Thursday, April 29, 2010

Hopscotch Kiki Art Style!!!

Welcome to our first KIKI ART Design Team Blog Hop... however, we'd like to call it a HOPSCOTCH!

It will run from Today, Thursday, April 29th until Monday, May 3rd.

How do you play you ask?
You can start wherever you want, however, make sure to visit the blogs of our talented design team members. Also, please make sure to visit the Kiki Art blogs (English, French, and Spanish) to be eligible to win.

Each design team member was asked to select an organization that commits to helping others. Then, they created a project based on their organization featuring Kiki Art products. Make sure to take note of each organization/good cause each DT member has selected.

When you hop from blog to blog, hopefully you will get inspired by all of the beautiful Kiki Art work. We also hope that you are inspired to do good by getting involved in an effort to create a better world through these organizations. AND PLEASE go to the Kiki blog and check out the links for the Spanish and French teams, too! {This means you have triple the chances to win, so feel free to “hop” to the other two}.

How to get a prize from the Kiki Art blog?
For your chance to win, you need to leave a comment on the Kiki Art blog letting us know which one(s) was/were your favorite blog(s) during our blog hop and what organization was displayed on that blog. (Don't limit yourself! You can choose as many blogs as you want!). Some of the girls will be giving away their own prizes on their blogs, too, so make sure you hit all of them.

So stay tune for MOnday, May 4th when winners will be announced. Let the BLOG HOPSCOTCH begin!!! Get inspired and enjoy! International bloggers are welcome, too!

Here's the list of names and blog addresses for all three Kiki Art blogs (English, French, and Spanish):

KIKI ART Blog in English DT members:

KIKI - Arantza Izurrategui - QC, CANADA
Fleur Smith – BC, CANADA
Jillian Anger – ON, CANADA
Linda Shewchuk – SK, CANADA -
Stephanie Hart – NS, CANADA
Tammy Lever – AB, CANADA
Virginia Wong – AB, CANADA
Ann-Katrin – NORWAY
Annika Bergquist – SWEDEN
Carole Stirrat – WA, USA
Einat Kessler – ISRAEL
Ellen Sosnoski – PA, USA
Katrina Hunt – MO, USA
Keely Yowler – KY, USA
Lynda Lindley – WA, USA
Meghan Epperly – FL, USA
Nicole Rixon – CA, USA
Ria Mojica – PHILIPPINES
Sarah de Guzman – CA, USA
Sophia Allison – SOUTH AFRICA
Vivi Rahman – BRUNEI

Here is my project!!! I chose Earth Day and in honour of Earth Day, I am giving this project away today! I recycled a tin with 4 gift cards. Make sure you leave a comment here and tell me what you did on Earth Day to make a change in your life to help the environment.

And don't forget the RAK in my previous post, too! ;)

Kiki Art glitter hearts are the bomb. You get an entire 12x12 sheet of them in rainbow assorted colours!!! And this paper is flocked...so pretty!



I ran the scraps of Core'dinations through my Cuttlebug so you can cut out your own sentiment. I used every bit-o-scrap! The cellophane is recycled, too.


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge No. 81

Good Morning! Before I share my Cuttlebug Be Inspired challenge for this week, I wanted to mention the blog hop on Friday for Kiki Art. Make sure you come back for tons of give-a-ways AND everything is for a good cause! Each member has picked a charity they are supporting to donate or give -a-way their project. Check out that CUTE blinkie on the right side of my blog. ----------------------------------------------------------------->

This week's project from the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog was to create or be inspired by purses. I had this purse from Die Cut Diva that I have been craving to use and I just fell in love with this color combo. AND the inside has a cute spot for a gift card.



Stamp is from myStampBox.




AND I have to ask a favor....if you get a chance to head over to the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog and become a follower, I will enter your name for a chance to win this RAK! You have to follow their blog, comment on the most recent post that I {ellen s} sent you. Anyone can put their name in the hat for a chance, too...even international bloggers, it just may take some time to get there.

This bin is filled to the brim with goodies from Maya Road, Inque Boutique, Qeen&Co, Melissa Frances, American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin, Prima, Imaginice and more!!! I will fit what I can in a priority flat rate box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trust me, there is some major goodness in this bin.

You need to become a follower there and tell them I sent you. We are pushing for 5000 followers over there and we are getting CLOSE! AND if you have time...comment over there on the posts for the month of april to win a CRICUT CAKE!





AND this will be in the RAK, too! An A2 Morrocan Folder!!!!!!!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Caardvarcks, Core'dinations, and stuff

92 and counting!!! That is how many entries there are so far over at the Caardvarks challenge blog. Make sure you check it out to see how you can win a 3 month guest spot at Core'dinations. I cannot say enough about how awesome they are!!!

OOOOOH and I almost forgot!!! PLEASE jump over to the Cuttlebug Challenge blog and follow us!!! Tons of awesome inspo even if you don't have a Cuttlebug...there is Cricut stuff and just plain old COOL projects. Tell 'em I sent ya ;)

I have a few more layouts to show you from the Nook crop the other weekend...It was sooo much fun to scrap, scrap, scrap my heart out for the weekend.


This first one is a bit funky for me :) I used the beer menu from this cool restaurant that we went to in Little Rock a few weeks ago while we were on vacation. This place had 149 beers on tap!!!!!!!!!!! YUM!



I used a myStampBOX stamp to journal on the inside and then I highlighted the beers we tried.

AND the flower is from a Studio Calico sticker that came on one of their kit bags.


How CUTE is this little myStampBox stamp???


I was totally inspired by my super talented friend, Susan Stringfellow to use some random embossing techniques on here. Just grab your Quickutz and go for it!!


I used some Jenni Bowlin Core Impression Core'dinations, along with some October afternoon goodies on here....random embossing with my Quikutz. And owen, owen, owen...i can't believe what a nugget he is here!


Friday, April 23, 2010

Fabulous Friday!

First off...make sure you put April 29th on your calendar! We are doing a humungous Blog hop over at Kiki Art and EVERY blog will be doing a give-a-way or donating their project to their favorite organization so please make sure you come visit. That Kiki has a heart of gold. Here is my sneak of what I will be giving away ;)



So this weekend was a crop over at My Scrapbook Nook. I got a whole bunch done and was super excited! First up are some Jillibean Soup and Core Impression projects. Gosh, I just swoooooon over Jillibean and Core!!!


AND I did a double pager. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! You can click on it to make it bigger if ya want ...


The challenge was to use Glossy Accents and glittery glue stuff so I used that and my Creative Imaginations Glitter Glue...LOVE that stuff!

and I love to use my Glossy Accents for polka dots so here is a little closeup of that since my layout is dang small up there...


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Good Morning!

Before I share my Cuttlebug Weekly Be Inspired Challenge, I wanted to share an AWESOME contest going on over at Core'dinations!!! Core has teamed up with the Caardvarks challenge blog for a chance to win a 3 month spot on the Core'dinations Design Team. How cool is that? Make sure you check out the Caardvarks Blog or the Core'dinations Blog for more details.

So Today is Wednesday and that means Cuttlebug Be Inspired # 80 at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog! This week we were challenged to make a Shadow Box/Frame. And you know how I love love to alter...yippee!!! One of the things I love about my Cuttlebug is that you can take ordinary scrapbooking items and make them your own. For example, these October Afternoon die cuts....they were just plain ol' die cuts until I ran them through my Cuttlebug for a little extra pizazz. Then, I just layered them and added some other details to this frame for a fun piece. Also, you can easily rotate the photo, too.





Thursday, April 15, 2010

LYB in the House!

Did you see? I won't the Little Yellow Bicycle Generation Z contest! I am SO excited! It was a great way to kick off my vacation, too. And it was even better that Lori called me personally. I am always amazed at the designers behind the paper, I think sometimes we just see the final project and forget that there is a person behind it, that created it and that it means something to them to see what other people create with it. I bet that would be cool. But since I have zero graphic design abilities, I will stick with just buying and using it on my projects ;)

I know I have said this before but I love love love gray. I wanted to paint our bedroom gray but Brian refused! And he normally lets me do whatever I want, LOL! Gray is my new black so when I saw this line with the rust and teal accents I fell in love with it. And Kristen was the master behind the kit so make sure you get yours here at Serendipity Scrapbooks.

Here is the mini album I made for the contest. It is about Owen's wrestling this year. I got some shots from a few of the tournaments and these papers just screamed make me a wrestling album! Besides the LYB Generaztion Z papers, I used Core'dinations Cardstock, MLS letters, pretty much all the goodies from the kit and Helmar 450 Quick dry adhesive and Zap dots. {the Quick dry is aWeSoMe on acetate}.





One of the reasons I like this line, too was that the papers had all these great words on them for me to cut out! You know how I love to cut...so I sat down and cut all the words and sayings I liked first and then used them in the ablum.

Some Cuttlebug embossing on here....





The papers from the LYB Gen Z line are perfect for journaling. I am not sure if you know anything about wrestling but it is intense and these kids are young. 5-6-7 years old and going out there, all alone, on a mat in front of 100's of people! are you kidding? I was nervous enough on a field with 10 other players, LOL! So it just amazes me what these kids can do, win or lose. And I hope that Wrestling and sports in general teaches owen the things it taught me about being part of a team and the competitive spirit.


I used the Acetate sheets as additional pages by cutting them down to match the album.



i LOVE this photo of the dads and coaches on the mat just watching, hoping, holding back...all those things we do when we prepare ourselves to "let go".

I know that was photo heavy so thanks for looking and letting me be excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

myStampBOX goodies and a Studio Calico bag...

What? Yup, you heard me right...myStampBOX goodies and a Studio Calico bag!

I have ordered a few Studio Calico kits here and there and I normally I put these 12x12 bags in the recycling bin but this time I set it on my desk and it kept talking to me, telling me "make me into something" and when I saw the challenge this week over on their blog, I went for it. AND I used some of the new American Crafts Dear Lizzy I got over at Scrapgal.

I turned it upside down, added some closures and just went from there....I explain it below with the detail shots....


Here is a detail of the myStampBOX stamp right on the photo with some Stazon Ink.


I had these little peg things that I used for the wall mount. I adhere the Pink Paislee Chipboard piece {from one of the alpha set I used below} and used my Crop-a-dile to punch a whole through it and the bag. Then I painted the peg "thingy" and added some Glitter to it and stuck it through the whole for the mount.


Here, I used another Studio Calico bag that I had and ran it through my Cuttlebug with a Spellbinder's die for the scalloped flowers. I used Helmar Adhesives for these, too.


And here is the hive that I used some Core'dinations Black Magic Cardstock and a Cricut Cartridge...some Shimmerz on the wooden buttons....

Friday, April 09, 2010

Ribbon Wave ...

is still going strong! We are having a lot of fun over there and you know how I love ribbon {seriously, let's be honest when it comes to scrapping supplies I don't discriminate ;}. So for this week, our challenge was to use 3 pp's, 3 embellishments, 3 diff ribbons and 3 photos and they all had to be different. AND we had to weave the ribbon...so here is my take on this week's challenge. I had to document this look on owen's face..he is such a ham and i knew as soon as he saw this vine that the "mom" was going to come roaring out of me! hence...the title.... ;)



Here is my ribbon weave... I mounted it on cardstock b/c it was much easier to secure and then I put this frame around it. The frame looked blah, so I used some of my myStampBOX stamps on it with some white craft ink. I looove this technique! My Helmar 450 Quick dry Adhesive worked great securing the ribbon down and the frame.

And these fun guys were out for a drive that day, too ;)







Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge No. 78 AND SRM stickers!

Wahoo!

I looove Wednesdays ;) It is Cuttlebug Challenge Blog day. Today's challenge was a Baby Theme. And I was inspired by the SRM Blog hop going on right now, so I busted out my SRM stickers. Holy cow are the easy, fun AND cute! So I used the sketch here for this card:

And you know if I am embossing that I gotta bust out the Core'dinations. I seriously wonder what my life was like before Core.


The Core Impressions are Jillibean Soup, along with the Patterned Paper and a new button frm JBS.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Welcome to the myStampBOX Blog Hop!

Today, we are happy to introduce to you our newest additions to the myStampBOX team but we would first like to thank all the wonderful and talented designers that are leaving our team. A BIG thank you goes out:

Elisa Kammerdiener
Kim Soksen
Lara Brooks
Liz Jacob
Marci Knecht
Natalie Kalbach
Trace Geworsky


Thank you for all your hard work over the last 6 months. You’ll always be a part of the myStampBOX family. Best wishes from all of us in your next endeavors!

Now… let’s find out who will be joining the myStampBOX design team. Follow the blog hop and visit each of our returning designer blogs. Each team member will be introducing a new member of our team. At each stop, please leave a comment and when the blog is complete, return to the myStampBOX blog and leave one final comment to have a chance to win a myStampBOX stamp set of your very own!

Jolene Johnston
Virginie Delbecq
Gudrun Loennecken
Ellen Sosnoski
Tina McDonald
Cherie Nymeyer
Tracey Taylor
Allison Cope
mSB Blog

We hope you enjoy our little welcoming blog hop! Don’t forget to leave a comment on each one of the design team blogs and the mSB blog for your chance to win! Good luck and happy hopping!

AND NOW....let me introduce....JING-JING NICKEL!



Here is a little bit about Jing-Jing in her own words:

I am Jing-Jing Nickel. Pronounce it like there are nickels in your pocket making that jingling noise! *laugh* I was born and raised in Shanghai, China. My teenage years were spent in Dakar, Senegal, a West African nation. I went to college in Minnesota and hold a graduate degree in mathematics from the University of Arizona. Now I work full time in the Twin Cities, MN, as an I.T. engineer. When I started scrapbooking in 1999, it was the most perfect extension of my love for traveling and travel photography. Then with the birth of my first daughter, a new dimension of scrapbooking as well as a new realm of creative possibilities was born with her. Today and every day, I scrap my family, my trips, and my family on trips. You can find my layouts, cards, and mini-albums in Memory Makers, Scrapbook Trends, Cards, Scrapbook & Cards Today, and Creating Keepsakes. You can also find me on my blog: http://thislittleartofmine.blogspot.com/

Here is the card I created in Celebration of Welcoming our new Team members:


I used the Road Trip Stamp Set and Helmar Zap Dots for the tag and luggage.




Friday, April 02, 2010

Kits Galore...Happy Easter!

So yesterday when I got home from work, I sat outsdie with a glass of wine and frozen blackberries.... the dogs were playing.....brian and owen were at baseball practice.... and henry was shooting a football into a basketball net with owen's 4 wheeler helmet and gloves on:mrgreen: It was such a great night. Henry just cracks me up with his crazy outfits.

I am also excited that I got a layout {s} picked up for the MM book! I can't wait to get my hands on it, it sounds like it is going to be jam-packed with awesomeness!

Today it is a bit 'o work and then we are running 6 miles today! OMW...so if you don't hear from me, send out the search party b/c I am done on the side of the road ;)

So.....hmmmm...today is the second...so that means...KITS ARE UP AT SERENDIPITY! I got the pleasure of working with the Altered Kit which I LOVED. It was jam packed with some LYB Generaztion Z and Exclusive Serendipity papers.

Here is a layout I created with it. I LOVE this color combo!




I cut out the word "LIVE"from the LYB paper and ran it through my Cuttlebug.

And the kit came with this fun mesh, so I made a flowery "thing" with it and added a bottle cap from my stash. The LYB stickers were a perfect touch for it. AND I used my Helmar 450 Quick Dry adhesive for the bottle cap and mesh...it was perfect b/c it was clear AND it dried super fast.


I used this EXCLUSIVE paper that Kristen created just for the kit! Don't you LOVE yellow and TEAL??? I cut out the stars and circle for the layout.



HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!