Flower Girls, Gnomes and Springtime Lulu...It's Release Day at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!!

Good morning krafty friends and welcome to the release day blog hop at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!! If you've been following along with the sneak peeks this week you will know that March's release consists of some gorgeous flower girls by Annie Rodrigue, a Flower Sentiment Set, two sets of fun gnomes from Emilie Goulet and an adorable new Lulu set by Cheryl Alger!

The hop begins over at the KKS blog where you will find a complete list of all the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests participating in today's hop. As you travel along, make sure to leave comments as a couple of lucky stampers will win packages of some of the new March stamps! So, if you've been following along the hop you will have arrived here after visiting with the lovely and amazingly talented Elaine Hughes!! (I absolutely adore Elaine's work!)

I have two projects to share with you today. The first is a tag featuring one of the three main image stamps from the new Springtime Lulu set. I have also used one of the sentiments included in the set. I have to say that I had a lot of fun playing with a variety of products to create the background on this tag...you should have seen the mess of my table! (and my hands, lol) My first step was to cover a plain white tag with a coat of gesso. I then began to  lay down washes of blue and pink craft paint that had been mixed with a matte medium. Next came some applications of Spun Sugar and Stormy Sky Distress Inks followed by spritzes of water applied with  a Mini Mister. I got back to work with the gesso and craft paint using a paint brush and also a scrap of cardstock to "swipe" colour across the surface. (I think most people would use a palate knife or credit card, but I was too lazy...just grabbed whatever was within reach!) I also experimented with inking up some embossing folders with Stormy Sky Distress Ink and using them to stamp a pattern...not sure you can even see that layer anymore! I also inked up some clear stamps with black ink and stamped a few patterns. Next came more paint, gesso, ink, water and trips to my bathroom to use the hairdryer because I still don't own a heat gun! lol I then added a couple of layers of My Mind's Eye paper that were given the same treatment. (or maybe abuse would be a better term??) I also used an Impression Obsession flourish stamp that was inked with black. (which again, was covered with a few applications of paint and "stuff" to dull down the intensity of the black ink)  So after all that, I figured I need some "glitz". Enter two different colours of Glimmer Mist...went to town with those too. :)  Finally , I adhered my image with the matte medium, a snippet of crocheted trim, a flourish cut with an MFT die, the sentiment and pearls that were created with a Viva Decor pearl pen...these are a fabulous money saver!

Lulu was stamped in Memento Ink on Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copics. The paper-piecing bug hit me again, so I used some of the MME paper to piece her gloves and clothes.

Whew! Still with me??? The next card features one of the stunning new Flower Girls by Annie Rodrigue...meet "Daisy Mae". I have a soft spot for ballerina stamps as my twelve year old daughter has taken ballet since the age of four...she just recently started on pointe work!! So I immediately fell in love with sweet Daisy Mae. :)  I used some beautiful Bo Bunny papers for this card. The medallion behind Daisy Mae was created by cutting two Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendants out of the Bo Bunny paper and adhering them to create a circle. The corner embellishments were created with the Bo Bunny paper and one of the elements from the Spellbinders Parisian Accents Set. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the horizontal paper panel. Usually I ink the edges of my paper, but I felt like doing something a little different. I pulled out some gold craft paint and my matte medium to create a bit of a wash that I loosely applied around the paper edges and over the Spellbinders elements. I also applied a bit of straight gold paint to the edges so that it be a little thicker in some spots. Walnut Stain Distress Ink seldom escapes my inky fingers with cards, and this was no exception. I went over the medallion and corner elements with a bit of the brown ink just to highlight the designs and to antique them a bit.

Daisy Mae was also coloured with Copics. Just the bodice of her costume was paper-pieced as I wasn't sure I could duplicate the tones in the paper. I added some shading to the bodice with my markers. Light washes of gold paint were added to her tutu, bodice, necklace and bracelets. Glamour Dust was applied to the edges of her tutu. I also added a sprinkling of Glamour Dust to the flowers and leaves between her hands. The background was sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink, but I'm thinking I should have applied some other ink as it is still to stark for the colours on the card. She was matted with Spellbinders Lacey Circles and gold paint was once again used around the paper edges.

Skin: E000, E00, E11, RV95, R02  Hair: E50, E31, E33, E37, E59  Tutu: G20, YG00, YG91, YG95, C7  Pointe Shoes: RV42, RV95, R17, R59, E18, V01...ok, so I struggled a bit with the shoes and just kept piling on the inks, lol. Layer after layer after layer...you get the point! They are still not really what I pictured, so this is NOT a colour recipe that I would actually recommend! But I wanted to share that sometimes you have to just experiment. Sometimes your experiments will be successes, and sometimes not. Sometimes you might go through multiple colour combos before you come up with something you're happy with. Just keep practicing...be willing to make mistakes and then learn from them. See what colours work together and what colours do not. Take notes and use that knowledge in future projects. Be encouraged and don't be afraid to experiment with your colours.  :)

All of the new March stamps are now available for purchase at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store!! The Gimmie Kimmie Kits will again be available by artist and at a discounted price, but only for a limited time so act fast if you want one.

It is now my pleasure to send you off to visit with the talented Sharon Caudle...just wait until you see what she has to share with you! Don't forget to leave comments at each blog for your chance to win some of the new stamps!

Thanks for joining us today and I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. :)

Blessings,

Melanie