Good Times

Staying up until 12:30 is not what I consider a good time, but getting a card done is! I changed my mind and decided to make this card for my friend who shared her beach home. I'm torn about whether or not to enter this into the HM Challenge for this week, because I have to estimate the cost for my materials, excluding the stamps and markers. I used a half sheet of PaperTrey Perfect Match CS, each sheet coming to $.25, which would make it $.12. I also used a tiny bit for the tag for the sentiment, so we'll round it to a whole $.15. The background paper is from Basic Grey's Cup Cake (6 x 6) and those sheets amounted to $.15 and I used about 2/3 of a sheet. I used an even smaller piece of Whisper White for my image, each whole sheet of that coming to $.19, and I used less that 1/4 of a sheet. My antique brass swirl....???? I'll figure $.12. So that all comes to roughly $.42 I guess. Oh, I did use a tiny bit of Crystal Effects on the water drops, but I'm not going to venture a price on that. Say we round it up to $.45. Well, now that I've actually gone to the trouble of figuring it all up, I guess I should link it to the challenge, Huh? This was my first HM stamp ever, and I got it at a craft store on sale, long before I ever knew about House Mouse. When I did discover them, I realized I already had one. Mine dates back to 2000 and is not even colored like they all are now. This little one (looks like Monica) just makes me happy. Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day. Karen

Coloring and Creating

Well, I'm sad that my kids have returned home. What fun we had! Since I did no stamping while they were here except for last Monday's HM challenge, I couldn't decide what to make tonight. I wanted to make a Thank You card for a dear friend who was gracious and let our whole crew come out to her beautiful home on the beach so the kids could play. Over the past few weeks I received my orders for new stuff like stamps, paper, ribbon, flowers, Copic markers, and embossing folders....but I had to wait to play with all of it. So tonight I decided to try my new SU! set "A Flower for All Seasons". I colored it with my new markers plus some PrismaColor pencils. I used my Nestabilities to cut and emboss the image and the scallop behind the image on SU's new Kiwi Kiss paper. Behind that is So Saffron paper stamped with Fresh Cuts in So Saffron ink. I used the Thank You sentiment from that set as well. The ribbon is from Papertrey's Perfect Match in Spring Moss. The scallop at the bottom of the So Saffron is Martha's Stewart's Victorian Lace punch. I used Bravo Burgundy behind the So Saffron because the centers of the flowers have a hint of that color, although they're a tad more purple. I stamped a companion image from the set that I'll try to put together next. I did want to post something and get back to doing more regular posts. Happy Tuesday to all!

For You

Well, I did it. I took advantage of some down time to put my HM card together. Papa took the kids to the Naval Air Museum, the moms were visiting and feeding babies, and KrB stole away to her "happy place" and created her card. I got to use the new Tangerine Tango from the 2008 In-Color collection. I also used my new Basic Grey's "Ambrosia". I used a piece of Lemon Tart from PaperTrey Ink and colored Mudpie and Monica with Prisma Color pencils. I sponged the image lightly with Sahara Sand. I embellished it with brads and a flower. My sentiment comes from SU's Fresh Cuts and the image is HM's "Sweet Find". That was a therapeutic session for me - it usually is - and I've got something to post besides just an explanation. Now until Saturday, I'll probably be occupied with our 8 grandkids. On Thursday we're hoping to get some great pictures of the 3 babies and then all of the kids. I can't imagine getting a great picture of 3 babies aged 2, 4, and 6 months, but that's why I chose a very seasoned photographer for the job. I'm very hopeful we'll get a great Christmas card out of this session. Thanks for taking a look. Hugs, KrB

Not blown away

Just wanted to let you know that I did not blow away in Gustav......my craft room has been taken over by two monsters ages 9 and 12. While I could get in there to stamp amidst the clothes and suitcases and sometimes wet swimming towels, I have enjoyed spending time with my family while they're here and have not worked on cards. That's not to say I don't miss it, because that goes without saying any day of the week. And I am still checking my favorite blogs, sales, etc. I even get to leave a comment now and then. I'm trying to figure out in my head what to do for this week's HM Monday Challenge, and I haven't even got to play with my new stamps from Flourishes, Sweet and Sassy or SU!,. Oh, that's so pitiful! But my family lives in California and it's so rare that they get to come here that they're going to take priority and I'll have lots of time - well,......time - when they leave. Just wanted to tell you all hi and Happy Tuesday, and I will return soon. Hugs, KrB

Perfect Match Birthday Wishes

We've been having a great time with our family being here, so I'm not doing much posting for a little while. I did get to do a card for my sister-inlaw's birthday though. I really liked the cards Carolyn at P.M.S., etc. made last week-end and I loved the colors of the papers and ribbon. They're from PaperTrey Ink and they are part of the Perfect Match series and I chose Berry Sorbet and Lemon Tart because I liked the colors she used - they're so bright and cheery. I know my sister-inlaw will love the House-Mouse gang, so I had to do her a card using them and I'm quite sure all subsequent cards for her will be HM designs. Last week we were anticipating Fay, and now we're keeping a close eye on Gustav. I've already done my shopping and stocking up, but if it looks like it may head our way, I'm "getting out of Dodge" as they say. Hope you have a wonderful week-end. Hope to get a card done for the HM Monday Challenge this week. Hugs,
Karen

Two Cute!

I'm very excited that my grandkids are in the air on their way here as I post this. Amidst getting ready for their visit, I did manage to make my card for this week's HM Monday Challenge. Since the theme this week is "Lace it Up", I tried to incorporate as much lace as I could. I stamped Sahara Sand with SU's Victorian Lace in Craft White. I then colored my mice in the shoe and punched holes to put real laces in. I used a "cord", or ribbon, (not sure what it actually is) that I purchased some time ago that is 80% Acrylic and 20% Linen, and I died it on my Pretty in Pink ink pad. I used Crystal Effects around the shoe eyelets and the end of the "shoe lace". I used my scalloped Nestability to cut and emboss the circle in Blush Blossom and then ran it through the Cuttlebug again to get the Swiss Dots. I used 6 pink eyelets and laced ribbon through them. The sentiment is from SU's By Ones and By Twos. The edge piece was punched with Martha Stewart's lace punch, sponged lightly with Sahara sand and embellished with half pearls in Blush, as are the corners and the sentiment. I'm loving these pearls and I have purchased several colors from Flourishes. Hope you like how I "laced it up". I'm happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to see all the other entries. Happy Wednesday!

Amending "Sneak Peak"

I have to amend two things from last night's post. After posting my sneak peak image, it occured to me that they hadn't announced the theme for this week's HM Challenge. DUH! I turns out it's "lace it up." Well, doesn't look like I'll be "lacing this one up", so I'll post my card here and then it's back to the drawing board. Be sure to check out the cards the design team did - they're fabulous. The second thing to amend is that we actually did get the backside of the storm during the night. I woke up to pouring rain and what sounded like hurricane-force winds. I'm sure they weren't that bad, but nevertheless, we did see more of Fay. All's well this morning so far. We're supposed to get more rain, but I think the worst has moved on. Our sweet little grandson is two months old and has to go for shots this morning. :( Grandma is going along for moral support. Must go get ready. Have a good day!

Sneak Peak

Good Monday morning (or whenever this actually comes your way.) I'm posting a sneak peak to my card that I'll be posting to the 2nd House-Mouse Monday Challenge. You can follow the link to see the card and all of the rest of the awesome cards that get posted there. Beware - I'm thinking you'll get hooked on HM if you do. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that now, is there. This card is also going to be the first in my Sunday School series I'm designing around the Fruits of the Spirit and using our little House-Mouse friends for every lesson, at least for this first quarter. I'm very excited about this and it's one reason I've been buying them out over the last few weeks. I'll reveal more about the whole project as we begin our lessons. Just want to report that we were blessed in that we were spared the wrath of Fay. We actually got some rain, some wind, and nothing else. We kept waiting, but today not a drop of rain. I'm not complaining in the least. I'm very thankful we didn't have to go through the mess or the loss of power. Well, I just wanted to get a post up and I'm off to get coffee and play with my grandson. Be sure to check out the HM cards - they're too cute!!

Wishes for a Sunny Day

I'm trying to get this posted before Fay arrives and threatens to leave us powerless. I've been enjoying the "adventures of Speedy the Cat" at Stampin' with Markie's Mom, and apparently Speedy couldn't find any umbrella stamps in the midst of the storm. That inspired me to use my umbrella stamp and I also decided to incorporate it with the Sketch Challenge. My "umbrella girl" likes to be stylin' even in the pouring rain. Her raincoat designer is Basic Grey's Scarlet's Letter. Her boots are by WaterPolo, and her umbrella is by British Mist. Her dog's garment was a bit too pricey to even mention. For those of you picking up the pieces from Fay, I hope the sun comes out and your day gets brighter. To all my blogging friends I wish you a bright, sunny day. Perhaps I can even post this to the sketch challenge while there's time. Then, I'd best get busy with preparations for the arrival of my Cali kids this week. Hugs and Happy Saturday, Karen

Hang in There

Tonight's card is dedicated to my daughter who is weary from sleepless nights with her precious new son, Joan at Paperlicious who needs some hugs and smiles, all of you in the path of Fay (that includes me), anyone who is about Olympic'd out even though we're proud of our athletes, and anyone else who needs a little encouragement right now. For those of you who couldn't be happier if you tried, I'll dedicate another card to you another night. I know Carolyn at p.m.s.etc is tickled to death to receive the distinguished "I Heart your Blog" award, and she deserves it - I love her blog! Her cards are awesome! Not much explanation for this little fella - I colored him with pencils and used my May Arts dotted ribbon. Just can't get enough of all these little critters.
Hugs and happy Friday! krb

Olympic Watching at it's Finest

Our two newest grandbabies got together for some Olympic-watching. It must have been gymnastics that were on because Julia seems interested and Ethan seems rather bored. The question is, was it the guys or girls performing??? Hmmm...
My card is one I made my DH for our anniversary, but the sentiment goes out to all my precious grandchildren, 4 of whom are coming for a visit next week. Can't wait! My card contains that adorable frog from SU's "Unfrogettable", and the DP is Basic Grey's LilyKate. My collection of HM stamps is growing, so I'm going to have to start featuring more of them, but hey, nothing wrong with that. Ya gotta love 'em! That's it for today, except to say that if you saw your name in the Blog List and now you don't, it's because I accidentally deleted the entire section this morning while trying to delete a duplicate entry. I had to reinstate everyone, so if I'm still not remembering who's missing, give me a little time to remember who's missing.
Hugs,
KrB

Tuesday Color Challenge

I'm going to try posting at night in the hopes that subscribers won't get this a day late. I'm going to post my card that I put on SCS for today's color challenge, which was Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, and Blush Blossom. I love this image from Hanna Stamps, and the sentiment that comes with the set says "Stamping Develops Strong Muscles." I think that is so cute, although I'm not going to use it for the person I intend to send this card to. At any rate, I colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and that's about it. I really like the color combo, and I like the work-out girl....I need to get busy with my own weights. Have a great day!

Keeping it Simple

Today I want to feature two cards that my daughter created. She is a new mom and a very accomplished musician, but when it comes to artsy things, she likes to "keep it simple." We recently made up a bunch of card sets to auction off to raise money for our Mission Team at church, and she came up with both of these ideas. My family always laughs that I'm up late in my studio working on cards, but the card with the stars was her creation late at night - very late actually - and she surprised me with it in the morning. I was very tickled with her creations, and all of our card sets sold in the auction. It was then that I ordered a stamp that said "K&B Cards" since I put her on my "design team." The card with the stars used Barely Banana for the card base, which really doesn't show up here. The colors were actually great together. Happy Tuesday!

Happy Monday

Good morning! Either there is a problem with my computer, or a problem with Blogger, because every time I log onto my blog a different picture is missing. Go Figure! Since I am very new to this, I am not familiar with any of the little quirks or how to fix them. If I thought my blog was actually being viewed, I would ask for help, but alas I think Molly and I, (well, maybe not Molly) are the only ones viewing it. Anywhoo, I said I'd be back yesterday with more cards from our class. I'm going to post one, because I'm not sure about this picture-disappearing act going on. This stamp is gorgeous and simple, but after I stamped mine I realized that I need to put the "grass" down lower on the CS. We inked the flowers in pink and then with a sponge dauber went over little areas with Regal Rose and then stamped it. The grass alone makes a beautiful image and there's much you could do with this. The CS we used is the new Pink Pirouette, and the stamp set is called "Inspired by Nature."
So, problem was with MY COMPUTER! I restarted it, and voila - the pictures are all there. Time to do some back-ups before I encounter any disasters.

Cards from Class

Last night, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, we did four cards at our stamping class. We always do 4, usually CASED and always great cards!, and it's always fun to try a new technique, new products, etc. I'll post 2 of them today, and 2 tomorrow. The first is bright and fun! We used two of the new In-Color papers, Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango. We also tried out SU's new Scallop punch, which I got the hang of after doing this card. The fun little stamp set , which includes the "flowers" as well as the "Thank You" is called "Wow Flowers" and it's only $12.95 in the new catalog. It is a set of 4 and I think there is a lot you could do with it. The cool technique used on this card was that Charlotte, our SU! demonstrator, used Ivory Ribbons and dyed them by putting them into a zip-loc bag with a tsp. of water and a tsp. of preferred-color re-inker. Love that idea! This color combo really pops and this was a fast little card to do, especially being able to punch the scalloped border so quickly. The second card was pretty simple and combines the "Fresh Cuts" and "Fresh Cut Notes", also from the new catalog. The flower in the center of the card is already die-cut, so you simply pop out the "lobster claws" and back it with any paper you wish. Be sure to do that after stamping the image to the front of the card, though. We used felt flowers and brads in the center of the flower. We added the complimentary floral image to the envelope to tie them together. Very simple and elegant! Hope you get some ideas from these. Tomorrow I'll be back with the other two cards we did. I think you'll like them!