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