When I use a paper...

....I really use a paper! I think I was in a green mood creating these cards. I also cut into new sheets of paper (martha stewart) and of course, wanted the paper to go a ways. I created 5 cards with two sheets of patterned paper. I used scraps of other paper of course, and many embellishments, but only these two patterned papers.

this thanks card is pretty simple, but I love how it turned out. I added the paper to my card blank, then added a strip of white linen cs punched with my scallop punch across the meeting point. I added a large satin ribbon bow, adding a button/twine and two leaf pins.  I used a rubon from Making Memories and two small gems

 

Next card, I added some strips of paper across the landscape orientantion. Then I added a SEI ribbon, and a circle embossed with my swiss dots folder. I cut three banner shapes, popdotting them on, and adding small white bows with floss between them. I added a gorgeous prima flower, and letters from Creative Imaginations.

Another card all greens, but this one a christmas one.

I bought some Making Memories stamps cheap at Tuesday Morning, and pulled them out to play. I used a lime ink, and cut out my stamped items, then foam taped them all. I also added layers with white embossed cs, green paper and white linen paper- all cut with my scallop scissors. I added pearls to the tree, and gems to the snowflakes. I also added this thick ribbon to the tree and behind the circles.

I used scraps for this card. Adding a large block and a scalloped strip across the front. I shabbied the edge of the green block as well. Then I added a block of white cs embossed with distressed stripes folder. I tied a green/blue edged ribbon around the block and added this MM journal spot. I used a Reminisce rubon phrasefor the greeting and an Anna Griffin epoxy butterfly.

lastly- I added in a touch of pink Again, I used a large block of paper, adding in a scallop of white linen cs. I added a double strip of ribbon, tying a bow in the top one. I added a scallop circle ( punched) and added a small cut out circle, with a hand cut heart made with kraft cs. I topped that with a small envelop sticker from K&CO. I added some Amer. Craft glittered letters and a rubon phrase, finished with two BB glitter brads.

I hope you liked my cards today!
kris

Scrapping with old product

I often feel like the odd lady out, scrapping with some of my old old product. Truth is- I don't craft shop a lot, and I have been given so much beautiful stuff I have hoarded away never to be used. I have totes of stuff, organized, but stashed away, all in the effort to make more room for the new stuff. So I find that when I have the mojo to use something old, it's fun to pull out something and see what I can come up with. And mix it with something new as well.

The old- the sweet girl words ( We R Memory Keepers) and rattle. some vintagey looking additions to my white flower - sewing paper punched flowers and a mother of pearl button

The new- ( to me ) Martha Stewart papers, cardstock punched with an EK scallop, a scallop circle flower I punched with my new EK scalloped circle punch ( from white cs I embossed with my cuttlebug and swiss dots folder) and kraft cs.

Another card, done in the same colors and with another word from the WRMK package.

I liked that the peachy pink papers matched the word colors soo well, I wanted to make sure I used these words with this paper. I embossed my kraft cs with my swirls embossing folder. Added a sewing paper and silk flower with button and twine. Under the flower I created a layered set of angel wings with my ek scallop circle punch, I simply cut the two circles to make them look like wings, layering on the cut off part on top of the larger piece with foam tape.

More Martha paper, and I added the two baby safety pins as well.

Have a terrific day!
kris

Taking Better photos

Hello my lovelies! I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Or starting to anyway. School is still in for us for a bit longer, having an extra week because of all the snow we had this year is an annoyance at this point. It's not like the kids are actually doing any meaningful work, but my girls are social beings and really enjoy school. So I'm trying to enjoy my time to myself !

Today, I thought I'd share some of what I've learned with the recent changes in my photography.

Now... I am not a photographer at heart. I do not have the skills ( learned or intuitive) to be a great photographer, tho I wish I did. I am very amazed at what I see others do with their cameras. I have tried learning what things like shutterstop, and focal length mean, but I tend to fall asleeeeppp when I think about them...

Really- just not good with that stuff. So I mostly keep my camera on Priority (P)or Auto.

I have a digital SLR Nikon with an 18-55 mm lens.  I also have a tripod - which I think is the key to my success. I believe very much that with a tripod and a point and shoot camera you can achieve results like mine- but my tips will mostly be for a SLR camera. I have found that my camera shoots dark, and often too blue, so I fix that in my photo editing program.

Now, first I want to show my setup backdrop. It's NOT fancy--- AT ALL!!

in fact I spent less then $10 on it, 

it's super portable

and you can switch out any parts of it with other cheap stuff

wanna see?

yup.. that's it- 

simply a trifold board- this supports my papers that I use. I lean the cardstock against this. bought this for $4 at the craft store.

four sheets of cardstock- I have two of medium gray and two almond double dot papers. 

The gray shows of my white card base and I don't find it a strong enough color to distract from my cards- no matter their colors. The cream is just another shade that shows off my cards. Switch the colors out for your preference. But try to stick with neutrals. You don't even have to use CS if you like shooting against white.

I also have a container of flat glass marbles. I spent $1 on the jar, you can find any type of jar, I even have  a mason jar I use as well, filled with mints ( lifesavers)

the marbles were $3 - they are a mix of clear, white and frosted. 

I like how neutral they are.

They also occasionally support things, like pages, or tags, so I can keep them in place while I photograph. ( they are kinda optional, but I like them. I also like having the jar in my background, but again- that's my preference.)

After I set everything up- I try to find the brightest spot in the house. My office with my overhead light on is best for me. This set up is great, you can use it pretty much anywhere- even on a chair outside if need be. 

My biggest tip- NEVER NEVER use your flash- it washes out everything and if you have anything shiny itwill give you a nasty bright spot.

When I take a photo- I use the ( S) for shutterspeed. I can't tell you much about it- except it's how long the shutter stays open, hence- brighter pics the longer the shutter is open. My camera has the number down in the view finder and I usually keep it at 1. Sometimes on a dark day I will go no more then up to 3- you change the speed using the little dial by the shutter button, while you have it halfway depressed.

The larger the number- the longer the shutter stays open, so if you put it at 10- it will stay open much longer then at 5. ok?

So if you own a point and shoot- just try take pics during the day, maybe use the night setting to keep the shutter open longer.    The key really is in using the tripod to steady your photos- resulting in much sharper pics.

I also use a photo editing program. I have a very old version of Photoshop- but don't use it. Instead I had gotten Ulead PhotoImpact full version long ago. I use that- it's very easy to use and I think my results are so much better. And even looking at its' cost- comparing to Photoshop- it's around $100.

My advice is totally off hand here- I give no guarantees that anything I say will add up to a hill of beans. But it's working for me, most of the time. 

I still have trouble with my photos- as I am still learning- but I can say whole heartedly that I am 100x happier with my photos now then I have ever been in the past.

Please let me know if anything I have said helps you in anyway! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
kris

Bobunny Blog Hoppin!

hello hello today! We are blog hopping with Bobunny to lead you to our guest designer for the month. This designer is amazing and I am so excited that she is working with us this month. I cannot wait for you to meet her.

You should have come from the Bobunny blog to my blog today- yippee I get to start off the fun!! And from here you will go to Julia's Blog!! Julia is an amazing designer as well, and I'm sure she will have just the cutest ideas for you. 

BUT- if you can spare a few moments with me, I would love to share with you some cards I have made this week.

And if you would follow me, and leave me a comment today, I will enter you to win not ONE but TWO blog candy packages I have. Unfortunately my last blog candy winner never came forward, so I am offering up last months' candy as well as a second small package. Just leave a comment to be entered for both prizes. I will allow Canadian entries as well this time, but no other out of country winners please.

I will have two winners- but there is no need to leave double comments. Will pick winner on Tuesday.

Prize #1

Prize #2

On to my cards...

( bobunny paper and letters)

I went for pretty simple on this card. I used leftover letters in colors that went well together to create the alphabet, and I used a crumpled piece of espresso dot cardstock, punched with my ek scallop. I cut out the outline of the U and added the tiny type letters.

This card is similar as I created the 'pattern' background with swirl stickers ( bobunny abbey road). I used a piece of sea green cardstock and stitched it along the edge. I added a cutout sticker from the ( Bobunny Persuasion collection) and then added some matching buttons.

Next is another card using the same colors and ( abbey road) I added some espresso dot cs, punched with my scallop ek punch. I added this piece of plain wood, then added a punch from the espresso dot. Topping that with a rubon flower, I cut one out and added the flower to white cs, cut it out, foam taped it and added it back on. I added a matching ribbon, some Cosmo Cricket letters and a sticker border. I also sewed around the whole card twice.

next I used a little bit more of that sea foam blue and added in some burnt orange. I added in some black dot paper punched with my ek scallop and added them across the card. for the flower- I added my (bobunny delilah) flower to a white punched scallop circle, then foam taped that to a MME gray chipboard flourish, I also added a button and a few bits of matching ribbon. I added some rubon flowers around the large flower, then added my letter stickers ( bobunny alissa) with some Cosmo Cricket letters.

 Lastly for today I have this Jazmyne card. I used grape double dot, adding on a scalloped oval and some icandy 3d stickers. I added a bit of hem tape I plum walnut inked a couple weeks ago and a small button. Finishing off the card is a chipboard word.

thank you so much for coming by today, have a terrific day and happy blog hopping!

kris

Crafty Secrets cards

Hello my lovely bloggers! I have two cards to share with you today. As I was creating some cards the other day, I have a baggie of paper embellishments. Inside are a mixed bunch of goodies, including these crafty secrets 'cards' books. I have taken them apart and they are in sheets, but each sheet has several images on it. I felt like doing something with them, but wasn't sure what esp since the designs are on the small side. So here is what I came up with .

I used a scrap of Bobunny Mamarazzi paper for the background, adding in some kraft paper and a large scallop with my ek punch. I took the vintage image and mounted it on kraft and cut around the edge with my scallop scissors, I added a second piece of the dot cardstock, and rounded the corners. I popped up my image with Glue Arts 3D dots and added a couple pieces of tan twill to each side. And of course I added my buttons with twine to top them off. I also looped a double bow with twine, and added an Anna Griffin brad to the center. if you look closely you will see the BB gem I added to the end of the word Bday.

Next, I had looked in one of my boxes and found some of these wooden laser cut flowers from Kaisercraft. I had painted it white, but I decided it needed glitter as well. I cut a round from my card blank, backing it with this Martha Stewart paper ( got it at Tues. Morning for $1.99 package of 25 sheets!) you will see more of this paper soon!. I topped the circle at the fold with a ribbon/button/twine bow. I layered on the paper with a scrap of kraft then added my crafty secrets image that I rounded the corners on.

For the flower, I added small and large glitter to the wooden diecut, then punched an embossed scallop with my new ek scallop punch. I added an Anna Griffin fabric brad and several gems to the center of the flower ( wish you could see how glittery it is.

Be back tomorrow with more cards to share.

kris

Inspirational Decor

Hi there! Kristen here with a new inspiration decor item.

Our theme this month are these little nesting dolls, with lots of color and different bits, it inspired me to create a decor item for my scrap room.

I wanted to create something meaningful to me, and so I created this darling sectional mini cabinet. 

It's all about creating art, with phrases and beautiful colors and glitter and fun items.

To create this cabinet you will need

GCD Studios 

Homespun Chic Collection- Applique, Homespun Garden, Homespun Mod, Vintage Audrey, Vintage Birdy, Vintage Jane, Pink Sparkle papers, Epoxy stickers, Felt Flowers, Vintage Buttons, Die Cut Borders, Textile Tags, Word Strips, Chipboard Ladies, Vintage Labels, Textile tags

Ava Collection- Flutter paper

Chipboard tools- Sparrow Alpha Letters, chipboard tags, and Butterflies stamps

other- pink rickrack, gems, twine, black mist, silver metallic rubons, buttons, butterfly punch

First, I measured and cut each inside rectangle shape with a different paper. I made the Create tag by first debossing the tag with the butterfly stamp and letters for Create, then spraying the tag with a black misting spray. When the tag was dry, I lightly rubbed the front with silver metallic cream rubons.

I decorated the inside of each part differently with tags, stickers, fabric tags, chipboards, punches, buttons, and epoxys.

Once the insides of the boxes are done, start decorating the edges of the frame. I added the chipboard lady, and the chipboard word strips.

I then added the border strips, adding foam tape between each layer. I handcut three clouds, adding them to the top right corner. And punched several butterflies, adding gems to their centers.

I also cut several small triangles with various papers, punching tiny holes in the corners. I threaded them onto a strand of twine, knotting the ends and using glue dots to hold them in place.

For the bottom of the piece, I added two border strips, fussy cutting out three roses from another border strip, and hand cutting several leaves from green gingham paper. I finished the bottom with pink rickrack.

I hope you have enjoyed my themed project today!

kris

Pink Paislee post for Monochromatic Monday

Happy Monday! Today is Monochromatic Monday, and I have chosen this beautiful lime green to work with today.  Lime is one of my most favorite colors. I have shades of green in many rooms in my house, so I thought I'd make a candle set to put in my den.  I decorated both candles in the same fashion, making them match but not exactly the same.

Monochromatic to me is using all the same color in various tones. What I first did was to go through my Pink Paislee products and pick out items with this green in them. You  can see that I mixed and matched my collections, and have added a few tones of beige as well.



For my candles, I first took a layer of green paper ( Bayberry Cottage Front Porch & 365 degrees Imagine) then matted on top of that a lined paper ( Starlight Shine). Just underneath the bottom edge I added a cut off edge of die cut paper (BayBerry Cottage Porch Swing).
Each candle has a punched lined paper top edge (Starlight Shine) but only one of them is added under the paper. After this was done, I wrapped my papers around the candles and proceeded to decorate them.
First I wrapped a bit of dotted ribbon around the middle of the candle.
I used Bayberry Cottage Punch Outs for the diecuts in the center, adding those on top of the ribbon. I added sewing pattern tissue flowers topped with silk flowers and a button tied with a bit of twine, then sprayed with a glitter spray.




I added some Cricut cut out leaves underneath both flowers. I also added a few small glitter flowers from an alphabet sheet ( Expressions Glittered Alphabet Limeaid). I also added a small bow tucked in underneath my flower.



Lastly I added gems to my candles, there is just nothing like a little glitz by candlelight. I added a strip of gems along the top, just above the green paper mats, I also added several to the glitter chipboard flowers and some on top of each circle diecut along the bottom of the candle
.

Publish Post

monochromatic cards

good morning to you! I wanted to give you a super quick post today- my hubby is on staycation this week and we are in the process of doing some house projects, so I haven't had much time to create. I think each card took me about 20 minutes to create.Mostly because of the embossing with my Scor it board and tool. I used pretty much the same things on both cards.

Both cards have embossed scoring on the card blank. I used this amer. crafts pearlized white cardstock- got a pack of 25 for $1.99 at Tuesday Morning. I used some beautiful Prima flowers and a bit of ribbon on both. I also used Amer. Crafts glitter letters on them. One card uses an EKsuccess punch scallop on the background. the other I punched several scallops and placed them across the card.

Have a terrific day and thanks for stopping in!
kris

Cosmo Cricket goodie bag set

I created this fun gift set the other day. I have these great vellum envelopes that look so much like the glassine envelopes, yet I couldn't find any. I think they are a great little goodie holder. So I filled mine with these Lifesavers mints. With summer coming up, I didn't want to put any chocolates in there to melt. Any other candy would be great as well, I just happened to have these mints.

I used Cosmo Cricket- would you believe all of this was made with scraps I just had sitting there and hadn't thrown away. Even the large circle was something I created for another card and didn't use. Of course, again, I have mixed these lines up- using Early Bird, Joy Ride and Earth Love papers. I added some Glue Arts 3D glue dots to pop up my stickers and cut papers. I also added some Bobunny ribbon and buttons. 

Here are some close ups.

Hope you have liked my sweet little gift set. You could change the My Friend cutout and add My Teacher- and make this for a lovely end of year teacher gift.

Have a great day!
kris

Layouts

Good Morning, I have two new layouts to share with you today. The first layout is made with Cosmo Cricket papers and a Magistical Memories tree.

I cut a large block of yellow dot, and added a larger block of striped paper behind it. After adding them to my layout, I added a couple strips of deep gray paper to the bottom, one flat and one scalloped. I also cut this ruler from a Colorbok letter sheet and used it on there. For the tree after I painted it white, I adhered pieces of tissue paper, then sprayed the whole thing with walnut ink spray. After that dried, I added a crackle medium to it. I handcut some clouds, adding them to the top with Glue Arts 3D glue dots. I also added the title with K&Co corrugated letters. I wrote my journaling on a piece of kraft I cut into a bracket shape. When the layout was finished, I added drops of maya mist in three spots .

Next is this cute layout using Bobunny's Alissa line. I added a strip to the background, then layered over this piece of kraft cs. I added a couple strips to the bottom and sewed around the kraft cs several times. I added a large block of black paper then added my two tabbed book parts from Magistical Memories, and after putting my photos on them, I doodled some lines and snowflakes. I also added bobunny brads to the top holes. I cut out a circle from kraft, matted it with pink I scallop cut with scissors. I sewed around the kraft. Then I added various sticker letters- two kinds from Reminisce and some Amer. Crafts foam. I also added a miniature snowflake decoration to the word Cold. ( I just cut off the loop at the top). I added a couple words to the tabs, with another Amer. Crafts letter. Then finished with my journaling. The last thing I did was to add a few drops of black maya mist to the layout.

That's it for today- have a great day.

kris

Happy Thursday

Hello friends, I hope you are having a nice week. I have been working on my team stuff this week, as next week my hubby is taking a staycation and we are planning on doing several projects around the ol' homestead. I hope to get enough done to pre-schedule some posts!

I am loving Cosmo Cricket. I have two kits and a small 6x6 pad. I have gotten just so much use from them. I just adore the softer colors to them. So I wanted to share a couple card creations with you.

I have recently been trying to do some angles on my cards, they are fun and really interesting additions so I added all these strips of paper at the same angle across my card. I added a Magistical Memories Circle chip behind my scallop cut out double cherry image. I added a couple buttons to the cherries and a small twine bow. The letters are Colorbok and MM tiny type for the title.

I love mixing and matching, the graph red is actually from the almost there collection, but the rest is all from the Early Bird collection.

Next I have made this mixed collection card. Adding the large papers in the back from the 6x6 Earth Love pad. I added a small strip of Early Bird in the middle. I added my Magistical Memories Chipboard Bird ( painted white) to the you're tweet block, covering a smaller bird there. I cut out several flowers from paper and added them to my card, also adding on this red/cream ribbon. I added a small wiggle eye to the bird, and of course my button and twine to the bow.

Thanks for stopping by!

kris

Happy Wednesday

Hello! I have some new cards for you today. 

first is this fun Happy Day card. I used a Magistical Memories Chipboard cutout star, backing it with patterned paper, and I drew on faking stitching, by making dots and lines to look like stitches. I added a block and several strips of Cosmo Cricket paper . Punching through the tag, I tied on some twine, looped it and stapled it. I also added gems to the flower centers on the bottom strip. I took two small pieces of Bobunny ribbon and stapled them at the top of the card.

Next, is this pretty you and me card. I used a large block of the yellow dot ( all paper is Cosmo Cricket) , then layered on the reddish graph. I added a strip of lined black at the bottom. For the tag in the middle, I cut it out, cutting off the edges of each end to look like a tag, then popdotted it with Glue Arts 3D glue dots. I used Bobunny ribbon to tie bows, adding a cut out flower and button to each bow. I also used Amer. Crafts fabric letters and  a & from Colorbok.

Hope you have enjoyed your visit today!

kris

Turn your patterned paper into 3d images

Hello! Kristen here with a post on making those gorgeous patterned papers into stunning 3 dimensional embellishments. I have used these gorgeous butterflies on some artsy decor candles. Don't they look ready to fly off the candles?

 I first layered patterned papers to make wraps for my candles. Then I added a scalloped circle and adhered that to the middle of my candle.

First, you will need patterned paper with a solid pattern. I recommend flowers or animals. Butterflies aren't animals, but they work perfectly with this technique. You need two of the pattern you plan on using.

You will fussy cut out two of the image. I used Artsy Urban Butterfly for my image, luckily there were two very similar butterflies on the paper.

First, you will fold the butterfly in half, lightly pinching the middle to hold the wings away from the base image. Then you use a glue dot to adhere just the middle part of the butterfly to the second butterfly. At this point, you can adhere your butterfly to the background wrap of the candle.

Here is the second butterfly candle, with two smaller butterflies. You can embellish your butterflies as you'd like. I chose to use a black gem in the middle, adding small phrase strips to the wings.

To finish my candles, I added twine and buttons tied to the top of the candle. I also added a couple more word phrase strips to the candle

Supplies used- gcd studios ( Artsy Urban collection- Butterfly, Blue Floral, Book Page, Postcard2, Colored Birds and Vintage Buttons)

Thanks for checking out my artsy candles today! 

Kris

Mother's Day gift for myself

Good Morning, and Happy Mother's Day for the US ladies.
Today I want to share another use for all those fantastic sketches out there. I used this sketch from Page Maps to create a mini album cover.  This 8x8 Artisan album from Pink Paislee is beautifully decorated, but for myself, I wanted something personalized and dimensional.

Just a note - you are going to have to click on each photo to see the entire thing-I have them large to show all the details.



You can see,  that instead of adding photos, I used the photo spot for a large block of paper. And instead of the smaller photos, I created a flower with large leaves for that spot. My title and most of the decorations are essentially the same.  So don't be afraid to use those sketches to inspire you for other creations, they make beautiful altered items and cards as well.

Supplies used- Pink Paislee 8x8 artisan album, Artisan Elements Swirls, Artisan Tape ( Gray. Licorice, Orange), Expressions Alphabets (Ambrose Licorice, Weathered Wood Scarlett, Weathered Wood Cotton, Glitter Licorice) 365 Degrees Collection ( Dream Big, Think Big, Flip Notes, Press Ons, Cork Buttons) Queen Bee Collection ( Cork Buttons, Bella Brads), Bayberry Cottage Press Ons, Starlight Collection (Shine, Bright, Dazzle, Spark, Glow, Element Stickers, Alphabet Stickers) other- Maya Mist ( for artisan element inking), Stazon ink and Bobunny date stamps

My main idea today is to share with you my photo album cover, but I finished my album, as a gift to myself.
I have created the whole album using the sam
e basic overall design, and added to the design, making each double page spread unique to the year.
Tips-
Create your own flowers using a large scallop border punch. Roll the scalloped border like you would a spiral paper flower, adhering to a base circle for stability. Glitter if desired.
Use the tiny bits at the top of each page for additional decoration. I used words on the cut off strip- like the paper name, and made in the usa.
Don't be afraid to cut your rubons. I cut strips of the Bayberry Cottage Press On and used it on several pages.
You don't have to cover the chipboa
rd pages completely, let that work for you and be another element to your design.







I hope you have enjoyed looking at my mini album today.
Have a great day!