Holiday Vacation!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Was Santa good to you this year? I have been having a very nice time with my family. Since it this week was Christmas and next week is New Years Jen and I decided to post our FFF next Friday instead of today. Neither of us got a chance to work on our cards yet.

So everyone have a wonderful New Years and I will see you in 2009! I hope you stop by I have some new ideas in store for the new year. Do you have any "New Years resolutions"?

Happy Crafting and I hope you have a safe and happy New Year!
Kimmy

Get well soon

Jen's challenge this week is make a Get Well card. I guess with winter being here I should have a few on hand. I bought a few really cute stamps on our DC trip that are going to work so well for this week. I hope you stop by to see what we come up with.

Have you made any Get Well cards? How about any new challenges you would like to see? We are always looking for new ideas. Anyone want to join in with us feel free. How is your Christmas planning going? Are you all done shopping?

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Snowed in...

Well, we are snowed in here in Michigan! Not really but we sure did get a ton of snow. We have a few 2 and 3 foot drifts in our drive. YUCK! I finally got around to getting a picture of this weeks card - still no camera so it's by cell phone camera (sorry for the poor quality of picture.)

This week's fun-filled Friday challenge was no stamping! Here is what I came up with.



To make this card I started with the tree rub on. I put it on the red card stock and cut it out. Next I layered that on black card stock. Then I put a rub on border on red. And put my layered image on this piece. Then I added the glittery sentiment to a black piece of card stock. The sentiment was also a rub on. Then I glued my layered image above the sentiment and trimmed it so that there was a small border of black around my image. Then I glued the whole piece to my A2 card base. Next I added little gems that came with one of my rub on packages. This card was super quick - which was perfect with all of the holiday running around I had to do. Of course to make alot of these would be costly with all the rub-ons.

Supplies: K & Co Rub ons, Archivers Card stock.

Don't forget to stop by and see Jen's card for this week.

Happy Crafting
Kimmy

No stamping allowed!

Well, it's my turn to give the FFF challenge. I decided to try something really difficult for us NO STAMPING! This should be tricky for two girls that love stamping. We cannot use any stamps anywhere on our project. I think this is really out of the norm for us. Make sure you stop by Friday to see what we come up with.

Have you made any "non-stamping" projects? I would love to see what you came up with. Any big holiday plans this week? Do you have any new challenge ideas you would like to see?

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Winter Wonderland!

***Here is last weeks post (finally) sorry for the delay****

This week was to make a "winter" themed card. I decided to use one of my Riley stamps. And I got this new snow-like glitter that I was itching to use. Since I am at my parents and it snowed here, I was in a "snowy" mood. I also was a little limited on supplies because I could only bring so much with me to Minnesota. So here is Riley:



To make this card I started by stamping my image with black ink and colored it in with Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol. Then I added flakes of snow from Martha Stewart's Winter Snows Glitter Pack. They look like little flakes! I love them! Anyways then I set that aside to dry. I then ran a piece of light blue card stock through my Cuttlebug using my Snow Dots embossing folder. I then layered my embossed card stock on a greenish-blue card stock and glued that to my darker blue A2 card base. I then added some glitter to the embossed snowflakes (I don't have any sentiments at my mom's so I thought I'd add some glitter). Once all my snowflakes and glitter were dry I took my image and layered it on darker blue, then light blue, then greenish-blue card stock. Then I glued my layered image to the upper center of my card.

Supplies :

• stamp - Carrying tree Riley by Hanna Stamps
• card stock - Bazzill
• miscellaneous - Cuttlebug and Snow Dots embossing folder, Martha Stewart snow and glitter, Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, ATG gun.

So what do you think? Did I get carried away with the snow? Hope you enjoyed this card. I also would love to see what you have been making. I have some big plans for my blog in the new year! I hope you like the changes. Let me know if there is anything you would like to see.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Santa Riley is coming to town!

As you probably know this weeks challenge was Santa Claus. I decided to use my Santa Riley. I used a simple layout this week and no embellishments - what was I thinking?? So here he is Santa Riley going down the chimney:


To make this card I stamped my image with black ink and colored it in with Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol. Then I added different types of glitter from Martha Stewart's Winter Snows glitter pack. I used one kind for the beard, another for the hat trim, a third for the flakes of snow falling, and a fourth for the snow around the base. (I also managed to make my table look quite festive with all this glitter). Then I set that aside to dry. I then ran red and green cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the Argyle embossing folder. Then I cut a 1 1/2" strip of the green and glued it to the red - I tried to line up the patterns. I then glued that pice to a 4"x51/4" piece of black cardstock. Next, I glued the layered pieces on my green A2 card base. I then took my dry Riley and layered him on black. Then I glued my layered image on the left side of the card. Next I stamped my "merry Christmas" sentiment on green and cut it out and glued it so it slightly overlapped my image.

Supplies:

• stamps - Santa Chimney Riley by Hanna Stamps, Merry Christmas by Hampton Arts.
• card stock - The Paper Company
• miscellaneous - Cuttlebug and Argyle embossing folder, Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, Martha Stewart glittler and snow, ATG gun, black VersaFine ink
  

So, what do you think? I am becoming very addicted to the Martha Stewart glitter and snow set. I want to use it on everything.

I must admit I bought Christmas cards to send out to friends and family - except a few of my stamping friends. I would not feel right giving my close stamping friends store bought cards. Thank goodness I don't have tons of close stamping friends! A couple years ago I made all of our cards and it was close to 100 in a month - it wore me out! I might use this one for a few of my friends. I hope they like Riley!

Merry Christmas and Happy Stamping,
Kimmy

FFF posting under construction

Ok I still don't have a camera. So I am trying to take decent pictures for this week and last weeks via cell phone and upload them to the computer. This is a little trickier than I thought. Sorry for the delays - Good news is we should be getting a NEW CAMERA soon.

Stay Tuned!
Kimmy

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Since Christmas is right around the corner (slight heart palpitations) Jen decided to challenge me to make Santa cards this week. How fun! I have a few Santa stamps I have never actually made a card with so maybe I'll dust those off and see what I can come up with.

Hope you decide to play along! Do you have any fun Santa memories? Or Christmas memories you would like to share? I have somewhere a super cute picture of my sister and I sitting on Santa's lap. I have the silliest face. She is 6 years older than me but we always sat on Santa's lap together. We even went a couple times when we were older. I wonder if I could get her to go this year and surprise my mom with a picture. ha ha ha...

I don't know if you are a Tim Holtz fan, but he has been showing some great techniques I can't wait to try on his blog. He is doing a 12 days of Christmas tags series and giving away goodies every day! If I get daring, maybe I'll finally put some of these techniques to work for this week. (Big IF).

Make sure you stop by Friday to see what we came up with. And as always feel free to play along.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Ever have one of those days???

Sometimes things just don't seem to go my way. Ever have one of those days? That is exactly how today is. I got home from work this morning (I work midnights) and slept for a few hours them woke up and started finishing up my fun filled Friday card. It's a pretty cute card. So after that was all done I set it up for pictures. I went to grab my camera, not there! So I tore my house apart looking every where for this camera. Finally it hits me! (hand slaps forehead) I borrowed it to my girlfriend who took her nieces to Chicago for Thanksgiving. She doesn't have a camera and I really thought she should get some pictures. So I will see her Sunday and hopefully she will bring it to work. Sorry no post until then. Wow I feel like a real basket case this week! Now I think I will work on some of my Christmas cards - sorry I can't share them with you yet:)

Happy crafting and hope you have a productive day!
Kimmy

Fun filled Friday delay

I am very sorry but today's post is being delayed. We stayed an extra day at my folks and I had to work last night so I haven't had a chance to finish my card. After I nap for a bit I promise to finish it up and get it posted!

Stay tuned and thanks for understanding

Winter bbbrrrrr!

I can't believe it's December already! Geesh where has the year gone? Since it's my week to give the challenge I decided something with a Winter theme. So something dealing with snow, cold, ice, snowmen whatever.

So how are you doing with you holiday shopping? I usually end up finishing up at the last minute, even though I tell myself every year I am gonig to get it done early. Thankfully I don't have as many gifts to buy this year.

Happy Crafting,

Kimmy

House Mouse fun filled friday

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was very nice to be with my parents this year. I even got my card for today made up. I decided not to do any Black Friday shopping today. I just didn't see anything I really NEEDED. Of course there were many things I wanted, but not bad enough to get up that early and wait in line in the Minnesota cold. I might run up to JoAnn's in a bit to use my coupons and see if there's anything left.

On with Fun Filled Friday post. This week Jen challenged me to use House Mouse stamps. I decided which stamp I wanted to use before we left to visit my parents so I stamped a few images (in case I messed up), I even had a background paper all picked out, but as you will see I didn't go that route. Here is the cute little guy I decided to use:

This was a pretty simple card to make. I stamped the image on plain white card stock and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol. Then I cut out the image and layered it on blue card stock. Next I ran some really light blue (almost white) card stock through my Cuttlebug and used light green chalk to try and make it pop a bit. (that is really hard to see in the scan). Then I cut the Cuttlebugged paper into 3 pieces 1 1/4" x 3". I layered each one on the darker blue card stock. Next I glued all of the Cuttlebugged pieces to a piece of the lighter blue card stock and cut that out. Then I glued the whole piece to the center of my A2 size card base. i finally added my layered image and that was it. Don't forget to peek at Jen's card for today.

Supplies:

• Stamp - House Mouse Morning Kick Start #HMIR1014
• Card Stock - Bazzill
• Miscellaneous - Cuttlebug and swirls embossing folder, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, ATG gun

I stamped "Warmest Wishes" on the inside. I thought he could really help "warm" someone up this winter.

So did anyone venture out to the stores this morning? I would love to hear what you bought and what fabulous deals you got! If I make anything else while I am at my parents I'll be sure to post and share with you. Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

House Mouse anyone?

Jen's turn for our fff challenge. This week she is challenging me to put my House Mouse stamps to use. These little mice are so cute! I love how fuzzy they look, and they have the most adorable faces. I think I know exactly what stamp I am going to use. I'm thinking something to warm us up.

Do you have any House Mouse stamps? I would love to see what you have made with them. Do you have a favorite stamp or mouse? If so which one?

Happy Crafting,

Kimmy

Sympathy Swap

I got back into swapping over at the Shack. Since it's always difficult for me to come up with sympathy cards I joined a Sympathy card swap to challenge myself and to get some ideas from the cards I get back.


Boy did I struggle with this one. I never know if flowers are too cheery, or the colors I pick not somber enough. I finally just sat down and forced myself to start. I was pretty happy with what I came up with, BUT I don't know if they fit for a sympathy card. Here is what I came up with: (If the layout looks familiar, that's because it is. After I made these I used this layout to create my Riley card last Friday.)


To make this card I started with my image. I stamped it on plain white card stock using black ink. I colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and used a colorless blender pencil to shade - I have only tried this a couple times before and was very happy with the outcome. Then I used my Marvy Uchida Giga scallop oval punch to cut out the image. I then used red ink to ink the edges. Next I cut two small slits at the bottom of the flowers and threaded black ribbon through and tied it in a knot. Next I cut a piece of red card stock to 2 1/2" x 5 3/8". Next I used my Martha Stewart Lattice border punch on both of the longer sides. Then I cut a puce of black card stock to 4 1/8" x 5 3/8". I then glued my red strip to the lower portion of the black card stock. I then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp my sentiment along the red strip. Next I used my border punch again to punch both of the upper corners of the black card stock. Then I added 3 red brads above the red strip of card stock. I then glued that to my red A2 size card base. Finally I added my image to the left portion of the card.

Supplies:

• Stamps - image by Inky Antics; sentiment by All Night Media
• Card stock by DCWV (Die Cuts With a View)
• Inks - black VersaFine; red Colorbox Cat's Eye ink
• Embellishments - brads by JoAnn Craft Essentials; ribbon by Offray; punches - Martha Stewart Lattice Border punch; Marvy Uchida Giga Scallop Oval punch
• Miscellaneous - Prismacolor pencils and colorless blender pencil

So does it fit the occasion? I really liked my coloring and layout, but I am not sure how I feel about it as a sympathy card. I would really like some feedback on what you think, or if you have any sympathy cards to share.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Happy Thanksgiving

Another week has gone by and I am starting to get a bit stressed about the holidays. I swear they really snuck up on me this year. At least I have 1 Thanksgiving card done - thanks to this weeks challenge. Make sure you stop by and see Jen's card for this weeks challenge. I got a few Riley stamps and FINALLY got them mounted on my cling mount so I was very anxious to use them. Here is what I came up with



I started by stamping my Riley image on plain white card stock using black ink. Then I colored it with my Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol. I then used my Marvy Uchida Mega scallop circle punch and punched him out. Then I inked the edges of the scallop with brown ink. Next I punched out the Giga scallop circle in orange and inked those edges in brown too. I then centered my image on the giga circle. I then took some brownish red card stock and cut it to 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" and used my Martha Stewart Lattice border punch along the bottom and the top corners. Next, I wrapped a piece of brown 7/8" ribbon around the center of the card stock. I then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up my "happy thanksgiving" sentiment and stamped that in the lower right corner using the brown ink. Next I added 3 orange brads above the sentiment. Then I glued my layered image to the left side of card. I then took my orange A2 card base and inked the edges in brown. Finally I added my card front to the A2 card base.

Supplies :

• Stamps - Turkey Riley by Hanna Stamps; sentiment by Stampabilities (ER1068)

• Embellishments - brads by unknown (sorry I don't remember where I got them); ribbon by Wrights 7/8" brown

• Ink - VersaFine black; Memories art print brown

Here is a close up of my coloring :

I really had fun with this image. I can't wait to start using the rest of my Riley's.

Well, how is your Holiday planning going? I haven't started my shopping yet, but thank goodness I don't have a ton to buy. I am very excited we are going to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. It will be a short trip, but I can't wait. It's funny I have never been out of Michigan for a holiday before. My parents have spend every Thanksgiving alone since they moved so I am very happy to be able to spend the day with them.

I am hoping to get some crafting done in the next few days so I can have some blog posts for you next week. Did you make any Thanksgiving cards this year? If so I would love to see them. Leave me a link to your creation. Any challenge suggestions for me? I could use some! I love hearing from you.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

My NEW TOY!!!

I am so excited this past Thurs my DH surprised me with an iPod Touch. The whole thing started a few months ago when I decided I wanted an mp3 player or something for music when I work out. Then I got to talking with one of my girlfriends (who is a marathoner) about how Nike and iPod have these shoes that will calculate your speed and distance and download it to your iPod. So I started looking at iPods. I don't think I will get the Nike's though. Then my DH started looking and decided the touch has wifi and a bunch of other stuff so if I'm gonna do it might as well do it right. He is a bit of a tech geek so he really researched it. I almost got the iPhone, but the extra $30 a month right now on our phone bill would be tight.

Anyways I was so excited with it I haven't been able to put it down. Since we have wireless Internet at home I have been constantly on the Internet on my iPod. I stayed up until 5:30 in the morning playing away.

Any other iPod users out there? Got any favorite aps you would like to share with me? How about any tips? I got a power inverter so I didn't have to use just my computer to re-charge it - anything else I'll "have to have"? I love that it has Facebook! (I'm hooked on that too)

Happy iPodding
Kimmy

Blog candy winner for October!

Well, I just realized I never announced a winner for October's blog candy. So without further ado

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Traci G!!!!

Here is here card. I loved the colors she used and how the whole card turned out. Traci is also a member on the Shack. I got to meet Traci at Shackapalooza this past April and am looking very forward to seeing her next year! Thanks for playing along Traci!

Well, Jen and I have been debating whether or not to continue with FFF after the new year. Let me know what you think? I am sure we would still challenge each other, but just might not make any deadlines or anything. Do you have any suggestions? Anything you might like to see on my blog monthly/weekly/daily? Let me know .... my New Year's resolution is to become a regular blog poster instead of my current posting. I know I can do it! ha ha ha

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Kimmy

Happy Thanksgiving

Since next Thursday is Thanksgiving I decided our them for the week should be just that - Thanksgiving. I know it might be a little tight to mail to someone, but lets see what we come up with. Maybe I should have made a "black Friday" themed! If you aren't familiar with it black Friday is, it's the day after Thanksgiving with all the huge sales. I know they are really big here.

When I was a child, I used to love Thanksgiving because everyone would come over to our house and my parents would cook for all of us. It was everyone from my mom's side of the family. Oh the memories of sitting at the Kiddie table. My dad's stuffing is my favorite - I could eat just that. YUM! Since my parents moved out of state Thanksgiving hasn't been the same. Actually, not much has been the same, but this year we are going to visit them for Thanksgiving and I am very excited - so are they.

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Do you have any family traditions you always look forward to? What's your favorite dish? Do you partake in any of the Black Friday shopping?

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Crafting,

Kimmy

Tea for friends!

I joined a swap over at the Shack where we swap tea bag so we can try different flavors of tea. We had to either add some tea related stamped images or somehow decorate up our tea bags. Here is what I came up with:


I got the idea from Splitcoaststampers. I don't have an actual link to the template but I found it by searching for Tea bag holders. I (amazingly) remembered what the measurements were so I didn't have to look it up again. My mind isn't always the greatest:)

I started by cutting card stock to 4.5" x 9.75". Then I used my Score-Pal to score it at 3.25", and 6.5" on the longer side (obviously). Next I measured 1" from the bottom of the 4.5" side on the far right. Then I cut from the 6.5" score line to the 1" mark. This created an angled edge on the paper. I then glued that angled edge along the bottom and 1" side and folded it in toward the score line. Next I folded my other score. This gave me a little pocket card. (hope that makes sense) Next I stamped my image and colored it in with Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol. Then I used a square punch to cut out all my colored images. (we have to send in 14 for the swap). Then I inked the edges of the image with blue chalk ink. Then layered the image on pink card stock then again in green just using a photo corner punch on the upper right and lower left corners. Then I punched blue scallop square using my Marvy Uchida Giga punch and centered my layered image on that. I then cut a piece of pattern paper 4.125" x 3.125" and inked the edges of that with a pink or green chalk ink. I then glued the pattern paper to the center of the 3.25" x 4.5" card base. Then I stamped the sentiment (using my Stamp-a-ma-jig) to the lower portion of the pattern paper. I then added my layered image above the sentiment. Finally, I put my Vanilla Caramel tea bag inside the pocket.


Here is what the card looks like open. Hope the girls in the swap enjoy the card and the tea:)

Supplies: stamps - image A Muse Artstamps "cup and saucer", sentiment - Stampabilities "warmest wishes"; card stock - Bazzill; pattern paper - K & Co.; ink - VersaFine black, Colorbox chalk inks pink, green, blue; Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol; Marvy Uchida Giga scallop square punch; tea - Bigelow Vanilla Caramel.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! And Happy Crafting!
Kimmy

Kreativ Blogger Award

I am very honored to receive this award from my friend Jen. As you know we have been friends for a while and give each other challenges every week.

Here are the rules:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to their blogs

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

So here are the 5 blogs I've nominated, in no particular order:

Chrissy's Creative Spot
(for being a faithful follower of my blog and always trying to play along with FFF)

Forgetfulone
(also for being a faithful follower of my blog and playing along with FFF)

Sunflowers and Dragonflies
(for being a very good friend and always inspiring me with amazing work and new techniques)

Running on Ink
(for her awesome artsy work - I wish I could create like this)

Creative Diversions
(for always having something stunning and elegant to post)

Thanks for being "Kreativ" bloggers and keeping me inspired!

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Happy Fall!

Sorry for my delay in today's post. It's been a little crazy in the Kowalik house today. A ton of running around to do. I don't know why it seems like everything gets crammed into 1 day. On with my card for today! As you may know the challenge this week was a fall/harvest card. Here is what I came up with :


To make this card I stamped my image on plain white card stock with black in and colored it in using my Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol. Then I used the scallop Nesties to cut out the image and layered it with a copper card stock then again with brown. Next I stamped my sentiment "May the blessing of the the season fill your heart and your home" on the gold card stock and layered that on brown. Next I stamped 3 leaves on different colors of card stock and cut each one out. Then I cut a piece of leaf pattern paper 5.25" x 5.25". I then glued the pattern paper to the center of my 5.5" x 5.5" card base. Next I glued my layered image to the upper left of the card, and the sentiment to the lower left. Finally I added my leaves to the right side.

Supplies : stamp - House Mouse, paper - DCWV, card stock - Bazzill, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Nesties, Marvy Uchida corner rounder.

Here is a close up of my image. I think he turned out so cute!

I again want to apologize for my delay. I hate when things get overly hectic. I do want to share with everyone that my DH surprised me with an iPod touch yesterday! I was so excited. I played with it all night. I knew I was getting one, but I didn't think until Christmas.

Stay tuned I plan on having another post this evening since I got a blog award!

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Fall.......

Jen gave me this weeks theme and it's a favorite of hers fall themed! I know she LOVES fall and leaves. She has already made a few really cute fall/leave cards so I can't wait to see this one. I also enjoy fall. I think it's the way the leaves change colors and the air gets a bit crisp. The smell of fall is wonderful too! Ahhh.... I don't like spring just as much for the way the flowers start to bloom and smell and everything gets green. I enjoy the first few snow of winter, but then it gets old, and summer sometimes gets TOO HOT for me.

Do you have a favorite time of year? If so why? Hope you Fall lovers decide to play along with this challenge. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Happy Crafting,

Kimmy

Thank you for your service.

Happy Fun-Filled Friday! I must start off this week by saying WOW! What a time we all live in. I will admit I voted for McCain this election after much debating, but I feel very honored to have Obama as our President Elect. What an amazing election this was. There was so much emotion from both parties and both McCain's and Obama's speeches were very moving. I now hope we can move our nation in a better direction. I know being in the state of Michigan things are pretty rough here financially. Jobs being lost all the time, homes going into foreclosure, and people not knowing how to get out of this slump. I am ready for a new year full of new opportunities.

Ok off the political rant and on with the cards:)
This week I challenged Jen to make a card for Veteran's Day. I guess it was kind of fitting with the election too. Here is what I came up with:



To make this card I started with my image. I stamped it on plain white card stock with black ink and colored it with my Prismacolor markers. Then I cut the image out and layered it on red and then blue card stock. I then layered that on white Bazzill Bling card stock leaving the lower portion longer than the rest. Then I wrapped red and blue ribbon around the bottom of the white card stock. Next I cut a piece of red card stock to 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" and layered my layered image on the red card stock centered at the top. I then stamped the sentiment to the lower part of the red card stock. Finally I glued the whole card front to my 5"x7" card base.

Stamps : image - Serendipity Stamps, sentiment - All Night Media, Card stock : Bazzill, and Bazzill Bling, Ribbon : Offray, Misc : Prismacolor Markers.


This card was put to good use. My husband and I left it at the grave site of a friend of ours. We put it in a plastic baggie so hopefully it would last a little longer. It meant alot to my husband to use it for this purpose once he saw it. It was a very special moment for me.

Well I have to thank Blogger for having scheduled posting. This week I had to work a few extra days since I was off last week and with out being able to schedule posts I probably would not have gotten this one added! Don't forget to check out Jen's card.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be working so have fun for me!

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Let's thank a vet!

Since this Friday is Veteran's day I figured our challenge should be to make a card to say thank you to a Vet. Maybe I'll make a couple and send them to a few Veterans. This should be a fun challenge, I have a couple ideas with military style designs.

Do you have any Vets in your family? A card is such a nice way to say thank you - don't you think? We also send packages to troops overseas around Christmas to thank them and show our support for all they do. Do you do anything for the military?

Make sure you check back Friday to see our card!

Happy Crafting,

Kimmy

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!!

We got back from visiting my parents late last night. I am glad to be home after the looong drive, but I always hate leaving my Dad and Mom. I always feel kind of spoiled when I visit, since mom always has my favorite foods and treats:) I am finally rested and ready to get back to normal - well not really.

Since I didn't get to post my Fun Filled Friday Halloween creation earlier here it is:



To make this card I started with 2 pieces of pattern paper. I cut them to make a diamond pattern. Then I layered that on black card stock. I then glued that on to a 6x6 card base. Next I stamped the sentiment on orange card stock, and layered that on black. Then I glued a piece of ribbon along the bottom portion of the card and glued my layered sentiment on the center of the ribbon. Finally I added stickles to the pattern paper for some bling!

Supplies : paper by Heidi Grace, stamp by DRS Designs, ribbon by Retail Inc, card stock by Bazzill, stickles.

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween! I am being lazy and feel kind of bad I didn't have time to get candy to pass out to the kiddies. Oh well, there's always next year! How did you celebrate Halloween this year?

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Halloween Spooktacular!

Any guesses on this weeks FFF challenge? I’ll give you two clues it’s October 31, and BOO! You guessed it HALLOWEEN! Let’s see what spooky creations we can make. Hmmm.... Maybe I can make something "candy" related? Guess you will have to wait to see what I come up with.

So do you celebrate Halloween? It used to be one of my favorite holidays because you got to dress up and be anything you wanted for 1 day! Plus who can complain about free candy? Did you ever have a favorite costume? I think mine was when I dressed up as a harim girl. I loved that costume it was purple (which was my favorite color even back when I was a kid). Of course in Michigan we usually had to wear many layers under our costumes since Halloween is usually pretty chilly.

Check back Friday for some “spooktacular” cards. I can't wait to see your creations. Don't forget about my monthly blog candy.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Miss You!

It's Friday! I am very excited today I am heading to visit my parents - I haven't seen them in 3 months! Also it's Fun-Filled Friday so hope you are ready to see my Lemon Juice technique put to use. I want to warn you this card is very "simple" for two reasons. 1 - I wanted to showcase the lemon juice technique (which probably could have been a bit darker), and 2 - I packed up a lot of my supplies to take on my trip. Well, here's what I came up with.



To make this card I first stamped the image in black ink on plain white card stock. Then I colored the image in with my Prismacolor pencils and blended them with Gamsol. Next I cut the image and inked the edges in brown. Then I layered it on cream card stock then again on brown card stock. Next I cut a piece of cream card stock to 4"x5 1/4" and applied lemon juice by dipping my finger in it and rubbing it on the paper. Next I used my heat gun to dry the juice which turned it brown. (I didn't use much since I wasn't familiar with the technique yet so next time I would put a little more lemon juice). Next I inked the edges of the cream card stock in brown. Then I glued the cream card stock to the center of a brown A2 card base. I then cut 3 different ribbons, folded them in half and added them to the right side of the layered image to make tabs. Then I glued the image on the card in the upper left corner. Finally I stamped my sentiment in brown on the lower right corner of the card. Here is a close up of my image.



Supplies : Stamps - SU!, sentiment - Image Tree; Paper - Prismatics; Ribbon - Portfolia, Bobbie M. Designs; ink - Tim Holtz distressing ink, Memories art print brown, VersaFine black; Prismacolor pencils, gamsol.

What do you think? I don't know if I will be able to post much this week since I am going to be out of town, but I promise I am going to get some crafting done to share with you when I get back. Have you tried the lemon juice technique? Remember I am giving away monthly blog candy so if you did give this challenge a try remember to post a link to your design in the comments. Here is the link to information on my blog candy.

Well, hope you have a wonderful weekend and get lots of crafting done!

Happy Crafting!
Kimmy

Cards for Troops!

For WCMD Gina K decided to collect cards for the troops. I am donating 50! For every card you send in you get and entry to win a prize from Gina K. Here are the details on her blog. What an honor to be a part of such a thoughtful donation. I thought I would share this with everyone so here is a picture of the different designs I am sending in:


I sure hope the family members of the troops enjoy everyone's cards. I am dropping my box filled with cards at the Post Office today. What a great way to start the week:)

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Lemon juice Technique

I know lemons have a lot of uses. I put lemon in my water or tea. I also love putting the lemon rinds in my garbage disposal - it makes my whole kitchen smell so good. But this week lemons are taking on paper crafting! For our Fun-Filled Friday challenge Jen and I are going to try out the lemon juice technique - here is a tutorial from the Stamp Shack. Looks pretty easy huh? I guess I have to go get some lemons:)

Well, this morning we are heading over to my sister in laws. Her hubby is making us breakfast and we are going to look over their wedding pictures and watch their wedding DVD. Since my DH and I work midnights we decided a breakfast would work out much better than dinner.

Do you have any Sunday plans? Make sure you check in through out the week. Since my computer is back up and running (for now anyways). I am going to post some more challenges and creations.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

An Apple A Day.......

Last week I challenged you all to make a Fall Themed card. What is more fall then apple picking??? So....here is what I made:


This card measured 5 1/2" x 5 1/2". I started by stamping my image on plain white card stock using black Versa Fine ink. I have found that Versa Fine ink works best for images with fine details. Next I colored the image with my Prismacolor pencils and blended them with mineral spirits. I then cut the image out and used a corner rounder on the upper right and lower left corner. I layered that image on red, then brown then grey card stock also rounding the coordinating corners as I went. Then I cut a piece of red card stock to 5"x5". Next I cut a strip of my pattern paper 1"x5" and glued that to the red card stock. I then rounded 2 of the corners of that piece. Next I layered the red piece on a brown piece again rounding 2 of the corners. I glued my brown piece to the center of my grey card base. Then I glued the red/pattern piece on top of that and finally added my layered image. How do you like it? I was pretty impressed that I had card stock that matched my pattern paper perfectly - how did that happen?

Stamp: Stampabilities Happy Hoppers "An Apple A Day"; Pattern paper: DCWV; Card Stock: Nature Preserve by Crestwood; Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our Fun Filled Friday challenge announcement.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Jen's Sketch Challenge

This week I played along with Jen's Wednesday Sketch challenge. You can see her sketch here. And here is what I came up with :


I really wanted to use my pumpkin image so I turned her sketch sideways. To make this card I first stamped my image on plain white card stock using black VersaFine ink. I colored the image in using my Bic markers. Then I used Nesties to cut out the image and emboss the edges. Then with orange chalk ink I sponged the background. Next I inked the edges with black chalk ink. Then I glued ribbon to each of the corners of black card stock. Then I glued my image to the center of the black card stock and added orange brads above and below image. Next, I glued the black card stock to the orange 5"x7" card base. Then I added a dot of black stickles to each of the scallops. I also added black stickles to the eyes and mouths of the pumpkins. Next I added a dot of stickles to each of the 4 corners and let dry.

Stamp: Stampendous Pumpkin Trio; Card Stock: The Paper Company; Ribbon: Maya Road; ink: VersaFine black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink - orange and black.

Well, time for me to get some work done :)

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Happy Halloween Sketch challenge

Sorry this is late, I just checked my blog and realized my post never posted... Wanna know why?? I put in October 18th for the date and today would be the 17th. DUH!!! Don't you hate those silly mistakes???

This week Jen challenged me to use one of Kerry's sketches from the Shack. I was in a very Halloweenie mood this past week so the next few posts you see may have that theme. Here is what I cam up with.



This card was very easy to make. I took my pattern paper and cut a piece 3"x4" then cut that into 8 equal sized strips. I glued the strips evenly spaced apart to black card stock. I then layered that on orange paper. Next I stamped the "Happy Halloween" sentiment in black ink on orange card stock and layered that on black then again on orange. Then I cut a strip of ribbon and dove tailed the ends then glued that to the lower portion of my 5"x5" card base. Next I glued my sentiment on the center of the ribbon. And finally glued my pattern paper piece to the upper portion of the card base. So what do you think?

Stamps : DRS; Ribbon : Ribbon Trends; Paper : DCWV; Cardstock : Bazzill

Do you have any plans this weekend? I am working on my first "paying" scrapbook. I am a little nervous since it's my first time making a scrapbook to someone else's specs. It's a smaller book so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Did you make a card using the sketch this week? I would love to see it.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Technical difficulties

Well, it's Thursday and FINALLY my computer is back up and running! My DH had to uninstall and re-install everything on our computer and last night finally finished getting the internet and everything back up and running. So sorry for not posting over the weekend like I had planned. I did manage to get a lot of crafting done over the weekend. Stay tuned and I will get some pictures loaded very soon. I also finally played along with Jen's sketch challenge Wednesdays. I made a really cute fall card too. Of course we did a ton of chatting and munching at our crop get together Friday:) It was so nice to see my friend Kathy!

Tomorrow is FFF here on my blog! I hope you like my card for this week, and I can't wait to see what Jen came up with. I have some more fun stuff for next week - hope you can play along (and I have my fingers crossed my computer doesn't have anymore issues).

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Sketch Challenge

Ok it's Jen's turn again. This week she is challenging me to use one of Kerry’s sketches from the Shack. Here’s what the sketch looks like:

I would love to see your take on this sketch, or any interesting sketches you can find.
Wish us luck this week. I can't wait to see your take on this sketch. Remember to post a like to your creation in my comments for a chance to win my monthly blog candy.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Scallops, scallops and more scallops....

Happy Friday! You know what that means - Fun-filled-Friday! This week our challenge was scallops. Since I have not yet jumped on the Nesties wagon (it's for financial reasons) I had to dust off my Marvy Uchida punches :) I decided to go with a circle scallops. I came up with this sketch using circles so I just made my circles scalloped. I also stuck with my "fall" mood. Here is what I came up with.




This is actually a very simple card to make. This card is 5"x7" (not a usual size for me). I started by picking out some colors I thought went well together. Then I cute a strip of the light grey to 1.5"x6.5" and I ran that through my Fiskars "leave it to weaver" border punch. Then I ran some polka dot ribbon through it. I then glued that to the right side of the card to leaving a 1/4" boarder on top, bottom and the right side. Next I stamped my "fall" image on one of the scallops and matted that on the larger scallop. Then I started layering my scallops. I was trying to create a sort of flowing pattern with the scallops. So what do you think?

Supplies: card stock by Nature Preserve, stamp by Studio G, ink is Art Print Brown by Memories, ribbon by JoAnn's Best Value, punches - Fiskars "leave it to weaver", Marvy Uchida mega and giga scallop circles.

Did you make a scallop card this week? I would love to see it!

Do you have any plans for the weekend? I am very excited I am getting together for a crafty night with a couple of my girlfriends tonight!!! Of course I am bringing tons of stuff to work on, but probably won't get a thing done :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend what ever you do.
Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Sketch Wednesday

Today's challenge is to use a sketch. There are so many sketches out there it's kind of mind boggling. You can get sketches from magazine, or websites like the Stamp Shack, Splitcoaststampers, or Page Maps to name a few. My friend Jen also has Sketch Wednesdays every week. She also has monthly blog candy for one lucky participant in her Sketch Wednesdays. For today's challenge you have to use a sketch. It can be from anywhere you want or even one you made up. Just make sure you post a picture of the sketch and your creation. Put a link to your creation in my comments for this post. Your creation can be a scrapbook page, card, quilt, whatever! I can't wait to see your sketches. If you don't have time to work on anything today just post the sketch and when you finish your project make sure you post it.

Hope you decide to join in the fun! I love seeing every one's work.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Try something Tuesday!

Today is try something Tuesday! I thought it would be nice to learn something new from all of you. So for Try something Tuesday I want you to challenge me. Teach me a technique or yours or tell me one you would like to see me try. Since I have to work today, I will try it on my days off and post it for everyone to see. If it's something you have already tried please post a link to your creation so I can see how you did it. If it's something new to you too then why don't you try it with me? This should be fun!

For some great ideas check out my friend Beth's blog she has Technique Tuesdays every week. She also has many wonderful tutorials that unfortunately I haven't tried yet.

I'm ready hit me with some ideas!

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Manic Monday!

Well it's Monday! For me Monday is the middle of my work week so it tends to drag. Actually lately all my work days drag. I thought maybe I would start this week off with a challenge and a chance to win some blog candy... Are you up for it??

I want to know if there is there anything that really inspires you in your paper crafting? Right now the changing leaves are really inspiring me to use reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. Typical fall colors huh? I know I am always a bit inspired by the seasons and weather around me. In Michigan Fall is so pretty to me. I love the smells of fall too. I can't wait to take a trip to the cider mill and get some fresh cider and donuts (even though I'm watching my diet), and a pumpkin to carve. In my mind I know it's truly fall when Starbucks gets Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Even though this year I am fighting the urge to have one. How about you?


Since Fall has been so inspirational to me, here's the challenge - I want to see your Fall Creations. Anything fall related will do. Cards, treat bags, altered projects, scrapbook pages ... anything. I'll post my creation on Saturday so we have a week to work on them.

This week I am also challenging myself to post every day. Wish me luck:) And make sure you check in to see what's going on, I feel a lot of challenges are heading your way.

Happy Crafting & Happy Fall!
Kimmy

Blog candy winner!!!

Well this month not too many people played along with our challenges :( Hopefully October will be better.

On to the winner of this months blog candy.......

The winner is ........

CHRISSYM!!!!

HERE is the card she made.

Chrissy has a wonderful blog full of gorgeous creations. Make sure you check it out. Chrissy please email me your address at klkowalik29@gmail.com. I thought I still had your addy, but I don't.

For those of you who aren't familiar with my monthly blog candy giveaway here are all the details. Also look for more opportunities to be entered in my monthly drawings.

Congrats again Chrissy!

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Scallops anyone???

I think it’s about time to pull out the scallop punches. So this week’s challenge is all about the Scallops. I don’t have any nesties yet so it just the Marvy Uchida punches for me! Maybe I can dust off my wishblade to get some other sizes. Can’t wait to see what Jen and I come up with this week. This challenge should be a little easier for us since we aren’t learning any new techniques this week.

Do you use scallops? Do you have any nesties? Do you like/dislike them? Don't forget to post a link to your scallop creations for an entry in my monthly blog candy.

Happy crafting, Kimmy

"seaing you makes me smile"

As you probably know this weeks challenge was Under the Sea! So we had to make something using anything sea related. I used Rubbernecker stamps - since they have such cute fish. What do you think?




To make this card I started by stamping my image on white card stock with black VersaFine ink. Next I colored it in with my Prismacolor markers. I added some touches with my white gel pen. then I added diamond glaze to the bubbles. After that was all dry I cut out the image and used my ticket corner punch on the corners. I matted it on black card stock and again used my ticket corner punch. Then I matted that on a shiny silver then again on black card stock.



Next I stamped the sentiment on blue card stock and used my ticket corner punch again. I matted that on black and punched the corners. Again I matted that on the shiny silver and then again on black. (you can kind of see the silver paper in the full picture)

Then, I cut my pattern papers (polka dot 2.5"x5.75" and striped 3.25"x5.75"). Then I taped them together on the back and added a piece of polka dot ribbon to cover the seam. I then matted the pattern paper on black and put the whole piece on my 6"x6" card base. Finally I added my matted image and sentiment on the front of the card using pop dots.

I was pretty lucky to find the Basic Grey papers in my scrap pile. I thought they coordinated so well.

Did you decide to play along this week? Hopefully you did. I would love to hear what you think of my card (good or bad).

I hope to get back to posting more often now that my hectic days are finally slowing down - and just in time to watch the leaves fall. Hope you are having a fabulous Autumn - it sure is a beautiful time of year.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Under the Sea

I have to start off by saying Happy Birthday to my big sister so “Happy birthday Tracey!!!” Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Now that I have gotten the super important stuff out of the way, you know what time it is…. FFF challenge announcement. So for this week Jen decided we are going to make “under the sea” cards. Anything “under the sea” related. I think she wants to use her Rubbernecker fishes.

Have you seen Rubbernecker stamps yet? They have such a cute selection and they are pretty cheap. Here is the site if you want to take a peak http://www.rubbernecker.com/.

As always, I would love to see what you come up with for this challenge. Remember posting a link to your creations in my comments will enter you for my monthly blog candy.

Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Pop up card

Sorry this post is going to be short and sweet. I have had a crazy week! I think life should be slowing down a bit in the next couple weeks and I have some fun in store for all my Blog readers. It just seems like there is not enough time in the day lately. On with this weeks FFF challenge.

This was a fun challenge. I will admit I had to do a little taping so I could get a good picture of my pop up card. I was still in a Fall mood so hope you like the colors. I used more of my Target Dollar Spot paper:) Here is a picture of it closed. I like that it folds flat.



Here it is when it's popped up


And here is a close up of the image and sentiment.


To make this card I used the tutorial from Splitcoaststampers. In case you aren't familiar with it I used the SU! Happy Harmony set for the sentiment and image. I heat embossed them in gold. The leaf paper was from the Target paper pack and so was the striped paper, and the ribbon. I added some primas and brads to the front of the "box" area.

Thanks for stopping by hope you enjoyed our pop-up cards this week. Make sure you check out Jen's card.
Did you make a pop up card. If so I would love to see it! Please post a link in the comments.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Happy Crafting,
Kimmy

Pop Up Cards!

This week I thought I would challenge Jen to Pop up cards. There are so many different ways to make pop up cards, but I am going to use this tutorial from Splitcoaststampers. I LOVE how this card looks. The directions don't look too difficult either.

I made a pop up card a few weeks ago for a challenge on Scrap N Circle. They had an 8 week long cardmaking contest and that was one of the challenges. I wasn't too happy with how that card turned out, but it was my first try.

Hope you decide to play along with this challenge (remember there is a chance at blog candy). Go here for information about my monthly blog candy.

Happy Crafting!!

Autumn Reflection Scenery

Happy Friday! I got my reflection card all done!! Woo Hoo! It was actually easier than I thought. I found a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers that was really easy to follow. So what do you think?



To make this card first I stamped the tree image on a piece of transparency then while the ink was still wet I "stamped" the image from the transparency to my cardstock. Then I inked the stamp again and stamped the image above the transferred image. The image from the transparency looks faded, giving it the "reflection" look. Here is a close up.


Next I added some grass and leaves with my Bic markers. I wanted an autumn look to the card. I then cut the image out and matted it on copper paper. Then I cut out a piece of striped paper to 5"x5" and matted that on beige paper. I then cut a piece of orange and gold paper to make a 1.5" strip down the left side. I then wrapped 3 different ribbons around the orange paper and around the right side of the striped paper. I then glued the pattern paper on my 5.5"x5.5" card base. Next I added my matted stamped image and I was done! I actually got the layout from Splitcoaststampers too. I think it's sketch challenge 193 (it might be 192 I don't remember).

All of the pattern paper and ribbon I got at the Target Dollar Spot! What a deal! The paper came in packs of 8 sheets and the ribbon had 3-6 styles depending on the width and you got one yard of each.

So did you give this technique a try? If so I would love to see what you came up with. Well it's back to work for me tonight:( I wish I has some more time off I was enjoying being home. Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Happy Crafting!

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Sorry for being so late with my Blog Candy winner! Since there weren't too many entries this month I put them all in a hat and pulled out the winner.....



WHO CAN IT BE?????



READY????



The winner is..............................................




.......................................................................



.........................................................................



Forgetfulone!

You can see her winning card here

(forgetfulone please email me at klkowalik29@gmail.com
with your address so I can ship your prize out)

For those of you new to my blog click here to learn all about our FFF challenges and how to enter to win monthly BLOG CANDY! Our challenges are given on Sunday and our creations posted on Fridays - so make sure you check in to see what we make!

Happy Crafting!

Reflection Scenery cards

Some of the past few FFF challenges have been new techniques for me. This week is no different. Jen has decided it’s time we try reflection scenery cards. These sure look gorgeous when they are done. Hopefully I can find an easy to follow tutorial and come up with something fabulous. If you have any tips or good tutorials let me know!

I hope you are enjoying our FFF as much as we are. It’s nice to have a project to work on. Remember to stop by Friday and feel free to post any challenges you would like to see! I can't wait to see your reflection scenery cards. Don't forget about my monthly blog candy.

Happy Crafting, Kimmy