Birthday Sketch Challenge

Here's another card I made using the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge (I told you I would use this one again and again). I kept it easy by using a white card base, and added a punch of color. This card was for my niece's birthday and these happen to be her favorite colors right now (CTMH's Outdoor Denim, Lagoon and Pear). I stamped up a striped background strip to pull in all of these fabulous colors.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Just Be You, Connections; PTI Background Basics: Distressed Stripes, Just the Ticket, Everyday Treats

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Outdoor Denim

Inks: CTMH Outdoor Denim, Pear, Lagoon

Accessories: PTI Dies

Vintage Thanks

I had the day off and it felt great to be able to do nothing but the things I love (shopping, reading a good book, and playing with my stamps!). This afternoon I decided to meet a last minute color challenge at the Embellish Magazine Blog. Such beautiful colors, especially for fall (only today in Southern California it was 93 degrees - not exactly fall-like). I used CTMH's Creme Brulee, Olive and Brown Bag. The added challenge was to make it vintage. I did that by adding some ink to give it that aged look.

I also took advantage of the sketch challenge at 2 Sketches 4 You. This is a sketch I would come to again and again. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Everyday Treat, Tiny Treats Christmas, Background Basics: Diamonds

Cardstock: CTMH Brown Bag, Creme Brulee, Olive; PTI Rustic White

Inks: CTMH Creme Brulee, Brown Bag and Desert Sand (for distressing)

Accessories: Ivory Grosgrain Ribbon; PTI Dies; Cuttlebug Dies; Marvy Punches; CTMH Creme Brulee Brad

Happy Belated Halloween!

Well, I'm back (finally) with a card to share with you. I was able to play a little on Saturday with some ladies who were over, and how great it was to get my fingers inked up! It was long overdue. I wanted to make a hostess card for a friend who had us over for a little Halloween celebration on Saturday night. I started with some damask stamped in Sunset, and I was thrilled with the results! Added some black and cream polka dot edging, and then sewed on some ruffled up black satin ribbon. I was also wanting to use my new dies from PTI, so I added the pumpkin image to the circle for just the right seasonal touch. This card is also a perfec t fit for the Diggin' on Damask Challenge over on the Moxie Fab World blog. Cath's blog is always one of my first stops for inspiration and challenges - check it out and play along! Hope you enjoyed your Halloween weekend!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps: CTMH Damask Tiles and Hit the Spot; PTI Vintage Picnic and Everyday Treats

Cardstock: CTMH Black; PTI Rustic White

Inks: CTMH Sunset, Black, Olive, Desert Sand (for distressing)

Accessories: Black Satin Ribbon; PTI Dies

Feeling Grateful

So, I can't even begin to tell you how much I've missed the blogging world lately. I'm getting ready to finish up the last two weeks of my long-term teaching position, and I am counting down the days!!! It has been so crazy busy around here with working full time, keeping up with my kids' activities and my PTA responsibilities, let alone, trying to be a wife, daughter, sister and friend. I have failed so miserably at saying proper thanks to some very special people, so I set out today to make a card/box wrap for my neighbors. They took care of our pets, plants, and mail while we were away in August. (I know, long overdue!) I had this idea in my head to make some chrysanthemums inspired by the cover of the Paper Source catalog. I decided to keep the colors realistic and fallish.

I made a larger flower out of CTMH Goldrush and a smaller one out of CTMH Tulip and added some Olive Green leaves. And, it wouldn't be a "Karla" project if I didn't include a stamped background, so I stamped up a plaid pattern using CTMH Chocolate, and mounted the whole thing on PTI Kraft. I bought my neighbors a box of See's Candies (Yum!!) and simply wrapped the box with two pieces of ribbon, and then attached the card to the ribbon. So there you have it, a wrap and a card in one! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Distressed Stripes and Fillable Frames #4; Verve So Thankful

Cardstock: CTMH Goldrush, Tulip, Chocolate, Olive; PTI Rustic Cream and Kraft

Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Goldrush, Tulip

Accessories: CTMH Chocolate brads, Cuttlebug leaves die, PTI Fillable Frames Die, Marvy Uchida flower punches (3 sizes)

You're an Allstar

Hey bloggers! Just a quick post tonight to show you the token gifts I gave to the teaching staff at the school I'm working for. It just so happens that the school's nickname is the Allstars, and their colors are red & blue. I intentionally bought this stamp set from PTI because of the phrase "You're An Allstar". So perfect!

I purchased some plain white popcorn boxes from Michael's and filled them with a bag of Caramel Apple Popcorn, which I purchased from Cost Plus World Market. Made a wrap for the box and a tag.

I made about a dozen of them. They looked so festive when they were all together. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Just the Ticket, Distressed Stripes; CTMH Just Be You (stars)

Cardstock: CTMH Moonstruck and White Daisy

Patterned Paper: Carolee's Creations Hot Stars

Inks: CTMH Moonstruck, Holiday Red

Accessories: PTI Ticket Die; Cuttlebug Tags Die; Red Grosgrain Ribbon

I Know, I Know....

Hello bloggers! I know, I know, I'm about the flakiest blogger out there! I promised a post earlier this past week, but time got away from me. I went back to the classroom to set up and prepare for my students, who start this coming Wednesday, and then my own children started school this past Wednesday. Just a busy time a year. Naturally, I went to the sketch from Clean and Simple to make a quick card to post for you. I happened to have a stamped up card base from when I was working with the new colors from Close To My Heart, but I hadn't used it, yet. I added the cocoa sentiment strip and the text style butterflies, and the card was done! As you can tell, I kept the same color scheme from this card, which is why I had a stamped up card base to begin with, but ended up taking a different route. Anyhow, enough rambling. I have been working on some back-to-school "trinkets" for my fellow teachers, which I hope to share soon. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Damask Tiles; PTI Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics: Text Style

Cardstock: PTI Rustic White; CTMH Cocoa

Inks: CTMH Smoothie, Cocoa; Versamark

Accessories: CTMH Clear Sparkles; Ivory Pearl embossing powder

Reason for my Absence

Hey fellow bloggers! Sorry for my absence this week, but there was good reason. The Kroese Family went on vacation! I suppose I could have set up some posts while I was away, but I had a houseguest until the day before we left - a little busy around here! Anyhow, I thought I'd share a few pics of our trip (sorry, no artwork today, but hopefully tomorrow??) As you can tell we started our vacation on a drive to the San Francisco Bay area and took all that SF has to offer, like the Golden Gate Bridge.

And, of course, it was a must for my kids that we stop in at Ghiradelli's Chocolates - yum!!

And, naturally, we took a ride on the trolley cars. My husband and I have been to SF several times, but this was my kids' first visit. The street cars were a highlight for them!

It wouldn't be SF without a visit to the famous Lombard Street. We drove down it twice, and then walked it to take in the beauty of the landscaping.

Here's a close-up of one of the many beautiful hydrangea's on Lombard Street. Though they were on the tail end of their bloom, they were still magnificant!

We left the Bay Area on Thursday to head up/over to South Lake Tahoe, but on our way we just had to stop in Fairfield for a quick tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. This was fun for all of us! We dared the boys to try one of their "Bean Boozled" flavors, which they agreed to do if I paid them $1. Chad tried "barf", and Seth tried "canned dog food". It was hysterical watching their eyes water as they courageously ate their so-called candy! Chad recovered okay, but Seth's breath literally smelled like dog food the rest of the day! We all covered our nose every time he tried to talk to us. Boy did we laugh!!!

From Fairfield, we travelled through Sacramento and stopped in Old Town for a bite to eat. We decided on Fanny Ann's Saloon for burgers. We also took a few minutes to take in the Capital Building.

Our next destination was South Lake Tahoe for a couple of nights of camping. Talk about beautiful! Our campground was across the street from the beach, where we went each night to watch the sunset and see the stars. The weather was amazing, not too hot, not too cold, and the views were unbelievable! On Friday we drove over to Fallen Leaf Lake to take an easy hike up to a waterfall, which the kids thought was fun. There wasn't that much water, so they could climb all over the rocks - they had a ball!

So that's what I've been up to. Now I get to do laundry to try to get the campfire smells out of our clothes (that might take awhile). It was a nice get-a-way before school starts on Wednesday (uugghh!) We had such a nice summer, I'm sad it's behind us, but it's always good to get back into routine & schedules, too. Chat at you soon!

Magnifique Layout

Hey fellow bloggers!! Thought I'd post a layout once (I know, it's been awhile!). I used a NEW Paper Kit from Close To My Heart's Autumn/Winter Catalog, which comes out Sept. 1. This kit is called "Magnifique", and it is truly stunning!! The pictures are of my twin girls when they were 4 years old. They're 8 now, so now you know how far behind I am on my scrapbooking. It's okay, though, because for me it's about the process, not the product (at least that's what I try to convince myself. HaHa!) Aren't they adorable? I wish I could bottle some of that cuteness. Don't get me wrong, they are still adorable, but that cuteness somehow morphed into prettiness, and I just miss those cheeks! (: Thanks so much for stopping by today!

All Supplies from CTMH

Patterned Paper: Magnifique My Reflections Paper

Cardstock: Colonial White, Chocolate, Lagoon

Accessories: Mini Medley Accents Shades of Chocolate, Twill Ribbon, Color Ready Oxford & Bold Alphabets

A Special Friend

Hi bloggers! Just posting a card I made for my CTMH New Catalog Open House. This is one of 2 make & takes that my guests will create while picking up their free catalog. I used one of the new My Reflections Kit from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book called "Magnifique". This paper is so pretty & versatile! As I was trying to come up with some simple, but beautiful cards for my guests to make, I immediately thought of this weeks sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I love how this sketch helps you create a simple, yet polished card in minutes. This is one of those sketches that I will find myself going to time & time again. Thanks, Kazan & Laura, for such inspiration each week! Thanks for stopping by today!

All Supplies from CTMH, except ribbon (unknown)

More New Colors

Here are some more fabulous NEW summer colors from CTMH. Today I am featuring Cotton Candy, Pear and Sunset. Just delicious!! On this first card I am also featuring a NEW stamp set called "Party Pennants". I've been using it in the last couple of blog posts, but wanted to wait to talk about it until you saw these adorable pennant images. This card was so easy to stamp up because each of the different pennant images is separate, so you can build your own banner. The polka dot images at the bottom are stamped with the medium dots from "Hit the Spot", and then masked and sponged with a light layer of ink.

This last card was made by masking off a bottom portion of the card base and stamping a diagonal stripe pattern. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Happy Birthday

Stamps: CTMH Hit the Spot, Party Pennants

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Sunset

Inks: CTMH Pear, Cotton Candy, Sunset, Black

Accesories: Ribbon (Fabric Barn)

Make A Wish

Stamps: CTMH Candlelight, Party Pennants; PTI Distressed Stripes

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Key Lime, Sunset

Inks: CTMH White Daisy, Cotton Candy, Pear, Sunset, Black

Accessories: Black Satin Ribbon (unknown)

My Favorite New Color

Back today with another card using MY FAVORITE NEW summer color from CTMH. This color is called "Smoothie". Isn't it just yummy? I kept this color combo simple by pairing it with Colonial White and Cocoa. I've been working on some other color combos that I'll share later. This color combo screamed "elegant" to me, so I reached for my favorite stamp set, "Damask Tiles". I stamped up a piece of patterned paper and layered from there. I used the sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You (a bit loosely, I might add).

I also used the frame from "Party Pennants", which, again, I'll share more about that later. I heat embossed it with ivory embossing powder onto Cocoa CS. I an so glad I took the extra time to do this because I love how it looks.

Also wanted to wish my son, Chad, a Happy 10th Birthda,y and my Dad a Happy Birthday, too! Chad's was Tuesday and my Dad's is today, so we've been doing lots of celebrating. WooHoo!Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: CTMH Damask Tiles, Party Pennants, Thank You, Hit the Spot
Cardstock: PTI Rustic White; CTMH Cocoa
Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Smoothie; Versamark
Accessories: Smoothie Ribbon (from the Fabric Barn), Ivory Embossing Powder

Delicious New Colors

Hi Bloggers! Did you know that Close To My Heart has come out with 8 new delicious colors for their summer palette? Just look at the richness of them in this card. I love how nicely they coordinate with the colors from the other palettes. I made this card using the NEW Lagoon & Pacifica. I paired them with the current Sweet Leaf & New England Ivy. I wanted to focus on the colors, so I stamped up a striped pattern to showcase them.

Did you notice the sentiment? That's from a NEW stamp set called Party Pennants. I'll have more on that later.

Here's another card I stamped up rather quickly, only I left out the New England Ivy. I love how easy this card was to pull together just by stamping the "thanks" image mulitple times in varying colors. The inside reads: "Many thanks". So what do you think of the new colors so far? I'll be back later this week with some more sneaks of the NEW colors. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Celebrate You!

Stamps: CTMH Hit the Spot, Just Be You, Party Pennants; PTI Distressed Stripes

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Pacifica

Inks: CTMH Lagoon, Pacifica, Sweet Leaf, New England Ivy

Many Thanks

Stamps: CTMH Hit the Spot, Thank You

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Sweet Leaf, Pacifica

Inks: CTMH Lagoon, Pacifica, Sweet Leaf

Accessories: Azure Blue Satin Ribbon (stash)

For My Teacher

So I spent some time "putzing" (is that a word??) in my studio this morning with no specific goal. Didn't feel like meeting any challenges today, just wanted to create. So, here it is, a card for one of my kids' teachers. I stamped the kraft cardstock with the text image from CTMH's Noted Backgrounds using Versamark ink. The little piece of note paper was made with Noted Background, as well, but stamped in Crystal blue, and then punched at the top with my Ek Success punch. I sanded a piece of Crystal Blue cardstock to back the note paper just to make it stand out. Pretty straight forward card, really. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Noted Backgrounds, You're Sweet; PTI Limitless Labels, Distressed Stripes

Cardstock: PTI Kraft, Rustic White; CTMH Crystal Blue

Inks: CTMH Crystal Blue, Desert Sand, Holiday Red, Topiary; Versamark

Accessories: Red Grosgrain Ribbon (stash); CTMH Craft Buttons

Our Prayers Are With You

Back again with another card I made on Friday, for a friend who's mother passed away. The funeral is this morning. I made this quick card for her with the Embellish Magazine challenge in mind. I used CTMH's Sweet Leaf, Baby Pink and Cocoa. Not only was this a color challenge, but we were also asked to incorporate birds. The bird stamp I used is actually a solid stamp image from CTMH's Treasure Life. I first stamped it with 2nd generation cocoa, and then used the "rock & roll" technique in 1st generation cocoa. I was so thrilled with the results. Doesn't it look cool? I think if I did this 20 times I would come up with 20 different birds. I think I happened to luck out with this one.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but I also used my new PTI die to give the Sweet Leaf card base a little "linen" texture. So loving that die! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Treasure Life; Verve Notes of Prayer

Cardstock: CTMH Sweet Life, White Daisy

Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Sweet Leaf, Baby Pink & Creme Brulee (flower centers)
Accessories: PTI Linen Die; Ribbon (stash)

I'm So Proud of You!

All this week I have been volunteering at my church for Vacation Bible School (VBS). Besides my four kids, I also brought two other girls from my kids' school. Since my 11 year old is a boy, and the 11 year old I brought was a girl, I asked my niece if she would befriend her and "show her the ropes". I was so incredibly proud of how my niece stepped up to the challenge and showed this girl love and kindness even when it became difficult for her. I was grateful for her efforts, so I made her a card to tell her so.

I decided if I was making a card anyways, I may as well incorporate a couple of challenges. The first is this weeks color challenge from Color Combos Galore. I used CTMH's Creme Brulee, Goldrush and Baby Pink. (I also used this combo in the Hip Hip Hooray card that won the "Let's Do fun & Cute" Challenge at the Moxie Fab World. Woot! Woot!).

I also used last week's sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch. I realize it's a week late, but she didn't post a new sketch last Sunday.

The inside of this card reads: Thank You, I'm so incredibly proud of you! A perfect sentiment for how I feel towards my niece right now. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Bowl of Cherries, Thank You; PTI Vintage Picnic, Background Basics: Tin Types, Big & Bold Wishes

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Baby Pink, Creme Brulee

Inks: CTMH Goldrush, White Daisy, Black, Baby Pink, Creme Brulee

Accessories: CTMH Creme Brulee Ribbon, Buttons (unknown), PTI Button Twine