Monday, August 11, 2014

Getting To Know Me

Hello Friends!

I was recently tagged by the sweet and lovely Claire at Life on The Scrap Heap to do a Getting To Know Me post. If you've not already heard about this, the way it works is, you are tagged by someone to do your Getting To Know Me post, and then you in turn tagged two more people you admire and they do a Getting To Know me post also. And on and on it goes. Kind of like a chain letter except hopefully you don't have bad luck if you mess it up! haha! Which unfortunately I am going to have to do because all the people I asked to participate, were either too busy or had already promised someone else they'd do it. 

Before I begin I will share a picture of me with my two wonderful kids at the wedding last weekend. It turned out so nicely and I was thrilled with the way the photos turned out. I had to hand the camera to the hubby to get one of me though :)



Kaylea is not really taller than I am. We were on a hill. We're both short, but I still have an inch on her :)

So in this blog post I am going to answer these four questions that Claire provided me with to the best of my ability. Hopefully when I am done you will know me better ;)



1. What creative projects are you currently working on?

A Lot!! I always have many creative things going on in my life. That's what makes me the happiest. Right now I am working on several cards for my design teams. I'm trying to get ahead a little because we take our vacation in October, and I want to have all my posts scheduled ahead of time, so I don't miss anything. 



I am also working on my clay ornaments. It's coming up on the busiest time of year, and they are selling super good. I am so shocked and surprised at how well they have done. I never would have guessed it when I added those first ones to my store earlier this year. The last two times I have added ornaments to my store, they were sold within just a few hours. I didn't even have time to post about them on my blog. I do want to thank you all for that! I am thrilled!! And I have more stamp money! haha! I have had a lot of people ask me to email them when I add new stuff to the store, and I just can't keep up with everyone, so I added a newsletter sign up form just over there on the left of my blog if you want to know too :)





Another thing that I am working on is because of a gift that my very sweet friend Jeanne sent me. Her daughter does a lot of cute things with the Rainbow Loom, and  I'm always oohing and aaahing over them and saying how much I want one of those things, but I can't get my daughter talked into one, and I can't justify buying myself one, because I'm way over the age limit for those things! haha! So anyway, she surprised me with one for my birthday last month.  It was one of the sweetest most thoughtful things. She even sent extra rubber bands! I was thrilled! So I've been watching Youtube tutorials and making bracelets! Yippee!! They're fun! Now what am I going to do with all these bracelets, you're probably wondering?? I'm going to figure out how to hang them on the Christmas tree! Yep! Just about everything I do ends up being some kind of Christmas tree ornament. I'll probably make little wreaths out of them or a garland.

2. How and what inspires your designs?

 Well, the question should be more like What doesn't inspire your designs? I am inspired by everything! I am very inspirable!! I love Pinterest ( who doesn't) and I browse for about an hour every morning while I treadmill. I love looking at the little kids clothing in stores. I just love the pretty colors and cute designs. I always have to go up and down the card aisles in any store ( especially Target). Again love the colors and designs. I love brochures and ads. I'm always looking at them, thinking "that's a neat design for a card." And I am always inspired by visiting all of my card blogging friends to see what they are all creating. I love to CASE designs that I see, but usually by the time I'm finished it doesn't look even remotely close to my inspiration! haha! 

3. What method / process (if applicable) do you apply to each of your creative projects, and how long does each project take to complete?

Well I'm going to go with my card making process for this one. My very favorite thing to do when creating cards is, when I get a new stamp set and dies, I love to stamp a ton of stuff and cut it all out and then play with it. I lay it all out in a line above my work area and try different things with different pieces. When I get something I like, I glue it all down. I have this thing about making six cards with each set of stamps I get. Now, let me tell you, I am WAY behind on this. I have stamp sets that I bought two years ago, that I have never used yet, but sometimes the minute one arrives at my doorstep, I'm ripping open the package and inking it up. That's my favorite process, but not always the one I use. Being on my design teams, I would never get anything done if I cut out a hundred things and made six cards every time. So for my design team cards, I usually have some kind of idea in my head of what I'm going to do, or I cut out a limited amount of stuff and play around with it. Usually the latter :) I love to cluster little flowers and things.

So how long does it take me to finish a card? Well, I have been known to spend hours on one card, and then I can run in my craft room some days and throw something together in minutes. Matter of fact, just yesterday, I was working on my card for the Festive Friday challenge. I cut stuff out and moved it around and worked on that card for over TWO hours! And I ended up hating it. So I tossed it aside, grabbed some stuff I had already cut out for another project, threw it together in about three and a half minutes and I loved it! So you never know. I asked my Mom if she wanted the card I didn't like, because I was going to throw it away if she didn't take it, and she said she didn't know anyone she disliked that much! haha! She was joking of course, but it was funny!

4. If you had to describe your ‘signature’ style, what would it be?

I didn't really know I had a style until Leslie invited me to be on the design team for The Card Concept and put me in the Clean and Layered category. She hit the nail on the head! That's exactly my style. I do love a clean looking card with quite a bit of white space, but I love lots of little details. I love detail work. I'll sit for hours working on little die cut scenes or clay ornaments. I forget all about everything! 

Okay, I have answered my questions. I can't leave you without something to look at, so here's a card I made recently that I love how it turned out. I have seen this done by many card makers, so it's definitely not my original idea, but it's a cute one I think :)


That little umbrella is from Clearly Besotted, the sweet flowers are from Lawn Fawn, and the sentiment is from WPlus9.  


Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about me. Thank you Claire for tagging me:)

Have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Kay :)

23 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! Thank you so much for being willing to answer those questions. And with some detail! Beautiful photo of you and your kids. Oh my gosh, amazing sneak peek of the clay pieces! What a neat idea to make ornaments for the tree with your Loom. I will have to share that with Amy. And a fantastic card to end the delightful post. You are a remarkable woman and we all are so lucky that you are willing to share your creative self! You are very inspiring, my friend! Hugs to you!

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  2. Wow! Love reading about your creative process and your family Kay! You are incredibly talented. Love seeing the variety of what you create and how it all still has your style attached to it. Beautiful card too...you are definitely a clean and layered crafter :) Cracking up about your mom's comment too. Only moms can tell us what they really think! xoxo

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  3. Love the picture of you and your sweet family. It was really nice reading about you and learning your process too.. I love the card you made also, that umbrella is adorable! ~Diane

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  4. Great post! Loved learning more about you, Kay! EEEEEKKKK! I see adorable Gingerbread men clay ornaments in that photo. I just received the snowman I ordered and can't get over how sweet it is then I see the Gingerbread men and almost flipped!!!!! I decorate with all Gingerbread men at Christmas so these just sing to me and I can't wait to order some! :) Thank you so much for sharing your talent.

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  5. I really enjoyed this post, Kay! So many fun things to learn about you, and I love, love, love the photo of you and your kiddos! You have such a beautiful family!

    Such a gorgeous card, too! It's so 'You'...soft colors, pretty flowers and stunning design! Once again, you have really inspired me! Thanks so much for sharing photos of those darling clay ornaments, too. I'm sure there is something wrong with my email, as I never received your newsletter about them, so I'll just have to check back more often :-)

    Have a great day, and a fun week ahead! Hugs to you, Barb

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  6. Spectacular get to know you post! I can't wait to see what you come up with the Rainbow Loom!
    Your Clay ornaments are TRULY priceless! I just want to eat them up!

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  7. I loved this post Kay!! You are such an inspiration and I just LOVE visiting you! Love the pic of you and your kids!

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  8. That was really fabulous, Kay! Very well written, very engaging, and very fun to learn more about you and your creative and creating process! Thank you for sharing the sweet photo of you with the kids and some of my favorite cards you've done!

    By the way, this isn't the exact same Hop I was tagged in, but it's very similar. I'm thinking no one will care if you pick up your tagging baton at some point down the line as you are chatting with other bloggers and tag a couple more at some future date. I don't think there should be a time limit, any way, and I love getting to know all your wonderfully talented bloggers at any time! Hugs, Darnell

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  9. Great post and pretty picture of you with your children...It was fun getting to know you...

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  10. First ....love the beautiful photo of you and the kids,Kay! What a beautiful family! TFS. I am so happy you are selling so many of your beautiful ornaments...that I am very happy to own myself. Love the photo of the new Ornaments. You are so very creative in anything you do. Not sure how you fit it all in,I
    enjoyed learning a little more about you. Very well written .

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  11. Kay I loved to read all about you! That is a beautiful photograph of you and your children Kay. Your interview was so interesting I loved to hear about your creative process because everything you make is always so inspiring to me.

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  12. Kay, have you any idea how relieved I am that some of your creations end up in the bin?! I can't imagine anything of yours being anything less than stunning lol. And your ornaments are just adorable...no wonder they sold out so quickly. The card you've shown is so clever too - I have a PTI umbrella and some very similar W plus 9 stamps.. I'd never have dreamt of putting those stamps together. Thanks so much for taking part in the blog hop...I've loved reading about your creative process!

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  13. What a fun post Kay. I've really enjoyed reading about you. The photo of you and your kids is just gorgeous. I can't wait to order more ornaments from you and I'm so thrilled for you that these are doing so well.

    And your card is so cute. I love the umbrella turned upside down holding all those flowers.

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  14. TFS! I really enjoyed reading this post and learning more about your creative process! :)

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  15. That is an awesome pic of you and your sweet kids! Loved reading this post. As usual your card is gorgeous!

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  16. So nice getting to know you more. Your children are beautiful, such a nice picture of the three of you and your card is gorgeous. I love your style!
    I also stopped by to say congrats on being showcased on the Lawn Fawn blog today and I have to tell you that before I found your blog and saw your Lawn Fawn cards, I didn't own any LF stamps and a week ago I finally ordered some :)
    Thanks for the inspiration!

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  17. CONGRATS on being showcased at Lawn Fawn today, Kay! Woo-Hoo!!!

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  18. Saw your cards highlighted at Lawn Fawn...SWEET cards!

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  19. I"m sitting here with a smile bright enough to light up a city, the result of having read your most engaging, illuminating *grin* and all-around fabulous post that gives us a deeper look into who the amazing Kay is! You and your children: gorgeous and handsome! Your clay ornaments peek: dazzling! I continue to be in awe of how intricately detailed they are! As for the Rainbow Loom: super cool that you have one and that your creativity has spilled to include this as part of your repertoire. I can't wait for my niece to get a bit older, so I have an 'excuse' for getting her one and playing along. Your sources of inspiration, your creative process, your signature style...every word engaging! I'm so glad you were tagged, Kay, because learning more about your has been an absolute delight. You're just so darn awesome in every. possible. way! I'm so blessed that you're my friend!!
    Hugs~c

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  20. I'm back...your card is GORGEOUS!! And super congrats on the LF spotlight. I still don't have any LF products...under. a. rock.! Yeesh!
    More hugs~c

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  21. Your creativity is something I look up to and then those ornaments... Wow ! How u manage so much of awesomeness :) u with ur kids... Picture perfect !

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  22. What a great post Kay!!! Loved reading it and getting to know you even better!!
    The picture is adorable!! Your kids are beautiful,just like their Mom!! :)
    HUGS :)

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  23. Oh and i am too,in LOVE with Loom Bands!! :) I bought one for my 10 year old,and now i am the one making most of them!! hehe They are so fun!!

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Thank you so much for leaving me a comment! I read and appreciate each and every one so much! Hugs :)