Dear Anonymous-

Anonymous left me a comment the other day on this post. She gave me a nice compliment on my card and was thankful that I didn't use "Bee's of the Corn" in my card. What???? OK, well this is an inside joke. I know who said this it is one of my Stampin' friends and we recently discovered that we graduated from the same high school in the same class- whoa! That is pretty cool eh? Anyway, basically she doesn't like these little bees from Just Buzzin' By for some reason. I don't know what is wrong with her, because they are sooooooo CUTE! Anonymous, what is wrong with you?!?! ;) I mean you are young and hip and cool, you are funny, what gives?! Well I made these cards just for you and I hope they change your mind about the little Bees! ;)


This first little card is so fun to me. When I saw the new Ocassions Mini Walk in the Park DSP with this little hexagon shaped paper in saffron, it reminded me of honeycomb, so I made it so. I just cut around the lines and cut out a few shapes, I stamped my CUTE little bees and placed them in and around the honeycomb, like they are little worker honey bees. I used crystal effects and gold glitter to make honey drizzle off of the comb. What do you think Anonymous?

This second card is just fun. I like the way the CUTE little bees fit in the build-a-brads. I think the colors are playful. I have been really wanting to use my Sweet Slumber Specialty DSP so this is why I picked the colors. I enjoyed all the layers and playing with the stamps and colors. Hope that everyone, including Anonymous, enjoys these cards made with the DARLING little bees.

PS- go class of 1997!

Fun with Rub-ons

Today I made a couple of cards using rub-ons from the Hand Drawn Bundle and the Sweet & Sassy rub ons. Here they are!

KWerner Challenge #50

Time for another Kristina Werner Challenge! yeah!!!!!!! Well if you want to check out the challenge, you can here. But in case you don't, here are the colors.


Here is my take on the challenge. It was really fun to create. It doesn't even have any stamping- whoa!!! You can barely see the chocolate chip, but it is there, in the sky. I also got to use my new pretties kit.


thanks for stopping by!!!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Just a few fun cards today. This first card is something I CASEd (copied and shared) from splitcoast stampers but I can't remember who from. Isn't it cute! I already made my Mom for Mother's day, but might give her this one instead. We'll see....
Here is the inside view. Did you notice the flowers aren't the same? Well this is actually a different card, I made three :) I used my new sizzix die and cut a bunch of flowers and so made several.

Now here were some of my favorite swap cards from Regionals last week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Scrapbook class- May 2nd

Happy Wednesday! Yeah! It is "misting" here today, but we have had so many nice days that I am OK with it today. I say that now anyway....

So remember I mentioned a scrapbook class coming up? Well here is what we will be making, isn't it cute?!

I still have spots in the class if you want to come, here are the details:

When: May 2nd, 12-2pm
Where: Edmonds, WA (details provided upon RSVP)
Cost: $10 for this 12X12 double page layout but if you put in a $40 merchandise order the day of the class, I will give it to you for FREE!
**Class to go also available, cost is $10 plus shipping.
RSVP Please RSVP to katieannbrooks@gmail.com with prepayment (checks or paypal-ask for details) by Thurdsay April 30th.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Now for something else fun. This is a picture of Anne-Claire and me with Shelli Gardner, the owner and CEO of Stampin' Up! We attended Seattle Regionals this last weekend and got to learn some fun new stuff and make some great projects. I will have more pictures of what we made and some of what we saw to show to you later in the week.

Enjoy your Wednesday, rain or shine!

A rose by any other name....

First of all, I want to give a BIG shout out to my Secret Sister for the lovely gift I received this month- THANK YOU! She is such a talented artist, I love her style. Just check out that beautiful card with the distressed edges. I love the little basic gray taffeta ribbon tied to the blue, nice touch. This stamp set isn't one I would purchase, not my style, but now I love it! And the coordinating basket- awesome! One more item, not shown here, she got me the fun Filigree Brads. So basically, she Rocks! If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about you can go back to this post to read more details.


Second on the list today is this fun card. What do you think? I think it would be nice for a wedding or shower, very elegant look to it. Are you wondering how in the heck I made this? Well, join my advanced technique club, details here, and find out!

Thanks for stopping by today, enjoy the sun (yes, it is sunny in Seattle!!!)!

How would you like a 20% discount on all your SU stuff?!?!

20% off sounds nice right?!?!

Well I can give that to you right now AND I can give it to you at $50 off!!!! Yep, that is the starter kit/ultimate stampin' kit- regularly $199 for $149! But you have to hurry because this offer expires on May 4th and we have to snail mail paperwork in (not available online), so you would need to contact me ASAP for more details! This offer is only from demonstrators who attended Seattle Regional Seminar, which I did, so that makes me & you special!!!! :)

Here is what you can get with the Starter Kit/Ultimate Stamping Kit:

Eastern Blooms Stamp Set*
Fun & Fast Notes Stamp Set*
Bold Brights Birthday Stamp Set*
Fundamental Phrases Stamp Set*
Fast Flowers Wheel*
Stampin' Around Self-inking handle
Pixie Pink Ink Cartridge*
Stampin' Pastels
Bold Brights 8.5 X 11 CS (2)*
Kraft Parisian Damask Decor Elements (Large)
Decor Elements Applicator Tool
Stampin' Scrub
Stampin' Mist
Versamark Pad
Blender Pens
Whisper White Card Stock*
Snail Adhesive
Basic Black Classic Stamp Pad*
Real Red Classic Stamp Pad*
Green Galore Classic Stamp Pad*
Brilliant Blue Classic Stamp Pad*
Pixie Pink Classic Stamp Pad*
Business Forms and Tools

* indicates items can be exchanged for an item of equal or lesser value.

THIS IS A $335 VALUE!

Contact me today!--
Katie Brooks
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
www.kbloves2stamp.stampinup.net
www.kbstamps.blogspot.com
206.947.8273

Courtney's Closet & Birds of a Feather

OK, I admit it, I have been hoarding a few things even thought I have been trying not too. Specifically my Rockabilly Specialty Paper and some of the rub-ons from the hand drawn bundle. The time has come to use some of these things, so......

The inspriation for the first card came from Courtney's Closet. See little Courtney there below, isn't she cute! Every week she models some adorable outfit and you can use it to inspire your creations, what a great idea! I have also been wanting to do one of Libby's Challenges- http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/2009/04/from-courtneys-closet-39-inspiration.html for a while and fortunately for me, they are the same colors as my Rockabilly DSP so I though- what the heck, lets use that paper!

I made the card card using one of my hand drawn stamps. Obviously I wanted to focus on the cherries from Rockabilly so I made the cupcake have a cherry on top. I used a real red brad and colored in my own stem. Honestly, this card took me way too long, but I couldn't get my layout right. I am not 100% pleased but I conquered my fears and used my goods! :)

Here is my second card and this one I love! These little owls are so cute aren't they?! They are from the hand drawn bundle rub-ons. The sad part is I have no more :(, but I suppose the sacrafice was worth it.

To make this card, I started with my green card stock and rubbed on the brown owl. Then I rubbed on part of the white owl masking what I didn't want so it looks like they are standing together, sorta cuddling. I then took the white owl eyes and swapped them. The reasoning for this is that if you have owl friends, it makes sense for one to wink, but not both, so the eyes on whitey there got swapped around and I only used part of the winking eye. Now the fun part is that what was left over from that owl, looks like a leaf, so I saved it- fun right! Once I had my owls, I cut the green to 4X4- wanted to make sure my little owls were centered. Then I took my green tea (retired) dsp and scissor circle cutter and cut out a window (this paper is 4.25X4.25). Glued 'em together and mounted on 4.5X4.5 barely blue CS. I finished off with a tag (lots of tags die) where I rubbed on Birds of a Feather (hard to see) and used some of the ballet blue buttons from my fresh favorites II button set.

So the tips for the day are:

1. Check out Courtney's Closet- http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/2009/04/from-courtneys-closet-39-inspiration.html
2. You don't always have to use the entire rub-on, you can pick and choose parts!

Hope you enjoyed!

Wanna Join the Advanced Technique Club?

This post will remain on top for a week or more- for newer projects scroll down

I am starting a new Advanced Technique club in May. This club is for those of you that want to learn new and advanced things such as: watercoloring, watercolor resist (example below), stained glass, quilting with the Big Shot, using brayers and more! This is NOT just for stampers, we will create embelishments for scrapbook pages and 3-D items!

Join the Advanced Technique Club and get:
To learn 10-15 new advanced techniques…
A booklet with samples that summarizes the techniques, and…
A hostess stamp set, paper or décor element, and…
(at least) $15 in FREE merchandise, and…
Make (at least) 10-15 free project and create as we go, and…
Spend time with existing or make new crafty friends!

To join: Five individuals sign up for the club. We will meet monthly or every other month, whichever the club decides. If you are out of town, you can still join, but will pay a small additional charge each month for shipping of orders and projects (projects will be sent with complete how to instructions).

Here’s how it works: Club members take turns “hostessing” and receiving benefits. Each person receives 2-3 techniques each time and samples and instructions for their technique book. You will purchase $35 (or more if you desire) in product for each of the 5 months to ensure that the person “hosting” the workshop receives the hostess benefits. At the end of 5 months you will each have a completed technique album, 10-15 projects, a hostess-only stamp set, paper or décor elements and $15 in FREE merchandise.

Contact me today to sign up- www.katieannbrooks@gmail.com

A whole slew of projects

OK, I am behind on my posting just as I was behind getting my Easter cards out. It is so hard to make what I "need" to make, I'd rather make what I want to make. That however, means that I go by my creativities flow and some things that should get done don't. For example, I got my Easter cards out on Thursday and I know they didn't get there in time. I try to do everything.

Speaking of, here is the card I made for my dad, cute but not too feminine. I like this little guy, not sure who makes the stamp, thought it was an AMUSE one, but was checking and can't be sure.

And since we are talking Easter, here are a few shots of my girl hunting for eggs for the first time! She eventually got the idea of putting them in her basket and then would just dump them out again and start over.

And here is one of her with her buddy Samo- we went to the zoo for a hunt and other fun activities. Nice that they do that being that we live in a city and don't have a yard. The kids had tons of fun (although you can't tell in this picture) , it was cold, but didn't rain!

Finally, dyeing eggs. She wasn't interested in the eggs, she just wanted to dip her hand in the vinegar water and lick it off- ew! :)

OK, back to work. (I know, I know, this is going to be the longest post in the world!). So I was inspired last thursday (4/9) to enter the Stampin' Up! Artisan Award contest. Now I should just preface by saying that the entries (10 items- 3 scrapbook pages, 5 cards, 2 3-5) have to be to SU! headquarters by 4/20. That is a Monday and is located in Utah. So basically, I had a week or less to make all this and get it there in time.

#2 (In case you are wondering about #1, that is last). This was one of my first cards I made for it. I thought it had a nice variety of color and the layout was nice, the flowers are cut out and watercolored and finished with some ribbon. Displays that I can do watercoloring.

#2- not what I had originally intended, but what I ended up with. It doesn't display any difficult techniques, but I like the layout. I was slightly dissapointed however.

#3- this is the card that broke me. I used the pop up cake die and put a scene going around it. This took me 2+ hours with the cutting and detailing. Hand made trees, snow capped. The train is very hard to cut out and I made a little man to go in the window. I folded and unfolded it so many times trying to make it just so that the inside stopped popping up. :( Furthermore, I was tired and didn't have the right stamp for the inside, but instead of waiting, just wrote my greeting in and I didn't like that. So- this is where on Saturday night (3 down 7 to go and knowing I wouldnt' have time on Sunday to create) I decided it wasn't worth all the stress and that now that I knew about it I could prepare for next year if I wanted to participate.

4/14 Update: The original idea for altering the pop up cake is not mine, the train was, but Mary Jo Albright made a castle that inspired me. It does not appear that she actually folds her cards, because they remain perfect! You can view her blog here- http://mjalbright.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/stampin-up-pop-up-class-part-ii/

#1- best for last. This was the first item I made. This too took me a long time because I used the swirly sizzlet by cutting them and peicing them back together. I also created a lot of flowers using die cuts. Now I LOVE this page- I love the picture and it is ornate and elegant. So what is wrong with it? One, I wasn't supposed to use a picture of myself and I did. I didn't read the rules was relying on second hand information so after I made this I found out I was going to have to re-make it. :( (so you can see after my choo-choo disaster I was really only at 2 completed projects 8 to go). However, part of me is happy that this page is now mine, I don't have to give it away to anyone, I can keep my fun page of Sophie and I to myself! :)

So now you know where I have been and what I have been doing. I was working on projects for this award and decided that it is too late in the game and the stress wasn't worth it. That just means that I can share my experience and projects with all of you!

Thanks for bearing with me in this LOOOOOOONG post.

Today's Two-fer (Hero's and Mojo's)

OK, today's post is from last night's creations and both are for challenges and for fun. The card I actually plan on sending, hopefully tomorrow (gulp, I still have several to make!) so wasn't just for the challenge, but used the challenge as my layout.

Anyway, this first item is fun. The challenge on the Hero Arts blog was to stamp on anything BUT cardstock- http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2009/04/07/two-on-tuesday/. OK, fun, but what do I do, what do I do. I don't mind using someone else's idea as long as I make it my own you know, but I couldn't think of anything same-same-but-different (shout out to my KK- we say that all the time, a phrase I picked up in Thailand). So I was trying to rack my brain and think about things sittng around my house. Then I thought of this lamp that has been sitting in my closet for about a year- perfect! So I decided to make my ratty old hanging lamp look like a sheek vintage lamp with Asian flair! Ta-dah! (more pics below)

OK, sorry this picture is blurry :(. Recognize the stamp? It is from the new Occassions Mini Catalog- the Soft Summer set. Now, for those of you planning on trying this, I recommend using a square lamp/lantern, working with this oval shape it was REALLY hard to get a good image. In fact, I had to go back in and fill in some of the black lines with my black marker. But fortunately, it worked out because the stamp has that sketchy look to it. I went back afterwards and colored in with my real red, olive and close to cocoa markers. Here is what it looks like in the room.