Krafty Day 2011 Commemorative Stamp!! (a special limited time online offer!)

KRAFTY DAY is finally  here!!! 

As many of you probably know, Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is putting on a fantastic event today with all the local stampers and scrappers!! Since most of our online friends aren't able to join us, except in spirit, we thought we'd do something special!!

The attendees of Krafty Day will enjoy a lovely KKS tote bag filled with goodies and one of those goodies is a special commemorative stamp, created especially for the event!! It's called "Best Friends"! Well, how would YOU like to get one too?!! Beginning today and running only until Friday, October 21st, each and every order over $75 before shipping and taxes will receive this stamp for FREE!! So pop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store for a little retail therapy. :)


Here's a card I made with the "Best Friends" stamp...and that great sentiment courtesy of The Beatles comes with it. :) 

And the close up:

Please visit the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to see what some of my fellow Krafty Girls have created with the "Best Friends" stamps.

***Krafty Girl Guest Designer Contest***

Did you see the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge post yesterday?? Yesterday marked our 100th KKS Challenge!!! This month also marks Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps' SECOND BIRTHDAY!!! Can you believe it?? So we're doing something special to mark the occasion!

Have you ever wanted to be a Krafty Girl?? Well, here's your chance to show it!! Our challenge for this week is to USE YOUR FAVOURITE KRAFTIN' KIMMIE STAMP! Just make a creation featuring one of your fave KKStamps and link it up on the KKStamps blog. Then, leave a message in the comment section telling us that you're applying for the job! The winner will receive a package of new release stamps and will be joining us for the challenges and krafty peeks for the month of December!! (You can still play along if you're not applying to be a Krafty Girl and we'll have our regular weekly winner.) This guest designer contest will be open until October 31, 2011 so you have lots of time to get inky and submit those Krafty projects! 

Well that's it for me today folks...I'm off to Krafty Day!! 

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Best Friends" and sentiment

Ink: Memento, Copics, Distress Ink

Embellishments: Ribbon

Tools: MFT die

Cherish

Hi friends! Hope you're all having a fantastic week. :)  I have been colouring, cutting and assembling like a mad woman this week! This month is a busy one for my family and so I thought it would be good idea to try and get ahead of the game with my projects.

One of the stamp companies available at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design is the "Emerald Faerie Garden". This stamp is called "Kenz and Tilly"...isn't this image precious? I think it's so tender and sweet. This is my first time ever working with one of these images, and I thoroughly enjoyed colouring it. The gorgeous papers are from the Kaisercraft "Blae and Ivy" 6x6 pad. That pretty scalloped border is also from the Kaisercraft paper pad. It has several "specialty" sheets that include coordinating die cut borders and tags, some of which include sentiments like the little "Cherish" tag on my card. (Susana currently has this paper pad on sale for 15% off!)  The flourishes were created with my Memory Box "Elegant Scrollwork" Die. Oh, and see those cute little dragonflies nestled amongst the swirls? Those are Make It Crafty "Mini Dragonflies" Chipboard available at SCACD...I just coloured them with my G99 Copic marker before adhering them to my card. The paper edges were distressed with my scissors and sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. For finishing touches I added a bit of machine stitching. I also used some pretty crocheted trim and a great vintage brad that were a gifts from my very good friend Krista. :)  (she knows my style, and gave me a wonderful goodie bag of beautiful vintage trinkets and trim a few months ago for my birthday...thanks so much Krista!!)

"Kenz and Tilly" was stamped on Neenah cardstock with Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and coloured with Copics. I wanted everthing about this card to be soft and pretty to reflect the tenderness of this image. This is why I did not want a harsh black outline. As the ink still shows, it's not quite the "no-line" technique that many stampers are using, but it does give a lovely muted effect. I experimented with some different tones in the skin and added some additional shading to the clothing with my Conte crayons. The Conte crayons produce a very soft, almost smokey shading effect. It was applied with a paper blending stump. The image was cut out and matted with Oval Spellbinders. The mat was created by tracing around the outer of edge of the die and cutting it out by hand. The distressing helped conceal the less-than-perfect cut. The background was sponged with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.

Skin: E0000, E000, E00, E02, E11, YR00, RV42, RV95  Hair: E50, E31, E33, E37  Clothing: G20, YG91, YG95, G99, W5, W7, R22, R29, R46, R59, C5, C7, E41, E42, E43, E47, E50

I'm going to be a total enabler. ;)  Here are links to just a few of the great deals and products at SCACD!!

• 25% off all Halloween and Fall 6x6 paper pads...these are a steal folks, but quantities are limited so shop soon to avoid disappointment! 
• 25% off some great Halloween stamps (Teresa Collins and Kraftin' Kimmie)
• NEW Authentique 6x6 pads (Free Bird Series)!!
• Make It Crafty Stamps and Chipboard (Halloween MIC stamps are on sale for 25% off!)

The SCACD store blog is a great place to visit to see what Susana's lovely design team has been busy creating with the fabulous stamps and products available at SCACD. If you have not already signed up as a follower, I encourage you to do so! 

Thank you so much for your visit today. I truly appreciate that you take the time out of your day to pop by my blog to see what I've been up to. :)

Blessings, 

Melanie

Stamps: Emerald Faerie Garden "Kenz and Tilly"
Ink: Memento, Copics, Distress Inks
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Kaisercraft
Embellishments: MIC chipboard, machine stitching, metal brad, crocheted trim
Tools: Spellbinders, Memory Box Die

Trick or Treat Fairy

Good morning! I hope you've all had a fantastic weekend...and I hope my fellow Canadians had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It's always a treat to have an extra day off work to spend relaxing. :) 

The lovely little Halloween fairy on my card today is actually one of the Fall Flora Fairies ("Tulipa") exclusively available at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. I just gave her a bit of a Halloween tweak by pairing her with papers from the Nightfall collection by Memory Box. While these papers are great for Halloween projects, they will also work well with fall-themed projects. They have a wonderful vintage feel to them...and I adore papers with a vintage flair! Actually this paper pad is currently on sale at SCACD for 25% off of Susana's already low prices...but there are only a few left, so if you like them you'd best scoop up yours before they are all gone! The "Trick or Treat" sentiment is from the Teresa Collins "Happy Hallows" acrylic stamp set, which is also on right now. :)  This set also has several fantastic images just perfect for embellishing all your spooky projects...I also used one of the stamps on the inside of my card. The black pearls were all created with a Viva Decor Pearl Pen.

Tulipa's dress was paper-pieced with the Nightfall papers. All the pieces were adhered with my Quickie Glue Pen. Shading was added with Copic makers and Conte crayons. Her wings and shoes were given a bit of sparkle with Stardust Stickles.

Here's a shot of the inside where I used this fun row of pumpkins from the Teresa Collins "Happy Hallows" set.

***SALE ALERT***

Susana is running an amazing sale... all Fall and Halloween style 6x6 paper pads are 25% off!! But stock is limited, so shop quickly before your favourite paper pads are gone. There are also several other items on sale, so make sure to take a good look around SCACD to see what deals you can score on your favourite paper-crafting products. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Blessings, 

Melanie

Stamps: SCACD's "Tulipa" and Teresa Collins Happy Hallows

Paper: Neenah, Bazzil, Memory Box

Ink: Memento, Copics

Embellishments: Stickles, Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Black

Seraphina

Good morning stamping friends!! I trust you all had a wonderful week. :) We've got a fantastic Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge this week courtesy of Krafty Girl Michele Boyer...I am such a fan of Michele's work! Her challenge is "Sparkle and Shine"...who doesn't love to add a little bling to their paper crafting projects?! There are so many fun products out there perfect for making your Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps sparkle and shine. :)

For my card today, I inked up "Seraphina" one of the new angels by Krafty Artist Annie Rodrigue. (she also comes with a halo accessory stamp and the sentiment "Friends are kisses blown to us by angels!")The papers are all from one of my favourite Christmas collections this year My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found Christmas". I used my Spellbinders (Labels 10 and Ovals) to cut a frame out of gold cardstock. As the gold was just a bit too "shiny" for my liking, I sponged it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink to coordinate better with the vintage feel of the MME papers. The decorative ends were cut with an element from the Spellbinders Parisian Accents set. The pretty delicate flourishes are from another newly acquired die, "Fancy Flourishes" from My Favourite Things...a huge thank you to my good friend who recently ordered this for me as she knew it was something I would absolutely LOVE. :) After cutting two flourishes, I just snipped them in a few different places and nestled the pieces around the frame. (I'm ranking this MFT die at the top of my favourite new toys along with another new  die that you may have seen on my blog recently, "Elegant Scrollwork" from Memory Box. Both produce such intricate and elegant embellishments for your paper crafting projects.) For a little extra "sparkle", I added in a few flat backed rhinestones as accents.

Seraphina was stamped on Neenah cardstock with Memento Ink and coloured with Copic markers. After colouring her wings, I covered them with a thin coat of adhesive and sprinkled them with a little Glamour Dust.

Skin: Eooo, Eoo, E11, R20  Hair: E50, E31, E33, E37, E59  Dress: R22, R27, R46, R59, C5, G82  Wings: E40, E41, E43, RV00, R22  (sorry, I forgot to record the colours for the birds.)

I finished off the inside of the card with one of the "Christmas Interior Sentiments"...this is a fantastic set to have for all your holiday crafty projects. These sentiments can just as easily be used on the fronts of cards, tags, wall art, gift card holders, treat bag toppers...so many great possibilities. :)

If you play along with the "Sparkle and Shine" challenge this week, you could be the lucky winner of the stamp Michele used on her gorgeous card this week. (as the stamp Michele used is actually part of the "O Holy Night Nativity Set", the winner will receive the single image stamp of the Holy Family that Michele used and one randomly chosen sentiment from the same set) To be eligible, just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project!

If you have not yet visited the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog, make sure to pop on by to see the gorgeous "Sparkle and Shine" projects made by my fellow Krafty Girls. :)

Krafty Day 2011:  One week to go friends!! If you have not yet registered, please visit the KKS Online Store HERE for all the details! We'd love to spend the day colouring and creating with you. :)  (Oh, and Krafty Artist Annie Rodrigue will also be joining us!!)

Frugal Fridays: Click HERE to check out what stamps on are sale for 40-50% off this weekend! Since it's a long weekend here in Canada, the sale is running until Monday night instead of Sunday. :)

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

(And a very Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: KKS "Seraphina" and "Christmas Interior Sentiments"
Ink: Memento, Copics, Distress Ink
Paper: MME Lost and Found Christmas, Neenah, Bazzill
Embellishments: Glamour Dust, rhinestones
Tools: Spellbinders, MFT die

Calling All Kraftin' Kimmie Fans...Are You Coming To Krafty Day 2011??!!

The excitement is building!! We are less than two weeks away from the BIG day!!! KRAFTY DAY!! Some of the local Krafty Girls were prepping supplies for the make and takes this past weekend. Oh and door prizes and goodies for your tote bags have been arriving...you're going to LOVE them!!

Are you coming??? You don't want to miss the awesome day we have prepared for you! We've also got a few surprises up our sleeves! We keep coming up with cool new ideas that we KNOW you'll enjoy! How about a shot at a Krafty Girl Guest Spot??? Would YOU be interested?? How about winning a project that our own Annie Rodrigue has been working on that day??? How about a raffle with packages of gorgeous cards created by our Krafty Girls, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society?? It's going to be a fantastic day, so get your girlfriends together and make it a Girl's Day Out with Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!!!

Take a look at some of the details for the 2nd Annual Krafty Day with Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!

Sunday, October 16th, 2011 from 9am-9pm Best Western Stoneridge Inn in Lambeth, Ontario


- 12 hours of Krafty Fun!
- lots of kroppin' and kraftin' space!
- exclusive KKS tote bag with stampin' goodies!
- special edition KKS stamp to commemorate the occasion!
- coffee, tea, juice, breakfast pastries and cookies for snack times!
(you will be on your own for lunch/supper,
restaurant on site or bring your own)
- four awesome make and takes featuring KKS!
- meet several of our talented Krafty Girls!
- Draws and Door Prizes!
- Scrappin Great Deals store on site for all your Copic needs!
- and of course, Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps including
our NEW October 2011 release stamps, just for YOU!
$60

**Spaces are LIMITED**
Don't forget about our SPECIAL GUEST!!!! It's the incredible artist behind our signature line of Moonlight Whispers stamps!! You will get to meet ANNIE RODRIGUE!!!! Can you imagine spending the day with Annie, talking to her about her stamps, chatting about her art and perhaps even watching her create???? I can't even tell you how unbelievably excited we are about having Annie join us for Krafty Day!!!

Now if you have already registered, then you're all set!!! But if you haven't registered yet, you're going to want to right away because space is limited! There's less than two weeks to the event, so hurry!! You can register directly on our WEBSITE or locally at the Scrappin' Great Deals store.

We hope to see you there!

Blessings,

Melanie

A Princess and her Horse

Good morning to you all! I hope you've all been having a fantastic week. :)

I've got another card to share with you featuring one of the newest exclusive stamps at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. This is "Princess" by Syliva Zet for SCACD. Sylvia has designed a fantastic collection of stamps perfect for so many different occasions. The papers I used on my card are from the My Mind's Eye "Blink of an Eye" 6x6 pad. The image was matted on layers cut with my Circle and Lacey Circle Spellbinders. A Viva Decor pen was used to make the little pearls around the image. Have you ever gotten your hands a new crafty toy and gone a little overboard with it?? lol  Well, that's kind of what happened here. (blushing, hehe) I was so excited when my most recent order from SCACD arrived on my doorstep, and one of the products I couldn't wait to get my paws on was the Elegant Scrollwork die from Memory Box. This die cuts out the most beautifully delicate scrolls, and I love anything dainty and elegant. :)  So I pulled out my Cuttlebug and got cutting...and cutting...and cutting, lol. Then I used my Cutterbee scissors to cut apart the scrolls so I could tuck in little portions around the Spellbinders Lacey Circle layer....and that's where I got carried away. hehe (I even removed a couple of pieces!) I can say that I LOVE this die, and I plan to add more of the Memory Box dies to my die-cutting arsenal...Susana has a wonderful selection of the Memory Box dies HERE. Just a word of warning though, these recently FLEW off the shelves! Susana has restocked them but if you see one (or several!) that you "need", my advice is to grab them and throw them in your cart quickly!! (there's a snowflake that I have my eyes on right now!!)

"Princess" was stamped on Neenah cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and coloured with Copic markers. How many of you were horse-crazy as children? I was. :)  I loved horses. I collected figurines, I read books about horses (Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley were two favourite authors from my younger years), I bought magazines, hung posters, followed show jumping on tv and my sketchbooks were FULL of horse drawings. This continued through high school...I'm sure my art teacher was sick of all my equine themed projects! I eventually started taking riding lessons and even worked at a barn as a teenager. Unfortunately, my horrible allergies make it hard for me to be around horses...and to be honest, I really don't have the time right now to make them a part of my life. But this stamps is kind of nostalgic for me as one of my favourite "toys" as a very young girl was my rocking horse...well, it was the kind suspended on springs, so I guess it wasn't really a rocking horse. It was my companion on so many adventures that only children can dream up. :)  I even used to pull out buckets of water and sponges to bathe my faithful steed...much to my mother's annoyance, lol. So this stamp brought back some wonderful memories for me.  After colouring with my markers, I added some additional shading with Conte Crayons and a paper blending stump.

Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20  Hair: E50, Y23, E31, E33, E37  Dress: BG70, BG72, BG75, C5  Cape: YR02, YR04, YR07, R05, R46, R59, C5   Horse: W00, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9  Saddle: Y23, E53, E57  Reins:  Rockers:

You can find the entire collection of Slyvia Zet for SCACD stamps at SCACD and at Quixotic Paperie if you reside in the UK.

Make sure to check in at SCACD frequently for all your crafty needs. Susana is always adding fantastic new products to the store.
I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for your visit. :)

PS: This is for one of my readers, Victoria. :)  On my recent post "Veritas", you had asked how I cut out all the small details on my stamped images. First of all, patience is important! lol  Well, that and a very sharp pair of detail scissors...I would be lost without my Cutterbee scissors. I also keep a sharp craft knife on hand. These two tools are sufficient for cutting out most stamped images. However, the new Syliva Zet for SCACD stamps include a lot of beautiful little curly-cues and tendrils that are next to impossible to cut out. (and yes, I did actually try! lol) My solution: I cheated. lol  I stamped the image on my design paper before adhering the the cut out coloured image. That way, I didn't have to worry about fussing with those teeny tiny little details...I just snipped them off. Then, all I had to do was adhere the finished image right over top and voila...all those fabulous little tendrils and details can still be included on your final project. :) (and yes, I did the same thing for today's card!)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: SCACD's "Princess"
Ink: Memento, Copics,
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, MME
Embellishments: Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White
Tools: Spellbinders, Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork die

Paper Piecing at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!

Happy Saturday folks!! Our weekly Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge is brought to us by the lovely and talented Nicole Aspinall...she wants to see Paper Piecing on your projects today!

This is "Gift Wrapping Elf", one of the new September release stamps by Krafty Artist Emilie Goulet. I love the look of pure joy on this cute elf's face! I pulled out some leftover pieces of some of my favourite holiday paper from last year (Bo Bunny) and coloured the image to match. The wrapping paper on the gift box is paper pieced with some of the Bo Bunny paper. (I always add some shading to paper-pieced areas so they do not appear too flat.)  Ok, I need to apologize for the way her hair photographed. :(  Periodically, I'll have issues with some of my markers going a bit tacky and shiny...it frustrates me to no end! I also had to use a different light source as my regular light is on the fritz...this one managed to reflect off the tacky area on one of her pigtails. sigh. On a much happier note, I recently placed an order at SCACD and I have a ton of new crafty goodies to play with. :)  One item I ordered is definitely one of my new favourites...the Elegant Scrollwork Memory Box Die!!! I cannot tell you how much I am in LOVE with the delicate scroll work this die produces. I should warn you that I think you may be seeing a lot of this die on my cards, lol. I am definitely planning to add more of the Memory Box Dies to my crafty arsenal in the near future. I also added a few snowflakes courtesy of a Martha Stewart punch. I used my Quickie Glue Pen to coat the flourishes and snowflakes with adhesive and then generously sprinkled them with Glamour Dust...I adore this fine glitter. The snowflakes were finished off with a rhinestone centre.

Here's a closer look at Gift Wrapping Elf...and her hair photographed a little better in this one thank goodness! She was illustrated by Krafty Artist Emilie Goulet...Emilie's characters are always full of such personality! I sponged around the image with some purple ink I've had kicking around for ages...I think it's called Ancient Pages. She was cut out with my oval Spellbinders.

(Sorry, no colour list today...I coloured this up a couple of weeks ago and completely forgot to record my markers.)

Oh, and I finished off the interior of my card with one of the sentiments from the brand new  "Christmas Interior Sentiment Set"...this is such a great set to have in your holiday stamp collection. Don't let the name fool you though...the sentiments can easily be used as the focal point of the front of your card or for any of your holiday projects. :)  It was stamped in Versafine Ink.

We'd love to have you play along with the Paper-Piecing challenge this week. If you make sure to include at least one Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project, you will be elible to win the stamp Nicole used on her gorgeous card! For more inspiration, please hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog to see what the Krafty Girls have made for the challenge.

***Krafty News***

• Frugal Friday Specials: Click HERE to see the selection of stamps on sale until this Sunday evening. (on sale for 40-50% off!)
• World Card Making Day Sale: From Saturday morning to Monday night, you will be able to take advantage of a HUGE sale!! Over half our inventory will be on sale 25-50% off, including ALL our lines of images! So scoop up some specials for yourself or for a krafty person on your Christmas list!!  
• Gimmie Kimmie Kits: Available HERE but only until Monday night...so grab your's before they disappear!!
• Krafty Day 2011: This is an event you really don't want to miss, especially as we have a very special guest joining us...Krafty Artist Annie Rodrigue!!! Click HERE for full details on this event and for registration. (There is also an event page on Facebook for Krafty Day...check it out HERE to keep up to date on all the great things planned for that day!)
• Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is on Facebook! If you haven't checked out the KKS FB page, just click HERE. (and make sure to "Like" us!! lol) We love to see your KKS projects posted there. It's also a great place to hang out and chat with Kimmie, the Krafty Girls and other KKS fans. :) 

Ok, that's it for me today! I hope you have a fantastic weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. :)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: "Gift Wrapping Elf" and "Christmas Inside Sentiments" from KKS
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Bo Bunny
Ink: Memento, Ancient Pages (?), Copics
Embellishments: Glamour Dust, rhinestones
Tools: Spellbinders Ovals, Memory Box "Fancy Flourish" die