Thinking of You - My Dear Reader!

What??? It's been 2 weeks since I posted?  Is anyone still reading?  I cannot believe I am that behind!  I think I mentioned that I took a part-time job a few weeks ago. Well, that combined with summer, summer camp, a camping vacation and trying to keep up with my house and laundry . . . you get the picture right?  Nevertheless, I will try to be better about posting - I'd hate to lose my readers/friends due to lack of material!

As it's Kitchen Sink Stamp Monday I have a card today made with one of the newest sets, Lighthouses. This set is beautiful, the larger lighthouse is Portland Headlight too - not too far from me!  But this card uses the smaller lighthouse with I think looks sort of like Cape Hatteras (although here I made mine red striped instead of black).

My recipe for the lighthouse is:  Step 4 - Black, Barn Door for the stripe, Step 3 - Gray Flannel, Lady Bug Red for the stripe, Step 2 - Gray Flannel stamped off, Step 1 - Gray Flannel stamped off twice.

We're headed to the beach this week - staying down at my parent's house and hoping the weather cooperates!  Thank you so much for still reading and checking in on me, I plan on improving! :)

Please check out the other KSS Crew members today also.

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria • Tammy

Cardstock: (Pure Poppy, Black) Papertrey Ink, (White) Neenah, Patterned Paper: (Fresh) Authentique, Stamps: (Lighthouses) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Black, Gray Flannel, Lady Bug Red) Memento, (Barn Door) Ranger, Accessories: (rhinestones) Prima, Tools: (Scallop Punch) SU!

Sail On!

Good Monday morning!  I hope you all enjoyed a nice weekend and are ready for the brand new week ahead, I know I am!  It's supposed to be hot and steamy here and we have some fun family activities planned!

But first, it's Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday and I'm here to share the another of the new KSS release sets, Sailboats.  This is a great mini set - a nice way to give KSS stamps a try if you're hesitant!  A great set for masculine cards, for your sailor friends, for those who love the water and it's a great add-on set for the Lighthouses set!

I played along with the Mix Ability Challenge at SCS this week for this card.  The challenge was to use some bold colors and then tone them down a bit with gesso or white paint.  There's a great video along with the challenge - check it out.  I basically used the technique from the video, it was so fun and gave me just the look I was going for!

I used only the Step 1 stamp from Sailboats to stamp my silhouette sailboats.  The sun was stamped with the sunflower center from Multi-Step Sunflowers.

Thanks for stopping in today, be sure to visit the rest of the KSS Crew and have a great Monday!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria • Tammy

Cardstock:  (White) Neenah, (Black) Papertrey Ink, Stamps: (Sailboats, Multi-Step Sunflowers) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Salty Sea, Tumbled Glass, Wild Honey) Ranger, (Black) Accessories: Jute twine, Tools: White craft paint, (Craft sheet) Ranger

Lighthouses from KSS

Good morning!  The two other new stamps sets have arrived at Kitchen Sink Stamps and at my house and I'm excited to show you one today!  This set is Lighthouses (obviously, right? *wink*) and the other new set is Sailboats.  It's such a beautiful set,  with two different lighthouses along with the large rock, seagulls and lots of beautiful sentiments to mix and match!

I  stamped my lighthouse with the following recipe:
Lighthouse: Step 4 - (Black) Memento *Roof of the building in Rhubarb Stalk*, Step 3, (Gray Flannel) Memento *Roof of the building in Rhubarb Stalk again*, Step 2 - (Gray Flannel stamped off) Memento, Step 1 - (London Fog stamped off) Memento
Rocks:  (Black) Memento, Step 3, (Gray Flannel) Memento, Step 2 - (Espresso Truffel stamped off, repeat) Memento, Step 1 - (Espresso Truffle stamped off) Memento

Last week I announced that KSS was having a contest to see what Crew Member requested each new set. If you took a guess, please visit Maria's blog to see if your name is there - she is announcing the finalists of the contest but since no one guessed correctly she is giving the finalists a couple extra days to guess again!  So, what set did you think I requested?  It's a set that would be perfect for so many people, in several categories - would make great masculine cards too! :)

Thanks for stopping in today - have a great Monday!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria • Tammy

Cardstock: (White) Neenah, (Scarlett Jewel) Papertrey Ink, Pattered Paper: (Sweet Shoppe) LilyBee Designs, Stamps: (Lighthouses) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Black, Gray Flannel, London Fog, Espresso Truffle, Rhubarb Stalk) Memento

Kitchen Sink Stamps Release Day!

Yahoo!!  The day we've waited for has finally arrived and today Kitchen Sink Stamps is releasing 5 new stamp sets! Not only are these sets fabulous as always, but they are extra special because they were specially made for us, the KSS Crew!  Maria wanted to do something special for us so she let us request a stamp set.  So how well do you think you know the KSS Crew?  You'll have a chance to guess which sets were made for which Crew member and possibly win a prize!  I'll give you the details at the end of the post - you'll want to be fast with your guesses!

Also, for today only, you have the opportunity to order these new sets (and anything else in the KSS store) with 15% off by clicking this link June New Stamps 15%-Julie or using coupon code JULIE15 when you check out!

But first, here is a list of the sets:

Palm Trees
Sail Boats
Lighthouses
Guitar
Grizzly Bear Wishes

You can find these new sets in the What's New section of the KSS store.  Two of the sets, Lighthouses and Sail Boats are pre-orders as they will be arriving any day (I haven't even gotten mine yet!). Now, on to my cards, I have 2 for your today.

Grizzly Bear Wishes is a fun set to play with.  The face of the bear is so neat looking and the set has lots of unique sentiments and accessories to "dress" your bear with.  I opted to keep him plain and use the sentiment to convey my card's purpose.  I think you'll get it! *wink*

My second card uses Guitar - a totally fun set with sentiment in fonts that match many of KSS's other western-themed stamps.  As I played around with the set, I decided to go a bit non-traditional and had fun with color!

A purple guitar? Yup, it's just seemed like a fun choice. But wouldn't it be just as fun in blue, or green or pink?!  I thought this would make a great card for a teenager - maybe a graduation or birthday card.  The splatters were made using small amounts of watered down paint blown from the end of a straw - I love how they splatted!

Ok, now it's time to visit the rest of the KSS Crew.  Once you've made the rounds and seen all the peeks, run over to the KSS Forum and play our Giveaway Guessing Game!!

Here are the details:

• The first person to get all matches correctly will win.

• Winner must be a registered KSS Forum member (but sign up is free and there's no obligation!).

• The answer must be posted in the forum under the Giveaway Thread to count as valid. 

• Giveaway deadline is Friday, June 14, 2013 - midnight PDT.

• The winner will be announced at the top of the giveaway thread on Monday, June 17, 2013 - 9:00am PDT.

• The winner will receive:

         - a $25. KSS gift certificate

         - plus, they will get to submit their very own KSS "stamp set wish". This "stamp set wish" will be included in KSS's next stamp release in Sept. 2013. 

         - the winner will receive their finished  KSS "stamp set wish" before it's public release.     

Thanks for visiting today - hope you enjoy our special release day!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria • Tammy

Grizzly Bear Card:  Cardstock: (White) Neenah, (Dark Chocolate) Papertrey Ink, (Blue Bayou) SU!, Stamps: (Grizzly Bear Wishes) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Step 4 - Black, Step 3 - Espresso Truffle, Step 2 - Dark Chocolate, Step 1 - Toffee Crunch) Memento, (Broken China, Festive Berries) Ranger, Accessories: Washi tape, (Button) Papertrey Ink, (Linen Thread) The Cat's Pajamas

Guitar Card:  Cardstock: (White) Neenah, Stamps: (Guitar) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Step 4 - Black, Step 3 - Sweet Plum, Step 2 - Sweet Plum stamped off , repeat, Step 1 - Lulu Lavender) Memento, Accessories: Craft paint

Dad's a Classic!

Hello!  It's Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday and I'm here to tell you that next week KSS will be having a NEW release - WOOT!  Yes, it's true, a brand new release from the Kitchen and it's sure a great one, wait until you see!  The sets being released are pretty special, but I'll let Maria explain that to you.

For now, I wanted to get a jump start on Father's Day and what better set to use then Classic Old Truck.  I'm sure I said this before, but when I was little my dad had a '52 Ford Pickup truck (boy does he wish he had kept that!).  This set always makes me think of that truck!

This is a bit different from my usual style, but if you've been following closely lately you'll have noticed that my "usual" style has evolved a bit - maybe not permanently or not completely but playing with some mixed media supplies in my cardmaking has freshened things up a bit and brought some new interest!  I wanted this card to have an aged appearance, like my Dad's old truck so I used a piece of map which I gesso'd lightly.  I then added some splotches of paint and spritzed it heavily with water to make it run and fade.

The truck was stamped using the color recipe from the KSS Forum.  I wanted to keep it b&w so it would stand out from the background.

Stamp 3a - Tuxedo Black, Stamp 2a - Tuxedo Black stamped off, repeat, Stamp 1a - Tuxedo Black stamped off, Stamp 3b - Espresso Truffle, Stamp 2b - Tuxedo Black, Stamp 1b - Tuxedo Black

Head over and visit the rest of the KSS Crew which as of today also includes TAMMY!  She's back and we're trilled to have her with us again!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria • Tammy

Cardstock: (Black, Kraft) Papertrey Ink, map, Stamps: (Classic Old Truck) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Tuxedo Black, Espresso Truffle, Rhubarb Stalk) Memento, Accessories: (Brads) SU!, (Linen Thread) The Cat's Pajamas, Tools: Gesso, craft paint, (Grunge Chevron mask) Prima, 

Giving Thanks

Good morning and Happy Memorial Day!!  It's also Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday and I'm going to let my card today do the talking for me.

I used Playful Stars and 3 Step Hearts from KSS.  I stamped the stars on a vintage map and the heart on a little snippet from a vintage political cartoon.  As you can see, the card is very simple and straightforward but it {hopefully}expresses my thoughts on this day of honoring our military!  I'm so very grateful!

Kitchen Sink Stamps is gearing up for a big new release so watch for details coming soon!  In the meantime, please visit the other Crew members for more inspiration!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (White) Neenah, vintage map, Stamps: (3 Step Hearts, Playful Stars, Multi-Step Cowboy Hat) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Barn Door Red) Ranger, (Nautical Blue) Memento, (Black) Versafine

Fast Hydrangeas!

Good morning everyone! It's another beautiful Monday morning, the first day of our last week of school and the day I pick up our new (to us) van! Lots to be thankful for here, God has richly blessed me with an awesome family who spoiled me a bit yesterday! :)

I whipped up this quickie Kitchen Sink Stamps card today with several people in mind to send it to! Looks like I'll making a few more!

The background stamp (the text) is from Letters From the Past - a great stamp to use over and over! The 3 Step Hydrangea flower was stored with:

Step 4 - (Paris Dusk) Memento, Step 3 - (Stormy Sky) Ranger, Step 2 - (Blue Danube stamped off, then Lulu Lavender) Memento, Step 1 - (Lulu Lavender) Memento

The sentiment is from Words of Comfort & Joy and I stamped it just inside the black lime I drew using a Copic Multi Liner.

That's it, no fuss, no frills! What do you think? Does it need something??

Remember today is the last day to get 20% off your order for the Mother's Day Sale going on at Kitchen Sink Stamps!  Just use coupon code MMD20JM, go pick up a little something! :)

Visit the rest of the Crew also and have a great day!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (Natural White) Neenah, Stamps: (3 Step Hydrangea, 3 Step Letters from the Past, Words of Comfort & Joys) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Olive Grove, Bamboo Leaves, New Sprout, Paris Dusk, Blue Danube, Lulu Lavender) Memento, (Stormy Sky, Frayed Burlap) Ranger, Tools: Copic Multi Liner

Mother's Day Sale!

Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends out there!!  Sorry this is a little late but I wanted to let you know about a Mother's Day Sale going on at Kitchen Sink Stamps!

Today and tomorrow only use coupon codeMMD20JULIE and receive 20% your entire order at Kitchen Sink Stamps!  Now's the time to pick up some pretty blooms like 3 Step Daisies or maybe Multi Step Lilacs (mine have just started to bloom!).  Maybe you want to prepare for Father's Day next month with Multi Step Classic Old Truck or 3 Step Baseball.  Whatever you choose remember to use the code for your 20% discount! Have a wonderful day!!

Tropical Dreams

Good morning!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week!  Our weather is supposed to be great this week so I am definitely looking forward to some sun and warmth!  

The nice weather has me in a tropical, beachy mood so I immediately thought of the 3 Step Hibiscus set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I also have been wanting to make some more bookmarks for a while now. The KSS store carries these cute little plastic sleeves which are perfect for protecting pretty handmade bookmarks!  They're great for gift-giving, give a book and a pretty bookmark - voila!!

I started a bit differently today because I wanted to try some mixed media type things and see what would happen. So I began with my vintage book paper and used Decoupage to adhere it to some card stock. Then the piece got a coat of thinned down white gesso - so you could still see the book paper peeking through. Then I started stamping. I'm not sure if it was the ink or the gesso (maybe both) but the ink did not dry right away which meant that each layer of the flower tended to blend a bit with the previous one. The result is a flower that looks more watercolored than realistic, and I kinda like it!  

Recipe:  Step 1 - (Barn Door) Ranger, Step 2 - (Wild Honey) Ranger, Step 3 - (Cantelope) Memento 

After I stamped the flowers I did hear set them so that I didn't accidentally smudge them while finishing. The final step was to paint the background blue. I wanted it to look somewhat watery so mixed a few colors and them mixed in some water. I pretty much just  used my fingers to paint between the flowers and make it fluid and watery. 

I added some doodle words scattered throughout which was Friday's Mix Ability Challenge on SCS.  I hardly ever doodle, but the words just seemed appropriate.  

It's quite a different look from my other KSS work but I love that I can use my current stock and different techniques to achieve a whole new finished product!   Now if I could just take that vacation to Hawaii where I could really soak in the tropics . . . aaahhhhh!!  Someday! :)

I hope you have a chance to visit the rest of the KSS Crew and the your week is full of sunny days! 

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (White) Neenah, vintage book paper, Stamps: (3 Step Hibiscus) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Cottage Ivy, Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart, Cantelope) Memento, (Barn Red, Wild Honey) Ranger, Accessories: (Ribbon) My Favorite Things, (Bookmark sleeve) Kitchen Sink Stamps, (doodle pen) Scarlet Lime, Tools: (Gesso) Liquitex, Decoupage, craft paint

You Did It!

Happy Monday!  We had a great Easter yesterday with our family and at church!  It's one of the best days of the year I think, especially knowing the true story of Easter - the resurrection of my Savior!  So much to be thankful for!

Today I'm sharing a Kitchen Sink Stamps card that was published in past issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. Graduations will be upon us before you know it - yea!!

I have to say I just love this card! I love black and teal together, it's such a pretty color combo!  The stamp set is 3 Step Graduation from KSS.  Visit the other Crew members today also and have a great day!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (Hawaiian Shores, Black, Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink Patterned Paper: (Lush Black Damask) My Mind's Eye Stamps: (3 Step Graduation) Kitchen Sink Stamps Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento , (Going Gray) Stampin' Up!, (Smokey Shadow) Papertrey Ink, (Tumbled Glass) Ranger, (Versamark) Tsukineko Accessories: (Hawaiian Shores Satin ribbon) Papertrey Ink, (Black embossing powder) Stampin' Up!, (Pearls) Kaiser, Tools: (Medium Scalloped die) Papertrey Ink

Sunny Bunny Day

It's time for another Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday!  Spring will officially start this week - yea!!  The temps this week sure don't show it, but we all know it will eventually get warm.  It makes me think about new beginnings and baby animals, getting new chickens and bunnies!

This was a pretty quick card to stamp up - the longest part was cutting out the grass but even that wasn't bad!

I used 3 Step Honey Bunny from KSS which is just about the cutest bunny ever I think - and there's a smaller version in the set as well as a beautiful gerber daisy (my fav!)!  I stamped the bunny on the inside of the card and then cut out the circle and the scalloped circle frame.

It sort of reminded me of those bunny inside the egg things that people used to make - remember those?  We had one when I was young that I think my aunt made, funny the things you remember!

Ink Recipe:
Bunny - Step 4 - (Tuxedeo Black), Step 3 - (Tuxedeo Black, stamped off), Step 2 - (Tuxedeo Black, stamped off 2x), Step 1 - (Tuxedeo Black, stamped off 3x), Memento
Grass - Step 3 - (Northern Pine), Step 2 - (Bamboo Leaves), Step 1 - (New Sprout) Memento

Please visit the rest of the Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew today!  Meet me back here tomorrow for the start of TCP Sneaky Peek week - yippy!! Have a wonderful Monday!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (Solar White) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Stamps: (3 Step Honey Bunny) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves, New Sprout, Northern Pine) Memento, Accessories: (Ribbon) May Arts, (Button) Papertrey Ink

Mixed Roses

Happy Monday!  We had such a beautiful weekend here - Spring is coming folks! :)  Another good thing is that I was able to get to the craft store, use my 40% off coupon and buy some gesso so that I could participate in the Mix Ability Challenge #6 on Splitcoaststampers!  This technique was so much fun, totally fun to play with "artsy" supplies!

I thought that mixing the gesso technique with Kitchen Sink Stamps would make a pretty card and I think it did!

I started with a page from a vintage Primer that I purchased for $1 a few weeks ago.  I gave it two thin-ish layers of gesso because I wanted the print to peek through. Then I used the script stamp from 3 Step Letters from the Past (from Kitchen Sink Stamps) and colored directly on the stamp using 2 pink Gelatos.  I then spritzed it with water and stamped - pretty!  I stamped the rose from 3 Step Hearts and Roses (also KSS) using the ink recipe below but on the last step I spritzed it lightly with water . . . which then made my layers blend together - lol!  So, I dried it a bit and restamped layers 3 and 4.  After I stamped the leaves and the sentiment I did give it a quick spray of a sealer, just in case.

Rose Ink Recipe:  Step 4 - (Rich Razzleberry) SU!, Step 3 - (Rhubarb Stalk) Memento, Step 2 - (Rhubarb Stalk), Step 1 - (Lady Bug Red) Memento

I love trying new things and this is something I will definitely be doing again!  I've been taking a couple of mixed media online courses and learning a TON! I'll start showing you some of the things I'm doing soon, it's been a wonderful experience!

Don't you forget to visit the other Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew members and I hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (Sahara Sand) SU!, vintage book page, Stamps: (3 Step Hearts and Roses, 3 Step Letters From the Past) Kitchen Sink Stamp, Ink: (Rich Razzleberry) SU!, (Rhubarb Stalk, Lady Bug Red, Bamboo Leaves, Olive Grove, Black) Memento, Accessories: (Seam Binding) The Cat's Pajamas, (Pearls) Want2Scrap, Tools: (Nestabilities) Spellbinders, (Gesso) Liquitex, (Gelatoes) Faber Castell

Tulips!

Good Monday morning!! It's March - wow!! Spring is right around the corner! YEA!  It's time for some Spring blooms.  This is a beautiful stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps called Multi-Step Tulip Bouquet. I used the cracked glass technique after stamping and sponging main image. 

Here's a close-up shot.  I just love the richness of the purple!  Don't tulips just make you happy?!  They are such a happy flower!

Don't you forget to visit the other Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew members and I hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (White) Neenah, (Soft Sky) SU!, (Black) Papertrey Ink, (Victoria Gardens) Echo Park
Stamps: (Multi-Step Tulip Bouquet, sentiment from Ribbons With a Cause) Kitchen Sink Stamps
Ink: (Black, Grape Jelly, Lulu Lavender, Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart) Memento, (Imperial Purple, Olympia Green Versafine, Versamark) Tsukineko, (Soft Sky) SU!
Accessories: (Lacy Floral CutUps die, Linen Thread) The Cat's Pajamas, (Ribbon Slide die, Labels Nestabilities) Spellbinders, (Gingham Ribbon) Papertrey Ink, (Rhinestones) Zva Creative, UTEE