Calling ALL Stampers!

I am hosting a challenge today over at StampTV and I'm hoping you will play along! There's a bonus challenge for a sweet cause...you can read about it here.

Party!

Last night's Gina K Designs release party was SO MUCH FUN! I can't believe the amount of gorgeousness that was uploaded to this thread! (Thankfully you won't have to go through the entire thread to see everyone's creations! They'll be gathered together for you soon!)

Here are a few more cards I made to share during the evening.

My first card uses another image from Asela's set, First Christmas. I just adore this yummy Gingerbread couple! I found the perfect companion designer paper to go with them! I colored them with Prismas and Gamsol, then spritzed them with Glimmer Mist to help them harmonize with the pattern of the dp. The sentiment from Signed with Love is just perfect here!

I couldn't resist printing a delicious Gingerbread recipe for the inside, and adding a smaller tag-sized couple and some designer paper there too!

This card was made for Lee's color challenge: Ivory, Cranberry Tart, Black Onyx and Good as Gold. I suppose I cheated a bit by adding other colors, but I just couldn't resist getting to play with Melanie's new Festive Frame. I've seen so many pretty cards with it over the last couple of days...mine is what I would call a conglomerate CASE!

My final card is using Rupa's Winter Friends. My friend Lynn had made a beautiful card with this color combo, and that inspired me. Look closely (it's very faint!) and you'll see the words from Nina's Vintage Borders in white craft ink on the light blue behind the penguins. Aren't these fellas SO cute?!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I hope you've enjoyed your stay, that you've been inspired to create, and that you'll come back soon! Blessings!

I See You!

Here's another Spotlight Set of the Week card using Our Craft Lounge's Peek-a-Boo, this time paired with Holiday Cruiser to make a little Halloween scene! Love these sets on their own, but they really were fun to put together! Both of these sets are available at i {heart} papers and they're ON SALE NOW!

I first stamped the dragon-tree, colored it with Copic markers, then used a scalloped circle to mask in the clouds. I sponged in the ground with greens and browns in both tapping/dabbing and sweeping horizontal motions. On a separate piece of card stock I stamped and colored two cars, one with the witch inside. I paper pieced her shirt, colored the rest with Copics, then cut them each out, the one with the witch in its entirety and the other chassis only. Popping it up on dimensionals this way really deepens the shadows around the tires and makes it so much more interesting.

It really needed a little more, so I stamped a bench and cut it out, gluing it directly to the first layer...a sentiment, a simple layout and a clip of ribbon finish it off.

Gina K Previews!

I'm so delighted to be a part of Gina K's StampTV Center Stage Design Team, and tonight we are previewing sets by Asela and Nina. Asela is practically my neighbor, and I'm so happy to be able to say that I've met Nina in person too at CHA in Orlando in February, so to have the opportunity to preview their sets is especially a joy!

These two sets, Asela's First Christmas, and Nina's Vintage Borders, work great together, and I've used them together on both of my cards. First up is a sweet bear for Baby's First Christmas.

I colored the bear with Copic markers, gave him an ornament of Nina's to hold, and added a pearl-studded Nestabilities snowflake and a few dangling ornaments as well. Love this Eskimo Kisses designer paper! (I struggled to get a good picture of this card...for some reason, reds are most difficult! Hopefully I can try again on a sunnier day!)

You will have to look closely to see the fine linen thread that suspends those teeny ornaments! I love how they go so well with the design of the paper.

My second card features Asela's cardinal. I tried to keep his colors true to nature...the paper I paired him with is some of my favorite Cosmo Cricket from last Christmas. I stamped a few bars of Nina's music border onto the wood print flip side of the dp to go along with him.

Everything was inked with Tim Holtz distress ink and the edges of the music were frayed and curled. I added a column of pretty pearls along side the clefs of each bar. I really love how this turned out! Anything to do with music and nature really captures my heart, and I love these rich reds and sage greens!

Thanks for visiting my blog! For even more inspiration, please visit the Illustrators of the stamp sets featured tonight:

Asela Hopkins: First Christmas
Nina Brackett: Vintage Borders

Tonight, we have several of our Center Stage Spotlight Designers joining in the previews. Here are their blog links:

Deb Felts (you're here!)
Sharri Seffens
Melissa Cash

Finally, stop by these GinaK Designers' blog for even more projects with tonight's stamp sets:

Gina Krupsky
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Jessica Fick
Kurtis Amundson
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Melanie Muenchinger
Tami Mayberry
Theresa Momber

Our Release party will be held Thursday night over on SCS in GinaK's Forum from 7-10 pm CST. We'd love to have you join in the fun! There will be contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots more samples from our designers throughout the party! See you then!

Ready or not...

Here they come! Have you gotten everything ready for trick-or-treaters at your house? We still have a few preparations to make before the big night arrives!

It's my turn to showcase OCL's Spotlight Set of the Week...another DT mate and I will be taking turns posting Peek-a-Boo cards on the OCL blog. This one is based on a fun sketch from 2Sketches4You.

If you are a Splitcoaststampers fan club member, then you already know that this is one of my favorite sets lately! I have had so much fun coloring its images and making all kinds of cards with them. They seem to call for bright, happy colors and bring a smile to both the creator and the recipient!

For this card I used all kinds of left-over things from my stash...I'm revisiting old favorites! The paper is from K and Company (here's the 12 x 12 version). I used Nestabilities circles to make a recessed window for the image to peek through. The little line of teeny tiny spiders at the top was created using the creepy crawly from Holiday Cruiser, another set that I just can't seem to keep my hands off of! The plastic spider accent was a find at Joann's, and I added some bling to it to make things more interesting. I love that spider web edge, made with a Martha Stewart punch...it really shows up great with a line of rhinestones and the contrast between the bright green and purple card stock.

Hope you'll come back for more Peek-a-Boo creations as the week goes on!

Banana Split Sunday!

This little cutie, Falling Leaves Jack, is a sneak peek from 2RedBananas' upcoming release! He looks a little more girlish than I had planned in the midst of these Indian Summer colors! This week's challenge is to use a square, the color RED, and three buttons. I know you're probably wondering where in the world the red is on this card...maybe I cheated a little bit! I used the prisma color *carmine RED* on Jack's shirt! I just HAD to use this paper because it's been calling me all week! ;)

Hope you'll go check out our other designers' creations on the Banana blog and play along with us!

ihp Birthday Bash Challenge —Day 6

Our challenge for you today is to make a special Birthday Card… Remember, everything this week has to do with birthday celebrations...so be sure your creation is birthday related!

Today's prize pack is: (1) Silly Monsters set, (1) self-adhesive crystal birthday bling and (1) Hero Arts Birthday Sayings set.

My card is a simple but special birthday card! It is based on Paper Craft Planet's Saturday Sketch and was made to celebrate the birthday of PCP's founder Susanna Boyd. Happy Birthday Susanna! I used Best Creations' Owl and Doodles paper along with Hero Arts' Sparkle Clear Love That, on sale NOW! Love that parrot green/fuschia polka dot ribbon! The sentiment is from OCL's The Botz Family. Of course, I can't live without my nesties! Here I used the squares and scalloped squares (also on sale!) to frame the owls, which were matted with punched circles.

Here are the hosts we had this week. Be sure to check their blogs for inspiration and their takes on the challenge for that day. You can also check the main IHP Birthday Bash page at the store. Even if you've missed 'em all so far, you still have a chance to play any or all!

Day 1(10/19): Kate(owner), Sarah Anderson, and Dee Jackson
Day 2 (10/20): Deb/Latisha Yoast
Day 3 (10/21): Gretchen/Lesa Smaligo and Lynn/Asela Hopkins
Day 4 (10/22): Cathleen/Kerri Michaud and Carolyn/Maria Fiscella
Day 5 (10/23): Megan/Chris Veneruso and Kendra/Debbie Fisher
TODAY Day 6 (10/24): Tracy/Heidi Van Laar and Amber/Kerry Davis
Day 7 (10/25): Sunday, day of rest (finish up your challenges!)
Day 8 (10/26): PARTY! GRAND PRIZE (winners are announced)

You can play along with all of this week’s challenges until Sunday night, midnight EST.

Before you begin, PLEASE take a few minutes to review the challenge guidelines! You’ll want to follow these rules to maximize your points and qualify for the opportunity to WIN the prize for today’s challenge and the Grand Prize, all announced on the last day of our festivities!

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. Today’s challenge tag is IHPBB5. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

To qualify for the Grand Prize of being IHP Guest Designer for the month of November, here’s how it will work: Every challenge card/project you enter will earn you points (see below), and one with the most accumulated for the week the Grand Prize winner. So the more challenges you enter, more points you earn — and the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize (and the bigger the value of your Guest Designer box will be)!

You will have until October 25^th to post your work, and you can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th.

Birthday Bash Points

For each project:

• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to SCS
• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to PCP
• 2 points for uploading to your blog and linking at least one IHP item used to the IHP website

One time points:

• 2 points for signing up to receive our newsletter*
• 2 points for joining our PCP group*
• 2 points for becoming our fan on Facebook*
• 10 points if you participate in all 6 IHP Birthday Bash challenges

*When you sign up, or if you are already signed up, a comment here so your points can be credited.

Remember, you have until midnight EST tomorrow to upload your projects. Points will be tallied and winners announced on Monday!

ihp Birthday Bash Challenge —Day 5

Another very important consideration in party-planning is the menu! The kitchen is usually the favorite gathering place for guests, and food and drink are the main attraction.

Our challenge for you today is to make a card (scrapbook page, 3-D item, etc.) using stamps or papers that feature food and/or drink!

Remember, everything this week has to do with birthday celebrations...so be sure your creation is birthday related! You have until Sunday night to finish all of this week’s challenges, so even if you haven't started yet, there's still time! Be sure to scroll down to review all the details!

Today's prize pack is: (1) Homemade Treats Borders & Centers 2-3/8", (1) Wooden Stamper 2-3/8" and (1) Lemonade 6x6 Pad.

For today's challenge I'm sharing a little concoction from my July Dirty Dozen gallery...the theme was Tropical Paradise! I thought it would be fun to have a little *coaster* book of drink recipes, so I gathered what I thought were some of the most popular drink recipes and my favorite papers and this is what resulted.

Stemma Bottoms Up, K and Company Citronella Waves Glitter Thermography Designer Paper, Nestabilities squares and scalloped squares, lace edge punch, glitter cording, glitter "salt", white gel pen, clear Spica glitter pen, cropadile, corner rounder, Basic Grey fibers

Bo Bunny Alissa "Spunky"

K & Co Designer Paper

K & Co Designer Paper

SEI Mimosa "Daiquiri" (both sides)

SEI Mimosa "Margarita" (both sides)

K and Company Citronella Waves Glitter Thermography Designer Paper, Upsy Daisy Tweet "Stillness"

Here are the hosts for each day. Be sure to check their blogs on their scheduled day to find out that day’s challenge. You can also check the main IHP Birthday Bash page at the store. It will be updated daily.

Day 1(10/19): Kate(owner), Sarah Anderson, and Dee Jackson
Day 2 (10/20): Deb/Latisha Yoast
Day 3 (10/21): Gretchen/Lesa Smaligo and Lynn/Asela Hopkins
Day 4 (10/22): Cathleen/Kerri Michaud and Carolyn/Maria Fiscella
TODAY Day 5 (10/23): Megan/Chris Veneruso and Kendra/Debbie Fisher
Day 6 (10/24): Tracy/Heidi Van Laar and Amber/Kerry Davis
Day 7 (10/25): Sunday, day of rest (finish up your challenges!)
Day 8 (10/26): PARTY! GRAND PRIZE (winners are announced)

Before you begin, PLEASE take a few minutes to review the challenge guidelines! You’ll want to follow these rules to maximize your points and qualify for the opportunity to WIN the prize for today’s challenge and the Grand Prize, all announced on the last day of our festivities!

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. Today’s challenge tag is IHPBB5. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

To qualify for the Grand Prize of being IHP Guest Designer for the month of November, here’s how it will work: Every challenge card/project you enter will earn you points (see below), and one with the most accumulated for the week the Grand Prize winner. So the more challenges you enter, more points you earn — and the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize (and the bigger the value of your Guest Designer box will be)!

You will have until October 25^th to post your work, and you can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th.

Birthday Bash Points

For each project:

• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to SCS
• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to PCP
• 2 points for uploading to your blog and linking at least one IHP item used to the IHP website

One time points:

• 2 points for signing up to receive our newsletter*
• 2 points for joining our PCP group*
• 2 points for becoming our fan on Facebook*
• 10 points if you participate in all 6 IHP Birthday Bash challenges

*When you sign up, or if you are already signed up, a comment here so your points can be credited.

Can’t wait to see the stuff you create!

Exciting News!

So excited to make this announcement! My stamps should arrive today! Yay!

ihp Birthday Bash Challenge —Day 4

What’s a birthday party without presents? Whether the wrappings are simple or ornate, they bring an air of suspense and delight to onlookers as the honored guest opens each gift.

Our challenge for you today is to use designer papers and ribbons to create a card, box, or bag. My little Bubs the Beaver box is just big enough to hold a package of Orbit gum! It is a simple score-and-fold pattern using a quarter sheet of designer paper and some luscious faux suede ribbon. I love how the design of the paper made it look as if I used more than one print. This stamp set is ON SALE NOW!

Remember, everything this week has to do with birthday celebrations...so be sure your creation is birthday related!

Today's prize is: 1 yard of each: 1 1/2" Lace Fuchsia, 1 1/2" Lace Parrot Green, 1 1/2" Lace Turquoise, 1 1/2" Lace White, 1" Bright Green Silk, 1" Lavender Silk, 1" Turquoise Silk, 1" Yellow Silk, 1/2" Venise Lace Daisy Ivory/Purple, 1/2" Venise Lace Daisy Ivory/Berry, 1/2" Venise Lace Daisy Ivory/Olive, 3/8" Black & Yellow Gingham, 3/8" Double Faced Satin Brown, 3/8" Ivory Trimmings/Lines, 3/8" Satin Reversible orange/yellow, 5/8" Polka Dot Brown/Pink/White/Ivory/Hot Pink, 5/8" Polka Dot Brown/Blue/White/Ivory/Turquoise/Aqua, 5/8" Sheer Metallic Silver and 1 Night Light Collection Kit.

Here are the hosts for each day. Be sure to check their blogs on their scheduled day to find out that day’s challenge. You can also check the main IHP Birthday Bash page at the store. It will be updated daily.

Day 1(10/19): Kate(owner), Sarah Anderson, and Dee Jackson
Day 2 (10/20): Deb/Latisha Yoast
Day 3 (10/21): Gretchen/Lesa Smaligo and Lynn/Asela Hopkins
TODAY Day 4 (10/22): Cathleen/Kerri Michaud and Carolyn/Maria Fiscella
Day 5 (10/23): Megan/Chris Veneruso and Kendra/Debbie Fisher
Day 6 (10/24): Tracy/Heidi Van Laar and Amber/Kerry Davis
Day 7 (10/25): Sunday, day of rest (finish up your challenges!)
Day 8 (10/26): PARTY! GRAND PRIZE (winners are announced)

Before you begin, PLEASE take a few minutes to review the challenge guidelines! You’ll want to follow these rules to maximize your points and qualify for the opportunity to WIN the prize for today’s challenge and the Grand Prize, all announced on the last day of our festivities!

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. Today’s challenge tag is IHPBB4. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

To qualify for the Grand Prize of being IHP Guest Designer for the month of November, here’s how it will work: Every challenge card/project you enter will earn you points (see below), and one with the most accumulated for the week the Grand Prize winner. So the more challenges you enter, more points you earn—and the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize (and the bigger the value of your Guest Designer box will be)!

You will have until October 25^th to post your work, and you can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th.

Birthday Bash Points

For each project:

• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to SCS
• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to PCP
• 2 points for uploading to your blog and linking at least one IHP item used to the IHP website

One time points:

• 2 points for signing up to receive our newsletter*
• 2 points for joining our PCP group*
• 2 points for becoming our fan on Facebook*
• 10 points if you participate in all 6 IHP Birthday Bash challenges

*When you sign up, or if you are already signed up, a comment here so your points can be credited.

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

ihp Birthday Bash Challenge —Day 3

When you are hosting a party, you want to create an atmosphere of fun and excitement. Ribbons, streamers, table decorations and special party favors all set the stage for celebrating!

Our challenge for you today is to use IHP embellishments to dress up your card (scrapbook page, 3-D item, etc.), table decoration, or party favor. Remember, everything this week has to do with birthday celebrations...so be sure your creation is birthday related!

Today's prize is an assortment of embellishments including: (4) 1-3/16" Crocheted Flower Ecru/Mauve flowers, (4) 24mm (approx 3/4") Burst Pearl Knitted Flower Purple flowers, (6) 5/8" Ombre Rose with Pearl Pink/Peach flowers, 1 Assorted Foil pack, 1 Dazzlers - Cats and Ghosts, 1 Indian Summer Woolies, 1 Quill Flowers, 1 Scat Cat Black Felt Border, 1 Self Adhesive Crystal Cute Bugs, 1 Super Snowmen Class A'Peel™ Stickers.

Here are the hosts for each day. Be sure to check their blogs on their scheduled day to find out that day’s challenge. You can also check the main IHP Birthday Bash page at the store. It will be updated daily.

Day 1(10/19): Kate(owner), Sarah Anderson, and Dee Jackson
Day 2 (10/20): Deb/Latisha Yoast
TODAY Day 3 (10/21): Gretchen/Lesa Smaligo and Lynn/Asela Hopkins
Day 4 (10/22): Cathleen/Kerri Michaud and Carolyn/Maria Fiscella
Day 5 (10/23): Megan/Chris Veneruso and Kendra/Debbie Fisher
Day 6 (10/24): Tracy/Heidi Van Laar and Amber/Kerry Davis
Day 7 (10/25): Sunday, day of rest (finish up your challenges!)
Day 8 (10/26): PARTY! GRAND PRIZE (winners are announced)

Before you begin, PLEASE take a few minutes to review the challenge guidelines (scroll down to see the post below this one)! You’ll want to follow these rules to maximize your points and qualify for the opportunity to WIN the prize for today’s challenge and the Grand Prize, all announced on the last day of our festivities!

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. Today’s challenge tag is IHPBB3. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

Even if you've missed the challenges so far this week, you still have time to review and catch up since your creations are not due until the 25th. You can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th. Be sure to follow the guidelines to maximize your points, which are outlined below.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Color Dare #39

Oh my goodness! What a difficult color combo this was! I immediately thought of this pansy image that I recently received from Just Rite Stamps, and cheated a tiny bit by adding some green. I struggled with the layout forever and finally just settled for this. This color combo just didn't speak to me the way others do!

Consider it truly a DARE...let's see what you come up with! More inspiration here!

ihp Birthday Bash Challenge —Day 2

It's Day 2 of i {heart} papers' Birthday Bash challenges, and my sweet friend (online and IRL!) Latisha Yoast and I are excited to be your hosts.

When you’re inviting guests to your party, you really want an invitation that will grab their attention! One way to do that is to create a cool, funky fold, so...

Our challenge for you today is to make a card using a non-traditional fold. Remember, everything this week has to do with birthday celebrations...so be sure your creation is birthday related! Today's prize pack is one roll of our very own i {stick} papers red line tape and one Tim Holtz Design ruler - both essential when you're making boxes or non-traditional folds! Our red line tape is so strong that it was originally made for car manufacturers to use to hold plastic car parts together!

There are alot of resources out there to help you find a fun fold! You can check out SCS Technique Lovers' Challenges hosted by our very own Lynn Mercurio, or the resources page at Papercraft Planet where Lynn and another ihp DT member Lori Tecler are supernovas! (I'm happy to be able to say I've met Lynn and Lori and several other ihp members IRL too! Love my girlfriends! Celebrating friendships is what birthdays are all about!)

My card for today features an interactive fold that slides open to reveal a hidden message. You can find the tutorial here.


These are the ihp products I used:

• Pat the Bad Dog (Our Craft Lounge) colored with Copic markers
  
• Earth Love Cosmo Cricket mini deck
  
• 1.5 inch wide antique gold silk ribbon

Now it's time for you to get started on your own card! Here are the hosts for each challenge, including the deets for today as well as a review of yesterday's challenge and all the challenge guidelines! Be sure to check the blogs of each host on their scheduled day to find out that day’s challenge. You can also check the main IHP Birthday Bash page at the store. It will be updated daily.

Day 1(10/19): Kate(owner), Sarah Anderson, and Dee Jackson
TODAY Day 2 (10/20): Deb/Latisha Yoast
Day 3 (10/21): Gretchen/Lesa Smaligo and Lynn/Asela Hopkins
Day 4 (10/22): Cathleen/Kerri Michaud and Carolyn/Maria Fiscella
Day 5 (10/23): Megan/Chris Veneruso and Kendra/Debbie Fisher
Day 6 (10/24): Tracy/Heidi Van Laar and Amber/Kerry Davis
Day 7 (10/25): Sunday, day of rest (finish up your challenges!)
Day 8 (10/26): PARTY! GRAND PRIZE (winners are announced)

You’ll want to follow the rules to maximize your points and qualify for the opportunity to WIN the prize for today’s challenge and the Grand Prize, all announced on the last day of our festivities!

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. Today’s challenge tag is IHPBB2. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

To qualify for the Grand Prize of being IHP Guest Designer for the month of November, here’s how it will work: Every challenge card/project you enter will earn you points (see below), and one with the most accumulated for the week the Grand Prize winner. So the more challenges you enter, more points you earn — and the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize (and the bigger the value of your Guest Designer box will be)!

You will have until October 25^th to post your work, and you can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th.

Birthday Bash Points

For each project:

• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to SCS
• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to PCP
• 2 points for uploading to your blog and linking at least one IHP item used to the IHP website

One time points:

• 2 points for signing up to receive our newsletter*
• 2 points for joining our PCP group*
• 2 points for becoming our fan on Facebook*
• 10 points if you participate in all 6 IHP Birthday Bash challenges

*When you sign up, or if you are already signed up, a comment here so your points can be credited.

Can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

You Want a Paper Piece o' Me?!

This is a three-fer challenge card for

1. Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge for October, *You Want a Paper Piece of Me?* to paper piecing using Fall colors. Halloween counts, right?!
2. i {heart} papers non-traditional folds challenge for our Big Birthday Bash going on NOW. I know this isn't a typical birthday card, but it is just perfect for my friend Ann whose birthday is on Halloween.
3. OCL's upcoming feature of this set for set of the week beginning October 26th

Here you can see it open. You can find the tutorial for this card here.

Party Time!

Welcome to the first of this week’s i {heart} papers Birthday Bash (IHPBB) challenges! We’re looking forward to seeing all of your creations, and we’re very happy to have you celebrating with us!

Here are the hosts for each day. Be sure to check their blogs on their scheduled day to find out that day’s challenge. You can also check the main IHP Birthday Bash page at the store. It will be updated daily.

The hosts for the week are:

TODAY Day 1 (10/19): Kate (owner), Sarah Anderson, and Dee Jackson
Day 2 (10/20): Deb/Latisha Yoast
Day 3 (10/21): Gretchen/Lesa Smaligo and Lynn/Asela Hopkins
Day 4 (10/22): Cathleen/Kerri Michaud and Carolyn/Maria Fiscella
Day 5 (10/23): Megan/Chris Veneruso and Kendra/Debbie Fisher
Day 6 (10/24): Tracy/Heidi Van Laar and Amber/Kerry Davis
Day 7 (10/25): Sunday, day of rest (finish up your challenges!)
Day 8 (10/26): PARTY! GRAND PRIZE (winners are announced)

What’s the first thing you do when you’re planning a Birthday Bash? Before you can choose invitations, decorations, etc., you must decide upon a color scheme, so our first IHPBB challenge has to do with color.

Our challenge for you today is to make a card (scrapbook page, 3-D item, etc.) using the colors of our IHP logo: celery, light blue, rose and black (colors in any brand). Remember, everything this week has to do with birthday celebrations...so be sure your creation is birthday related!

I love the soft colors of our logo, so I kept my card soft and feminine...it uses these ihp products:

• Flowers for You (Our Craft Lounge)--ON SALE NOW!
  
• Nestabilities Petite Ovals, small and large
• 1/2 inch Venise lace
• Hero Arts clear gemstones

Before you begin, PLEASE take a few minutes to review the challenge guidelines! You’ll want to follow these rules to maximize your points and qualify for the opportunity to WIN the prize for today’s challenge and the Grand Prize, all announced on the last day of our festivities!

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. Today’s challenge tag is IHPBB1. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

To qualify for the Grand Prize of being IHP Guest Designer for the month of November, here’s how it will work: Every challenge card/project you enter will earn you points (see below), and one with the most accumulated for the week the Grand Prize winner. So the more challenges you enter, more points you earn — and the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize (and the bigger the value of your Guest Designer box will be)!

You will have until October 25^th to post your work, and you can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th.

Birthday Bash Points

For each project:

• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to SCS
• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to PCP
• 2 points for uploading to your blog and linking at least one IHP item used to the IHP website

One time points:

• 2 points for signing up to receive our newsletter*
• 2 points for joining our PCP group*
• 2 points for becoming our fan on Facebook*
• 10 points if you participate in all 6 IHP Birthday Bash challenges

*When you sign up, or if you are already signed up, a comment on the IHP blog Birthday Bash week so your points can be credited.

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

Banana Split Sunday!

This week's challenge is a sketch! Since Fall has finally arrived in Northeast Florida, I especially enjoyed working with these warm colors! I used prints from two different designer paper manufacturers (Pink Paisley and My Mind's Eye), but I think they work well together for this monochromatic design. The Fuzzy Bear and leaves on the sentiment from the same set were colored with Copic markers and embellished with Flame dew drops.

My friends have made some adorable cards for this challenge! Hope you'll take a peek and then play along! One randomly determined winner will receive a stamp set from our September release.

It's a Birthday Bash!

Get ready for the i {heart} papers Birthday Bash! That’s right, IHP is turning 1 year old this month, and a whopper of a party is planned! There's also a special gift planned to help others celebrate more birthdays. You’ll read more about that at the end of this post.

First, let’s talk about the party! There will be prizes galore (free stuff – you like free stuff, don’t you?), and a Grand Prize winner will be chosen at the end to be the IHP Guest Designer for the month of November!

There will be 6 birthday party themed challenges, one posted each day starting on Monday, October 19th. Each challenge will be hosted (and posted) by one of the IHP Design Team members. It will also be posted on the IHP Blog and on the store site HERE. Some special invited guests will be posting throughout the week, too! Each challenge will have its own prize.

To qualify for the prize of the day, all you have to do is upload your challenge card/project to Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) and/or Paper Craft Planet (PCP) with the appropriate tag so we can find it. The tag (and the prize) for that day’s challenge will be posted on that day. You will have until October 25^th to post your work, and you can enter as many challenges as you like, but you CANNOT combine challenges in one project. The daily challenge winners will be randomly selected at the end of the week.

To qualify for the Grand Prize of being IHP Guest Designer for the month of November, here’s how it will work: Every challenge card/project you enter will earn you points (see the list below), and the one with the most points accumulated for the week will be the Grand Prize winner. So the more challenges you enter, the more points you earn — and the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize (and the bigger the value of your Guest Designer box will be)!

All winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will be announced at the Birthday Bash on October 26^th.

So get ready to PARTY!!!! You won’t want to miss the fun!

Birthday Bash Points

For each project:

• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to SCS
• 5 points for each challenge card/project you make, upload and tag to PCP
• 2 points for uploading to your blog and linking at least one IHP item used to the IHP website

One time points:

• 2 points for signing up to receive our newsletter*
• 2 points for joining our PCP group*
• 2 points for becoming our fan on Facebook*
• 10 points if you participate in all 6 IHP Birthday Bash challenges

*When you sign up, or if you are already signed up, leave a comment on the IHP blog during Birthday Bash week so your points can be credited.

A Special Gift
Because i {heart} papers loves birthdays so much, they’ve decided to contribute 10% of sales, beginning on October 19^th and through the end of October, to Hope Lodge New York City. Hope Lodge, run by the American Cancer Society, “The Official Sponsor of Birthdays,” offers free, temporary housing for cancer patients and their families who are undergoing treatment. The nurturing, comfortable environment at Hope Lodge allows patients to focus on what is most important - fighting cancer. What better way to celebrate a birthday than to help those who are helping more birthdays happen!

Strut Your Sparkly Stuff!

I made this for this Flourishes' challenge...it's so hard to photo Pearl Ex's shimmer! More later because we're off to man the Pumpkin Patch!

edited to add: I stamped the peacock from Strut Your Stuff with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored him with Prismas and Gamsol to lay in some base colors, then added some shimmer with Pearl Ex (blue, turqoise, green and gold) using a Versamarker. This Basic Grey Boxer designer paper seemed like a great background when paired with some bright turqoise card stock matted with black to make the colors pop. I kept the embellishments ultra simple so that this fellow could strut his stuff without competition!

I was hoping to get a better photo, but the sun is refusing to shine in Florida this afternoon! There came up an enormous black cloud while we were at the Pumpkin Patch so we packed everything up and went inside. Within five minutes the rain started, and the wind blew the canopy we had been under (a frame that was staked into the ground) into a mass of twisted metal! Needless to say, we didn't sell any pumpkins today!

It's the 15th!

Just a reminder that the Dirty Dozen gallery opened at midnight! It was a fun theme and there's lots of gorgeous stuff! You gotta go see!

Banana Split Sunday!

I haven't watercolored in quite a while, so I decided that for today's Banana Split Challenge I would pull out the old aquapainter and squish some ink pads! Our challenge is a color challenge, to use orange, black and purple...this designer paper is a scrap left over from last year's K and Company paper pad that I absolutely loved! The only new things besides the cute Jack-o-lantern Penny stamp are the spider from JoAnn's and the MS web punch. All of the rest is from my stash, which I am making a deliberate effort to use! How else am I gonna make room for my new purchases?! ;)

I hope you'll play along with our challenge!

SoL Color Challenge

I absolutely love the colors of Fall! Here in Florida there are only a few types of trees that are sensitive enough to turn vibrant colors in our mild winters, but I love it nevertheless!

The Stamps of Life color challenge embraces the colors of Fall...orange, peach, green, and any neutrals. I love the way the Thanks2Fall images work together in different combinations to make a card appropriate for any time of the season. I chose to make a simple Thanksgiving card with lots of open space and clean lines. I stamped a line art pumpkin, leaf and stem and colored them in with Copic markers to bring out some highlights and shading. The layout consisted of a scrap of designer paper, a bright scalloped border and a velvet flower with a pearl center.

Visit the Stamps of Life gallery for more inspiration...then share your creation!

The Stamps of Life Challenge

Check it out on the Daily Dare!

Color Dare #37

This week's Color Dare colors were so fun, although I'm not sure, looking at this card, that you'd say I played by the rules! Except for the Copic-colored image, you can barely see the colors, and even then, I think it might look like More Mustard rather than Creamy Caramel (along with Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, and Pumpkin Pie for which I had to substitute Tangerine Tango). I am hoping to get a better picture when the sun comes up in the morning! Today was gray and overcast and it was late when this photo was taken!

This designer paper for my card is from My Mind's Eye, The Spider's Web collection. I really wanted to pair this black cat with the witch in Our Craft Lounge's set, Holiday Cruiser...I went with a 5.5 inch square card to try to show as much of the print as possible. It probably would have been better if I had cut out my image...if you look really hard you will see layers of Artichoke and Eggplant under there! The beautiful antique gold silk ribbon was a perfect match for this paper and I just love the way bows come out when you tie them using this ribbon and the Bow Easy!

Visit the Color Dare blog for more inspiration, and then link your creation when you've finished! We'd love to see!

Happy Anniversary!

This has been a very special week for me! Yesterday was my first blogiversary, and today is our silver wedding anniversary! I've been celebrating by shopping for craft room furniture! ;) I'm in the serious planning phase and am really working hard to try to make the most of the space I have...the room has odd angles and is proving to be quite a challenge but I'm determined to keep searching until I find what will work best for me. I can't think of a sweeter anniversary gift for my husband to give me!

I'm sharing one of the projects from my very first Dirty Dozen gallery. The theme for the month of June '09 was *In the Beginning* and since our marriage had such an enchanted beginning this was one of the first ideas that came to mind. We met in Pensacola about six months after I graduated from college when Patrick was just out of Aviation Officers Candidate School. During that week we spent a lot of time on Pensacola Beach, and the sand dollars in this shadow box are some that we collected during those precious first days! So sentimental!

We got married 25 years ago today at Caneel Bay, the U.S. Virgin Islands. This picture was taken on Scott's Beach, just outside the villa where we honeymooned. We were there for 10 days, and then Patrick was deployed for four months, so I returned to Louisiana to the job I had as a physical therapist. Then when his cruise was over, we were stationed in Barber's Point, Hawaii. We lived there for four years, and loved every second of it. I even took hula, and learned to speak sukoshi Japanese.

I hope you'll join me in wishing another couple a happy silver anniversary! Sharon Johnson and her husband got married the same day and same YEAR as Patrick and I did! We discovered this when I commented on a poppy card she'd made and mentioned that our wedding china had poppies on it...that sparked a conversation via email that revealed our shared anniversary. I'm so happy to have met Sharon, and have been blessed to have visited her the past two summers when we've gone to Upper Michigan to visit Patrick's parents. She lives about two hours from them and my SIL is sweet enough to make the drive to take me there.

I hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for visiting!

Banana Split Sunday...

...and more World Card Making Day projects to finish today! Hasn't it been fun?!

Here's another Penny card for you! She just makes me smile...my 15 yo ds and I spent a couple of hours manning the Pumpkin Patch (our church youth group's fund-raiser) yesterday, and although it was hot and humid, it was so much fun! One little guy about 2 years old was pumpkin shopping for the first time, and he just ran from one palette of pumpkins to the next touching everything, all wide-eyed with wonder! So cute! There is a lot to see...we have some of the coolest pumpkins! Gnarly warty green ones, pale white smooth ones, translucent veiny-skinned ones...and of course, the typical orange ones we all associate with the arrival of Fall.

I actually took my basket of Copics with me and colored to pass the time while we were there...and the place inspired me! I wanted to try to incorporate some of the textures and colors of the Pumpkin Patch into my card, so I started with My Mind's Eye designer paper, inked all the edges, then added a piece of *stuff* I've had for years (and I do mean years!) that reminds me of hay or corn silk...I embellished with hemp-tied buttons and a raffia bow. The sentiment is from another 2RB set, Fuzzy Bears, but it works so well with Penny!

You've gotta go see all the cute things that our design team has done this week! I hope you'll play along! You might win a Penny stamp! :)

World Card Making Day!

I'm hoping to play along with as many World Card Making Day challenges as I can fit in! Here's my first card, for the Unity challenge on Splitcoaststampers. I didn't have an 8.5 inch wide piece of Rose Red to use w/ this Bittersweet designer paper, so I had to make a scallop-edged card with an overhanging image. It came out ok, very Valentine-ish. Most supplies are from i {heart} papers.

Notes:

Stamps: Unity
Papers: Basic Grey Bittersweet
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in tea dye
Accessories: Nestabilities squares, Copic markers, Kaiser pearl, primas, rickrack and button from the stash!

Here's a card for Beate, Jenn and Lori's challenge to make a Chocolate Sketch Thank-you card. I used some SEI Chocolat` Mousse and Noisette designer paper that I've been hoarding forever! It is so shimmery and beautiful I just wasn't quite brave enough to cut into it. I am going to *attempt* to show you the way it changes from silver to gold depending on the light.

This paper is so yummy that you just don't want to do anything to cover it up! I stayed very simply to the sketch and let the paper speak for itself. All I added was a Hero Arts sentiment cut and matted with Nesties, a few Basic Grey Opaline pearls and a sheer bow.