The Character Cafe - 12 Hops, Missing Link!

Well, not sure what happened to Meredith?! Hope she's okay... seems to me I didn't even hear from her before the hop so really, I should have been prepared, but alas, I wasn't so I'm very sorry.

On the 9th hop of Christmas, T C C has for me... 9 beautiful brads....

If you've arrived here from Lola's Blog, then you're on the right track... if not, you should head back to the START so you don't miss a thing of this fantastic blog hop with FABULOUS blog candy :) (including a Copic Airbrush System and Copics tee hee)...

Be sure to:

• Comment on all the blogs to qualify for the Grand Prize
• Become a follower if you aren't already
• Tell us at The Cafe Blog which image is your favorite!

Also, get more ballots in the tree for more chances to win by telling others (5 more ballots), ask them to tell us who told them (and you'll both get another ballot!), use the freebie Chibi at the end of the hop to make something, link it and tell us for another 5 ballots!

I've whipped up another project using the image Meredith was to work with (one of my faves!)... Monster Gift from The Cafe Store... not much of a project, but I've made 14 cards and this little guy today as well as did all the family stuff, so not bad if I do say so myself! Although, my hubby has done 24,658 loads of laundry (so he says!) in my absence LOL. thanks hun!

Well... not much to say except that I coloured him with Copics and used a piece of Basic Grey paper for the present covering, a nestie to cut the shape and some American Craft ribbon with a coloured staple, voila.... easy peasy Christmas tag (or you could use it for a birthday, Valentines gift or any gift really!)...


Hope you enjoy! Good luck, now I really have to go and fix up this headache! You should head on over to Heather's Blog now to continue the hop and see all the great stuff we have for you.

Happy crafting/hopping :)
Kendra

The Character Cafe 12 HOPS of Christmas BLOG CANDY!

....... On the 4th hop of Christmas, T C C gave to me... 4 feet of Hemp.... 3 jingle bells, 2 Copic Sketch Markers, and a Copic Airbrush System for FREE!!!! Hop along to find out what else is in the goody box :)

Yay!!! Kelly and I have been wanting to jump in and play with the DT for some time now, but it just never seemed to work out for us... however, the circumstances are not ideal this time, as we're filling in for Angie E who is really sick right now *hugs to you Angie!*. Regardless, it was really fun to whip up a card for the hop using "Jacob Santa"... one of the 12 New Releases by The Character Cafe!!!

Before I get to card details, let's be sure you're on track to win the AWESOME Blog Candy we've got in store for you! If you just left Angie C's blog, then you're in the right spot, however, if you're just popping in here and aren't part of the hop, you might want to go start at the beginning in order to qualify for the Grand Prize! Also, be sure to leave a comment, since you can only win the Grand Prize if you comment on everyone's blogs (you do have until the 18th of December to do so though!)...

If you decide not to play along for the Grand Prize though, you can still win this little cutie by leaving me a comment! On the 18th, all the DT members will draw winners from their comments to receive the image they worked with....

On to the card!

Okay, please excuse my horrible photo... I couldn't get my hands to steady (must be all the excitement, or lack of sleep!) to get a decent pic and this was the only one that turned out! You can't tell, but I did emboss the cardstock with a Fiskars snowflake template... I used my new Snowflake Spellbinder die, my new Marvy scallop punch (soooo lovin' those!), a sentiment from Studio G, Spellbinder scallop nesties, Bazill cardstock and Jacob Santa, beautifully coloured with watercolour pencils by the very talented Kelly :)... oh, and you can't forget the stickles!!!!

Could be better, but for 1/2 hour (which may be a ton of time for some of you crafters, but not me!)... I think it's pretty great... might actually make its way to a teacher I know!!! Think I've got to make another now.

Okay, enough already... hop along to Rachel's blog and see what she has in store for you!

I have some other projects to share soon... I know, I've been neglecting my blog for far too long!!! Can't wait to share some of the stuff I've been making :)

Happy crafting, uh, I mean, hopping!
Kendra (& Kelly)

My Time to Create Colour Challenge!!!

I've managed a challenge this week, woooo hoooooo!!! Lauren Meader's My Time To Create Colour Challenge. Boy was it fun too :) Truth be told, 3 of my 4 children have birthdays in September so I needed a few cards and well, I saw these colours and I just LOVE them! These are actually some of my favorites of all time and I use them whenever possible and so honestly, it wasn't a hard challenge for me, but fun. Here's the colour pic...


and my submission... Please note that I've never done a colour challenge before so I'm not sure if there's any kind of leeway to veer off the colours slightly, but I hope that this is okay?!!! I tried to stay within the spirit of the colours :) Also, my fairy's dress is more red than it looks (Copic - Strong Red)!!!


Card Deets:

• Image from The Character Cafe "Fairy Belle" coloured with Copics, misc. stars stamp, Gina K Sentiment (inside)
  
• Paper: Bazzil cardstock, K&Company Classic McKenna, Wassau
• Embellishments: Nesties, Basic Grey Glazed brad
• Other Details: Handwritten Sentiment, Sakura Glitter pens, distressing

On another note.... I also made my son a card too (it's one of my favs now I think!!!), but I'm going to go post it over at The Cafe Blog for a bit of inspiration while announcing our new Design Team!!!! Head over there and check it out if you've got a minute :)

Well, that's it for today,
Happy Crafting!
Kendra

Feature Friday - Guest Designer Piali

It's Friday again, and that means time for Feature Friday with TCC :)

Today, we're featuring a paper piecing project by Piali using Syd Golfer from The Character Cafe. It rocks... Syd Golfer is one of my favorite images especially when paper pieced!

A note from our Guest Designer: Piali

Hi, I am Piali..a full-time Mom and part-time crafter. I am addicted to papercrafting. I love to make cards and gifts for friends and family. Three months ago, I used to be only a rubber stamper... that's when I discovered Digi stamps/images. I absolutely love the endless possibilities of digi stamps. I like to paper piece the digi stamps a lot and here is my card with "SYD GOLFER" ... just love this image. It's hard to find images for male cards... thanks to TCC, this is just perfect.

Here's Piali's card as well as a bit of a visual tutorial for "piecing" it all together!









I just love it... never thought to print on the coloured paper for the background to be green/blue like that. Very simple, yet effective! Thanks so much Piali :)

If you would like to see more fabulous creations and maybe learn another trick or two, be sure to check out Piali's blog (don't forget to leave some love!)!

Oh, and don't forget to play along with us in this weeks' Work It Wednesday (it's a sketch!!!)

Also, last, but not least, The Character Cafe is looking for new Design Team Members! Go check out the details and apply!

That's it for today,
Happy crafting
Kendra & Kelly

The Character Cafe - Blog Hop!!

Yay, it's Friday!!

Hope everyone's having fun on the hop. If you just stumbled upon this blog, then you should go back and start at the beginning at The Character Cafe. There are prizes to win if you follow along, comment on all the DT members blogs and become a follower of the Cafe Blog/website. You will get your name entered in a draw to win some TCC images. Also, there's a discount code (58620271) that you can use to receive 30% off your purchases at TCC store (which you probably already got if you're already doing the Hop)! The discount is good from Aug. 21st at 12:00 noon until Aug. 25th at 12:00 midnight. Further down the post, there's also a Halloween freebie for you to download :) Lots of goodies!!!! Hope you enjoy and have fun.

Now for my project. I used a new release for August called "DracuTy".

The sentiment I used, I created last night. It will be available at The Character Cafe soon.

It will work well with all of our new Halloween images.

I used my faithful water colour pencils...then used black ink on the edges.

Black cardstock from DCWV and orange DP from basic grey.

I used brown ink to ink edges of sentiment and not sure if you can tell from the pic, I used a clear stardust pen on the spider web.

Other Details: Red gem brads, orange ribbon, silver grommets and black rope from my

"friendly neighbourhood craft store" aka. Kendra's craft room. (hee,hee)

Now for the FREEBIE! We've got a tombstone for you to celebrate Halloween... hope you enjoy! Just click the image to be taken to the 4Shared download link.

Have fun on the rest of the blog hop. From here you will want to head on over to Colleen's Blog.

Kelly "The imaginary illustrator" ;)



On a bit of a sad note... Sara is unable to participate in our Blog Hop at the last minute due to family illness and so we're sending her lots of prayers, and adding this little bit to cover the image she was working with... I'm sure when things settle down she'll share with us her creation that no doubt will blow our socks off, but in the meantime, we'd like to introduce to you "Seamour Turtle".... he's a bit wrinkly granted, but I think Kelly did a fantastic job colouring him!!! Personally, he's one of my favs this month :) I think I'm going to do him up right and put him on the wall in my bathroom... I can't wait (already have it all planned out in my head) & I'll be sure to share when that happens!




Well, hope you're enjoying the hop and all the inspiration! "See" you soon, but until then, Happy Crafting :)
Kendra

Feature Friday Guest Designer - Vivi!!!

Hi all, this week we have a super talented Guest Designer showcased at the Cafe. Her name is Viviane, otherwise known as Vivi. We're so excited to have her agree to be a Guest Desiger, so thanks Vivi!

Q & A with Viviane Casale "Vivi"
I am Viviane Casale, 41 yo and live in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Q: What got you started crafting?
A: I started in the crafting world when I first saw a bookmark made with quilling techinique few years ago.. I just couldn't believe that a strip of paper could make such beautiful things.. so I dedicated the last 4 years to quilling, learning how to make cards, bookmarkers, miniatures and others things until I found digital and rubber stamps and how cute they are!! So I have been working with stamps for over a year and loving it...

Q: What could you not live without (craft related that is)?
A: I found so many great tutorials that teach you how to work with a techinique.. I just love it !! I had no idea how many beautiful cards we could do with a stamp.. lol I must confess I would not be able to make a card without the tutorials.. they make our lives so easy!! I'm so thankful to them!!

Q: What is your embellishment of choice?
A: One of the many things I leanrt and adore is how to use ribbon on the card.. oh, it makes the card so charming and elegant.. It is funny, but now I cannot make a card without a ribbon on it.. this is one of my favorite embellishements for making cards.
Anyway, I'm so addicted to card making now that can't stop and don't want to stop...

Here is what Vivi created for her showcase using Bertie n Friend digi image from the July Release at the Cafe.


To see more wonderful creations by Vivi, be sure to visit her blog and show some love!

Also, if you're feeling the need to blurf, and share some more love why not check out the rest of our Design Team creations too... they're all hosting some TCC inspiration!


Billie, Sara, Tesa, Mary, Elaine, Steph, Heather, Colleen, and don't forget to play along for Work It Wednesday hosted by Shelley (you too could win some goods & be a Guest Designer!).


We hope you enjoy what you see and walk away with a bit of inspiration. Again, if you see something you like, it would be great and is most appreciated if you share with a comment :)

Happy crafting!
Kelly & Kendra (& Vivi!!!)

Guest Designer for The Character Cafe!

The Character Cafe is now hosting a weekly challenge called Work It Wednesday and we've decided to offer the winner a chance to be a Guest Designer with our group for Feature Fridays.

This is all new to us and while we work out the details, Verda, our week #1 winner, has graciously accepted the offer to be our very first Guest Designer. Thank you Verda!!!

Guest Designer Q&A: Verda

Q: Tell us a bit about you:

A: I am married to a wonderful man who just shakes his head when another package arrives. I didn't have this hobby when we married almost 10 years ago but then we retired and I found I really needed a hobby and a hobby I have found. We have 5 children between us and they all live fairly near and 6 Grandchildren.

Q: What do you like to do other than crafts?
A: We love to travel here in the States and Europe but haven't been doing very much lately. Which is ok by me because it gives me more time to stamp.

Q: What one craft item could you not be without?
A: If I had to pick one crafting item that I couldn't be without I would have to say my Copic Markers. They are amazing to work with and I am finding that one needs to keep practicing to improve their skills.

Q: How long have you been stamping?
A: I have been stamping for almost 10 years. A friend asked me to attend a Stampin' Up party and it didn't take me long to realize that I really love to stamp. I was a Stampin' Up Demonstrator for about 6 years and then decided it was time for me to branch out. I made cards for quite some time and then gradually I got up enough courage to try my hand at a Scrapbook page or two. Our Grandchildren give us a never ending source of fun pictures to scrap. In fact I love any type of paper crafting and get a great sense of accomplishment from a finished product.

Q: What's your newest discovery or re-discovery in crafting?
A: My latest love is digital stamps. I have just recently been introduced to "digi's" and I LOVE that they are so easy to work with and give you such a great opportunity to collect some wonderful images without having to find space to store them. Not to mention the obvious fact that they can be customized to fit the project you're working on.

Now onto the beautiful card Verda has for us to share with you all...

Copics used are...


For more details on the card Verda has made using Racoon Joe from TCC, please visit her blog. While you're there, you should see some of the other fantastic creations she has made. Very inspiring indeed!

Thanks for stopping by :) Don't forget to check out our Work It Wednesday and play along for your chance at some great images as well as a Guest Designer spot with The Character Cafe's Design Team Feature Fridays!

Happy Crafting!
Kendra & Kelly

The Character Cafe Blog Hop #2

Hello out there! Just dropping by to let you all know that The Character Cafe is having their 2nd Blog Hop to announce July's New Releases :)

There's a freebie, a discount code (worth 30% off) and 2 lucky hoppers will win some goods, so head on over there and have some fun! You can START HERE

See you there :)
kendra

The Character Cafe First Feature Friday & Freebie Template!

The Character Cafe (TCC) Design Team is having it's first Feature Friday today!!! All the DT Members are posting their creations using TCC images.

I'd like to say that I have something to post using TCC images, but I don't. My plan sort of fell apart. I did create what I intended on creating, but not with TCC images!!! LOL My computer is not hooked up to my printer and so on Wed. night at about 11pm when I realized that Thurs. was the last day of school and that I wouldn't be able to make my teacher gifts then, I worked like a mad woman in order to get them done!!! Unfortunately, that meant that they had to be created without TCC images. Plan B... create something on Thurs. during the day for Feature Friday's post... uh.... didn't happen either. I had great intentions, just very poor follow through! It seems that there's just so much work to be done, that crafting has be put off (I know you all know what I'm talking about!).

Anyway, for this week, I will share my teacher gifts as this was a "first time" creation and I think they turned out pretty good. The teachers loved them, the girls loved giving them and that's really all that matters in the end right?!


I used paper from DCWV The Glitter Stack, plain cardstock on the inside, a triscut box (cut and inside for stability), sticky note pad (3x3), stamps from Inkadinkado, Martha Stewart inks, and sakura glitter pens (of course!).

Now, when I do these again (and I will... for my mother's golf ladies league with the cutest little guy... can't wait to show him!) I want to put a closure of some sorts so that the books stay closed just in case someone would want to toss it in a bag or something. I wanted to do it to these as well, but it was an afterthought and I used scor tape and it wasn't going to budge to slip some ribbon between the papers!

So, in retrospect, I did up a template in Inkscape so you can either cut it with SCAL and the Cricut, or I also have a pdf file here for cutting by hand :) Click the image for pdf download.

SVG File HERE

The black cuts are for the cardboard cuts, the green is for the decorative paper and the blue is for the inside liner. Have fun!!!!

Well, I'm off to get something done... my kids are in a Taekwondo Competition near Toronto tomorrow, so it's going to be a long day!

Happy crafting :)
Kendra

First Ever Blog Hop at The Character Cafe!

Just a quick note to let you all know that we're having our First ever Blog Hop over at The Character Cafe!!! You won't want to miss it as we're introducing our new Design Team Members, giving away a freebie, having a couple great prizes AND giving a whopping 50% off discount code good until Tuesday :)!

Head on over there, the Hop starts at 9:00pm EST Thursday, June 18 and ends Tues. at 8am when the draw is made! (the discount code is only good until Tues!)

Kendra :)

Father's Day Card - New Release & another Challenge Sponsorship :)

Hi everyone! First off, let me just say yippee!!! I went to my first scrap store garage sale this weekend at Scrappin Great Deals and did I ever score :) I got over 250 pieces of paper for an average of $0.15 a sheet... he he he... I needed paper in a bad way so I'm tickled pink. I couldn't find the "just right" paper for my card and I'd been looking for the past week flip flopping between papers that weren't what I was looking for and finally, the garage sale...

So, without further ado, I'm going to show you my newest card (simple, yet suitable) and one of The Character Cafe's new releases! We had been holding off until we assembled our design team, but father's day is in 2 weeks and so we decided we'd just get the couple images we thought would be good for that out there!So, this is not a new character, but something I did a while back and for some stupid reason, just never uploaded to the site... Buster and Willy are there, but the sentiment image is not... hmmm Well, we've changed the digi stamp of Buster and Willy to include this one with the sentiment as well at no additional charge! If you can't read the sentiment, it reads

"He didn't tell me how to live, he lived and let me watch him do it - Clarence Buddington Kelland".

I think it's perfect for this image as well as a Father's Day card! I'm going to give this one to my dad and I think my girls are making their own edition for my hubby (on top of the "cards" they stole my stamps for today... boogers).

Card details - Buster & Willy coloured with crayola pencil crayons and mineral spirits, ribbon from my stash (can't you tell, it's a bit wrinkled LOL), a caterpillar button also from the stash, some hemp string, Deja View Sharon Ann Timeless Collection paper (yay), Bazzil cardstock, some eyelets and Tim Holtz distressing ink.

I was just over to The Cafe Blog and I have to tell you that if you haven't been there already to check out the card Kelly made, well, you've just got to go take a peek. It's gorgeous! She really outdid herself on this one.

I also wanted to let you all know that The Character Cafe if sponsoring another challenge! We are sponsoring the Sketch and Stash Challenge #12 starting tomorrow, June 8th. The winner will be able to pick 3 of our images for free so head on over there sometime this week and enter, what have you got to lose (except a bit of your stash... he he he, couldn't help myself!)?

Well, gotta go update The Cafe to reflect the new releases before it gets too late!
Happy crafting :)
Kendra

P.S. If you haven't thought about throwing your name in the hat for our design team, what are you waiting for?????? Check out the details and e-mail us... get going :)

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #62 & Sneak Peek!

Ok, so Kelly missed her challenge deadline yesterday, (is it just us, or do you all do that too?) so I figured I'll be early with mine! To her defense though, it's a Friday challenge and she posted on Thursday, but apparently their new challenge started early (or is it the darned time change - who knows?) LOL ??? This card is for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge #62 "Bit o Bling" and since it just started yesterday, I figure I should be good for this one!

We're gearing up to launch our search for a Design Team (for some reason, this is something that has taken us a bit longer than it should have to do, but oh well, can't turn back time!) and so we've been holding back all of our images for release... easy to say, but it's like keeping a secret... you're dying to let the cat out of the bag, but know you shouldn't, (so you just drop hints here and there ~ at least when it's not THAT important...). Well, I'm here today with my "slip o the tongue".... and I'm heading over to The Cafe blog to do it there too (for a different challenge & different image!) - tee hee :)


This is Fairy Belle (to be released by The Character Cafe) and I just LOVE her!!!!! I'm not sure what it is about these new images, but I adore them... maybe because we're not so focused on the paper piecing (yeah, sorry, no svgs for these ones!)? I coloured her with copics, used paper from a kit I had, cut with my new spellbinder nesties (yay), embossed with my new cuttlebug folder (yay again!), added some sakura glitter pen, flowers, end cap, brad, stickles and voila! I haven't done the inside of the card yet, but I think I'll use the nesties again, keep it simple... we'll see... Oh, almost forgot, the Penny Black "make a wish" stamp... and acrylic rhinstones :) (duh, that's part of the "bling"!!!! LOL - long week)

Anyway, hopefully, the search will be on by Monday!!! Well, I'm off to post to The Cafe blog with another "to be released" image...
Happy crafting!
Kendra

My Computer Woes... & Cafe News

Hi all, We're having a wonderful Holiday Monday here in Canada... sun was shining all day :) I had some computer trouble earlier and boy was I upset. I was using my computer this morning with no problems, then I moved from one room to the other being careful as I could while juggling my coffee, mouse and the laptop. When I set my computer down, it turned off (you thought I was going to say I spilled my coffee on it right?! LOL)... I turned it back on and continued on my merry blog reading way. Well, I went to type a comment and nothing... hmmm... my mouse worked fine, but NONE of the rest of my keyboard worked! I spent 2 hours on the phone with HP tech support and still did not have a functioning keyboard! Ack!
Well, my wonderful partner/neighbour, Kelly has an equally wonderful brother who fixes computers and he just so happened to be coming out this way... it turns out that my battery pack for my laptop wiggles just enough to wreak havoc at times. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful that it was a hardware issue and not something happening to my files, but all he had to do was remove and re-insert my battery pack... aughhh.....
It usually happens in threes right? Well, I've been dealing a bit with spam, then today's keyboard woes, what's next??? I'm afraid... very afraid... LOL

So, onto my news! The Character Cafe is sponsoring Inspirational Card Sketches challenge for the week. The challenge starts tomorrow (they usually post around 6am... gosh, I'm hoping NOT to be awake, but I'm kind of torn... it is our first sponsorship). The winner of their challenge this week gets to choose 3 images from The Cafe as their prize!
Also, a few of their design team members are going to be working with our images (I'm so excited for that as well).
Well, that's about it for now... make sure you check it out and play along this week for your chance to win some goodies!

On another note, we're holding back images in order to gather together a design team real soon, so keep an eye out! We're just working out final details :)

Happy crafting!
Kendra

Mother's Day Gift - My first canvas creation

Hi all, just wanted to pop in to show you what I made for my mother for Mother's Day. I already showed you the card, but I'm really excited about the wall hanging that I made her. I've never used canvas before, but I bought a whole bunch when I found it on sale, thinking that my kids and I would make some stuff with it for their rooms. They like to craft so I figured this would be a good way for them to splatter some paint on something that would end up somewhere besides the blue box or a drawer (my fridge wont hold magnets too well). I also figure my plethora of stamps might come in handy in just such a case... along with a Cricut cart or two (ok, maybe more!). That is the plan, however I'm not always good at following plans. There just never seems to be enough time! This is when I remind myself that my word is "accomplish" for 2009 :)

Anyway, on to the goods...

I'm so happy with how it turned out. I didn't add the pics (they're black and white old pics from when my mom was little with her siblings and grandparents) because we don't have one yet of my uncle and I figured it was best to wait to have that in order to make sure they go in the right spot. I also thought that maybe she'd want different ones too, like the great one she has of my grandpa, or my grandma/grandpa's wedding.

I'd never used any of my Say It With Crystals because I love them too much... but tada... I did it.
I also finally used some big flowers (Heidi Swapp) and the cool brads that I found matched the paper perfectly. Oh, my new fav is the Sakura Stardust Glitter pens!!! I'd say it all worked out... what do you all think? Any suggestions/tips for next time when I do this for/with my kids? My mom doesn't like frilly, fancy or swirly, but I gave this to her today and I'd have to say that I got a genuine ohhhh, it's beautiful, so I think she liked it and it was low key enough for her!

Well, time to organize... I've got the bug and well, my craft room could use some organization, then maybe it'd be more fun and efficient to play in there!

Happy crafting!
Kendra :)

P.S. If you really want to know what I used for anything, let me know and I'll go find out :)

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge #50

Another challenge! Yay! This is my first time entering the Spoon Full of Sugar challenges (which is to use texture) and I'm so excited (ok, so I've only entered a handful of challenges... there's bound to be tons of firsts right?!). I used a new image we're going to add to The Cafe this week. We've actually had these done for a while, but somehow in all the kafuffle (not sure how to spell that) we didn't realize we hadn't added these! I know, shame on us right?!

Anyway.. another first is that I used my Big Kick!!! I also bought Spellbinder Nesties from Scrappin Great Deals, (my LSS and no, we're not affiliated with them, just like them, they've got a great selection and they're super nice!) so I was playing and this challenge worked out perfectly!


For this card, I used Pink Paislee paper, Offray ribbon, Flower Simon from The Character Cafe coloured with Copics, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities and (I'm not sure you can see it) Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust pen.


Reminder: The Buck or Two sale at The Cafe ends Wed, May 6th at Midnight so if you haven't been to check out the great deals, head on over there now, while you can :)

I'll be back soon with some other goodies that I've been working on too.
Until then, happy crafting!
Kendra

Best darned blog candy I've ever seen!!!

So, I had to post this blog candy... it sooo deserves all the attention it's getting. Although, truth be told, I'm a bit upset about that... less chances for me to win it!!!! LOL There's all my favorite things... copics, spellbinders (so want these), anya stamps, ribbon, flowers and Basic Grey paper!!! The Blog is called Passion for Crafts... you should definitley check it out :)

Seeing as I'm here, I also wanted to brag about my kids again. I know I mentioned that they broke a board in karate, but last night, they had to do it again as part of their testing. I'm so very proud to say that Abby broke her board (in 4 tries) and passed her test to a yellow stripe - she's 6 years old!!! I'm also so proud to say that Emmy broke her board (ON THE FIRST TRY) and passed her test to a yellow stripe and she's only 4 years old!!! They are so excited about this. They still have a bit of work to do, but I think that the teacher knew they needed just a bit of a confidence booster to get the few little kinks worked out. I think he was right because there they were last night after class, practicing!!! Too cute... I'm a fan of martial arts for kids. Hey, my kids can now count to 10 or more in english, french (school, older taught the younger), spanish (thanks to Dora!), and Korean... now if they could learn more than just counting, that would be cool.

Anyway, happy crafting! I'm hoping to be back for a challenge project at some point, but aughhh... too much work, too little time it seems. *fingers crossed though*
Kendra

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #55 & a sneak peek

Yay! We're releasing a couple new images tomorrow at The Character Cafe and I couldn't wait to play. I used Kitt for challenge #55 at Cute Card Thursday. The challenge is called Marshmallows and Chocolate and you are to use the colours pink and brown. It was just what I needed because I had the cutest paper I've been itching to use and well, those colours are purrrfect for Kitt (sorry, couldn't help it!).
Here she is...

If you haven't been over to The Cafe Blog, you should go check it out. I was just there to see Kelly's first challenge (and FIRST BLOG POST!) using our other new image and is he ever cute!!! I must say, she did a fantastic job.... she's right, I'm not going to be letting her off the hook very often anymore... LOL

The image is Kitt from The Character Cafe (due to be released Thursday April 16), coloured with copics, paper is from DCWV Glitter Stack and Basic Grey Bittersweet, paper flowers & acrylic rhinestones from my stash, Basic Grey flourish stamp and Technique Tuesday word stamps with CTMH desert sand ink. Ohhhh, I almost forgot, I also embossed the "Adorable Princess" using Stampendous crystal embossing powder.

Ohhhh... on another note, can I just say how very proud of my daughters I am!!! They got to break wooden boards at Tae Kwon Do last night... they are 6 and 4 years old, so that's pretty cool if you ask me. They are going to test for their yellow stripe next week... *fingers crossed* Now I know it's a far cry from black belt, but it's a "mom moment" no matter what way you slice it... kiya!!! LOL... I'm a geek, yah, I know :)

Happy crafting... gotta go

Kendra

Digi Stamp Challenge!

I posted this card on the Character Cafe blog yesterday as I had intended on entering it in another challenge, but then realized I was all mixed up and it didn't qualify! Low and behold, today when I was surfing, I stumbled across a blog challenge that I know I'll participate in on a regular basis! The blog is Dare U 2 Digi Stamp, which is right up my alley!!!

So, since I hadn't posted on my personal blog in a while, I figured I might as well enter G'Monkey in this challenge. She fits the sketch and well, it must be fate that I stumbled onto that blog...

Here's my card for the challenge

I used (a new release) G'Monkey digi stamp from The Character Cafe coloured with copics, Basic Grey paper, Offray ribbon and some tiny acrylic rhinestones from my stash. I love how this card turned out, so cute!
If you're a digi stamper, I highly suggest you check out this challenge blog... there's a great prize up for grabs this week!
Well, I'm off... got work to do!
Happy crafting :)
Kendra

A Bit of a LAG...

Hi all, so I've been a bit MIA lately and well, there's a reason I haven't been posting any of my goodies... I can't!!! LOL
Actually, I could've posted pics of the sour cream container valentines that my dds and I made, however, I forgot to take pics!! LOL
Then, of course, I could post pics of the several cards that I've been making, but since they are my neighbour (and partner) and my designs for a business project we're working on, we're keeping things under wraps for the time being... yeah, I know, it's no fun!
I can't wait to show you what we've got to offer though! We've been designing characters to sell as digital downloads! We would love to make them into stamps, but since that's really unfamiliar territory, we thought we'd wait and see what the response to our characters are. I think they are wonderful myself, and I made a card for one of my dd's friends' birthday and well, it turned out so darned cute if I do say so myself! We've go so many ideas that there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!
Anyway, we've almost got our grand opening line up ready to go (we want to make sure they are perfect!) and so hopefully, it won't be long and we can show you a sneak peek of what's to come! I'll be back...
Until then, happy crafting!

AWESOME BLOG CANDY TO BE WON!

Okay, so I've been dabbling with stamps and colouring and I have to say truly that I LOVE it. Now, the only thing that disappoints me is the fact that I have not stumbled upon some Magnolia Stamps yet (except online). Well, now I have the chance to win some (and so do you!). All you have to do is go to Sharon's Blog post a comment and add a link to your blog (if you have one, but you can still enter if you don't!)... there's more info there.

Well, that's it for now, but I did stumble upon a few more goody sites and yet I'm just so tired right now, I don't have time to play.
We'll do that tomorrow... must sleep now!
Happy crafting :)

I went digital... just for fun!

Hey all. The title says it all I guess. It's true that lately I discovered stamping and absolutely LOVE it. With that little obsession came the daunting task of finding cute images to stamp and colour... well, it in turn brought me to some cute images, however, they're already coloured and ready for .... DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING. Now, a while back, I kind of started "collecting" things to use for digital scrapbooking and actually really wanted to learn how to make this stuff. I joined a PSP group and had fun learning some neat things... only problem is that 1 hour on the computer turned into an enormous amount of hours wasted, I mean spent on the computer. I just couldn't do it anymore and low and behold, I never once created a scrap page!!! LMAO... however, I have lots of files to do so... ha ha ha

Anyway, on to what I did tonight and OMG... it was soooo easy!!! I have realized that my problem is not that I don't have time to do these things, it's I don't want to pay to do it the "easy" way... I always tell myself "why pay for that, when you can make it, or do it yourself, lets learn how??"... ummmm, because yourself has no darn time to do it ALL!!!!

Well... tada... my one and only digital scrap page... my one and only scrap page period!!! LOL

I LOVE IT!!! I can't wait to do this again....

I actually broke down and bought this set from pickleberrypop and I think it's just the cutest. I only wish I didn't just try to "check it out" for a moment.... I didn't have a pic in mind and this was just the first one that I came across that I thought would be okay... I do want to make another now with all my kids in it... yeah...

Well, bye for now!

Happy crafting

Challenge Time... and an oops!!!

Good morning all! I've been crafting... yahoo :) I made a card to enter in the caardvarks challenge to use a heart. I swear that I stumbled across a blog with a challenge to use a heart, but it couldn't be pink so I used a different colour... however, now I haven't the slightest clue what challenge that was! LOL I asked all the girls in the cricutlovers group to see if I could figure it out, but alas, noone seems to know the challenge I'm referring to! Oh well... I love the card anyway.

I used the skunk paper piecing by precious piecings and stamps from Studio G, Inkadinkadoo and CTMH with stickles of course! The paper is regular cardstock, coredinations and rob & bob studio slab

So, what's the oops you say? Well, last night I spent the evening designing the cutest card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge using a circle card (and a Penny Black Stamp of course!) however, when I was done it was 11pm and I didn't have very good light for pictures and so I figured I'd get up this morning and take pics and post. Yeah, I totally forgot that last night was FRIDAY and it was due by midnight. I awoke shortly after midnight from a bad dream telling me that I was too late to enter the challenge! You know you're spending too much time online and thinking about crafts when you dream about stuff like that! aughhh... anyway, I just adore the card regardless and it's for my friend whose birthday is on Monday so it's okay. I'm just disappointed to not have a chance at the cute little downloads they were offering up!

Anyway, I went to their site this morning and I do think that this card qualifies for the romance theme they are asking for this week. Since it is a new card (less than 12 hrs old!) and made with Penny Black in mind, I hope it qualifies for this weeks challenge :)

I used Stamps from Penny Black Critter Party, and Inkadinkadoo, coloured with Copic Markers, Paper from Basic Grey's Bittersweet and Eva packs as well as regular cardstock, paper flowers from my little satchel of them (maker??), brad and stickles (of course!) and stampendous black embossing powder.

This card is the first time that I have embossed my image prior to colouring with my copics (not that I've been colouring with copics for very long, or stamping for that matter!) and let me just say WOW... I will never colour my images prior to embossing again unless I absolutely have to. What a difference... if you haven't tried it, you owe it to yourself to do so ASAP!

Well, I'm off for now,

Happy crafting!

Paper Piecing with SCAL

I got SCAL today from Kim over at Cutters Creek and so I had an opportunity to play around with a paper piecing file I had worked on in Inkscape while waiting for SCAL. The first picture is of a paper piecing that I purchased from Precious Piecings a) because it's too darn cute and b) to be sure I know how SCAL is supposed to work for when I test my own images. I just love this loveable couple!
So then, it was time to try my lion kid file. There were a few snags, but all in all, I was very pleased with myself for doing this! I think this little one is super cute too. Although I think cutting on a colour other than green is probably more beneficial to the cuteness factor, I'm just thrilled that there were only a couple mishaps with his tail and rear end.

I had the hardest time doing this because SCAL kept not responding on me and I had to start over a couple times. Same with inkscape actually. Does anyone know if these programs maybe use the clipboard and I might have been overloading my computer???? Who knows, I'm just glad I DID IT finally!!! I'll now make a few changes and voila! I also did a Dalmation Puppy, but I'm tired and MUST get some sleep. The little ones have been getting me up every hour or so at night for a few weeks and it's starting to take its toll.... yet I can't seem to sleep when I have the prime opportunity! Go figure?!

Anyway, happy crafting! Thanks for stopping by :)

A Few Firsts!

Okay, so I've been perusing all these blogs and challenges for a few weeks and today I woke up and thought I'm going to have to participate...

I first went to 2 Sketches 4 U and decided that would be my starting point. After that, I hopped on over to Daring Cardmakers and figured I could combine their requirement of having hearts as well as Laura's sketch! I did need to make another valentines card for one of my dds so it worked out perfect.

Here it is...

My first sketch challenge, my first cardmaker challenge, my first use of mulberry paper on cards, and my first use of this ribbon I've had for 2 years! :)

I'm not very lucky and don't expect to win anything, but I must say this was so much fun, I'll definitely be back! Thanks to both 2sketches4u and daring cardmakers for inspiring me and giving me an opportunity to play with my goodies and have a wonderful time!

Happy crafting!

Going Green With Queen and New Projects!

So, I just wanted to pop in to tell you about Queen & Co. new plan to be a bit more package friendly. Go to their site and check out their new buckets full of goodies! They're also offering up a free bucket to one lucky winner. Hey, I'm all in with the going green and if there's freebies involved, even better :)

http://queenandcompany.typepad.com/queen_co_indulge_your_cre/

Since I'm here, I also thought I'd share the journals the kids and I made today. Daddy's not feeling well and what better way to entertain the kidlets than with a bit of crafty goodness!

They turned out really well and the girls love them...

I'm going to have to keep an eye on my watercolour pencils I think. They like them lots!!! The girls are 6 and 4 so they love the idea of stamping. It's my "justification" for purchasing new stamps and stuff. :) Anyway, off I go. Happy crafting!

A Valentine's Card!

Hi again, I'm so very excited. My local scrap store had 20% off stamps yesterday and boy did I take advantage of that! I got some cute stuff. I think I'm going to take a pic for you :) The deals weren't as good as some of my virtual shopping I've been doing lately (you know, when you fill that cart and then just look at it and think about all the fun you'd have opening the box once it came!) but once I convert the money from Canadian funds and then pay shipping, it turns out that what I bought wouldn't have been as cheap as I thought. Also, I hate having to wait weeks for the snail mail to arrive!

Anyway, a pic of my new stash... I also got some say it with crystals, white cardstock, brads to match the 3 Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads I also got (all girly!) and a white gel pen. (I'm so not shopping for a LONG time now)

Yes, I didn't stop at the stamps & stuff. I've wanted to get copics since I heard about them and well, I'm bad that way... The lady at the store remembered my last visit (only 2 weeks ago) and saw my armful of stuff and well, offered me a bit of a deal on the copics (I think she senses my addiction and knows I can't pass up a deal!)... tada... they're mine :)

Well, my hubby took at look at my loot and he crushed me. He said "you're colouring?" to which I responded "yeah..." and then I got an "oh". He just doesn't understand. He said "I just didn't know that's what you were so excited about." Oh well, I guess he's just not going to understand until he sees all the cuteness that I produce.

To start off, I used a new stamp (Penny Black I believe) and my copics (so I need some lessons or something... who cares... they were the best "markers" I've ever had the pleasure of using!), some plain old cardstock, a piece of ribbon, stickles and a mulberry flower I had from my sculpting and voila, my first valentines day card!

So, while I was shopping, she also asked if I was looking for some part-time work (she probably knows that I'd spend my whole cheque there anyway, so why not?!). I can't though, but maybe someday... hmmm... I think it would kill me though!

Oh, I almost forgot about my $22 purchase at a scrap store closing sale. My stuff's worth over $50!!! She's also looking to get rid of some huge pieces of mulberry paper. I'm going to look at it tomorrow. I'll let you know then and maybe tell you about my purchase there... some new stuff I'm excited to try as well :) I'm off for now... Happy crafting!

Stampin'

Hi again. I've been playing with my stamps over the past couple days. I think I'm in love?! I didn't really know what I was going to do with them, only that I wanted to stamp and colour. I have watercolour pencils that needed to be used and so that's exactly what I did. After I got the images stamped and coloured I had no idea what to do with them though! I really need to start planning ahead I think. It would make much more sense and I'd probably accomplish more. Hmmm, I'll have to add that to my list!


Anyway, I took a couple pics of my creations. I made one for each of my kids. I haven't finished Brady's yet (his is another bunny like this with a different flower and it says cute) but I just really wanted to share and figured another post was due.

These little guys measure about 3" and I thought it might be cool to link them up with a ribbon or something and make a whole bunch to hang on the kids' walls. Yes, I also just sent an e-mail to my hubby and mother of my wishlist of magnolia stamps! he he he... oh, I'm in trouble I think. I have so many things I want to try but I just don't know where to start.

Okay, so now I'm off to find some more critters to make.
Bye for now!

Baby Book

Well, my first attempt at a scrap book is now complete. It took me 3 days and a table full of scrapping stuff. It also ended up costing me ALOT more than any normal baby gift would, but I have to say that I am totally excited about the outcome! Actually, if I'm honest, I'm totally excited that the outcome was a completed book!!! Yay! My first accomplishment of 2009!

Part of my year of "accomplishments" includes taking better photos I guess. Sorry for the sloppy look of them, but I was just so excited to have completed the book that I didn't want to take the time to set up a photo box properly. Not that I know how really, but it's on my list of things to do/research/accomplish.

I had never scrapped before and so I found that this was quite a challenge! What to do first and what supplies to use where and what I was willing to experiment with and what I felt was better left until a later date. Yeah, as it turned out, I tried to do something I had never done before on every page!

This page features a fold out. Under the Mom is an area for "About Mom"... same for under the Dad. In the middle is an extra flap for a pic and underneath and area for "About Us" where they can write about how they met, got married, or whatever else they wish. I LOVE this set of pages.

This is my first use of coredinations paper. I really liked how it turned out. I don't have an embossing machine, but I used a rolling pin to create the stars!!! LOL I also used the holographic embossing powder on the star streak through the poem. I think this is probably one of my favorite of the pages. Yes, it is.



Every baby book needs pics of mom with baby and dad with baby and so that's where this set comes in. I made pockets out of the photo mats for tags where mom could write her thoughts and one for dad to do the same.

And last, but definitely not least, a place to put the new family photo. I know that I had my mom/dad and baby = 3 page, but this one could be with grandparents too or whatever their hearts desire. I'm so excited to give this present to my cousin. I can't wait to see her response. I know I love it and wish I had one for my little one, actually, any of my 4 kids! However, not everyone gets a kick out of these things. Anyway, I'm out for today.
Happy crafting!