Caardvarks Challenge

The current Caarvarks challenge is called *Kraft Macaroni & Cheese*....bit odd, no? However, it just means that you're meant to use Kraft card stock when making your creation :) This is what I came up with:
I really love this Websters paper that I used for this card...so much so that I put some on the inside of my card too:
Supplies:
Paper: SU Kraft, Bazzil textured CS (dark pink), Websters Pages DP
Stamps: SU Warm Words
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip
Other: SU Choc Chip Taffeta ribbon & Hemp twine, Fancy Pants Kraft tag, Stick on half back pearls (they came in the RAK from Mad, so I don't know who makes them), Heidi Swapp felt butterflies.

I was totally inspired to make this card by the fabulous Miss Lauren's creation for the Caarvarks DT. Imagine how surprised I was when I went out to the mail box this afternoon and found that very same card waiting there for me!!!!
It was just what I needed to cheer me up & it's now keeping me company at my desk. It is so much more gorgeous in real life than my photo can make it look...it makes me smile every time I see it :)

Hope your Monday is not too dreadful....lol
Kristie

Life is Beautiful....

Well, it is when you have yummy gifts & Basic Grey papers to play with.....

I made this card yesterday to use some of the lovely things my most wonderful sister sent to me last week...she is the best!!! There's some more pics of some of the goodies she sent me later in the post. The gorgeous pink ribbon, felt flower and red prima all came from the stuff she sent me {see, I actually listened to you Mad and I'm trying really hard not to hoard it all}. The card base is Regal Rose, the papers are BG, the flower gems are Kaiser, and the rub-ons come from SU's Eastern Elegance. Oh and the button is SU Pretty in Pink.

Now, you will notice in this next pic that there is a cool scalloped edge on the back of the card....this is a Save Yourself From Yourself moment, a la Leslie! Having a momentary Blonde Moment I scored the CS in the wrong place and instead of just throwing it in the scrap pile to be cut up, I thought that I would just scallop the back edge and use it anyway!!!!
I think it looks kinda cute...so I've got it in an envie ready to post out to my lovely Mama today :)

As I mentioned earlier, Mad sent me a delicious parcel of goodness last week, including this stunning card:
A whole bunch of lovely pink & purple goodies (there was more ribbon & some bits of cute chipboard too, but I forgot to put it in the picture), all packaged up in a cool Christmas tin that I shall be altering some time in the NEAR future :)
Do you see that cute felt birdie....I am SO going to hoard that until I find the perfect project deserving of it's adorableness!!!! But best of all, there was this uber cute birdie paper.....
I don't know where she got that....shall have to find out....I do believe I need more of it....MUCH, MUCH MORE!!!!!

So there you have it....I have the bestest sister in the whole world. With everything she has on her plate right now she took the time to buy/find all this Kristie-ish goodness and send it to me....she is the most wonderful and generous person and I am completely blessed to have her as MY sister :)

Ok, better go do some work....have a great Monday,
Kristie

I have the nicest friends....

Today I got this lovely Pink and Pomegranate creation in the mail from my friend Kay, to congratulate me on become an aunt again....how sweet is that?I've been feeling a bit yucky with a *hangover* from a nasty migraine last night and it cheered me up immensely....thanks Kay, you are so sweet!

Also, my hit counter went over 10 000 yesterday! So a big thanks to all of you who visit me and leave such lovely comments....I truly appreciate you all.

I'm going to go back to bed now....I hate feeling like this and maybe a little nap might make me feel better :)

Kristie

I *may* need to recant.....

....my statement about Pumpkin Pie!!! I know, it's a bit radical, but it's all Treez's fault! She is so talented and clever {and just a tiny little bit evil}, because she sent me a PP card that arrived at my house yesterday. It is so stunningly beautiful, even with the PP, that I *may* just have to say that I like PP.....but only when done by my fabulous friend Miss Treez!See what I mean....how could any sane person say they don't like PP when they have this stunning creation before them...and it's even more beautiful IRL. So Treez, you win....you made me like PP! {maybe it helps that there's a tiny bit of purple there too :) }

I have also been the recipient of a few other RAKs the past couple of weeks. This next one is by my lovely customer and friend Yasamin. She's a bit of a newbie to the whole card making thing...but she has great taste in glitter :)
Lastly, but certainly not least is this monochromatic beauty, made by none other than my awesomely talented and super nice sister, Madonna. I admired this enormously when she posted it on her blog, and I was thrilled when it turned up in my mailbox this week :) How clever is my baby sister???? Even more she made this using limited supplies as her brand new craft room is in the process of being constructed and she's been working in a corner of her room!!!
So there you go. There are a couple more floating around here somewhere too...but my room looks like a small cyclone went through it and I'm going to have to stop procrastinating and do some cleaning up! The problem is I've been seriously addicted to the TV show True Blood....any of my American friends watching this one? I've been hooked and I'm thinking that on my trip to the bookstore next week I may have to search out the novels that this show is based on! I love a good VAMPIRE story :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend,
Kristie

Pretend Stamping Friends

The first thing I want to say today is THANK YOU to all the lovely people who left comments on my Kristina card post. My pretend stamping friends are the best!!! The funny thing is, that I always thought if I actually ever made the top 10 I would be super excited...instead I was just shocked!!! I got up from TRYING to have a nap yesterday afternoon (seriously, who mows their lawn at 2.30pm on a Friday?????), to find a comment in my email inbox congratulating me on making it to the top 10. I said some very interesting words that involved "What the..." and immediately went to Kristina's blog to see if it was really true....and it was!!! I then sat here in front of my computer just....well wondering what the hell she was thinking....LOL! I'm over that now, and feeling very pleased with myself....PMSL!!!!! I have decided not send that particular card to my Gran, but rather I shall frame it and keep it as a cherished possession. Yes, that may seem a little odd, but I may never make the top ten again and I want a reminder to myself that, on this one particular day, I made a card that Kristina thought worthy of accolades....just for when I doubt that I am any good at this card making thing....YKWIM???

OK, enough self-congratulatory blathering....onto the pretty pictures. When I went to Regionals last Saturday I missed swapping with my PSF Sam. So we organised that we would swap between the two of us. She had none of her swaps left and offered to send me something from her stash, while I sent her a couple of my leftover swaps. Yesterday I received her cards.....OMG!!! I was expecting ONE card and instead received THREE of the most gorgeous creations....this girl is seriously talented!!!! Check this out:

These cards are just sooooo yummy. So thank you Sam, my pretend stamping friend, you have totally exceeded my expectations and I feel very spoiled to have received such lovely cards from you....mmmwwwaaaahhh!!!!

When Madonna introduced me to the world of stamping back in late March and when I decided to start a blog (April???), I never dreamed that I would get so much out of it. Sure, my bank account is now perpetually empty because of all the delicious things I NEED, but I have gotten so much more than mere dollars could ever buy in return. I have made friends with some of the sweetest, kindest, most generous people you could ever want to meet...not that I've met many of them IRL...and every day brings me joy, not only from the lovely things that they say about my work, but also from seeing what they do and learning from them.

So, to all my pretend stamping friends I say: thank you for bringing so much unexpected happiness into my life. Studying for a PhD involves many hours alone, focused on seemingly incomprehensible technicalities, and yet whenever I want to I can go online and visit with the loveliest people and see the most beautiful art.....PSF's are the best!!!!

Kristie

RAK from Nikki

As promised here is the gorgeous card I received from the beautiful Nikki, when she sent me the US catty:

How beautiful is this? You can't really see too well, because of my dodgy photography and the fact that it's a bit overcast here today, but the fruit is all sparkly!!! Nothing like a bit of glitter to brighten up your day, right???

The inside is just as lovely too:

There's this cute scalloped piece right across the bottom and the fruit is stamped all over. I love it when the inside of a card is just as gorgeous as the outside.

I have been drooling over the catty again, in between making swaps. I'm a bit slow, as I'm used to making one card at a time. But I've got the dimensions of all the bits worked out now and I've got the production line thing happening, so I'm getting faster. I'm not really sure how many people will be at Regionals, but I aim to make about 30 swaps. I figure that's about all I can handle this week. As for the catty; well, I am desperately in love with the cupcake stamps in there, including that wheel....YUM!! Hope we get those at some stage :)

Right, better get back to it,

Kristie

Happy, happy mail

Today was a very happy mail day at my house (hence the 2 happys in the title). I got a lovely thank you card from the uber talented Miss Treez for the t-shirts I sent her...you know the cool dragonfly ones.

Isn't it just gorgeous? It's even nicer IRL. I totally adore it and it will be going on the *shelf*. I was also lucky enough to get a card from my wonderful sister Madonna too. She also sent me some of those cello bags for putting my swaps in...she's the bestest sister in the WHOLE universe, really and truly!!!

It was doubly awesome to get these fabulous cards today, because I've been working on swaps for regionals and I can't show them here or some of the girls I'd like to swap with might see them and the *surprise* be ruined. I've never gone to an SU event before and I am a bit nervous that my swaps will be up to par...I mean I've heard terrible stories from US blogs about *swap snobs*...what if someone rejects me...how will I ever cope????

Right, hope you enjoyed the eye candy from my talented friend and sister. I'm off to have a nap...these meds are making me insanely tired and I can't cope without my afternoon Nana nap!

Kristie

Stampers are the NICEST people!!!

Back on the 30th of July I saw the most amazing card on Stef's blog. I just loved it so much that I left a comment *joking* that if the card needed a new home, then it could come and live at my house! Well, imagine my surprise when I received an email from Stef asking for my address and saying that she would send me the card. Yesterday this arrived in my mailbox:I can't even begin to tell you how much more stunning it is in real life and now it has a special place on my window sill with my favourite card from Lauren. I just love the generosity of Stef in sending me such an amazing creation, and if you have never seen her work before then I'd urge you to go have a look, because each and every piece of work she does is INGENIOUS!! I always look forward to seeing what she has come up with.

The second thing I have to show you today is a card that I do not like!! So, why am I showing you? Well, it's because it's my second attempt at doing this colour challenge that I set for the Cyberstamp on Wednesday and I haven't liked either one...however, I hate this one marginally less than the other one. It really was difficult!!
I used one of Julee's Anni-Verve-sary sketches...#2 to be exact and looking now I realise that I've left off one of the elements! Never mind, this card is destined for the *box* where all the bad cards live. I'm only posting it here to show that I did complete all of my own challenges. It's Choc Chip, Sahara Sand, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink and Soft Sky. These colours should work well together but I do think there is one colour too many.

Right, I'm off to have a try at making this awesome 'Flip Book' that I found on Amy Celona's site....very, very cool. Might have something to show you next week....

I'll be back tomorrow for Completely Random Sunday, so I'll talk with you then. Have a fantastic day,
Kristie

RAK from Tom and cards for the kids

When I was staying with Madonna last week my 4 year old nephew Tom and I had a very interesting conversation....
Tom: What's your favourite colour?
Kristie: Purple. What's your favourite colour Tom?
Tom: Blue....and red.
Kristie: Wow Tom, that's so cool. Did you know that if you mix red and blue you make purple.
At this point Tom's face totally lights up and he got really excited...
Tom: That's so cool, we're the same!

Stay with me here, there's a point to this....
Today when I went out to the mail box, there was an envelope for me and this was what was inside:

Yep, Tommy made me this very cool card....please note that the ants, worms and dragonfly are in purple...cause Auntie Kristie loves purple, he told his mother! How cool is that. He stamped it himself and even wrote his own name. He is the sweetest, most gorgeous kid and I love him to bits. I told him that I would make a special card for him when I got home and so he decided that he should make one for me too. This marvelous work of art will be getting scrapbooked tonight to be treasured forever and ever!

I did ask him if he wanted to me to make him a red and blue card...he said yes, but with purple spots! Eeeekkk....don't freak out, but this is what I came up with:Notice how great minds think alike....we both choose the 'Bugs and Kisses' set for each other....Tom knows I love bugs!!!! I used Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Elegant Eggplant. The circles were punched out with the 1 3/8" punch and (badly) outlined with a multi coloured glitter glue pen that I found at the art store. Not much else to it, but I'm pretty sure Tom will love it...he is 4!!!!

Of course I can't send Tom a card without sending one to his sisters as well. This next one is for 6 year old Katelin. She loves pink and purple, so I used Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, and Orchid Opulence. The stamp Set is the retired 'Merci'. The ribbons came from my amazing Smiggle prize (see post below), as did the little pink flower. The glittery flowers were done with purple Kindyglintz. Very girly huh?

I haven't quite finished the one for Lexi, so I'll put that up tomorrow.

Hope you have a great day,

Kristie