Finally Completed a Challenge

It has been a long time since I was able to complete a challenge.  I check out the various challenge blogs and consider doing them, but then I don't.  Now with my craft room all set up and its not a dumping ground, I can finally participate.  This card was made for the Mojo Monday Challenge 214.  

I really like there layouts, and I knew I could do this one.  I kept the card simple as I'm just getting back into swing of things.  I'm not into elaborate cards yet, but I'm hoping to get there.

This card features the Love Bug stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  I love the little critters in the images and there fun to color.  I just recently got the watercolor pencil crayons from Stampin' Up and I had to try them out.  I didn't watercolor the images, but I will try that technique out one day.

The colors in this card are Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin pie, Island Indigo, and Soft Suede.  This color combo was inspired by a challenge over at ColourQ blog.  Unfortunately I didn't finish the card in time to participate in the challenge.  

I think the card turned out well.  I hope you enjoyed it.

Take care

Birthday Invite

My son's first birthday is coming up so I'm planning a party for him.  I decided to make the theme Polar Bears, since he was born in winter and we have snow.  I'm going to be making a polar bear cake for him to enjoy, so I thought I should make coordinating invitations.  I used the teddy bear image from the Teddy and Train stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  I stamped it in Sahara Sand and then used heat and stick powder to add dazzling diamonds.  This gives the impression of a polar bear covered in snow.  Since the invite his for my son's birthday, blue was the color.  I used Bashful Blue and Marina Mist.  Since he's only turning 1, I figured I could get away with using soft colors instead of bold colors.  The card may seem to be babyish, but Caius is my baby boy.  I don't want him growing up to fast.

For A Baby Boy

It has been a very long time since I posted any projects.  I've had a busy summer but now life has slowed down and I'm able to get back to creating again.  I also moved my craft room into a bigger space and its organized.  I also have more workspace. Today I have a card that I made for a good friend of mine who just had a baby boy.  This is her first baby so I wanted to make a special card for her and her family. 

I used the Teddy and Trains stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  I love the softness of the images.  The teddy bear looks so cuddly. The images are stamped in Versamark and coloured with Stampin' pastels.  Pastels are perfect for baby cards as they are soft.  

To keep the card boyish, I used boy colors.  The colors are Brilliant Blue, Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze and Marina Mist.  

I used the side step fold for this card.  You can find the tutorial for this fold on Splitcoaststampers.

I hope you have enjoyed this card as much as I did making it.

Take care and until next time,

Kristy

Candles, Candles, and more Candles

Awhile back my mother-in-law asked if I could make her some candles for her dining area and living room.  She wanted roosters for the dining area and lavender for the living room.  With this as my inspiration I came up with 2 sets of candles.  I really love the rooster candles.  I stamped the image with Staz On on white tissue paper.  I then watercoloured the image and then heat set on the candle.  I added some ribbon and twine and Voila!  They look really good on the wrough iron stands.

Since the lavender image I was using was small, I had to come up with a way to make a larger image.  I decided to create backgrounds for the lavender.  On the large candle, I brayered a sky with Marina Mist and Rich Razzleberry.  On the middle candle, I sponged a sky with the same colors.  For the small candle, the lavender image was the perfect size, so I added a bit of Bashful Blue around the lavender.  Since Stampin' Up! doesn't have a lavender color I used Perfect Plum.  For a ribbon, I used Certainly Celery striped grosgrain.

Being a Mom and Loving It

Last November, my beautiful baby born came into this world.  Since then I have had my hands full learning many new things.  I'm not sure who's learning more, me or him.  Its been 6 wonderful months and I'm looking forward to many more wonderful years, but I haven't the time to devote to a business.  So as of the end of this month, I will no longer be a part of Stampin' Up!.  I will still be playing in craft space every once in a while and I will share what I create.  My current project is a scrapbook for my son.  I've only finished a couple of pages, but he's only been around for a short while.  This will definitely be an ongoing project that one day he will appreciate (or possibly a future wife).  

Thank you for visiting my blog and I do hope you continue to stop by.  I hope I have inspired you to be creative.

Kristy

While checking out various blogs I came across one technique that was neat.  I'm not sure what the technique is called or which blog I learned it from but I would like to pass the credit on to whom ever deserves it.  

Basically, you stamp your image in black ink (I used Staz On) and then color however you want.   I decided to color my flowers (I used a retired stamp set, Delight in Life) with the Aqua Painters and Stampin' Classic ink pads (Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, and So Saffron).  This creates a watercolor effect.  Once I was done coloring, I covered the entire image with VersaMark ink (I used the Versamarker).  I then added Clear EP and heated it with my heat too.  Once the EP is done melting, you have a glassy image.  I think this technique really makes the colors of the flowers pop.  I added some ribbon (Certainly Celery Striped grosgrain) and embossed the background (Elegant Bouquet embossing folder) and I was done. 

This card is perfect for any occasion, but I chose to use it as an anniversary card.

I hope you give this technique a try.

Kristy

Where I Surf

You can't be a blogger without blog surfing.  I do enjoy checking out other peoples blogs as well as blogging.  I love to see what others have created and how they do it.  Each blog that I visit inspires me to create and then I must share my creations.  As of late I don't get a lot of time to create, but I do spend a few minutes surfing different blogs.  So today I would like to share with you some of my favorite blogs.

• Mik Inks:   She does some cute but beautiful work.  She has something different with each post, such as quick cards, cards she's CASEd, and non-card projects.  
• Stamp n Design:  Her blog is full of different ways to use products and she has tons of tutorials.  I love her tutorials.  They are easy to read and they have pictures.
• Valita's Designs and Fresh Folds:  She does crazy awesome things with punches and is definitely worth checking out.  You really can't look at any punch the same way after you see what she has done with them.   She even gives complete instructions on how to and a video as well.
• The Stamping Studio:  She has very unique ideas.  She comes with the neatest 3D projects and they're all beautiful.
• Michelle Zindorf:  She is the brayer QUEEN.  She does absolutely stunning cards with a brayer.  She actually travels all over the US to teach this technique.
• Sunny Stampin'  This blog is by two very talented ladies.  They put so much work and effort into creating these projects and sharing how to make them.  I have used several of their tutorials and they are well worth it.

The next set of websites are not personal blogs but online communities for papercrafters.  What I love about them is all the ideas that every one has.

• Splitcoaststampers
• Stampin' Addicts

The final set of blogs that I want to share with you Challenge blogs.  These are blogs that offer you inspirations for creating any project.  The best part of these blogs is seeing all the entries.  You get to do a lot more blog surfing.

• Clean and Simple:   They offer simple layout each week. 
• colourQ: Each week a new color combo is posted.  Winners receive the colourQ badge for their own blog.
• Stampin' Royalty:  Each week they come up with new challenge that is different from the previous weeks.  Its always exciting to see how they challenge you.  

I hope you check each of these blogs out.  And don't forget to leave a comment.  Its always nice to read comments .  And hopefully you leave each blog with a little bit of inspiration.

Good Day

Kristy

It's Been Awhile

Its been a very long time since I participated in a challenge.  But today I took the time to make a card to enter into the CAS challenge #130.  I always love their layouts as they are Clean & Simple.  This card was easy to come up with.  My color inspiration came from a new sampler pack of In Color dsp  (hostess set) and the color coach.  I just love Concord Crush and it was the perfect color for today.  I wanted something bright and fun that would remind me of summer.  I paired Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie with it and VOILA!!  Don't you just love the look of a simple card?

Have a great week and here's to hopin' for summer

Kristy

Mmmmmm...Birthday Cake

This is a card that I made a few months back. It's simple birthday card that is perfect for a guy, but can be given to a lady.  The stamp set used is the Hostess set Birthday Bakery.  I also used the Vintage Labels stamp set for the sentiment.  The colors are Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso,  I colored the cakes with markers and I sponged the edges with Early Espresso for an aged look.  I used the Scallop Trim border punch to add some flair.  

Have a great day

Kristy

A successful Attempt

Almost everyone in the stamping world has heard of Michelle Zindorf.  And if you haven't, you must check out her blog.  She is an amazing artist.  She works magic with a brayer and ink.  And her work inspired my to try out the brayer technique.  So I browsed through her cards and chose one that I thought would be an easy start.  I chose a card that used an old hostess stamp set, Asian Artistry.  It was one of my favorites and I used it a lot.  I do wish hostess sets would show up in future catalogues.  Here is the tutorial for the card, Farewell Asian Artisty.

It is my first attempt and I think I did a very good job.  Of course there is always room for practice, and practice I shall.  What I love about Michelle's work is that she creates scenes with just ink.  Then she adds stamped images.  I also love this color combo, very bold.  I don't usually go bold but I liked this one.  

I recommend browsing her blog and trying out this beautiful technique.  I believe she has a tutorial for all skill levels.  

Take care

Kristy

Sale-A-Bration Punch Bunch

When I first flipped through the Sale-A-Bration brochure I was immediately drawn to the Punch Bunch stamp set.  I liked the little images plus the fact that they coordinated with punches.  I immediately got it along with all the punches that I needed.  That meant I got the new Two-step Owl punch.  This punch is such fun to play with.  You can make so many different looking owl with just the punch and different papers; but now I have a little owl image to use.

With this stamp set and the coordinating punches, I was able to create 4 different cards and a pillowbox.  I also decided to use the in Colors as well.  Here is what I came up with:

The Pillowbox Bigz die is used to make the pillowbox and just used some dsp, some ribbon, and an owl to decorate it.  Along with the coordinating punches, I also used the Scallop Trim Border punch.  The cards are all very simple, but the punches add the dimensions.  

Try using your punches today to add some dimensions to your card or scrapbook page.

Take care

Kristy

Passionate about Faux Silk

I love the look and feel of this faux silk card.  I came across this technique in Stampin' Success (the Stampin' Up! demo monthly magazine) but there is also a Faux-silk tutorial on Splitcoaststampers by Beate Johns.

This technique is perfect if you want to add some elegance to a card with out a love of work.  Its super simple and quick and just requires a stamp, some ink, tissue paper, cardstock and glue.  Just stamp, crinkle, and glue.  Voila!!!

I also created a paper pierced border, which highlighted the stamped image. 

Supplies that I used include "Inspired by Nature" stamp set; Pear Pizazz, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla and More Mustard cardstock; Pear Pizazz Classic Stampin' ink; and the mat pack with piercing tool.  This card took only a few minutes to make and it turned out great.

Try out a new technique today and see how it changes the look of a card.


Take care

Kristy

Pierced Valentines

Valentine's Day is only a couple of weeks away.  So for Valentine's Day, I made a simple but elegant card. The layout is simple and plain, but what makes this card pop is the paper piercing around the circles. The large bow just finishes it off. 

I used the "I {Heart} Hearts" stamp set; the Mat Pack and a paper piercer; 1 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon (Pretty in Pink); Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum, and Sahara Sand card stock; valentine's rub-ons (I can't remember the name) from the Occasions mini;  and  Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' ink.

I found wonderful directions for piercing circles over at Splitcoaststampers.  Click here for the tutorial by Beate Johns, who does wonderful tutorials.

I hope you give paper piercing a shot, it really does add to your cards.

Have a wonderful month full of love

Kristy

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Its been a few weeks since I last posted, but its been a busy Christmas.  December was a month of relaxing and getting to know my new baby boy, Caius.  We spent our Christmas at home and took it as easy as we could  (a few sleepless nights).  I still haven't been able to get to craft room, but I'm hoping that I will be able to very soon.  However, I did have a few cards made up before my son arrived and I will share those with you.

Valentine's Day is the upcoming holiday, so I have a two love notes to show you.  Both cards were created using the Letterpress Plates from the Holiday mini.  They have carried over into the new Occasions Mini, so please check it out.  The letterpress plates require Craft Ink.  Previously you could purchase full size ink pads in all the colors, but now you can only purchase the Craft ink spots, Craft Ink refills, and a uninked craft pad.  I still have a few colors in the full size ink pads, so I used Real Red.  Before I explain any more things, I will show you the cards.

 I used the Twisted Pyramid technique on both cards.  I came across this technique on a fellow Stamper's blog, Lynn Pratt at Stamp n' Design.

She provides all the directions and a free template.  

I really enjoyed making these two cards.  I love the look of the twisted pyramid.  You can use any large stamp image, such as a background stamp or scenic stamp.  I used the letterpress plate,  Lots of Love.  

These 2 cards have lots of layers and textures.  The letterpress plates imprint the image onto card stock, therefore adding texture.  

On the first card, I used Very Vanilla satin ribbon,  and mini library clips.  The color combo is Real Red, Night of Navy, and Very Vanilla.

On this second card, I used brads from the Metallic collection and 1/8" Real Red taffeta ribbon.  The color combo s Real Red, Basic Black, and Very Vanilla.  This card is perfect to give to the Man in your life for any romantic occasion.

Since it is the new year, I have a New Year's Resolution.  My resolution is to post at least once a week, and to share a new technique each week.  I'm hoping I can keep to this promise, but with a little one around, I may get behind.  Please be patient.

All the best in 2011 and I hope you enjoy each day.


Kristy