introducing card kits

Yes, I am going to provide a card kit every month for you to enjoy! Since I don't haul my craft room around to workshops, I thought I'd do virtual workshops and give you the opportunity to purchase items I feature at discounted prices. Each month I'll create 2 cards that will feature a stamp set and embellishments - those featured items will be offered to you at a 20% discount if you purchase a kit. Each kit will make 10 cards and includes all the consumable products you'll need to make the cards, including envelopes.

So now, here is January's Card Kit - of course I had to use the set I've been loving on so much this past week, A Happy Heart. You are going to absolutely fall in love with this set. This kit includes supplies to make 5 of each card. Here are all the details...


How much? $18 and that cost includes shipping.
Due date? Please pay for your kit by January 17th. So sorry about the short notice this month - some of these items are retiring on January 18th!
Featured products?
A Happy Heart stamp set ($22.95) $18.36 with the purchase of the Card Kit

Hearts Set Sizzlits Die 4-Pack ($19.95) $15.96 with the purchase of the Card Kit

Kit includes the following:

• 5 Pieces of Close to Cocoa cardstock (5-1/2 x 7-3/4)
• 5 Pieces of Regal Rose cardstock (2-3/8 x 2-3/8)
• 5 Pieces of Pretty in Pink cardstock (2-1/4 x 2-1/4)
• 5 Pieces of Whisper White cardstock (2-1/8 x 2-1/8)
• 5 Pieces of Banbury Designer Series Paper (5-1/2 x 1-1/2)
• 5 Pieces of Bashful Blue cardstock (5-1/2 x 8-1/2)
• 5 Pieces of Ruby Red cardstock (3 x 3)
• 5 Pieces of Banbury Designer Series Paper (4-1/4 x 1-3/4)
• 5 Pewter Build-A-Brads
• 5 pieces of Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon (19")
• 5 large Filigree flowers
• 5 silver brads
• 5 pieces of Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon (16")

What you will need at home:

• Close to Cocoa Classic Ink - $5.25
• Regal Rose Classic Ink - $5.25
• Chocolate Chip Classic Ink - $5.25
• Versamark Ink - $7.50
• Corner Rounder - $6.95
• 1/2" Circle Punch - $5.95
• White Embossing Powder - $4.75
• Paper-Piercing Tool - included in the Crafter's Tool Kit $39.95
• Stampin' Dimensionals - $3.95
• SNAIL Adhesive - $6.95
• A Happy Heart stamp set - $22.95 ($18.36 with the purchase of the Card Kit)
• Hearts Set Sizzlits Die 4-Pack - $19.95 ($15.96 with the purchase of the Card Kit)

Again, please purchase your kit by January 17th and I will mail your kit by January 31st. I will also email you step-by-step instructions along with pictures of the completed cards.

Interested? E-MAIL ME to place your order today! This offer is for readers in the US only - I apologize to those readers who live abroad, however I do need to follow the demonstrator guidelines Stampin' Up! has set up.

color inspiration 36

It's another fantastic color challenge from Kristina and it's very Valentine's-y colors too, but I'm taking a break from hearts just for a moment. I have a bunch of January birthdays coming up soon, so I thought I'd make a card for a friend, who I hope likes pink, ha! This week's colors are Rose Red, Pretty In Pink, Old Olive, and Whisper White - and isn't that little pin cusion too cute?

Stay tuned! I have somthing fun to share with you in just a few moments....

Karen

recipe -
paper: pretty in pink, whisper white cardstock, berry bliss dsp (retired)
accessories: pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon, flower fusion accents & elements, soft subtles brads, love & happiness rub ons (retired), stampin' dimensionals

wishing you a happy heart

Are you tired of this set yet? I think this may be the last one from this set for now, but more ideas are flowing! I love the diversity of it and that is why I've been using it so much these past few days. For this card I used the 3/4" circle punch to accent the top of the dandelion - it fits perfectly! I really like the hearts floating away - just so cute. It reminds me of this mug I saw at Starbucks last year. Alright, I had better move on to another stamp set here, so stay tuned - I'll try to do something non-valentine's here soon. Have a wonderful day!

Karen


recipe -
stamps: a happy heart
ink: purely pomegranate, close to cocoa
paper: close to cocoa, purely pomegranate, whisper white cardstock, berry bliss dsp (retired)
accessories: purely pomegranate double stitched grosgrain ribbon (retired), 3/4" circle punch, stampin dimensionals

i {heart} you

Here's another card using my shiny new A Happy Heart set - this senitment is so cute, don't you think? I used sketch 205 over at Splitcoaststampers for this little number. Again, I'm using retired designer paper, Berry Bliss this time - I am in serious need of getting rid of all of my retired paper! Hmmm, can you say blog candy? Stay tuned....

Karen

recipe -

stamps: a happy heart

ink: purely pomegranate

paper: close to cocoa, pretty in pink, purely pomegranate cardstock, berry bliss dsp (retired)

accessories: chocolate chip & pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon, hearts sizzlits, curly label punch, stampin' dimensionals

and on to valentines day...

Well, we still have one more round of Christmas coming on New Year's Day so I can't say I'm completely done with Christmas, but my mind is already moving on to the next holiday - Valentine's Day, yes! You may get a little bombarded here the next few posts, but I'll try and switch it up for you - I'm trying to get some cards in my Etsy store in time for Valentine's Day. Anyway... today I thought I'd give Taylor's Cupcake Challenge a try and ink up my new A Happy Heart set all at the same time. I am loving this set! There are so many cute stamps in it.

Have a wonderful day!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: a happy heart

ink: regal rose, tempting turquoise

paper: pretty in pink, close to cocoa, tempting turquoise, whisper white cardstock, loves me dsp (retired)

accessories: clear buttons, stampin' dimensionals

fight on you stalwart ram team...

on to the goal!! Ok, sorry - it's part of the Colorado State fight song. Michael and I got an all expense paid trip to the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday and a big THANKS to Michael's uncle, who hooked us up with free VIP tickets to the ESPN tent before the game for some free food and drinks and then our seats were on the 50 yard line in the club level, so again free food and drinks. It was an incredible day and to top it off the Rams won in a very exciting game. Michael was a very happy Ram that day. We were gone all weekend and had a fantastic time - the kids were amazing on both of the 9 hour car trips there and back, so that was fantastic!! This is the only picture I have of the day because my camera batteries died right after this was taken, that figures.



I'll try to post something before Christmas day - got some sketches to catch up on!

Karen

more new toys

New stamps!! Finally, I have some new stamps to get dirty - today I got to play with Season of Simple Grace. I love this set and have been eyeballing it since the Holiday Mini catalog came out a couple months ago. The card sketch comes from Julee's Mojo Monday sketch this week and works perfectly with this image. I added some diamond Stickles over the star to give it some sparkle and make it stand out a little bit and I used black embossing powder for the sentiment at the bottom. I was impressed the letters didn't get all jumbled together when I melted the powder! The patterned paper is retired and I don't know the name of it, so sorry.

Thanks so much for stopping by -

Karen

recipe -

stamps: season of simple grace

ink: so saffron, bordering blue, versamark

paper: bordering blue, basic black, whisper white cardstock, retired dsp

accessories: old olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, 1/4" circle punch, vintage brads, diamond stickles, black embossing powder, stampin' dimensionals

color inspiration 35

Ok, so it's become very sad that the last couple posts have been for Kristina's color inspirations and hey, here's another one, ha! I DO need to find more time to stamp so I can post more for you. The good news is I'm DONE shopping for Christmas, so I don't need to worry about going out in the morning for that anymore. Thank goodness because it's a balmy -4 as I'm typing this. Nothing like walking out into cold weather that makes your lungs hurt! To be fair, it is 10 PM, so it's not like it's -4 at noon, but it didn't get past 5 today, so that's still stinkin' COLD!

Mr. Brown battled the snow-packed streets and delivered my new toys today, yeah baby! I ordered some of the new Big Shot die cuts and had to use the Flower Layers die for my card today. I have a Cuttlebug and wanted to see if the Sizzix dies would work with it and they do!! I had to sandwich the Flower Layers die in between two B cutting plates for it to work and I'm not entirely sure it is good for the plates, but it worked. So until I can save my pennies next quarter for the Big Shot machine, this will do. The other dies work wonderfully though. I also got some fun new stamp sets and I have a new card for you tomorrow - oooh, teaser! Yes, I really will post at least twice this week - hehe.

Man, I'm chatty today! Kristina's challenge this week is Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze (I don't have it so I used Sage Shadow since she mentioned 'minty green' in her post), So Saffron, and Very Vanilla. It was a fun challenge, so go check out the other entries and give it a try.

Have a fantastic day!
Karen

recipe -

paper: chocolate chip, sage shadow, so saffron, very vanilla cardstock, autumn vine dsp

accessories: close to cocoa grosgrain ribbon, love and happiness rub-ons (retired), flower layers sizzix die cut template

color inspiration 34

Hello -it's been a looong time! Life has been so busy and time consuming these past couple weeks and with Christmas right around the corner, I don't see it slowing down. I will try my best to post though! Today I have my little creation for Kristina's color inspiration. Her colors remind me of frosty cold days (which we've had many!), but I don't have any snowman stamps - say what? I don't know how that happened because you should see all the little snowmen I have in my house at the moment. This week's colors are Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Bordering Blue, Sage Shadow and Certainly Celery - so fun together!

Ok, I'm off to shop and battle the crowds. Have a fantastic day!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: party hearty, twinkle wheel

ink: bordering blue, certainly celery, perfect plum

paper: pale plum, perfect plum, bordering blue, whisper white cardstock, autumn vine dsp

accessories: white tafeta ribbon, circle scallop punch, stampin' dimensionals

business boost

Yes, I am in serious need of a business boost and so now I am just shamefully promoting it here on my blog, ha! Seriously though, I absolutely LOVE Stampin' Up! products and use them almost exclusively, however it's getting more and more difficult to remain a hobby demonstrator (I usually only stay active by purchasing items for myself or holding occasional classes in my home) and since Stampin' Up! has so graciously added an online store, I thought I would use my demonstrator website to see if anyone out there would be interested in shopping through my website. This is the ONLY time I'll be mentioning it in my blog posts. From now on I'll be displaying promotions and specials in my blog margins. I know many of you come to my blog for inspiration and ideas, not to be hit up to buy things, and I respect that.

So, with all that being said, here is the link to my website www.karengiron.stampinup.net. You can go to the online store by clicking on the 'Shop Now' button in the top right corner.

I would love to see if I can give discounts online, but I'm not intirely sure that is possible or legal, so I'll check it out and post information in the margins later. This is all so new to me, so please excuse the bumps along the way and feel free to email me if something isn't working correctly.

PLEASE NOTE: if you are currently purchasing merchandise from another Stampin' Up! demonstrator, please stay loyal to her/him. I am in no way wanting to steal customers.

Okay - I'll get to stamping and hopefully be able to post something for you later this afternoon.

Karen

color inspiration 33

Ok, this card had a whole different look in my head and THEN when I added the white rub-on my heart just went, NOOO! Ugh, the rub-on is so blurry! So, this is what I have now - cute little flowers and fantastic ribbon with a blurry image. blah! Do not buy cheap rub-ons, k? I think these are a pack of Making Memories Card Sayings rub-ons, just in case you'd like to avoid them. hehe. Hopefully I just got a bad pack and they aren't usually like this. Anyway, Kristina has a tough color challenge this week: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Taken With Teal and Whisper White. Now I'm off to see the other entries - everyone always has such great work so go check them out when you get a chance. It's snowing here today, so please excuse the once again blurry photo. Seriously trying to find the deal of the century on a nice camera!!

Have a wonderful day!
Karen

recipe -

stamps: polka dot background

ink: versamark

paper: whisper white, chocolate chip, taken with teal cardstock

accessories: flower punch (ek success), felt fusion flowers, antique brads, celery grosgrain ribbon, chocolate chip double stitched 1" grosgrain ribbon, clear embossing powder