Lilacs in bloom with Mojo 137

The lilacs outside my window are blooming.  It inspired this card I made for a friend's birthday.
I used the sketch for Mojo 137 as my layout.

 I'm sorry the picture is a little blurry...I took lots of pictures and they are all blurry.  Time for a new camera or a new operator? :-)

Happy Spring!

Kristine

We're gonna go Back in Time

Compared to the last post, the weather in Reno today is icky!  Howling winds and rain.  That's spring in northern Nevada...always changing.

As you may have already read/heard, SU is saying farewell to some of it's colors.  In place of what is leaving, some of the old In Colors will become part of the new Color Collections (no longer calling them color families, but color collections).  This is a good thing, in my mind.  Red Riding Hood is coming back {YES< SU heard my pleas!} as well as Pacific Point and Baja Breeze.  Just so happens that I recently made a card for DH using these blues.  So here it is.

Hope your safe and your weather is better than Reno's!  Thanks for visiting.
Kristine

Happy Together

It is ab-so-lute-ly beautiful outside.  I know, how can I be inside when the outside is in the 70s and it's sunny.  Well,...ummm, I was out all day yesterday gardening.  Such a happy camper, diggin' in the dirt, hosing things down, looking at all the buds coming up, trimming trees and bushes....but I got a sun burn.  Top of the head...ouch.  Shoulders and back...red and ouch. And my right hand and arm are almost useless because I held that dang trimmer so long!!  Couldn't even hold my orange juice this morning! lol  Very tired muscles! So today I'm doing things inside.  Except I'm going to go for a bike ride soon, with a hat and long sleeves!

But you visited today to see some stamping.  So here ya go.  These cards were for a multi-demonstrator event that I did.  I wanted to show how one stamp set and the same papers could create two unique cards.  Flip this, turn the DSP paper over and use the other side, and waa laa, a different card! 

The twig in the first card is from the grape vines in my backyard.  I pruned those AND got some raw materials for stamping!  Gotta love that!  Both cards have the same base and second layer and use the same DSP (Sweat Pea from the Occasions mini--which will only be available until the end of April.  Good stuff: get yours if you haven't already.) The stamp set, Happy Together, was a freebie {happy dance for free!} during Sale-a-bration, but you can still get one from the main IBC.  I think the birds are just too cute. I have quail all over my yard, and I especially like it when the babies are around and whole families go out for a jaunt.  That top feather boppin' around makes me laugh.  They are very entertaining birds.  Back to the cards...it's hard to see in the picture, but the right hand card has a wood texture on the top from the Big Shot texture plates.  Any questions, shoot me an email.  Or leave a comment.  I LOVE comments, and read them multiple times.  The idea that someone is reading this stuns me.  Makes me happy too! :-)

I hope it's sunny where you are too.  Don't forget the sunscreen! :-)
Kristine

A poodle punch card

For awhile, punch art cards were all over the blogs.   I think they are ever so clever, so I wanted to be clever too!  I have a wonderful Standard Poodle named Simon, and so in his honor, I created a punch art poodle! Since Simon is a male, I proably should have used a blue bow and backdrop, but...well I like red better!  I really enjoyed making this card and I do feel rather clever in how it turned out!

Isn't he just adorable!  It's hard to see in the picture, but I ran the whisper white through the big shot with the swirly texture plate.   It makes his fur look curly!  Makes me smile.  Simon actually never has had a poodle haircut, so he's not so elegant looking.  He would never put up with a bow, either. People ask me all the time if he's a labradoodle.  "Nope," I say, "He's just Simon."  That says it all in my mind. :-)

Here's the real Simon with his friend Ada, the Boxer puppy. 

Too cute, huh?  They make me laugh when they play.  Simon is six, and Ada isn't even a year yet, but they have the BEST time.  Hard not to smile when watching their antics.

Thanks for popping in today.
Kristine

Mojo133

It's time to get myself back into the creating phase.  When I began this blog, I had all kinds of goals.  Lofty goals I am now realizing! lol.  I do a lot of creating, but I give my cards away before I take pictures of them, {Yes, I do give my cards away.  I know lots of people keep all of their creations, but I create to give away.}or I CASE someone elses card, and I really can't show you that since it isn't really MY card, by design.  So, yesterday I decided to see if I could create a card using the mojo monday sketch as well as one of the retiring SU colors, Almost Amethyst.  Almost Amethyst has been one of my favorite "purples" in the SU colors, and I will miss it.  But, Red Riding Hood is coming back...and I love that baby!  I also needed to do a swap for a group of SU demos I belong to using something from the new Summer Mini Catalog.  So you're getting a sneek peek at a new set that is available to buy beginning May 1st.  It's a pretty, I think vintage looking set, called Watercolor Trio. I bought my set in the clear block form.  I REALLY like the clear blocks.  I also like the phrases included in the set and the font of them.  Very pretty.  So this is the card that my fellow swappers will receive.  I hope you like it!

Because the set gives me a vintage feel, I wanted to emphasize that in the card.  Recently I saw some kitchen materials at the Home Depot that stick to your wall.  They come in sheets and look like embossed metal.  Very 1940ish.  I want that in my kitchen, but making a card that looks like embossed metal will have to do for now! :-)  I used the frost white shimmer paint and mixed it with alcohol and spritzed it liberally over Basic Gray CS.  While the CS was still wet, I ran it through the Big Shot using the Perfect details texture plate to get the deeper impression.  It does look like metal IRL.  The DSP is from the set Autumn Traditions in the Main IBC.  I like the combo of Almost Amethyst and Always Artichoke.  Throwing some gray in there just makes it more...vintagy. {is that a word?}  I did use a Nestie to make the oval.  SU just doesn't have the options for ovals that Spellbinder's Nestabilities do.  Maybe in the new IBC?!!!  From word on the street, {yo homey}there are going to be some great new things in the next IBC.  Makes me all excited and jiggly feeling inside.  :-)  True stamper, huh?  To round out the card, I added half-back pearls from the Pretties kit.  You know, I bought that kit a long time agao and I STILL have pieces!  There's a lot of stuff in the kit...well worth the price.  I also used the gray satin ribbon and clipped the corners of the gray CS with a tag punch.  Add a little Almost Amethyst sponging around the oval and...waaa laaahhh! 

Thanks for popping in today.
Kristine

A birthday for my "Baby"

March has been a busy month for me...as you may have guessed from my lack of posting.  Did you notice I was missing? lol

 Both of my children have birthdays this month, and they both can now appreciate a handmade card. So here they are.

This is my daughter's card.  I knew she would want something soft yet sparkly.  I LOVE cutting out images, so I enjoyed cutting out all the flowers from the Tea Party DSP and layering them.

This is my son's card

Thomas always like the simpler cards.  Nothing fancy for my boy...um I mean young man...of 12.

He plays guitar, so this image was great.  The paper is the Nouveau Chic DSP.  A little something without being too much for a boy card.

Thanks for popping in today. 
Kristine

Club cards

It seemed appropriate to me that I did a red card in honor of the Chinese New Year. This is one of the three cards that I had my Ladies complete at the last club.  It uses one of my favorite sets, Asian Artistry (man, I'll be sad when that set retires. {sigh}) The image was embossed with Versa Mark and Gold embossing powder and then colored in with markers.  It's a sparkly card!  Love that.

This next card also has an Asian feel and uses the same set.  (Gotta get my use outta it before I can't use it to demonstrate anymore. {sob}) 

It also uses that To the Nines DSP, which I think is great.  That DSP pack grows on me every time I look at it.  I also like that it has a heavier feel and a textured "softness" to it.  The paper just feels good to the touch.  I can only describe it a s a softness.  It's a good pack for "manly" cards.  My husband and son always like the cards when they have some of this DSP on it.  Go figure, huh?

The last card of the club was the technique card.  We did the Herringbone technique using a piece of card stock run through the Xryon machine and then 1/4" strips of DSP from the Autumn Traditions.   It's a little time intensive, but I like the finished look.

I hope you found something to inspire you.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Kristine