Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Smells like Spring here at Whimsical Wednesday

Smell that? Dirt, rain, worms...ahhhh...the sweet smells of Spring. Such a change after the smells of Winter- when I could smell through my stuffy nose that is! This week's challenge to us Daredevils is to make a Spring card. I used my new Whipper Snapper stamps as I adore the cute critters in it. Reminds me of the critters I am seeing all around my house as the animals are coming out to enjoy the sun with the rest of us. I made my own sentiment for this card as the Owl with his wing's spread out wide reminded me of a question my kid's ask me almost every day..'how much do you love me?' We find unique ways to express ourselves and the current fave is 'like a sesame on a bagel' hee hee.

Before I direct you to the challenge blog to get started on this week's challenge details or to see my fellow daredevil's delish creations I must give a huge shout out to The Greeting Farm for sponsoring our challenge this month. I have loved using my TGF stamps and I hope you all enjoyed our whimsy Wednesday's with The Greeting Farm as well. Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!

The Dare Devil Designers:

Saturday, April 24, 2010

KKS challenge- use lots of flowers!

This week's challenge over at the KKS challenge blog is to use lots of flowers. I am the one hosting the challenge so if you get a chance to play along  you can win this sweet stamp of a swinging Emmylou. I coloured Emmy with my copics to match my Basic Grey paper from the Green at Heart line. I used a matching paper lace ribbon then some absoloutely freakin' fabulous Prima flowers I just picked up from SGD. I know I know...I need more of these beauties! So if you get a chance to play be sure to use KKSC26 and KraftinKimmie as your keywords if you upload to Splitcoast and be sure to comment in this post, so that we can all see your creations! Now hop on over to the challenge blog and see what other eye candy we have for you today. Enjoy your Saturday!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Ready for another Diedrich dare? It's a colour challenge!

Get yer Whimsy on with us Daredevils this week as we are inspired by colour this time. Nicky challenged us with the colours of yellow, green, white and black and it had boy written all over for me. All I could think of was dinosaurs. This great image from The Greeting Farm (who are also our prize sponsors for this month woot woot) was perfect and I used my Basic Grey stash to pull out the exact colours I needed- sweet. Love when it all comes together like that! I must say I am LOVING being part of this team and the cool challenges each week. Oh I almost forgot to mention I coloured this sweet boy's hair black to play along with the copic creations challenge blog this week too as black hair truly is a challenge for me tee hee. I am thinking it turned out not to bad eh?

If you want to play along this week, use keyword DDSC32 and then link it to Mr Linky at the bottom of this post. Also click here to go to the challenge blog and peek at what our featured Daredevil Kim made and also to see the details for this week's challenge. If you have already been to the blog and are hopping along here are the rest of the Daredevil's to help stir up that mojo.
The Dare Devil Designers:

Monday, April 19, 2010

April's new Whipper Snapper from Anna!

I am so excited to start showing you some of my newest creations using one of Anna Wight's new releases this month. I am going to be devastated when no new sets arrive for me next month boo hoo! This card was made by using 3 images from the new set 'Celebrating Nature'. A fairy, rainbow, butterfly, cute mushroom, snail..etc... yep stick a fork in me I'm done! I love it! I am sooo glad I have 2 girls so I have lots of reasons to use these stamps over and over not counting all my lil nieces. I stamped these images then coloured them with copics. This is actually my 2nd attempt. First attemp I had it coloured fabulously then decided to try the cloud background technique. You know a smart stamper would have thought about putting in lots of practice before doing this to a piece she had just finished colouring. Rest assured that smart stamper is NOT me. Yep I ruined it and kept adding more until it became a huge mess. Hmmmm...anyone want to see a pic of my mess, let me know and I will post it heh heh. I used some of my treasured stash of kraft paper from SU and some of my new Happy Tape! I picked that up from Emily at Stamping Bella. Come back later to see some pics.

I also wanted to share some more pics of my creations with the March Whipper Snapper release sets. The blue and brown card is using flocked paper- yumm!!!!! Have a great day!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

ATU- Up in the Sky challenge..


This time at All things Unity we are making cards with the inspiration of Up in the Sky. Right away I knew I wanted to use a rainbow as they have always been one of my fave things in life. No matter how many times I have seen one I am still enthralled and amazed each time. Last one I saw was so big and so close to the ground you truly thought you could find the end of the rainbow. And fyi- if there was going to be a pot of gold I was gonna get me some! I never fully give up on those beliefs in case by completely not believing it shuts the door to the magic happening =). Don't forget to drop by the challenge blog and the rest of the DT to see what this challenge meant to them. Have a great Sunday and come on back tomorrow to read about my trip to Scrapfest with Kraftin' Kimmie. Here's a hint- I got to meet and become BFF's with Kimber McGray!!! For real! Not gonna lie- there were some drama moments- after all it was with me heh heh.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

This Kraftin' Kimmie challenge is for the men...

Captain Scurvy was very happy to come out of my stamp binder to play with us this week. We have been challenged to come up with a card design for the boys. I have a few nephews into pirates so this card is perfect for them. Could also be for the older boys too hee hee. I used some Halloween paper from MME that was released last fall and kept the colours simple. I used shades of grey copics (from C1 to C7), YR23, E40 and E43. I didn't use any of my embellies either in case it goes to one of my young nephews and it just ends up in their mouth heh heh.

Hop on over to our challenge blog by clicking here and see what the rest of the DT has in store to get that manly mojo working for you. Don't forget if you play along there is a prize to win!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Whimsical Wednesdays are back with a sketch

Jack has given us Daredevils a sketchy challenge this week. I am again using this month's sponsor The Greeting Farm as I love using their stamps with my copics. I also love the stamps they have that look very similar to a fave movie of mine tee hee. This one is dressy Jeremy who also reminds me of Emmett from said fave movie. I made this card for my nephew's birthday that is coming up very quickly. He will be 13! He is a skater dude (is that the cool/hip term for skateboarders now??) and I thought this dressy Michael digi stamps was perfect for the uber cool and reserved look he has now that he is almost a teen. I used some of my Basic Grey Kioshi line that had a more manly feel to it. I also kept it fairly clean of embellishments- didn't want to embarass my cool dude with too much 'girly' stuff lol. This sketch was so much fun- thanks Jack!

Click here to go to the challenge blog and peek at what our featured Daredevil Jacquie made and also to see the details for this week's challenge. If you have already been to the blog and are hopping along here are the rest of the Daredevil's to help stir up that mojo.
The Dare Devil Designers:

Whipper Snapper....Thanks for being you

Here is another Whipper Snapper card I made with the sets that were released this month. It is a FANTASTIC sentiment set with 2 cute images as well. I have some mini note cards I still have to share on here that I made with the sentiments that I just love. I am on a role again with using kraft cardstock as my base. It is my old stand-by fave and I notice lots of other cardmakers have the same love for it. I thought it was a perfect showcase for the lilac colours I wanted to show off with this image. My mom loves lilacs and I thought this card would be nice to end up surprising her in her mailbox. The bigger surprise actually being if I mail it. Disgusting I know... My hubby doesn't understand how a card maker is so horrible at sending cards but I assure him I am in the BEST company tee hee. I used some of Basic Grey's paper ribbon from the Kioshi line and while I love it..make sure you  have something to help poke out all the little details in the lace ribbon. Worth the look though.

Click here if you want to see the sentiment set by Anna Wight called 'Think Happy Thoughts'. I have to say that this is going to be a fave set of mine. I can tell already. Great sentiments such as 'Happiness is having a friend by your side' and many more. Perfect for making heartfelt cards and I find the clean images really lend to simple cards. Simple meaning not taking me 2 hours to colours and thousands of layers. Helps when I have to make a quick card for an event that I have left to literally the very last moment. If it wasn't for the last minute...I'd get nothing done..tee hee.
Andi xoxo

Sunday, April 11, 2010

You make me happy....

Today Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps is releasing their new April images! Annie Rodrigue has gone Medieval on us this month! As you may have seen over the last few days with our krafty peeks, we have a princess, a queen, a knight, a minstrel and a dragon!!! Also we’ve got another one of Annie’s incredible paintings made into a stamp with Marie Antoinette!! Also we have a super sweet single image featuring Cindy and Mindy called, You Make Me Happy which is the one I have used today as I just love it! You’ll get to check out all the new stamps throughout our fabulous blog hop today!! Oh, and the sweet princess card I am sharing today is made by my oldest DD as her first card as a Junior Krafty Girl, she made her own accents to make her card more unique. I love that she tries to think outside of the box to decorate her card. I am so proud of my krafty girls xoxo.

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!! If you are already hopping along you would have came here from Miss. Creative Tara's blog and now you can head on over to the talented Elaine's blog. And when you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie store, because ALL the new images are NOW available! OH and did we mention? Each and every order placed on Sunday, April 11th and Monday April 12th are eligible to be entered in the draw to win one of three postcards featuring Annie’s original painting, Le Messager!!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

What's red, white and black all over...my card!


First I would like to thank everyone for the warm birthday wishes and to those of you who wrote that you joined me in a cup of tea I hope you enjoyed it. I know I did...yummmm.. I got breakfast in bed made by the girls. Sliced strawberries, cinnamon toast and TEA. Lovely!

Today's challenge should you choose to accept it is to make a card using the colours black, white and red. I had fun using 'tones' of black by incorporating silver and greys. So sneaky I know tee hee. I am not usually one for these colours and was truly challenged with how to get started until Kimmie gave me the idea of colouring the image in greys to give the illusion of a black and white photo with just a small area highlighted with colour. I liked this technique and I would use it again to try and create that old time look. Not bad for my first try I think. I should add that I did a lot of whining while colouring and asked Kimmie and my friend Cheri 'are you sure it looks alright' CONSTANTLY hee hee. These lovely ladies came early in the morning and spent the day with me in the craft room. Sooooo much fun we may make up more special occasions to get together and hang out. Poor Cheri, she had never used copics before and we had her try them. We ended up going out so she could buy a set after only colouring a face and hair lol! We warned her how addictive they are and INSISTED she get as many colours as she did. With close to 300 myself it's not like I know control in this area lol. I just have to say my birthday was absolutely perfect and I can't think of any way that it could have been better.

So tomorrow is the big release day for Kraftin' Kimmie stamps, are you getting excited to get these stamps in your hot little hands??? For today's challenge if you choose to play along you can win one of the new images 'You make me Happy' which is the new Cindy and Mindy image. Luvs them! Click here to read more about how you can play to win and to see what the rest of the DT cooked up. Also..meet our newest team members- the Junior Krafty girls! Above is also my youngest DD's card- I am one proud momma! She coloured and designed it herself. She is loving making cards and seeing them on my blog. She tells the kids at school she is famous tee hee. Have a great day!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Another sneak peek and it's someone's birthday!

First I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their super sweet comments this week. I appreciate each and every one of them and my DD was thrilled with the feedback on her card. Second......IT'S MY BIRTHDAY WOOT WOOT!!!! Sorry but I adore birthday's and fully embrace the notion of a birthday week full of fun. I did used to stretch it to a birthday month, then a week now it's just a long weekend. I am so looking forward to breakfast in bed tomorrow and my super sweet tea from the girls. I am spending it crafting with some of my fave people as I have celebrated it for the last 7 years or more.

I adored making this simple card using new Kraftin' Kimmie stamps being released this Sunday. I have this great fairytale paper and I have been waiting for this release to use it. I coloured Sir G and the dragon and cut them out to set them against the backdrop of the village and the castle. The sentiment 'You slay me' is perfect for the man I made this card for. He is one of the funniest people I know and this birthday card is perfect for him. Speaking of perfect I hope you enjoyed the incredible cards the rest of the DT shared yesterday and enjoy today's as well. Click here to go to the challenge blog and see who has cards to share today. Enjoy and have a cup of tea in honour of my birthday today. Thank you so much my fab blog readers! xoxo Andi

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Do you want a sneaky peeky of an April Kraftin' Kimmie stamp?

Marie Antoinette is first up for my sneaky peeky's as I just couldn't wait to colour this extravagant image. I so wanted a dress like this when I was little with tons of bustle and crinolen. I had some in my wedding gown and found out how itchy it is. Mind you they wore those bloomers then so it likely helped keep them from hiking it up and scratching their legs like I wanted to do on my wedding day. I would like to clarify that I resisted that urge and did not do that, my mother would have passed out tee hee! My Marie is wearing a purple wig to match her fancy dress- fun! I really loved colouring this image and I have so many ideas floating around on what kind of cards I could use her on- invites to a fancy dinner, an oscar party or how about a murder mystery dinner? I will likely use her on a birthday card for any of my fave diva friends xoxo.
To see more sneak peeks hop on over to the challenge blog by clicking here and see which DT members have creations to share or you can also find them on my sidebar. See you back here tomorrow for another peek that is fired up about seeing you! Andrea

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

It's a Whimsical Wednesday with The Greeting Farm


**edited to add that I am not sure why my photo looks fuzzy a wee bit but if you click on it it's nice and sharp =)** April at the Whimsical Wednesday blog is sponsored by one of my fave companies The Greeting Farm. As you may know from some of my older posts I love those big headed kids! Our dare is to use the photo above to inspire us. I want to be a little girl and have that room! Lucky for me I have tons of paper in these colours and I dove into my Valentine's day stash to see what I could use. I found not only the paper colours I needed but also this groovy sparkley frame. I also found this Princess Anya image that I had already coloured. Lucky! This card was super fun to put together and so much so my youngest DD wanted to make one as well and wanted me to post it tee hee. Can't resist her when she is taking after her mama.
To see more about this week's challenge and the prize from TGF up for grabs please click here to go to the challenge blog. Now grab a cup of tea and hop around to the other Daredevils and see what yummy creations they have to share. Have a great day! Andrea
The Dare Devil Designers:

Sunday, April 4, 2010

All Things Unity- Photo Inspiration

I am so in love with tea related items so it was no surprise that on this round at All Things Unity that my eye was drawn right to the tea on the serving tray in our inspiration photo. I actually own quite a few tea stamps from Unity- there must be a tea lover among the stamp designers at Unity! I hadn't used this cup of tea stamp yet and I dug up this sentiment from a recent Unity KOM and it went perfectly together. I pulled out the creamy colour and the teal. I wanted to give this card a weathered vintage look as I think the person I am sending this to loves vintage things just like me, in fact I am sure of it! I hope this photo inspires you too so hop on over to the All Things Unity challenge blog and see what the rest of the ladies have created. Have a Happy Easter!! xoxo Andi

Saturday, April 3, 2010

After a spring break Kraftin' Kimmie challenges are back and we are feeling punchy!

We took a short break from challenges as our leader Ms. Kimmie took a much needed break to Florida with Mr. Kimmie and sweet Emi. I have to say I missed my weekly kick in the butt to make a card! I have actually been crafting daily lately which has been feeling so good. Can't share too much with you just yet as I MAY have been getting some samples ready for the new Kraftin' Kimmie release coming soon tee hee. I am so mean I just may not get any Easter chocolate this Sunday :)

This week though we are back and we are feeling punchy! The challenge should you choose to accept it is to make a Kraftin' Kimmie card and use some sort of punches on it. For this card I used one of my sweet Cindy and Mindy images- PJ party and I cut it out using nestabilities which count as a punch. I then also punched out my sentiment using some of my handheld punches. I adore the American Craft paper this card is using and the back panels have different words for friend which I thought was perfect.

So come on over and click here to go to the challenge blog and read the full details and feast your eyes on the rest of the punchtacular creations the rest of the Krafty Girls have made!

Happy Easter, Andi