SMMR Card Group Monthly Swap

Good morning, crafty friends!

I've not posted cards for this in awhile. Not sure why, but I'm trying to get better.

I've been with the SMMR card group for about ten years. Doesn't seem possible! I've had the pleasure of meeting up with some of the ladies at Stamp n Scrap Expo in Collinsville once and we swapped ATCs. We're down to a handful of us now. 

Each month, our fearless leader, Barb matches us up with another member of the group for us to send a card to. I was running really late on my cards there for awhile. Got tough for me after we lost the Yahoo groups. I don't do FB as much - but I'm trying.

For this month, I tried out a die I'd requested from Madi @ Spectrum Art Creations. I'd seen a similar die on a FB ad demo and fell in love. To my surprise, Madi was able to find three different ones - including the one I used for this card. (I don't see them on their website so they must be sold out)

Here is the die I used:

I had a strip of leftover paper from Mintay called Graceful that was the perfect size for me to cut two cards from the single strip.  I bought the last one Madi had but I found it on FranticScrapper

The card:

After cutting out all of the pieces (does everything in one pass!), I mounted the frame on Purple Posey cardstock (Stampin' Up!). The green pieces are the reverse of the floral print. I cut a scalloped circle from Fresh Freesia, stamped the Hello from the Oct. 2016 Paper Pumpkin in Tuxedo Memento Black on Basic White cardstock. 

I love this die and can't wait to play with the other two!

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

CARD CHICKS - June

Good morning, everyone!

As you may have read, June was just NUTS for me and I've just now gotten to the June Card Chicks envelope.

June's kit was sent by my friend Vikki Jo. She sent a fabulous fun kit.

I especially loved this kit because I don't own any house mouse stamps and Vikki Jo gave us two fun images.

The paper is Stampin' Up! Simply Marbelous, as are the 2 paper lattice. The ribbon is SU embroidered ribbon from 2020, the bling is SU Champagne Rhinestones. The fun addition is the die. She inherited her ex-MIL's craft room so she shared a die with each of us. 

Here's the card I came up with:

I wanted to give the impression of this little mouse soaking in his ho tub in the backyard. I used the yellow Marbelous DSP for a sunshine day, brought the lattice work in for a privacy fence. I used the SU Layering Ovals, the scallop from the blue Marbelous to mat his image on. Because I wanted to bring the privacy up higher, I added a piece of the ribbon. Bling is used as nail heads on his tub. 

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my work-table. There has been some progress though next week will be better. 

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

THURSDAY TECHNIQUES - Embossing with Dies

Good morning, everyone!

Since I wanted to look this video up for a refresher I thought I'd share the technique with you.

Most of us have dies, many we haven't used for awhile. Maybe it's time to pull them out and use them in this new way. If you don't have the embossing mat for your machine, I'll link you to the one from Sizzix.

Sizzix Silicone Rubber Pad

Note that you also need:  Sizzix Impressions Pad

I'm also including a link to Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Mary Fish's video  - just in case you were quick to purchas the one from Stampin' Up! before they canceled their contract with Sizzix.

Here's my card for this week:

I used the Flower Border die from Lawn Fawn. With a normal die technique, I would have cut out the die several times in various colors then paper pieced the individual flowers together.

By using the Impressions pad with the die, I was able to simply impress the design into a piece of cardstock then go back and color in the flowers.

I colored the background of the strip with Lt. Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends from Stampin' Up! The individual parts of the flowers were colored in with Kirarina Wink paint pens in o18 (pink), 015 (blue), 011 (Lt. green), 001 (yellow) 

I also used the Impressions pad to emboss the smallest Layering Scappops die (Stampin' Up!) then cut it out with the next size up. The clouds are punched from a retired SU Punch. The sentiment is from one of my favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up! - Fabled Friends

Note: While I've closed the SU blog, I am still a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! If I can help with anything related to Stampin' Up! please let me know.

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY - New toy!

While in Springfield over the weekend, I decided I needed a book fix so a stop at B & N was on the agenda. Aside from the 2017 Writers Market and a New Age book for research, I had to cruise the craft magazines. I have subscribed to one of the UK magazines in the past and have only not renewed simply because I'm trying to budget my spending better. Instead, I'm going to buy one when I go to the city if one catches my attention.

I fell in love with this bicycle build a die and the stamp set for basket fillers was just too cute to pass up.

Here's a close up of the cover to show all the other goodies you'll find in the mag.

The cover shows one of the adorable ways to use the set. Also I just noticed this morning that there is a FREE Digi Download of a Fairy. How did I miss that while looking through the magazine at the hotel the other night.

And here's a close-up of just the stamp/ die set:

Just too cute, right? I hope to have something with this coming up very soon.

A bit about me. If you do not already know I am severely OCD. I can not work on ANYTHING until EVERYTHING around me is in order... even things that do not pertain to the project. If you think it drives you crazy due to lack of posts, imagine being in my head! LOL  

For one thing, I need visuals. I spent all last week working on a magnetic blog board so I could see the big picture. I just need to finish typing up the blog planner binder pages this morning, print them out then I'm ready to start laying out blog posts for the rest of this month and all of next. I'm super busy the first 2 weeks, including being gone to a writers conference I've attended every year for the past 20 years. Then Bob is home the last two weeks of October. National Novel Writing Month starts on the heels of him leaving. 

With all of that coming up, I do not want to leave the blogs behind. I feel I have too  much to share. So, thank you for your patience as I try to reign in my OCD.