Merry Monday #47

Hello!

Along with our 70 degree weather went our sunshine too. It is now below freezing and the sky is very overcast. We've had snow flurries all day. Now I am a weird one and I kind of enjoy this kind of weather, for a while anyway. We have a fire in the wood stove, we're done with school for the day and I am hunkered down all cozy in my craft room playing. It's really nice :)

The only problem with the darker days is that I have a hard time getting a good photograph of my cards. I use window light and well.... there's not much of it today. And I have found that white is not the easiest color to photograph. For me it seems to come out with all kinds of different color cast to it. Oh well you can see my best effort below :)

This is for the Merry Monday challenge over at Always Playing With Paper. Have I told you how much I enjoy the Christmas challenges?? I have more Christmas stamps than any other kind and they are my faves. It's great to have an actual reason to make Christmas cards in January! Love it!

So this weeks challenge was really fun! I had a hard time deciding which way to go with so many fun options, but I finally decided on the top row across: blue, dry embossing and snow. That's a nice combination I think :)

Here is the challenge:

And here is what I did with it :

The little snowman ( one of my faves!) and the tiny snowflakes and candies are from Papertrey Ink. The snowflakes are from Verve and the pine branch stamp is an oldie but goodie from Hero Arts. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Dynamic Duos #37-Retro Sketches #48

Hello all!

We have had temperatures in the 70's for the last couple of days! That is unheard of in January! But now that is coming to an end. It is raining now with a massive cold front descending upon us I type. It's supposed to be back in the 30's tonight and tomorrow. Well, what can you expect. It is still winter :) 

Anyway, I combined the Dynamic Duos and Retro Sketches again this week. I love to put those two together. They both start on Saturdays and that's my play day, so I love to see what's new from both of them each week :)

Anyway, here are my two inspiration pieces:

And here is what I did with the two:

All of the stamps are from Stampin Up except for the little bird. It's from Hero Arts. 

Thanks bunches for stopping by!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Muse Challenge #2

Greetings!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! I know I did. 

It's Monday again and it's time for another challenge over at Muse. 

 The muse this week is Suzanne Dahlberg and the card she created  for inspiration is soooooo adorable!! I wasn't inspired by just one thing I was inspired by every single thing on it! It's a "Kay" card for sure, pink, flowers, cute....   My interpretation of this cute card is JOY! It just screams happiness at me! And I hope it's okay, but I just copied Suzanne's whole card. I just loved it too much :)
I didn't round the top of the card though. I chickened out on that part, but if you want to know how she did it, you can check it out on her blog. She has a great tutorial!  Suzanne's Tutorial

Look at it!! Isn't is amazing! :

So here is my interpretation:

All of the flowers are from Papertrey Ink. I cut the xoxo and the white border out with my Cameo and the papers are from K& Co.  

I think I have my word verification turned off now :) Didn't know it was even on until someone mentioned it to me :) 

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a peek!

Hugs and happy week!

Kay :)

Color Q #173

Hi and happy Saturday!

I have been busy busy in my craft room organizing all of my clear stamps. That to me is almost as much fun as stamping! Almost... :) 

Speaking of almost, I almost totally forgot about this card that I did for The Color Q challenge. I was doing something in similar colors and it jogged my memory! So glad!

Here is the inspiration : ( aren't those colors gorgeous!)

And here is what I did with it:

I used a little bit of everything on this card. The block stamps are from Magenta, the flower from Papertrey Ink and the tiny flowers from Stampin' Up. The sentiment is from Verve.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge

Hello and happy Friday!

I am so excited to participate for my very first time in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Challenge. I have watched month after month, and looked at all the amazing cards everyone makes for this, and have really wanted to be a part of it all. Well, now that I am a little more familiar with how the challenges work and  have started posting more on my blog, I feel that I can actually join in the fun this time! Yay!

So here goes! The challenge this month was to create a card using a black background. This was definitely a challenge for me, as I don't think I have ever make a card with a black background. The only time I even use black is on my Halloween cards. But you know what? I LOVE the way my card turned out! I even made several more afterwards just because I loved the black background so much! I will definitely be ordering me some more black cardstock and using more of it in my projects.

So here is the inspiration from Papertrey Ink:

And here is my card:

Lovely Layers is one of my all time favorite stamp sets! I could use this set on every card I make and never get tired  of it. There are so many neat things in this set and pieces and parts to layer. It's soooo fun!  

Thanks so much for stopping by for a peek at my card today! 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Color Throwdown #226

Happy Thursday!

I can't believe we are almost to another Friday already! The weeks really fly by these days. 

I did a card for the Color Throwdown Challenge this week. The colors were purple! Oh how I love purple. Couldn't resist doing this one :)

Here are the colors:

And here is what I did with these beautiful colors :

The stamps are all from Papertrey Ink and I cut the flowers and leaves with the matching dies.  The green paper is from Stampin' Up and the purple from my stash of unknown origin ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Hugs,

Kay :)

Merry Monday #46

Hello!

I am here again with the Merry Monday challenge  from Always Playing With Paper. The theme this week was to use a bird on your Christmas card. I have a lot of bird stamps, but after seeing Leslie's inspiration card with the cute owls, I had to dig around for some owls too :)

Here is the inspiration:

And here is my card with my little owls on it :

I used my Copic markers on the owls. It's been a while since I used them and I was a bit rusty. Had to practice around a bit to remember how to use those things. The owl stamps are from Hero Arts. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. The tiny snowflake is from WPlus9 and all the other little embellishments I cut out with my Cameo.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Muse Challenge #1

Happy Tuesday!

Today is the first day of a brand new challenge at Muse!

I am very excited to participate in this one. I little while back I stumbled upon Jackie's blog at Splitcoast Stampers. I read her post and so identified with what she was saying. I have been in the digital scrapbooking industry for over 10 years now and although it has been a lot of fun and rewarding, I am tired of promoting myself, working so hard, and trying to come up with new designs that I have already done over and over again. I have a very busy life ( I homeschool my two kids...enough said?) and when I have a moment of free time ( which is sometimes very rare) I want to play. I want to do what I want to do and what I enjoy. Sometimes that changes too, and I want to be free to flow with the change. Some people have called me wishy washy before, because I tend to flit from one thing to another, but that's how my creativity works. It goes where it wants and I have little or no control over it. And if you have ever tried, or had to make money with your creativity, let me tell you, it's not easy. For me it sometimes sucks the fun right out of it. So with all of that said, I want to create and have fun when I can! That is what this blog is for now. I tried to use it as a tool for promoting my digital designs, but I was never able to do it. I posted a whole 5 post in about two years, before deciding that I would dedicate it to my life's passion - card making! heheh!! So mostly what you'll see here from me are my cards and maybe paper crafts and perhaps a clay critter or ornament from time to time. :)

You can read the post I am referring to at Jackie's blog here.

So on to my card for the challenge!

The new site is called Muse and it's a card making club. It's all about being inspired and creating for the fun of it. Doesn't that sound wonderful! Right up my alley :)

So with each challenge you are asked to explain your interpretation of the Muse inspiration card.

Here is the inspiration this week:

Isn't it lovely!! It was created by guest designer Amy Kolling.

When I first saw this card, I thought of a beautiful spring day. The soft colors and beautiful yellow flower made me feel warm and sunny inside, so that is what I have tried to emulate in my card. I chose soft springy colors that have a warm feel to them.

All of the stamps are from Verve, except for the tiny outline of a flower on top which is from Papertrey Ink. The papers are from DCWV.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have enjoyed and been inspired!

Hugs,

Kay :)

CAS Challenge #129

Greetings and Happy Monday!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I did, but did not get near enough time to play in my craft room. :) I guess if I had stayed in their for two straight days, it still wouldn't have been enough time. :D

Anyway, I had a little time to play around yesterday, so I did the Clean and Simple Sketch challenge at The Paper Players blog. 

Here is the sketch:

And here is what I did with it :

The heart and leaf stamps are from Papertrey Ink.

The light pink and tan flowers are from Hero Arts

The tiny pink flower and the circle flower inside of Love are from Stampin' Up!

The paper is from Doodlebug.

The love die is from WPlus9.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Feel The Love

Oh it's Saturday! That's the day that I get to spend as much time as I want in my craftroom creating! And it's been quite a while since I've had a Saturday where I didn't have something to do or somewhere to go. I have been in my craftroom almost all day long working on some challenges and cutting stuff out on my Cameo.  SO much fun!!

I just found out yesterday that the card I did for the Dynamic Duos challenge last week was chosen as one of the favorites! OH MY!! I can't tell you how thrilled I was! My first week of doing challenges! I didn't see that coming. I grabbed my badge and plopped in on my blog as fast as I could! haha! 

I combined the Dynamic Duos challenge and the Retrosketchs challenges. Again, colors I would not normally gravitate towards, but really love what I did with them! I'm really loving the color challenges, because normally I live in a pink and purple world! haha!

Anyway, here is my inspiration:

Here is what I did with it:

The hearts, sentiment and swirls are from Papertrey Ink and the tiny flower and "be mine" sentiment are from Stampin' Up!

The paper is some ooooooooooold Close To My Heart paper I had in my stash. I cut the white lacy border out on my Cameo.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Deconstructed Color Throwdown

How's that for a title? Haha! 

Anyway, I am combining two challenges here, The Deconstructed Sketch and The Color Throwdown. Both had some really inspiring challenges. 

Here is the inspiration for both of them:

And here is my card:

I very rarely use bows on cards for several different reasons, first off I am seriously bow impaired. I can't seem to tie them as nice as all the other card makers I see out there. I have followed tutorials and all, but still can't seem to get them to look real good. And secondly, because the don't mail good. My friend Geri at the post office has to slip them through this special sizer thing and they never fit, so I end up having to pay more to send them.  

Okay now that you know my bow history... I did add a bow to this one. It just seemed like it needed something else and I couldn't figure out what to add, so a bow it was.

The papers are from My Mind's Eye. The stamps are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Simple Friendship. The little swirl stamp is from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you all have wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Merry Monday #45

Greetings! 

It's Thursday already! That's only a day away from Friday! And since we have finished our school for the day, I am considering it Friday now! haha! I love to do that. It gives me that Friday feeling early :)

Anyway, I have another challenge! This one is for the Merry Monday challenge over at Always Playing With Paper. I never get tired of doing Christmas cards and I'm so happy to find there are Christmas challenges all year long! 

The inspiration for this week:

And here is what I did with it:

This adorable little guy is from Whipper Snapper Designs and I colored him with my Prismacolors. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and the snowflake is from Verve. The paper out of my stash of unknown origins :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

Happy early Friday ;)

Hugs,

Kay :)

ColourQ challenge #172...

Oooooh look at me with another challenge this week! I know most weeks I will not be able to make this many cards, but for some reason, I am really on a roll right now! 

I did this one for the ColourQ Challenge. Here is the inspiration they provided and aren't those wonderful colors! I really had fun with this one :)

And here is what I came up with:

All of the stamps are from Stampin' Up except for the pink flower, the tiny yellow flowers and the swirl which are Papertrey Ink. The paper came from my stash :)

Thanks so much for looking!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Mojo Monday #276

Greetings!

I am here again with another card challenge. This one is Mojo Monday #276.

Here is the sketch they provided:

And here is my take on it :

The flowers are from Stampin' Up and Hero Arts. The swirl is from Papertrey Ink.  I cut the hearts out on my Cameo and the paper is My Mind's Eye.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Something a Little Different

Hello and Happy Monday! 

Yesterday was a very very cold day where we live and it was almost impossible to get outside even for a short time, so after spending several hours helping my messy little girl try to get her room cleaned up, I spent some time in my craft room on yet another card challenge. I am so loving doing the challenges! Why haven't I done these sooner ??

This one is from The Paper Players blog. I would never ever think to put these colors together, and I almost didn't do this one, because I wasn't sure what to even do with them. I mean... no pink?? No green for leaves?? haha! Well I decided to give it a shot and I am so glad that I did, because I love how this card turned out! I guess it's good to step out of the box and try new colors and styles :) 

Here is the inspiration:

And here is what I did with it:

The paper is My Mind's Eye, the snowflake stamps are from Papertrey Ink and the sentiment is from Verve. 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

Have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Getting Ahead For Next Christmas

Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend so far :) 

I made a couple of Christmas cards for the Christmas card challenge at Split Coast Stampers. You sign up for so many a month and then by the time Christmas rolls around, you have cards ready! I really don't have a problem with having enough Christmas cards though, because those are my all time favorite to make, and I do tend to make them all year :) I got a lot of new Christmas stamps this fall, and I still haven't played with them all yet.

Anyway, I LOVE this paper by Carta Bella!! LOVE IT!! I bought two pads of it so I would use one of them! haha! If I have something I really love, I won't use it, because I don't want it to be gone, so this way, I still have a whole pad left :)

I do absolutely LOVE these colors! All of the stamps are from Papertrey Ink, except those tiny little snowflake circles. I'm not positive, but I think they are from Hero Arts. I have stamps from many years back. The papers, of course, are from Carta Bella and the flowers I cut out with my Cameo.

Thanks so much for taking a peek today! Have a great week!

Hugs,

Kay :)

New Challenges to Share

Happy Saturday!

The kids and the man are all off doing their thing today, so I got a little time to play in my craftroom! Yay! I perused all of the challenge blogs last night to see which ones I might like to do this week and I found two that looked like a lot of fun. They both started on Saturday too, so I figured I could get going on them right away :) 

I started with the challenge from The Dynamic Duos blog. They had a beautiful springy color scheme and then I chose to do another sketch from The Retrosketches blog. Below is what I have come up with. I am having so much fun with these challenges!! I don't know what took me so long to finally get the courage up to play along with some of them.

The papers and small flower are from Stampin' Up!, the button stamps are from Verve and the larger flower and stem are from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks so much for taking a peek and have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Kay :)

Retro Sketch Challenge #45

Greetings and Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! We had a wonderful Christmas and I spent much time baking, making cards, cutting out stuff with my Cameo, making Gingerbread cookies and houses with the kids and just having fun. I did very little on the computer :)

I don't make new years resolutions, but there is something I have been wanting to do for several years now and that is follow and participate in some of the card challenge blogs. I have been a stamper for over 16 years now and it's something that I have never gotten tired of. I love it when new products come out from my favorite companies, and I get excited all over again.

So for my first challenge for the year of 2013 I have chosen a sketch from the Retrosketches blog.

And here is what I have done with it

The big flowers are from Hero Arts, the small flower and the sentiment are  from Stampin' Up! I cut the tag shape out with my Cameo.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my blog!

Hugs,

Kay :)