PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS - SCRAPPING YOUR STASH BLOG HOP

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop 

where we are Scrapping our Stash.

 If you want to see five darling, adorable notecards I made for PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO, then click HERE.   If you want to see the latest coolio sketch, and my take on it, by MY SCRAPS AND MORE, click HERE. 

This month we are focusing on scrapping our Valentine's stash, or at least stash that has to do with love. We are thrilled to have Kiwi Lane Designs sponsoring this month!  

Kiwi Lane Designs creates templates that help take the frustration out of scrapbooking!  And one lucky winner will get a border set and an accessory set from Kiwi Lane.  We are big fans of Kiwi Lane Designs and in fact have several members of our design team who either currently or in the past have been a part of their design team!  Details on how you can win this prize are at the bottom of this post!

Here is my layout that I created for this blog hop:

Now, I have a confession to make.  I don't have any Valentine's paper left in my stash.  I used to hoard collect Valentine's paper along with all the holiday papers, but then I realized I had lots of cutesy papers that I probably wasn't going to use.  So I gave most of it to a certain 4 year old in my family who was most appreciative!  

That being said, I am on the design team for PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO and have been very fortunate to get the new collections as soon as they come in.  And to make way for the new, I need to use up some of my older stash, including some appropriately-themed heart papers and lovely pastel papers.  I l-o-v-e these papers, which is why I held on to them.  But there is no better time to use them, I think, then on a layout about my youngest daughter and her daddy.  She is a Daddy's girl, through and through, and he has often said he would give her the world.  Unfortunately, he didn't realize "giving her the world" might include giving her his favorite Irish cap!

Here are a couple of close-ups.  I love the way the bright yellow hearts pop against the softer pastel papers, don't you?

I cut up my background paper and then layered it in angled strips, which I machine-stitched onto a piece of cardstock.  I added a little peek-a-boo strip of heart paper for fun.  I used rub-ons (also dug out of my stash), a label-maker, and alphas to create my extremely long title.

 Okay, back to the blog hop...we this is a huge list for the blog hop and would love for you to visit as many as you can...but we are not making that mandatory to qualify for the big prize.  BUT - many of the designers are offering prizes of their own so the more you hop, the more chances you have to win!

Here is the list if you are just joining in and want to hop along:

Practical Scrappers Blog Hop List

PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS

Krissy Clark McKee (YOU ARE HERE!!!)

Christine Meyer
Kim Ryden
Patty Selah
Charity Hotrum

Lissa Mitchell
Jennifer Haggerty
Alison Day

Bobbi Smith
Michelle Johns
Kerri Yarus
Cathy Harper
Nicole Laha
Lanette Erickson
Majken Pullin

Erin Morehouse

Lisa Peeples
Claude Campeau
Wendy Coffman
Lee-Anne Thornton

This is what you need to do to win the big prize! You can do any or all of the following for up to three entries! 

1) Become a follower here; or

2) Become a fan on our facebook page; or

3) Become a fan on the Kiwi Lane facebook page, and make sure to tell them we sent ya!

WANT TO WIN A PRIZE WITH ME?  IN THE SPIRIT OF VALENTINE'S DAY, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO LEAVE A SWEET MESSAGE ON SOMEONE ELSE'S BLOG ON THIS HOP.  THEN LEAVE ME A MESSAGE TO LET ME KNOW WHOSE BLOG YOU COMMENTED ON.  What's the prize?  How about a $15 gift certificate to my favorite store - Pretty Little Studio!

This contest will close at 11:59 pm CST on Sunday, the 16th.  

SCRAPPING OUR STASH: PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS BLOG HOP

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop 

where we are Scrapping our Stash.

You should have just arrived from Nicole Laha's BLOG.  If, however, you just found me by accident and want to start at the very beginning (that's a very good place to start), then just click the link for PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS.

As I am sure you know, CHA is this weekend.  That means all the manufacturers we know and love are putting out all kinds of fabulous new goodies for us to play with. So what better time to kick off our new monthly series of Scrapping our Stash than now, when we are getting ready to get lots of new stuff in!   Right?  Right!!

Before I show you what I created from my stash, I want to give a special shout out to the sponsor of today's hop: Kiwi Lane Designs!

Kiwi Lane Designs creates templates that help take the frustration out of scrapbooking!  And one lucky winner today will get a border set and an accessory set from Kiwi Lane.  We at Practical Scrappers are big fans of Kiwi Lane Designs in fact, several of our Practical Scrappers are either currently on or have been part of Kiwi Lane's design team!  

 There's a lot of blogs to hop to, and we sure would love for you to visit as many of us as possible (and maybe leave a nice comment or two).  BUT - it is not mandatory to qualify for the Kiwi Lane grand prize.  

Want to know how to qualify for the grand prize? You can do any or all of the following for up to three entries!

1) Become a follower here

2) Become a fan on our Practical Scrapper facebook page

3) Become a fan on the Kiwi Lane facebook page and make sure to tell them we sent ya!

And one last thing, be sure to leave a comment on the Practical Scrappers blog to let us know what you did.

Speaking of stash, I have some new stash coming in from PAPER BAKERY, including some exclusive FLAIR that you cannot find anywhere else!  I have two extra packs to give away as candy at the end of this blog hop.  How do you win it?  It's simple -  become a follower on my blog (if you aren't one already) and leave me a comment.  I love feedback, and it would make my day to hear from you!

Here is what I created for this hop - a little layout using (mainly) Lily Bee's We R Family Collection:

Now you might be saying, "Krissy, the We R Family Collection is not that old.  How can this possibly be an example of you scrapping your stash?"  Well, it's like this.  I have been playing with my Lily Bee products and recently created two other layouts.  They can be found HERE and HERE.   By the time I finished with them, my work table was covered with lots of scraps and a couple of lonely Lily Bee papers that I had not yet used.  Rather than put them back in their little folder on the shelf, I took the lazy way out came up with the ingenious time-saving idea to go ahead and make one more layout, effectively using up all of my stash.  Now I have an empty paper folder just waiting for the new Everyday Collection, which I cannot wait to get my hands on! (Note:  I did use a few embellishments that were also sitting out on my table by Jillibean Soup.  But Jillibean and Lily Bee play nicely with each other on my layout, don't you think?)

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Well, that's it for me.  Your next stop on our hop is WENDI ROBINSON.  Happy hopping!!!

WINNER AND DESIGN TEAM NEWS!

Well, color me happy!  You all left such wonderful comments on my blog during the recent BLOG HOP, and I am so grateful and feeling a little blessed for all the kind words!  If I could, I would give out a PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO gift certificate to everyone who left a comment (because I l-o-v-e their products).  But I am afraid that might cause a little marital discord between the Hubster and me so I had better stick to the plan and just give away one.  And the winner is....drum roll please...chosen by Random.org...

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:11
Using my awesome college education, I was able to count and determine that Patricia is the winner of the gift certificate!  Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Patricia!  Go Patricia!  You're the winner!  You're the winner!  I will send you the code for your gift certificate a-s-a-p.
Now, on to my newest happy news.  I have been wanting to join the design team for a kit club for a while now.  But I wanted to make sure the kit club was one that suited my style and was a good fit for me.  I have been drooling over THE PAPER BAKERY'S kits for some time now and...apparently they think I am a good fit, too!  (insert very big, huge grin on my face here!)

I am equally excited to be working with these talented crafty ladies!  Can I get a woot woot?!!
Be sure to stay tuned.  I have a little video tutorial to share with you...

Top 10 Blog Hop and Give-Away - 2013 Edition

Welcome to the Top 10 Blog Hop - 2013 Edition.  You should have arrived from Laurel Seabrook's BLOG.  I am thrilled to be hopping along with many of my scrappy friends this year and am so glad you are joining us!  In fact, I am so thrilled that I will be having a little give-away (more on that at the end of this post).  

I loved looking back at the projects I created this year.  I tried to narrow them down to my favorite 10, I really did!  But, the closest I could get my favorites narrowed down was to a "lucky" 13, which just happens to correspond with the year.  So, I went with it. I know - it's a Top 10 Blog Hop, and I am being a rebel and a rule-breaker; you aren't telling me anything my Grandmama didn't tell me at least a hundred thousand bejillion times growing up!  But the heart wants what the heart wants.  *smile*

So, without further ado, here are my Lucky 13 from 2013.  I included the link to each original post just in case you want more details or close-ups:

(HERE AND NOW created for a Practical Scrappers Frugal Finds Challenge, using American Crafts papers)

(THESE ARE THE DAYS created for the Two Peas CHA 13 Online Winter Social Challenge, using several Echo Park collections)

(HUGS AND KISSES created for the Practical Scrappers Pinterest Challenge, using Crate Paper's 14 Collection)

(LIVE INSPIRED created for a Practical Scrappers Sketch Challenge, using Studio Calico papers)

(PERFECTLY IMPERFECT created for a Practical Scrappers individual feature on using less-than-perfect photos, using Pebbles Seen and Noted Collection)

(THE JOURNEY created for Pretty Little Studio, using the Birthday Cake Collection)

(HELLO 13, created for a Pebbles Sketchy Thursday Challenge, using several Pebbles collections)

(FAMILY OF 4 created for Pretty Little Studio, using the Nature Walk Collection)

(BELIEVE YOUR DREAMS, created using Glitz Design papers)

(LIKE A SHINING STAR, created for a Pretty Little Studio sketch challenge, using Woodland Christmas papers)

(FOLLOW THE LEADER created for a Practical Scrappers sketch challenge using Pink Paislee's Hey Kid Collection)

(DEAR SANTA...PLEASE STOP HERE created for the My Mind's Eye "Dear Santa" challenge, using a couple of My Mind's Eye collections)

(OH CHRISTMAS TREE, created as a mixed media tutorial for Pretty Little Studio, using the Woodland Christmas Collection)

Whew!  Are you still with me?  If you are, you may have noticed that several of my projects feature Pretty Little Studio papers.  I have been extremely fortunate to be on the Pretty Little Studio design team and love, love, LOVE their products.  So, if you are a follower of my blog AND leave me a comment telling me which layout you like best from my Lucky 13, then I will choose a winner by random drawing on Monday, December 30th to receive a $20 gift certificate to the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO STORE!!!

Ready to keep blogging?  Your next stop is KERRI YARUS. 

Here is the entire list (just in case you get lost).  Happy hopping!!!

Monika Wright  

Christine Meyer

Suzanna Lee 

Ashley Horton  

Jodi Wilton 

Lisa Swift

Cathy Harper

Marcia Dehn-Nix

Lynn Shokoples

Lissa Mitchell

Juliana Michaels  

Melissa Elsner 

Charissa Miller  

Kelly Jean 

Ashley N Newell

Jennifer Haggerty

Laurel Seabrook  

Krissy Clark McKee - THAT'S ME!!!!!!!!!

Kerri Yarus 

Rhonda Van Ginkel 

Malika Kelly

Pretty Little Studio Cyber Monday Blog Hop

Happy Monday everyone!  And what better way to start off your week than with a PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO Cyber Monday Blog Hop and sale!!!  Cyber Monday is my favorite shopping day of the year because I can let my fingers do the shopping online while I sit at home comfy and warm.  Of course, Pretty Little Studio is having a SALE to celebrate this online shopping holiday.

And our Blog Hop is going to be awesome with these fabulous guest designers (can I get a woot-woot?):

So, sit back, hop with us to get a little Christmas Inspiration, then let YOUR fingers do the shopping.  To make sure you are hopping in the right direction, simply start HERE and then head in this direction:

Sindi Jeffers
Sara Zenger
Penny Smith
Monique Liedtke
Martha Bonneau
Malika Kelly
Megan Hoeppner
Maggie Holmes
Lisa Wilkinson
Lisa Spiegel
KRISSY CLARK MCKEE - YEP, THAT'S ME!!!!!!
Jessy Christopher
Amy Coose
Aimee Maddern

I have been a very good (scrapbooking) girl this year.  I really, really, really, really wanted the new WOODLAND CHRISTMAS COLLECTION and I have been working so hard to use up every single scrap piece of paper (and packaging) that I own before I dug into it, but now it's officially December and the Christmas season so what's a girl to do???  Well, this girl broke the taped seal on her box of Woodland Christmas goodies and let the crafting begin!

You may recall that I started my DECEMBER ALBUM back in July.  Sadly, after a few pages it sat forlornly, gathering dust, on a shelf in my scrap closet.  But now the Christmas season is here and I am moving forward - full of Christmas cheer (and maybe a little egg nog and a cookie or two).  Here are a few more pages I have completed using my new Pretty Little Studio goodies:

It's no secret, I love creating pockets that will let me place tags full of journaling and photos into them.  Let's zoom in just a little closer (and check out my super lovely hand painted stars that Little Lula helped me to make):

I think these larger journaling cards are j-u-s-t the right size for a quick letter to Santa:

Next...did you notice the vellum on the right side?  Yes, that's right, Pretty Little Studio now carries VELLUM papers!  Excuse me while I get up and do a little happy dance real quick...

What - could that be three more pockets I see on this page?

Actually, it's four pockets!  I think I've got this Daily December thing down, now. *smile*

Now, what's a hop without a give-away, right?  To help get you even MORE into the spirit of Christmas, THERE IS A GIVE-AWAY FOR EACH STOP ON THE HOP!  How cool is that?!?!  I L-O-V-E Pretty Little Studio's Flair and thought it would be perfect to give away a pack of FESTIVE FLAIR from the Woodland Christmas Collection.  How do you win it?  It's easy, you leave a comment at each stop in the hop AND on the Pretty Little Studio BLOG.  Winners will be chosen randomly after the hop ends this Friday.

Whew!  I am done!  Next up is JESSY'S BLOG.  Happy hopping!

BLOG HOP WINNER

Oh my goodness!  Where has the weekend gone???  Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left wonderful comments on the Pretty Little Studio/Love My Tapes Blog Hop!  Did you remember I was giving away a $10 gift coupon to Pretty Little Studio's online STORE?  Don't worry, I didn't either!  And the winner, chosen entirely by the Random Number Generator is...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....

#17

Pam, please send your email address to krissy.clark@comcast.net, and I will send you the coupon code so you can pick our some Pretty Little Studio Loveliness!

And, speaking of Pretty Little Studio - have you checked out the online store lately?  They have the perfect things to create wonderful Mother's Day cards and gifts, no matter what your mommy's style (or yours) is.  Here are two cards I made for my mother-in-law and my mom - one vintage and one clean and simple to reflect the personalities and tastes of two women who mean the world to me!

 

(Inside says -  Today and every day, I will always love you)

 

Have a wonderful week, and be sure to stay tuned!  I have some F-U-N projects coming soon!

Pretty Little Studio/Love My Tapes Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the Pretty Little Studio and Love My Tapes Blog Hop!  We thought it would be fun to combine forces and share with you projects highlighting Pretty Little Studio whimsical goodness paired with the versatility and trendiness of Love My Tapes.

During the Blog Hop, you will be visiting blogs from both PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO and LOVE MY TAPES Design Team members.  We promise to bring you a hop FULL of inspiration and creativity!

And what's a blog hop without give-aways?  Be sure to visit all the blogs, including the Pretty Little Studio and Love My Tapes blogs for a chance to win some PLS and LMT goodies!  When visiting the Design Team member's blogs, be sure and leave comments as many of the Design Team members will also be hosting their own Blog Hop giveaways.

The Hop will start on the Pretty Little Studio blog and end on the Love My tapes blog, so head on over to the Pretty Little Studio BLOG if you are just joining in.  We will announce the winners of the PLS and LMT giveaways on May 3rd, so be sure to be watching for the announcements.  If you get lost along the way, just check below to get you hopping in the right direction.

 

Here is the complete list:

 

Aimee Maddern: http://aimeesarmoire.typepad.com/

Annette Allen: http://myclevercreations.blogspot.com/
Annette Witherspoon: http://www.aspoonfullofsugarcrafts.blogspot.com/
Ashley Horton: http://www.ashleyhortondesigns.com/
Candice Elliott: http://truedivinehand.blogspot.com/
Christina Collins: http://dontworry-bescrappy.blogspot.com/
Heather Adams: http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com/
Janice Whiting: http://www.janiceaileen.blogspot.com/
Jenni Calma: http://www.papercardinal.blogspot.com/

Krissy McKee: http://krissyclarkmckee.blogspot.com/  (that's me!)

Lisa Spiegel: http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Lisa Wilkinson: http://www.createfor7.blogspot.com/
Mary Ann Jenkins: http://www.maryannjenkins.com/
Missy Whidden: http://littlenuggetcreations.blogspot.com/
Penny Smith: http://www.pennysmithdesigns.blogspot.com/
Tina Walker: http://adogslife-thirteen.blogspot.com/
Missy Whidden: http://littlenuggetcreations.blogspot.com/

 

Now, you should have just arrived from Jenni Calma's blog HERE.  

 

Okay, let's get hopping!

 

Here is a quick little layout I did starring my youngest smart girl, who was just inducted into the National Junior Honor Society!  

 

I have never been a huge tape user - before now.  The LMT products that I was given were so easy to use and extremely versatile.  I matted my layout with the tape, I made a photo corner with my tape, I adhered it to dark cardstock to make a banner, and I adhered it to white card stock and punched stars.  When you combine that with my PLS papers which I discovered a while back can be used on ANY and EVERY type of layout - well, it's "so fab" - just like my girl! (no I could not resist!)

A little close-up:

I think the Love My Tapes banner that I made and the Pretty Little Studio title created using papers from the Birthday Cake Collection go pretty well together!

I am loving all this loveliness, and to celebrate the "fabness" of it all - I am giving away a $10 gift card on May 4th to Pretty Little Studio's Store to some lucky person who leaves a comment on my blog and the PLS BLOG and the LMT BLOG.  That's right, leave a comment on all three blogs by the end of the blog hop and you could win a gift certificate to the wonderful online store that started my love affair with all papercrafting things vintage!

Okay, that about wraps it up for me.  Next on the list is Lisa Spiegel who can be found right HERE!

Nature Walk Blog Hop (Pretty Little Studio)!

Happy Monday and welcome to the Pretty Little Studio Nature Walk Blog Hop, where we are celebrating the reveal of a fabulous soon-to-be-released collection - Nature Walk - full of the cutest, vintage-inspired flora and fauna you could imagine!  If you thought the recently released Birthday Cake Collection was a huge hit, I am telling you the Nature Walk Collection is going to be a home run!!!

***IF YOU ARE HERE TO SEE WHAT I MADE WITH GOODIES FROM PAPER SECRETS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT POST.***

Now, you should have just arrived here from HEATHER'S BLOG.  

Head on over to the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO BLOG if you are just joining in and want to hop all the way through.  Or, if you should have made a right turn in Albuquerque - for those of you who grew up on Bugs Bunny cartoons like I did - here is the complete list:

                 Aimee: http://aimeesarmoire.typepad.com/

                 Candice: http://truedivinehand.blogspot.com/

                 Christina: http://dontworry-bescrappy.blogspot.com/

                 Heather: http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

ME----->  Krissy: http://krissyclarkmckee.blogspot.com/

                 Lisa W: http://www.createfor7.blogspot.com/

                 Lisa S: http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/

                 Mary Ann: http://www.maryannjenkins.com/

                 Penny: http://www.pennysmithdesigns.blogspot.com/

I have had so much fun playing with Pretty Little Studio's collections lately, which are FULL of unique ephemera and wonderfully coordinated papers that you just won't find anywhere else.  And even though Pretty Little Studio goodies are vintage inspired, they are extremely versatile and can be used for any style of scrapbooking and card making - such as this layout I recently created for a PLS sketch challenge using the Sandcastle Collection (one of my favorites):

Pretty, right?  Would you like a chance to win your own Pretty Little Studio  loot, I mean, products so you can make your own pretty little creations?  You would?  Well, you are in luck because we are having a giveaway!  That's right, one lucky person will win a $20 Gift Card to the Pretty Little Studio Shop!  The best part is, you don't have to kill the bad guys, or lift heavy weights, or run 10 kilometers.  In fact, you don't even have to leave your chair!  For a chance to win, all you have to do is: 

 

1.      Follow Pretty Little Studio’s BLOG;

2.      Like Pretty Little Studio on FACEBOOK;

3.      Leave a comment here letting me know what Pretty Little Studio item you like the most or would like the most if you had a $20 gift certificate burning a hole in your pocket!

 

That's it for me today.  Next up on the hop is my good friend, LISA W - I just know she is going to have some awesome inspiration for you!

Okay now, hop along now - get moving.  Don't need anyone getting any hare-brained ideas about hanging out around here all day...