June/July Guest Blogger - Karen Motz

Hello fellow paper crafters! My name is Karen Motz and I'm thrilled to be guest blogging for Christina. How lucky am I that she asked little 'ole me?!? Christina's invite came as a sweet surprise because I'm a card-maker, not a scrapbooker, but hey, it's all paper crafting, right? Actually I used to scrapbook a looooooong time ago (like back in my 20's) but one day in 2003 I was introduced to rubber stamping and card-making. Seriously, I think I heard angels sing after I made my very first card. I was hooked right from that moment and I've been a rubber stamper and card-maker ever since. I actually think it's an excuse for collecting and hoarding all the pretty papers,  ribbons, buttons, and embellishments, but let's keep that between us, ok? I'm very lucky and proud to be part of the design team for My Favorite Things...please don't pinch me if I'm dreaming! I love making cards because each of them is a little work of art that I can complete in an hour or two. It's satisfying because I'm never behind the 8 ball and I can actually work ahead. I've already started on my Christmas card stash. But the absolute best part about card-making is giving them away and making someone smile! It makes my heart happy to send happy mail. Which leads me to my project for today...

I created a very sweet card for a very sweet girl, Maddy. I've never met Maddy but I've read her story and she's such an inspiration. She's a brave young girl who is fighting leukemia, fighting for her life, for the second time. There'a a card drive going on over at Simon Says Stamp, to send a smile to Maddy, so I hope my card today does just that. 

I typically like to start out with a sketch, otherwise my cards would all look the same because I have no creativity in the layout department. LOL! For this card I used FMS91 because I love the simplicity of the layout, along with supplies from My Favorite Things. The image is Pure Innocence Believe in Magic. I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black then coloured her with copic markers. I like fussy cutting around these little girls because it makes them pop off the card (she's mounted with foam tape for dimension). I used the Sentiment Strips Die-namics to cut out the sentiment flag then stamped the sentiment with Black Licorice Ink.

Along the right edge of the card I paired Orange Fizz, Sour Apple and Razzle Berry card stocks for a pop of colour. I used the Darling Dots stamp set to create the dotted pattern using Orange Fizz ink and the Dainty Dots Border Die-namics was perfect for cutting out the Razzle Berry dot strip. I cut it out a second time from white and stitched the white centers in place. 

I love decorating the inside of cards too, and it only takes a few minutes to make it special. In this case I simply stamped another sentiment from Pure Innocence Believe in Magic then I stamped the girl again with Razzle Berry ink. 

Maybe after seeing my card you'll be inspired to create a little work of art and send it off to someone to make them smile. Trust me, it really is a lovely feeling! Thank you again Christina for inviting me to guest blog! If you're interested in learning more about my work, please visit my blog: www.paperplayhouse.blogspot.com

Happy Stamping!

Karen

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