Red Bird Singing for JOY

Hello and Welcome!

This is a quick post to let you know I'm making Christmas cards like mad but don't have a lot of time to post them! I had this card front done where I mixed Wendy Vecchi translucent paste and green distress and Elizabeth Craft Designs microfine cool diamond glitter and added the mixture through a stencil to make this 3D tree! I added this little bird from a Memory Box die cut and made him shimmer with red Wink of Stella glitter pen. I stamped my new favorite company, Neat and Tangled, JOY and glittered it up with the same pen and put the panel on a Gina K Designs heavy weight black card base. I added clear Wink of Stella around the image on the black to bling it up too!

Stay tuned in the New Year for lots of giveaways! I'm purging and have won some crafting items that don't suit my style and will be doing giveaways to share! So follow my blog or on Instagram to know when that happens!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challengers entered:
CASology Week #173: Tree
The Male Room Challenge: Christmas
Addicted to Stamps: CAS

Birds on the brain... and on Christmas cards Part 1!

Hello and welcome!

I had some time to play before teaching a Christmas card class about two types of embossing (dry & heat embossing). I hadn't had time to make cards with these leftover pieces and decided it was time to pull out the bird stamps that I have and make some Christmas cards! I am a bird lover especially on cards! I adore chickadees and love cardinals as well (even though I see chickadees a lot here in Alaska, I've only ever seen one real cardinal!). 

On the blue card, I used Impression Obsession "Birch Trees" stamp on 120 lb heavy weight Gina K Designs white card stock in Versamark ink then sprinkled it with Stampendous PearlLustre Sapphire blue embossing powder and heat set it. I used a red Wink of Stella glitter pen to color the bird in so he's all shimmery. I used the Clearly Besotted "joy" die and cut it out of TPC Studio bright red shimmer paper. It didn't quite match the red of the glitter pen so I colored over it with the red Wink of Stella glitter pen too. I adhered it with Ranger Matte Multi Medium.

For the second card I had used the We R Memory Keepers trees embossing folder to emboss on Gina K Designs base weight kraft card stock. I stamped this little unknown cardinal stamp on Gina K Designs base weight card stock and colored him with the red Wink of Stella glitter pen. I cut him out by hand and adhered him with Ranger Matte Multi Medium. I did the "joy" in the same way as above to match the red of the bird. I also used a sponger to lightly run ColorBox white pigment ink across the embossed trees to highlight them just slightly and make them stand out better. The glitter pen makes these so shimmery in the right light!

I have two more bird cards to show you but they'll have to wait for the next blog post!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Challenges:

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge: Birds

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow

Uniko Challenge #27: Christmas with a twist of CAS

AAA Cards Game #33: Anything Goes

CAS  on Sunday #72: Christmas

Addicted to CAS #37: Dimension

Virginia's View Challenge #21: Glitter (my pics don't show it very well but it's there!)

Muse ChristmasVisions #31: Inspiration card (one bird, one die cut sentiment, slight embossing)

Holiday Card Making Class for November 22: Two Types of Embossing

Hello and welcome!

I want to invite you to a holiday card making class at the Joann's craft store in Anchorage, Alaska next Sunday, November 22nd from 2:30-4:30 pm! It's the start of card classes I'll be teaching at Joann's for the next three months!

Dry embossed cards

I'm starting off simply with showing two types of embossing... the first is dry embossing (above). I have a lot of holiday embossing folders for you to use if you don't own any yourself! It's fun to "dress up" the embossing with die cuts, Stickles, sentiments, ribbon, and a holiday sentiment finishes it in just your style! 

Heat embossed cards

The other type of embossing is called heat embossing. It is where you use a sticky ink on a stamped image and cover it in embossing powder to be melted with a heat "gun" or tool. The different types of embossing powders can be colored, clear, white,  black, metallic, glittery, etc., and gives you many different opportunities to create unique cards! You can heat emboss the whole card as on the right, just a background (middle card) or just the sentiment (card on the left although hard to see). 

These are two types of techniques you can do to cards to give them a WOW factor! 

Please come join me for this fun class! Call the Joann's store in Anchorage at (907) 277-3620. The cost is $30. Bring supplies that you have (card stock, stamps, embossing folders, ink for embossing, ink for sentiments, embellishments) and what you don't have I may have or you can purchase there!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Home again... Share Handmade Kindness Challenge!

Hello and welcome!

Lots of things happening now after being gone for a week to help my youngest daughter move from Colorado to California! I've been home two weeks today but then moved a week ago myself!  So this is a catch-up post!

I'm starting to settle in to our new place (a 1940's log cabin) and even got my art table set up so I could make this card for Jennifer McGuire's Share Handmade Kindness Challenge!

Share handmade kindness

And I was channeling my inner Jennifer on this card after watching her recent video of tone on tone stamping. She used white accents with a colored pencil or pigment ink to highlight areas but I didn't in this case. The cardstock and ink is Hero Arts Tide Pool and the butterflies are from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Butterflies set. I used some dotted confetti from Winnie & Walter's Big Bang Confetti set and an open heart (which is hard to see in this photo) is from Avocado Arts. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Heart Balloons set and I cut the sentiment to fit it on this vellum that I heat embossed in Hero Arts white powder. (I must do more vellum sentiments! I really like the way it shows the card background through it!) I then colored some clear gems with the same Hero Arts Tide Pool ink so they matched and adhered them with some Ranger multi medium in matte to help hold the sentiment piece in place!

I'm giving this card to my new landlords as a thank you for the hard work they did getting the cabin ready for us so quickly! We love our new place and wanted them to know it!

I'll be teaching a Christmas card making class at the Joann's in Anchorage on November 22nd so if you are in town that day stop to see me... or come play! I plan on showcasing two kinds of embossing... dry and heat!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless your day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challanges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Thanks/Thanksgiving

YOU Rock... really you do!

Hello and welcome! You'd think with me having more days off I could blog more but that doesn't seem to be the case! And I'm getting ready to head down south for a week tomorrow so I thought I'd get this card onto the blog!

I'm always searching for a masculine type card to make and stars are always a good starting point! I used a Joggles "Shooting Stars" stencil and inked it with Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean and Black Soot distress inks onto white heavy weight Neenah Solar White card stock, blending an ombre effect downwards. Then while the stencil was still on I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls shimmer. Afterwards I used some Adirondak metallic silver paint dabber, Mermaid Lagoon and Black Soot Distress inks and watered them down to a "splashing" consistency and splattered the card stock. I stamped the ROCK (a clear stamp from an obscure and unknown company) with Versafine Black ink and filled it in (since it was originally outlined letters) with a Copic fine line pen and then made it shimmery with a Wink of Stella pen. I die cut the Avery Elle "Simply Said YOU" die from silver glitter paper and adhered it down with the Ranger multi medium in matte finish. Then I popped the whole panel up with black foam onto Gina K Designs base weight black card stock.

I wanted to add sequins or something else but anything else I thought to add would hamper the masculine part so I left it as is! Now I need a man to send it too! Possibly my brother's birthday in February!

Thanks for sticking with me and I'll see you after October 28th when I'm back in Alaska! I'll leave you with this moose calf photo... fattening up for winter alongside the road on my way to work the other day!



CHALLENGES:
CASology Week 168: YOU
Less is More: Week 246: Masculine
Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge 166: Anything Goes

Grateful eagle card...and great news!

Grateful eagle

Hello and welcome!

I know it's been awhile since I posted but a lot has been going on around here! I was gone for two weeks in September down south burying my brother who passed away suddenly in March of this year. I used the opportunity of being in the Lower 48 to see my two girls and grandson as well and we all met up in California.

Right before I left I got a call from a woman in Anchorage who asked if I was teaching One Stroke painting as she saw me listed as an OSCI (One Stroke Certified Instructor) on the One Stroke website. I had just changed that listing the week before to update the fact that I had moved from Haines! I hadn't started teaching since moving from Seward but wanted to check into the opportunity. So on my way to the airport to head south I stopped by the Joann's store on my end of Anchorage and talked to the education coordinator who was THRILLED that I wanted to teach One Stroke classes, card making classes and Cricut classes! So I've been in the process of quitting my job at the gas station I've been at since June and switching over to teaching at Joann's! Today I just got the final approval and so am now an art teacher at Joann's (plus I still work at the vet clinic two days a week)! I don't officially have classes until November 22nd but it's a card making class and I'm thrilled!! I'll unofficially do a class or two before then though!

And to add to that I'm heading south again in nine days to help my youngest daughter move from Colorado to California! When I get back from there at the end of October, my husband and I have decided to rent a different place on the Glenn Highway out past Sutton! It's a 1940's log cabin on 300 acres of farmland! Sweeeeeet! We are very excited but will only have days to move when I get back from California! Nothing like packing a lot of life into a few days, eh?

So now onto the card: I got this eagle stamp from my local craft store, the Stamp Cache, in Palmer. I knew when I saw it that it would make a great class stamp too! Plus I also knew I wanted to make a military thank you card for the veterans who give their all for my freedom. So I stamped this eagle in waterproof ink onto watercolor paper. I used distress ink in just a few colors to add feathers, eye and beak color. Then I splattered the panel with watered down distress ink in two colors. I added Glossy Accents to his eye and it's kind of weird the way it makes his eye look so real! Check it out:

The Glossy Accents gave the eye an amber color and made it look 3D! I mounted the panel onto a heavy kraft card base and roughed up three of the edges with my thumbnail. I stamped the GRATEFUL in archival ink and added a strip of glossy stars on vellum paper at the bottom with a thin black strip of velvety paper abutting the watercolor panel. No sequins or other embellishments for this card!

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post! I'm hoping to have more card making time since I'll be doing class projects! God bless your day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Deep Red "Bald Eagle Portrait", Winnie & Walter "The Big, the Bold, the Blessings"

Paper: Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor, Gina K Designs heavy weight kraft

Ink: Ranger distress (Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey ), Ranger black archival

Tools: MISTI, acrylic block (splattering), watercolor brush

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHALLENGES:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Autumn/Thankful

Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog: Script or text

The Daily Marker Color Challenge 3

Craft Stamper Blog: Take it, Make it October challenge  

Crafting with an Attitude: Anything Goes

Watercolor for cardmakers online card class...

Hello and welcome.

Nothing like a last minute dive into an online card class! I've wanted to participate but with a job changeover coming this week it's left me little "fun" time! I didn't even have time to make them into cards yet!

I only got to play with two pieces of watercolor mediums. The first is the traditional watercolors background that I made into a night sky scene with glittery birch trees in the front...

The second is the butterfly with distress inks that I used the Wink of Stella pen to spread the ink with. I wish I'd had more time but this was even late night/early morning accomplishments!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless your day! (I'll add the supplies info when I have more time!)

"You're Out of This World" Card and Giveaway Winner!

"You're out of this World!" 

Hello and welcome back!

I have returned from a visit down south! That time really flew by and I have to return to work tomorrow but had a little time to play today! I got this stamp set from a blog hop I won a $75 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink! It's the "Boy Basics: Out of this World" set and I got it to make cards for my 6 year old grandson, Logan, who I saw on this trip south! I miss that boy so much!

I started off just playing with a set of Prang watercolors I found at a thrift store for 50 cents! It says "professional" watercolors but I just wanted something to play with! I used Strathmore 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper and wet it down really well then added blue and purple... just two colors... and started adding more water in areas and taking it away in other areas! When I got it how I wanted it I dried it with a heat gun.

Then I used Julie Ebersole's method of spattering Ranger Pearl acrylic paint dabber by putting some on an acrylic block, adding water until fluid and flicking it over the watercolor piece with a paintbrush. I think I got carried away but I had a lot on my block and ended up spattering a few pieces so I wouldn't waste the paint! Afterwards I sprayed it with some Perfect Pearls (in the Perfect Pearl color) to add some shimmer to the whole background piece because Perfect Pearls looks so good on dark colors!

Then I used some Versamark ink to stamp the rocket, flame, moon, stars and sentiment from the stamp set. I covered them in Hero Arts white embossing powder (I'm in LOVE with this white embossing powder!) and heat set it with my heat gun. I wanted the moon filled in (it's originally an outline) so I used my Versamark pen to fill it in and added the embossing powder to it as well.

I wanted to add a sequin or something else to this but still keep it boyish looking. So I had some large clear sequins, small silver sequins and silver Stickles! I put the clear sequin upside down over the rocket "porthole" to be a window, glued the silver sequin on top of that and filled it with silver Stickles! Just enough bling for a boy!

I trimmed down the panel a little and when I went to put it on the Neenah 110 lb Solar White card base realized it was a little too small. So instead of trimming the card base I added the two slivers of paper I had cut off to the right side and that gave it some interest on the front! I added white foam to the back of all three front pieces for added dimension and the card was finished! Viola!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!
So now onto the Hero Arts Real Leaves giveaway winner is...... out of all the entries Random.org choose #11 as the winning number and that is...........

TERESA KLINE

Congratulations Teresa! I've emailed you for your address!

EDITED TO ADD: TERESA HAS SAID TO PASS THIS ALONG AS SHE ALREADY HAS NUMEROUS SUPPLIES SO I USED RANDOM.ORG AGAIN TO CHOOSE A NUMBER AND

SCRAPABOOK@GMAIL.COM

IS THE NEW WINNER! CONGRATS!

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post! God bless your day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Boy Basics: Out of this World"
Paper: Strathmore watercolor 140 lb cold press; Neenah Solar White
Ink: Versamark
Other: Hero Arts white embossing powder, Prang watercolors, Ranger Pearl acrylic paint dabber, MISTI, Perfect Pearls, sequins, Ranger silver Stickles, Ranger Multi Matte Medium
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Favorite Technique (watercolor, heat embossing)
Tuesday Throwdown: #262 For a Child
Shopping Our Stash: #219 Outta this World
Sweet Stamps Blog: Anything Goes
Cardz for Guyz Challenge Blog: Embossing

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway!

Me, my daughter, Hannah, sister, Debbie and brother in law, Hector, outside Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island, in California.

Hello and welcome!

I just wanted to remind you that today is the last day to enter THIS GIVEAWAY for the Hero Arts leaves stamp set! I'm heading back to Alaska from California after seeing family and will pick a winner tomorrow! Just follow the instructions on that giveaway post and be entered in!

I can't wait to get back to card making after getting home too!

Have a blessed day!

Another Balloon card... don't forget the Hero Arts GIVEAWAY!

Hello and welcome...

I'm not home right now but scheduled this blog post to go up to remind you to enter the Hero Arts "Real Leaf" stamp giveaway I posted about HERE... It ends September 15th at midnight Alaska time!

Here's the other balloon card I did that I described the process in the post with the giveaway. I still used the Winnie and Walter stamp set for the confetti but used the small dots instead of the open circles like the last card. I also used a different greeting from an unknown to me company! (When I unmounted the stamp I neglected to keep the info that came on the block!) I may have added a few too much confetti on this card! I used the Colorbox primary pigment in for this confetti and the Kaleidacolor calypso ink for the sentiment! Which do you like better... the cleaner version or with confetti?

Don't forget to check out the giveaway on the previous post!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless your day...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: My Favorite Things "Heart Balloons" strings
Ink: Ranger distress ink, Kaleidacolor Calypso, Colorbox Primary, Versafine black
Paper: Gina K Designs heavy weight 120 lb
Dies: My Favorite Things "Party Balloons"
Tools/Misc.: MISTI, Perfect Pearls, black glitter pen

Balloons and your opinion...and a Hero Arts Giveaway!

Hello and welcome!

I've gotten several new products in but not much time to play with them! And since I'm leaving to head south for two weeks on Wednesday, it probably won't be until I get back before I can dig into the card making goodies!

If you've followed me on Pinterest you'd see that I have a board entirely made up of balloons on cards! I love seeing balloons on cards and especially one layer cards! So I tried my hand at it on this and one other card! I love the look of sponging two distress inks together too so I went with that technique for this one layer card. I know I have a lot to learn about sponging and blending! 

I used my new MFT (My Favorite Things) die-namics "Party Balloons" dies to die cut the balloons from sticky notes. That way I had both stencil (negative) and mask (positive) pieces to help me separate and cover each balloon to color. I used Ranger distress inks (two for each balloon) and layered the balloons at the top of the card through the negative sticky note. Then I was able to mask the finished balloon to add one right next to it. The mask on the purple balloon was over a little too far so I had a whitish shadow onto the blue balloon but I think it gives it more dimension. The red balloon is seen through the yellow balloon, but again I think it makes the yellow balloon look transparent! Happy little accidents! 

After getting the balloons onto the card I used the Hero Arts "Happy Birthday" stamp inked in Kaleidacolor Calypso ink for some more added color. I masked off the sentiment and used the new-to-me My Favorite Things stamp set "Heart Balloons" for the strings and my MISTI to stamp the strings in onyx black Versafine ink.  I especially love the heart string! 

Now to your opinion! I stopped there... which is the top photo. But it didn't quite looked finished to me. I wanted the balloons to have sparkle or shimmer or something! So I got out my Winnie & Walter Scenery: Big Bang Confetti stamp set to add the open circle confetti inked with the same ink as the sentiment! I think this finished it nicely and it's still one layer! I also sprayed Perfect Pearls mist over the balloons and the ink reacted with the water to give some splotchiness and shimmer to the balloons. Which card do you like better? The clean and simpler with no confetti or the one with confetti? I'm curious as to your opinion!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Now onto the giveaway! I'll be gone for two weeks down to Illinois then California! So this giveaway will run from today until September 15th when I return home. I'll choose a winner on September 16th! This is a Hero Arts "Real Leaves" stamp set and just in time for those fall cards and crafts!

How do you enter? For each of these things you do, you will receive an entry into the giveaway when you leave a blog comment telling me you've done each one! That's SEVEN comments on this post per person that you can do to enter. (If you do one comment for all seven then you only get one entry!) I will count all the blog comments and enter that number into random.org to choose a winner!

1. Comment on this blog post

2. Become a blog follower (or let me know you already follow)

3. Follow my Instagram account - Alaska.Kris (or let me know you already follow)

4. Like or comment on my giveaway post on Instagram

5. Like & follow my Facebook page for this blog: Alaska Forget Me Not Designs (or let me know you already follow)

6. Share my giveaway on your Facebook page. (enter the Facebook link here in a comment)

7. Follow my Pinterest board(s) (or let me know you already follow)

That's seven entries per person! You don't have to do all of them but it does give you more chances to win this lovely leaf set!

I'll try to post the other balloon card I made this way next Sunday... and to remind you to enter the giveaway!

Thanks and God bless your day...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts "Happy Birthday", My Favorite Things "Heart Balloons"
Ink: Ranger distress ink, Kaleidacolor Calypso, Versafine
Paper: Gina K Designs heavy weight 120 lb
Dies: My Favorite Things "Party Balloons"
Tools/Misc.: MISTI, Perfect Pearls
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps Challenge: #159 Clean & Simple 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
Seize the Birthday: All About Weather (no topping for me!)
Winnie & Walter: Join in & Win (confetti)
Inkspirational Challenge: #90 Clean & Simple

"YOU... are awesome" and more moose videos!

YOU are awesome!

Hello and welcome!

As you can tell my blog posts are getting a little behind! I've been working so much but that is slowing down soon. I'm actually leaving town for two weeks in early September but you can still find me on Instagram... and I'll be having a giveaway while I'm gone!

My card I'm showcasing today was a new-to-me stencil I got off of Blitsy (an online discount store). I used distress inks to color in the stencil rays and then sprayed them with Perfect Pearls to make them shimmer. Then I cut out the Avery Elle "YOU" from black foam and silver glitter paper to make them POP against the rays. I added "are awesome" from the coordinating stamp set and a few silver foil stars finish the card.

It's a simple card but I like it and it's going to my grandson who started first grade last week!

Now those moose videos... I'm trying to set up my YouTube channel but you can view the 15 second versions on my Instagram account for now. The last one I took HERE was along the side of the road coming home from work. The ones before that are mostly of the twin moose calves and you can find them HERE and HERE. And I would love it if you followed my Instagram account too!

So check back here around September 1st for a giveaway! God bless your day...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: Avery Elle Simply Said
Dies: Avery Elle Simply Said YOU, Simon Says Stamp "My Stars"
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress inks Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon
Paper: Gina K Designs heavy weight, silver gloss pape
Accessories: MISTI, Vagabond
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Back to School (I'm sending it to my grandson for starting 1st grade)
Crafty Friends Challenge #12: Clean & Simple

I'm still here & a Pop Up Challenge

Kathy Racoosin's Pop Up Challenge!

Hello and welcome!

I'm on day 9 of 13 days straight of working but thought I'd pop in here to let you know about a Pop Up Challenge coming up August 14-17th by Kathy Racoosin (of the 30 Day Color Challenge)! It will be 4 days of fun, videos and prizes! I'm hoping I won't be working quite as much to be able to join in even for a little bit! How about you?

I've only had about a half hour crafting time and I'll let you see what I worked on in my next post! It has to do with stencils, distress ink and Perfect Pearls!

I'll leave you with this lovely setting sun shot of Pioneer Peak... I worked late and it was all lit up on my way home!

Pioneer Peak outside Butte, Alaska

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway Winner... and Hero Arts Layered Bird Card

One layer CAS birthday card for my husband

Hello and welcome!

Today I'm sharing the card I made for my husband Kevin's birthday. I've always wanted to try the multi color layering stamps that I've seen from Hero Arts and this bird was the perfect one for my husband, who has been a bird watcher his whole life! I personally adore chickadees but this bird isn't really chickadee shaped so I went with muted drab tones (that are usually the female of the species!) in Hero Hues. I used my MISTI stamp tool but still had a hard time perfecting lining the stamps on one another... that will come with practice, I'm sure. My issue, not the stamps! So to cover a slight "miss" I outlined his body with a black Copic multi-liner.

I wanted the focus on the bird and so used soft green and brown for the branch and needles (from an old Stampin' Up set, I believe). The sentiment is a combination of Penny Black ("happy birthday") and a lesser known company from Blitsy ("love"). I call my husband, Babe and Love... what do you call your spouse?

And what you've been waiting for the GIVEAWAY WINNER IS....

MAGGIEB1983

Congratulations Maggie! I've emailed you for your mailing address! Thanks to everyone who shared, liked, followed, and posted about my little giveaway! I'll be having more as I get more time to share!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless your day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts "Color Layering Bird & Branch", Stampin' Up "Pine Branch", Penny Black "Friendship", Avocado Arts (little heart)

Ink: Hero Arts Black, Cup O' Joe, Soft Granite, Field Greens

Paper: Gina K Designs 120 lb white

Accessories: MISTI, corner rounder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Challenges:

Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes Birthday (topping embossing which I don't have)

4Crafty Chicks: #257 Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
CASology: Precious (love for husband)

Walking on Matanuska Glacier & Giveaway Winner Announced Tomorrow!

Hello and welcome

My husband, Kevin, and I on Matanuska Glacier.

Our feet near a glacier-blue crevasse on Matanuska Glacier.

The blue, blue ice of Matanuska Glacier.

Kevin on Matanuska Glacier

I'm sorry I didn't get to pick the winner of the Simon Says Stamp and acrylic mounts giveaway yet but I have a great reason... I went walking on a glacier for the first time!

Tomorrow... August 3rd... is my husband, Kevin's, birthday. I've worked 13 days straight at two jobs and only had today off and work the next six days. So to celebrate my husband's birthday on my day off I asked if he wanted to go walk on Matanuska Glacier! We've lived in Alaska almost 29 years now and we've never been ON a glacier! The Matanuska Glacier is only 60 miles from our home... 50 miles from Palmer. So on a drive we went! The scenery all along the Glenn Highway is breathtaking but the glacier... STUNNING BEYOND BELIEF! You have to know there is a Creator when you are on that glacier! Even the pictures don't due it justice! If you come to Alaska, go to Matanuska Glacier!

And that is my excuse for not picking a winner today! I will pick one tomorrow after work and post who has won later tomorrow night! Thanks for being patient!

See you tomorrow!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
God's creation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
Not to fall down from being stunned by His goodness and beauty!

Butterfly...you color my world!

Butterfly... you color my world

Hello and welcome!
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check the bottom of this post for a link to my giveaway post that ends July 31st at midnight Alaska time!

Today I have a huge butterfly  that sparkles and shimmers with glitter and rainbow color! I sponged the Ranger distress inks through the negative part of a large butterfly stencil. This stencil is awesome because you get both the positive and the negative pieces in heavy plastic to use! After adding the color I left the stencil in place and spread translucent embossing paste over the colors. Then I quickly lifted the stencil and poured on silk micro-fine glitter in "cool diamond" across the paste. I let dry thoroughly before proceeding.

I used a Papertrey Ink sentiment colored with Colorbox ink and added clear sequins with a little Stickles in their middles for added sparkle!

This butterfly has so much dimension with that paste and it all sparkles so much in the sunlight!

GIVEAWAY: Don't forget about my Simon Says Stamp giveaway on this post! It ends in less than a week now! You have six ways to enter by July 31st at midnight Alaska time!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll announce a winner next Sunday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink (sentiment) "Beautiful Butterflies"
Ink: Ranger distress (butterfly), Colorbox pigment "primary"
Paper: Gina K Designs 120 lb white
Stencil: Heidi Swapp
Accessories/tools: MISTI, sequins, Ranger Stickles "Icicle", Wendy Vecchi translucent embossing paste, Elizabeth Craft Designs silk micro-fine glitter "cool diamond"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHALLENGES:
Stamping Royalty #287: Keep It Simple SR#287
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Sparkle & Shine
Addicted to Stamps Challenge: Only Clean & Simple #154
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: "i" Scream for... (inking, icicle stickles)
CAS-ual Fridays: Embossing (mine is embossing paste... hope that works!)

Take Time to Enjoy the Simple Things in Life... and a Giveaway!

"Take time..." one layer card

Hello and welcome.

Today I have a one layer card from two stamps I found at a thrift store! Do any of you shop thrift stores for stamping supplies? I check every time I go in, which isn't often now that I'm working full time. The stamp companies are either ones I've never heard of, are from a specialized area of the country or there is simply no company listed on the stamp, as is the case with the stamps used on this card!

I got the pocket of flowers stamp because it will be good for me to learn coloring... both Copic and watercolor if I heat emboss it. I did some minimal Copic coloring on this card. I'm still very much a novice at Copics and have about twenty in shades I prefer (blues, purples, greens).

The sentiment just seemed to really go with the sweet pocket of flowers and who knows... the same person may have given these stamps to the thrift store and used them that way themselves. I didn't even add Wink of Stella or bling/sequins to this card because I wanted it CAS (clean and simple) to reflect the sentiment.

Now are you ready for the GIVEAWAY I've been promising you? It isn't much by any means, but is a 2013 Simon Says Stamp 3"x4" set called "Happy" that I accidentally bought two of and three acrylic blocks with grids (a long rectangle, a medium and small square). (The actual items in photo below.)

Giveaway!

How do you enter? For each of these things you do, you will be given an entry into the giveaway. I will use random.org to choose a random number from six sources (numbered in this order too):

1. Comment on this blog post
2. Become a blog follower
3. Follow my Instagram account (Alaska.Kris)
4. Repost/comment on my giveaway post on Instagram
5. Like/follow my Facebook page for this blog: Alaska Forget Me Not Designs
6. Share my giveaway on your Facebook page.

That's six entries per person! You don't have to do all of them but it does give you more chances to win this small set with blocks (and who knows what else could pop into the package before I send it)!! I will keep the giveaway open through Friday, July 31st and announce the winner on Sunday, August 2nd. That gives you twelve days to do any/all of the above entry options!

I also plan on putting up a page of stamping items for sale. Ones I either don't use or doubled up on buying! So stay tuned for that page to show up within two weeks too!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless your day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: Pocket of flowers (unknown), sentiment (unknown)
Paper: Gina K Designs 120 lb white
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories/Tools: MISTI, Copic markers (various colors), corner rounder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
Happy Little Stampers: Stamping
Just Us Girls: JUGS #302 Color Week

I love you...chickadee!

Love you chickadee

Hello and welcome!

Today's card was made again playing with embossing paste and using a falling hearts stencil. I added Ranger distress ink to the paste to color it red and then smoothed it over the stencil. I added some very fine glitter to the hearts after removing the stencil. I smeared the paste at the bottom and so ended up cutting that part off and popping up the panel on a white heavy-weight card base after it dried. I used a cute favorite chickadee stamp (purchased at Michael's) to make the repeating hearts seem to be flowing out from his sweet little heart and, of course, stressing that he loves the recipient! A couple of white hearts covered in Wink of Stella shimmer framing the sentiment completes the card!

I know I promised a giveaway last week but working full time is wearing me out! I know, I'm a wimp! But I will get the giveaway all arranged soon! I'm going to have it be both here and on Instagram and my blog's Facebook page and I need to figure out how to arrange all that before going forward with it! Forgive my weariness! And continue to stay tuned! Sign up for blog notices, follow me on Instagram (Alaska.Kris) and Facebook (Alaska Forget Me Not Designs)!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: Chickadee (Michael's), sentiment (Blitsy)
Ink: Ranger distress barn door (to color the paste)
Paper: Neenah Solar White 110 lb
Dies: Simon Says Stamp "Four Hearts"
Accessories/Tools: MISTI, Wink of Stella glitter pen, Wendy Vecchi translucent embossing paste
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
CASology: Week 154-Repeat
Clean & Simple on Sunday: Embossing
Time Out Challenges: Nature with optional twist of animals
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Furry friends
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Anything Goes
CAS-ual Fridays: Embossing

LOVE... you mean so much to me!

LOVE...you mean so much to me!

Hello and welcome!
I've had the whole holiday weekend off work and got to play today with ink! I made this card from some experimenting I was doing in my first time using Ranger alcohol re-inkers on glossy paper. I've had some of the inks and alcohol blending solution for a year or more but had never gotten around to playing with them until I got the glossy paper!

The butterfly itself is the alcohol ink in Festive Berries on the glossy card stock. I just randomly dropped the re-inker and then the solution over the top of it. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect but I like the reaction effect and die cut the Memory Box Chloe butterfly from the finished red paper. I saved the inside pieces and used them here (I'll use the "frame" of the red butterfly on another card).
I did a background for my card to go on with Ranger Distress inks... this is always so fun and it never reacts the same way twice! I wanted a soft greenish blue so the butterfly would pop! I kept tapping the watercolor paper into the inks and drying it so there would be lots of fun splotches!

Then I cut the butterfly again from black cardstock that I made shiny with Ranger Glossy Accents. I added all the red pieces into the black frame. This is called paper piecing and was just like doing a puzzle!

I added a sentiment from an obscure company (got it on Blitsy) in Versafine black onyx ink. I also added some clear, shiny hearty sequins I got from the dollar store! They're fun because looking straight at the card you can't really see them but when the light hits them.... BLING!.... there they are! I rounded three of the corners and the card was done!

Denali from 60 miles away

It was a peaceful weekend for me... no parties, fireworks, or parades. My husband and I took a quick day trip to Talkeetna for the first time and saw some of Denali but it was halfway obscured by clouds.
There were lots of tourists, of course, but it was a fun road trip away from home! Next we want to make a run to Fairbanks!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiments (unknown from Blitsy site)
Paper: Neenah 110 lb; Ranger watercolor
Ink: Ranger alcohol inks (festive berry); Ranger distress inks (Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers)
Accessories/Tools: MISTI, Ranger Multi Matte Medium, heart sequins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Challenges:
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge: #286 Anything Goes
The Paper Players Challenge: Summer
Sister Act Card Challenge: Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion Challenge: Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft Challenge: Anything Goes