Here Comes the Bride....

Sooooo....You didn't know Superbird had a girlfriend?? Now he's HITCHED! Ha! I just love his bow tie and matching cummerbund. They both have their rings. Superbirdie has pink and white shoes to match her lovely dress paint!

You know at the wedding? When people toss rice or birdseed as the couple leaves? Well, this "green" couple used flower soft flower petals instead! Alright - if you love what you've seen, go ask for your own Superbird! He's the last free issue! Sunshine's Stamp Creations!

Oh - IF YOU MAKE A PROJECT WITH ANY OF THESE FREE RELEASES... be sure to use "sunshinestamps" as one of your keywords or tags, so we can come see! Have a great weekend!

Ta for now, ~ky

It's a Bird...It's a Plane... It's SUPERBIRD

Ha ha ha ha...oh my. Sunshine and Rob keep coming up with new ways to make me smile! Their latest release (available by email request - it's FREE), is Superbird! He's fast AND fun! Take a lookie:

I colored him up with paper piecing over the weekend while watching NASCAR (yup - big fan here). Then Blogger and I had numerous discussions, but we finally reached agreement today. Sorry for being late with my homework! The bunny ate it! Bwaaaahaahahahahaha...ah.

What young driver wouldn't LOVE to get this card with some keys attached? Or maybe some gas money?? I know I was beside myself with joy when I got my first wheels. I need to "transform" (get it?) this bird into my original bird who resembles Bumble Bee in the first Transformer movie...not like the comic books, although I did drive a VW Beetle for awhile too.

So this is the inside of the card. I need to do more cards with a finished inside, donchathink? A few details to mention include the traffic light - I adhered Robin's Nest dew drops to foil, then put that on yellow CS. The flare is the camera's attempt to interpret what it saw. It's shiney dude!

Other info my lawyer said I couldn't leave off: Image - Sunshine's Stamp Creations, PP - Basic Grey, CS - Bazzill, Card Base - Gina K heavy base sand, Border Punch - EK Success, Coloring - Clear Snap Smooch, Dew Drops - Robin's Nest, Sentiments - by me!

Thanks for breezing by today! Don't forget to check out the other girls' projects! I'll be back in a few days with another shout out with SUPERBIRD!!!

Ta for now, ~ky

Busy Week - Simple Card

I've been busy with a lot of things, so I didn't have much time to spend on my project. However, I really needed a get well card for a friend. I sat down in my studio and pulled up the Stamp TV color challenge for this week. The colors were green, brown and vanilla - colors found in nature. Well, what better image to use than something from nature!?!

It's a fairly simple card - SU!s Old West two-sided patterned paper, Bazzill and Gina K cardstocks, Gina K Designs Many Wishes stamp set, SU! kiwi kiss ink, and Ranger Ink distressing ink in walnut, flower soft, MM ribbon and Robin's Nest dew drops.

I love the texture of the flower soft. Doesn't it look like you could just pick it up and blow the fronds away? Oh - there's a little stickles glitter in the center of each seed head, but it didn't want to play with my camera. Awww....stickles is shy!

That's it for right now. I'm working on some new uses for old products - trying to bring my painting world together with my papercraft world.

Don't forget to visit Sunshine's Stamp Creations for the last free image! He's one cool cat! I'll be posting a project with him tomorrow, but some of the gals on the team will be posting projects tonight. Go visit them!!

Ta for now, ~ky

Your Moo-me

Malcolm's delivering the milk to this orphaned calf that we raised in 2001! My son had an opportunity to raise a calf who's mother had died, and showed her in the county fair. He won champion of his class, and reserve grand champion of the whole heifer herd that year. I was (still am) so proud of him!

He had to prepare her milk every morning and evening, groom her, teach her to lead with a rope, and learn so many things about his cow. Pretty darn good for an 8 year old, yes? He became her MOO-ME!

I love having Malcolm for this page - he just fits so well! I used SU!s old west paper pack from a few years ago, Bazzill (orange) cardstock, Gina K heavy weight card base (sand color, embossed and colored with Ranger Ink brushed corduroy), and Pebbles white cardstock.

I used my Base Camp cartridge in my Cricut to make the title. Mega Nestabilities curved rectangle was used to cut Malcolm's base, and Malcolm is colored with Prismacolor pencils, Color Box's Smooch (technique below), with Memento inks sponged for the sky (summer sky) and grass (new sprout). Finally, just 6 Robin's Nest dew drops to draw the eye to the journaling.

So - that's Malcolm! Check back this weekend - we'll have another new release from Sunshine's Stamp Creations! Remember, for a limited time you can request your own copy of Malcolm! Be sure to stop by all the Team's blogs for their latest projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ta for now, ~ky

Polling for FREE IMAGES

Yep you heard that right - you can vote on what free image you'd like to see next from Sunshine's Stamp Creations. You have until 9 PM Central time Thursday, July 23 to place your vote.

VOTE FOR YOUR FREE IMAGE

Poll is closed!

Come back later tonight to see what Malcolm, from the post below, decided to show you. Hee hee... I think you'll love it!!

Ta for now, ~ky

Go On - Give 'Em a Little Smooch..

Soooo.... you wanna see some smooch in action... Here we go! Uncapping the bottle, you can see the applicator tip. It is a solid, semi-compressible foam applicator that has some flex, but keeps its sharp tip in shape.



I press it into the center area that I want to color, if the area is a little larger. That gives me a little puddle to work from, and I just push it out to the corners of the area.



Here you can see the detail you can control with the pen-point tip.

Working back and forth between the bottle, you can draw fine lines, even use it for lettering.

Press it to flex the tip, and it will spring right back for you. If you don't have a really steady hand, you can go back over the area with a slick writer or a bic fine-point permanent pen to cover up little bobbles.

The fine point is perfect for accenting eyes, filling in small dots that you want to draw attention to, and touching up little blemishes.

Lots of people I talked to really weren't looking forward to getting Smooch because Shimmerz and similar products were still relatively new to the market. However, I love the control and opacity of Smooch, plus there are more colors out, including a pink (Taffy) that I know some of you will swoon for. Some of those same peeps did try a bottle or two of Smooch and have mentioned the two products are useful for completely different applications.

I used 4 colors of smooch on Malcolm - moonlight for the headlights, siren for the roof lights, silver fox for the mirrors and sun visors, and pumpkin for the turn signals and running lights. So, there you have it. A closer look at Smooch. Malcolm says you should try some! Ask your LSS to open a bottle for customers to try. I look forward to your impressions after using the product.

Ta for now, ~ky

The Card Time Forgot

Some pretty eye candy here for you before I get into a requested tutorial. I completed this card for Stamp TVs color challenge LAST WEEK, then forgot to post it!! Oh my! This is fairly straightforward, so here's the deets: I embossed the base (Gina K 80 lb) with a Cuttlebug Folder, then cut and embossed the frames (again Gina K 80 lb) with Nestabilities. I stamped Theresa's poinsettia from A Year in Flowers in StazOn on SU! glossy paper.

I colored this image about 10 times (no joke) alternating between my SU! real red marker and Memento lady bug dew drop ink. Between colorings, I would spritz it until the color puddled and let it air dry, then go over it with another coat. This seems pointless, but it really gives a unique depth of color that you can't get with just one coat alone. The sentiment is from Theresa's set, punched with SU! word window. I colored the Gina K Designs Bling and Dazzle Sateen embossed white flowers with a Memento red dew drop, added Hero Arts pearls, popped up on dimensionals over a little SU! patterned paper.

My next post will include that fabby truck Malcolm, and how I use the relatively recent product Smooch by Clearsnap. Check back later on Tuesday!

Hugs!

~ky

Moooooo Me...VSN

Non sono il suo muggito me... I'm not your moo-me. Snark! Ok, this was one challenge from VSN on Friday. This is the new image from Sunshine's Stamp Creations! His name is Malcolm the Milk Truck! Our VSN challenge was to make a card representing a wilted salad (crumpled cardstock) with an Italian sentiment. I hope it brings you a little giggle. Visit Sunshine to request your Malcolm! Then head over to VSN and play along! You have until 10 p.m. Eastern on Sunday to upload!

Here's a little bunny love. This is Tinker...she's a Daddy's girl, who loves to have her nose rubbed. She's looking pretty good given that she's a rescue. Hug your kids!

Ta for now. ~ky

Unity Hangover and Patrick's Party!

Wow. It's almost time to go back to school. Are your kids excited? I always looked forward to school - in fact, I cried on graduation day because I didn't want to move on! I guess that's also why I got three degrees from college.


I was (and still am) a planner. I had class schedules, homework charts, rewrote notes from class, etc. Today we have names for those sorts of behaviors! Medicines even! I loved covering my books so I could doodle on them in class. So, in honor of all those lucky peeps going back to school, I created this Unity bookplate. These images are from the newest Unity release, Hodge Podge of Happiness. I will run this plate through my Xyron so the adhesive is uniform. You can use removable Xyron adhesive for your kids books, if they still issue them.


Make different ones for your kids. Leave them uncolored so those kids can doodle in class. It's been proven that doodling actually improves lecture retention. Not to mention, that doodling (complete with the dreamy boyfriend names and stuff) becomes perfect for a scrapbook page later!


Recipe: Pebbles white cardstock, SU! patterned paper, border punch and markers.



This is a Patrick Patrol Car birthday card. I LOVE Patrick - he's adaptable to so many uses! Here, I paired him with Gina K's Tickle Your Funny Bone sentiments to make a grumpy old birthday card. PATRICK IS STILL AVAILABLE FROM SUNSHINE'S STAMP CREATIONS FOR FREE!!! Just go visit Sunshine's site for details.

I just love the expression on these owls. They can be thinking so many things! And Gina's sentiment just really makes me laugh! DH does driver's license test-drives, so this has even more meaning for me! I used the Card Positioning System Sketch #124 for this.

Recipe: SU! cardstock (In-Colors 2009), Gina K sentiments, Unity owls, Patrick Patrol Car digital image by Sunshine, Nestabilities Labels 2, American Crafts ribbon, K&Co patterned paper, Copic markers, Michael's rhinestones.

Have a terrific day!

Come back tomorrow for another NEW RELEASE from Sunshine's Stamp Creations!!

Ta for now, ~ky

Time For a New RELEASE!!

Sunshine's Stamp Creations Introduces

Patrick Patrol Car!

Soooooo.....I have this book, see... It's just a little On Board Art Journal from Stampin' Up (item 107065) that I decorated. I use it to jot down lots of interesting bits and pieces of my life, including photos, ephemera, etc. The detritus of living.

Within that book, I have several sections, including one about my town. I've lived all over, so I've tried to include the fascinating, unusual, freaky or otherwise unique things about places I've lived.

I live in Arizona, about as far north as one can get and still be in the state. Therefore, I often find I spend more time in Utah than Arizona. There are several peculiar things here, including a desert that doesn't know it's a desert, a mountain that is laying down, and a staircase you can't climb up. A lot of the geology runs north to south, meaning avenues of travel follow those valleys, north and south. We're kind of isolated by our geology. Where is this going? Enter Patrick Patrol Car and his Officer.

Well, there are several small towns along this particular valley, kind of like little pearls on a string. Each town is unique, and has an expectedly small budget. One of the interesting things about small budgets are the unique ways that small budget is expressed. In our valley, it's in traffic control - or the lack thereof. Each town in the valley has a squad car (fully functional) parked at some prominent place for weeks or even months at the time. Each car has a "model" officer sitting, fully uniformed, in the car with his hand raised to greet visitors.

When you don't have a stop light, you have to make your own Saturday night fun... We gather out front of the gas station, at the post office or on a porch to watch the tourists. You can tell 'em right off - they see that squad car (mind you, it hasn't been washed in a month, and the collection of debris around the tires should be a dead giveaway), and slam on the brakes. Or...they'll pull over, get out and walk back to his car to get directions to the next "modern" town, complete with map in hand!

Our town's dummy officer is Latex Larry (given his parentage, though some call him Fredonia Fred), the towns on up the valley boast Kanab Karl, Orderville Ollie, Glendale Gary, etc. I tell ya, it's a riot! So, that's the next installment in my little book of precious memories... I really hope Rob doesn't mind this tongue-in-cheek production, but Patrick was just a priceless and perfect addition!

Head on over to Sunshine's Paper Obsessions to request your FREE digital image! Have a great day!

Ta for now, ~ky

Hip Hop Hangover!

Howdy all you Unity peeps! Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments on my projects this week. They really made me feel all warm and fuzzy. DH drew a random number, and picked:

Chrissy!! NurseChrissy on SCS

Congrats! Email Eryn with your choice!

Next week, my girl Kristen (ok she's not "my" girl) is hosting Growing in Unity. Be sure to stop by and leave her some love Monday thru Thursday for another chance to win!

Here's my Hangover project (also my textured project for the Creative Belli Blog!). Just three really simple cards. I keep forgetting I have these little notes from SU! They make quick gifts so easy! Here are closer views of each card:

Just a simple image (all are from Unity's Gratitude = Joy set, except For You), with some hoarded fibers and buttons from Basic Grey. A little decorative piercing and it's ready to go!

This one was really easy too - a little embossing, some flower soft and some bling! All cards are 3x3 inches.

Lastly, there's this easy peasy card - just a little ribbon knot, and a punched sentiment. Now, I'll put all three together in a little box with envelopes, and it will be a great thank you for some special sweetheart.

Have a terrific weekend - oh, and stop by Saturday evening for the next Sunshine's Stamp Creations release!!

Ta for now, ~ky

Growing in Unity Day 4!

Today is the day I pick my winner. Have you commented? Those who have commented on each of the 4 days will be entered into a drawing this evening.

I love these little birds from Unity's Hey Chick set. DP is SEI, CS is Bazzill, SU! chicken wire BG, Prismacolor pencils, stickles, ranger distressing ink, MM flower brad, Prima flowers, Darice rhinestones, and Nestabilities dies.

Now - be sure you do the blog hop, starting with Angela. Then hop on over to SCS for the chat and more fun games and giveaways! Don't forget Unity's special deals on their store site!

I'll be posting the winner tonight on the winner's thread in the Unity Hip Hop forum, and here on my blog!

Have a great day!

Ta for now, ~ky

Sneaky Peeky Sunshiney! {Unity post below}

Just a quick post...a rare sneak peek of Sunshine's Stamp Creations' upcoming release! We're so mean...

This is the latest in the Everday Heroes series from Sunshine! I'll give ya a big ole hint...it's an eye. Yep right der in the meedle. I'll give you another hint...we were watching a Pixar movie the other night, with nary a child in the house! When I got the sneak peek, I had to giggle because I was reminded of the characters in the movie.

Now, on your way. Tami and Julie have a sneaky peeky on their blogs too! Just click there names over on the right side of my blog and see. Check out the rest of the Design Team's sites too. They've been playing with the other images!

Ta for now! ~ky

Growing in Unity, Day 3!

Wow, this week is flying by! Today I have just a little bit of whimsy for you, Unity style. It's a simple project with tons of flair. I love that Bohemian style of My Mind's Eye paper, coupled with the swooshes from the Growing in Unity set. They just go, ya know?

I stamped the image in Ranger Distress Ink, brushed corduroy (matches up great with the new Suede in-color paper from SU! by the way), distressed around the edges, punched a simple border that echos the paper, stitched it down, popped some beads on a string and a little bling, and there it be!

Your turn!! Leave me a comment (make sure you've commented each day this week) and I'll put your name in my drawing for a free Unity single of your choice!

Ta for now, ~ky

Growing in Unity Day 2

Hello everyone! This is a double post day. If you're looking for

LENNY LOADER (Sunshine's Stamp Creations) SCROLL DOWN

This is my second day of Growing in Unity. Remember to leave a comment for me each day so I can include you in the drawing on Thursday for a single of your choice from Unity!

I really appreciate the focus Angela has on scripture and meaningful quotes. I made this page for my scripture study scrapbook. It uses the scripture Wait for the Lord from the Something Within set. The paper is from Creative Imaginations, and Bazzill cardstock. I love the look of distressing on paper - it reminds me of an old, worn, well loved Bible!

I hope this entry helps to brighten your day. Don't forget to be back tomorrow for Day 3!

Ta for now, ~ky

Lenora Loader!

See this sweet, strong girl? She's got a great message for someone who's been gone awhile, or maybe just overnight! I picked pink for this card - a color I seldom use. But I love this paper and wanted to show her off a little differently from others you may have seen.

All I did was spin Lenny Loader (available for free from Sunshine Stamp Creations) in my software and print her out - viola! Lenora! I love being able to control the image size and direction. Digital images are very versatile. I hope you'll request one from Sunshine, and link up your project in a comment here. I want to visit and see how ya did!

Alrighty - I've got to pop off and get some housework done. Have a fabby day!

Ta for now, ~ky

Recipe: SU! Raspberry Tart PP and CS, Lenny Loader, Sunshine; Colorbok metal dot, Prismacolor pencils, Offray ribbon, SU! markers.

Growing in Unity

******** Looking for Lenny Loader? Scroll Down!! *********

Hello all you peeps out in blogdom! I hope you had a stellar 4th of July! For those of you who don't celebrate our holiday, I still hope you had a terrific weekend!



This is my week to host Unity on my blog. How does it work? All you have to do is visit my blog each day and post a comment on each day's project. I'll be drawing a winner on Thursday and posting the winner in the Unity Hip Hop Winner's Thread, and on my blog. Stay tuned!



Recipe: Pebbles cardstock, Unity in America stamp set, Scenic Route patterned paper, Michael's rhinestones, SU! irridescent ice embossing powder, Gina K star stamp and brads, Colorbok silver star, SU! ink, Prismacolor pencils and a little smooch.



Thanks for stopping by!



Ta for now, ~ky

The Sun is Shining on Lenny Loader!

SUNSHINE STAMP CREATIONS!!

Congratulations on your debut!

I am honored to be able to present this new company, and serve as a design team member. You know, I once thought digital images were not practical. However, I didn't really take the time to explore their applications. Christina Bower (owner) has some wonderful ideas on digital image flexibility, and I am going to be learning and playing with those ideas later this week.

For now, I just want to show you how easily these images create great masculine cards. I made this card using Lenny Loader (of the Big Builder series). This image can be anything from a boy's birthday to a Father's Day or other celebratory card. Here, I made a card for my husband's birthday.

I love playing with my prismacolor pencils to create scenes for images. This time, I went with a simple background to give Lenny the fullest attention. I used my Flower Soft (Spring mix - from my friend Amy! Thanks!), machine embroidery thread (Coates & Clark) to dress up the border, and heavy weight aluminum foil to glam Lenny up a little. Face it - guys wanna look good too!!


I tilted the card to give you a better look at the dimension added by the flower soft, ribbon and stitching. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things (Can Ya Dig It set), paper is Pebbles cardstock, and Lenny was printed in toner rather than ink (no bleeding).

This is the inside of the card. I made a card pocket by folding up the excess paper rather than cutting it off. This is a versatile card - you can put money, a gift card, or just about anything in it (even some MP3 players could fit!). Here I added some seeds for my husband because he loves to garden. I will probably add a gift card too, so he can buy more soil to expand his garden area.

Get this: SUNSHINE IS PROVIDING A COPY OF LENNY FOR FREE!!

That's right. Just visit the blog and email Christina for your free image! Sunshine's email is valleysunshine@hotmail.com

Check back often! I will have another project for you later this week using Lenny or his sister Lenora (or maybe both!). I appreciate you stopping by, and I'd love to know what you think of this project. Have a terrific July 4th celebration!

Ta for now, ~ky

My 100th Post! And not a thing to wear...

Wow. I really thought this 100th post would take way longer to reach, or would feel really different. Yet, it's just another day in my bloggerdom! Kinda like birthdays, I guess. That's an on-going oft-asked question in my mind - why do we get all hung up on 5s, 10s, 100s?? What makes them any more special than the 3rd, 27th, 96th?

So - I'll celebrate a first! My first win with Stamp TV challenges! Wooohooo!! Gina's the best! She's generously giving away one set ($24.95 or less) every weekday! The above project won me my first set. Come over and play! Check out the tutorials - she's teaching us about new products, and showing us new ways to use our older products!

On to other things - I have been selected to be on Sunshine's Stamp Creations first ever design team! Woohoo!! I couldn't believe it when I got the email. Keep your eyes out - we'll be showing you awesome ways to use the digital images. You need not fear digital images!! Stay tuned!

Ta for now, ~ky