Unity {Be Inspired} Challenge - Card

I love Unity Stamps.  They have so many different designs.  In 2013, they started their {Be Inspired} Challenges.  They had some great sketches & challenges.  I decided to start with their card challenge.  I will be doing the other challenges as well. 

This is the sketch...

And here is the card I made with their sketch using some WRMK Crazy in Love paper and Kiwi Lane's Tiny Tags 1...

Come back tomorrow to see some flowers I made that coordinate with this card!

Cheers!
Kristy

Paper Girls Challenge #26 - WASHI

Ahhh...washi!  One of my favorite go to items in my arsenal right now.  When Erica posted washi as a challenge on The Paper Girls Challenge, I knew I was in Heaven. I mean, I have a HUGE jar full of it and I still collect more.  I love how it is repositionable - you can adjust it if you don't get it in a straight line (shhh...that happens to me a lot).  One other great trick I'm seeing a lot lately with washi is to use it as a mask for stamping.  That is something I will show you another time.

You have seen me use washi before on Challenge #22.  That entire card was made out of washi.  If you want a refresher on it, click here.

For this challenge, I used washi in varying sizes and colors to create the borders on my layout.

I used just a few Kiwi Lane templates (Clara Lane 1A, 2B and 3B; Rings 2 and 3; Sweetheart 2; Accent 6; Tiny Accent 6T).  I curled over the top of one of my cuts to show the pink chevron on the reverse, because Hailey deserved a little pink on this layout too.  ;-)

I hope you enjoyed this layout.  Don't forget, you have until March 2nd to get your washi layouts linked to the Paper Girls blog for a chance to win a fun prize.

Cheers!
Kristy

Happy Valentine's Day

As Valentine's Day is winding down in our house, I thought I would share the cards I made for my family. 

 

First off, my son's card:

I used Kiwi Lane's Sentiments 2A to create the road by drawing the curves once, then moving it down a bit and tracing the curve again.  The stamps are all from Stampin' Up.

 

 

 

Now my husband's card:
I used Kiwi Lane's Ring 1 & 2 to make the moon, and Sentiment 2 for the heart in the background.  The stars are from an old punch I had in my stash.  I misted the background with 2 shades - a blue and a purply/black color.  (I wish they came out better in this picture.)  The paper is from my Studio Calico monthly card kits.  

 

 

And last, but not least, my daughter's card:
I am loving the white on white tone that is popular right now, so I used an embossed piece of white background, popped off a white card base.  I used a lot of scraps for making the skirt on this card.  I punched the patterned paper and adhered it to a dress I cut with my Cricut.  The hanger is from Stampin' Up's new Hung Up Cute Clips. 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed a peek at my cards from today. 

 

I have one more piece of business to address.  If anyone knows Mrs. Flaherty, please let her know she won on my blog for the Kiwi Lane Designs Blog Hop, and she has until tomorrow claim her prize or I will be picking another name.

 

Cheers!

Kristy

 

Kiwi Lane DT Doodles

Happy Monday Everyone!

I'm excited to have a DT Doodle up over at Kiwi Lane Designs today.  I have had this picture of Hailey on my phone since we drove back from Florida last year.  My silly girl was just laying in our bed like she was the queen. 

I knew I wanted to work with some "royal" papers for this pictures - and of course, my Kiwi Lane templates.  As an added touch, I pulled out my sewing machine and went to town to help accent the curves of the Clara Lane templates.  For this layout, I used Clara Lane 1A, 3A and 3B, along with Tiny Sweetheart 4T and Tiny Accents 4T.  (Psst...did you know these are on sale this month at the Kiwi Lane store?)  The paper and accents are Teresa Collins Sweet Afternoon and Chic Bebe Girl.

Cheers!
Kristy

PS - Don't forget, I still have a little blog candy here to give away when I hit 100 followers!

 

Winners!

Happy Wednesday!  By my calculations, I can say that for the next 15 minutes to those of you on the East Coast (and I'm holding true to announcing my blog hop winners on Wednesday!).

I am so excited to have so many new followers to my blog.  Thank you for joining me in my crafty adventure/Mama's Sanity.  And without further ado, here are the winners, courtesy of Random.org:

ScrapbookSteals.com's Hop:

 

Congratulations SandiB!

 

Kiwi Lane Designs' Hop:

 

Congratulations Mrs.Flaherty!

If you ladies would send me your mailing address to kmackeen1 at gmail dot com, I will get your prizes out to you soon.  Please respond by Feb. 14, or I will choose another winner.

And guess what, I have more blog candy here to give away when I hit 100 followers.  We are almost there!  Keep spreading the word so I can keep sharing some prizes. 

Cheers!
Kristy

Kiwi Lane Blog Hop

Hi!

Welcome to the February Kiwi Lane Designs blog hop.  If you are looking for the Scrapbook Steal's Blog Hop, please click here.

Welcome to my blog, Mama's Sanity.  You should be joining me from Sherri Thompson's blog. 

Here is the order for the Kiwi Lane Design's hop.  If you didn't start at the beginning, please jump back to Kiwi Lane and follow along.  There is so much inspiration on everyone's posts!!!

1. Kiwi Lane http://kiwilane.com/here/blog/
2. Cathryn Hanson http://www.catscrapcreations.blogspot.ca
3. Staci Jones http://www.scrapbookingischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/
4. Rebecca Keppel http://www.myclutteredcorner.com/
5. Melissa Dehne http://abitofscrappygoodness.blogspot.com/
6. Jessica Arrant http://errantscraps.blogspot.com
7. Charissa Miller http://www.akihasmommascraps.com
8. Sherri Thompson http://www.sherrithompson.blogspot.com
9. Kristy MacKeen http://www.mamasanity.blogspot.com <---You are here!
10. Sherri Funk http://faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.ca
11. Roselyn Riley http://prettylittlepackages.blogspot.com/
12. Lisa Anderson http://scrappingobsessions.blogspot.com
13. Leslie Prinkki http://www.scrapsofmine.blogspot.com

Remember to hop through all the blogs.  Kiwi Lane will pick one comment from all the blogs to win a $25 gift certificate to their store (http://www.kiwilane.com/kld_shop.html).  Comments need to be made by 11:59 pm, Sunday, Feb 3rd.

If you haven't worked with Kiwi Lane templates before, I hope this hop inspires you to try some of their templates.  I began scrapping about 3 years ago, but find my pages come together so much faster with my KLD templates.

I thought it would be fun to show you what inspired me for today's layout:

This is actually the cut off from a piece of MME Lucky in Love paper.  I had used Clara Lane 1A facing one direction and then another on a previous layout, and this is what I had left.  It reminded me of a fish, so I decided to grab some of my ocean pictures from last year's summer vacation to make my layout.  I was hoping to incorporate this "fish" in my layout, but it didn't end up working in the end..

The Accent 3 template (star) and Tiny Accent 3T reminded me of starfish (more inspiration here!), with their rounded points, so I cut them out and ran them through the Cuddlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folders to give them a starfish texture.  I also folded the arms just a little, then added a thick pop dot in the middle and thin glue dots at the ends of the arms to give it a little height and definition on the page.

 

 

The final layout was made using Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook and Trinity paper, some My Mind's Eye trim ands, as well as some Basic Grey tidbits.  I created an 8.5"x11" collage from some of my favorite beach pictures, then split the picture at a natural "spot" to create this two page layout.  The "splashes" of color were made with Heidi Swapp Color Shine.  I used the following templates on this page:

Accent 3 & 5

Tiny Accent 3T

Clara Lane 1A and 3A

Abbie Road 1B

Sweetheart 4

Tiny Tags 1

 

 

Here's a little surprise bonus for you.  I have a set Sweetheart templates to give away to one lucky commenter on my blog.  In order to win, you must be a blog follower, so make sure you click Join This Site over on the right hand side!

Thank you for stopping by.  Hop on over to Sherri Funk @ http://faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.ca and share the love.

Cheers!
Kristy

Kiwi Lane Design - Weekend Whimsy

 

 

 

 

Today is my first Design Team project for Kiwi Lane Designs.  Every other Friday, they feather a Weekend Whimsy project on the blog - showing how to use Designer Templates in home decor, accessories, etc.

 

For my project, I decided to attempt a banner.  Nothing like trying to do something for the first time for your first ever Design Team project!!!  But I'm glad I did.  I am not one to decorate much for Valentine’s Day around the house, but I decided I want to try to do a banner for it this year.  Authentique’s Lovely was perfect for making a “Love” banner! 

 

I started with a Fancy Pants Chipboard Banner – Half Circle as a base.  As I went through my 6x6 Lovely pad, I started picking out the papers I wanted to use.  There are a lot of beautiful designs in this collection.  The reds and pinks are so vibrant, that I decided to cut the L-O-V-E out of balsa wood on my Cricut so the colors of the papers would stand out.  A little ink to highlight the edges of the letters and viola!

“L”

I used Adorn 3B to create the scalloped edges.  The other elements are die-cuts from Lovely, with the exception of the heart which is from Tim Holtz.

“O”

I have to say, when I saw the Keynote paper, I wanted to do a “You hold the key to my heart” element.  I was so excited to see Authentique had included just this saying in their die-cuts.  So after cutting Keynote with my Adorn 3A template, I found a key in my embellishment collection and tied it all to the “O”.  I highlighted the Adorn cut with some silver Stickles.  The red background is actually leftover Christmas tissue paper Modge Podged onto the chipboard.

“V”

I went to town with Adorn 2A, cutting strips from various papers and lining them up on the chipboard.  I used Tags 1 to anchor my Authentique die-cut and added a few pearls and a cabochon - which is one I really thought I would never use, but here it is!  (I am not one for black flowers.) 

“E”

Can you spot the Winter 2 template?  Those two little love birds are sitting on one branch of the snowflake.  A little Liquid Pearls added a touch of "snow" on the branch.  I also used Tag 7 as a background for the chipboard.  One thing I love about Authentique’s die-cuts is that have patterned paper on the back of each one.  The stamp element is one of their die-cuts, simply flipped over. 

Roly Poly Flowers

I used Paisley Place 2A to make the flowers on the L and the V banner.  I cut a 12” strip paper from Authentique’s older collection, Uncommon.  After rubbing it along a table to make the paper soft, I sprayed them with a little Glimmer Mist (to help make them wet and add a little shine – though I think a lot of that shine ended up on my hands) and started rolling them.  I quickly learned that I the best thing to do was add a little fold into the paper to help it wrap smoothly.  A little pink Glimmer Mist sprayed directly in the center of the flowers gave them a little more pop. 

I hope you enjoyed my Weekend Whimsy and I’ve inspired you to try making a banner of your own.  I have a little challenge to you - grab something you thought you would never use - and USE it - as I did with my banner and the black cabachon.

Cheers!
Kristy

PGCB #24: Wooden Elements

Welcome back for another challenge from The Paper Girls Challenge.  I loved Heather's challenge to use wooden elements on our projects. I'm totally in love with Studio Calico's wood veneers. They come in so many shapes and sizes.

For my project, I used Studio Calico's Scalloped Circles and Potty People (cute name!).  I colored then with spray mists and added them represent my hubby and daughter.  I also grabbed my Kiwi Lane Ring 4 to create the ring on the lower corner of my page.

 

 

I also wanted to share another project I did with the wood veneers. This is the cover for my Project Life book.  Sorry the image isn't quite as crisp as I would like, but this is already in a sheet protector.  For this project, I used Potty People, Tweet (one of my all time FAVES), Scalloped Circles and Stars.  Wood veneers can be use for everything from adding little accents to highlighting an element on a page, like the 2013 on the far right hand card.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you can participate with this challenge.  Remember, it doesn't have to be wood veneers, it can be anything with a wood element to it - even that little twig you collected from the yard.  You have until February 2nd to link up your project at The Paper Girls Challenge website.

 

I still have some blog candy waiting to be given away.  When I hit 100 followers, I will draw a name for a prize.

 

Cheers!
Kristy

Card Exchanges - Birthday

I wanted to share a little birthday card I made today for a couple card exchanges.  I have loved the Owl Occasions stamp set from Stampin' Up since it was released in the Winter Catalog (you can still get the stamp brush set here).  I thought he would be fun for a boy or a girl...or a man or a woman for that matter. It seems like everybody loves owls.

I am also entering this card on the Pinspired Challenges this week.  They are a new site that started just this week.  Their first challenge was to use this great birthday cake pin off of Pinterest as your inspiration.  I latched on to the polka dots and ran with it.

The Challenge:

My card:

Products used:
Owl Occasions Stamp Set by Stampin' Up (#128003)
Stampin' Up inks: Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Going Gray, Basic Black, 2012-2013 In Colors
3/4" circle Punch by Stampin' Up
Kiwi Lane Templates: Scallops 1B
Miscellaneous washi, gems and googly eyes from my stash

Thanks for visiting! 

Cheers!
Kristy

PGC #23 - Ledger Paper

I loved Charity's Ledger Paper challenge on Paper Girls Challenge. It was fun seeing all the Paper Girls' projects...and we all used ledger paper in such different ways.

It seems like nearly every collection released in the last few years has at least 1 page of ledger paper, usually on the "B"side. I grabbed a piece from My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline collection for the background. A few other pieces from My Mind's Eye's beautiful collections, some Kiwi Lane templates, a few spritz of mists, and viola, a layout befitting maybe one of my favorite pictures of my son at the beach.

 

Paper and embellishments from My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart, Miss Caroline, and On the Bright Side; Kiwi Lane Designs Templates:  Paisley Place 2A, Adorn 2A and Tags 7.

 

Thank you for visiting! If you aren't a follower, I would love it if you would join. I have some blog candy just waiting to go to a happy home.

Cheers!

Kristy

LGS December Week 5

Happy New Year's everyone!  I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2013!!! 

I have a lot of goals for 2013.  My crafty goals include starting Project Life and One Little Word.  I hope to blog about these projects as I go along. 

2013 also starts my 6 month term on Kiwi Lane's Design Team.  I kicked off the new year using a number of KLD's templates to create a layout of my son being thrown through the air.  I was inspired by Let's Get Sketchy's December Week 4 sketch and Week 5 Not So Picture Perfect Challenge.  Many of the pictures from this day were blurry and Kevin was thrown out of frame in one of them.  I never thought I would use these pics, but I think they worked out great after all.

Here is how I laid out my page with the templates:

And the final page:

Here is what I used:
Lily Bee Handmade collection
Kiwi Lane templates:
     Rings 4
     Wacky 1
     Tags 1
     Strip Set 3", 2" mini and 1" mini
American Crafts Thickers
Stampin' Up buttons
MS Candy Dots
Maya Road felt arrows
Studio Calico Darling Dear vellum shapes
My Mind's Eye twine

Cheers!
Kristy

MWM Jade 3

Well, this may be my last layout until 2013.  :-(  That makes me kind of sad, but I need to pack/pick up my scrap room for Christmas.  That is going to be QUITE a project.  Of course, I had to do ONE MORE layout.  I mean, I had too much purdy stuff sitting around, I just couldn't resist.  So I grabbed the sketch for ScrapbookSteals.com's MWM Jade 3 and got to work.

Kevin's school had a Christmas concert recently.  Though the lighting was bad for picture taking, it was so fun to see him up there singing.  We had been hearing the same line over and over from Christmas Jubilation, I was glad to finally hear the WHOLE thing. 

One of my Christmas presents (to myself) had been getting the Santa Sacks from October Afternoon.  I used elements from Holiday Style I received in the sacks to make this layout about the concert.  I also used the Stampin' Up Scoreboard and Diagonal Plate to make the green background paper (with a little SU Illuminate ink around the edges).  Kiwi Lane's Paisley Place 3A & 3B and Adorn 3A templates made adding the finishing touches easy.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Cheers!
Kristy

Kiwi Crew for me!

Hi!

I'm so happy I can finally share a secret I've been keeping for a few weeks.  I proud to say I am part of Kiwi Lane's first ever Design Team.  Everyone would have chuckled if they saw me when I got the email asking me to be part of the team.  We were in the car and I nearly woke my sleeping kids up with my giddiness.  I was literally bouncing in my chair!

Kiwi Lane's templates are awesome.  They really help speed up layouts - allowing you to see your sketch laid out before you even start cutting paper.  You have seen some of my layouts using KLD templates lately.  Let me show you one more:

I used Tags, Scallops, Cascade Trails, and Bracket templates to create this layout with some family photos from our trip to Florida this summer.  The paper and embellishments are from Authentique's Fresh collection.

Thank you for stopping by!  Be sure to become a follower...I will be giving some prizes away very soon!

Cheers!
Kristy

KLD November DT Doodles

So you order pictures from Costco, and they won't be ready until tomorrow, so what is a girl supposed to do?  Why, scrap some other pictures you have, of course.  That's what I did today.  Kiwi Lane Designs presented their November DT Doodle Challenge.  I loved their 2 page sketch, but I started with the single page layout.  Kevin and Dan had a great time carving pumpkins this year.  Kevin picked out the designs - the spider for him and the smiley face for his sister. He had no fear about digging out the seeds and "guts" from inside this year.   

 

To make this page, I used the following KLD templates:
Strips Set 3 inch
Scallops 1A
Holiday 4T
Holiday 5T

The paper and black letters are from my Scrapbook.com October Kit and the transparency sheet is from It's The Little Things by Fancy Pants.  Add in some Studio Calico star wooden veneers and AC Flair and Thickers, and viola!  Here is my pumpkin page from this past Halloween.

Cheers!
Kristy

PGC #20: Winter/Christmas Theme

Wow!  I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week - at least in the US.  Where has the time gone?!?  Before you know it, it will be Christmas.  Ack!  Amber brought The Paper Girls a great challenge to bring us into the season - create a project that is winter or Christmas themed.

I recently started following Scrapbook.com's challenges to go along with their monthly kits.  Though I didn't use the kit for my layout, I did use one of their October sketches to make my page.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on the sketch:

These pictures are my son, taken when we lived in Montana in 2008.  (As you can tell, I don't scrap in order.)  I just loved the look on his face as he was trudging through the snow. 

Crate Paper's Peppermint works perfect for my winter layouts.  I also used some Kiwi Lane Design templates to help determine the size circles I wanted to use, and cut the curve and black dotted acetate stripe in the middle of the page.  I admit to using some Lifestyle Nesting dies to actually cut the circles.  There is NO way I can cut a "straight" circle.  Once I knew the circle size I wanted, I then cut snowflakes from the Winter Lace Cricut cartridge using some silver metallic paper.  Some miscellaneous Studio Calico embellishments & brads from my stash to completed the layout.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week. 

Cheers!