Dangerous Dinosaur

Recovery from spine surgery is like watching paint dry- boring and it takes a lot of time! I've already watched every episode of Downton Abbey (twice!) and several other shows, I don't feel much like reading yet and I'm not ready to tackle work things that are piling up. I love making cards, but they require a little more standing/sitting time than I can manage every day. To fill some of this down time, I started knitting again and thought I would share some of my recent projects.

 

I have to admit that I have several unfinished projects in my knitting basket that are over a decade old (yikes!) and figured  that was the place to start before tackling new projects. I started this cute Dinosaur sweater for my son when he was a toddler (he's 12 BTW!) and decided this would be the first one to finish. After I got the bag of yarn out, I realized I couldn't find the pattern-anywhere! Ravelry to the rescue! 

Ravelry is a knitters site, much like Splitcoaststampers is to stampers- a place to share things you create, ideas, techniques, and PATTERNS! I searched 'dinosaur sweater' and it immediately came up with the one I had started and through the wonders of Amazon, I got a virtually new book for $3- cheapest thing I have ever bought on Amazon-lol!

This book by Lucinda Guy is totally the bomb!! Gorgeous sweaters, hats, blankets and animals for kids. I will definitely be making some baby gifts in the future from this book!

I love the way all of her patterns are laid out with both a picture of the finished knitted piece and a grid to follow, which makes it super easy!

I used a cotton called Provence from Classic Elite Yarns colors, but in colors that were a bit brighter for my dinosaur.

So far, I've finished the back of the sweater (made a few minor mistakes but that's why you start with the back first;-)) The spots, the face and the claws will be sewn on with white yarn after it's blocked.

The little boy who is going to receive this sweater is coming next weekend so I'd better get knitting! More pics to come when it's finished!

Another Gray Hare

This is going to be a year of big birthdays in our family including a sweet 16 for my sweet girl, an 85th for my mother, a 55th for hubby, a 90th for my FIL and the 21st anniversary of my 29th birthday;-)). The first in this pack of milestone birthdays was my brother who turned 60 last week! 

Despite a 10 year age difference, my brother has always been very close to me and this has only gotten stronger as we have aged matured. We talk almost every day and often text back and forth during the day.  So this birthday boy deserved a super-duper card from his crafty sister for this special day.

I started with a digital image called 'Rascally Rabbit' from a company called Squigglefly, which I was sad to hear had just closed after many years. I love this silly rabbit- just the light-hearted, goofy look I was going for!

Guy cards are always a challenge for me both in layout and colors. A pack of Designer Paper (DP) in my stash called Confetti Celebration seemed perfect with geometric shapes and mostly manly colors- a splash of bright pink doesn't hurt any guy! I am definitely rusty after not making anything for over a year, so you can clearly see that my coloring skills are still covered with dust and cobwebs-lol!

I love finishing the insides of my cards- somehow a blank white page seems so naked and uninteresting. There's not much room to write on this one, but he knows how much we adore him so a short message was OK this time!

Hope your week is off to a good start!


 




Supplies: 
Stamp: Digital image from Rascally Rabbit from Squigglefly
Paper: Confetti Celebration DP, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Island Indigo
Ink: Blendabilities
Accessories:Folder Arrows Embossing folder, Candy Dots-Regals, Stampin' Dimensionals

A Trio of Thanks

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post, the last time I picked up a marker, cut paper, made anything other than a school poster-lol! Time slips by and we get busy with work, kids, life and it gets harder and harder to make "me" time.

Those who know me well also know that since moving to Atlanta I began a new love affair. No, not a new man, but an obsession called running. It was such a welcome relief to come to a place that was wooded, pretty with rolling hills and four real seasons! 

My love affair came to a screeching halt when I hurt my back and damaged two disks, entrapping my sciatic nerve. After the holidays it was finally time to take the plunge and have surgery to fuse my spine (and hopefully make me bionic:)) with the promise of future stability. This is a major surgery with a long recovery time (i.e. months). 

No running, no work, no kids activities. Many, many friends have come to our rescue with meals, cards, sweets and I realized I was quickly out of my stash of thank you cards. When I was able to sit up, I decided it was time to get out those markers and ink and start back into something I loved so much.

I started with some simple flat cards that could be finished with a little coloring, minimal layering, and finished quickly since I can't sit up for very long at a stretch. 

I had fun trying out the new Blendabilities markers from Stampin' Up. I'm so glad they finally produced their own line of alcohol markers which match exactly with their paper colors. I was always fudging it with my Copic markers to find ones that came close. These markers flow beautifully and it's really easy to blend shades for realistic shadowing.

 

I also cracked open a new stamp set and paper from the Sale-a-bration catalog- these colors are so bright and summery- makes me forget we're still deep in winter! This special runs until March 31st, so check out the fabulous free stamp sets, paper and accessories they are offering!

Now it's time to write those notes! Hopefully the people who receive them will know how much I really appreciate their kindness and friendship, especially at this time!

Supplies:

Stamps: Peaceful Petals (retired), Simply Wonderful (Sale-a-bration)

Paper: Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Best Year Ever DP

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Blushing Bride Chevron ribbon, Deco Labels and Window Frames Framelits, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, oval punch, Blendabilities markers, Best Year Ever Accessory pack, Stampin' Dimensionals, Candy Dots, Pearl Basic Jewels, Basic Metal Buttons, Linen Thread

Let It Snow!

No matter how many Christmas/winter stamps I have, somehow I can't resist buying new stamp sets and images each year! People who know me well are aware of my snowman fetish- I just love them! I recently purchased some digital stamps from one of my favorite artists, Birdie Brown, and was lucky I did because she has just closed her Etsy shop for good:-((( Her images are so whimsical and cute- I am going to miss her creativity on the stamping scene!

I resized the image in Photoshop and printed it on Whisper White cardstock from SU. I give it a few minutes to set the ink or give it a quick heat dry before coloring with Copics so the ink doesn't bleed. Ice Stickles gives the snowflakes and lighter green band on the trees a little sparkle. I dug through my crazy ribbon collection (scary fetish!) and found some red fluffy balls which give the card some whimsy, but make it a hand-delivered card only because of thickness.

The inside was finished with some coordinating patterned paper and a sentiment from the "Tags 4 You" set from the SU Holiday catalog.

Torico (Birdie Brown) we will miss your creativity and wonderful images- here's to you!







Supplies:
Stamps: "Let it Snow" (Birdie Brown), Tags 4 You (SU)
Ink: Real Red, Copic markers
Paper: Basic Grey "Dasher", Real Red, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Accessories: Button, pom-pom trim, jingle bell, red rhinestones, hemp twine, Stampin' dimensionals, Label Bracket Punch, Deco Labels Collection Framelits

Whale of a birthday!

I was about to complain about the cold, gloomy, rainy day it is today, then I looked at the weather around the country and said my thanks that we are below the worst of it here in Atlanta. I pray for all those traveling to family for the holidays for safe travels. Hopefully may card today is a blast of sunshine to shake off the gloomies! 

I have another card from my collection of "Long Fellows"- these are such cute images that I'm trying to use them all! It feels more like a summer card, but this guy seemed to beg for some sunny skies and blue seas:-)) I dug through some unopened papaer packs and found perfect patterns for this card from the "Sycamore Street" set from Stampin' Up.

 

Darling daughter convinced me that this little guy needed a sunny day to go with his colorful waves and I think that was the perfect touch! 

  

The inside was finished with more of the patterned paper and another whale image.

Hope you're keeping dry and if you're traveling: take a cleansing breath, be patient and be SAFE!

Supplies:

Stamps: Long Fellows (Hostess), Made for You

Paper: Soft Sky, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Sycamore Street

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Cloudy Day embossing folder, Tangerine Tango satin ribbon,  Bracket Label Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Sunshine Die-namics (MFT), Ice Stickles

Turtle love...

I realized that since I have not been doing much crafting in the past year or so that my card stash is seriously being depleted, especially for kid-friendly birthday cards! This cute set from Stampin' Up is perfect for not-so-girly cards, a genre which is very difficult for me since kid #1 was a verifiable girly-girl!

Since I'm not the most punctual person ( a major joke!), I figured having a belated birthday card in the stash was a good idea! The hexagon patterns work well with the little blocks on his shell and I love the color combination of green, blue and orange for a boy card.

The inside was finished with a hand cut strip of the hexagon patterned paper and just a peek of the turtle coming across. My son loved the word bubble on the last card, so I free-handed it with a Copic multi-liner pen.

I'll have another little friend swimming by tomorrow...

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Supplies:

Stamps: Long Fellows (Hostess set), Made for You

Paper: Soft Sky, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, "Epic Day This and That" Designer Paper

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Twine, button, Stampin' dimensionals, Honeycomb embossing folder, Big Shot die cut machine

Hope your day is Purrfect!

Ok, for those who still follow my blog, I am eternally grateful after all this time! Today was the first time I have actually put a stamp to ink in over a year- crazy! Three moves in one year, building a house, new jobs and a new hobby (running;)) have taken over my life for the past 2 years. Unfortunately a slipped disc (hence restricted from running for awhile) has given me the time to dust off my stamping supplies and get the mojo flowing again!

My son needed a birthday card for a sleepover tonight and definitely did not want anything too cute as a 5th grade boy! I dug through my unopened stamps and found this purrfect set called "Long Fellows".

The card base is 5.75" square, which is my favorite size for a card with a bigger image. The image was stamped on patterned paper and layered over stamped image (saved me time coloring and gave him some funky stripes;-))

  

I repeated the patterned paper on the inside of the card and re-stamped the cat with a birthday greeting. The greeting ended up a bit crooked, so it became an opportunity for embellishment with a hand drawn speech bubble made with a Copic Multiliner pen. My son thought it was the "cat's meow" and his friends all though he had the best card-score!

Have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Howlstooth and Scaringbone DP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Long Fellows, Made For You

Accessories: Basic black buttons, Orange stripe bakers twine, Copic Multiliner pen, glue dots, Stampin Dimensionals

Quickie Birthday!

Whew! It's been a long time since I have made or posted anything! All my creative juices have been consumed in the past 7 months building a new nest for the Karpen family here in Atlanta. Although the process was painful at various points,we have finally moved into our new home and are getting settled in. I relied heavily on a wonderful architectural/decorating site called Houzz for inspiration- if you haven't checked it out, it's a must! Be warned though, it will give you major house envy and make you want to start all kinds of renovation projects!

The porch is definitely one of my favorite places in our new house and the cooler weather is making me ready to break in the fireplace!

I'd like to say that my craft room was unpacked first, but sadly mommy always takes last priority-lol! It's still way too disorganized for pictures- that will have to wait for another day.

OK, onto the card I have to share for today. Darling daughter needed a card for a friend's birthday sleepover and asked, of course, 20 minutes before we needed to leave if I could make her a card. All I could think was "Are you kidding? I'm not sure I can find my stamps, much less my Mojo!" I grabbed some paper from a new collection by Stampin' Up called Patio Party and the Unity July Kit of the Month {KOM}which had all kinds of great birthday stamps!

I love the lanterns and pennants and the greeting was perfect! The stamp was larger than I expected, so minimal opportunity for layers and embellishments- which was good because the teen was breathing down my neck to leave (are you done yet???)

I used some of the border strip paper from this collection for the inside and another greeting from the set. The card is CAS and shows that you really can get a card done in 15 minutes or less:))

Hope you're someplace safe and warm if you're in the northeast and enjoying the beautiful weather if you're down south!

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Unity July 2012 KOM
Paper: Patio Party Designer Series Paper, Whisper White, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Midnight Muse
Accessories: Nestability Tags 5, Sizzix Big Shot,  Designer Buttons, Summer Starfruit 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, hemp twine, glue dots

Aged to Perfection...

Good morning! After the violent storms that whizzed through on Friday night, we woke to an absolutely gorgeous morning today- deep blue skies, lots of birds singing- a real bonus day! The photos of the devastation just to the north in Indiana and Kentucky break my heart- makes you realize how fortunate you are every day.

Speaking for fortunate, I have had the pleasure of making a few great new girl friends since my move to Atlanta and one of these wonderful women was having a celebration of her 45th birthday last night. Of course this called for a hand-made card, but I didn't want it to be too serious or mushy, so I cruised over to Bugaboo Stamps and found some great digi images from the "Stella" collection. She's so old and crotchety- prefect for what I was aiming for!

I didn't have a lot of time, so I had to keep embellishments and layers to a minimum. I pulled out some paper from Cosmo Cricket "UPcycle" pack- kind of vintage girl patterns- so a great fit for Stella. I wanted to paper-piece her skirt but my husband was already tapping his watch as I was finishing it...next time!

The inside was finished with some coordinating paper and a computer-generated greeting. The theme of "aged to perfection" went along well with the awesome bottle of wine my husband pulled from his cellar that we gave her for her birthday- definitely one to save for a hot date!

Hopefully she gets as much of a chuckle out of Stella as I do:))

Have a great day!

 





Supplies:
Stamps: Stella- Aged to Perfection (Bugaboo Stamps)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Cosmo Cricket- "UPcycle"
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot, Nestabilities, small oval punch, Designer Buttons, Crinkled seam binding ribbon, hemp twine, sewing machine

Happy Valentine's Day, Human!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone-I'm just getting this post in under the wire! Last week, the teachers at my son's school decided that Valentine's should be exchanged on Friday, Feb 10th, instead of the usually accepted Feb 14th. This put me in a spin because I had planned on having the weekend to come up with some cute treats for my son to give for Valentines-oops! In addition, they wanted a decorated box or bag to collect the treats in, so mommy had to go into over-drive the night before.

For a 9-year old boy, gushy Valentine's were not definitely going to work, so out came this adorable robot from Birdie Brown by Torico. I grabbed some boy colors for Valentines (reds, blues and a splash of orange- definitely no pink, please!) and a left-over Starbucks bag:)) I re-sized and printed the robot in Photoshop and colored him with Copics. I added some sprockets from Cosmo Cricket's "Cogsmo" set and a computer generated greeting in " Homemade Robot" font.

My son asked to give Dove chocolate hearts, so I made some little pillow boxes to contain his special treats. It's hard to see here, but the boxes were stamped with a small red heart, tied with turquoise blue ribbon and a robot tag. My son loves to craft, so he got to color all 25 robot tags while I finished his box- gotta love child labor!

I was up until 3am finishing up his bag and treat boxes, but the smile on his face and the big thank you kiss I got for not getting store bought Valentine's was all worth it:))

Hope you've had a great day with your Valentine!

You Turn Me Around...

Whew, it's been a long time since I've been posted anything (or even picked up a marker-lol!). I've been consumed with work and another super creative project that is draining all my energy and time. A hobby other than stamping {gasp}?! Not this girl:)- "this creative project" is a new house! We started building our dream home last week and, although we only have a huge hole and piles of dirt, there is a LOT of planning, drawing and picking to do! Yesterday was tile and stone day- lots of pretty things to choose from, and of course a new craft room:>>>

Until that time, I need to make myself content to create in my little stamping space in our rental house. To combat the short, rainy days of late, I decided I needed to make something cheery and bright. This cute set called "Perfect Pinwheel" that I bought from MFT last year fit the bill perfectly! I used paper from last year's Sale-a-bration set and some of the new Scallop Dots Ribbon. I wanted to use a Pixie stick (card and a treat:) but all the Halloween goodies are long since gone so a wooden skewer and some ribbon it was!

I finished the inside with coordinating papers and stamped the pinwheel from the "PI and the Pinwheel" set- I {love} Heather Ellis' images! I gave this card to my assistant Vicki {hi Vicki} as a little pick-me-up and thanks for all she does for me each and every day. Everybody needs a little cheer once in awhile!

That's it for today- we are expecting basement walls this week so praying for good weather!

Class Holiday Card...

Since I'm not going to be able to be at my son's class holiday party tomorrow, I was volunteered to make the card for his teacher from the kids. To keep it pretty holiday neutral, I chose a snowman and winter theme. My "go-to" snowman are drawn by Zlatoena- you can tell I love them because I have so many of them:))

I used paper from My Mind's Eye "The Merry Days of Christmas" set for the background layers and to paper piece his scarf- I've been hoarding the last few sheets forever, but decided it was time to break them out for this card! The last bits were colored with Copics and some snow and a sparkly snowflake give him a little sparkle. A added a greeting from Verve's "Glad Tidings" set- need to break that one out more often!

I was under the gun to get this card delivered to the class mom who is taking care of the gift and party, so no pictures of the inside. I adhered white card stock on both the upper and lower panels of the inside so there would be plenty of room for 22-3rd grade (i.e. not so small) signatures:)) and added the greeting "Happy Holidays from all of us" which says it all!

Hope you're having a good day- as the days are marching down, I'm just trying to remember to breathe!

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Fluffy Snowman (Zlatina), Glad Tidings- Verve
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: "The Merry Days of Christmas"-MME, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot, Nestability dies, MS snowflake punch, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Rhinestone Brads, dimesionals, MS tinsel glitter

Beautiful Season...

The days are dwindling fast toward Christmas and I am definitely WAY behind! I extracted my Christmas decorations and outdoor lights from our storage unit (may need a chiropractor after this episode!) and decorated all the bushes in front of the rental house we are in. I would be SO much more enthusiastic if I were decorating my own house, but my kids expect Mrs. Santa to make wherever we are "festive"!



I tend to be more of the Santa Claus, snowman and jingle bells kind of Christmas card maker, but this set, Beautiful Season, from Stampin' Up really appealed to me when I saw it. The main image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, heat set then colored with Copic markers. An embossed rectangle border was created with a Nestability rectangle die using a Sizzix Big Shot. I left the die in place and sponged the background with Sahara Sand ink. A little leftover paper from Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, a double bow using Artichoke Seam Binding ribbon and some antique brads finish off this CAS card.

The inside was finished with a repeat of the patterned paper, seam binding ribbon and a die cut greeting from the set. This was so fast and pretty- I will definitely make several of these to mail out to friends and family!

Today is the day to tackle the tree- we'll see who wins:))

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful Season
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Sahara Sand
Paper: Figgy Pudding, Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot, Nestabilty dies, antique brass brads, Artichoke Seam binding ribbon, dimensionals, sponge

Frosty Day

 Good morning! I don't know about you, but today is definitely a TGIF kinda day for me- what a crazy week! I'm capping it off as the "math volunteer" in my son's 3rd grade class this morning, which I was really looking forward to, until my son told me there would be a substitute teacher today- bring on the Advil-lol!

Now back to posting the card I started with yesterday. I just received a huge box of Stampin' Up goodies last weekend and haven't even sorted them out before I began to dig around for this adorable set called "Polar Party"from the Idea Book & Catalog. I love the fact that you can create a whole scene with the clear mount stamps on the block before stamping it- then it's guaranteed to line up on the paper!

The scene was colored with Stampin' Up markers, most from the new 2011-2013 In-Colors set (LOVE those shades!). I added a little snow on the ground and around the edges and some glitter overlay to the tree ornament.  I opened up digital paper from the "Frosty Day II" set, resized it for 6x6 to make the pattern appropriately sized for a card, then printed the pages on my Canon printer. The layers were stitched together on my sewing machine. A little ribbon bow made with the Melon Mambo Scallop dots ribbon and some rhinestones complete the card.

The inside was finished with the leftover paper I printed out, a strip of Melon Mambo punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch (it makes it look just like ribbon!), some stitching and a layered die-cut greeting. I like the alternate Christmas colors, especially the turquoise and pinks!

This weekend will be a blur of decorating, shopping and planning for Christmas, but I'm planning to sneak some good stamping time in, so stop back by!

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Polar Party
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Frosty Day II (Digital), Early Espresso, Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot die cut machine, nestability dies, Melon Mambo Scallop dots ribbon, basic rhinestones, snow glitter, dimensionals, Tombow liquid glue