How Charming!

Well woo hoo!! It's a long weekend here in Canada, so that means I get Monday off! I'm hoping to get a jump start on some upcoming projects...we'll see how much crafty time I can sneak in!

I would like to begin by saying a huge THANK YOU to all my lovely readers. I can't tell you how much your sweet comments mean to me. Even knowing that you take the time out of your busy day to stop by for a quick visit means so much. I especially want to thank you for all the kind comments you left for my daughter Ainsleigh last week during our Krafty Blog Hop. She was so thrilled! It just touches my heart that you are all willing to encourage a young (and very talented!!) girl to continue on in developing her skills as a card artist. Wish I could give each and every one of you a big hug!! Let me try....(((((YOU!!))))))....hmmm, does that work?? lol

Ok, on to this week's challenge at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!! Your hostess today is the amazing Tara. (If you have never visited her blog, you really should...Tara is so talented and her creativity is sure to inspire!!) Her challenge this week is called "How Charming". Pretty self-explanatory...use a charm (or a few??) on your project this week! I just love seeing pretty charms on cards. I've always had a thing for charms. I used to have a charm necklace. Do you remember those circular charm-holders people used to wear on a chain? Mine was silver and I had several pretty charms...until it broke one day and I lost a bunch. Oh, did I cry! I had collected horse charms, highland dancing charms...so many things that represented important things in my life at that time. Took me a while to get over that loss. My grandmother had a fantastic charm bracelet. When she passed away several years ago, it was given to my daughter. I don't let her wear it for fear that it will meet the same fate as my necklace years ago...not sure I could make it through another loss like that!

Sorry...I get rambling! lol I'm guessing you would rather see a card than hear about my bad luck with jewelry. For Tara's challenge this week I decided to ink up one of my all-time favourite Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps...Charlotte!! She makes me smile every time I see her with her quirky grin and corkscrew curls! LOVE HER!! So I sat here this week trying to think of what to do for Tara's challenge. Despite loving charms, my supply of them is not huge, so my first thought was to go shopping ! lol I resisted though, and told myself that surely I could come up with something out of the supplies I already have. So...I decided to make my own charms!! I used some of the fantastic accessory stamps that Kimmie includes with her main images, coloured them up, added a little Sakura Clear sparkle pen and coated them with Glossy Accents. (I added an extra layer of cardstock to the back of each image for extra stability.) I strung them along this pretty crocheted trim (from the dollar store of course!) to kind of look like a charm bracelet. I couldn't resist quoting the Julie Andrews song "My Favourite Things"....just printed that off on my computer.

A closeup of Miss Charlotte!! Have I mentioned before how much I love this stamp?? lol

On Charlotte's charm bracelet you will find a teacup (comes with Gabrielle), a cupcake (comes with Francesca) and a doll (comes with Charlotte).

Want to see what the rest of the Krafty Girls came up with this week?? I'm telling you, they have amazed me yet again...these ladies are incredibly talented. Head on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to see their work, and let them "CHARM" you (clever, huh?? lol) into making your own project for our weekly challenge! Make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie stamp if you want to be eligible for the prize (you can buy them HERE). You could be the lucky winner of "Eleanor", the stamp Tara used on her gorgeous creation this week.

Have a fantastic Saturday!

Ainsleigh's Highland dancing studio was invited to be guest performers at the local Irish Dancers' recital this evening. The girls have been working on a fantastic group choreography number...can't wait to see it!

Blessings,

Melanie

P.S. Last week, I made a little treat bag holder for the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge and I had a few questions about how I made it. I had hoped to have a short tutorial ready for this week, but unfortunately time got away on me! I will try to get that done this week, and hopefully have it up with next week's post.

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Charlotte" and accessory stamps "Charlotte's Doll", "Francesca's Cupcake" and "Gabriella's Teacup"

Ink: Memento, Copic markers, Distress inks

Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, My Mind's Eye

Embellishments: Hand-made charms, Glossy Accents, dollar store crocheted trim, jewelry spacer, mini brad, ribbon

Tools: Various Spellbinders, jump rings