Flower Soft Dynamic Dimension Challenge

Today, the Flower Soft design team is sharing cards with Dynamic Dimension!  We are featuring pop-up cards made with the Mabel Lucie Atwell pop-up card-making kit.  It is so fun to see the different directions our creative team can go even from the same starting place!

My card is a "stepped-up" version of the pop-up that comes in the kit.  Instead of scoring and folding the printed card, I cut the card-front off, sponged the edges with distress ink, and mounted it on colored card stock.  I used some of the extra images provided to add a layer or two of dimension to the front of the card, and assembled the inside according to the package instructions.  All you need are some paper snips to fussy-cut the images, and whatever embellishments you wish to add...the adhesive foam dots are included in the kit, so it makes things fast and easy.

Since the images that I used inside were trimmed with a narrow white border, I decided to add a tiny white border to the sentiment as well.  There were plenty of scraps left from the trimmings to mat the sentiment, or you could choose to stamp your own sentiment instead.

Smiles and laughter are contagious, don't you think?!  Be sure to visit the Flower Soft blog, and the blogs of my design team mates to see what they've created for today's challenge.

Participate in our challenge, and you'll get a chance to win three pots of Flower Soft and a FS glue!

• Jennifer Buck - DT Coordinator
• Cibele Glazer
• Dawn Lusk
• Deb Felts
• Debbie Seyer
• Jeanne Streiff
• Krista Riley
• Linda Beeson
• Lisa Murphy
• Stephanie Lee

Prescription for Spring!

So excited to be sharing a brand new Gourmet Rubber Stamps Diners' Club set with you!  It's called Prescription for Spring!  It's full of fun images for Spring and Easter!

I must confess that I had to force myself to reach first for something other than the cute kite in this set!  (I bet at least one of my teammates did something fabulous with it!) Instead, I decided to make an adaptation (for 6 x 6 paper) of Beate's tea bag holder, using the Get Well Soon sentiment and the multiple choice "My prescription" sentiment that coordinates with it.  I used some pretty Authentique papers, even replacing the tea bag tags with little snippets of designer paper.  I love how ruffly, pink and girlie this came out!  The layout is a square version of Jeni's Weekly Recipe #22.  So many of my friends are suffering from sore throats and colds right now, I may need to make multiples of these!

Be sure to visit GRS to see the rest of the images in Prescription for Spring...our designers are sharing previews with this new set, so be sure to peek at their blogs too!

• GRS Blog
• Jeni Allen
• Joy Stagg
• Kelli Palmer
• Kendra Wietstock
• Pam Hornschu
• Rose Ann Reynolds
• Taylor Usry

Notes:  all supplies from i {heart} papers...even GRS stamps will be available there soon!
GRS Diners' Club stamp set, Prescription for Spring
Authentique designer paper
Memento ink
Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
ruffle trim
rhinestone
twine
Thickers

ihp + PCP trends challenge

Walking the floor of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Trade Show is always an adventure! What could possibly be more exciting than getting to see three huge showrooms of brand new products that you can hardly wait to get your hands on? Only one thing: getting to share that experience with your girlfriends!

From the very beginning, the i {heart} papers team has had strong ties to Paper Craft Planet. Our mutual love of paper and paper-crafting was the foundation for our friendship, and CHA has given us the opportunity to meet face-to-face and translate those online friendships into real life. It's so much more fun in person than it is on screen!

As we walked the CHA floor we were drawn to certain products and projects...when we discussed them over dinner we discovered some emerging trends. That's what today's combined team challenge is all about.

Of course, not everyone can attend CHA. We were quite sorely missing some of our team mates...and the general public is not eligible to attend. Thankfully, those of you who couldn't be there can live vicariously through the next best thing: photos! Check out these in this post from Susanna, and several posts from MoxieFab!

Chevrons seemed to be everywhere in the showroom!  I also saw lots of projects featuring flowers of various shapes, sizes, and styles, so I decided to combine the two for a little flower pot pocket card.  It features one of the new tiny "wows" that we saw at CHA this year, a little wiggly spring called the Action Wobble.  Here's a close-up, so you can see the way it works...it is self-adhesive, so that makes it really easy.  I wanted this flower to sit higher than the others, so I adhered the top portion of the spring to a clear button, then adhered the flower to the top of the button with a glue dot.

Notes:
Echo Park Metropolitan Dots and Stripes designer paper
My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Happy Days designer paper
Spellbinders dies
Tim Holtz distress ink
Two-toned taupe satin ribbon
Kaiser Craft pearls
Pink Paislee charm
Action Wobble
Scor-buddy
glue dots
dimensional adhesive

There was also a brand new vendor at CHA that you're already familiar with...Gourmet Rubber Stamps, which includes the fabulous art of Tricia and Meredith, aka Lizzie Anne.  I'm so happy Kate will be carrying their amazing designs!  Couldn't resist creating more chevrons from stripes for this week's CPS sketch.  The inside of this card includes a stamped image of the chess set's king.

Notes:
Gourmet Rubber Stamps Abracadabra! Diners' Club Set
Memento ink
Echo Park Metropolitan Dots and Stripes designer paper
Spellbinders dies, want2scrap bling
The Twinery twine

Here are the links to more great TRENDS projects created by the members of our two teams!

the ihp design team:

• Carolyn
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

and our guests from PCP:

• Adela Rossol
• Lisa Somerville
• Lyn Bernatovich
• Susanna Boyd
• Taylor Usry
• Wendy Price

Becoming a Gentleman!

Hello, friends!  I was trying to get back in the groove of things, and ended up with another (or maybe it was the same?) sinus/ear infection...the dizziness kept me from doing much of anything upright, so I spent a lot of time in bed or on the sofa reading.  After a week of trying to deal with it on my own I went to the Urgent Care Clinic down the street, which we affectionately call the Doc-in-the-Box.  Thank God for expert doctors and for antibiotics!  This time he doubled 'em up (a z-pack plus penicillin), so hopefully they will do the trick!  Just a couple of doses have made a significant difference!

It's our son's "golden" birthday tomorrow...he's turning 18 on the 18th!  We were up early this morning getting him ready and on his way for a youth group ski trip to North Carolina.  I am so sad that we won't get to share this monumental milestone with him, but there's no way he could miss this trip!  I will have to stay busy this weekend so I won't get too emotional about the whole thing!  I canNOT believe that "my baby" is old enough to VOTE!

This card, made with Gourmet Rubber Stamps' Abracadabra, is filled with symbolism!  Matthew loves magic, music and the theatre.  The vintage gentleman and a handsome menswear pinstripe herald his passage into adulthood but on the inside, there'a a reminder for Matthew to keep a bit of the child inside for the rest of his life!  I think it is important to always keep some of that magic within your spirit!

I would love if you would celebrate with us!  Come play this week's Gourmet Rubber Stamps Weekly Recipe sketch challenge, and share your project with us on the Gourmet Rubber Stamps Facebook page!

Notes:
Gourmet Rubber Stamps' Abracadabra!
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
Copic markers
Spellbinders long rectangles, fancy tags 2
Basic Grey Little Black Dress 6 x 6 designer paper

Celebrating A Year of Flowers

I have always really loved magnolias.  They're Louisiana's state flower, and Mississippi's too!  Since I am a Girl Raised In The South who grew up in Louisiana, with extended family from Mississippi, that works for me!  

This beautiful magnolia stamp is from Melanie Muenchinger's Stately Flowers 3.  I'm not sure I got the colors quite right...I was at Mom's with less than half of my Copic collection, so I used the warm grays and olive greens rather than the creamy pale yellows and darker greens I would have chosen had they been within reach.  White can be a challenge to color, but I think that even with not-quite-right colors,  this still came out lovely!

An uncluttered layout lets the gorgeous flower take center stage!  I love that picot-edged doily!  This card has a quiet, understated elegance, don't you think?  Maybe it needs a little bling...now that I'm back home I will have to see what I can find!

Today, Melanie and the Gina K team are celebrating the release her new book, A Year in Flowers.  It showcases the stamp set by the same name, and the coordinating floral sets that can be used alongside it.   The book is full of beautiful cards and tutorials on how to make them, all designed by Melanie using stamp sets she has illustrated for Gina K.  Here's a link to all of Melanie's sets at GKD.

While I'm not officially part of the hop (I was away during all of the planning for it), I couldn't resist sharing my card today and pointing you in the right direction!  You don't want to miss it, so start at Gina's blog!  Enjoy!  

Feeling Peckish?

It's been so long since I last blogged, you probably think I've gotten lost!  Wow, what a year 2012 has been so far!  The last three weeks have been quite a whirlwind!  At one point in time I went through three time zones in four days!  Believe me, I felt peckish!  ;)  It took the last few nights on my own pillow to finally recover!  It feels so wonderful to be home again!  I'm trying to gradually ease back into the groove!

If you've been following my blog, you know that the first part of my trip was spent helping my mom after her surgery.  I am so happy to share that she is not going to be required to have either chemo or radiation!  What a huge answer to prayer that news was!  While she is still quite fatigued, she is making what I can't help but call a remarkable, miraculous recovery.  I am so proud of her!

It was a huge blessing to get to go to CHA last week!  Something light-hearted and fun was exactly what I needed! I got to make some new friends, meet quite a few online friends in person for the first time, and catch up with some familiar faces too.  My roommates were wonderful!  It was an incredible week!  Did I mention lots of gorgeous new product?  I'm really looking forward to getting to play with some of it soon!  It won't be long now!

Today I am hosting one of the anniversary sketches at CPS!  Days 8 and 9 of our 5th anniversary celebration are being sponsored by The Cat's Pajamas.  It was so nice to get to meet Alma at CHA, to say thank you in person, and to give her a great big hug!  She has the cutest stamps!

You can read more about CPS's 5th anniversary celebration in Tami's introductory post!  I hope you'll play along with us!  There's lots of inspiration from each of our current team members, and of course, there are lots of great prizes, including a grand prize for completing all 15 sketches!  Be sure to go to the "top of the blog" and then scroll down to see the posts for each of the sketches posted so far!

Notes:

Warm Fuzzies, from The Cat's Pajamas

Gina K Designs Pure Luxury card stock

Authentique, Basic Grey designer paper 

Memento ink

Copic markers

Kaiser Craft black rhinestones

Flower Soft Ultra Fine sand and citrus crush

Scrapbook Adhesives foam dots,  Ranger Stickles