Sweet Stamp Shop Guest Design Day

Gooooooood morning!  I'm so looking forward to some awesome actual-spring-like weather today (being as it's April 25th, and all....I think it's about time)  We woke up with a blanket of snow on our green grass yesterday, which melted when it warmed up to like, 70.  This month's weather is like an event in the Mom Olympics--"try to dress your kid appropriately for the weather, even though the temperature will fluctuate by 40 degrees today.  Aaaaaand, go!"  Anyway, I'm also super excited today to be spotlighting some new projects I made with Sweet Stamp Shop's April release, Drops Background.  It's a really versatile set, and I had lots of fun playing around with it.  And, there's also a video at the end of the post, so be sure to check that out too.  ;)

First off, I had an opportunity recently to celebrate some really great teens at our church, so I put together a little treat box/tag using my Silhouette, and added their favorites.  I stamped the drops background in Versamark to give a subtle bubbly effect, and added these AWWWWWESOME gold glitter Thickers.  Seriously, chunky gold glitter has gone from tacky to fabulous again, and I'm loving it.   

For this card, I used the arrows from the Kiss Me set to add a fun patterned background using Versamark, and used the cascading hearts from the Drops set.  I stamped the hearts using Calypso Coral ink from Stampin' Up, and as a first time SU user, I am in LOVE.  The hearts stamped out so evenly and perfectly, and I think I have a new favorite ink.  And there are those awesome gold glitter Thickers again.  

You may have seen this card yesterday on the Sweet blog for release day.  I just couldn't help myself--the drops make great bubbles. ;)

And, I'm going to finish off my lovely guest design day with a video, demonstrating how to create your own tie-dye baker's twine, with the finished product being a gift box/tag that features the Chalkboard sign set.  It's a great time of year to add a funky bright touch to all of your little crafty projects/packaging.

As always, thank you times a million to Nicole for allowing me to work with her and her super fun stamps again this month.  You are seriously the sweetest, and are totally spoiling me, Nicole--and I love every minute! ;)  And thanks to you for checking out my projects!  I hope you've been inspired to create something fabulous.  

Sweet Stamp Shop April release

(If you're looking for my Pinspired Challenges post, scroll down....Heck, scroll down anyway, then come back here....I'll wait....:))

Good morning!  I'm so very pleased to be guest designing for Sweet Stamp Shop again this month, and showcasing their new release for April!!  I got to work with the super fun drops background, and there is seriously SO much that you can do with this set.  My fellow designers really thought outside of the box with this one, so you'll definitely want to check out all of their amazing inspiration on the Sweet blog today, and then head over to purchase the fab new sets.  I honestly think each new release gets better and better!

So when I was creating with the drops background, I kept seeing "bubbles", and thought it would be super fun to make a bubbly beverage...maybe a congrats card with a champagne background? But, due to a happy accident in Silhouette Studio, I wound up with this super fun beer glass instead. ;)  I swirled a Butter Bar Hero Arts ink pad all over cream cardstock, and die cut the "keep calm" sentiment.  Then I stamped on the drops background with white pigment ink, and used a paint brush to swirl the white frothy head on top.  Totally fun, right? (or totally tacky depending on your point of view, but I'm sure you're an awesome person, so you're going with "totally fun")  I can't wait to show you more projects with this set, and my other Sweet Stamps, so come back on April 25th for my next guest design day.  There might even be a video for you, too! :)

Pinspired Challenges #8

Good Morning!  I'm so happy to be sharing another creation for Pinspired Challenges! Today's Pinspiration photo is sweet and trendy and I loved working with it.  First, I'd like to thank our FANTASTIC sponsor, Timeless Twine for sponsoring another challenge with a $10 gift credit to their store.  How sweet is that?  I seriously love her little shop and all of the fun bags, tags, and beautiful colors of twine you won't find at other shops.  So, here's the photo you'll be working with:

Check out that awesome mint color, the subtle wave, the gold, the banner, the wood--SO PERFECT.  And so many jumping off points!  Here's what I came up with:

My friend Cyndee sent me some Pink Paislee ephemera and I've been having lots of fun adding it to cards and albums lately, and I selectively inked up a Mama Elephant stamp to finish off the sentiment.  I love this card, if I do say so m'self! ;)

Now for the fun part!  Check out the other inspiration from our uber talented design team and LINK UP!  You won't want to miss a chance at this fabulous prize.  I can't wait to see what you create!

Pinspired Challenges #7

Good morning!!  I hope everyone has gotten to enjoy just a little taste of Spring so far.  We've had a couple of days of nice spring weather here--so exciting when you don't have to bundle the kids up anymore! ;)  Today, I'm excited to share Pinspired Challenges seventh challenge!  I love love LOVE this pin--there's so much you can do with it, yet it provides some pretty clear directions for you to take.  But, before we get to that, I'd like to introduce our sponsor for the challenge, Timeless Twine!

Timeless Twine has generously offered up a $10 gift certificate to their store.  Seriously, go check them out.  Now.  I'll wait.  They have such an impressive assortment of twine, and I especially love her different color combos.  And there's bags, tags, and all sorts of goodies!  So, if you are interested in winning this fabulous prize, or one of our super duper nifty Pin Pal badges, here's the pin you'll be working with:

Isn't it great? And, since I'm trying to get my scrapbooking mojo back (and to encourage paper crafters of ALL KINDS to jump into the challenge), here's my take on it:  

So, I obviously took the kraft background, the clouds and the colorful raindrops (in this case MME enamel dots!), so I basically loved everything about the pin! :)  I just love the little dots raining from the clouds--they look like little gum drops!  And I love the happy page that contrasts with my sweet, grumpy boy-child. ;)  I used the fantastic grey and white Timeless Twine on my tag.  Love that little touch!  (Oh, and almost everything you see here came from my March Gossamer Blue kit.  They are so fun to use!)

So, pop on over to the Pinspired Challenges blog to see the other amazing creations from our design team, then get creating!!!  I can't wait to see what you link up!!

An emboss-resist card

Good evening.  Just popping in really quickly to share a card I made using two of my new favorite stamp sets--Modern Borders by Mama Elephant, and I he{art} art by Paper Smooches.

I created the background by Heat embossing with white embossing powder, then blending a couple of colors of Distress Inks on top.  Then I stamped and paper-pieced the easel (creating using the chalkboard technique) and you see the hemp cord?  That covers a little wonky mistake I made embossing.  I love using pretty ribbon/twine to cover little happy accidents!

Hope you're having a great evening.  If you're doing any crafting tonight, you still have time to do the current Pinspired Challenge.....just sayin' ;)

Ribbon Carousel Challenge--Showers and Flowers

Good morning!!  I'm so happy to share with you my first project for the Ribbon Carousel Challenge as a brand new Crewmate!  And if this is your first time visiting my blog, WELCOME!  The challenge theme for this month is "Showers and Flowers"--and boy, am I ready for both of those.  We currently have freezing drizzle after temps in the high 70's on Saturday--I'm ready for Spring to STAY PUT.

So, here's a look at my project for today:

I used my Cameo to cut out a bottle tag, and filled the pocket with a tag and gift card to Starbucks and topped the tag with my ALL TIME FAVORITE RIBBON: May Arts Chevron Twill.  I just love the mini clothespin, I've been adding them to EVERYTHING lately.  I stamped and Copic colored a beautiful flower and leaf from Lawn Fawn's Flutter By, and the sentiment is from Mama Elephant (LOVE THEM!).  A little bit of bright yellow washi finishes it off.  I just love how Spring-y this is.  Maybe it'll inspire Spring to stay around for a little while. ;)  

I can't wait to see what you make for this challenge!  The lovely Corinna is offering a Ribbon Carousel as the prize for this challenge, so you'll DEFINITELY want to play along.  Thanks for stopping by; make sure to check out the RCC blog to see all of the other ladies' inspiration.  And, our design team is broken up into weekly groups, so you'll be able to see more inspiration every week.  Isn't that fabulous?

Thanks for visiting!

Ribbon Carousel in da house!

Good morning all!!  Just a quick post and shout out to the Ribbon Carousel Challenge blog---I am officially "out" as a new design team member!  I'm super excited to be a part of the "Crew"- there are so many talented ladies on the team (lots of familiar faces!), and I've been a fan of the Ribbon Carousel since it was featured on Scrapbook Steals many moons ago.  Their next challenge goes live tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back here tomorrow morning for my take on it!  And pop over to the Ribbon Carousel on facebook and tell them I sent you (and "like" them--there's lots of awesome inspiration shared on their page!)

And check out the blog roll over there------------------------------------------------------------->>>>>
to see the other fabulous ladies I get to "work with".  :)

See you tomorrow!