February Guest Designer – Kristie Larsen

Yesterday was Valentine’s! Aren’t you glad we had so much SWEET inspiration for you last week during our blog hop! I gave away some sweet cards and now it’s time for a stamps give away. The winner of the blog hop is:

Jaquelin G! “Whay fabulous inspiration!!! So hard to choose a favourite when there are so many adorable things to choose from!! I have to go with Tina’s box – so lovely – but everyone did a SWEET job!!!! thanks!!!”

Congratulations Jaquelin! Make sure to e-mail us your address to receive your stamps soon. Have fun with them!

Now we would like to introduce you to our February Guest Designer. We are so excited to have Kristie Larsen with us this month. Kristie has just had her third little boy Malachi Alex last week. Congratulations to Kristie! We wish you great joy with your new little one!

Kristie has been very busy with the Itty Bittys set and made a great amount of phantastic projects for us to showcase. She definitely knows how to tickle this set. Next monday we will be showing more of her work. Now over to Kristie:

Hi! My name is Kristie Larsen. I am a SAHM of three boys! I have been papercrafting for about 3 years now. A friend of mine had a stamping party just a few weeks after my second son was born and I sat with my girlfriends in a cramped living room in NYC loving every minute of it! While I started out using wood block stamps, I am now completely in love with acrylic stamps and have been loving My Stamp Box stamps for some time now.  I would consider myself a card maker, but I have been known to scrap a page or two. I love thinking about a loved one as I make them a card and get excited to send them my love through the mail. Some of my favorite things to use are a sewing machine, bright colors, twine and buttons. I would describe my style as modern and fun, but of course I do like to try out new techniques and ideas that I see around in books, magazines and on the web. Because of this I feel like my style is still evolving. I tend to stamp at night when the kids are finally in bed. I have found my projects turn out better if I stamp every night. My creative juices keep flowing and cards and projects come together faster, however with baby #3 on its way I know that will change dramatically! Besides stamping, I love to fill my time with books, guitar playing and movie nights with all my boys. I hope you like my creations and feel inspired by this new stamp set. I sure was! Thanks to Bettina at myStamp BOX for such a fantastic opportunity and fantastic products. Happy Stamping!

The first moment I laid eyes on this “Itty Bitty’s” stamp set I thought “Background Stamping”! I LOVE LOVE LOVE background stamping. It’s such a great way to get a lot more use out of your stamps and to create a different look. Today I want to show you two ways to use myStampBox set “Itty Bittys” with background stamping to create some cards, so lets get started!

The first card I used three separate stamps from the set. The first of which is the squiggly frame which created my card base:

I tilted the stamp to create a diamond pattern, alternating two of my favorite colors. Orange and Blue. They are complementary for a reason! Once I created my background it was only a matter of a few added details to finish off my card. This is a simple way to create a wow factor for your card and it doesn’t take a lot of time. You just have to look at your stamps a bit differently! I added some white sponging to the edges to tie into the white ribbon and white paper sentiment. I added white CS to a 1″ chipboard tile to create some dimension. And of course I had to add one of my favorite embellishments… buttons!

This second card shows some of the different patterns you find in this new stamp set.  I used some bare chipboard tiles (2×2) and stamped them with red ink. I rotated the stamp as I  went to keep the pattern more random. And I LOVE these three patterns! Again I added the Just For You sentiment and the bigger scalloped frame and of course I added my other fav. embellishment… twine!

Both of these cards are quick to put together but have a lot of added interest because of the repeated stamping. Just pick up some of your stamps (remember to add Itty Bitty’s to your stash!), look at them in a different way and see how much fun background stamping can be!

TRIO of CARDS

First card up is for a birthday. I cut out pattern paper at 1″ each and alternated them with the stamped birthday present image. I added some Stickles for sparkle and sewed the edges to give it a quilted look. Simple, to the point, and no need for a sentiment.

Second card up can be for spring, Easter, or just because. Depending on the paper you pair it with, this image can be used for just about anything! As you see, the same layout, just different colors. This makes a completely different look and still you don’t need a sentiment.

Third card up is for Valentines or an anniversary, or even just sharing some love! Same layout, same idea, different colors and paper. Glitter was added again for sparkle and shine. These cards are simple and fun to make!

Here they all are together. This set has so many images in it, just think of how many cards you could make for different occasions! Work out one layout and start making cards and just see where this great set can take you!

I have really enjoyed creating with this wonderful myStampBox set and hope you have enjoyed it as well. Thanks again to Bettina and myStampBox for this great opportunity! Hope you feel inspired and Happy Crafting!
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