MOVING

Kimm's Daily Grace is moving!! Bookmark the new blog!
http://artfulsentimentsbykimm.blogspot.com/

Kimm

Summer Swaps 2

Here is another summer swap for you! Can you tell I love that background stamp?? I used three shades of green... a hunter, wasabi green and celery. I love the look of mixed greens together. It's fresh and crisp! I added diamond glitter to highlight a few of the petals but otherwise left the embellishing minimal.
Stamp credits- Stampin' UP!

Kimm BT

Summer Swaps

I've been a busy, busy stamper the last 2 weeks!! I've been working on assignements for Technique Junkies... stamping for my classes at Eclectica (our local scrapbooking store in Memphis)... and stamping for a few swaps I joined this summer. I do not join alot of swaps during the year as I simply do not have the extra time. However, it is fun to indulge in some swaps during the summer break from homeschool. I'll be able to share these over the next few days!
The colors for this card are rust, teal and a pale taupe. It feels gender neutral to me. For the main image I colored the bold stamp with markers in pale taupe and edged the leaves with teal, misted with water then stamped. The outline image that matches was stamped in rust.
Stamp credits- Stampin' UP!

Kimm BT

More Riot of Petals

I am totally crazy to cut these flowers out!! But the mum image is so pretty with all its delicate little leaves I really wanted to try it next to different backgrounds.

Above the background is Faux Wood Grain by Technique Junkies (Dec. '04 issue). Below the background is Faux Brick that I wrote for Technique Junkies (Mar/April '08 issue).

I love them both... they have an autumn feel to them, even though it is the super hot here in Memphis!

Stamp credits: Stampin' UP! and Eureka!
Kimm BT

What do you do with these?

The gals at my Eclectica (my local scrapbook store) tell me customers are always asking, "What do you do with these?" when they see all these little shimmery pots of Twinkling H2O's. So I decided I wanted to teach a class on how to use them! Twinklers are probably my favorite medium so it's not like anyone had to pull my leg to do it;) I'll be sharing a few special tips with them too!
My class is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10th 6:30pm if you are in the Memphis, TN area. Class fee is $17 . It will be fun and informative!

Here is my storage solution for my Twinklers. My hubby custom built this wood case for me. The little drawers are 1 1/2" deep, just the right size. I have designated one drawer for each color family. The case is heavy and therefore not portable, but the perfect solution for home.
These are my daughters twinklers. She stores hers in an 8 1/2" x 11" project case. We have since added a sheet of non-slip drawer liner to the bottom to keep her twinkers from sliding around.

Another inexpensive idea for home use is to hold them in kitchen ware dividers. Instead of putting spoons and forks in the dividers, use it to hold your twinklers. Any clean up is easy too!

Kimm

June Workouts and Organization

June Organization and Maintenance- Begin a cleaning and organizing of your rubber stamps. If you store your stamps in plastic cases or CD cases, clean the outsides of your case with a mild soapy cloth and dry. If you store unmounteds or acrylic stamps in a binder, clean the surfaces of the binder pages and binder itself. Look at the rubber surface of your stamps for any that need cleaning. Use a cleaning solution designed for rubberstamps as they often contain conditioners and can prolong the life of your stamp. An inexpensive toothbrush can get into little crevices especially for pigment ink residue. If your stamps need to be conditioned (they will feel stiff and appear dry, like an old car tire) apply a thin coat of glycerin to the rubber side, let set overnight then wipe clean. Ensure that any stamp set names, stamp company copyrights or identification labels are secure or create new labels if needed.
Weekly Challenges-
Week 23- Make BACKGROUNDS week. Use your favorite INK!
Week 24- Make 5 Christmas cards. Begin with a sample card you love, then change up the colors or main image.
Week 25- Stamp a card or scrapbook page with PINK. Any shade of pink from a pale baby pink, hot pink or deep rosy pink. Make it fun, trendy or unusual.
Week 26- Create a card or scrapbook element using CHIPBOARD. Ink, paint or distress your chipboard.

BE REAL tip of the month: Techniques. I don't think I can say enough about the value of learning a few good techniques! Playing with techniques makes stamp time ART time! Using different rubber art techniques will help you get your moneys worth from even a few stamps! Learn a new technique or two... try one of your favorites with a long forgotten stamp... or revive an oldie but goodie technique with a new stamp!

Kimm BT

Riot of Petals

The stamped I used here is a large background stamp by Stampin' UP!. It's gorgeous with all the petals! But with a detailed stamp like this I'm not always going to want to paint those petals. A quick solution for stamps of this nature is to stamp them over technique backgrounds. I choose this background (colored bands technique) because there were soft color variations that allowed some light to show through, as a garden full of blossoms would have. Then I stamped the image again with pomegranate ink and spotlighted a portion of the floral.
It is my sons 18th birthday today! A very special day for him so we'll be having some family celebrating today!!
Enjoy your day as well.
Kimm BT

May Workouts and Organization

May Organization and Maintenance- Sharpen your pencils and crayons! Use an artist quality pencil sharpener to sharpen all pencils- colored, water color, metallics. Use a cosmetic sharpener for watercolor crayons. Never use an electric sharpener for your art pencils as they are too rough and can increase breakage.
Weekly challenges-
Week 18- Use a shade of YELLOW in a card. It can be the main color or a layer. Try pairing your yellow color up with another color. Primary colors always work well together. Stretch and try using 3 shades of yellow paired with more neutral colors.
Week 19- Make 3 cards using ONLY A GREETING and background or background technique. No other stamped images… but any number or type of embellishments are allowed.
Week 20- Stamp a card or scrap page with ORANGE. Use a little or a lot of orange. Your orange can range from a very light peach to coral or deep pumpkin orange.
Week 21- Emboss with colored powder. No gold, silver, white or black allowed.
Week 22- Stamp a card using RED somewhere in the card. Use some of your prepared backgrounds. Be brave and try a card using only shades of red!
Be Real Tip of the Month-I can be very organized, but truthfully it does take effort! I don't always want to make the time because life is busy. Be real with yourself and your time management. If staying organized is a struggle for you... make it a habit to spend 5 min. after each stamping session to put your supplies away and clean your table off. Stay on schedule with the maintenance tasks each month. Over the course of the year I cover all areas of maintaining your supplies and tools, which helps prolong the life of those cherished investments!
When I'm staying organized, as a benefit of my efforts, I often find myself reacquainted with a tool I haven't used in a while, embellishments that were once out of sight, or a neglected stamp set that I still love. And my creativity finds a new spark. I hope you will enjoy these benefits also!
Kimm BT