Saturday, January 29, 2011

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is reducing, reusing and recycling!


Let's see...this lovely pink grosgrain ribbon my kiddies pj's came wrapped up in at Christmas time is yummy but the wrong colour for my card. Let's use some glimmer mist and change the colours to see what works....


Oh yeah...candy apple red that's the ticket....


Voila!

This week's challenge is to use a recycled element to your card. I was sooo excited because lazy as I am I planned to reuse an image I had already coloured and used on a card and just make it on another card. Piece of cake! So I was bragging to Kimmie about my idea and she had to clarify that's not what the challenge meant....lol! It is to take an actual item from around your house and include it in your card. As the pictures above shared I used a ribbon that came on some pj's for the kiddo's. What a great idea for a challenge! I used Abigail Apple who is just as delish to colour as she looks. I coloured her to match my yummy MME papers and died the bow to match. Love her!

To learn more about this week's challenge click here to go to the challenge blog and you will also see some great ideas from the rest of the DT on how to add some recycled elements to your projects.

Cheers, Andrea

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Paper Romance Hop- Anything but a card...

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The Paper Romance team has some fun stuff in store for you today, so make sure you start at the beginning of the Hop with the Paper Romance Challenge Blog HERE. The Hop goes live at 7:00 AM CST today and closes on Saturday, January 29th at 7:00 AM CST. Comments left after that time are loved and appreciated, but to be eligible for Amy's prize (read on!) you must complete the hop by Saturday morning.

If you came here from Ria's blog, Ria's Scrapcards, you are in the right place! Ria always makes such amazing creations doesn't she!!

Our Design Team Challenge for this week is "ANYTHING BUT A CARD." My "Anything But a Card" project today is a dinner menu for the Valentine's day meal my hubby and I will have. I used a Unity Itty Bitty - 'What's Shakin'. I stamped it on Neenah cardstock and added some depth and colour with my copic markers. I used W1, W3, R27, R29 and RV00. I then wrote out the menu myself which explains my slanted handwriting hee hee. I layered the menu on black, red and pale gold paper to give it a touch of romantic elegance. I then used some black rubons I had in my stash to dress it up a bit. Now all that's left is to give my hubby the menu so he can make it for me lmbo!

Amy is offering a $20 gift certificate to one hopper today that completes the hop, so be sure to leave a comment on all of the Design Team's blogs to have a chance to win! Play along with us and you could win a $5 gift certificate to Paper Romance too! So that's 2 chances to win but first remember to leave a comment at each blog to get the big prize! 

In your comment on my blog today let me know what colours you like to use on your Valentine/Anniversary cards. It will help give me new ideas instead of just red and pink. 

Next up on the hop is Amy's blog- Paper Romance. You will love what she has made!

Cheers, Andi

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

High Hopes Stamps- Make it sparkle baby!


This week's is challenge week over at the High Hopes stamps blog. Last week was an amazing paper piecing tutorial- did you get a chance to check it out? I have to give a shout out to Kristine- it was amazing! So the challenge this week is brought to you by someone who obviously loves their bling....not saying who in particular.....OKAY IT'S ME! I am pretty consistent. Whenever it's my turn to pick a challenge I go to glitter. I luvs it sooo much. On my card I used some sparkley SEI papers and a heart embossing folder. I also mounted my cute monkey on pink bazzill bling paper. I then misted my card and my flower with Pearl glimmer mist to give it an all over shine. I also glittered up the cupcake wrapper and the hearts on the cake. A sparkly heart brad finished up my glittering. The only thing is I can't really see the glitter in this photo. I will have to try and take a better one during the day so you can see just how overboard I went in my sparkle madness LOL! I used the ever so cute and delish Cuppy Cake Jake stamp. I also ADORE this sentiment. Seriously- how perfect is it! You could use it for Valentine's, birthday, whenever and for whatever age!

To see how the rest of the DT got their glitter on click here to go to the challenge blog and get your mojo all sparkled up. To find these stamps for yourself you can find them at High Hopes Stamps, SGD and Paper Romance. I have to say that I have many of the love themed ones from this release and I am in heart heaven!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

KKS Weekly challenge..."little pig little pig LET ME IN..."


**Please scroll down for my "Oh Alice" post and some big news regarding the challenge blog**

This week's Kraftin' Kimmie stamps challenge has been issued by the talented and oh so cute Tara! This girl reminds me of Snow White big time! And not just because she has a picture with Ms. White herself on her blog lol! Perhaps that is where she came up with this week's challenge....Fairy tales! How fun is that! I got to use the new KKS 'Tickled Pink Piggies' stamp as right away I couldn't get the story about the 3 little pigs and that poor wolf huffing and puffing out of my head. What fairy tales do you think of when you look at KKS's huge lineup of stamps? For more inspiration click here to go to the challenge blog and see what inspired my fellow Krafty Girls. Have a magical day! Andi

Oh Alice...it's time to say Good-bye....


Today's OA card is once again using Nikki Sivils patterned paper and a brad embellishment to help create a good-bye but always in my thoughts cards. I kept it clean and simple to let the words speak for themselves.

The reason for this is there is some big news regarding the 'Oh Alice.." challenge blog from the blog's creator and Mad Hatter the lovely and uber talented Jessica Diedrich. You can read her words here at "Oh Alice".. Before you head over there I want to thank Jess and all my Twisted Thirteen sisters who let me play along with them since the Fall. I have loved working with all of you and while I have decided not to continue on when the blog changes into the 'Altered Alice' blog I wish all these lovely talented ladies the very bestest! I will be back next week to kick off their first post and then will back away and continue to look to this blog for inspiration from these diverse artists. Now without further adieu click here to read the post explaining an ending and an amazing new adventure is my beloved friend Jess....

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Paper Romance Challenge- Make a fun shaped card...

I haven't had the chance to play along with a PRC challenge since before Christmas so it was fun to have another reason to craft this week. This week over at the Paper Romance Challenge blog Cindy has challenged us to make a fun shaped card. I used my nestibilities to cut out a shape and went from there. I have had this cute stamp - Angel Bear in Clouds- inked out and ready to be coloured for awhile and when I sat down to craft and saw him peeking out from a massive pile of paper I knew just what I wanted to do. I used some new MME paper and cut out the image and popped him up. I have had this dream charm for years and had promised myself that this was the year to use it. One more NYE resolution checked off!

If you would like to play along with us and win a gift card for the Paper Romance store click here to go to our challenge blog and read all the deets and see the rest of the DT's eye candy for inspirations. Cheers! Andi

Sunday, January 16, 2011

It's time for the KKS January Release!





Today Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps is releasing their new JANUARY images!  We’re kicking 2011 off with a bang as we have SIXTEEN new stamps for you!!  As you’ve seen over the last few days in our Krafty Peeks,  Annie Rodrigue has created some incredibly sweet BERRY GIRLS!!  There are six images in the complete set and they are Abigail Apple, Andrea Acorn, Lily Lemon, Olivia Orange, Rebecca Raspberry and Stella Strawberry! Each one comes with a coordinating accessory stamp AND a bonus sentiment stamp!!

We ALL have baby cards to make every year and this month, Steven Leary has brought us the most adorable BABY images!!  There are babies, teddy bears, ducks and a pair of little mice you might know!    They are Baby Bubble Bath, Special Delivery, Tiny Miles and Maisie, Buggy Full ‘O Ducks and Teddy Bear Trio!!  Two of them also come with matching sentiment stamps!! These stamps are so cute my daughters had to play along too!

Also this month we are excited to be sharing the last five stamps from our past artist, Crissy Armstrong!  These stamps are just full of cuddly cuteness!  Check out these adorable ANIMALS!!  They are Buster the Bulldog, the Froggie Family, Cheeky Monkey, Stripes the Zebra and Tickled Pink Piggies!  And each one comes with a coordinating sentiment stamp also!!

We are thrilled to have ALL THREE of our amazing artists joining in the hop today!! If you want to start from the beginning, just head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie Challenge Blog!  As you hop from blog to blog, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because some lucky stampers will win packages of stamps from the new release!!  And when you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie shop, because ALL the new images are NOW available! If you are still hopping along you would have arrived from my friend Vicki's blog and now it's time to go to Crissy's blog!

Again we’ve got ‘Gimme Kimmie’s Kits’ for those of you who just HAVE to have all the new images!  We’ve grouped each line of stamps together and called them the ‘Gimme Kimmies Kits’!!!  Instead of clicking on each image that you’d like, you only have to click once to pick up a Gimme Kimmies Kit AND it’s at a discounted price!!  What could be better???

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Kraftin' Kimmie stamps weekly challenge...


**Please scroll down for my Oh Alice post**

This is the best named stamp EVAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her name is ANDREA Acorn. Yep...ANDREA! It's taken almost 2 years of relentless begging month after month after month but now here she is! Thank you Kimmie!!! I will have to put on my thinking cap to figure out what to plead for now that I accomplished this goal LMBO!!!! 

Today is the day we are sharing sneak peeks of the new KKS January stamps by Annie Rodrigue. As well we have been issued a challenge by our newest DT member Angie (welcome Angie!!) to have Fancy Florals on our creations. What could be fancier than crystal stems? I used some of my Pixielicious papers and assorted embellies. Of course Andrea is coloured (quite lovingly I might add) with my copics. I hope you love her as much as I do. 

To see more sneak peeks and lovely fancy floralled creations click here to go to the KKS Challenge blog.  You can play along to win one of the new releases by Annie!

Hope you have a fab day! Andi

Oh Alice challenge and Baby Bud Designs....


"Hush-a-by lady, in Alice's lap!
Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap.
When the feast's over, we'll go to the ball -
Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!"

~ "Queen Alice", Through The Looking-Glass

We here at Oh Alice, hereby cordially invite you to meet Iracebeth the Red Queen of Crims and Mirana the White Queen. Iracebeth and Mirana are sisters who couldn't be more different: while the White Queen is kind and gentle and is loved by everyone, the Red Queen's answer to everything is "Off with their heads!"

To honor our Royal Highnesses, we challenge you to choose which Royal Court you would want to have rule over you, the Red Queen's or the White Queen's???

So the challenge this week, if you should choose to accept it, is to create a card/project that is either mostly white or mostly red.

This week's Oh, Alice challenge is being sponsored by Baby Bud Designs!
"The Baby Bud illustrations you see in the shop have been drawn ‘free hand’ by the artist and owner, Mary Anne Wainright. There is never any computer re-imaging involved. Their quirky little imperfections are what make them original, unique and whimsical and reminds the viewer that they were created from the heart."


I have always had a soft spot for Baby Bud designs as I know the creator- Mary Anne and I am good friends with her daughter Krista who is also on the Kraftin' Kimmie stamps DT. These little whimsical kids are unique and so fast to colour and dress up a card. I have quite of few of them and love to make cards for my nieces and nephews with them. I used some of my paper from Nikki Sivils and also one of their corduroy brads with my flower. I decided to side with the White Queen as you can tell by my principal colour of white. I went with the sentiment 'remember this moment' as childhood passes by so quickly. I still can't believe as I look at my own children how fast they have grown...and at times your heart twists as you remember them as tiny toddlers and watching them grow. Okay now that I have made myself all weepy hop on over to the Oh Alice challenge blog to see more of the DT creations and how you can play to win 2 digi's of your choice from Baby Bud Designs!

Cheers...Andi

Friday, January 14, 2011

Sneaky Peeky Day 2 for Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps


Today we will be sharing Krafty Peeks featuring all five stamps from Steven Leary! These cute baby critters are so much fun to play with! I used Teddy Bear Trio for my card today. All the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests are excited to show them to you, so be sure to pop over to their blogs today to check them all out or you can also find there all here on the KKS challenge blog!! Then come back tomorrow for more peeks from another artist.....you'll have to wait and see which one!!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

January Sneaky Peeky's from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps....


It's that time, time to start teasing you with sneak peeks from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps January release. This month's release is HUGE so there are lots of us playing along to show you as many different samples as possible. I coloured Stripes the Zebra and while at first I was intimidated (and a bit whiny) it was actually very fast and easy to do! I started with my lightest grey copic markers (C00) and coloured the area I wanted to be the lightest. Then I started adding darker greys flicking them away from my light gray until I added my darkest gray (C9) at the furthest edge. Once I got into the rhythm it was a piece of cake. I couldn't resist colouring the sweet butterfly purple because any chance I have to use my fave colour is fine by me!

For more beautiful cards and inspiration click here to go to the challenge blog and see all the new images.

Have a crafty day! Andi

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

High Hopes 100th Challenge Celebration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



It’s time for High Hopes' 100th Challenge!! To celebrate, we have a Blog Hop complete with lots of prizes!As you hop from stop to stop, make sure to leave comments because there is candy along the way.

The 1st prize is $100.00 retail value unmounted or cling mounted stamps!!! WOW!!!
The 2nd prize is $50.00 retail value  unmounted or cling mounted stamps!!!
And the 3rd and 4th prizes will each receive $25.00 retail value unmounted or cling mounted High Hopes stamps!!
That's a lot of stamps at stake!!

In order to have a chance to win, you must leave a comment on each blog along the hop!!
The hop will remain open 12:00pm (noon) EST Monday, Jan 17th
And the winner will be announced next Tuesday.

You may also notice that we have a few special guests joining us for this challenge!! I am honoured to be featured along with these ladies. A few of our Original Divas have returned for this special event. Make sure to say "hi"!!

If you are already hopping along  you should have arrived from the talented Amy W's blog.

If you haven't, you will want to start at the top at the High Hopes Blog so you don't miss any stops along the way. From here you will hop to (and I can't believe she is following me as I am SUCH a fan...) Anna Wight.

Have fun hopping along and I hope you have a fabulous day!!!  Andi

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Yawn..Stretch...Scratch...It's time to get off my butt and get Krafty again!



YYYooouuuaaaaaahhhhhh.....(me stretching)...CCccraaacckkk...(me getting off the couch and bones groaning)......What the!!!..... (me finding cobwebs on my craft supplies). Yep it's that time..time to get back to my crafty rhythm after a long Christmas break and quite honestly to get off my butt. It was a snow filled Christmas break and I am still slow in getting back into the routine of normal life where Christmas carols and different flavoured hot chocolates and (rum) eggnogs aren't part of every moment of my day.

To help ease back into life without daily prezzies Kraftin' Kimmie has fired up the weekly challenges and this one was no easy peasy one for me. Michele who is one of my craft mentor's issued the following directive- "Make a Fibre Free Card". That's right, no fibres, threads, strings, ribbons, floss....NOTHING. I luvs me some ribbon so this was a problem. I tried giving up my morning Bran Flakes..didn't count. I tried eating white bread instead of my fave 12 Grain rich in fibre...didn't count. In desperation I tried banning leafy green veg but...Kimmie clarified yet again...no fibre on my cards. No two ways around it.....none.

I did it. I really did. I even love my cute sledding card using the appropriately titled 'Sledding pals' by Steven Leary. I even got all creative and used the leftover snowflakes from my border punch as an accessory. But you wouldn't believe how many times I reached for my ribbon only to slowly pull my hand back. I couldn't even use buttons because I couldn't thread them. AND THE CRAZY THING IS I RARELY THREAD THEM ANYWAYS!! But because I didn't have a choice...I walked away from the option. And I am still here. In one piece. With a cute card. SUCCESS!

Okay, I 'may' have missed writing on my bloggy too. Sorry for the long diatribe but once started there was no stopping. I promise that when you click here to go to the Kraftin' Kimmie stamps challenge blog you can view the other Fibre-less cards without the dose of drama lmbo!!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and cheers to us for getting our kraft back on! Andi