To My Platonic Valentine

 Valentine's Day is nearly upon us. Are you ready to send a gift of love in the from of a card or gift? Perhaps you are your own Valentine in which case isn't that even more sweet. Just get yourself a treat of your choice. 

Can you Deny this Cuteness?? 

Today I bring you a cute cube! I decided I wanted to make a more out of the box (see what I did there) Valentine and keep it Platonic. Most Valentine's cards and things are usually laden with romantic love and sometimes we have valentine's that aren't always romantic in nature, so why not make something for that someone special that you just want to do something nice and cute for? So I went ahead and created for that person. 

So how did I do it; 

Pretty easy really, so if I can do it, you for sure can. I picked up a small wooden cube from the local dollar store and painted it with some inexpensive acrylic white paint and let is dry. (I hope you already knew it needed to dry, if you didn't I have questions..) 

Basic wooden cube or block painted white

Next Step is to grab your Falling Hearts Stencil, Rosie Cheeks Hybrid Ink Pad, Blending Brush, and don't forget your Sticky Pad, I preferred to use my Pink one. It's a Valentine's project so why not? Plus Pink is edging its way up there as my new favorite color! P.S. The sticky pad if your not familiar does an amazing job of holding your ink cube or pad in place while you get your blending brush ready, plus it did an amazing job of holding the painted cube in place as well. (Warning when new, these babies have grip, they want to hold on to what you place on it, so be prepared to fight to get it back! LOL,) 

So Easy, Place the stencil on the block and add your ink and voila! 

So once we have our little cube all inked up with some Rosie Cheek colored hearts is time to place some images on there and a sentiment. I used the Kawaii Cuties Love Bug set and colored up the two Ladybugs (or Ladybirds depending on your side of the pond) the dragonlfy, and the moth. I chose to keep the ladybugs more traditional colors, while the moth and the dragonfly were done in violet and pink tones. I already had them pre-colored so I didn't write my combos down, but I think you should chose your own adventure when coring these, (especially today, since I have no clue what I usedl). I then chose the aptly non romantic, so very platonic "Hey There" sentiment from the Love Bug set. 

Cute but it doesn't slam you with I LOVE YOU! 

So as you can see I have all my bugs set up and ready to go and be glued onto my cube as well the sentiment already stamped on the top, I used a combination of the Stamp Anniething  glue and the double sided tape to adhere the love bugs to the cube. I then grabbed some random enamel dots to add to the top where the sentiment is. 

To My Platonic Valentine

So there it is, so easy and simple and pretty fast to color and put together as well. That's one thing Kawaii Cuties stamps are amazing for, they're super easy to color up quick. When you want to make a project fast, or need a quick image for a planner, they are there for you to grab. Perfect for just about anything you need. 

Who wouldn't love this little bit of fun on their desk?

I hope you enjoyed todays little blog and maybe you have been inspired to make your own platonic Valentine. Why not surprise that person you just think needs a lift on Valentine's Day. So here's to all our platonic Valentine's on February the 14th! 

Merry Met, Merry Part, Merry Meet Again. 

Sincerely,

Kevin 

Three; Three Tailed Kitsune

 Merry Meet Friends, I did a live over on the Stamp Anniething Stampers Page for my Digi Day where once a month we give everyone a day to download a free image. Then that night I go live and color it up and make a card. Yesterdays image was Kit Crafty Like A... 

Kit Crafty Like A...

I asked Ann (Owner of Stamp Anniething) to create a series of Mythical Creatures for my lives once a month. We love adding new fun images and Kit was no exception to that fun and Kits' Cute to Boot. Kit is a Kitsune, which is a mythical creature from Japanese folklore said to have spiritual powers and the ability to shape-shift. So I was so exited to color this up and design a card, plus try out a new eye look. 

Now I went through the whole process of how to color Kit up and the card I made with it. This can be seen in the archive of videos in the media section of the Stampers page. Here's a pic of what you are looking for.. (There's probably a way to link this, but I just can't figure it out) 

Now that is a great arm, also it's the video to search for.

So I did end up doing a couple practice colorings of the image first. (Two of the Three Kitsune) ;) 

Coloring Practice 1

Coloring Practice 2

So you can see there were some subtle changes between the first and second images, but not a lot. Each of these will be made into cards for two lucky winners that were at my live last night. I can't wait to send them out. But here is what the finished card looked like at the end of my Digi Day Live. 

Kit Crafty Like a.. or the alternate sentiment "for / sake" 

This last card was also won by a lucky viewer and will shortly be on its way to its new home. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest card and hope you get to download your own Digi Day Image. Remember they are only free for the day of the live but then they are only $4.00 after. The next Digi Day Live is Saturday February 5th. For anyone looking follow the link to all Stamp Anniething's digital images available for instant download. Digital Stamps <-- Click me ! 

Merry Meet, Merry Part, Merry Meet Again. 

Sincerely, 

Kevin 
 

Spring Themed Card or Just a Hot Mess?

 I welcome you once again to my new blog. Merry Meet, and Blessed Be. Today is a card I made only yesterday as I'll admit, I'm behind in my own crafting schedule. Perhaps however I'm not alone in this boat?? Maybe you, yourself haven't had craft time lately? 

Well yesterday I was feeling in a light and spring mood, despite the snow here in Riverview, New Brunswick and the -31 C temps (or for any Americans _23.8 F) Brrr... But I digress, back to the card. I felt like I needed to create my own Spring. So I pulled stamps from the newest Kawaii Cuties sets by Stamp Anniething. I used the little girl from the You Bake Me Crazy set, the apple core stamp and the sentiment Awesome to the Core from the Love You Bunches set and finally I used the Ant from the Love Bug Set. 

I wasn't too sure where I wanted to go, but off I went anyway, all I knew was that I needed color... And as you can see in the end, I got all the color I needed and then some. 

The Finished Project: Spring Splash a study of the ADD addled crafter... ;) 

So how did this little surprise of color and chaos come to be? Other then the stamps?? I used the Green Polka Dot paper from the Bake Shop paper pad, and if you notice to the left of the card... I just cut the front image right off the pack to 4.5" x 2" and stuck it on. No need to cut my own strips and it certainly fulfilled my need for color... I used the Sun Ray stencil with the Hybrid Ink colors Crimson, Rosie Cheeks, Lavender Bloom and Clear Skies. I used the Banner dies and used both the inside and outside pieces glued them together stamped my sentiment then threw the Bubble stencil overtop and used Aspen Gold. The Bottom of the card features one piece of the Volcano Builder die set and then all four grasses from the Grass Dies (If the name didn't already suggest what they might be called) I grabbed some enamel dots for good measure and baked it with some more paper from the Bake Shop paper pad. 

Phew, after all that are you still with me? Or maybe you're already understanding the underlying chaos of this crafters mind.... Muha ha ha ha! 

Ok so I'll give you the Copic colors I used in case you like any of the combos. (Sorry I forgot to write down what I used for the apple core and the Ant, My bad) 

The Little Girl who got Stuck on my card:

Skin; E21, E11, E00, and E0000

Cheeks; R20

Dress; V05 (not the hot oil), RV52, and V01 ( I just used some washi tape here to help me get a bit of a checked look)

Hair; E37, E35, E33, BG53, BG01, and BG000

Hair Bobbles Y18 and YR15

Oh and a healthy dose of 0 the Colorless Blender (probably my favorite copic) 

Here are some pics of during the project as I've seen people put those in their blogs before. 

Look here its the Sun Ray Stencil! and some awesome Stamp Anniething Washi Tape

Look here too! It's a hybrid ink on a Sticky pad. Perfect to hold your ink in place.

So I think you have now seen my blog isn't their blog, its something maybe a little different, a little off but still cute and fun, kinda like me. So for my second blog I hope I did ok, I'll be sure to keep trying to craft better, stamp better, color better, and blog better. Yet in all of this I will still be authentically me. So you stay you, I'll stay me, and let's all learn from each other. 

Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again. 

Sincerely,

Kevin 

Merry Meet

I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to those that have lost their way, and yet found themselves here. I'm only partially joking, but to anyone and everyone, welcome, merry meet and blessed be, this is where I'll make cards and crafty projects to share with thee... 

I'm Kevin the Marketing Director of Stamp Anniething, and recently have found myself on our Kawaii Cuties Design Team. I also host Digi Days where I color up digital images that we offer for free to download for that day. This happens over at Stamp Anniething Stampers on Facebook. If you haven't joined the group, please do. Join me and our Stamp Anniething and Kawaii Cuties Design Team Members regularly for lives and all the info on new releases. Plus its a great place to share the Stamp Anniething creativity.  

I started in this crafting world by way of my partner Stephen's interest in Stamp Anniething Stamps. By twists, turns, friendship and love I now work for an amazing company and the greatest of people. This blog is the very first for me and I hope here is where you can find some inspiration, creativity, along with an open mind and heart. 

Allow me to explain my Blog Name and Logo.

Absinthe was chosen for the name as it was once consumed by many famous literary figures and artists. The likes of Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh who were all famously known absinthe drinkers. Absinthe was thought to be responsible for opening the mind to creative ideas and was often the muse for their works. Absinthe was also known commonly as the Green Fairy.
Thyme was chosen for the attributes associated with this particular herb. It is said to have properties that attract happiness, loyalty, luck and strength. It is also said that Thyme will help you see the fairy folk.

Thank you all again for stoping by to be part of this journey. I hope we can learn and create together...