My Way: Core'dinations & Stampendous Blog Hop

Core'dinations is celebrating with Stampendous this week!

 

Of course there are prizes this week! Three prize packages will be awarded. The package from Stampendous includes the Lovely Garden Stamp Set; the Matching Lovely Garden Cutting Dies; a Sand It Kit from Core'dinations which includes a sanding block, replacement sandpaper, and a "must-have" Dust Buddy clean up cloth; AND Core'dinations will also be sending the lucky winners some of our fantastic 6" X 6" paper pads. PLUS an extra special bonus - our friends at Dreamweaver Stencil will be adding the gorgeous Stone Wall stencil that Jamie Martin from Stampendous used in her terrific card she'll be posting this week (you can see a peek of it on the blog banner!

We'll draw three random blog posts from all the posts this week. Then we'll choose one comment from each. Of course we'll love you even more if you pin our projects to your Pinterest Boards or if you Tweet, or Share on Facebook, follow us, like our pages.

LET'S GET STARTED!

For my hop project I created a fun 8" x 8" layout using lots of Core'dinations WhiteWash Collection and Stampendous Lovely Garden Cling Stamps and Die Cuts(link is above).

I got a little crazy sanding the Whitewash and stamping flowers!  Love how crisp these stamps are on the textured Core'dinations.  

I hope you enjoyed my project!  The fabulous Debbie Standard is up next. 

~Kate

You know the drill! Here's who is posting today!
PLEASE NOTE: A few DT'ers might be up a bit late due to some technical difficulties so hang with us today, thanks!

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Tracy Gruber

Rhea Weigand

Kate Nolan Denham (you are here)

Debbie Standard

Ahhhh, Nuts!

TGIF! I am away at a crop this weekend and was so happy there was a scrapbook store for us to shop. My LSS have slowly disappeared so it is nice to see new (to me) products in person.

Today I discovered Darcie's Heart & Home stamps. I HAD to purchase the Busy Beaver clear stamp set because it is so very cute and punny (= funny + pun). Here is the card I just whipped up with it...

You can see a bit of my crop space and the pic was snapped with my phone, but I know that doesn't distract from the total cuteness of the stamps I used!!!

Supplies:

Core'dinations Cardstock  Tim Holtz Kraft Core 

Darcie's Heart & Home Stamps 

Ranger Archival Ink 

Eyelet Outlet Acorn Brads  

Cupcake Inpirations Challenge

Core'dinations is sponsoring this week's challenge at Cupcake Inspirations.  Have you seen this fun challenge site?  They share a lovely picture of cupcakes each week as inspiration for you to create a card or other project.

This week's cupcake inspiration....

I created a pretty card inspired by the colors and dollops of frosting on the cupcakes.  You can see my "dollops" of Liquid Pearls on my banner and bicycle wheels.  

Core'dinations Supplies:

Core Essentials Pastels 

Core Essentials Brights 

Tillie Dot Spotted Cardstock 6"x6" 

Core Basics 110lb Smooth Cardstock

Sand It Gadget & Dust Buddy 

Other Supplies:

Sizzix/Hero Arts Framelits

Ranger Liquid Pearls & Archival Ink

Die-namics Die

You can find Cupcake Inspiration Rules here.  Be sure to follow the rules, you don't want to miss out on the great Core'dinations Prize for this challenge.  Also, other Core'dinations Design Team members participated in this fun challenge.  Check out the Core'dinations Blog over the next couple of days to see what they created for this challenge! 

Couture Creations 2014 Design Team Audition

Hello, hello!  Today I am sharing several projects I have created using Couture Creations products for their 2014 DT Audition.  For those of you who already follow my blog, you have seen some of these just recently and you already know I love Couture Creations embossing folders, stamps and dies. Their double-sided tape is pretty awesome, too!  

The first two cards I created for CropStop as their January 2014 Guest Designer using Couture Creations 3-in-1 Collection: Butterfly Notes. 

Couture Creations 3 in 1 Collection: Butterfly Notes

Couture Creations All Occasions Collection Embossing Folder: My Gardens

Couture Creations Double-Sided Tape: 18mm x 50m

 You can find a detailed tutorial for my bright "It's Your Day" card here.

Couture Creations 3 in 1 Collection: Butterfly Notes

Couture Creations Double Sided Tape: 18mm x 50 m

Couture Creations Gemstones: Sparkling Champagne

My next card was designed for Core'dinations Cardstock. After embossing the Chocolate Box cardstock with Great Almanzo, I embossed the image with clear embossing powder.  I love how this makes the embossing sheen.   

Couture Creations Great Almanzo Embossing Folder

Couture Creations Dazzling Doily Die

Did you know you can emboss on the back of Sticky Back Canvas?  You sure can! I am not sure I have shared this on my blog before, but it was showcased at CHA 2012. 

Couture Creations Smooch Embossing Folder

I could post a bunch more projects using Couture Creations, but I will end with this card.  It is one of my favorites.  

Couture Creations Peacock Pleasure Embossing Folder

I wish everyone the best of luck! 

~Kate

Valentine's Love!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  While I do believe we should celebrate love every day of the year, it is nice to use Valentine's Day as an excuse to leave homemade cards and chocolates for the ones I love.

I already shared the Valentine's card I made for Scott here.  Today I am sharing the simply sweet Valentine I left for my Lily girl.

The card is made with all Core'dinations Cardstock. The smooth white is the fabulous new 110lb paper that they are releasing.  Seriously the best stamping cardstock!  This sentiment, stamp by Unity Stamp Co, was always said with a goodnight kiss each night when my girls were young. I will still often say it to Lily.

Supplies:

Core'dinations Cardstock

Unity Stamp Co.

Momento Ink

Want2Scrap Bling

Studio Calico Wood Veneers

Super Cute, Super Quick Card

I am always looking for cute sketches to use when designing cards and I especially loves ones that have a clean design, allowing me to whip up a cute card in no time flat.  This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches is just perfect for that! 

Here is my card....

Nobody would know that this super cute card whipped up in less than ten minutes!

Supplies:

Core'dinations Cardstock

GCD Studios Patterned Paper

KaiserCraft Rhinestones

Paper Trey Ink Stamps

Ranger Archival Ink

Pebbles Felt Embellishment 

Thanks for visiting today!  

~Kate

Butterfly Birthday Card

Happy Wednesday!  Today I am sharing a pretty, embossed birthday card created with some great Couture Creations products for Crop Stop. You will find it on their blog today, too.

The Core'dinations cardbase is 4.5" x 6."  I dry embossed the background cardstock with Couture Creations "My Gardens" Embossing Folder.  

Using the background stamp in Couture Creations 3 in 1 "Butterfly Notes"Collection, I created a 3 color image by gently dabbing 3 different colors of ink on the stamp and stamping it onto a piece of smooth white cardstock. 

Check out the side view!  I dry embossed the stamped image with the corresponding embossing folder in the collection.  You can really see how the embossing gives the stamped image great dimension.

Featured CropStop Product

Couture Creations 3 in 1 Collection: Butterfly Notes

Couture Creations All Occasions Collection Embossing Folder: My Gardens

Couture Creations Double-Sided Tape: 18mm x 50m

Core'dinations Cardstock

May Arts White with White Sheer Dots Ribbon

 

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kate

Core'dinations Hard Core Crop 2013 - My Challenge!

Today is the kick off for Core'dinations Hard Core Crop 2013!  The Design Team has come up with lots of great challenges that will be shared over the next few days and you'll have until 12 Midnight EST on November 10th to get the challenges completed and linked up.  You will find all the rules here and the master list of challenges here.  So pull out your Core'dinations Cardstock and join the fun!

My challenge for you is to make at least two tags.  You MUST use Core'dinations visibily on your tags and you MUST stamp on your tags.  Feel free to make just the two tags, but don't feel as though that is all you can do.  You can also incorporate them into a layout or a card or an altered project. Let your imagination soar with this challenge!  Link up your stamped tag challenge projects in the Inlinkz Collection at the bottom of this post for a chance to win Core'dinations 12 x12 Black Magic Collection.

Did you know that Core'dinations has a whole line of smooth AND textured tags?  They also have different size and shaped tags. They are called CoreTags.  I used a different CoreTag on each of the four tags I am sharing for my Hard Core Crop 2012 challenge inspiration.

The Autumn Memories Tag on a Core'dinations Creative Medium Ivory CoreTag.  To create the pretty embossed multi-colored design,  just paint your embossing folder with 3 autumn-like Distress Paints, place the top 2/3 of your tag in the painted embossing folder and then run it through your Big Shot (or other similar machine).  It is such a pretty effect and it is so simple to do!

For the Vintage Santa Tag I stamped my image and sentiment on a Core'dinations Ivory Circle CoreTag.  Once stamped, the tag is double matted onto embossed and die cut circles made from scraps of Core'dinations Cardstock.

I used Core'dinations Fashion CoreTags for my Thank You Tag. I just love this shape!  The tag has been debossed and inked up with Chalking Ink.  I sanded and dusted the Core'dinations Cardstock before stamping my sentiment.  Dusting with your Dust Buddy is very important as you do not want the dust remnants on your stamp.  

Last but not least, the Believe Tag was made out of the awesome Core'dinations Sandable CoreTags.  I used the yellow in the Darks Collection as the base.  The tag was sanded and dusted before I stamped the sentiment.  The Poinsettias were stamped and fussy cut out of scraps of Core'dinations Cardstock.  A little bit of glitter was added to the flowers by simply mixing some fine glitter with clear drying glue and painting the mixture directly on the Poinsettias.

Core'dinations Supplies used for my tags:

CoreTags

Sand It Gadget

Dust Buddy

Now it is your turn to share your stamped tag projects.  I can't wait to see what you all create!

October is Birthday Month!

This month is so full of birthdays! From friends, to co-workers, to family and even my daughter's 21st birthday.  I am totally in birthday card making mode. Be prepared for several birthday card posts this month.

The cards I am sharing today are for two of my co-workers.  Very nice ladies, who deserved very pretty cards.  My inspiration for the cards came from two brilliant designers at Studio Calico.

This card was inspired by Gayatri Murali. I used Core'dinations Cardstock for the card base and some new 110lb Core'dinations Cardstock stamping base.  This new cardstock is awesome for stamping and for coloring!  

My next card was inspired by the very talented Dana Flenkenstein.  Again, I used Core'dinations Cardstock for the base and embossed roses.  Both cards contain stamps from Stampin' Up! 

I hope you enjoyed these birthday cards. Be sure to stop on by Wednesday for my daughter's birthday card.  It is a fun one! 

~Kate

Core'dinations & Lawn Fawn Blog Hop

This week Core'dinations has partnered with Lawn Fawn to bring you some AWE-some projects by both design teams.  I am so excited by this pairing! Today my projects are up on the Core'dinations Blog.  I used Lawn Fawn's "Many Thanks" sentiment stamps and "Quinn's ABCs" to stamp the titlework of my layout on the smooth side of  Core'dinations Cardstock.

To create the fun scalloped bottom, I debossed my Core'dinations Cardstock using a contrasting ink on my embossing folder. So, for the purple cardstock, I used a blue ink and for the blue cardstock, I used a purple ink. Then I punched out lots of circles, cut them in half and alternated the colors in five layers

Layout supplies:

Coredinations Cardstock: Distress Collection

Coredinations Cardstock: Neutrals Collection

Lawn Fawn: Many Thanks

Lawn Fawn: Quinn's ABCs

Sizzix Embossing Folders

Quick Quotes Chalking Ink

Ranger Archival Ink

Want2Scrap Pearls

CM Circle Punch

I used "Many Thanks" for my card sentiment, too. Again, stamping the sentiment on the smooth side of my Snowflake Core'dinations Cardstock.

Card Supplies:

Coredinations Cardstock: Neutrals and Pastels Collections

Coredinations CoreCouture Glitter Cardstock

Lawn Fawn: Many Thanks

CartUs Embossing Folder

Spellbinders Lacey Squares Die

Ranger Archival Ink

Inkessentials Enamel Accents

Kaiser Craft Rhinestones

It was so much fun to pair up Core'dinations Cardstock with Lawn Fawn stamps!  Be sure to visit both the Core'dinations Blog and Lawn Fawn Blog now through Friday for inspiration and prizes.

Have a great day!
~Kate

A Couple of Cards

Hello, Hello!  I have not fallen off the face of the blog planet, I promise.   Our household is adjusting to having a high school freshman who is busy with varsity soccer six days a week and a hubby who is now commuting to the office (he has worked at home for the last four years).  This transition forces my creativity to take a back seat to life.  It also forces my blog to take a back seat to life.  I'm not complaining though, this is an exciting time for my family and I don't want to miss out! I promise I will be posting, just not as frequently in the next couple of months.

Today I have a couple of birthday cards to share with you.  First up is a pretty card that I made for one of my best girlfriends.  She so appreciates a handmade card.  I so appreciate that she saves them all!

Supplies:

Paper & Butterflies ~ Studio Calico

Tags ~ Scarlet Lime

Sentiment ~ Elle's Studio

Adhesives ~ Xyron & Helmar

My second card is one I made for Lily to give to a friend.  I just love the simplicity of this one and the blues with the kraft paper just make me swoon. The feathers and sentiment are heat embossed.  

Supplies:

Paper ~ Core'dinations

Stamps ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Embossing powder ~ Stampendous

Embossing folder ~ CartUs

Versamark ~ Ranger

Adhesives ~ Xyron & Helmar

I hope you have a wonderful day!
~Kate

August Core'dinations Projects

Yesterday I had several projects go live on the Core'dinations Blog.  I always love to see my projects up there because I love the product so, so much!  Today I figured I would share those projects with all of you!

Two of today's projects are cards in which I used the same stamp set on two different kinds of Core'dinations Cardstock.  On the first card, I stamped on some Pastels Core'dinations.  Love the fun texture you can see through the stamping!

On the next card, I stamped on Glitter Silk...

Card Supplies:

Core'dinations~

Core'dinations Essentials - Darks, Neutrals & Brights

Glitter Silk 6x6

Tillie Dot Assorted Pack 6x6

Other Supplies~

Sizzix & Hero Arts Framelits

Ranger Archival Ink

Dymo

Helmar Adhesives

My last project is a earth-toned layout with lots of Neutrals and Darks to give it a masculine feel. I did some embossing, sewing and sanding on this one!

Layout Supplies:

Core'dinations~

Kraft-Core Shattered Collection

Core Essentials Cardstock - Darks

Core Essentials Cardstock -Neutrals

CoreTags - Darks Assorted Sandable

Sand It Set

Other Supplies~

Couture Creations Embossing Folder

American Crafts Alphas

Quick Quotes Chalking Ink

Helmar Adhesives

Pool & Sun = Fun!

Nothing screams summer to me more than soaking up the sunshine sitting poolside with my family.  I love spending a bright, sunny day watching the kids play in the pool and be silly.  I used the Core'dinations Core Essential Brights to convey the feel of a bright, sunny pool day in the layout I am sharing today.

To create texture,  I embossed the cardstock and sanded it with the Sandit Gadget and Dusty Buddy.  I punched holes in the middle of a few of the embossed circles so that the white background would show through and then added bling to the other embossed circles.

Stamping on Core'dinations Cardstock always give a great impression.  My hints for getting a clean. sharp image are 1) use a good ink, 2) use a pad underneath the paper when stamping and 3) use an even hand when stamping.   

I stamped the circle and the arrows then fussy cut the stamped images to create the sun in the left corner of my layout.  It added another fun, summery element to my layout.

I hope you have a bright and sunny day today!

Supplies:
Core'dination Core Elements: Brights
Core'dinations Core Elements: Neutrals
Core'dinations Sandit Gadget
Core'dinations Dust Buddy
Core Couture Embossing Folder
Pink Paislee Stamps
Stampin' Up Stamps
KaiserCraft Rhinestones
Helmar ZapDots & Premium Craft Glue

Cherry Sweet!

Creating a simple card for any occassion is a super sweet task when you create with the Sweet Cakes Collection by Gel-A-Tins Stamps. I am just digging the fun cherry stamps that are included in this collection. 

I created the stamped cherry background using two different colors of ink by masking the stem and then the cherry when stamping.  The masking is easily done using some washi tape.  

Loving the retro feel of the cherry image and color combo.  Very reminiscent of a dress I had during my childhood.

Supplies:

Gel-A-Tins Stamps: Sweet Cakes

Core'dinations Cardstock

PaperTrey Ink Cardtock

May Arts Ribbon

Momento Ink
Xyron Mega Runner

Wishing you a sweet day!

~Kate

Christmas Card In July

Last week I was trying to finish up a summer layout and I was struggling to put the finishing touches on it.  My creativity was leaning me towards creating this great Santa card using the Groovy Santa Collection by Gel-A-Tins Stamps.  I wish motivation to make Christmas cards actually struck me when I need to make them. Sometimes I think that my creativity is seasonally challenged.  

I think this Santa stamp looks like he is saying "Ho, Ho, Ho."  Don't you?  I stamped the image and sentiment on a Core'dinations CoreTag after I had spritzed it with some Chalkboard Mist.

While I am definitely not wishing for Christmas anytime, I am happy to see that my Christmas card making mojo is still intact and hope that you enjoyed this bit of Christmas in July.

~Kate

Supplies:
Gel-A-Tins Groovy Santa Collection
Core'dinations Cardstock and Core'Tag
Ranger Archival Ink
Tattered Angels Chalkboard Mist
May Arts Ribbon
Xyron Mega Runner

You Have A Ticket To My Heart

I have been finding lots of inspiration from the Admission Is Free collection from Gel-A-Tins Stamps.  It is such a versatile set with some cute sentiments to go along with the great ticket stamps.

This simple card is perfect for any day!  Just pop it into your child's lunchbox or leave for hubby in his car.  Such a sweet reminder of how much they mean to you.

Supplies 

Admission Is Free by Gel-A-Tins Stamps

Bazzill Smooth Cardstock

Core'dinations Chocolate Cardstock 6x6

Ranger Archival Ink

Quick Quotes Chalking Ink

Studio Calico Chipboard.

Thank you for visiting today!
~Kate

Be Bold Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday.   Today I have mid-week layout and video highlighting Quick Quotes Be Bold Collection along with a fun, new technique for you to try using Quick Quotes Powder Puff Chalking Inks.

I love the bold colors in the Be Bold Collection.  Guess that is why they named it that!  Such vivid yellows, reds, greens and teals.  Perfect for the photo of my daughter and grandson.  Wanting to add a bit more teal and black on the yellow backround paper, I created a new bullseye stamping techniqe using Baha Blue & Midnight Confessions Chalking Ink.  This added a fun, whimsical touch to the layout.

Here is a quick video I created sharing how easy it is to create this effect:

I hope you get a chance to try this fun technique!
~Kate

Quick Quote Supplies
Be Bold Collection:
Be Bold 100
Be Bold 300
Be Bold 400
Be Bold 500
Be Bold Chipboard Die Cut

Other Supplies:
FabScraps Pearls
UmWowStudio Chipboard
Helmar Quick Fix Adhesive Runner

June Gel-A-Tins Projects

Happy Friday!  It is a rainy one here in Maine.  I could use a bit of sunshine to brighten my day, but alas, the forecast has those rain clouds looming for at least the next few days.  So I decided to brighten my own day by sharing a couple of projects I shared on the Gel-A-Tins Blog this month.

First up is a set of adorable baby cards using the "Hello" collection.  One for a boy, one for a girl.

Supplies:

Gel-A-Tins Stamps "Hello" Collection

Core'dinations Cardstock

Ranger Archival Ink

May Arts Ribbon

Stampendous & Clear Snap Embossing Powders

Helmar Premium Craft Glue & ZapDots

*************

Next up is an out-of-this-world gift bag, great for any young boy! I  took every stamp in the "Take Me To Your Leader" collection and stamped them across a piece of stamping paper the width of the gift bag.

Supplies:

Gel-A-Tins Stamps "Take Me To Your Leader"

PaperTrey Ink Paper

Ranger Archival Ink

May Arts Ribbon

Helmar Premium Craft Glue & Fabric Glue

I hope these fun, colorful projects brightened up your day just a bit!
~Kate

Lily's Graduation Card

Please don't mind the quiet of my blog this week.  Last night was my baby girl's 8th grade graduation.  Lily has been blessed to go to the same school since kindergarten. A small school in which she has had most of her classmates for just as long and a few since their preschool days.

Lily is an amazing young woman!  She is strong and smart and sports driven.  She is cute to boot!  Last night she won an award that encompasses all of that.  We are so proud of her!!!

I made a card for her graduation.

This cute card is a lift of another cute card.  I wish for the life of me I could remember who made the original so I could give her credit for the inspired cuteness.

Supplies:

Core'dinations Cardstock

Studio Calico Chipboard Heards

Hero Arts Bicycle Stamp

Purple Onion Sentiment Stamp

Ranger Archival Ink

American Crafts Jute

Congratulations to my baby girl!!!!  

Thank You, Thank You,

This is definitely a week where making cards by the dozen is a must!  We need them for birthdays, graduation, coach gifts, and Father's Day.  Lily needed "thank you" cards for four teachers and two coaches. Today I am sharing two of the thank you cards I made for her to give.   

I used last week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my first card.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to post it before the deadline, but I do believe you should give credit where credit is due.  This card whipped up in no time at all with some Studio Calico papers!

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Bazzill Smooth

Papers ~ Studio Calico

Stamp & Die Set ~ Hero Arts w/ Sizzix

Jute ~ American Crafts

Ink ~ Ranger

Although this is not a birthday card, I did get inspiration for this card using a sketch from Seize The Birthday.   Nothing fancy here! I stamped the sentiment down in the left corner and used my new sewing machine to stitch the layered stars onto the card.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ PaperTrey Ink

Stamp ~ Hero Arts

Papers ~ Jillibean Soup

Ink ~ Ranger

I have lots more cards to share, hopefully this weekend!  

Have a great day,

Kate