Kim & Tara Challenge # 8...Have a Fairy Nice Day!

Well, I am back from my camping trip to Awenda Provincial Park but I don't think I have ever been so glad to be back home!!!! It just poured most of the time we were there and it made for a very soggy and very unpleasant camping trip. We have a tent trailer but it was still damp, cold and miserable, well at least, I, was miserable!!! Chris and the kids can tough it out better than I can! But I guess we were a little better off than the poor tent campers! We have another week-long camping trip coming up and I really hope we have better weather....definitely keeping my fingers and toes crossed,smile!

But on a brighter note, today is the K&T challenge and I have a cute card to share with you! So after you have a look-see at my card, pop on over to my good friend, Kraftin' Kimmie's blog, and see what gorgeous creation she whipped up for our challenge this month! Now, just to get you up to speed with how the K&T challenge works, one person sends the paper and the other sends the stamped image(s). Neither knows what they are getting and well, we just hope that it all co-ordinates and we don't end up with any wonky lookin' cards,lol!!!! Ya know, snowman on flower paper,he,he,he!

So, this month Kim sent this yummy paper....just love the pretty colours and there were so many different patterns to choose from too and I sent Kim a few different fairy images from Paper Makeup stamps! I picked this cute fairy called sprout! I stamped her on Prism Simply Smooth cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her in with my Copics! I did add some sparkle with my clear Spica pen to her wings but it didn't show up in the pics.

I cut out the image with my Nesties and a mat from the pretty turquoise Bazzill Bling cardstock and pop dotted! I inked the edges of the image with Faded Jeans Distress inks and used my new Fiskars Apron Lace border punch for the first time...love it!

But I am really excited about the adorable die-cut wood flower embellies by Harmonie that I added to this card! I picked them up at The Scrapbook Academy a week or so ago and I just think they are so sweet and you can do so many great techniques to them to jazz them I up! I just went with something quick and easy and coloured them with my VersaMagic chalk inks. They had a sample board at the store and you can paint them, ink them and they look fab with a coat of glossy accents too!!!

The sweet sentiment is from Paper Makeup too and I stamped it with VersaMagic chalk ink and outlined it with my Spica pen and of course I had to use this yummy wood grain American Crafts ribbon to finish it off!

So there you have it another K&T challenge....soooo much fun! Now, pop on over to Kim's blog and see what she has created...that is where I am headed right now...I just know it will be super duper cute!

Thanks for stopping by and having a wee peek!

Hugs,

Kim & Tara Challenge # 7....Happy Summer...Sweetie!!!

Well, I'm back as promised with this months Kim & Tara Monthly Challenge...this challenge between me and my good stampin' pal Kim, from Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner, is so much fun! I love that we have a bit of twist to our challenge too! You know the drill by now though, right?! One of us sends the patterned paper and the other sends the image and neither of us knows what we are getting until it arrives! It is just a big ol' surpirse and who doesn't love a surprise, smile!

Well, isn't this C.C. Designs Swiss Pixie, Heidi, just the cutest wee thing? Gosh, I just love her and her Pixie friend Gretel too! When I got these images from Kimmie I was sooooo thrilled and I sent Kim this great K&Co. Citronella paper and I think they are a great match!

For my card I used a 6x6 cardbase of red Bazzill Bling and I matted the circles paper in pink Bazzill cardstock. I cut the cloud paper with my flower Nestie as I thought it would double for a cloud and I matted it in blue Prism cardstock. I cut out a few of the clouds from the pp and pop dotted them over the clouds in the pp and added one for Heidi to float on. I love pp with words on it and this gold foil word paper has lots of great summery words and sayings on it.

To finish it off I added some yummy American Crafts ribbon and The C.C. Designs Sugar Plum sentiment is stamped on a Nestie tag with VersaMark ink and embossed with white American Craft Zing embossing powder...my new fave thing!!!! I pop-dotted it too and added a MM heart brad!

Here is the inside...I basically used the same layout as the front. I added the white cardstock so I can add a little personal note to the card. This inside sentiment is by Studio G and I embossed it with the Zing embossing powder too.

So I am pretty happy with how this card turned out, I am just not that crazy about the dark blue Stickles on Heidi's wings. I should have stuck with my tried and true Crystal Stickles!

Well, there you have it another card! I had a blast with this K&T challenge! Now, I haven't even had a sneak peek of Kimmie's card this time, so I am going to hop on over to her blog now and see what cute creation she has come up with!!! I just know it is going to be super fabulous! Now, you make sure you head on over there too!

Thanks for stopping by and having a wee peek of this sweet wee Swiss Pixie and of my K&T Challenge card!

Hugs,

Kim & Tara Challenge # 6...."Purr"fect friends!!!!!

Well, I had a feeling winter wasn't exactly over and I was right! Good thing I still have my snow tires on cuz we had more snow!!! I woke up to a nice dusting of the white stuff yesterday morning and had to drive to Peterborough, about an hour north on the treacherous, hwy# 115 ...it was icy and snow covered but I went slowly and I survived the nasty drive. I hope that is the end of it and we can finally usher in spring! I know, I have definitely had my fill of winter driving!

Well, this card that I made for the K&T challenge sure warms the cockles of my heart! Yes, that's right! It is time for another Kim & Tara Challenge. Kim from Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner and I exchanged paper and images in person this time...yay!!! Kim brought these gorgeous Cloud 9 Designs papers called Chocolate Chalet to the Copic certification class and I brought here some stamped images of this sweet Sarah Kay image, Rose's Garden. Neither of us had any idea what the other was bringing...that keeps the challenge exciting! Fun idea, eh!?

So, I made my card base 6x6 from soft pink Bazzill bling Cardstock and stamped the image on Prism Natural Smooth cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with my Copics and Twinkling H2Os. I sponged around the edges with Metallic Rub-ons and used my notebook punch from Stampin' Up! on the top edge of the image! The frame is chipboard Technique Tuesday FUNdamentals Swanky Frames and I inked and then used Tim Holtz Crackle Paint in Tattered Rose over it. Once it dried, I sanded it in spots to have more of the brown ink show through and pop-dotted it for dimension. To finish it off, I added some American Crafts ribbon, a few Prima flowers with Bella baubles in the centres, dollar store paper roses and my fave Melissa Frances rub-ons for the sentiment...."Purr"fect for this image, don't you think?! Oh, I also added some sparkle here and there with Sakura Stardust pen too!

Well, there you have it, another fabulously fun K&T challenge....go check out Kim's super stunning card!!! I know you will love, love, love it!!!!Thanks Kimmie for another great challenge and thanks to you for stopping by and having a wee peek...now go see Kim's card!!!!

Hugs,

Kim & Tara Challenge # 5....Let your Light shine!

It's that time again!!! Yup, time for another exciting edition of the Kim & Tara Challenge!!!!

This time, Kim, from Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner, sent me this super adorable, just released yesterday, High Hopes image called, Jenny's Glow Bugs and the super sweet sentiment to go with it! I was soooo excited to get a High Hopes image...this is my very first,YAY!!!

So, I sent Kim this great Fancy Pants paper from the Michelle Coleman, Splendid collection. I really love this Valentine's paper but I think it is super versatile and would work for just about any happy occasion!

Now, do ya recall how this all goes down!? I'll recap for ya, Kim didn't know what paper I was sending her and I didn't know what image she was sending me!! Now, there is the potential for this to go south, fast! But we pulled it off again!!! I think this paper and image is a super combo!!!!

I coloured Jenny, inspecting her catch, with my Copic markers and used white acrylic paint for the high lights! I picked up my first jar of Shimmerz Paints at Stamping Bella on Friday! I went with Angle Wings, as, I thought it would be a good, all-purpose shimmerz, to start with and Nicky agreed (Hey Nicky*wave*!!!) So, I coloured in the glow bug's wings with the shimmerz and while I had it out, I added it to a few of the Prima flowers too! I can totally see how this shimmery goodness could become veerrrrry addictive...uuummm...yes, this could be a problem, smile!

Now, I have seen such fab stitching on so many cards out there in blogland! I think it just adds so much warmth and character to a card! So, I finally pulled out my clunker of a sewing machine, that my Mom gave me, and I fiddled with it, for what seemed like hours, trying to get it threaded etc. etc! When I finally got it all set up, I gave it a go! So, let's just say, I still have a lot to learn about sewing in a straight line, smirk! Yeah, definitely need some practice in the ol' sewing department,lol!!

But sewing aside, I think we had another successful K&T challenge...I am really having fun with the fear factor!!! We just never know what we are going to get but I think we are two for two! Another great combo!!!

Now, I can tell you, Kim's card is super sweet, as, I already had a sneak peak! So, what are you waiting for, go check it out on her blog!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and having a wee look-see!!!

Hugs,

Kim & Tara Challenge #4....Friend, Let's go on a Picnic!!!

Well, it's time for another challenge with my blogging buddy, Kim, from Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner!!! Kim had a brilliant idea to kick, our little monthly challenge, up a notch!!! I'm so glad she suggested it cuz it was so much FUN!!!

She suggested that one of us pick the image, stamp it, and mail it to the other one and then the other person pick the patterned paper and pop it in the mail!!! Neither of us would know what the other one is sending. Then we'd both make a card with the same image and paper and see what we come up with!!!

So, for this K&T challenge, I stamped this sweet Sarah Kay image with Tuxedo Black Memento ink on Georgia Pacific paper, so, Kim and I could colour it, with our beloved Copic markers.

Kim picked 3 gorgeous papers by 3 Bugs in a Rug and sent them to me. She had no idea what image I was sending her, so, she had no way of knowing if the pp and image would work well together....just a wee bit risky,eh!? I had this fear that she would send me pp with snowflakes on it. That would be one chilly bike ride, he he he!!!

Well, no worries, the image and paper went together beautifully! I had a great time making this card! I really enjoyed the vibrant colours in this beautiful paper that Kim picked out!

So, now head on over to Kim's blog and see what she created with this same image and patterned paper! I have already had a wee sneak peek...it is absolutely gorgeous!!!

Thanks for dropping by and having a wee look-see!!!

Hugs,

Kim & Tara Challenge #3....Christmas Greetings from Tilda with Bell!!

Well, Kim, from Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner and I have another fab challenge to share with you today! We agreed to use Tilda with Bell from the Magnolia Winter StampClub. I just adore Tilda's winter coat, don't you?! She looks so sweet bundled up here with a Silver bell to ring in Christmas day!

Well, I cut a 6X6 card base from Bazzill cardstock. It is a dark teal and it came in the Christmas Bazzill pack that coordinates with the Mind's Eye Christmas paper that I picked up at Micheals! I matched it up with a sheet of Cosmo Cricket Be Good Strip Tease pp that came in a make 'n' take kit from retreat that I went to in November. I cut the strips up until I got the desired look that I wanted and inked the edges. I added some Silver shimmer American craft ribbon and several BG Wassail Brads. The cute holly leaves are a QK 2X2 die that I cut from the Cosmo Cricket pp.

I stamped Tilda on Georgia Pacific paper with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloured her in with my Copics and Twinkling H2Os! I rubbed some Metallic Rub-Ons around the edges of the image and added the white highlights with a gel pen. And last but not least, a little Stickles here and there to give it a little sparkle!


I haven't been able to get my hands on any EZ Mount lately but I remembered, Nicky, from Stamping Bella, telling me she doesn't mount any of her stamps anymore and just adheres the rubber on a block with some temporary adhesive. Well, I had to use my new stamps, so, I tried it and it worked like a charm! I think it works best if the stamp is made from high quality rubber and is deeply etched, like the Bella, Magnolia and WOJ stamps.

Now, I am debating if I should even bother mounting my rubber anymore! Oh, What a dilemma, smirk!

To mount or not to mount, that is the question!?

What do you think!? If you have opinion either way, I would love to know what you think the pros and cons are to mounting with EZ mount or not!!!



Well, I struggled a bit with this card...I am not totally happy with it but the more I look at the pics the more it is growing on me! Just one of those things, where what I had in mind, didn't translate to paper! Such is life, I still had fun making this card, playing along with Kim for another Kim & Tara Challenge and using some pp other than Wassail,lol!!! Now, Make sure you hop on over to Kim's blog and check out her super adorable card and the gorgeous new Stampin' up paper that she used!!!

Oh, don't forget to leave me a comment with your opinion on mounting rubber stamps on EZ mount or just leaving them "naked",blush!!!

Thanks for stopping by and having a wee peek!

Hugs,

Edwin with Broom sends Autumn Wishes....Kimmie and Tara's Monthly Challenge # 2!!!!

Well, yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day her in Ontario. It was like 23-25 degrees all day. It was so warm I wore my carpis and Viking sandals (love them...so comfy). It was a little odd though, wearing my summer clothes and seeing everyone out and about in shorts and t-shirts, juxtaposed against the beautiful fall colours. Well, I think that will be the last day we have like that as fall is definitely upon us.

We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner at my parents yesterday and poor Chris worked hard all day on the interlocking but we can see the finish line nearing. It will look so beautiful when it is all done, that is for sure! We brought Chris back a doggie bag, so he got some turkey too...don't worry, I'm not that mean,lol!

Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family, enjoyed the beautiful weather and feasted on lots of turkey and pumpkin pie...YUM-O!!!
Now lets talk cards....Kim and I have another friendly challenge to share with you today! This month we agreed to use a boy stamp and I suggested Edwin with Broom by Magnolia. He is my favourite Edwin stamp....just love is puffy vest...isn't he so cute?! I can't wait to pop on over to Kim's' blog and see what she has created with him...I just know I will love it!!! Her cards are always soooooo fabulous!!!!
Well, I have a confession to make, I was more than a little anxious about this month's challenge. First, I was worried with all the landscaping work that is going on around here and Thanksgiving, that I wouldn't find the time to make the card...eeekk! I thought I was going to have to pull an all-nighter, lol! Then of course there is the whole thing about having a monthly challenge with Kraftin' Kimmie, OMG!!! That is just a titch nerve racking, don't ya think?!!! She is like a stampin' superstar!!! Then, I thought my craftin' mojo had all but dried up. But its all good...all good I tell ya!!! I think I pulled it off, phew!!!! Actually, I am quite happy with how this card turned out! Whata ya think?!

I have been doing a lot of water colouring with Distress Inks this past week and really enjoyed it! So, I thought I would colour Edwin with distress inks while I had them out on my worktable. I stamped him on water colour paper but this time I used my Timber Brown Staz-On ink. I really like how it turned out and will have to do it again. I thought I would grudge up Edwin and make him look like he got a little dirty working out in the yard. Then, I used my Tim Holtz ink applicator tool and sponged around the edges with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and stamped the zig zag stitch all around the edges with my Kelly Panacci acrylic stamps and the Brushed Corduroy ink. I also added a little sparkle with a Sakura stardust pen to Edwin's wings.

I made the card base 6X6 from a sheet of Kraft cardstock and used BG 6X6 pad called Mellow...I just picked it up at Micheals the other day...love it!!! I decided to do a colour-blocking layout and sponged and stamped the stitching on the different panels. For embellishments I used some die cuts....what else, smile! So, I downloaded the new acorn Digital Design from the QK Silhouette website and cut two acorns and the tag out on my Silhouette. I then cut several leaves with a 2X2 QK die and inked all the edges. I made a little cluster of leaves and the acorns in the top left corner and stamped the Magnolia sentiment on the tag and added a brad from the dollar store.

Then I was feeling like it needed a little something else. I now know, that this is not a good feeling to get, smile! It never fails, when I get this feeling and go ahead and add that missing "something" I either end up messing it up or I don't like what I did. Well, I stamped an Autumn Leaves border stamp that I got at Wal-Mart on the top panel....not sure I like it and it is a bit crooked too...RATS!! See it never fails, lol!

Well, after all that fretting about this month's K&T challenge, I think every thing went pretty smoothly and really, I had a ton of fun making this card, smile!!! Thanks, Kim, for playing along with me again!!! Are you up for challenge #3?!

Thanks for stopping by and having a wee look-see!!!

Tilda gathers Mushrooms....Kimmie and Tara's Challenge #1!!!

Isn't this exciting...YAY!!!! Kimmie, from Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner and I, are having our own little challenge! We agreed to pick a stamp that we both have and to make a card with it. Then post it on our blogs today. Well, here is mine!!! I got a little carried away cuz I just love this stamp, Tilda gathers Mushrooms, and I love this new BG Ambrosia pp too. I also wanted to impress Kimmie, grin!!! So, I ended up making two cards. Kinda like my version of a Kimmie two-fer, smile!!!!!

Again, I designed these cards inspired by the LifeArt of Ali Edwards and I am so happy with how they turned out....wada ya think!?

The sentiments are MM rub-ons and the leaves are a QK Squeeze 2X2 die and I also used my large and small Magnolia swirl stamp and Magnolia Owl. Doesn't he look so astute...I think he is helping Tilda find all the yummy mushrooms to pick,smile!!!

For the Give Thanks card, again I used my Magnolia swirl stamps and I also used the leaves from the new Fall Stampclub set. I coloured the leaves in with my Copics and cut them out and placed them to look as if they are blowing in the wind. I also used the small tree line from the new Fall Stampclub set. The sentiment and words are MM rub-ons. I really like this card it looks like Tilda is having a very productive day foraging for fall mushrooms in the forest, with the crisp autumn leaves crunching under foot. I just love the Autumn it is my favourite time of year!!!

Well, thanks for stopping by and having a wee look-see! Kimmie and I are planning to have our challenge once a month!!! Make sure you check back to see what we come up with!!!

Oh, I also wanted to let you know that Carole has some fabulous blog candy up on her blog StarDust Gems and Ribbon ....go check it out!!!

later!

(Oh, don't forget to watch Dancing with the Stars...tonight it's the premier show (1 of 3)...can't wait!!! Any other Dancing fans out there???)