KSS - In the Garden

My Kitchen Sink Stamps sponsored design today features beautiful spring daffodils. I have never been one to have a green thumb, but this year I am thinking about planting a few flowers.

Although the weather continues to be more chilly that usual here in Texas, I did spend time cleaning out a flower bed for a redesign!! I had let it go for so long that there was nothing left in it but weeds and dead bushes. Now I am scouting around the local garden centers to see what I might like to plant. Unfortunately, I am also fight off the poison ivy rash I picked up in the clean-up process. As they say, "No good deed goes unpunished!!"

This birthday card is going to a friend who belongs to the local Master Gardeners. She knows that the only gorgeous flowers I am able to produce are paper and ink!

Kitchen Sink Stamp Sets used in this card include:

Spring Daffodils Multi Step Clear Stamps

Simple Sentiments Clear Stamps

Harvest Multi Step Clear Stamps (blessings)

Color Recipe for Daffodils

Layer 1 Memento Cantaloupe

Layer 2  Memento Dandelion stamped 3 times

Layer 3 Stampin' Up Crushed Curry stamped 2 times

Layer 4 Memento Peanut Brittle

Color Recipe for the Stems and Leaves

Layer 1 Memento Pear Tart

Layer 2 Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green

Layer 3 Memento Olive Grove

Color Recipe for the Frog

Layer 1 Memento Pear Tart

Layer 2 Memento Olive Grove

Layer 3 Versafine Onyx Black

Color Recipe for the Dragonfly

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Going Gray

Layer 2 Memento London Fog

Brushed grass - Distress Peeled Paint

Brushed Sky - Distress Mermaid Lagoon

Sentiment - Distress Oxide Gathered Twigs

This card is entered in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps #172 - Spring

Allsorts Challenge Blog - #513 - Use Yellow

Kitty Bee Designs - Challenge #139 - In the Garden

Check in on the Kitchen Crew:


Kitchensinkstamps' Weblog by Maria Colosimo,
the owner and creator of KSS

Nana loves stamping by Jeanne Frontz

Celebrating National Pencil Day - CCEE1913

CCEE hostess, Kelly McKown-Santi has issued her final challenge for March.

Tomorrow is National Pencil Day.

Kelly wants the CCEE Stampers to create cards coloring our images 
with colored pencils

 (no markers, watercolors, etc) 

or featuring a pencil in our image 

or both!

Well, coloring absolutely is not my thing. I think because it takes me so long to create a card when I have to color the image by hand instead of stamping it on with ink. I do, however, have a large collection of Unity Girls that need to be colored.

Today I have created my card using Poppy Girl by Unity. After coloring her with Prismacolor Pencils and blending with mineral spirits, I masked the image and stenciled on the background before adding the sentiment.

Look in on what the CCEE DT Members chose to color for you today!!

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Lois Bak

Liz Williams
Frances Byrne
Maryann Einam

Kelly McKown-Santi

US Route 183 - KSS

For today's Let's Make a Scene design sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps, I was inspired by a road trip I took this week with a dear friend.  Cheryl wanted to visit the San Felipe de Austin Historic Site which opened last April and where my son is the site manage, as well as see a fabulous display of Texas wildflowers along the way.

We had a great time at the museum and did see this field of bluebonnets there, but saw very few along the highways on our way up.  This field is beside the original Stephen F. Austin monument and the dog run cabin across the street from the museum.

My son, Bryan, suggested we take a different route home, down Interstate 10 to Luling and then US Route 183 to Gonzales. Wow, the difference. The closer we got to Luling, the more colorful blossoms we saw. But when we turned south to Gonzales we were rewarded with field after field of bluebonnets blanketing the country side. Mixed in with them were the orange Indian Paintbrushes and the red Phlox and well as yellow wildflowers of many species. Each field a unique beauty that was breath-taking! 

Here is the card they inspired me to create:

Kitchen Sink Stamp Sets Used to Create this Design:

Bluebonnets Multi Step Clear Stamps

Berries Multi Step Clear Stamps (sentiment)

Birch Trees Multi Step Clear Stamps (bit of leaves used for orange filler flower)

Color Recipe for the Bluebonnets

Layer 4 Stampin' Up Blueberry Burst

Layer 3 Stampin' Up Balmy Blue

Layer 2 Memento April Rain

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Barely Banana (tips of flowers only)

Leaves and Stems

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade

Layer 2 Memento Olive Grove

Layer 3 Stampin' Up Mossy Meadow

Orange Filler Flowers - Stampin' Up Only Orange

Butterflies

Layer 3 Versafine Onyx Black

Layer 2 Stampin' Up Only Orange

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Marigold Morning

I am entering this card in the following challenge:

Daisy Chain Challenges #28 - Spring is in the Air

The flowers will bloom for about another month or so. If you have the chance to take a drive through central Texas, don't miss the opportunity. This is the best wildflower crop in many years!

Creations for the Kitchen Crew:

Kitchensinkstamps' Weblog by Maria Colosimo,

the owner and creator of KSS

Nana loves stamping by Jeanne Frontz

CCEE1920 - Smoke and Mirrors Day

CCEE March Hostess, Kelly McKown Santi showed up again with another fabulous challenge for the CCEE Stampser.

Next week is National Smoke and Mirrors Day.

The celebration is based on magicians' illusions, 

where magicians make objects appear or disappear with retracting mirrors

and confusing bursts of smoke.

She asked up to wave our magic wands and create cards with a surprise element!

I used the Upsy Daisy Pop Up Dies by Karen Burniston (thank you, Frances) paired with stamps from Unity and Verve to create my card. I may just have to put this in the mail to our wonderful hostess since she is the World's Biggest Coffee Fan!!

Thank for the fun challenge, Kelly!!

Front of Card

Inside of Card

Don't miss the magical cards created by the other members of the CCEE DT. You will find them linked below!

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Lois Bak

Liz Williams
Frances Byrne
Maryann Einam

Kelly McKown-Santi

Clean and Simple - KSS

Today's card sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps is a clean and simple, one layer design created using images from Shamrocks & Clover Multi Step Clear Stamps and Ladybug Hugs Multi Step Clear Stamps.

I stamped the lady bug first and then masked her head and body. Here is the color recipe I used to create her:

Ladybug

Layer 5 Versafine Onyx Black

Layer 4 Memento London Fog

Layer 1 Memento Love Letter

Layer 2 Memento Lady Bug

Layer 3 Memento Rhubarb Stalk

4 Leaf-Clover

Layer 2 Stampin' Up Emerald Envy

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Cucumber Crush

Layer 3 Stampin' Up Forest Foilage

The sentiment was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and the green base was brushed with Distress Ink Peeled Paint.

This card has been entered in the following challenges:

CAS525 - Luck o' the Irish by Splitcoaststampers

Challenge #136 - Green Goodness - Dragonfly Journeys

PP433 -  Clean and Simple One Layer Card - The Paper Players

Visit the Kitchen Sink Crew to see their latest design with Kitchen Sink Stamps!!

Kitchensinkstamps' Weblog by Maria Colosimo,
the owner and creator of KSS


Nana loves stamping by Jeanne Frontz

CCEE1911 - National Shoe the World Day

March CCEE hostess, Kelly McKown-Santi shared the following with us to inspire our creations this week:

Tomorrow is National Shoe the World Day.

 Each day, over 500 million children,

 teens and adults around the world do not have a pair of shoes to wear,

 and despite the terrain and the climate, they walk barefoot.

 Let's create a card using any shoe - cowboy boots, heels, flip-flops,

to help the awareness to donate any shoes you no longer need.

All images for my design are by Gina Marie Designs.

What kind of shoes will we find on the cards of the CCEE Team?
Let's find out!!

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Lois Bak

Liz Williams
Frances Byrne
Maryann Einam

Kelly McKown-Santi

Let's Make a Spring Scene - KSS

Today's Let's Make a Scene design sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps is a card I make for Mother Mark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge #554 over at Splitcoaststampers last week. One of my cyber stamping friends has been battling some serious health issues in the past few months, and the Teapotters (of which I am one) wanted to cheer and encourage her with cards of her favorite type - scenes!! Well, they are my favorite, too, and hers is one of the sweet cyber friendships I have made and hold dear over my years on the internet.

So here is the card that went in the mail to Tonda this week! It is an expanded version of the card I made last week. Today's card has an added peek out the kitchen window at the bluebonnets growing in the yard!

The designer papers are from My Mind's Eye. The window die is from Poppy Stamps, and the small jar die is from Stampin' Up.  I used part of the crocheted edge from an antique handkerchief to trim the tablecloth and a bit of twine around the jar.

The Kitchen Sink images come from the following sets:

Bluebonnets Multi Step Clear Stamps

Snowy Cabin Multi Step Clear Stamps

Forest Toadstool Multi Step Clear Stamps

Color Recipe for the Bluebonnets:

Layer 4 Stampin' Up Blueberry Burst

Layer 3 Stampin' Up Balmy Blue

Layer 2 Memento Summer Sky

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Barely Banana (tips of flowers only)

Leaves and Stems - 

Layer 1 - Stampin' Up Old Olive

Layer 2 - Stampin' Up Mossy Meadow

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - Spring or Green

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog - Create a Scene

Additional Kitchen Sink Stamps inspiration can be found linked below:

Kitchensinkstamps' Weblog by Maria Colosimo,

the owner and creator of KSS

Nana loves stamping by Jeanne Frontz

I have one potted bluebonnet that is just beginning to put on flowers, so it won't be but another week or two before the fields along Texas roadsides will be filled with them!!!

An interesting fact about bluebonnets, when they have bloomed out (in about a month) and go to seed, you can actually hear the seed pods pop open scattering seeds for next year's crop.

CCEE1920 - Fun Facts About Your Name

CCEE Stampers hostess, Kelly McKown Santi, has some sensational challenges for us for the month of March. According to Kelly, Monday was Fun Facts about Your Name Day. She asked us to find out what our names mean. She said,

"Briefly research the meaning of your name and create a card!"

Kelly also said, "If you can't find your name directly, create a card 

based on a few letters IN your name ..i.e. K = Kite, E = enamel dots, L = lavender, etc."

Well, here is what I found out about Lynn. It comes from an English surname which was derived from Welsh llyn meaning "lake". Before the start of the 20th century it was primarily used for boys, but it has since come to be more common for girls. 

I therefore created a small lakeside scene with images from Kitchen Sink Stamps and a sentiment from Unity.

Learn what the rest of the CCEE Team found out about their names!

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Lois Bak

Liz Williams
Frances Byrne
Maryann Einam

Kelly McKown-Santi

Backporch Texas - Kitchen Sink Stamps

Today's card sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps is going to a dear friend who has helped me in so very many ways. On Valentine's Day I received the sweetest card from her saying she wanted to visit the San Felipe de Austin Museum to tour the site as well as see the fields of bluebonnets that blanket it. My son has worked on this project since its conception over ten years ago and continues to be the site manager there since its opening in April of 2018.

Well, the Texas bluebonnets have started blooming and will be covering the fields there in about a week! This card is going to her today as an invitation for a private tour of the museum and site. It helps to have connections!

To create this card which I have titled Backporch Texas, I have used images from the following Kitchen Sink Stamps sets:

Bluebonnets Multi Step Clear Stamps

Spring Daffodils Multi Step Clear Stamps (dragonfly)

Forest Toadstool Multi Step Clear Stamps (sentiment)

The orange table cloth is a nod to the Indian Paint Brushes that line the Texas highways during this colorful time of the year as well!!

Color Recipe for the Bluebonnets

Layer 4 Stampin' Up Blueberry Burst

Layer 3 Stampin' Up Balmy Blue

Layer 2 Memento Summer Sky

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Barely Banana (tips of flowers only)

Leaves and Stems - Stampin' Up Old Olive

Color Recipe for the Dragonfly

Layer 1 Stampin' Up Gray Granite

Layer 2 Versafine Onyx Black

The mason jar die is from Stampin' Up, and I added crocheted lace trim for the tablecloth and a twine wrap and bow to the jar.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - For a Special Female

The Paper Players - #431 Spring Fever

Allsorts - #509 - What's Your Favorite Season

Craft Dee Bowz - Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow

View More Kitchen Sink Stamps Goodness Below!

Kitchensinkstamps' Weblog by Maria Colosimo,
the owner and creator of KSS

Nana loves stamping by Jeanne Frontz