Giveaway Ends Nov. 24... Grateful & Blessings!

Hello and welcome,

Just a reminder that my November giveaway ends on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th at midnight Alaska time! Go to this post to see how to enter and what Altenew stamp set you can win!

Here's a few Thanksgiving cards I made with the Winnie & Walter set and Stampin' Up wheels that I've unmounted and used in my MISTI! The top two cards I used distress markers in greens, reds and orange and the "thumping" technique to the stamps. I used Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa ink for the sentiments and Wink of Stella glimmer pen coated with glossy accents for shine. The Nuvo drops added just the right touch of fun to each card!

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless!
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CHALLENGES:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Trio-tastic (3 acorns, 3 squares, 3 dots accents, 3 "s's" in blessings!)
Less Is More: Challenge #303-Vintage
Addicted to Stamps: Challenge#221-Anything Goes
Stamplorations Giving Thanks Blog Hop

October Giveaway Starts Today... Hello from Alaska!

Hello and welcome!

Happy October! I can't believe so much of this year has just flown by! I've been playing with distress inks to make some galaxy cards! And because I live in Alaska I've made them Alaska themed!

My card uses lots of Ranger distress inks and Perfect Pearls spray for the shimmery background and Simon Says Stamp die cut star! The mountain scene is an older Great Impressions stamp that I love to use on Alaska type cards! It's not Denali by any means, but it reminds me of Alaska! I backed the mountain scene with glitter black cardstock and foam mounted it to a Gina K Designs heavy weight cardstock. The HELLO and "from" is from Winnie and Walter "The Big, the Bold and the Happy" set. I wrote the word ALASKA because I don't have a stamp... yet! I decided to keep the background with color and the mountain scene just black and white or it would be too busy with both of them colored. I used Judikins diamond glaze on the star and sprinkled dark blue glitter on it before it dried for a little extra sparkle.

I've had requests from customers for Alaska themed cards and so I will continue with that venue for awhile!

GIVEAWAY*GIVEAWAY*GIVEAWAY*GIVEAWAY

Spellbinders Lacey Circles dies (5), assortment of stamps including Dot, Dot, Dot from Stampin' Up.

This giveaway will run through October 18th and I will pick a winner on October 19th!

To win all you have to do is:

1. Comment on this post below for one entry.

2. Comment and/or like giveaway photo on my Instagram account for one entry (Alaska.Kris)

3. Comment and/or like giveaway post on my Facebook page for one entry. (Alaska Forget Me Not Designs)

4. BONUS ENTRY: For a bonus (4th) entry, repost on your blog, Instagram account or Facebook page about my giveaway and leave the link in the comments on this post only.

That is four entries total per person. You have until midnight Alaska time October 18th to do one or all four ways of entering for this giveaway. I will pick a winner and contact them on October 19th. Sorry USA entries only due to shipping costs.

I would love it if you followed me on all my social media but it isn't required for the monthly giveaways. I make cards for the love of creating and love to follow, like and comment on the blogs and other social media accounts of those who love to do the same. That is all.

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless!

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CHALLENGES:

Great Impressions October Challenge: Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps & More: Clean and Simple
Aud Sentiment Challenge Blog: Anything Goes & a Sentiment

APRIL GIVEAWAY... Brushos and Birds

Hello and welcome! Happy April Fool's Day!

For Christmas I buy my own card making supplies and my husband buys his own books or art supplies... it's a win-win situation... we both get what we really want! I got some Brushos and they are FABULOUS to work with and fun to watch! Such fine powders and heavy pigments mean you'll never get the same look twice!

First, I used a large sheet of watercolor paper and lightly tapped some Brushos in turquoise, ultramarine blue and purple and then sprayed with a mister filled with Perfect Pearls spray for shimmer. I let dry and cut the panel in half to use on two cards.

On the first card, I used a large bird die from Memory Box "Birds of a Feather" set and cut from Gina K Designs layering weight black card stock several times and adhered them together to make a thick embellishment. I stamped with Stampin' Up "Delight in Life" using my MISTI to get it clearly seen on the textured watercolor paper. I also used a couple of Hero Arts hearts from the "Prayers" set to stamp over the dot in the "i" and off to the side and below in the music staff. Then I die cut music notes from Die-Namics "Musical Notes" set out of black foam. I adhered these with Ranger multi medium in matte finish. I used Wink of Stella pen all over the bird diecut for sparkle.

For my second card, I diecut the bird from black craft foam and used it as a stamp, a la Jennifer McGuire, again using my MISTI stamp tool to get a good impression by stamping several times in the exact same place. (I love my MISTI!!) You can see the difference in cards in that the stamped bird image has some of the Brushos showing through it although not much. I didn't use the Wink of Stella pen for shimmer... that shimmer is from the Perfect Pearls being sprayed on it. The sentiment is from Winnie & Walter's "The Big, The Bold and The Happy" set. I used Gina K Designs base weight card stock for both cards bases.

I'll definitely be experimenting with more Brushos!!

An update on the MARCH giveaway... the winner never contacted me so I chose another winner

BBGRLDEZIGNS

is the new March winner and I've already sent along her goodies! I always give one week for the winner to contact me before choosing another so be sure to follow me in one way so you know if I choose YOU as the next winner!

Here is what you'll receive if you win April's giveaway...

Waffle Flower "RAIN CHECK" stamps, Freckled Fawn FUN paper clips and FRAMES wood chips embellishments, October Afternoon SUMMERTIME pillow puffy stickers, and Sizzix BRANCH WITH LEAVES die.

This giveaway will run through April 15th and I will pick a winner on April 16th!

To win all you have to do is:

1. Comment on this post below for one entry.

2. Comment and/or like giveaway photo on my Instagram account for one entry (Alaska.Kris)

3. Comment and/or like giveaway post on my Facebook page for one entry. (Alaska Forget Me Not Designs)

4. BONUS ENTRY: For a bonus (4th) entry, repost on your blog, Instagram account or Facebook page about my giveaway and leave the link in the comments on this post only.

That is four entries total per person. You have until midnight Alaska time April 15th to do one or all four ways of entering for this giveaway. I will pick a winner and contact them on April 16th. Sorry USA entries only due to shipping costs.

I would love it if you followed me on all my social media but it isn't required for the monthly giveaways. I make cards for the love of creating and love to follow, like and comment on the blogs and other social media accounts of those who love to do the same. That is all...

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a blessed day!

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CHALLENGES:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

GIVEAWAY WINNER... and Lasting Hearts Card Drive

Butterfly: Stampin Up; Ink: Ranger distress; Sentiments: Papertrey Ink & Hero Arts; Card stock: Gina K Designs

 
Hello and welcome,

Thanks for joining me today! I've made a dozen cards to send to the Lasting Hearts Card Drive (read more about it here on Jennifer McGuire's blog) and I'm getting them ready for the mail. Here's a few of them that I'll be sending along

Coneflower: Stampin Up; Sentiments: Winnie & Walter; Ink: Ranger distress markers; Card stock: Gina K Designs; Butterfly: Fiskars

Tree: Stampin Up; Sentiment: Winnie & Walter; Ink: Stampin' Up; Butterfly: Fiskars; Card stock: Gina K Designs

And Random.org choose the WINNER of the February giveaway:

CAROL CASAVANT

I also "know" Carol from Instagram as momgram69! CONGRATULATIONS CAROL!! I've contacted you for your mailing address so I can get these goodies to you! Stay tuned on March 1st for the next giveaway!

Remember, if you follow my blog, Instagram account or art business Facebook page you'll automatically get notified of posts including the giveaway posts!

Thanks everyone and God bless your day!

Happy New Year... and a Giveaway!

Some recent cards using new-to-me products!

Hello and welcome!
Happy 2016 from Alaska! I didn't make quite to midnight last night but I have reason to celebrate today as it's my grandson, Logan's, 7th birthday! I wish I was with him in California to help him celebrate!

I did some online shopping during the Black Friday weekend and have been getting the goodies in and using them on cards! I've wanted some of these for awhile now and have been experimenting with Brushos, Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and the Minc machine! Those projects will be forthcoming! But I realized I had a lot of supplies I was not and would not be using due to my own style of card making.

I've been purging some of my card making supplies and you will benefit from it! I've also won a few blog hops and giveaways lately (December seems to be my lucky month!) and so the items that don't suit my style of card-making will be given away as I host monthly giveaways starting today! Some of these are brand new items and some have been used but are still in very good condition. I have stamps, dies, patterned paper, embossing folders and embellishments in my giveaways and I have enough for seven months of giveaways so far! So every month around the first I will host a giveaway on my blog that will run for two weeks. Here is the first:

Included in this giveaway: Stampin' Up Sassy Sayings 1 stamp set, Gina K Designs The Giving Tree stamp set, Kelly Purkey Numbers die, Cuttlebug spider web embossing folder, miscellaneous butterflies stamp and Hero Arts flower gems (not shown in photo).

To win all you have to do is:
1. Comment on this post below for one entry.
2. Comment and/or like giveaway photo on my Instagram account for one entry. (Alaska.Kris)
3. Comment and/or like giveaway post on my Facebook page for one entry. (Alaska Forget Me Not Designs)

That is three entries total per person. You have until midnight Alaska time January 13th (my birthday) to do one or all three ways of entering this giveaway. I will pick a winner and contact them on January 14th. Sorry USA entries only due to shipping costs.

I would love it if you followed me on all my social media but it isn't required for the monthly giveaways. I make cards for the love of creating and love to follow, like and comment on the blogs and other social media accounts of those who love to do the same. That is all. I also share Alaska scenery, wildlife and just living here photos.

Here's the details of the cards in the first photo above (I like to credit companies who make superb products that's why I give you the details):

Papertrey Ink Background Basics:Retro in Kaleidacolor Caylpso ink, Memory Box Tristan & Chloe butterfly dies, Copic markers on vellum; black glitter paper, Winnie & Walter "hi" in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah 110 lb Solar White card stock

Hero Arts Tree Trunks stamp, Ranger Distress Ink sky, Clearly Besotted "happy birthday" dies, Memory Box Birds of a Feather dies on Neenah 110 lb Solar White card stock, mounted on Gina K Designs kraft card stock.

Stampendous Jumbo Peony embossed in Hero Arts white embossing powder, colored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors, Winnie & Walter "prayers" in Ranger Archival jet black ink, misc pink sequins on Gina K Designs white heavy weight card stock, black onyx card stock Gina K Designs

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless you in 2016 and always!
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Challenges:
Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes (the trees birthday card)

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!

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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

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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

Baby, Butterfly, Birthday!

Hello and welcome,
I made a few cards over the last week but haven't had time to do posts about each one so I decided to do one post with several different cards in them!

This first card is a stamp I found (again) at a thrift store and I bought it for the sole purpose of practicing my Copic coloring!  I did a simple version here for a boy with blues and greens. Now I don't have a lot of Copics so it's tough getting the colors to blend well. I added some vellum hearts because there was that little blank space on the lower right that needed something to finish it. The sentiments are from Winnie & Walter and Papertrey Ink combined.

This next card is the beautiful butterfly from Stampin' Up on black cardstock! I used embossing ink and some blue Perfect Pearls to add shimmer. I cut it out of the black cardstock and added it to a Stampin' Up kraft cardstock. I stamped some thrift store stamps (yes, again!) and added some blue bling to match. I thought this might be good for a graduation card or someone who is going off to college or out on their own for the first time.

This last card is one I remade after doing some of it in a local card shop card class. I rarely use pattern paper and ever rarer use pink on a card! I don't know the cardstock base or pattern paper company as it was included in the class. It's hard to see but the hearts are glittery pink and I hand drew the strings. The "happy birthday" are die cuts from black foam using Clearly Besotted dies.

Thanks for joining me! God bless your day!
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Supplies:
Stamps: Winnie & Walter (hello), Papertrey Ink (baby)
Paper: Stampin' Up (kraft), Hero Arts (tide)
Ink: Colorbox (primary), Hero Arts (white pigment)
Accessories/Tools: MISIT, Vagabond, Copics
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Challenges:
Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Color Challenge 2

Father's Day Moose...

Moose Father's Day for my husband, Kevin.

Hello and welcome! I know it's been several days since I've blogged but I've started a new job and orientation and training has taken all my time... and I come home exhausted to boot! I have a few cards to show but wanted to do this one today.

I knew I had to get a Father's Day card done for my husband. Two nights ago we had a little incident with a moose in the neighbor's yard you can see in the video on my YouTube channel. (I figured out how to upload to YouTube!)

We have seen more moose in the six months we've lived in the Butte than in all 26 years in Haines! My husband was locking up his bike to a tree after a ride the other evening and heard rustling coming from next door about 20 feet away. He just figured it was the neighbor doing something in his own yard... so he glanced quickly over to just make sure... like you have to do in Alaska... and there was this moose munching on a tree. She wasn't even paying any attention to Kevin and he watched her for a minute before coming in the house to get me. I came out with my phone (camera) of course, and we watched her for a couple minutes while I filmed her. We had a four foot fence and a few bushes and small trees in front of us and if she moved our way we could back track quickly. We didn't even think she'd jump the fence. But lo, and behold, she wanted more delicious looking leaves on the other side of the neighbors fence and lightly, easily leaped over it to get to them. Then we laughed and realized our fence would be just as easy to step over. We let her go on her way eating unconcernedly! Life in Alaska... you gotta love it!

Close up of moose, trees and Butte

So I decided a moose card was in order for Kevin's father's day card. I've used this moose stamp in my first two blog posts and decided I just wanted his head to be peeking into the card. I love the look of watercoloring so much but am not very good at it but I do keep trying and practicing! On Strathmore cold press watercolor paper, I used Ranger distress inks in blues, greens, and browns for the sky, mountain (my quick version of the local Bodenburg Butte) and the ground. I stamped the Misty Mountain rubber stamps moose profile in Ranger Archival black ink. Then using the same ink I stamped the pine trees. ( I'll have to find out from what company! I thought it was Stampin' Up Lovely As A Tree but the tree in that set is larger!) I used distress markers to color in the moose, trees and ground under the trees and the trees on the Butte.

I then die cut the one of the WPlus9 Happy Trio words out of the sky and stacked 4-5 layers of white "happy"s before adding the die cut one to the top. In some photos it looks inset rather than popped up! I used the Winnie & Walter stamp set the Big & the Bold & the Happy to add the "father's day" to finish it. I mounted the panel on Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock for stability leaving about 1/4" white border on all sides.

Close up of popped up "happy"

Kevin was very pleased. And so was I! I do love watercoloring with distress inks because they reactivate and react with water so well... I tried with regular (albeit cheap!) watercolors and it doesn't react the same way. So onward with distress inks!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless! Happy Father's Day!

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Supplies:
Stamps: Misty Mountain (moose), WPlus9 (Happy die) Winnie & Walter (father's day)
Paper: Strathmore watercolor cold press, Neenah Solar White 110 lb
Ink: Ranger Archival black, Ranger distress inks & markers
Accessories/Tools: MISTI
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Challenges:
Kathy Racoosin's 30 day color challenge 2
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Favorite Technique (watercoloring with distress ink)
Inkspirational Challenges: Wild

I know... another moose!

Thanks everyone for stopping by and seeing my first blog post a few days ago! I'll try to keep you entertained enough to come back!

Our current residence is a haven for moose... especially a mama moose with two very small twin calves. There's also an older "calf" (that was kicked out due to current calves coming along) who wanders through. So I'm on a moose kick especially after finding this stamp!

Happy Father's Day Moose

I told you you'd see this moose stamp again! I just can't help it! I colored him with several brown Sakura glitter pens (the glimmer is not really showing up in this picture) and then used Ranger distress inks on the background. I used the older Stampin' Up Inspired by Nature set for the reeds and the kraft cardstock it is attached too. The sentiment is from Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold and the Happy set (I adore all Winnie & Walter sentiments!).

I colored this for Kathy Racoosin's 30 day color challenge... it inspires me to color when there's a challenge!

Now I'll try not to do another moose for a few days... in fact I was working on tropical fish today so you'll see that one in the next post!

God bless your day and thanks for reading!
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Supplies:
Stamps: Misty Mountain Stamps (moose), Winnie & Walter (sentiment), Stampin' Up Inspired by Nature (reeds)
Paper: Neenah Solar White 80 lb, Stampin' Up Crumb Cake
Ink: Ranger Archival Black, Ranger Distress Inks (Crushed Olive, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Broken China, Walnut Stain, Black Soot)
Accessories/Tools: MISTI, Sakura glitter pens in browns
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Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make it Masculine