Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #50

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 SSSC50 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

I don't have a card to show you just yet because I'm still recovering from a busy week of Christmas celebrations. So I get to play along with you this week!

The Sweet Sunday Stampers have samples to show you today, so don't forget to stop on by to see:

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

Now it's your turn! Have fun!
Karen

sweet sunday sketch winner

Hello! It's time to announce this past SSSC winner - Random.org has chosen #14..........

Joni!


I love Joni's warm and happy card - the flower and button embellie is perfect with this adorable bear. Congrats Joni! You can see more of Joni's cute cards at her blog, A Sticky Situation.

See you back in just a few moments for the next Sweet Sunday Sketch -
Karen

a new look?

I'm trying to figure out a new look for my blog - what do you think of the new banner? I need to update the buttons in the margins now too - can't have it all mismatched now, can I?!! Fun stuff!

edited: I was asked if I made the banner - why, yes! I did! It's a proud moment :)

sweet sunday sketch challenge #49

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 SSSC49 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

When I first sat down to make a card for this week's sketch, I had honestly intended to make a card for a boy. Oops! Look what happened! Butterflies, flowers, and lace scallops! The colors are boy tho - hee! I had an itch to work with Discover Your Wings again - I stamped the big background flowers in Old Olive on a piece of Bloom & Grow from My Mind's Eye. Love this paper!! I stamped the image again on vanilla card stock and lined it up to match up to the pattern behind it. I added the sentiment from Celebrate Life to fill in the little empty corner.

The Sweet Sunday Stampers also have samples to show you today, so don't forget to stop on by to see:

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

Now it's your turn! Have fun!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: celebrate life, discover your wings
paper: not quite navy, bashful blue, very vanilla card stock, bloom and grow (my mind's eye)
ink: old olive, not quite navy
accessories: apron lace punch (fiskars), corner rounder, dimensional tape

sweet sunday sketch winner

Hello! It's time to announce this week's winner and you are going to love this card - it just fills me with hope for spring!

Random.org has chosen #19, Cindy Beach!


I love the bright spring colors Cindy used for her card and the little die cut bird is just too cute! Not to mention all the fun SU preview items on her card - can't wait!! Congrats, Cindy! Please stop by Cindy's blog, Stamps, Paper, and Ink and say hello.

See you back Sunday for another fun sketch!
Karen

Center of Attention Product Spotlight - TE Downloads

Good Morning! I have been chomping at the bit to show you this month's product focus for Taylored Expressions - Downloads!! Today I'm showcasing TE's Birthday Calendar, designed by TE's very own Nancy McKinney. If you are looking for a fun way to get organized for the New Year, this is your chance. I am horrible about remembering birthdays and sending out cards and so I jumped at the chance to make this cute little birthday calendar to display in my craft area. What I love about this download is it is extremely easy to decorate - just stamps and paper! Since I want my calendar to lie flat, I don't want to embellish the pages to the extreme I will embellish my cards.

The birthday calendar download comes in one file, so printing an entire calendar is as easy as pressing the print button on my computer. I chose to print my calendar on Choice Snow White card stock because it is so smooth and sturdy.


The cover of the calendar is where I embellished a bit - Just a touch of patterned paper and a title box; don't forget the cupcake too!


There are several ways you can tie the calendar together - you can use metal rings and decorate them with ribbon, you can use the Bind It All and spiral bind your pages together, or you can do what I did here and use jumbo eyelets on the cover and hole-punch the rest of the pages. Pick fun ribbon to thread through the holes and tie in a knot really finishes the project.

Half of the Baker's Dozen have put together other fabulous projects using other downloads today, so don't forget to stop by and see:

Taylor VanBruggen
Sharon Harnist
Charmaine Ikach
Jodi Collins
Donna Baker

All of the downloads you will see today are available at Taylored Expressions right now AND they are all on sale December 16th & 17th - that is only today and tomorrow, so don't miss your chance to get these fantastic items at a discount.

Thank you so much for hanging in there for this long post - lots of exciting things to share with you! I have another fun project with downloads over at the Stamp A Sweet Impression blog today, so be sure to hop over there too!

See you back soon -
Karen


recipe -
stamps: wings of joy
paper: sweet pea paper stack (SU), candy lane dsp
ink: bordering blue
accessories: cupcake stickers (martha stewart crafts), rectangle scallop & curvy rectangle nestabilities (spellbinders), jumbo eyelets, melon mambo polka dot grosgrain ribbon, making memories glitter stickers, pink pearls (kaisercraft), round tab punch

the gallery is OPEN

The Fan Club gallery is now open at Splitcoaststampers.  Check out all of the Dirty Girls' fabulous creations for this month's theme, Home for the Holidays, and check out the new Dirty Girls - they rock! 

sweet sunday sketch challenge #48

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 SSSC48 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

I have always adored the little butterflies Dawn McVey makes for her cards. I was struggling to find something else to put on the card because it seemed so empty, but I think the little butterfly did the trick. I used my Large Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities for the sentiment and then sponged Really Rust ink around the edges while the paper was still in the die template.

I have been coveting the apron lace punch from Fiskars and I could not find it anywhere in town. Well, a few days ago I get this odd shaped priority envelope in my mailbox from Karen Motz. Much to my surprise and DELIGHT, she sent me an apron lace punch! Stamping friends are the best!! Today's card is the first time I got to play with it, so be prepared to see it lots and lots - it rocks! Thanks again, Karen. I'm still smiling and your sweet little Christmas card is front and center on our counter.

The Sweet Sunday Stampers also have samples to show you today, so don't forget to stop on by to see:

• Jennifer Tapler
• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Vicki Burdick

Now it's your turn! Have fun!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: happy everything (SU!)

paper: prism desert coral dark, prism desert coral light, choice buttercream card stock, kitchen spice by bo bunny

ink: really rust, cameo coral (SU!)
accessories: latte designer buttons (SU!), coral button, butterfly punch (SU!), apron lace punch, 1/2" circle punch, neutral brads (SU!), large deckled rectangle nestabilities (spellbinders), embroidery thread, stampin' dimensionals

sweet sunday sketch winner

Hello! You are all going to be so delighted to see this week's winner. Her card is just ADORABLE! I'm in love. I really am. Ready? Random.org has chosen #33.....

Makeesha Byl and her lovely little card


Don't you just love the sparkly wings? So cute and fun.

Join us again this Sunday!

dreaming of spring

It has been SO cold here lately! Normally in December we get cold weather, like 30 degree cold, not the 9 degree high we had today! Yikes! So to make myself feel better, and slightly warmer, I made myself a sunny spring card. I stamped the butterfly image from Discover Your Wings on a piece of patterned paper and added some Christmas Red Stickles around the edges. No butterfly is complete without a blinged out body - can you say Bedazzled? haha! The sentiment is embossed with white emossing powder. I used Splitcoaststampers sketch SC258 for the layout and added a little chipboard flower for my other "die cut".

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

recipe -

Stamps: Discover Your Wings (Taylored Expressions)

Ink: Versamark, Memento Rich Cocoa

Paper: Prism Frosted Teal, Prism Island Mist Dark card stock, Early Bird by Cosmo Cricket

Accessories: Christmas Red Stickles, Mini & Micro Twinkle Dots (A.Muse), flower chipboard, light blue twill ribbon, white embossing powder, dimensional tape

sweet sunday sketch challenge #47

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 SSSC47 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

I'm still making Christmas cards to mail out and so I grabbed Wings of Joy for this layout. I stamped the image in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored it with Copics - to add some fun dimension, I used some Sugar Sparkly Fluff to mimic the snow on the bird house.

The Sweet Sunday Stampers also have samples to show you today, so don't forget to stop on by to see:

• Jennifer Tapler
• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Vicki Burdick

Now it's your turn! Have fun!
Karen

Taylored Expressions Release Party!

Welcome to the Taylored Expressions Release Party! Today is the day to check out the entire release and all the goodies that go with it AND you get another chance at a fabulous freebie - stay tuned to the end of my post for details. Taylor has created something different for this release and whipped up three incredible Taylored Card Kits along with a coordinating Copic Marker set (available separately).

Each Taylored Card Kit includes:
10 Choice Cardstock A-2 card bases
10 A-2 envelopes
15 sheets of patterned paper sized for cardmaking at 4" x 6" (3 sheets each of 5 double-sided patterns)
20 sheets of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Prism cardstock (4 sheets each of 5 colors)
1 package of Kaisercraft Pearls
8 panels of Choice Cardstock size 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (for images and layering)
5 yards of ribbon (2.5 yards each of 2 different styles)
1 Perfect Package Card Box.

I've made a cute little set of 10 cards using the Pretty Please Card Kit, which coordinates so nicely with Sweet Celebrations - all 10 cards fit nicely inside the Perfect Package Card Box. I used an extra sheet of patterned paper to decorate the top of my box and tied some ribbon around it to finish the look. This is such a great little gift, or you can store your cards inside the box and have them right at hand when you need them for your next special occasion.

Come blog hoppin' with me to see what the Baker's Dozen girls have cooked up with other Taylored Card Kits.

• Charmaine Ikach
• Dawn Easton
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jami Sibley
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Motz
• Laurie Schmidlin
• Sankari Wegman
• Sharon Harnist
• and Taylor VanBruggen

Be sure to leave some love along the way because one lucky commenter will win a Crafty Cuppie stamp set! How cool is that?

All you have to do is leave a comment on each Baker's Dozen blog today for the best chance to win! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments on one of the blogs, but the trick is that nobody knows which blog it will be! You have until 6am PST on Saturday to enter. The winner will be announced Monday morning on Taylor's blog.

Good luck!
Karen

sweet sunday sketch winner

Hello! I'm back for just a bit to announce this week's SSSC winner..... Random.org has chosen lucky number 34, Meg {aka Mtgchic}.

I love the way Meg used buttons and ribbon for the little side panels - very cute! Fantastic job with the sketch, Meg! Hop on over to see more of Meg's amazing cards at her Splitcoaststampers gallery.

See you back this Sunday for another fun challenge.

Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 2

Did you enjoy the little sneak peek blog hop yesterday? The Baker's Dozen have more in store for you today - lots of fantastic eye candy and another chance to win another giveaway! Today we are giving you a little peek at Crafty Cuppie, which has a companion set, Crafty Expressions and another wonderful set, Sweet Occasions. I chose to make a card using Crafty Cuppie with this adorable little painter Cuppie and thought bright colors and fun patterns would suit this little artist well. There are so many times I want to send fellow stampers and crafters a little card and this set is perfect! All of the sweet images in this set cover a variety of hobbies, so no one will be left out. The image is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. I added a little Border Bling from Heidi Swapp and used another MOJO sketch for the layout.

Come blog hoppin' with me to see what the Baker's Dozen girls have cooked up with Crafty Cuppie and Sweet Occasions today.

Charmaine Ikach
Dawn Easton
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jodi Collins
Karen Motz
Laurie Schmidlin

Nancy McKinney
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Harnist
and Taylor VanBruggen

Be sure to leave some love along the way because one lucky commenter will win a Sweet Occasions stamp set! How cool is that?

All you have to do is leave a comment on each Baker's Dozen blog today for the best chance to win! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments on one of the blogs, but the trick is that nobody knows which blog it will be! You have until 6am PST on Friday to enter. The winner will be announced Friday morning on Taylor's blog.

Good luck!
Karen

recipe -

Stamps: Crafty Cuppie (Taylored Expressions)

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White card stock, Sunny Day Simply Scrappin' kit (SU!)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Border Bling (Heidi Swapp), Copic Markers, square/scallop Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon (SU!), stampin' dimensionals

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 1

I have a lot of information for you today and you are not going to want to miss a beat, so please be sure to read my entire post today and you'll have a chance to win a brand new TE set! Are you ready to see some absolutely amazing new stamps from Taylored Expressions? I'm so very excited to show off the first of 3 new sets available for purchase on December 4th! Discover Your Wings, designed by Nancy McKinney, is the next set to be part of the TE Giving Tree Program - every three months Taylored Expressions designs a new stamp set to support a charity for 3 months after the release. I love taking the opportunity to help different charities through the purchase of a stamp set - it is helping others while supporting a hobby I love. For this release, $7 will be donated to Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep for every Discover Your Wings set purchased. The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation is a charity that administers a network of almost 7000 photographers in the US and 25 other countries who volunteer their time to gently provide a helping hand and healing heart to families who have suffered the loss of an infant by offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner. NILMDTS is there for parents and families to help them in their healing, bring hope to their future, and to honor their child. They believe that it is through remembrance that a family can truly begin to heal. Taylored Expressions is honored to help support the work of this wonderful charity. I encourage you to go to their website and learn more about their wonderful work.

I started by stamping the flower silhouettes in Rich Razzleberry and sponged the edges with Crushed Curry ink. The butterfly is stamped in Melon Mambo and popped up on a dimensional. I used MOJO115 for the sketch.

Come blog hoppin' with me to see what the Baker's Dozen girls have cooked up with Discover Your Wings today.

Charmaine Ikach
Dawn Easton
Donna Baker at the SASI blog today
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jodi Collins
Karen Motz
Laurie Schmidlin
Nancy McKinney
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Harnist
and Taylor VanBruggen

Be sure to leave some love along the way because one lucky commenter will win a Discover Your Wings stamp set! How cool is that?

All you have to do is leave a comment on each Baker's Dozen blog today for the best chance to win! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all of the comments on one of the blogs, but the trick is that nobody knows which blog it will be! You have until 6am PST on Thursday to enter. The winner will be announced Friday morning on Taylor's blog.

Good luck!
Karen

recipe -

Stamps: Discover Your Wings (Taylored Expressions)

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla card stock, Razzleberry Lemonade paper (SU!)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry (SU!)

Accessories: Wine rhinestones (Kaisercraft), Taylor's Tiny Twinkles (TE), oval/scallop & circle/scallop Nestabilities (Spellbinders), stampin' dimensionals (SU!)

sweet sunday sketch challenge #46

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 SSSC46 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

Remember this ancient set from SU? It's Baby Firsts and it has been long forgotten and ignored on my for sale shelf. Poor thing. Look how cute she is in her little pink jammies! I used some paper from Tea Party and loved how all the dots coordinated with each other - then to top it off, I found some pink polka-dot grosgrain ribbon in my Spa Key Ingredients to keep the pink bubble gum look comin'. haha!

So yes, you may have caught that shameless plug for all my retired sets I have for sale - I need to fund my way to CHA in January - want to help? Seriously! I need to sell lots of these sets that need to be loved in a new home and then I can have some much needed vacation time with my stampin' friends :D I'll be in the Taylored Expressions booth, so please come on by and say hello - I'd love to meet you! OK, the shameless plug is over, LOL!

The Sweet Sunday Stampers also have samples to show you today, 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


recipe -
stamps: baby firsts, short & sweet
paper: regal rose, whisper white card stock, tea party dsp
ink: memento rich cocoa, rose red
accessories: copic markers, pink polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, sherbet designer buttons, white embroidery floss, circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), stampin' dimensionals

sweet sunday sketch challenge #45

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 SSSC45 if you plan to post your card in an online gallery.

I have another Simply Scrappin' Kit card for you today - this one is from the long ago retired All the Trimmings kit. The snowflake die cut was the perfect size for the center circle and to add some texture and dimension, I added a few Kaisercraft rhinestones. I also added a row of rhinestones along the bottom of the polka-dot paper.

Also, I'll be visiting family this week for Thanksgiving, so you will be able to add your link until next Sunday morning since I won't have much access to a computer. I'll announce this week's winner Sunday afternoon sometime.

EDITED: OK people, there has been some crazy rumor started that I will be running a marathon on Thanksgiving day {thanks Sarah-Jane!} and it makes me giggle! No, no, no, I was all set up to run a 5K {yep, just a mere 3.2 miles - not 26!} and now we're not actually running it, so there will not be any freezing of the ta' ta's nor getting up early to run in the cold. You all make me laugh!! Maybe if I can get my butt in gear I can set myself up for another 5K, LOL!

The Sweet Sunday Stampers also have samples to show you today, 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


recipe -
stamps: all holidays
paper: brocade blue, night of navy, real red, whisper white card stock, all the trimming simply scrappin' kit
ink: night of navy
accessories: clear crystals rhinestones (kaisercraft), real red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, circle & circle scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), stampin' dimensionals

_____ Please join us again next Sunday _____

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

____Please join us again next Sunday____

Hello, hello! Just a quick post to announce the November Fan Club Gallery is now up and running over at Splitcoaststampers! You will absolutely love what all the Dirty Girls have made with Texture! Love, LOVE the gallery this month.

If you are already a Fan Club member, hop on over and see the Gallery right away. If not, no worries - you can sign up right here.

See you back in a bit for the SSSC -
Karen

sweet sunday sketch winner

Hello there! I'm totally with it tonight and on the ball with announcing this week's sketch winner - don't be completely shocked now, OK? haha!

Random.org has chosen..... #20 - Jill!


I love Jill's take on the sketch this week - the simple act of turning the sketch on it's side has given it new life. I adore the stained glass look she gave this image - it is absolutely beautiful! You can see more of Jill's fabulous creations at her blog, A Life Well Crafted.

Thanks again to everyone who participated - your creations were wonderful! I hope to see you back this Sunday for another sketch.

Karen

festive little bird

Good morning! It is 1 AM and I'm not at all sleepy.... So I thought I'd bring you a quick post and then I'm off to bed. I've been wanted to make a card for Taylor's sketches forever and so tonight I just went for it and used my Sunny Day simply scrappin' kit to make a quick and easy card. I loved this sketch {TESC90} and have had it bookmarked since Friday! The only stamp is the sentiment, which is from Short & Sweet.

Ok, that should do it for tonight/this morning - have a wonderful day!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: short & sweet
paper: textured tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie, whisper white card stock, sunny day simply scrappin' kit
ink: tempting turquoise
accessories: circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), stampin' dimensionals

soak your cares away

I have a theme this week and apparently my cards are trying to tell me something - lol! I need to have some much needed quiet time! When I saw this week's MOJO sketch, I instantly thought of the little circular sentiment from Sweet Indulgence and this little bathtub fits inside perfectly. I popped a little 1" circle up underneath the bathtub to give it some fun dimension - love the layered look. The papers and ribbon are all from the Spa Key Ingredients kit - I just can't get enough of all this cute paper!!

I think a hot bath is waiting for me....
Karen



recipe -
stamps: sweet indulgence (taylored expressions)
paper: prism intense pink, prism razzleberry light, choice buttercream card stock, Whirlybird (My Mind’s Eye Penny Lane collection)
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: copic markers, blue stitched grosgrain ribbon, 1-1/4" circle punch, circle/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), 1" circle punch, stampin' dimensionals

pamper yourself

I have another fun image from Taylored Expressions to show you today. This cute little border and bathtub are from Luxurious Labels, oooh-la-la! I'm using elements from the Spa Key Ingredients kit for this card (except for the brads) and the sentiment is actually from Luxurious Labels companion set, Sweet Indulgence. I started of by using Mercy's sketch MTSC46, which is perfect for the oval label in this set - I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it in with Copic Markers. I used Baby Blue Stickles on the bubbles to give them a little something special - such a super sweet and super simple card :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: sweet indulgence, luxurious labels (taylored expressions)
paper: prism intense pink, prism frosted teal, choice buttercream card stock, Whirlybird (My Mind’s Eye Penny Lane collection)
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: baby blue stickles (ranger), copic markers, blue stitched grosgrain ribbon, 5/16" brads (stampin' up!), oval/scallop nestabilities (spellbinders), 1/2" circle punch, stampin' dimensionals

something{new}

I've been quite distracted lately. Why? Well, I have been learning more about Photoshop Elements and I just dove right in, leaving all my other obligations behind. You should see my kitchen! I was introduced to Jessica Sprague's amazing website and I was instantly addicted after taking her Photo Editing: Good to Great class. So I took it one step further and enrolled myself in her Up and Running with Photoshop digital scrapbooking class.

This first page is what I made during lesson 1. Very basic as you can see, but OH so fun! The template was already made, so I just needed to add my photo and then I learned out to clip out the star from another image and place it on my page. I'll learn how to make things look more 3-D in a later class.


This next page is my homework assignment {I've never had such fun homework before, LOL!}. I had to convert the photo to B&W and then add the text box. Again, the template was provided. Baby steps, right?


I'm am NOT a journal-er, so please don't laugh at what I say in my journaling boxes, haha!! There you have it - I'm jumping into the digital world since I can't seem to ever find time to make pages with real paper anymore.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think :)
Karen