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Mama Dini's Stamperia

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Best Friend

Posted: May 19th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

It's time again for a challenge thrown down by the Impression Obsession design team! Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! A new schedule of the challenges has been posted for the next few months - plan ahead (or shop ahead!) so you can play along!
This week we're showcasing friendship cards, and challenged each other to make a card for our best friend - and send it! I have used a couple of Alesa Baker stamps on this card - her style is so elegant and enjoyable to color, especially her floral stamps. I'm so glad her line is still available - does anyone remember back when Stampa Rosa went out of business? Well, I've had this sentiment stamp since then. :) It's called "Thinking Of You Days".

The vase image is part of a clear set called "Daisy Love". I colored it in with Prismacolor pencils (the colors I used are listed below). For the big polka dot background, I created a mask using the 'blank' from a sheet of round cardstock ABC stickers (the part that's left after all the ABC stickers are all gone)... the kids love those stickers and I've been saving this blank for the right occasion. :) I colored in each circle with pencil, and blended with odorless mineral spirits. The lace border is the edge of a paper doily that I cut and tucked and straightened along the edge.
Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!
Fun with Fabric

Posted: May 16th, 2010, 9:38pm PDT by dini

Playing along with the Moxie Fab challenge again - this time the challenge is to use fabric on our cards. I had this scrap of canvas floating around on my desk, which I purchased locally, so there's my fabric, along with the cotton gingham ribbon (another local find).

I decided to pull out my coffee-themed sets from Impression Obsession - the focal image is called "Coffee Aroma". It's available in rubber (mounted or unmounted), and was recently made available in a clear set called "Coffee with a Friend". I stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

I watercolored around the image first... I dabbed some ink from a Versamagic Turquoise Green pad on an acrylic block and used that as my paint, picking it up with a waterbrush. The image was colored with Neopiko markers.
For the background, I grabbed a scrap of glossy cardstock and laid it over the Cover-a-Card Thick & Thin stamp. The ink sort of beaded, which wasn't what I expected, but it worked for me... I like the distressed, imperfect look of it. I filled in some stripes randomly with marker. The sentiment is from another coffee set called "Smell the Coffee."It's stamped on a punched tag. Teal is probably one of my least-used, least-favorite colors, so I had to scruff the card base up a bit with some sponged ink.

For some reason (avoiding my to-do list?!) I took the time this weekend to catalog all my ink pad colors on shipping tags. Turns out I have 103 different colors of ink, and a few more on the way... not sure what to say about that! But it makes me happy to see all those colors in rainbow order, and it will help in some upcoming projects to be able to compare shades and such.
And that is all I know today. Take care!!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

May Release Day and a Krafty Hop!!

Posted: May 15th, 2010, 10:00pm PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Yaaaaaaay! You've made it to the final stop on our Krafty Hop!! haha! Now if you've just landed here by accident, you may want to start from the beginning over at Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge Blog!! Then hop around to the Krafty Girls' blogs in order and be sure to leave a comment on each and every stop, because you could be the random winner of some of our yummy Krafty Kandy!!!

Today I have two creations to share....I got to play with ALL of the new release images this month...yay me! And the last two are Mae and Jack!!

For sunshiney Mae, I chose some yellow, red and orange papers from the Citrus DCWV stack and coloured her up with my Copic markers! I used my new fancy Martha Stewart border punch and added some wide red grosgrain ribbon across the middle and attached a big fat bow! I used my nesties to cut and emboss Mae and sponged around the frame. Then I whipped up a layered flower and added a sentiment from the new Beachy Sentiments set!

Fancy fellow Mr. Jack is, I think, my favourite card from this release! I only needed this single sheet of patterned paper because it is so sparkly and beautiful, don't you think? It's from the Mango Twist DCWV stack and I coloured up Jack according to the colours in the paper. I created a cloud template from a piece of scrap cardstock and sponged in the cloudy sky with some chalk ink. I added the little accessory sandcastle stamp which comes with Jack too! I finished off the design with some orange rick rack, a trio of brads and another Beachy Sentiment!

Well, I hope you enjoyed our Krafty Hop and now all these amazing images and sentiments are available at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Shop!! And all orders placed today and tomorrow by midnight EST, are eligible to win a 5x7 print of Annie Rodrigue's original painting, Perfect Poison!! Cool!!

Happy kraftin'!!
May Release Krafty Peeks....Day Three and a CHALLENGE!!!

Posted: May 15th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Kay, so have you seen all the gorgeous creations out in blogland where gals are using this fabulous dotty background technique?? So I've been dying to give it a try but terrified that I'd make a big mess and wreck my image. Well, when I was trying to figure out what to do for this week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge, which is to make Anything BUT a Card, and how exactly I was going to colour this amazing Perfect Poison image by Annie Rodrigue, I decided to take the plunge and give the fancy background a whirl!!!

So I stamped up the image on Neenah cardstock with Memento ink. Then I pulled out the markers that I wanted to use in my background and worked on that first....'cause I figured that if I coloured the main part of the image and then totally screwed up the background and it was ugly, I'd be more likely to hurl it across the room in anger. This way I could just start again if I messed up and I wouldn't be spittin' nails and spewing profanities.....as much.

I started with the darkest colour first and dotted close to the image and all around it, as that's where I wanted it to be the darkest. Then I did the same with all the other colours, adding more shading as I went....with the lightest colours filling in the white spaces and all the way out to the edge of the paper. I went back and did this a couple of times with each marker to get the dotty background to look just the way I wanted it to. It took me probably an hour or more just to do the background....but I just LOVE the way it looks!!! I won't be doing it on all my cards from now on, or anything crazy like that...but I do love the way it turned out! Doesn't happen very often, but my colouring mojo seems to be workin' right now. Yay!

Anyway, I matted the main layer on a couple of coordinating colours and then pop dotted it on this wine bottle tag that I made. The Perfect Poison image, which will be available at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Shop tomorrow, comes with two fantastic sentiments and two bonus accessory stamps!! I used one of them on my tag and added some super sparkly ribbon at the top! What a perfect hostess gift, yes??

Be sure to join us tomorrow for our Krafty Hop where you'll see lots more kreations featuring the new stamps....including a fabulous design by our very own Annie Rodrigue!!!!

Now hop on over to the Challenge Blog and check out the incredible samples made for you by the Krafty Girls to inspire you to make Anything But a Card!! And if you join our little challenge, you could win some fun new KK rubbah!!!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Lil' Lambs

Posted: May 14th, 2010, 10:31pm PDT by dini

These two cards have been in my 'not posted' file for a while... these stamps are from Heartfelt Creations, and there's more where they came from - if you like 'cute kid' stamps (especially ones with facial features!) click here to see the rest of the "Lil' Lambs" line. These designs are called Gardening Boy and Bouquet of Cheer.

Both scenes were watercolored using Derwent watercolor pencils and reinkers. I used a scalloped circle as a mask to create the clouds in the first background. This first card sketch was a challenge but I forget where - it's been so long! Seems it was from SCS. Nice one for using up scraps.

On the second card I used a set called Leafy Swirls, paper-piecing the leaves. The flowers are cut with Nestabilities - several layers of mulberry paper, attached with a brad, then squished into shape.
Hanging out waiting for my friend to arrive! She's not necessarily coming to visit us, but it's a nice bonus. I'm sure there are more important things I should be doing at the moment than blogging and cataloging my ink collection... but this is what I do when I don't know where to start!!
Enjoy your weekend........!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

May Release Krafty Peeks....Day Two!!

Posted: May 14th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

So you're likin' the 'beachy' new images, huh?? Makes you want to head to the seashore, right?? Haha! Well, we've got more fun creations to share with you today!!

My sample today features this lovely lady....Florence!! Doesn't she remind you of Sophia Loren with her stylish sunglasses? I just adore her vintage bathing outfit and headband! I was inspired by the colours in the patterned papers that I got from last years Summer Stack by DCWV. I created some sand by ripping some sandy coloured paper and distressing the ripped edges. Then I used my wave punch to create the surf at the bottom of the card!

The card base is Brilliant Blue and I used Green Galore for matting. I cut Florence out and pop dotted her on the beach! I also stamped, coloured and cut out the shell accessory stamp that comes with Florence! I also made a sun using my I-Topper punch and then used the tool to make the brad that I put in the centre. Lastly, I stamped the 'Pass the Sunscreen' sentiment which is from the new Beachy Sentiments set that will be available on Sunday at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, along with all of the wonderful new images!

All the Krafty Girls have Krafty Peeks for you today, so you can get to each of their blogs from the list in my sidebar or you can head over to the Challenge Blog for the complete list!

Be sure to come back tomorrow as we'll have a new and awesome Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge for ya featuring more May release images!!! See you then!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Pansies

Posted: May 13th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

This is another beautiful floral stamp from Auntie Amy - Pansies - it's a big one and so fun to watercolor. I didn't even notice when I purchased it that there was a ladybug on the leaf there! I used Derwent watercolor pencils on this piece, and couldn't go with traditional purple - had to try red pansies just for something different. Next time I'll have to do some paper tole with this image... love it.

I felt that any color or pattern on the card base would tend to distract from the watercolor work... so I filled the background with textures instead, using my Scor-Pal to create a diamond grid pattern. The sentiment is from the Flourishes Strawberries set. This card is on its way to a dear friend on the other side of the pond!

Strange week - one of those weeks where days 'feel' like different days... then we had a holiday Thursday which threw me off even more. I'm having to write every little thing down so I don't forget... there are way too many things going on right now, and way too many people have said, "Hey can you..."

Several culture jolts this week too... though we've been here 5 years, there are still things that shock us, and the longer we are here the deeper those things hit. Part of life, I guess!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

May Release Krafty Peeks - Day One!!

Posted: May 13th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Well, it's that time again, isn't it??? It's SO hard to play with the amazing new images each month before they are available and then SUCH torture not to be able to show them to anyone!! Well, it's been the same with the new May Kraftin' Kimmie images!!! Just WAIT 'til you see!!

This month Annie Rodrigue has given us an awesome bunch of vintage Bathing Beauties to play with!!! It's time for warm, sunny weather and days spent at the beach...wouldn't you agree?? These characters are perfect for summer cards, creations and to help display all those awesome photos on your scrapbook pages!!!

For my first Krafty Peek I chose to use Eleanor!! She is so lovely in her bathing suit and flowered bathing cap! Guess she doesn't want to mess up that gorgeous hair! I stamped her on Neenah using Memento ink and coloured her in with my Copics. I chose the colours to coordinate with the DCWV glittery papers from last year's Summer Stack. The layout is just one I whipped up....feel free to borrow it....I'll use it again for sure!!

The super sentiment is from the new Beachy Sentiments set that goes with the new images perfectly!! I created the sand under Eleanor by dotting all different browns and creams and then adding a little sparkly by dotting with my Stardust gel pen! I also added lots of layered flowers, attaching them with sparkly brads and adding more bling by using some Stardust Stickles on the petals. Hope you like her as much as I do!!

Now be sure to check out the other incredible samples by the rest of the Krafty Girls today! Then come on back tomorrow for some more summer fun!! And then these super cute images will be available on Sunday!!!

Happy kraftin'!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Sweet peas

Posted: May 11th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

We had some dinner guests the other night who have been in-country for about a month, traveling to different tribal ministry locations to evaluate and encourage the teams in their literacy programs - their stories were so exciting, and we were so encouraged to see their enthusiasm for this new ministry. Anyway, they leave to go back to the States today, and I made this card for them.

Last month I caught wind of a BOGO sale at Auntie Amy's, and jumped at the opportunity to purchase some of her gorgemous stamps... Aunty Amy purchased the Embossing Arts line of stamps when they went out of business, and they have some beautiful images that just beg to be watercolored. I'll have more to share soon! This is the Sweetpea stamp, which is one of their Flowers of the Month set (you can purchase them individually, or purchase the full set at a great savings!). I watercolored the image using Derwent watercolor pencils and a waterbrush. The sentiment I used is from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co. - the elegant font went perfectly with this image, I think!

OK - back to my to-do list!
Monday

Posted: May 10th, 2010, 1:57pm PDT by dini

Another week to fly through... these are busy days leading up to busier days! So thankful to have my man home, though. Somebody's got take care of me! I'm feeling much better, which is a good thing for this week of lesson prep and teaching ladies' chapel, homeschooling, designing invitations for graduation, preparing for a house guest next week, sitting in on student interviews, little-by-little making and stashing paper roses (2 a day) for the upcoming wedding, making a few cards for friends headed Stateside... this with all the life stuff sprinkled in-between. Woohoo!

Impression Obsession makes all the stamps on my card here...

Garden Planter
TypeStacks Family clear set
Cover-a-Card Medallion
Single Daily Bloom

The image is colored with Neopiko markers and Prismacolor pencils... grass is sketched in and the butterflies are 'popped' - that shows up better below. I stamped the Medallion CAC over a sponged background, then stamped the daisy randomly over the area and sponged the edges. Rather than cutting around all the little tendrils on the image, I cut them off (gasp!)...and stamped the image on the olive layer instead. I do the same thing with butterfly antennae - can't be bothered with those!

OK - I'm off - need to get rolling today! Take care and have a great week!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

A Paper Sundaes Challenge!

Posted: May 10th, 2010, 7:28am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

This week Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is sponsoring the sketch challenge over at the Paper Sundaes blog! And they made the sketch especially for our images ('cause ya know, they are nice sized images) and it's super cute!!

For my design, I used the new You Make Me Happy image from our Cindy and Mindy collection of images. This was the first chance I'd had to get it inky....and it turned out to be the perfect one for this layout!

I used this pretty patterned paper from the Green at Heart pad from Basic Grey....love the colours. I stamped the image on Neenah using Memento ink and coloured it in with my Copic markers. Then I used an oval Nestie to cut it out and emboss it, then used a sponge dauber and some Wheat craft ink to sponge around the frame while I still had the nestie on there. I pop dotted it and the sentiment and then finished it off by adding some yellow rhinestones in the corners.

If you play along with this simple sketch this week, you could be the winner of your choice of Kraftin' Kimmie rubbah!! Be sure to hop on over to the Paper Sundaes challenge blog and check out the gorgeousness that the design team created.....and ALL of them used Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!! They're awesome!!!

OH and be sure to keep your eyes peeled because starting on Thursday, the Krafty Girls and I will begin showing some Krafty peeks of the new May release stamps!!! Heeheeeeeeeeeee!!!

Have a krafty week everyone!!
Who Loves Ice Cream???????

Posted: May 8th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Okay, this is going to be a super quickie post this morning as it's not yet 5am and Andrea and I are getting ready for a bus trip to see Tim Holtz. Okay, not just Tim but a whole bunch of krafty people!! There's going to be lots of vendors to buy from and lots of people to see!

Anyhoo, on to the card....this week's challenge is from the lovely Vicki and she has chosen Neopolitan ice cream as our colour inspiration!! So use Pink, Chocolate and Vanilla for your colours!!

I used the sweet Princess Petunia for my card and some older DCWV sparkly paper, which is so delicious! I used a new Martha Stewart punch for the border and added some lovely thick twill with a button and some linen thread. Isn't she yummy??? Hmmm.....I wonder if ice cream is good for breakfast......I haven't had my coffee yet and I'm starving!!! Haha!!

Be sure to hop over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge Blog and check out the wonderful designs by the Krafty Girls! Then join in our challenge for your chance to win!!! We'd love to see what krafty-ness you have up your inky sleeves!!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

3 Cheers for Chairs!

Posted: May 6th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

Saw this challenge over at Moxie Fab World, and thought I'd play along - because I love chairs!

This was a quick, clean and simple card.... I stamped the label from Journaling 1 in Bamboo ink, shaded around the edge with a Prismacolor pencil (Bronze) and blended with OMS. Next I stamped Cozy Chairs in my favorite new ink, Colorbox Dark Brown (finally, a really really dark brown!), and colored the image with a Prismacolor pencil (Chocolate), blending with OMS. The sentiment was stamped in Dark Brown as well. Done!
Have a great weekend!
Impression Obsession DT Challenge - Out of the Box

Posted: May 5th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

The rest of the Impression Obsession team has been dreading this challenge, but this is one of my favorites - it's the "Out of the Box" challenge, where we're supposed to use a stamp image for something other than its intended use.

So......these are the stamps I used - this is Goldfish, 2 birds from the Believe Birds clear set, and a coffee cup from the Coffee with a Friend clear set.

And....... those things somehow in my mind turned into this!I had so much fun making this card! All the elements are watercolored with reinkers. Another day that fish tail will have to be a campfire - can you see it? It's perfect for that too. The background (Cover-a-Card Tapestry 2), stamped in Adirondack Stream ink on sponged glossy cardstock, then sanded a bit to remove the gloss. Here's a close-up on the butterfly:
Ha! I love it.Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!
Batter up......

Posted: May 4th, 2010, 7:23pm PDT by dini

...that's a pun.
Get it?
Well you might... if you remember my series of cards last year using the Impression Obsession's Create-a-Cupcake set as anything other than a cupcake. (Click here to see all the cards I've made with this set!) Just warming up for this week's challenge to think 'outside the box'.........
I've had this little guy stashed for a while - he was colored with Neopiko markers and Prismacolor pencils, and you can see that I used the cupcake outline, face, and sprinkles from the set to make him - the bill of his cap and his smile were sketched in by hand. Love those freckles!
I created my own background paper by layering a couple of public domain images I found online. The ticket was also printed and lightly distressed. The baseball is handstitched. Not sure why I used so many staples, but... the stapler was handy, the staples matched, and I was in git-'er-done-quick-and-simple mode this morning. The sentiment stamp comes from the clear set "Flowers for You".
Day 2 with DH gone... I came down with some stomach flu bug the night before he left, but I'm feeling a bit better today. At least I have an appetite and everything has stayed down so far! Just taking it easy and taking things one step at a time. See you tomorrow with my challenge card... here's a teaser - what do you get when you cross a goldfish, 2 birds, and a coffee cup?
soooo.........

Posted: May 1st, 2010, 5:47pm PDT by dini

The wedding invitations are done! So here they are, all 52 of them... Huge thanks to Sue at Heart and Soul for allowing me tweak the Heart/Hands image to fit my needs. I stamped the image, watercolored it, overstamped the Flourishes Cover-a-Card stamp from Impression Obsession, on the pink background with Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink, then trimmed out an oval with my Coluzzle template...scanned the thing, resized and tweaked it, added the couples' names, then printed sheets of them to cut out with Coluzzle again.
The cardstock they chose is pearlescent on one side - it's beautiful but looked sort of plain just as-is, so we stamped the face of each gate-folded card with the same background stamp and Orchid ink.
End of our 'break'... sigh... really, the kids were the only ones that got a break! I was busy with different projects every day, catching up and finishing a few things that had gotten pushed aside while I was teaching. Next week will be busy as well, as DH will be away teaching at a conference for 5 days. Hopefully we can get ahead on school - we have 4 weeks of curriculum left that we need to finish in 3 weeks, so we're done before the craziness of graduation, the wedding, and a week of meetings at our house. Ack!
I have one big thing left on my to-do list, and I am dragging my feet about it... I need to order 4th grade books for my son, and it seems the easiest thing to do is to have them shipped direct from the company... they ship FedEx and we have heard stories about the huge fees that are charged on this end for customs and handling... but the other alternative is to have someone else ship them via USPS, which is slow and unreliable, and the new customs guy at the post office is very strict (they have a new restriction on school materials)... either way there will be fees... so... any advice or encouragement? I need to do this soon.
Happy weekend...............!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Challenge #27 - Let's Get Sketchy!!

Posted: May 1st, 2010, 6:26am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Sorry I'm a little late this morning. Al and I stayed up late to watch a movie and by the time I finished up the post over at the KKS Challenge Blog, it was after 1am....and that's waaaay past my bedtime!! hehe!

This week the wonderful Jeanne has put together a great sketch for us to use!! I LOVE using sketches because it always gives me that inspiration to start off my design! It's like a no-brainer! Sketches are my very favourite challenges!

For my card I used the lovely Miss Charlotte!! I had a baby card that I needed to make, so this was perfect! I hope my friend's poor kids turn out better than Charlotte's!! Haha! I stamped the image on Neenah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her in with my Copic markers. The cardstocks are by Bazzill and the patterned papers are from the Pitter Patter line. I used some Doodlebug star buttons that I've had for ages and tied some scrapper's floss through them. I stamped the sentiment from our Everyday Sentiments set and punched it out. I added some Martha Stewart ribbon and lastly I sponged around the image using some chalk ink, then pop dotted everything!!

If you'd like to play along with our sketch, be sure to link us up over at the challenge blog so we can check it out and if you use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp, you could be the random winner of the Queen Guinevere stamp as featured on Jeanne's amazing card!

OH and don't forget that to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day, KKS is having a fantastic sale!! Some of your favourite images and sentiment sets are 25-50% off but only until Sunday night, so be sure to head over there and scoop some up!!

Now hop on over to the Challenge Blog and check out the Krafty Girls' amazing designs using the sketch!!!

Happy kraftin'!
Super Krafty Sale!!

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 1:02pm PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Just thought I'd let you know that Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is celebrating National Scrapbooking Day, along with the rest of the papercrafting world!!

From now until Sunday at midnight EST, save 25-50% off some of your favourite Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!!

This sale includes images from each of our lines of stamps....Moonlight Whispers, Crissy's Cuties, Cindy and Mindy and even some of our fabulous Sentiment Sets!!

Be sure to scoop some up before the sale is over!!

And pop back tomorrow to check out this week's Krafty Challenge!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Sneak Peek!

Posted: April 29th, 2010, 10:33pm PDT by dini

Just wanted to share that I have a new set being released in May by Our Daily Bread designs - the set is called "As You Graduate," and features a collaged image which is a combination of several photos I love. The image conveys a sense of hope, new beginnings and new possibilities, which is what I wanted to capture in a set that could be used for a graduation card, or for someone going into a new ministry, new home, college, etc. Here is the set, which will be available for purchase May 1st: Something else I wanted to share about this image is that it was designed in such a way that it can be used in its full size, or can be cut to fit into several different orientations. Cut vertically, there are 2 different options for bookmarks. Cut horizontally, there are 2 panels that can be used. The butterflies can be cut out and 'popped' separately, or just trim around the edges of the wings, and raise them up a little. The bird could be the focus of an inchie. The trees could be left bare, or filled in with a texture stamp. Lots of possibilities! I'm sure you can think of more, and I'm sure more ideas will come when I have my own set in hand. For now - enjoy the preview, and check out the sneak peeks from design team members! Their links are all on the ODBD blog.

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Lots 'o Flowers!!

Posted: April 29th, 2010, 9:34am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Hidee ho, good stampers!! First of all, let me apologize profusely for my absence. I've been rather under the weather, spending six and a half hours at the emergency room last Friday night/Saturday morning. It's taken me several days to even get back to feeling remotely human again. I can't thank everyone enough for their messages and concern and good wishes! Also my wonderful Mom stayed with us for several days and it was so comforting. She cooked meals and cleaned and helped with cutting and packaging stamps!! She is the BEST!!! Thanks Mom!

My card for this week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge features the beautiful fairy, Daphne! Andrea is our hostess this week and she wants us to use Lots 'o Flowers! Totally easy for me!!

I used some gorgeous new, sparkly Bo Bunny papers along with Pale Plum and Perfect Plum cardstocks. I coloured her up with my Copic markers, of course and drew in some grass. I added some lilac and green pearls, some satin ribbon and the gorgeous new Prima flowers! The sentiment I used actually comes with Daphne, along with a second sentiment!

So I'm sure you can play along with this week's challenge....I mean, who doesn't love using flowers?? Be sure to hop over to the challenge blog and check out the amazing creations from the Krafty Girls and play along so you could win!!

Happy kraftin'!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Be Still

Posted: April 27th, 2010, 10:12pm PDT by dini

Here is another card using a set from my most recent DKdesigns release at smARTworks. This set has become a part of the Wistful Thinking full sheet - lots of good stuff on there!
The focal panel is a piece of watercolor paper I had played with for another project which involved misting the paper and mixing Twinkling H20s - it's pretty girly and shiny, which doesn't show well in the pictures... but anyway, it made a great background for this photo stamp. I trimmed the background into a square and rounded the corners. Using a Coluzzle nested square template, I cut out the inner rounded square as well. My card is a gatefold card, 4-1/4" square. If you can picture the focal panel flipped over, there is double stick tape on the left half of the inside square (the ribbon is also attached with that tape), and double stick tape on the right half of the outer square.
The view below might make a little more sense than me trying to explain things...the ribbon comes up over the outer frame on the left, and that sort of 'locks' the card shut, in addition to the tie on the right.
This is a view of the inside of the card. The verse fits nicely in the corner of the inner panel, and is also designed to snug up next to the main image. I used the extension of the flourishes on the main image to embellish the corner, as well as the edges of the card front.This fits with the Papertake Weekly Challenge to "do something different" - don't think I've ever made one of these cards before! Also, at Clearly Inspired Challenges sponsored by Clear Dollar Stamps the challenge is to "tie it up" with ribbon.
Be still - good message for me this week!
the journey

Posted: April 26th, 2010, 3:38pm PDT by dini

Here are a couple quick cards made with some DKdesigns stamps available from smARTworks... BTW, yesterday I spent some time updating my Design Resume page... not sure why I have done that, but for what it's worth - it's there! Must be my personal need to organize trivial things. Quirky I am. :)

I actually used 2 different sets on these cards. One set is called Journey, and the other Path set has been combined with a few of my other sets as part of the Wistful Thinking full sheet. I designed them as one set originally, and I love how they work together. This was a simple card to make - the path was colored in with a Neopiko marker, and shaded here and there with a single Prismacolor pencil. I stamped in the grass with a small grass stamp from another set. The grey panel is embossed with a Fiskars texture plate, and I used my Scor-Pal to score the diagonal lines on the card base. As I'm looking at it now, I think the little buckle on the ribbon must have come from an old bra. Do you think? hee hee..... Another quick card here - the path was stamped in Wheat chalk ink (Versamagic), and the girl from the Journey set was stamped over the top in Memento Tuxedo Black. I used a Neopiko marker to just lightly color in her top. I used some aged writing paper as my card base, and the bottom scalloped piece is a map-print vellum. I have my work cut out for me today... the bride-to-be is coming over to help with the invitations tonight so I have 104 eyelets to set before then. Invitations are printed and scored to fold, and the vellum layer is trimmed and punched. Sorta thankful to be able to use up so many eyelets in one pop... eyelets were one of those things I bought hundreds of in every color so I would never run out... sigh...
Clean corners

Posted: April 24th, 2010, 6:40pm PDT by dini

Yesterday was a work day at our house - one of our classes is doing a fundraiser, so we thought we'd help them out and at the same time, attack some projects that have been on our to-do list for at least a year, and do some deep cleaning to our floors and into grimy corners. It was a fun day...but a long day! We worked along with the students, and really accomplished quite a lot - floors are cleaned and waxed, kitchen shelves all wiped down, my freezer is finally defrosted and cleaned (it was really gross...), and a few other carpentry projects are underway - a repurposed novelty table, workbench in the shed, screen door for the back, shelves for the boys' room.
So my clean corners made me think of this card - this was one of my CHA cards using a Gary Robertson stamp from Impression Obsession's Spring release. (The image is called Sunflower with Butterflies.) I thought I'd experiment with coloring just the foreground image. Gary's artwork is so detailed - I liked being able to highlight just one area with color, and and leave the background in the background. I let my coloring 'do the talking' on this card, and combined textures to break up the white-on-white panels a little. My coloring was done with Neopiko markers, highlighted with a white Prismacolor pencil (Neopiko markers are an inexpensive non-refillable alcohol marker - I got mine at [www.oozak.com] during a closeout sale).
All for now - I am taking a 'me' week this week, and the kids are finally having their Spring break. I'll be ordering homeschool stuff for next year, working on some publication calls, finishing up those wedding invitations, and starting on some details for our upcoming graduation... and one day I will learn how to actually rest during a break...................!
Just Be..........

Posted: April 21st, 2010, 3:12pm PDT by dini

Solid stamps are fun to work with and very versatile. One of my favorite techniques with solid stamps is a 'faux watercolor' technique, where the stamp is colored directly using chalk inks, water-soluble markers or dye inks, watercolor crayons, etc., then misted before stamping. An alternative to misting the stamp is misting the paper, if the paper being used is heavy enough to withstand the extra moisture (for example, heavy cardstocks (110# and up) or watercolor paper).

For this card I used watercolor paper, and Versamagic Chalk Inks... I inked the solid images first, then misted the stamps with a small spray bottle before stamping to the paper. Stamps I used:

Solid Tree
Solid Tree Leaves Trio
Cottage Fence (upside down)
Riding Pretty clear set (Christmas tree image - as grass)
Life and Flowers clear set (sentiment)

The background and edges were sponged with ink, and the sentiment panel is 'popped' with dimensional foam tape. I scored the edges with my Scor-Pal and sanded the raised lines lightly. I love the little pop of blue in the background...it wasn't intentional, actually - my stamp just wasn't very clean! But it works...and makes me want to take a morning walk in a foggy park.

I am feeling the "Just BE" of this card... one more class day to go, but it will just be talking about resources that are available, collecting evaluation forms, and handing out a test, so in a way I feel "done". Next week we'll finally get to take our Spring Break, and I have a list of projects to finish, many of which involve STAMPING. Looking forward to that!
Spring Things

Posted: April 20th, 2010, 9:20pm PDT by dini

Busy days and weeks make me long for a quiet hour or two, and a chance to unwind by coloring at my stamping desk. I've been waiting to work with this beautiful line-art stamp from CowTown Stamps... Laurel frequently updates her Dollar Sale page (overstocked stamps - there are over 500 designs in there right now~!) , and since I found a few 'needs' in there, I thought I'd look around for a few other images as well, you know... to justify the postage. Heh heh...

This stamp image is called "Spring Stuff" - I chose a buttercream cardstock to stamp it on, then colored it in with Prismacolor pencils, blending with odorless mineral spirits. The colors I used are charted below. I like the idea of coloring on a colored or patterned cardstock - I'll have to play with that some more. Hopefully next week I'll have some time to 'find myself' again...! Here's some more of my Mom's stash of trim, and a tiny scrap of grosgrain ribbon from my ribbon jar. I cut the scalloped edge with decorative scissors (gasp!).

I'm halfway through my week - DH has been helping with the health class these last few days, since he has lots of first aid and first response training. That's been good. Glad to have him help me, as my first response is normally to freeze and cry...!

Speaking of DH, we got encouraging news yesterday, and a plan to move forward with his language study in preparation for team-teaching in the Fall. Teaching is his love and his heart, and he had been asked to step out of the classroom for some time to improve his language, so it's exciting to see that the plan is in place for him to begin teaching again next semester. I'm so proud of him!!!!

P.S. On the pencil codes below - PC are Prismacolor, LF are also Prismacolor but their Lightfast line. Pablo is a line put out by Caran d'Ache.
Refreshing

Posted: April 18th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

This is my entry for this month's smART-word Challenge - this month's word is FRESH. Soooooo many ways that word could go... my first thoughts revolved around fresh fruits and vegetables (for that one I was thinking of using inks that were named after foods), but then I started thinking - what about a fresh perspective? The last few months have been busy ones, and on top of that, there have been disappointments and opportunities for hurt feelings. I looked through my catalog of sentiments and this one from smARTworks' Cookie Plate jumped out at me. I know that in my life the only way a fresh perspective comes is through setting aside all that is cluttering my mind, and turning my attention to the Lord. So that's what this card is about!
The other stamp I used is from a smARTbucks-only set called Vintage Variety - it's a large branch image with a bird on it. Love that one! My background was created by swiping some chalk inks directly onto watercolor paper, then spritzing to make the inks run. After that was dry, I sanded the piece a little, then stamped the branch image and sentiment. I filled in the florals with white gel pen, and kept the rest of the card clean and simple with textures on white. That bit of trim is from my Mom's stash, which I remember admiring as a child - guess I've always had a fascination with buttons and trim. Thanks Mom!
There's still time to enter this month's 'Fresh' challenge, and you can view all the details and rules at the smARTword site. You'll see my card posted over there soon, along with a few others by present and former team members.

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

A Challenge for the Boys!!

Posted: April 16th, 2010, 7:19pm PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Kay!! Can I tell you how excited I am?? I'm in a hotel room in Kitchener, on my laptop with Andrea! We are getting ready to go to Scrapfest tomorrow morning!! We're going to see a bunch of people that we have met online and others we have met before but haven't seen in ages!! I can't wait!

Anyway, I'm in a hotel room and my mouse isn't working, so this post is going to be short and sweet!

So this week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge is from the amazing Melanie and she wants us to make 'One for the Boys'! So for my card I used the *new* Bartholomew the Bard! He's so cute!

I'll come back and post more info later....but we're runnin' down to grab some breakfast before we try to navigate our way to the Kitchener Auditorium for SCRAPFEST!!!

Have a krafty day!!

Kimmie

Mama Dini's Stamperia

It's time.............

Posted: April 16th, 2010, 5:38pm PDT by dini

Time to share the final smARTworks design team challenge, using these watch part stamps from the Time at Hand stamp collection. I made a black/ white ATC with my stamps - the watch is stamped on platinum vellum, and colored from the back with Neopiko marker. The watch face is underneath the vellum; also backing the vellum is DP full of numbers. I used the clock face, stamped 3 times overlapping, to create a large scalloped border for the edge of the card. The hands of the watch do actually turn, for what it's worth! Sort of an expression of how time has just been flying lately....!

For those not familiar with an ATC, it is an Artist Trading Card, the size of a baseball card (2-1/2" x 3-1/2"), made for the purpose of trading with other ATC artists.

As usual, take a hop over to Susan's blog for a chance to win your own set!

It's also time to officially part ways as a design team, as was announced last month... So long, farewell, friends... it has been an enjoyable ride together! I wonder what's next?

P.S. I found another challenge to add! Stamp Something's challenge is to incorporate layers.
Impression Obsession DT Challenge: High school colors

Posted: April 14th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

Yaaaaaaay BLUE! Yaaaaaaaaaay WHITE! Yaaaaaaaaaay DRILLERS! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!
The Impression Obsession design team has challenged each other - and you - to make a card using your high school colors. Yep, I'm a Driller...."once a Driller, always a Driller," they say......
To be quite honest, Driller Blue is probably the color I use the least, so as a challenge, this one didn't come easy. I had decided on a nautical scene, and this was one in my collection - this is a section of Seaside Scene, which I stamped with Brilliance Mediterannean Blue Ink.... Not even sure how that inkpad got into my stash, or if I have ever actually used it before! I used watercolor paper and a single color of Twinkling H2Os to fill in the scene. The sentiment is called.... Thinking of You.

I wanted to combine this with another challenge, and completely coincidentally.... Ready-Steady-Stamp had this recipe challenge:1. Sea2. Blue, White/Cream, Brown & Black3. Seashells4. Oval5. Sand
Heh heh....got all 5! I'd found these teeny shells for sale in town and the sand - local embellishment type stuff - and they fit in the depth of the oval Shake-It pouch. I grabbed a smattering of designer paper... LOL - yes, I still have 'that paper'!! If I'd had more stamping time this week I would have made matching DP with my Cover-a-Card stamps, but alas.....it was not to be.

Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

A CPS Sketch Challenge!!

Posted: April 14th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Hey, guess what?? Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is the sponsor this week over at the Card Positioning Systems blog!! And they have a really cool sketch this week and it certainly inspired me!

If you play along you could win some awesome new KKStamps rubbah! And if you check out the KKS Blog, you'll get details on how you could have TWO chances to win!! haha!

For my card I decided to play with the lovely Monique!! I hadn't inked her up yet and she was just beggin' to play!! I pulled out some new glittery papers from the new Mango Frost Stack from DCWV! Perfect colours for this sassy gal!

I stamped the image on Neenah cardstock and coloured her in with my Copics, 'o course! The coordinating cardstocks are Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango and Orchid Opulence! I even dusted off my sewing machine (and I do mean that literally) and sewed around the frame. I found some matching buttons for the side and used the sentiment that comes with Monique....When in doubt, DANCE!

Hop over the the KKStamps Challenge Blog to see more samples from the Krafty Girls using the CPS sketch and get details on how YOU could win!!

Happy kraftin'!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

blaaaaahhh......

Posted: April 13th, 2010, 7:05pm PDT by dini

Wish I had something more to share... sigh... this has been pretty much a no-stamping week, though I did get a challenge card done and got in a little coloring yesterday just for fun. I was up all night with a stomach 'thang'... not sure what to make of that, but I'm taking it easy today. I was thankful to find out that 'whatever it was' didn't affect any of the dinner guests we had last night - that would be embarrassing! - but...I was sad to miss my class today.
Here's a sneak peek at my card for tomorrow's Impression Obsession challenge, just for fun... then I'm gonna get this warm laptop off my lap - that's sure not helping anything!
Bubbles and baubles

Posted: April 10th, 2010, 11:10pm PDT by dini

Here's another card with my Bubbles set from smARTworks...... this is a super simple layout, and a fun way to use up coordinating scraps. The only coloring on the focal image is a little Ivory Oxide colored pencil over the buttons. The image is stamped in Vintage Sepia ink. I stamped some bubbles on the dark brown background strip to pull the theme of the card together.

BTW, the set comes with a coordinating sentiment, "Thank you so much!" which could easily be used as an inside-the-card sentiment or stand alone.

My card is 4-1/4" x 6" (standard-sized paper here is A4). I folded it first, then scored an inch from the fold, added 2 eyelets and tied the closure with some hemp. Just for fun, I made some paper beads from the same blue paper you see at the top of my card.

Here's a picture I found that shows the basic concept of making paper beads - they are quick and easy to make yourself, and perfect as a matching accent. I wrap mine around a bamboo skewer, starting at the wide end, and making sure to keep the point of my triangle always somewhat centered. When I get to the last little bit, I put a dot of Crystal Lacquer on the bead and move it around the with the tail end so it sticks down the point and gives the bead a clear coat to seal it.

That's my quick eco-friendly card for the day!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

April Krafty Hop.....Meet Dexter!!!

Posted: April 10th, 2010, 10:00pm PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Well, I'm so happy that you've made it to my blog today....but sad to tell you that this is the end of the Kraftin' Kimmie April Release Krafty Hop!!! Awwww...I know! Now if you've just happened to stop by here, you might want to go back to the beginning of the hop, which starts over at the KK Challenge Blog, so you can see all the amazing creations from the Krafty Girls! They are simply incredible!!!

Also, be sure to leave a comment on each blog when you are hopping around because some lucky random comments will win some new rubbah!!!

Now, look who I have for you to meet today!!! It's Dexter the Dragon!! The minute I 'met' him, I knew exactly how I wanted to colour him and how I'd be colouring up his scales!! Coooooool!!!

First though, I picked out these great papers from a new DCWV stack (can't remember which one, so don't ask) and made this simple layout. The cardstocks are from Andrea's stash, as I was crafting over at her house at the time. I believe I used Bazzill for the 6x6 base, Prism for the matting and some Kraft cardstock for the middle piece. I used a border punch, her circle maker and added some So Saffron ribbon.

Now I stamped Dexter using Memento black ink BUT this time I used some Canson drawing paper. It just gives a different look than the Neenah when the ink is laid on it. I coloured Dexter with my Copic markers and when he was finished, I started on his scales. First I used my colorless blender pen in dots to take away some of the ink and make it lighter in spots. Then I took a darker marker and made really tiny dots over top. Finally I made him sparkle a little by adding some dots with my Stardust Sakura gel pen!! AND I cut him all out and pop dotted him on the card!

The Time's a Dragon Without You sentiment is one of the bonus sentiments that comes with Dexter!! The other one is You Slay Me!! So funny! I stamped it on So Saffron cardstock and punched it out with a new EK Success punch and added some little pearls!

All the new April images are NOW available over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Shop! This includes a new image featuring Cindy and Mindy, plus Dexter, Sir Galahad, Bartholomew the Bard, Princess Petunia, Queen Guinevere AND another stamp that is inspired by one of Annie Rodrigue's amazing illustrations!! We created Marie Antoinette from her painting called Le Messager!! And every order placed at the KK Shop on Sunday, April 11th and Monday, April 12th are eligible to win one of three postcards featuring Annie's artwork!

Happy kraftin'....and happy shoppin'!!
Challenge #24!! A Colour Challenge!!

Posted: April 10th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Hidee ho good stampers!! It's time for another fantastical Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge!!! This week our hostess is the dazzling Donna and she's given us a colour challenge! She would like us to use Black, White and Red on our designs this week! I hope you can join us for the challenge and if you use a Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, you'll be eligible to win the blog candy of the new Cindy and Mindy image that's featured on Donna's card! It's called You Make Me Happy and it will be available at the Shop on Sunday!!

For my card, I used the handsome new Sir Galahad!! Isn't he studly?? Hehe. I stamped him on Neenah cardstock with Memento ink and coloured him in with my Copic markers (you guessed that, didn't you?). I used some older DCWV Glitter Stack paper that has fantastic greys, white and black on it AND it's sparkly!!! I added the sentiment that comes with Sir Galahad....You're My Knight in Shining Armor!!

Be sure to head over the the challenge blog and you can check out all the inspirational cards made for you by the Krafty Girls AND our new Junior Krafty Girls!!! Then join in the challenge and show us your creations!!!

ALSO come back tomorrow for an amazing Krafty Hop, featuring all the new images for April and they will ALL be available too!!! See you then!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Bubble Bath

Posted: April 10th, 2010, 12:45am PDT by dini

More bubbles....!

I took some inspiration from Mel's bathtub card post for this card - love all the detail she puts into her art! I sewed some clear seed beads on first, here and there, then added more bubbles using Crystal Lacquer and microbeads (teeny, tiny hole-less beads) - they sort of 'clumped' (aaahhh!!) so I moved them around with a toothpick until I got them where I wanted them, then let them dry over night.

I used Crystal Lacquer to make some water spill over the side of the tub and onto the floor. The image was painted first using reinkers mixed with Shimmerz.

What else did I do here... the bow was made with a Bow-Easy - I threaded the ribbon through the button holes. All the stamps I used are from Heartfelt Creations. If you like bears, they have a bunch of cute scenes to choose from... you can see them all here! The one I used is called "Bubble Bath".

Here's a closer look at the bubbles - sort of hard to see still, but hopefully you get the idea.
Whew............

Posted: April 9th, 2010, 3:38pm PDT by dini

I think I survived this week....!
Here are a couple of things that kept me busy, not to mention teaching our missions students every morning, and a completely lost day sitting with DH at the mechanic in town...
Easter afternoon my little guy fell out of a tree and banged his eye - this is a picture from day 2 - he could barely open it for the swelling, poor thing! It is healing really well though now. He had his 4th birthday Thursday, and he says, "I'm 4 - now I can drive!" Stinker.
I worked this week to to make a prototype wedding invitation for some of our students who plan to marry here on campus at the end of May. Had to test out my ideas, so there are 2 models there - one with the photo printed on the vellum and one with the photo underneath. Still changes to make before I start mass-production - they want the photo underneath (sigh...I liked the other one better...), a few more words on the vellum, and the photo flipped so the guy is on the left. The card is a gatefold, and will close with an oval panel on the front (you can see it in the background), tied with a sheer white bow.
Not sure that today holds much rest either, but we'll see. Thanks so much for checking in on me!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Krafty Peeks....Day TWO!!!

Posted: April 9th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

So what did you think of yesterday's Krafty Girl peeks? Well, if you think they were good....they get even better!!!

Today my card features the elegant Queen Guinevere! She comes with not one but two sentiments of her own! You are the Queen! and It's Good to be Queen! Wouldn't she make the perfect Mother's Day card???

Anyhoo, I decided to use her with these soft, pretty new Kioshi papers by Basic Grey along with the matching brads and buttons. Don't you love the glittery flowers in the corner and the sheer ribbon? I also used my new Large Scalloped Oval Nesties to make her background layer and sponged it with purple ink while I still had the frame on. I finished it off by adding a touch of Stardust Stickles!

Well, I'm takin' off early today....no I'm not working!! I'm spending the entire day with my stampin' soul sistah, Andrea!! It's her birfday!!! And we are shopping, eating and stampin' ALL day long!! I can't wait! Be sure to hop over to her blog and give her some birthday wishes! In fact, be sure to hop around to all the Krafty Girls' blogs and check out the amazing new designs they have to share!

Don't forget, these new April images will be available at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Shop on Sunday!!

Happy kraftin'!!
Have a Magical Day.....with some Krafty Peeks!!!

Posted: April 8th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Helloooooooooo! I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!! It's been too long...I know, I know! It's been crazy busy since I got back from vacation and it all has to do with this new release!! YES!!! Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps has our April Release this Sunday!!!

So here's my story.......as always, I open the preordering up to the wonderful Retail Stores that carry KKStamps a couple of weeks before the release, so they can have the stamps in time to sell. Well, I sent out the email.....and within a few days....like three....I was SOLD OUT!!! So I had to place another order right away, drive to Oshawa to pick a portion of it up and cut and package ALL weekend last weekend!!! The rest of my order will be here on Friday, so guess what I'll be doing all weekend again, so that I can fill all of your orders of the new images on Sunday???? Yep! You guessed it! Cutting and packaging! Guess that really wasn't a tough question, now was it??

So that's my excuse for not posting lately....does it cut the mustard???

Anyhoo.....on to the card!! This month we have six images from Annie Rodrigue and one new Cindy and Mindy image! Annie has gone Medieval on us this month and we have a princess, a queen, a minstrel, a knight and a DRAGON!!! Ewwwwwwww! *so excited*

The card I've got for you today features the lovely Princess Petunia! Isn't she SWEET??? It's actually a sample card for a class! I've been asked to be the featured guest at an amazing Crop coming up in the Mildmay, Ontario area! If you know where that is and are signed up already....good for you!!! Because the crop is FULL!! But you can still come to shop (we'll certainly have stamps for sale)!!! And we're taking signups now for the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp Class!!! I will be bringing a couple of my Krafty Girls with me.....Andrea and Diana....and we're going to have a blast! We're so excited!! If you'd like more information, just zip me off an email!!

So this is one of the cards you'll get to make, along with another card that Andrea has created and posted on her blog today!!! It features the Marie Antoinette stamp we've made featuring Annie's painting, Le Messager!!!! It rocks!!

Anyhoo, lots of the Krafty Girls have more Krafty Peeks for ya today, so be sure to hop around and check 'em out!!!

I'm off to work.....boooo! But then I'm off for the weekend...yaaaaaaaaaaay!! Toodles!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Blew it.............

Posted: April 6th, 2010, 11:43pm PDT by dini

I think this card ranks among my favorites ever - this set is from smARTworks' last release, and is one of my own designs. Here is a direct link to the catalog page... I love how the artwork turned out, and the font is a fun one too... the sentiments can go together or stand on their own. (There is another set of sentiments that say, "You blew me away with your kindness..." and "Thank you so much!") I colored with Prismacolor pencils, and the colors I used are down below for your reference. I added a few extra dew drop 'bubbles', plus some smaller Crystal Lacquer ones. The large bubble is covered with Crystal Lacquer, with some white acrylic paint swirled in.
I made this card an easel card, so here you can see what it looks like propped open. The layering inside is enough to hold it - no button or other prop in mine. Isn't she a darling? And the colors of this card make me want to go to an ice cream parlor.....just sayin'.
Here's a close up and better angle on the bubbles......
Jasper

Posted: April 4th, 2010, 10:35pm PDT by dini

So much going on in this card!

First of all, this is my first card using one of Impression Obsession's stamps by new artist Gail Green of "Sweet Petatoes" fame - these stamps are fun and funky and super detailed, which makes them fun to color. I colored this guy, Jasper with Butterflies, with Prismacolor pencils, and as requested, below is a list of the pencils I used. Cool, huh? heh heh.... I used a white gel pen to add some highlights to the butterflies and on Jasper's little face.

For the background, I chose some coordinating inks and swiped them onto white cardstock, then layered 2 Cover-a-Card background stamps - Large Paisley and Medallion - over the top in varying shades of brown. I stamped Petal Flourish up the side, and sponged the edges, then drew in a light tool line around the edge of the panel with a fine-tipped brown marker. The cotton gingham ribbon was a local find.

I left my card sentiment-less on the front - I'm finding I need more cards that are left 'multi-purpose' for things that come up unexpectedly - this could go 'birthday' or 'thanks' or 'friendship' or 'encouragment' at a moment's notice.

Hope you had a blessed weekend - I totally vegged on Friday and got a lot done Saturday morning (despite my cough and puffed up eye) while DH took the kids to an Easter party (for a few hours, a clean and quiet house ... ahhh...). Sunday was church and potluck, then lesson plans for health class and homeschool... another busy week!

Thanks for stopping by!
Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Celebrating Mom

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

It's time for a new challenge from the Impression Obsession design team - in this challenge we're "celebrating Mom"!
I remembered our last challenge, where we made a card that would represent a "me day", and I thought about what my Mom might do on her "me day"... Mom loves the beauty of the outdoors, and adds to the beauty of it by gardening (click there to see some of Mom's spring bulbs that were blooming when we were at her house 2 years ago...gorgeous!). She loves butterflies too, and the testimony they are to how something beautiful can come from something common.

I thought this new image, Watering Can with Butterfly, from artist Gary Robertson would be perfect - watering cans, flowers and flower pots, with a butterfly in the center. I watercolored the image with Derwent watercolor pencils and a waterbrush (Niji), using some of Mom's favorite colors. After the piece was dry, I added some texture by cross-hatching with a Prismacolor Pencil (Espresso) in some of the shadowed areas, and added some highlights with a white gel pen. I also cut around the wings of the butterfly carefully, and bent them up, then covered them with some Crystal Lacquer. That little bit of dimension and shine adds so much! I sketched in a few blades of grass behind the scene to give it some depth.
I used the Cover-A-Card Wood Grain stamp for my background panel - I swiped some light blue and sand ink on the cardstock first, then stamped the woodgrain in a sage ink over the top. You can see it closer in the photo below.
Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!P.S. I found another challenge to link up to for this one - Spring cards at Everybody-Art-Challenge!
missing you.......

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 4:23am PDT by dini

I'm finally getting around to working with this stack of sets that I designed... the latest dkdesigns batch from smARTworks. I have the hardest time working with my own stuff, for some reason. Not that I don't love them! Maybe it's from working with it in black and white for so long on the computer... maybe because there are so many possibilities... not sure! But... here is my first card. These stamps are from the Wistful Thinking set... I stamped the image in Vintage Sepia and watercolored using a waterbrush and Derwent watercolor pencils. It's a simple card really - I resisted the urges to embellish, so it's extremely mailable as well. :) Love that kid's face - he really does look despondent, huh!
Poor thing.

The set comes with a verse, one of my good 'reminder' verses ("Why are you downcast, oh my soul?...Put your hope in God..!") and also a split sentiment that I remember being on a card my Dad sent to me when I was 6 (we were in CA and he was on a job in TX - that was really special to me!) - "If I'm here and you're there...one of us is in the wrong place!" There are several other sets on the full sheet as well - the artwork and some of the text stamps are my designs as well.
Funny, just musing on what things I miss at 'home' when we're here... not what you'd think really, though there is stuff, you know... like craft stores and Spring and parks and In'n'Out Burger and fresh mushrooms... for me, it's not so much foods or conveniences -- mostly things like anonymity and independence. Shopping or going to the library by myself to unwind, just enjoying being anonymous and ignored. I miss that!

OK... enough for today (sigh)...!
the Heart of a Home

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 9:02pm PDT by dini

This card is a bit more scrappy than my usual style, but occasionally I push myself out of my box... All stamps are from smARTworks.

The house is colored wtih Neopiko markers, and I framed it in a diecut made with 2 Nestabilities flowers. I stamped the sentiment then chopped it up, then positioned the pieces under the edge.... I made sure to tack them in as I sewed the frame randomly onto the plaid panel. The little heart is just a handcut piece of chipboard, covered with designer paper and sanded around the edges. The plaid panel is sewed to the corner of a large square doily. That gives another home-y touch, I think!

Remember to check out smARTworks' single sets which are still at 50% off - still lots to choose from!

Busy week...gotta run!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Quick Announcement!

Posted: March 28th, 2010, 1:39pm PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Hidee ho, good stampers!! My family and I are back from our lovely vacation in Florida! But can anyone tell me why I'm more tired now, than when I left?? Seriously! I need a vacation to recuperate from my vacation!!

Anyhoo, I'd like to celebrate with a quick little announcement!! The Spring Tea Party images and sentiment sets are NOW available individually in the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Shop!!

Gabrielle, Nadine, Henri, Giselle and Lisette are all there, along with their bonus accessory stamps! Also the Tea Sentiments and Coffee Sentiments are available to coordinate with your images as well!

These images will also be available to our fine retailers soon!!

Happy kraftin'!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Irises

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 10:22pm PDT by dini

I'm still working on cleaning out my "not posted" file of card pictures - one of these days I will catch up with myself! Too many ideas, not enough time..........

A package of stamps was sent to me from Heartfelt Creations the day before they revised their design team contract, so it was already on its way to me when I stepped down from the team. They generously said, "Be blessed, have fun with them!" ........and I am! Thanks, you guys....... Love these stamps - gorgeous artwork, and so fun to watercolor.

The stamps I used on this card are:
Iris
Message #2

The main panel is watercolored with reinkers... there's a square panel there that was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder - other papers are from my scrap stash, which it seems will never be used up in my lifetime.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend - we are getting some needed rain at the moment!
perfect package

Posted: March 26th, 2010, 12:26am PDT by dini

This is a fun little image from Amber Ink.... you might recognize the artwork from another company, but this is straight from the artist, Amber Alvarez, in a digital set... for free!!! There are a bunch of other gift wrapping accessories in the set, which could be used for accents or even some custom background paper... fun stuff.

I colored the image with Neopiko markers and shaded with Prismacolor pencils. Coloring hair is not my speciality.... I did most of my shading with browns, except for the skin tones. Just a little thing I do! Gloria asked about shading with greys - I'll have to work with that a little bit for ya... Browns or deeper tones of the same color area are more my norm. The sentiment is part of the set as well. Down below there's a close-up so you can see the little bit of glitter on the ribbon...

Check out the Amber Ink store - there are a few other sets available for free at this time, others for sale, plus digital paper, and more to come!

I'm impatiently waiting for friends to arrive... one of our classes has been away for 9 weeks on a language/ culture learning practicum, and they are on their way home now.... Some of my best friends are in that class, and I have missed them so much...!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Hello from Sunny Florida!

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 7:21pm PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Just thought I'd pop on and say hello!! Our week of rest and relaxation in Florida has been most enjoyable!! The weather has been fantastic and we've been doing lots of fun stuff! And I thought I'd show you a few pics!

It's been nice and sunny....I'm so thankful to be here in the sunshine and wearing shorts and t-shirts, rather than the cooler temperatures I hear they are having at home. I miss all my stampin' pals and I'm having withdrawals from stamping. But I must say I haven't been fretting and worrying about Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and the website and stuff, like I thought I would. I've really been able to relax so it's been awesome!

One thing you should know about my family is that we are shoppers! All of us! Not just myself and Emileigh but Al too. We all love shopping and we're good at it! Well, there's no shortage of fantastic outlet malls and shops around here. Emileigh and I have scooped up some fantastic stuff at the Guess stores (yes, we've enjoyed shopping at Guess more than once...heehee), Emileigh has been picking up awesome deals at her fave store, Hollister, I got some great deals at the Disney store and Al is scoring at all the sports stores with t-shirts and shoes. And just when I thought we couldn't shop anymore, today we shopped some more!! Haha! I even found a Joann's down here! Woohoo! I scooped up some of the new DCWV stacks that I hadn't seen yet! Can't wait to use them!

Here are a few pics of us on different beaches down here. We've been to Bonita Beach, Barefoot Beach and Sanibel Island! I think we'll spend tomorrow on the beach too! Aaaahhhh!

Sandy hugs to all my stampin' pals!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Hoppy.........

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 3:29pm PDT by dini

For about 6 years I've dealt with anxiety and panic attacks, and physical symptoms of stress... I'm preparing to teach a health class for the next 4 weeks (in Indonesian, no less), and the stress of that manifested itself today in nerve pain through my hand and forearm. Great! It's happened before, but it's still unsettling... Best way to get through it is to do something calming... so my de-stress activity was to play some challenges. That usually works! Sooooooo.......

This card is for:
Our Creative Corner - Spring card
Everybody-ArtChallenge - Easter card
Peachy Keen Stamps - sketch challenge
Colour Create Challenge - pastels and Easter card

Now I'm not normally an Easter Bunny card person. Spring Bunny, yes... but... I wanted to be able to submit this card to the Heartfelt Creations gallery as well, and I don't have a "Happy Spring" stamp from them, so in the interest of the sketch and the sentiment that turned out to be the right size... sigh...

Bathing Bunny is the name of this image - I used to collect rabbits growing up (figurines, stuffed, etc.) and I love them still. I watercolored my image, and added a few popped leaves, then cut around the image with a Coluzzle template, skipping the areas I wanted to leave outside the circle. My card is 4-1/4" x 6", folded the long way, and I cut the scalloped edge with a corner rounder (corner guide removed).

Thanks for stopping by!
answering questions

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 6:07am PDT by dini

Thought I'd answer a few questions that have come up over the last couple weeks....here we go!
I love how you add the score lines around the edges of your DP. Do you add them after you cut the paper to size or do you add the score lines and then cut the paper??
I score the edges of my panels using my Score-Pal, cutting the panel to size first, and then scoring just inside the edge. Sometimes I score from the back, and sometimes right on the front - depends on when it hits me to do the scoring... if I have too much dimension involved to flip the panel over, I just score the panel right side up.
Great coloring! Do you think you would line up the colored pencils you use and share the colors you like to add shadows with?
It's a thought! But usually I tuck my pencils right back into their slots as soon as I'm done using them. Otherwise I might not get them back in the right order, and as OCRD as I am (thanks Sue for that acronym...Obsessive Compulsive Rainbow Disorder! ha!)... well... If it would be helpful, though, maybe I'll try to take note of which colors I use, and include a little chart. When I have some more time I'll try to figure out a way to make that easy to do.
I've never used Gamsol or OMS to blend colored pencils...do you have to be careful, any safefty concerns with the product?
I've noticed that my OMS is increasingly odorous as time goes by. I use just a generic (Walmart paint section) OMS, not artist grade, but here is a link to the MSDS for Gamsol, which is an artist grade solvent. Always best to use it in a ventilated area - I keep mine in a glass jar and close it when I'm not using it.
I would love to see your family blog and facebook. Would you share the addys for your sites?
Our family blog is at http://kowals.blogspot.com and you can find me on facebook at [www.facebook.com] !
You should be selling your work!!
I do! The bummer is having to charge international postage... but occasionally I'm able to send packets Stateside with a friend. You can see the cards I have for sale here!
Thanks for the questions - I am happy to answer them, so ask away!
Cheers,
Birthday Tulips & Pencil Resource

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

We have a lot of family birthdays in March - my sister-in-law, mother, brother, husband, and one son... in honor of them all and because I miss Spring flowers and I hear they are trying to pop up now, here's another birthday card this week. I paired a sentiment from a Penny Black clear set with Tulip Vase from Serendipity Stamps. The image is colored with Prismacolor pencils.

Speaking of my pencils... I spent some time over the last couple of days making a chart of my colored pencils, then scanning the chart and trying to 'pick' the colors to create a digital chart. Didn't work as perfectly as I would have liked, but it's sort of cool, anyway, and it helped me get my pencils in an order I'm happy with. For those that care about this kind of stuff, I keep my pencils in these Global Classic leather cases from Dick Blick - somehow my pencils fill 2 of these 120-pencil cases (*blush*).

Anyway, in case anyone is interested in the chart I made, I have it posted on my website - the pencils are not in "Prismacolor" order, and I have some other brands of pencils thrown in the mix, but they are in an order that makes sense to me and makes me happy when I look at it... me who has been putting my crayons and everything else in rainbow order since Kindergarten. There is a pdf version for those who just want to see the pretty colors (hehe), and a Word .doc version for those who might want to adjust the chart to their own collection.

If you have questions feel free to ask!
daffodils and birthdays

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 8:05pm PDT by dini

Here's another older card, but I'm feeling spring-ish today! Actually I've been in the kitchen all day... cooking is one of my love languages and today is my husband's birthday so I wanted to prepare him a special meal. Almost everything that I wanted to make could be done ahead of time, so with macaroni salad in the fridge, chocolate cream pie cooling, chicken marinating... I'm just taking a break before I have to go and face the piles of dishes!

This is Butterfly with Daffodils, an Impression Obsession stamp... the image is watercolored, and cut out with a Coluzzle template. This background paper is something I designed just messing around in PhotoImpact with a wallpaper image from the Graphics Fairy... not sure what process I went through on it, and I could probably never do it again!

There was a question about scoring edges the other day - I score the edges of my panels using my Score-Pal, cutting the panel to size first, and then scoring just inside the edge. (BTW, on the oval panel - I just eyeballed the distance from the edge and scored that edge with a stylus). Sometimes I score from the back, and sometimes right on the front - depends on when it hits me to do the scoring... if I have too much dimension involved to flip the panel over, I just score the panel right side up.

Speaking of daffodils, I picked up this little Lindsay's Stamp Stuff digital set from mygrafico.com the other day... one of these days I will use all these digital stamps I am amassing... good thing they don't take up any space!

Happy weekend!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge #22!!

Posted: March 20th, 2010, 4:00am PDT by Kraftin' Kimmie

Saturdays are the best days of the week...don't you think? Not only is it the first day of the weekend but it's also the day we post Kraftin' Kimmie Challenges!!

This week our hostess is the loverly Michele!! Her challenge is called An Eyelet Here, An Eyelet There...! Do you have a stash full of eyelets in your craft room?? I know I do. I went through a phase where I just had to have them all....every colour, every size! Now they just collect dust in my SU spinner! So this was a fantastic challenge....I love using up stuff from my stash!

So I used Puddles of Love for my design! I stamped Emmylou on Neenah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her in with my Copic markers. I used my new Nesties to cut her out and emboss her and then I used a sponge and some chalk ink to shade around the frame while I still had the Nestie on it. I used Basic Black for the 6x6 card base and for matting. The gorgeous sparkly dp is some new stuff from the Lucy Bird line by Imaginisce. I used some large grommet sized eyelets in the four corners of the main layer and I love the way it looks! I stamped the sentiment, that comes with the image and punched it out. Finally, I added some layers of Prima flowers with a sparkly black brad!

I hope you can play along with this great challenge and use up some of your eyelets! This challenge is going to be open for two weeks, so I'm sure you can find the time to join us!

Now hop on over to the KKS Challenge Blog and check out the gorgeous creations from all the Krafty Girls!

Well, I am off for a week.....yes, we are taking a family vacation and my plan is to lay in the sun and do nothing but relax! Maybe we'll hit a few stores and do some shoppin' but other than that, it's going to be stress free! At least that is my hope.....I'll let you know when I get back how it worked out! Ciao!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Hummingbird Easel card

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 12:35am PDT by dini

Thought I'd explore a little different color palette with this card - I love this deep coral, but don't often use it. I looked up these trumpet flowers on a google image search, and their color was my inspiration.

This is an image from Heartfelt Creations called Trumpet Bouquet - beautiful, isn't it? My mom's love of hummingbirds rubbed off on me. The main focal panel is watercolored with reinkers. I added some deeper shadows with Derwent pencils, and put a layer of Shimmerz over the flowers and birds... because I like sparkly things.

The embossed grid was scored with my Scor-Pal and the other embossing was done using a Fiskars texture plate. Diecuts are from Cuttlebug.
I decided to make this an easel card - if you're not familiar with these cards, their base is a modified Z-fold (a regular half sheet of cardstock, folded in half, and then one side folded back on itself, to the center fold). The card front, then is only adhered along the bottom half, so that when it is opened, the middle of the 'Z' acts as an easel. There is usually something raised on the inside to hold the card front upright. I added some layers underneath my inside sentiment, and that served to hold my front panel up.

Hope you have a great weekend!
Impression Obsession DT Challenge: It's a ME day!

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

The Impression Obsession team challenged each other to create a card that represents what we would indulge in on a "ME day" - I could use one of those right about now, after this busy week with DH away! There are so many images I could have used... beach scenes and quiet gardens come to mind, not to even mention the Truffle Tree....... but I know truly if the house were quiet and my to-do list were under control (OK, we're dreaming, but anyway...), I would be sitting at my 'other desk' with my mug of paintbrushes and tools out, stamping and coloring. My mug isn't as dainty and delicate as this one, and it's chipped...but I love it because it's so me.

I was thinking "one layer card" when I started out, but as usual this card 'evolved' as I went along. The frame is from the Journaling clear set, stamped in Memories Soft Wheat ink. I stamped the Artist Mug image over that, and colored it all in with Prismacolor pencils. The sentiment was stamped in chalk ink.

Check out my mug - it even says "Mama" on the handle. How perfect is that? Favorite tools in there to keep in reach - waterbrush (Niji), Xacto knives, Coluzzle swivel knife, long reverse tweezers, gel and glue pens, piercing tool, stipple brush, file... and what is the plural form of stylus? styluses? styli?

Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!

What would you do on a "me" day?
a cup of tea

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 9:01pm PDT by dini

Yesterday one of my student friends and I threw a little ladies' tea... so many times we get together for the purpose of teaching or sports, but not so often just to "BE" and to enjoy each other's company. Since we had a holiday and a free afternoon, it seemed like a good time.

In honor of tea - a tea card. This uses several stamp sets (sorry, I'm a bit at a loss as to how to label them since they are not available in sets as such anymore......) from smARTworks but features a set that I designed, called Teapot Trio. I didn't use all 3 layers to create the teapot - instead I used the 3rd stamp in the set to create the outline and detail of the image, then shaded in the rest with pencils...yet another way the Trio stamps can be used. I like the subtle monochromatic look here.

Not really a lot to explain here, though if you have questions about anything, please feel free to ask. :) By the way, the Teapot Trio set is still available as a single set while supplies last, at 50% off. Here is a link to the sets that are still available at this deep discount - the teapots are on the bottom row, third from the right. Also, remember our smARTword challenge to create a monochromatic card - if you do, link it up over at the challenge blog!
Happy thoughts.

Posted: March 14th, 2010, 9:09pm PDT by dini

Another older card, but I needed to post something cheerful to get my mind off all the worms, grubs, spiders, and rats that I've seen this morning! Blaaaaaaaaahhh...... if you want details, they're on our family blog, pics are on Facebook. NOT posting them here...!

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

This is one of last year's summer releases from Impression Obsession - when I first saw the image (and before it was named "Sweet Lemonade") I right away thought 'watermelon' - so I made sure to color it appropriately on this one. I sewed some seed beads on to the little garnish there. (I did that on another project last night that turned out really cute - can't wait to share that one with you!)

Monday. Working on surviving day 3 without DH, halfway through. Today I lead the staff ladies' meeting; tomorrow is a holiday (seriously have no clue why), so one of the students and I are throwing a little 'ladies' tea' just for fun, totally informal, no agenda, just food and good company; Wednesday I have some things to share in our small group; Thursday DH will be home; Friday I lead ladies' chapel! Busy busy week. (Then Sunday is DH's birthday, Tuesday is Benny's....health class starts the 29th...) Lots of things to do in the in-between times, too. Guess that's a good thing. Bring it on.

Thanks for checking in on me today! Encourage one another --------

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Last Stop on the Krafty Hop!!! And NEW Stamps!!

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 10:00pm PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

You've arrived at the last stop on today's Kraftin' Kimmie Krafty Hop!! Heehee! If you landed here randomly in your blurfing (blog surfing) today, you may want to go back to the KKS Challenge Blog and start the hop from the beginning....and be sure to leave comments at each and every stop, because some lucky stampers will be winning some of the new rubber!!!

Well, my design today is rather special to me. This incredible fairy design is by the wonderful Crissy Armstrong! And I named her Victoria after my new baby niece!! My brother and his wife had a little baby girl last fall and she is just SO precious, so I wanted to name this beautiful butterfly fairy after her!

These sweet papers I had been saving, because they're so pretty and sparkly....they are called Delightful by Little Yellow Bicycle! I coloured Victoria using my Copic markers, of course, in coordinating colours. I used Bazzill and SU cardstocks for the base and matting and tied some Martha Stewart ribbon across the middle. I added two pearls in the upper left corner and some of these luscious, sparkly new prima flowers in the corner. The finishing touch was the little bit of glitter I added to her wings and the butterflies with my Sakura Stardust gel pen!! Isn't she lovely??

Now you are done hoppin', so now you can start shoppin'!! All the new images are up in the SHOP and I will let you know that there are only a few Spring Tea Party Kits left, so if you want one, you'd better be quick!! Heehee!!

Happy kraftin'!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Quick card

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 3:21pm PST by dini

Here's a quickie I forgot to blog... it was for a challenge Firecracker Designs by Pamela had over on Facebook. Random drawing, didn't win, but I finally got to ink up these elephants. I love the artwork in this set! My father-in-law loves elephants, so that has endeared them to me too. You can see the full set by clicking here.

The scene is all done with inks and a prismacolor pencil for shading. The mountain line was sponged, using a torn strip of paper as a mask. My background is a modified scrap-strip background, just with larger chunks of scraps, and sponged and scored edges. That's a button from my hoard, and the woven mat was a local find. The dark brown layer was embossed with a Fiskars texture plate.

Heavy sigh...DH is gone for most of the week, and of course his first day away I was down with an all-day allergy attack. Today I feel a bit like I got hit by a truck... achy all over, headache (I think I clenched my teeth last night), knots in my back. Nice! Still, life goes on - this is a busy week. So thankful to live in a team-community with people checking on me and willing to help. Thankful for strength beyond my own, made perfect in my weakness - 2 Cor. 12:9.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge 21! And Meet Suzette!!!

Posted: March 13th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

It's Saturday....so that means another awesome Krafty Girl Challenge! PLUS we're showing previews of the new Krafty stamps that will be available TOMORROW!!! Heehee!

Our schweet hostess this week is the wonderful Tara and she's named her challenge Just Bead It!! Well, let me tell you, I had to really dig in my stash to find some beads. I knew I had bought some (and had never used) and I finally found these black ones, which went perfectly with the papers I wanted to use!!

Meet the very vivacious SUZETTE!! She is our Can-Can girl from the Dancing Girl release by Annie Rodrigue! Suzette is quite a large stamp and she has quite a large personality!! Heehee! I stamped her on Neenah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her with my Copics, o' course! The papers I used are by My Mind's Eye and the pattern is very glittery with lots of stars!

I used Basic Black for the 6x6 card base and matted with some Bazzill cardstocks. I laid down a strip of double sided adhesive tape across the bottom of the main image and smooshed down a layer of the black glass beads. it worked pretty well and I'm surprised how well they stick. I added some satin scalloped black ribbon and a pretty bow. I stamped Suzette's sentiment, which comes with the image....Yes You Can-Can!....and punched it out. I pop dotted everything then finished it off with a little bit of glitter by using my Sakura Stardust gel pen on her lips, hairclip, garters and shoes.

I hope you can join in our challenge this week...you could win one of the new images!! Make sure to show us what you've made and if you upload it to an online gallery, be sure to use the keywords KKSC21 and KraftinKimmie! Now hop on over to the KKS Challenge Blog and check out the Krafty Girls' creations!

And don't forget.....these will all be available for your inky pleasure tomorrow morning!!
Meet ...... Angry Ballerina!!!

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Well, it's Day Two of our March Release previews at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and have I got an adorable image for you!!

This month we have made Annie Rodrigue's painting, Angry Ballerina, into a stamp!!! Isn't she a hoot? I just love the attitude on this girl!!

I stamped her on Neenah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her with my Copic markers. The colours I used are taken from the Bittersweet patterned paper by Basic Grey. I used Chocolate Chip for the 6x6 card base and Regal Rose for matting.

I cut out the main image using my Nesties and sponged around the frame using Wheat chalk ink and a sponge dauber. I added some of my favourite pink ribbon (that I have been hoarding) and tied a couple of pretty bows. I layered a bunch of pink Prima hydrangeas and attached them with Basic Grey brads. Then I stamped one of the fabulous sentiments that come with the stamp, 'Just Dance', and used my label Nesties to cut it out. The other sentiment that comes with Angry Ballerina is 'Just One of Those Days!'....perfect for her!

How many of us have photos of our little ones at dance class, making a fuss or crying because they don't want to perform? Isn't this a great image for those scrapbook pages? Heehee!

Now, all of the images you are seeing over the next few days are previews for stamps that will be released at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps on Sunday, March 14th! You can see samples at all the Krafty Girls' blogs AND we'll be having a fun blog hop on Sunday.....where you can win some of the new images!!

Not only that......but every order placed on Sunday or Monday, is eligible to be the random winner of one of Annie's 5x7 prints of her original painting, Angry Ballerina!!! How cool is that???

Now hop on over to the KKS Challenge Blog and see who else is posting some samples today!!

Happy kraftin'!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

bright birdcages

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 11:21pm PST by dini

This is an older card but it never did get posted before... thought I'd post it now and let you know that this Impression Obsession birdcage trio is available in rubber, and is now also available as part of a clear set called "Tweet Life," along with some other great bird and cage stamps designed by Leigh Hannan. (BTW...the cages in the clear set are 3 separate stamps, while the rubber stamp has them all together.)

These colors are not in my regular color palette, and especially not in this combination... not sure what inspired their brightness at the time! I used LePlume markers and a waterbrush to fill in the scene. The dot oval helps to ground the image, and each little cage is embellished with a matching jewel. The sentiment, Enjoy your Day, was cut at wonky angles, and matted. I punched a hole through it to accomodate the ribbon.

That sentiment reminds me... our upcoming challenge is to create a card that depicts what you would do on a "me" day... hope you can join us!

I'll take the bright colors today - trying to steel myself for the next 6 days when DH will be traveling to another island to visit friends, encourage coworkers, and evaluate his language progress. Sigh.....................................

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

March Release.....Shake Your Tailfeathers!!!

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

I can't believe we're creeping up on the middle of March already!! Where has the time gone?? But it's almost spring, so that is awesome! I'm so sick of snow and cold weather!

The middle of the month also means one very important thing in my little stamping world.....it's time for another Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Release!!! We have a bunch of awesome new images being released on Sunday, March 14th!! And for the next few days those busy little stampers, the Krafty Girls, will have incredible samples for your viewing pleasure!! heehee!

We will have new two new Cindy and Mindy designs by Jean Grant, four new exquisite fairy images from Crissy Armstrong and four new wonderful images by Annie Rodrigue....PLUS we've made another one of her amazing paintings into a stamp, just for you!!! Wait 'til you see which one!

My card today features one of Annie's sexy new Moulin Rouge inspired dancers!! This lovely lady is Vivienne!! I knew exactly the papers I wanted to use with this gal! I pulled out these dark, rich, sparkly patterned papers by Best Creation!

I stamped Vivienne on Neenah white cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her with my Copic markers. I tried to achieve black hair using all my dark C-grey markers. I used one of my new sets of Nesties to cut the main image out and emboss her, then with the frame still on her, I sponged around the edge with one of my dew drop chalk inks.

This fabulous sparkly ribbon that I got at the dollar store matched perfectly and Miss Andrea helped me make the fancy triple bow with my Bow-Easy. I added some bling in the corner with a rhinestone swirl and then the sentiment! Vivienne comes with two sentiments actually! Shake Your Tailfeathers! and Strut Your Stuff!

Now hop around to the other Krafty Girl blogs (links are in my sidebar) and check out some of the other AWESOME new stamps that will be available on Sunday!!

Happy kraftin'!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

lilac tag card

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:04pm PST by dini

At some point in the time before we moved overseas I needed some shipping tags for a project, and being the thrifty person that I am, decided that it made sense to buy the box of 500 because it was a better value. I feel pretty confident that I will not run out of tags for the rest of my LIFE now. Ha! Anyway, I've had fun making these little tag cards lately - they're great for a quick card, or to leave as a thank you, attach to a gift, etc. I used smARTworks stamps to create the one below. The flowers are stamped with chalk inks and then overstamped with Brilliance inks, and I sponged around the edges... pretty straightforward.
Here's the tag at an angle so you can see how that Brilliance ink jumps off the card.
Remember you can still purchase remaining in-stock single sets from smARTworks for 50% off. You can read Susan's recent blog posts for other recent changes affecting ordering, pricing, shipping, specials, and the design team. Whew! Lots going on. Take care --------
something new......

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

Not sure what it is about these Pure Innocence images, but some of them have found their way into my digital stamp files.....! I learned that these little cuties are available not only as clear stamps but also direct from the artist as digital images - then I went to her site and found a bunch on sale! Even better. Looks like her site is being updated right now - so if it's still the same when you go there, her images are also available for purchase from her Etsy store, and the link is right there.

I printed the images on watercolor paper and watercolored with reinkers. I was delighted to find that on these open line images the ink did not bleed with the watercolors. (I worked with another more detailed image that didn't do so well - so if you're wanting to try this, consider your image, and play around a little first.) I cut freehand around my watercolored scene. The rest of the layout is made up of scraps from my stash.

On both cards, the sentiments are from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co. If you've never visited that site, well... I'll just say that it's one of my favorites, and the price is right. So many verses and encouraging and 'perfect' sayings for every occasion.

The background panel on my second card is another of the panels I made the other day when I couldn't stop playing with my I.O. Cover-a-Card stamps...this one is stamped on sponged glossy cardstock. (Tapestry 2 again... sponged and stamped with Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink - Bisque )

NOTE: When you stamp with Fluid Chalk ink on glossy cardstock, after the ink is dry you can buff off the chalk finish to restore the glossy finish.

That's it for today! Blessings ---------

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Tea Party Krafty Hop!!!

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 10:00pm PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Well, you've finally arrived at the last stop on our Tea Party Krafty Hop! Awwww! I know....over so soon!? But hasn't it been incredible?! The Krafty Girls and our totally talented artist, Annie, have had SO much fun creating stuff featuring these quirky characters!!

For my project I made a little giftie! The card features the gorgeous Gabrielle! I used some lovely new K&Company patterned papers that my wonderful Mom shared with me. The 6x6 card base is textured SU cardstock and I used some of my Nesties to make the backdrop for Gabrielle. I added some off white lace across the bottom, attached some delicious Prima hydrangeas with vintage brads and added one of our sweet little sentiments!

Then I altered a mini notebook (got them 4/$1) using the same papers and some more Nesties. The image is Gabrielle's accessory stamp...a lovely little teacup! I added this luscious velvet ribbon and finished it off by adding another of our perfect sentiments!! Voila! The perfect little friendship gift!

Now the Tea Party Kit is only available at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp Shop, but we ship worldwide. And it's only available for a limited time, so head on over and grab one before they disappear! Go here if you'd like to check out everything that comes in your kit!!

Well, I'd like to thank you for attending our Tea Party Krafty Hop and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Don't forget to leave comments at each and every stop because you could win some sweet new rubbah!

Have a krafty day!!
Spring Kit Final Reveal AND a Couple of Challenges!!

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

I think I've saved the most awesome image for last...........meet GABRIELLE!!! Do you LOVE the big hair???

Gabrielle is the final main image included in our Spring Tea Party Kit! You can see ALL five main images, all five accessory stamps and all 32 sentiments in a special post over at the challenge blog! And while you're there, check out this week's awesome challenge.....called Something Old!!

We've all got lots of nice, new, flashy stuff that we just bought last week at the local scrapbooking store...but what about all that old, unloved stuff we bought and haven't used yet? Your challenge is to use some old stuff on your designs this week! And if you're the random winner, you'll get your very own GABRIELLE!!

For my card's oldness...I used the deckled rectangle Nesties that I had to have and have only used once, I think. I also pulled out a bunch of Prima hydrangeas and a dollar store flower for the center. And the cardstock I used was from the leftover stash of cardstocks on my craft table.

I also created this card for this week's challenge over at Oh Alice!!! This week is an inspiration challenge featuring this image:

OH and hey!! Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps just happens to be sponsoring this challenge...so there's another chance to win yourself some Tea Party goodies!!

Don't forget that the Spring Tea Party Kit is only available as a kit and only at the Kraftin' Kimmie Store! It's 10% off right now but will only be around for a limited time, so hop on over and check it out!!!

Now go see what the other Krafty Girls have done with this week's Something Old challenge!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

my world

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 7:16pm PST by dini

A trip to town always helps me clear my head and usually yields a few interesting things to share... yesterday's trip was just really needed after a humbling and hormonal week - definitely needed a fresh perspective on things!
Driving along the ocean we saw this ship, the Clipper Odyssey - I googled it when we got home, and found out that this ship is on its way to Bali, to begin an eco-cruise through Indonesia, ending in Saigon. How interesting! Also found out that passenger fares begin at $10,000+ per person... so... I guess I'll just be happy that I saw it, and that I get to live in one of their stop points...
Here's a peek at part of my lunch - I thought this little fried wonton wrapper holder for my fries was clever... In one of the malls there are some new restaurants serving local food, Chinese, and "western" - they are side-by-side, apparently owned by the same person, and share a kitchen, so when you order they bring you all 3 menus. Sort of cool...especially if the kids are along (last time they had sandwiches and I had Kung Pao...!).
My exciting purchase of the day was this craft knife/tool kit - I had seen it before and told myself, "Nice, but don't need..." but since I was at the hardware store with DH, thought I'd look for it again, couldn't find it... then when DH found it he thought it was such a great price (about $13) he couldn't believe I had passed it up before! Check out all the extra blades too...now I can take up woodcarving in my spare time! *snort* I found some gardening tools too, which will be nice, rather than pulling up weeds by hand. My flower beds are a mess...
Spent the day cooking today - sticky buns for breakfast, big batch of from-scratch spaghetti/ pizza sauce, and pizza for dinner tonight. Hope you have a great weekend!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Spring Kit Day FOUR ......meet LISETTE!!!

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

If you've been following the Krafty Girls this week, you've seen some AMAZING samples featuring the Kraftin' Kimmie Spring Kit!!! Today is Day Four and we've got another gorgeous lass to introduce!!!

This is the sweet Lisette! (Can I just say how much I thoroughly enjoy naming these lovelies?) I think this is my favourite girlie from the collection. I mean, look at that gravity defying hairdo! Imagine the hairspray I'd need to achieve that! And her outfit is to DIE for! Don't you love her jacket and pants! AND she has CAKE! Yummmmmmm!

I used a selection of patterned papers from this great K&Company stack that I bought a few weeks ago when I went shopping with me Mommy! I coloured Lisette with my Copic markers in coordinating colours and added some of my Prima Caboodles flowers. Then I stamped Lisette's bonus accessory stamp and put it on a scalloped circle layer in the corner! It's making me hungry just looking at it!! Then I finished her off by adding one of the fabulous sentiments that come with the kit!! Sweet Wishes!!

Now, like I've said before....these images are available only for a limited time as a kit and only at the Kraftin' Kimmie Shop!! AND it's on at a discount right now!! So if ya like 'em, you'd better scoop one up!

Be sure to hop around to all the Krafty Girl blogs today (links in my sidebar) and check out other incredible designs featuring my girl, Lisette!!!

Happy krafting!!
Spring Kit....Day THREE!!!

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Well, now you know we had to have us a tea drinkin' fella, right??? Meet HENRI!! He is the third main image in our Kraftin' Kimmie Spring Kit!!! Actually I shoulda named him Al because my honey pie is my tea drinkin' fella, but I thought this guy looked more like an Henri, with his little mustache and goatee.

I found some dapper but dazzling patterned papers by My Mind's Eye! I love the rich boyish colours, but they are nice and sparkly and glittery too! I coloured Henri up in coordinating Copic markers and I think he looks oh so fine in his orange vest and blue hat!

The 6x6 card base is black and I added some big black rick rack across the middle to really make it pop! I added a bunch of Basic Grey buttons with some natural twine and attached them in the corner. I used one of the fabulous sentiments that comes with the kit (32 phrases in all). Java Great Day! I love it!

Don't forget that all of the Krafty Girls are posting creations made with Mr. Henri today (links are in my sidebar), so hop around check them out! They are all so different....and so dashing!!!

Happy krafting!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: A Tisket A Tasket

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

Time for another Impression Obsession Design Team challenge - this time Easter baskets are our inspiration!

Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!!

This is a quick and easy basket, made from a square piece of cardstock (it's 21cm square...I don't normally measure in centimeters, but it did make it easy to divide the side in 3!) I followed this beautiful tutorial here to make the basket. Super easy! I actually showed some of our students here how to make them, too... and we have plans to make a bunch of tiny ones for wedding favors in a few months.

My bunny is one of Sarah Phelps' designs, "Bunny with Carrot" - stamped on some Basic Grey cardstock and colored with Neopiko markers and Prismacolor pencils. I handwrote the greeting on my tag.

Had to make a card too, and I had a couple other challenges I wanted to incorporate as well - Peachy Keen Stamps had a recipe challenge: use green and yellow, a 3-d element, with a stamped image. I used Friday Sketchers' sketch #91 as well.

It was fun pulling out all the patterned papers - I love these pale sages and buttercream yellows together. For the background of my watercolored scene, I used a cling set from Impression Obsession, called Garden Fence. (The sign is part of the set as well.) I used reinkers mixed with Shimmerz to paint with. "Grow" is a partial stamp image from the Typestacks Family clear set.

This time bunny is popped up on foam tape. The sign is dimensional, too.

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Spring Kit Day TWO!!!

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 3:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Are you ready for more??? I think you are! Welcome to Day Two of our Spring Tea Party Kit previews!!!

Today we are featuring........GISELLE!!! What an absolute sweetheart! Every time Annie sends me a new sketch, they just crack me up! And Giselle was no different! I love her sweet dress and apron, I love her little hat, her teapot, her socks.....and of course, that HAIR!!! Am I right???

I had the perfect papers to use for this image....I had picked up a DCWV pad a while back called the Whimsy Stack and I thought the colours and patterns would go perfectly! I used all Bazzill textured cardstocks for the card base and the matting. I coloured Giselle with coordinating Copic markers and then cut and embossed her using my Nesties and then sponged around the frame!

I used a new border punch across the yellow layer, added some celery twill across the center and a big beautiful bow! Then I mixed up some Prima hydrangeas with some Imaginsice fuzzy flowers and attached them with glittery brads. I stamped one of the fabulous sentiments that come with the kit, You're Tea-riffic! and then finished it off with this awesome teacup charm!!!

Isn't she a hoot??? She is but one of FIVE fabulous main images that come in the Spring Kit! And this is only day two of our samples! Just wait 'til you see the rest!! Honestly!!

If you want all the details about the Spring Kit, go to this post! Also be sure to hop around to all the Krafty Girls' blogs as they all have Giselle samples for ya today!!

Happy krafting!
Kraftin' Kimmie's Spring Kit!!!!

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 3:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

It seems like we've been sitting on this secret for SO long!!! That's because we have!! It's been SO hard to keep these gorgeous images to ourselves! But today the Krafty Girls and I can start showing you what we've been doing!!!!!!

Today is a special release at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and we hope, one of many! We are officially releasing our first KIT!!! If you've seen the little snippets we showed on the company blog, you may have guessed that the theme is TEA PARTY!!! Annie Rodrigue has designed the most wonderful, quirky images for our Spring Kit and each day from now until Saturday, the Krafty Girls and I will be highlighting one main image per day, then finishing with a spectacular Blog Hop on Sunday!!

The image we're showing off today is .........Nadine!!! I knew this girl needed some rich, bright colours so I used this great Razzleberry Lemonade patterned paper and coloured her up with coordinating Copic markers. I used my Nesties and sponged around the frame, then attached some yummy Prima hydrangeas with sparkly brads!

The sentiment is from one of the two sets of sentiments that come with the kit and they were created by Jeanne Streiff! I finished off the card by adding the matching polka dot ribbon and hanging a teapot charm with linen thread! Ain't she sweet???

The Tea Party Spring Kit includes 5 main images, 5 accessory stamps, a set of Tea sentiments and a set of Coffee sentiments for a total of 32 coordinating phrases to go with all your awesome images!!

So the kit is now available in the store, but you don't get to see all the images right away! You'll have to check all the girls' blogs all week to check out a new image each day!!

Now make sure to hop around to all the Krafty Girl blogs (list is on my sidebar) to see lots more designs made with Nadine!!!

And I'll see you back here tomorrow!!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

smARTword - Monochrome

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

It was my turn to pick a word for the smARTword challenge this month and I chose MONOCHROMATIC. Coloring in monochrome really helps me to see an image in a different way - noticing shade and light rather than colors.
I normally reach for browns or black or occasionally olive green when I'm working in monochrome, so this time I decided to push myself a little - I chose to work in blues.
All stamps are from smARTworks. I stamped the dogwood image on watercolor paper, then trimmed around it with my Coluzzle circle template, skipping a few petals which I cut out by hand. The watercoloring was done with a combination of Twinkling H2Os, Derwent watercolor pencils, and pearlescent watercolors (you can get those at smARTworks, too).
I'm not sure where this handmade paper came from, but it worked perfectly. The printing on it is silver - that shows up better in the photo below. I added rhinestones to a few flower centers.

If you're not familiar with the smARTword challenge, you can visit the blog for more info! It's as simple as making a card or other stamped item inspired by the word of the month, then linking up your project. We'd love to have you join us!
How pencils are born.....

Posted: February 28th, 2010, 9:33pm PST by dini

I wish there was a way to embed this video here, but I don't think I can - anyway - I am writing a sample research paper for my 3rd grade son on pencils, and came across this fascinating video from Derwent about how pencils are made. You can click on the buttons up top to see different parts of the process. Soooooo interesting (even more interesting now that I actually remembered to include the link!)! Check it out:
Derwent pencil production video
smARTworks news

Posted: February 28th, 2010, 2:08pm PST by dini

Hello, heads up! Susan has restructured the smARTworks catalog! The old sets and groupings are no more, and the old catalog is no more. All the same images still remain, just grouped together in larger collections.
If you act now you can still purchase remaining single sets at 50% off while supplies last.
Here is a link to the home page for more complete information. Be sure to read the "news" section as well. Hmmm......
tweaking again.....

Posted: February 27th, 2010, 7:06pm PST by dini

For whatever it's worth... I added a few labels to my posts, so now cards can also be sorted by their coloring medium. Maybe that thrills someone besides me. Anyone else just love sorting things? hehehe
free digistamp from Motivet

Posted: February 27th, 2010, 4:16pm PST by dini

Had to snag up this adorable kitty from Motivet, which is offered right now as a free digistamp - you can see the original post here and get one too...... Soooooo cute!

I'm sort of new to digital stamps, so I was experimenting a bit - this is printed on some lighter weight watercolor paper, which worked pretty well - the ink moved just a tiny bit in the more detailed areas, but overall I was pretty pleased. I used my waterbrush to paint the image with my reinkers/Shimmerz blend, adding a little more detailed shading with watercolor pencils.

The ribbon feature was a new one on me too, but I had to try it. I started sewing with the ribbon folded over the edge of my card, and every once in a while tucked a fold of ribbon under the foot, and kept on sewing. Kind of fun... something different, anyway. The flower is folded in half and tacked that way with a button sewed at the fold.

I used a sentiment from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co., and my decorative border was done with a Fiskars rotary cutter. I must be the only one in the world still using that thing, with all the gorgeous border punches out there now...but...alas... gotta use what I have!

Better go feed my family... sigh... sort of dreading that pile of dishes out there - the water was off for a good chunk of yesterday... Thanks for visiting!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge #19!!

Posted: February 27th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Welllllllll......what do you think of our exciting news??? What?? You didn't hear about it?? Make sure to check out the post with all the details!!

This week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge is a fun one....and and easy one for me! Andrea is our hostess this week and her challenge is Buttons and Bows! If you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you know that I LOVE ribbon and include some on just about every card I make!! And buttons....I love my buttons! And to combine them on the same card? Well, that's just heaven!

For my design, I decided to use one of my older images....I thought Lola needed to be inked up again!! I pulled out some scraps of designer paper that were in my pile o' papers stash on my crafty table....and I wonder why I only have a tiny area to work on my cards....and coloured her up using my Copic markers. I cut her out and embossed her using some of my Nesties and then sponged around the frame while it was still in the Nestie. I used Chocolate Chip for the 6x6 card base and used some soft yellow Bazill for matting.

The ribbon I tied around the middle is a chocolate satin and the buttons are all by Basic Grey. I tied the big one on the ribbon with some chocolate linen thread. Finally I used the perfect sentiment, which is from the Kimmie's Fun Sentiments set!

Now be sure to hop over to the Kraftin' Kimmie blog and get some inspiration from the fantastic samples made by the Krafty Girls!! Then go ahead and join in the fun and create one of your own....you could win the Puppy Love stamp set if you are the random winner!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

new glasses...big yay!

Posted: February 25th, 2010, 8:35pm PST by dini

Some of you noticed my glasses in my new profile pic...here is the color version. They're similar in shape to my old ones, with a couple small differences... one difference is that the lenses are a little thicker, which was my choice because I didn't think it would make a difference...wrong! If I hold my head at certain angles I can see a reflection of light in the bit of lens that overlaps the frame (it's only like 1mm, but it still is noticeable, especially when I'm scrolling through blogs and such...). So...I have that to get used to. BUT....
This is what I have been looking through for the last several months - almost all the anti-glare coating peeled off one lens, and the other lens is full of scratches. Blech.
So I am not at all complaining.

We're having a 3-day weekend....living in a country that encourages religious tolerance means we also get vacation days for holidays of other religions. So... um... today is Mohammed's birthday. At any rate, I'm thankful for the day off! Made cookies with my kiddos this morning and we had a nice little picnic across the campus. I have some digital work to catch up on and finalize (new stamp sets!), and I heard something about a movie marathon tonight. Sounds good to me! Have a great weekend...................
stamped polished stone background

Posted: February 25th, 2010, 9:05am PST by dini

Just a quick photo explanation of the background technique I just posted......

1. Stamp background stamp on glossy cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

2. Color in a few areas with Alcohol markers (Copic, Neopiko, etc).
3. Use a polished stone technique to cover the stamped area. Soak a cotton ball in alcohol (I used 95% rubbing alcohol) and add a few drops of reinker. On this piece I used Olive Pastel Chalk ink (Colorbox) and Adirondack Stream (Ranger dye ink).
4. Apply the alcohol/ink to the cardstock with the cotton ball in a pouncing motion, until the piece is filled in to your satisfaction.
5. Here is my final piece - the dried inks are a little less intense, but you can see the effect here. The piece can be used as is, or sanded lightly to remove some of the gloss of the cardstock.

Hope that helps explain how this technique is done. If you have any questions, please let me know!
You're a daisy if you do.....

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

One of the backgrounds I made the other day fit perfectly with this image I wanted to work with...I love daisies, and I love working with large floral images....this is Impression Obsession's Daisies - the image measures 3-1/2" x 5", so it's a good big one.

The background first - this is the Tapestry 2 Cover-a-Card. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto glossy cardstock. I colored in a few of the flowers and leaves with Neopiko markers, then did a Polished Stone technique over the entire image with Pastel Olive and Butterscotch reinkers. After it was all dry, I sanded the cardstock horizontally and vertically to remove some of the glossy finish. (BTW, if you're looking for a Polished Stone tutorial, GinaK's video is very well done - I used a cotton ball instead of the pouncing tool, and didn't use anything metallic, though hers looks so cool - and I bet that would add a neat dimension to my background here! And her fingers are much much cleaner than mine are right now...hmmm...I see a Ranger order in my future....!) I have a photo tutorial on making my background that will post later in the day.

The daisy image is watercolored using Adirondack reinkers mixed with a drop of Shimmerz - I love the little shimmery sparkle that adds to my work! Can't remember if I mentioned before that I don't clean my palette anymore - the reinkers and Shimmerz are waterbased, and since I frequently use the same colors when I watercolor, they're easily revived with the water from my brush. Actually, they don't seem to dry fully ever here. And that little bit of sparkle goes a long way.

While I had the stamp and reinkers out, I painted this little coaster blank (Thanks, Trish! I *still* have these.....) ... this is as far as I got with it, but I couldn't wait to show it... one day it will end up as a box top or a wall hanging. I love how it turned out.
So happy today to be wearing my new glasses.....I'll show them to you later!
Dogwood panels

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 1:45pm PST by dini

Yesterday was such a special day - one of our older itinerant missionary couples is in town for a few days, having just returned from a trip around the country and several weeks in their ministry location on another island... so all of the ladies that were available (5 of us) got together just to sit and visit and share and fellowship. All of our ministry here is done in Indonesian, so it was so absolutely refreshing to read, share, and pray with these sisters in ENGLISH. Neat too to see how our conversation flowed, and how lessons learned in one life dovetailed with lessons learned in another. Quick and simple card today -this is the Double Dogwood image, which I stamped, masked and stamped again to have 4 blossoms in a row. I cut my long retangular panel into 3 squares, and colored with Neopiko markers (background) and Prismacolor pencils (flowers), blending with OMS. I need more cards like this, that are left blank for multi-purpose use. This one looks like it would work well for a friendship card, or a 'please come soon, Spring' card......hm?

On with life this morning...we have small group with the students which means a short homeschool day (yeah!), then, later on, a soccer game I think?? In between, all kinds of life stuff to face with joy.

Take care of you!!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Time for some Card Kits!!

Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 7:21pm PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Okay, so I'm a little behind with this post....sorry about that!! The card kits that Andrea and I do for Scrappin' Great Deals come out each month around the 15th. Well, obviously I'm a tad late with my post. Well, you'll be happy to know that there are a FEW kits left!!

This month the kits contain some wonderful stamps from Unity, along with some gorgeous vintage papers, cardstock, envelopes, buttons, flowers, twine, even a little ink spot!!! Lots of fun goodies!

Well, these stamps and supplies are a little different from the stuff I usually play with, so I decided to stretch myself and make some cards that are a little different from the stuff I usually create!! I made two cards in a more 'scrappy' style....and I really like how they turned out! They were super quick to put together, once I had an idea in my head!

I really love the sentiment in this kit: Only those who will risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go. Such a positive sentiment!

Hope you like them! There are lots of fun things to play with in this kit, but like I said, only a few left! So zip over to Sheila's shop and scoop yours up!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

glittery geraniums

Posted: February 21st, 2010, 9:23pm PST by dini

I forgot to ever show you the card I made for the smART-Word challenge this month. The challenge word was "glitter," and I chose to use glittery embossing powder on my card. If you know me, you know that HATE to emboss, and why I even have glittery embossing powder is sort of a mystery...but it works. This is the Geraniums image, which is from the Angi-B line - I watercolored the image using Marvy LePlume markers and a waterbrush. I added a pattern below the pots with a white gel pen. The sentiment is from the set called Scatter Delight Bloom, and is stamped on a diecut label that I purchased at a cute little antique shop in CA. The double bow was tied with my Bow-Easy. Love that little thing.
I love this textured pink cardstock - it was a recent local find. Always nice to find nice things here at a nice price...I think a pack of 20 sheets was just around $2!
If you have a glittery or glitter-inspired card, why not link it up and join our challenge? You can click here to link to the post for this month. A prize of stamps is up for grabs - but hurry - you only have until the 25th!
Next month's challenge is based on a word I chose...can't wait for that one!
P.S. This EP, by the way, is from Sparkle-n-Sprinkle - and if you are a lover and collector of embossing powders, you will love their line.

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge #18!!

Posted: February 20th, 2010, 5:44am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Good Saturday morning friends!! It's another cold but sunshiney winter day in southwestern Ontario. I like those kinda days.....especially when I don't have to go out to work! haha!

This week has been a rather busy one and the next two will be more of the same. I haven't had time to make a card for this week's challenge....I know, baaaaad stamper! Sorry about that but not only have I been busy at work, but also busy with lots of new rubber to cut and package!! Hahaa! That got your attention! Not only am I working ahead on March's release of images, but I have something SUPER exciting coming up for you BEFORE that!! Can't tell ya what it is yet.....I'm such a tease! But you will be getting more details over the next week or two!

Anyhoooo, this week's challenge is from the sassy Krafty Girl, Vicki and she has asked us to Make a Scene!! .....with your stamps, that is! Take two or more Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and put them together in a scene on your card or scrapbook page! Now don't panic! It doesn't have to be two main images....you can use a main image and one of our cute little accessory stamps if you like!! I am so excited to see the scenes that you all create from your imaginations!! heehee!

Now be sure to hop on over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge Blog and check out the utterly fantastic scenes that the Krafty Girls have designed.....you won't believe your eyes.....I'm not kidding!! hehe!

Happy krafting!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

for sale

Posted: February 20th, 2010, 3:49am PST by dini

OK - if you were interested in new/used unmounted stamps for sale, I have them all posted now. Just trying to simplify and organize...nice to have a little more room for stamps I truly love, and clear out some duplicates. You can click here to see them......email me if you see something you're interested in.
simple pleasures....

Posted: February 19th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

Here's another of Mo Manning's designs, "End of the Summer" - I love the carefree feel of this image ...and the flip-flops, of course...!

I used the sketch provided by Mo's Dream Team, but put my own little spin on it, using the oval element for my sentiment instead of a focal image. (The sentiment is from Impression Obsession). I colored the focal image with Neopiko markers and shaded with Prismacolor pencils. The edges are sponged with Versafine ink.

Hope your weekend is restful! (hope mine is too...!!)
Little things.....

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 11:02pm PST by dini

I keep forgetting to mention that I have some used stamps for sale - you can click here to see what I have posted so far. I have them divided into themed lots, and they are already wrapped and ready to mail as is...each used lot is just $2 + shipping, new stamps will be a little more, but prices will be marked. I have more than this...it's a work in progress...I still have some new stamps to list as well. Email me if there's anything you're interested in!
Also...........I have some digital stamps for sale too - you can click here to see those. They are reworked vintage images with accompanying quotes...it's a fun hobby but not a huge priority in my life right now, so that's why there are just a few, and I haven't even worked with them yet on cards....but I love them! Let me know what you think!
Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Background Bonanza

Posted: February 17th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

We hope you'll join us for this week's challenge to use your background or Cover-a-Card stamps! I have been having lots of fun with mine, and it will probably be very obvious that at this point I have just 3 of them, and I can't wait for my next batch to come!

Cover-a-Card stamps are 5-3/4" square, so they make a perfect full background for a square or standard-size card. The Mega Mount, with it's slightly curved surface, makes them super easy to stamp. Man, I love that thing.

More green here...on my first card I used glossy cardstock and chalk inks to create a background panel with several layered colors. I swiped the cardstock with a light olive chalk ink first, stamped over it with CAC Tapestry 2, then stamped over it again with CAC Dots. After all the layers were dry, I sanded lightly across the card, horizontally and vertically..... I've seen this called a 'faux linen' technique. My focal piece is called Lemon Tea Cup. It has 3 layers, colored with Prismacolor pencils. The cup is popped with foam tape, and I painted in the 'tea' with Twinkling H2Os. The sentiment is called Sweet Things.

Card Number 2 - The same Tapestry background, but this time stamped in white on vellum. Confession time....... I didn't clean my stamp very thoroughly so my white ink has a slight green tint... hence... another green card. Not sure why my vellum layer warped either... I guess that's life in a tropical country. I grabbed a few scraps from my stash, and this double-layered butterfly which I watercolored ages ago. The quote is Live Your Days, and the butterfly can be found in the Lucky Ladybugs clear set.

Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!

Here are a few more backgrounds I made that haven't made their way onto cards yet - so at some point you'll see them again - either on a card or in a tutorial. These are all done on glossy cardstock, which has some interesting properties and is fun to play with.
OK - that's all I know today! Thanks for stopping by ---
smARTworks challenge - Swimmin'

Posted: February 15th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

Each of the smARTworks design team members was sent the "Swimmin'" set to work with as our team challenge this time around. These challenges are always fun - and it's neat to see each member put their own spin on a particular set.

I wanted to do a shaker card, but I needed to create a background scene first. My watery background was sponged with Stream ink, and then brayered, with rubber bands wrapped around the brayer, using Stream ink and white pigment ink. It's an old technique, but it does the trick for wavy lines that can look like waves, seaweed or grass, or just add texture to a solid area. The fish were colored on white cardstock with Neopiko markers, and pieced onto the background. My fish 'hook' is an earring pin which I bent into shape...I've done the same thing before with a cut paperclip, but this is a little more decorative.
I used a Shake-It shaker pouch (self adhesive) to create the shaker element, and filled it with Dew Drops - they sort of look like bubbles....right?

As usual, check over at Susan's blog for a chance to win the challenge set for yourself, and click on the team links to the left to see what everyone else came up with!
ch-ch-changes......

Posted: February 14th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

Just so you know.........I've made the decision to step down from the Heartfelt Creations design team. Nothing personal or troubling, just some changes being made all around - so you'll still be seeing their fun and beautiful stamps here, but I'm back to just being a happy and satisfied customer with a little more time for 'me' stamping. That's all!
Soaking up the Joy

Posted: February 13th, 2010, 10:04pm PST by dini

Had a little 'just for fun' stamping time the other day and put this card together for a friend. With design team work I have usually had to limit myself to stamps from one particular company, so it felt a little wild to use images from 3 different sources on this one. Goodness, I am sheltered. Ha!

The focal image on this card is one of Maurie Manning's digital illustrations. If you're not familiar with her work, she's a brilliant children's illustrator who also sells her illustrations as digital 'stamps'. You can find more of her artwork at Mo's Digital Pencil Shop. This image is called Soaking up the Joy.

The background panel is made with one of Impression Obsession's Cover-a-Card background stamps, called Tapestry 2. I stamped the full background in black ink, then colored in the floral elements with Neopiko markers. I was going to save this piece for Thursday's Impression Obsession DT challenge, but it went so perfectly with this image...so...I'll think of something else, I guess! The sentiment I used is from The Angel Company (TAC).

Hope you have a great weekend!

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

New Release and Kimmie's Krafty HOP!!

Posted: February 13th, 2010, 10:00pm PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Well, this is the very last stop on the Krafty Hop!! Awwww....I know. Sorry it has come to an end. Wasn't it incredible, though??

I have a couple of final creations to share with you! And both of them feature the two new images of our pals Cindy and Mindy!!

This first one uses You Lift Me Up! Such a fun image! I used several new papers from Pink Paislee and I think the blue with white hearts design sort of looks like little clouds. I stamped Cindy and Mindy on Neenah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured them with my Copic markers. I used Sparkle Bling cardstock for the 6x6 base and chocolate chip and real red for matting. I tied some red polka dot ribbon across the middle and used some Prima hydrangeas with some dollar store red flowers for the centers.

Then I threw a bunch of turquoise rhinestones around, which I totally copied off Krafty Girl Tara...she does that on lots of her cards with rhinestones or pearls and I just love it! Yes, I'm a copycat! I'm okay with that. Then I added the sentiment, which comes with the image and pop dotted everything up!!

My second card features the sweet image called Bench Friends. I just love the quiet sweetness of friendship that this design captures. Two friends...not saying a word...just being there for each other. I used Kraft cardstock for the 6x6 base of this card and used some wonderful textured papers by My Mind's Eye (that I've had in my stash for ages). I added some velvet ribbon across the middle and used some rhinestone brads in the centers of the hydrangea flowers, then added some bling in each corner. I also stamped the sentiment, which comes with Bench Friends!

Well, that's all we've got for you today! We hope you've enjoyed our little display of kraftiness! All these stamps are NOW available over at the Kraftin' Kimmie website, so what are ya waitin' for?!!
Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge #17!! And MORE Krafty Peeks!

Posted: February 13th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Oooooh the excitement is mounting!!! Release day is almost here!! Tomorrow morning all the new images and sentiments will be available at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!! AND we'll have our Krafty Blog Hop, complete with random prizes!!

For today, we've got this week's challenge over on the KKS Challenge Blog!! This week our hostess is the incredibly talented Melanie Holtz who is one of our Guest Designers! She's called her challenge...Stash the Booty!! haha! The title totally fits with our release of some swashbuckling pirates this month, doesn't it?? Actually what she's challenged us to do is have a hidden component somewhere on our design!

I have to admit, this was a toughie for me....I was having a mental block with it but finally decided on pulling out my mini envelope template and creating a pocket to slip a little tag into! It's not super creative, but I'm not really good with the 'out of the box' type challenges!

Anyway, the image I used is a new Crissy Armstrong design for the Emmylou line of images and it's called Puppy Love! As you probably know, the Emmylou characters are made with my daughter Emileigh in mind. We used to call her Emmylou when she was little and Crissy drew these images after her. I LOVE this one especially!

I stamped Puppy Love on Neeneah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her in with my Copic markers. The papers I used are from my stash....and they are by Dream Street. The card base is Kraft cardstock and I also used some soft yellow cardstock and some Sparkle Bazzill Bling for matting. I sponged around the main image with Thatched Straw chalk ink and the layout is a Kimmie Original....feel free to borrow it...bahahaha!

I added some wide yellow grosgrain ribbon, added some Prima Caboodles flowers and threw on some pretty pearls. The hidden element is the little pocket I made and put in the corner and inside is the little tag with the sentiment, Happiness is a Warm Puppy! This sentiment, along with another one, both come with this image!

The second card I have for you today is another Emmylou stamp! This one is SO sweet! It's called Swingin' Emmylou and she's just SO precious! I used Kraft cardstock again for the base and the papers are by Three Bugs in a Rug, I think....again, large stash of papers. I stamped the image on Neenah with Memento ink and coloured her with coordinating Copics. I cut her out and embossed her with my Nesties and then sponged around the frame with blue chalk ink.

I stamped the sentiment, which comes with Swingin' Emmylou, across the bottom. I added some pink rick rack across the middle and pop dotted the main image! What a doll!!

So do you want to play along with our challenge this week?? Just put a hidden element on your card and then show it to us! Link it up in a comment over at the Challenge Blog (while you're there, check out the AMAZING creations brought to you by the Krafty Girls) . And if you upload your creation to an online gallery, like Splitcoast, be sure to include the keywords KKSC17 and KraftinKimmie!!

Let's see YOUR booty!!!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Victorian Roses

Posted: February 12th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

Here's something a bit romantic and valentine-y for the weekend... also a preview of an upcoming challenge - next week's Impression Obsession challenge is to use background stamps. If you have some, get ready to play along with us!

This base panel uses two of the Cover-a-Card stamps - Thick and Thin, stamped in Espresso ink, and Tapestry 2, stamped over the stripes in Brilliance Copper ink. I love those two colors with the burgundy base!

I used a portion of a doily as a layer on this card...the focal panel is watercolored with pencils, and then brushed over with some pearlescent watercolors. This stamp is called Victorian Roses.

Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner

Your Ship or Mine??

Posted: February 12th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

Time for another fun preview of Kraftin' Kimmie February Stamps!! I've got another fantastic image from the pirate line by our artist, Annie! This sassy gal's name is Polly the Bar Wench! Whenever I look at her I remember all the scenes at the port of Tortuga in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies....you know, with all the rum and bar brawls....and the sexy wenches!! haha!

So I stamped her on Neenah using memento ink and coloured her up with my Copics. I used E00, R20, R81, R83 and R85. For her hair I wanted to make it look black with a bit of a white/grey stripe up the side, so I used a bunch of the warm greys....W1, W3, W5, W7.

The papers I used for inspiration were ones I had in my gigantic stash o' papers and the line is called, appropriately enough, Pirate Princess by Rusty Pickle. I added some black rick rack, some layered flowers attached with glittery black brads and some black rhinestones at the bottom. The perfect finishing touch is the sentiment...hehe...which is from the new Pirate Sentiments set. All the stamps will be available on Sunday morning!!

I love the way this card turned out and needless to say, I'll be giving it to my honey pie on Valentine's Day! *wink, wink*

Now hop on over to the challenge blog where I've listed all the Krafty Girls that have more amazing samples to show ya!!!
February Kraftin' Previews....Start TODAY!!!

Posted: February 11th, 2010, 4:00am PST by Kraftin' Kimmie

It's finally here!!! We can finally show you the awesome new images that Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps has in store for you for February!!! Eeeeek! Personally, I just have to say....this might be my favourite release YET!!! I'm DYING to know what you think!!

Okay, so I have an exciting announcement to make! Those of you who are in love with Annie Rodrigue's artwork as much as I am.....I mean, who isn't, right?....well, you are going to LOVE this!! We are releasing the very first of Annie's original illustrations as a STAMP!!! Woohoo! Yep! One of the first illustrations of hers that I saw on her website and said to myself, 'That girl is a perfect illustrator for fun and wacky stamp images!!'. Do you wanna know which illustration it's gonna be?????????? Well, she's on my card!!! It's Alicia the Strawberry Pirate!!!

You may have seen this image on Annie's website before....isn't it fantastic?? Well, to celebrate this awesome day, I'm going to do something a little special!! I have a 5x7 print of this illustration.....that I'm going to GIVE AWAY!!!! yeppers!!! Each and every order placed at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps from Sunday, February 14th to Monday, February 15th is eligible to WIN!! One random winner will be receiving this illustration in with their package!! Here is a link to the print of Alicia that you could win: [www.moonlight-whispers.com]

Wow! How's that for excitement? Well, we've got more in store! Today is the first day of previews for our February release stamps! We've got lots of new Annie images, four new Emmylou and Friends images from Crissy Armstrong and two adorable Cindy and Mindy images from Jean Grant! OH and there's another FAB set of sentiments to coordinate with a certain theme we've got goin' on, by the totally awesome, Jeanne Streiff!

Now on to my card featuring Alicia!! I stamped the girlie on Neenah cardstock using Memento ink and coloured her with Copic markers! Shocking, I know! The papers I used for inspiration are from Doodlebug and I was fortunate enough to find some with strawberries on it! (If you saw my craft room, you'd know what a feat that was!) The card base is Close to Cocoa with Pixie Pink for matting. I used some new Nesties to cut out Alicia and emboss her and then sponged around her with some chalk ink. I tied on some polka dotted pink satin ribbon and added a fun strawberry charm! I stamped the perfect sentiment (from our new Pirates Sentiments set) on some Soft Sky cardstock, added some Prima Caboodles flowers and finished it off with a few pink rhinestones! Ain't she a sassy wench??! So cute!

Head on over to the other Krafty Girls' blogs and you'll get an eye full of gorgeousness today! They've each got new stamps to show you! And all of them will be released on Sunday morning!! Their links are in my sidebar or you can hop over to the KKS Challenge Blog where I've got them all listed!

OH and I almost forgot! I've got a winner to share from my Birthday challenge from last week!! The winner is.................actually I decided to choose not one, not two , but THREE winners!! They are.....Melissa....Caz....and Nadia!!! Be sure to email me and I'll get your prize out to you straight away!!

Okey doke!! I hope you have a super fantastic Thursday!! I've got the day off from the library, so I plan to pack up some orders, maybe colour a card or two and get ready for SURVIVOR tonight!!! Oh I love my Colby......hehe.

Have a krafty day!!

Mama Dini's Stamperia

Creative Process

Posted: February 10th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

I made these cards a while back, but didn't get to share them previously (I have a lot of those, for some reason...!) For this card I stamped the fence first, then masked it with a liquid frisket (I use Grumbacher's Miskit Frisket, because it's fun to say. No, actually Donna told me about it.). Once the frisket was dry, I stamped the tree image, painted in the sky, and added leaves to the tree using chalk inks. Misting the stamp after it's inked makes the image blend easily for a watercolored look. I used the same technique to fill in the grass.

I added some apples to the tree with the end of a paintbrush. After the panel was totally dry I could remove the frisket (it rubs off just like rubber cement, unless it's not totally dry, in which case it rubs off parts of your paper with it. Ask me how I know. Wait for it to dry!). My oval frames were cut with a Coluzzle template, and scalloped edge was cut with a Fiskars rotary cutter.

Now for all the places I have oval frames cut, I have ovals... and when I don't clean my desk between projects, sometimes pieces from one project get used in another, which can be a good thing. You can see that's what happened here -the ovals from my frames became the mats of my focal piece on this second card. My focal piece here is actually a piece of canvas, colored with Neopiko markers - I found a pad of canvas sheets here... fun to work with and it adds a little texture too. This is a gate-fold card, but it opens horizontally... which makes it hard to photograph!
All stamps on these cards are from Heartfelt Creations:
Four Seasons Tree
Split Rail Fence
Grass
Rose Cup
Mini Message Cursive Set

Enjoy your day!
Blue Lilacs

Posted: February 8th, 2010, 9:01pm PST by dini

I got on a sage green kick last week after that 'shades of green' challenge... here is one of the resulting cards! This is a faux watercolor technique done with chalk inks... I've mentioned before, but I'll mention again that I use Versamagic chalk inks because of their blendability - they are perfect for this type of technique. Dye inks would also work, of course, but might bleed a little more.

I inked the stamp (Lilac Blessings from smARTworks) with two colors of chalk ink, then misted my stamp with Pearl Glimmer Mist. I stamped the image on watercolor paper, let it dry and trimmed out the oval, then misted the whole panel with Glimmer Mist to give it all a pearly shine. You can see that more clearly below.

Soooooooo thankful to have a big project done and out of the way...... finally finished last night! I've been making a conscious effort with the Lord's help to simplify my obligations this year and not put so much pressure on myself - that's a hard one for a perfectionist-people-pleaser! I think even harder for me will be to not try to re-fill my time with busy-ness when obligations drop away. Pray on that one.

I still have some organizing to do in my corner, and cataloging more stamps that are stored away... my next project should probably be passing on some unused supplies and never-going-to-use paper scraps to my kiddos. Hmmm....

While that picture is shimmering at me I will remember to remind you about the smART-word challenge - if you make a glittery or glitter-inspired card, be sure to link it up over at the challenge blog!
another flower tin

Posted: February 6th, 2010, 8:03pm PST by dini

I found another one of those baking powder tins stashed away when I was cleaning the other day, and decided to alter it.... am I the only one who starts new projects in the middle of cleaning? Anyway, this is the smaller baking powder tin - it's maybe 3" tall or so. My flower (from a set of Heartfelt Creations stamps that coordinate with Nestabilities Blossoms dies) is colored with Neopiko markers... it's just 2 layers this time.

There's a peek at the center down below - for this look I dripped a few drops of yellow acrylic paint into the center of the flower, and then sprinkled Diamond Dust over it pretty generously. Takes a while to dry, but it's nice and sparkly! I painted the petals with Shimmerz after I took this picture.

I made this tin upside down rather than putting the flower into the lid - I made the first ones with the flowers in the lid, then wondered about how they would fare when someone tried to open them... so this one's lid is in the bottom.

The sentiment is just partial (I think it might have been "Easter Greetings" or something like that, but I needed something small to fit in my tag punch. Loving the way it curves down onto the tin, and also loving my hot glue gun lately.

I got in a reorganizing mood, and rearranged my desk yesterday... made more room for supplies within reach rather than stamps. Liking that. Next...purging my paper scraps. Right, in my free time........!!

Enjoy the weekend........................

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