Love Never Melts

Happy Halloween!

My kiddos are napping before we head out this evening so I sat down to make a quick card. I'm not quite sure what I think of it.  I'm not used to black and white only so I really challenged myself on this one. 

Heart 2 Heart has a challenge to only use neutrals- check it out HERE!

The sketch I used for my card came from Always Playing with Paper-

Here is my creation:

I used fun flock (ctmh) and glitter on the fun flock but is seems as if something is still missing!  COLOR :) lol This was definitely a good challenge for me to think outside the box.  That is why I love these challenges! 

Stampset used is by ctmh- Flakey Friends

Now after seeing this snowy card, have yourself a happy halloween! :)

~Kim

Love Hope Peace Joy

Hello followers :)

I was at a scrapbooking retreat last Thursday to Sunday and boy did I have a blast!  I finished a ton of pages and a few home decor projects so I felt pretty good when I left.  What better way to unpack your bags then to sit down in your scrap room and create?

Tonight I decided to play a long in a few challenges.  First, I started off with this sketch from CAS(E) this sketch!  Check it out Here!

Then I decided to play along with Dynamic Duos and here are this week's colors.

And finally, I wanted to make a Christmas Card so I linked up to Christmas Card Challenges.  There challenge is to 'pop it up'. 

Here is my creation:

I wanted to make a Christmas card with a flower that resembled a poinsetta and since I love bling, I added stickles :)

All supplies used were ctmh cardstocks and the stampset used was Snow Flurries.

Thanks for checking out my creation and have a fun and safe halloween! 

~Kim

BirTHday Celebrations!

So I've been blogging about the birthday tree I'm going to introduce to my family.  My boy is at the age where 'he will remember' (age 3, will be 4 next month).  Sooooo, thankfully I came across This BLOG and got some awesome inspiration for a birthday tree! 

And because I am a pinteresting/blogger junkie, I also came across some cute ideas that we are incorporating this year and for years to come.  

How's this for an idea:

A birthday book!  We can fill photos with this bad boy and even give an exclusive interview to the birthday king/queen!  Very cool!  You can order it on amazon for $9.99.

I also came across this:

YES, it's called "THE HIDDEN CUPCAKE" and I bet your kids will love it!  Find out more about it Here! 

Both of these are such awesome ideas for birthdays!  My boy (and eventually my little girl, Chloe) is going to be so happy birthday week! 

I found the birthday book and cupcake idea at Achieving Creative Order. Check it out!  So many cool ideas!

Finding all of these awesome ideas makes me truly appreciate how many things my parents did for me!  They didn' have blogs or pinterest to help guide them along their way...they made up their own ideas!  While I have made up a few of my own, I'm so thankful to have stumbled along these creative moms!

What are your birthday traditions?

Praying for You

Unfortuneately, my friend's mom died this past week so I made a sympathy card tonight.  I always hate making these.  One reason is obvious and the other, well, I never know if I should keep them plain and simple, etc.

The Sweetest Thing has a sketch challenge going on.  Check it out HERE!
Sweet Sunday sketch #170.  Here's the sketch:

 And here is my creation:

The paper is from Stampin Up! The sentiment is from Thoughts and Prayers- Stampin Up and the flower stamp is from ctmh- Treasure Life.

Be sure to check out The Sweetest Thing!

Have a good night!

Freshly Made Sketches Princess

Hey friends!  I'm super excited to share that I was chosen as a perfect princess at Freshly Made Sketches!  To see my card, click HERE.  If you get a chance, stop over at Freshly Made Sketches to check out all the beautiful creations!

:) Kim

More Birthday Ornaments!

Hey friends!

My little guy sure had fun helping me put these together for the birthday tree!  And they are cheap to make! The $1 store sells these in a tube as well as target's $1 section around the holidays. 

We made a dozen of these for $2!  I wanted ornaments that resembled gum drops- candy and cake is what comes to mind for birthdays....so this is what we came up with! 

Have a great day!

~Kim

Thanks

While playing in my scraproom tonight, I came across THIS at the Play Date Cafe:

Here are the colors for the current challenge:

And this sketch at Clean and Simple Stamping:

Here is my creation:

Check out these challenge blogs- so many creative and beautiful cards!

The paper is simply scraps that I had laying around and the stampset I used is from ctmh- Casual Expressions Occaions and I used the Artiste Cartridge to cut out the frame.  I love ribbon and bling so it was a no brainer for me to add that to the flower (which I found in my stash).

Thanks for checking out my card! ~Kim

Holiday Wishes

Hello there!  Today I decided to join in on Merry Monday.  Check it out HERE!  Here is the sketch for the week:

And here is my creation:



I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland pack and the Mind's Eye All is Bright twine I purchased this weekend!  The stamps used are ctmh- Evergreen and Holiday Wishes.

I'm entering this into a few other challenges as well:

Bows: Christmas Card Challenges
Bling: Paper Crafting Journey
Holiday: Pile it On

Have a great night! ~Kim

Birthday Tree ornaments!

Hello friends!

Awhile ago, I came across THIS at 4 Mars and 1 Venus and thought, HOW COOL!  My kids (well, mainly my 3 year old and eventually my 16 month old) would love this!!!  Sooooo.....I was wondering where I could get a super cheap Christmas tree....Beau turns 4 on November 13th so I was thinking this would be awesome to introduce to our family as a tradition!!

Well, it so happened my neighbors had a garage sale a few weeks ago.  They were trying to pawn a Christmas Tree on me since they had 2.  At first I was like, "No Thanks!"  Then, I remembered the BIRTHDAY TREE!!  They gave the tree to me for NOTHING!

Here is the tree unopened...well, infact, I haven't opened it yet.  There could be dead mice in there for all I know!  LOL

Here it sits in my basement....unopened.

Well, what's a Birthday Tree without our original homemade ornaments?!

Here is the start to the cutesy little ornaments I decorated for it.  They are by no means perfect!!  But that's okay because the little people that are going to see them are going to love them! AND that's what matters most!

Here is the first step: Grab some cardboard, trace circles and cut them out- GET YOUR GLUE GUN READY!  YOU WILL USE LOTS OF GLUE FOR THE WHOLE PROJECT!



Next Step: Grab felt fabric and trace the same circle used on the cardboard.  I found my felt at Michaels for $3.  It was a holiday collection.

Next: Adhere the cardboard and felt together:

I put ribbon around mine too to hide the cardboard.  I forgot to take a 'before picture.'

Next: Embellish as desired :) I used my Close To My Heart Cricut Cartridge for the Rosettes- Artiste....



 Cute huh!  Love it!!  Next, I added a picture of my son from his 1st birthday....there will be an ornament from each age....I also used stickles for the dots around the edges.

 

Here is a finished look of the few ornaments I made: (sorry about the glare)

There's more....come back tomorrow to see the cute cheap ones that beau put together!  He's pretty excited about the birthday tree that gets to be in his room next month!

Thanks for checking it out and I hope I've inspired you!  At least check out 4 Mars and 1 Venus!  Super cute things!

Kim :)

Boo!

Today I'm linking up my card to a few challenges.  I started out with this sketch from CPS-

Then I added the color combos from Dynamic Duos:

The Paper Players also has a challenge using Frames.  This is my first time joining in on the fun at Paper Players.  Such beautiful creations!

Here's my card:

I'm at my parents house and still managed to find time to make cards.  My mom's stash is unbelievable!  Infact that is where the papers used in this card came from along with the die cut that I cut out using the Revolution- it's called 'gravestones' and is made by Lifestyle crafts.  The frame is from Close to My Heart Artiste circut cardrige and the stamped image inside of it is from Perfect Fit- Frames Flair and the stamped 'boo!' image inside of that is from Ctmh Perfect Fit- Halloween Collection.

Thanks for checking out my card!  ~Kim

Creations on the Homefront

Hey there crafty friends!

So, I've been blogging about my creations that I've made and thought I would share where I have put them.

Here are a few shots featuring the family blocks and the SPooKY plague I made:

Family blocks:  Looks like I need to move that "F" over a little! lol This sits in our kitchen above the key ring shelve.

"SPookY!" Sits in the middle of a basket I hung on the wall.  I really wanted a shelve but couldn't find any that I liked so I hung this basket on my wall in the kitchen.  It works and it cost me nothing!  yay!  Anyways, this is the Fall/Halloween theme I have going on in my kitchen...I love that there are no little fingers that can touch it :)  Everything fits nice and cozey

Crafting always on my mind....KIm!

LARGE Plaque- Cut it Up #4 & H2H- SPooKy!

Hello there!

So, remember in this post when I said I had a larger plaque (it's not huge but larger than the blocks I used for FAMILY)?  Last week I was completely inspired by Laurel- visit her blog HERE to see the post that inspired me.  She is super duper creative!  Holy buckets her work is gorgeous!!  It so happens CUT IT UP has a halloween challenge- check it out!  I've also entered this into H2H- check it out HERE!

Here is the block I started with:

And here is the SPookY plague I made.  It's nothing like Laurel's but she inspired me....I used the Moonlight Paperpack from Close To My Heart along with the Moonlight Dimensional Elements.  The bottle cap on the top came from my 'stash' of goodies.  I cut 'Spooky' out with the Artiste circut cartridge:

Thanks for checking out my creation- Have a spoooky night! ~Kim

Freshly Made Sketch #57- Hello Baby

Hello!  Today I'm linking up to Freshly Made Sketches #57- check out their fun sketches HERE.

Here's the sketch for this week:

And Here's my creation:

A friend of mine just had a baby so this card will be going in the mail today! 

Supplies used include a retired paperpack-Sweetheart and a retired stampset- "It's a Zoo" both are Close to My Heart.  The "hello baby" sentiment on the bottom is from stampin up and the ribbon is American Crafts. 
Have a great day!
Kim :)

Inspired By #46- "Family" Blocks

WOW!! 2 posts in 1 day!  Can you tell my family is napping?  Actually, it's raining here in good ole Minnesota so my hubby is home today too. Can't pour concrete in the rain! I'm getting a little extra craft time in my room....and soaking up every minute of it!

I came across Inspired By a while ago and have wanted to participate in a challenge but haven't been able to.  I'm taking advantage of it today!  Here is the inspiration photo:

It's it beautiful!? Lots of fun colors in this combo!

Awhile ago at our local thrift/artsy store, I came across these wooden blocks for rubber stamps:

They were only .50!  I grabbed 10 and had no idea what I was going to do with them but figured I'd find something to do...and I did :)

I grabbed one of my favorite paperpacks, Stella (Close To My Heart) and covered them and then sanded the edges.  I also cut out the little sayings that came on the paper as a border.

Next, I cut out the word F-A-M-I-L-Y on my circut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge using different sizes, upper case, lower case, etc. and embellished as desired:

I love how it turned out!  The best part is.....there's another side!  I'll be able to create for the holidays!

I'm also linking this up to The Crafty Blog Stalker! 

And Here Comes The Sun

Check out all of these sites!  Lots of creativity!!



Thanks for checking out my creation!  Stay tuned for my LARGER plaque creation.  I'll be posting it soon!

~Kim