Tuesday, December 18, 2012

O Christmas Tree, SCACD Style!

Good morning crafty friends!!

My favourite "can't live without" crafty tools are dies. I absolutely love them...especially Dies by SCACD. :)  One of the reasons I love them is that they are a great investment well worth the money spent. I also LOVE the intricacy of Dies by SCACD...these exclusive designs are so gorgeous. Another reason I love them is their versatility. With a little creative "out of the box" thinking, you can come up with some unconventional uses for your dies that make them work for so many different occasions.

The evergreen tree on my card was made by using two different Dies by SCACD. The boughs were created with one of the Classic Corner Dies and the trunk was made with the Ornate Door Plate with Knob Die. To construct the tree, I first cut ten Classic Corners out of green cardstock. I then brushed the edges of the die cuts with white acrylic paint and sprinkled Glamour Dust over the wet paint to create a frosted look. Winter is my favourite season, and I love the look of evergreens boughs dusted with freshly fallen snow. :)  I cut one Ornate Door Plate out of brown cardstock and gave it a snowy treatment as well. The tree is basically a pyramid of Classic Corners. I started constructing the tree with four corners across the base and worked my way up the tree decreasing each layer by one to end in one final corner as the tip of the tree. I also painted a little mound of snow on my design paper before adhering the tree. I decided to leave my tree as it would be found in nature, but you could always create a decorated Christmas tree by adding pearls, glittered garland, a miniature star or angel topper and other tiny trinkets for ornaments. So many great possibilities!!



You've still got time to squeeze in a little crafty Christmas shopping at SCACD. Here are just a few suggestions. :)
Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Melanie

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Keeping Cozy at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!

Hi folks! Time for another challenge at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. This week's challenge is brought to us by the amazingly talented Elaine Hughes. Her challenge is "Keep Cozy"...she wants to see projects with a warm theme or colour scheme.

I decided to pull out the Winter Trinkets and make a decorative band for a jar of hot chocolate mix...it's always nice to have gifts like this on hand during the holidays, and the trinkets make it super simple for creating custom gift packaging. I stamped the Winter Trinket on Neenah with Memento Ink, coloured it in with Copics and matted it with Spellbinders Lacey Circles. The flourish was cut with an  MFT die.



We'd love to have you play along with our challenge this week! If you do, you could be the lucky winner of the stamp seen on Elaine's gorgeous project...just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp to be eligible. You can check out the "cozy" projects by the rest of the Krafty Girls over at the KKS Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Melanie

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

SCACD Christmas Tag

Good morning folks!

This is a tag I created using "What Big Eyes" from the Susana Loves Stamps line at SCACD. With Christmas fast approaching, I decided to give this image a bit of a holiday flair. The Inkssentials Tag was first painted with green acrylic paint. The paper is from My Mind's Eye (check out the paper section at SCACD HERE). The flourish was cut with the Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork die. The corners were cut with Classic Corner Dies by SCACD. I pulled out some Maya Road chipboard snowflakes, painted them white and gave them a coat of my absolute favourite glitter Glamour Dust. I also used a few rhinestones for a bit of bling. :)



What Big Eyes was stamped in Memento Ink and coloured with Copics. I decided to give her striped stocking to add to the Christmas flair. I also left a white border on the hood of her cape and covered it with Polar White Flower Soft...love the texture this product gives. :)

Skin: E000, E00, E11, RV42  Hair: E50, E31, E33, E37, E59  Reds: R22, R27, R46, R59, C5, C7  Greens: YG00, G20, G82, G85, G99, C5, C7  Teals: BG70, BG72, BG75, C5  Shoes: C7, 100

Have you made out your crafty wish lists yet?? Why not make shopping easy on your hubby or boyfriend this year and let him know what's on your "must have" list. SCACD is your one-stop shop for all things crafty. Susana's service is always fast and friendly. :)  Here are just a few suggestions for you or for those crafty friends on your lists:

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings, 

Melanie

Sunday, December 9, 2012

"Clementine"...Kraftin' Kimmie Release Day!

Well welcome back!! It’s Krafty RELEASE Day at KRAFTIN' KIMMIE STAMPS!! And we’re celebrating with a hop! 

Over the last few days in our Krafty Peeks, we have shared lots of AMAZING new stamps from all our artists! We’ve got something for everyone!! We've got a sweet new set with the kiddos and their pets from Cheryl Alger........it's BEST FUR-IENDS! We also have an adorable set from Emilie Goulet called PARTY MONSTERS! And of course we have an amazing new set of SIX gorgeous CIRCUS GIRLS from Annie Rodrigue that are simply stunning! OH and don’t forget the exclusive line of sentiment stamps that will coordinate with lots of images but especially our new circus girls.... called CIRCUS TRINKETS by the lovely Nicole Aspi

nall!!!

You will get to see most of the new images today as you sit back and enjoy our DECEMBER Krafty Hop! The complete hop list will be provided below. :) 

For my card today, I have used one of Annie's new circus girls. This sweet little juggler is Clementine. She was cut out with Spellbinders Circles and matted with Spellbinders Lacey Circles. The papers are from Cosmo Cricket "Tea for Two" and the pearls were done with a Viva Decor Pearl Pen. The sentiment comes with another one of our new circus girls  "Godiva", who I used on yesterday's challenge card. 




Clementine was stamped on Neenah in Memento and coloured with Copics. 




Skin: E000, E00, E11, RV42, RV95  Outfit: BG72, BG75, C7, R22, R27, R46, R59, C7 Bike: C1, C3, C5, C7, Y17, Y21, E13, E37  Background: BG70, BG72, BV31, BV23  Ground: W00, W1, W3, W5

BLOG CANDY: As you hop from blog to blog today, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because some lucky stampers will win packages of these incredible stamps from the new release!! And when you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’Kimmie shop, because ALL the new images are NOW available! As always, we have our Gimme Kimmies Kits available for those of you who ‘need it all’!! The stamps are grouped together by artist and are available at a discount, but only for a limited time!!

***ONE LAST THING!!! Our HUGE RETIREMENT SALE is still going on right now at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps with so many stamps up to 75% OFF and some stamps as low as $1.50!! Say what?? Yep!! We need to make room for all the new stamps coming our way in 2013, so we're retiring a lot of stamps!! Keep in mind, once they're gone, they're gone and some have already sold out!!! So scoop up the ones you've had your eye on or pass your wishlist over to a loved one!! What a great way to fill your stocking!!! 
Thanks so much for hopping along with us today!

 Blessings,

 Melanie

Saturday, December 8, 2012

"Godiva": A Kraftin' Kimmie Sneak Peek

 Hi crafty friends!! It's a double your fun kind of day at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps...we've got a brand new challenge and sneak peeks of the brand new ANNIE stamps for December! 

This month we have a unique twist on a common theme...... CIRCUS GIRLS!!! Prepare to be amazed by the greatest show on earth !!!! The Krafty Girls and guests will be introducing you to 

Arielle, Beatrix with her dog Bijou, Clementine, Esmerelda, Godiva and Ruby the Ringmistress!!

Check out all the amazing creations on today's hop in combination with this week's challenge!! The lovely ALICE is our hostess this week and her challenge features a fantastic sketch!! 

I've used the gorgeous Godiva for my card this week. I LOVE her. :) I flipped the sketch and paired her up with some Simple Stories "Fabulous" papers. I also used one of our amazing new Circus Trinkets that will also be released this month. The flourishes were cut with the Elegant Scrollwork Memory Box Die. 




Godiva and the Circus Trinket were stamped out on Neenah cardstock in Memento Ink and coloured with Copics. 


Skin: E000, E00, E11, RV95, RV42  Hair: E50, E31, E33, E37, E59  Dress: BG11, BG15, BG09, R81, R83, R85, R59, C7, Y21  Horse: W00, W1, W3, W5, W7, C1, C3, C5, C7, black conte crayon  

Use the sketch she has provided as inspiration for your card or scrapbook page, and the random winner of this week's challenge will receive the new ARIELLE as featured on Alice's gorgeous creation!! We really hope you are inspired by this week's challenge and share your inky creations...you can check out the gorgeous samples by the rest of Krafty Girls and our lovely Krafty Guests at the KKS Blog!!! We SO enjoy seeing your beautiful designs inspired by our challenges! Here's a peek at the Alice's sketch:



BLOG CANDY: Below you will find all the Krafty Girls and Guests who have goodies to show you today and while you're visiting their blogs, be sure to leave some love at each stop because TWO lucky ladies are each going to WIN a package of today's stamps!!


  Thanks so much for stopping by...hope to see you tomorrow for our release day blog hop when all the new stamps will be available for purchase!

 Blessings,

 Melanie

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Circus Trinkets...a Kraftin' Kimmie Sneak Peek!

Hi krafty friends!! Can you believe it's the end of the year already? It's also time for our DECEMBER 2012 RELEASE at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!!!!! We are kicking off the previews today by introducing you to a beautiful new set of Trinkets!!! We are very excited to share with you our amazing….CIRCUS TRINKETS!!! What a FUN set of awesome new stamps....and I don't suppose it's going to be too hard to figure out what theme one of the artists worked with this month, hunh?? 


These circular sentiment stamps have been created and designed by the totally talented Krafty Girl, Nicole Aspinall!! They are made especially to fit in your 1 3/8ths and 1 ¾ inch punches, for quick and easy cutting!!! This month we are releasing the CIRCUS Trinkets set which includes eight trinkets in each set with four of each size and they come as both positive and negative images, so you can use your black or brown ink with the positive stamps and use your coloured inks with the negative ones!! You will get the set as a completely unmounted full sheet of deeply etched grey rubber.

A lot of the Krafty Girls are cardmakers and we have found these to be such a quick and easy way to add a sentiment to our creations or to use as the focal point on your cards! They are also perfect for your Smashbook pages and your scrapbook pages, not to mention your altered items and tags!! No stamper's stash is complete without them!

For my card today, I decided to combine one of the Circus Trinkets with an image that was released last month. This is Lexi from the Off We Go set. The papers are Basic Grey Picadilly. The Circus Trinket and the image were stamped on Neenah with Memento Ink and coloured with Copic markers. The trinket was matted with Spellbinders Circles and Lacey Circles. The decorative border was created with a Martha Stewart punch and I added some machine stitching to finish it off. 




Skin: E000, E00, E11, RV42  Hair: E50,, E31, E33, E37, E59, YR31  Dress: R32, R85, R89  Bear: E50, E30, E31, E33, E37, E59  Suitcase: B32, B45, B97, C5, C7, G82, G85, YR04, YR07, E08  Circus Trinket: Y21, B45, R35

BLOG CANDY: Make sure to hop around and leave comments for all the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests who are sharing sneak peeks today. You will find the list below. Kimmie will be choosing one lucky stamper who will win the complete set of Circus Trinkets!! Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

 Melanie