February Love

Another Valentine's Day is almost upon us now the February is here, and CAS-ual Fridays has a challenge perfect for getting you prepared, if you do so wish.

Create a project using letters: letter dies, letter stickers, letter stamps...It will be most fun! Ellen Hutson is sponsoring the challenge and the cool prize is a $25 gift certificate. Please stop by the CAS-ual Fridays Blog to read more about the prize, sponsor and see fabulous lettered inspiration from the Girl Fridays!

Today's Tip: Ink up letter stamps while still on the acetate sheet, selectively remove ink from the "h" and "i" and ink with a marker, then stamp.

Sparkly Love

Still feeling puny over here, so I've got to keep this short and sweet. I've got one last card featuring products from the January Artful Delight Card Kit. (The February Kit arrived yesterday and I all but drooled over the contents of that one too!)

I dry embossed the card base and die cut sentiment panel. There is a bit of May Arts silver ribbon (not in the kit) tucked behind the tuft of tulle that was stapled to a black banner. I added some silly string, as I like to call it, behind the sentiment panel to break up all the black. The chipboard letters had some silver glitter glue slathered all over them to change up the look.

3x3

**Please scroll down for my Paper Smooches CHA post as well as the Skipping Stones Design Blog Hop post.**

The ants go marching one by one, hoorah, hoorah. The ants go marching one by one, hoorah, hoorah... The Ants Go Marching was one of the first ever books I ordered from Scholastic when my baby was in daycare, and I will never, ever, get rid of it. Both my boys loved it, and the best part of it all is that they mostly loved it when I read it to them because I made the corresponding noises and voices, etc. (The Ants Go Marching and Cowboy Bunnies.)

I made a 3x3 card. Its a wee bitty thing! When I read of Moxie Fab World's 75 Creative Card Challenges Week: Make an Itty Bitty Card, this stamp from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps was the first that came to my mind. I stamped and heat embossed it in green onto a stitched rectangle die cut, then mounted that to some patterned paper and then onto a card base. Reminds me of the no-fuss kind of cards that you give men... You still want them to look nice, but you've got to get the point across and not use too much of the "expensive stuff".

Today's Tip: Embrace mistakes. I didn't get fine results from embossing so I embraced the grungy look and reached for masculine colors and designs, as well as inked up the edges.

*Lynda, I wasn't able to contact you via email or find a link to your blog. I've updated my previous two blog posts with the answers to your two questions!

Design Motifs

**Please scroll down to see my Skipping Stones Design Farewell Blog Hop post**

Paper Smooches is showing off their CHA release during the entire month of January. 37 designers (including me!) are participating along with the Paper Smooches Design Team, so there will be a ton of projects to inspire you this month. Paper Smooches is known for their fun and whimsical hand-drawn stamps. They decided that it was time to broaden their product line to include DIES and wood mount stamps! I have a project to share using NEW Paper Smooches Product that releases on February 1, 2013 on their website along with many retail stores around the globe. You will find a new blog link (or two) to follow every day in January at the PS Blog.

Paper Smooches is giving away $500 worth of product! Hidden on FIVE of the participating blogs is a prize package worth $100 each. The prize includes a variety of stamp sets, wood mounts and dies. Comment on as many blogs as you can to increase your chances to be one of the five winners. Deadline to comment is January 30th, winners will be announced on the PS Blog on January 31st.

Today I'm introducing Design Motifs, a clear stamp set with many, many geometric shapes! How fun it will be to put together your own pattern with these stamps. My first card features the large chevron image, stamped repeatedly in rows of magenta, orange and red onto watercolor paper. I sprayed some water on the top edge of the image and let the colors drip together, and then finished with some white splatters and a sentiment from Word Up. The embellishments are simple: some black floss and a few coordinating colors.

I've got another card too, featuring the long stamp contained of many rectangle boxes in different shapes. Some simple gold embossing onto a custom background paper, along with the same sentiment and tied with May Arts Burlap String. This set, Design Motifs, was entirely way to fun to work with and there are about a million pattern combinations swirling in my head-waiting to make their way onto paper...

*I used the residual ink left on my baby wipe after cleaning up my mess on the first card to make the background on the second. Just pressed the wipe onto a clean sheet of watercolor paper!*

I enjoyed making my own background paper for these two cards...thanks to Moxie Fab World's 75 Creative Card Challenges Week: Make your Own Background Paper Challenge for the inspiration!

I'm so honored to be among this amazing line-up of designers to help Kim and Paper Smooches introduce their fabulous new product. Thank you!

A Farewell

Today is my very last post for Skipping Stones Design, a team that I have been a part of for well over a year. The team, past and present, are holding a little hop today to thank the owner of Skipping Stones Design, Heather, for a great experience of showcasing her amazing designs. I wish you the best Heather, with your family and career!

I used  Breathtaking Butterflies, Dandelion Dreams, and Garden Kiss to create my custom background.

*I used old Stampin' Up! pigment ink for the blue, coral, navy and saffron. I used Antique Linen distress ink for the dots and small butterflies.

I enjoyed making my own background paper for this card, random stamping is fun!...thanks to Moxie Fab World's 75 Creative Card Challenges Week: Make your Own Background Paper Challenge for the inspiration! 

You should have arrived from Wendy's Blog. If you want to start at the beginning, please stop by the Skipping Stones Design Blog. There are a few prizes up for grabs in the form of great Skipping Stones Design Stamps, so please be sure to leave a comment on the stops today. Winners will be announced Monday, February 4th on the Skipping Stones Design Blog. Your next stop is Stephanie Mino!

Lace

May I have a word with your Mr. Flu? I'll be honest here. I don't like you. My boys despise you. You've outlasted your welcome. I expect you to have your things packed immediately, as when I open the door, out you will go and you are not welcome back. Not you, not your family, not your friends. You. are. not. welcome. here. Now go.

I had started a couple of projects way back when, before I got sick, and finished them up today. The first is for Moxie Fab World's: 75 Creative Card Challenges Week: Stamp with a Homemade Stamp.

I wrapped a long acrylic block with lace, taped the edges, covered it with ink and saturated it with water before stamping onto card stock. The ink alone did not leave a great impression, although I wish it would have. I cut out panels, inked the edges, wrapped the card with twine and secured two tags, one with a stamped greeting and hand made flower cabochon.

Today's Tip: Stay home from work or school if you are sickly, don't spread your germs to people who try to stay healthy!

Orange Love Letters

The littlest one came home the other day and emptied his backpack to show me his projects, like he does every day. Except this one day he was hurried and zipped up his pack rather quickly. I knew he was hiding something and upon questioning, he sheepishly pulled out an envelope that I thought was from a girl (because of the nice handwriting?). The outside of the envelope had a big orange heart and his name written underneath. Then he showed me the letter inside, which simply said Love You. No name, though. And his lips are sealed, he still won't tell me which friend gave it to him.

I have a few really sweet and simple Valentine's Day cards to show you, all featuring items from the Artful Delight January Card Kit. These are all for Winter's Cards from the Heart Card Drive. Artful Delight is one of the sponsors, which is another great reason to make a few cards and send them in before January 31st!

The red card stock in this kit is nice and thick, rich and vibrant., and absolutely perfect for card bases. I inked up the various bees from the Paper Smooches Stamp Set from the kit, colored them and fussy cut them. Some I added stickles to the wings, others were covered with white enamel accents.

The February Artful Delight Kits will be revealed tomorrow on the Artful Delight blog, I can't wait to see what it will include. Seriously these are the best kit

Flutter

For the past three years, I've sent cards in for Winter's Cards from the Heart Card Drive and it has given me a real great joy to do so. Plus, I get an excuse to play with markers and cute images, what is not to love?

Winter is in her fourth year of this venture to send Valentine's to children in hospitals, and could really see an influx of cards come in! (There are specific regulations for what you can and can't put on your card, you can read about it here. And, she needs them postmarked before January 31st! Please consider helping out!)

 

It's time to make your mark at CAS-ual Fridays Challenge this week! We want to see your creations featuring markers! (Think Copics, Distress Markers, Stampin' Up Markers, Sharpies, even Crayola Markers) For my marker samples today I did go with the alcohol markers to color and make these cute little bugs come to life for some simple children's Valentine's Cards. Each of the bugs were first stamped, colored and then fussy cut. I added stickles on the wings and kept them pretty simple and clean.

Today's Tip: Add a touch of personality and personalization to your stamped images for a unique look. I shaded blushed cheeks on the yellow bug with marker, and made freckles on the purple bug with white enamel accents.

The Girl Fridays have a ton of inspiration for your on the CAS-ual Friday's Challenge Blog. You can see the samples, find out more about the sponsor and prize (from Crater's Companion, in the form of a fabulous Spectrum Noir prize!!) and read all about the challenge rules and details. Plus, there the design team call is still open, and you can read about it on the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog as well.

Less Bulk

**For the Lil' Inkers January Release Blog Hop, please scroll down.**

Ribbon is one of my most favorite and most often reached for embellishments on my cards. Today, May Arts has joined with CardMaker for a royal ribbon infused Cardmaker Hop! You should have arrived from Jingle's Blog if you are following the hop, otherwise you can find all the details on the May Arts Blog!

I like creating backgrounds with ribbon but don't like the additional bulk of wrapping it around the base, so I've got a few quick pictures to show you how I achieved a clean and crisp look on my card. 

I started with the 3/4" Chevron Twill Ribbon in Green and Yellow and cut them to roughly the size of the panel I wanted for my card. My panel is a coaster...they are the perfect sizes for cards. I trimmed the coasters height down to fit five lengths of ribbon so I wouldn't be messing with four sides of the ribbon, just two. You want to allow a slight overhang, I cut the lengths to leave an eighth to a quarter inch margin overhang on both the left and right size.

To adhere the ribbon to the coaster, I used spray adhesive, and held the spray can about eighteen inches away from the coaster. This resulted in mostly a fine mist and avoided a lot of highly concentrated dots of glue.

 I then laid the ribbon on top of the adhesive coaster, being careful in placement as the more you lift up on the ribbon the less strong the adhesive becomes and then there is also the possibility of gumming up the ribbon. After the ribbon was in place, I took a Bic lighter and burned the edges. I was careful to not let the flame touch the coaster and used my fingers to roll the ribbon from the front to the back while it was still warm. This particular ribbon works well for this technique...some ribbons you wouldn't want to attempt (like silk!~believe me, I've tried!)

 The end result is a nice, polished edge. Since I didn't wrap the ribbon around the entire coaster, I redueced the bulk and the possibility of warping.

To finish the card, I adhered my ribbon panel to black card stock and then a matching yellow card base. I die cut a butterfly from yellow and white cards tock, wrapped some May Arts Baker's Twine in Yellow (removed the white strands first) and embellished with a black pearl and rub-on sentiment.

I hope you are able to pick up some tips and tricks today along the hop, your next stop is Lalo! For your chance to win four free spools of your choice, please be sure to comment at each stop!

Remind Me...(take 2)

*Yikes, I did it again and pre-scheduled this post too early. My apologies, and thank you for coming back twice.*

Remind Me...How old are you going to be? My oldest son says that to me a lot. It is almost like he is baiting me sometimes and others it is out of honest curiosity. I do remember thinking nine years ago that I was old enough and grown up enough to have a baby before he was born and then thinking that I was too young and didn't know what I was doing when we did bring him home!

Today is the last day of the Lil' Inker Designs January Release. Have you hopped along the past two days? So many amazing projects featuring this month's release! If you are following along with today's hop, you should have arrived from Judith's Blog. I once again have two projects today, the first one being a card featuring Snarky Lady I, a set featuring the Sugar Kissed Cottage Vintage images.

Lots of fun sayings in this set to go along with the gorgeous gal. I used the one that says: Remind me...How old are you pretending to be? I stamped the gal and colored her with markers, and then just added some patterned paper, May Arts Burlap String and a tiny paperclip.

This next card features Bunny Star, an adorable and petite set from the 2 Cute Ink line. I colored him with markers, fussy cut and added it to the card with a stamped sentiment on the Stitched Rectangles. I finished by adding some glossy accents to the star, ears and his cute little tail. Super easy, but I think super cute too!

I hope you liked this month's release and projects! As a reminder: There is a prize up for grabs too-one winner will be selected from comments lefts on one of the participant's blogs, so please be sure to let us know what you think! Please be sure to stop by the Lil' Inker Blog for additional details. Up next is the delightful Laura.

The Cookie Bowl

Do you have "the cookie bowl"? You know, the one that you mix your cookie dough in and the cookies always come out right? The one that you would be lost without having? The one with the flat bottom, large circumference, easy to wash? We had a lovely cookie bowl...until the day I set it on the stove while the cookies were baking and a hole melted in the bottom...

Lil' Inker Designs has a lot in store for me and you this month with their January Release. If you are following along with today's hop-the second day of releases, you should have arrived from Judith's Blog. I have two projects today, the first one being a card featuring Stirring in Lots of Love, a set featuring the Sugar Kissed Cottage Vintage images.

I inked up the cutie pie image, stamped it onto a white cardstock panel cut with the Stitched Mats Rectangle Dies (also available at the Lil' Inker Store) and colored it with markers. I stapled some loops of May Arts Silk ribbon to the panel and adhered the panel to a covered patterned paper card base.

Switching gears, I made a clean and graphic card that features one of the dies from the Mini Party Die Set (the stitched string!). I die cut patterned paper multiple times and adhered them to the card base. The sentiment is from the Balloon Builders Stamp Set.

The colors were derived from the lovely color palette at The Play Date Cafe.

As a reminder: there's a lot of product debuting this month, please be sure to stop by the Lil' Inker Blog for details. There is a prize up for grabs too-one winner will be selected from comments lefts on one of the participant's blogs, so please be sure to let us know what you think! Up next is the delightful Laura.

Five Little Birdies

**Please scroll down for my Lil' Inkers Design Blog Hop Post!**

"Five little birdies, flying around our door. The blue one flew away and then there were four.
Four little birdies sitting in a tree. The yellow one flew away and then there were three.
Three little birdies didn't know what to do. So the red one flew away and there there were two.
Two little birdies sitting in the sun. The brown one flew away and then there was one.
The little green birdie felt so all alone. She flew away and then there was none.
Later on that very day, five little birdies came back to play."

It's release day at The Craft's Meow! We are celebrating with a blog hop. You should have arrived from Julie Ranae's blog.


My card features the woodgrain bird and sentiment from Lark Additions. I stamped the bird multiple times in different colors and shades of ink, however I used the backside of the stamp for a solid impression. Lark Additions compliments Happy as a Lark, and is the free gift at  The Craft's Meow with a $50 purchase this month.

Today's Tip: Affix your stamp on your acrylic block with the design facing inward, and ink up the back for a completely different look.


The entire January Release from The Craft's Meow is up for grabs to one lucky person that leaves a comments on the design team member's blogs today! Your next stop is Lin!

A&W

Way back when my parents would haul us all in their vehicle to the A&W Drive-In in town for a special treat, and what a treat those rootbeer floats were! Always thought it was so cool how the hops would come out with your food and hang it on the window...

Lil' Inker Designs has a lot in store for me and you this month with their January Release, including a set designed by me. If you are following the hop, you should have arrived from Judith's Blog. I inked up one of the new images from the Lil' Inker Sugar Kissed Cottage line: it is from the set called Eat Dessert First!

I simply inked it up in black and stamped it right onto a pink cardstock base and selectively colored parts of the image with marker. I framed the image with the Instant Camera Die. I then added some patterned paper from Echo Park (also available at the Lil' Inker Store) and finished with a large bow made from May Arts Crinkled Ribbon and a black mini clothespin. Oh, and I can't forget the sentiment, it came from the same set!

Today's Tip: Selectively color parts of an intricate image for a completely different look.

There's a lot of product debuting this month, please be sure to stop by the Lil' Inker Blog for details. There is a prize up for grabs too-one winner will be selected from comments lefts on one of the participent's blogs, so please be sure to let us know what you think! Up next is the delightful Laura.

Talented Sisters

Sometimes starting a card is the most difficult, or your mojo isn't quite with you. Good thing for talented sisters though! One of my sisters has Crafty Challenge Parties, where ladies get together with their supplies, another chooses something and that person is to create something with the object. When I went to visit my parents over the holidays, my mojo stayed behind, but I was thankful for the time my other sister initiated a Crafty Challenge-she has an eye for cool patterns and textures, and found a piece of paper in a 6x6 pad. Surprisingly, the card came together easy!

Welcome to the final day of The Craft's Meow's January Release sneak peeks, tomorrow is a our blog hop! (You can read more about the releases at The Craft's Meow!) Many Thanks is a versatile sentiment set designed by Kaitlyn Ord. The set is full of such cool combinations for ways to say "thank you" and are absolutely perfect for focal points. I covered my card with a lightly patterned piece of paper, added the sentiment to a cardstock panel and tucked that underneath a paper flower made from the Lil' Inkers sun die and May Arts Burlap Twine.

Today's Tip: Have someone else choose a piece of patterned paper for you and design a card around it. It helps you use up those patterns you might necessarily be drawn to and makes for a great challenge!


You can be eligible to win Many Thanks from The Craft's Meow by visiting the blogs and leaving a comment!