Bee Mine {Avery Elle}

Hello friends!  

I am up on the Avery Elle blog today sharing a card I made with the Bee Mine stamp set.  

First, I made a card base from Sea Glass card stock.  Next I trimmed a panel of white card stock and I stamped and colored the bee hive image.  I positioned the Bee Mine Elle-ments die and held it in place with a bit of washi tape as I partially cut out the hive.  I completed the die cut panel with the dotted straight line die from the Dotted Borders Elle-ments set. 

I die cut and colored the little bee also included in the Bee Mine set and embossed the dotted trail onto the card base.  A few yellow and pink sequins add a finishing touch.

Well, that's all for me today. Be sure to stop by the Avery Elle blog today (and EVERY day) for even more inspiration from my talented teamies.  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Hey Sweets {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hey Sweets! :)

Just popping in this morning to share a card that I made for the latest Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week is a sketch challenge and here's my take:

I sort of flipped the sketch a bit and instead of using a scalloped frame, I used the scalloped frosting edge from the Cupcakes die.  Before adhering the cupcake to my card, I added a bit of interest by stamping the frosting with the polka dots from the Geo-Graphic stamp set and the wrapper with the diagonal stripes from the Kissables 2 stamps set. 

The sentiment if from the Ghoulfriends stamp set and I topped the cupcake with a heart from the Hearts Dies set.  The white sprinkles are enamel dots. 

Here's a look at this week's inspiration sketch: 

Ready to play?  You know the routine!  Link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by 11:59 p.m. PST on Saturday, January 31.  The winner of the challenge will get a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store!  Yay!!!!  

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Bee Mine Valentines {Avery Elle}

Hello friends, 

I am over on the Avery Elle blog today sharing an idea for personalized Valentines using the Elle's Alpha's stamp set and the Bee Mine stamp set. 

Using the Just a Note Elle-ment die, I die cut two of the notched banners from Pixie card stock and one from white card stock.  I adhered the two pink die cuts together and trimmed the notched end from the white card stock die cut.  I stamped and colored the Bee Mine hive, bee, and dotted line.  

Next, I stamped "Sophie" using the cutie Elle's Alphas stamp set.  I added the trio of hearts from the Lots of Love stamp set. 

I couldn't resist dressing up the Just a Note envelope by stamping some of the sentiments and images from the Lots of Love stamp set.

On the back, I stamped the woodgrain pattern from the Woodgrain & More stamp set and secured it closed with one of the hearts from Lots of Love.  

Well that's all for me today, but be sure to stop by the Avery Elle blog for even more inspiration from my awesome AE teamies!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Make a List Notepad {Waffle Flower Crafts}

 Hello friends,

I don't know about you, but I LOVE lists.  I make lists of things to do, things to buy, things to make, you name it.  A couple of weeks ago, I was at a paper supply store and spied a set of four 2.5" x 4" notepads for $0.60.  I couldn't resist.  I decided to cute up my find with a bit of card stock, washi tape, a patterned paper scrap and the On My Mark stamp set and On My Mark die.

I cut a piece of card stock the width of the notepad and added a few score lines to help the card stock fold over the top of the notepad. I trimmed the extra length of cardstock, and I secured the back of the notepad to the card stock cover with Score Tape. 

On the notepad, I stamped the number list included in the On My Mark stamp set with basic black ink.  I thought it would be handy to have my to-dos already numbered. 

To decorate the cover of the notepad, I affixed some washi tape to the top fold and a scrap of patterned paper to the bottom edge.  Then I stamped and die cut the kitty and added "make a list" in black ink. 

I think I am going to cute up a few more of these notepads and give them as little gifts, because who doesn't love lists?!

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Thinking of You Card {Take 2 Thursday}

Hello friends,

Lindsay and I are back today with another installment of Take 2 Thursday- only this time on a Wednesday.  This week, we are both using Simon Says Stamp January 2015 Stamp Kit featuring the Hand Lettered Winter Wishes stamp set.

I was definitely inspired by the colors included in the January kits- all the pretty and wintery blues and purples when pulling together my card.  I stamped the striped border on a blue card base.  Next I trimmed a panel of cream card stock and stamped thinking of you in navy ink, followed by a sprinkling of the stars included in the stamp set along with a few sequins. 

I adhered the stamped panel to the card base with foam tape. 

This is my second month of my Simon kit subscription.  So far, I really love the kits, but I need to challenge myself to incorporate more of the kit- especially the patterned paper and other embellishments.  I tend to reach for the stamp set and there are so many other goodies included in the kits.  Next month- look for more kit items featured and maybe an extra card or two- hold me accountable friends!  

Well that's all for me today, but be sure to stop by my talented friend, Lindsay's blog to see what she created with the kit. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

A Baby Shower Invitation {Avery Elle}

Hello friends!  

I am up on the Avery Elle blog today sharing an idea to combine one of Avery Elle's older sets, Weather It, with the new You're Invited stamp set and You're Invited Elle-ments die to create a fun invitation to a baby shower.  

I love to find reasons to pull out my well loved sets and when I saw the shower messages included in the You're Invited set, I immediately thought of Umbrellas and the Weather It stamp set. 

I embossed a panel of Aquamarine cardstock with a diagonal line embossing folder.  Next, I die cut the dotted frame and stamped the invitation message with black ink.  I stamped and die cut the umbrella from Weather It stamp set and paper pieced the white stripes. 

I adhered the umbrella to the frame and affixed it to the embossed panel before attaching it to a card base.  

Well, that's all for me today. Be sure to stop by the Avery Elle blog today (and EVERY day) for even more inspiration from my talented teamies.  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Succulent love {Waffle Flower Crafts}

Hello friends,

I am on the Waffle Flower Crafts blog today with a sharing some inspiration on a "growing" trend... succulents and here's a closer look at my card and a couple tips.

To create depth, I masked the two flower pots from the Planted stamp set before stamping the polka dot background from the Pattern Play stamp set.  While some may prefer fancy masking paper, I usually just reach for a pad of post-it notes and stamp the widest portion of the image onto the adhesive portion of the post it note. 

 Next, I grab some scissors and cut out the image.  I try to get as close as I can to the design. Position the post it over the image- the sticky from the post-it is usually enough to hold in place without adding any extra adhesive and risk messing up your project.  Once the mask is in place, stamp the background.  

After stamping, if your masks are in pretty good shape, consider storing them along with the stamp set to save time. 

I do hope you will stop by the Waffle Flower blog to see more about the growing tend of stylish succulents!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

You + Me Card {Take 2 Thursday}

Hello friends, 

It's been a few weeks and Lindsay and I are back again today; this time with another edition of Take 2 Thursday.  This week, we are using the adorable Snow Day stamp set from Lawn Fawn. With the holidays behind us, I decided to use the tiny heart images included in the set and paired it with this sketch from Retro Sketches to make a clean and simple Valentine's Day card. 

On a scrap of white cardstock, I die cut a heart  and stamped the Me + You sentiment.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Woodgrain Backdrops stamp set. 

I lightly traced the heart onto a panel of white card stock and filled in the shape with the tiny hearts.  I erased the pencil lines and adhered the heart negative panel with foam tape.  Finally, I adhered the white card stock to a merlot card base.  

Well, that's all for me today, but be sure to stop over at Lindsay's blog to check out her fabulous take on this set.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Stamp Out Chaos: The Reveal

Good morning friends,

It's been WAY too long, but today, Lindsay and I wanted to start wrapping up our Stamp Out Chaos series by sharing with you some pictures of our crafty space.

If you want to catch up on my other organizational hijinks and shennanigans including some really scary before photos, click here. 

One of the pieces of furniture that has worked really well for me is the Ikea Expedit.  I think it goes by another name now, but I started with a 4 x 4 unit and added a 4 x 2 unit and placed it on top taking the storage up to the ceiling and I love it.  The top cubbies hold my scrapbook albums, some project life supplies and the baskets contain extra card stock as well as memorabilia and items for particular album projects. 

The Expedit also holds my stamp collection in Avery Elle storage envelopes and Fridge Binz.  I use divided plastic boxes to contain wood veneers, metal embellishments and a floral storage box to corral stickers and sticker letters.  

I also added drawers to the bottom two rows of Expedit cubbies.  These drawers hold supplies like stencils, paint, specialty tools (punch boards), felt, fabric, bling, buttons, envelopes, bags, and tags. 

To the left of the Expedit is a large bulletin board.  I painted the board white before stenciling a trellis pattern with cheerful yellow paint.  

Moving into my work area, I have the aqua Raskog cart adjacent to my desk.  I used an Antonius insert to organize my working stamps and supplies- including 6 x 6 paper pads, adhesive and my stamp press.

The two remaining shelves hold project life cards and supplies. 

Tucked under my desk is my Elfa File Cart- this holds most of my "good" card stock and has 3 baskets below perfect for holding paper scraps. 

I found these bright yellow desk accessories at TJ Maxx.  I am using them to hold mini ink cubes, post it notes and other bits and bobs for crafting. 

The Pro Ink Organizer from Organize More is hung on the wall above the corner of my L-shaped desk. Sophie gave me the "World's Best Mom" foam sign last year for Christmas and was insistent that it be displayed in my room.  

I have a dedicated space on my desk for my computer and Silhouette portrait.  Sometimes, the crafty mess migrates to this area, but I do try to keep this area tidy.  

Above the desk, my hubby also installed a shelf that I use to hold ribbons, patterned paper scraps and project life embellishments.  I picked up a metal rod at the hardware store and used some clip-it-up clips to hold some packaged embellishments.  With embellishments in particular, I seem to need to see them in order to remember to use them.  

This is the Making Memories embellishment center and it's super handy for keeping items in close reach, but off my desk.  Currently, it's holding the Mini Distress Ink Cubes and Storage Tins that I received for Christmas as well as stamp storage pockets.  

Below the center is a Bygel rail and 4 containers.  I use this to hold pens and other tools and supplies that should be in close reach.  I recently added a dry-erase calendar to my space to help me track crafty assignments and blog posts and with some techniques tending towards the messy side these days, I thought a paper towel holder might come in handy.  

I have a couple accent shelves on the other side of the window and use them to hold twine, scissors, markers and a few special projects. 

This area is directly across the room from my desk.  This is where I house my paper trimmer, die cut machine and giant wall of die storage.  The cubbies below (more of the Expedit series) hold photos, books, 12 x 12 paper and 8 x 8 paper pads

These two wall units were lucky finds.  One of my girlfriends used to sell Mary Kay and her Father in Law built her this unit to hold her eyeshadow refills.  When she stopped selling, she offered it to me.  It works perfect for organizing embossing powder and displaying a few wood-mount stamps. 

Below is a wooden cassette holder that I use to mostly organize my pigment inks.  I found this on Craigslist for $10.00.  Some day I may get around to painting it white to match the rest of the room.  

Next week, I am planning a post that will contain links to the resources I used when putting together the room as well as some lessons learned along the way.  Until then, please let me know what questions you have or if there is anything that you would like to see in more detail, and I will get back to you!  

Don't forget to check out Lindsay's new space too!  It's pretty fab! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Katie

Waffle Flower DT Mix Blog Hop

Hello friends!

Well, the holidays are officially over and it's back to the regular routine this week, but today is special because we have a particularly special stamp set in the latest Waffle Flower Crafts release.

Last fall, Nina reached out to the team and invited us to contribute a design or concept to a stamp set. We sent in our ideas and here's the result: the DT Mix Stamp Set!

My contribution to the set is the "Shake it off" sentiment.  I love the song  Shake it off by Taylor Swift.  It was my favorite earworm of 2014.  I thought that it would make a fantastic sentiment for a card because the truth is that we can all use this reminder from time to time...

It also seemed only appropriate that I make a shaker card using the Shake it off sentiment.

On a panel of white card stock, I stamped the plus sign pattern from the Pattern Play stamp set, then I die cut a circle for the shaker window.  I covered the circle with acetate and bordered the die cut opening with foam tape.  I poured in gold micro beads and backed it with white card stock. 

I stamped the Shake it off sentiment on white card stock with Versamark and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder.  Once cooled, I punched the embossed sentiment from the card stock with a 1.5" circle punch.  I added a few gold accents in the form of some enamel dots and a wood veneer arrow.  I matted the panel with black card stock and adhered it to a white card stock base. 

Here's the Shake it off card, shaken up.  The micro-beads make for a fun shaker element and are rhythmic too!

Giveaway
Well you can't have a blog hop without prizes, and Waffle Flower Crafts is providing a stamp set of choice as a prize for this hop! The random winner will be drawn from comments left on all of the Design Team blogs! Enter by 11:59pm Eastern on Thursday, Jan 8. The winner will be announced on the Waffle Flower Blog on Jan 9.  Your next stop is my talented teamie,  Kim Kesti and the entire hope order is below:

Hop Order

Waffle Flower- Nina 

Katie Gehring - you are here!

Kim Kesti 

May Sukyong Park 

Joni Andaya  

Sabrina Alery 

Tessa Wise 

New products are now available at waffleflower.com!

Good luck! Happy Crafting!

Katie

Let's Celebrate Card {SPARKS Challenge}

Hello Party People!  

Let's celebrate the very first Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge of 2015!  YAY!  It's a super easy challenge because ANYTHING GOES!  Here's my celebratory card. 

The champagne bottle is the Apron Dies- die cut twice and layered.  Then I added some streamers, confetti and the "Let's Celebrate" sentiment using the Free Spirits stamp set. 

Ready to play?  You know the routine!  Link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by 11:59 p.m. PST on Saturday, January 10.  The winner of the challenge will get a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store!  Yay!!!!  

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Introducing: Shower {Waffle Flower Crafts}

Hello friends,

Today, Nina is introducing a few more stamp sets on the Waffle Flower blog.  I had an opportunity to create a fun card using the Shower Stamp Set.

On a panel of white card stock, I stamped the tub in Hero Arts Pale Tomato ink.  Next, I stamped the bubbles in Hero Arts Bubble Gum ink.  I went back and stamped the heart in Pale Tomato ink inside a few if the bubbles. 

I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a few round clear gems as a finishing accent.  I adhered the stamped panel to pink card stock and adhered it to a white card stock base. 

Be sure to stop by the Waffle Flower blog to check out the full reveal of this fun set and see even more inspiration from Nina and the rest of the Design Team. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

You're Invited {Avery Elle}

Hello friends,

today, I am over on the Avery Elle blog sharing a card I created with the You're Invited Elle-ments die.

When I started card making several years ago, my sole purpose was to make party invitations and holiday cards and crafts.  Although I have expanded my horizons over the years, I was really excited to see Avery Elle's You're Invited Elle-ments die and coordinating You're Invited stamp set included in the latest release- these fun products make it super easy to make special events a little more special.

To showcase these products I created a mod baby shower invitation.

The stripes were die-cut with the Dotted Borders Elle-ments die before adhering them to a panel of Fog card stock.  Next, I die cut the bracket shape- I just love the dotted detail on the inside and outside of the die cut.  I die cut a second bracket from white card stock and adhered the "You are Invited" words and stamped "to a baby shower" in Fog ink.  I added a few stars with Daisy ink from the Bunting stamp set. 

I adhered the fog panel to a white card stock base with foam tape and dropped in the white card stock interior. 

Well, that's all for me today. Be sure to stop by the Avery Elle blog today (and EVERY day) for even more inspiration from my talented teamies.  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Introducing: In Every Way {Waffle Flower Crafts}

 Hello friends and Happy New Year!

Today starts release week at Waffle Flower Crafts, and I wanted to share a couple cards I made with the In Every Way stamp set.  Before I share my card, I have a bit of a confession...

I have huge love, respect, and admiration for Julie Andrews.  She is one of my favorite performers of all time.  From Sound of Music to Thoroughly Modern Mille, I just adore her, and one of my very favorite films is the classic Mary Poppins.  A few months ago, Nina solicited the Design Team for stamp set suggestions (more on that in a few days), and I thought back to one of my favorite scenes from the film where she measures the children (extremely stubborn and suspicious, prone to giggles- doesn't put things away) and we learn that Mary herself is "practically perfect in every way."   I sent that suggestion over to Nina and a couple months later, I was so excited that Nina put together the In Every Way set, so it seemed only fitting that I share a card inspired by Mary Poppins.

I trimmed a panel of card yellow card stock a bit longer than the standard card length and I used a ruler and black pen to draw marks like a ruler or measuring tape.  Next, I stamped "you're perfect in every way" in black ink.  I added the arrow from the Monochrome stamp set (also being introduced today) and Mary's signature umbrella from the Planner Add-On: Weather 1 Stamp Set.

I adhered the stamped yellow card stock panel at an angle on a aqua card base and trimmed the edges.  As a finishing touch, I stamped and fussy cut some of the flowers included in the set and added them to opposite corners of the card.  Those leaves are from yet another set that will be introduced a bit later on. :)  And here's a look at my inspiration: 

source

I was having so much fun with this stamp set, so I decided to make another card focusing on the flower images.  The solid flowers correspond with the outline flowers perfectly, but they look even more amazing, stamped off center a bit so some of the background color shows through. 

The leaves are a sneak peek of another set to be revealed in a couple days and to set off all the warm peaches and reds in the flowers, I stamped the sentiment in navy ink.  

Well that's all for me today. Be sure to stop by the Waffle Flower blog to see the full reveal of the In Every Way stamp set and loads more ideas and inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Katie