New Design Team Member - Karen

Hello Fellow Crafters and Stampsmith stamp lovers,

I am so happy to be joining everyone here on the Stampsmith Blog as a new Design Team Member. So, a big Thank You to Estelle and Kim for inviting to become part of the team. I suppose you would like to know a little bit about me. Well, let's see....I have been crafting since I was four. I still have the bean bag frog that I made in vacation bible school. LOL. As a child I loved decoupage, paper toll, embroidery, and candle making. I began sewing as a pre-teen and teen. I carried on with the sewing and also took up quilting. I still am an avid sewer. I began making cards about ten years ago. I started out making them on the computer and was so pleased to see how happy people were to receive a card made just for them. About 3 years ago I really kicked it up and began making cards "by hand". My dear friend moved out of the state and I used cards as a therapeutic way to cope with missing her. She got a card about every couple of days which helped her through a tough time too. And, it just snowballed from there. Now, it's "any excuse to make a card". I make a lot of charity cards too for our Military and children.

On the personal side, I have been married to my Sweetheart, Don for 25 years. Yes, that's not a typo...25 years. He is very supportive of my creative side as he is himself very creative. He is a fabulous musician and song writer. Let's see what else can I tell you? Oh, I have a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. I am an accounting geek. People find it hard to reconcile the fact that I am an accounting geek and at the same time a creative type. But, it does happen. So, I do my accounting thing part time.I live in Michigan and have for most of my life. Oh, and I love to work in my garden. Okay, enough about me, let's see some cards!

I made this batch of cards for the ladies on the Stampsmith Group RAK (random acts of kindness) List. They are already in the mail for birthdays. I used the Ballerina image and a bunch of different papers. The first card uses lavender cs and purple dp.

The next three cards are made with browns and green.

The dp below is from Stampin' Up:

The background paper on this card is a leopard print shopping bag that I pickup somewhere.

That's about it for me today. I am off to a family Birthday party. I look forward to sharing with you as a new Design Team Member. I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend!

Karen McAlpine