Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge 121: Going Green!

It's been a while since I've done a challenge, I've been crazy busy with my last semester of college!!! And this challenge was just too tempting to pass up!

I thought since it is pretty close to easter, I would make a basket! And my one really springtime-y Kraftin' Kimmie stamp is Tallulahbelle. :D

The basket is made entirely from paper grocery bags (two precisely). I cut the tall sides into long strip and folded each strip to make it double thickness for stability and did a basic weave pattern. the tricky part was building the sides, I had to keep my glue gun at the ready to glue each strip in place as I went along.

I also made the big purple and pink flowers. It was my first foray into paper flower making. I also colored Tallulahbelle to coordinated with the flowers.

I had a really fun time with this project, and now I'm thinking of other recyclables I can repurpose in my crafting!

Oh! Also, I used the leaves off some old faux flowers to embellish my own paper ones ;P

Link to Kraftin Kimmie blog:

http://kraftinkimmiestamps.blogspot.com/

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps: Challenge #105

Quick post today! VERY busy day!

This is my contribution for Kraftin' Kimmie challenge #105 using the following sketch :)

Here's the link to the challenge blog:

http://kraftinkimmiestamps.blogspot.com/

Volunteer Gift-wrapping :)

Every year, instead of spending the imfamous Black Friday getting up at the crack of dawn to snag the best deals out there, I get ready to spend most of my day volunteer gift-wrapping at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore, where all the donations we receive goes directly to the Greyhound Rescue that I also volunteer with.

While B&N supplies the basics like paper, scissors, and tape, we like to furnish our efforts with extra materials including more gift-wrap, bows, ribbons, tags, and toppers. We found that making the packages extra special really meant a great deal to the customers and in turn our efforts were rewarded in the form of generous donations; 100% goes to the greyhounds.

But we also found that we were spending a lot on toppers. So, while I was watching craft shows one holiday season, I got the idea to make toppers from recycled materials, mainly holiday cards to maintain the festive spirit. We sent out requests to friends, family, co-workers, and in turn each spread the word even further to save their holiday card cover and pass them along to out rescue group. Soon, we had boxes and boxes (BIG boxes) FULL of holiday cards which we turned into toppers such as the ones pictured here. Another great thing about the toppers, is that they can also serve as ornaments. So customers left with a beautifully wrapped present, a free, handcrafted ornament, and monies were raised for the doggies :D

Many of the ornaments are very simple, most of which the patterns can be found online.

The dangling ornaments are very easy and have a big impact! The jingle bell at the bottom adds an extra festive touch :)

The store in which I volunteer at is in a area with a large Jewish community. In addition to Christmas packages, we also wrap many gifts for Hannukah. Winter scene cards with silver, white, and blue (and even some Hannukah cards!) make wonderful dreidels that look fabulous on packages with coordinating ribbon :)

Masculine Look

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps is hosting a 'Make it Masculine' challenge this week.

Unfortunately, I don't yet have any of their more masculine stamps. It doesn't help that I am a broke college student either, lol!

But I like the idea of the challenge since I tend to make things more on the girly side :)

Both of these cards are made using my own digital stamps; both of the greyhound images are my own work. The 'Chillax' word bubble on the second card, is a purchased rubber stamp that I found at Michael's Craft store for $1.00.

The 'collar' on the left side of the first card is made using $1.00 roll ribbon and a key ring. Beads embellish the greyhound image and border.

Coincidentally, I am happy with how the cards came out using thrifty means and supplies. Craetivity really does go a long way!!!
http://kraftinkimmiestamps.blogspot.com/

Greyhound Greetings

I am a greyhound owner and have been volunteering with a local greyhound rescue for over ten years. Thoughout my time with greyhounds, I have discovered that greyhound merchandise is particularly hard to come by. Card are no exception.

I decided to make my own greyhound cards, so I created several of my own designs. I drew them by hand, outlined them in black, scanned and saved them to my computer, and formatted them to the size of my choice so that I could make multiples.

The rest is just card making :)

Weekly Challenge @ Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps

I've recently discovered Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, and fell in love with the completely adorable designs they have available. They usually host a weekly challenge, and this week's challenge is Pin it Down!

Guidelines of the challenge: Incorporate a pin of some kind in your work featuring a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp :)

I really like the concept of this challenge. It makes you think outside the box by including something as simple, but unconventional as pin. Even a safety pin, which is what I used. If you can figure out how to use an everyday object in creative projects, just imagine how much stuff you have lying around the house that can be transformed into something awesome!

Link: http://kraftinkimmiestamps.com/

Blog challenge link: http://kraftinkimmiestamps.blogspot.com/

I love to draw. I always have.

When I was transitioning from elementary to middle school, drawing was something that I was determined to become better at. At that time I knew I wanted to draw figures well-enough to emulate the Disney princesses. So, I would collect my old VHS covers and practice drawing Belle, Jasmine, and Aurora :)

Eventually, I felt that I needed to expand my skills. I had met a friend in school who was a much better artist than me by far. She could draw realistically. I wanted to as well. So I would gather fashion magazines, W magazine being my favorite, and would find the most dynamic photo spreads and fashion advertisements to emulate.

All this practice served as a great foundation to my focused arts training in high school and into college. I learned beforehand how to shade, better proportions, and perspective long before I knew what each was called. When I finally had a name for the techniques I had stumbled into, I grew very interested in the history of those techniques. Which culminated in my majoring in Art History; my particular area of interest- Renaissance and Northern Renaissance art.

All it took was a little determination to get better, the initiative to think outside the box in reference material, and LOTS of practice.

Drawing is still one of my 'go to' methods to simultaneously relax and stimulate my creativity :)