Sweetheart

I really love this stamp set. For this card I used 4 different stamps from the Stampendous Love Stitch set . I added some liquid pearls for flower centers. I really loved the reds and pinks against kraft card stock. I hope you all have had a great week!

I'm loving this kit!!

I whipped up a little Valentine with the February kit the other evening. I sprayed a section of Grunge Paper with Glimmer Mist and let it dry. Then I stamped it with the Stampendous stamp included in the add on kit and cut it out and adhered it with some pop up glue dots to give it some dimension. I love the little added touch that the Stampendous love stickers give it. The ribbon is from my stash and is not included in the kit.

Here are a couple of layouts that I've also created with this kit.And just FYI, I've created two more layouts with this kit, and there's STILL plenty left to create more! I just can't stop until every last bit of this kit is all used up! Hurry over to Kit 'n' Kaboodles to get yours now!

Let's play tag!

 

Hello everyone :0) It's only me :0)

Today I thought we could play tag ... I think tags are highly under rated ... don't just think tag ... you can add this to a card ... hang it off a gift ... add it to a scrapbook page ... the list is endless ... so without further ado this is what I used ... and how I made it!

Stash requirements:-

Stampendous music of love heart  

Stampendous Valentines text stamp

White card for base tag and heart ... I used 300gsm but any thick white card will do.

Grunge paper for the rose and leaf

Spiced marmalade and aged mahogany distress ink

Jet black archival ink

water and mini mister

Idea-ology embellishments

1. Blend Spiced marmalade and aged mahogany on your tag with cut n dry foam then spritz your heart stamp with water and stamp a random pattern on your tag. This picture really does not do this technique justice ... you really need to try it at home. Dry tag with heat gun.

2. Stamp the valentines text in jet black archival ink in the bottom right corner

3. Stamp the heart onto white card with archival ink and blend with Aged mahogany distress ink. Spray the mini mister into your hand a drop water onto the heart. Dry with a paper towel and cut out. Make a rose out of grunge paper ... there are loads of tutorials available for this ... but I use the one on Mr Tim's blog!

4. Assemble your tag and add a leaf to finish.
I told you it was easy :0)
See you all next week :0) Have a great weekend ... and don't forget to check back daily for some yummy posts from the rest of the Kreative Kaboodles and Creativity Boutique design teams!

Have you ever made your own flowers?

I love all the prima and pretty flowers out there to buy but I also like to make my own occasionally so I went looking on you tube to see what's out there and found a video. When you watch it, be sure to watch to the end as she does some neat things then also. Anyway, I watched this girl and then took our papers from our Feb. KNK kit and went to town. I wanted to make some flowers to go in the mini envelope album I had just made and they came out pretty good I think.
We'd love to see what you come up with also so please share with us! Here's the video:


The flowers at the top of this article are what I made after watching the video. One of them is a grunge paper flower where I used the piece of grunge paper that was included in this month's kit.(I made the top flower only with the album page) I didn't have any white paint handy so I used Tim Holtz's Old Paper crackle paint,a and Rock Candy distress stickles, instead, along with various inks. I was happy with the results and see me making many more!

It's sprinklin'.....

well it is on my card this week...

For my card this week I decided that I needed to create a bee hive for my little guy to hang out at...so I first drew my bee hive onto paper and made it just the right size. I then cut it out of yummy Coredin'ations cardstock and put it through the Cuttlebug using one of my embossing folders to give it that great texture... I then drew some doodly lines along the outside edge and inked it...

I stamped my little bee onto cardstock and colored him in with Prismacolor pencils. When I cut him out I cut off the hearts and basket that are in the image so it was just him flying around...

I stamped the sentiment in separate stages; using a Memento ink marker to only ink the parts I wanted... I added the "from the hive" with the same marker to complete my sentiment...

Everything is mounted onto a card that I covered with a piece of brown Coredinations cardstock...I added the white stitch lines around the outside and rounded the edges. I used foam dots to make everything pop off the card front...

Stamps: Stampendous skippin bee, Stampendous Sprinklin love

Valetines day will beeeee here beeeefore you know it...so you better get buzzzzy!!!

Happy crafting....Lynda

Something different...

I recently participated in a challenge to create a layout without any patterned paper. I took it a little further than that and didn't use any paper at all, other than my base sheet of white cardstock. This is the result:

My materials:

1 sheet Bazzil cardstock, white

Smooch Spritz in Cherry Ice

Petaloo Tye-dyed flowers

Basic Grey "Bittersweet" rub-ons

MM Tiny alphas

red rhinestones

ribbon

photo

Out of my comfort zone? Totally!! But it was really fun to do and I am pretty happy with how it turned out considering it's the first one I've attempted like this. Have you ever created a layout that didn't have any paper on it at all? If you haven't, give it a try and post me a link! I'd love to see what you come up with!

A History Lesson

I am not posting a specific card, technique, project or helpful hint today. Instead, I am going to share a little bit about why I am so dedicated to Kit-N-Kaboodles and Creativity Boutique~~the sponsors of this blog.

A few years back, I met some crazy scrapbookers at a crop we found online. My friend Kelcey and I decided to jump in and attend, not knowing anyone there. We had a blast, and were invited to join their larger circle of friends, and put us on their e-mail list. This was a defining moment in my life, when I became part of something truly amazing. In our little corner of the world of scrapbooking, it is amazing how a group of total strangers can share so much in common. Each crop I attended, I became acquainted with a few more people, and my circle of friends grew, and grew. During conversations, sharing of photos, layouts, coffee,quiet moments, and outrageous fits of silliness strangers became fast friends and confidantes.
One of the first people I met at these crops was Gerianne Duke ( no, I can only spell her name correctly when abbreviated to GA). She was a young woman starting out a kit club. Up until I met her, I refused to buy kits and did little online shopping. After talking to her for an afternoon, I decided to buy in to her club, for 6 months, pretty much out of guilt that "she was one of the group" and I figured I would enroll in the name of friendship....
Over the next few years, Gerianne and I have shared many conversations, some quite intense and others where we practically peed ourselves laughing (like the one we had involving deer this weekend--yes, deer at a scrapbook day!). My subscription to the club has not lapsed, and I am awed at the creativity and growth that emerges with each release. Behind all the creativity, I have gotten to know Gerianne as a caring, loving daughter, wife, friend and most importantly mom. Almost always by her side is Sonia (Sophia to some of us). She had done very little scrapbooking and papercrafting when we met, but has been showing great promise and improvement with each project I see from her. Sonia has lots of talent, is a hard worker, and is married to this guy Mark, who I finally met yesterday (yes, he does exist and is a nice guy--although he always brings his own can of coke to the restaurants!). During the time that I have known GA and Sonia, KNK has grown, and grown, and grown and branched out amazingly. The design teams rock, there is a happy group of friends on the message board, and they have expanded to a store called Creativity Boutique
On the message board, friendships have formed with women in a similar way that was done with the gals in person. We share our lives, happiness, sorrows, life events, and more...many of us have never met, and might not in person. Does this make our friendships less valuable??? Heck no!!!
This weekend, Kelcey and I traveled almost 4 hours to help GA and Sonia with a fundraiser for the school GA's son attends. We have thought about going since she started these crops, but just didn't get ourselves over due to "life getting in the way". GA and Sonia put on a great crop--and Linda, you will be proud of your protege, she has learned much from you. ( I am sure she has had more mentors, and has learned much from them all). Unless there is some horrible tragedy in my life, I can't imagine not helping KNK and Creativity Boutique out at any of their fundraisers. In these trying financial times, many people will not/ can not afford to help others. KNK/Creativity Boutique seem to be well loved in their area for their charitable contributions to the school (and other schools want them to do fundraisers now too). GA and Sonia have giant hearts and treat others with respect, courtesy, fairness and professionalism that is not always found these days. Hats off to Gerianne and Sonia...and I foresee a long and happy future for their businesses and those who are associated with them.

***In these rough times, I feel I need to post this disclaimer that I truly do not wish to offend anyone who has been involved in the growth, success, past, future of these businesses or blog or from the other groups that we hang with. We know that friendships can be fragile, and feelings hurt easily. I could write a book about each of the women I have bonded with but that won't be done here on this blog. *****

Lily Bee layout...check out the Kit 'n Kaboodles store!

Today I am posting a layout with Lily Bee papers that are in the store at Kit 'n Kaboodles. Sometimes I get so excited to get my kit, that I forget to check out the store for all the other fun things that Gerri-anne and Sonia pick to match (and this month...Deb!). So this is just a reminder to head over there and take a look! I used "classy" and "smashing" (my all time favorite paper from Lily Bee) on this layout of Delaney. Both these sheets are available for purchase and can be mailed with your kits! I also used Teresa Collins T drops (from the January kit) in the flowers for added dimension.



You are going to LOVE this kit! I totally encourage adding the extra papers, and thanks to Gerri-anne for sending them to me!

Saying I Love You with ... Grey Chip :0)

Hello again everyone ... Linda here :0)
This week I thought we could make a romantic hanger for all our Valentines! I know quite often the reply would be Why??? But the simple truth is ... it's just great fun to make :0)
So without further ado ... here is the stash you need
3 grey chip coasters ... they can be beer coasters ... just cover them with grey card.
Fired Brick Distress ink
Fired Brick Distress Crackle paint
Black Coredinations core color
Black Soot distress ink
Grunge paper
Stampendous ornate heart stamp
Waxed cotton thread
Red seed beads
Alphabet letters - I and U
Butterfly stamp
Background stamp

1. Blend Fired brick distress ink on you chip
2. Stamp your background stamp in Black soot distress ink (I used a Wendy Vecchi stamp)
3. Cut a piece of cordindations card (7X7cm)
4. Distress your card with a sanding block and round the corners
5. Stick the card in the center of your mat.
6. Paint the letter I with distress crackle and when dry add some beads to embellish
7. Stamp and cut out a butterfly with grunge paper and colour with Fired brick distress ink
8. stick together as illustrated and add beads for body.

9. For mat number 3 repeat the above steps using the letter U

10. Follow steps 1 to five for mat number 2
11. Stamp the Stampendous heart onto grunge paper using black soot distress ink and cut out.
12. Attach this to the card and add an Idea0ology key ring as an embellishment
13. Stamp and add grunge butterfly.
14. Finally turn all three mats into a hanger by threading waxed cotton with beads to embellish.

Told you it was fun :0) If you would rather make a card ... just ignore the chip part and put the three coredinations squares onto a card blank.
See you next week!

Multi photos on one page layouts

I prefer one page layouts. For me, they offer the opportunity to capture the moment and it is rare that I put more than three or four photos on one. But, some layouts just call out for the telling of the story as well as capturing the moment and for that I have found creating a mini album placed on the layout to be the perfect solution.

I cut two 12 inch x 5 inch strips of card stock that coordinated with the layout papers. I scored these every five inches, starting at one end. I overlapped the short ends one front and one back of each other and adhered. I folded forward and backward along the scores to form the mini album. I attached a ribbon under the book and a second across the front to keep the mini closed when not being viewed. I adhered the back into place on the layout after I had placed the pictures inside that helped me tell the story.






I would like you to share with us ways in which you have found work well for placing multiple photos on a one page layout. I will put the name of every person who responds with a suggestion into a hat and have a drawing in one week for a winner who will receive a prize from my personal stash. Please put your ideas in the comments section. Thanks,

Just buzzing by....

with another fun idea using this cute little guy from Stampendous...

This time I stamped him onto cardstock and trimmed away all the other images except just the bee... I then picked a piece of this wonderful Nikki Silvis pattern paper to use as my card front. I cut out a few extra hearts from the remaining scraps and popped them up with some foam tape. I added the stamped sentiment that I also mounted with foam tape... I colored in my little guy with Prismacolor pencils; picking colors that matched the pattern paper...so my this little guy is brown and kind of an orange yellow...



Supplies:
Pattern paper: Nikki Silvis U R My Favorite U R My Fav/U R Love Paper 12 x 12
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Stamp: Stampendous Skippin Bee Cling Rubber Stamp

Happy crafting....Lynda

It's February Kit Time!

I had the pleasure of designing this month's kit at Kit 'n' Kaboodles! I hope you all love it as much as I do. It features paper from Lily Bee's Audrey collection.Also included in this kit:

• Lily Bee Audrey die cut sheet
• Jillibean Soup black alphabeans and journaling sprouts
• Jenni Bowlin Adore bingo card
• 7gypsies mini keys
• Tim Holtz grungepaper
• American Crafts chain and connectors
• Prima flowers
• Stampendous Love Chain Class a' Peel stickers
• Bazzill cardstock in Berlin and Steel Blue

Be sure and check out the kit add ons here. Gerri-anne has posted two beautiful projects with this kit already! Check back often to see what the rest of the design team creates!

Driving Me Banana's!!!!

Are your kids (or co-workers) driving you crazy by planning a Valentine Party? Are you shocked when you see how much those 'adorable' Valentine cards cost at your local discount store? Want to do something unique, fun, creative, and inexpensive instead? Here is a great little treat bag that you can whip up in minutes!



My treat bag is made with a plastic bag that I found in the craft department (box of 250 was about $3) and some candies I found at my local Walmart. If you prefer, you can use the snack size plastic zip top bags. For my treat bag, I chose stamps I found in the stamp set called Changito POP (Creativity Boutique ) and stamped it onto some Artsy-licious paper by Chatter Box. I made my topper a little wider than the plastic bag, and tall enough for my stamp to fit. I stamped the monkey onto a scrap of white cardstock, colored him in, and stuck him onto the topper. To adhere the topper to the plastic bag, I just used my tape runner and stuck it on.

You may be tempted to do lots of embellishing for your bag, but remember that the topper, although adorable, will probably end up in the trash. My recommendation is to keep it really simple.
Children of all ages would love to be surprised by this cute Valentine Treat!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

I love "LOVE" cards. They can be used for anniversaries, just because, or just dropping your hunny a little note. This one uses a hambly transpanency (available at KNK) and the Love Stitches stamps! I added a few little pearls inside the heart. The Love sentiment is a Class a Peel from Stampendous and both the stamps and the Class a peels are available at CreativityBoutique.

Fun Background Friday!

I know that is a weak attempt at a post header ... I promise the post will be better and certainly more fun! You guys must be getting to know me by now ... which means that you know that I adore Tim ... and anything Tim. Am I excited about the new Tim releases for CHA? ... you bet!

Anyway ... just to prove we all need new stash ... we kinda have to prove ... to ourselves at least ... that we use all our old stash ... or is that just me????

So today I am going to share with you a technique that can be used with any ... yes any ... of the 24 fab Timmy distress inks ... which means we can all go buy the 12 new colors as soon as they are released ... a cool plan huh???

Grab yourself some tools and lets have some fun!

1. Ink up your Stampendous stamp with snow cap dabber and stamp a random pattern onto white card. You will need to reload with paint in between each stamp and you will need good light to ensure you don't over lap your images.

2. Dry the paint with your heat tool and make sure you clean your stamp immediately ... you really don't want that paint to dry on your favorite stamp ... believe me!!!

3. Apply your chosen color of distress ink with some cut and dry foam ... all over the card and the stamped pattern ... this will all make sense in a minute.

4. Once you have covered your card ... grab a baby wipe and wipe over the entire card ... this will make the snow cap dabber pop and ... hey presto ... you have a fab and subtle background that will match up with whatever you want! I have used old paper and dusty concord to make these samples.

5. If you want a more vivid background ... try over stamping the image with the original distress color you used ... wipe again with a baby wipe and you get this effect.

This technique really is loads of fun ... and you will always have a matching background whenever you need one ... see you next week guys ... Have a good one!

More January Kit Creations (and a little teaser)

Here is another layout and a card that I created with the January KnK kit! I've been playing around with a lot of border punches as you can tell! I loved the punch out cards and envelopes by Teresa Collins in this kit! All you have to do is score them, use a bit of adhesive, and you have an instant card and coordinating envelope. If you look closely at my layout, you will notice that I actually used one of the envelope die cuts as patterned paper. I just trimmed the edges and rounded the corners!

I also have a secret! I know what is going to be in the February kit! I'll give you a couple of hints...the papers in this kit are from a manufacturer that you haven't seen in one of our kits before. They are a relatively new company, and one of my newest personal favorites! Check out the KnK home page this weekend for the reveal! You won't want to miss it!

Putting a little love on the line

This month I received some of these super cute Nikki Silvis breadless tabs to play with and sat playing with them for a good bit of time before I had this cute idea to put them on a clothes line...

I pulled out some letter rubons from my stash and spelled out LOVE on the tabs... I then stamped this cutie little bee and trimmed him down so it was just him and his basket... I mounted everything onto a piece of Nikki Silvis pattern paper that was matted with Core'dinations cardstock.

I am sure this little cutie will put a smile on someones face for Valentines day!



Supplies:
Pattern paper: Nikki SilvisU R My Favorite U R Pretty/U R My Heart Paper 12 x 12
Nikki Silvis breadless ties
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Stamp: Stampendeous Bee cling rubber stamp

Happy Crafting....Lynda

Flash.... or not?

On the message board we've been talking a little bit about how to take the best photos of your projects. Lighting is key, and I wanted to share an example of how different your layout can look on the computer screen when you use, and don't use, the flash on your camera.

This happens to be one of the rare times that I actually prefer the photo taken without the flash. There are a couple of reasons for this, one being that the heritage photos and vintage-looking papers lend much better to the softness of a photo taken with no flash. The other reason is that the photos themselves are originals and the photo paper used then does not photograph well at all. Even without the flash they look a a little grainy; much more so than they appear in reality.

This next photo was taken with the flash, of course standing back as far as I could and using the zoom. While the flash brightens the colors in the papers nicely, it completely changes the look of some of the embellishments as well as picks up those funny little spots on the photos (that will almost always happen when you are photographing 40-year-old photo paper). Some of the dimension is lost as well. My title is much less defined, and while I did not intend for it to be focal on the layout (hence the red on red -- yes I did that on purpose LOL) I do want people who will be viewing the layout online to be able to read it.In the end it all comes down to personal preference. Just as every project you create is different, how you photograph them will also vary. No matter what you do, some amount of detail will be lost in a photo, but by paying attention and following a few guidelines you can ensure that your readers/viewers will be seeing your beautiful work as you intended it.

How'd She Do That?

Want to give someone a special treat in a fun holder? Today I am going to show you how to make this altered pop-top can, sure to make everyone say "How did she do that?"


Here are the supplies that you will need for this project:
pop top can
safety can opener
patterned paper ( I used chatterbox artsy-licious,In Bloom )
scissors
sticky strip
candy or other filling
scrappy glue (or other strong liquid adhesive)
stamps and ink ( I used Changito Pop from Stampendous)
additional embellishments as desired ( I used red fun flock, Class a'peel stickers, ribbon, and a home-made tag)

1. Open the can from the bottom with a safety can opener. This is the type that leaves smooth edges and removes the entire top/bottom of the can. Drain contents, wash the can and let dry completely.

2.Cut one strip of designer paper to the height of the can. Line it up with the seam, and measure it so you have a piece that will go all the way around the can. Cut to size needed. Adhere sticky strip/red line tape to the top and bottom rim of the can so your patterned paper sticks to the can securely.


3. Trace the lid of the can on another sheet of paper. Trim it to fit the lid, you will need to trim it so that it fits under the tab, too. Once it looks the way you want, adhere it to the lid.





4. Now it is time to fill the can with goodies!Whatever you are going to put inside should be put into a baggie so the glue will not touch it if it drips.
Apply a thin strip of scrappy glue all the way around the outer rim of the bottom that you cut from the can. Press it back on to the can, wiping away any excess glue that drips. Leave can upside down until the glue sets, put some kind of weight on top if needed.

Once the glue has dried and the bottom of the can is securely reattached, you are ready to go on to the next steps.....

5.Here comes the fun part...take out your stamps, embellishments and decorate the can! Have fun.

Here are some views of my finished can.

Tis the Season of "Love"

I am Loving these stamps! And LOVE that they can be used for anniversaries too! Especially when family members have anniversaries this time of year *wink* To create this card I covered the front of the card with black card stock. I then cut a same size piece of red Core'dination card stock and then cut a "window' out of the center. I then used a Cuttlebug embossing plate to add the swiss dots . I added some lace and the Love Stitch stamped images By Stampendous and added a bow. Hope you enjoy! :D

Blog Challenge from Jules

Show me your creative uses for the large dangling gem we received in our January Kits. Because the goody bag will come from my own personal stash, all are eligible to participate. Here is how this will work. You will have ten days to either email a photo of your submission to me or to send me a link where I can view it. The winner will not only receive a goody bag from me but will have his/her winning submission on this blog during my next rotation.

You may email your submission or your link to me at eeickmeier@comcast.net and I can't wait to see what wonderful things you do!

Let the romance begin!

Oh yes ... it is that time of year ... when we crafters start thinking about romance and roses and Valentine's day!  Now if you are not a Valentine's day crafter ... well that is n't a problem either ... just change the text on this card for an Anniversary message or a Happy Birthday for a loved one.

To make this card you need:-

A sheet of heavy weight white card stock

Some black card stock for layering.

Grunge paper

A small manila parcel tag

6 petaled flower ... I used a die

Black Soot; Fired Brick and Aged Mahoghany Distress inks

Stampendous music of love

Stampendous Happy Valentines Day

Tim Holtz's slight alterations stamp set

Clear detail embossing powder

Ribbon and charm from stash!

 

1. Using a blending tool I coloured a piece of 14cmX14cm white card with Fired Brick distress ink. I then stamped around the edges with Tim's alterations stamp. I repeated this step with another piece of white card 9cmX9cm.

2. I spritzed water onto my hand using a Ranger mini mister and dropped splashes on both pieces of card stock which I immediately dried using a paper towel. Both backgrounds were then matted onto black card.

3. I stamped the beautiful music of love stamp using Black soot distress ink onto white card and embossed using clear detail embossing powder ... you can skip the embossing bit ... but I like the added texture. I then used a blending tool to colour one heart with Aged mahoghany distress ink and the other with Black soot.

4. I made the grunge paper rose using Mr Holtz's tutorial and coloured it using Aged Mahoghany distress ink and a spritz of glimmer mists.

5. Finally I put the card together ... adding dimension by curling the hearts with a bone folder ... I then added the stamped manila text tag ... some ribbon and a metal charm to complete the look.

I hope you like the finished card ... if you get chance to make one ... please come back and share the link so we can have a look ... we are a nosy bunch here :0)

See you next week everyone!