Saturday, October 6, 2012

Wrapped in Ravishing Ribbon!

It's World Card Making Day!  Have you made your card yet?  At Stampendous we have been doing a blog collaboration this week with May Arts ribbon.  Since the early 80's, May Arts has been the leading distributor of ribbon for crafters and they pride themselves on providing the highest quality and most affordable product possible.  I've been using their ribbon for the past 11 years and I love it!  They have a wonderful variety that just can't be beat!

Initially I had something else in mind for today and I will post that project at a different time but once I realized it was World Card Making Day I felt the need to create a card instead.  After all, that's how I started in this "hobby" of mine.  I've been making cards for a number of years now.  How do I know when my card is complete?  When it's wrapped in ravishing ribbon, of course!  There's just something about pretty ribbon that dresses up a card or a scrapbook page in a way that nothing else can.  May Arts has always been my ribbon of choice and my sweet little card here has been wrapped in a 5/8" soft yellow taffeta ribbon that perfectly matches my papers.  Here's my sweet little Stampendous Ballerina Kiddo stamped on Neenah and colored with Copic markers.  I've used multi ultra fine crystal glitter on her wings and the fairy dust around her wand to give her added sparkle.  And, as if that wasn't quite enough bling, I've added Shaved Ice for her to dance around in; what ballerina wouldn't want to?



My patterned papers are from Best Creations and Lasting Impressions, the pink base paper is Bazzill.  This is a very simple card but with all the glitz I didn't want to overdo it.  Besides, with this gorgeous ribbon, you don't need anything else!  Here's another shot that brings it in a little closer:

I've created a bow with three loops to add extra fullness and fluff!  That's one of my favorite ways to create bows as I love the added dimension.  I hope you have enjoyed my card and if you have, the please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (That's also how you might win a prize, wink, wink!).  Here's a list of my teammates that have created something special to share with you today.  Be sure to hop along and leave comments on each blog to be eligible for a prize in celebration of our blog collaboration with May Arts.


Lea Kimmel (That's me!)

Thanks for hopping along with us on World Card Making Day as we wrap up our week-long blog collaboration with the generous folks at May Arts.  I'll see you again soon!

Hugs,
Lea

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Ribbon, it's not just for bows!

At Stampendous it's time for another fun collaboration and this time it's with May Arts Ribbon.  If you love ribbon the way I love ribbon then you surely know May Arts is absolutely the best.  I've never seen such variety and, oh my goodness, all those glorious colors!  If you can't find a ribbon that works for your project, then you aren't looking hard enough!  Seriously, they have everything you can imagine and then some!  Here's the scrapbook page I did using some of their 2.5 inch burlap wired ribbon in a gorgeous olive green.



Like my title says, ribbon isn't just for making bows!  Here, I've used my ribbon in two different ways.  First, I've created a banner at the top of my page by taking a piece of the ribbon, dove-tailed each end, attached my sentiment, created a little "hill" on each side of the sentiment and adhered it to the page. I also used the ribbon for cutting out a couple of leaves.  I love the texture the burlap provides!  The stamp I've used is the Cling Jumbo Dahlia.  It's such a beautiful flower and so much fun to color!  One of the little tricks I've learned with this stamp if I want to use it multiple times as I have on this page, stamp it twice per flower, color the middle section of one and the outer section of the other.  When you do this, you can turn the middle section in different directions and shift it just a little, this gives the illusion of being different flowers.  Just a fun and easy way to stretch your flower!  Here's close-up of one of the flowers and the leaves:



I love this flower!  My sentiment is also a Stampendous stamp, Cling Flower Path.  It's one of my favs as well!  For a chance to win a prize, make sure you visit each of the blogs playing along today and be sure to comment to be eligible to win.

Stampendous
Jennifer Dove
Kristine Reynolds
Lea Kimmel (Me!)
Melinda Gleissner
May Arts

In case you are wondering, that's my son-in-law, Andy, and my granddaughter, Emmaline Grace, in the pictures.  These were taken at the very lovely Reynolda Gardens here in Winston-Salem.  I hope you like my page and be sure to come back by on Saturday when we do the big blog hop, you don't want to miss it!

Hugs,
Lea

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Handmade Happiness!



Front view
Over the years some of my favorite gifts from friends and family have been handmade.  Those are the gifts that have come from their heart and shaped with love by their hands.  When a friend or loved one takes the time to create something special for me, I'm certainly going to appreciate their efforts!  Nowadays it seems that most people are in a rush to get from point A to point B, there's sports practices and games, dance, orchestra, scouts, church, work, and tons of other reasons we don't have time to get crafty and creative.  Today, I hope you will find some projects that inspire you to take that much needed time-out and create some handmade happiness for yourself or someone you love.  I've created a candle holder that is so simple to re-create, I hope it will inspire you to give it a try yourself.

I took a transparency (acetate) and using my VersaMark ink pad, I stamped the Stampendous Jumbo Cling Dahlia, I covered it with Stampendous Detail Gold Embossing Powder and heat embossed the acetate.  Once it cooled I cut the flower out, flipped it over and colored the backside with my Copic markers. I adhered the flower to the glass with Zip Dry. When the candle burns down, the light glows through the flower!  I took the swirl that comes with the stamp and did the same process twice with the VersaMark pad, powder, heating, cutting it out and adhering it to the glass with Zip Dry.  Just no coloring this time!


Other side view


Side view
                                                       
Back view
I love how this came out and I love the way the light shines through the flower.  I wish you could see it in person!  So, how about some handmade happiness in your day!?  Be sure to hop along with my teammates for more inspiration.  Here's the complete list:



AND don't forget our Saturday Challenge continues - We're sharing embossing techniques all month! Here's what we've been working on (most recent inspiration first):



You can link your creations here until Thursday, October 4th -


Hugs,
Lea

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Hey Friend!

How now, cute cow!  So it's September and that means a new month of challenges for Stampendous.  This months challenge is embossing.  There's a few ways to emboss but my favorite is with embossing powders and enamels.  I love doing the Encrusted Jewel technique which involves mixing powders and glitters and micas, oh my!  What's your favorite technique?  Create a project that uses your favorite type of embossing and link it to Stampendous for a chance to win using the link button down below.  You can get all the details here.   Okay, so on to my card!

I used Cowlik Butterfly as my main image with Happy Messages as my sentiment.  I stamped my image with black ink and colored it with Copic markers.  I cut and matted my image on a piece of red Bazzill.  Next I created my card base with red Bazzill and cut a piece of my Reminisce cow print paper to fit as a background.  I cut a thin strip of the same paper for the "moos" on the other side and layered the three pieces together.  I added my May Arts ribbon and went down the middle of the ribbon with a piece of Timeless Twine in black and white.  I then stamped my sentiment with a VersaMark pad and using red embossing powder, I embossed my sentiment, cut and layered it on just a skinny mat of red.  Using pop dots I added my matted image and my matted sentiment.  A cute and fast card to create!  Easy peasy!


Here's another view of the image and the embossed sentiment:


So that's it for today!  I do hope you will play along with our challenge this month and I'm going to post lots of cards using the amazing embossing powders Stampendous has.  Thanks for stopping by!  See you soon!

Hugs,
Lea

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Every Day I'm a Wobblin'!

Every day this week the Stampendous Design Team and Action Wobbles Design Team has been wobblin'!  No, we haven't been over-eating and wobblin' out the restaurant door, we've been creating adorable cards for your viewing pleasure with Action Wobbles!  Today I've created a card using the Cling Hula Kiddo stamp from Stampendous and she's hula dancing thanks to the Action Wobbles spring attached to the back side of her head.  Here's the front and a side view of my card:



I created my card with a base of Bazzill and the floral patterned paper from Bo Bunny.  I added a strip of complimentary Bo Bunny paper with a fringe I made using "honey pop" paper.  I added a blue wave cut from Bazzill with a Memory Box die, as well as, a few clouds I cut from Neenah paper, also with a Memory Box die.  As you can see, I stamped my image twice, one I left on the paper I stamped her on, the other I cut out and layered her on with the Action Wobble.  Did I tell you they are sticky on both ends of the spring?  No, well, they are!  She's layered on a Bella Blvd. itty bitty polka dot paper.  I have to say, I absolutely love how this card came out!  Here's a short video clip that shows how cute she is when she "wobbles."

  

We're going to be giving away:



6 Action Wobbles Springs and



CRV265 Cling Hula Kiddo To one lucky Blog Hopper! AND



6 Action Wobbles Springs  and


CRW076 Tree Trim Kiddos to a second lucky Blog Hopper!! (because we want to see that top Kiddo wobbling with that star!) How can you win? Comment on the blogs below! At the end of the weekend (yes, you have until Sunday night) we'll choose two of the blogs below at random. They will then choose a random winner and we'll notify you here! Here's who is playing today:

Missed the beginning of our week of wobbles??? Check them out here - MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY

I hope you've enjoyed hopping today!  I've had a wonderful time playing along this week.  Be sure to comment, as you might just win.  You won't win anything if you don't comment!  Also, I just want to take a moment to say how much I appreciate your kind words in my comment section.  It means a great deal to me!

Hugs,
Lea

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Just a Wobblin'

Who is Wobbling today?   I am!  Well, I personally am not wobbling but my card is!  How, you might wonder?  Simple.  Create an adorable card and add an Action Wobbles spring to it so you can wobble too!  Here's my card:

Here's another view with the card laying flat:



I used Bazzill for my card base, Neenah for stamping my images and Reminisce for my patterned paper.  I love the vintage feel of this patterned paper as it goes so well with many of the new Stampendous images.  I used two new images for this card, Cling Forest Santa and Cling Christmas Background.  After coloring my Santa image with Copic markers, I added some embossing powders, Red Tinsel, Gold Tinsel, and Detail Gold.  I stamped the Christmas Background stamp with VersaMark and embossed it using Detail Gold Embossing Powder and then distressed it using Tim Holtz inks in Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap.  I used a double-sided May Arts ribbon in red and green to accent the card.  The fun secret to this card is the Action Wobble under the Santa image.  When you touch the Santa, he wiggles and wobbles back and forth.  These are just so much fun to create with and what a great way to add movement to your cards!  Here's a little short video I created just so you could see the movement as Santa "wobbles" back and forth!



Lea Kimmel (Me!)
Visit each one and comment on each blog. We'll choose one blog at random, and that blogger will choose one commenter at random to win:


Missed the beginning of our week of wobbles??? Check them out here - MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY .  Don't forget the blog hop on Saturday!  I hope you enjoyed seeing my card as much as I enjoyed making it!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Lea

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

All aboard!

Hi all!  Today I have a Stampendous Sketch Challenge card to share with you.  If you haven't played along with our weekly sketch on Splitcoast Stampers you should give it whirl!  Here's a copy of the SC396 sketch for this week:


    Now, here's my take on it:


I've actually had this paper for a while just waiting for the opportunity to use it with just the right stamp and sketch.  So here are the deets on my card!  I used Railroad Poster from Stampendous as my image that I stamped with Jet Black Staz-On onto Neenah's natural paper and then distressed the edge with the Tim Holtz distressing tool and distress inks, Vintage Photo and Tea Dye.  The base of my card is Bazzill, my patterned papers are K and Company and Graphic 45.  I also added some Tea Stained Mica Fragments and Bronze Crushed Glass Glitter, both from Stampendous, as a little extra bling.  Here's a close-up:



I have to say that masculine cards are always challenging to me.  I love bling and flowers and ribbon and those things don't generally mix with "masculine" cards.  Also on Splitcoast Stampers is another challenge, Dare to Get Dirty 12 (DTGD12) and I'm using this card for the DTGD12Twinshappy challenge.  If you want more details, you should go to the challenge forum and check it out!

Also, I realize I'm a little late announcing this but life has kind of gotten in the way the past few days and things don't always go as planned!  Does that ever happen to you?  There may be some of you wondering who won my blog candy from last week's Stampendous New Release Week.  I'm happy to announce that JenGD is my lucky winner.  Wondering what she won?  It was a secret!  Here's what she won:



So, JenGD, I hope you like your prizes, please leave me your e-mail addy so I may contact you.  That's it for today.  Hope you like my card and will check back again soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!
Lea