Drop in for a Spell

Hi Everyone,

I could not be more excited to craft with these new Halloween stamps that are being released at DRS Designs on the 18th of this month.  Give me all things fall, because I am HERE for it! The grocery store is setting up its candy aisle, and I want it all.  Frankly, one year they were setting up after July 4th, (not THAT is crazy) so I'm totally not mad about a mid August display this year.

Anyway, I knew I wanted to ink up the Silhouette Witch Cauldron (716K) first, so I began by inking up my background in Halloween colors, and then stamping over it using the Splatter Background stamp.  I then stamped and heat embossed the witch on top.

I added the Drop In For A Spell Greeting at the top and the Magic Potion Shelf at the bottom.  Those were also heat embossed and fussy cut before attaching them to the base. 

I attached the panel to a card base stamped using the Empty Spider Web stamp and added some swirling gems for the heat coming off the cauldron.  

Be sure to keep tabs on the DRS Designs blog all week.  We're thrilled to be showing you all the newest stamps coming out tomorrow!

Stamping hugs :)
Karin

A Little Wish

Hi Everyone,

As I type this post, the weather forecast for today is a steamy 92 degrees in these here parts.  So I thought I would take that opportunity to chill out and make another cold weather card.  Are you keeping count?  That's two, People!  I've made two holiday cards! I'm celebrating any small victory these days :)

It's not too fussy, flat, and therefore, easy to mail.  I stamped, colored and fussy cut the Potted Christmas Tree.  I added some glitter glue to the ornaments and set it aside to dry, before adding it to the card.  I chose to pair it with the Tree Shaped Christmas Greeting, simply because of the obvious shape. 

I was going to leave the card panel as just the tree and greeting, but I struggle to keep things clean and simple, so I added the double sided tape covered in glitter on each side to complete the look. 

This second handmade Christmas card is what is making me happy today...

Wishing you stamping joy too!

Karin

Friendly Note

  Hi Everyone,

I was inspired by my cards in this post, to try stamping by masking off a portion of the main panel.  The last time, I masked off a section, and inked and stamped just between the two pieces of tape.  Here I used one piece of washi tape, and stamped my leaves and florals on either side.  I then removed the tape, and stamped  Friendly Note Greeting in the blank space, embellishing it with a couple of gems.

The stamps I used are as follows:

Silhouette Branch (stamped in green)

Puff Circle (stamped in pink)

Silhouette Leaf Branch (stamped in teal)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karin

Flakey Friends

Hi Everyone,

I'm celebrating Christmas in July with this simple holiday card.  Goodness, do I like making Christmas cards when I'm not strangled by a long list of recipient names, and it's not mid December...lol!  Every year I vow to make a head start, and I guess this is my start this year.  Let's see if I can keep it going!

I began by stamping, coloring and fussy cutting Stretch the Round Button Snowman, along with the Flakey Friends Winter Greeting. 

The background was made by stamping Interlocking Snow and Easy Dot Background in different purple inks to match the snowman, and I simply added a punched border and a die cut snowflake.  Easy Peasy!

Have you made any holiday cards this month?  If you need some inspiration, pop on over to DRS Designs and have a look around!

Thanks for stopping by & stay cool!

Karin

 

Popsicles

  

Hi Everyone,

Is there anything more summer like than popsicles?  I think not!  So I made a card celebrating that sweet summer treat.

I don't have a popsicle die, so I began by die cutting out rectangles and rounding off the top corners.  I used my word window punch for the two "indentations" on the treats and inked up the edges of all the papers for a bit of dimension, finally attaching some real sticks to complete them.

I layered them all onto an embossed citrus background, since in my mind the flavors were orange, lime and lemon. 

For the greeting, I chose the 1 Line So Sweet Greeting.

And YOU"RE so sweet for stopping by the blog today! 

Have a great one!
Karin

Drink in Your Hand

Hi Everyone,

Since we're in the thick of summertime, I used the new Toes in the Sand Birthday Greeting for today's card. Even though it has a beach vibe, I decided to focus on the "drink in your hand" portion of it.

I masked off the globe from the Fairy with a Globe stamp, and paired it up with the Wine Glass image from the Pour Me Bottle and Glass stamp, and also sat her on a Toadstool as well. I colored it up and added some glitter glue to her wings.

The background was dry embossed and attached a punched border that was stamped using the Easy Dot Background.  I finished off the card with some flowers and enamel dots. 

Thanks for visiting! 

Karin

Happy Retirement

                                                                      Hi Everyone,

I made this card with my cousin in mind.  Her last day of work was last Friday, and now she is free to do as she pleases.  Woot woot! 

I'm not sure if they have flamingos in Hawaii, or if they dance the hula in other tropical places, so I've probably mixed up my warm weather images for this card.  Whatever.  I say it celebrates all her travel to come ;)

I stamped the Flamingo Palm Tree Scene for the background and then added the Hula Pig and Brush Happy Retirement Greeting to the front. 

A few enamel dots and a dab of glitter on her flower finished it off.

Inside I stamped the Rest Best of Life Birthday Greeting, because it seemed so perfect for the occasion.  And who can resist Hula Pig?  She had to come along inside too!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're dancing your way through summer!


Hugs,

Karin

Easy Summer Cards

  Hi Everyone,

Last week I went on a getaway with my husband to an inn, down in the heart of Amish country in Ohio.  It was our first time away since, what I call, "the before times".  While it wasn't completely normal due to them being short staffed, and my husband working from his lap top, it was still a pleasant escape from suburban life.   I was scrambling a bit before we left home, so I made these two quick cards with a summer theme.

I masked off this vertical strip and sponged lol on various greens and yellow ink to achieve this color. Before removing the masking, I stamped the Citrus Slice all along the colored portion, and then added the It's Five O'clock Somewhere Greeting adding a few gems for embellishment.

It was so quick and easy I made a second card using the same technique, just different stamps and enamel dots. 

The stamps for the above card are as follows:

Summer Story Greeting

4 in 1 Seashells

While I wasn't at the beach, here's a peek at the lovely scenery where we stayed...

That's me outside the entrance.  These rooms are called the "honeycombs" and they're built into the side of a hill.  They all have stone patios with bird feeders outside and you can even hear the baaaah of the sheep in the distance.  Not a big deal to some, but slightly magical to this suburban/city gal :) 

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to visit DRS Designs for all your summer stamping needs!
Karin
  

Summer Time

Hi Everyone,

It's officially summer and in my opinion, margaritas are the ultimate adult summer beverage. The lime, the icy bits...the SALT! They're even good minus the tequila.  Just add some simple syrup, a fresh squeezed orange to the lime juice, (and a splash of fizzy water for some pizazz) and you're in business. Mmmmmm...I think I should have titled the post Taco Tuesday, because I think I know what's for dinner now!

For this first card I inked up a citrus embossing folder to create the background, and stamped colored and fussy cut the Margarita Glass, adding some glitter glue to the rim for the salt.  I heat embossed the Citrus Slice and attached everything along with the Toes in the Sand Birthday Greeting.

Here is another graduation card I made, because, tis the season!  I copied the layout from my last graduation card here, I just changed up the school colors and added the bee, since that's the school mascot.  

Here are the stamps I used:
Graduation is The Beginning Verse

Grad Hat Hooray

Happy Bee

Here's hoping your summer is in full swing!  Thanks for stopping by!
Karin

 

A Friendly Note and Father's Day

                                                                           Hi Everyone,

I have a couple of cards to share today, one for a friend and one for the dads.

I chose the Happy Mail image to pair up with the new Friendly Note Greeting, because the flower is cute and friendly!  The image comes with the words thinking of you on it, so I just masked them off, inked up the stamp and then removed the tape before stamping it, so that only the image remained. 

The card base and the yellow layer were stamped using the Puff Circle, and the orange layer was dry embossed.  My die cut grass was stamped using the Easy Grass Background and it was attached at the end of assembly along with the greeting.

This one is for all the golfing dads out there, and that includes mine!  

The background was made using an embossing folder and the Everything Golf Background.  I covered up the seam between the two papers with a strip of black cardstock and embellished it with a couple of metal brads.  I used the Especially Fore You Greeting and attached it to the card base.  For the image, I stamped and heat embossed the Silhouette Male Golfer, and used some post it notes to mask off the background, as I added ink to create the grass and sunrise.

Thanks for visiting the blog and visit DRS Designs for all of these stamps and more! 

 For those celebrating, have a happy Father's Day!  And for those who are missing someone, may the day land gently for you.  

Hugs,

Karin

Summer Cards

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I know it's not officially summer yet, but it's 90F degrees here, so I feel like it's in full swing! Here are a couple of cards to kick off the season.

 

This card I made a while ago, but I'm happy to share the beachy themed card today.  The beach just screams summer, and vacation, and relaxation, and happiness, and...! It's all goodness in my book.

 

I sponged some ink onto the background and the beach themed greeting too.  I made the beachy background by adding die cut wavy ric rack for water and some Splatter Background stamped sand.  A punched sun, die cut flip flops and some stamped and fussy cut starfish completed the card.  

A friend's son graduated from military school, so I chose to make him a patriotic graduation card. Red. white and blue says American summertime to me as well, so it's reflects the time of year for this milestone too.

I dry embossed the background and added a stamped panel made using Grad Hat Hooray.  The Graduation is the Beginning sentiment was die cut and I embossed and fussy cut the Brush Mortarboard, adding it with some pop dots.

 

Since this card was being sent to a guy, I resisted the urge to add gemstones and just added a gift inside...lol!

Here hoping the summer season is off to a happy start for you!
Karin

June Birthday

                                                                   Hi Everyone, happy June!

It's always a celebration when my favorite pig makes an appearance on a card! Birthday Party Pig was colored and fussy cut, and set aside as I created the background for him.  

I dry embossed the top, stamped the bottom portion of my paper using the Interlocking Circle Background stamp, and chose the June Birthday Greeting, to make the card more personal for the recipient.  The new Push Pin stamp makes for the best little embellishment, so I stamped it in the corner, and then fussy cut the head and attached it to the card. 

Some ribbon was used to cover up the seam, and I attached that partyin' pig to the card.  It still wasn't celebratory enough for me, so out came my gems that I attached to the centers of those circles.  Now it finally seemed complete ;-)

I had this Friendly Flower Frog , which was colored and fussy cut for a previous project that never came together. Not being a person who can toss anything away, I decided on a simple embossed background that I added some chalk and glitter glue to, in an attempt to match up the flowers on the frog. 

I attached the Have I Toad You Greeting, and added the frog with some dimensional foam tape.  These types of cards are some of my favorites for a card stash.  When the time comes, the inside can be stamped with just about anything and it will fit the outside sentiment!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karin

Happy Father's Day

  Hi Everyone,

June will soon be here! June means Father's Day, and Father's Day means time to make some masculine cards.

I began by stamping the Silhouette Fishermen, and then used some chalk and post it notes to create the sky and water.  I chose to keep it small and simple, so I die cut and added a mat to the little scene.  I chose to use a compass embossing folder for my background and for embellishment, I wrapped it with some twine.  The Small Happy Father's Day Greeting was colored up to match and matted as well, using my circle punches.   

A couple of newly released stamps can be seen on this card.  I love me a pun on a card, so I drew a music note onto the sign being held by Leonard, and chose to emboss the background using my record album embossing folder.   

This was to match the new Friendly Note Greeting, which is being "held up" by the Push Pin stamp. I stamped it onto the greeting and then fussy cut the pin head.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit DRS Designs for all of these stamps!

Wishing you an easy breezy day!
Karin

Fishing Cards

 Hi Everyone,

In honor of Father's Day, I decided to try my hand at making a fishing vest card.  Since I know zero about fishing, I Googled a fishing vest and tried to use what I know from making one of those dress shirt cards.

I began by cutting the paper into 4 1/4" x  8", scoring along the 8" side at 2" in on each side.  That created the flaps going to the center, and the math was much easier. I used a corner punch on each side, and along the bottom inside flaps and folded down the collar.  I stamped it using the Splatter Background stamp and used my tag punch for the pockets.  I added some stitching marks to those by hand, and then went along the edges with some green chalk. 

Along with adding the greeting, I filled the pockets using some twine and fussy cut fish. I think the real fishing vests my have a zipper up the front, but I embellished with buttons.

The stamps used are:

Best Fishes Hook

3 in 1 Ocean Floor Designs

Big Mouth Bass

For my second card, I tried to keep my stamping to neutral, masculine colors.  I stamped and die cut the Fishing Square, lightly adding color and some sponging.  I attached it to a dry embossed background, which had an attached a piece of matching patterned paper, made using the Splatter Background stamp.

The sentiment is a portion of the Fishing Birthday Greeting and I finished it off with three metal brads.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to check out all of the great new stamps at DRS Designs!
Karin