Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge #15, a Window Card.

Well, hello to everyone in blogland. It's time for another Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge. This week our hostess is the fabulous Melanie Holtz. If you've never checked out her blog, you are really missing out. Her work is amazing!! Her challenge this week is to make an aperture, or window card. I panicked on this one as I haven't made a window card for years and I had forgotten how to make the one I had done before.

Well, as usual, it turned out to be fun. I learned a few new things along the way as I made one, then decided to try making a different one. It was a little tricky, but I figured out a thing or two that I didn't have correctly in my mind when I started. Like everything else though, it's easy when you know how, right?

For my first card, I used Chester, I love him. I never have enough masculine cards and I've already sent the first one I made. I coloured him in with my S.U. Markers and tucked him into a tri-fold card, which I found the instructions for here. I used some Sweet Pea Designer Paper from Stampin' Up for the cardstock, so it shows both sides of the paper. I punched out a semi-circle with my slit punch under the edge of the fold on the right, then punched a one eighth hole in the slit semi-circle to put some orange ribbon through. I cut the circle for Chester with my Coluzzle, then I used my Scalloped Circle Nesties to make a 'frame' for the circle. I stamped 'Top of the Mornin' (which is from Kimmie's Steampunk Sentiments) in Chocolate Chip on Barely Banana. I matted it on a narrow border of Chocolate Chip, placed three orange buttons, which I threaded with dark brown linen thread and that's it. If you check out the instructions for Cami's Tri-fold Card, you will see that the measurements given are 4 x 11 inches. I made mine 6 x 11, you can make it whatever size you want.

Now to the second card. For this one, I used Branch Fairy, which is from the Crissy's Cuties line, by our very talented Crissy Armstrong. She was such fun to colour. I used my S.U. Markers to colour her. I also used some Stardust Stickles on her wings, then cut her out. I cut an opening in the front of the Pale Plum card with my Curved Rectangle Nesties. Then the part that I didn't have figured out first. I cut out a Certainly Celery frame with the next size up Nesties, then I carefully placed the smaller size one that I had used for the opening, taped it to the inside of the Nesties, (not the outside, as that's the piece I needed) then ran it through my cuttlebug. Then voila, I had a frame for the front of the card. I used some of my lovely Daisy D's Sweet Baby Jane dp for the inside of the card, matted it onto a square of Certainly Celery, then onto the card base I stamped the sentiment and embossed it with Winter Wonderland EP, placed it in the top left corner and then added some flowers. Melanie has made a fabulous card using Bird Fairy, so whoever wins the challenge will win that stamp.

Remember, you are welcome to join in the challenge, but in order to be eligible to win, you need to use one of your Kraftin' Kimmie stamps.

So have fun making your window cards, I can't wait to see what you all do.

Many blessings and have a wonderful weekend,

Diana

Genevieve the Traveller

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all having a good week. I am actually managing to post a card during the week. I am not feeling well, so since I'm not up to doing much else, I did take some time yesterday to make another Kraftin' Kimmie card. This is Genevieve, she is one of the Steampunk line of stamps, released this month. It looks like she is ready to go somewhere on an adventure. She even comes with a little map as her accessory stamp, isn't it cute?

I used Cricut Celebrations patterned paper, three different pieces of it. I used Wild Wasabi for the card base (I am almost out of it and it's discontinued, what am I going to do, I love it?). I coloured Genevieve on watercolour paper, using my S.U. markers, set the little map in the corner, I stamped it on Marigold Morning. I also used Marigold Morning to mat the main patterned paper onto. I used my new S.U. border punch and put a strip of M.M. across the center, then put some eggplant GG ribbon across the strip. I used my small oval punch for the sentiment, which is from the Kraftin' Kimmie Steampunk Sentiments. I put a couple of flowers in the upper right corner, fastened them with orange gem brads and that's it.

Now I have to make a card for this Saturday's Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge. Make sure you come back to see what it is.

Blessings to you all,
Diana

Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge #14

Well, it's Saturday again and time for another Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge! This week, our hostess is Donna and she would like us to make a card using NO EMBELLISHMENTS!! Now I have to say, this one worried me. However, it's okay to use your punches, border or otherwise, but no brads, flowers, gems or ribbons.

For my card I used Emelia, from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and the little plane stamp that is the accessory stamp that comes with Emelia. I used Wild Wasabi for the card base. I used a piece of Imaginisce DP and stitched it onto the base using some Pumpkin thread. I stamped Emelia on some watercolour pape;r and coloured her with my S.U Markers and cut and embossed her with my Nesties, then used the next size up to mat her onto with some more of the Imaginisce papers. I cut out some blue corner pieces with my photo corner punch and popped them onto the corners, then I stamped the sentiment 'Girls Can Do Anything', which is from the new Steampunk Sentiments. There, it really wasn't so tough after all.

Now it's your turn to see what you can do while leaving all your embellies alone for an hour or two.

Have a great weekend and have fun,

Diana

Challenge #13 and more Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!

Well, here we are again with yet another Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge. This is #13 and this week, our hostess and fearless leader Kraftin' Kimmie herself wants us to use the colour combination of red, pink and chocolate! Sounds like an excuse to make a Valentine card to me! Well, I made one anyway! I had so much fun with the colours that I made another one with the same colours.

The first card is made using Shout Out!, which is one of the January Release of Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. Now this stamp is perfect for a Valentine's Day card. I coloured in Cindy and Mindy and used my Curved Rectangles Nesties to show them off. I used the next larger size to mat them
onto, using Chocolate Chip. I moved the main image toward the top of the Chocolate Chip piece to make room to put 3 little hearts at the bottom. The patterned paper is some that my dear daughter Kimmie gave me a while ago and I love it. Unfortunately I don't know what it is. I stitched it onto some Real Red, then put it on the card base of Chocolate Chip. I made a strip using one of my border punches to go down the right side, tied some Satin Chocolate Chip Ribbon across the centre, stamped the sentiment (which is from Kraftin' Kimmie's Holiday Sentiments) on some Pretty in Pink, matted it on Chocolate Chip and that's it.

The second card uses Lavinia, one of the new Steampunk line of Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, created by Annie Rodrigue. That girl is just so talented, I love her style. After colouring Lavinia, I matted her on Rose Red and Chocolate Chip. I used my yummy Bittersweet papers from Basic Grey for the background, matted them on Chocolate Chip and used Pretty in Pink for the card base. I stamped the gear accessory stamp in the corner, added three dark brown brads above it, put some Rose Red GG Ribbon across the middle and I used the stamp 'Get It In Gear!' under the main image. That stamp comes in the set of Steampunk Sentiments, which are also in the January Release.

Now it's your turn to use this great colour combination and show us your creations. Now, we have also added the option of using any kinds of hearts on your cards. If you would like to, fine. If not, that's fine too. I used them on one card, but not on the other. Have fun ladies and have a wonderful weekend.

Blessings,

Diana

Finally!! It's time for Kraftin' Kimmie's January Release and Blog Hop!!

Good thing it's time for Kraftin' Kimmie's January Release. I can't stand the wait any longer. The new stamps are just fabulous and I want to be able to use them and show them and also to give away cards made with them. The new stamps are now available on Kraftin' Kimmie's website. There are 12 new images, all of which have their own accessory stamp and there are 2 new sets of sentiments. One set has all sayings to go with the Steampunk images and the other set has sentiments to go with the Fairies

There are so many things to talk about, I'm afraid I'm going to forget something. I want to mention that Kimmie has a Special going on for the next 2 days. Every order will have a special something extra for you, also the first 50 orders of $75 or more will receive a free Oliver stamp as well. I love Oliver and since he is a winter stamp, you will still have lots of time to use him!! Of course, as usual every order over $100 will get free standard shipping. Good deals, huh!

Okay, now to my card. I used the beautiful Flower Fairy image, created by our incredibly talented Crissy Armstrong. She has given us 4 fairies for this release and they are all amazing!! I used Lavender Lace for the card base and my M.S. Playful Pink paper pad for the patterned paper. It was perfect for this soft, sweet creature. I matted the main PP on Certainly Celery, then onto the card body. I coloured in the fairy, then punched her out with my largest Labels 5 Nesties. I punched out another piece in the dotted green of my PP, turned it and set it behind the main image. I cut out a panel of the dotted pink matted on Lavender Lace and put it behind the green. I added some Prima Caboodles to the corners, some webbed type ribbon across the centre and I stamped the accessory stamp on Pretty in Pink using heat embossing with Winter Wonderland EP. I also used Stardust Stickles on the Lavender parts of her wings.

Of course this is also the day of our Super Blog Hop! You will see some great creations along your way, so be sure to start at the beginning, which is Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge Blog. If you have landed here from Melanie's blog, then you are in the right spot. Now I've made you read all my ramblings, it's time to move onto our fabulous Andrea's Blog. There are also some awesome guests along the way, who have very kindly agreed to be a part of our Happy Hop. You can leave a comment on every blog along the way if you like as that will give you more chances to win the great Blog Candy Kimmie is giving away. I believe that there will be 3 selections randomly chosen from 3 of the stops, so get typing, maybe you will be one of them!!

Have a wonderful day, hope I haven't forgotten anything!

Blessings,
Diana

Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge #12 and January Release Preview

Hello to all you crafty ladies out there. I hope you're all staying home where it's warm and toasty and safe and you can play with all your stamping stuff. Sounds like a plan to me anyway, I don't know that there's anywhere in this country where it isn't snowy and/or very cold. Come to that, I know that Britain is in bad shape, I have been talking to friends and family in the last couple of days and they are basically shut down everywhere. So I hope all my crafty buddies over there are hunkered down and stamping their little hearts out. Hi Mary, Shelley, Pinky and the rest of you!!

Anyway, I digress, but then I'm good at it! Today is the second day of previews for Kimmie's January Release, which goes live tomorrow morning!! Woo Hoo!! It's also the day for a new challenge on Kimmie's Challenge Blog and this week it's Heavy Metal. Tara is our hostess for this week, so she wants us to use any metal on our cards. You can use anything metal to dress up your card. Anyone can join in Kimmie's Challenge, but to be eligible to win, you need to use your Kraftin' Kimmie stamps.

For my card I used Chester from the new release, I just love him! He is so dapper and fancy! I used my Basic Grey Mellow pack for the background (which I matted on Chocolate Chip), including the strip across the middle with the border. I coloured Chester with my S.U. Markers, sponged around him with Chocolate Chip ink, then matted him on Old Olive, which I also used as the card base. I put a metal brad on either side of the strip, added some yummy chocolate chip satin ribbon (I don't know what I'll do when I run out of it!), made a bow through a metal buckle and set it atop the ribbon and there you go.

Now it's your turn! Since I see that our very talented Tara has used Dance Recital for her Heavy Metal card, I think that is the one that the winner will receive, along with the accessory stamp 'Dance Like Nobody is Watching'.

Have a great weekend,
Blessings to you all,
Diana

Preview for Kraftin' Kimmie's January Release!! Yay!

Yippee, it's almost time for another Kraftin' Kimmie Release and let me tell ya, there are some fabulous new stamps for you all to drool over!! We Krafty Girls are so blessed as we get to have them in our inky little hands and play with them first. We will have preview creations today, tomorrow and also on Sunday, which is the release date and we will celebrate that by having a cool blog hop. We have some special guests joining in the hop, so I can't wait to see what all the rest of the girls have to show. I will be hopping around myself.

Okay, now to the card. For this one, I used one of the adorable new images by Jean Grant. This is Cindy and Mindy and the image is called Wagon Ride. The accessory stamp is the one I used on this card, saying Friends Make Life Bearable.

I used Almost Amethyst for the card base and my S.U. Tea Party D.P., which I love, for the background. I used a different piece of the same D.P. for the strip down the left side and I stitched around it all. I love to stitch on my cards. I even went out and bought new thread to match my Almost Amethyst!! I coloured Cindy and Mindy with my S.U. Markers on Watercolour paper and used my rectangular Nesties and Scalloped one to make a Regal Rose border behind. I made a tag in So Saffron, added some yummy flowers, a gemstone flower in the corner of the image layer, added some Amethyst twill ribbon and that's it.

Come back tomorrow and I'll have another preview peek for you. Make sure you check out the other Krafty Girls blogs as I think most of them have peeks for you too.

Blessings to all of you,

Diana

New Year Challenge and New Release Preview!

Happy New Year to all of you, I hope you had an enjoyable one. We spent the evening at a friend's house eating a lovely potluck meal and playing games!! Lots of fun, but Ray and I didn't last much past midnight, we needed our sleep, poor ol' grandparents that we are!!

Anyway, since Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps New Release begins on January 10th., our fearless leader Kraftin' Kimmie said we can use the new stamps for our challenge cards if we want to. I am using Dance Recital starring Cindy and Mindy. Aren't they cute?! Our challenge for this week is to use paper piecing on your card somewhere, a little or a lot. It's up to you. I used some of my Martha Stewart Playful Pink to paper piece their little tutus. I used the 'gingham' mauve from the M.S. pack for the background layer, matted onto the card body, which is Certainly Celery. I used some glittery mauve brads in the corners, then I made a Dahlia shaped piece with my Nesties to sit in one corner. I mounted the image layer onto C. Celery and Pretty in Pink and pop dotted it on the left side. I used some yummy glittery ribbon across the front and I used the sentiment 'Dance Like No One is Watching', (which is the accessory stamp that comes with the main image) and matted it on Pretty in Pink.

Anyone is welcome to enter the challenge, but in order to be in the draw to win the blog candy, you will need to use Kraftin' Kimmie stamps. So come on girls, let's see what you have for us in this brand new year of 2010.

I also want to mention that Kimmie has brought on board two awesome Guest Designers, Melanie and Donna. These gals are amazing and will be treating you to some wonderful eye candy in the weeks to come. To see some of their work and to learn a little about them, go to Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps website for their bios and to Kim's Challenge Blog to see some of their work, which Kimmie is showing for you.

Okay, so when you leave here, why don't you check out the blogs of the rest of the Design Team, I think you may find some of them have used stamps from the New Release. Have fun,

Diana