10 Minute Monday with Kitchen Sink Stamps

Today I am using images that I haven't worked with in a while. These beautiful swans are from a Kitchen Sink Stamps set called  3 Step Love Birds. After stamping the swans, I clear embossed them as my masking technique to add the colored background. (post sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps)

10 Minute Card

Stamps: Love Birds Multi Step Clear Stamps by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Inks: stamped in the following layers on the swan

5 - Memento Tuxedo Black

4 - Memento Gray Flannel

3 - Stampin' Up Going Grey

2 - Stampin' Up Goding Grey stamped off once

1 - Versamark clear embossed

Sponging - Stampin' Up Bashful Blue

Die Cut: Majestic Elements by Spellbinders

20 Minute Card

Stamps: Love Birds Multi Step Clear Stamps, Bicycle Multi Step Clear Stamps, 
and Tree Friends Multi Step Clear Stamps

 by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Inks: stamped in the following layers on the swans

5 - Memento Tuxedo Black

4 - Memento Gray Flannel

3 - Stampin' Up Going Grey

2 - Stampin' Up Goding Grey stamped off once

1 - Versamark clear embossed

Sponging - Stampin' Up Bashful Blue

Grass - Stampin' Up Pear Pizzazz

Foreground Plants - Memento Potter's Clay

Die Cut: Majestic Elements by Spellbinders

Embellishment: Ribbon

Kitchen Crew for Kitchen Sink Stamps

 Lisa Somerville - designer

 Maria Colosimo - owner and creator

National Astronomy Day

The CCEE Stampers are celebrating National Astronomy Day by creating cards with stars this week! Join in the fun, and share of card of your own featuring stars in CCEE Stampers Challenge 1518. My card features a sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs.

Take a look at the wonderful designs of the CCEE Design Team Members!

Joanne Grzelak

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Sabrina Friel

Lois Bak

Amber Hillman

Liz Williams

Frances Bryne
Maryann Einam

Let's Make a Scene! KSS Monday

I have decided to mix things up a bit with my Kitchen Sink Stamps posts. (post sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps). It has been over 4 years now that I have been doing 10 minute cards every Monday. Two years later I started adding 20 minute cards as well. While clean and simple is normally my style, there are so many more things you can do with your Kitchen Sink Stamps. And scene cards are my FAVORITE sooooooooooooooo....

Beginning today and every 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, I am going to be creating scenic cards by mixing several KSS sets together to an extent that 10 and 20 minutes did not allow. Today's card  was completed in 60 minutes. To create this card, I stamped the rabbit first and then masked him. I then stamped the rock wall and masked it. Next I added the sunflowers and grasses. 

This card is going to a sweet friend who is moving out of state this week. I am going to mail it a few days before she leaves so it will be there waiting for her when she arrives.

Let's Make a Scene 001

Stamps: Honey Bunny Multi Step Clear Stamps, Tree Friends Multi Step Clear Stamps, 

Sunflowers Multi Step Clear Stamps, and Words of Love Clear Stamps
by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Below you will find the order in which I stamped each image and the inks used:

Bunny - 3 Memento Rich Cocoa

2 Memento Toffee Crunch

1 Memento Desert Sand

4 Memento Espresso Truffle

Brick Wall - 2 Memento Toffee Crunch

1 Memento Desert Sand

Sunflowers - 2 Memento Cantaloupe
1 Memento Dandelion
3 Memento Peanut Brittle
4 Memento Rich Cocoa
5 Memento Espresso Truffle

Sunflower Stems and Leaves - 1 Memento Bamboo Leaves
2 Memento Bamboo Leaves
3 Memento Olive Grove

Sky - Stampin' Up Bashful Blue
Grass - Memento Bamboo Leaves (sponged and stamped)
Sentiment - Memento Espresso Truffle

Embellishments: Crocheted Lace,  Prima Sunflower

Tools: Arch Dies, McGill Leaf Punch, MISTI

Thanks for your visits and sweet comments today!

To find additional Kitchen Sink Stamps inspiration please visit:

Lisa Somerville - designer

 Maria Colosimo - owner and creator

Hug an Australian Day

 Francis, our April hostess for the CCEE challenges, has informed us that April 26 is Hug an Australian Day. All my Australian buddies are cyber friends so I am sending out a virtual hug to you Julie, Dani, Maryann, and Francis. 

For our challenge this week Francis asked us to use a cute critter that we think would be huggable … Bonus points if the animal is native to Australia.

My crocodiles seem headed for a hug so I think that counts as huggable, and I know saltwater crocodiles are found in the Northern Outback. Bonus points for me!!

Look in on the CCEE Team to see their hugable critters!

Joanne Grzelak

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Sabrina Friel

Lois Bak

Amber Hillman

Liz Williams

Frances Bryne
Maryann Einam

KSS Lilacs

I promised last week that I would feature the Kitchen Sink Stamps lilac in today's KSS post. (post sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps).The lilac is probably the one KSS flower that I have had the most difficulty aligning properly. That is until now! I have recently joined the MISTI (Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented) craze! This fabulous tool from My Sweet Petunia makes precision stamp placement a breeze. 

10 Minute Card

Stamps: Lilacs Multi Step Clear Stamps
and Whole Family Clear Stamps by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Papers: Recollections White, Stampin' Up Pale Plum and Orchid Opulence

Inks: Lilac - 4 Memento Sweet Plum, 3 Memento Lilac Posies, 

2 & 1 Memento Lulu Lavender

Stem and Leaves - Memento Bamboo Leaves on all layers

Sentiment - Memento Elderberry

20 Minute Card

Stamps: Lilacs Multi Step Clear Stamps 
and Whole Family Clear Stamps by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Papers: Recollections White, Stampin' Up Lovely Lilac

Inks: Lilac - 4 Memento Elderberry, 3 Stampin' Up Lavender Lace, 

2 & 1 Memento Lulu Lavender

Stem and Leaves - Memento Bamboo Leaves and Olive Grove

Sentiment - Memento Elderberry

Embellishment: Ribbon

For more Kitchen Sink Inspiration visit

 Lisa Somerville - designer

 Maria Colosimo - owner and creator

CCEE Stampers Celebrate National Librarian Day

It's time again for another CCEE challenge and our April hostess, Frances, has planned a great one for this week.

Since today is National Librarian Day, our challenge this week is to use a book as our inspiration. The book can be any book of our choice: adult or children's.

I have used as my inspiration this week the book The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark. It is the sweet, sweet story about a grandfather and his grandson who develop a very special relationship while hunting the woods and fishing the lakes of North Carolina. The grandfather passes on to his grandson much wisdom and knowledge of life lessons learned.

Stamps: Kids at Play by Flourishes

Look in on the CCEE Stampers to see what books inspired them this week!

Joanne Grzelak

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Sabrina Friel

Lois Bak

Amber Hillman

Liz Williams

Frances Bryne
Maryann Einam

The Iris

Kitchen Sink Monday continues this week with more beautiful spring flowers. (post sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps). Today I have used images from Iris Multi Step Clear Stamps. This set comes with both a small iris image and a larger one. The 10 minute card is a one layer design with the large iris stamped directly on a pale yellow card front.

10 Minute Card

Stamps: Iris Multi Step Clear Stamps 
and Berries Multi Step Clear Stamps (sentiment)
by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Papers: Barely Banana by Stampin' Up

Inks: Stem and Leaf - Memento Bamboo Leaves and Olive Grove

Iris - 4 Memento Grape Jelly stamped twice, 3 Memento Grape Jelly,

2 Memento Lulu Lavender stamped 3 times, 1 Memento Lulu Lavender

Memento Dandelion sponged in center of petals

Sentiment - Memento Tuxedo Black

20 Minute Card

Stamps: Iris Multi Step Clear Stamps 
and Honey Bunny Multi Step Clear Stamps (sentiment) 
by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Papers: Whisper White and So Saffron by Stampin' Up

Unknown Purples

Inks: Stem and Leaf - Memento Bamboo Leaves and Olive Grove

Iris - 4 Memento Grape Jelly stamped twice, 3 Memento Grape Jelly,

2 Memento Lulu Lavender stamped 3 times, 1 Memento Lulu Lavender

Memento Dandelion sponged in center of petals

Sentiment - Memento Grape Jelly

Tools: Nestabilities Decorative Elements and Circle Dies

Embellishment: Ribbon

Also creating for Kitchen Sink Stamps:

Lisa Somerville - designer

Connie McCotter - designer
 Maria Colosimo - owner and creator

Thank you so much for checking out my Kitchen Sink Stamps' creations this week! Next week: the Lilac!

CCEE1515 - Stencils

Our April CCEE hostess, Frances, has challenged the CCEE Stampers to this week use a stencil in our card design. The stencil I used was Chevron by Clear Scraps. The sentiment is from Anchor by Our Daily Bread Designs. All the papers are Stampin' Up.

Check out the creative ways the other members of the CCEE Design Team have incorporated stencils into their wonderful designs for this challenge. Then pull out your stencils and play along!

Joanne Grzelak

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Sabrina Friel

Lois Bak

Amber Hillman

Liz Williams

Frances Bryne
Maryann Einam

Mustang Monday Color Challenge

  Today I am sharing this Stampin' Up only card at Wanda Rohlfing's Shack Scraps for her Mustang Monday Color Challenge. The colors for this challenge are Stampin' Up's Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, and Old Olive. The Stampin' Up stamps I have used include the I Love Lace background stamp, World of Dreams, and Work of Art. I also used a SU edge punch.

More Spring Blossoms

On a spring trip to Washington state 15 years ago, I saw yard after yard with beautiful bushes covered with hydrangeas blooming in glorious shades of pinks and blues and purples.  They don't grow as well here in the Texas heat, but every spring I love seeing them turn up in stores just in time for Easter and Mother's Day. I saw the first one of the year this week so they were the inspiration for this week's Kitchen Sink Stamps cards. (post sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps)

10 Minute Card

Stamps: Hydrangea Multi Step Clear Stamps 
and Simple Sentiments Clear Stamps by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Paper: Recollections White

Inks: Memento Rose Bud, Angel Pink, and Bamboo Leaves 

20 Minute Card

Stamps: Hydrangea Multi Step Clear Stamps
and Simple Sentiments Clear Stamps by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Paper: Recollections White, Stampin' Up Elegant Eggplant and Pale Plum

Inks: Memento Grape Jelly, Lulu Lavender, Bamboo Leaves, and Olive Grove

Tools: Quickutz Arch Dies

Embellishment: Ribbon 

Visit the Kitchen Sink Crew:

 Lisa Somerville - designer

Connie McCotter - designer
 Maria Colosimo - owner and creator

Birthday Zinnias

Today's card was created for two challenges:  SCS Free 4 All 267 which requires the use of flowers and the Creative Card Making Chick's first challenge which must be a birthday card. (post sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps).

Stamps: Zinnia Multi Step Clear Stamps by Kitchen Sink Stamps, 
Script Birthdays by SNSS,

and I Love Lace by Stampin' Up

Papers: Recollections White, Stampin' Up Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo

Inks: Memento Rose Bud, Angel Pink, Bamboo Leaves, and Olive Grove

Stampin' Up Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo

Tools: Circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Anna Griffin - Poppy, Dimensionals

CCEE 1514 - Humor

April is National Humor Month so the cards for CCEE Stampers Challenge 1514 should tickle your funny bone!

I have used Santa Called by Bugaboo Digi Stamps to create a Christmas card to honor Humor Month.

I know you will get a chuckle or two from the fabulous designs created by the CCEE Team.

Joanne Grzelak

Anne Harmon

Vicky Gould

Sabrina Friel

Lois Bak

Amber Hillman

Liz Williams

Frances Bryne
Maryann Einam