My Sweet Girls

Hello, dear friends!  I don't have a card to share with you all today.  I totally planned on making a card for the new challenge that started today at Word Art Wednesday, but when I went to work on my cart, I quickly learned that our printer was out of black ink, and I wasn't able to get one created.  I went out and bought the new ribbon this morning, but I need my son to put it in for me (I'm so lost when it comes to those things).  So, to make my long story short, I don't have a card.  But there's lots of great inspiration over on the Word Art Wednesday blog and YOU can play along for your chance to win a 15 pound prize to Heffy Doodle.  How cute is there stuff?  LOVE💗

What I would like to share with you today is LOTS of exciting news!  First, I'm sharing two photos of my sweet granddaughter, Taylee.  She was just introduced to Gerber 1st Foods.  Above, you can see her getting her first taste of bananas.  Most babies LOVE the bananas and fruits.  But Taylee's favorite?   It's a bit more unexpected.

Green Beans!!  She LOVES them.  In fact, as you can see in the photo above, she grabbed the spoon right out of Mama's hand and held if for herself.  She was smacking her chops, and couldn't get enough of those good....GREEN BEANS?  Hey, I'm glad she has a healthy palette.  Personally, I'd prefer the bananas, but...we're all entitled to our own opinions.  Well, as a new Mom my sweet Andrea is doing an amazing job.  But as you can imagine, diapers, formula, food, medications, etc. all start weighing on the young couple.  We've ALL been there!  So...Andrea is having a BIG SALE in her sweet Etsy Shop hoping to make some sales to keep her going.  Here's the link to AJM Designs by Andrea.  No coupon is needed...EVERYTHING is 25% OFF!  There's lots of great hand-made jewelry including bracelets, earrings, necklaces and more.  It might be a great time to pick up a Birthday, Christmas gift, etc. or even something for yourself.  Andrea (and I, of course) would certainly appreciate it.

Also, if you're playing along at Word Art Wednesday, you may have seen the comment I left telling how how to win some vintage laces, trims, embellishments and goodies from me.  Just visit our sponsor, Heffy Doodle, and then leave me a comment telling me the name of your favorite Heffy Doodle product.  You'll automatically be entered to win this FUN prize package.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Karen

(And Andrea and Taylee)

Cards Need Really Reasonable Ribbon

Hello to all of you paper-crafty, ribbon and flower loving friends!  Welcome by today as I share a series of cards I created for Really Reasonable Ribbon using a sweet line called Spring Market by Carta Bella.  I made several cards using this line, and as always....the cards are much sweeter when I've added some of the lovely touches from Really Reasonable Ribbon.  I won't repeat the patterned papers, stickers, ephemera, chipboard, etc. for each card because every single one in this post uses that same Carta Bella Spring Market line.  I'll just let y'all know which RRR products I used on each card.  And I'll tell you this...Really Reasonable Ribbon ALWAYS has the perfect ribbons, trims, Mulberry Flowers and Embellishments to match everything we make.

Like all of my cards, this first card (above) was put together using strips of Scor-Tape; a fabulous Adhesive to help hold together your cards and projects for many years to come.  This first card also includes a length of the lovely Moss Green Seam Binding.

My second card includes some Mulberry Flowers including the Miniature Ivory Sweetheart Blossoms as well as Mixed Pink Sweetheart Blossoms.  I also bundled up some Ivory Burlap String and placed it underneath each flower cluster.  Did you know that we carry nearly 20 colors of Burlap String?  It's another fabulous trim that costs just ten cents per yard, and is the perfect touch for SO many products. 

Card number three includes Cream Seam Binding, some Moss Green Seam Binding, Open Roses, Miniature Ivory Sweetheart Blossoms and Miniature Pink Sweetheart Blossoms.  I also tucked in a few Double-Head Stamens.  I love them SO much!

My fourth card includes some White Seam Binding, Vivid Pink Seam Binding, and to perfectly match the colors in my sweet patterned papers, I used lots of GORGEOUS Sweetheart Blossoms including lots of flowers from the Miniature Sweetheart Blossoms in Mixed Purples/Lilacs a WOC Green Mulberry Leaf, as well as Ivory Burlap String and (once again) lots of wonderful Double-Head Stamens.

The fifth card I'm sharing today incorporates my bow using a length of Cream Seam Binding, and just one lonely little Mixed Pink Sweetheart Blossom.  It doesn't matter if you use a little bit of embellishing or a whole lot.  Each card has some little touch of goodness from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

My sixth and final card for today uses just one extra touch.....and that would be the sweet little pieces of Solid Cream Baker's Twine tied from my three tags.  This AMAZING trim comes in over 30 gorgeous colors and costs just ten cents ($0.10) per yard.  There's a perfect color for every project and it's got so many fabulous uses.  You'd be surprised just how REASONABLE the products at Really Reasonable Ribbon really are.  Not only do they carry an awesome selection, but prices are low and shipping is very reasonable.  Today is a great day to treat yourself!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I sure hope you'll join us in two short days from now for the monthly Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop.  YOU could be the lucky winner of the gorgeous Ribbon Club Assortment this month.  I hope to see you there.  There's always something FUN happening at Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Karen

I'm sharing my cards (well, one anyway) in the following:

Mod Squad Challenge Blog - Challenge: Green, Green Everywhere - My cards (numbers 1 and 3 above) both have lots of green; but I entered the first card (at top of page).

Green, Green Everywhere

Well, here we are in March already.  It seems that the older I get, the faster time seems to pass by me.  Our precious little granddaughter, Taylee, is already going on five months.  I miss her every day, and can't believe how quickly she's growing, learning and changing.  What a blessing to watch our daughter enjoying her own little one as much as we enjoyed watching her grow and develop into the beautiful lady God planned for her to be.  It's a blessing like no other, and we're so excited to see what the Lord has planned for Taylee's life.

I made this sweet little card today using some patterned papers and stickers from Echo Park (Reflections Collection by Lori Whitlock), JilliBean Soup ephemera, half a die-cut doily, a sentiment die-cut (thanks) from Studio Calico, lots of Really Reasonable Ribbon products including the Mulberry Leaf, Natural Crochet Lace, Stamens and Mulberry Flowers, Seam Binding, and Green Burlap Ribbon.

Lots of green as you can see.  And that was inspired by the fun challenge over at Mod Squad.  I love to play along in challenges when I'm able, and I was honored to earn a Top 3 honor in their last challenge.  Now, I forge forward hoping for an actual "win", which hasn't happened for me in a very very long time.  But a girl can dream...and create, and keep trying.  If we didn't have to struggle a bit, it would be called a "Challenge" now, would it?  Thanks for joining me on my crafty journey.

Blessings,
Karen

Mod Squad Challenge - Green, Green Everywhere

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog - Challenge #119 Anything Goes

Stamping's Fun With Joy Clair Stamps

It's always SO much fun to pull out my Joy Clair Stamps and create something wonderful.  I love learning new stamping techniques, and finding different ways to use all the amazing stamps carried at Joy Clair Stamps.   I am a HUGE fan of their vast selection of Custom Stamps such as oodles of cute Return Address Stamps, Personalized Stamps, and SO many other awesome choices.  It's truly the best selection of adorable personalized stamps I've ever seen in one shop.  OK.....I'm rambling.  Let's talk about the newest Joy Clair Stamps I used on this project.

This sweet little journal page (in my day planner) was created using a sentiment (Blessings) from a set called Martha's Flowers, and the flowers are from the Easter Greeting Stamp Set.  I stamped the word Blessings on this page so that I could start making a list of ALL the BLESSINGS in my life (and there are many).  I just love the versatility of these stamp sets.  They can be used to create fabulous cards, stunning scrapbook pages, encouraging Bible journalling, and SO much more.  I also created a sweet little bookmark using a sentiment from the Reckless Love Stamp Set.

I colored the flowers with my Copics and did some shading, and then I fussy cut them to place on the page.  If you're not into fussy cutting, the images can be stamped directly onto your page or card, etc.  They're so easy to use and SO much fun.

Before I run off today, I also wanted to share two more quick cards with you that I created using some patterned papers and stickers from a Crate Paper line called Portraits.  The card above uses a sentiment (Thank You) from the Spring Stroll Stamp Set.  The second card, shown below, uses a sentiment (Thinking of You) from the Martha's Flowers Stamp Set.  All of the stamp sets at Joy Clair have darling images and sentiments to help you make the most of your stamps.

We hope that you will be encouraged by the projects we share each day, and that you will treat yourself to some wonderful Joy Clair Stamps.  Happy crafting, everyone, and thanks for stopping by today.

Karen

Sweet Stripes

I'm having fun this week playing along in the Mod Squad Challenge where the theme this week is STRIPES.  I'm pretty sure we all have oodles of stripes in our stash, so why not create something new for this fun challenge?   I had created a similar card this past week for my inspiration card in the new challenge at Word Art Wednesday and I decided to use these similar papers again to create this card for the Mod Squad Challenge.

I used a sentiment stamp from Stamp Simply Clear Stamps called Farmhouse Scriptural Thoughts.  I just love the font used for the sentiments in this sweet set.  I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the piece at the top, and I also ran some White Crochet Lace across my card as well as a string of tiny pearls.  I added some Stamens, Sweetheart Blossoms, and Pink Burlap String to my card, and inked my card with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Hickory Smoke and Spun Sugar.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  It's always nice to hear your thoughts.  I hope that you're enjoying your crafty time, and that you will be able to play along in these fun challenges as well. I'm having so much fun with these stripes that I'm entering one last time through my Instagram. I look forward to seeing what you've been creating this week.

Blessings,

Karen

I'm playing along in the following challenges:

Mod Squad Challenge Blog - STRIPES

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - ANYTHING GOES

Lucky Charm Event With Joy Clair Stamps

Hi there to all our stamping and creative friends, and thanks for visiting today.  I'm sharing a little tag set I created to showcase the cute new Lucky Charm Stamp Set from Joy Clair Stamps.  Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, this sweet stamp set is SO much fun!  There's a leprechaun, rainbows, four-leaf clovers, darling sentiments and more.   Each of my teammates from Joy Clair has prepared something special to share with you today featuring this wonderful new stamp set.  And for hopping along with us, one lucky person who leaves a comment will win a $25 gift certificate to spend at Joy Clair Stamps.

I made two tags to share with you - one larger and one smaller.  For the larger tag, I stamped the leprechaun and the pot of gold which I colored with my Copics and attached to the tag.  I stamped the sentiment Good Luck! at the top and added some ribbons and a gold button.

For the smaller tag, I stamped the sentiment Happy St. Patrick's Day and the smaller four-leaf clover.  I attached some ribbons and a button with baker's twine.  Pretty simple little tags, but I really just wanted to show you all how adorable this stamp set really is and how versatile it is.  I also love that the new Lucky Charm Stamp Set also contains a Happy Birthday sentiment because that's one sentiment that we ALL need....all year long!

Here's the link to the Joy Clair Blog where you will see ALL the amazing projects my teammates have created using the fun new Lucky Charm set.  Joy Clair has SO many great stamp sets to help you stamp up something beautiful for ANY and EVERY occasion.

Have a blessed day,

Karen

I'm sharing my art in the following:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Sweet Monochromatic Stripes

Hello again, friends!  It's been quite a while since I've had two posts in one day; but when I saw the new challenge this week over at Mod Squad Challenge Blog, I knew that I wanted to play along.  I love Pink & Main, and I also love stripes, so their challenge really inspired me to play along.  I used a striped Crate Paper patterned paper from the Portrait line.  Then, I stamped my sentiments and images onto a second patterned paper from this same line.  The butterflies and sentiments are from a sweet Pink & Main Stamp Set called Inspire.

Once I had my images stamped, I attached the two patterned papers together.  Then I ran two strips of lace on my card, one white and one black, and I topped that with a Maya Road canvas tag with two tiny black buttons.  I like using lots of great textures and layers.

I had a blog friend tell me this week that she's been having some trouble leaving me comments, and then when she tries to do so, she gets the verification thingy and I don't know how to fix this problem.  I've already changed my comment settings, but if anyone knows what might be causing this little glitch, I'd really appreciate your input because I love getting comments and I want to make it as easy as possible for people to leave them for me.

Have a blessed week!

Karen

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Mod Squad Challenge Blog - Use Stripes - Sponsored by Pink & Main.  I love Pink & Main so much that I decided to use a Pink & Main stamp set on my card.  See details above.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes