Just for You

Today’s preview is another card featuring Ms. Bird. When I first looked at this image it screamed to be embossed on some beautiful designer paper!

Just for You:

Close up of flower and charm:

The background was embossed, water colored with the blue and then I used my VersaMark pen to emboss the leaves. Then I sponged the bottom of the panel with brown and added sewing at the top.

The bird was embossed and then sponged with brown ink to make her beautiful swirls pop!

Hope you are having a great start to your Labor Day weekend!

Thanks for the visit!
KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Marvels of Nature II, Women Around the World II
Paper - Congratulations (Karen Foster Designs), Kraft, Choc Chip
Ink - Choc Chip Craft, Choc Chip
Other - Rectangle Megabilities, Double Ended Tags (Spellbinders), Flower Cuttlebug, VersaMark Pen, Bird Charm (Fresh - Plaid Enterprises), button, ribbon, thread, water color crayons (Lyra), Clear EB

Card of the Week!!!

I’d like the thank the academy, my husband, my friends and family for this magnificent award! I could not have….

We interrupt this sappy speech to let you know that I was featured on the Card of the Week Blog…. I almost fell off my chair when I receive an email that my Open the Gate card was featured this week… blushing!!!

If you are not familiar with this blog - quickly let your fingers do the running and CHECK IT OUT! Susanna does a wonderful job looking out in the blogspere and pulling together all kinds of fabulous projects. She features not only cards but paper crafts, tutorials and scrap booking -you never know - you could see one of your projects there some day!!!

One more thing…. HEATHER leave me a comment with the name of your blog - I’d love to check it out!

Now I need to go and get my husband all excited about my award... I can hear him now - Oh, um, that's nice honey - while clicking the volume up on his Speed channel.... Hmmm maybe an excuse to buy more crafty stuff...

Thanks for the visit!!!

KAT

Flowers & Linen

Another sample of the beautiful Harlequin flower today.

Flowers & Linen

All of the flower panels on this card are glossy paper. The background panel was as bright at the focal flower until I sanded it - I used the faux linen technique to create this effect on background. The faux linen technique is simply standing your background image horizontally and vertically. If you could see the card close up you would notice that it looks like threads running through the background. This was my first try at this technique and I really like how this turned out.

From my previous post - Hunter was bur free today - it’s going to be a good day!

I hope your day is filled with flowers!

Thanks for the visit!
KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Harlequin Flowers 2 (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Paper - Glossy White, Old Olive, Black
Ink - (all Ranger) Jet Black Archival; Peeled Paint, Fired Brick, Antique Linen, Weathered Wood Distressed Ink
Other - Long Rectangle Megabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon, button, brads, Black Diamond Stickles (Ranger), sanding block

My Mess!

I mentioned in my earlier post today that I had a mess to clean up - Well this is what I woke up to this morning…


This is Hunter my oldest Fur Baby - he’s my 11 lb Yorkie (yes - he’s a bit big for a Yorkie but he thinks he’s at least 100 lbs). When my Husband took him out for his morning duty Hunter thought he would explore in the woods a little… He likes to check out leaves, birds and bunnies. He ended up being a mess full of those little green bur things - all over his body! When I first looked at him one of his ears was stuck to the side of his poor little face.

Here’s what he looked like an hour later after Mommy cleaned him up:

Isn’t he handsome!

He’s one of my four Fur babies… I have three Yorkies - yes I love them and they are like potato chips - you can’t have just one! And a have a Persian kitty that looks like the fancy feast cat.

I hope yout day was filled with unconditional love (and no burs)!

KAT

Beauty in Nature

Let’s see - so far with the previews from Innovative Stamp Creations I’ve shown you flowers, birds and a wooded scene… Well a release of nature images would not be complete without a beautiful Mighty Maple image.

Beauty in Nature:

This image sheets comes with the Maple Tree in three sizes. On this card I used the large and the medium trees.

A little about this card - the background was created first by clear embossing the tree image on vanilla card stock, misting, allow to dry, wipe the mist off of the embossed tree with paper towel. Then sponge green on the tree and brown around the edges. The smaller tree was marker water colored. Sewing, some hardware and distressing and ta-da…..

TIP - when I use mists I always start with the lightest color first and then work into the darker values.

Well I have a bit of a mess to clean up today - I’ll be back with more on that later…

Thanks for the visit!
KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - (Innovative Stamp Creations) Maple Tree Paintings
Paper - (all SU) Very Vanilla, Choc Chip, Old Olive
Ink - Versamark, Timber Brown Stazon, choc chip, old olive, mellow moss
Other - Mists: Mango Lemondade (Memories Mists), Willow (Tsukinek) Fire Opal (Zia); Aged Copper Hardware (SU), Tombow and SU Markers, Edge Distresser (Heidi Swapp), brown thread

Open the Gate

…and walk into the woods.

Two uploads from me today :^) …. When I looked at the Sketch Challenge on SCS today I wanted to use the Walk in the Woods image again and one of my favorite Gate images.

Open The Gate:

Close Up of the Gate:

Most of the information for this card is the same as the one that I posted earlier today. The gate was stamped on Acetate and plain Grungeboard. I cut the woods image to fit the gate opening.

Enjoy!

KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Walk in the Woods, Marvels of Nature II, Harlequin Flowers 2
Paper - Glossy White, Choc Chip, Autumn Leaves
Ink - Timber Brown and Black Stazon, Choc Chip, Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive
Other - Acetate, Plain Grungeboard (Tim Holtz Idea-ology), Tags Trio and Double Sided Tag Shapeabilities (Spellbinders), beads, buttons, get Tombow marker, leaves

Inspiration of Fall

I live in 25 acres of woods in a log home… The trees are beautiful regardless of the season - but they are magnificent in the Fall. This new image from Innovative Stamp Creations (available after Sept 2nd) reminds me of taking a relaxing walk in the woods during the fall.

Inspiration of Fall:

The image was stamped with Stazon on Glossy paper. The colors were sponged on. The acorn brad is the Build a Brad from SU - I punched the acorn out of designer paper. The leaves are from one of those artificial sprigs of leaves.

I love fall but I want it to wait a while… I am still enjoying summer!

Thanks for the visit!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Walk in the Woods, Artsy Minibook Shape Series, Artsy Trinkets
Paper - (all SU) Glossy White, More Mustard, Choc Chip, Really Rust
Ink - Timber Brown Stazon, (rest SU) Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive, Creamy caramel
Other - build a brad (SU), leaves

Ms. Bird is Marvelous Darling

The second day of new image previews for you from Innovative Stamp Creations - this one is called Marvels of Nature II.

Marvelous Ms. Bird:

Details of the Inchies at the Bottom:

The sentiment with this set is: the beauty is in its simplicity… Well this card is not simple but I think matches up well with Ms. Birds regal swirls. I love this color combination and the polished stone made with Antique Linen and Black Soot reinkers is a perfect match to the paper. The birds and the leave swirls are embossed in black.

See the scalloped edge at the bottom of the top flap? I made this using only one side of the Rectangle Megabilities (another version of Nestabilities).

It’s beautiful here in NE Ohio - sunny and a little cooler - I hope you are having sunshine in your neck of the woods!

Thanks for the visit!
KAT

Other Info:
Stamp - Marvels of Nature II
Paper - Glossy White, Black, Crate Paper
Ink - Antique Linen and Black Soot Distress Ink and Reinkers, Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger)
Other - Black EB (Ranger), alcohol, Long Classic Rectangle Megabilities (Spellbinders)

Enjoy the Beauty

Hope all of you had a great weekend! I know I did! I was playin with new Rubber (and stayin inside because it was stinkin HOT)!!! Innovative Stamp Creations has stamp sheets that will be available September 5th - they are just beautiful! If you are a nature stamp lover - you will love these.

So - in honor of these new images I will be previewing cards for you every day this week. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I did creating with them!

Enjoy the Beauty:

Side View:

The technique on this card marker water coloring. I used the large and small image of the Harlequin flower and made 4 layers.

Stay cool today!
KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - Harlequin Flowers 2 (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Paper - White, Black, Pretty in Pink
Ink - Stazon Black, Black (SU)
Other - SU/Tombow Markers, Water pen, Cuttle bug embossing folder, Stylized Silver Hardware (SU), ribbon

All Dressed Up

A stylin card made from some Basic Grey paper that I have been hoarding for a while now - why do we paper crafters do that? We buy it because we HAVE to have it and then we must keep it - just in case…

All Dressed Up:

The dress is Tole technique - stamped/embossed in three layers. I popped up the bottom of the skirt on dimensionals. I’m in love with the stick pins right now… I’ve noticed that I have put them on a number of projects lately - hopefully you are not bored with them yet!

Hope you are having a fab day! Thanks for the visit!

KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (Innovative Stamp Creations) Elegant Artsy Swirls
Paper - Two Scoops, Sultry (Basic Grey); Mellow Moss, Choc Chip, White (SU)
Ink - Choc Chip Craft, Choc Chip, Pretty in Pink
Other - Tags Trio Shapeabilities (Spellbinders), Clear EB, Stick Pin, beads, button, ribbon, brads

Where Have I Been???

Sorry you haven't heard from me much in the last week or so.... I've been getting my house ready for a party - you know the boring stuff - big time cleaning (ugh) and cooking. Now the party is over and my house is back to normal but still no crafty stuff to show you....

Why - you ask? My DH left for a man weekend (riding the American Dream - his Harley) and took my (okay it's really his) camera... But I use it all the time - does that make it mine??? There are a number of projects in the camera and more ready to be photographed... So this week you'll see new stuff - really you will!

Hope you had a great weekend!

KAT

What's the Size of Your Art?

Art can come in many different sizes from Murals on the side of a building, an artist painted canvas to cards and even Inchies. This weeks challenge at Innovative Stamp Creations is to create different sizes of your art! Specifically an ATC, Moo, and an Inchie using the same technique, color palette and focal stamp. I was excited to do this challenge since it was an excuse to make my very first ATC and Inchie.

What’s the Size of Your Art:

ATC:

Moo:

Inchie (this little bugger just did not want to get photographed!):


ATC -> 2.5 x 3.5 inches
Moo -> 1 1/8 x 2 ¾ inches
Inchie -> 1 x 1 inches

The techniques that I used were Resist and stamping on acetate. The brick gate on the ATC and Moo were creating using plain grungeboard and then just a grey marker to add some depth at the bottom of the brick. The “pulls’ on the gates are silver beads.

Tip - easiest way to stamp on acetate is to ink up your stamp and lay it image up on your table and place the acetate on the image and rub with your hand… Careful not to more the acetate!

Challenge Specifics: ISCC11 Use same technique, color palette and main focal image on an ATC, Moo and Inchie (see sizes above). There's more, a random name will be chosen if you create a set with ISC stamps only! The winner will receive a SPECIAL prize - $25.00 shopping spree at ISC!

Deadline to post your link in the comments section of the ICS blog is Sunday August 24!

Come on - show us the size of your art!

Thanks for the visit!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) ATC Elements II, Mona Lisa Arte, Artsy Trinkets, Artsy Trinkets II
Paper - Glossy White, Black, White, Acetate
Ink - Versa Mark, Black Stazon, India Ink Black, Choc Chip, Really Rust, Old Olive, More Mustard
Other - Plain Grungeboard, TomBow Marker N95, Beads

Journey

Today’s limited supply challenge on SCS was interesting - Make an ATC card… Never really made ATCs so I thought this would be fun to try! You can find the challenge here .

Journey:

The Techniques used: VersaMark Resist on Glossy paper with sponging and Copper embossing.

I thought this would be a fun little card to tuck away in someone’s suitcase when they leave on a trip.

Thanks for visiting!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) ATC Elements II, Assemblage, Scrapbook LO
Paper - Glossy White, Brushed Copper, Black
Ink - VersaMark, India Ink Black, Soft Sky, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel
Other - Copper EB, Copper Hardware, Double Ended Tags Shapabilities (Spellbinders)

About Me - ISCC10

It’s Thursday and it’s time for another Innovative Stamp Creations Challenge. The challenge today is to make a mini sketch book/album. Now don’t be intimidated by the book/album words - just think of it as a smaller canvas than a card and treat it just like a card that you are making.

I made mine from my Spellbinder Megabilities and Bind It All.

About Me:

Inside the book I include pockets and tags to store my favorite techniques and the web sites that inspire me.

Favorites:

Inspire:

The techniques used on this mini book are pretty straight forward - Copper Embossing, Sponging and of course just a little sewing.

The rest of the Challenge Details…

Innovative Stamp Creations ISCC10 Challenge
Create a mini sketch book and upload to your blog and/or on line gallery for a chance to WIN a $25 shopping spree from ISC! Check out the samples by the Creative Architects for inspiration. Use ISC stamps only on your design, then post your link in the comments section. A random name will be chosen and announced on the blog. You have until Sunday August 17, 2008 to create/post your link on the ISC blog. Search for label ISCC10. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

ISC Blog can be found here .

I hope you’ll join us in the challenge!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) About Me, Butterflies
Paper - Choc Chip, Brushed Copper, Very Vanilla, Sage Shadow
Ink - Choc Chip, Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, Antique Linen (SU); Distress Ink (Ranger); VersaMark
Other - Copper EB, Long Classic and Scallop Rectangle Megabilities (Spellbinder), Double End Tag Shapabilities (Spellbinder), Tag Trio Shapabilities (Spellbinder), stick pin, beads, Antique Copper Hardware HodgePodge (SU), ½ Bind It All coil (Zutter)

Just in case you feel the need to shop - you can find the stamps, Spellbinder dies and Bind It All at Innovative Stamp Creations