After taking some time off for Christmas, and then personal events at the beginning of the year, I'm ready to get back to stamping! I already have several events on my calendar over the next couple of months, including a series of technique classes starting in April! I've started a new, easy to read blog, and I encourage everyone to check it out & get on my mailing list right away!

Stamp With Katie

Let's Build a Snowman!

These cards are for an upcoming kids' stamp camp that I'm hosting - Build a Snowman! They feature the new Stylin' Snowfolk stamp set, and several of the new 2012-2013 In Colors, on 4 1/4" square cards. With this stamp set, you can build your own snowman, complete with tophat, scarf, and a carrot nose! Isn't this set just the cutest? The stamp images are shown below:

 

Check the calendar on my Stampin' Up! website for dates & times of the stamp camp.

 

Supplies:

• 126287     Stylin' Snowfolk                     $22.95
• 126861     Gumball Green Stamp Pad       $5.95
• 126860     Midnight Muse Stamp Pad       $5.95
• 126859     Raspberry Ripple Stamp Pad    $5.95
• 126945     Pumpkin Pie Stamp Pad            $5.95
• 126840     Gumball Green Cardstock         $6.95
• 126843     Midnight Muse Cardstock         $6.95
• 126842     Raspberry Ripple Cardstock      $6.95
• 100730     Whisper White Cardstock          $8.50
• 101406     Jet Black StazOn Pad                 $7.95

Order Now! 

 

Illuminated Ornaments

Next Tuesday, I will be hosting my fourth Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack of the year. We'll be making this simple, elegant card using the new Ornament Keepsakes stamp set and matching Holiday Ornaments dies, both from the Holiday Mini catalog.
 

Here's the good news - during the month of October, if you buy the Ornament Keepsakes Bundle, you'll get the matching Paper-Piercing Pack FREE!!! It's a great deal! For pricing & details, go to my Stampin' Up! website.  

                Supply List:

• 128051     Ornament Keepsakes Stamp Set                   $25.95
• 127816     Holiday Ornaments Framelits Dies               $24.95
• 123769     Christmas Lodge Stamp Set                          $25.95
• 122652     Delightful Dozen Stamp Set                          $24.95
• 120992     Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon           $6.95
• 126857     Illuminate Glimmer Stampin' Pad                 $10.95
• 100730     Whisper White Cardstock                               $8.50
• 121045     Basic Black Cardstock                                    $6.95

Lovely Fall Colors

The ladies in my Hostess Club will be making this card this month. To get the colors on the trees, I created a custom inkpad using a baby wipe. This technique enables you to stamp the image multiple times without having to clean the stamp in between - love it! I used the same "inkpad" to stamp the sentiment, giving it a multi-colored look as well.

Supply list:

• Lovely As a Tree                            115026(w) 127793(c)
• Word Play                                       120308(w) 120651(c)
• Reinkers in Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, and Rich Razzleberry
• 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon - Summer Starfruit    126846
• Brights Designer Buttons                                     119747
• Scallop Trim Border Punch                                  118402
• International Bazaar DSP                                     126920
• Rich Razzleberry Cardstock                                 115316
• Soft Suede Cardstock                                           115318
• Whisper White Cardstock                                    100730

  

 Order Now on My Stampin' Up! Website!

Drinks on the Beach

This is the second card that my Stamp Club will make this month. The drink and "Cheers" sentiment are from the new Happy Hour stamp set. To make the "sand," I combined Clear embossing powder, Dazzling Diamonds, and sand on Crumb Cake cardstock. The other colors on this card are Calypso Coral and Island Indigo.

Heartfelt Easel Card

This is the first of the 3 cards that my Stamp Club members will make this month. This card features the new Layered Labels stamp set, stamped in Versamark & embossed w/black embossing powder on Very Vanilla cardstock. The background is the En Francais BG stamp.

Holiday Cheer

The idea for this card was formed Tuesday evening at my Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack party. One of my guests commented that I have a knack for putting together unexpected color combinations, especially on Christmas cards. I took that as a challenge to put Real Red & Summer Starfruit together on a Christmas card.

I used the new Happy Hour stamp set for the main image, and Mixed Bunch (a carryover set from the Spring Mini catalog) for the background.

First Communion

I created this card for my neice, who will be recieving her First Communion this weekend. To make the dress, I punched 2 Scalloped Circles from Whisper White cardstock, and 2 from Vellum. Then I ran the circles through the Big Shot with the Polka Dot Texturz Plate from Backgrounds 1 Collection. Next, I cut the circles in half & layered them to form the dress. And finally, I added "bling" with Dazzling Diamonds along the edges. The layers behind the dress were cut out using the Labels Collection Framelits Dies. I added more "bling" with Rhinestones Basic Jewels on the Lace Ribbon Border punch. The banner is from Take It to Heart set, in the Spring Mini, "congratulations" is from Delightful Dozen, and Medallion is stamped tone-on-tone in River Rock on the card base. All products Stampin' Up!

Thanks for Looking!

Simply Scored Mini Scrapbook

This will be one of the projects that I will show you how to do at my SCORE! Simply Scored Class on April 19th. I made the base of the book using a 12x6 piece of More Mustard cardstock, scored to create a tri-fold book with small accordion folds, where I attached the inside pages.

The result is a 13 page, 3 1/2x6 Mini album.

Faux Patina

The technique challenge on splitcoaststampers yesterday was Faux Patina.

For the base, I used River Rock cardstock, embossed with Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder & Big Shot. To create the patina look, I swiped my Tempting Turquoise stamp pad over the raised area. Then I swiped with my Always Artichoke stamp pad, and finally with my Versamark pad. I heat embossed a mixture of Gold and Wild Wasabi embossing powder to give it the aged look.

The flower images are from Fabulous Florets. I stamped the line art flowers in River Rock, and the solid image flowers in Peach Parfait, rolled in Cajun Craze. The sentiment is from Word Play, stamped in Basic Black.

You can see the original challenge, and the complete instructions for creating this look, here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/try-new-technique-f44/tlc370-~-faux-patina-~-03-26-12-a-t550972.html

My Digital Studio Monday

Every Monday on Utah Divas Internationl Blog, there is a My Digital Studio Challenge. For this week, the challenge is to use Celebrate St. Patrick's Day or Go Green. I don't have either of those digital stamp sets, so I was inspired to create a St. Patrick's Day card using what I do have.

If you haven't tried My Digital Studio yet, you can download a FREE 30-Day Trial from my Stampin' Up! website here:

My Digital Studio FREE Trial

I highly recommend downloading the software & giving it a try...RISK FREE! If you love it, you can purchase the Express or Full version at the end of your trial (or sooner!)... If you hate it (but you won't!), you simply uninstall from your computer. Either way, it's yours free for 30 days!

Blue Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! It's Tuesday, and that means a Color Challenge on splitcoaststampers.com! The colors for today's challenge are Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, and Crumb Cake.

I used the Fresh Vintage Stamp Set and Designer Frames Textured Impression Embossing Folder. Both are available FREE with a $50 purchase through March 31st!

The "Be My Valentine" sentiment is from Delightful Dozen. The ribbon is Whisper White satin ribbon that I colored by rubbing it across my Crumb Cake stamp pad. The card dimensions are 4 1/4 x 4 1/4, so that it will fit in a standard envelope.

Go to my Stampin' Up! website to get your FREE Sale-a-Bration Rewards!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampinkate/

Thanks for looking!

Wrinkle Free Distress

Today's technique challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com is to create a card using the Wrinkle Free Distress technique.

I used Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, and Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' Pads to Create the distressed background on the main panel. Then I stamped the frame image and Happy Birthday in Basic Black, the butterflies in Island Indigo, and the bird in Concord Crush, all from the Elementary Elements stamp set.

For the back layer, I made a multi-colored "stamp pad" using a baby wipe and reinkers in Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo, and Concord Crush, and used that to stamp the Ornate Blossom.

The bow on the upper right corner was placed there to cover an overstamp...There are no mistakes, only opportunities to embellish, right?

The original challenge post and a link to a tutorial for this technique is here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/try-new-technique-f44/tlc364-~-wrinkle-free-distress-~-2-13-12-a-t548344.html

Thanks for looking!

Tag for Baby

I made this baby tag for the Utah Divas International My Digital Studio Monday Challenge for this week. Each Monday, they post a MDS challenge, and this week's was to create gift tags for a baby, scrapbook page or design a project featuring babies! MDS makes creating fast & easy! If you don't have it yet, ask me how you can get it FREE for 30 days! Thanks for looking!

What Goes Up, But Never Comes Down?

Your age, of course! Today's Free For All Challenge on splitcoaststampers is to "Send A Joke". Your card could either contain a joke, or be inspired by one. I was inspired to add balloons to a birthday card, since they also go up! (But they do eventually come down, unlike age!) The girl is from Tote-ally Tess, and the sentiment is from On Your Birthday. I chose bright colors - Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait patterned paper from the In Color Paper Pack, and Baja Breeze for the sponged cloud background and card base. Thanks for looking!

Bird in the Sunshine

Thursday means a Ways To Use It Challenge on Splitcoast, and today's challenge was Repetition, in honor of Groundhog Day (remember the movie starring Bill Murray?). We were to use any image, over and over and over...you get the idea! I chose one of the flower images from the Simply Soft hostess set, and used it at least 10 times to create the background on both the main image panel and on the card base (in Versamark). I colored the flowers & stems using my Blender Pen and Poppy Parade, Old Olive, and Sahara Sand Classic Stamp Pads. The frame is from Four Frames, stamped in Poppy Parade, and the sentiment is from Pursuit of Happiness. By the way, the addition of the punched bird is to cover up an in smudge. Mistake? No, happy accident! Thanks for looking!

Luck O' The Irish

This card is for today's sketch challenge on SCS. I used a heart image from Take It To Heart to create the "shamrock." Inside the card, I used the "L is for Luck" sentiment from Occasions Alphabet. I embellished the card with Hemp Twine and an Antique Brad. Colors used are Garden Green, Very Vanilly, and Soft Suede. Thanks for looking!

View of the inside of the card:

Inspired By Belleek Pottery

I made this card for the Technique Challenge on splitcoaststampers.com on Monday. The challenge was to make a card in a style inspired by Belleek Pottery in Ireland. The technique involves inking an embossing folder with a light, neutral-colored ink, then embossing with the Big Shot on either white or vanilla cardstock. Very simple, and the result is so beautiful & soft! I chose to use the Vintage Wallpaper folder, Crumb Cake ink and Very Vanilla cardstock. For the flower image, I stamped the tulip from Flores Suaves in Early Espresso ink, then watercolored with my Aquapainter. The frame is from Four Frames, and the sentiment is from Upsy Daisy. I also added a Filigree Designer Brad and 2 Rhinestones Basic Jewels to bling it up. TFL!

Peachy Gnome

I love this new set from the Spring Mini Catalog - Gnome Sweet Gnome!

After I stamped the gnome girl, I colored her with Watercolor Pencils and my Blender Pen. The patterned paper is Peach Parfait from the In Color Pack. I added a butterfly from Flight of the Butterfly. And, once again, I had to add flowers - this time I stamped the little flowers from Loads of Love on the bottom corner of the card. Everything in stamped in Chocolate Chip, and the card base in Peach Parfait. TFL!

Valentine Projects

Since we returned from Hawaii, I've been working on Valentine's Day projects. It seems I was inspired by all the tropical flowers, I've been adding flowers to everything!

The pink card features images from Take It To Heart from the new Spring Mini catalog. The sentiment is from Word Play from the big catalog. I made the frame using the new Framelits Labels Dies, also from the Spring Mini.

For the red card, I also used a heart image from Take It To Heart. I stamped the background with En Francais, and added an Antique Brad, along with Early Espresso satin ribbon and an Eyelet Punched strip. Directions for the rose are on splitcoaststampers.com here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dimensionalflowers/

The box is a card keeper from the 2011 Holiday Mini. The roses on top are made the same way as on the red Valentine card. I spritzed them with Vanilla Smooch Spritz to give them some shimmer.

Thanks for looking!