Tuesday, January 29, 2013


Good morning everyone!  Today I am sharing a tutorial on something I really haven’t seen posted before but yet is so important to making a nice card and that is mixing papers. I am basing my tutorial on some design lessons I took years ago but I think the foundation of the information is still sound.

There are three things I keep in mind when mixing my papers. Scale, design and color. Now the easiest way to start of course is with one of the thousands of 6x6 pads out there as they have started the process for you. The first thing you want to focus on is scale. Basically you should have one large pattern, one medium and then the rest should be small, solids or monochromatic so very little pattern to them. This produces a nice contrast between the papers as shown below.

If I use several of a large pattern they are too busy...
And several of a small pattern can tend to be kinda blah if you aren’t careful...
The next process is to change up your patterns. I try to go with a floral, a geometric and again a solid or monochromatic. Again, we are striving for contrast in our design so try to avoid all geometrics or all florals etc as in this photo. 

Lastly is color. Now I normally try to pick one of my patterned papers that has multiple colors in it and pull my other shades from that for coloring my image, adding my matting and embellishments. This will tie everything together nicely for you. Here is another example of three different size patterns, three different type of designs and colors all pulled from one sheet. 
 Ok, hope this little tutorial helps you the next time you go to pick out papers and if you are mixing and matching from different paper lines this will make it easier to make sure they coordinate!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Birthday card for my MIL

Happy Monday and yes, I am well aware that is an oxymoron. Haha! But I guess we should be thankful we have jobs to go to right? And hopefully everyone gets there safe, warm and dry. Ok, enough babbling. I have another Stamping Bella card for you today with another of my fav images, the ever lovely Lulu.

This is Lulus 2 Pies and although it is currently out of stock I do believe Emily will be getting it back in for you. So sorry to post an image that was out of stock. Papers are MME and I have made some felt roses. I have the worst time not getting tiny bits of glue on them when I roll them no matter how little glue I use, hence the stickles to cover it up a bit. The sentiment is on a chipboard base from MIC for a little depth on the card. Ok, don't forget about our current SCS challenge and the weekly one is "So Sweet", lots of images can be used for that!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

My kitties chillin...

Well, although it is still very cold here it was a beautiful sunny day so I let the cats out on our back porch for a bit today. It is glassed in so the sun warms it nicely. Here they are, living the high life.

That is Lucy on top and Sinbad on the bottom. He has been sickly for a bit so we are trying to spoil him a bit when we can. Hope all of my friends in Australia are safe and things are drying up.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Something old, something new....

Time for another challenge at Kraftin Kimmies and our hostess this week is one of the sweetest people I have ever know, the lovely Sharon. She is challenging us to use "something old (at least a year) and something new" on our card this week. No problem!

My papers are MME from a couple of years ago I think and my image, flowers and lace are new. There is also a new diecut under the flowers (thanks Elaine!) but err, the flowers kinda covered it up more than I expected. The lace is from my buddy Alyce and I tell you, I could barely make myself cut it cause it is soooo pretty. Ok, we have had a wonderful turnout to the challenges lately so lets see whatcha got!  And don't forget about our Frugal Friday specials which you can check out here!

Friday, January 25, 2013

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Well, today is Friday but I work tomorrow so everyone celebrate for me! Our challenge this week is a sketch which was perfectly suited for an uptown girl so I choose Madison has a Margerita.

I added white dots to her skirt to imitate tulle, an idea I saw on Tracy's blog and loved. My papers are a gift from my wonderful friend Patty and is Birdsong by Graphic 45. I thought the umbrellas reminded me of the little ones you get in your drink. I guess I am wishing for warmer weather and tropical drinks! Ok, next week our theme is "Your so sweet" and with Valentines Day coming up it would be a perfect time to make a card for a loved one. And make sure to check out our SCS page, challenges, chatting and lots of pictures to see!

Monday, January 21, 2013

My next birthday gift

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you are warm where you are, we are expecting a high of 12 degrees today, brrrr! Today I am posting a card with my birthday wish as the main image. This is Housework Fairy by Mo Manning for Stamping Bella.

Having a husband and two cats she would definitely be put to work! Papers are Kaiser Craft and I have used a MS punch and a prima flower. The gold corners are from WOC, I hoard them so to have used three on one card is amazing! Ok, don't forget our SCS challenge which is "A picture is worth a thousand words" and our Stamping Bella weekly challenge which is our inspiration photo.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
Sweet Stampin   show us your "frills"
Oozak  Anything goes with "pink and  bling"
Marker Pop  pretty in pink

Sunshine, Beach and BBQ

Hello everyone! Today is my first post as an Inspiration designer for Make It Crafty and this week we are inspiring you to use the theme "Sunshine, Beach and BBQ" with the option of coloring water. Well, I thought, why not forge ahead and do it all! So this is what I came up with.

My flowers are handmade, hopefully a little tropical looking and I colored Cordelia with blue first then went over the blue and the uncolored portion with some purples to get the gradation of color. Stickles on her tail and the seashells in her hair for some glitter. For the foliage I did add in some definition with a copic multiliner and then sorta  squigled some dark green on for texture and then did some shading from dark to light to add depth.  I dotted some deeper brown on the ground also for a little texture. I kept the rest of the card simple to show off the scene.

Copics
skin E000, E00, E11, E13, R20,BV02
tail  B02, B04, B06, V12
ground  E51, E55, E57, E59
palm leaves  G21, G24, G29
foliage  G29, G03, G05, G07
water  B00, B02, B04, B06, B69

Products
Cordelia the Mermaid
Tropical waterfall

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Three embellishments only!

Saturday again woot woot! I am really hoping to get lots done this weekend. Some little chores done around the house and lots of coloring. But until then I will let you take a peek at my card for the latest Kraftin Kimmie challenge being hosted by Jessie which is to use "three embellishments". Now for some girls on the team, this has been a true challenge but for me, no problemo!

This is Pippa Popcorn and I have had her for a bit but never got her inked up, shame on me cause I really like this image.

I am also in love with this Bazzill paper, it is bright and cheery! One of the few paper pads that I will use every darn sheet of. Okay, your turn to play along for your chance to win the stamp Jessie used on her card today.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Inspiration for Stamping Bella

TGIF! That is all I have to say right now. I am just plain ole pooped this week! But I do love the card I made for this weeks Stamping Bella challenge which is an inspiration photo.

I used the colors for the inspiration in my card, I'm not overly fond of gray but worked it in nonetheless.

This is Whats Cookin? by Mo Manning for Stamping Bella. I love this image to pieces! I have filled in the hearts in my punched border with some clear stickles to give it a little sparkle and she is colored with both copics and shinhan markers with some green prisma pencil to highlight her. Ok, we love to see what you come up with and don't forget our current challenge on SCS which is "no sentiment" on your card. And join us on facebook, we love to chat!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Arthur and Annie

Good morning everyone! Did you have a great weekend? It was busy at my place, warmer weather gave us a chance to do a little outside cleaning up and open up our back porch for the cats to enjoy. Today I am showing you a card I made using a Stamping Bella image called Arthur and Annie.

I have always liked these too and finally got around to inking them up. They make for a quick card too as they are so simple in design. Papers are Soho Garden by American Crafts and I added some chalk pencil to the edges of their clothes for a little extra depth. Ok, make sure to play along with this weeks challenge which is a sketch and don't forget about our SCS challenge which is "A Picture is worth a thousand words" or no sentiment on your card for your chance to win some bella bucks.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Time to shop!

Well welcome back!! It’s Krafty RELEASE Day at KRAFTIN' KIMMIE STAMPS!! And we’re celebrating with a KRAFTY HOP!! It's our first release for 2013 and it's a doozy!!!
Over the last few days in our Krafty Peeks, we have shared lots of AMAZING new stamps from all our artists! We’ve got something for everyone!! We've got TWO sweet new sets with the kiddos from Cheryl Alger........SWEET DREAMS and LOVE IS THE BEST MEDICINE! We also have a fun new set from Emilie Goulet called BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED! And of course we have an amazing new set of SIX awesome NERDS AND GEEKS from Annie Rodrigue that are simply stunning! OH and don’t forget the incredible new Trinket stamps for the backs of your cards, envelopes, gift bags and tags .... called HANDMADE TRINKETS by the lovely Nicole Aspinall!!! Here is my sweetie for today, little Lulu and she isn't feeling so well. 
Again, I am trying to use up some miscellaneous papers from my stash so no names on these, sorry. I have outlined my sentiment and main image with some glitter glue and a pearl in each corner for a little added detail. And below is one of the new Trinkets I have added to the back of my card. I LOVE this idea! 

You will get to see most of the new images today as you sit back and enjoy our JANUARY Krafty Hop! As you hop from blog to blog, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because some lucky stampers will win packages of these incredible stamps from the new release!! And when you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’Kimmie shop, because ALL the new images are NOW available!

And of course, as always, we have our Gimme Kimmies Kits available for those of you who ‘need it all’!! The stamps are grouped together by artist and are available at a discount, but only for a limited time!!

**ALSO we are having a Krafty Guest Contest right NOW! So if you'd like to submit, please check out this POST HERE!

Now let's get hoppin' and shoppin'!!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Nerds and Geeks Rule!


Now how AWESOME were those robots that we previewed yesterday in the BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED stamp set?? So fun!! The Krafty Girls cards were SO awesome!! Wanna know the random commenter who is getting a set of those cuties?? Well, ALL the winners of this week will be announced at the LIVE online RELEASE PARTY on SATURDAY!!! Go HERE to get all the details!!!

So are you here for a new challenge or are you here to check out the brand new ANNIE stamps for JANUARY 2013???? Well, not to worry! We've got BOTH!! Not only do we have a new weekly challenge but we also have SIX new AWESOME stamps!!...!

This month we have a set of FABULOUS...... NERDS AND GEEKS!!! Don't we all know a few nerdy peeps in our everyday lives?? If you can't think of anyone in your circles......it's probably YOU!! Haha!

Just wait 'til you see all the FUN creations by the Krafty Girls and Guests featuring Astro Boy, Bookworm, Computer Nerd, Gamer Girl, Lab Geek and Robot Boy!! It's another incredibly fun release!! You will D.I.E.!!

Check out all the amazing creations on today's hop in combination with this week's challenge!! The lovely JENNY is our hostess this week and her challenge is ANYTHING GOES!! We want EVERYONE to play along and have a chance to win the new GAMER GIRL, as featured on Jenny's gorgeous creation!! We really hope you are inspired by this week's challenge and share your inky creations!!! We SO enjoy seeing your beautiful designs inspired by our challenges! Here is my card for the challenge, "Bookworm" and this is soooo me! I LOVE to read!

Papers are MME from a couple of years ago, flowers are WOC. Not so happy with this hair combo, needs some darker pieces to it but I will touch them up later. Below you will find all the Krafty Girls and Guests who have goodies to show you today and while you're visiting their blogs, be sure to leave some love at each stop because TWO lucky stampers are each going to WIN a package of today's stamps!! Woohoo!!!
ALL of our JANUARY stamps will be available TONIGHT at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Shop!!! We'll be celebrating tonight at our FIRST EVER ONLINE RELEASE PARTY!! It's over at our KKS Facebook fan page! Join us for all the fun!! You can find more details here!!  

Friday, January 11, 2013

Batteries not Included


  • If you are here for the MIC blog hop please just scroll down a bit. Thanks!
    Welcome back!! We hope you enjoyed all the sweet new designs we shared yesterday featuring the new LOVE IS THE BEST MEDICINE and SWEET DREAMS stamp sets! And before we go any further, would you like to know who won those sets??? Well, ALL the winners of this week will be announced at the LIVE online RELEASE PARTY on SATURDAY!!! Go HERE to get all the details!!!

    Today at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps we are sharing a new set by the totally talented Emilie Goulet!!! We've got something super fun and so unique for you!! Let us introduce..... BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!! Emilie has created a fun set of ROBOT images for your cards and scrapbook pages! You're going to get a real kick out of these guys!!!
    Here is my card and I was sorta nervous about coloring the metal but pretty darn pleased with it. And I have to say I would LOVE to have a vacuum that pretty! My only issue is she looks like she is vacuuming dirt, sparkly glittery dirt but nonetheless! Below you will find a list of all the Krafty Girls who are sharing PEEKS with you today!! And as you're hoppin' around, be sure to leave a comment at each stop because someone will win a package of BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!! {All of this week's winners will be announced at the online party on Saturday night!}

    All our new JANUARY 2013 stamps will be available on Saturday at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Shop!!! And don't miss the online PAR-TAY to celebrate! Come on back tomorrow because not only will we have a fantastic new challenge for you, but we'll be revealing the NEW stamps by Annie Rodrigue!!! Get ready to celebrate with......NERDS and GEEKS!!

    Happy hoppin'!!

New Beginnings and a New Team!

Good Morning everyone! Today is an exciting day for me cause I finally get to announce that I have been selected as one of the new Inspiration DT members for Make It Crafty. I tell you, this group is not only a lot of fun but they really inspire you to take your coloring to the next level and that is exactly what was on my "to do" list for this year.

Today we are also having a blog hop and I will put the entire list of names at the bottom of the post but if you are following along you should have arrived here from the wonderful Trudie. My card is a "New Beginning" for me not only because of a new team but also because of learning how to merge images and trying out adding chalk pencil for some extra depth (thanks Kim!).


Now for some reason to get my photo accurate in color my butterfly looks black in the first photo, the second one it more true to color. This is a chipboard butterfly from the Make It Crafty store and they are so detailed. I have heat embossed the butterfly with tinsel glitter and used a viva decor pearl pen for the body. My images are merged in a word document then I used some copic B00 reinker and a cotton swab to make the background leaving some areas white for clouds and adding depth with some C1 and purple colors. I forgot to write down the purples, sorry. Ok, next on the blog hop is the talented Viv and if you comment on all the blogs you might just get lucky and win something. Just sayin!


Stamping Bella goes round and round

Happy Friday everyone! Today begins the 2013 challenges for Stamping Bella and this weeks challenge is favorite kind, a sketch. And this one is full of circles!


This sweetie pie is Millie from the Millie and Milo images and she is going to my niece who is turning 6 this week and also having a fairy princess party to celebrate. My sister asked me if I would like to help, after finding out she invited 14 other girls, and I "politely" declined. Mama Mia! I cannot even imagine! I mean, I only have cats! Anyways, papers are from my leftover stash and the sentiment comes with the image, along with a couple of others. Ok, next weeks challenge is an inspiration challenge and here is your photo to play along.

And don't forget about our current challenge over at SCS, "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" or no sentiments allowed! Lots of chances to win bella bucks just by playing.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Hope you feel better

Welcome back to our JANUARY Kraftin' Kimmie Peeks!!! Today we are excited to share TWO ADORABLE new sets by artist Cheryl Alger!!! You'll recognize these characters from previous sets.....Lulu, Lexi and Lucas! And they are just as cute as can be!!! These new sets are.......SWEET DREAMS and LOVE IS THE BEST MEDICINE!!

Would you like to know who won the new HANDMAD TRINKETS stamp set that we previewed yesterday???!! Well, you'll just have to wait until Saturday night at our very first ONLINE RELEASE PARTY!!! Hope you can join us for all the fun and excitement and prizes!!! You can read all the details about how you can join us RIGHT HERE!

All the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests listed below have lots of super sweet designs to show you, so be sure to hop over to each of them! And while you're there, be sure to leave a comment because we are giving away one of EACH of the new sets!!! You could WIN the new SWEET DREAMS or LOVE IS THE BEST MEDICINE stamp set!!!!!

Then come on back tomorrow to check out MORE new stamps we have to show you , this time by artist Emilie Goulet!!! And ALL the new stamps will be available on Saturday night at the KKStamps Shop!! Here is my card today featuring Lexi.

I have used some MIC chipboard butterfly and coated it with glitter and some rolled roses with pearl centers for my embellishments. Make sure you comment on all the blogs for your chance to win some stamps and come back Saturday to join in with the Kraftin Kimmie girls for some live fun!


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Let the Trinket previews begin!


Well it's 2013 and Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is startin' things off with a BANG!!! We have tons of awesome new stamps for our first release of the year AND we're having our very first ONLINE RELEASE PARTY!!! It's happening this SATURDAY at our Facebook fan page....and you can get ALL the details HERE!!! All the new stamps we're sharing over the next few days will be released on SATURDAY NIGHT!
Now let's get on with our JANUARY 2013 RELEASE!!!!!

We are kicking off the *New* JANUARY Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps previews today and first off, we’d like to introduce you to a beautiful new set of Trinkets!!! We are very excited to share with you our GORGEOUS….HANDMADE TRINKETS!!
What a fabulous new set of Trinkets, wouldn't you say??? Here you are, creating all these gorgeous cards and gifts to give to your family and friends....and now you can stamp them up to show YOU made them!!

There are SIX fantastic stamps featuring images from our artists that you can use for the backs of your cards, for gift cards, altered items and all those baked goods you plan on giving out!! *wink*

These circular sentiment stamps have been created and designed by the totally talented Krafty Girl, Nicole Aspinall!! They are made especially to fit in your 1 3/8ths and 1 ¾ inch punches, for quick and easy cutting!!! This month we are releasing the Handmade Trinkets set which includes SIX trinkets in each set PLUS two tiny little copyright stamps so that you can stamp them in a tiny little obscure spot on your creations if you want! You will get the set as a completely unmounted full sheet of deeply etched grey rubber.

I gotta say....we love our TRINKET stamps, but we all absolutely ooohed and aaahed when these were unveiled!!! Heehee!
I picked up this little bakery box at Target and thought it would look even better dressed up with one of the new Trinkets.

These are so quick to color and what a nice touch they add. I added a paper rosette behind my Trinket and ta da! Now to fill it with cookies before I eat them all!
Today we have awesome samples that the Krafty Girls have put together for you....and be sure to comment on each and every stop because one lucky stamper is going to WIN the new HANDMADE TRINKETS set!!! {All of this week's winners will be announced at the online party on Saturday night!}

Happy kraftin'!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

SCS challenge at Stamping Bella

Good morning everyone! Back in the normal routine again and kinda glad I have to admit. I guess it doesn't take much to throw me off my game the older I get!

Anyways, today is a new card for Stamping Bella and it fits in with our newest SCS challenge which is "at face value", basically don't use a sentiment.

This image is Lulu's orchids and I am so sorry but once again, it is out of stock. I must have ordered the last one! But Emily has several other images that are similar for you to use here. Anyways, I saw this idea on Pinterest and really liked it. I printed a free download of newsprint on my paper then stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it in with my copics. Some stickles around the edge and a flower in the corner with some Magnolia buds (thanks Elaine!) for a little accent. Ok, this is a nice easy challenge and you get the chance to win some bella bucks to put towards the new release maybe? Good luck!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Stamping Bella challenge

Hi everyone! Just wanted to pop in to let you know that Stamping Bella will be starting up with new challenges next Friday. And you still have til this Tuesday the 7th to enter our "lots of white space" challenge over on SCS.

Next week our challenge is a sketch:

Mail your entries to Emily at Stamping Bella for your chance to win some bella bucks, you could put them towards some of the new Uptown Girls we just released!

Animal House!

Woohoo! The first challenge in 2013 for Kraftin Kimmie stamps and our hostess this week is the always funny and very talented Kim. She is asking us to use an image with an animal on it for the challenge this week, I might be pushing her idea a bit but I really wanted to use this image cause I haven't had a chance to color her up yet. 

This is Peony from our release last summer and I love every single one of these flower girls. She does have a bee friend with her so that is my animal image. Again, I am trying to use up some misc papers from my stash so I don't know who these are by. Ok, we always love to see your creations but please make sure to use a Kraftin Kimmie image to be eligible to win the stamp Kim used on her card today. 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

New Uptown girls coming!

Good Morning everyone! Back to the ol' grindstone today right? I have enjoyed the holidays but ready to get back into my normal routine for sure. Today we are showing you some new Uptown Girls being released on Friday from Stamping Bella. My image is Reilly loves to Relax.

Now I have to say, this probably isn't me. First, my legs have never evah been that thin! And secondly I am more of a wine cooler or cheap Arbor Mist kinda gal, definitely not this sophisticated! I have paper pieced the chair, thought about coloring in the design but thought it might become too busy but Kimabella did and it looks awesome. New Kaisercraft papers and a pretty black bow to finish it off. So make sure you come back Friday to see the entire release and don't forget you can still enter our SCS challenge which is to use "white space" on your card until January 7th.