An OA Release Day 3 Preview

Hey Farmers! Have you been enjoying the release so far? The DT has been wowing you all week with their awesome, drool worthy cards over at The Greeting Farm so how can things possibly be better? Another preview of course! Get ready for the third and final preview of January's release, the last, but most certainly not least, OA Special Delivery!

Now who wouldn't want these two darlings and the accompanying sentiments and wouldn't they make perfect late Christmas presents? Swing on over to The Greeting Farm and check out the rest of the awesome DT's creations and don't forget to pop on over to their blogs and show them some love! Remember, stop by tomorrow and check out what us DT gals have cooked up for release day. These cuties will be available in the store tomorrow, January 1st, but we're also giving one lucky random commenter a chance to win all three new releases for completing the hop, how awesome is that?! See you guys tomorrow when you visit The Greeting Farm's Blog for our first big hop of 2015 in honor of the January release!

-Krys

TGF Release Previews: Day 2

Hi ladies and gents, its that time again, previews for the new release, the first of 2015! I'm proud to help introduce the second stamp in our January release, a cutie that makes bed head look good, day two in our awesome lineup, Day Off Anya!

Day Off Anya

Doesn't she look super comfy and relaxed? I love this gal she so reminds me of myself when I'm at home getting crafty, messy hair, oversized T-shirt (usually stolen from hubby ;) ) and all. Seriously, doesn't she just look like she's about to cuddle up with a good book on a rainy day and have a little "me time"? Mmmm who doesn't love a good book and warm blanket on a rainy day, I know I do! Speaking of me time, I used the sentiment from the (now retired) Me time Anya set. Since she looked so cozy I decided to use DP with cups of coffee and fun patterns from DCWV layered on top of kraft cardstock that I distressed with TH walnut stain ink. Since the card had a grungy kind of charm I decided to use my TH distress markers to watercolor Anya and loved how it turned out. Last, I used my wink of stella clear brush pen to add some sparkle to her shorts and big t-shirt and a white sakura jelly roll pen to add some polkadots to her shorts to up the adorable factor. Now swing on by The Greeting Farm to see what my DTeamies have come up with as well! On release day one lucky commenter will win the entire January release so don't forget to stay tuned and see what else we have in store. Don't worry if you don't win, this gorgeous gal and all her release pals will be available in the store on January 1, 2015.Excited yet? well get going silly! See you guys later!

-Krys

Surprise, Alyce!

Wishing happy holidays Alyce, to you and your family! I hope you're enjoying your hop so far, you should have arrived here from Ronda Camire's Blog. I've heard nothing but great things about you as a person, you are an incredibly talented and creative woman, and I hope to have the pleasure of working with you in the near future ;). When I heard about this hop I couldn't wait to join in with a little Christmas cheer from me to you using one of the gorgeous Some Odd Girl digis

SOG Winter Mae digi

Keeping this a secret from you has been so much fun so I hope you have just as much fun exploring! Your next hop stop is Cathie Borowski so hurry on over. In case you got lost along the way or decided to sneak in the middle, you can start over from the beginning by clicking ---->HERE!<----
Merry Christmas girlie with lots of warm wishes and big hugs! Enjoy your day!

-Krys

Made with Love

Merry Christmas Eve bloggers! I wanted to sneak in a quick post on a project for you guys before the madness in my house begins. Since tomorrow is Christmas, my little ones will have all of my attention for the next few days. But don't worry, remember that huge surprise I mentioned a while back? It's almost time for the big news. in just a few days I can finally tell you all and I can't wait to share! To say thank you and show just how much all of my wonderful followers mean to me, I'm dedicating my latest project to you guys, so here it goes!

Valentines Anya digi

Cuteness overload right?! How can you stand it! This is one digi that I hope TGF releases in rubber so I can watercolor her with my TH distress markers too! The papers and stickers I used came from the Doodlebug Sweetheart collection which I am in love with so if anybody knows where I can still get the 6x6 pads pleeeease share that valuable information <3 <3 <3 Anywho, I started this altered frame off by sanding down a frame I purchased at Michael's craft store for $1. After cleaning the dust off I selected a soft pink paint from my stash and pained the front and sides of the frame with a sponge brush. While the frame was drying I put it to the side and started working on my image. I hope you can see the dimension, I used a paper piecing technique that I found here. Can I just stop and say holy WOW that woman is talented! I love stopping by her blog and seeing her work, I have a long way to go but I think this project was a nice start! I started off by printing several of the Valentines Anya digis (available in the TGF Store) in a larger than average size on Xpress it blending card and one on a cute pink polkadot patterned paper from my stash. Next I colored each part of  Anya on different images so that none of the colored parts were touching. I wanted to add some shadows to the polkadot paper that would be used for her dress and hair bow so I used my copic markers in the colors RV32 R81, RV10, and RV000 for the shading and LOTS of wink of stella. Next I fussy cut out each part of my digi individually and rounded the edges using the McGill paper blossom embossing kit I purchased from here. I followed the technique shown on Mariska's tutorial I mentioned earlier to complete my image and set her to the side to dry. Right now I'm using Helmar's liquid scrapdots for my 3d effect but I will not be purchasing again because it tends to be a bit greasy and actually left a grease spot on my image, not cool! I'll be trying out a different brand as soon as I finish using up this tube so as not to be wasteful but I DID NOT like that product for card making! Once the frame was dry I began cutting out strips of DP and arranging them where I wanted them to be. Finally all that was left to do was glue all the pieces onto the frame. Normally I would use my Homemade Mod Podge but since I had something 3D and fairly heavy, this time I used the clear gloss medium I use for my mixed media canvases to stick everything down real good! A heart banner with my LaLa Land heart banner die and some cutie precious hearts from memory box and this frame was finished! If you guys have never tried 3D paper piecing it is a must, if for nothing more than to be able to say you did it. Yes it is time consuming but OMG the results are so very worth it. My advice is to try it out on a bigger image with large pieces like this anya digi when first beginning and get a good 3D glue and some good sharp precision scissors and you are ready to go! If you give it a try I'd love to see it, leave me a link in the comments and I'll be sure to check it out. 'Till next time!

-Krys

"Frozen" Treats

OMG so I'm super excited to share this project with you guys! It is without a doubt one of the most ambitious projects I've ever completed since I started crafting and I just LOVE how it turned out! Not only that, I'm super proud of myself for sticking to it. Sooooo without further delay, TGIF guys and I hope you love it as much as my daughter did

Icy Special Edition digi

Isn't she gorgeous?! I love the line of fairy tale characters The Greeting Farm came out with, if you signed up for the Super Secret Stamp Club you got them at a lower price, months before they were released for anyone else to buy. If you missed out on those, they are now available in the TGF Store for the exclusive purchase price. This gal comes in digi form so I knew she was the perfect image for my project: 20 mini pizza boxes! My daughter's class is having a pajama party today with hot cocoa and popcorn while watching Disney's Frozen. Since my daughters love that movie I decided to make a special treat for her class using this TGF image based on one of our favorite princesses of the year, Elsa. I printed her out on xpress it blending card and colored her up with my trusty copics. I just couldn't resist taking my wink of stella clear brush pen to her flowy blowy outfit and shoes. The DP was a hand stamped repeating snowflake pattern heat embossed with ranger's Holographic embossing powder and layered on top of some kraft cardstock. The dies used were sizzix for the snowflakes and LaLa Land Crafts for the heart banner. Lucky for me this wonderfully wintery treat box matches the FFF challenge, Winter Theme over at TGF to a tee, how awesome is that? I'm headed over right now to share! So what's inside these adorable and oh-so-time-consuming little treat boxes? A not so frozen "Frozen" treat:

TA-DA!

Each kiddo got their very own yummy sugar cookie decorated like a snowflake by meeee! Haha can you tell it was my first (and probably last) time decorating a cookie? Not bad for a ziplock freezer bag with the tip cut off if you ask me :D. I just hope her teacher is smart enough to send the cookies home with the kids rather than dealing with a 19 kid full blown sugar rush, cause man that icing is SWEEEEEET! The recipe I used for the sugar cookies can be found here and the tutorial for the mini pizza boxes can be found here! Give it a try, they come together so easily and are both highly addictive, glad I made extras, enjoy your weekend!

-Krys

Fancy but Forgotten

Hi guys! Still playing around with a few new toys (soon to be revealed!) but today I bring to you a fantastical and oh so adorable work of art that found a home in my kitchen before I even thought to share with you guys (sorry!) I love making cards but I also enjoy making my own decor for my home. Since my hubby has been so kind as to help feed my cupcake obsession by getting me a matching pot holder/ kitchen towel set that happens to be in one of my favorite color schemes pink and teal (aslo the colors of my craft room :D), I took it as a perfect opportunity to create a gorgeous ceramic sign to hang using a few of my favorite TGF stamps:

Double Cupcake Anya, Anya Treats, and Birthday Anya II

I saw this picture on pinterest in chalk board form and fell in love immediately but could not find it for sale anywhere. I have since then found out that the artist of the original sign is a very talented lady named Valerie McKeehan, and her gorgeous hand drawn chalk art can be purchased here! I started by drawing Ms McKeehan's original saying as close to hers as I could onto a blank ceramic bisque sign I purchased at Michael's craft store using pencil and going over it in a black copic multiliner. Next, using memento ink in the color tuxedo black, I stamped three of my favorite TGF stamps that fit the theme, Double Cupcake Anya, Anya Treats, and Birthday Anya II across the bottom. To me, the sign still looked like it was missing something, so I used several different cupcake stamps in my stash (not sure where I got them from) around the phrase in the middle and loved the way it came out! Finally I colored everything using my copic markers and added a touch of sparkle with some diamond stickles. Last, to protect the sign from fading while also waterproofing it (it hangs above my kitchen sink where a window should be...don't get me started on that rant) I gave it several coats of acrylic sealant waiting 10 minutes to allow drying between coats. This project isn't for any particular challenge, I'm just making my house a home and sharing with you guys what I create in the process, hope you love it as much as I do! If you want your own chalk art I highly recommend visiting Valerie's etsy shop, I plan on buying and framing some to add to my bare kitchen walls myself! Have a great rest of the week!

-Krys

Under the Sea

Happy Hump Day bloggers! I'm coming to you from the comforts of my couch underneath a heating blanket to ask: Do you remember when you were a kid and you got the toy of your dreams? Did you spend so long playing with it that everything else lay there forgotten? Well if the answer to my questions were yes, then you have a hint about my whereabouts lately! I've gotten a bit of happy mail and have spent the last few days crafting and creating and coloring and paper piecing and OMG where did November (and the first week of December) go?! I realized yesterday that although I've been making things I've been forgetting to share! This is partly because I have some big news for you guys...oh wait, you thought I meant now? Nope sorry! You'll just have to hang around a while to find out! With all these holiday cards and tags swimming around this time of year I decided to take a break and ride the waves with the SOG clear set Under the Sea Mae

SOG Under Sea Mae Clear Set

I actually won this set as part of my prize for being one of the lucky winners of the Digi Me contest that SOG had going on back in October. Not only did I win a $20 gift certificate to use in the stores, the best part is that I get to do a guest DT post featuring my digi for SOG!!!! How awesome is that?! I can't wait to see my idea turned into a digi by the talented Kristy Dalman! Haha you thought that was the surprise I mentioned earlier didn't you? Well its not, the best news is yet to come...but not today! To create this simple tag I stamped one of the gorgeous mermaids from the set onto watercolor paper using stayzon in Timber brown. I colored her using my distress markers and a few small watercolor paint brushes. Once the image was dry I went back over her tail and sea shells with my wink of stella clear brush pen (not sure if you guys can see the shimmer) and highlighted randomly throughout her hair also with the wink of stella. The background was created by rubbing a blue chak ink pad across a  memory box wave stencil on top of a light blueish green piece of cardstock. I then went back through with my white wink of stella brush pen and tried to add some detail to the waves along with a few bubbles. Last I adhered the clam accent stamps from the set to my tag using foam pop dots to give them some dimension with a few small pearls and a scrap of ribbon. I am LOVING my distress markers, they are a bit pricey but if you can find a good deal on them I highly recommend getting a few to try out. Also watching youtube videos and practice practice practice is helping me develop my technique. It may seem daunting at first, like you'll never get it but if you're patient and work at it you'll be so impressed you wont regret it. What techniques or products have you guys tried lately? I'd love to know!

-Krys

Organizing Alteration

Hi blogland, hope you had an awesome weekend. Mine was over before I knew it but isn't that always the case? I believe there are too many Mondays in a year, let's petition to change that! LOL who would we even contact? Seriously though, nobody seems to like Mondays except young children who still, God forbid, look forward to waking up early and going to school. Well to shake out of my Monday melancholy I have a TGF project to put a smile on your face and make a lover of altered things swoon

Em TGF Twisted Kit

Isn't it just delish? I've been snatching up small journals, notepads, etc whenever I saw them for cheap for the last few months. Finally, inspiration hit to make myself an altered notebook in my favorite color scheme, pink and brown, I figure I may need something to keep me organized soon ;) I started off by sanding the entire outer cover (front, back, and spine) and wiping off the excess dust and fibers with a barely damp towel. Next I chose a few pieces of paper and cut them down to 6x4 to fit the front and back cover. I used a scrap of leftover woodgrain pattern paper about 2.5 inches wide and distressed the edges to cover the spine and add a rustic look to my notebook. I distressed the edges of each piece used by applying Tim Holtz walnut stain ink around the edges with a sponge. Finally I adhered everything to the mini notebook with my homemade mod podge. I decorated the front with a few dusty pink pearls, a pearl flourish and some assorted dies. The image I chose to adorn the front of my altered creation is a little lady named Em from The Greeting Farm's 8x10 Twisted Kit. Em was watercolored using my Tim Holtz distress markers and some diamond stickles to make her outfit sparkle. The sentiment is from another TGF 4x6 set, Picture Perfect (available here). Not only will this cute little notebook stay close by to jot down ideas, it will also be entered in the FFF challenge Make it Sparkle and the Retro Sketches Challenge #142. Pop over and lets see whatcha got!

-Krys

De-stress with Distress

Hi there bloggers, still dealing with chilly weather and to be honest the snow is kind of growing on me. We got about 2 feet in one day and my girls are loving it! My oldest has had snow days back to back and today is a half day so I'm preparing for more fun in the snow. Rather than shoveling snow from my driveway, I sneaked away to my craft room and made one more quick card for this week's FFF challenge Holiday Cards over at The Greeting Farm, using Miko from the Roll Call Kit

Miko (Roll Call Kit)

Once again I used my Tim Holtz distress markers to watercolor the image (LOVE those things!) because practice makes perfect, right? I tend to focus so hard on getting my watercoloring so much that my stress seems to melt away, or at least fade them into the background. It truly is my newest form of stress relief and The Greeting Farm's images are perfect for practice because they are beautiful without adding too many tiny details and they have large faces and lots of hair. I stamped Miko in Timber Brown Stayzon ink on canson cold press watercolor paper. All the papers used for this card are from my stash. I confess to being a bit of a pack rat and a hoarder when it comes to my scrapbook supplies. When I have small scrap pieces left over I tend to store them in a ziplock baggie by color or them, that way when I need to layer or add accent, I can reach for one of the left over scraps rather than cut up another full piece. I paired together these three different papers (all originally from my LCS' open stock) and layered them onto a piece of Bazzill heavy weight card shoppe cardstock. The sentiment from The Greeting Farm's OA Lovey Dovey 4x6 set was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa. The image took up quite a bit of room so I kept the embellishment simple, adding only a few enamel dots and a little ribbon. I adore Valentine's day so I absolutely could not pass up an opportunity to pull out my V day papers for a card challenge! Its actually super late here and I have a busy day today so I'll call it a night after I head over to sneak one more card in for the Farm Fresh Friday, See you guys tomorrow!

-Krys

Happy Birthday Doll-ie

Happy Hump Day blogland! Its friggin cold here and I'm still getting used to the fluffy white stuff all over the place, especially having to stand in it while I wait for my oldest daughter to get on/off the school bus. You have no idea how grateful I am for those blessed days when hubby gets a late work call and gets the "privilege" of walking our little princess to the bus in the morning snow :D Today to contrast the monotone landscape outside, I have a fun birthday card using one of my favorite TGF cuties alongside one of my fave DCWV stacks for the Holiday Cards Challenge over at The Greeting Farm

Dollie With Cupcake

I won this cutie pie, or should I say cupcake, during a blog hop from TGF and hadn't found the inspiration to ink her up until the FFF challenge for holiday cards (birthdays count as holidays right???). I tried coloring her up with my copics but was not loving the way she turned out so I put this cutie away till I could find a special enough occasion or a paper that inspired me. While sorting through my paper stash I came across a stack that I absolutely had to have...and then barely used because it turned out I was only crazy about 1/4 of the papers in the whole pack -__-. Anywho, I knew this pad would be perfect for Ms Dollie so I made a quick simple card based on this week's Retro Sketch Challenge and watercolored Dollie with my Tim Holtz distress markers. To make sure Dollie was the center of attention I kept the embellishments simple, sticking to a few pearl flourishes, individual pearls and a piece of ribbon from my stash. I also added a bit of stickles to the pink areas of dollie's outfit and cupcake frosting to give it a little bling. I hope you guys are following my progress with the Tim Holtz markers and maybe even be a little inspired to try a few out for yourselves! Well I gotta dash, see you guys again soon, and keep looking out for that Valentine's card I promised. My image is colored, my papers are picked, I'm just not sure what fold I want to use...? If you have suggestions or requests leave them in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!

-Krys

A 3D Cheeky X-mas

Hi guys back again today with another Christmas cutie pie from TGF from the (now retired) Cheeky Xmas 4x6 set for this week's FFF Holiday Cards challenge

One of my favorite crafty ladies makes all of her cards with these little 3D paper pieced images. Using a technique that involves coloring several images, cutting out each little piece individually, embossing each piece, and gluing them down to a shaded in base image she forms a 3D puffy looking image with visible depth. You can see her beautiful creations here. I adore how her cards and projects come out so I decided to give it a try myself with Ms Cheeky Xmas, what do you guys think? I like the look but I certainly need more practice! The candy cane striped papers are from my LCS, the flourish is a memory box die and the snowflakes are sizzix. The flower, rhinestone, and pearls are from my stash. The playful sentiment is from The Greeting Farm's Dolly With Cupcake 4x6 set, stamped in versamark and heat embossed in white embossing powder. Cheeky was colored up with my trusty copics and embossed the image using the McGill paper blossom molding kit. I used Helmar's scrapdots 3D glue to add dimension to my paper pieced image. Not bad for a first attempt huh? Well I'll keep working on it and you guys stay tuned, in the mean time, enjoy your day!

-Krys

Holiday Cheer

Hi guys, its getting close to that time of year where children (and adults!) get the gimmy gimmies for everything they see on TV and my two divas are no exception! With all the "I want" and "I need" we tend to get caught up and forget what this season is truly about; Giving, not receiving and spreading holiday cheer. Often, while looking at other blogs for inspiration, I get bummed out about a lot of things I don't have or that I could use, that I never stopped to think about all the things I DO have so today's card is full of sparkly holiday cheer and making what you have look good!

Card Front: Holiday Anya 4 

Card Center: OA Surprise (Amelia)

Isn't this fold adorable? I found the tutorial on the Splitcoast Stampers Youtube channel here. It's called a pop up book card and I LOVE it! The dimensions on the tutorial were for a 6x6 square card but follow the link below the video and the splitcoast stampers website gives you the measurements to make an A2 pop up book card, which is what I used. It came out pretty cute for my first attempt and I think I'll use this fold more often. I watercolored both images with my Tim Holtz distress markers and added sparkle with diamond stickles. I love my distress markers they truly are awesome and the colors blend and react with water effortlessly. They're so much fun to play with but they can be temperamental. My only complaint would be that the browns tend to have a greenish hue, so I may try out a few reinkers for my brown shades since I hear people have had better results without the green. The sentiment on the front is from the DCWV card sentiment rub-on stack and the one on the inside is from The Greeting Farm's Cheeky Xmas 4x6 set. TGF is spreading holiday cheer with the FFF challenge Holiday Cards. The best part? It's not even a Christmas exclusive holiday challenge, its whatever holiday you feel like making a card for, so expect a few lovey dovey and oh-so-out-of-season V-day cards this week out of me. What will you guys come up with?

-Krys

Clean and Simple...Sort Of

Are there certain types of cards or projects that no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to wrap your brain around them? With me, CAS cards are my worst nightmare because no matter what I do I can't make them look good without looking too plain or more often than not, clean and simple becomes cluttered and over the top. It feels like forever since I inked up any of my TGF stamps so I attempted to force myself out of my comfort zone and participate in this week's FFF Challenge Clean and Simple over at The Greeting Farm. Since I adore stamps that don't have a specific theme, I loved the idea of using Maria from the Roll Call kit (retired sorry!) to make this quick card

Maria (TGF Roll Call Kit) 

I colored up little Maria using my TH distress markers and added a bit of shimmer with my wink of stella brush pen. The sentiment I used is also from The Greeting Farm from the Cheeky X-mas set (also retired) stamped in the same distress marker I used to color Maria's little dress. I know I need to practice my CAS cards, but they're just soooo hard. I'm addicted to bling and embellishments, is there a meeting for that sort of thing???? What about you ladies out there, any specific type of card, project, or medium you struggle with? I'd love to know! By the way, there's a new release preview blog hop going on over at The Greeting Farm and I can't wait to see what the creative ladies on the DT have come up with so I'm headed over to hop around, come with me for a chance to win the new release and thanks for stopping by

-Krys

Fall into Fun

Hi guys. Coming at you again with more soggy foggy weather here but I don't dare despair 'cause crappy weather is crafty weather! I've really been getting into the season and what used to be a problem area for me (earth tones) I've been embracing lately. In fact I can't get enough of the warm rich colors of fall, or my latest SOG goodie, the Fall Friends clear set. As promised, another post it note holder, this time featuring Tobi and Tia having fun in Fall

SOG Fall Friends Clear Set

Don't you just love the browns, golds, oranges, and reds of fall? And who doesn't remember playing in leaves as a child? Growing up it was one of my favorite things to do...until it came time to rake them back into a pile and then bag them O.o That part I could have done without, but it sure as heck seemed worth it when you were making that big mess and listening to all the crunching and crackling of those leaves! I used SU! Chocolate Chip as the base, layering pieces of Bazzill heavyweight card shoppe cardstock in the color candy corn on top and finishing with some DP from the DCWV Fall/ Halloween stack. The small leaves and pumpkin as well as the sentiment are all included in the Fall Friends clear stamp set and the bigger leaf was printed from my computer. All images were colored with my copic markers and the leaves and pumkin got a quick shimmer added with my wink of stella clear glitter brush pen. A new "Warm Colors" challenge just perfect for fall colors just opened up over at the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog  and I can't wait to head over there and share. Speaking of sharing, there's still time to enter the October Linky Party if you haven't already, and as you know, you can't win if you don't enter! There's also two more days of the Digi Me contest so if you have some ideas there's a bit more time to share so lets see that creativity, after all who wouldn't love to see their very own idea come to life as a digital stamp? Follow the link for more details. Have a great day all!

-Krys

Fall Friends Flair

Hi ladies, happy Monday and do I have a treat for you guys and I can't wait to show you! It's getting to be that time of year where we have more company in our homes for the holidays and who doesn't love a good excuse to decorate? Since there are so many wonderful Fall themed SOG images, and since fall is in full swing in upstate NY, it inspired me to make some adorable coasters with fall flair to add to the Some Odd Girl October Linky Party

Fall Friends Clear set and Woodsy Mae digi

I got the blank chipboard coasters from the $1 bin at my LCS (5 in a pack). I stamped all the images from the Fall friends clear set on separate coasters, with the exception of of the Woodsy Mae digi. That one I had to print out and transfer onto my coaster using a graphite pencil and one of those scoring tools with the ball on each end and then going over the transferred image in a copic multiliner, finally erasing the graphite left on the coaster. I do NOT recommend this technique very often, it's pretty time consuming. The pumpkin and leaves are all accent stamps included in the fall friends clear set, and using masking I made a stack of pumpkins and a pretty leaf border on one of the coasters to complete the set of coasters. Now for the fun part, COLORING! I used my copic markers to color all of my images and went over some of the leaves with a wink of stella clear brush pen. I finished off the coasters by inking around the edges with a bluish-gray pigment ink to give it the look of a cloudy fall day. All the sentiments were included in the Fall Friends clear set except the Take a Moment to enjoy happiness sentiment, which is from one of The Greeting Farm's 4x6 Sets. I think these would make a great gift for someone, what do you guys think?

Pretty Post-Its

TGIF people! I had a lovely birthday yesterday and even got a lovely and very loud version of happy birthday sang by my hubby and my little monsters when they brought out my cake! Unfortunately I never did get that moscatto I wished for, but that must mean I didn't really need it right? At least that's what I told myself anyway ^.^ Today I have a cute and simple project that will add dazzle to any desk, an easel type post it note holder featuring an SOG digi cutie, Winter Mae

Winter Mae Digi

The tutorial for this little post it note holder can be found here. Since I don't own the envelope die used in the tutorial, I created my own (after much trial and error because I'm horrible at measuring). Winter Mae was colored up using my copic markers and bit of wink of stella for some extra shimmer. The snowflakes were stickers from my stash, placed on white cardstock and cut out for extra stability, then adhered with pop dots. The DP is also from my stash, and since it was kind of a 'busy' pattern to me, I went with only a pearl flourish in the bottom corner for embellishment. The sentiment was printed from my computer. I ended up giving this as a gift to my daughter's teacher and she liked it so much I'm working on a set of them for a few more of the teachers and the school nurse. After all, who doesn't love a pretty post it? Now all that's left to do is pop on over to the Some Odd Girl blog and add my post it project to the October Linky Party and the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge, Pretty Woman.

-Krys

Happy Birthday to Me

Hi there fellow bloggers! The weather is yucky here (humid and soggy) so my birthday isn't looking quite so cheery on the outside but I couldn't be happier. I'm blessed to have lived to see another year, kiss my husband and hug and hold my children another year so soggy or not that's worth celebrating! Besides, it gives me a good excuse for my favorite indoor activities, reading and crafting! Add some white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies and what more could a girl want (other than a nice moscato later tonight ^.^) . In honor of my B day I made another adorable birthday card for the FFF Anything Goes challenge over at The Greeting Farm using their adorable Spooky Kit

TGF's Spooky Kit

I love these little cutie pies, and they are the absolute most un-spooky monsters I've ever seen. Its like putting a pair of plastic fangs on a bunny rabbit and calling him vicious, hilariously cute, but far from scary. Don't you just love their adorable little expressions, like they just can't wait to shout "BOO!" and go into a giggling fit. I seriously just want to tickle these little darlings! I colored up the monster bean using my awesome copic markers and added some eucalyptus stickles here and there. The little monster was not given a name in the set so I have nicknamed her/him 'Boo', after the little girl from one of my favorite Disney cartoons, Monsters Inc. cause its just so darn cute! (I just hate it when things don't have a name, drives me nuts!) I used my fave new fold, (we'll call it a zigzag fold) with some DP from the Bo Bunny Lil Monsters 6x6 pad. The dies are precious stars from memory box. Since I wanted this card to be pretty gender neutral, I dialed down the bling and embellies and just went with a few buttons and a baker's twine bow. The sentiment is from a happy birthday rubber set I got from my LCS but I have no idea what the set was called, I just love the fun font. Well guys I'm off to play around with my Tim Holtz distress markers and hoping to get some more watercolor paper to try out as well. I'm having a hard time finding the right paper for those markers so if anybody uses the distress markers and has a particular favorite that they could recommend, that would be awesome I would greatly appreciate the suggestions. Thanks bunches!

-Krys

Fancy Folds

Hi out there, happy Tuesday bloggers. First things first, another entry for the SOG Digi Me Contest:

I was thinking something like "Hangin' Out Tobie" or less original but more to the point, "Monkey bars Tobie". Either way I want this little guy with a look of pure joy on his face, hanging upside down with his little tummy exposed and completely and utterly adorable in a stylish casual all boy outfit like the one shown. I don't have many masculine stamps but this little guy would make my collection in a heartbeat! Now on to my project for the day!

I am loving my SOG digis, but I have a super hard time getting them to print out the size of my clear SOG stamps. While practicing resizing the stamps, I got a fabby idea to create a cascade card featuring all four seasons to enter in the Some Odd Girl Fancy Folds Facebook challenge. Turns out that plan was a bit ambitious and I felt wiped out when I finished the card, but I was extremely pleased with how it turned out!

(From top to bottom) Winter Mae digi, Sunny Mae clear, Tropical Mae digi, and Woodsy Mae digi

Each digi and clear stamp were colored with my copics and fussy cut out. The winter and spring DP are from my stash, while the summer and fall DP are from Echo Park (summer) and DCWV (fall). I used paper punches, dies, images printed out and colored with my copics, and the tiny flip flops in the summer section were fussy cut from a scrap of paper from my stash. I wasn't sure what colors, order, or DP I wanted to use when I sat down to make this, which is greatly what took so long. I knew which digis and clear stamps I wanted to use and I began to color them up. Once I had them all colored I laid them out and rearranged them until I liked the order. Next I made the card base, creating two of the zig zag fold bases that I love so much putting them together to create the cascade effect. I ended up needing to treat each section like its own separate card, matching layering paper and DP to the already colored images (bad idea number 2) and using my ATG gun to attach the multiple layers/sections. Looking back, I wish I had picked out the DPs and then colored the images to match, as I usually do, it would've saved a lot of time. Either way, this card gave me so much trouble, it will only be made for VERY important occasions, like say, the birth of a new nephew ;) Now that they are dressed to impress (no matter what the season!) I'm headed over to join the party, October Linky Party that is, over at Some Odd Girl, see you there!

-Krys

Zigzag Monster Mash

Good morning bloggers and crafty pals! I just wanted to start my day with you guys by sharing a quick post. I've mentioned before my obsession love of The Greeting Farm's adorable rubber stamps, especially because of their versatility and ease of use. This year they came out with a new 8x10 set called the Spooky Kit, which I preordered a while back. I don't really celebrate Halloween but I just knew those adorable little monster beans would be great for little boys birthday cards, especially paired up with my DP from the Hip Hop Hurray 6x6 pad by Doodlebug

TGF Spooky Kit

Both the image and the "Monsters Only" sentiment came from the Spooky Kit. The image was colored up using my copic markers and I still have no idea what this card fold is called but I love it ^.^! This little guy will be entered in the Anything Goes FFF challenge over at The Greeting Farm, hope to see you there!

-Krys

We Go Together Like...

Hi guys! Feeling great on this gorgeous Saturday morning and I realized I hadn't participated at all this month in the Some Odd Girl Linky party for October! Honestly, I think I have birthday brain, this is the first birthday of mine I've been excited about in years so it's kind of taking over my thoughts the entire month! I also began getting presents early (hubby found a great deal on something I've wanted for forever!) so that didn't help the birthday brain! What was this dream gift you ask? TA-DA

The entire 49 piece set of Tim Holtz Distress markers!!!!  I've been practicing with them since they came in the mail and OMG *swoon* Now don't get me wrong, they can't replace my first love, copic markers, but they definitely run a close second! I struggled with the right about of water and ruining a few pieces of paper but I'm learning fast. I would like to try a few different types of paper, so far I seem to get the best results on bazzill heavy weight card shoppe cardstock in the color marshmallow as long as I don't over saturate the paper. Now what goes together better than distress markers and water? SOG stamps and me? Milk and cookies? How about all of the above, in a cute quick CAS card using the SOG clear stamp set Milk n Cookies, water colored with my distress markers and all ready to join in the October Linky party

SOG Milk n Cookies

I tried to keep this card simple, using only a few enamel dots and some doodling around the edges with a white gel pen. Normally I hate doing CAS cards but the milk n cookie are so adorable, they don't really need much embellishment or DP. Love how this turned out and I can't wait to use my markers on more of my SOG clear stamps. Ugh I wish I had a laser printer so that I could also color my digis as well but all I have is an inkjet for now, *sigh* dare to dream right? See you guys around

-Krys

Scary Cute

Hi out there in blogland! I've got my heater on here in upstate NY and it's not even that cold out, we've had a high of 51 and I'm bundled up like an Eskimo. Ladies, I seriously do NOT do cold 😕! One of my best friends, actually more like a sister to me, is bringing her son into the world today. So, in honor of her little monster, I created an adorable, scary cute (more cute than scary 😉) card using the Spooky kit from The Greeting Farm.

Spooky Kit

The image was colored with my copic markers, highlighted with a white gel pen and glittered with orange Stickles glitter glue. The papers are from DCWV and the sentiment is also from the spooky kit. I'm entering my card in this week's FFF Happy Halloween. I'm patiently awaiting pictures of her little cutie while I practice my no line coloring, can't wait to see him, see you guys later

-Krys

Digi Me Contest

Wow SOG does it again and I'm extra excited to tell you guys about an awesome new contest going on over at the Some Odd Girl  blog called Digi Me. To sum it up, we fans have been requesting different theme ideas for the ladies over at SOG to turn into stamps. The contest gives us a chance to present our ideas in the form of collages and photos! I'm just bursting with ideas and I've never made a collage before (other than school projects) so I could't wait to participate. I've had the idea of SOG's Kaylee dressed in pink boxing gloves and a pink robe adorned with the breast cancer pink ribbon and that famous sassy short hair cut Kaylee has been known to rock and pink highlights so this collage came together with almost no effort

I wonder if we're supposed to name them as well, hmm "Fighter Kaylee" comes to mind! Anyway, I'm absolutely obsessed with the idea and have been since the first time I came across the breast cancer themed icon with the quote "Fight Like A Girl". Couldn't you guys just imagine the awesomeness?! I had so much fun generating this collage that I started on 2 more, BUT you'll have to tune in again to see the others! More to come tomorrow so see you then!

-Krys

Mad about Mae

Hi guys. Do you ever get the feeling sometimes that you should just give up on something because no matter how hard you try or how much effort you put into something, it never seems to pay off? I get like that from time to time but I remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day. See I've been making cards and blogging for about 2 years now and I've yet to make a design team that I put in for, which is what made me start my blog in the first place. I wanted to have a place to post my cards and hopefully inspire others along the way to share their creativity as well. I enter challenge after challenge, make my interests known, and apply as often as I can, I never seem to get any closer to realizing my dream. It seems like all the DT calls are looking for someone with prior DT experience, but if nobody will give you a chance on their DT, how can you hope to gain experience? On days like that it can be hard to pick up my markers and get my crafty mojo flowing, so I rest and try to remember the other things that make me craft. I also try to make something non challenge related, a card for a friend, a decoration for my home, or try out a new technique just for fun. It always makes me feel better and it makes me want to keep trying. I know I'm far from the most talented and most definitely not the only blogger out there with a dream of being a design team member for a favorite stamp company, so I try not to let it keep me down and most of all, I try not to keep me from crafting. Well that's my ramble for the day now on to my project. I absolutely adore the SOG company stamps, both clear and digital, and my collection has grown at a steady pace since I started it. Between you and me, I'm actually hoping for some happy mail this week! In the meantime, one of my newest digis in my newest favorite color combo, Geeky Mae!

SOG Geeky Mae

Not only do I love my SOG stamps, I'm crazy about cork embellishments, its my newest obsession. For some reason or another when I start to color Mae, I think of paper airplanes. So I thought to myself, wouldn't some paper airplanes made of cork be a cute embellishment. I took a copic multiliner and a ruler and drew out a few paper airplanes on some DCWV adhesive cork paper and cut them out with scissors, and put them to the side. For this card I wanted to make a pop up surprise card, where you pull a tab at the top and the image stands, causing it to reveal a surprise message. I've created on or two in the past, always using this tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers, slightly altering the measurements to be layered on a card base. The papers I used were from the DCWV Dots Stripes and Plaids mat stack and the lined graph paper at the top is from MME. I colored Geeky Mae up with my copics on Hammermill coverstock, fussy cut her out and adhered her with my ATG gun. The sentiments are from The Greeting Farm (can't remember what sets). Last I adhered the cute little cork embellishments and called this card done. I'm headed over to link up to the September Linky Party over at Some Odd Girl and the Back To School Facebook challenge. Wish me luck on becoming a DT member one day and for now, join in the fun there's still time to link up this month so what are you waiting for?

-Krys

Pretty Adorkable

So, I am loving my SOG digis and my collection is really growing! Last week the ladies over at Some Odd Girl were kind enough to spotlight one of my cards and give me a free digi prize Who doesn't love prizes? I certainly do, and I absolutely couldn't wait to put my newest prize to good use, and since it seems like forever that I made a ceramic sign for my craft room I figured it would make a great project.

Geeky Mae Digi

Isn't she just adorable?! This week's Facebook challenge is back to school but instead of a typical back to school I was leaning more toward college dorm decor and came up with this. Doesn't she just look comfy, ready to lounge in her dorm room and study for an upcoming exam? I came up with the sentiment myself, generated on my computer and transferred onto the ceramic bisque. I gotta say I think it was the perfect sentiment to go with this cutie pie. I began by inking around the edges of the sign with some pigment ink. I colored Geeky Mae up on my Hammermill coverstock (love that stuff!) with my copic markers, fussy cut her out, and glued her down with some glossy accents. I finished it off with my favorite type of bling, pearl flourishes, a little diamond glaze on her glasses and a few paper airplanes I drew and glittered with my clear wink of stella brush pen. You never get too old for paper airplanes. I love this digi and she may very well be my favorite, I think we all have a little geek in us, especially when we think no one is looking ^.^ Now over to the SOG September Linky Party and then to the Back to School SOG Facebook challenge to join in on the fun, see ya later alligator!

-Krys

Retro Sketch #132

Hi guys! Having a great week so far over here but my oh my does having a preschooler and Kindergartner keep you busy! I'm still adjusting to my new schedule so please bear with me until I can get the hang of this ^.^ My goodness I never realized just how much my daughters occupied each other until the oldest one started school. Now though, I believe my baby girl is attempting to drive me mad by asking me a never ending stream of questions (many of which she knows the answer to) throughout the day. She literally talks from the moment she wakes up till the moment she goes to sleep again! Nap time can't come soon enough but some days she doesn't even nap, LOL. All I can do is sit and laugh when I think about it because right now its driving me crazy, yet next year when she's in school and my house is quiet, the silence will drive me crazy and I'll be thinking of excuses to go and get them out of school early so they can be home with me again! Yesterday she decided that she needed a nap and so I got a little crafting done. It's been so long since I participated in any other challenge that I decided to join in this week's Retro Sketches #132 Challenge with a little SOG flair for the September Linky Party and the Trash Your Stash Facebook Challenge. Here's my take on the sketch

SOG Snowball Tia digi

I love the winter theme and this particular color combination was inspired by a very talented friend of mine, who recently knitted a scarf in these cool shades. I loved them so much I had to make a card using them! I didn't really have any wintery sentiments so I just used the Smile! sentiment from the SOG picture perfect clear set and I think it still looks sweet. The snowflake die is from sizzix and the pearls are from my stash. I colored up little Tia with my copic markers and added some stickles in the color eucalyptus fo add some dazzle to her outfit and sentiment. I used white chalk around the edges of the lighter blue paper in an attempt to make it appear to be frosted but you can't really see it in this photo. I added a glittery swirl with some silver stickles and a few pearls from my stash and this little lady was ready to join the party! Maybe today baby girl will take a nap and I can get a little something done again! Wish me luck guys!

-Krys

Awesome Happy Mail

Don't you guys just love it when you're kind of down and need a pick me up, then SURPRISE! Something awesome and unexpected comes in the mail and perks you right up? Well that's exactly what happened to me Tuesday and it made me so happy I couldn't wait to share the feeling with someone else. I received my final stamp for the last Super Secret Stamp Club (missed out on sign ups this time around, no money *sigh*) and had to ink her up right away because, coupled with an adorable TGF sentiment, I knew she'd make someone's day! I decided to give this card to a friend of mine to send to her sister in law, with whom she's very close. So though this card isn't for any challenge, I know it will brighten someone's day

SSSC #9 Day Out

I mean who doesn't love to be told they're awesome at random? I certainly do, it makes me FEEL awesome that someone else thinks I'm awesome (other than the hubby and kiddos) and I hope this makes the recipient feel just as awesome! I colored this image using my copic markers of course! The paper I stamped on is actually new to me and it is AMAZING! My copics blend beautifully on this paper, very similar to the x-press it blending card. The best part, 250 sheets for $10! That's a much better bargain than what I was paying for the x-press it, which was around $17 for only 25 sheets! My only complaint is that the paper claims to be #60lb cardstock but doesn't feel like it, it feels closer to a heavy inkjet paper than a cardstock. That actually turned out to be more convenient though when I fussy cut the image out, my scissors glided through the paper like butter! I ordered it here, if you guys are interested. I'm more than satisfied with this product and unless Hammermill starts to make a heavier weight in this paper, I've found my newest staple product and won't be running out for a while! Happy trails guys!

-Krys

Giddy Up

Howdy! Hope you guys are having a good day today, I love the cloudy overcast sky so I'm feeling extra bubbly, yes I'm an oddball. Cloudy skies put me in a great mood, especially when it's not too hot or cold like today. I guess because clouds mean rain, and rain means an excuse to stay indoors and spend the day crafting away (not that I actually need an excuse!). Lately I've been obsessed with my newest fold (I'm not even sure what it's called), but it looks so elegant even though its super simple, and it comes together so easily. And since I'm still missing my sweetheart, I have another lovey kinda card to share today using a SOG digi to link up for the September Linky Party over at Some Odd Girl, as well as the Trash Your Stash Facebook challenge

Some Odd Girl Cowgirl Mae

I colored up this cowgirl with my copics with a little wink of stella shimmer on her shirt and Judikins Diamond Glaze on her hat accent and belt buckle. You can't really see either in the photo but I feel it gives it just a little something extra! The papers are from my stash, bought from one of my LCS open stock. The cork embellishments were made by me cut from DCWV adhesive cork paper and stamped with one of the sentiments from The Greeting Farm's Your're Wanted 4x6 set. I finished off the look I was going for with some jute twine (LOVE that stuff!!!) and some pearl flourishes. This cowgirl is certainly ready to party at the September linky party, so I'm headed over to drop her off, it's going on all through September so I hope to see you guys there too!

-Krys

Love is in the Air

Happy Monday everybody, hope you all had a good weekend! Mine certainly flew by and before I knew it, it was time for my daughter to get dressed for school and my Hubster to leave for yet another FTX. I swear these people are trying to give me separation anxiety, taking my sweetheart away from me every other week for the past month and preparing for a month long one during Valentine's Day! Last year he was away for his birthday as well as Valentine's Day and we just got the news, it seems this year won't be any different *sigh* oh well. I mentioned back in February that I absolutely love V day, so I couldn't wait for the chance to use my SOG digi, Cupid Mae. Since I'm also overdue for a mixed media canvas, I simply couldn't resist using her on this heartfelt creation

Some Odd Girl Cupid Mae

Because I couldn't get the lighting quite right to show all the gold detail and rich color, I decided to post both pictures so you could see the shininess for yourselves! I love the notes of gold with the bold reds, its such a yummy color combo don't you think? I started out layering alcohol inks and dabbing them away until I was satisfied with the effect. I added a few torn book pages and sanded it all down for a distressed look. Next I stamped randomly with a few stamps from my stash, layering red with gold acrylic paint in some places. After that I took some red acrylic paint and splattered it onto the canvas. I also used a scrap of lace across the top to add some texture, along with a bit of jute twine. The dies that I used were all from memory box and the roses, from Iamroses.com, were dyed by me using the same colored alcohol inks I used to create the background. I finished my canvas off by adding a few pearls and a pearl flourish from my stash. Mae was colored on X-press it blending card with my copic markers. I used both stickles and a clear Wink of stella brush pen to add some sparkle to her. I think she's just perfect for my first entry for this month's Linky Party over at Some Odd Girl as well as a darling addition to the Trash Your Stash Oddies Facebook challenge. I'm headed over to link up for both, and if you haven't already, give it a try there's a chance to win every week! See you guys later and have a great day!

-Krys

Its beginning to look a lot like...

Hello crafty pals, did you miss me? ^.^ I sure hope so, but not too much! I hope you guys had a great labor day weekend and maybe caught some good labor day sales, I know I sure did! This week has been super busy, as my little rugrat started school today. This week was spent mainly in preparation for her first day, making sure she had everything she needed. Today I put my little munchkin on the bus for the first time ever and I almost teared up, however, she didn't even look back! They really do grow up so fast. The only good that came out of her being away at school was that I got a little crafting done. Everyone keeps saying that it's supposed to start snowing earlier than last year, by the end of this month unfortunately, so like it or not I'm starting to get into the Christmas spirit. My first order of business, a card featuring an altered stamp from The Greeting Farm

Hat: Cheeky Xmas

Head: WS Nala (Roll Call Kit)

Body: Skyward Anya

Christmas cards are so fun to make, especially with stamps that aren't traditionally for Christmas! This week's FFF Challenge is to use your Favorite Embellishment. My favorite embellishment is bling, in just about any form! I rose to the challenge and this little girlie is decked out in wink of stella, stickles, liquid pearls, and pearl flourishes. The image I used is actually a few different TGF images put together colored with my copics. For the hat I used Cheeky X-mas, the head belongs to the adorable Wild Sprout Nala from the Roll Call Kit (retired, sorry!) and the body is the exclusive Skyward Anya. I love playing around with TGF stamps, seeing who's head looks good on who's body to create a whole new stamp is just so much fun. The DP I used was something from my LCS' open stock. Both the sentiment and the cork tree embellishment was created by me using the accent stamp from the Cheeky X-mas set stamped in SU! Real Red. The tree was stamped on DCWV adhesive cork paper and punched out with circle punch. Can't wait to join in the challenge over at The Farm