Trendy Wedding card with Red Hydrangeas

Morning all!  It's been awhile since I've posted here... been feeling a bit under the weather of late and the clouds still haven't broken, if you know what I mean.  But this week it's my turn to set the challenge over at the One Stop Card Challenge and I've chosen the theme of PATTERNS.

I don't know about you, but I've been seeing houndstooth in particular... everywhere.

Shoes.  Handbags.  Skirts.  Pillows.  Laptops and composition books and pens.  It's all over the place.

So this week I chose trendy houndstooth as my pattern for a black, white and red wedding card:

Some detail:

Sentiment detail:

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Papertrey Ink} - kraft, {DCWV} - patterned cardstocks, {The Paper Studio} - black

Sentiment stamps {Papertrey Ink} - "WEDDING", {Clearly Wordsworth} - "hopes dreams and wishes"

Ink {Ranger Archival Black}

Fabric hydrangeas {Hobby Lobby floral stem}

Brads {Spare Parts}

Ornate key charm {craft supply}

Butterfly punch {Martha Stewart}

3mm rhinestone {Darice}

Butcher's twine

Have a fantastic Saturday!

--Kathryn

Winner of Photo-Synthesis Launch Candy.....

Morning everybody--I apologize for being a little late with the announcement--but I was unaware when I set the end date for the drawing that my in-laws had planned a visit.  Whoa!  That changes things a little, right?!  So while Mr. Shenanigan is napping this morning and I've got a little respite, lets end the suspense, shall we?

The winner of the Photo-Synthesis launch candy is......

Denise at Lala's World!!

Congrats Denise!  Send me an email at kat.ritter143 {at} gmail.com and I'll get your package in the mail.

I look forward to seeing you all over at the new challenge on August 2nd!

Have a great day,
--Kathryn

Elegant Monochromatic Card for 2S4Y

Here is my card based on Laura's Sketch 56:

And Laura's Sketch:

Sentiment detail:

Stamped medallion/ribbon bow detail:

 

 More medallion and patterned paper detail:

 I love to flip and rotate sketches just to see if I can make them work 'backwards'.  It's like an exercise.  I used to do something similar, I suppose, when I was studying piano at the conservatory.  I'd play my scales backwards, with a different scale for each hand, and at different rhythms.  Why?..............Just.....

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Papertrey Ink, The Paper Studio, Georgia Pacific}

Patterned papers {DCWV "Naturals" stack}

Stamps {Papertrey Ink} - Giga Guidelines and Guidelines 2 sets

Ink {Ranger Archival Black and Rubber Stampede Coffee Bean}

Butterfly punch {Martha Stewart}

Square black brads {Spare Parts}

Ribbon {Robert Stanley}

Button {Benno's Buttons}

3mm rhinestone {Darice}

Butcher's twine

XActo Blade

Winners of extra Summer giveaway are.....

Congrats Tanya and Marisa!  Please send me your info:  kat.ritter143 {at} gmail.com


I''ll be back with some new cards soon,  But until then, I hope you....

Have a great day!
--Kathryn

Hang 10 Summer Surf Card

I have a great story for this card.  My husband came home from work and saw it in my photographing area (i.e., on a white presentation board leaned against the piano :).... finally I heard him laugh out loud and say OHHH!  He came in smiling and said "Well that proves I'm a nerd doesn't it?"  I asked what he meant, and he said he had been wondering why on earth I made a card using BINARY.....

**HAAAAAAhaaahaa!**

I told him, just for that, I WOULD make a card in Binary one of these days.  Especially for him.

Wow......  :)

Here are the challenges:

1) PaperPlay Challenges Week 27 {Your Number's Up} - sponsored by Simon Says Stamp

2) Polka Doodles Week 27 {Summer theme}

3) SmART Word Challenge {Summer BRIGHT}

And here's the card... supposedly in surfer-nerd binary ;)

Wow... a surfer-nerd.  Would that be, like, Exponential?  Dude.....

Some detail:

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Georgia Pacific, DCWV "Cafe Mediterranean" collection}

Border punch {Fiskar's}- Apron Lace

3-D Wave sticker {K & Company} - Grand Adhesions

Letter stamps {Stampology by Autumn Leaves}

Stitched Denim number embellishments {Paperbilities by Westrim Crafts}

Sewing machine

Butcher's twine

Thanks for visiting!

And before you go don't forget to enter for my current blog candy (over on the sidebar :)

Have a fantastic day,

--Kathryn

New: The Photo-Synthesis Challenge + Blog Candy

Well I've finally got the ball rolling gals.  I've been considering starting a photo-inspiration challenge for about a year now, and at last here we go!

First, I have a DESIGN TEAM CALL running until the 24th and I am in fact hoping you all will make the choice terribly difficult for me :).  The challenge will run every two weeks on Tuesdays.  I'm contacting sponsors and plan to start the first Tuesday in August!  WooHoo!!!

And just to give you all even more encouragement, I'm offering candy here AND on the Challenge blog.  How's that for exciting?! :)

So here's the first candy:

Leave your link here and follow so that you'll know when the winner is announced (the deadline will be on July 24th, along with the deadline to apply for the new Design Team).

Then hop over to the Photo-Synthesis Challenge Blog and follow there so you'll be ready to play; then tell your friends about both candy giveaways and especially the new challenge!

So excited ya'll.  I just can't wait.  Seriously.

Have a great day,

--Kathryn :)

July 4th Giveaway WINNER

...is Beverly S. of Bev's Creative Path!!!

Congrats Beverly--*please* contact me within the week so I don't have to draw again :(  I hate doing that.

I wish I could send something to all of you... you all share so many great reasons to love summer and celebrate.  So here's what I'm going to do. 

All the rest of you may leave me a comment here about one of my recent projects that you like, and tell me why--or give a suggestion for a new project you'd like to see, and I'll rustle up a nice prize for a couple of you. 

PS--Since some of you have mentioned it, I'd apprecciate it very much if you DO NOT LIFT my designs or pictures to use elsewhere in publication, challenges or for sale.  That is not the kind of treatment we'd like to give each other, right?  I am very happy if my ideas INSPIRE you, but Please, please--be honest and do not try to pass off anyone else's design as your own.  Thank you.

Let's say, you've got a week and I'll announce the lucky winners next Tuesday.  OK?

Thanks everyone--I hope you have a great week!

--Kathryn

Ok Girl...I'm Listening...DISH....

1) Moxie Fab World: Finding Inspiration in a Layout Challenge

Here is the layout we were given to work with--I wish I could say it was mine, mais... ce n'est pas vrai.

This is actually the first card I made for the Moxie fab World challenge, but it's taken me longer to get photos I was pleased with.  It's been rainy and gray the past few days, which makes for some very dull lighting.

When I first looked at this Layout I was ALSO inspired by the photo BACKGROUND--that awesome beachy blue BEADBOARD!  So I decided, Hey, if it makes a great backdrop for the layout, why not as a base for my card?

So I scored a piece of light blue Papertrey Ink cardstock to look like beadboard.... and then the wall was ready to be decorated, so I pulled in the color scheme from the layout, along with the idea of juxtaposing lots of different strips of paper, and white circles.... There are some great arches in one of the patterned paper strips, and that reminded me of the Fiskars apron lace border punch.  And then there's the fun red ribbon and the rope in the picture, which I imitated with butcher's twine.

Here's the card!

And the inside:

I also loved the sewing on the layout, so I used that on the inside.  I love the summery, picnicky, homey comfy feeling of how this card turned out.  It makes me want to call up my best girlfriend and chat for a good long time over lunch.  Too bad we're across the country now.  But at least cards and phone calls keep the distance a little narrower...  Isn't that how it is, though?

Here are a few detail shots of the dishes and the shelf, etc....  I paper-pieced the circles for the dishes, then used a dry embossing tool and some careful bending to give them plate-like dimension.

 

The mantel shelf is set up on four layers of foam adhesive so that it has a nice shadow to it:

 ...And for the teacups I drew a template by hand and cut out all the pieces with an XActo blade:

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Papertrey Ink, DCWV}
Patterned cardstock {DCWV} - Cafe Meditteranean collection
Rubon letters {American Crafts} - black lowercase, Jack jr. + {Making Memories} inside blue capitals
Border punches {Fiskars, Martha Stewart}
Ribbon {Ribbon FX}
Butcher's twine
Circle punches {EK Success}
Icons {Heidi Grace}
Sewing machine
Score board
Foam adhesive tape
3-D ZOTS {Thermoweb}

Here are some more views of the inside:

 And the bow......

 And the inside sentiment (inspired by the big blue letters in the Layout's title):

And one final look at the front:

Thanks for visiting and I hope your week is off to a great start!

--Kathryn

Relax Glittered Sunshine and Beach Loungechair

Here are the challenges:

1) Moxie Fab World: Inspiration from a Layout Challenge

.....here's the Layout.... WOW!  SOOOO much to work with here!  For this card I used the summer/water/beach theme, the colors, and the rope that shows in the cute boating picture!  I also thought the journalling showed how one stressed-out little girl was able to RELAX and then she had a really great time!  So I wanted to capture that as well......

2) SmART Word {Summer BRIGHT}

  

And here is the card:

 With some detail: 

 And a little more... I glittered the sun and the water in the glass, and used a pale yellow brad for a 'lemon'... 

 And of course, you'd know an imposter had taken over my blog if there wasn't a little bit of butcher's twine somewhere :).....

 Materials Used on this Card:

Card base {My Mind's Eye}

Orange Cardstock {DCWV}

Dimensional Stickers {K and Company} - chair and umbrella

Stamps {Hero Arts} - sunshine + {Art Warehouse} - drink, sentiment

Ink {Ranger Archival Black}

Threading Water edge puncg {Fiskars}

Glitter {Martha Stewart}

Brad{Spare Parts}

Corner rounder {EK Success}

Butcher's Twine

Thank you so much for visiting, and I hope your 4th of July is wonderful wherever you are!

--Kathryn

Victorian Lady with Parasol

Here are the challenges:

1) One Stop Craft #87 {Distressing} - sponsored by Dewdrops

2) My Time to Craft #97 {Zig Zags}

3) Papertake Weekly {In Stitches}

And here is the card:

Plus some coloring detail:

 A little more detail:

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Making Memories and Papertrey Ink} + Chocolate chip

Patterned papers {My Mind's Eye}

Victorian lady stamp {100 Proof Press}

Flourish stamps {Fiskars Wedding set}

ColoredMarkers {Sharpie and BIC MarkIt}

Opaque white Galaxy Marker {American Crafts}

Cream satin ribbon {Offray}

Pearl brad {Bella Blvd} - taken off of large yellow fabric bloom

Corner Rounder {EK Success}

Sewing machine

Thank you for visiting everyone,
and I hope you have a truly WONDERFUL 4th of July weekend!

--Kathryn

Masculine Happy B-day Card with 'Rivets'

Over on the Scrapbook Trends blog they want to see some CIRCLES....

And at Practical Scrappers they want to see us use Decorative Scissors,

while over at My Time to Craft ZigZags are all the rage....

So here we go!

 And a little detail of the dimension and 'rivets'.....

  Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Papertrey Ink + Chocolate chip}

Patterned papers {My Mind's Eye - Home collection}

Circle Punches {EK Success}

Circle cutter {Martha Stewart}

Rub-on letters {American Crafts - MiniMARKS JackJr.}

"B" postal circle stamp {Stampology by Autumn Leaves}

Silver and brushed metal brads {Spare Parts}

ZigZag decorative scissors - (decided to give these a second lease on life... haha)

Butcher's twine

Thanks for visiting everyone,
and I hope you have a really WONDERFUL 4th of July weekend!

--Kathryn

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Congratulations! 

You've found the Spring Giveaway Easter Egg!

Remember where you found it, and if you can tell me where it was when your name is drawn I'll add some super yummy extras to the giveaway package.  Or, you could leave a comment on this post and I'll know who's found their way here :)

And while you're here, I hope you'll enjoy this wonderful video, just in time for Mothers' Day:

 

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

I was about to just go about the day as usual this morning; then I paused to watch this short devotional message about motherhood, and it has changed my morning and day by reminding me what it is really all about.  I am so grateful and feel I must share this encouragement and hope with all of you as well.

--Kathryn

Diva Card for a Sparkling Teen

Good morning--it's a cool rainy morning here, which is a fantastic change from the steaming hot weather of the past few weeks.  We needed the rain so badly so that is a blessing.

The challenge for us at Paper Play was to make a child or teenager card and although I've had a good long time to think about it the thought of making a teenager card always ALWAYS fills me with apprehension.  Not because I don't like working with teenagers, but precisely for the opposite reason--I LOVE working with the youth and yet somehow I still fail to know what's cool right now.  I still thought the Jonas brothers were big until one of the Young Women from church told me they were so out now.  Huh.  Never would have known.

So instead I just went for the "diva" kind of look that seems to be popular these days--you know, Eiffel towers and chandelliers and things.  I'm seeing lots of vinyl wall decorations like that.  Those things I have to say are fantastic.  Wish I had an excuse to get a really nice tree... and had a good wall to put it on... Oh Well.

So, here's the card: 

 The challenges are:

1) Paper Play Week 26 {Child or Teenager Card}

2) Practical Scrappers {Border Punches and Decorative Scissors}

And some detail.... All these rhinestones were hand-placed and glued.  Whew!

Materials Used on this Card:

Die-cut card base {Teresa Collins}

Black and silver script paper {DCWV}

Doily Lace edge punch {Martha stewart}

Circle Punches {EK Success}

Ribbon {Robert Stanley}

Chipboard flowers and rhinestones {Craft Supply}

....I nabbed the sentiment on the circle from my refrigerator notepad featuring the full Marjorie Pay Hinckley quote.

Also I have a question....

Does it help you to see the card recipe, or do you really pay hardly any attention to it?

I will put up a poll on the sidebar for awhile; but since my blogging time is significantly cut short by the perpetual presence of my little Mr. Shenanigan, it would allow me to be far more productive if I just forego that time-consuming step on each post.  Please let me know.  Even if I do stop including the recipe to begin with, if you would REALLY like the recipe for a particular card, please just let me know in a comment and I can post it after the fact.... So, what do you think?

Thanks so much for visiting everyone, and don't forget to enter for my July 4th candy before you go--it's on the sidebar for your convenience :)

As always, have a great day!

--Kathryn