Father's Day Cards

Hello fellow stampers and crafters,

I really like making masculine cards.  I think the fellas in our lives are sometimes forgotten but they really like getting cards too.  These particular cards I made for Father's Day but the tags could say happy  birthday, congrats, happy retirement, thank you or just about anything.

I did not include a lot of embellishments.  The embossing gives the cards a nice clean touch,

 Think about making more masculine cards and give these a try.  You can find more cards on my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/handmadebykathiek?ref=seller-platform-mcnav.

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy stamping!

Craft Room Update

Hello stampers and crafters,

My craft table and storage shelf are done! I'm still organizing all my supplies  - but that's seems to never end. The table tops are made from sheets of melamine.  The shelves or cubicles were ordered from Closetmaid.

I designed the craft table to be quite high - I am fairly tall and wanted to be able to stand at the table and work without being bent over.  My chair is adjustable and be used at a standard height or raised up for the craft the table.

The craft table sit on 8 casters.  This allows me to move the table around to position it in the best light or push it up against the closet doors when I don't need to get in there.  The room is small but the casters allow me to make the best of the space.

The paper storage, ink storage, and shelf are from Stamp n' Storage.  I highly recommend their products.  I'm hoping to add a few more pieces in the near future.

I am loving my new craft room! Please share your craft room design ideas and organization tips.

Check out my new Etsy shop here, Handmade by Kathie K (the shop name is all one word handmadebykathiek).

Thanks for stopping by. Happy crafting!
Kathie K

Sunsets by the ocean

Hello fellow crafters!

When my husband and I are able to take a vacation, we love going somewhere warm by the ocean. Since we live in the mid-west, this is something that we don't get to do very often. So in between vacations, I recreate those memories through stamping.

Here are my current favorites.  I love doing the sponging technique to create the blue/green hues of the ocean, and the yellow and purple sky of a setting sun. Thanks to all of you that post your great creations as they definitely inspire my creativity. The thing that I like most is that every card turns out a little different.

The cards below were made for a couple of my friends that needed a little pick me up.  I also think these designs would be great for sympathy cards and for the guys in your life.  The version with the lighthouse was made for my brother's birthday.

Both cards were made with the Stampin' Up High Tide stamp set.  Here are few tips when making these cards:

• Before stamping or sponging, make sure your card stock is cut to the finished size.  When I made these cards I trimmed after and lost the really cool edging the sponging makes.
• For the masking, I found post-it notes that have a large sticky area.  This made masking so much easier. They are made by Post-it and called full adhesive notes.
• When stamping the lighthouse, be aware of the shadow that is created by layering the two stamps together.  Just make sure you place the light source on left.

I am still amazed how these turned out!  Both cards started out completely white,  Give this a try.  I hope you have as much fun as I do making these cards.

Happy crafting!