Brutus Monroe Harvest Inspiration

Hello again, my dear blog friends.  Words will never express to you how much I appreciate your visits and comments.  I've been having fun creating cards with the Brutus Monroe Inspiration Boxes.  I challenge myself to use as little of my own "stuff" as possible, and to really use ALL the products in the Inspiration Boxes to showcase everything.  I also try to keep my cards fairly simple so that all crafters can realize their potential.  Sometimes inspiration comes in a BOX.  You just never know.

This card started with a black cardstock base.  Each Inspiration Box has cardstock included in it, and that's really helpful.  First, I attached a piece of the glimmery orange paper from the Inspiration Box, and then used a piece of the creamy yellowish ivory cardstock from the Inspiration Box to stencil a background.  I stenciled my background using various yellows and oranges of Tim Holtz Oxide Inks.  Next, I machine stitched that piece to the other papers.  I added another strip of the glimmery orange paper across the middle, and placed pieces of woodgrain washi tape here and there.

I stamped the cute scarecrow, pumpkin, and Pumpkin Patch sign using the darling new Harvest Stamp Set found inside the Harvest Inspiration Box.  I colored my images with Copics, and used the coordinating Harvest Dies to cut out the images.  I used some 3-D Foam Tape to give my scarecrow some extra dimension.  This Inspiration Box does NOT include a packet of sequins, so I used a few of the sequins from some of my older Inspiration Boxes.  I think that covers it; but feel free to ask any questions if I forgot something.  I really appreciate your visit today.

Blessings,

Karen

I'm playing along in these FUN challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Spooky/Halloween

Mod Squad Challenge Blog - Halloween

Autumn Blessings w/Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

This is another pretty card that I created using fabulous products from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  I've been having SO much fun this month as their Guest Designer, and I enjoy every single card I create using these fabulous products.  This card started with a few different colors of basic cardstock.  I'd stopped by my local craft store the other day to pick up cardstocks and a new Tim Holtz Oxide Ink Pad.

I used a small piece of watercolor paper to stamp the Typewriter Text Background Stamp and the pretty leaves found  in the Autumn Splendor Stamp Set.  I used Tim Holtz Oxide Inks to watercolor all my leaves and acorns.  They were all stamped using the Autumn Splendor Stamp Set, as was the sweet (Autumn Blessings) sentiment.  I love how these stamps layer so well; and Sweet 'n Sassy has several great background stamps to help you create a fun and easy background for your cards.

I love that these stamps all work together so well.  I've been able to incorporate all the stamps, stencils, backgrounds, dies and products from Sweet 'n Sassy and use them to compliment one another.  This is always helpful in making your stamp purchases go a long way.  I did purchase one good all-occasion sentiment stamp stamp and a few cute digital images as well...so I'd have them for all year round.

I love all these pretty Autumn colors and that gorgeous Autumn sentiment from the Autumn Splendor Stamp Set.  I wrapped some Solid Pumpkin Baker's Twine around my card and tied a bow with it.  I love the texture that ribbons, fabrics and trims give my cards.  But when the stamps are this cute, I like to make them the true star of the card.  Aren't they pretty images?

Thanks again for stopping by today.  I'll be sharing more cards featuring Sweet 'n Sassy products, so I'd love to have you stop by again soon.  I'm always super grateful for your visits to my blog, and for your comments and questions.  It's a blessing to have you stop by.

Karen

I'm sharing my card here at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog - Fall Mood Board

Paper Sweeties 4th Qtr. Sweet Kit

Hello again today, friends.  Welcome by my blog and thanks for stopping by.  Today will be my last scheduled (planned) post this month for Paper Sweeties.  But.....that's not to say I won't be creating at least a few more cards using this darling 4th Quarter Sweet Kit.  It's just SO cute that I can't stop thinking of more card ideas.  The cards I shared on Thursday and Friday used LOTS of the fun Doodlebug products found in this Sweet Kit.  I've shared coffee cards, Birthday cards and Fall cards.  So, today I wanted to share a couple cute Christmas cards; and I wanted to use the new Seasons: Sweet Mini Duo (stamps) that come in the 4th Quarter Sweet Kit (everything shown below).

As I mentioned, the DARLING new Sweet Mini Duo (stamp set) that comes in this Sweet Kit is called Seasons: Sweet Mini Duo and it's ADORABLE.  It includes the four seasons in large font (WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL) and coordinating sentiments in smaller cursive font.  My first card (below) features these stamps on my sentiment (Warm WINTER Wishes).  I used some of the sweet patterned papers found in the 6x6 Doodlebug Paper Pad in the Sweet Kit, and I machine stitched them together.  I ran a piece of the Green Apple Seam Binding across my card, and used another piece of that along with a length of Cupcake Seam Binding to create a pretty bow.

Most of the other things on this card are Doodlebug DoodlePops from the Sweet Kit.  I did stamp and cut the candy stick in Poppy Red Ink using the Homemade With Love Stamp Set and Homemade With Love Sweet Cuts.  The Doodlebug DoodlePops are SO cute that they make card-making a breeze.  I kept my card fairly "easy" so that anyone could recreate it.  I did add a small black Scalloped Square Frame underneath the stocking.

For my second card, I used cardstock and more of the FUN Doodlebug Patterned Papers to create my background.  I cut some squares using the Scalloped Squares Sweet Cuts.  I attached one package of Doodlebug DoodlePops (from the Sweet Kit), and attached a small bow using the Green Apple Seam Binding.  I really tried to use all the products found in this Sweet Kit.  OOoooo.....I also added some of the pretty sequins/sparkles from the Sequin Mix found in the Sweet Kit to give the cards some bling.

ntion, those adorable Season stamps/se

There are SO many adorable products in this 4th Quarter Sweet Kit, and they make it super easy to create cute cards.  I've already created ten cards using this Sweet Kit, and I still have LOTS left to use.  Not to mention all those darling sentiment stamps that you'll have forever.  Each Sweet Kit is a great value with all you get.  SO man of the cute DoodlePops and pretty patterned paper.  The sentiment on this second card is from the Merry Stamp Set.

All the Seasons and sentiments in the new Seasons: Sweet Mini Duo be great fun to use all year long.  And, the rest of the supplies will last you for a good long, creative while.  OK....below are the links to each my Paper Sweeties teammates who have prepared a special inspiration card for you today.  My teammate, Maria Patrick, also used the Sweet Kit; so I know she'll have something extra sweet to share.

Thanks again for visiting me; and please be sure to stop by Paper Sweeties to grab the 4th Quarter Sweet Kit before they're sold out.  You can also pick up a few other great new products.  There are SO many great choices.  Paper Sweeties has no shortage of CUTE stamps, dies, and more.  Thanks for stopping by again today.

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties 

Annie Collins
Karen Letchworth

Larissa Heskett

Linh Van

Maria Patrick

Tasha Jorgenson

Blessings,

Karen  

Paper Sweeties New Sweet Kit

It's time for a brand new 4th Quarter Sweet Kit and Paper Sweeties, and that means you can get ALL these beautiful products for one low price.  This Sweet Kit also includes the newest Sweet Mini Duo called Seasons/Seasons Add-Ons, and it's a darling little set that includes the large font (each season) and then little accent words to go along with it the seasons (see photo below).

In addition to that, you will receive a 6x6 Doodlebug patterned paper pad, a lovely sequin mix, Doodlebug Ephemera, several cute Doodlebug DoodlePops, Green Apple Seam Binding, and  everything you need to create fun projects like the ones I'm sharing today.  Ever since I opened my "pretty pink package" from Paper Sweeties containing ALL these goodies in the new Sweet Kit, I've been having an absolutely blast creating with it.  

This first card started with a pice of burnt orange corrugated cardboard to which I added a piece of the green checkered patterned paper from the Doodlebug paper pad.  I did a bit of machine stitching, and I painted the cool acrylic pumpkin (found in the Sweet Kit) and added some natural burlap and a piece of the Green Apple Seam Binding (also from Sweet Kit) to tie my bow.

There are several Sequins on my acrylic pumpkin along with some prills and several of the Doodlebug Ephemera pieces (hearts, leaves, bug, etc.) as well as some more of the darling Doodlebug DoodlePops (crows, bug).  There are just SO many cute things in this Sweet Kit.....I got a little carried away and started loading them onto this card.  It's pretty CUTE stuff, I must say.  The darling sentiment (Hello Y'all) is from the new Sweet Mini Duo: Seasons which is also included in the Sweet Kit.

For my second card today, I used ONLY pieces from the Sweet Kit - just to show you how easy it is to use these products to whip up a fast and easy card.  I used brown cardstock and two of the Doodlebug patterned papers.  I machine stitched them together in brown thread, and I ran a piece of the Green Apple Seam Binding across the card.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy - there you go.  The scarecrow, sunflowers, pumpkin and bug are all Doodlebug DoodlePops; and are also included in the Sweet Kit.  They make card-making SO easy and fun.  The only thing on this card that's not included in the Sweet Kit is that little yellow doily.  Everything else is at your fingertips; including the cute sentiment banner which is included in the Doodlebug Ephemera.

I know that my super talented teammates have prepared some really awesome cards to inspire you.  If you click on their names below, you will be taken directly to each person's blog post for today.  You won't want to miss out on all this FAB inspiration, or on getting YOUR Sweet Kit before they're all sold out again.

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties 

Annie Collins
Karen Letchworth

Larissa Heskett

Linh Van

Maria Patrick

Tasha Jorgenson

Happy crafting, everyone.  I hope to see you all again tomorrow.

Blessings,

Karen

Paper Sweeties Sweet Kit Sneak Peek

How exciting!  Today we're giving you all a PEEK at the brand new 4th Quarter Sweet Kit from Paper Sweeties.  These FUN kits come out once per quarter, and they are FILLED with cute supplies to help you create oodles of cute cards and projects.  This month's kit includes a darling 6x6 Doodlebug patterned paper pad, a sequin mix, several adorable Doodlebug DoodlePops, Green Apple Seam Binding, a cute acrylic pumpkin, and Doodlebug ephemera.  Here's a photo of everything you'll receive in this Sweet Kit.

OH....and there's also a SALE taking place this month at Paper Sweeties, so this is a great time to pick up a few new cute products for your crafting.  You can get 25% OFF all Paper Sweeties Dolls (stamps and cuts), and ALL the fabulous Boutique (outfit sets) for the Sweeties using coupon code BOO.  There are also some discounted discontinued stamps and other bargains, so be sure to stop by and treat yourself.

For today's post, I made this cute Birthday card.  I did this to show just how incredibly versatile this 4th Quarter Sweet Kit is.  At first glance, you might guess that this Sweet Kit is just seasonal; but that's not the case as you can see here.  I used black and white cardstocks and attached a cute blue plaid patterned paper from the 6x6 Doodlebug paper pad found in the 4h Quarter Sweet Kit to create my base.

I did a bit of machine stitching in black around the outer edge, and the sentiment (Happy Birthday) is a piece of the Doodlebug Ephemera from the Sweet Kit.  I also added some of the adorable Doodlebug DoodlePops (coffee cup, coffee beans, birds) found in the 4th Quarter Sweet Kit as accents.  You'll see some various patterned papers that I attached, and one of them was cut using the Stitched Tags #1Sweet Cuts tag, and is tied with some Pink Baker's Twine.

As is the case every time I receive my Sweet Kits (or any other product from Paper Sweeties), I get SO excited and just start creating like crazy.  I mean, come on!  How CUTE are all these goodies?  They just make card-making SO easy.   Because this cute Birthday card has a coffee theme, I wanted to include a place for a coffee gift card.  SO......to finish the inside of this fun card, I used the same colors and Doodlebug patterned paper (along with some other patterned paper scraps) to create the card base.  I attached a small kraft bag to tuck in a Starbucks gift card.  On the front of that little bag, I used the Wishing You Stamp Set to stamp the sentiment.  I also used the Sweet Borders Sweet Cuts to make the cute little scalloped borders.  This last photo (below) shows you the gift card that I tucked inside that cute little bag/envelope.  Paper Sweeties makes it easy to create cute cards and projects.  This new 4th Quarter Sweet Kit is filled with darling stamps, patterned papers and accessories that will provide endless hours of creativity.

Below, you'll find the direct links to the blogs of my talented Paper Sweeties teammates who have prepared something to inspire you today.  We have three new DT Members who are ready to inspire you, so please take a moment to stop by and say hello by clicking on the links above.

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties 

Annie Collins
Karen Letchworth

Larissa Heskett

Linh Van

Maria Patrick

Tasha Jorgenson

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope to see you again tomorrow and Saturday.  Have a happy and creative week, everyone; and don't forget to stop by Paper Sweeties to grab your 4th Quarter Sweet Kit before they're sold out - I know you'll LOVE it as much as I do.  By the way, the winner of my National Coffee Week drawing for a set of free Doodlebug DoodlePops from Paper Sweeties is...Bunny.  Congrats, Bunny, and thank you to everyone who left a comment.

Blessings,

Karen

Here's where I'm playing along:

Coffee Loving Cardmakers' Blog - Caffeine Fueled Paper Play - I'm using products from Sponsor, Paper Sweeties.

Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop Time

Welcome by to our ribbon loving friends and crafters everywhere.  You should have arrived here from Bonnie's Blog; but if not, you can catch up quickly by visiting the RRR Blog.  Thanks for joining us as we celebrate the Really Reasonable Ribbon October Blog Hop where one lucky person who hops along and leaves a comment at each of the five (5) stops on this hop will receive this month's beautiful Ribbon Club Assortment.  Just look at this lovely collection of trims.

Most months, I like to share a Hair Bow that incorporates most, or all, of the ribbons found in the monthly Ribbon Club Assortments. That's the best way I've found to showcase them ALL; and they're all just SO beautiful that you will want to see every single trim included in this gorgeous Ribbon Club Assortment.  Just in time for Christmas, these gorgeous festive trims will be perfect for all your holiday cards and projects.

This first Hair Bow (shown above) uses a length of the 5/8" Red Taffeta Ribbon, 5/8" Forest Green Satin With Grosgrain Edge, and the 5/8" Christmas Bold Check Plaid Ribbon; and has a pretty gold Embellishment in the center.  It's secured on the back with a French Clip; which comes in various sizes for different hair lengths and thicknesses, etc.  There are lots of great Hair Accessories at Really Reasonable Ribbon.

The second Hair Bow is a different style.  This one uses the 3/8" Christmas Bold Chevron on White Grosgrain Ribbon and has some wool felt leaves and small gemstone Embellishments in the center, and is secured with an Alligator Clip.  This style of looping the ribbon can also be done on a card.  Here's a side view of this barrette so that you can see the pretty texture and images on the Ribbon.

Thanks again for joining us.  Your next stop on this quick Blog Hop is back on the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog where you'll need to answer the question that's been posted.  One person who leaves comments along the way and answers the final question will win this month's Ribbon Club Assortment.  Thanks for joining us, and we really hope you're inspired.

Blessings,

Karen

I'm entering my Hair Bows here in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog - NOT A Card - I'm entering my Hair Bows

Brutus Monroe Falling For You

I've been so blessed to design for Brutus Monroe for the past several months showcasing their FUN Inspiration Boxes.  I don't have much longer to go on this Guest Design position, but I'm sure having fun while I'm still promoting these awesome Today I'm sharing a card that was created using the new October Harvest Inspiration Box.  The stamps/dies are, obviously, Harvest themed.  There are loads of cute images including two cute scarecrows, many different leaves, pumpkins, sentiments and more.

I used some of the cardstocks and created a base.  The glitter paper in this Inspiration Box is orange (which I used on another card); so I borrowed the green glitter paper from the Splish Splash Inspiration Box.  I did some machine stitching as I added a piece of white water color paper that I stamped/spritzed the entire background using various colors of Tim Holtz Oxide Inks and ALL the different leaf stamps in this stamp set.  I spritzed the stamps just a bit to give a watery/smudged look.

The sentiment (Falling For You) is also from the stamp set included in the Harvest Inspiration Box.  I stamped that onto a journalling strip, and stamped two of the leaves from the stamp set on the sentiment strip.  I used some 3-D Foam Tape to raise up the sentiment.  I added the black thread machine stitching to pull out the black cardstock base.  The glitter paper (there's always one sheet of colored glitter paper in an Inspiration Box) really sparkles and makes your card shiny and pretty.  The script stamp that I used on my background is from a Brutus Monroe set I was sent for the Fall/Winter Release.  Some of you may remember my mushroom card...??  Well, this script stamp is found in the stamp set containing the groovy mushroom I used on my mushroom card.  It's called Fall Changes.

I kept everything fairly simple so that those pretty leaf stamps would be the star of this card.  Well, that and the pretty sentiment.  This Inspiration Box has lots of creative potential, and it's always a great way to get your creativity rolling again.  Brutus Monroe carries their own brand of stamps, dies, inks, stencils and so much more.  They also carry many of our favorite big name brands.  Whether it's for an Inspiration Box or anything else, Brutus Monroe is a great place to "get your craft on", my friends.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you'll stop by again soon.

Blessings,

Karen

I'm playing along here:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Fall Colors/Mood Board