HSS Inspiration Challenge

It's time to get back to stamping and crafting.  However, I'm having a very difficult time getting out of Christmas mode.  This week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments really helped to "inspire" me to think beyond green and red.

I decided to go with the swirl action of the cupcakes and create some pinwheels with the Baja Breeze Designer Paper.  I also crimped the Basic Gray banner to look like the cupcake cup.  FUN, huh?!  :)

It also helps that we just celebrated Travis's 1st Birthday just a couple weeks ago.  Look at his face, he was NOT gonna have it.  Luke tried to cheer him up, but was unsuccessful.  Travis cried and didn't even want to taste the cake.  I'm actually kind of glad he didn't destroy it, it was so cute.  Did you notice that it looks like our Elefun stamp, too?!  That's what I did for the invite, so my cake designer made it to match.

It's after midnight here while I'm posting this....I'm pooped....I'll post more hopefully tomorrow about the page.

Nighty Night!
~Krista

Merry Christmas From The Jensen's

As we celebrate the birth of our LORD....remember that Jesus came to this world to save us and give us hope.  With all of the madness and hardships going on around us, I pray that God will bless you with many good things.  I hope that you and your family have the best Christmas ever.

LOVE, The Jensen Family 

2011

Girl Scouts Anyone?

A friend needed a gift for a Girl Scout leader and wanted one of the notepad/pen sets that I was selling at this past weeks boutiques at the school.  I went on the GS website and found the emblem and duplicated it using our heart punch.

Sorry that it's in the cellophane wrapper....it was already all wrapped and forgot to take a pic.  

Want one for your favorite Girl Scout or Girl Scout Leader?  Contact me today for a super cute and fun gift!!

Happy Stamping,

Krista

HSS Challenge #98

It's been way too long since I've blogged.  I've been busy with Christmas stuff, including to fun boutiques.

Anyways, this weeks challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments is Unique Folds.

As you probably already know, I'm not a big think outside the box person....I sometimes get stuck in a rut.  This challenge blog has been SO good for me and I think my customers like me learning new things, too.  I pass all my new found ideas on to them.

Here is what I came up with this week.  It's called a "Spring Card".  The center square actually pops up naturally.  I saw a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers.  It's super easy!!!  Plus, I also got a chance to use some of our newest products coming out this January.  It's a new line of products called "Twitterpated".  Hmmmm....now that I think about it, does that have any reference to Twitter?  Probably not.....

Here is a photo of another view of the flowers.  I embossed them with black embossing powder, then painted them in with a blender pen and Riding Hood Red ink.

Did you see it??  The new Pleated Satin Ribbon?  No, I didn't sew it, you can actually order a spool of the ribbon already pleated just like that.  Perfect and so sweet!  This is in Blushing Bride color.

Okay, time to get off the computer and get back to the kids that are off track for SEVEN weeks....YES SEVEN WEEKS of fun!!!  We are on year around school...that means that we have SO many kids and not enough classrooms so we rotate rooms and schedules.  We don't have a summer off like traditional schools.  I actually really really like it.  The kids get bored, then it's time to go back and they haven't forgotten anything.  Nice, huh?!

Ingredients:
Colors- Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Pear Pizzaz, Whisper White
Stamps- Bordering on Romance, Friendly Phrases
Accessories- Twitterpated DSP, Embossing tool and powder, Twitterpated mini buttons, Pleated Satin Ribbon, 2 1/2" Circle punch, Large Scallop Circle punch, Simply Scored Tool

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Color Challenge

I have been so crazy running around trying not to wait til the last minute to do things....but that hasn't worked.  Monday, my baby boy turned one....officially.  It flies by so fast.  But I took the day off to play with the family.  So, I'll be brief with my posting.

Here is the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week.  It's a color one and I was quite stumped seeing that I didn't have Pear Pizzaz or Blushing Bride.  Of all the colors that I keep in stock (which is pretty much every SU color) I had run out of only those 2 colors.  OH the irony.  :)

SO....I improvised and used Certainly Celery and Pink Pirouette.  I hope it doesn't mess anyone up.  I wanted to make a cute box for a fun gift for a friend.  I love the greeting on the tag.  Hee hee!

Here is a nice close up shot.  However, in the cropping, I think it might have made the photo kind of grainy.  Sorry about that.

I've got to get to bed.  It's after midnight, so it's officially December 6th now.  I'll have to finish this post another time.  YAWN.....night night.

~Krista

Travis's First Birthday Party

Okay, so our baby boy is turning ONE.....ALREADY!!!!  He'll be one next week, but we celebrated early since Christmas is quickly approaching.  Here are some fun photos from the big day.....

Can you tell we had some serious fun at our Circus party celebrating our cutie pie?!?!!!  He's the most handsome Birthday boy.....and might I add, the most happy one, too.  Except when it came to the cake and the singing.  He wasn't fond of that moment.  :)

Happy First Birthday Travis.  We love you and love that you are so happy and can't wait to see what God has in store for you!!!

Love,
Mommy

P.S.  I used a nice template in the My Digital Studio program to make up the photo collages.  I just clicked, dragged and dropped them into a template.  EASY!  :)

Ornament Challenge

It's time to get out your Christmas decor....if you haven't already.  I haven't yet, but I will, hopefully this weekend.  We celebrated baby Travis's First Birthday on Sunday, it was so fun and now it's time for Christmas mode.  :)

The challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments is to create an ornament....of any kind.  Check out our Design Teams ideas, WOW....so stinkin' cute!!!

I have been so busy with the baby's Birthday party that I didn't have any time to create an original ornament.  So I used an ornament that we made at my last class.  I got this idea from Kimberly VanDiepen.  She has an awesome tutorial that you can see here.
It's actually easier than you think it is to make.  What a great way to use up all of your scraps, too!!!

I know what you're thinking....and yes, I did use retired DSP!!!  It's from 2 or 3 years ago.  GASP!!!  But I liked the colors in it....kind of monochromatic....kind of.  :)

Ingredients:

Colors:  Sage Shadow (retired), Certainly Celery, Soft Sky (retired), Always Artichoke, Whisper White

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs

Accessories:  Northern Flurries Die Cut, Paper Trimmer, White Satin Ribbon, Glimmer Paper, 1 3/4" Circle punch

I'll be posting pics from the baby's b-day party soon!  

Happy Stamping,

Krista

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful....

Okay, so the weather outside isn't "frightful" but it is getting a little chilly here in So. Cal.  It's a nice break from the HOTness we had been having.  I used that title because it's the first line of one of my favorite Christmas songs.  I've been listening to Christmas music for the past several days and I am so excited for Christmas this year....I'll actually be able to enjoy it more since I don't have a newborn.

ANYWHO....This week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments is Winter Wonderland.

My friends Carin and Brianna hosted a Christmas tag class last week and this is one of the projects we made:

It's a cute winter-y, shaker ornament tag that can be turned into a tree or door knob ornament after it's gifted.  The shaker was made with a treat cup.  I've had those darn treat cups for eons now and I couldn't justify giving them to my kids' classmates filled with candy.  I just know they'd get torn open and thrown out.  What better way to use them then these cute ornament tags?!  :)
Here is a close up shot:

I'm sorry to say that this cute little snowman is from a retired stamp set called Just Celebrate.  I know, it's so cute, but we do have some super cute new snowman stamps.  :)

Ingredients...
Colors: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Black Stazon, Tangerine Tango Marker
Stamps:  Just Celebrate, Loads of Love
Accessories:  Clear Circle Die, Large Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle punch, Tab Punch, Treat cup, Dazzling Diamonds, Snowflake embossing folder, Silver Cord

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Bargello, Bargello

Join us at Hand Stamped Sentiments for a Bargello Challenge!!  What is Bargello you say?  Well, it's a technique where you take strips of paper, cut them the opposite direction then place those strips in an offset pattern on another piece of cardstock.  Okay, it sounds hard, but once you have your vision, it makes such a huge statement.

I have to admit I looked it up on Splitcoast and had to watch the video and then I sat and pondered it for quite some time.  But I have to say, I think it adds such a nice touch of color, texture and pattern to my scrap book page.  The little guy isn't so bad himself either.  :)

Here is a close up shot so you can see the patterned paper and the offsets in more detail.

We will actually be making this page along with another page for our November scrapbook layout.  Here is the other page....

Ingredients:
Colors:  Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pool Party, Pear Pizzaz, Wild Wasabi
Stamps:  Gently Falling
Accessories:  Spice Cake DSP, Pool Party Ribbon, Soft Suede Wide Striped Ribbon, Spice Cake Button, Linen Thread, Lattice Border Punch

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Over The Top Card Challenge

Oh my gosh.....I realized this week what a simple stamper I am.  I cannot bring myself to OVER THE TOP a card.  It's not necessarily a bad thing, but for this challenge it was.  Join us at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week, I want to see what you come up with.

I actually made THREE different cards and finally chose this one....

Is it OVER THE TOP enough?  The card actually measures 3" x 5 1/4" crazy, huh?!  Let me tell you what I did here....I embossed the tree in Wild Wasabi, and the star in gold.  Cut them all out individually, including the Real Red and Espresso trunk and base.  I made my favorite flowers and finished them off with a Basic Pearl.  I stamped the 2 1/2" Circle with the Stripes Stamp.  Whew, I'm exhausted just typing this. :)  The rest you can figure out....here are the ingredients:

Colors:  Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Stamps:  Pennant Parade, Petite Pairs
Punches:  Scallop Trim Border, Word Window Punch, 2 1/2" Circle, Pennant
Accessories:  Red Glimmer paper, Basic Pearls, White Taffeta Ribbon, Real Red Marker

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Blocks For All Seasons

I have always wanted to make a decoration for my home that I can use year around.  I had seen these blocks all around the Stampin' Up website, so I thought I'd make my own version.....

At my last "Stamp-a-doodles" downline group meeting we made those blocks.  It was a super fun project to make with them!!  At our meeting we discussed our business, shared stamping ideas and did a swap, too.   They are an impressive group of ladies.  So talented and artistic.  Here is a photo of the swaps I received that day:

If you would like to make the blocks pictured above, contact me for more info.

Happy Stamping!!
~Krista

Color Challenge at HSS #91

It's time to kick off the holiday season right.  

It's only 54 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!  So here we go...

This week I decided to make a tin 'o tags.  I wanted to use some of the fabric from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  It's called Holly Berry Bouquet.  I wrapped the fabric around the tin, and tied the Real Red Satin Ribbon around it.

Then I made a cute origami Christmas tree with Wild Wasabi DSP with cute red glitter paper ornaments.  I punched out the tiny circles with the owl punch.

  

I used the Tags til Christmas stamp set and made some fun tags with our challenge colors.

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Christmas Craft Class Preview

Tags make a plain gift fun.  You can attach these to a gift bag and later it can be used as an adorable ornament.  These are 2 of the projects that we'll be making at my next class.  If you are attending Carin and Brianna's class....you'll be making these, too!  :)

The class at my house will be making this stocking (pictured below)

 into a gift card holder....

Here is a close up of the glittery tag on the stocking....

I hope you will join me and kick off this Christmas season with ink on your fingers!!  :)

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Fall Fun Place Card

There is an Inspiration Challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week.  Here is your Inspiration....

When I was looking at this photo, I saw a beautiful display for the dishes for a nice Thanksgiving meal.  What could go better (with my rarely used Fine China) than a nice, handmade place card?!  I did the "rock and roll" technique on the leaves to give it more dimension with colors.  I inked it with More Mustard first, then rolled it in Pumpkin pie then last in a little dab of Cherry Cobbler.  Here is the result:

For the rosettes, I punched out a 1 3/4" Circle then cut it into a spiral starting from the outside to the center.  I coiled it in to the center and dropped a glob of glue and held it in shape to form the little flower.  Here is a close up of the little rosettes that are topped with the Champagne Fine Glitter:

Oh yeah, my mom's name is Marlene and she hosts a lovely Thanksgiving dinner, so I thought her name on my project is fitting.  A beautiful place card for a beautiful hostess.


Ingredients
Colors:  Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Stamps:  Gently Falling
Accessories:  Scallop Circle Die #2, 2 1/2" Circle punch, 1 3/4" Circle punch (for the rosettes), Word Window and Modern Label Punches.  Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Linen Thread, Champagne fine glitter

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Shaving Cream Experiment

I felt like I was in 3rd grade again....getting out 2 ingredients and performing an experiment.  Boy was it fun!!  It's called the "Shaving Cream" technique and that is the challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week.

I wanted to go with a monochromatic look since it was my first time using this technique.  I decided that this shaving cream background would make a great Christmas card with my new stamp set called "The Sounding Joy".  I really like the touches of silver and white.

Go raid your husbands stash and get messy!!  :)

Here is how you create this look:
1.  Pile up shaving cream on a large paper plate.
2.  Randomly drip your ink from your re-inker on the shaving cream.  Use a few different colors for a really cool touch.
3.  Swirl the color around and smooth it out a little.
4.  Lay your cardstock (I used white) onto the shaving cream/ink mixture
.....Here's the messy part....
5.  Using a paper towel, wipe off (in a swirling motion) the excess shaving cream from the cardstock.
6.  Set aside to dry.
7.  Stamp on it, embellish it, cut it out....have fun!!!

Looks pretty good, huh?  I really like it....and it smells so yummy.  Probably my nicest smelling card to date.  :)

Now get on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments and check it out and join in on the fun!!  There are so many great ideas....don't miss out!!!


Ingredients:
Colors:  Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Whisper White and Silver
Stamps:  The Sounding Joy
Punches:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Scallop Trim, 2 1/2" Circle
Accessories:  Scallop Circle #2 and Northern Frost Dies, Big Shot, Bakers twine, Silver embossing powder, Versamark, Paper Piercer, Re-Inkers, Shaving Cream

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Think Pink

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it sure hits home.  I know several survivors including my Aunt Renee.  I have also lost loved ones to this terrible disease.  Many of the women in my family have been diagnosed with the Breast Cancer Gene, too.  It's bittersweet knowing that someone you love has greater than an 80% chance at getting Breast or Ovarian Cancer.  I am so thankful for the technology that is out there to diagnose and hopefully all of the research will result in a cure someday.

Join us at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week as we "Think Pink".

Aunt Renee, you are my hero, a true survivor, this card is for you!!!  It's sweet, simple and seeing how hard you fought and won, it gives us all hope!!!

Ingredients:
Colors:  Whisper White, Regal Rose
Accessories:  Non-SU Ribbon Punch, Billboard letters die cut, Stripes Embossing Folder,  Shimmer Paint in Frost White, Bakers Twine, Basic Pearls

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Color Challenge

It's time for a color challenge at Hand Stamped sentiments.

I was looking through my stamp sets to find inspiration with this weeks colors for the challenge. I saw "Oval All" stamp set and the font on the Just For You stamp jumped out at me. It had a nice masculine feel....like the colors that we are using this week. I haven't made a gift card holder in a while so that's what I decided to do this week. :)

I know what you're thinking....that is SO CUTE....but really, you're thinking WHOA, a $100 gift card. Well, that was a nice Birthday gift from my hubby....I guess he wants me to shop from home. Hee hee!!!

Here is a close up of some the detail....

Ingredients:
Colors: Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White
Stamps: Oval All
Accessories: Bakers Twine, Brights Buttons, Large Oval, Scallop Oval and Dotted Scallop Border punches, Cutters Tool Kit, Houndstooth Embossing Folder, Top Note Die Cut, Big Shot

Happy Stamping,
Krista

Winners Announced

Today was the BIG drawing for TWO $20 gift certificates. Here is how it happened.....

8 people entered the contest...some of them multiple times.....

Luke drew a name first.....

He chose Randin's Name...

Tyler drew a name next.....

He chose Jennifer F's name....

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!! Take a look at your catalog and let me know what you'd like to order with your FREE $20 shopping spree. :)

Happy Stamping,

Krista

Happy Fall Ya'll

It's still so HOT here in Southern California. I apologize to my friends in the cold and rainy states, but it's time to move on from the heat into the Fall. So, I thought I'd make a fall wreath to put on my door to conjure up the cooler days and bring on the fall. This is what we'll be making at my next class:



I couldn't figure out how to make it.....should I use a foam wreath, a grapevine wreath...perhaps a round wooden picture frame? I thought what better way to ring in the season than hay, right? So fun!! I just hot glued all of the little fans on there.

Ingredients:
Colors: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Pear Pizzaz
Accessories: Spice Cake DSP, Rhinestone brads, In Color Brads, Large Spice Cake Buttons, Antique Brads, Basic Pearls, Neutrals buttons, The New Scoring Tool OF COURSE :) and various punches.

Wanna come to this class? It's Thursday, October 6th at either 10am OR 7pm. Spaces are limited....contact me to reserve your spot.

Happy Stamping,

Krista

Boo!

Hi stampers....it's challenge time again. This time at Hand Stamped Sentiments we want you to create your spooky Halloween projects....here are the details:

For my project, I decided to make a banner. It actually happens to be the banner we are making at my next class on October 6th.

Check out the silver glimmer paper behind the letters. And you can also see my spooky spider and the creepy owl....

It's a late night and I need to get to bed. My hubby and I went to dinner and I needed to stay up late and let my heavy dinner digest...another Birthday dinner to celebrate me. :) I'll add the "ingredients" for this project sometime tomorrow. Night night!!