Holiday Cheer

Have you guys ever been so sick you're totally convinced that this is the end and you are tempted to write your own will? Well for the last three or four days I've been a step past that. A friend lovingly commented that I could be an extra on that tv show 'The Walking Dead' and I politely shared my cooties with him. Well not really but he did say I sounded contagious enough to make him want to text me to open the door, yell "FIRE IN THE HOLE" and toss my medicine in like a grenade while simultaneously making a run for it. Gotta love those friends huh? LOL! Today I'm feeling much better, though still not 100% I decided to make a card. Monday over at Splendid Stamping  one of the DT members, the talented Ms Joni of the blog A Sticky Situation, created a post about how any of TGFs awesome stamps can be used as a holiday image, you just need to add a little Red and Green. I decided to give it a shot and waddaya know, sure enough I had instant holiday cheer!

Anya Styles

 

This was also my attempt at a CAS card (clean and simple) but obviously leaving well enough alone is NOT my area and could use some improvement, or in this case, self restraint ^.^ ah well it still came out super cute to me. Anya Styles was colored up with my trusty copic markers and to add some extra holiday cheer I added Candy Cane stickles to make the red areas sparkle! The sentiment was another rub on from the DCWV rub on sentiments stack. Thanks for stopping by, let me know what you guys think!

 

-Krys 

Plenty of Pockets!

Ha! told you I would eventually come up with a name that wasn't ridiculous...or is it??? Ah well I tried, I really did! Well today splendid stamping put a new challenge up for this week's FFF and I was so excited that I had to make my card right away! And of course in keeping with my theme for this week, its a pocket card, the last one of the week. I've never been that great at monochromatic coloring, largely due to the fact that my copic marker collection is still expanding so I am missing quite a few shades in every color family. I always feel that with my limited selection of markers I will not be able to capture all the shading and detail or make a big enough difference in tones between skin and hair but I gave it a try anyway and I'm very proud of how it turned out!

C.C. Tuesday Premier

 



 

I colored Tuesday Premier up with my copics (W0-W5) I really wish I had W-7 and W-9 for the darker areas of her hair but I believe this came together nicely with just the ones that I own and I love how the pop of red compliments the black and greys in the card. This card will be entered in the Farm Fresh Friday Challenge for this week, Splash of Color. Hope you guys like it as much as I do, although it puts me in the mind of vampires for some odd reason ^.^ Love you guys thanks for the support!

 

-Krys

 

A Pair of Pockets

Hi guys, I'm keeping this post uncharacteristically short for now because I really just wanted to get these cards up so that I can sneak in one more last minute entry to the FFF All that Sparkles challenge over at Splendid Stamping and here they are! more details to come later today

Head: C.C. Lula/ Body: C.C. Harlow

 

C.C. Tyler

be back soon!
-Krys

Ok I'm back again guys just like I promised with details! Wow let me tell you I absolutely do NOT like making masculine cards... mainly because I'm not so good at them :\ oh well we can't be good at everything right? The first pocket card features another altered TGF stamp, combining the head of C.C. Lula with the sassy stance of C.C. Harlow, always a winning combination in my book as well as the pink and brown combination. As far as my second, masculine card, well I feel like I totally rocked this one!!! C.C Tyler was also one of the images I had pre colored with no card to put him on so when I found this musically themed paper I knew he'd be perfect. I added stickles to his guitar as well as the musical scores on the DP and the 'Lets Jam' Sentiment. I finished off this card with a few more sparkly red rhinestones and a few music note punches also glittered with stickles. I love this card because I was able to make a masculine card and still make that boy bling!

Power to the Pockets! pt 1

Silly name huh? Its the best I could do LOL maybe I'll come up with another better name for tomorrow's pocket card! Well today is another for the sparkle challenge over at TGF hope you guys like it! I played around with shades of red and orange and as you may know from a monochromatic challenge a while back, Orange Overload, I HATE orange (which is ironic considering my high school and college colors included orange as a main color) so it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Fortunately turns out I don't mind red orange so much and this card may be the beginning of a beautiful newfound friendship between the color orange and myself!

 C.C. Harlow

C.C. Harlow

 

This little lady is actually one of the many images that I already had colored up with no card to put her on because of my dislike for orange but she finally found a home on this lovely pocket card and looks lovely if I do say so myself! She was colored with copic markers and her shoes, eyeshadow and goggles as well as parts of her hoodie were glittered with crystal stickles. The DP is from DCWV but I can't remember the name of the stack right now. The back ground, flowers and sentiment were all stickled beyond reason (I'm telling you, I have a problem ^.^) a few well placed sparkly rhinestones and some ribbon from my stash perfected this pocket. Hope you guys like it, stay tuned for another sparkly pocket tomorrow!

 

-Krys

Spectacular Sparkle!

Wow omg it's frickin cold here! Well not THAT cold but to cold for my Texas born and raised self! Ah well winter in Texas only lasts for about a month then we get spring lol j/k but some years it feels that way ^.^ I noticed the other day that the majority of my cards lately have been standard a4 fold and frankly I've managed to bore myself. With that being said, I decided to get back to another favorite of mine, the pocket card! This week will be all about power to the pocket, fun huh? Well I'm excited but not as excited as I am about the current Farm Fresh Friday challenge over at Splendid stamping. It's like it was chosen specifically for me, this week's challenge is All That Sparkles! Man I love me some sparkly stuffs, seriously look through my blog I dare you to find more than one or two cards without some shine! And I am severely addicted to stickles... Is there a support group for that, Stickles Annonymous???? Don't believe me when I say I have a problem? Ah well , you'll see what I mean soon enough:

(C.C. Tuesday Pemiere)

This card sparkles from top to bottom and everywhere in between, even the ribbon is sparkly! This little lady was colored up with copics and I used gold puff paint to give her some accessories. The papers are all from my stash and the sentiment is one of TGF's Delicate Words Die (which has also been stickled!) hope you guys like it!
-Krys

Cyber Monday Celebration Hop!

OMG super excited for this hop! The clever folks over at Splendid Stamping decided to celebrate cyber Monday by doing an all customer blog hop, how cool is that?! What is it? Well, I'm not entirely sure but it sounds like a blast and so far the last time I looked there were around 37 blogs linked up for this hop so its gonna be a big one loaded with beautiful projects from many different people with a love for those adorable TGF products! Winners of the hop will receive a $25 gift certificate to one RANDOM winner who participates in the hop, along with a 2nd prize of a 4x6 set, 3rd prize of a single rubber set, and some 'honorable mention digis' for creativity and design at the discretion of the Design Team. I don't know about you but I've got chills just thinking about it!!! Also to add to the fun, I have two cards created with the FFF Color Challenge "Baby Blue, Silver, and White". What an awesome color combo, perfect for this season but not specific to it so there are lots of ways to use it. I decided to make one girly card and one for the guys with that color scheme in mind and here's what I came up with:

Anya Styles

Head: C.C. Jack (Retired) Body: C.C. Harlow (Retired)

I Can't wait to see what everybody has planned for this extra large, all customer blog hop so hop on over to Splendid Stamping and start the hop if you haven't already. See you there!

-Krys

Let it Snow

Hey! Sorry I haven't been aroud for a few days, my hubby left for basic a little over a week ago and my heart just hasn't been in making cards, I've been so sad. I miss him so much but at the same time I'm super proud of him for his decision! I can't wait till he gets back home I could use a good cuddle in this weather here... Snow, in Texas, lol it's like a cosmic joke. I JUST posted about how it never snows here and then we get snow! Ah well such is life -_- . As a joke to myself I created another snow themed card to commemorate this day, it will also be used for the FFF challenge over at Splendid Stamping, Snow

Loli Anya

For this card I used Loli Anya colored with copics. I attempted to alter her little outfit to look more wintery by giving her long sleeves white stockings and cute little mittens, adorable right? The Swirls embossed paper with glitter reminded me of the swirling wind blowing snow around. A rub on sentiment, a few pearls and a snowflake in the corner finished off the card. I can't wait for cyber Monday you guys, see you then!

-Krys

S'now Place Like Home

Hi guys I'm blogging from the comfort of my own couch for the first time in a long time and boy does it feel good, especially since the weather here is terrible! I woke up to my 3 and 4 year old firmly snuggled on either side of me in my bed, sound asleep as thunder so loud it sounded like my front yard was being bombed by kamikaze pilots! I'm not exaggerating either, it was so bad my floors were vibrating and I could hear my windows rattling! Sheesh! No wonder my girls were in my bed! As if the thunder wasn't bad enough there was a flash flood torrent of a storm along with guess what....SLEET! seriously I wanted to stay under the covers in my warm, toasty, at maximum capacity, bed. Well I decided to brave the freezing house to turn on the heat and while I was at it I swung by Splendid Stamping to see who the challenge winner was as well as get the new challenge for this week's FFF and whaddaya know, it was ME!!!!! I am so very excited especially since I rarely ever win challenges but to win one at Splendid Stamping was a major deal for me! Sorry for gushing it was just really good news when I really needed a pick me up so this felt awesome. Now for my card for this week's challenge:

Latte Anya

 

This was a winter treat for me, the theme of this week's FFF was Snow! How fun right? not that we ever actually get much snow here in Texas, and believe me I am NOT complaining! The fluffy wet white stuff is best on Christmas specials on ABC Family in my opinion, I disdain being cold or wet and I especially loathe being cold AND wet, yucky!!! Not my cup o tea but it is so beautiful to watch, and it makes everything look so serene, which is why I shall admire it from indoors, swaddled like a baby in a huge comforter sipping on salted caramel hot chocolate (found the recipe here!). The paper was from my stash, the Sentiment is from the DCWV Rub on sentiments cards stack, and the snowflakes are from a Sizzix Die This little lady will be my entry for the FFF challenge over at Splendid Stamping, so if crafting is your thing and you've got a passion for stamping, please join in I promise it'll be fun! See you guys next time,

 

-Krys

 

Beach Boy

Have you ever colored up an image just because and didn't really have a specific purpose or project to use it on? I do that A LOT and they seem to pile up before I know it because coloring is a great stress reliever for me. I found this little guy and couldn't help but make a card out of him, even though his beachy look is a little warm for this time of year, everyone can always use a splash of color and warmth!

C.C. Noah

 

This was a simple and fun masculine card using C.C. Noah from the retired TGF Creepin Crew Set colored up with my copics. I found this set online and ordered the company's last one in stock! So exciting right? The sentiment is also part of the Creepin Kit set. Honestly if you were to ask me which of the darlings in that set were my fave I'd have a hard if not impossible time choosing! The Papers are from Echo Park, one of the DP packs I just HAD to have this past summer. However once I got them, the summer was ending and so I didn't get much of a chance to use them. This card was just for fun but the fussy cut C.C. Noah is perfect for this week's FFF challenge over at Splendid Stamping "Cut it Out". I have literally an entire stack of unused colored up images just begging to become part of a card or project so you'll definitely see more of my lovelies soon!

 

-Krys

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

Hanging Around

Back again and today we'll be bumming wifi from Mc Donalds, while my kids run themselves silly at the Play Place ^.^ ! I swear its starting to feel like a fun game, you never know where I'll blog from next hee hee! Anywho, the other day I was looking over on one of my favorite blogs,  Paper Drama and remembered a wonderful tutorial on rendering leopard print with copic markers. I've been meaning to try it out myself it really is a gorgeous technique requires only about 3 or 4 markers and is so easy to do. I've also been obsessed with how great the Anya Strolls body looks with  C.C. Friday Night's head so I keep playing around with the paper piecing long after the Alter Ego challenge over at Splendid Stamping has ended. I also noticed I've been doing a lot of cards so I decided to give a few other projects a chance, that being said, whipped out my Homemade Mod Podge and got to work. This is what I came up with:

Head: c.c. Friday Night Body: Anya Strolls

I started with a plain ol' balsa wood door hanger from my local CSS and covered it in black cardstock. I then cut out rectangles in various sizes from several different scraps from a DCWV stack and glued them down. Next came my Anya/ Friday combo with more Mod Podge and the sentiment from the Anya Strolls set stamped in no particular pattern, with red and black ink. A little candy cane stickles swirled here and there, a bow from my stash, and TA-DAAAA! Isn't it awesome? And you can bet this wont be the last project you see spots on, or my Anya/Friday combo! I plan to enter her in the latest awesome challenge over at Splendid Stamping, where the FFF challenge is "Cut it Out". So excited, wish me luck and thanks for stopping by!

-Krys

Cute as a Cupcake!

Hi! I'm back today with another quick post, actually my last preview of the So Sweet Collection but certainly not the last card or project you'll see on my blog created with these little darlings! Debuting today I give you Miss Sweet Cupcake!

 

This little digi damsel was colored in using copic markers and inked around the edges with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar distress ink. If you recall a few posts back I mentioned having trouble with the stickles causing the ink from my printed out digis to run, right? Well nothing will keep me from my sparkle so I found a glorious substitute for my crystal stickles glitter glue, DRY STICKLES!!!! who knew right? Since the liquid part of the stickles was causing the inky  mess, I eliminated the liquid! By using a precision glue stick and some dry Diamond Stickles I still got all the bling without the bleed! The cardstock and ribbon I used was from my stash and the DP was from DCWV. A few pink crystal brads finished off the look! Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen a lovely line up from a truly awesome company, I highly recommend these digis to anyone in the market to expand their collection, I love them! That's all for today my good bloggers see you again soon!

 

-Krys

Sugar Rush

Hi guys sorry I've been away for so long but I'm having technical difficulties and by technical difficulties I mean I technically no longer have access to the Internet ^.^ that being said, my posts may have to be few and far In between but certainly not by choice! I have actually been crafting almost every day so I have a few projects lined up but no way to blog... Unless I decide to stop being lazy and go to my nearest ihop or McDonalds and bum off the free wifi there (which now that I mention it doesn't sound like a bad idea...) while I wait for my oldest daughter to get out of school. Lol wow am I off subject! I really apologize, I ramble when I'm excited...or I've had coffee...or too much sugar...well you get the idea right? See rambling! Well all that being said I guess I can get to the point of today's post, a cutie pie that's definitely a sweet treat to introduce to you guys

This cutie is another digi from Pee Wee designs called Candy Rain, isn't she the cutest?! She is also part of the so sweet collection. Be sure to stop by and take a look and as always thanks for stopping by!

-Krys

Bubbling With Joy

To my girls, bubbles may be the single best most entertaining thing on earth, next to making an indoor pool in the bathroom during bath time :D Seriously though, who doesn't like bubbles?! I can't think of anyone so I figured what better image to put on a card for no other purpose than just because, than a beauty blowing bubbles (try saying that five times fast ;D ). Today I used another one of those adorable digis from peewee designs, a new website dedicated to digital stamps, to create a fun card just to say 'I Love You'

This little cutie is part of the same collection I mentioned yesterday, the So sweet Collection. I think these little digis are so precious and I ccan't wait to show off the rest of these cutie pies! See you next time and thanks for stopping by

-Krys

A Little Somethin' Sweet

Hi guys! As you may have heard, splendid stamping has discontinued theirGarden Variety Tuesdays (GVT) which gave me more time to do projects mainly just for fun. Today I have the pleasure, the awesome opportunity to work with some adorable digis  from a newly launched  website dedicated to digital stamps. I was given a few to play with and OMG they are too stinkin cute! This is my first card using Sprinkles from the So Sweet Collection

Doesn't she just give you cavities? Too sweet!!!  Now personally I don't usually work with digis because of the type of printer I own (the ink smears and bleeds when I try to use stickles)But theses little darlings were just so much fun to color up! Honestly I just can't wait to make another card with these sweeties! You guys should stop by and take a look at little miss Sprinkles' buddies if you're in the market for some new digis! Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow

-Krys

Dog-gone Cute

Hellooooo bloggers! Today's the day, as promised yesterday my head swapping obsession comes to an end as we reach the closing of an awesomely fun challenge over at Splendid Stamping . Seriously this was probably the most fun I've ever had with a challenge  and I can't wait to see what great theme they come up with next! My final entry for the Alter-Ego Challenge  (and quite possibly my favorite) was just so much fun and has a sort of modern vintage flair or at least that's what I was going for :D

Head: C.C. Friday Night Body: Anya Strolls

Sentiment: Winky Bean

For this card I used C.C. Friday Night with Anya Strolls.The trendy fedora with skinny jeans work well together and the perfect pooch complete this fashion forward gal! The sentiment from the Winky Bean set, along with some ribbon and pearls from my stash finished off the card and added the perfect final touches! Let me tell you, I absolutely adore how well the Creeper Crew heads fit on the Big Anya bodies! TGF stamps are seriously so versatile and interchangeable that you can get many looks  and possibilities from only a few stamps. This is especially great when you're just starting to build your collection because you don't feel extremely limited by only having a handfull of stamps! As a crafter I can tell you, card making is not the most inexpensive hobby, so I try and save money wherever I can and the versatility of TGF's stamps makes it easier to get more bang for my buck which is always welcome! This dynamic duo  is my last project for the challenge but fear not my friends, definately not my last creation! See you guys tomorrow and thanks so much for the support!

-Krys

Seeing Red

Omg so, have you guys ever found a pack of DP so amazingly awesome you just HAD to have it... but then the romance wears off and you realize that out of the entire stack of around 50 sheets, you actually only like 5 patterns so the rest of the stack sits and collects dust while slowly being forgotten? No? Hehe... me niether... ignore that forgotten stack of papers over in the corner...huh? The cobwebs? Oh...they're...ummmm....Halloween decorations??? Hey! It happens ok? Dont judge ^.^ Well Today I made myself (and my paper stash) a promise to start making myself use the paper I already own rather than buy more. Thanks to the challenge over at Splendid Stamping, my creativity has been tested and since I've been on a roll I thought I'd step out of my comfort zone a bit and make a red, non Valentiney, non Christmasy card that could go for either gender, for the Farm Fresh Friday Sketch and... why not swap a body while I'm at it right?

Head: C.C. Lula  Body: C.C. Harlow

See I told you, they've created a monster with this body switching Alter-Ego Challenge MUAHAHAHAHA!!!! (My mad scientist laugh :-D). I wish i could tell you guys this is my last swapped out sweetheart, but alas, I colored up another cutie last night and can hardly wait to  use her on a project! I am so excied I hope you guys love it as much as I do! See ya tomorrow, and as always thanks for stopping by

-Krys

Swicheroo Deja Vu

Helloooo bloggers! I'mso excited to be blogging this lovely cool sunny morning! I am seriously loving this weather its been frikin cold here (and when I say cold I mean Texas cold a.k.a low 60's lol). I digress, when I'm in a good mood I tend to ramble! The point of my post today is to present aanother body snatching alteration creation for the Alter Ego Challenge over at the Splendid Stamping. II'mstarting to feel like Dr FFrankenstein over here, they've created a monster! Lol I've been switching heads and bodies like crazy and my creative juices are just overflowing so without more delay, Ta-da!

( Hat: C.c. Leslie, Head: Winky Bean, Body: C.C. Harlow)

The stapmed images were colored with my trusty copics and per my usual, stickled till it tickled (not really but I thought it would be fun to say... and I was RIGHT! :D ) but seriously, there's quote a bit of crystal stickles all over this card, I couldn't capture the full affect with my phone's camera. The papets are MME and the ribbon is from my stash. This card will be the next entered in the Alter Ego Challenge . Honestly I am having a blast with this body swapping business and I'll see you again tomorrow with another swapped out sweetheart tomorrow! Ttyl,

-Krys

Off With Their Heads!!!

Hello ladies and gents! I'm actually attempting to blog from my cell phone and let me tell ya, its sooo not easy so I'm gonna keep this one short sweet and to the point. Long story short funds have been tight so I had to choose between my cell phone or my internet and as much as it sucked, the cell phone will trump internet hands down any day (especially with all the places o ffering free wifi!)Anyway I've been keeping an eye on the Splendid Stamping blog because I freakin LOVE IT! Anyway they announced the other day that there would be no more gvt or retro fresh challenges but there will still (thank God) be a FFF challenge as well as another type of challenge to which the current theme is Who's Your Alter Ego a challenge that required switching heads, bodies outfits etc between two or more TGF stams. Personally I LOVE doing that just to experiment so this challenge was not so much a challenge for me. Without further ado,my super duper switcheroo:

(Left: Head: c.c. Lula, Body: c.c. Leslie / RIGHT: Head: C.C.Friday Night,  Body: Anya Styles) 

Both ladies (well all 4) are colored with copics and glittered beyond all reason with Waterfall stickles all papers are DCWV. 

  

This lovely creation is the first of a few more creations to be entered in the Who's Your Alter Ego Challenge challenge at splendis stamping so wish me luck and stay tuned!

-Krys

Making a splash!

Hi guys! long time no see... well I guess its only been a few weeks but in blogger time its like a decade, or is that just me? well needless to say the pesky lemons are still giving me problems but I'm happy to announce that I am trying to look over the lemons and bask in the sunshine that grows them! I hope that made sense, it made sense in my head but it got a little confused once I actually typed it ^.^ the point is, I'm back with a splash! and what perfect way to debut my return than with this Sweet November Mermaid, Hanalei! She is my very first (hopefully of many to come) Sweet November stamp and I actually won her in a blog hop along with a gob of goodies over at one of my absolute favorite blogs to stalk, A thousand sheets of paper so a special shout out goes to Ms. Amy over at A thousand sheets because if it weren't for her awesome candy, my scrapping stuff would probably still be collecting dust! I wanted to do a haul video on my win (do people do that???) but I immediately poured everything out and began working on an altered sticky note book thingy (which by the way started of scary ugly!) and OMG I loved it so much I made a gift of it to one of my good friends who has been here from me through all my lemony issues ^.^ without further ado, lets make a splash!



This was my first time trying really RED hair with copics and it turned out ADORABLE! everyone says she looks like she could be baby Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid. On her tail, I tried to imitate a style Amy used over at A thousand sheets of paper, hers= gorgeouseness mine= needs more work LOL!The DP(Bo Bunny Barefoot and Bliss), Prima flowers, Hanalei stamp, baker's twine, and button were all part of my blog candy win and the swirly paper is actually just a piece of plain white paper dry embossed with the Darice Scrolls embossing folder and inked with a few different cheapie ink pads from the dollar bin at my LCS to look like ocean waves. A few rhinestones, colored with my copics to match, and the word smile using The Greeting Farm's Delicate Words Die finished my altered sticky note book. I'll be entering this little lady in the following challenges:

FFF- Punches and/o

Simon Says Stamp- Good to be Green



Farewell

Hi bloggers,
No cards today and probably not for a while if ever again. Sad to say the lemons won the war and took all the creative drive with them. Maybe I'll be back one day but for now my heart is no longer in this. Thanks for following and supporting me everybody!
-Krys

A 'SMASH' ing Alteration

Hi bloggers, its been a while, I'm still trying to turn those stubborn lemons into something worth the wait but its slow going. Meanwhile, I'd been working on a project that has taken me quite a while to complete. I'm proud to say, it has been completed and I couldn't be more excited to show and tell, but first, a back story!

A few months ago I started seeing these K & Co 'Smash Journals' everywhere (along with DIY tutorials on how to make your own). I loved the tutorials because when you can DIY and save money its always a great feeling on you and your pockets! And lets face it, at roughly 14.99 a book its a bit steep so why not do it yourself? why? I'll tell you why, Michaels sent me a '50% off one regular priced item' coupon in the mail and it was burning a hole in my pocket :). Anywho, I selected and purchased the one with the pink binding, Pretty Style Folio, got home, and waited for some great creative revelation to hit me... Weeks later I was still waiting. I tried journaling in it, doodling, treating it like a scrapbook, but nothing. No great work of art or much of anything else came about and I started to give up hope until one day I found the problem. It was boring, plain, and downright ordinary looking! How could I be inspired when the book itself was so uninspiring. I immediately began to design the perfect cover and to do this I had to take it in stages. A lot of hard work and many hours went into this project but it was definitely a labor of love and I'd do it again!

(BEFORE)

 

 

(AFTER)

Lolli Anya, Cheeky Geeky, Queen Bean, Alice Bean, C.C. Madden, Cheshire Bean, C.C. Friday Night, C.C. Lula

Sentiments: Anya Strolls, Anya Lifts, O&A My Favorite Things

Cheeky Geeky, Queen Bean, Alice Bean, C.C. Madden

Cheeky Geeky, Queen Bean, Alice Bean, C.C. Madden, Cheshire Bean

Lolli Anya, C.C. Lula, Cheeky Geeky, Cheshire Bean

Sentiments: Anya Strolls, Anya Lifts

Lolli Anya, Cheeky Geeky, C.C. Lula, C.C. Friday Night

C.C. Madden & Lolli Anya

 

As you can see, I had lots of fun layering and distressing and stamping and coloring to bring this book cover to life! I used quite a few of the TGF stamps in my arsenal, and actually have about 5 or 6 more colored up that were unfortunately too big to make the cover but will still be used for future projects, promise! I used Tim Holtz Walnut Stain to distress the edges of several sheets of paper from DCWV as well as a sheet of translucent vellum with script. I added a few pages from an old book also distressed with Walnut Stain as well as Antique Linen. Each of the girlies were stamped around a sheet of kraft colored cardstock and each took about an hour to color. I love the way prismas look on kraft cardstock so I tried to experiment with skin tones as well as outfit colors and was very happy with the outcome. Dark skin is not the easiest to render on kraft, found that out the hard way. But the key is layering, much like working with copics. Once I figured that out it was (semi) smooth sailing from there! Everything was held on and sealed with my homemade mod podge, which I found a 'recipe' for on Pintrest. Honestly, can you really call it a recipe if there's only 2 ingredients? oh well, the point is, whatever you call it, it works GREAT! I'll never buy the real thing again! To finish off the book I created several charms to fit my personality, connected a few jump rings and made a hanging charm for the binding of my book (gotta love that shrinky dink!). I plan to enter my altered SMASH folio in the following challenges:

 

The Greeting Farm Retro Fresh Challenge- Layers!

The Greeting Farm FFF Challenge- School's Out

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes

 

Until next time,

-Krys