Flower Soft Blog Hop!

Ready for a hop? How about a challenge too?

This week’s challenge – Flowers And Flower Soft! (make a project with a floral theme)

We’ll be giving away TWO prize packages! One prize package will be given away on the blog hop and another will be chosen among people who make a card using Flower Soft and post it in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keyword FSC05. Both prize winners will be chosen and announced on the Flower Soft blog on October 6th. The winner of the Splitcoast Gallery challenge will have their card featured on the Flower Soft Blog on 8th!!!

If you didn’t start at the beginning of the hop please go to the beginning at the Flower Soft Blog.

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be a prize winner chosen randomly among the blogs. The prizes (one set for Splitcoast players and one set for the blog hop!) :

• Moments in Time Stamp set Little Friend
• Polar White
• Ultra Fine Strawberry Flower Soft
• Flower Soft Glue

My project for today is a 4 inch square card featuring JustRite Stamps' Autumn Blessings.  I used Copic markers to color the image, and oval nestabilities to cut and emboss it, adding a matching bouquet of punched flowers with wire stems to bring the Fall theme from the image to the layout.  All of the flowers have toffee ultrafine Flower Soft centers, and the edges of the papers are given a warm Autumn glow with distress ink.

Did you know that Flower Soft is sponsoring this week's CPS Sketch, #186?  I stamped a cute little Lizzie Anne Designs school house image that includes a tree whose leaves, with the help of a little citrus crush and sage ultrafine Flower Soft, are just beginning to turn!  I added a little pile of leaves at the base of the tree, and a few shiny (Glossy Accents) tiny apples.  October Afternoon papers (Thrift Shop and Seaside) provide the perfect backdrop for some ABC's and 123's.



From here you'll be visiting the talented Debbie Seyer!


Want even more inspiration? Do you like video tutorials? Make sure and visit  Flower Soft TV!

Vintage Christmas

Today's Lizzie Anne Designs sketch challenge is being hosted by my friend Kendra.  This is a sketch that I really enjoyed working with, one that I'm sure I'll revisit.

Basic Grey's Jovial designer paper looks so lovely with this sentiment!  I changed the circle to oval to fit the image, then added a few rhinestones and some soft distress inking before removing the die...relatively clean and simple and super fast to put together.

Hope you'll play along!  Share your creation on our Facebook page!

CSS Inspiration Blog Hop

It's time for another GinaK Center Stage Spotlight Design Team blog hop, and this time we're drawing inspiration from a yummy wedding cupcake photograph! Don't these look scrumptious!?

Hopefully you've arrived here from Cheri's!  If you get lost, you can head to Carla's to start from the beginning!

My eye was drawn to the beautiful cream-colored orchids in the lower left corner of the inspiration photo.  They reminded me of Asela's set, Botanical Dreams.  My mother grew orchids in her greenhouse when I was young, and then as a young wife in Hawaii, they were everywhere, so for me orchids bring happy thoughts!
 

 

In this close-up photograph you can see the various hues of yellows and golds that I used to color these gorgeous blooms.  I love the way the cross-hatching of the designer paper echoes the shading in Asela's drawing, and the softness of the pale colors against the gold, green and brown of the layout.

The bow is a layering of two types of sheer ribbon that I've had forever!  (It is amazing what you find buried in your craft room when you seriously sort and organize!)  I tied them separately, then laid one atop the other with a beautiful pearl accent covering the knot.

Notes:
Botanical Dreams, illustrated by Asela Hopkins for GinaK
Pure Luxury Cardstock in ivory and chocolate brown
Basic Grey designer paper
Memento ink
Distress ink
Copic markers
Prima pearl
corner rounder

From here, you're headed to Giovana's! I'm sure she's got something amazing to share with you!  Enjoy the hop!

OCL Sketch

Today's card combines Our Craft Lounge's weekly sketch with SCS's Friday Free4All, to use scallops.  This pretty velvet scalloped ribbon and some matching scraps of Heebie Jeebies papers inspired the rest of my design.  This card came together very quickly because the cute Little Boogas ghost required very little coloring...just a few flicks of a pale blue-violet Copic marker and a little clear Spica sparkle and it was done!

I used a QuicKutz die to cut a small tag for the dangling sentiment, attaching it to the card with a cool safety pin and a pretty two-toned satin bow.

This was such a fun, fast sketch!  I love it!   Thanks, HB, for the inspiration!

Last Chance until Midnight!

Welcome to the last day of "Blogs 4 Boobies!"

You still have time to join in on the FUN(draising)
There are 2 ways to help:
1. Shop:
That's right you can help fight the war against breast cancer by shopping. Skipping Stones Design will donate $2 for EVERY single stamps set sold in their store. This donation will continue through Thursday the 23rd at midnight. Check out the end of this post for my favorite SSD stamp set.
2. Bid:
Check out the list of Amazing designers. They are auctioning off their blogs 4 boobies cards/projects to the highest bidder. Bidding will continue until 8:00 p.m. Mountain time, at which time the silent auctions will end. See "How to bid" below for more information.

Here is the list of amazingly talented, and generous designers who are joining with us in our efforts to stamp out Cancer:

Day 2 participants:
Kim Hughes - http://paperhugs.typepad.com/paper_hugs/
Kandi Phillips - http://kraftykandikrafts.blogspot.com/
Sharon Harnist – http://paperfections.typepad.com/
Amy Sheffer – http://pickledpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Buck – http://www.thebuckstampshere.blogspot.com/
Amy Tsuruta - http://tsurutadesigns.blogspot.com/
Tammie Beaton - http://alwaysinking.blogspot.com/
Rae Barthel – http://simplyrae.blogspot.com/
Wendy Jordan - http://papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com/
Sarah Martina Parker - http://sarahmartina.com/blog/
Lea Lawson - http://leascupcakesandsunshine.blogspot.com/
Teri Anderson - http://terisplace.wordpress.com/
Deb Felts – http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/
Kimberly Crawford - http://kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com/
Gladys Chia - http://www.gladyschia2010.wordpress.com/
Jen del Muro - http://iheart2stamp.com/
Maile Belles - http://mailebelles.blogspot.com/

Have fun bouncing from blog to blog. Enjoy all the designs, and make a bid or two! This is a rare opportunity to take home a card/project from your favorite designer, and fight the war against breast cancer!!!

Here is the list of participants who "bounced" with us on day 1:
Heather Engebretson - http://skippingstonesdesign.blogspot.com/
Barb Turpin - http://barbsboys123.blogspot.com/
Becky Olsen - http://lifeasathreeleggeddog.blogspot.com/
Megan Hoeppner - http://meganhoeppner.blogspot.com/
Kim Kesti - http://kimberlykesti.typepad.com/
Ashley Cannon Newell - http://ashleynewell.blogspot.com/
Angela Thomas - http://sparkleandbling.blogspot.com/
Ann Kranitz - http://stampwithme-ann.blogspot.com/
Shannan Teubner - http://withfeathersandsequins.blogspot.com/
Belinda Chang Langer - http://cadnileb.blogspot.com/
Brenda Weaver - http://sweetpapertreats.wordpress.com/
Jennifer Ingle - http://justjingle.blogspot.com/
Teresa Kline - http://enjoythevasunshine.blogspot.com/
Wendy Price - http://paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com/
Jodi Collins - http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com/

IF you haven't seen these amazing cards from some of today's top talent you've got to bounce around these blogs. Make a bid or two while you are at it.  How often do you get a chance to take home a card from your favorite designer?  Remember, 100% of the bid goes to the Komen foundation.

Here is one last look at my card/project.  The highest bid at the time of this post was $9...please check the comments on this post to see the current highest bid!  Please be generous!  I'd love to be able to say that the proceeds from my card made a significant difference!

Here is how you bid: Go to the comment section of the designer's most recent "blogs 4 boobies" post. In the comment section write the dollar amount of you bid and sign with your email address. Then sit back and watch and wait.....

"What do I do once I place a bid?"
"Watch and Wait"
The "Winner of the Auction" Will be the highest bid (that includes an email address)in the comment section of the MOST RECENT blogs 4 boobies post at the end of the silent auction. Please note that ALL cards/projects WILL BE REPOSTED on the 23rd of September. The silent auction will end at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time on September 23rd.

Things to keep in mind:
Near the end of the bidding you may not see bids as they come in.  Some blogs have a comment feature where the blog owner must approve comments before they are published.  So bid high. You might have the highest bid that is published, but someone might have outbid you in an unpublished comment/bid.The blogger/designer will declare who has won the silent auction. Skipping Stones Design will send you an invoice for your donation/bid amount. Please pay that invoice as soon as possible, so the designer can get your card/project in the mail to you.

I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite stamp from Skipping Stones Design!  There are so many that I love...their images are great, and the humor is so witty and just risque` enough!  ;)  I just received a couple of new sets, and I can't wait to ink 'em up...one of them is the new Timeless Textures set...I especially love the music background!

Remember, If you buy this set or any other before midnight on the 23rd of September $2 will go to the Komen Foundation.

Enjoy your hop and bid generously!  Please say a prayer for my friend, whose surgery will be next week.  Blessings!

Furry Critters

On Wednesdays each week Flower Soft hosts the Flower Soft Sprinkle Challenge over at their member company forum on SCS. This week's challenge (FSC04) is furry critters.

How about some fuzzy Halloween spiders?  Do they qualify as furry critters?  I absolutely adore this stamp!  I stamped it in Memento ink, then sponged on some soft purple, orange, and yellow inks, spritzed it with orange Smooch and sponged with some Tim Holtz soot distress ink along the edges.  Some black Flower Soft and a dusting of black glitter brought these creepy critters to life!  ;) The velvety ultrafine black Flower Soft texture, and the shimmer of the Smooch are hard to catch on camera, but hopefully you can see them too!

ihp design team challenge

The holidays are right around the corner, and we all love making everything about them really special.  This month's i {heart} papers design team challenge is "Treats and Tablescapes" and we're hoping to inspire you to make some papercraft presentations for holiday treats, or something special for your holiday table.

I adore decorating for Halloween.  I'm always looking for fun things to alter.  A while back I found a Halloween "tombstone" wood decoration at one of the big box stores here on the Island, and decided to have a go at it.

I used some pale lavender acrylic paint to base coat the parts of the box that would not be covered with paper, then dry-brushed them with charcoal to give them a spookier look.

The box, both inside and out, is covered with various prints from SEI's Spooks designer paper line (this is the 12 x 12 that was a gift from CHA...Kate has the 6 x 6 size for card-making).   I love these prints, especially the shine of metallics for Halloween.  I used a nestabilities die to cut an oval for the bat to peek through.  I strategically selected the papers and carefully trimmed them to fit inside the wood shapes.  All of the edges were inked with Tim Holtz distress ink.


OCL's Mummy X-ing provided the perfect images for this project!  I stamped them on Copic blending card stock with Memento ink, colored them with Copic markers, cut them out and used dimensional glue dots to adhere them.  The fence behind them is a Martha Stewart punch.  Can you see the faint glow of the shimmery ghosts in the paper next to the fence, in the corner?

I found this cool flask that looked like the perfect "potions" bottle, so I made a little matching tag to go with it!  The tag is from another OCL set aptly named Spooky Tags...to make it more colorful I used markers direct to the stamp and then added a ghost cut from the designer paper as an accent.  The button is from Cosmo Cricket's Joy Ride line, embellished with some fiber given to me forever ago from my friend, Deborah Anton. Some beautiful sheer silver ribbon adorns several of my Halloween projects and gives them some holiday shine and sparkle!


Couldn't resist an accompanying ice tray of gummy "eyeballs"  and an image from another OCL set, Little Boogas. Thought it was kinda funny to add some sparkly fluff "mascara!"

My last project is a very simple, spooky place card...I am still practicing my feathering technique with my Copics...hopefully I'm gradually getting better!

Be sure to check out the Treats and Tablescapes from the rest of the design team!




Carolyn
Cathleen
Gretchen
Kendra
Loretta
Lori
Lynn
Megan
Tracy
Kate

LAD Release

Just a quick reminder that today is Lizzie Anne Design's release day, so there are lots of new goodies (stamps and digital papers too!) available today! If that's not enough excitement for you, the ENTIRE STORE is on sale for 20% off today through Wednesday!

For this quick and easy card, I used a new single, Tall Snowman, with some retired SU Christmas paper and a big red bow. I think he is simply adorable!

Lizzie Anne Sneak Peek!

How fun to get to sneak a peek at a cute set called In the Powder Room!  This set, with its retro feel, really makes me smile!  I remember those pink sponge rollers (you'll see 'em on Lizzie's blog today...do they still make those?!) and I can still recall washing my hands in a sink that looked almost exactly like this one!  Ok, now I guess I'm really dating myself!

I'm not sure these old-fashioned sinks came in anything but white, so when coloring with my Copics I kept to warm grays for the porcelain and cool grays for the knobs.  This time I actually colored my image before choosing paper, so I was pleased to find that this Max and Whiskers designer paper matched with its warm and cool tones.

The bubbles were colored with Copic 0000 markers in blue-green and red, then given a dusting of superfine glitter to add some iridescence.  A sheer twinkle bow (tied with the Bow Easy) and button knotted with sparkly white cording lend more emphasis to the squeaky clean theme.  The simple layout is intended to be reminiscent of a bathroom wall with floral wallpaper and striped border.

Check out today's sneak peeks from all the Lizzie Anne girls (links are to the right on the sidebar), and come back tomorrow for the release.  Such cute stamps, you won't wanna miss it!

Hap Bee Day!

Here's a quick CAS card for today's Friday Free4All, hosted by my friend, Dawn.  I just love Stampendous' bees, and this card is so fast and fun that it hardly took any time at all!  This set, Hap Bee Day, is currently on sale at i {heart} papers for only $7.

I started with Memento ink and a single layer card of Copic heavyweight card stock.  I colored the bee and balloon with Copic markers...black ultrafine Flower Soft on the bee's body, some glitter on his balloon and wings, and a bright gingham bow take it from simple to sparkling.

Today is my husband's birthday...this card is too cutesie for him, but it still makes me smile and wanna keep celebrating!

Hop for the Susan G. Komen Foundation!

Welcome to Day 2 of the Skipping Stones Design Blogs 4 Boobies blog bounce/hop!  I'm so excited to be joining this group of talented stampers to raise money for the fight against breast cancer.  You should have arrived here from Terri Anderson's...if you missed the beginning, start at Kim Hughes', or head over to the Skipping Stones Design blog to see the entire list of participating designers.

Have fun bouncing from blog to blog...enjoy all the designs and place a bid or two to purchase your favorites!   This is a rare opportunity to take home a card from your favorite designer while helping to fight the war against breast cancer.

I am especially grateful to be participating today because one of my sweet friends was recently diagnosed with breast cancer...that makes this cause dear to me because I love and admire her so!  Since hers was found by routine mammogram (and also since today is the day of my own appointment!), I will issue a reminder...don't forget to squish 'em!

It wouldn't be a Skipping Stones Design event without a sketch from an amazing designer.  This month we're delighted to have Ashley Cannon Newell as guest sketch artist. Here is her sketch, SSD 042. 

SSD is releasing two fabulous stamp sets...for EVERY set sold this week, they're donating $2 toward the cause.

This is a one-of-a-kind blog bounce!  Every single card/project featured is up for auction!  All of the money raised through the silent auction on our blogs will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

There are three ways that you can help!

1. shopping
2. bidding
3. telling your friends!

The more people who know, the more money we can raise!

Shopping 

For every stamp set purchased between September 15th - 23rd, SSD will donate $2 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  That's stamping and shopping that you can feel good about!  

Skipping Stones Design is celebrating today's blog bounce by releasing two new sets.  Here's Bras Volume #2, a 4" x 6" set!  This is a follow-up to the #1 selling Bras Volume #1.  The adorable images and witty humor, so typical of SSD, are just perfect for "anytime" humorous cards for your girlfriends!  They're perfect for birthdays, to say thank you, or to send an encouraging word.  This stamp set turns every cardmaker into a comedian!

Of course, this is the set that I used to make my card today.  I was thinking of my friend as I made it...she will be having bilateral mastectomies and reconstructive surgery, so I thought she'd get a kick out of a card with this sentiment.  I wanted it to be "over-the-top" girlie pink and blingy with a little side of sexy too!  I hope you'll say a prayer for her, and for all of those who face this fight!

Notes:  
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic markers
Basic Grey Designer Paper
Zva Creative bling (originally clear, colored with Copics and cut to reshape)
American Crafts Grosgrain ribbon
Black lace from my stash!

And here is a beautiful set just in time for Christmas...Wise Men, also 4" x 6".  Several of these stunning images may be combined to recreate the scene of the first Christmas.  The pointillism technique used to illustrate these stamps gives these images extra depth.  With them, you'll be able to make inspirational cards that will be treasured for years to come!

Bidding

By bidding on the projects featured in this two day blog hop, you can help us raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the fight against breast cancer.  Every single project is up for auction.  We recommend a starting bid of $5.  Your bid includes not only the card or project, but shipping to your home as well.  (If you live outside the United State and would like to bid, we request that you please pay the difference between the cost of shipping to where you live and what it would cost to ship within the U.S.)  More detailed instructions for bidding are outlined below.

To bid on a project:

1. Find the comment section on the Blog 4 Boobies project you wish to buy.  Please note that you may only bid on a project specifically in a Blog 4 Boobies post...any bids on an incorrect post will be considered invalid.
2. In the Blogs 4 Boobies comment section, fill in the dollars and cents amount you wish to bid for the project.  We recommend a starting bid of $5 or more.  Remember that this amount includes the card/project as well as shipping.  100% of your bid will be given to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
3. Next to your bid, please type in your email address.  During a silent auction, bidders sign their name next to their bid,  Typing your email address is the electronic equivalent of signing your bid.  It will also provide the creator of the card a means of contacting you for your mailing address if yours is the winning bid.
4. Watch and wait!  If someone out-bids you, then you may bid again (see things to remember, below).  Bidding will continue until 8 p.m. mountain time September 23rd. 
5. On September 23rd, the designer will re-post their project in a new post to signify the approaching deadline for bidding, so watch for bidding to continue in the comment section of that second post until 8 p.m. MT that evening.

The winner of the auction will be the highest bid (with an email address included) in the comment section of the most recent Blogs 4 Boobies post (reposted September 23rd) at the end of the silent auction, September 23rd at 8 p.m. Mountain Time.

Things to remember:

You may not see comments as they come in.  Some blogs have their comments moderated, so the owner must approve the comment before it is published.  It is possible that an unpublished bidder has placed a  higher bid than the last one that has been published.  So bid high!  Remember, 100% goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  

The blog owner/designer will declare who has won the silent auction.  Skipping Stones will send the winner an invoice for the donation/bid amount.  Please pay the invoice as quickly as possible so that the designer can get your project into the mail and on its way to you.

From here, you will visit my talented friend, Kimberly Crawford.  And when you're done with today's hop, if you haven't already, you should visit the designers from yesterday!  They had some absolutely gorgeous cards to share!

Creepy Crawly!

It's preview day for Lizzie Anne Designs, and today I'm combining the soon-to-be released mix, Sweet and Spooky, with an older Halloween sentiment, Fright Night!  The new mix has lots of sweet images, but I used mostly spooky ones for this card!

The other day when making my design team challenge card, I stamped this sentiment and sprayed it with Smooch after coloring it with neon Copic markers.  Oopsie!  I ruined it!  :(  The spray was not fine and misty, but thick and splotchy and bright metallic orange, which made the sentiment hard to read (I didn't *think* I was too close, but maybe so!).  I set it aside and started again from scratch.

Later I began to wonder, what did I have to lose by wiping over the "ruined" image with a cloth dampened with Copic blender solution?  It turned out to be a happy accident!  I LOVE the way this looks, and the color palette that it inspired is kinda cool!  Not your typical Halloween, but certainly eerie and creepy crawly!  It has a sorta misty bog, haunted house feel, don't you think?!

I stamped the spider, cut it out, added some platinum Sparkly Fluff to make it fuzzy, then scratched a bit of the texture off to make it look more like the real thing.  Kinda gives me goose bumps!  I just love stamping for Halloween!

Notes:
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Versamark ink
Nestabilities Label 10 die
clear Copic Spica glitter pen
Tim Holtz Black Soot distress ink
Martha Stewart edge punch
Kaiser pearls
taffeta ribbon

Today's even more fun because some of us are previewing some cool new Fall digital papers!  These are great because they coordinate with images from the new mix! Gotta love that!

See how cute these images and papers are together?!  I trimmed the paper in strips to draw attention to the vertical lines of the image and layout.  Again, I used my favorite combination of Memento ink, Copic markers, and distress ink, adding some nut brown Flower Soft to the flower centers for a bit of fun texture.

Be sure to check out the Lizzie Anne Blog and the peeks made by all of the Lizzie Anne Designs rock stars!  I can't wait to see!

Fall Fun with FlowerSoft!

Ready for a hop? How about a challenge too?

This week’s challenge – is Fall Fun! Make a card using either Fall colors or a Fall theme.

We’ll be giving away TWO prize packages! One prize package will be given away on the blog hop and another will be chosen among people who make a card using Flower Soft and post it in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keyword FSC03. Both prize winners will be chosen and announced on the Flower Soft blog on September 22nd. The winner of the Splitcoast Gallery challenge will have their card featured on the Flower Soft Blog on September 24^th!!!

If you didn’t start at the beginning of the hop please go to the beginning at the Flower Soft Blog.

As you make your way through the hop, make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be a prize winner chosen randomly among the blogs. The prizes (one set for Splitcoast players and one set for the blog hop!)

• Moments in Time stamp set Little Friend
• Polar White
• Ultra Fine Strawberry Flower Soft
• Flower Soft Glue

What images and colors come to mind when you think of Fall? For me, nothing says Fall like the
arrival of sweater weather and the smell of delicious made-from-scratch apple pie, an annual delicacy in our house on Thanksgiving Day!  I couldn't resist making two matching cards to portray these simple pleasures!

My first card features an image printed from Flower Soft's CD, Recipes for Happy Families.  I printed it and cut it out, then popped it on foam tape on a piece of cardstock cut to match the size of my other image, an apple pie Flower Soft topper from the Yummy Recipes collection.  The edges of both images were sponged with Tim Holtz tea-dye distress ink, then stitched, matted and framed with yarn-tied teeny tiny buttons.

Mom is in her cozy chair knitting a warm scarf...toffee and strawberry ultrafine Flower Soft make the texture of the scarf look quite realistic.  I debated adding some texture to her fur, but decided to let the yarn take center stage.

Toffee ultrafine also accents the crimps and cut edges of the pastry of this yummy pie!  I added a little tinsel glitter to mimic a sprinkling of sugar as well!  Doesn't it look scrumptious?!

These are larger cards, about 5 1/2 inches square...ever so often I like making this larger size because there's more room inside for signatures, which is perfect for a group like my Bible study girls to send as an encouragement.

I love that although one card was made with an image printed from a CD, and the other from a pre-printed image, their colors are in perfect harmony!  They are simple and sweet, perfectly warm and cozy!

Want even more inspiration? Do you like video tutorials? Make sure and visit Flower Soft TV.

Your next stop on the hop is Debbie Seyer's!

Happy Fright Night!

Mondays are sketch day at Lizzie Anne Designs, and today the sketch is our design team challenge. It was a fun one!

I started out with a blank white piece of card stock, stamped the Fright Night sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored in the web with neon Copic markers (colors I thought I'd probably never use, but ended up loving!), then sponged in some green, purple and black ink to make it look like a foggy spooky night.

For embellishments, I used three spider buttons to which I added orange rhinestones...they were so hard to photograph it's hard to tell what they are in the picture.

I hope you'll join us in this week's sketch!  Share your card with us on our Facebook page.  We're also adding a design position to our team, so be sure to check out the details!

Special Sets Release!

Sometimes it's really fun to do something out of the ordinary, and for me, that's what this card is!  It combines images from several sets from the {stamps} of Life used in ways other than intended to create a giant flower for a friend who needs some encouragement.

Stem and dottie accents:  swirls2build
Leaves:  trees2build
Flower center: sentiments4circles
Sentiment:  getwell2you

You will find all of the sets (in order of release, most recent first) on the Products page.  Monthly club sets are released on the first of each month, and special release sets on the 11th, with a sneak peek for club members on the 7th.  Remember also that these sets have digital brush counterparts for Photoshop Elements!

GinaK CSS Blog Hop

I'm so excited to be participating in today's GinaK Center Stage Spotlight blog hop!  You should have arrived here from Cheri's blog...if you missed it and want to start at the beginning, visit StampTV.

Our challenge was to make a card using a Fall color combo.  I decided to interpret the challenge literally using Fall-colored leaves on a branch from Asela's set, Dream Birds.  I used this week's STV sketch challenge for my layout.  Thanks, Vicki!  :)

The bird and branch were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored with Copic markers, and accented with a white gel pen.  The leaves sparkle with a touch of clear Copic Spica glitter that is almost impossible to catch on camera.  I used oval and petite oval nestabilities to cut and emboss the image and mat, coloring and cutting out a second bird to pop up on dimensionals...his little tail barely extends outside the oval.  The center panel is a scrap of MME Abbey Road designer paper which echoes the colors of the leaves and bird's belly.  A single button threaded with jute and a plaid bow bring out the browns and pull the design together.

I'm sure you're gonna find something absolutely gorgeous at Giovana's!  Enjoy the hop, and have a fabulous weekend!

Mummy!

It's Friday (yay!) and that means that a new sketch debuted this morning on the Our Craft Lounge Blog!  I love sketches because layouts are the most challenging part of card-making for me, and having a sketch takes some of the stress out of trying to come up with something interesting.

During my plane ride to Michigan I colored lots of OCL images with my Copics, and this one from Mummy X-ing is one of my favorites!  (Thanks, Tami, for the reminder for the link!)  It isn't a far stretch to imagine the kids grabbing the toilet paper to mummify the family kittie!  I'm sure that all the ensuing meowing would translate to a cry to "Mummy" for help!  I actually remember of one of my nieces (when she was about 2 years old) sitting on top of her cat and stroking (in other words, pulling) its tail...the cat lay there patiently enduring for a moment before softly swatting her away!

These gorgeous papers were a gift for attendees of the SEI party where their entire summer line was debuted.  I love them because they have beautiful enameled and metallic accents in addition to the fun colors and patterns.  These happen to be 12 x 12, but Kate carries the 6 x 6 version of Spooks which is even better because of its smaller scale for card-making.

I used small and large circle nestabilities to cut and emboss the image, then softly sponged the edges of all the papers with black to add emphasis to their shapes and the way they all come together in the layout.  I love the way the metallic portions of the paper resist the ink...it makes the paper almost glow!

I hope you'll visit the OCL blog to find more inspiration and then add your link to play along!  Have a great weekend!

It's starting...

The official beginning of Fall is right around the corner, which means that the holiday season will also soon be here!  This time of year is my absolute FAVORITE time to stamp!  From the images and colors of the turning leaves through the bubbly toasts to welcome the New Year...this is the stuff that fuels the imagination and really speaks to the creative spirit within!  The colors and images are so fun to work with.  The only negative that I can think of is that I want it ALL!  ;)

Today I'm sharing a fun card and candy treat combo that features images recently released by Stephanie Barnard and the {stamps} of Life.  This set, spooky2scare, has the cutest images...just spooky and creepy enough without being too scary for young goblins!  Love the font for these sentiments!  To make the color match the designer paper and appear more translucent, some Versafine Imperial Purple ink was stamped off once before stamping the sentiments.

I colored the ghost faintly with a very pale lavender Copic marker, adding just a hint of sparkle with glitter from PK Glitz.  For the layout I used some gorgeous Heebie Jeebies designer paper from We R Memory Keepers, along with a MS spiderweb edge punch, more glitter, sheer ribbon, and a beautiful slightly spooky scroll-work "scrap stick" by Karen Foster.

The treat bottle is from Target...its colors are what inspired this entire project.  It only took a few minutes to make a tag and wrap the bottle with matching paper and a pretty bow, and it really came out cute!

Have a great Thursday!  I'm looking forward to another productive weekend of stamping!

Birthday Carousel

Flower Soft, now a member company at SCS, is hosting a challenge today, "Birthday Wishes." I wanted to use this adorable Lizzie Anne Designs carousel horse (Treasured Trinkets) to make a really girlie birthday card. It started out quite clean and simple, but then I kept adding little details until it was quite a bit busier and totally blingy!

The horse was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink once on the card base, then twice on cardstock scraps, colored with Copic markers, cut out and popped up for dimension.  I was envisioning those beautiful parade horses all decked out in floral finery (remember, we lived in Hawaii the first four years we were married, so we got to see the beautiful pa'u riders in person!), and some Sweet Pea Flower Soft was perfect to achieve that effect!  I added a green satin bow and lots of pink bling as a finishing touch.

I'm always taking cards to share with the girls in my Bible study class, and today my friend Jennifer just had to have this one!  I tried to get her to just take it, but she wouldn't hear of it...she's always encouraging me to sell my cards!  Maybe I should open an Etsy shop.  I am contemplating doing it!  Anybody have any recommendations or words of wisdom for me?!

Footprints in Our Hearts

Here is an ultra simple but elegant card using a sentiment single from Lizzie Anne Designs. The sentiment was stamped on an embossed nestabilities label which was sponged lightly with distress ink before the die was removed.  The edge of the card front was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch allowing a little black to peek through from behind.  A pretty satin bow is its only embellishment.

I think this would make a lovely sympathy card...what do you think?

Catching up!

Hello friends!  Seems like forever since I made my last post and I'm warning you, this is a long one!  I was not planning to take a break from blogging, but in the course of life that's exactly what happened!  There were a lot of little things that I had been putting off for a while that finally caught up with me...it felt really great to finally take the time to tie together those loose strings and check things off the to-do list!  I am not "there" yet, but I'm making good progress!

You might remember that at the beginning of summer we started converting the spare bedroom into a studio, but with our mission trip to Costa Rica, my CHA trip to Chicago, and a trip to visit Patrick's parents in upper Michigan that project got put on the far back burner.  I had hauled a bunch of supplies from upstairs down to the dining table so that I could keep stamping, and in the midst of deadlines and all of the coming and going, the actual available space kept dwindling until it was practically nonexistent.  The whole table was a heap of ribbon, paper scraps, tools and embellishments.  

I am so grateful that dh was able to spend some time this weekend helping me mount shelves in the studio so that I could finally actually make this move!  There are still a few things to haul upstairs and lots of sorting and rearranging to do, but I spent the second half of Labor Day up there making a few cards, and it feels magnificent to actually open a drawer and put the Glue Dots dispenser away!  Everything has its own home now!  What a concept!  Besides that, the dining room will be an open option for Thanksgiving dinner!  Considering the way it has looked for the last three months, that's something to be grateful for!  We won't have to serve turkey dinner in the breakfast nook!  ;)  And for those of you hoping for studio pictures...I promise that I will share some soon!  It isn't quite picture ready yet, but hopefully it won't take much longer!

On Sunday I had a surprise visit from one of my life-long friends that I have not seen in more than 25 years!  She and I went to elementary school together in Louisiana from 2nd through 6th grade.  Her father was the pastor of our church, and since my parents live next to the parsonage, she and I were neighbors and best friends.  Pastors move frequently, but we still managed to stay in touch until we became young women, and then we lost track of each other for many years.  Out of the blue last week I got a message from her on FaceBook.  It was so much fun to get to see each other again after all this time, and so special to find that we could just jump in and pick up right where we left off!  There are a lot of things we don't know about each other and we certainly look different, but we still have a special friendship!  Love you, Hope!  Let's be sure to stay in touch now that we have reconnected!

I will be back soon to share cards made using some of the new images that have just arrived from Lizzie Anne Designs, Our Craft Lounge, Flower Soft, and The Stamps of Life, so I hope you will come back for a visit soon!  Thanks for hanging in there for such a long, wordy post! 

Flower Soft Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Flower Soft Blog Hop!  You should have arrived from Debbie Seyer's blog...if you have jumped into the middle, you will want to start at the Flower Soft Blog so you don't miss a thing!

I am so excited that September is here and my time as guest design team member has finally arrived!  So happy to share a card and invite you to participate in our challenge!

This week’s challenge – Use your favorite color (or colors) of Flower Soft!!!

We’ll be giving away TWO prize packages!  One prize package will be given away on the blog hop and another will be chosen among people who make a card using Flower Soft and post it in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keyword FSC01. Both prize winners will be chosen and announced on the Flower Soft blog on September 8^th. The winner of the Splitcoast Gallery challenge will have their card featured on the Flower Soft Blog on September 10^th!!!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be a prize winner chosen randomly from among the blogs. The prizes (one set for Splitcoast players and one set for the blog hop!) include:

• Moments in Time Stamp set Man of the Match
• Ultra Fine Toffee Flower Soft
• Ultra Fine Sage Flower Soft
• Flower Soft Glue

The prize winner will be announced on the Flower Soft Blog on Wednesday September 8^th. Good luck!

I had the honor and pleasure of meeting many members of the Flower Soft team at CHA/Supershow in Chicago at the end of July.  I wish you could have seen their gorgeous booth!  Today you'll see lots of amazing "eye candy" but NOTHING can compare to seeing it all in person!  Absolutely stunning!

I bought this little darling (Emma Blowing Kisses) from My Favorite Things while I was at Supershow...doesn't she look so cute with her little Flower Soft shrug in Soft Shamrock Green?  It perfectly mimics the texture of a warm slub yarn (like this scarf in blue)! There's also a teeny tiny touch of Citrus Crush Ultra Fine Flower Soft at the center of the flower in her hair.

I used Memento ink and Copic markers to stamp and color Emma, paper piecing her dress in this sweet green floral print from Basic Grey's Origins 6 x 6 pad.  Couldn't resist adding a pretty prima and soft gold crinkle crepe bow.

Your next stop is Gini Cagle's blog!  Have a great time! Want even more inspiration? Do you like video tutorials? Make sure and visit Flower Soft TV!