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

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Day 2

Hey there! I'm just stopping in real quick to share another card I made during the Online Card Class: Stretch Your Stamps 2. This is another background stamped card. I did the same technique that Shari Carroll showed. I love this technique! Go on, run over and check out the class. I know you want to! 

This is only my second class I have ever taken and I keep wondering why it took me so long to sign up for one. I do really love it! The best part is it gives me an excuse to lock myself in my office for days at a time. Aaaahhhh.

Ok. On to it! Here is my card:

Simple. Very Simple. Stamped background and die cut panel. I actually stamped three of these backgrounds and used the other two for totally different cards which I will show you here:

This is a totally different take, but if you look close you can see the original stamped background. You may have to squint ; )

I have never done art journaling before but I feel like this is pretty close? Anyone out there do art journaling? Does this pass?? I layered this baby UP! After the original stamping of the background I then used a stencil as a stamp. Smoosh your stencil in some ink and spritz with water. It worked like a charm!

Then I stamped some medallions onto it and then some flowers that I embossed with Ultimate Liquid Gold. I then felt like I needed some more gold so I took my Versamark PEN and drew some thicker lines within the petals and embossed it again. I then watercolored over the flowers to add some more colour and drama... Then my sentiment and some new (to me) Studio Calico sequins.


Here's a second card I did with the last stamped background. I did similar things but I ended up using my stencil to draw in. If you look close you can see the little sketch lines I used to create my swirls.

I still embossed and water-coloured the flower and stamped my chevron stamp up the side. I like this one but not as much as the first one.

Ok. That's it. What started out as 'real quick' has turned into 'too long'!! I'm being summoned so I need to run.

Anyway. Thank you SO SO SO very much for stopping by. I know you do and check in on me and maybe you leave a comment and maybe you don't, but I still feel you here and I love it! Thanks for checking up on me and say hello if you have a moment.

Hope you get to craft sometime today!

xoxo

k

Paper Wings Productions August Challenge

**I have never had more than one post in a day, this is momentous! So if you're interested in The Card Concept blog post too, please scroll down! Yay for double post days!**

Hey there crafty peeps! Today marks the Paper Wings Productions August Challenge!  Can I get an "Aw-yeah!"??

Ok, are you ready for this? Here is my card based on the challenge: Anything Goes!

I love the Vintage Technology set. It's just so great. And this little cassette (as you may know) is a fav of mine right now. I was playing around with a lot of sets and this little cassette just kept sneaking back into my hands! It has a mind of it's own!

So here is what I did:

I stamped and fussy cut my cassettes and then using Distress Inks and my Aqua brush I painted each one a different colour. I wasn't looking for perfection or control really, just a nice smattering of paint. A little 'rock-n-roll' if you will.

I splattered my card base with some black paint and then lined up the cassettes leaving a spot for my sentiment. I used some Magenta embossing powder and the Solid Whimsical Alphabet stamp set to create the word MIX. (my photo below was my testing emboss... you want to be sure you are going to like it before you put it on your card of cute cassettes!!)

I then used some Basic Grey alpha stickers to finish off the sentiment. And just so you know, I did a little google for some nice graphic prints of cassette tapes. I needed some inspiration and that's how I got the sentiment. You can find it around the web-o-sphere. But you know, it rings true to me, which is why I wanted to use it.

Because as time will attest, life is definitely a mix tape. You never know what is going to come next. Sometimes you feel like dancing and other times you want a slow sap-song to cry your eyes out to. But regardless the music keeps coming ; )  This seems like a good card for a friend who might need a little pick-me-up. You know, some love from one friend to another.

Ok. That's all for me today. Check out the Paper Wings Productions blog and participate in this monthly challenge! It's a great challenge for everyone because, well, Anything goes! AND there's something fun to win, so what are ya waiting for?!

Thanks for stopping in today. And thanks for your comments! I love hearing from you so drop me a line if you have an extra moment to spare!

xoxo

k

Vintage Technology Clear Stamp Set

Solid Whimsical Alphabet Clear Stamp Set

InLinkz.com

The Card Concept #16: Wild Card Team Challenge

Hey all! Fun news today... I'm starting up on a new challenge team with The Card Concept! It's the Wild Card Design Team and I am very excited to be apart of it. And let me tell you why, this is a place where we get to try ALL the styles of card making as we participate in the challenges every other week. That's a whole lotta fun in my book! 

I'm excited to start with my very first challenge today. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Hope you enjoy the process!  You can see the inspiration photo below and our challenge was to create a wedding card, but in addition to this, the style I was assigned to create is in the Freestyle Collage category. 

Well, let me just tell you right now, that I don't do much freestyle collage-ing on my cards, mostly because it's intimidating to me, so this was definitely a challenge! So right out of the gate I had three criteria. Inspiration photo, wedding card and free-wheelin' it...

 Let me show you what I ended up doing:

As I looked at the inspiration photo I was first struck by the lovely colours. Notice the light blue but then also a green/aqua colour in the hydrangeas? Colors are never flat and simple. Especially in flowers, which is why I love them! I also noticed the silver votive candle holder and I really wanted to create the texture that the little hydrangea petals give off. Small/circular/cluster-y. You know what I mean?? 

So I started with some light-light-light sponging with this fun stencil. (Did I say light?) I just did a section of my card base. I tested out all the blue Distress Inks I own and chose Salty Ocean but I knew it was much to bright for what I wanted. So I sponged off most of my colour before applying a light (ha!) layer onto my card base.

One of the things about freestyle collage (IMHO) is all the little elements that while seemingly random, come together to make a nice grouping of 'shtuff'. Ya? And to that point you have to have lots of 'shtuff' to choose from (which I do not. Had to downsize my embellishments to get them into my apartment office!). So I liked the silver votive candle and decided I wanted something silver in my grouping. But I don't have many embellishments lying around my space so I figured anything I wanted, I would have to make myself. So I die cut a doily from white card stock and embossed it with silver a few times to make it nice and thick.

I stamped and coloured the flowers with both light blue and aqua Copics trying to get a two toned look. I kind of like how mottled it turned out in spots. As you may know, Copics are meant for blending similar colours in varying shades so when you do different colours, you get interesting results.

So once I had my card base sponged and my elements created I just added in a feather (random shtuff) and a little heart button down at the bottom because I felt like it could use some weight distribution and also, it is a wedding card after all ; ) I die cut my sentiment and added some textured vellum behind it to help it pop a bit.  

And there you have it! My first Wild Card 'Freestyle Collage' card! Honestly, I feel like this came together pretty well considering I don't have much experience in it. I did very little 'head-on-wall' pounding, which to me is a success! This is a technique I have admired from afar and it was fun to try myself. I think this is a forgiving style if you are new to it, so you should give it a go! And do let me know how you like creating it yourself. Maybe you will find freestyle collage is your new go-to style! That would be fun right? 

Ok. So be sure to stop by The Card Concept blog for a chance at the challenge yourself. You have until Monday Aug 18 at noon to participate. Hope you can join us! I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

xoxo

k

Online Card Classes: Stretch Your Stamps 2--DAY ONE

Hey all! I'm excited to start out this week because I got a slot in the new Online Card Class: Stretch Your Stamps 2. And you know what? After one day, I already feel the impact! This class is great! If you want to get down and dirty with your stamps, you should totally take it.

Last night I stayed up late and made 6 cards! Here are three using one technique with one stamp. That's how you stretch it, alright!

I started with the emboss resist technique using water-colour. I really wanted some nice bright action. So I didn't do a lot of "watering" down with the colour. This is one piece of water colour paper cut to A2 size the background stamp is by Hero Arts.

Out of this one piece I die cut a little notecard (top-Lawn Fawn), a Thanks sentiment (Studio Calico) and the negative space of the Thanks sentiment (bottom)

With all of this, I made three cards! Here is the first. Using the stitched notecard die cut. I just popped up a sentiment and it was done. Easy.

 I love the vibrancy of this background!

Second card I busted out my shaker die cuts. It's my first time using them!

I still need practice and this one is a little plain, but it shakes, so you know...
I love all the shaker contents. That's the best part ; )

And last card I put down some washi tape first under the die cut panel. I then die cut the THANKS sentiment 4 times out of black. Then stacked them up and added some glossy accents.

This was difficult. It's by far the THINNEST die cut I have ever worked with. It was really late too so I had some difficulties with my glossy accents (shot in my eye!) and then this skinny little thing wouldn't stick together. Studio Calico, I LOVE this font, but seriously? It's waaaaay too skinny! I was frustrated, to say the least. But I got some sleep, and love what it looks like so I guess I forgive it all. Even my eye lid gluing shut ; )

Ok. That's all for today! I have some cards to share with you for day two. And if perchance you are in the mood for some learning and stamping and fun, you should come join!

Thanks for stopping by.

xoxo

k

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Hey there. Welcome! Today I am joining in the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog.

Do you remember this water-colour panel I made into a card a few days ago? Well, I did end up finding it... no cheerios or boogers on it to be seen ; ) I had made it for this challenge but it took me awhile to locate it again and get photos. Plus I panicked about time and took my photos before realising the background had a tropical feel. Wha?  Soooo NOT gelling with my summery-wild-flower feel. But you love me so much, you will let it slide this once, right? 

Ok the challenge this week is "Anything Goes" using Cas-ual Fridays or Technique Tuesday. So I pulled out my Technique Tuesday stamps. I have a few sets and I have picked up quite a few of their die cuts recently, so I thought I could manage myself pretty well.

I started by stamping my images using distress inks and then went over the images with a water brush. It was looking pretty good, or at least I thought it was. But I got over zealous (who, me?!?!) and cut the panel too small (EEK!) So I matted it on white card stock and then put it on my card base and also 'shmeared' on some Wink of Stella. Now I LOVE Wink of Stella as much as the next gal, but it just shouldn't go on this water-colour panel. I groaned after I did it. Oh crap, I knew better! Don't you hate that? You can see it a bit in this photo... Not my favourite thing. But what do you do now? Not going to toss it, although I did do a good job of 'losing it' for a few days ; )

 
Then using my die cuts I glued a few 'hello' pieces together and then adhered it to its matching mat. I love that Technique Tuesday makes mats for their die cut words. It adds something fun. I then popped up the sentiment panel to make it stand out a bit more.

And thar ya have it!  I love this technique of water colour. It's a great way to cheat and look like you know how to water colour, even if you are like me, and SO do not. At least I had you fooled until the Wink of Stella ;)

ok. thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!
k

CASE Study #202

This is the last week with muse Shari Carroll over at CASE Study. Her work is always so intricate and stunning. And this weeks piece is no different. Just look at it... It's so amazing and great inspiration!:

Here is my take on it:

I absolutely adore the vibrancy of the red flower against the craft background on Shari's card. Her colouring is amazing! I decided to emboss the flowers from Altenew's Henna Elements in white and colour in my flowers with coloured pencils. I used red and then added in some orange for the outside petals and small flowers and some pink for the inside petals (on the large flower).

I did a little stamping with Versamark on the kraft background to add some detail and made up a sentiment banner with a notched edge backed with some white card stock. I am IN LOVE with these sentiment die cuts by Little B. They are just perfect for everything and I can't stop using them, as I'm sure you've noticed ; )

That's all for today. I'm excited to see what they have in store for the CASE Study anniversary starting next week. Woot! I love a party!

Thanks for stopping in.
xoxo
k