Trend watching from CHA

CHA was an absolute blast! Hard to complain about sunshine, temps in the 70's and 80's and palm trees! It truly was wonderful to see friends and new products! (and eat out and not have to cook...) I thought I would share with you the trends I noticed at the show. And I will be back soon with all my favorites in another post. Well, these are all on that list too, but I have even more cool things to share!

1. Gold, gold, gold!

From washi tape, to vellum, to gold foil papers! It's all about the gold! Watch for other metallics sneaking in too.

Gold Doilies-Studio Calico

Washi tape-Little B

Foil papers-Fancy Pants

Gold bows-Maya Road

Vellum-WR Memory Keepers

2. Pinks
Bright and intense, pale and soft, and everything in between, pretty much everyone had a shade of pink.

Bright-American Crafts Amy Tangerine Plus One

Basic Grey-Highline

In the middle-Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine and Polka Dots

Chickaniddy-Twirly Girly

Sorry, my photo was awful.

3. Black as the neutral. 

We have watched this move from kraft to grey and now black.  All the vivid colors being shown this time around are really popping against the black.

Pink Paislee-Hello Sunshine

Simple Stories-DIY Boutique

Basic Grey-Highline

4. Brush script or handwriting

Love this trend. Its stemming from the chalkboard trend. Which moved us into using handwriting and drawn fonts. I love this. Big time.

Basic Grey-Highline 

This is a background stamp, but there is the same design in the patterned paper from the collection.

WR Memory Keepers/Lifestyle Crafts-6x6 Embossing Folder

American Crafts Amy Tangerine Plus One

Technique Tuesday stamps

5. Chalkboard

Yay! So happy to have this one continue.

Penny Black

My Mind's Eye-Chalk Studio

Melissa Frances

American Crafts-DIY Shop

There is so much more goodness in this line!

Martha Stewart-these are new reusable silk screen stencils and washable chalk paint, simply wipe away with water and add your next design!

6. Shaped enamel dots and gems

Fun ways to expand your basic dot collection!

Basic Grey-Spice Market

Basic Grey-Capture

My Mind's Eye-Now and Then

7. Stencils

By far the biggest trend I saw. Everywhere. Used with inks, sprays, modeling pastes, and a million more creative ideas.

Hazel and Ruby-repositionable stencils! Peel, use, remove, use again and again!

Jillibean Soup. Again repositionable, but they also have coordinating stamps!!

Mod Podge/Plaid Crafts

Heidi Swapp/Pink Paislee-mini stencils! How cute!

Other observations:

• Washi tape-metallics, shaped, sheets for die cutting
• Arrows
• Dies for everything
• Lots of basics-stripes updated with diagonals and thick stripes, and polka dots updated with hearts
• Pocket page scrapbooking-tons, loving the die templates from Technique Tuesday to make your own cards
• Home decor-chalkboards, pallet wood for altering, canvas items
• Woodgrain-real wood sheets, decoratively cut 12x12 wood sheets, wood 3x4 cards, woodgrain papers, stencils, stamps

There you have it. My look at the trends from CHA. See anything that looks fun? Anything you cannot wait to get your hands on? Stay tuned for more paper crafty goodness!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

faux letterpress with embossing folders video tutorial

Here it is! The video tutorial on how to create a faux letterpress look using embossing folders. This technique creates a piece of cardstock with an elegant look. You could use it as is, or die cut or punch shapes from it. 

Now, if you like this idea, but want to faux letterpress with acutal shapes and not just an embossing folder, check out this older video tutorial here: Faux Letterpress with Shapes

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

thinking of you with faux letterpress

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! As I always seem to say, things have been busy. The little man started with a new teacher on Monday because their class sizes were so big. They added another teacher and split the students evenly. I am glad. He loves his new teacher. Whew. Cub Scouts and swimming started. I am now singing in the choir (and soon playing worship team) at church, and all the usual running around life throws our way. You know what? Life is good. :)

The look of negative space is so popular. I love it. Using Viola Sprouts, a die template from Simon Says Stamp, I die a piece of cardstock. (I set the flowers aside for another project.) 

Then I thought it would be fun to make a faux letter press pattern to place behind my open flowers. To create it, I simply inked up the raised edges of an embossing folder, placed cardstock inside the folder, and ran it through my manual die cutting machine. I adhered the faux letterpressed cardstock behind the open flowers with Crafty Foam Tape. The whole panel was attached to a card base.

And it looks like I need to film a video tutorial on this super fun technique! Soon. Its going on my list!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

Reverse Confetti new release blog hop

We've been counting down the days, and it’s finally here—a new release from REVERSE CONFETTI!  It’s the 8^th of the month (Reverse Confetti blog hop day) and this time we are looking forward to those fall days and the spooky treats that come our way for Halloween.  Come and hop along with the Confetti Crew as we share some creative ideas using September’s five new trendy stamp sets.  Along with the Confetti Crew (our fabulous design team), we've also invited some extra friends to join in on the action! 

The hop started over on the Reverse Confetti blog, and you should have made it here from the sweet Jen Tapler’s blog. It would be worth your while to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don’t miss a thing. We have tons of inspiration for you to see using all the new Reverse Confetti stamp sets! 

The layout started with stamping all of the darling images from Spooky Cuties. After trimming them from card stock, they made cute accents for the page.

(The clouds were made by stamping Whole Lotta Dots onto card stock and punching them out.)

These solid images are fantastic because they allow you to use many different techniques. Take the pumpkin for example, I started by stamping him yellow, then right over the top of the yellow, added orange ink around the outside. It adds so much dimension and interest!
I also repeatedly stamped the fence on the striped patterned paper. Isn't it fun? That is something I do not do often enough. It needs to happen more!

Then I moved on to using Spooky Sentiments. The October 31 sentiment is perfect for a layout. It was stamped onto card stock first, then die cut. Ink was added to the edges and I colored in the numerals with a Copic marker.

And for the last touch, another phrase stamped, then die cut, inked, and tucked underneath the photos. I love all the touches you can add to a layout with two stamp sets. Such mileage from these two sets!

I hope you’ve enjoyed hopping with us today. Be sure and hop with us on the 8th of EVERY MONTH for more REVERSE CONFETTI inspiration! Now it’s time to hop on over to the fabulous Laurie Schmidlin’s blog. If you get lost along the way, you can find the hop order and list of all the participating designers over on the Reverse Confetti blog. 

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

A super happy birthday to my little sister! She is one amazing person and I am lucky to have her in my life!! Have a wonderful day and I miss you!!

P.S. Just to keep you “in the know”…

SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY (SFYTT)—Play along with us each month for your chance to win the ENTIRE NEXT RELEASE and to be invited to play along with the Confetti Crew as we sneak peek and hop with all the new stamps.  Click HERE for more details and link list.

‘FETTI FINDS—Link your REVERSE CONFETTI creations to the link list posted on the Reverse Confetti blog each Monday.  (Note:  Reverse Confetti stamps are required for ‘Fetti Finds.)  A ‘Fetti Fave will be announced on the Reverse Confetti Blog from that months’ entries.  The ‘FETTI FAVE will receive the ENTIRE NEXT STAMP RELEASE and be invited to play along with the Confetti Crew as we sneak peek and hop with all the new stamps.  Click HERE for more details and link list.

Reverse Confetti blog hop

Hello August and Hello REVERSE CONFETTI Fans!  It’s the 8^th of the month –Blog Hop time!  Are ya’ll ready to savor some sweet inspiration?  Grab a cuppa and take some time to enjoy this month’s creative Blog Hop from Reverse Confetti.  Last month’s release was fantastic and today we are inspiring you with projects and cards using those stamps and any other previously released stamps from Reverse Confetti.  Along with the Confetti Crew (our fabulous design team), we’ve also invited some extra friends to join in on the action! 

The hop started over on the Reverse Confetti blog, and you should have made it here from the fabulous Jen Tapler’s blog. It would be worth your while to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don’t miss a thing. We have tons of inspiration for you to see using all of Reverse Confetti’s amazing stamp sets!

The set I used for today’s card is  Celebrate Cake. With it being so hot here in the last days of summer, all we can think about is ice cream! Its all about the cuteness on this card and with these cute stamps and washi tape, why not? :)

I hope you’ve enjoyed hopping with us today. Be sure and hop with us on the 8th of EVERY MONTH for more REVERSE CONFETTI inspiration! Now it’s time to hop on over to the uber talented Laurie Schmidlin’s blog. If you get lost along the way, you can find the hop order and list of all the participating designers over on the Reverse Confetti blog.

How would you like to win some Reverse Confetti goodies of your very own?  Leave a comment on each stop along the way for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate to REVERSE CONFETTI. Comments are open until Monday night, August 12^th at 11pm CST, and the winner will be announced on the Time for a Card Tuesday post on the 13^th over on the Reverse Confetti Blog!

A few things before you hop along though, just to keep you “in the know”…

SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY (SFYTT)—Play along with us each month for your chance to win the ENTIRE NEXT RELEASE and to be invited to play along with the Confetti Crew as we sneak peek and hop with all the new stamps.  Click HERE for more details and link list.

‘FETTI FINDS—Link your REVERSE CONFETTI creations to the link list posted on the Reverse Confetti blog each Monday.  (Note:  Reverse Confetti stamps are required for ‘Fetti Finds.)  A ‘Fetti Fave will be announced on the Reverse Confetti Blog from that months’ entries.  The ‘FETTI FAVE will receive the ENTIRE NEXT STAMP RELEASE and be invited to play along with the Confetti Crew as we sneak peek and hop with all the new stamps.  Click HERE for more details and link list.

Celebrate the creative side of you!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

creating your own spray inks with Gelatos

Welcome to day 5 of the Gelatos series! Today is a ton of fun-making your own spray mists!! They are definitely all the rage right now and this lets you create your own colors, matching your Gelatos! I don’t know about you, but I love when I can get my products to coordinate. Not to mention getting more mileage out of them!

Here is my attempt at an artsy, misted card. It would seem I have some work to do to achieve this look successfully. :) However, making the mists is the easiest part, so stop on over and take a look!

creating your own spray inks with gelatos

Direct link: Creating your Own Spray Inks with Gelatos

The giveaway winner will be announced on Thursday, July 25, 2013. Be sure and leave your comments on each post about Gelatos. I am giving away a set of  Metallic and Yellow Gelatos, along with a few fun surprises.

Tomorrow is the last day of this series, be sure and stop back for ideas with stencils!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

stamping with gelatos

Welcome to the second  day in a series of posts, ideas, and video tutorials about Gelatos from Faber-Castell/Design Memory Craft! Today’s video covers two ways to stamp with your Gelatos. (and today’s video is a shining example of why you should voice over…just bear with me for the good ideas! :))

 

 

stamping with gelatos

Direct link for those that need it: Stamping with Gelatos

And there is a giveaway! I have two sets of Gelatos for a lucky reader! Leave a comment on each post about Gelatos over the next few days and I will draw a name! The more days you visit, the better your chances!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly