sunday scrapbook - 4

Well, I'm on my 4th scrapbook page in 6 weeks - that is STELLAR pace, ha! Okay, it is much better than the 'collecting dust' pace I was on before, so maybe I should be more kind to myself. This week's page comes from photos I took of Andrew at our 4th of July picnic in 2007. Look at those little pudgy hands! I can't believe how little he looks, but he was just about 17 months old and I was big and pregnant with Katie crazy with worry over how close in age these two monkeys were going to be. Talk about worry over nothing! They already have a blast together and she can't even talk yet. {maybe that's why???} So are you wondering if you need to adjust the color on your monitor to make the watermelons red? Yes, you're looking at yellow watermelons. Is that the strangest thing you've ever seen? {hopefully not} I don't know if that is normal or these were just albino or something, but everyone seemed to love them, especially the kids. I, myself am not a melon fan, so I really passed up this opportunity, lol! Anyway... I used American Crafts Thickers (cream soda) for the watermelon and barely got that sucker on the page! Hey, and look! More In Colors from 2008 - gotta use up my stash. I'm sad the journaling gets a bit lost in the patterned paper, but I can't really fix it now. ugh. Should have used vellum... Need to get me a better journaling pen. I hear American Crafts has a great one, anyone have favorites? Ok, that's it for now -

*edited - So guess what today is? Can you even imagine?! Yes, it's the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the great rivalry college football game between the Colorado State Rams and the Colorado Buffs (I hope Michael doesn't see that I just wrote the word Buffs on this page - he might kick me out, lol!) This is a MAJOR event in the Giron home and we are very serious about our dear Rams. So we are just about to head on over to Gramma's house (a former Buffalo, *gasp*!) and watch the game. Michael is already downstairs teaching Andrew to say 'Boooo Buffs!' when he sees the mascot - it's going to be a fun day...

See you back next Sunday with a new page - have a great day!
Karen

recipe -

paper: purely pomegranate textured cardstock, jersey shore dsp, east coast prep dsp {got a jersey theme goin' on here}

accessories: american crafts cream soda thickers, star brads, zig millennium journaling pen - black (05)

let the cute begin

You know, I don't think I've even inked up this stamp yet - such a shame! I love the little onesie as the 't' and the paper piecing works so well with it. Might have to make me a bunch of baby cards here! I stamped the image in basic brown and then colored the letters in with a blender pen and bashful blue ink - the onesie is stamped on some of that scrumptious Banbury paper, cut out and adhered over the original image. The little heart is colored in using a white gel pen. I love how the little plaid onesie came out - so cute! I made a girl version of this card too and you can see it in my Etsy store shortly. {it's there now}

The card comes from Beate's weekend sketch challenge this week - isn't it fun?! I love how this sketch made for a quick, fun card. Since my main image is really the sentiment, I chose to add buttons instead of the suggested sentiment. If you haven't tried out her challenges, please hop on over to her blog and check them out - that are so much fun and you can make them as layered up as you'd like, or you can keep them simple. I think that's why I like them so much. So glad she's back!

OH! BTW, Hobby Lobby is having a 50% off sale right now on the majority of their scrapbooking/paper crafting supplies, so run on over and get some deals!

Thanks so much for stopping by - have a wonderful Saturday.

Karen

recipe -

stamps: big on spring

ink: basic brown, bashful blue

paper: close to cocoa, bashful blue, whisper white cardstock, banbury dsp

accessories: white gel pen, neutrals buttons, blender pen, bashful blue stitched ribbon, rectangle hand punch, stampin dimensionals

*thank you*

Sweet, sweet Friday is here! Avery finished her first week of kindergarten and is sad she can't go to school tomorrow (I need to video that and show it to her in high school, hee!), Andrew and Katie are napping and I actually finished stamping something and the sun is still shining! I don't know what to do with myself...

Today's card is inspired by Taylor's cupcake challenge {no cupcake necessary} and I broke into a new packet of paper - Maine Blueberry - isn't is fun? Stampin' Up! has various packets of paper in this catalog with the same print but different colors. I chose this one so I can use it for boys or girls, isn't that so nice?

Have a great weekend (a long one in the US) and I'll see you back soon.

Karen

Recipe -

stamps: eastern blooms, all holidays

ink: bashful blue, night of navy, old olive, versamark

paper: bashful blue, night of navy, old olive, whisper white cardstock, maine blueberry dsp

accessories: pewter hodgepodge, vintage brads, rectangle/rectange scallop nestibilities die, white grosgrain ribbon, old olive stitched grosgrain ribbon, old olive wide grosgrain ribbon, stampin dimensionals, mini glue dots

more yummy paper

I am really loving this new Banbury paper! Don't you just love the softness of these colors together? Yummy paper makes it easy to make a great card because it does all the work for me. I've used more new items from the new catalog - Filigree brads, 1" stitched grosgrain ribbon, and a hostess set, Best Yet.

That's it for today folks, I've got to get to bed! Thanks for swinging by -

Karen

recipe -

stamps: best yet

ink: bashful blue, close to cocoa

paper: certainly celery, close to cocoa, stampers select white cardstock, banbury dsp

accessories: filigree brads, soft subtle brads, celery stitched grosgrain ribbon, 1" bashful blue stitched grosgrain ribbon, rectangle/rectangle scallop nestibilities

new paper - old supplies

Hello! I'm really trying to get back into the swing of things, but it's been a crazy couple days. My oldest, Avery, started kindergarten this morning and it was crazy getting everyone out the door to walk to school. I was so excited for her - she loves school, so she was asking to go about an hour early this morning. I love her enthusiasm!

Beate is starting up her weekend sketch challenges again and I'm doing this one a bit late since I was out of town, but it was such a good one I had to do it! Also, Kristina Werner has a new color challenge up, so I jumped in and combined the challenges. Love that! This week's colors are chocolate chip, regal rose, pink pirouette, certainly celery, and very vanilla. I don't have the new In Colors yet, so I traded out pink pirouette for pretty in pink. I broke into my new Banbury designer series paper and used this cute sheet of pink plaid - love it! Plus I had to go to my old standby, prints paper - ha!

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'll see you back soon!
Karen

recipe -
stamps: happy everything
ink: chocolate chip
paper: banbury dsp, certainly celery prints dsp, chocolate chip, very vanilla, regal rose cardstock
accessories: pretty in pink buttons, pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon, chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon, large scallop & circle nestibilities, mini glue dots

back from vacation

Hello! Happy Monday to you all. I'm so sorry I didn't post a Sunday Scrapbook yesterday - we were driving back from beautiful Durango, CO and I didn't make a page ahead of time. We left last Tuesday to spend a few days at my parent's cabin near Cripple Creek, CO and then made the drive down to Durango for a wedding. It was wonderful! The weather was beautiful, the mountains were gorgeous, of course, and the kids were fantastic. Avery and Andrew were both in the wedding and looked so nice all dressed up, so I have to share a couple of pictures.

Here is the fantastic duo right before the ceremony. Aren't they so cute?























And here is a shot of Andrew cute as a button in his little suit vest and tie. I love that they didn't wear tuxedos - the groom and groomsmen were all in suits.

























And, not to leave poor Katie out, here she is dancing for the first time.


















That's it for now - I just got some new items from the catalog, so I'll be posting some new stuff soon.

Have a great day!
Karen

it's a boy

My sister-in-law, Sarah, has asked me to make a baby boy card for her brother's little man arriving soon, so I thought I'd give the onesie card a try again. Sarah loves stars, so I thought using the alphabet star from Nursery Necessities would be a nice personal touch for her. This card is just one possibility for her - I may dabble a bit more and see what I can come up with and I'll stock my Etsy store with the extras *wink*.

Have a happy Friday!
Karen

recipe -

paper: stampers select white (papertrey, ink), certainly celery prints dsp

stamps: nursery necessities

ink: black staz-on, so saffron

accessories: naturals buttons

thinking of you

This week's featured stamper at Splitcoaststampers is Jessica - aka knightrone AND fellow Great Swaps Girl! It was sooooo difficult to choose a card in her gallery to CASE, but I finally narrowed it down to this card. Don't you just love it? You all need to stop by her gallery and check out her work. It is fantastic!

Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope you are having a wonderful week.
~Karen

Recipe -
stamps: artfully asian
ink: staz-on black, rose red, always artichoke
paper: basic gray, rose red, stampers select white (papertrey, ink)
accessories: blender pens, love & happiness rubons, d'vine swirls cuttlebug embossing folder, satin ribbon (american crafts), corner rounder, paper piercer, stampin dimensionals

in denial

Yes, I'm in denial - I just can't let go of last year's In Colors and I just used up the rest of my soft sky ribbon on this card. sniff... I haven't bought any of the new In Colors yet because I can't decide if I like them enough. Anyway, this card is for the sketch challenge this week over at Our Creative Corner. Since I cut my paper to make a sqare card I couldn't add a big embelishment over on the right side, so I improvised. They said any embellie, so that's what I did with my teeny tiny photo clasp, lol.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

recipe -
paper: kraft, prints dsp - rose red, blue bayou
ink: blue bayou
stamps: absolutely fabulous
accessories: pewter hodgepodge, soft sky double stitched grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder

sunday scrapbook - 3

Hello everyone - I hope you have had a nice weekend. This week's scrapbook page was emotional for me and it caught me off guard. This picture is from my son's first birthday and it just brings back a flood of memories from the sitting that day. He was such a ham - smiling and flirting with the photographers and we got so many great pictures that show his very fun personality. Now my daughter is turning one in a few weeks and it just makes me sad how fast the time has gone. Makes me want to go give all my kiddos a big squeeze...

All right... Again, this layout comes from Pagemaps, June Maps, and it really fits my style right now. I'm not a big picture taker, so I love the pages that only have a few picture maps on them. Makes me feel less guilty for not taking more pictures of the little ones. I sponged on real red craft ink on the chipboard letters instead of covering them with cardstock

Have a wonderful Sunday and I'll see you back soon. Thanks for stopping by again (you all make my day!)

Karen

recipe -
paper: sahara sand, whisper white textured cardstock
ink: real red craft
accessories: chipboard letters (li'l davis designs), all the trimmings simply scrappin kit, red star eyelets, not quite navy stitched grosgrain ribbon, font is futura lt

little notes set

I bought these little Fresh Cut notes a little while ago and I'm finally getting around to making some card sets with them for my Etsy store. I love how easy these are to embellish, although I do need to figure out a more creative way to decorate them without wasting the notes. I used ribbon that was retired 2 catalogs ago (ribbon hoarder alert!), so I just went with those colors for a set of 4. The second set of two is my favorite - I love the soft colors and the satin ribbon!

See you back soon - I'm off to work on my daughter's 1-year birthday invites. Time needs to slow down!! I'll show those off after I mail them out to family (don't want to spoil the surprise after all)

Karen

recipe ~

SET 1

stamps: fresh cuts

paper: fresh cut notes, ruby red, mellow moss, apricot appeal, bashful blue, whisper white cardstock

ink: mellow moss, bravo burgundy, certainly celery, apricot appeal, bashful blue, ruby red, versamark

accessories: retired ribbon (anyone remember?), buttons (soft subtles, fresh favorites I & II), mini glue dots, white thread, scallop scissors, white embossing powder

SET 2

stamps: frest cuts

paper: fresh cut notes, bashful blue cardtock

ink: bashful blue, versamark

accessories: buttons (fresh favorites II), bashful blue satin ribbon, white embossing powder, scallop scissors, white thread, mini glue dots

RAK from Charmaine

Thank you so much for this adorable card, Charmaine! This little beauty arrived in my mailbox this afternoon, much to my delight. Please go check out Charmaine's blog, Oodabug Alley - she's amazing!

sunday scrapbook - 2

Ok, so it's a day late (almost 2 days at that), but I did it! So sorry everyone, I hope you weren't checking in, anxiously waiting for me to post it. Were you? Ha! So today's scrapbook page is inspired once again by the June Pagemaps and is a very simple layout. Of course I say that and it still took me a long time to complete - but that was mostly because of the journaling. The big reason I usually type out my journaling can be seen on this page. Do you see my big goof? Yes, that is supposed to be the word through, but I went a little crazy and tried to add another 'r' for some reason. Now it's all messed up. Ugh. I did another little mess-up in the YOU, but it's not as bad. Sheesh. I guess I added a little too much 'personal' touch. ha!

That's it for today kids. I'm off to peruse my new SU catalog, which finally came in the mail today, yea! I might have some retired stamp sets to sell, so check back soon for those. I need to finance my new purchases....

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Recipe -
paper: vanilla textured cardstock (12x12), cutie pie dsp, rose red prints dsp
accessories: on board - lots of letters (chipboard), love & happiness and a perfect day rubons, tombo multi adhesive

totally sucked in

to the Olympics! Wow, I don't think I've watched this much TV in, well, since football season ended. I'm so sucked into the Games, it's sad. How many world records will be broken in swimming this weekend? I love it all, the stories, the drama, the beautiful history... ahhh... Anyway, I'm going to get in some stamping tomorrow, I promise! I have a scrapbook page to finish up and I'll post it.

See you back soon!

funky flowers

Hello! Where has the time gone this week? I'm shocked I haven't posted anything new in a week! It's time for another Kristina Werner color challenge and this one is bright and fun and crazy! Basic black, pumpkin pie, rose red, and summer sun OR green galore. Yes, crazy! I chose green galore, why? I have no idea, but summer sun was just way too bright today. You can't really tell in the photo, but the rhinestone middle of the flowers are green galore (it's kind of my cheaty way to add another bright color to the mix, heh)

That's it for today - hopefully I'll finish up my scrapbook page I wanted to post Sunday and haven't been able to find the time. See you all back soon!

Details -
stamps: it's beautiful (jumbo wheel)

ink: versamark

paper: rose red, basic black

accessories: flower fusion accents & elements, ice rhinestone brads, card sayings rub-on book (making memories), clear embossing powder