Blackbird

This card was inspired by the double matting technique using Nesties shown by the very talented Miss KittyKraft and uses four of my current favorite things:  B&W damask, roses, songbirds and those sweet Marianne Doohickey flourishes.    I wish my photography skills were better...the entire front panel on this card is popped to show the double matting around the recessed oval center.   Yesterday Mr. Postman brought three new dies, including this super sweet little Memory Box bird die (LOVE her).   Anyway, to all you ornithologists out there shaking their heads, I know there probably aren't really any black songbirds, so I'm claiming artistic license! 


By the way, have you seen the embossing technique called Belleek (for the gorgeous Irish porcelain).  It is SO beautiful!   My fingers and cuttlebug folders are all inky.  I'll share when I have something worth showing.

Paper is Teresa Collins CS Bazzill, roses are from a Michael's bin, flourish is Marianne and pearls are Kaiser Craft.  I also used these cool black foam mounts. 

Thanks for looking.

Hugs, Kathy

Challenges:
Make it Monday - Anything Goes
Paper Creations Ink - Challenge 21 Things with Wings
Crafting for all Seasons - Challenge 23 Catherine's Sketch
Creative Card Crew - Challenge #6 Vintage
Creative Inspiration - Challenge #155 Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Bingo! (I used gems, diecuts, flowers)
Scrapbook Sisters - Card Challenge #76 Anything Goes

Went a little wild

Splitcoast Stampers technique challenges are always fun.  I'm a bit late for this cascading card challenge from January but I saw so many possibilities for this fancy fold card I had to give it a try.  Here's my first...a birthday card for my beautiful daughter April. Photo doesn't really show the cascading effect very well, but it's such a cool look.  It folds flat for mailing but accordians out about 4 inches to show off the layers.  I backed  my card so as to create a pocket for a tag with a gift card for a local nursery (to buy and plant a tree) thus the theme of my card.

I'm definitely going to make more of these...they're deceptively simple, and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  Thanks for looking and Happy Birthday to my dear April who made me a mother 38 years ago and has blessed my life in too many ways to count since then!

Hugs,

Kathy

DP: Jillibean Apple Cheddar Soup, Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends, MME Happier; Sentiments:  SRM sticker, computer generated; punches:  MS butterfly and edge punch, pine bough; Die cuts:  Nestie scalloped circle, assorted foliage dies (some sent by BFF Wendy B).  Little Hampton Art owl rubber stamp I've had forever stamped and embossed.  I free cut the tree branches.

Challenges

Ginger Loft GL36  - Happy Birthday

Opus Gluei - Challenge 126 Branching Out trees and nature inspired

Penny Black and More- Springtime

Pile it On - Up in the Air bugs, birds, butterflies

The Crafty Pad #162 - the Perfect Pair (use 2 pairs...owls and butterflies)

Sweet Stampin Challenge - Use lots of green (my owls are stamped & embossed)

Totally Gorjuss Challenge 123 - Spring!

Simon Says - A Bit o Green

Crazy 4 Challenges - Let's see some green

Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Paper Creations Ink - Challenge 21 Things with Wings

Scrapbook Sisters - Card Challenge #76 Anything goes

Dude in a little black dress...

Well, actually it's a card for a dude (who wouldn't be caught dead in a dress by the way...even a cute little black one).   I know I'm not the only cardmaker who struggles with cards for guys.  I mean if you're lucky, they golf or fish or love old trucks or cars and you at least have some kind of theme going on besides lace and flowers and pretty bling.  Anyway, here's my guy card starring Basic Grey's Little Black Dress.

Hugs,
Kathy

base is kraft, the paper is Basic Grey Little Black Dress, the stripey grosgrain ribbon was perfect, MS punches, Nestie ovals, sentiment stamp is Stampin' Up.

Birthday Girl

Lily's 6th birthday card, thanks to inspiration of my sweet friend Wendy (Mrs. B)--a gatefold card with a Sassy Cheryl digistamp (sooo cute) perfect for a birthday party girl.  Colored with Prismacolors and embossed with Cbug.  DP BG Indie Bloom, SRM sticker, Magnolia die, some ric rac.    We took everyone miniature golfing on Saturday for her birthday treat.  Happy Birthday dear Lily!

Cruise Portfolio Album Gift

So, I've been busy the past month making Christmas gifts and I thought I'd share. (warning: heavy graphics ahead)  Kathy Orta of PaperPhenomenon is an incredibly gifted designer or paper engineer and offers tutorials for some amazingly beautiful and creative projects.  She calls this an "Occasion Folio" and I ended up making 4 of them so far (3 Christmas themed and this one for my sweet mom-in-law of the cruise we took her on last year).  The Christmas albums were given ready for recipients to add their own Christmas photos, but I finished this one for her.  

This project is completely made of chipboard, paper, lots of scoretape, some magnets, a bit of ribbon and a new (to me) great product called Rub 'n Buff which is a tube of waxy gold numminess that dries quickly and leaves a beautiful gilt finish (see edges). It also comes in other colors and I will definitely be using it on future projects. 

Anyhoo, I had so much fun creating these albums and the family members who received them seemed genuinely impressed. Each of the center landscape pockets hold mats for additional photos and there are pockets inside the covers for tucking memorabilia or larger photos.

I'll share another one of Kathy's designs I made as a gift soon. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and area ready for a great New Year!

Kathy

xoxoxo

Tribute

High school photo of my mom at about 16 years old.

It is a month ago today that my mother passed away and I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting while adjusting to the loss of a dear parent.

As I’ve mentioned before, in May 2010 we brought my mom here from California to our home in Arizona to care for her. We had fun preparing one of our sunny guest bedrooms for her and making it homey with lots of family photos and comforting possessions. Our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations last year were wonderful despite her growing weakness, and she loved being here enjoying family, particularly frequent visits with Lily and Rowan, the great grandchildren. The hospice angels who became part of our family made it possible for us to avoid hospital visits and to keep her at home despite her serious decline in recent months. For that I will be forever grateful.

My mother was fiercely independent and incredibly active. I have memories of her baking bread and cookies weekly and usually sharing a loaf or a batch with a neighbor or friend. She was incredibly generous, kind and loving and I will probably never know all the many lives she touched. Family and faith were everything to her. She lived her life with grace and courage, complaining little and with continual gratitude. Every day as I took her meals to her or helped her change clothes, she thanked me over and over again telling me how much she appreciated the sacrifices and hard work it took to care for her. Honestly, it was a labor of love and an opportunity to give back to a mother who gave so much to her own family and to my little girl self who needed her.

Now I catch myself listening for her call or planning her lunch tray and I wonder how long it will take to really adjust to her not needing me any longer. My faith assures me she is reunited with her dear Stan-- my wonderful Dad, and her parents and brother and sisters who have all gone ahead and there is true rejoicing on the other side. How I would love to sneak a peek.

Verlene Baker

July 3, 1925 - November 5, 2011

Baby you're a star

For weeks I had been trying to come up with an idea for Allison's birthday card.  Then one night I had a light bulb moment...I did a google search for vintage astrology images and found this beauty.  My halloween stash contained a sheet of sparkly black cardstock and my dear friend Wendy had sent me some die cuts of this fabulous corner design (it's supposed to be snowflake flurries, but to me it looked like stars) and my easel card went together very quickly.  I punched a few tiny pin point holes and added some random bling.  The image is fussy cut and shaped to give it dimension with silicone (which doesn't show very well in the photo).

Happy Birthday Allison!