I've Got the Blues...and a Little Green too!

As you know I don't mean the sad kind of 'blues' or the music either, I mean the colors! Have you ever thought about how many shades of blue are out there? Hundreds? Who knows, who cares? All I know is that just about all the blues can be paired together with beautiful results, and when you add a splash of green as an accent? GORGEOUS! Today I bring you a good example of this (I hope) in a gift that I created for a friend of mine, who has always been there for me, in the form of a picture frame (the gift is the frame of course, not the friend ^.^).

Cheeky Geeky

 

 

I started with an unfinished balsa wood frame from my LCS (one of the things I mentioned a few posts back) and painted it with a really light green almost seafoam acrylic paint. once that was dry I got out my homemade mod podge and cutter and pieced a few different scrap pieces with similar color schemes to get this patchwork kind of look. Since I didn't have much DP in the shades I needed, I created the leopard print by running it through an embossing folder and inking it with pigment ink a few shades lighter. I did the same with the swirl pattern, embossing and inking in shades of blue to get the effect I was going for. I colored Ms Cheeky Geeky from The Greeting Farm with my copics and gave her a blue leopard print skirt with matching tie and headband and fussy cut her out. The sentiment is from Close To My Heart (CTMH) 'Friendship' set and the other embellishments are from my stash. I wish I could take credit for this lovely idea but I am actually CASEing this project from one of my personal favorite blogs, Rosemary's Creations, ( you can go and see her project here!). I plan to enter this in the following challenges; Splendid Stamping FFF, 'Cut it Out', Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, 'It's a Mystery', and 7 Kids Challenge, 'Anything Goes'. Thanks for stopping by,

 

-Krys

What's Black and White and Read all over???

The answer is... A NEWSPAPER!!! Hmm that was funnier when I was six... Not as funny now, and especially not since you can see the spelling of 'read' rather than hearing it and assuming I mean the color RED. Ah well it was still clever of me at the time especially since it gave me a backstory to ramble about for this post lol! Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can get to the relevance of that story to my post! My Hubby left for Army BCT yesterday and so I got the brilliant idea to keep a journal while he's gone so he won't miss a thing while he's gone. During my last trip to my LCS, I grabbed a few things to alter/decorate, mainly made of balsa wood, (you'll see projects with those things soon so stay tuned!!!) and I found the ugliest little monogramed journals for $2. I knew they would be perfect for this journal/ scrapbook I was planning on creating so I grabbed one and immediately headed home to start beautifying my awesome find. In about an hour (not including fussy cutting the image with an X-Acto knife) this masterpiece came together:

(Head: C.C. Friday Night/ Body: Anya Strolls)



 

 

 

Ok I know I say this a lot but seriously, I am IN LOVE with this alteration combo of C.C. Friday Night with Anya Strolls! Saturday I showed you guys a door hanger that I created with this same concept. It turned out so fabulous I just had to have it on something else and what better than a once ugly journal that was sitting on the shelf screaming "Take me home, Make me PRETTY!" I swear I heard it, I'm not crazy! Also it gave me a chance to use some of the washi tape I made out of a few stamps, some twinkling H2Os and a roll of inexpensive masking tape. This is so simple to do, I plan to go back and get a few more journals to alter and give as gifts. It comes together quickly and looks amazing and there are plenty of ways to personalize and customize to suit the crafter's taste. The hardest part was trying to fussy cut the image with an X-Acto knife to make sure I didn't have any empty white spaces. Its not really a necessary step but to me it looks more professional. I plan to enter this in the 7 kids challenge blog, Anything goes, Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, It's a Mystery, and the FFF Challenge over at Splendid Stamping,  "Cut it Out" since this definitely took some time to cut out! Such a fun blog challenge, if you're feeling crafty you should definitely stop by and play along. Hope to see you there TTYL!

 

-Krys

Something Fishy

Well as if the title wasn't self explanatory, I've got a bit of an obsession with beaches and oceans going, which is being reflected in my projects like crazy but hey, if it inspires me why not go with the flow (lol see even my jokes are watery!). And though technically I don't think a shark is a fish today I decided to make a masculine card using one with surfer Ian (whom you will see more of along with TGF's Cheeky Beach, Fleur Anya and more, once my Echo Park Paradise Beach and Bo Bunny Key Lime paper stacks arrive!). I am once again smitten, with all the ideas of beach and pool themed cards floating around my head there is no doubt I have the beach babe blues. I think I'll work on a plan to get the hubby to take us all to the beach one weekend and get this fun-shiny excitement out of my system, but for now, you guys are stuck with it so without further ado get ready to suffer the consequences:

 Surfer Ian

 

Ian was colored with my trusty copics and the DP I used is by DCWV from Baby Boy, All Dressed Up, and the Bouquet De Fleur Stacks. The shark, splashy wave, and water bubbles all came from my sticker stash and the sentiment, from TGF's Anya Strolls. Ironic that he seems to be getting chased by the shark huh? Total coincidence that I didn't notice till after the decision to use this sentiment was decided, cool right? I know, I amaze myself sometimes with my inattention to details lol! Now the question is who's dream is being chased, the surfer or the shark??? I'll leave that decision up to you guys in blogland. Thanks to this silly little glitch I have an excuse to enter in the 7 Kids Challenge Just Wrong! A few rhinestones in the corner and some stickles here and there finished off this fun splashy card. I really think I'm getting the hang of these masculine cards now that I realize they don't all have to be drab and plain and subtle! Along with the 7 Kids Challenge, I plan to enter this guy in the Anyone for Anya? June photo challenge as well as the Splendid Stamping FFF challenge Bold and Bright, A Creative Romance opening challenge Anything Goes, The Pink Elephant challenge 202 Summer Time Theme, TGF's Retro Fresh Challenge Bring on the Sun, and finally the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge Brought to you by the Letter "S".

What's Shakin'???

Good morning blogland! Remeber that feeling you experienced as a kid on Christmas Eve? You know the one, too excited to sleep so you keep waking up every hour on the hour hoping to catch a glimpse of sunlight. All to eager to rush to the tree and see what goodies you received from the big man in red? Did it get worse when you learned to tell time? Mine certainly did because even though there was no sign of light, the clock told you that there would be in 2 hours... 1 hour...30 minutes... you get the idea, I promise you this is going somewhere. That is EXACTLY how I've been feeling since last night when I made my first two shaker cards ever! I got an early start on the card and all that was left to do was assemble my newest creation but I had a setback. My little Minions were being bullies and would not go to sleep, stating repeatedly that they were not sleepy! Me being the boss and quite the smarty pants, I decided to call their bluff and let them stay up until they got sleepy...10pm passed and they were still up and very much active when my Hunny came home from work. One rush job, half a jar of spilled coffee grounds, and some missing heart shaped glitter later I had completed a sub par shaker card that, I suppose, was not bad for a first attempt. A word of advice, instant coffee grounds do NOT make good shaker card filling, a lesson I may or may not be speaking from personal experience on ^.^

Latte Anya



 Well after a very dissapointing photo shoot with my not so awesome card, I caved and put them to bed, determined to do better on my next card and not wanting to wait until tomorrow, (which is now today of course!). Remember the old saying, if at first you don't succeed, stop and have a cupcake! No, wait, that's what I wanted to do...anywho, you know how it really goes! It proved to be totally true and out of my long night came this awesomeness! Another word of advice, MS Iridescent Hearts and Stars Glitter should come with a warning label. While handling them you may or may not received multiple puncture wounds which may or may not draw blood, again, hypothetically speaking, of course ^.^

 

TGF Queen Bean

Queen Bean

I was very sleepy, even if my girls weren't so I took a few pics and tried to get some shut eye. Yeah, didn't really happen. I tossed, turned, and repeatedly checked the time until I could reasonably justify blogging so early in the morning. I'm very proud of how this card came out, so I couldn't be happier to enter her in this week's Splendid Stamping FFF Challenge, Make it Move!, the Creative Card Crew Challenge, Punches/Dies,  the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, Anything Goes, 7 Kids Challenge Blog, #74 Embellishments! and maybe last minute for the ABC Challenge N for Not Just One! Wish me luck!



Feeling Peachy Keen

YAY! Its that time again at the farm, Garden Variety Tuesday! This week is a photo inspiration, I admit I've had a hard time wraping my brain around this color scheme. Even though I love my peachy, I wasn't too keen on the teal. However the DT did such a great inspiring job it gave me a few ideas of my own and out came this little lady!

Anya Strolls
 

I got Anya Strolls at the beginning of the month on release day and have been itching to use her on a card or project but just couldn't find papers for the idea I had in mind. This color combination had me in a rutt and I ended up sitting for hours trying to force this card but I took a break, looked through my paper stash old and new, and finally voila! In the DCWV Sweet Stack, of all places I found the inspiration I needed! With a few papers from the 'Fabulous Girl' Recollections stack with the cutest little butterfly peeking out, a little lace, and a surplus of stickles EVERYWHERE I could get away with, my card came together beautifully and almost efortlessly. The roses were actually all white but twinkling H2Os gave them a splash of color and shimmer to match the color theme. And I know I say this a lot but seriously, I am IN LOVE with the way the big peachy pink rose turned out, the color is GORGEOUS and so unexpected, an inspiration all on its own for me! I plan to enter this card in the following challenges;

Photo Inspiration! at Splendid Stamping with The Greeting Farm
#74 Embellishments! at 7 Kids Challenge Blog
N for Not Just One at The ABC Challenge Blog
Sketch SSS210 at The Sweet Stop



Not so Ordinary Oats

Who doens't love a nice hot bowl of oatmeal on a cold, rainy morning? I know I do, but that's about the only time you'll see me eat it! Now the hubby and kidos will eat it all day long breakfast lunch and dinner, and then try it again the next day if I let them. Believe me, I've seen them do it, and it's not pretty. That being said, its a given that we run through oatmeal pretty quickly but it only just recently occoured to me to repurpose the containers to something wonderful! I recently mentioned a iamroses haul in one of my previous blogs, well I didnt exactly have an efficent way to store them without the risk of them being smashed or smooshed until I took a good look at one of those empty oatmeal canisters destined for the dump. Then it hit me, this sturdy can could easily be made to store my floral beauties! Of course the quaker guy is nice, as far as cereal box people go, but I wanted something more...hmmm, FABULOUS! so, TA-DA!


Birthday Anya

 

Anya Treats

 

                                       

 

 

I FREAKIN love the way this turned out! The lid features a coffee filter rolled rose, which I learned how to make from a fabulous tutorial on one of my favorite blogs ever, The Sparkling Scrapper, thanks so much for this awesome tutorial!!! And yay me, another altered/ recycled type project that is NOT a card! I hope to enter this in the 7 Kids challenge blog, Anything but a Card challenge! as well as the Simon Says Stamp Challenge , Simon Says... Flower Power