It's out! Woot!

Hey! It's just too exciting for me not to share... it's been a looooong time since I have been published and I really haven't done it all that much so I have that excited buzz that comes when you just want to pinch yourself to see if you are dreaming! 

Here's the page from the September Paper Craft Magazine. You can check it out this current issue HERE:

Most of you may not know but the last few years have been hectic and stressful for me. I had 2 babies  in 20 months of each other and made an international move that I totally thought I could handle, and quickly realised I most certainly could NOT handle it. one. bit. And while I know plenty of people have babies even closer than that and survive, and my sweet babies were wonderful, when I put it on top of moving across the world, it just threw me for a big loop.
After blogging, designing and connecting for a few years, I landed in Singapore and felt like I would never find myself again.
My crafting supplies stayed packed for over a year! But slowly and surely my desire to find pieces of myself started to emerge. This opportunity to do Gallery Idol 2014 was momentous to me because I had finally unearthed myself. I was moving forward once again. I was doing something fun and meaningful to me. I finally feel like myself again!

So thank you for all your votes and support. Thank you for visiting my little ol' blog when you have a chance and for all your sweet comments and emails. It has all meant so much to me. Thank you for letting me share!


love to you-
k

Gallery Idol 2014 Round 4: Makin' Waves

Hey there, welcome back!! Can you believe it's been another week and another round for Gallery Idol 2014?!

Gallery Idol 2014

Honestly, time is flying and I can't believe I'm still in the running!  I wouldn't be here without your votes, so THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Each and every one of you!!! It's been such an honour and pleasure to be apart of this contest thus far. Here's hoping for a chance at the final round!
So lets get to it...

Meet my card.
I like to call it: "Waves Hello"... HA! Get it?  I thought it was kind of funny when it came to me, so it stuck. This week's challenge is all about using border stamps in interesting ways. So let me show you what I did.

I used this stamp set by Waltzing Mouse Stamps. It really is the only set I have that I deemed an authentic "border" stamp set. But out of this entire set (which is well loved) I used only ONE stamp to create my card.

I started by stamping the zig zag stamp four times in 3 different shades of blue. After stamping them in ink, I heat set a layer of clear embossing powder to make them nice and shiny.

For the next steps I fussy cut each zig zag image (yup... each one) and started to braid them together by weaving them around each other. As you can see below I alternate one zig on top and one zag underneath, repeated with each strip.

Here is my first block of blue colour woven together. Isn't it lovely?! It has such an amazing effect. I think it really brings the image to life. You can see in the second photo the backside of my woven strips. I think the white is equally as striking! (hmmm, I will save that for another card ; )

I decided I didn't want an entire sea of blue (OY! the puns never end!) so I coloured my own yellow panel using Copic Markers to layer underneath the waves.

I took my woven strips and yellow panel and laid out my card to get a general idea of what it would look like before committing to it with glue.

I decided to cut this card to be almost standard size. I didn't want to lose any zig zags so it is 6 inches tall but the standard width at 4.25. I took a darker shade of a yellow Copica and added some shading to the bottom of my negative spaced yellow diamonds. It really helped add some more dimension since after all those waves, the yellow alone seemed a bit flat. (compare diamonds from the photo above to this photo below... big difference!) 

I die cut my HELLO sentiment 4 times. The bottom three layers are a dark blue which helps add some dimension and shadow. The top layer was cut out of white and I used my two Copic colours to add an ombre effect to my letters. I heat embossed my crane (Mama Elephant) and added some shading with yellow and a glitter gel pen. Then finishing with some candy dots that I coloured with the same Copics. This took my regular yellow dots that didn't match at all and changed them into something usable! Which of course I love.

You can see some of the shine the embossing gives the waves and hopefully some of the dimension too! This card was delightful to put together. And can you believe I only had to do ONE version! The stars were aligned for me this weekend and it seemed to just come together so easily. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

So that's it! My border stamped card for you to enjoy. Hope you like it! And if you do like it and want to send me on to the next round, please head over to Paper Crafts Mag and cast your VOTE! Remember voting STARTS this Tuesday at noon and ENDS this Thursday at noon (Mountain Daylight Time) so head over as soon as you can. Cause if you are anything like me, once Wednesday hits, the week is basically over in a flash, and BAM you've missed the whole thing!

I want to take this time to thank you again for all your support. Whether by comments, votes or the sweet emails you send me, it means so much to me! You are appreciated! This hobby o' mine has become such a joy in life because of the amazing people I have met and the generosity that is shared in the crafting community. It's amazing to behold!

That's all for this week. After thursday I will come back and show you the other cards I made with all the leftover zig zags... boy did  I cut A LOT!

Hope you have a great week!

Thanks for stopping by,

k

Gallery Idol 2014: Round 3

Hey all! Welcome back! It is officially Round 3 of Gallery Idol over at Paper Crafts Magazine. Thank you so much for all of your votes last week! Seriously people, YOU ROCK! Thank you so very much for all your support! I feel so lucky to still be in the running, thanks to you. And I'm having a great time!

This week, I am seriously blow away by the talent of all these ladies, and I know you will be too! Head over to take a look. The other 14 contestants really know how to craft-it-out! 

Gallery Idol 2014

Alright, lets get started. This round is all about Stencils.

Here is my submission:

I used two stencils to layer and blend colour for my card front.  I then fussy cut the stencilled area to create my card. Let me show you how it came together.

First I started out with two stencils and my favourite Neon inks by Hero Arts

I layered the circle stencil on the bottom and the fishnet stencil over it and secured it with masking tape. I then started adding some colour. 

When I had a layer of colour down how I wanted it, I took the top fish net stencil off and was left with the circle image stencilled into the fish net pattern. I then took more colour and sponged over the circle stencil again to blend in the colours and mute some areas of the fish net pattern. Then keeping the stencil in place I took a light pen and added in my own free hand waves to add some dimension and interest to a few of my bubbles.

I knew I wanted to fussy cut the bubbles out and keep the card front a sort of window card, so I cut the back of my card to the size I wanted and folded down a quarter of an inch along the top to create a flap. I then adhered my card base to the top of the flap thus creating a full folding card.

Here it is opened. You can see that it has a peg leg! Only that one little bubble sits flush with the back of the card. It's kind of fun, I think!

I added some glossy accents to the YOU sentiment and added a die cut for the AWESOME all nestled in together.  I felt like the bright colours of this card was just screaming awesomeness!

My card base is a shimmer blue card stock from Papertrey Ink. It's very fun when the light hits it.

And there you have it, my finished card!  Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look. And if you feel like it deserves your vote, please head over to Paper Crafts and cast a vote for me! You have until Thursday at noon so be sure to get it in when you can. And thank you again for voting me into this round! I have had such a great time playing with all of my stencils and seeing what the other amazing designers have created. They are each so talented and inspiring. It has been amazing to be apart of!

Have a great week.

loves,

k

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop: Aqua and Melon

Hey everybody. I have been stalking the clock for a day now waiting for this blog hop to start because last time I missed it due to my brain miscalculating the time change. Seriously, numbers are hard for this brain of mine!

I remembered last night as I was working on other things (at 1 in the morning!) and I freaked out thinking I had already missed it! It was technically the 25th for me already and I jumped out of my seat before I realised it was still the 24th for those in Papertrey Ink Land.  Whew! 

Luckily, I am here and ready to go (thanks to an alarm on my phone. Seriously people, I mean business this time!)

Ok, this month challenge is to use the colours Aqua and Melon. Work it together and make some magic!

I made two cards cause I liked it so much... 

Here is card #1:

This card came together pretty much how I imagined it (except for the other 2 attempts that were done wrong- sheepish grin ;)  I had to work to get it the way I wanted it. Anyone else LOVE this big bold sentiment? I love this stamp set but I have a heck of a time getting them to stamp straight. Hence the 2 other tries, and this one is barely passable!  I am starting to think one of my eyes is crooked. Is that possible? Probably not, but it sounds like a good excuse, so I'm going with it.

I stamped my flowers in Melon (of course) and Terracotta Tile. Leaves are Aqua Mist (I play by the rules people!) and Ocean Tides for the shading. This card uses the PTI sets Rosie Posie, and Rosie Posie II. 

I have been using a TON of white card stock lately. I love how clean and fresh it is. So I popped the panel up on a white card base. And BAM! Double white goodness. 

I stamped the sentiment in black and added some pearls. Do people still use pearls? I didn't have the right sequins, so I stepped back a trend or two and used what I had. Aaah, that feels good, doesn't it?

After finishing the first one, I just wanted to keep going. I kept the colours and the stamp set but  switched things up a bit. I LOVE background stamping. I love to see it take shape and bring a card to life. In fact I think it was Nicole Heady who opened up my world to background stamping all those years ago. I remember gasping when I saw her make a OSW (one sheet wonder). And from that moment I promised I would do it myself, or die trying.  

So this whole thing here... the cards, the stamps, the paper craft addiction... I owe to Nicole Heady and Papertrey Ink. Thank you so much you guys! I love you!!

Ok, so back to the point of this whole post: I used the honey comb stamp that goes with the Rosie Posie stamp set and stamped it with Aqua, Melon and Terracotta Tile. 

It's a little hard to tell but I colored in some of the honey combs with a Gelly Roll glitter pen to give it a bit of a shine. I added some hexagon sugar dots from Prima to finish things off.

And last but not least, I know some of you have one of these in your life:

Yup, be it a boy or a girl, they sure love posing when there's a card around. The funny thing is, I remember when my oldest was this age and doing the exact same thing. Running around in his jammies, flashing smiles at the camera right when I pushed down the button. What a bunch of funny hams I have.

Ok. That's all for today. Hope you have a great blog hop and a great weekend!!

loves to you and yours,

k

p.s.  Did you check out the results for Gallery Idol? Can you believe it? Little 'ol me is moving on? What? What?!  I seriously can't believe it! Pinch Me! Honestly, I had to rub my eyes and read it again.

But I am so very very excited! (and so very very nervous). I have been crafting like a crazy woman all weekend and still don't like what I have to offer. Oh, Heaven help me. I told my husband he would see me next week and locked myself in the office for the day. He kept coming in to give me pointers. Oh, that husband of mine. I do love him so...