Feast of Lights!

  Did you know that Chanuka (also spelled Hanukah or Hanukkah) means Feast of Lights or Feast of Dedication?!  So beautiful isn't it.  I can just imagine a feast of lights with many menorah's in the windows....beautiful! 

Back by popular demand, Chanukah cards!  I have made these in the past and had a few requests so wanted to add these on as an option for custom made holiday cards.  More details on all the cards are below.

Things to remember:

• 10 cards & envelopes per box

• One design per box

• Choose from 3 designs

• Order in bulk and receive 10% off additional boxes after first box

• Orders accepted until December 5, 2011. Cards delivered by December 15, 2011

• Payment accepted via paypal to Katieannbrooks



Prices:

• $20/box

• $38/2 boxes- 20 cards (up to 2 designs)

• $56/3 boxes- 30 cards (up to 3 designs)

• Out of Seattle add $4.95 for Priority Shipping



The choices are:

1. Be Merry                                             2.  Celebrate the Season

3. Ho Ho Ho                                     4. Cherish

Questions? Contact me at Katieannbrooks@gmail.com

(NOTE- all pictures are copyright KBStamps)

Girls like Thomas too!

My little Soaps just had her 4th Birthday last week.  Wow time flies!  I let her pick the theme and she went with Thomas the Train.  I appreciate that in this "modern day and age" girls can like trains and cars and boys can go for pink if they want.  When I went to pick up the party decorations (no I didn't make them all, no time) I also purchased a tiara with the appropriate colors and the guy asked, "I have to ask is this party for a boy or girl? Not that it matters just curious."  I told him it was for a girl and he said he hoped we had fun.  Well it was crazy and chaotic with 14 three to five year olds but she did have fun!  I on the other hand, had to have a Margarita when it was all over! :)

OK, so I don't get the mom of the year award for making all the decor, but I did make her a Thomas card and a Thomas cake.  The card was actually super easy, using mostly basic shapes and punches.   A circle scissor plus for the face and then I drew his features in.  All the supplies used on the card are SU!  The cake was another story, partially due to the fact that we (my Mom and I) didn't finish frosting it until the party started and they we showed up late.  (I am pretty sure this contributed to my stress level and need for a margarita.)  In the end we got it done, and while his face was a bit too dark, he otherwise looked good and everyone raved about it. 

So I am happy my little one had a fun Thomas the Train party.  I am wondering if anyone else out there has had parties for their kiddos that were not typical for their age or gender?  If so, what for whom?

Thanks for visiting!

Holiday Cards

I just wanted to let you know I am offering hand-made holiday cards again this year. You can see prices and card choices below:

Things to remember:
• 10 cards & envelopes per box
• One design per box
• Choose from 3 designs
• Order in bulk and receive 10% off additional boxes after first box
• Orders accepted until December 5, 2011. Cards delivered by December 15, 2011
• Payment accepted via paypal to Katieannbrooks

Prices:
• $20/box
• $38/2 boxes- 20 cards (up to 2 designs)
• $56/3 boxes- 30 cards (up to 3 designs)
• Out of Seattle add $4.95 for Priority Shipping

The choices are:

1. 2.

3.

Questions?   Contact me at Katieannbrooks@gmail.com

Fun blog hop

Hey you know the carrot card I made (post just below this one)- well those are some of my new fave stamps from Paper Smooches.   They are having a fun blog hop right now and you should check it out.  You can win prizes....

http://papersmooches.blogspot.com/2011/10/october-paper-smooches-dt-blog-hop.html?showComment=1319755080055#c3747297151808789688

We're going to miss you BUNCHES!

Paper peicing is one of my favorite techniques.  You can add so much with just a little paper different paper.  If all you had were stamps and black ink you could paper piece just about anything and it would be fab!

 

So here I've made a card for one of my dear co-workers Jan who is taking a position elsewhere. :(  (Good for her, bad for the rest of us!)  I've used my Lawn Fawn set Say Cheese and my new Paper Smooches set Vegtastic (another new fave besides LF!!!)  Now guess what technique I used to enter Lawnscapings current current challenge (#20)...I'll give you one guess...hint: PP...yes, you've got it!  Paper piecing!

I had a ton of fun making this card.  I love the bright colors and the jolly feel.  The twine and button just bring it together for me.  I really hope Jan likes it!

Thanks for stopping!

"Falling" for two step stampin'

In general, I wouldn't call myself a two-step stamper.  I don't think I really have the vision, or...if I am being honest...the patience to do things in two steps.  For example, I won't use a stampamajig.  Nope, don't think so, I flat out refuse!  I'd rather screw it up about 10 times or not do it at all than use one of those.  I don't know why or what it says about me, but...I accept myself as I am. 

When I first saw the Gently Falling set from SU! I thought, I'll never use it!  But after seeing it time after time with the delicious Spice Cake DSP (also SU!) I had to have it.  Seeing those leaves in the pool party is just my fave.  So I got it and it sat for a while, but now I am finally using it and this is what I have to show for myself.

What do you think?  Such fun paper!  Thinking outside the box by reminding myself I don't have to use a fall set for thanksgiving(!) I made this masculine birthday card.

OK, lunch break is over, time to work! Thanks for stopping!

Happy WCMD!

Hi-

Happy Belated WCMD!  I hope you had some time being crafty this weekend!  I decided to make a project for Lawnscapings World Card Making Day Challenge which you can find here.  Mainly because I oh-so-want to win this stamp set Frosty Friends!  :)  Wouldn't you?!  So darn cute!  You can play too, you have until midnight tonight (EST) to get your entry in.  If not feel free to go in and comment on how much you love mine so I might win, hehe! 

Hoping you had or are having a craftastic day!

Getting Texty- OMG FUN!

Hi all.  Just wanted to share my take on Lawn Fawn's Lawnscaping Challenge #18, Getting Texty.  I had a ton of fun making this card and playing with the stamp sets.  The little bunny sticking out of the tire swing makes me happy.  My "texty" part is the background.  I continuously stamped "OMG" and "FUN" accross the backdrop, I really took the "texting" litterally. :)  If you haven't figured it out yet, I do love me some Lawn Fawn!

Thanks for stopping!  More fun cards, SU! and otherwise, to come this week so stay tuned!

Oh My Darlin' Clementine...

How sweet is the name Clementine?!  I just love it!  My girlfriend Sarah just had her baby girl the other day and that is her name.  So darling that if I have another baby and it is a girl, I might want to use that name for her!  I can just imagine Sophie and Clementine playing together. :D  Here is a pic of that sweet girl with the sweet name...

Why can I not get the baby girl's picture to rotate?  I hope that doesn't mean she is going to be stubborn!?!



I'll have to go visit Ms. Sarah, but I think when I do I'll have to take her one of these cards.  Don't you think the pink one is just perfect for the occassion?  And stamping on the felt is just so appropriate, that soft cuddly little bundle  in pink on the card is exactly what Clementine is!

Circus, Circus- Like it or hate it?

I find it so hard to be objective about my own work.  I just can't look at it as a whole most of the time, I simply focus in on one thing that I either like or hate.  Honestly, I don't know what to think about this card.  I was trying to use some different techniques, but not sure if I was successful.  I was also trying to tap into the current trend of using circus paraphenalia in card making.  What do you think?  Good, bad?  You can be honest, I won't get mad. :)  

I do quite like this little bear on the bike, part of the Tagtastic Hostess set in the 2011-2012 SU! catalog.

Spice it up!

Hello!  Hope you had a good weekend.  I was a little sick myself, but still got to enjoy some of this lovely September sun, on the mend now anyhow.  While it is fall, thankfully we still have some sun in Seattle... seeing as it didn't show up until August.  I know I shouldn't complain because so many people have had a scorcher of a summer early on, lets just say glad to have some late sun and even happier that is seems to be sticking around  into September.

With fall comes fall colors.  I have to say I LOVE this new DSP in the SU! holiday mini catalog.  It is called Spice Cake.  I have to tell you, it is definitly spicing up my life!  I have two cards to show you today, both with this paper. 

First is this card with the owls.  I used all SU! products with the exception of the owl's which are Hero Arts, the tag (sorry can't remember what line this is) and the greeting (I think this is Stampendous). I had fun paper piecing the owls with the DSP.  I also love a few other things about this card, the corner punch from Martha Stewart and the Square Lattice embossing folder from SU!  This card was fun to make.

Next is my  little fox card.  Now you want to talk about spicing things up?!  In addition to using the Spice Cake DSP, I stamped on felt!  Yep, that's right, check out those felt clouds, aren't they fun!  The stamps on this card are Denami Designs (cloud), Lawn Fawn (Fox and log), and SU! sentiment.

Thanks for stopping, hope you enjoyed this post.  If you need to spice up your day, I've listed a couple of ways to do that here. :)

just flirting around

What do you think of the Flirtatious Specialty DSP?  I love it!  The bright colors mixed with the softer hues really make me happy.  I also love the specialty pages that look like a bunch of doilies.  They are perfect for using whole, but my preference is to cut them apart and use them in pieces like I've done on this card  This card is perfect for a little girl (a little princess) birthday.  In fact, a co-worker of mine snagged it up as soon as she saw it with plans to give to her niece. :)

I am glad I have this card to show you because the last couple of days I have been in a card making funk.  Not sure why, but can't seem to shake it at the moment.  What do you do when you are in a creative funk?  Anything that will help me get back in the game would be much appreciated. Meanwhile, I'll just keep trying, eventually it will come back I am sure.

Thanks for stopping and have a great day! :)

Odds & Ends

One more to show you today.  I won a few things on Moxie Fab World and they send me some cute DP from Cosmo Cricket.  Here is the first fun card I've made with some of it. 

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing!

Which one do you pick?  I pick daring adventure!  In fact, I that is what I was thinking when I made this card, because the colors and layout were a little outside my comfort zone.  I took some old holiday DP and added it with some others and come up with this fun color combo.  I like the soft colors with the gray, it is kinda fun and different and I think the green pearls really make it pop.  Another part of this "daring adventure" was the layout, more or less taken from this weeks Mojo Monday challenge.  I often feel like my card layouts are all the same, so I like it when something different comes along.  All supplies are SU!.  This quote, by Helen Keller, is from one of my new fave sets in the new catty called...Daring Adventure (who'd have thought?!)  I actually bought this set for the quote because I liked it so much, but I do like the other stamps too. :)

So what do you have planned for your next daring adventure?

You can't have a rainbow without a little rain

Bright colors make me so happy!  I guess they just remind me of sun and summer and all things good.  This card is chocked full of them too!  Again I am using a Lawn Fawn stamp as the main image and the sentiment comes from Pink Cat Studio.  I really wanted to use a different sentiment that said, "You can't have a RAINBOW without a little RAIN."  But I don't have that in stamp form and no printer at home, so couldn't make it on the computer.  I used this one instead and although the raindrops and umbrella contradict it, I think it has a pretty sunny feel, especially with the bitg sun shape as the  backdrop.

This card is based on a sketch from Papercrafts Magazine.  They are having a sketch challenge over at Moxie Fab World right now, featuring this sketch and others.  I was so intimidated when I first saw this sketch, but then it just came to me.and I feel pretty happy about it.  Like I said, just the colors perk me up.

Thanks for stopping and have a great day!

Enjoying Lawn Fawn

Have you checked out Lawn Fawn stamps?  They have some super cute stuff!  I've been having fun with a few sets I bought.  They don't have them in my neck of the woods though, but I found some when I was visiting one of my besties in MN.

Speaking of woods, we took Sophie on her first camping trip in July and she loved it.  Here is a page I made of her and Grandma while camping.  Oh and how cute they matched! I loved using my new Petite Pendant Punch from SU! for the banner since they are so fun, and I used a Hero Arts alphabet for the letters.

This next one is just a silly card I made with the LF porcupine stamp.  The have a sentiment in that set that says "I pine for you!"- I changed it and put "I PORCU-pine for you!" on th inside. :)

Thanks for stopping!

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I have spent the last 6 months hemming and hawing and have finally come to a decision, I am no longer going to be an SU! Demonstrator.  Technically I am, for the next four days, but after that I will be no more.  I can't tell you for certain what made me come to this decision, I absolutely love SU! and their products, but...the time for change has come.  I suppose this has actually been transpiring for some time.  it was a hard decision and I will miss it, but it is time to focus on new things and I am going to think of it as an opportunity.  I will still be crafting, because that is the part I really loved, so don't expect all the lights to go out on you, I will just be using a wider variety of products with no affiliation to anyone.  When I was thinking about this yesterday, as another opportunity came up to continue my demoship but at a lesser degree, I came accross this quote which I quite liked:

"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress."

~Bruce Barton

So there you  have it, I am moving on to the next stage in the evolution of my life.  I hope you'll come back and visit and have some fun with me.  I'll still love getting your comments of encouragement and suggestions.

Just so this post isn't all seriousness, I'd like to share the card I gave my Mommy for Mother's Day. :)

Thanks for stopping!

I'm Ba-ack!

Did you think I was never coming back?  Well you are not so lucky, I am here.  I have been very busy with work, outside obligations and more.  Not to mention that I had misplaced my camera cord for about 1.5 mos.  I finally found it though and am soooo happy about that.  I didn't really want to go through all the online ordering from the camera company for a new one.

So not that I am here I am not sure what to update you on since it has been so long and so many things have happened... my little girl got her first stitches, we took her on her first camping trip, I took a trip to visit one of my BFF's in MN, the summer in Seattle is making me depressed, etc....so I won't, I'll just give you my card and the process by which I made it.

This card was for a friend's wedding shower at work.  Her wedding theme is blues and some green's and some hydrangeas (her fave).   This card, was fun and took me quite a while to make.  It is 6X6, I usually make work cards this large so the whole office can sign them.  Obviously, I found some beautiful hydrangea DP which is what inspired me.  I ran the Marina Mist through my Elegant Lines embossing folder.  For the center hydrangea I used my Because I care stamp set from SU!.  I stamped it with brown Staz On onto some watercolor paper.  I then took various blue and green inks (Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Ballet Blue, Pacific Point, Certainly Celery, and Wild Wasabi)  starting and applied them with my blender pen.  I started with the lights and went to darks until I was satisfied with the colors.  Then I used some blue and grreen stickles to highlight a few areas on the flower.  Once all was dry, I cut it out, tied a little twine around the bottom and assembled the card. 

In conjunction with a few other crafts that were made for the shower, it was cute and fun.  She liked the card and I hope you do too.

Thanks for stopping by!