Who's ready for some new Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps??!!

This Sunday will be another release day at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and as always, Kimmie has put together an amazing selection of stamps! Today we are kicking off the sneak peeks with images by a brand new Krafty Artist!

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is thrilled to introduce a new artist to the mix....her name is Cheryl Alger! You may recognize her name from Sassy Cheryl's where she creates digital art. Cheryl is creating a brand NEW line of images, specifically for Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps! These stamps will ONLY be available at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and ONLY as unmounted rubber stamps! Now here's a bit about Cheryl!

I grew up outside of Staunton, Virginia, but now live in the Richmond, Virginia. I absolutely LOVE to draw and always carry a small sketchbook with me in case inspiration strikes me while I'm out and about.

I have been creating digital art now for about 12 years now and have licensed my work to companies such as Kohl's, Hobby Lobby and Shopko, among others, for over eight years. I started creating digital images about two years ago. It's been a lifelong dream to become a working artist, and besides deadlines, I LOVE everything about what I do! It really helps that I have a very supportive husband and son (they also can be my biggest critics! I have to admit, I LOVE my job!

This is "Little Summer Girl". How fun is she with her little ducky floatie?! I paired her up with some fun bright patterned paper from Echo Park. The "Make a Splash" sentiment on my card is from Kimmie's "Mermaid Sentiments". The little water droplets are Jolee's Stickers...I still had the sticker pack out from the card I made for our current "Krafty" challenge. Lol, how's that for lazy crafting...just grab whatever is already out on your table! :)

Copics: Hair: Y21, Y23, E31, E33, E37, E50, E59 Skin: E000, E00, E11, RV42 Bathing suit: R27, R29, R46, E59, C9 Flippers: Duck Floatie: Y00, Y11, Y17, Y21, Y28, E35, R27, R46, YR00, YR02, YR04, YR07, E08

Please make sure to stop by the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog today for links to all the Krafty Girls who have sneak peeks to share with you. The sneak peeks will continue right through until the release day this Sunday when we'll have a fun blog hop to celebrate!

CANDY ALERT!!!!: Kimmie has decided to give away a whole set of Cheryl's new stamps today! Make sure to leave comments on all the Krafty Girls blogs because one lucky winner will receive the whole set of Cheryl's new stamps and she'll announce the winner in Thursday's post. (visit the challenge blog for links to their blogs!!)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Little Summer Girl" and "Summer Sentiments"
Ink: Memento, Versafine, Copics
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Echo Park
Embellishments: Jolee's Stickers

Surf's Up!

Hello and happy Saturday to you all! The lovely Miss Tracy Cornhill is our hostess this week at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog and her challenge is to use Kraft Paper on your project!

I decided to pull out the ever adorable Surfing Miles for my card this week. To create the little beach scene, I sponged in the sky and used a wave sticker (Jolee's Stickers bought at Walmart). The "sand" was created by crumpling up pieces of Kraft cardstock and then pulling apart the outer layers. This exposes the core of the cardstock which has a bit of a "fuzzy" texture. I crumpled it up a bit more, tore the edges and brushed them various inks to highlight the texture. The fun surfboard paper is from Fancy Pants.


Miles was stamped in Memento ink and coloured with Copics.

Miles: W1, W3, W5, W7, C1, C3, C5 C7 Shorts: BG000, BG10, BG11, BG72, BG75, R17, R27, R29, R59, G7 Surfboard: B91, B93, B95, B97, YR00, YR02, YR04, YR07, E08, YG00, YG11, YG23, YG25, G7

The lucky winner of the Kraft Paper challenge this week will get to choose one image stamp as their prize!! Just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project...you can go shopping at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store. For some inspiration, hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to see what the Krafty Girls have created this week.

OK...now for some Kraftin' Kimmie News Tidbits!! There are several exciting things you will want to know about, so make sure to read thoroughly. :)

1. Did you see the newest items available at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store??? Kimmie is now carrying keychains, magnets and 5x7 prints of some of Krafty Artist Annie Rodrigue's work!!! Make sure to scoop yours up when you place your next order! (I grabbed myself a "Perfect Poison" keychain, and an "Angry Ballerina" keychain for my daughter Ainsleigh. LOVE them!!) You can find them under the "Annie's Artwork" category at the store.



2. Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is celebrating National Scrapbooking Day and Mother's Day by having a big ol' SALE!!! There are over 100 stamps from all of our lines on sale 25-75% off! Yes, you read that right! This sale will run from Friday May 6th-Tuesday May 10th! And some of these images will be retiring shortly, so get them before they are GONE!! (Cannot be combined with other coupons/discounts!)



3. Please join us in welcoming a brand new full-time Krafty Girl to the team...Carole Burrage!!! We are absolutely thrilled to have her joining us. Not only is she an amazingly talented stamper, but a visit to her blog is bound to leave you in stitches with her witty humour. Welcome aboard Carole!! :)



4. And finally, we'd like to welcome our lovely guest designers for the month of May: Kerry Johnson, Taylor Usry and Inge Groot! Can't wait to see what these ladies have up their Krafty sleeves. :)

I will leave you with one final "head's up"...sneak peeks for the May release will being this Wednesday!! So make sure to stop by the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog each day to see who has sneak peeks to share with you...you will love the May stamps!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoy your weekend. :)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Surfing Miles"

Ink: Memento, Copics, Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Walnut Stain)

Paper: Bazzill, Neenah, Fancy Pants
Embellishments: Jolee wave sticker

New Items in the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store (for all the Annie Rodrigue fans!!)

Good morning friends! Just a quick post today to let you know about some exciting new items in the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store! For those of you who just can't get enough of Annie Rodrigue's amazing artwork, Kimmie is now carrying an assortment of 5x7 prints, keychains and magnets featuring several of Annie's original works. (I've already scooped up two keychains...Perfect Poison for myself and Angry Ballerina for my daughter Ainsleigh, and they are fabulous!) Just click on the "Annie's Artwork" tab at the store to check them out. There is even a Special Edition keychain of Rebecca Raspberry created especially for Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!

Oh, and if you've been thinking about ordering the April Gimmie Kimmie Kits, you'd best get your order placed ASAP!! Today is the last day they'll be available...and remember, the stamp collections in the Gimmie Kimmie Kits are always offered at a great discount!

Happy shopping. :)

Blessings,

Melanie

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I certainly hope that's true! We've been getting our fair share of rain this week, but as a result our grass is looking lovely and green and the leaves are opening on the trees. We don't have any spring annuals in our garden though...I keep forgetting to plant bulbs in the fall, lol. However, I had fun pulling out some krafty flowers this week...our lovely hostess for the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps challenge is Andrea Murdock, and she'd like to see FLOWERS on your projects!

My card today features a quote from the Krafty Quotes #2 Set. I cheated a bit, and started with an unadorned patterned card from The Paper Studio...my best friend Amanda gave me a box of these cards. They have many of my favourite earthy colour combinations in gorgeous patterns and textures...all they need is a little embellishing, and they're good to go! I hunted through my, er, collection (aka my "hoard", lol) for some papers that would coordinate, and settled on using this striped paper from Basic Grey (Capella). It was cut out with my Spellbinders Labels 10. I traced around the outside edge of the die and hand cut a tight-mat out of brown cardstock. The crocheted trim is from the dollar store, and the flower are from Prima. Pretty much everything on my card was distressed...the paper edges were roughed up with a pair of scissors and several inks were applied with sponges. Even the flowers failed to escape my Distress Inks. :) I finished it off with a few dollar store pearls.



The Krafty Quote (Set #2) was stamped with Versafine Ink on Wassau cardstock. (When stamping, I separated the Quote to make it fit within the Spellbinders Fancy Tag I planned to use...thanks to my inability to stamp anything straight, this took me a few tries until I got it right. lol) I always keep a stack of this cardstock in my crafty stash...it comes in handy for sentiments, matting, interior of cards and various other uses. In keeping with my colour scheme, the white cardstock needed some extra attention to make it coordinate with the rest of the card. Before cutting it out, I applied Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress Inks with makeup sponges. I then used my Mini-Mister to apply water and dried it with my hair dryer (yes, I know...I need to get a heat tool! lol) I also added some Aspen Mist Chalk Ink, and played around with the ink layers until I was happy. The corners were rounded and the edges were distressed with scissors before adhering it to the brown cardstock cut with Spellbinders Fancy Tags.


If you play along with Andrea's "May Flowers" challenge this week, you could be the lucky winner of the stamp Andrea used on her gorgeous card...just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project to be eligible. For some flowery inspiration, hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to check out the beautiful projects by the Krafty Girls and our Krafty Guests.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to the five lovely ladies who were our Krafty Guests this month...Deborah, Tanjii, Krista, Jenny and Amanda. You ladies did an AMAZING job!! It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside all of you throughout the month of April. :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Krafty Quotes #2"
Ink: Versafine, Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Walnut Stain), Chalk Ink (Aspen Mist)
Paper: Cardbase from The Paper Studio, Basic Grey Capella, Wassau, Bazzill
Embellishments: Prima flowers, crocheted trim, pearls
Tools: Spellbinders Fancy Tags and Labels 10

Clarabelle

Good morning...and happy Easter weekend to all! Are you all ready for another challenge over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog?? Your lovely hostess this weekend is my very good friend Krista Vantol...Krista's colouring is always jaw-dropping gorgeous. :) Her challenge this week is to get "Frilly"!! So break out your lace, ribbon or whatever frilly things you might have in your Krafty arsenal and get stamping!

I still had one fairy left to ink up from this month's new release...this is the very, ahem, cheeky "Clarabelle"! lol I decided to use some pretty DCWV paper from the Once Upon A Time stack. I really love that paper collection! All papers were sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. After cutting out a circle with my Spellbinders, I applied Scor Tape to the back edge and hand gathered some crocheted trim to make it "frilly". This layer was then adhered with pop dots to a layer of cardstock cut with the Spellbinders Lacey Circles. I added some machine stitching and pearls as finishing touches. (The ivory pearls were coloured with my E42 marker to coordinate with the colour scheme.)



Clarabelle was stamped on Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copics. After colouring, I realized the wings were too intense in colour for the papers so I sponged them with Antique Linen Distress Ink to create more of a muted look. Her wings were then given a coat of Stardust Stickles.

Colours: Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20 Hair: E50, E30, E31, E33, E35, E37, E59 Clothes: B91, B93, B95, B97, B99, C9, R30, R32, R35, R37, R59 Wings: RV000, RV02, R35, R37, R59, BG0000, B91, B93, B95, B97, C9

If you play along this week, you could be the lucky winner of the stamp seen on Krista's beautiful card...just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your card to be eligible for the prize. Looking for some inspiration? Just hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to see all the gorgeous "Frilly" projects by the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend. :)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Clarabelle"
Ink: Copics, Memento, Distress Ink
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, DCWV
Embellishments: Pearls, stitching, crocheted trim from Webster's Pages
Tools: Spellbinders

Spring is in the Air!

I sure hope spring stays in the air...we had snow earlier this week in Southwestern Ontario! I do love winter, but I am ready for warmer weather and sunshine to set it. I love hearing the birds out chirping in the trees, and it's so nice to let some fresh air into the house. It's my turn today to share a card at Sundays with Crissy. We have two options for your challenge theme this month..."Spring" or "Baby" themed projects!

For my card today, I used two of Crissy's newest digital images from Whimsy Stamps..."Meadow Background" and "New Chickie". I merged the images together before printing them out on Neenah cardstock. The paper is from October Afternoon.


We'd love to have you play along with us. You can link your project up on Sarah's post from the beginning of the month, HERE. (just look for the Inlinkz button at the end of her post) All rules for entering challenges at Sundays With Crissy can be found in the sidebar of the challenge blog.

(sorry for the short post today folks...we've got company arriving as I'm typing! lol)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Crissy's "New Chickie" and "Meadow Background" from Whimsy Stamps
Ink: Copics
Paper:Neenah, Bazzill, October Afternoon
Embellishments:Ribbon
Tools: Martha Stewart Punch

Kraftin' Kimmie April Release Blog Hop!!

Good morning and welcome to RELEASE DAY at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!! Have you been following along with us for the sneak peeks over the last few days? Kimmie has pulled together yet another fabulous release full of incredible stamps! There is the brand new Krafty Quotes #3, some fun Dress Up Kids from Steven Leary and a set of gorgeous fairies from Annie Rodrigue!

The hop begins over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog where you will find a complete list of the blogs on today's hop. As you hop along, make sure to leave comments on each and every blog, as Kimmie will be drawing some lucky stampers who will win packages of some of the new stamps!

If you've been hopping along in order, you should have arrived here after visiting with the super sweet Angie...her work is always so gorgeous! (if not, just pop on over to the Challenge Blog so that you don't miss any blogs along the way.

For my card today, I have used two of Annie Rodrigue's beautiful new fairies. These two gorgeous gals are "Isabelle" and "Rosabelle". I've had this sheet of pretty KaiserCraft paper in my stash for a while now, and knew it would be perfect for the new fairies. I love the pattern on this paper, so I decided not to cover it up with a fussy layout. I pulled out a bunch of flowers and played around with a few combinations. I have to say that this is probably the most elaborate flower grouping I've ever put on a card, lol. All the flowers are from Prima. I did add some Stardust Stickles to the mini roses and hydrangeas to coordinate with the large glittered rose. The laser-cut corner embellishments are available at Make It Crafty...I just gave them a few coats of white craft paint and topped that off with Smooch Illuminate. The sentiment comes with Isabelle. It was stamped in Versafine Ink, cut out with Spellbinders Fancy Tags, sponged with Milled Lavender Distress Ink and coated with Smooch Illuminate. The fairies' wings were also glammed-up with Stardust Stickles...there is no shortage of shimmer on this card, lol. Finishing touches include machine stitching and dollar store pearls.



Here's a closer look at "Isabelle":



Copics: Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20 Hair: E50, Y21, E30, E31, E33, E37, 59 Dress: BG0000, B91, B93, B95, B97, C9 Wings: YG11, BG0000, RV000

And a close up of "Rosabelle":



Copics: Skin: E000, E00, E11, E21, R20 Hair: E50, E30, E31, E33, E37, E59 Clothes: RV000, V01, V12, V9, BG0000, BG10, BG11, BG72, BG75, C9 Wings: RV000, V12, BG10, BG0000, B60, blender Mushroom: I am not going to list the colours I used on the mushroom because I tend to go by memory when I'm doing up my posts. The pile of markers on the table was immense and I cannot remember all of them, lol. I "dotted" several layers of browns, yellows and greens to develop the depth, and finally went in with C9 to achieve the deepest shadows.

Time for me to send you off to visit with the lovely Jeanne...just wait until you see what she has created for your viewing pleasure!

When you are done hopping, please make sure to visit the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store, because the new stamps are now available for purchase!

Happy hopping...and don't forget to leave those comments for your chance to win some new April stamps!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Isabelle" and coordinating sentiment, "Rosabelle" Ink: Memento, Versafine, Copics, Milled Lavender Distress Ink Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, KaiserCraft Embellishments: Smooch Illuminate, Stardust Stickles, assorted Prima flowers, corner embellishments from Make It Crafty, pearls, Martha Stewart punch, Spellbinders Fancy Tags, machine stitching