A Kraftin' Kimmie Recipe Challenge!

Hello to all my lovely crafty friends! I hope you have all had a wonderful week. Last weekend, my husband and I enjoyed a little weekend getaway to Stratford, Ontario. We had the opportunity to take in the musical "Camelot" at the Festival Theatre...it was fantastic! We also enjoyed strolling along the streets, visiting various little shops and spending an hour out on the Avon river feeding the swans and ducks from a paddle boat. It was wonderful, and we are hoping to return to Stratford again soon.

We have another fun challenge today over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog. The very talented Miss Tracy Cornhill is our hostess today...she's come up with a great Recipe Challenge: 1 Flower, 1 Ribbon and 1 Piece of Chipboard. So pull out those embellishment bins and let's get Krafty!

This week, I was in need of a special birthday card for my best friend Amanda. Our birthdays are only five days apart, so we always find a fun way to celebrate together. We are going to head to London tomorrow to go for lunch and enjoy a little shopping, during which she will get to use part of the gift I gave her...a Sephora gift card. :) Amanda is an esthetician, so I thought Sephora might be right up her alley!

As I sat and thought about which Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp to use for Amanda's card, I realized there was one stamp PERFECT for a Sephora gift card..."Samantha"! I mean seriously, could you get any more glamorous??!! Perfectly styled hair, lipstick and a compact...and a cute little figure that I dream of having one day! lol This stamp was made for all those ladies who love a little glamour in their lives. (and we all deserve that from time to time!) The papers are Bo Bunny Gabrielle, the edges of which were lightly distressed and sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. To follow Tracy's recipe I used a glittery Prima rose, a bit of ribbon from my bin and a piece of Make It Crafty Laser Cut Chipboard. I love this chipboard...but unfortunately I didn't position it very well, as most of it is hidden under the flower. I treated it with a coat of white craft paint and then sponged it with Oasis Green Chalk Ink , Aspen Mist Chalk Ink and Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I added some pearls even though they were not part of Tracy's recipe...my card was just looking a little too bare.

Samantha was stamped on Make It Colourful blending card  with Memento Ink and coloured with Copic markers. (I'm experimenting with a few different papers for colouring...a lovely friend sent me a couple of sheets to play around with.) I also tried out a new technique that the lovely and phenomenally talented Zoe has been inspiring everybody to try over on the Make It Crafty group on Facebook...using a pale ink to stamp your image to eliminate the harsh black outlines. I had actually tried this out with some grey ink a month or so ago, but the results were NOT fantastic. lol The image promptly made it into my scrap bin...the grey ink had too much of a green undertone. I just went back to using my black ink...until I saw Zoe and the other talented ladies over on the facebook group posting some gorgeous images without black lines! Well, me being too impatient to wait for my local store to be open to get a new inkpad, decided to give it another whirl with the only other pale Copic-compatible inkpad I had...Memento Summer Sky. Ok, so it's probably not the best ink colour to use for this technique, but it's not horrible either...you just need to build up your shading enough to conceal the blue lines. I'm planning to pick up a couple of other ink colours being recommended by the gals on the group as their results have been beautiful. Anyways, this is a fantastic technique to really work on your shading skills! You see, when you remove those harsh black lines you MUST rely on your highlights and shadows to define the edges of your images. The same rules of course apply...begin by identifying your light source so you know where the shadows will fall. Then just go to town with your choice of colouring medium! I absolutely love the effect...I find it to be quite a sophisticated look, almost like a painting. I remember my  high school art teacher discouraging us from using harsh outlines...unless of course, we were actually working on a cartoon or comic book type piece. He wanted us to create the dimension in our sketches and paintings by developing our skills in shading. He was such a fantastic teacher, and I always looked forward to his classes. Here's a closer look...to be honest, I needed to develop the depth on her clothes a bit more. I did use my Copic multiliner on her lashline. After all, a gal needs a good coat of mascara when she's getting ready to hit the town! Her lower lash line was just defined with E11.

Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20 Hair: E50, Y23, E31, E33, E37, E59 Clothes: BG10, BG11, BG72, BG75, C5, C7 Compact: C1, C3, C5, C7

Hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to see what the rest of the Krafty Girls have created for the recipe challenge...if you participate and use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp, you could be the lucky winner of the stamp Tracy used on her card this week!

Have you seen the big make-over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store and Blog??!! Kimmie has been hard at work creating a gorgeous new look...you are going to love the changes!! The store is now even easier to navigate, and so much fun to visit! While you are taking a peek around, check out the Frugal Fridays sales this week....you'll find them HERE.

Have a wonderful week friends! Oh, and in case you're interested the sneak peeks begin next week for the August release!! (you are going to LOVE the new stamps, so stay tuned!)

Blessings,

Melanie


Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Samantha"
Ink: Memento Summer Sky, Chalk Inks, Distress Ink and Copics
Paper: Bo Bunny Gabrielle, Neenah, Bazzill
Embellishments: Prima flower, ribbon, pearls, Make it Crafty chipboard