A Warm Welcome, and a Little Popcorn Too!!

Good morning sunshine!! How's your Monday morning going so far?? I'm still trying to recover after a busy weekend! Ainsleigh had a highland dancing performance at the County Ceilidh on Saturday...it was lots of fun, with some great Celtic bands and lots of dancing throughout the evening. My son Nathan helped the teens lead our worship music at church on Sunday...he played electric guitar. Did a little gardening, a little work from home, caught up on housework...not much time to rest! This week is busy too as we are gearing up for Ainsleigh's ballet recital this weekend and Scottish Night tomorrow evening. Whew!! After next weekend, I should have some time to breathe!

Now I do have a card to show you today if you stick with me to the end of this post, but let's take care of some Town Scrapper news first!

• Phebe is currently running a sale at The Town Scrapper until the end of June: buy one stamp, get the second of equal or lesser value for 50% off!! Also, she has in stock Distress Inks and the new microfine glitter...buy 5 and get your 6th for free! You'll find all her contact info on her blog here.
• Sadly, we are saying goodbye to a few members of our team. Leah, Kylie and Kim S. have all contributed so much to our team, and we want to thank them for all their hard work. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. God Bless!
• On a happier note, we are welcoming four new Scrapettes!! Robin and Danielle are our new blog managers, and our two new senior Scrapettes are Dawn and Donna!! We're so glad you are joining us ladies, and we look forward to seeing your work!!
• Don't forget to stop by for our Showcase Monday to see what some of the Scrapettes have made with some of the fantastic product lines Phebe carries!

Ok...as promised, here's a card featuring Popcorn the Bear. My inlaws "hired" me to make a card for a birthday party they were going to. They needed something with a more masculine flair, and I immediately thought of a particular Popcorn the Bear set. Lucky for me, my pal Amy carries Popcorn sets at her store Paper Romance!! Make sure to hop on over to Paper Romance and check out all the great products and stamps Amy carries!!



I stamped Popcorn on Neenah cardstock and coloured him with Copic markers. This is actually a Father's Day stamp set, but as you can see it works well for other occasions too! I went for a very simple layout, and just matted the the main image with cardstock. This striped paper is from KaiserCraft. The sentiment was requested by my inlaws.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! My blogging time may be a bit limited this week, but I will be back for sure on Friday with two posts...one for The Town Scrapper and one for Wags 'n Whiskers. You'll also want to check in on Saturday for Kraftin' Kimmie's weekly challenge and Sunday marks a new challenge at Sundays With Crissy!!

LOL...I'm thinking that with all our family activities and stamping projects for this week, I just may look like sweet Popcorn when it's all done! I'll definitely need a cuppa tea to wind down!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Popcorn The Bear Father's Day set
Ink: Memento, Copic markers
Paper: Neenah, KaiserCraft, Bazzill

Roughin' It Kraftin' Kimmie Style

Good morning!! I hope your weekend is shaping up to be fantastic! Are you ready for another Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge? This week our hostess is my friend and current Krafty guest designer Krista VanTol!! Krista is asking us to "Rough It Up" this week...add some distressing to your project!

Thought I'd pull out one of our bathing beauties again...you remember Florence?? I think she just looks fab in her big sunglasses. Ok, confession time...I paper-pieced AGAIN! I'm sorry that I keep using the same technique...but these swimsuits just cry out for fun and funky patterns, and this pretty Doodlebug paper was perfect! How about if I promise that I will not paper-piece any image next week?? lol The inspiration for this card actually came from my daughter and Junior Krafty Girl Ainlseigh! She made a fantastic beach scene card for our May release blog hop...you can see it on this post. To create the sand, I just tore some brown cardstock, and then sponged some darker brown ink along the rough edge. Now, Ainsleigh had used a fantastic wave sticker for the water in her card, but I decided to create mine with more torn cardstock and added some white ink to accent the waves. The sentiment is part of "Beachy Sentiments". I love Kimmie's sentiment sets...they are such an incredible value! As a finishing touch, I added this cute little flip flop charm that I picked up from Walmart last year.






Looking for more inspiration?? Well get on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the Krafty Girls have made this week! If you play along with us this week, you could win "Perfect Poison"as seen on Krista's fabulous card. Remember though, you must use a Kraftin' Kimmie image to be eligible for the prize!! Click HERE to go to Kimmie's online store!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Florence" and "Beachy Sentiments"
Ink: Memento, Copic markers
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Doodlebug
Embellishments: American Crafts Ribbon, charm from Walmart, Sakura clear Star Dust

A Town Scrapper Sketch Challenge!!

(This is my second post for today! For the weekly Wags 'n Whiskers Challenge, just scroll down or click here!)

Time for a brand new challenge over at The Town Scrapper. This week we have a fun sketch for you to follow designed by our very own talented Scrapette Maria! I really enjoyed playing with this sketch, and plan to pull it out again sometime...great job Maria! For my card today, I've used Hockey Sophie, one of The Town Scrapper's exclusive Victoria Case stamps. The smaller design paper panels were created with the accessory stamps that come with Hockey Sophie and Hockey Evan.




Sophie was stamped on Neenah cardstock and coloured up with my Copic markers.




You should see what the rest of the Scrapettes came up with...these ladies are so talented!! Hop on over to The Town Scrapper blog for some inspiration! If you participate in our sketch challenge this week, you could be the lucky winner of a fantastic prize from The Town Scrapper in beautiful Petrolia, Ontario. Phebe's contact information is on her blog here. Not only does she carry this exclusive Victoria Case line, but she also has so many other fantastic product lines including stamps, paper, flower, inks...you're bound to find tons of stamping goodies!!

Have a wonderful Friday, and I hope to see you back tomorrow!!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Exclusive Victoria Case stamp for The Town Scrapper "Hockey Sophie" plus accessory stamps
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill
Ink: Memento, Copics

Faith

(This is one of two posts today! For the Town Scrapper challenge, just scroll up or click here!)

Good morning stampers! I need to apologize, as I had promised you all a card with Popcorn the Bear yesterday. I had some things come up, and unfortunately didn't have a chance to get my post up. Sooo, I'll plan to show him to you next week if you all don't mind coming back...pretty please?? :)

Are you ready for another challenge over at Wags 'n Whiskers?? This week, it was my privilege to choose the challenge...how about Handcrafted Embellishments?? I would love to see you incorporate at least one hand-made element on your project this week!

I decided to ink up "Say a Prayer" this week. Oh my goodness, I absolutely love this beautiful image! Once again I paper-pieced the outfit...I've been on a big paper-piecing kick lately, so I hope you'll bear with me while I get it out of my system! lol I added some additional shading to the dress after stamping it and cutting it out. That frilly purple flower is my hand-made embellishment...it's made from coffee filters! I saw a similar flower over on my pal and cardmaker extraordinaire Andrea Murdock's blog recently, and I was so impressed...Andrea's looked absolutely amazing! So I fired off an email to her and she was kind enough to send me this link to a fabulous tutorial. Thanks Andrea!! That gorgeous crocheted trim is from Lacey's store Stamp and Create. That charm has been in my stash for quite a while, just waiting for the perfect stamped image...think I picked it up at Michaels. Add a couple of Prima roses and dollar store pearls and voila! You know, I think this is one of my favourite colour combos...this KaiserCraft paper is gorgeous!! (think I'd better go grab a few more sheets!)

I used some great Daisy Buckets paper for her dress...it has fantastic texture!





Time to hop on over to the Wags 'n Whiskers blog to see what the rest of DT has made...get ready for some gorgeous creations! If you participate in our challenge this week, you will have the chance to win a fabulous stamp!! (Just make sure to use a Wags 'n Whiskers image on your project! You can buy them here.)

Have a fantastic Friday, and I'll see you back here tomorrow!!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Wags 'n Whiskers "Say a Prayer"
Ink: Memento, Copics
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Daisy Buckets, KaiserCraft
Embellishments: Crocheted trim, ribbon, charm from Michaels, Prima flowers, hand-made coffee filter flower, KaiserCraft brad, dollar store pearls, machine stitching, jump rings
Tools: Spellbinders scalloped circles (smallest), Bow Easy

A DT Call and A Special RAK

Hi folks! Hope your week is going smoothly. I don't have a card to show you today, but thought I'd update you on a couple of items that just may pique your interest. (It's a bit of a long post with lots of details to read, so please grab a coffee or tea and get comfy!!)

1. One of my DT sisters at Sunday's With Crissy has a very special request that I hope you will consider participating in. Lisa has shared with us that her sister Jayme has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Lisa would really like us to help put a smile on Jayme's face by sending her cards, especially with frog images as Jayme really loves frogs! Now, she is asking that these cards NOT be get-well cards...something pretty or humorous to help brighten Jayme's day would be perfect!! Lisa has a detailed post on her blog HERE with instructions...she's also got some lovely blog candy up for grabs as a thank you for participation in this RAK. Crissy Armstrong has also designed a brand new image just for Jayme.

This adorable new frog image called "Beach Baby Jayme" is available FOR FREE at Whimsy Stamps...you can download it HERE. I've always felt that handmade cards are a beautiful ministry...the time and love you put into your cards can mean so much to the recipient. Won't you please help us send some smiles along to Jayme? (I'll post mine on my blog here as soon as I'm done!)

2. The Town Scrapper is having a DT call!!! This is a fantastic store in beautiful Petrolia, Ontario. Here are the details:

We are a growing Canadian stamp company carrying many popular stamp lines, (including Magnolia, CC Designs, Magnolia, My Favorite Things, Motivet, Whiff of Joy, Wags 'n Whiskers, CC Designs, The Greeting Farm, Kraftin' Kimmie, Hanna, Scrapmagasinet) along with our very own line of rubber stamps, illustrated by Victoria Case, and a challenge blog! We are looking for Senior Design Team members, who have a passion for paper crafts, and rubber stamps! Your coloring of stamped images should be your strength - whether it's with Copics, watercolor, or any other medium. Previous Design Team experience is not necessary, but would be an asset. We welcome international applicants. You should have an active blog (post at least 3 times per week).

We will be taking submissions starting immediately, until all positions are filled (so, the sooner you apply, the better your chances!). We are currently expanding our design team. So, if you are ready to become a part of a growing stamping and paper crafts company, we want to hear from you!

As a senior member of our Design Team, you will be asked to:

• Create 4 projects a month (using stamps carried by The Town Scrapper), by participating in weekly blog challenges, and provide high-quality digital images of these projects to our Blog Managers. You may be asked to work with digital images.


• Mail two of your cards/month to Phebe at the Town Scrapper, in Petrolia, Ontario,
  Canada


• Contribute a minimum of one (papercraft) tutorial (with photos and detailed
  instructions) during your six month term, and one "tip or trick" per month


• Participate in Blog Hops, to promote release of new stamps, approximately every
  2-3 months.


• On a weekly basis, help promote/advertise The Town Scrapper on your personal blog
  and to any message boards where appropriate.


• Provide quality scans/photographs of all projects as well as posting any related
  tips/tricks


• Have an active blog presence on your own personal blog (posts at least 3 times
  per week)


• Commit to a 6-month term beginning immediately

To apply, please send the following information to Kim, Design Team Co-Ordinator at: love_10s@hotmail.com

--Link to your online gallery and blog
--Provide full contact information - name, phone number, email address, and location
--Submit a short paragraph or two of why you want to be one of our designers
--List your current DT/designer/site commitment(s)

As a Senior Design Team member for The Town Scrapper, you will receive:

 25% discount off the regular price of anything purchased from The Town Scrapper
 50% off one item per month
 One free rubber stamp per month
 The experience of working with one of the best stamp companies in the world! ;)
We look forward to seeing your beautiful creations. Good luck!!

Whew!! Did you make it all the way to the end of this post?! So sorry I didn't have any projects to share today, but if you have a bit of time to spare over the next few days, I have several posts planned! Tomorrow I'm hoping to share a card I made with a Popcorn the Bear image, Friday is a double post day with challenges for The Town Scrapper and Wags 'n Whiskers and Saturday is always Kraftin' Kimmie day here on my blog! I also hope to be posting my card for dear Jayme very soon!

Have a blessed day friends!

Melanie

Layer it Up at Sundays With Crissy!!

Good afternoon stampers! I hope your weekend has been peaceful and relaxing. It's time for another new challenge at Sundays With Crissy!! Crissy posts a new challenge every two weeks and has a fantastic prize give away for a lucky participant at the end of every month. Remember that to be eligible, you MUST use one of Crissy Armstrong's digital images. Want to know what Crissy is giving away this month?? It's one of my all-time favourite Spellbinders sets...Fancy Tags!! If you do not already have any of Crissy's digital images, you can buy them here

• Squigglefly
• Whimsy
• Wags 'n Whiskers

Ok, the challenge for the next two weeks is "Layers"!! I chose to work with the digital stamp "Thinking of You" available at Wags 'n Whiskers. I though it would be fun to do something other than a card this week. This little wooden box from the dollar store is just the perfect size to hold a small journal and some mini glitter gel pens (also dollar store finds)...just perfect for a little girl to record some of her thoughts and dreams! How many of you kept diaries as kids? I guess some of us still do, although "journal" sounds a bit more grown up! All the design paper on this project is from K&Company. I cut several layers of paper with various Spellbinders and then pop-dotted the image for some added dimension. I also added some layered Prima flowers.

After printing "Thinking of You" on Neenah, I coloured it with my Copic markers. I also printed off just a portion of the image on K&Company paper so I could paper piece her shirt. I love how this technique allows the clothing to be patterned! After gluing the piece in place, I added some shading with my Copics so that it would not look too flat. Thought I'd try my hand at shading over my Copics with some pencil crayons blended out with OMS...I only did this on her pants. I have a limited supply of Prismas, but I really love the soft blending some artists achieve with them. The little kitty was shaded further with some Conte crayons and a blending stump.

Here's a peek inside the box. I also included a little pocket inside to hold some stickers, or perhaps even some stamps for sending off letters to a loved one. My daughter has already called dibs on this! I was hoping to stash it away so that I could surprise her with it, but she spied it while my hubby was photographing it. Actually, she probably would have seen it anyway...do you know what she told me she did the other day?? She "googled" me at school to show her friends that I'm on the Internet!! lol Apparently the kids were all looking in on my blog! Guess I should give a shout out to all Ainsleigh's friends....HI KIDS!!

You will be absolutely blown away by what the rest of Crissy's Crew has created this week! Have I mentioned how blessed I feel to be a part of this talented design team?? Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and hop on over to Sundays With Crissy to see their lovely projects.

Remember, you have two full weeks to complete a layered project for our challenge. When your project is complete, make sure to link it up to Sundays With Crissy so that your name will be in this month's prize draw...just make sure to use one of Crissy's many digital images!

Have a blessed Sunday,

Melanie

Digital Stamp: "Thinking of You" by Crissy Armstrong available at Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps

Ink: Copic markers, Distress Inks

Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, K&Company

Embellishments: Prima flowers, dollar store trim and pearls, American Crafts ribbon (for pens)

Tools: Spellbinders

Extras: Journal and pens from the dollar store

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