Kalyn

Peek of the Week 12/30/09

    Hi there! I'm not sure about you, but one thing I love about this time of the year is making New Years resolutions. My friends and family know this about me (and probably find it a little annoying), but I love coming up with my resolutions for the year and then asking everyone I know what theirs are. I don't always (okay rarely) keep my resolutions going for an extended period of time, but there's something about the idea of a fresh start and positive change that inspires me and helps me to start the year off right.

    For 2010, I don't have all of my resolutions ready to go quite yet, but I do have one that I've already tried to adopt: saying the word 'like' less (as well as any other silly fillers that I use in everyday speech). In addition to resolutions, I'm also going to work extra-hard at my 2010 goals and even try to adopt a new life outlook / attitude. It's going to be a big year for me with a lot of brand new changes coming my way, so I might as well go for it! 

    So in the spirit of an exciting and fresh new year, here's today's card:

 SUPPLIES:  Clear card: Hero Arts  Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper  Chipboard alphabet: K&Co.  Transparency: Hambly Screen Prints  Rhinestones: craft store  Alphabet dies: QuicKutz  Star dies: QuicKutz

    I'd love for you to leave me a comment with your 2010 New Years resolutions. Sometimes hearing what other people are doing inspires me to come up with one for myself! 

    May 2010 be the year that amazing things happen for you!

<3,

Kalyn

Peek of the Week 12/24/09

    Merry Christmas Eve everyone! What an exciting time. :) I'm really having a spectacular Christmas season this year. I won't bore you too much with my personal babbling, but I have to say for the record that this has been one of the busiest, but best I've had in a long long time. It started off with a Monday night dinner with my brother (who I don't get to see as much as I'd like) who I completely admire and look up to. Catching up with him was great and hearing about how much success he's having is truly inspiring and fills me with a lot of hope for my future. I spent Tuesday evening with my darling college friend and apartment-mate who always makes me smile (we ate some delicious Olive Garden food too!). Yesterday started with Christmas shopping with my Dad. I treasure the chances to spend as much time with him as I can and even braving the crowded mall 2 days before Christmas was a delight because of his company. I left our fun shopping trip to meet up with a friend for a 4-hour conversation. Do you ever talk to someone and afterward feel renewed, excited and completely convinced that there are only sunny days ahead? Well, I'm lucky enough to know someone whose words are just that special. I took a quick break from my outings to grab dinner at home and then it was off to another friend's house to be goofy and ridiculous with my high school friends. Sitting around and laughing with the same people I've been laughing with since I was 13 just gives me warm fuzzies inside. Crawling into bed last night close to 2 a.m., I felt like just about the most blessed person on Earth. That joy continues today as I had a super special breakfast with a friend who I simply don't get to connect with enough (and some delicious pumpkin pancakes too!).  This holiday marks a huge change for me as I get to move across the country and getting to spend time with everyone dear to me has been the greatest gift I could ever ask for. This Christmas may not be the most traditional for me (we don't have a tree up or lights or wrapped presents), but I know I'll remember it as being one of my favorites. Thanks to my truly amazing family and friends for giving me more joy in my life than I knew was possible.

    Yikes, that was a long little detour on our way to my Christmas card. But, what would Christmas cards really be without people to send them to? Loved ones are the whole reason that handmade gifts and crafts exist. :) So without further ado, my simple but sweet Christmas card:

SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper  Patterned paper: Imaginisce  Clear stamp: Imaginisce  Edge punch: Fiskars  Glitter glue: Ranger

Mass-producing cards is always tricky for me. There's so much more I want to do, but I have to keep them simple to save on time (and cramps in my fingers). So, I came up with this little design.

I wish you the happiest and most love-filled Christmas weekend. Thank you for reading my blog and I can't wait for what 2010 has to bring! :)

<3,

Kalyn

 

A Card a Day Keeps the Crafty Blues Away

    Hey there! It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas here on the East Coast with remnants of a huge snowstorm this past weekend. If you're still looking for a last minute gift, let me recommend an amazing new book from Paper Crafts magazine - A Card a Day. This book has over 365 card ideas for every day of the year. It's organized by month for easy reference and the designs are simply gorgeous (would you expect anything less?). You can pick one on up online (just click on the link above) or at your local bookstore in the craft / art section.

 

    I was lucky enough to be a part of this book in a couple of different ways. You can find 2 of my cards in this book (one for Martin Luther King Jr. day and one below)! You can also find my little name in the masthead as a contributing editor! I never would have thought that I'd be part of a BOOK! Quite exciting. Here's one of the cards I have in there:

 

    There you have it! I have to give a huge thank you to the wonderful team at Paper Crafts for letting me be a part of this project. 

    Stay tuned for this week's POTW to see my Christmas cards this year! :)

<3,

Kalyn

Peek of the Week 12/15/09

    Hi friends! Sorry I've been so absent from blogland lately. I'm getting ready for a big move and between packing, making Christmas cards (I'm so behind), and spending time with friends, my blog has been slightly abandoned. But for the new year I'm going to make it a very serious resolution to spend more time on here. I just love resolutions - they give such a fresh start to everything. 

    Speaking of 2010, today's POTW is from the brand new January/February 2010 issue of Paper Crafts magazine! The new issue has some awesome new columns in it and is (as always) chocked full of gorgeous designs. Sometimes I can't believe my work is featured in amongst all the other beautiful creations. I mean, check out the cover for goodness sake!

 

So gorgeous. Here's one of my valentines from the "Vintage Valentines" feature.

You can find this card on p. 67 of the issue and my other cards on pages 37, 66 and 70!

    If you're looking for a great way to kick-start your new years thinking, pick up the Jan./Feb. issue at your local grocery store, bookstore or craft store, or order it online! Fun fact: I saw this issue in the place of honor at my local grocery store - right by the checkout! So exciting. :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a happy day!

<3,

Kalyn

Peek of the Week 12/9/09

Hi there! I've got to keep it short today - lots to do and not enough time to do it! We're in the full swing of winter here on the east side of the US and we've been getting lots of little snows here and there. Even though winter is definitely not my favorite season, I LOVE winter and holiday-themed paper-crafting products. Here's a cheery winter card using some Cosmo Cricket paper and embellishments:

 

SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper  Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket  Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket  Snowflake punch: Provo Craft  Buttons: Papertrey Ink  Glitter glue: Ranger

I hope you're having a safe and joyful start to winter! 

<3,

Kalyn

Peek of the Week 12/2/09

Hey everyone! Today's POTW is doubly exciting because I have 2 "peeks" to share with you. The first is quite thrilling for me and came as a total surprise yesterday. One of my cards was featured as a "sneak peek" for the December 2009 issue of CARDS magazine! I was reading their blog as I always do and lo and behold was one of my cards! It's the first that I've ever had published with them and I cannot wait to see it in print! Here's the link to that blog post. My card is the 4th one down on the left hand side. So excited! I can't wait to get ahold of the issue. 

On to today's Peek of the Week. Today's card is a Christmas greeting for a spouse or significant other. I just fell in love with these little gingerbread cookie die cuts from QuicKutz and wanted to make something simple, but cutesy with them. So here it is! Hope you like it:

 

SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper  Font: Bewitched from dafont.com  Ribbon: American Crafts  Dies: QuicKutz  Felt heart: Provo Craft  Rhinestone: craft store  Tool: Corner rounder punch

Thanks for stopping by!

<3,

Kalyn

Before and After: My Craft Room

Hi there! I've been wanting to share this "before and after" for a while now, but wanted to wait until my new craft space was the epitome of perfection. Well, I realized that's never going to happen and that it looks pretty darn good right now, so why not share my favorite room in the world with my crafty friends? Here's what the room looked like BEFORE:

There wasn't much going on in here "before". Just a spare room that housed our family computer and odds and ends that we didn't have a real place for. I'm so incredibly lucky to have parents that didn't mind me taking over this room. My mom still uses it as her office as well, so we're good about sharing. :)

It took a lot of work and lots of lifting (my mother and I did it all ourselves), but I think it totally paid off. I feel happy every time I walk into this room. Here's the AFTER:

The room is mainly taken up by the desk which houses all of my stamps, tools, inks, edge punches, small paper scraps and miscellaneous items. Then you can see my patterned paper and cardstock holders to the left and right of the desk that I got at westendwire.com. On to some close-ups:

Here you can see my framed cover of Paper Crafts magazine with my gift bag on the cover, my bulletin boards (for submissions deadlines, inspiration and need-to-buy lists), my jars of Papertrey Ink buttons, my QuicKutz squeeze handles, ipod docking station, cutting mat and rotating container for essentials.

Here's another shot of the main part of my desk. I love the "K" that my friend Jenna got me from Anthropologie! 

  

  Here's the right side of my desk, which houses my QuicKutz Epic 6 and Revolution (you can see it peeking out from the left side) as well as my little tool box that houses my Cookie Cutter alphabets and chipboard letters and such. Up above that is a little shelf that I have birthday cards on given to me by lovely friends and fam. :)

This is the messiest part of my craft room, but I can't not include it because it houses some of my favorite embellishments. On the bottom shelf I keep my magazines and books. The shelf above that holds boxes of finished cards. The second shelf from the top is my favorite because it has 3 custom-made boxes (by my awesome mom) that perfectly hold larger items like American Crafts Thickers, medium-sized embellishments like K&Co. stickers / American Crafts Flair and a small one that holds tiny things like BasicGrey pearls. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my craft room. I love seeing other people's creative spaces, so I hope you've enjoyed seeing mine! I'd love to see pictures of your space - just comment with a link! Thanks for stopping by :)

<3,

Kalyn

Peek of the Week 11/25/09

Hi there! In honor of tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I'm going to do a very thankful POTW today! I could go on and on listing things that I'm thankful for, but I'll keep it to a top 5 this year.

1. My family and friends - kind of an obvious one, but I find myself amazed every single day at the love I have in my life because of these people. I don't know what I did to deserve all of the joy that these angels have brought into my life. To my precious family and to my dear friends (both old and new) I love you all. :)

 

2. Adventure - the past year has been a whirlwind and it's just picking up more turbulence as it goes (is that the right metaphor? I'm not a wind expert. Hehe Well, you get the picture). More change is on the horizon for me as I plan to start some major life adjustments, but I'm thankful that God is giving me opportunities that will surely help me grow and learn.

 

3. My hobby, passion, life purpose - whatever you want to call it - paper-crafting, scrapbooking, creating art, it's the love of my life and I wouldn't be me without it. It's the lens through which I see this world and even though my overwhelming desire to make a career out of it will surely lead me down a difficult road, I wouldn't trade the view for anything. 

 

4. Entertainment - this one is a little less "deep" I suppos, but that doesn't make me any less thankful for it. Music is another love of my life and I'm so thankful for the tunes that put a smile on my face (John Mayer's new CD, Battle Studies is just one I'm thankful for). Then there's my favorite books, blogs, and magazines (this book is a new fave, I adore this blog, and these two magazines will always be my faves) which I rely on for a creative escape on a daily basis. And let's not forget to be thankful for the fantastic television we have here in America - where else can a show like Glee happen? :)

 

5. This little ol' blog - How could I not thank my own blog, without which I wouldn't have a place to list the things I'm thankful for? :) I still have a long way to go with how I want my blog to develop, but it's brought so much fun and friendship into my online life. And being thankful for my blog really translates to being thankful to you, my sweet, sweet reader. Thank you for your views, comments, and support! 

I've made you wait long enough. Here's this week's card! 

SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Wausau Papers  Patterned paper: Crate Paper  Sticker: K& Co. Glitter glue: Ranger  Die cut accent: Crate Paper  Clear stamp: Autumn Leaves  Twine: Westrim 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank YOU for being a part of the many things I'm thankful for. :)

<3,

Kalyn

Pleased as Punch

    I must admit, I'm fairly new to the world of edge punches, but once I added these tools to my collection, my paper-crafting hasn't been the same. While decorative edge scissors will always have a place in my heart and in my process, edge punches add a lot of extra detail and flair that scissors just simply can't. Take a look at just some of the possibilities:

 

 EK Success Fleur de Lis edge punch

EK Success Parisian edge punch

 

Martha Stewart Crafts Loop edge punch

Martha Stewart Crafts Doily Lace edge punch

Fiskars Threading Water edge punch

So far in my edge punch collection, I have the Threading Water punch, Doily Lace punch and Diamond lace punch.  While I love the Doily Lace and Diamond Lace, the Threading Water punch is my favorite because it works with really any style. Here are a few cards I made using all three of these punches:

This card uses the Diamond Lace punch from EK Success

Here's an example of my favorite Threading Water punch in action!

I love to use the Doily Lace punch and the Diamond Lace punch together for an extra lacey effect. :)

I just used the Threading Water punch in a little accent on this card, but I think it always adds a delicate and pretty touch.

    So if you haven't given punches a try yet, I highly suggest it. I honestly don't know how I could create without them now! I'd love to know if you have a favorite or a suggestion for the next punch for me to add to my collection! :)

<3,

Kalyn

Peek of the Week 11-18-09

    Hi all! I'm finally back from a little vacation and trying to get back in the swing of things. I'm also a bit under the weather - just a cold nothing too serious. But I thought in the theme of feeling sick and drinking a lot of tea, I'd share a card using one of my favorite stamp sets from Papertrey Ink! Enjoy :)

SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper  Clear stamps: Papertrey Ink  Patterned paper: Graphic 45  Buttons: Papertrey Ink  Edge punches: Fiskars, Martha Stewart Crafts  Flower: Prima

Hope this post finds you in good health! Talk to you soon :)

<3,

Kalyn