In Short Supply

Hi guys all my craft supplies are packed and on their way to NY and my girls and I will be following shortly behind them but I couldn't bear to ship my copics and TGF stamps any way but personally so I've been coloring to pass the time. Speaking of passing, I couldn't let this Masculine/boy Card challenge over at TGF pass me by. I headed to my LCS and bought a few things to make a quick tag with using what I had left (not one pair of scissors!). I know it's not my usual but it had to be done. Hey don't judge me, it's not just an addiction, it's therapy ^.^! This is my short on supplies but not on style quickie tag

C.C. Dante

Pretty Pastels

Hi guys this is a fun short post but it will also be my last for a while. Don't worry, it's a good reason this time and it will only be for a few weeks at most. A while back I mentioned a PCS to Fort Drum and having to prep for it right? Well today the movers came and packed up/drove off with all my crafting supplies! I knew it was coming but seeing my card making supplies carted off made me realize this is really happening lol. I won't be joining hubby as soon as I'd like so my things are in storage for now which is why I won't be able to make any cards. Don't worry though I've been promised my own craft room instead of having to commandeer the kitchen table again so as soon as I'm settled in I will be back to stamping and sharing with you guys! In the mean time, I hope you enjoy my entry for TGF's FFF, Use pastel colors, using ms Tress

Tress

Hair: E40,41,42,43

Skin: E50,51 YR000

Clothes: V25,22 BV000 RV83,81,10

Wish me luck on my move, see you guys again soon!

-Krys

Coast to Coasters

Hey!
Extra excited as usual to share my latest project with you guys, but first, a backstory! Well a month or so ago I saw a project on TGF's Blog about making coasters out of stone tiles and it got the gears turning in my head. I decided to give it a try myself so off to home depot I went to buy a couple of travertine tiles. I only wanted one or two just for fun but Home Depot only sells them by the pack. I wasn't too disapointed though because a pack of 9 only cost about $4.30ish after taxes. I figured I could make 2 sets of 4 with one extra to practice/ruin/drop (whichever came first ^.^). In the tutorial, Melissa O used 4x4 tumbled marble tiles and stamped with Brilliance ink. Brilliance is actually a water based ink so I decided to try something different since I was planning to use these as coasters. After wiping down my tiles with a damp towel to remove excess dust and allowing it to dry, I then stamped with my Versamark pad and sprinkled Ranger's Ultra Fine black embossing powder and dumped off the, gently tapping it on the table to remove any extra powder clinging to random spots on the tile. Step 3 was interesting because I've never tried to heat emboss anything but paper so who knew how that would turn out LOL! Quick science lesson, natural stone actually holds and distributes heat really well and evenly...eventually...which is why baking stones work so awesome for cookies and especially pizza! AKA, heat embossing travertine, SUCCESS! I was incredibly proud of myself for this awesome discovery because as you know, copics and embossing powder work just fine together...unless its on travertine apparently o_O. Unfortunately my nibs are stained now but as long as they still come out the color they're supposed to I'm not too sad but fair warning, be careful not to color over the EP if you can avoid it, kinda like if you were using stazon. They came out great!

Up Up Bean (TL) C.C. Harlow (TR)

Flutter Anya (BL) Skyward Anya (BR)

Frappy Anya (TL) Birthday Anya I (TR)

Birthday Anya II (BL) Lolli Anya (BR)

I colored them all with my copic markers. For Skyward Anya I created a kind of halo/aura with my copics while I tried more of an inked border also using copics which was a little harder and didn't turn out as well, not so sure copics were meant to be blendable on tile. For the other two, I inked around the edges with stampin up Real Red and Tim Holtz Spun Sugar and it turned out much better. After coloring I added stickles here and there and glossy accents to the lenses of the girls' goggles and gave them a couple of coats of the same spray acrylic sealer I used for the Magnets I made a while back, to make them water proof! Hope you guys give it a try, for the bottom set I was going for a sweet treats pastel kind of look and I plan to enter these in the Use Pastel Colors Farm Fresh Friday challenge over at The Greeting Farm. Honestly mine were supposed to be gifts but they're so cute I'm not sure I can part with them now! I even went out and bought another pack of tiles to make a few more, I'm addicted! See you guys around!

-Krys

Gorgeous Geisha

Okay so even though I'm still sick this Color Challenge over at TGF is getting to me! I'm a super stubborn kind of gal and struggling and stumbling on a color combination makes me just plain crazy so after creating a card in the color palette yesterday and being pleased with the results, I decided to give it another go today. And as a special challenge to myself, I pulled out my very first TGF stamp that started my obsession...er I mean addiction....uh what I meant to say was hobby lol ^.^ The lovely Geisha Anya. As much as I adore this cute stamp I've had a real bear of a time actually using her on a card, until today that is, ladies and gents feast your eyes on this gorgeous geisha

Geisha Anya

Guys, seriously, I'm going to get some rest now but I was sooooo excited to share this with you guys I couldn't bear to wait to share it. What about you guys in blogland, do you remember what your first stamp was??? Stop by and let me reminisce with you, till then thanks for stopping by

-Krys

Party Palette

Hi guys, still feeling a bit under the weather but TGF has such a fun Color Challenge for this week's FFF that I couldn't resist inking up one of my newest edition, Up Up Bean. Normally I have a very difficult time making pinks and purples look good together but I gave it a shot and I'm pretty pleased with the results

Up Up Bean

I've been looking for an excuse to use this birthday balloons embossing folder for a while now as well as this chevron paper from my LCS's open stock so this seemed like the perfect little stamp to use it with. Hope I start feeling better soon enough to enjoy this awesome springy weather before the big move to the cold north. Wish me luck guys!
-Krys

In Stitches

Hi guys as you know I've been experimenting with other uses for my adorable TGF stamps. Od course they look darling on cards but the wheels in my head have been in overdrive coming up with/ trying out ideas. I'm a bit under the weather so I won't ramble on today either. I found that you can create adorable little shirts using stazon ink, copic markers and rubber stamps and here are a couple of my finished projects so far:

Birthday Anya 2 (left) Easter Anya (right)

Skyward Anya (left) Up Up Bean (right)

Since stazon has a tendency to bleed into copics and vice versa, I highly recommend drying or ironing your shirt on high heat after stamping but before coloring with copics. If you are not careful to color inside the lines you will not only ruin your nib, but also cause the black stazon to "reactivated" so to speak, and run into your colored sections so be very careful. Another idea for coloring where images would be a permanent or fabric paint but I've yet to find a bottle of fabric paint with a thin enough spout for fine detail.  Well this is my two cent for today I'm going to lay down and try to feel better. Hopefully you guys will be feeling adventurous and will try and perfect this technique, if you do, I'd love feedback on how it can be improved!
-Krys

Spring Skies

Hi guys, the weather here is downright gorgeous and as much as I love card making, it just doesn't seem right to spend the day inside so I'm keeping this post light and airy! Speaking of air, I was absolutely blown away by TGF's Exclusive Skyward Anya stamp, so much so that I had to ink her up right away and put her on a card before I ventured out of doors and here she is!

Skyward Anya

The DP are MME I believe and darling Anya is colored with my trusty copics and a dash of waterfall stickles to add a little shimmer. I also used a bit of glossy accents on the goggles to make them pop. Hope you guys like it, I know I do and I can't wait to put this little lady on more projects soon! Happy Tuesday!

-Krys

Stuck on You (EXTREMELY picture heavy!!!)

Hi guys OMG Super excited excited to FINALLY post this project/tutorial and be warned, this is VERY picture heavy so I won't ramble much. But first, a backstory... I hate naked refrigerators, they're so impersonal and even though they are usually the largest fixture in every kitchen, they are usually less than impressive. I started to search for magnets when my oldest daughter started school, I couldn't wait for her to bring home those little drawings and place them on my fridge. After months of searching I found only the cheap plastic ones so I gave up. One day I found a recipe for salt dough on Pinterest ( you can find the recipe Here) and that got gears turning! After a few attempts and some trial and error I finally got it! Hope you guys like it and maybe even give it a try if you like it.

First and foremost, gather all the materials you need (found this out the hard way) salt dough dries out fairly quickly. you will need salt dough, a rolling pin, stazon ink, a spatula, a few stamps and acrylic block, and a sharp knife

roll out the salt dough to about a quarter inch thick

using stazon permanent ink is EXTREMELY important, memento ink did NOT work for me

I like to try and fit as many stamps on the salt dough as I can 

cut the stamped salt dough apart. if you use a knife be sure not to drag it too much as this will warp the image

choose one to work with and cover the rest in plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

keep cutting off straight lines until your image is completely cut out. At this point you can either save the scrap pieces form a new ball and try to roll them out again but I usually just discard them since some of the pieces already have ink on them which will show up on the next image since stazon is permanent it wont come off. once you have every image cut out, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees. mine took several hours to dry so results may vary.

once all the salt dough images are dry you can sand down the edges, I used black sandpaper (not sure what grit, sorry!). After that I wipe them down with a slightly damp cloth to remove all the extra dust. Since I used my copic markers to color them I didn't want to leave any extra dust to prevent ruining my markers or clogging the nib. You can also use acrylic or enamel paint. When you finish decorating them with your chosen medium give them time to dry and seal. Again, through trial and error I found that you can use glossy accents applied with a sponge brush to seal or you could go buy a can of acrylic sealant from your LCS. I tried out both and they both work well but I found out the hard way glossy accent leaves a milky white film over your magnet to be that will gradually fade out and turn normal colored over a few days. Attach a magnet to the back using a strong adhesive such as E6000 or my personal favorite, hot glue.

I think I went a tad bit overboard, but I promise, once you give it a try you'll be hooked as well! I plan to do this for just about every TGF stamp I get in the future as well. I have found that some stamps work better than others but you'll just have to give yours a try and see which work best for you.

 I think I made around 38 total and I'm running out of space on my fridge so you know that can only mean one thing... I obviously need a bigger refrigerator! lol well I hope you enjoyed this  "pinnspiring" post and you guys decide to give it a try! ttyl

-Krys