P. Kelly Smith
Welcome to Magazine Monday and the first day of Stamp It! Cards Week! The one thing I love about stampers is their enthusiasm. While I was reading through the 330+ comments from Friday’s post, I laughed out loud when I stumbled across Sharon Totton’s motto for stamping and for life:
“If it sits still long enough, Stamp It. If it doesn’t, chase it down and Stamp It.”
Now why didn’t we think of that tagline? Genius! It really sums up our latest edition of Stamp It! Cards. In addition to the 152 inspiring designs, we’ve even included fun sections like “Tips from the Go-to Gals”, “Stamp It! 3 Ways” and “Say it with Stamps”. We’ll touch on each of these sections this week, as well as show some amazing stamped cards from the magazine.
Speaking of amazing stamped cards…when we were discussing who should be featured as our designer spotlight for this week, all we had to do was look at the editorial spreadsheet for Stamp It! Cards. One name kept popping up over and over. Actually 12 times! Yes, Kimberly Crawford has 12 gorgeous cards in this issue. Quite a feat considering her first ever publication was last year’s Stamp It! Cards. How’s that for a full circle moment! Go Kimberly!
Kimberly Crawford
1. Where did you grow up?
On a lake, outside a small town called Moose Lake, MN. But as of 12 days ago, I became a resident of Iowa.
2. Do you work outside the home? If so, what do you do?
No, I have the privilege of staying home with my newly four-year-old son.
3. If a movie were to be made of your life, who would you cast to play the part of you?
I am going to continue the Jennifer Garner trend because if she was busy working on a film, I could flirt with her gorgeous hubby Ben Affleck.
4. What song would you choose as the theme song for your life?
A theme song? I really can’t think of one, but I have a song for everything. I am one of those people.
5. What is one thing most people would be surprised to hear about you?
That I used to be a high school softball coach and can throw a softball 72 mph, over hand. I also love to golf and watch hockey. I am a sports nut.
6. What/who inspired you to start paper crafting?
My husband. He mentioned this “stamping thing” his mom did when we were getting married. She sent me some supplies and the rest is history. And I don’t let him forget it.
7. What is your biggest paper crafting challenge?
Finding time to experiment with all the crazy ideas in my head.
8. If you were only allowed two items to create a card beside cardstock and adhesive, what would they be?
A stamp and watermark ink. You can do a ton with backgrounds, cutting images out and mounting them with foam tape.
9. What is your favorite occasion or holiday to paper craft and why?
Christmas. I am a Christmas girl at heart. Bring it on in October!
10. How would you describe your style?
Fresh and classy with a tendency towards shabby chic and cutesy on some days.
Kimberly's Take Care Card, p. 53
11. When is your favorite time to craft?
Naptime and bedtime for my little man. If I didn’t have a four-year-old son for an alarm clock, I would stay up until all hours of the night because after 10:30 p.m., I really get creative.
12. What sort of music do you listen to while crafting?
Everything. I love all music: country, rock, Christian, southern gospel, musicals and orchestral.
13. How does your family participate in your paper crafting passion?
My husband sweetly supports my obsession passion. He looks at all my projects and provides wonderful feedback. My son has his own stamps and ink pads, and he even knows to clean the stamps off between colors!
14. When it comes to calls and deadlines, how do you keep yourself organized?
Outlook on my computer. I enter them all in and then a little reminder pops up every time I check my e-mail. I also keep a printed copy of calls on my desk. You can never have too many reminders or lists!
15. Do you remember what Paper Crafts issue your first project appeared in? How has your style changed since then?
It was last year’s Stamp It! Cards, and what a thrill! I am still a pretty simple girl, but I like to think I have learned how to add better finishing touches.
Kimberly's Always Card, p. 79
16. Have you contributed to any design teams in the past or present? If so, which ones?
I am currently designing for Spellbinders Paper Arts, Stampendous, Pink Persimmon and am a reporter for The Scrap Review. In the past I have designed for the Flourishes blog team and for two online stores: ScrapLovers and Stamper’s Dream.
17. Name three designers whose styles you like and why they appeal to you.
- Nichole Heady because she is clean, classy and creative
- Betsy Veldman for her amazing color combinations
- Debbie Olson because she makes me want to color everything and tie beautiful bows
18. Do you have any advice/tips for someone who’s never been published or who wants to submit for the first time?
Submit, submit, submit. And then submit some more.
19. Out of your 12 cards in Stamp It! Cards, do you have a favorite? Please talk about the inspiration/design/techniques for one or more of your cards in this publication.
It would be my Live the Sweet Life Card from p. 17. I love how the card came together. I had this gorgeous peach image that I wanted to use, but didn’t have the correct color markers. So, I had to get creative. I knew I had the right color ink, but how could the ink be applied? Then the thought of letter pressing came to mind. Yay for the results! Sometimes I think I have too much stuff. My best ideas come from being forced to be clever with what is on my desk.
Kimberly's Live the Sweet Life Card, p. 17
20. Do you have a blog or online gallery? If so, please provide the URL.
Yes, I do! My blog can be found at www.kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com.
Thanks, Kimberly! Our friends at Flourishes were nice enough to donate three sets of their Cherries & Peaches stamp set – the same set Kimberly used to create her card above. Please leave a comment and I’ll pick three random winners to receive this set, plus a copy of Stamp It! Cards. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Three winners will take home this gorgeous stamp set!
Happy Monday!
Kelly
P.S. Cath is featuring Technique Tuesday in her Moxie Monday post today! Head on over for a chance to win six different stamp sets!
P.P.S. It’s time to announce the three winners from my Countdown to Stamp It! Cards Week post!
1. Paulina (Feb. 19, 8:41 a.m.)
2. Viola Miller (Feb. 19, 8:03 p.m.)
3. Anya (Feb. 19, 12:58 p.m.)
Congrats, winners! I’ll be contacting you shortly to discuss your prizes and get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!
Congratulations Kimberly – so many cards published. Love that set by Flourishes. The card with the button centers is so cute.
Kimberly your cards are amazing! You are such a great lady.
I love her cards – and I have always admired her Flourishes style! I would LOVE to win one of these stamp sets! Thanks for the opportunity!
Kimberly is certainly very creative. Thanks for sharing a bit about the prolific cardster and the opportunity to win those beautiful stamps. Whoopee!
Love Kimberly’s peach card!
This is a gorgeous stamp set from Flourishes! Great cards and a fun interview!
Congratulations to Kimberly on the early success in her stamping career. I can certainly understand why she had so many cards chosen from her submissions, they are all amazing. Letterpress is a new technique to me, one I’ll have to explore after seeing her beautiful card. I hope I’m lucky enough to win Flourishe’s generous stamp set donations of the Peaches and Cherries stamp sets.
What a wonderful feature! It was so much fun to learn more about Kimberly and see her gorgeous cards!
All her cards are so beautiful. Very inspirational! I love Flourishes stamps….and the peaches and cherries sets are ones I would love to add to my collection. Thanks for the opportunity!
Congrat ,I love your card ,I really need to step out of my box and try new things that’s why I always look at all of the great artist out there and you are one of them.I love all your card they are wonderful.Thank you for sharing Hugs Sarah K
I love the yellow card. It remind me of spring and Easter.
Congrats, Kimberly. Love your creations … have followed you on Flourishes for a while. You bring life to your images .. thanks for the inspiration.
I look at Kimberly’s blog on a regular basis- what talent. The card with the checked flowers is my favorite card today
Congratulations to Kim for being published here and 12 times no less! You must be thrilled! I really love the peaches card and am thrilled for a chance to win Flourishes stamps.
Congrats Kimberly! Gorgeous cards!!
Congratulations Kimberly! Your cards are stunning!! That stamp set is as sweet as can be!! Thanks for a chance to win it!!
WOW — gorgeous designs – I have to have the Stamp It Cards issue now! Even sooner than that! =)
I love Kimberly’s style! Love all the card designs! The fruit stamp set is too cute!
Thanks for a chance to win!
Thanks for the introduction. Love the cards Kimberly makes. Who knew she could also sling a softball so fast. Thanks for sharing.
congrats kimberly, great to see you featured here!!
Oh my, Kimberly’s work is amazing…and so are those adorable stamps!
Kimberly. I’m such a fan. I love the sunny/bright colors in your cards.
Thanks also for the chance to win a very beautiful stamp set from Flourishes…
Love the samples, so inspiring! Especially in the dead of winter! We need all the inspiration we can get. Julie
Love Kimberly’s style!! Heading over to her blog to check out more!! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I could never imagine being published once…how awesome to have 12 cards in one magazine! I love Kimberly’s style and the “Live the Sweet Life” card she created…excited at the chance to win a set like the one she used to create it.
Charmaine
Yay Kimberly! Your stuff is gorgeous!
Using what I have is always a dilemma for me. I am forever trying to get the same things I see in something that inspires me. I am going to make a valiant effort to use what I have to make something inspired by Kimberly’s gorgeous card. Great blog Kimberly!
How exciting to have all those cards published at once! I love those peaches. I want to go and get creative now. Thanks for the opportunity to win.
I’m not surprised to see 12 cards in one issue from Kimberly…I’m surprised that she hasn’t written her own book yet! Awesome cards with the Flourishes images! Would love to win this awesome set!
Have fun Kim. I plan on adding Kim’s blog to my favorites.
Thank you for the chance to win a stamp set from Flourishes. All their sets are fantastic.
Wow!! 12 cards in 1 issue- quite an accomplishment! I loved her peach card when I first saw it in my issue and I would love to own the set. Thanks for the chance.
Oh what beautiful cards, and I love the fruit stamp set.
wow, what a beautiful bunch of cards! What a talented lady too! I just love the fruit stamps…
Beautiful cards! I too find I”m most creative when I can’t find what I want and am forced to look outside the box. Sometimes less really is more.
What a beautiful bunch of cards! Most of them caught my eye when I paged through the magazine! Kimberly you are very creative.
Congrats Kimberly. Your cards are beautiful. I especially like the Sweet Life card…I love your color combinations too…
Gorgeous cards! Can’t wait to see more!
with that uber talent its no doubt Kimberly has been published so many times. You rock girl!
Beautiful cards! I’m going to check out your blog now. ; )
Wonderful cards, great designer. Thanks for sharing.
Your cards are stunning! How did you manage to corral 12 into one magazine? Talent! Thanks for giving me this chance to win a beautiful stamp set and a copy of the magazine.
Love Kimberly Crawford’s work, so it was fun to read her answers to the interview questions. Thanks for the chance to win that beautiful stamp set!
Beautiful cards and I also like the yellows. So nice to read someone’s profile and get a snapshot of their background and what inspires them.
Thanks for the article on Kimberly! She is a talented lady. Thanks for the chance to win a set she used in her published card and for the magazine too!!
lovely cards!!! and those stamp set is really cute!!!
What beautiful cards..it is easy to understand why she has 12 in the issue. I love the peaches…really pretty with the pattern on them. Thanks for all of the inspiration!
Loved the interview and Kimberly’s artwork. Your blog candy is very generous and I thank you for the opportunity to possibly win it!
I enjoyed the interview with Kimberly and have bookmarked her site to check out when I’m done here. I just found your site and will spend some time wandering around here now and in the days and weeks to come.
I just love the simplicity of this card!! All of your cards are so lovely and elegant!!
Thanks so much for sharing about yourself with us, it’s always nice to put a face and a little info with such beautiful cards.
Darla
I have admired Kimberly’s work since I first discovered her at the same time I discovered Papertrey Ink 2 years ago. This card is so beautiful. And I would love to own every one of these beautiful stamp sets.