored @ 3, 3 1/4 and 6 3/4 inches.
I embossed the images with black and painted them with Tombows. I used my nesties for the layers. I embossed and painted the 2 hearts and embossed the paw prints directly onto the card. I embossed and colored the tie again, cut it out and used some silicone to layer it. I used double sided tape to adhere the chocolate to the inside of the valentine card. I also added some stickles.



This is inside.
I was pleased with the way they turned out, I hope you like them too!

Have a great day, everyone
Thanks for stopping by....

KAREN x

OH Baby

As I was blog hopping(or stalking which ever you prefer...lol) yesterday, Nikki had posted the most gorgeous card. I started reading it was for the "Spoon Full of Sugar challenge" this week. The challenge is open to anyone so here I go again, I thought I would play. So here is the card I made.



One of my favorite techniques is embossing on vellum. Thats how I started this card. Its quite a quick and easy card. The vellum has a hint of pink to it and I stamped the little feet with sahara sand ink and used clear embossing powder. I used a cream colored card as an insert for the vellum card and ran a fine line of dries clear glue along the inside edge. The image is from Sunshine designs and I stamped it with Stazon black. I colored it with Tombows and added just a tiny little bit of stickles. I used glossy accents on the flower and added a little gem. I layered it with my nesties square and scallop.

I hope you like it.


AWARD



I am so happy to have recieved another award. This one is from Joey, such a sweetheart to think of me. Thank you so much, Joey You should go check out her blog for some fabulous creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a great day!
KAREN x

FISH LIPS

Good morning everyone.
I hope you all had a great start to your week. I had a very laid back day....a little laundry and lots of card making. LOL.

When I was visiting Cindy Haffners blog yesterday, she had posted a fabulous card with fish. It is for the CEE stampers challenge "Catchy Name Featured Stamper.
Any one can play along....so I did.
The challenge is to make a card with fish or fish lips on it. Well I guess I took care of that because my fish has both!
I don't do too many challenges but this one caught my eye as I have these awesome fish stamps from High Hopes and stubbies from Stamps by Judith I was itching to use.



I embossed the images with black and colored them with Tombows. I used my nesties for the hole and scallop. I used the worm can and fly hook stubbies for the background. Behind the fish I used a cb folder and on a few bubbles I put glossy accents so it would look like air bubbles. I also used glossy accents on the fish's lips. I printed the "Hugs & Fishes" on a piece of shrink film and shrunk it down for the sentiment. Last but not least I added some stickles.

I hope you like it.....
Have a great day

KAREN x






AWARD




I also received an award yesterday from Nancy, windstarcreations. Thank you so much Nancy for thinking of me. You need to go check out the fabulous creations on her blog.

Karen x

High Hopes Challenge #14

This weeks challenge for High Hopes is a card for a Dude. No flowers!
I find that a bit difficult because I like all the frilly stuff (have 2 daughters) and I don't have too much hanging around here for masculine cards. So for me this is a good challenge.



This adorable fellow is the "Fearless knight". I love all the detail he has, he's great to color. I embossed the image in black twice and painted them with Tombows.
From the second image I colored and cut out the shield, face grill, top of his sword and the plume on his helmet. I would normally use silicone to layer the small pieces but the tube was as hard as rock, so I used foam tape to layer them. The background is three separate pieces also layered with foam tape. I find it really hard to see all the 3D effects from the picture. I used the computer to make the sentiments. It was still looking a bit plain so I used some peel-off hearts. I stuck them to some cardstock and cut them out and layered them, too. The background paper is from DCWV glitter stack. I'm sure if you look real close you will also see those wonderful stickles!!
Where would my cards be without them...lol.

Well that is my hand at a masculine card....I hope you like it.
Thanks so much for dropping by and Have a great Monday.

KARENx

High Hope Challenge #13

Well it certainly took me long enough to get this weeks High Hopes challenge together.
I have a million things on the go.....not enough hours in the day. Too bad we have to sleep, I could get more done. LOL

This weeks challenge is dry embossing. I just love this little frog prince so I thought he would make a good Valentine.




I embossed the images with black and painted them with Tombows. I also added some stickles. Not too many stickles on the frog as I embossed him with my CB folder bubbles. It's hard to see but its hilarious because it looks like warts. I can't remember the name of the other CB folder on the nesties oval background (sorry). I sponged the embossed areas with some white ink. The dp with is from Darcies.

I hope you all have a great Friday and thanks for stopping by!

KAREN x

Slider Card

HI everyone,
I hope you are all having a great week so far. I seem to be going in circles and not getting too much done. Lots of projects on the go...just none of them finished!! LOL

This card is made from a metal template. It is a great template because you can't cut through it. It can be a little hard on the knife blades, if you are straight challenged like I am. As long as you keep your fingers clear of the knife all is good!!
There is 3 cutting sections to this template. The front with the circle cut out, the inside frame and the inner sliding section. I'm sure it could be done without the template but this is so much quicker.
The stamp is a clear set from Impression Obsession. I embossed the image with black and painted it with Tombows. I also used some stickles. The scallop circle is from my nesties.



I didn't stamp the words inside until it was all glue up. I used removable tape on the circle and removed it when I decided where to stamp, then used foam tape to stick it down when I had the inside completely stamped. I didn't use any stickles on the inside, it might not slide well.



Well there you have it. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's very quick and easy after you get the first one done.

I hope you like it, thanks for stopping by.

KAREN x





AWARD



I received this award yesterday from Sharon. What a sweetheart for her to think of me. THANK YOU so much, Sharon. I must pass this on to 7 more people, which is so difficult because I love all your blogs, so I am passing it on to people that I think don't have it yet.
Here goes:
Cindy
Tina
Jakki
Theresa
Ila
Janine
Cammie

Don't forget to pass it on ladies, and have a great day.

Karen

Celebrating Home

When I was visiting Cindy's blog the other day, I was intrigued by her gorgeous bleeding hearts card. As I read further it was for a Flourishes challenge, Celebrating Home. The challenge is to find something in your home that inspires you. This is such a terrific idea for a challenge. Well I had just put out my new quilt and I thought, wow I could make a card from that. I don't have any Flourish stamps yet...but the ladies say we can play anyway. So playing I am and here is what I came up with.



Because I don't have any Flourish stamps, I decided to go with teabag folding. I couldn't find quite the right tile to use, this is as close as I could get to the colors in my quilt. I used the pattern for the triple layer star. I used this beautiful white textured paper (hard to see in the pic)and sewed quilt lines on it. This quilt is actually made exactly like teabag folding. Each diamond in the quilt is cut from the exact spot on the fabric 8 times using a large diamond shaped template made of heavy plastic and teabag folding is done by using the exact tile 8 times.
Here is my inspiration for the card.



Thank you to the ladies at Flourishes for letting anyone play and for the chance to win some wonderful "new release" stamps.

Have a fabulous Monday everyone and thanks for stopping by.

KAREN x

Valentines for Pat

I can't beleive it has been 3 days since I last posted a card...trust me when I say I have been busy creating though. I had a chance to make some valentines for Pat and her Cards 4 kids. She wants to donate 1000 cards for sick children to give to their family and friends on Valentines day. Also if you donate cards, Pat and Curt have some wonderful candy up for grabs.
I only had time for a dozen cards this year, I hope it helps her reach her goal. I wanted to get in on Curt's candy so I am posting my cards for proof....LOL!

These cards are made with a solid stamp. I sponged different colors of ink directly onto the stamp. I stamped it onto smooth white cardstock and very quickly dipped it into clear embossing powder and heated.



These cards were done with my heart nesties. They are stamps by Penny Black. I embossed the images with black and painted them with Tombows. I added a ribbon tie closure on 2 of them and a metal closure on the other. I also added some stickles.



The next 3 are made with Sunshine Design stamps. I embossed them with black and painted them with Tombows. They also have stickles. The papers are from DCWV stacks.


These last 2 are Penny Black stamps. They are also embossed with black and painted with Tombows. I used the cb hearts folder on the white card, and yes there are stickles.


I had a great time making these...its been a long time since I made valentines with my girls when they were little. Brings back a lot of memories.

I hope you like them.
Take care and thanks for stopping by.

KAREN x

Happy Birthday to Grandpa

It was a great day to stay inside.....as I did, with all the snow we have been getting. I like to hibernate during the winter, I really don't like the cold!! It's also a good excuse to stay in my craft room....don't you think!

I made this card for Tina's grandfather who will be 88 on his birthday. Ila has asked anyone who would like to send him a card to contact her and she will give you his address. It will also give you a chance to see her fabulous creations at Artfully Ila....her cards are amazing.

This is one of my favorite High Hopes stamps. I think it was one of the first ones I ever purchased. I love this tri-fold card for this stamp and verse, gives lots of room for the sentiment too.
I embossed the image with black and painted it with tombows. If you look real close you will see that I forgot the stickles.....ooops. Oh well, better not to be too frilly when its for a man.



This verse just cracks me up everytime I read it. I have used it for a lot of different occassions even get well and new years.
I didn't emboss the words because sometimes it makes them to thick and you lose the curls on the letters. I stamped the verse with Stazon on black.



I also stamped happy birthday and the frog image onto the inside panels, so it wouldn't be so plain. They were stamped with Stazon black.



Well this has been my longest post...ever!!
I hope you like it.....and thanks for popping in.
Take care
KAREN

PERGAMANO ROSE

Well it turned out to be a nice day today....weather wise. I am so glad we didn't get the freezing rain that some areas got. I am not a winter lover but I do love the change of the seasons.

I have been working on this card for quite a few hours, but I think it was worth it. This is Pergamano or as some call it, Parchment craft.



I started with a 8.5 x 11. piece of parchment paper. I traced the pattern with a mapping pen and white Tinta ink.



I embossed some areas with an embossing tool and pierced other areas with piercing tools and a regular mesh grid. I used tiny pregamano scissors to clip the center of the flowers to make the X's. No stickles today...just a few little pearls.

Sorry for all the shadows on the photos, if you click on them you can see the detail better.

I hope you like it and thanks so much for stopping by.

KAREN x

High Hopes Challenge #12 and an Award

Good morning everyone;
I hope you all had a great weekend so far. We are expecting some bad weather today...freezing rain...yuck!! I hope the forcasters will be wrong again...cause I was hoping spring was on its way!! My card today has the feeling of spring..so that will just have to do for now.

This is my card for the HHC #12. Torn edge is the challenge.
I embossed the images with black and painted them with Tombows. I also added some stickles. I sponged the background with different inks and embossed it with clear powder. I was trying to do the backround like Theresa does hers...but as you can see I need a ton more practice...lol. Theresa is the queen of backgrounds. I tore the edges of the sentiment with my fancy ruler and punched the flower for the corner.

Hope you like it
Thanks for stopping by....
Have a great day!
KAREN


AWARD

I also received this award today from my friend Sharon. She is such a sweetheart to pass this along to me, I really appreciate it...Thank You so much Sharon.

I will be passing it along to 5 more blogging friends. A lot of you already have it, so here are my 5...

Theresa
Nancy
Tasha
Bonnie
Jolene

FROGGY STAIR STEP

Good morning everyone.
I hope you all had a good New Years Day. Ours was quiet as DH has had the flu for a few days. He's better today...but it really put a crimp in his holidays.




I made this card a while back, but I didn't get a chance to post it with Christmas going on. As most of you know I LOVE fancy folds, pop-ups, moving cards etc. so these stair step cards are right up my alley.

I used my CB folder for the steps and a Inque stamp for the waves. I embossed the images with black and painted them with Tombows. I also added some stickles. I inked the bubbles a little with white. The stamps are from Stamps by Judith. The cattails and the duck are from her wildlife cube stamp.

This card actually cracks me up evey time I look at it. I was pleased with the way it turned out.
I hope you like it too!!

Have a great day and Thanks for stopping by....

KAREN x