Merry Christmas

With just a few minutes left of Christmas Eve I sit here in front of my computer completely ready!

I have an awesome picture of a snowman to share with you but I am too tired to get the camera and upload the picture. So instead I'll just wish you and yours a

Merry Christmas! May Santa be good to you and I hope you get to spend the day with the ones you love!

KAT

On the Eight Day of Christmas drafts

Crispy Vellum - who would have thought? Loved this technique and the vellum with the distressed inks really does smoke a little.

Loved the trick with the hitch fastener and the jump rings!

Day 8:

Here is a link to Tim's 8th tag.

Only 5 more days until Christmas!

KAT

On the Seventh Day of Christmas

Ahhh - Masking! Kristen bought me Tim's make your own mask for my birthday and this tag inspired me to use it for the first time!

Day 7:


I used the mask to keep Santa's face and beard white and I used the negative to color his hat. Loved it - I am now hooked on this reusable mask!

Here is a link to Tim's 7th Tag.

I gotta run - a party at my house tonight for my husband's family!

6 days until Christmas!

KAT

On the Sixth Day of Christmas

Tim's 6th tag really brought a smile to my face - my husband and I go every year to get a huge live tree for our living room. I call it the "Monster Tree" and this year it's 15 feet tall - it's a real beauty!

One of the favorite things that I learned doing this tag was his masking tape technique to remove some of the print - love it!

Day 6:

Close Up of the Car - I substituted with the little car and a pine branch:

So that you can see the dimension:

Tim used flocking - I had liquid applique so I used that with fine glitter. I did not have the game piece so I used a type charm (love them).

Here is a link to Tim's 6th tag.

Just one week until Christmas! I don't need the wrapping elf any longer - I am DONE wrapping - yipppeeeee!!!

KAT

On The Fifth Day of Christmas

Today I will be home all day wrapping - where is that wrapping elf!

Today's tag is fragment ornaments....

Santa (this one is for RoRo):

Close Up:

Snowman:

Close Up:

This tag brought a smile to my face when I seen it on Tim's Blog... I've been hoarding these fragments for a while and it was time to open the packaging!

Did you know it's 8 days until Christmas?

KAT

On the Fourth Day of Christmas

Okay - I'll admit this tag was finally my excuse to get some of the 1x3 memory capsules and frames - I've been lusting after them for a while and this finally pushed me over the edge!!!

RoRo will get today's gift and tag on the way to a Christmas Dinner with Dierker (Hello Cathy!!!). We are going to have Thai food - mmmmmmm.....

Day 4:


Instead of the star like Tim used I added two type charms with old dictionary paper in them and added them "back to back"...

Santa Type Charm:

Believe Type Charm:

I actually photocopy the dictionary pages so that I can use them over and over - I only have one old dictionary!

Here's a link to Tim's Day 4 Tag.

I'm off to continue wrapping (that elf never did show up!).

KAT

On the Third Day of Christmas

We are up to tag 3 - the beautiful Alcohol Ink plaid. I made two samples - the blue and pink one is going to live with RoRo. This is the first tag that I purchased any supplies for - I decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy the white paint dabber...

Santa Plaid:


Tree Plaid:

Here's a link to Tim's 3rd tag.

Can you believe it's only 10 days until Christmas?

KAT

On The Second Day of Christmas

RoRo was surprised yesterday when an Elf left her a gift while she was taking a nap. Today she will receive her gift on the way to meet friends for a Christmas Dinner (Hello Suz and Diana!).

Here is Tag Two:


I only have one color of Distressed Embossing powder - Frayed Burlap - I bought it because you can use it as sand. I think the bird would stand out more IF I had a lighter color of the embossing powder (that might be a hint Santa).

Close Up of Idea-ology Charm:

This is my most favorite of Tim's new idea-ology line. I have an old dictionary that I color copy the pages from to use in the Charms.

Close up of Metal Rose:

Tim is a genius! Love this metal rose - warning - it takes some finger power to bend that metal - I used two needle nose pliers!

Here is a link to Tim's Second Tag.

I need a wrapping elf - any takers?

KAT

On the First Day of Christmas

I am using Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas as part of my 12 Days of Christmas for my SIL - RoRo. I will model each tag to Tim's depending on the supplies that I have. I've made two of each tag - one to give and one to keep. Here's a link to Tim's first tag.

Today she will be receiving her first tag and gift - I think she will be very surprised!

First Day of Christmas:


See the glitter of the Rock Candy Stickles:

Crack using the Rock Candy Distress Paint and ice using Picket Fence Distress Stickles:

I hope you are finding time to enjoy the Holiday Season!

KAT

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just wanted to pop in quickly to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving... Eat lots - you'll need your strength for the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Holiday season.

I have lots to share but I've been busy and blog lazy (guess I'm on Santa's Naughty list)... Promise to be back next week to share a bunch of new stuff with you!

What are you thankful for?

KAT

Christmas Card Quest

Did you think I forgot? Nope - I just haven't had time to post my new Christmas cards - when I get back from my trip I will share with you 12 of 40.

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?

Happy Creating!

KAT

Christmas Gift Pocket

How about a simple to make gift pocket out of a large 4 1/8 by 8 1/2 office tag:


I wanted to take a picture of this with Christmas candy - but no candy is available yet (good thing since it's only the middle of October) - I stuffed the pocket with little tan tissue paper so that you can get the general idea. This pocket could be adjusted to the size of your image or the size of your gift.

Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Festive Season, Eclectic Christmas

Pretty As a Picture

How about a non-Christmas stamp sheet. This card was made using Fruitful - a new sheet this week from ISC.

Pretty As a Picture:

To see the embossing and shimmer better:

The pears were water colored using Pearlescent water color palette.

Have a great day!

KAT

The Stuff:

Stamps - Fruitful, Old Findings (ISC)

Background - Acrylic Smash

Scroll down to the next post for information on how to WIN 3 free stamps sets from ISC.

On SCS in the last couple of weeks they had a tutorial for an interesting background technique called Acrylic Smash. This is basically stamping on an acetate sheet (transparency) and on the back paint/rub on some acrylic paints.

Here is the link to the tutorial on SCS.

I have two cards to show you using this technique:

Eclectic Christmas:

The Smash is on the layer behind the Dec 25 - I used Cranberry and Gold Ranger Paint Dabbers, white card stock and the background image from ISC new sheet Eclectic Christmas. I really like how this card turned out but I wanted you to have a better sample to see the background image and technique so...

Shimmery Snowflake:

The background for this I used Silver Paint Dabber and blue card stock and only covered parts of the acetate with the silver. The snowflake is cut from a cuttle bug and I glued 4 of them together (we'll call it faux chipboard) and sprinkled with Martha Steward Snow Glitter.

Here's a close up of the Snowflake - look at that shimmer!!!

Have a great day!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Eclectic Christmas, Festive Season
Other - Acetate, Stazon, Paint Dabbers (Ranger), Gold EP (Ranger)

ICS Christmas Card Extravaganza

Welcome to Innovative Stamp Creations 1st ever Christmas Card Extravaganza – ISC Blog Hop!

The Architect’s were challenged to choose a different image from the Joyful Christmas and create a card making it the focal point!

I chose the Holly image:

I cut the holly leaves from Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding and used an exacto knife to cut around the holly swirl so that I could tuck my red ribbon behind the image.

Do you want a chance to win some free rubber? You could win 3 of the Newest Christmas Stamp Sheets (Joyful Christmas, Eclectic Christmas, Festive Christmas)! Super easy, leave a message about what Christmas means to you & yours on the ISC blog. Hurry this opportunity will end Wed Oct 14th.

ISC is also offering 10% off your order until Friday 10/16! The Christmas Stamp Line is jammed packed and for a limited time only the retail price has been reduced!


Want to see more - hop on over to Sabrina's blog and she what image she used.


Happy Creating!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Joyful Christmas (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Paper - Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Elegant Christmas

Innovative Stamp Creations is releasing 5 new stamp sheets this week! Today I am previewing one of the sheets - Festive Season.

Elegant Christmas:

This card is based off my studio bathroom Christmas Tree (yes I have a Christmas tree in a bath room - nothing wrong with that right? Something pretty to look at while you are in there...). My studio bathroom is brown with accents of blue and white.

I hand cut the beautiful flourish after I embossed it in dark brown EP. The ornaments are stamped using brilliance inks so IRL they shimmer.

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Festive Season (innovative stamp creations)

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

and boarding a HUGE ship to cruise with Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi TODAY - yippppeeeeee!

My friends and I have been waiting to leave for this cruise for almost a YEAR and it's finally here. My SIL and I are participating in a swap on the ship - something we've never done before. I thought I would share you with what we made (cuz we're leaving today before the rooster crows - or did I already say that???)

The Journey Bird:



Grunge Flower (I made this for Wendy):




Margarita Party with the Rain Man (Mexico is the back):

Voyage Under the Sea (this one is Rhonda's):


While I am away I have many posts scheduled for the new release of ISC images.

Have a great week everyone - We know we will!!! Dreams do come True!!!

KAT

Christmas Card Quest - 10 of 40

Okay it's the beginning of October and I am 25% of the way to having my Christmas cards completed.

Todays:


You can't read it in the picture but the Idea-ology Philosophy tag says "Believe".

I'm loving using lots of layers and my holiday Tim Holtz stamps that I HAD to have last year but were never inked. So far I have not spent any money to make these cards (of course money was spent, just not this year - so they are almost free right???)

30 to go - I plan on spending today World Card Making Day - making more!

Oh- one more thing.... It's only 8 days until my Tim Holtz Cruise.... Yipppppeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Are you stamping today?

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Holiday Collection, Santa's Wish, Letter's to Santa (Tim Holtz); Winter Post (SU)

Christmas Card Quest - 8 of 40

Here's another in my quest to get 40 Christmas card completed before December.


I love monochromatic cards -especially when you add lots of embellishing to them - okay really I just like to add embellishments - it's a sickness!

The black and cream mat is another one from Archiver's $1.99 spot - it really helps to pull the entire card together and gives you the WOW factor!

32 more Christmas cards to go and 13 more days until I am Cruising with Tim Holtz!!!

How many Christmas cards do you have finished?

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Santa's Wish (Tim Holtz), Sanded (SU)
Other - 5th Avenue Spiral Journal (Making Memories)

Country Friendship

Hmmm... I must be on a pink kick - this card has pink written all over it! This is from ISC new stamp sheet Country Living

Country Friendship:

The background behind the flower "vase" is another of the spiral journaling pages (remember Archivers $1.99). The little flower in the vase and on the side panel were water colored with distressed stickles for their centers. Love the little stick pins in the ribbon knot.

I'll have to make sure that my next card is not pink!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Country Living (Innovative Stamp Creations)
paper - Perhaps (Basic Grey)
other - noteworthy spiral journaling book (Making Memories)

Friendship in Pink

How about a girlie card today? The flowers on this card are from ISC new stamp sheet - Let It Bloom.

Friendship In Pink:

The focal flower and the background floral panel are polished stone with reinkers. The girl image is distressed background using the same colors at the polished stone.

Pink is Pretty (purple - not so much!)

KAT

Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Let it Bloom, Women Around the World
Paper - Glossy, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Black (SU), VersaMark
Ink - Black Archival (Ranger), Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink and reinkers (SU)
Other Black EP

Ferns

Happy Monday!

Today's samples are also using ISC Shades of Autumn. I used the fern image using two different techniques.

Fern - Paint Resist:

After stamping the fern on pattern paper from Basic Grey I used a versamark marker and clear EP on the image before apply ivory acrylic paint. After the acrylic paint drys simply wipe off with a damp paper towel and it will "magically" disappear where the EP is...

Fern - Opaque Pen

The opaque pen was used to color the leaves. One the side panel the same stamp was used and the leaves were water colored.

Have a great day!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Shade of Autumn (Innovate Stamp Creations)
Other - Classic Frame (Spellbinders), Scallop Punch (SU)

Grape Leaves

I love leaf stamps - any size, shape or type of leaf - my favorite are line image leaves because then you can do all kinds of wonderful techniques to them. Today's sample is from ISC new set - Shades of Autumn.

Grape Leaves for You:


The focal grape leaves were embossed in Brown and water colored. The background was created by clear embossing the leaves and blending with distressed inks.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Shades of Autumn (ISC)
Paper - white, chocolate chip (SU)
INk - Watermark Resist, Aged Mahogany, Scattered Straw, Brushed Corduroy, Peeled Paint (Ranger), choc chip (SU)
Other - Brown EP (american crafts)

Innovative Stamp Creations - September Release

For September Innovative Stamp Creations has a little bit for everyone - images that range from flowers, to farm life, leaves and even the tropics!

Since today is Betsy's (the owner of ISC) birthday - yes ladies she's 29 again - she's running a unique special for ISC. You can buy all 5 of the new release sheets for $40.00 (retail value $56.49). That's over 50 stamp images for less than a $1 an image. This special offer ends on Sept 18th. To learn more go to Innovative Stamp Creations site here

Today I am sharing with you samples from the new sheet called The Tropics - love the fern and bamboo images on this sheet (and maybe I like these cards because they are green and that's my favorite color!)

Something For You:


Close up of Memory Frame:

I love the Ranger memory capsules - see the little leave inside - it's a button.


Dreaming of the Tropics:

I made the little rosette under the button by simply slip stitching the ribbon and gathering - I thought it went great with the velvet and gathered ribbon. I love the little journaling paper behind the image - you'll see a few samples from me using these with different designs and colors - they were a great find at Archivers in the $1.99 section.

So now I am dreaming of hot, sunny weather!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) The Tropics
Paper - Very Vanilla, Old Olives (SU)
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive (SU), Brushed Corduroy Distress (Ranger)
Other - 1 1/2 Memory Capsule and Frame (Ranger), paper crimper, Paperie Greenhouse spiral journaling book (making memories), velvet and gathered ribbon (Pink paislie)

Another Christmas Card!

I’ve finished 6 cards for my self imposed Christmas Card Quest…

6 of 40:

Each of these finished squares is 1 ½ - so technically an inchie + half! I love the simple color scheme on this card - Sepia, Cream and Mellow Moss with a little copper hardware added in. The Santa’s and Dec calendar were all punched from ATC stamps. The Do Not Open was crackled with Range Crackle medium - because - sigh - I don’t have the new Rock Candy yet…

Quest Update:
6 of 40 cards completed
Money Spent $0
Items Never used - Tim Holtz ATC Stamps and Hero Art Collage Stamp (Santa definition)

How am I doing on making 50% of them easy to complete cards - not so much! I knew this would be hard for me - but I want to enjoy the process more than I am worried about the time it takes! (as long as I get them all complete before the beginning of Dec!)

RU ready for Christmas?

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Holiday Collection, Santa’s Wish (Tim Holtz); Winter Post (SU),
Collate Merry & Bright (Hero Arts), Holiday Prints (SU)
Paper - Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss (SU)
Ink - Sepia Archival (Ranger), Mellow Moss (SU)

Christmas Card Quest - 4 of 40

Here is the next design of two for my self imposed Christmas Card Quest…

4 of 40:

This is my attempt at a easy/simple card - of course it would have been a lot quicker if I didn’t insist on using an opaque pen to have one side of the trees look like there is snow - if you look you can barely see it - so my question to myself - Why did I bother? Cuz the girl just can’t help herself!

The background for the trees is Alcohol Ink and Silver Metallic Mixative. Over the cuttlebug snowflake embossing I used silver rub on. See the felt snowflakes - they are from SU - I just had to have them last year and I bought two packages - this is the first time they’ve seen the light of day!

Quest Update:

• 4 of 40 cards completed (look I’m 10% finished *snort*)
• Money Spent $0
• Item Never used - Felt Snowflakes

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Trees (Just for Fun), Sentiment (endless Creations)
Paper - Glossy, Black, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Ink - Versamark, Black Archival (Ranger), Baja Breeze (SU)
Other - Felt Snowflakes (SU), Rhinestone Brad (Creating Memories), Black EP (Ranger), Metallic Rub On

It's Beginning...

To look a lot like Christmas - well at least in my studio!

I need to make 40 Christmas cards - usually I attend card making parties were we make 10 at each but with my weekend schedule this year that is not going to work… so I am on a quest. What is my Quest? Well…

2009 Christmas Card Quest:

1. Make 40 Christmas cards in 16 weeks and because I don’t like to mass produce (that’s not a lot of fun right) - make 20 different designs, 2 of each.
   
2. All cards must be finished and ready to mail by Dec 7th - 16 weeks from now. No excuses about life getting in the way!
3. Spend no $$$ making these cards. I’ve been hoarding Christmas stamps, trinkets and paper for years. Take off the hoarding panties and use what I have! (a funny side note - I have NO red cardstock)
4. Force myself to make half of them less complicated (most of the cards that I make take 2 or 3 hrs each, some take more time than that). Now I want to simplify half of them BUT I still need to enjoy the process AND be happy with the outcome - this is going to be hard for me!
5. The cards MUST be mail-able (what no Grunge Paper Roses on the cards???). I don’t mind paying extra postage for some of the cards but not all of them.

So - here’s the first two…

2 of 40:

I’ve had this Tim Holtz Santa since last Christmas and this was the first time the poor baby has seen ink! You might think the blue stickles is odd - but IRL there is blue in the designer cardstock.

This card was inspired by a Julia Stainton - check out her card here - she does beautiful work!

Wish me luck on my Quest!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Letter to Santa, Santa’s Wish (all Tim Holtz)
Paper - Frost (My Minds Eye)
Ink - Walnut, Vintage Photo, Broken China Distress Inks (Tim Holtz - Ranger)
Other - Corner (Tim Holtz - Idea-ology), button, stamped ribbon; Broken China & Walnut Stain Distress Stickles (Tim Holtz - Ranger)