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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

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

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

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

Friday, December 19, 2014

"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

Thursday, December 18, 2014

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 AnyaAnya 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

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

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