New Stampin' Up! Blog

Hi all, Just letting you know that I am not going to be updating this blog anymore as I have set up my new blog on the Stampin' Up! website. I found that due to a name change to keep in touch through Facebook I am no longer going to be using Cards by Karen anymore. Here is a link to my new blog which I would be very happy to have my followers follow me through this avenue:- Hope you will pop over for a visit and leave me some nice comments too :) Thank you all so much for popping into this blog to check out my projects and although I will no longer be posting here I will definitely be updating the new one, hopefully on a regular basis.

Catching Up With New Cards

Hi all,

I have been busy making a few cards of late but haven't got around to putting them up here yet and as Blogger has changed I will see if I am doing this right.

I took this pic with my iPhone and am now having trouble adding my watermark to it so I think from now on I will revert back to my camera until I can work out what I am doing wrong.

So here is one of the recent cards I made using some new items that I have ordered for myself as a new Demonstrator:-

This one is out of my comfort zone as I do not normally work with yellows but when I teamed Daffodil Delight with Pool Party and Crumb Cake I think it worked very well.

Now I have used the Sale-a-Bration set "Pretty Petites" and the new Petite Curly Label which matches beautifully and no fiddly cutting out.  I have also layered them on the Curly Label punch as well which has also matched perfectly. 

Now the other stamp set I used is called "Petite Pairs" and I have stamped inside the card as well with ...begin with you!  I am also a huge fan of polka dots so have teamed it up with Daffodil Delight Polka Dot Parade DSP. 

This card was also made with an old Mojo Monday (#147) sketch and also where I go for inspiration.  I love these sketches a lot and have so many scribbled in a book with so many ideas, if only I can find the time to make them all!!!

That's it for now and hopefully I can get my issues sorted out and be back with heaps more.

Happy stamping,

I'm Back - And Some News To Share!!

Well, well, well - I have finally managed to get back into this blog and since it has been so long I forgot my username and password and spent the best bit of the morning trying to figure it out and get back in to update it.

I am also going to do a new look as well but that might take me a little longer as I seem to have forgotten everything that I used to be a whiz with before.

When I have this all sorted I promise I will be back, hopefully on a regular basis, and you can see that I have in fact still been crafting, although not too often.

Also as the title suggests I have some exciting news to share (drum roll, please!!!) - I am a brand new Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, yay!!!  I have only just signed up a couple of weeks ago but am taking it slow for now and being more of a hobbyist but I do have a couple of customers so that's good too.

So there we have it - now just to remember how to do my watermarks on my projects then I will be up and running again.

Thanks for your patience and also for putting up with my general slackness but this is the year for new beginnings.

Also along with the list of forgotten, things no surprises, but I have also forgotten how to add my signature so for now I will just sign off with my name.


Happy Stamping,


Karen.

A Comfy Couch

No, not my couch - although a new one would be nice, but willl just have to wait for that one!! I received a very lovely surprise in my mail box the other day from Tammy and enclosed was some very gorgeous paper samples from Stampin' Up! A big wave and a very big thank you Tammy :)

Anyway, when I saw this gorgeous paper I was immediately drawn to the comfy couch from the Papertrey Ink set called "On My Couch". So here is my card made with the said paper (so lovely I just may have to put in an order):-

Now it is very hard to get a nice pic of Vanilla and Peach Parfait so I'm not 100% happy with the editing process here. The card looks much prettier in real life :) See that gorgeous chair covering, the papers are very lovely. I ended up stamping the couch outline with Peach Parfait (which is a little hard to see) and have teamed it up with a Baja Breeze strip and the stamped sentiment. I think this card would be lovely for someone retiring perhaps.

I know I promised I would be back with some more button cards, but I was so distracted by the papers I just had to have a play!!! Although I do still have the buttons all over my desk for the next few projects so will get onto them soon :)

Happy stamping,

Playing with Buttons

Well it seems like quite a while since I actually made a card, let alone two cards, so today was the day for a play :)

As the title suggests I was playing with buttons using a lovely set from Papertrey Ink called "Everyday Button Bits". So here is what I came up with:-

This is the boy version using Old Olive and Baja Breeze.

And the girl version using Old Olive and Pink Pirouette. I am not 100% happy with how they turned out but I think they will pass. I know they don't look too straight but I swear they are - it's just my photography skills leave a little to be desired. I haven't got anything in mind for these two, just adding them to my stash of kid's cards.

Now I have several buttons on my desk that hopefully will make it onto some lovely cards soon so keep coming back to see what else I can come up with.

Happy stamping,

Another Altered Frame

Well as the title suggests I have been having another play with photo frames and after checking out my local reject shop I came across a lovely set of three white frames which I thought would be perfect for this new crafting craze I am going through. I can see so many possibilities with these frames :)

So here is my second frame:-

I went for something a bit girly and came up with this cute little number frame. I stamped and cut out small animals, fish, flowers and jelly beans for each number and attached them accordingly.

After I had it all together initially I found it was lacking something so I decided to add the strips in the middle to divide each number off which just set it all off very nicely.

Now I have two more frames to do but I just can't decide where to start. I'm thinking a nice bathroom type one using the very lovely Ocean Commotion so stay tuned to see what I come up with next.

Happy Stamping,

A Boy Card

As I haven't made any cards of late I thought I would keep this blog updated and add a pic of a card I had made some time ago when I was playing with my new PTI stamps last year.

I don't usually make many boy cards (even though I have three of my own!!!) I thought I would make use of this lovely set "Fly Away" and the co-ordinating die and also the cloud die as well.

So here is a birthday boy card to add to my stash:-

After running low on inspiration I made this card from a similar design in the current Stampin' Up Idea Book & Catalogue which is found on page 12 but I had to change the direction due to way my plane is facing. I have used Tempting Turquoise teamed up with Pumpkin Pie and also added a little green touch with the button and the colouring of the plane.

I could be feeling a litte creative today so maybe I just might have a play, that is after I attend to the covering of the school books!!! Not one of my favourite jobs in the world - I always fight with the contact and sometimes it wins.

Happy stamping,

A New Look

To match in with a new year I thought a new blog look was on the cards. I have been meaning to update for a while but kept putting it in the too hard basket - until today that is!!!

So I have decided to go with a totally different colour scheme, one which uses mustards, greys and black and I can say that I am quite liking it.

Now I just have to track down my missing mojo which I believe has gone on an extended holiday!!!! Hopefully I will get to have a play in my "play room" and be able to share some of my creations with you.

So stay tuned and hopefully I will be back with some regular sharing.

Happy stamping,

Something Different

Wow, it seems like forever that I have been here and updated this poor, sad, neglected blog!!! Sometimes life just gets too busy and things have to be put on the backburner and unfortunately for me that seems to be my crafting.

However, I did manage to have a play in my "play room" yesterday and tackled a first for me. It is the art of altering a photo frame. I came across this gorgeous photo frame in our local reject shop and just had to have it :)

Anyway, here is my first attempt at "photo framing" (don't know if that's what you call it but it sounds good) :-

It took me forever to work out what kind of theme and colour scheme I wanted to go with and as the frame has a kind of "off-whiteish" look I decided to go with black and vanilla. Now I have used several stamp sets, punches, embellishments, ribbons and papers that have all come together quite nicely.

I really wanted to put the glass back into the frame and therefore have kind of squashed some of the ruffled flowers but I still think it looks okay. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for any kind of frames that I come across and have so many possibilities floating around in my head.

Hopefully it won't take me so long to get back here again :) I really do want to get back into my crafting this year as the last year we had was not a good one for me or my family. Things can only get better so they say so bring it on!!!!

Happy stamping,

P.S. Blogger is not playing nice and won't let me space anything out!!! Arrgghh, this looks awful.

A Very Simple Card

As the title suggests the card I am about to display was very simple and came together quite quickly.  So without anything else much to say here it is:-

Now I was inspired to make this card by another that I had come across while blog surfing but for the life of me can not find it now!!! There was no watermark on the original card so if anyone knows the artwork from a particular stamper please pass on my acknowledgement.

Now as you can tell the base of the card was plain Whisper White and I had stamped the leaves from a Papertrey Ink stamp set called "Everyday Button Bits" in Old Olive.  The sentiment is stamped with Pretty in Pink to match the buttons from the Papertrey Ink Spring Mix Vintage collection.  I wanted to mix the buttons up a bit and that's why I added a couple of yellow ones in there as well.  A very apt spring card don't you think?  The ribbon came from my stash which I managed to tie up into a nice bow.

Happy stamping,

Some Birds

One day while I had a spare hour I wandered around town and decided to pop into a lovely craft store just to have a bit of a sticky.  Well I ended up coming out with some new papers and an embossing folder that I had in my hands and kept putting it back, and picking it up again until I finally made the decision to get it. 

It has some lovely aviaries on it and birds in the aviaries and I knew I had the stamp set that would work perfectly with it, hence my title "Some Birds". 

Well here is my creation using the Aviary stamp set and the embossing folder:-

I have gone with a piece of River Rock that I used for my base and added a layer of the very lovely Kaisercraft paper that I have been fond of lately.  I then stamped my aviaries and the birds onto a top note die and then ran it through my big shot with the embossing folder.  I then finished it off with a small sentiment, a couple of layered paper daisies and a button.

Now I am off to scour some idea books and create some more.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Colour Challenge #91

Well two posts in one day, I must be on a creative roll.  It has been quite some time since I joined in any challenges, so when this one came up for Just Add Ink I knew it was about time I had a play and entered.

Here is the colours that we had to work with this time:-

I immediately thought baby and just had to try out another Papertrey Ink stamp set called "Baby Button Bits" so here is my card:-

I have gone with Very Vanilla for the neutral colour and have stamped the pea pod in Cherry Cobbler and then ran through a piece of Blushing Bride with the polka dot embossing folder.  The buttons are also from Papertrey Ink that suited the colour choice quite well.  It ended up being quite simple as I think I like that style.

Now off to go and enter it.

Happy stamping,

A Friendship Card

Do you believe it!!! I'm back again with another card, woohoo!!! This one goes out to all of my lovely friends who have been helping me through a bit of a rough patch and without them I don't think I would have come through so well.

So this one is for some of my besties:-

So for the recipe I have used Very Vanilla as the base of the card followed by some very lovely Kaisercraft paper (which I might add I have had in my stash for quite a few years!!!). I have also used Papertrey Ink "On My Couch" and a Mat also from Papertrey Ink which I have cut out in Very Vanilla. The couch has been stamped on a piece of co-ordinating Kaisercraft paper in black ink and I have also inked up the cute little button cushion.

Then I have finished it all off with some lovely ribbon layers, a paper daisy and a couple of pearls. I just love the saying as well, just perfect.

I now have a new crafting space (unfortunately tried to add pics but blogger won't let me!!!) so hopefully my creativity keeps flowing. I have no excuses now!!!

Happy stamping,

I'm Back... And With My Very First Papertrey Ink Card

Well hello out there to you all :) I have finally made a comeback after such a long break - hope you can forgive me. I have now set up a new craft area in an upstairs part of my house and it's now nice and fresh and all set out very lovely (even if I say so myself!!).

Now, don't fall over with the shock but I have managed to make a card - my very first Papertrey Ink card, after having had these lovely stamps in my possession for about 4 months (sheesh, has it been that long).

Well without further suspense here it is:-

I had fun with this cute little set called "Fly Away" and also the very lovely Cloud 1 & 2 Die as well. I also have used some gorgeous paper from Kaisercraft (Little Man Collection). After I had finished the card I showed my daughter, Emily, and she said "Mum, it needs something else - how about some embellishments in the corner?" So I ended up using a couple of cute little buttons also from Papertrey Ink.

I think I can really see more of these cards coming together as it didn't take too long at all. Nice and simple is a good style that I am going to stick with.

So now I hope you can all stay tuned and keep me honest so I will have no excuse but to make more cards!!! I promise I will be making a comeback :)

Happy stamping,

Taking Some Time Out

Well as you can tell I haven't updated this poor sad, neglected blog for some time and the time has come for me to make some changes.

At present I am having a break from my cardmaking and have realised that it is time for me to have some "time out" for myself. I was contemplating deleting my blog altogether but have had some good advice from my lovely friend, Karen Thomas, and have decided to leave it running but will not be adding anything new for a little bit.

Please feel free to stop by and have a look in every now and then and hopefully you may find some inspiration in some of my previous posts.

Hopefully I will still be able to do some creating but as for now I really need to concentrate on "me". I hope you can all understand my decision and rest assured I will still be doing some blog surfing and commenting every now and then just to see what my lovely followers have been creating.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for sticking by me and leaving all those lovely comments which really have put a smile on my dial!!!

Keep stamping,

Birthday Cupcakes

Well I'm back again, didn't take long this time!!! I had a play with some new toys over the last couple of days and I couldn't wait to have a play of the lovely cupcake set and co-ordinating punch which makes it so much easier to cut out :)

So here is the card I made:-
It's a bit colourful don't you think?? The pic just doesn't do it justice - it didn't matter how much I tried to tweak it it just didn't seem to come out right. I have also used some very yummy new papers as well and the colour scheme is Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Bashful Blue and Whisper White and also a little Chocolate Chip for the chips on the cupcakes.

I will be heading down to my craft room today to hopefully do some more creating but not sure how much I will get done. Still can't seem to find that missing mojo. I agree with my lovely friend, Karen and think that our mojos are off having a lovely coffee and chat together!!! Hope they come back soon :)

Happy stamping,

MIA and Lost Mojo

Wow, it has been quite a long time since I have updated this poor, sad, neglected blog!!! I have been a little busy and have tried to sit down and create something but, alas, I think my mojo has gone AWOL.

I did however receive a very lovely card sent to me by the very lovely and talented Tammy for my birthday and told her that I could see a CASE coming up which is exactly what I did.

So here is the card that I decided to make from Tammy's gorgeous pink and kraft creation:-

Now when I was looking for a sentiment to use I decided to turn my creation into a wedding card to put in my stash, actually I think this would probably be the first in my wedding stash!!! I ended up using a very old piece of lace which, would you believe, came from the leftover bits of my wedding dress.

In the last couple of days I did have good intentions but I only ended up making three cards over two days!!! Come back soon mojo :)

Happy stamping,

Some Easel Cards

Well I'm back to show you some easel cards that I had on display at my market stall. I love these cards as they always catch the eye.

Now the instructions I used allowed me to get three cards out of one sheet of A4 card so hence why the base of the card is all the same, my favourite Concord Crush.

This first one is made with the very lovey Aviary set and I have matched it up with some of the gorgeous DSP from the Elegant Soiree pack.


This next one is made with the Bliss set teamed up with Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette and Lap of Luxury DSP.Lastly, this has been made using Flight of the Butterfly teamed up with Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and So Saffron. I also used up a piece of scrap paper that I had in my old scrapbooking stash which matched these colours perfectly.


Now to share some news - I have scored myself a full-time job working school hours (9 to 3) at a Solicitor's office and can't wait to start on Monday. I am so looking forward to having some adult company but will miss the lovely time I have had with my four year old :( Hopefully I will be able to fit in some crafting time somewhere in between working, housework and running kids around. Good luck with that I'm thinking!!!

Will have to get off this computer and spend some time doing a major houseclean so it will all help in preparation for next week. Hopefully I can have things all run like clockwork but time will tell!!


Happy stamping,

Some Market Items

I have been really busy the last couple of months making all kinds of things for a new market that is starting up in my region that is just for handmade items. Perfect for me to get an opportunity to sell some of my beloved card stuff!!

Now I have been trying to add a little variety so therefore I ended up making some very lovely Tissue Box holders and also some cute little tea bag holders as well. So here we go:-
Here is one of the Tissue Box holders made from a tutorial by the very talented Nikki Stalker. You can find this tutotial here. I have used Crumb Cake as the base for the box and covered it with the very gorgeous Elegant Soiree DSP. The blue band is Marina Mist and I have stamped the cute little bird and aviary from the Aviary set.
This is the tea bag holder that I made from Makeesha's site (tutorial found here). I ended up modifying mine a little bit because I didn't have the envelopes Makeesha had used so I changed them for the Scallop Envelope die. You can pop three tea bags into the envelopes. The ribbon will be all tied up when I put the tea bags in. I have used Pink Piroutte teamed up with the very lovely Lap of Luxury DSP. It's hard to see the little sentiment but it says "take care of yourself".

Now I just need to make a few final Mother's Day cards this week and add the final touches to make my stall perfect.

Now for anyone who is interested and is on Facebook, I have created a page to showcase my card craft, called "Card Craft" which you can find here. If you would like to visit my page I would really love you to "like" it.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #66

Wow, it feels like it's been awhile since I have updated this poor neglected blog!!! I ended up checking in with the Just Add Ink blog and have decided to enter the challenge this week, which is Just Add a Flower - I can definitely enter this one :)

I have been really busy doing market bits, so busy in fact I haven't even managed to get around to photographing my creative bits. This is high up on my "must do today list".

Anyway here is the card that I am entering for the Just Add Ink Challenge:-

Now I can say that I cannot take full credit for this card as I was inspired by this one from Deb Fearns. I did however change the colour scheme by going with Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Old Olive and Very Vanilla. I absolutey love this Cottage Garden set, it is so pretty!!!

Now I'm off to enter the challenge and then get my camera out so hopefully over the next few weeks I will be able to update my blog more regularly.

Happy stamping,