Quick Quotes

We all remember the gorgeous papers from Quick Quotes in the June kit, right? I was fortunate enough to get my hands on another one of their new lines, "Tessa's Fairytale", and I just love it! Beautiful color combinations and striking patterns made it hard to choose which of the papers to use for this layout, and since the photos themselves have hardly any color, I figured out a way to use all of the papers! Some cute die-cuts from the same line made the title super easy, with some help from Pink Paislee weathered wood chipboard alphas.
In making the starburst pattern for the layout, I ended up with a lot of little scraps, so I made a card inspired by the same pattern with the leftovers.I added a couple more die-cuts and ended up with a cute little "hugs 'n kisses" card which I'll probably give to my honey today :)

Don't forget about our sunshine-inspired challenge going on through the fourth!! You can see the details of that challenge on my last post (on the 22nd). Have a great day :)

Summer Sun & A Mid-Month Challenge

It's finally summer! Is it just me, or is it easier to create a summer-themed project when the sun is shining and it's warm outside? (This may not be relevant for all of you, but us Pacific North-Westerners are finally seeing some temps above 60 degrees LOL.) I used up what was left of my KNK June kit to create this layout, and finally felt inspired to use some of those popscicles that came with it....I was due for a good good glitter mess, so I cut my popscicle sticks into various lengths, put a layer of Glossy Accents on them, then dumped Doodlebug Sugar (Bumblebee) over that. I also mixed a little chunky orange loose glitter for a more textured look. The resulting sun-accent for my page worked really well with some photos of one of our trips to the coast. This would also be a great way to simulate sand on a project.

Finally, with a few leftovers, I made this Encouragement card. Inside reads "You'll feel better!" with plenty of white space for a hand-written sentiment.
Are you ready for the challenge? I know we are slightly past mid-month, but this is an easy one (and I will give you a few extra days, too)! Create your own summer sun accent. You can use anything as long as it is hand-created by you. How do you make sunshine on a page? Link a photo of your own creation in a comment to this post by July 4th, and there's a RAK up for grabs :) Keep in mind you don't have to create a whole layout or other project, just the sun embellishment. Happy scrapping!

more Popscicle please :)

Sometimes all it takes is one product to get that scrappy-ball rolling (so to speak). This orange paper is the "B" side to one of the BoBunny "Popscicle" papers, and to be honest, not my favorite of the lot. At least, not until I received these super-cool chipboard circles! The circle-theme fell together very nicely after I paired the two products together, and even inspired me to really go outside my square-shaped photo box and trim my photos into something other than squares (something I almost never do!). I ended up loving the paper, and really liking the end-result of this fun layout. I just love these little coordinating flowers and buttons, don't you? Often it's the little details, such as tied buttons, or a little hand-stitching, or even a little accenting with glitter-glue, that can take your layout beyond the ordinary. With this layout, I've officially used up nearly every scrap of "Popscicle" I own! It's such a versatile and eye-catching line of products. You can find all these beautiful BoBunny products HERE. :)

You can also check out the June kit at KNK right HERE!! The colors in this kit are absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait to share what I've been working on with it!!

BoBunny Summer

BoBunny never fails to deliver amazing summer lines, and "Popscicle" is one of my all-time favorites!! The entire line can be found in KNK's June Add-on's..... at a discounted price, no less. It doesn't get any better than that! Here's a couple of fun summer layouts using "Popscicle"....

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember, we also have a May Scraplift Challenge in progress.... it's not too late to play along! Check out the details HERE!

a little Pink Paislee

I created this layout using the Pink Paislee 365 Degrees collection available at KNK. I used Glimmer Mist to change the color of the Color Me Flowers from Petaloo. Have I mentioned how much I love these!!??!! Th green gingham "ribbon" at the top of the page is actually the background from the ribbon packaging. The card below is also made from the same Pink Paislee line. The Color Me flower here was covered with Smooch Spritz. I love that the smooch provided a very rich true color!

Going Bald

I created this layout using KnK May Kit and Amy's Sketch Challenge. It has been a while since I used a sketch. I forgot how much fun they can be! I enjoyed doing this page because it documented a proud moment. I was a little shocked to say the least when my hubby came home one night and said guess what I am doing......I am going to get my head shaved!!!!!?????? WHAT???????????!!!!???? Then he told me what the cause was for...St. Baldrick's...People pledge money for him to get his head shaved and that money goes to help fight kids cancer! OK I guess I can handle him being bald for a short time ;) . He was quite brave when he got it shaved...especially when they handed the clippers to his youngest daughter.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring

I was so lucky to create a Happy Easter/Spring Card kit for Creativity Boutique. Even luckier that the kit is already sold out! But I wanted to share a picture or two of the cards I made. Roz, Linda and Lynda have all made kits! CHECK THEM OUT! They are gorgeous!!!! If you missed my kit, don't worry I am told there may be another one soon! besides you still have 3 awesome card kits to choose from! and I have a KnK kit coming out soon!!! I also wanted to share one of my KnK Aril Kit creations.

Thanks for rescuing me!

I am having so much fun playing with the Dragon Tower set from Stampendous! The possibilities seem endless! I made this thank you card using this set and the Princess Stamp. I used my copics to color in the images. I added some glitter to the princess because every princess needs a little glitter ;). Be sure to check out these stamps!

I also wanted to share one of my layouts with the April KnK kit! I just love Prima papers!!!!!!!!!! and I can't get enough of those COLOR ME CRAZY flowers that were in March kit! The ones on this layout were sprayed with glimmer mist!

Loving these Petaloo Flowers

Love these flowrs that are in KnK's March kit! The new Color Me Crazy Flowers from Petaloo! Love love love that you can ink them, stamp on them, glimmer them....so much fun!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget to play in our BLOG HOP ...see the post below for all the info!!!!!! and cropper you have until Tuesday to complete all your challenges for the Crop! Forgot to mention....Watch for some exciting news from the Creativity Boutique Team!!!!

So You

I really loved this picture of Meagan from last spring. We were in the middle of a graduation day photo shoot and she decided to start making faces at the tree. Silly girl! I used the February Kit from KNK for this layout! I think this may be the first time I ever used grey as a background. I really like it! I used the Smooch to color in the stamped butterfly. Don't forget to try my challenge from last week.

I Challenge you

Jules and I were talking the other day about how many tools we have that we just don't use enough. So we thought we needed to issue a challenge. Surely we can't be the only 2 people out there that under-use their tools *wink*. SO My challenge to you is to use your border punches. I mean really use them. Pick one of them and use it to make 3 cards. I pushed it a little farther and tried to make 3 different occassion cards. I used my February Kit from KNK for these!

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. *****

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.

Birthday wishes

I was excited to see these pre-cut card and envelopes in KnK's January Kit. Just fold the envelopes and fold the cards and embellish as you like! For this Card set I used the envelope "as is" without any further embellishing. For the card I added some paper scraps from the kit. (Some of the papers in the kit have "b" sides that are solid bright bold colors.) I finally opened my bottle of scrappy glue to attach the clear dew drops. I admit having a second or 2 of fear when the glue was white under those clear dew drops. But never fear it dried crystal clear! Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it SNow

Anyone who knows me knows I love snow! The first snowfall I usually jump up and down like a fool. But I think as I get older I would like to clarify when I like snow....
1. When I or anyone in my family DO NOT have to drive in it.
2. When we either just get enough to cover the ground and make thing look pretty OR we get so much that everything shuts down!!!!
3. Not when the snowfall is followed by an Arctic blast and windchills are below zero and you can't even go outside to make a snowman!

Well my love of snow made it extra easy to love KNK December kit!!!!!! I have shared two of my creations here. If you hurry I think there may be one or two kits left :D

Happy Tuesday!

I made this card using KnK's December kit and the Let it snow is from this Stampendous Set. I used a chipboard snowflake and covered it in purple glitter.
ANd Fluffles who doesn't love Fluffles! I was in a flocking mood so I used my glue pen to add glue to just small sections at a time and then added the flock one color at a time. I then used my colored pencils. I love how mischievious Fluffles looks here!

Don't forget you still have a little time to get in on our Blog Hop.

We three Kings

I have wanted this Wisemen stamp since I saw it in the CHA catalog . (Yep I actually went thru the entire catalog and highlighted stamps I needed! For this card I used I stamped on the Graphic 45 paper and cut out the images. One of my favorite things about KnK and Creativity Boutique, besides the shopping---which I have seem to do alot of ;) , is that I am on both Design Teams. So I get double the fun! I made this wall hanging using KnK's December Kit. The colors are absolutely gorgeous!!!!! The letters here are painteed and then sprinkled with glitter. For another project I did use the marshmellow glimmer mist and yummy!

Don't forget Deb and I are co-hosting some sketch challenges at KNK's messageboard! Be Sure to check them out!

Happy Saturday!!!!!

Don't Forget to join us today on the messageboard for our Fall Fling Online Crop!!!!!!!!! Lots of Prizes, Lots of Scrapping, Lots of Stamping, Lots of Fun!!!!

I'm Nuts about You

This month I got to play with the Birch Buddies set from Stampendous! To create this card I used papers from KNK's November kit. I added some flock to the squirrels. My daughter who has an obsession with squirrels has already claimed this card :D

Take a look at this lovely 2 pager

Amy made this lovely 2 page layout using KnK's November Kit!! DOn't you just love the colors in this kit?