Stamping with Karen

Paper Flower

These paper flowers of all types seem to be the hottest thing right now so I wanted to try one!  This one is very easy.....just punch as many layers as you want with the Scallop Circle Punch (#109043) and cut down a little bit between each scallop.  Pile them all up and punch a hole in the center for either a small brad or a larger one.  I used my Crop-A-Dile (#108362) so I could easily insert a Rhinestone Brad (#109111) in the center and of course the Crop-A-Dile just punches through layers like butter!  Once you have your flower assembled, just "smoosh" it up!  I tried to gather up each layer and then smooshed it up around the center.  Just play with it until you have the look you like!

To use my flower on a project, I used the Big Shot Stampin' Up! die cut to make the Bitty Box (#115967).  This was a die I didn't buy at first until....of course...I saw so many cute projects made with it!  Did you realize the die also cuts a little envelope should you want to put little notecards inside this box?!  So cute!

And to make the top layer with Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper, I played with the the new Scallop Trim Border Punch (#118402) and Scallop Trim Corner Punch (#118870) to get the little scallop border all the way around.  If you have any questions about using these punches, please let me know!  Remember, you can get the Scallop Trim Border Punch for free with a $50 Sale-A-Bration order until the end of March!

Houston Azalea Trail

We enjoyed the Azalea Trail yesterday in River Oaks!  We only went to the four private homes.  There are three other sites to see, but we have visited those before.  While you can walk through the homes (my favorite part!), you can't take photos inside so these are only from the gardens outside.  Unfortunately, we didn't see any azaleas blooming at these homes, but we did see some in another part of the neighborhood.  It's a lovely area to drive around in and see the many mansions and beautiful homes.

Here are a few photos. You should be able to click on them to enlarge.

 

 

Love this picture!! Reminds me of a retired Stampin' Up! stamp!

 

 

I don't know WHAT in the world this is!  Looks like a brain!

Not my backyard!

Gorgeous tulips!

 

Shouldn't we all have a front door like this?! 
        
 
  

 
 

River Oaks Azalea Trail Time!

The Azalea Trail Home and Garden Tour in Houston put on by the River Oaks Garden Club begins today.  It used to be two weekends, but now it is just one.  It's a fun thing to do if the weather is nice.....beautiful homes and lovely gardens to see.  Even inside the homes are beautiful floral arrangements made by the garden club ladies.  We always enjoy going!  We don't have any azaleas blooming yet at our house so I hope we see some today on the trail.  In the meantime, here are some azaleas I stamped on a card!

  

I stamped the flowers from Fifth Avenue Floral (#113734) with Black Stazon Ink (#101406) and colored in and shaded with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons (color families on IB&C page 154) and Aquapainter (#103954).  I LOVE using the Watercolor Crayons but hadn't used them in awhile.....so relaxing to just color and not worry how good it is!  I even used some gray to shade outside the flowers.  It's likely not artistically perfect, but that is the nice part of watercoloring.....you can be a little sloppy and off!  Still looks decent!  For the flower stems, I punched out the branch and leaf from the Extra Large Two-Step Bird Punch (#117191).  On some branches I cut off the leaves and put them where I wanted them on other parts of the branch.  That punch is so versatile!  You should have one!

If you want to purchase any Stampin' Up! products, just visit my Online Store!  If you would like to learn how to make a card like this, please contact me!  Or sign up for my stamping newsletter and get on my mailing list!  The box is in the upper left corner.

For information about the River Oaks Azalea Trail, just click on the link.  See you there!

 

Flower Frame Project with Spencer Willis

I came across this video this morning of Spencer Willis of Stampin' Up! doing a project on a TV show.  It is essentially a scrapbook page but put in a photo frame.  I've seen Spencer demonstrate at Stampin' Up! conventions, and he is great! (a good singer, too, although unfortunately he doesn't break out in song after this demo!).  The project is done with a retired set, Big Blossoms, so you will have to change the flowers a little bit.  Enjoy!

Idea from Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog

I was looking through the new Stampin' Up! 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog  the other day (well, almost everyday!) and just saw lots of things I wanted to make.  This card was inspired by the scrapbook page on page 16 of the catalog.  That particular day I just liked the colors shown on that page and decided to make a card with the hostess set, "Kind and Caring Thoughts".

 

The colors are Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Ruby Red.  I seldom use Ruby Red unless maybe in the fall, but I love it with these colors!

This hostess set is great.....the flowers and leaves are nice and lots of great sentiments.  If you'd like to possibly earn this set for free having a private stamping class with your friends, just contact me!

Sign up for my free stamping newsletter in the Email box!

 

Another Upsy Daisy

I really got into using "Upsy Daisy" the other day and had fun making this card.

 

It was kind of fun using the Basic Gray paper and the Designer Paper is from the Occasions Mini, Walk in the Park.  I stamped the daisies with White Craft Ink and then embossed with Clear Embossing Powder, right onto the designer paper for a different look. The yellow card stock is So Saffron.

Be sure to check the lists of retiring stamp sets and accessories so you don't miss something you want (uh, need!)!

Watercolor Rose

This has been a fabulously popular technique for everyone to try after being demonstrated at the Stampin' Up! Seattle Regional. 

You need the Stampin' Up! Shimmery White cardstock for this technique.  Just stamp the rose from "Fifth Avenue Floral" with Craft White ink and emboss with clear embossing powder.  Now most gals have used a small plastic bottle to mist water over their rose, but not having one handy, I used my Aquapainter (another fabulous must-have tool!), just running the brush over the whole rose to get a fair amount of water within all the embossing.  Put some drops of reinker, whatever colors you want to try for your rose, on top of your plastic stamp case.  Pick up a color of ink with your Aquapainter and deposit it on your rose.  Since you already have a lot of water floating on it, the ink will spread pretty easily.  You can use several different colors for your rose....for example, Regal Rose, Pirouette Pink, Summer Sun.... and just place the ink in each little embossed section of the rose.  You really can play with it quite a bit, moving the color around, filling in, making something darker, tipping your paper to make the ink run down a little, etc!  Don't worry if the color gets outside the lines because you will cut out the rose anyway!  Once you have the color filled it, set it aside to dry for awhile.  You can pick up excess water with your Aquapainter, wiping it off on your paper towel each time.  Once it is dry, just cut out the rose and make your card.  You can stamp some leaves, or in my case, I used the Big Shot to make the "Stampin' Up! Little Leaves".  Be sure to stamp and emboss more than one rose......cuz I bet you can't make just one!!

If you need any of the supplies to make this card, please contact me!  Don't forget about the Designer Paper Buy 3, Get One Free offer for May!  Ends this weekend!

A Mother's Day Card for You

 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Stamp Set:  Holidays and Wishes

Cardstock:  Blush Blossom CS, Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper, Vellum Cardstock, Whisper White CS, Cameo Coral CS

Ink:  Cameo Coral

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die (you gotta have this!), Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon

 

Glittered Fifth Avenue Floral

Today I came across the Valentine card my husband gave me and remembered that I always wanted to use it as inspiration for a stamped card.  Here is the Valentine:

 

Everyone lately has been playing with this gorgeous stamp set, Fifth Avenue Floral, and the coordinating Textured Impressions Die for the Big Shot.  Although it isn't how I originally thought I would "copy" the valentine card, this is what I came up with:

 

I think it was the "glitteriness" of the sequins on the card that made me think about using the new "Fine Supernova Stampin' Glitter" on page 180 of the Idea Book & Catalog.  I first embossed with the "Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die" on page 202 (which is pretty enough by itself on any paper!) and then used the "2-Way Glue Pen" to trace all the lines of the embossed flowers (okay, that takes a little patience and you can't do it perfectly, but you can do it!)  I sprinkled on the Pink Supernova Glitter, shook it off, and then went back in to touch up a few missed spots.  This glitter is very fine, so it is a little difficult to get it completely off your paper where you don't want it.  I found a small watercolor brush to work pretty well.  As you can see, there are still some specks of glitter.  But I think after awhile it will probably drop off.  The sentiment is from "Great Friend" in the Occasions Mini.

Here is the inside of the card since the card base is Basic Black:

 

I just stamped the flower with Pink Passion ink.

The "Manhattan Flower" die was not available until March in the new Idea Book & Catalog, so you may have overlooked it.  You will really want to put it on your next order because it is a beauty!

Flowerpot Card

These cards are all the rage now!  Pull on the flowers and your greeting goes on the tab inside.  This sample was made with the stamp set "Petal Pizzazz", which required lots of cutting, but was fun nonetheless.  The bird adds a cute touch, made with the Birds and Blooms die cut.