New Release Preview: Day 3

Yep bloggers it's that time again, another awesome preview for The Greeting Farm! So far pretty great right? Well today's 3rd and final preview is no exception, today I give you my favorite of the entire release, Anya Nerds Out:

For a sassy girl as adorkable as Ms Anya, I knew right away that I wanted her on a bookmark. The papers I used are from a DCWV pad called the Homeroom Stack and I feel like these papers were just made for Anya! Doesn't she look sheekly geek in her argyle print skirt and leg warmers? And the sentiments that come along with this little lady are to die for, seriously super cute! I confess having a hard time trying to decide which of the sentiments I wanted to use, they're all fabulous! And I can't wait till next year to do a back to school challenge using this set!!! This set was heaven sent because I can never find a good stamp or stamp set to use for the back to school challenges so every year since I've been making cards I always find myself scrambling and improvising to make something work. I stamped Anya onto my cryogen white cardstock using memento tuxedo black ink. Of course I pulled out my trusty copics to color up this cutie, with a little dazzle of diamond stickles here and there for a little sparkly accent. I also stamped the sentiment in tuxedo black (though I played around with the idea of different colors too). Anya Nerds Out was the perfect missing addition to my collection and I know you guys can't wait to grab her from the store on the 15th. Not convinced you NEED this stamp set yet? Well stop on by The Greeting Farm and see what the rest of the ladies on the design team have come up with for your viewing pleasure!
lots-o-love,
-Krys

TGF March Preview: HG Classy

Its Thursday farmer friends you know what that means, day 2 of previews! And Check out the new banner, isn't it gorgeous?! That's not the only thing new 'round here, have you seen today's preview over at The Greeting Farm? As always the upcoming releases are must haves and number two up in the Release Preview Lineup is a cutie you may recognize from her digi days. Now available in rubber, and ready for tea time, Miss HG Classy

Can you stand the cuteness?! Doesn't she look so elegant with her little hat and tea cup? I thought for such a delicate looking stamp I should use a delicate looking medium so on my first card I used my distress inks to watercolor HG Classy in a no line painting technique seen here. I loved the way the no line watercolored image looked so much that I decided to do a no line coloring with my copics as well for my second card. The papers I used are from DCWV and the flowers I ordered from I am Roses (used my distress markers and a water brush to dye the flowers). Have you checked out the rest of the projects from the DT? If not, head over to The Greeting Farm and see what those talented DT gals have to inspire you, see you there and remember, the March release will be available in the store Sunday, March 1st! Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the final release preview and again on Saturday for the release hop!!!

-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

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

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

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

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

Teacher's Pet

Happy Friday everybody! Wow this week really blazed by, I can hardly believe that it's already gone. Well I won't hold you up from your weekend festivities for long, just wanted to share a quick card set with you guys featuring another adorable SOG digi, Teacher's pet Tia

Teacher's Pet Tia

I actually won little Tia during the surprise party Some Odd Girl threw to welcome their newest addition to the SOG family, Piper! Seriously we had a blast, if you missed out this time be sure you join in on the next party, besides the tons of fun we have, you could be the surprise winner. For these cards, I colored Tia twice, both times with my copic markers. Both were so darn cute I couldn't decide which one to use for the card, so I made two identical cards, assembly line fashion ^.^ The fall papers I used are from the DCWV Fall/Halloween mat stack. The golden and kraft papers got a quick run through my Darice swirls and wood grain embossing folders, and then inked with tim holtz distress ink. I cut the embellishments out of adhesive cork paper (also DCWV, LOVE this stuff!) using my Spellbinders In'spire dies from the set called 'Shoot'. The leaves were punched out of white cardstock and hand colored by me with copics in fall colors. Finally, the ribbon and sentiment were both from walmart (both less than a dollar each!). These two cuties will be given to my Kindergartner's teachers next week at the open house where she gets to meet her teacher and new classmates. My punkin' is super excited to be starting school in a few weeks and every single time we leave the house she asks if she can 'go to class now' lol! I remember when I used to get excited about school...I also remember when I stopped getting excited about school and started faking illnesses too! Ah the good ol days, when the worst thing you had to deal with was being grounded for hiding your report card ^.^ well you guys, time for me to go, its nacho night at mi casa (did I spell that right???) and I gotta get cooking, and I still need to link these lovelies up at the SOG August Linky Party so see ya laters, have a great weekend!

-Krys

FALLing for You

Hi guys! More beautiful mild weather up this way and although I'm enjoying it, the lows in the high 40's at night make me cringe when I think of how much worse it's going to get. They're even threatening snow in the forecast for mid September this year! Rude right? While hubby is determined to enjoy every last degree of warm temperatures here before the snow and cold sets in, it's putting me in a crafty mood. Since I just got a few new digis and papers, why not share with you guys!

I Heart You Gwen

OMG I love these warm fall earth tones and doesn't Gwen look amazing? These colors remind me of the best moments of fall, when the leaves have all changed into beautiful shades of amber, red, and orange. I still sometimes collect those leaves ^.^  I colored Gwen, as well as the tiny leaves adorning the card, with my copic markers. The frame was cut from chocolate chip SU cardstock and embossed with a wood grain embossing folder. The DP is from the DCWV Fall/ Halloween stack, which is AWESOME, I never realized until this year that the reason I rarely made fall colored cards is because I didn't have any fall themed DP lol. This stack is seriously a must have, I don't think there's a single print I don't like, so I'm excited to use these papers a again soon. The sentiment was printed from my computer, something I thought would be cute for the color scheme and digi I chose. I heart U Gwen May be my newest favorite digi so far and I can't wait to use her or this DP again! But first, I'm gonna hop over to the SOG blog and add this to the August Linky Party! Pop on over and join the festivities!

-Krys

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

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

 

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

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

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



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".

The Greeting Farm Fever

Hi out there in blogland! It's me again, of course, and once again I'm awake absurdly early. I've been in sort of a funk, which I had until recently attributed to not having any new stamps. Turns out that's not it, I still have no idea what it is but I've been lacking motivation. I also haven't found any challenges that I got excited about in a while but maybe thats cause I keep losing lol. In any case I knew I needed to give you guys something since it has been a few days ( I tend to not make cards when my hubby is off work, kinda like my personal off days so we can do things as a family). Usually even if I have no motivation, looking at the DT projects and challenges over at The Greeting Farm will give me some sort of creative spark, and sure enough I was right, consider my creativity sparked, temporary or not!

TGF Oliver- My Favorite Thing



This pic came out a bit fuzzy for some reason so I'll more than likely retake it at a normal hour, you know, when people are awake and not just my neighbor's rooster (who I consider introducing to Colonel Sanders daily). P.S for those of you who have only had the...pleasure...of seeing roosters on television, they not only crow when the sun comes up, but apparently whenever the urge strikes them. Unfortunately the urge seems to strike my neighbor's rooster no less than 18 hours a day, you get used to it... sort of. I digress. To get back to the point, this week's challenges at the farm are the  FFF- Oh Boy!, where you have to rep a male TGF stamp, and the semi abstract GVT- 1-5-5, meaning you had to incorporate 1 of something 5 of something and 5 of something else. I chose 1 stamped image, Oliver from TGF's My Favorite Thing Set, 5 different papers from the DCWV Baby Boy Stack and 5 Buttons. I've had that stack forever but hadn't even opened it because of my drastic lack of male stamps. I seem to have quite a few unopened or barely touched stacks that 'Seemed like a good investment at the time' collecting dust as I type. I just feel so bleh! Maybe a new pack of dp will end my rutt? One way to find out, Oozak, here I come, see feeling better already, TTYL bloggers!

Pockets Full of Love, and Lace

I am in love with pocket cards!!! The possibilities the ease, everything! Here's another Mother's Day card, hope you all enjoy it!

Tilda Spreads Love

I'm also in love with this DP from the Garden Tea Party Stack by DCWV. I used some of this paper a few weeks ago for my Tea Time In Wonderland post when I first received my Alice Bean in the mail. I fussy cut a flower and a few butterflies from one of the pages in the stack and used a small Recollections butterfly punch for the tiny butterflies here and there. The other DP was from the open stock at my LCS. I added some roses and stickled the background and small butterflies as well as adding a few pearls to complete the look. For the card insert I inked the edges with SU! Positively Pink and Tim Holtz's Walnut Stain to give it a distressed look. She will be entered in the Simply Magnolia 'Let's See Your Pockets!' Challenge (thanks Butterfly , for the suggestion!) as well as the Flutter By Wednesday's Challenge #238 and the Tilda Town Challenge #51 Anything Goes
OMG almost forgot to mention, the lace is from my local Walmart! The reason I'm excited is because they came in the cutest little plastic bubbles (which I have already re purposed one of). Each lace bubble contains 9ft of this darling lace and at $1 a bubble, I had to let everyone know about this deal! I'm including a pic below, has anyone else seen these things???

-Krys

See you soon

Hello wonderful people, I apologize for my unannounced absence from blogging, but a last minute trip out of town to visit my parents came up. While I enjoy visiting I can't very well take my entire craft stock with me so I've been in a bit of a creative slump :( . Some people can craft and create anywhere with just a few supplies and I commend them, however, I had the misfortune to find out that I was NOT one of those people. Nope, not even close. I feel so out of my comfort zone so it's taking me a while to come up with anything and its sooooo frustrating! Though I haven't had much time to myself, I have managed to begin work on another card but its incomplete at the moment. Keep an eye on this post I promise there will be a card here by tonight especially since i absolutely LOATH creating posts without at least one picture (it looks so naked!)

I love you all for dealing with my scatterbrained-ness! Thank-you,

-Krys