Krafty Kat Kit cards

I have mentioned before that I am in a group of local stampers called the Krafty Kats. There are six of us and we get together each month to share our artwork and have a lot of laughs! We have such a good time together!

Each month one of us puts together a kit of papers and embellishments and then the next month we have 'show and tell' to see what everyone made with the supplies from the kit. It's always amazing how different all the cards are.

Today I'm showing three cards I made from a recent kit that Marcy put together. The patterned papers are from Heidi Grace Designs' Harvest Row collection. On the first card, I used the wicker chair image from Lockhart Stamp Company that Marcy had stamped and embossed for us. After I colored the image to match the paper, I drew a border around it while it was still in the square Nestabilities die, leaving space for the sentiment, which is from Amuse Artstamps. The bottom edge of the card front was cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Fancy Scallop Pierceability die.

For the second card, I used a photo stamp from The Stamping Studio. I stamped the pitcher of sunflowers on vellum with Black StazOn and then colored it on the back side using Copic markers. The image was cut out using deckle edged scissors.

I colored the paper flower in the bottom right corner using Copic markers and added the bead for the center to make it look like a sunflower. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set.

This last card includes stamps from Gina K.Designs' Botanical Dreams (the flower) and Papertrey Ink's Mega Mixed Messages (the sentiment). The 'leaves' under the bow/brad/flower combo were made using a Martha Stewart punch and were colored with a Copic Spica marker.

These kits are such fun to play with and it's always so interesting to see how everyone used the supplies included in them.

Hope you've had a good week - mine has been busy and I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Stamp Star Challenge - Week Four

The theme for this week's CHF Summer Stamp Star challenge is Make A Scene. Since I am a SCUBA diver, I knew immediately that I would make an underwater scene, so I picked up two sets from Cornish Heritage Farms' Scene It line just for the challenge (although I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of them in the future!) - Under the Sea and By the Seashore. I stamped the images on Stamper's Anonymous Matte Coated card stock and then colored them with my Copic markers. I airbrushed the sky using a torn piece of Eclipse masking tape to make the clouds.

Since I wanted the scene to be the prominent item on the card, I didn't do much else. The patterned paper is called Cannon from BasicGrey's Oh Baby! Boy collection and the Magic Mesh behind the image is from Magic Scraps. I used the blue scalloped edge card stock for my card base to mimic waves.

Hope you've had a nice weekend! Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday....

This card makes me laugh....mostly because of the story behind it. A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor of being the guest designer over on Our Creative Corner, thanks to my friend Jenny (thank you, Jenny!!). When she originally asked me to to be the guest designer, we had talked about the themes she was going to have for her month-long stint as the challenge hostess. One of the challenges she was planning was to make an animal themed card, which is the one I chose to be the guest designer for, thinking specifically of using this tiger stamp and this paper.

Eventually, though, the challenge changed a little and became Pet Parade, but since I had my heart set on using this stamp for it, I tried to make a card that could still work for the 'pet' theme....hence the sentiment! In the end, I decided to make this card, using a more traditional pet cat theme... ;-)

The stamp is from The Angel Company and the paper is from GCD Studios' Debonair Collection. The image was colored with Copic markers and I added some dots around the border of my image to mimic those around the circles on the patterned paper. The sentiment stamp is from The Stamping Studio.

Thanks for looking! Enjoy your weekend!

Belli Challenge # 70 - Metal tags

This week's Creative Belli Challenge is to use metal tags. I stewed over what to do for this challenge - I have a Memory Makers tag maker, but I've not had very good luck with it, so I wanted to do something else. Then I remembered all the Grungeboard I have and forget to use! I pulled out an oval tag to use for my sentiment and painted it with a Copper Paint Dauber from Ranger. I added a couple of copper brads to finish off the tag.

For my main image, I pulled out my brand new Strawberries set from Flourishes and inked up the basket of berries and then colored my berries with Copic markers. They were topped off with some shimmer from a couple of Spica pens.

The papers are from the Provocraft Pathways Romance Pad and the ribbon is from Michael's. The card layout is based on the Mojo Monday sketch from July 13th. I turned the sketch on its side to accommodate my image.

I hope you'll play along with us this week! Create your card with a metal tag and share it with us. If you upload your card to SCS or to PCP, please use keyword CBC70. Don't forget to add your link using our Mr. Linky widget on today's post over on the Creative Belli blog.

Please be sure to check out what the other Belli Design team members have done for this challenge:

Anne Harada
Anne Harmon
Ceal Pritchett
Chris Dickinson
Danielle Marcus
Danita Hollander
Debbie Daniels
Fern Riley
Holly Brown
Joan Ervin

Hope you're having a great week!

Summer Stamp Star Challenge - Week Three

This is the card I made for week three of the challenge going on over at Cornish Heritage Farms. The challenge this week was to make a card uing a resist technique.

I stamped the freesia on white matte paper using Versafine black pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored in the flower with several Sampin' UP markers, colored over the whole image with a Versamark pen and then embossed with clear embossing powder again.

Then the brayering began...I started with Stampin' UP So Saffron in the top, then added Adirondack Salmon and then a bit of Watermelon. For the bottom I started with SU Mellow Moss and then added some Old Olive.

The sentiment is from Script Essential Expressions and was stamped in Old Olive and sponged with Salmon ink while still in the die. I matted the main panel, the checked panel and the ribbon tag with Old Olive card stock.

The butterfly is from the Vintage Butterflies set and was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. The ribbon is from Michael's, the buttons from BasicGrey and my stash and the thread I used on the button is from my grandmother's sewing basket! And speaking of grandmothers, I am sending this card to a friend who lost her grandmother this past week, so that seemed appropriate.

Have a good week!

Have a Delightful Day!

This is my second entry for the Cornish Heritage Farms Summer Stamp Star Challenge. This is the second of five weekly challenges and it was paper piecing. Whew....who knew paper piecing could be so exhausting?? I'm worn out! This card was a lot of fun to play with, but it was a lot of cutting. I have a renewed love for my Cutter Bee scissors and tweezers!


I used three Shady Tree Studios flower stamps (Artsy Blooms, Closed Tulip and Iris Bloom) and several from the Saturday Evening Post Vintage Butterflies set for this card. The patterned paper is Stampin' Up!'s Tea Party collection and BasicGrey Urban Prairie and Boxer.

Many of the elements were popped up using different thicknesses of foam tape to give it a 3-D look. Here's a closeup to give you an idea of all the dimension. I used Stampin' UP!'s dimensionals for the thinner layers and Therm O Web foam squares for the thicker layers. I also used two different papers for each flower to give them a variegated look as well as some additional dimension.

The sentiment layer was also popped up with the foam squares. As I often say, much of my design is about covering up mistakes and that's how the sentiment came to be....I had a flub on my airbrushing and got some green on the blue and had to cover it up!


The butterflies were all stamped on the Urban Prairie Hayfield paper, cut out, covered with Glossy Accents to give them some stability.

Here's a closeup of the one I adhered to my bow. The ribbon is from Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Ribbon Store and is a dream to work with! I used the Bow Easy to make the bow - you can also get that invaluable tool through Sharon. The butterfly was adhered with a glue dot.



I cut out 2 of the ladybugs from the Hayfield paper (THAT was a challenge in and of itself!!), covered them with Glossy Accents and stuck them on top of my brads for the sentiment panel.

Sorry for the novel but there is a lot going on with this card! Thanks for hanging in here with me!

Hope your weekend is going well!

OCC Challenge - Pet Parade

This month my good friend, Jenny Gropp, is hosting the weekly challenges over at Our Creative Corner, and she graciously asked me to be the guest designer for this week's challenge! What a great week I'm having! The theme for the challenge this week is Pet Parade - use a cat or dog image, but if you don't have one, then you may substitute another animal image.

For my card, I started with this week's sketch from Splitcoast Stampers (SC236). Next, I pulled out my stash of cat-themed papers and stamps and decided that the paper I used at the top would be perfect - it's a 12"x12" piece that has a cat collar across the top with the tags hanging down. I selected the section with these three tags because they went perfectly (or is it purrfectly...) with my stamp and to describe my own three cats (not that we have real mice in the house, only cat nip filled ones)! The collar paper is from Carol Wilson Fine Arts and the paw print paper is from Rhonna Farrer.

The stamp of the three cats is from Class Act Stamps and the sentiment is from Whipper Snapper Designs. The twill ribbon is from Creative Impressions and was colored with Copic markers and then stapled to the sentiment layer using the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher Stapler. Finally, I added some rhinestones to the collar and to the crown.

Please check out the other sample cards from the OCC designers on the OCC blog and remember, there is no time limit on the OCC challenges - feel free to participate whenever you are able. To play along, upload your creation to your blog or gallery, then leave us a comment linking to your project so we can check it out. If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: OCCC.

That's about it! Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

Gobsmacked!

Sorry to do two posts in one day, but I have BIG news to share! I won the first challenge of the Cornish Heritage Farms Summer Stamp Star Challenge for the card I posted on Monday! I received the email with the announcement first thing this morning but couldn't say anything until it had been posted on the CHF blog, which is why I didn't include it in my earlier post.

There were SIXTY entries in the challenge and my little card WON! I've been on cloud nine all morning!!! As our English friends say - I'm gobsmacked!

Here's the announcement - Announcing First Week's Winner.

Belli Challenge - Add texture

This week's Creative Belli Challenge is to add texture. What kind of texture? Anything that you can "feel" on your card - Magic Mesh, flocking, Flower Soft, velvet, or even hammered metal.

For my card, I decided to use Flower Soft. Once again I inked up my Vintage Picnic set from Papertrey Ink, this time using the tulip topper. I colored the image using Copic markers and then added Sweet Pea Flower Soft to the tulip blooms.

I used my friend Silke's sketch from Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 21 for my layout. The patterned paper is from a K & Company K-ology Hannah paper pad that I won a while back from my friend Pat Adam. I thought it matched my Sweet Pea Flower Soft perfectly. The card base is Papertrey Ink Kraft, the ribbon for the bow is from Offray and the ric rac is from My Mind's Eye. The gold beads on the card and the basket are from Michael's.

Check out what the other Belli girls have created over on the Belli blog. I hope you will play along with us in our texture challenge! To play, add a link to your creation using Mr. Linky over on the Creative Belli Challenge blog at the bottom of today's post.

Hope your week is going well so far! Thanks for stopping by!

You're always there

As soon as I saw this stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms, I had to have it! I wanted to color the bird as a robin, of course, but I thought the image was perfect with the sentiment. I finally inked it up this weekend and colored it with Copic markers as my entry for the first challenge in CHF's Summer Stamp Star Design Challenge.

The image was stamped on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. After I colored the image and cut it out using a Nestabilities die, I covered it with a mask made of Eclipse masking tape. I also tore the edge of an extra piece of the masking tape and moved the torn edge of the paper around the background, airbrushing over it to create the clouds.

I layered the stamped image on top of a sheet of Desert Coral Prismatics card stock and trimmed it close on three sides. The bottom edge was cut using a Martha Stewart border punch and layered on top of a piece of Eames Painting Canvas Brown Umber card stock that was cut with the same border punch. The sentiment was popped up in the center with some foam squares. The orange ribbon is from Martha Stewart and the button is from BasicGrey, as is the background paper. The card base is 51/2" square and was also cut from Eames Painting Canvas Brown Umber card stock. For the last little detail, I added some Glossy Accents to the drop of water and the bird's eye.

Thanks for looking and be sure to check back on Wednesday for the next Creative Belli Challenge. I hope you have a great week!

Happy Birthday You Old Bird!

A very good friend of mine had a birthday last week, and this is the card I made for her. It was a quick card that I made right before I headed out of town for a conference (which explains why I have been such a bad blogger for the last week). I was in Las Vegas from Monday through Thursday and am glad to be back home. I'm not a Vegas girl...

Anyway, Tina and I were Chi Omega sorority sisters in college. Chi Omega's symbol is the owl, so over the years we have done a lot of owl gifts and cards. When I saw this Inkadinkado set with the owls and this sentiment, I had to have it for her! She is four months older than I am, and I have often teased her about being older, so this sentiment was perfect. She has collected rabbits as long as I have known her, so that explains the rabbit brads on the sentiment. That, to me, is one of the greatest things about making cards - you can customize them with the perfect little details, just for your recipient.

I used Card Positioning Systems' CPS120 sketch, the stamps and the patterned paper as my starting points. The patterned paper panel behind the owl image is the reverse side of the patterned paper used for the larger panel, which is from Best Creations. I wanted to show as many of the owls on the background paper as I could, so I trimmed the left edge of the second layer close to the giraffe's head and neck. The stamped image was colored and airbrushed with Copic markers, and cut out using a square Nestabilities die. The mat layer is Bazzill Bling card stock that was cut out using a Labels Three Nestabilities die.

That's about it for this one. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

Lavender Get Well and Blog Candy Winner!

Good morning! Happy Monday! First things first, I want to announce the winner of the blog candy from my blogaversary celebration last week. I used Random.org to make the selection and the winner is....

Marie B. said...
Wow! Hello Robin! I came here by way of Jenny's blog, and I really love these stamps! How cool are they?!? Love the colors you chose to work with on your card...this is the first time I have heard of Repeat Impressions too, and I wonder why??? Must check it out! :) Happy blogaversary too!
June 23, 2009 8:44 PM

Congratulations, Marie! Please send me an email (RobinKirk@aol.com) with your selection and contact information!

OK, on to today's card! I recently needed a get well card for a good friend who had surgery and loves lavender. This Lockhart Stamp Company image fit the bill perfectly! Once I had selected the image, I decided to use this sketch from the Clean & Simple blog as my starting point. The patterned paper is from the Memory Box Biscotti collection and the card stock is from the Prism Majestic Purple Pack. I stamped the image on Rustic White card stock and colored it with Copic markers. I used a larger square Nestabilities die to draw the outline with a Lavender Copic Spica pen. The Feel Better sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set and was stamped using Adirondack Eggplant ink. That's about it for this clean and simple card!

Thanks to everyone who left such nice comments for the blog candy giveaway. I really appreciate all your kind words! Have a great week and try to keep cool!

Friday Three-Fer

I wanted to post another card this week using my Quartet stamp from Repeat Impressions and when I saw this morning's Stamp Simply Challenge over at Sharon Johnson's blog, and the Flourishes Friday newsletter, I was all set with ideas! I also wanted to participate in Sharon's challenge in honor of my friend Jenny, who has just become a permanent member of Sharon's Stamp Simply team. Congrats, Jenny!

On to the details of my three-fer card:
1. Use the Repeat Impressions quartet stamp - check!
2. Sharon's challenge - use Grass Green and Sky Blue AND paper piercing - check! You can't see the piercing too well in the photo, but I pierced little triangles in all four corners of the patterned paper background and all around the black mat under the quartet image.
3. Flourishes Friday - use a solid stamp - check!

I stamped the Quartet image using Versamark on glossy card stock, then heat embossed it using clear embossing powder. Next, I masked each segment of the stamp and sponged Stampin' UP!'s Baja Breeze and Ranger's Peeled Paint Distress Ink in opposite corners. The patterned papers are from BasicGrey's Urban Prairie 6x6 paper pack and the ribbon is Baja Breeze striped grosgrain. My cute little bow was made using the Bow Easy, which you can get from Sharon's store.

If you haven't done so already, please sign up for a chance to win an unmounted sheet of four of these quartet stamps by leaving a comment on my blogoversary post from Tuesday. And check back Monday morning when I'll be announcing the winner!

Have a great weekend!

Thinking of .... cooler weather!

Good morning! I thought I would show you another card I made recently using Repeat Impressions stamps. Wendy asked each of us to make a 'green' card, allowing us to interpret 'green' however we wanted. So I chose this Chickadee at Rest stamp (211-P), a Kraft card base and Rustic Wood buttons, thinking that it's green because of the pine needles, but also because of all the natural elements.

I started out by determining the right size oval Nestabilities die for my frame, then I colored directly on my stamp using Stampin UP! markers in Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip and Really Rust. After I stamped the image on the card, I taped my die to the card front, put a layer of scrap card stock on top of it, folded the back of the card on top, crossed my fingers and ran it through my Wizard with just the rubber embossing mat. It always makes me a little nervous doing this on a one layer card, for fear my die will move or I'll get unwanted indentations on the card (which is why I add the layer of scrap card stock), but it worked! Once I had that done, I used my white opaque pen to add a little frostiness to the pine needles and branch, and I used my Atyou Spica pens to add some shimmer to the pine needles and the chickadee's eye.

Next, I added some Papertrey Ink Rustic Jute Button twine to my Rustic Wood buttons, frayed the ends of the twine and adhered them in the corners with glue dots. Finally, I stamped the sentiment in the lower left corner, using a stamp positioner.

To keep the 'green' theme going, I also inked up this pine cone border (1506-M) stamp with the Handsome Hunter and Chocolate Chip markers and stamped it at the top on the inside of the card.

This was a quick, easy card to make, and it's helping me think of cooler weather - we're having some HOT temperatures here in Atlanta this week!

Finally, if you haven't already done so, please register for my blog candy giveaway by leaving a comment below on Tuesday's post. I'll be announcing the winner Monday morning. If you're going to be in the Orlando area this weekend, stop by the Repeat Impressions booth at Stampfest Orlando, say hi to Wendy and check out all their great stamps!

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Belli Challenge - Patriotic Card

Today's Creative Belli Challenge was to make a patriotic themed card. Since the new design team members were just selected over the weekend, we weren't required to participate; however, I just received the Papertrey Ink Vintage Picnic set on Monday, so I decided to go ahead and participate! What a fun set this one is - so many possibilities!

I used last week's sketch from Splitcoast Stampers' sketch challenge, and papers from the 8x8 BasicGrey Boxer pad. The card base is Papertrey Ink's Kraft card stock (my all time favorite for card bases...) The picnic basket was stamped on Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select card stock, as were all of the other elements, and colored with Copic markers. I stamped the stars and flag topper twice and cut out the two larger stars and the flag to mount them with some foam tape. The plaid napkin and the bunch of strawberries were also mounted with foam tape.

Here's a close up so you can see the popped up elements. I also highlighted the stars, the napkin and the strawberries with Atyou Spica glitter pens in various colors.

I added some gold beads to the corners of the main image, the corners of the largest panel and one on the center of the largest star. That's about it!

Don't forget to sign up for my blog candy if you haven't already done so. Just leave a comment on this card to be eligible to win a sheet of four of Repeat Impressions' new Quartets stamps. I'll announce the winner here on Monday morning.

Enjoy your day! Thanks for looking.