Fabulous Florets (p. 107) is one of those sets in my collection that has been a little bit neglected, but with springtime here it was time to pull it out! It coordinates with the Beyond the Garden Designer Series Paper #122342, which you can see I used as a strip near the bottom of my card.  I imagine most of the designer paper will be retired soon so I wanted to use some of this before it is gone. The colors and designs of flowers are so bright and cheerful!

I stamped the flower stem on my Whisper White card stock and a flower or two, but then I also stamped three flowers on scrap paper and cut them out.  Then I adhered to my stamped stems, popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals #104430 (who could live without Stampin' Dimensionals??!).  The center flower used one of the new Summer Smooches Fabric Brads #125589.  They add so much…..but be careful, they are only available during April and will NOT be in the next new catalog in June.

And here are photos of some real flowers from the Houston Azalea Trail in March that I don't think I posted yet.  After touring this garden along the bayou, the rains came and we got soaked! Glad we went to this garden first!

Have a great weekend!  Don't forget to check out the retiring stamp set list!

It MUST be fall now because there was a tinge of coolness in the air this morning….and it's usually hot and humid forever here in Houston.  But it is actually only about 74 this morning and perhaps will stay below 90. Now that's FALL! It's great that it feels a little like fall on the first day of fall!

Here is a card made with the stamp set Autumn Splendor. I love the design of these fall leaves in this stamp set I stamped with Black Stazon and colored in with Blender Pens and Classic Ink. Nothing properly artistic about it, just filling in with color to make them look like fall leaves and acorns….it was so relaxing!  The card base is River Rock (which you can barely see due to the background) with Spice Cake Designer Series Paper. The ribbon is Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon ruffled with some Sticky Strip and an Antique Brad (gotta order more of those beautiful things!).

When I finished this card, I absolutely LOVED it! (if I do say so myself!) The leaves in this stamp set are so beautiful…I bought it after our fall trip to New England two years ago.  You can't go wrong with the Spice Cake paper or fabric.  As I added the embellishments, it all just seemed to come together.  Stampin' Up! products always "come together" eventually, but this one was one of the extra-easy ones!

If you would like to learn about these techniques and others in stamping or scrapbooking, contact me at Karen@Karenstamps.com to set up a workshop with your friends!

Enjoy your first day of the fall season!

The first day of spring was yesterday, and I took pictures of our beautiful azaleas that have really burst into bloom this past week.  The weather was a perfect spring day as well….and you won't normally hear people raving about how good the weather is here in Houston…except for this time of year when other cities are still experiencing snow and we are looking at beautiful spring flowers and digging short pants out of the closet.

Here is a Stampin' Up! card to commemorate the first day of spring.

I just grabbed a Note Card #107311 (did you know you can buy a pack of 20 note cards 5"x 3 1/2" including envelopes?!) to make a simple card with the stamp set Bold Blossom in the Occasions Mini (page 31).  I assumed I would put a little greeting on the card or embellish the flowers with some kind of center layer, but in the end I decided to just go with simple!  When I looked in the drawer to possibly use my glitter, I spied the Basic Rhinestones #119246 and decided just a little bling was what the flowers needed….and that was enough!

Here are some photos of our azaleas!  You should be able to click on each photo to enlarge it.

If you need any stamping supplies to make some beautiful spring cards, please contact me or shop online at my store HERE.

I realize this card doesn't exactly look like a real azalea, but its inspiration came from going on the River Oaks Garden Club Azalea Trail yesterday!  My husband and I enjoy going on the Azalea Trail every year, even if the azaleas aren't in full bloom yet.  We really like seeing the inside of the homes that you can walk through, and the floral arrangements and gardens are always beautiful.  The flower colors are so gorgeous, so I made my pink azalea with Melon Mambo card stock.  Our own azalea bushes are just starting to bloom. You can see one of the flowers I picked beside my card!

The flower on this card is made with the Fun Flowers Bigz Die #121812 in the Occasions Mini.  Even though I didn't think I "needed" this die, once I saw all the beautiful flowers other people were making, I knew I had been mistaken!  The leaves are stamped with the Build a Blossom stamp set, page 12 Occasions Mini, and punched with the Blossom Petals Punch #121808 on the same page.  I added some Subtles Brads #119738 to look like the azalea stamens and put a greeting from the Hostess Level 2 set in the Occasions Mini, Something to Celebrate.  The background paper is Springtime Vintage #121782. I also used my bone folder to curl the edges of the azalea petals a bit.

Now that spring is coming, you will want to start stamping flowers, so if you need some new supplies, check out my Online Store at my website HERE or email with any questions or help with your order.  

You have one day left to hit the Azalea Trail if you are in Houston this weekend!

Have you ever heard of a Corpse Flower?  It is the big news here in Houston right now while we wait to see if the Corpse Flower blooms at the Houston  Museum of Natural Science.  The museum has had a live web feed on the plant 24/7 and the museum has been open late and sometimes all night to give visitors a chance to see this unusual plant.  The plant even has a name….Lois!  Only 28 other bloomings have been observed in the US of this kind of plant….that's partly why it is so unusual.  The other attraction is that when the plant blooms it will have a powerful stench of rotting flesh. Apparently the smell is for the plant to attract certain kinds of flies and beetles.  You can see a picture and read more about it here.

So I thought I would make a prettier flower, only similar to what the Corpse Flower might look like in colors.  I chose Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz. Right now the real Corpse Flower looks like a stalk of some sort.

If you would like to keep an eye on the Corpse Flower at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, you can watch the live web feed HERE.

And if you want to stamp your own pretty flowers with the Petal Pizzazz stamp set #113417, you can go shop right now at my Online Stampin' Up! Store!  Don't forget the 1 3/4 Inch Scallop Circle Punch #119854 which will make it easy to punch out one of the flowers.