Successfully Unsuccessful

I succeeded in my mission in the craft room today, and scrapped this unsuccessful moment in photo history, the first day we sat down to capture Andraia and her little brother together.  It didn't go so well, and I thought I would show the worst of the worst (or, in my opinion, the best of the best.)

Everything you see here came in my Scraptastic Club January kit that I just tore into today...I love happy mail after Christmas  :)  I knew what it was when I saw it in my mailman's hands, and I think he was a bit afraid of me after I jumped out the door and nearly tackled him to grab the box.  I love all of the stuff in this kit, especially the October Afternoon Farmhouse papers.  I took one of them (Clothesline) and fussy cut around the banners and adhered it to the top of the page.  Feeling it just wasn't enough, I glued some Crate Paper Farmhouse twine on there, and curled up the edges of the bottom banner.  The cardstock is misted with some OA Sprinkles in Robot Blue...love this color!

Isn't all of that so very awesome?

There's a lovely Prima Powder Puff spritzed with some of the OA mist.

Alphas used: OA Mini Market in Teal and Black, Bella Blvd., and Studio Calico chipboard.  The strip at the bottom is Studio Calico Scraps, like a tissue tape but not adhesive.  pretty cool stuff, love how it looks in person!  Adhered some Imaginisce pearl i-rocks to the scallops (can you see that one of them fell off mid-photo shoot?  Grrrr....)

Another look at that awesome mist.

So...yay!  I scrapped something *just for me.*  Can't wait to do a bit more tomorrow!  My mom took the girls overnight, and they will be going to see a movie tomorrow.  Little man and I will spend the day crafting, and I can't WAIT.  It's just too cold to do anything else but stay inside and hibernate!  Such is winter in New England.  I hope you all had a great day, time to hang with hubby :)

xx

Khristen

Happy New Year!

Good morning!  I have great news...I was actually in the craft room!!!! **gasp**  I know.  Shocking.  I made a couple of DT assignments, and it felt FANTASTIC.  Beyond fantastic.  It's amazing how out of sorts I end up feeling when I am not able to head up into that tiny, cluttered room and create.  So today, with nothing on my plate and a houseful of kids still full of Christmas excitement, the wind whipping and making it almost unbearable to be outside for ten seconds, I'm going to SCRAP.  I know!!  Big dreams!!  I'm hoping to get a bit caught up and use up some stash so that I may purchase more with all of the Michael's gift cards I got for Christmas :)

I will be posting pics later of non-DT creations, so stay tuned.  I hope you all find some time today to be a little crafty, and if you do, don't forget...play along at the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog!  There's a great prize up for grabs, and still a few days left to enter as long as you use Crafter's Companion stamps somewhere on your project.

Also, the XOXO Challenge Blog is waiting for *you* to play along for your shot at being GDT.  Deets over at the XOXO Blog.  Head over anyway to meet our newest design team members.  Get to know them and their scrapping style as you check out the great projects created each month just for you to be inspired by!

Lastly, don't forget to head over to Dream Valley Challenges to enter something into our Christmas challenge.  It is the last one for the year, and is open until the 7th of January.  What are you waiting for?  Head over and link up for your chance at a fabulous prize.

xoxo
Khristen

Winner Take 3? Seriously?

I really can't believe it, but out of two winners, no one has yet to contact me for their Crafter's Companion Blog prize.  We really want to send this adorable stamp set out to someone, so I'm drawing a **third** winner.

 Amber S said...

I like the window you added and the twisted ribbon and pin! Great. I don't have any particularly spectacular Christmas memories. I think every year is special with young kids in the house. It's nice to make them happy and yet still emphasize the real meaning of Christmas!

December 9, 2011 12:23 PM

If this is you, you have 48 hours to contact me at kfossandfour at gmail dot com to claim your prize :)  I'm hoping to hear from someone, and then I'm going to have to do this **again**  lol  

I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing holiday...not me!  It's a sea of presents to wrap, goodies to bake, and a sprained foot to rest :(  It's been tough to create at all, and I fear that my Christmas cards this year will be received after Christmas.  They're half done, but it's been so hard to go up the stairs to my craft room!  I brought a giant bag of Christmas-y supplies downstairs earlier today to attempt them here on the couch all this week, we'll see how that goes.  I know I'll get it all done and thoroughly enjoy the down time January brings (I can only hope!)

Merry Christmas to all of my followers, and wishes for a healthy, happy, scrappy new year!

xx
Khristen

Winner, Take 2

Ok...as I have yet to hear back from my winner from the Crafter's Companion Blog Hop after the 48 hour time period, I have chosen a new winner (well, random.org chose the winner, but you get the picture.)  Congratulations to:

 pupton said...

Love the card! So very cute! My favorite Christmas memory is when my children were small but getting older and questioning, they wanted to sleep on the floor by the fireplace and wait for Santa. I still feel bad that they caught 'Santa' in the act!

You have 48 hours to contact me via email at kfossandfour at gmail dot com to provide your address to ship your adorable Meeting Santa stamp set :)

xx
Khristen

Hectic Holidays and a WINNER!

Good morning, today finds me madly finishing up Christmas cards and *finally* printing out the pics to place inside them.  Here's what friends and family will get this year...

Do you know how long it took to get a decent pic?  Patryk is going through this awkward smile phase, and it's quite annoying when you are just trying to take a nice pic!!  I'm hoping I can finish up today and get the cards all out in the mail this weekend.  Yeah, I know, wishful thinking....but a girl can dream, right?

Anywho, you want to know who won the Crafter's Companion Blog giveaway, don't you?  The winner of the stamp set given away by yours truly, the Humphrey Meeting Santa stamp set, is:

 ‪Priscilla said...

Cute card. The colors are so vivid and blend so well. My favorite memory is the cat attacking the tree and bringing it down and the look on my daughters face as it came down!

Congrats, Priscilla!  You have 48 hours to contact me via email, at kcraftroom at gmail dot com. If I do not hear back, I will choose a new winner.

Don't see your name above?  Head over to the Crafter's Companion Blog to see if you won another DT member's giveaway, or even the main prize!  I'm off to hobble my way upstairs (I sprained my ankle last week and have been laid up on the couch for the most part) to collect addresses and print out some pictures.  I've missed my craft room!!  I hope you are all having a great start to the week, and don't forget to stay tuned to the Crafter's Companion Blog this week as we are showing off our soon-to-be-released S.W.A.L.K. Winter collection.  They are ADORABLE, you won't want to miss it!

xx

Crafter's Companion Blog Hop!!

Welcome, welcome to the Crafter's Companion Blog Hop!!  If you have come here from Denise's blog, you are on the right track.  If not, head back to the first stop, the Crafter's Companion Info Blog, to play along and see some fabulous Crafter's Companion creations.  If you choose to accept the mission of commenting on every single blog post at each DT member's blogs, not only will you have a shot at winning the grand prize (all 72 of our very own Spectrum Noir markers, not yet released so you will receive the prototypes just like the DT has), you will also be entered to win one of the Humphrey the elephant Christmas stamp sets as well.  Each DT member is giving away a set!  Amazing, can't beat the odds :)

A little about Spectrum Noir:

Spectrum Noir pens are alcohol ink based which have been designed specifically for crafters, but these affordable markers are also great for beginners, students and hobby artists alike.  Each pen is double-ended, with a broad chisel nib for large area fills and a fine bullet tip for detailed work.  Spectrum Noir marker pens will soon be available in 168 colour shades including a colourless blender.  The colours blend seamlessly and can be mixed or layered over each other.  These fast drying, alcohol based markers are acid-free and non-toxic, and the coloured ends of the pen allow for easy colour identification.  (Please note: The design of the pen, color names and numbers may be different than the pens that will be released in January.)  The image colour has been reproduced as accurately as possible

You want these markers, trust me...just look at my project today, featuring the Humphrey Christmas stamp set Meeting Santa (which, by the way, is the stamp set I have chosen to give away!)  

This is one of my favorites from the collection.  I imagine my own kids running into Santa looking something like this...absolutely adorable!  I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion tool to create the rounded rectangular opening on the card base, colored a piece of white cardstock mounted to the inside for the background using the chisel tip of one of the Spectrum Noir markers, and adhered the elephants after coloring them with foam circles.  I love how rich the colors in the set are, and how perfectly they coordinate with one another!

 See how wonderful the colors here look?

 A twisty Christmas-y ribbon, complete with a star stick pin complementing Santa's suit.

 The inside, ready to be signed and delivered to someone on my Christmas card list :)

There it is!  If you want a chance to win this stamp set, leave a comment below telling me your favorite Christmas memory.  If you want a chance to win the marker set, be sure to comment on each and every blog, heading back to the Crafter's Companion Blog when you have done so.  If you skip a blog, you are not included in the drawing!

Get lost along the way?  Here's a sort of roadmap:

Crafter’s Companion News Blog - http://crafterscompanion.blogspot.com/

Lisette - http://totallyinkspired.blogspot.com/ 

Holley - http://holleybarnhartsblog.blogspot.com/

Lynda - http://positive-force.blogspot.com/ 

Amy - http://yorkieluver2.blogspot.com/

Denise - http://lalasworldblog.blogspot.com/ 

Khristen - http://khristenscraftroom.blogspot.com/ 

Stacy - http://scrapwithstacy.blogspot.com/ 

Ann - http://stampwithme-ann.blogspot.com/ 

Jinky - http://www.jinkyscrafts.blogspot.com/ 

Crafter’s Companion News Blog - http://crafterscompanion.blogspot.com/

Your next stop along the way is Stacy.  Good luck, and happy hopping!  You have until 12/11 to play along :)

xx

Khristen

Humphrey Gift Tin

A good morning to all of you, Crafter's Companion posting day! It was a crazy week, but Sunday night marked the end of the November birthday insanity as we celebrated Patryk's 4th birthday with family and friends. He got so much great stuff, and has been quiet all morning playing with all of his new toys while watching Cars 2, one of his many gifts.

Here he is on his actual birthday, 11/30, when we went to Toys R Us so that he could pick out anything he wanted. He chose this Cars 2 acrylic painting set with 4 canvases, my little crafty boy :)

This is from last night, blowing out the candles. He is always pretending to be shy when all eyes are on him (here, we are singing Happy Birthday to him.) :)

It is usually around this time I freak out, realizing that Christmas is just around the corner, and here I am just now beginning to shop and prepare. With 3 kids, there's always someone I forget, and it requires a last minute trip to purchase a gift in a hurry (normally on our way to the party the gift must be given at!) I had saved this old liquor tin earlier in the year just for this reason. What better last minute gift than an indulgent bottle of liquor and something to mix it with?

I started by adhering this My Mind's Eye Lime Twist patterned paper to the tin using Crafter's Companion spray adhesive.

I chose this adorable Humprey stamp set, Auld Lang Syne, part of the Humphrey Christmas collection, coloring it in with Crafter's Companion's own Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers (available for pre-order.) Rounded the corners with a CM punch and matted to another piece of Lime Twist and finished by adhering it to the tin with foam strips.

See those Stickles in the image? I thought it was perfect for the confetti :) Twinery twine and a matted sentiment.

Here's the finished tin. See the awesome stacked flower on top? That's another beauty from The Chip Chop Shop!

Well, I've got a bazillion things to get done, but all so that I can relax for the next few days and craft my little heart out...Christmas card time!! It is also crazy Christmas concert time (both of my daughters are in band, and one is also in chorus.) I hope to have some time to fit some shopping in there...although I've bought a few major things for the kids, I have a looooong way to go to be done, and it's starting to give me panic attacks!! SOOOOO MUCH TO DOOOOO!

Have a great day,

xx

Khristen

XOXO Challenge 24: picture inspiration

Morning! Baby, it's cold outside, and it has been morning from hell with a bed wetter and meltdown after meltdown, and I'm ready to head back to bed already!! It's a great day to hibernate in the craft room, but the job that pays me consistently comes first (unfortunately.)

Before I try to tune out the world to write some articles, I thought I would share this month'sXOXO challenge. We were asked to use this picture as inspiration:

How fun is that? I decided I would pull out my affirmation journal for my business, a work-in-progress that I haven't picked up in a while (interpretation: my printer ran out of ink and I was at a loss for what to do instead of a traditional layout HA.) Here's what I came up with, inspired by the color scheme and layout of the girl and words in the original image:

Cool, right? I started by painting the page in the Eco Green Crafts 5 1/2" Recycled Chipboard Snap Book (AWESOME by the way) white with some Eco Green Crafts acrylic paint. Love that stuff! When the paint was dry, I pulled out a Balzer Designs stencil and inked over it, creating the hexagons, and finished it off by pouncing some white paint over it all. Shimmerz Spritz made the middle "layer" of the page combined with a great piece of MM Chloe's Closet, and SEI cardstock for the top. All that was left to do was pull it all together with a bit of inking around the edge of the page and adding some fun elements.
The affirmation is a mix of alpha stickers and tickets. BG Two Scoops for "My vision," Bella Blvd. alpha for "is" which I traced around with white gel pen, and "clear and focused" was written on the tickets first with black Bic Mark-It and then white gel pen, making the words stand right out. Blue glitter glue also behind it all :) I used a great piece of Pink Paislee House of Three and raised it up with some pop dots, and finally glued a piece of lace spritzed with Shimmerz to it, stapling the tickets to the lace.

Ok, that's it for me. Off to have a big ol' bowl of turkey soup for breakfast to get me in the mood for a little writing (or a nap...I wish I was able to nap right now!!) Head over to the True XOXO Girls blog to see how the other girls were inspired, and show us how the image inspires you by linking up a creation for your chance to be January guest designer!

CCCB December Challenge: Sparkle

Good morning! It's time for another challenge over at the Crafter's Companion USA Challenge Blog, and this month we're making it pretty easy to play along...just pull out a Crafter's Companion stamp and something that sparkles and make something, anything, to link up for your chance to win the Humphrey the Elephant Christmas Collection CD and **3 stamp sets of your choice** from the Humphrey Christmas stamp collection!!!!

Amazing prize, especially as the CD contains over 2,500 elements on 2 discs! Enter any project you'd like...altered item, card, layout, tag, ATC, gift bag...as long as it has a Crafter's Companion stamp somewhere on it. Oh, and of course, it has to sparkle :)

I made a Christmas card (as I need to get my little butt in gear making my cards before the season ends!!) and not only used this wonderful glittery MME paper, I used 2 different types of glitter and glitter glue as well. I thought the Humphrey Mistletoe Kisses stamp set was just to adorable, and after inking it up, colored it using the brand spankin' new Spectrum Noir pens exclusive to Crafter's Companion (available right now for pre-order!). I inked the sentiment with the same color pen as I used to color in the tree branch :) Love these markers! The coat has some texture to it as I used a textured cardstock. I think it kind of looks fuzzy, don't you? The doily makes a great mat (and was sadly my last one...I've been using these things on cards/layouts all year! Sad to see them go!)

I used a silver and white glitter for the coat and a white glitter for the snow and snowflakes.

There you have it. Head over and enter your own creation for a shot at the big prize, and I hope you have a wonderful end of the week. Stay tuned for one more post :)

xx

Khristen

Busy, busy, busy...

...but today I can play in the craft room :)

Good morning, I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday. It was fantastic here, although quite busy. I hosted the big meal this year, and with a 24 pound bird, it was a day full of cooking. It was DELICIOUS though, and it was wonderful spending time with my family. Not so wonderful: the next day full of dishes and cleaning. The day after: Andraia's 12th birthday!

She had a great day, starting out with a special surprise (although it is a little cruel, but what can I do? My brother had already sent them.) She received a flower bouquet from the one and only Justin Bieber (a.k.a. my brother. Andraia doesn't know this, and actually believes it somewhat!) She was a little confused as to how he was able to get her address, and when asked when she met him, she replied "I don't know!!!!!"

I'm sure you can't read the card...it says, "Andraia, when I met you girl my heart went knock knock, and now the butterflies in my stomach won't stop stop. Love, J. Biebs." Yeah, my brother is pretty hilarious. I took a video of the moment, and it's hard to see it, but she turns 8 shades of red and starts shaking when asked to read the card out loud :) It was adorable!!

The new iPod Nano made her day :) (However, in typical 12 year old fashion, she said "Cool, now all I need is an iPod." I said, "But you got one for your birthday!" Her response: "You can't play games on it." Oh, I guess your DSi isn't good enough...)

Besides this wonderful *gag* JB holiday CD, she received protective skins featuring JB for her DSi, a bottlecap necklace featuring his face, the JB perfume/body wash/lotion set (which she FLIPPED over), and a JB keychain. This girl is keychain obsessed.
To complete the wonderful JB theme, a friend of mine who makes the most WONDERFUL cakes (if you are in southeastern NH or southern ME and want her info, just let me know. You won't regret it.) made this cake just for Andraia. It was the most delicious cake (the last thing I needed after all of the Thanksgiving feasting and sinful pies), a dark chocolate cake with chocolate chips inside!! Yum!


After the festivities, it was yet another morning full of dishes and cleaning. Can I just say that I am not lifting a finger today when it comes to cleaning? I'm doing strictly laundry today. Sorry, honey. After rearranging the living room to make room for the Christmas tree and then actually putting it up yesterday (we didn't finish decorating it until 9:30!!) I am exhausted. A perfect day to play in the lonely craft room! It needs a LOT of cleaning, but I just don't have the energy for that.

I've posted pics of the cute little family-themed CD tin album I made on my Facebook page, but plan to take better pics outside for the shop. It is actually sunny today, AND dry! A winning combination for taking pictures of paper goods :) I have also whipped up more Christmas cards I'll get around to posting later, and must make 2 DT projects or else I'll miss a deadline! With all of the holiday festivities, I did miss one deadline...the newest challenge over at Dream Valley Challenges. Just because I missed the deadline doesn't mean you have to! Head over to check it out and see what my other teamies have made and enter yours for a chance to win a wonderful prize. You have 2 weeks :)

Until later,

xx

Khristen

Repurposed gift box featuring Humphrey

Good morning, I hope that everyone is doing well today. I am preparing to make a couple of pies for Thanksgiving. This has to be my second favorite holiday...I love turkey and gravy and all of the fixings. I love the leftovers more, and will confess I eat my fair share of turkey and potatoes for breakfast after the big day! I especially love being the one to cook the meal, this year we are having my parents over. Baking the apple pie is my very favorite, and even make the crust from scratch.

Today is my day to post over at the Crafter's Companion blog, and I decided to use the box my iPhone came in and transform it into a cute little Christmas gift box.

I lined the inside of the box with some great Christmas paper from my stash.

I went to work tracing the sides of the box onto the paper and adhered it with my Eco Green Crafts all-purpose Green Glue (love this stuff!)

Once all the paper pieces covered all of the Apple logos and images of the phone (don't want to get anyone's hopes up that an iPhone might be inside), I added this adorable Humphrey 1st Christmas stamp which I colored with Crafter's Companion's new Spectrum Noir markers now available for pre-order. You'll want to head over and check it out, they are fabulous alcohol ink markers that won't break the bank. They glide on so smoothly! I'm playing with them a little more so that I can start combining colors and shading, as I've seen so many other crafters out there doing. I used a fine glitter on Humphrey's hat and a thick glass bead glitter for some snow for Humphrey to sit on. Ribbon, jute, a cute snowflake brad, and the sentiment complete the box.

The bottom of the box:

That's all for right now...I have to go crazy baking pies! I hope you all have a great day, and if I don't have the chance to post again before Thursday (highly likely!), I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to check in all week over at the Crafter's Companion blog all week to see wonderful projects, and if you get the chance, head over to the challenge blog as well for a shot to win 6 of the newest Humphrey stamps.

what a day...

Today started out great, and up until it was time to pick up Rileigh at school...then it kind of went downhill. All of my running around is over though, and despite missing the person who was supposed to get one of the boys I bring home after kindergarten by mere minutes, the crisis was averted and I got him home. All of the road construction around the highway in our town delayed my arrival back home to get the twins back to their mom on time, but now they are gone too. Thankfully, a friend brings Rileigh to and from band practice across town, so I can now stay home. *phew*

I wasn't able to play in the craft room today, but I wanted to share these cards I made with a friend this weekend. They will end up being mailed to friends/family on my Christmas card list :)

This first one features Bo Bunny papers, buttons, and Santa brad and MM Fa La La trim. Burgandy ink, Imaginisce iRock green bling and distressed edges thanks to my Heidi Swapp edge distresser.

Last year's leftover Christmas papers worked nicely here, MME glitter papers. The sentiment is an Imaginisce acrylic stamp. Twinery twine. MM ribbon and glass beads that are gorgeous :)


This is my friend's rubber stamp, embossed with red powder, colored with some alcohol ink markers, and MME Christmas papers to finish it off.


That's all for today! Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to make a bit more for the shop (like finish that Family album!) Until then, I must now go give a friend a ride to work (got the call in the middle of this post...I jinxed myself saying I was done for the day!)

xx

Khristen