CBCC #32 - Altered Cigar Box

Sorry for the late post today! I knew I should have scheduled this to post for me....last night we got some bad news. My father-in-law's aunt passed away. It is a blessing, because she was in a nursing home and hasn't been herself in years. We were busy getting arrangements made last night and this morning, so that's the reason I am late.

This week's challenge was to alter a cigar box that Courtney sent us! Oh my goodness are these little cigar boxes ever adorable! I made mine into a crayon holder (but didn't have any crayons here to put in it for the picture....guess I have to go to my mom's house today and find some crayons...LOL).

I have used Yuki from InStyle Stamps. I colored her with my Copics and used my new tapestry stamps on her skirt. Paper and flowers are from Bo Bunny. The corner design is a negative from my EK Success border punch. Brads, spacers, and ribbon from my stash.

A close up of Miss. Yuki! I love this girl....she's super cute!

And I decorated the backside just as the front.

Don't forget to link your projects to Courtney's Blog for your chance to win some goodies! And don't forget to check out what the other chickies have made....their links are in my side bar!

**On a side note**I just got Photoshop Elements and am trying to figure the program out! I wish it came with a book of how to use it! Does anyone have any great books that they have purchased regarding this program? I am looking to purchase a book that shows me how to use many of the elements that this program has. I did learn how to make a new watermark. You will have to let me know what you think! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your Tuesday!

Blog Hop InStyle!

YAY...it's finally BLOG HOP DAY....Welcome to InStyle Stamps First Blog Hop Event! Woo-Hoo! I am so excited....as this is the first blog hop I am a part of! We have LOTS of fun planned for you today over at InStyle Stamps! Make sure you head on over to the Instyle Forum where we will be chatting until 10 PM EST! There are going to be LOTS of surprises, contests, and fun prizes given away! You don't want to miss this!!!

Each DT member has a fun project to share with you today! Meet Lilah! Isn't she so adorable! I knew right away that I wanted to make a fun treat holder for this project and Lilah was perfect for this project....holding up her "1" finger! It's like she is saying you can only take one piece of candy! LOL! Lilah is colored with Copics, and gold spica marker (for her belt buckle). Papers and ribbon are SU. Punches used were MS border, MS branch, and Retro flower. Nesties were used for the background behind Lilah.

And a close up of Miss. Lilah! I think she is so adorable with her little jean skirt and tall boots!

And I have a few more different views of the treat box! You can click on each picture to enlarge.

Make sure you head on over to the InStyle Forum to vote for your favorite Design Team Member's project! One lucky design team member will be getting a prize for getting the most votes! AND for participating in the voting process ONE LUCKY VOTER will be given a prize! Hurry and go vote now!

**Edit: I mention above that to vote on your favorite project you need to return the blog hop forum. You actually need to go to this post on the InStyle Stamps blog -> vote here**

And if that wasn't fun enough.....We are also giving away a GRAND PRIZE to one lucky person who plays our "Get to Know Our DT Trivia!" All you need to do is head on over to the InStyle Forum for the list of questions, check out all the Divas blogs for their answers, and once you have collected your answers, email them to instylebloghop@aol.com Emails need to be received by 10pm EST to enter.

Meet DIVA-Kim:

1. What is your favorite color combination for crafting?
Pink & Brown

2. If you were stuck on a deserted island, and a box washed up on shore, what 5 craft supplies would you most want to find inside?
COPICS, xacto knife, ISS stamps, dp, and lots of bling!

3. What is your favorite coloring medium?
Copics

4. What embellishment can you not live without?
Ribbon….I am a total ribbonaholic…I think I have enough to last me 2

lifetimes (maybe even longer)!

5. What are your hobbies (other than papercrafting)?
Reading, swimming, shopping

6. What’s your favorite spring time activity?
Bike Riding…I can’t wait to get my bike out and go for a spin!

7. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go?
Paris

8. When you were little, who was your favorite super hero and why?
Wonder Woman….I had my little tank top and matching panties that looked

just like her suit! I loved how she kicked butt!!!

9. What is one item that you really should throw away, but probably never will?
My Clay Walker t-shirt…it was the very first concert that I ever went to…..the

t-shirt now is all ratty tatty and has holes in it but I still can’t manage to

throw it out! It’s my favorite sleep shirt!!!

10. If you were an animal, what would you be?
A beautiful tropical fish

11. If you could have an endless supply of any food item, what would you get?
Italian food!!! I love pasta and pizza!!!

12. What is your favorite movie?
Grease…I know all the lines by heart!

13. Who is your favorite actor/actress?
Anne Hathaway

14. Do you have a pet? If so, what do you have?
No pets…unless my hubby counts….some days I would say he qualifies!

15. How did you first get introduced to stamping?
I bought a Cricut in Dec. 2006, and was blog hopping the beginning of 2007,

and found some cards on blogs, and the rest is history!

NOW...make sure you hop on over to the other Diva's blogs and check out their projects, their links can be found in my side bar! Don't forget to vote for your favorite DT member's project over at the InStyle Forum!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a GREAT Friday!

Hope to see you all at the InStyle Chat!!!

Sneak Peek with FUN on the Way!

This Friday is the first ever Instyle Stamps blog hop! Be sure to check out the InStyle Stamps forum for all the details. The design team has out done themselves with their projects for the hop, and you will have a chance to win some great prizes, and meet the Design Team Divas! Make sure you are there, you don't want to miss this event!!!!

Here's a sneak peek at my project! I can't wait to share it!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you back friday!

CBCC #31 - Color Challenge

Hi Everyone! This week over at Created By Courtney Challenge we have a fun color challenge! YAY...gotta love these! Here are the colors: At first this was a little scary for me, as I challenged myself to not use any dp and only cardstock. However, once I got going this card came together very nice! I used my new Easter stamp that I got while I was on spring break. Isn't it beautiful? I colored it with my Copics, and added yellow and purple stickles to the center of the flowers. So saffron paper is cuttlebugged with my stylized flowers folder. Sage Shadow corners were made using my SU curly label punch and my corner punch (not sure I really like how they came out, but it works). Used my oval nesties for the lavender lace behind the image, cut flowers with my retro punches, and of course used my MS branch punch for the ballet blue leaves. Pearls, brad, spacer, and ribbon from my stash.

And a close up of the image! I know I will be using this stamp a lot. It's just so pretty!

This is the right side of the inside of the card. I used my MS border punch on the lavender lace, and cuttlebugged the so saffron.

On the inside I carried part of the design from the front.

I can't wait to see what you all make with these colors! Make sure you head over to Courtney's blog and link up your creation for a chance to win a great prize! And then head on over to see what the other chicks have made with these colors...their links are in my side bar!

Have a GREAT Tuesday! We are getting lots of rain today so it's gloomy.....good day to be inside working on homework (and hopefully getting a little crafting in too)!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Late St. Patty's Day!

OK....so mid-terms last week, and spring break this week really has my time schedule in a bundle! I am finally returning to normal, and this weekend am hoping to get some fun play time in! I got lots of coloring done on my mini vacation....let's just say there will be some "Gorjuss" projects coming up soon! :) I am sorry that I haven't made it to many of your blogs recently...I am hoping to get caught up in bloggerland this weekend with my reading!

I did get this project made before I went on my vacation; but was brain dead and forgot to schedule a post for St. Patrick's Day with him! So even though it's late, I still thought I would share! Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!
Again, I have used Jax from InStyle Stamps! I just love him...normally I am not a huge "boy" project maker....but I can't help but make lots of things with this cutie pie! I colored Jax with my Copics. Paper was from my stash, the basket was made with my nesties and cuttlebugged with my spots and dots folder. Ribbon from my stash. One clover was painted with my Shimmerz Blingz in Pixie Dust.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of Fun with InStyle for CBCC #30!!!

OK....sorry I am a day late with my CBCC! I totally forgot to make a post before I left for my mini vacation! Ooopppss....Sorry Courtney! I hope this makes up for it! :)


This week our challenge was a Sketch created by Miss. Courtney herself! Isn't this a fun sketch! I did a fun twist with it...I'm not very good at following sketches to a "T"!Meet Jax ....he's a newbie over at InStyle Stamps! Today, InStyle Stamps is having a HUGE release! Make sure you head on over and check out all the new release stamps! If you are looking for the perfect little boy stamp, this is it!

I used SU designer paper, colored Jax with my Copics and cut him out with my curved rectangle nesties. Used my SU Tab punch and my Fiskars treading water punch. Ribbon, buttons, and twine from my stash! And of course we have a close up of the little cutie, Jax! I love this little guy!

The finished inside:

Make on sure you link your sketch card over at Courtney's blog for your chance to win this week! And make sure you go to my side bar and go and give my fellow DT members some love over at their blogs! They always make amazing creations!

Finally, RUN over to InStyle Stamps to order your cutie pie Jax today, and check out the other new releases!

Thanks for stopping by!

InStyle Stamps Forum is OPEN!

Yesterday was the grand opening of the InStyle Stamps forum! There is going to many new and exciting things happening over at InStyle....from sneak peeks, contests and coupons, to seeing what the design team has up their sleeves using ISS products! This definitely is the place to be!Make sure you go right now and sign up to be a part of all of our fun! As an added bonus, the 100th person to register will win our Grand Opening Prize - $100.00 of stampin’ goodies! So why not join in the fun?!? Click HERE to get started! Can't wait to see you all over at the forum!!!

Woo-Hoo it's SPRING BREAK baby! I am so excited to leave on my mini vacation tomorrow! Lots of fun is planned and I can't wait to share some fun pictures with you when I get back! Lots of crafting is also in the plans for this next week! YAY...it's about time to have fun (my brain is fried and is welcoming this time off greatly)!!!!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far! I am working on some VERY fun projects....so stay tuned!

BIG NEWS.....

Boy oh boy do I have some BIG NEWS to share with you today!!!! It's been so hard keeping this secret, as anyone who knows me, I have a hard time with secrets....but now I can shout it from the tops of the mountains....

I AM ON THE DESIGN TEAM FOR.....

InStyle Stamps

***Kim's doing the happy dance all over her apartment***

I still can't believe that I was chosen...someone needs to pinch me!!! You can click HERE to go check out the announcement! I was chosen to design for the Anime stamp line! If you haven't seen the InStyle Stamps you NEED to head over to their site and check them out! When I first saw them I feel in love instantly! Yesterday was a big release day, and the new releases are so adorable, so RUN over to the site and order your stamps today!

Below is the second project that I made for the DT call. I made this cute purse which I got the template from Scorepal's website. The matching gift card wallet was made with a template from Lauren Meader's blog (that girl is truly AMAZING!!!). Of course then there is the side view so you can see the dimension of the purse. I used my K&Co smitten papers, along with SU cardstock. The stamp used is from the retro line at InStyle Stamps, her name is Suzy Q (who was colored with Copics and my red spica pen). Doesn't she look so adorable with all of her shopping bags?! That is going to be me the beginning of next week...I am headed on a small vacation with my friend....we are heading to a resort for some relaxation at the spa and hot tub, some crafting in our hotel room, and some shopping at the outlet mall....it's ALMOST spring break! I am officially on spring break tomorrow at 12:30 pm! Woo-Hoo!!!!!

Here is a close up of the cute gift card wallet! I know I will be making plenty more of these as they are so cute and so easy to whip together!!!!

And of course the finished inside of the gift card wallet. I used my MS branch punch, and my retro flower punch, the flowers, spacer, and brad are from my stash.

I am looking so forward to working for Virgina, Melissa, and the rest of the gang at InStyle Stamps! Thank you so very much for the opportunity of a lifetime! And a special thank you to all my blogging friends who leave me such wonderful comments and all of your encouragement, each and every one of you are a blessing to me, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your friendship!

Thanks for stopping by!

CBCC #29 - Inspired by Nature!

This week's CBCC is Inspiration Station....Inspired by Nature!

Korin of Sweet n' Sassy stamps has a new line of digi images out, and we were given this fun buggy (designed by Miss. Courtney herself!!!) to play with for this week's challenge! Thanks Korin...your the greatest! This week is EXTRA special over at CBCC....Sweet n' Sassy Stamps is our sponsor and is giving a away a FREE digi image of your choice to the winner of this week's challenge! Make sure you head on over to Courtney's blog to link up your creation for a chance to win (while you are there make sure you check out Courtney's fabulous blog candy she is giving away....if you are a Sweet n' Sassy Stamps fan you are sure to love this!!!!)

This little buggy was so much fun to color! And isn't he just the cutest thing?! I used the sketch over at A Spoonful of Sugar....and got out my Janome Sew Mini for this fun project! Papers used were SU cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Urban Prairie, and some stash papers. I used my retro flower punches and my new EK Success leaf punch. Other flowers and bling are also from my stash.
I decided to cut apart Mr. Buggy and pop him up with dimensionals to look as if he is crawling along on my card! He was colored with Copics!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to decorate this inside of this one....I am in the middle of mid-terms this week, and I have 2 papers to finish by Friday....so I am stuck doing school work! Ick! However, next week is spring break and I am planning on having LOTS of play time!!!

Make sure you hope on over to the other chickies blogs (they are listed in my side bar) to check out their AWESOME work!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Sketchers #41 with Miss. Willow

WOW...I got to play along with Friday Sketchers this week! Yahoo!!!! I should have been studying for a literature exam that I have coming up on friday....but instead I chose to relax tonight by coloring and making this card: This week at Friday Sketchers there was a very fun sketch by Kristine....Of course you all know how much I love sketch challenges (they are my absolute favorite challenge...it's so fun to see how everyone interprets a sketch)! I used my WOJ Willow with Flowers and masked her with the WOJ accessory stamp called Fall Grass. Can you believe this is the VERY 1st time I have ever masked while stamping?! Yup....it is...and I had lots of fun doing it! :)

Willow was colored with my Copics, my curved rectangle nesties were used to cut the image out. The edge punch is my new EK Success Fleur de Lis punch that my hubby so gratefully picked up for me yesterday (a special thanks to my buddy Tara for enabling me....thanks so much hun I do love this punch!)! Also used my other EK Success swirl punch, and SU tag punch and SU sentiment from Best Yet collection. Raffia lace is from my great friend Rach (Rach I am LOVING this stuff...you are such a sweetheart....love ya!) and I cut slits in the raffia and wove ribbon in between for a softer look. Ribbon, flowers, spacer, and brad are from my stash. Papers are all SU....the new Raspberry Fizz collection....I can already see I am going to have to get another pack of this....I love these colors!!!!

And I carried Willow into the inside of my card, cut out with my Labels One nesties. Flowers were punched with my retro punches. Big-half-a-flower on the right is from my SU paper with EK Success swirls.

Thanks for stopping by!

InStyle Stamps - Take One

A couple weeks ago, I saw over at Melissa's blog that InStyle Stamps was having a DT Call. I always adore Melissa's adorable creations with the InStyle stamps and digi images, so I thought I would give the DT Call a try!

Well I entered a few of my creations into Round 1; and low and behold I got an email from Melissa that I made it into Round 2 of the DT Call! Woo-Hoo! When I got my round 2 package this little guy Jet was in there! Isn't he just adorable?

I decided to make this cute pencil/marker/pen holder with him. I used Cammie's triangle box tutorial (thanks Cammie your tutorial ROCKS!)...I just changed a few of the measurements to make the box taller. Of course Jet was colored with my Copics! Papers used were Creative Memories. Used my Martha branch punch and my oval nesties.

A view from the top!

I still have a few more projects from my DT Call package to share....so stay tuned!

The DT is supposed to be released later on this week! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

CBCC #28 - Bows

Bows, bows, and more bows is the topic this week at CBCC! Make a creation with a bow, any kind of bow, then head on over to Courtney's blog and link your creation for a chance to win a fun prize! I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

I decided to use Pam Bassett's ribbon blossom for this week's challenge. You can find Pam's tutorial over at SCS! Here's is my chocolate tin with a great big ribbon blossom! I also made a card with a ribbon blossom that you can see HERE.

Make sure that you go to my sidebar and click on the other chickies blogs to see their creations!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

I am off to lay down and rest, I have a really bad sinus infection.

WOJ Guest Designer Call

This week's challenge at the WOJ Challenge Blog is to create a card with one of Katharina's wonderful sketches (which I love all of her sketches....they are always fabulous to work with)! The winner of this week's challenge will get to be a Guest Designer for Whiff of Joy for 2 months! To be on the DT for WOJ is one of my dreams! When I was putting my card together I decided to turn the sketch on it's side (I hope Katharina doesn't mind). I had to use my new spring WOJ kit for this challenge. I used Willow with Flower Basket, colored her with my Copics. Papers are Basic Grey, SU, Creative Memories, and KC&Co. Nesties were used to cut the ovals, Martha border punch for edges, Martha branch punch, and medium retro flower punch also used. Pink Poinsettia Shimmerz Blingz was painted on the smaller flowers for extra shine and sparkle. Swirl/flourish stamp was stamped with momento rich cocoa and versamark dazzle in champagne (which you can't see the sparkle on the card but in real life it looks fabulous)! Pink raffia lace is from a very special friend (THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH)!!!! ;) White lace, flowers, spacers, brads, and charm from my stash.

A close up of Miss. Willow! Isn't she so cute!!!

I carried the front design through to the inside of the card.

Close ups of the inside.

Wish me luck with the Guest DT spot! I think I have every body part that is crossable crossed! I would be so honored to be a part of such an amazing DT for my favorite Company!

Thanks for stopping by!