CardMaker Magazine + Lawn Fawn Valentine's Blog Hop

Good morning and Happy Fri-Yay friends,

The CardMaker Magazine Blog girls are teaming up today with Lawn Fawn to share some ideas and inspiration using Lawn Fawn's newest Valentine's themed products just in time for the big, lovey-dovey, flowers and hearts holiday next week.

You should have arrived here from Stephanie Gold's blog, but if you just stumbled upon my post and want to start at the very beginning, please visit the CardMaker blog or the Lawn Fawn blog.

For my card, I used the Love Letters stamp set and dies along with the Happy Mail die set to create this wintery Valentine's Day scene.

The Happy Mail dies are just so much fun to use.  The set creates a mailbox that you can actually tuck letters into.  Imagine writing a tiny note and tucking it into the mailbox! The mailbox flag could be attached using a brad so the flag could be raised and lowered.  This set really got my creative wheels turning!

I stamped, die cut and colored the sweet birdies with Copic Markers and arranged them in the scene.  A few clear sequins added a finishing touch.

All of the stamps and dies that I used today can be purchased from Lawn Fawn.

Well that's all for me today, but your next stop on today's hop is Rebecca Keppel. 

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

Stuff, news, a card and {CASE}ing Genius

Hello friends,

Can you hear that?  (crickets chirping) I am taking a much needed mini blogging break until around Thanksgiving.  Now I have managed to work ahead a bit, so I will still be sharing projects here and there, and this blog with be a much more happening place towards the end of the month. :)

In the meantime, while I am recharging my batteries, there is lots to share, so I thought I would pop in with a quick update.  On Thursday, I received an email that stopped me in my tracks.  Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking magazine will be ceasing publication after their February issue.

The above picture is of the December 2014 issue- see that card in the bottom right- that one is mine.  I was lucky enough to be selected as a December Cover Girl!

I am an introvert by nature, so I have spent the past 72 hours processing this information.  After all that thinking, I still don't have the words to accurately or adequately describe what I am thinking and feeling about this.  So for now, I would just like to say that my thoughts are with the Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking editorial team- Jennifer, Kerri, Susan, Holly, Stacy, Melinda and Matt.  While change is never easy, I have faith that great things lie ahead for each of them.  They have been a pleasure to work with over the past 3 years, and I will miss both them and my beloved magazine dearly.

Since magazines work so far in advance, many issues into 2015 were planned out, projects selected, typed up and sent in.  Here is a card I made which was slated to appear in the March 2015 issue.

The call was for baby cards- inspired by children's literature.  Can you guess which book inspired my card?  The monster cut file is from the Silhouette online store and the sentiment was stamped using Milo's ABCs by Lawn Fawn. 

Finally, before I go, I wanted to share that I am being featured this week on Kelly Latevola's {Case}ing Genius series. 

Living in NE Ohio, I am lucky to live near some card makers with some seriously mad crafty skillz... some of these gals are "known" out and about in blogland and some prefer to be a bit off the radar. We get together at my church for a day of crafty fun about once a month.  Earlier this summer, Kelly popped by, and I am so glad that I got the opportunity to meet and connect with her- she is one amazing lady and card maker.  

I was so flattered when she approached me a few weeks ago about being the subject of her Caseing Genius series.  If you have a moment today, please stop by Kelly's blog, You and Your Big Dreams, to learn a bit more about me- including  fascinating tidbits like who I would like to play me in a movie,  AND more importantly to see Kelly's AMAZING CASE on one of the inspiration cards I sent her way.  I haven't seen the project yet, but if it was made by Kelly, it will be STUNNING. :) 

Alrightly, that's all for me for now- back to relaxing. :)  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Summer Vacation Kids Challenge by Paige

Hello friends and happy Monday!    

About once a month, I organize a gathering of crafty friends for a day of creativity and fun.  My 10 year old daughter, Paige begged to join me for the crafty day, and how could I tell her no?  She was so excited to work on some projects and had a field day going through my stamps and picking out which ones she wanted to play with.

She had a grand time working on her crafty projects and even managed to create 2 cards that we wanted to share today for the Simon Says Stamp- Summer Vacation Kids Challenge.

First up- she thought the Science of Love set from Lawn Fawn was "totes cute" and she couldn't wait to ink it up!

She was able to arrange the images on a block with gridlines and stamped most everything at once. She had to add the hearts above the round beaker separately.  She then colored in the hearts and beakers with Spectrum Noir markers.  She attached the stamped panel to a piece of green card stock and adhered it to a white card base. She thought the card was missing something, so she asked one of my friends for some twine.  Tying bows on cards is a bit tricky, so mom helped her out a bit with that part.  

The next card makes me giggle because she was totally hungry when she made this and was begging me to run out and get her Subway for dinner.  I think that sandwich sort of looks like her beloved 6" turkey sub!  She die cut the shapes and stamped the coordinating images from Paper Smooches- Think Fast set.  She colored in the sandwich and fries with markers.  It's hard to tell in the picture but she stamped the hamburger on the red card stock to create a background. 

So Paige had a very productive crafty day out, but her mom, not so much... 

I should mention that Lawn Fawn's Science of Love set was previously unused, so the Month of Neglect has officially become a family affair!!  Thanks Paige- another stamp set used! 

Alrighty, that's all from us today!  I will be back tomorrow with a trio of fun tags from Waffle Flower Crafts plus a giveaway!  I hope you'll stop by!

Katie

S'MORE fun with you {Take 2 Thursday}

Hello friends!

Lindsay and I are back today with another Take 2 Thursday.  This week, we are using the Love You S'more set by Lawn Fawn.   When I purchased this set, I also picked to the coordinating dies, so using the stamps and dies, I created a little campfire scene. 

I die cut the animals, grass and campfire from scraps of cardstock and stamped the coordinating images. I thought about adding some shading with Copics, but decided to leave them as is. 

I adhered the die cuts to a 4 x 6 Project Life title card.  I die cut a stitched circle from white card stock and stamped the sentiment in black ink. 

Be sure to stop by Lindsay's blog to see what she designed with this stamp set.   

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Stamp Out Chaos update and a Publication share

Hello friends!

So I am afraid that the Easter holiday got the better of me over the past couple weeks and I don't have a Stamp Out Chaos update to share this week. Sad face... :(  I promise that the next Stamp Out Chaos post will be on May 7 and Lindsay and I will be taking on the topic of Embellishments.

Over the past couple of weeks I have made progress on my space including purging over 6 boxes of craft supplies and donating it to Sophie's Kindergarten teacher.  I have also pulled out some under-loved stamps and dies which I will be listing for sale in the coming week.

I am afraid I have come to the point though in my organizational journey that I have to get serious about making improvements to the room.  After all, there is only so much that can be done within the confines of an Expedit cube.  Yes, friends, I am talking about spackle and paint.  I can tell myself that spackle is like embossing paste for the walls, but that won't change the fact that I have a messy and time-consuming project ahead of me.  I have picked up a few paint swatches and have taped them up on the wall to try them out a bit.

So far, I am leaning toward the lightest shade on the middle swatch card called Polar Star (aka light gray).  I think I am looking for something neutral against which I can accent with bold accent colors.  

Once the painting is complete, I can hang a shelf above my work area that I think will be critical in helping me keep some essential supplies orderly and within reach.  I will also be able to tackle die storage which will help immensely. More to come on that in the coming weeks.

Well, I don't want to sign off today without something creative, so I wanted to share a card I made for the Get Well feature in the April 2014 issue of Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine.   It was featured on the Plugged In with Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking magazine a few weeks back. 

It's call "Get Well Cone of Shame." Those Paper Crafts editors are too clever. The dachshund is a Silhouette cut file and I fashioned a cone from vellum and wrapped it around the dog's head.  The shadow is from a watercolor stamp set and the sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.  

Well that's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Katie

Take 2 Thursday: Lawn Fawn's Hello Sunshine Card

Hello friends!  

My friend cute friend, Lindsay, and I are back with another Take 2 Thursday!  This week we both made cards using Lawn Fawn's super adorbs Oh Happy Day set. 

And here is my card,

I couldn't resist making a bright, sunshiny card with this happy set.  I made my cardbase from a piece of yellow card stock.  Next, I trimmed and adhered a piece of the sun ray patterned paper from the Hello Sunshine petite paper pad. 

I die cut a cloud shape from white card stock and stamped "hello sunshine" in turquoise ink.  I stamped and paper pieced the bird and stamped a few red hearts as an accent.  Once all the stamping was complete, I rounded the bottem corners of the panel and card base and adhered the die cut and stamped panel to my card base with foam tape.  I think the dimension really adds some interest to an otherwise simple card.  

Well that's all for me today.  Don't forget to to stop by Lindsay's blog to check out her creation with this fun stamp set!  I know she has something amazing in store!  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Katie

PS- Oh, before I go, I wanted to announce the winner of the $10.00 Waffle Flower Craft code.  The winner was lucky #13- Makalah!  Makalah, I have sent you an email, but if you happened not to get it, please drop me a note at scrappy_diva (at) yahoo (dot) com and I will hook you up!  

Stamp It Cards: Birthday Challenge

Hello!

I don't know about you, but I love the look of using die cut negatives in design and I am trying to challenge myself to do just that on my projects. A couple months ago, I picked up some new Lawn Fawn goodies at Simon Says Stamp and using my Spellbinder Circle dies with the goal of using negative die cuts, I created the following card: 

I started by determining the circle placement and die cut the circles on a piece of white cardstock. Next I stamped the sentiment in black. I then layered the die cut panel over another piece of white cardstock and lightly sketched the location of the circles with a pencil.  I stamped the patterns in the circles. I adhered the two layers together and attached the panel to the card base with foam adhesive. A couple gems finished the card. 

I am linking up this card to Cath's Stamp It Cards: Birthday Challenge in Moxie Fab World.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Supplies: 

Cardstock: White- Hollos

Stamps: Grand Greeting and Chevron Background (Lawn Fawn)

Ink: Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Hawaiian Shores, and Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink); Black: Versafine

Dies: Spellbinders

Accents: Gems (The Paper Studio)