Welcome to my weekly feature – quick card of the week. These are cards that you can make in 10 minutes or less. The techniques used are simple, fast and easy, and still result in a beautiful card. So next time you need a card in a hurry, look no further than my Quick Card of the Week.

This week's card is based on two of the weekly challenges on Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) – the sketch challenge, SC192, and the monochromatic color challenge, CC182. This is the template for this week's sketch challenge:

and the color challenge was to make a card/project using monochromatic colors (e.g. all purples, blues, reds, etc.).

I finally received my Upsy Daisy stamp set (which is on sale right now for only $16.11 – that's 15% off a brand-new, die-cut stamp!) and decided it would be perfect for this week's quick card. In fact you might see this stamp set used frequently for quick cards – it lends itself beautifully for a 10 minute card.

I also tried to get outside my comfort zone and play with the orange color family. Orange isn't one of my favorite colors (perhaps because it doesn't look good on me? Hmmm), anyway, I thought this was a good time to try to use it. I chose our new In Color – Tangerine Tango – as my base and then auditioned some other orangey (is that a word? LOL!) colors to see what I liked. To be honest, I really liked last year's Groovy Guava with the Tangerine Tango, but I thought I ought to try to use a current color. Really Rust to the rescue! I was rather surprised, and pleased, at how well these colors went together.

I started by using my Jumbo Watercolor Vine wheel, inking it up with Really Rust and rolling it across the 1 ½" piece of rust card stock. I attached that to my base card (Tangerine Tango – 5 ½" x 8 ½"). Then I stamped the flower silhouettes with Tangerine Tango and stamped it on Very Vanilla (I chose the vanilla vs the white because I was trying to keep with the yellow undertones). I decided that was a bit too stark, so I pulled out my Color Spritzer Tool (so happy they brought this back) and spattered Really Rust ink over my flowers. I notched the corners with my ticket corner punch and matted it with a piece of Really Rust and sponged the edges with the rust. You could definitely stop there, but I wanted a little bling, so I added gold brads in each of the four corners then popped it up with dimensional.

I hear people tell me all the time that they can't create a card in 10 minutes, so I'm thinking about creating a contest to get you all stamping (quickly, of course!). Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the idea – and what you'd like to see for the prize! (A stack of quick cards from me, or a free stamp from my retired stamps perhaps?)

Happy (quick) stamping!

Just a quick post today to share the card I made using this week's SCS color challenge: Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa & Blush Blossom.

I used markers to color the rubber then spritzed it with water (from a fine mist bottle - empty/clean Stampin' Mist bottles work great!).  And as I mention frequently, I love to have coordinating envelopes, so I stamped the envelope with Blush Blossom to have a coordinating set.

Stamps: Inspired by Nature
Ink: Blush Blossom, Ruby Red & Close to Cocoa markers
Card stock: Blush Blossom, Ruby Red & Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Gold brads, fine-mist water bottle

Hope you like it!

Hey stampers! My apologies for this post being a day late; Thursday sort of snuck up on me. The week got away from me as I have been getting ready for my Technique Classes tonight and tomorrow, a team meeting on Sunday, and my daughter asked me to make her a dress for her dance tonight. (Though to be honest, the dress was the easiest!).

For this week's quick card, I wanted to play with my new Cuttlebug! Yep, I finally succumbed and bought one of these cute little gadgets. (I'm a gadget junkie – something I have to watch constantly!) So this card took a little longer than 10 minutes to make – 10 minutes and 14 seconds to be exact – but I think the extra time was due to the fact that this was the first time I used my new Cuttlebug. And boy, is it easy!!! I dry embossed the swirl folder on Whisper White card stock and it literally only took seconds. I think I'm going to have fun with this new toy!

Oh, would you actually like to see the card I made? Gosh, I guess I could stop going on and on. Okay, here it is:

I love how elegantly this card turned out. I had intended to use Soft Sky (for whatever reason I'm having trouble using this color in my work, even though I really like it), but when the SCS color challenge came out this week, I knew I had to use those colors again. I used them once before in this post.

Also, as I mentioned previously, I highlighted the Pretties Kit in my March workshops, and since I was in the mood to use this cool kit some more, I made full use of almost every piece in the kit! And do you ever have those "huh?!" moments? I just had one as I was putting my watermark on the pictures. I just realized that the only stamping I did on this card is actually on the inside (where you cannot see it). I had so much fun with the flowers and beads from the Pretties Kit that I didn't even miss not having any stamping on the front. Honestly, I think some stamping might actually detract from the look of this card. What do you think? Though for those of you interested, I used the new Full of Life stamp set from the Occasions Mini Collection. I like how this set has something different for almost every occasion, and the fonts and styles are all a bit different. So much fun!

Here's a close up of the flowers and beads I used as the main focal point. The colors I used came from the color challenge – Soft Sky, Basic Gray and Whisper White.  You can click on any of the pictures for a larger image.

Sneak peek: I'm going to be offering some blog candy starting next week, so be sure to check back soon!

Happy (quick) stamping!
- Kari

I needed a birthday card for my sister-in-law and wanted something elegant. I saw the color challenge – River Rock, Basic Black & Whisper White - on Splitcoast and decided to give it a try. I also used the sketch that I used in my previous post. I hope she likes it as much as I do!

I finally broke down and bought the stamp set – All in a Row. I have seen so many cute things done with this stamp set, most of them representing stitching, and it turns out it is very fun and easy to do! I stamped the stitching/diamonds along all 4 sides of the River Rock square and then matted that with black. The flower was stamped with River Rock and Basic Black using Heartfelt Thanks (one of my favorite sets!) I sponged the edges of the Whisper White card stock with River Rock and matted it with black to make the image pop.

The background was stamped in River Rock on Whisper White using the Level 1 hostess set – From the Garden – which is a beautiful, full-size image of a flower. It's gorgeous, darling; gorgeous!

For my image in the corner, I decided to break out my Pretties Kit. I wanted the flower to coordinate with my colors, so I sponged the large white flower with the River Rock ink until I got the color I wanted. Took only a minute or so and I love the coordinated look it provides. Here's a close up (click on the image to view it larger):

Break out your In Colors (like River Rock), Pretties Kit and a new stamp and have some fun! If you don't have a Pretties Kit yet, now is a great time to order one, because you will earn a FREE Sale-a-Bration stamp set with every $50 purchase. You could order the Pretties Kit + the All in a Row stamp set and earn a free stamp set (or Rub-Ons) from the Sale-a-Bration catalog. But don't wait too long – Sale-a-Bration is only good through March 17^th.

Happy Stamping!
- Kari

I really liked the sketch challenge this week from Splitcoast Stampers and decided to join in. I also noticed that I have quite a bit of Soft Sky card stock and challenged myself to use this color in my card. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I used Soft Sky, Whisper White, and Basic Gray (have I mentioned how much I like our new gray color? Hee hee). I stamped the background with Soft Sky in an overall pattern using the swirl stamp from Friendship Blooms. I tied a piece of Soft Sky double-stitched ribbon across the top and matted it with Basic Gray and then adhered it to my Soft Sky card.

I used the same stamp to stamp on the Soft Sky square with both Soft Sky and Basic Gray – sort of gives it a dimensional look (you may want to click on the picture to enlarge it). I sponged the edges of this piece with gray to give it more character, then I matted this on Whisper White and again on Basic Gray.

For my focal point (what looks like the star in the sketch challenge) I stamped the large flower on Whisper White with the gray and colored it using my blender pen and the Soft Sky ink pad.

You still have time to earn this stamp for FREE with a minimum qualifying purchase, so contact me today and I'll help you put your order together.

Happy Stamping!
- Kari

I absolutely loved last week's color challenge on SCS - Blue Bayou, River Rock and Chocolate Chip.  They are so yummy together!  And as it turned out, I needed a card for my Dad's birthday, and these colors can make a nice, masculine statement.  So I started planning ideas in my head, but when I went to put them on paper (okay, card stock), I realized I really didn't have any current stamps with a masculine feel to them (oh no!).  So I dug into my stash of retired stamps (those that I doubt I will ever sell) and found my beloved Wolf stamp set.

I also played around with some offset stamping.  That is, I stamped the wolf first with Chocolate Chip ink, then I stamped again (using my Stamp-a-ma-jig) with Whisper White Craft ink, but I offset the image up and to the right just a bit.  I was wondering if it would provide an embossed look, but since the stamp image is so detailed, really what it did was simply soften the overall image.  But I liked it and hopefully my Dad will too.  (I should have known first hand since I saw him on his birthday, but in my rush to get the family in the car, I forgot the card down in my stamp room, so I had to mail it to him this week.  Does anyone else do stuff like that, or is it just me?)

I roughed up the edges of the River Rock layer with the Cutter Kit and then sponged them with Chocolate Chip ink.  I also stamped the paw image and embossed it with our retired Earth Elements embossing powder stack (using Chocolate Chip of course), and the birthday saying is from my favorite All Holidays set.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wolf, All Holidays
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Craft White, Versamark
Paper: Blue Bayou, River Rock, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, EE embossing stack, Cutter kit, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Happy Stamping!
- Kari

So I don't wow myself very often, but I have to say that I am totally enamored with this card that I made for yesterday's Technique Lover's Challenge - TLC122.  The challenge was to use something that is retiring and to create a card for a business-sized envelope.  I make these "long" cards occassionally and it's a nice change of pace (like the 3x6" cards I love to make).

I wish you could all see this one in person - though only one other person gets to see this (the wonderful hostess I sent it to - Julie if you're reading this, you're getting a sneak preview!).  I used MicroPearl Pearl Ex, so it is very sparkly, and the scan just doesn't do it justice.  Click the picture to see a larger view, but you still cannot quite see the "sparkliness" of the Pearl Ex.

I used a lot of retiring products on this card.  The card itself is 9 1/4" x 3 7/8" (so I cut the Vintage Violet cardstock at 9 1/4" x 7 3/4" and scored at 3 7/8").  I stamped the French Script background stamp with Versamark on the Basic Black layer.  I then brushed MicroPearl Pearl Ex over the top using the flat brush.  I added some Vintage Violet stitched grosgrain ribbon and Silver cord on angles on the front of this black layer and then layered this whole piece onto Brushed Silver cardstock.  This piece was layered onto the Vintage Violet card.

For the greeting I used the retiring set - Elegant Greetings.  I stamped it on Basic Black using Versamark and then brushed on the Micropearl Pearl Ex again.  I punched the corners with the Ticket Corner punch and layerd it onto Brushed Silver cardstock that I also punched with the Ticket Corner punch.  This was then layered onto Vintage Violet and I added silver brads to the 4 corners.  I popped this element up with dimensionals to layer onto the card.

I hope my hostess likes it as much I do, and I hope you enjoy it too!

I needed a baby card for a dear friend and out of all of the stamp sets I own, I was shocked to find I didn't have any "real" baby stamps!  Can you believe it?  Well, I couldn't.  Of course Chuck just smiled and said I guess I should get some (he's such a keeper!).

So here's my take at a non-traditional baby card using Fishy Friends and Riveting (both of which are being discontinued this month).  I decided since I was going non-traditional that I would also incorporate this week's SCS color challenge - Barely Banana, Creamy Caramel and Real Red.  And I almost used the sketch challenge - SC126 (I tweaked it a bit, so it probably doesn't count for the challenge).

Here's what I did: I stamped the crab in Black Staz-On on watercolor paper and used the colors I just mentioned to color him in with the Aqua Painter.  I sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel and then matted it with Real Red and Creamy Caramel (both pieces are 1/8" bigger on all sides). 

You can't see it, but I stamped the starfish in Banana on the Banana cardstock.  I also stamped the circles from Riveting on the Creamy Caramel, and on the Real Red I stamped the bottom of the jellyfish.  I stamped this upside down, so it looks like seaweed (well, I thought it did).

After I layered the caramel and red piece on the card and added the crab (raising with dimensionals), I punched a 1 3/8" circle from the bottom of the card and in that I layered a piece of Real Red punched with the same size circle.  I then used Caramel to stamp the Welcome Little One saying on Banana - punched it out with the 1 1/4" circle and last but not least, I stamped in Banana on Whisper White and punched with the 1/2" circle punch just the center of the stamp (with the diaper pin on it).  I raised the White circle and Banana circle with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I don't know if it shows through well in the picture, but it's really cute, because when you open the card, there's a hole in the front and the little rivet is adhere to the inside of the card.

I hope you like my non-traditional card.  (Also, don't forget about the retired accessories list posted to the left - many items are selling out quickly - don't miss out on the items you want!).

When I was playing with the crayon resist technique from last week, I made an extra piece.  I couldn't decide which I liked better (do you ever do that?).   So, since I had this extra piece, I decide to turn it into a card and send it as a thank you to Tracy for her generosity in letting me attend her workshop.

This one told me it wanted to be much brighter than my last card.  So I used the same Mixed Bouquet (retiring) stamp set in Black StazOn on the Glossy White cardstock.  Then I used the crayon all over the flowers so the ink wouldn't stick.  I used the same Vintage Violet to brayer over the stamping as on this card, but that's where the similarities ended. 

After I removed the crayon, I colored the centers of the flowers with Summer Sun ink.  I matted this panel on Summer Sun and then again on Basic Black (with only an 1/8" border instead of my normal 1/4").  On the base card (Green Galore) I stamped the flowers from Background Basics (also retiring) in Green Galore.  Then I stamped the saying in black from Simple Sayings (also retiring).  I added the panel to the card and WOW!  is it bright!  But that was the look I was going for - bright and cheery.  I hope Tracy enjoys it as much as I did making it.

During the month of May, you can get a sampler pad of 48 6" x 6" double-sided sheets of our new Prints Designer Series paper-before they are available from the new catalog! That's 12 exclusive patterns, four exclusive colors, and endless project possibilities! 

You can buy the pad for just $9.95 with $35 minimum purchase, or you can earn the pad for free when you host a $400 workshop.

Contact me by May 30th to order your exclusive sampler pad!!  kari@StampingMadeEasy.com

Click here to see samples of all of the papers in the tablet!

I made this card in honor of my friend Joannie.  She wants this set - Feathered Friends (retiring this year) and it reminded me that I haven't used it in awhile.  I watercolored the image using the inks from the lids of my pads and my blender pen.  I also used the color challenge from Monday - Vintage Violet, Old Olive and Certainly Celery.  For the boards of the house, I used Sahara Sand and I stamped the image itself with Black StazOn (I prefer it's smear-proof properties when I'm watercoloring).

The side panel from the Certainly Celery DP (from the 6x6" pad on special this month), was actually a leftover from this card here.  So I decided to use it on this card and I love the soft, sweet look of the card.  Joannie - what do you think?

Here is another sample and instructions to make this candle box:

You can find many more samples on SCS - take a look and create a project using this fabulous paper today!