OCL Winner!

Congratulations to Cassie, commenter #2, who won OCL's Snow Place Like Home set that was up for grabs on my blog over the weekend!  Enjoy!

Swirling Leaves!

It's Flower Soft challenge day, and our theme is Fall Fun!  I made a cute scarecrow shaker with some Autumn Flower Soft "leaves" swirling around him!

Notes:
OCL Fall Scarecrow
Crate Paper Farmhouse Designer Paper
Memento ink
Copic markers
Copic blending paper
Flower Soft display globe
Spellbinders oval die
Autumn Flower Soft
Crepe crinkle ribbon
BoBunny buttons
jute twine
EK Success Pumpkin Patch border punch

ihp Birthday Bash Color Challenge!

It's Day 3 of i {heart} papers' Birthday Bash, and we're issuing a logo color challenge!

Since ihp is turning three, I thought it would be appropriate to make a birthday card that would be suitable for a three year old!  This turtle from Our Craft Lounge, sporting a birthday sentiment on his shell, a gift, and a trio of balloons for the party, seemed like the perfect choice!  Echo Park's Summer Days paper had the light green/dark green thing goin' on, just like our logo.  To accent the layout's wonky lines, I sponged and outlined the paper's edges and tied on buttons of the opposite color where its corners intersected the pink and blue strips along the top and bottom.  (I would've sewn it instead, but with my latest sewing mishap I don't trust my machine!)

Visit ihp's design team members' blogs for some inspiration, then create and post your card...you can share it on Facebook, Kate's ihp blog, or your online gallery (keyword ihpbb2011).  You have until midnight Saturday to enter.

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

Notes:

Our Craft Lounge Slow and Steady

Copic blending paper
Spellbinders classic squares

Echo Park designer paper

Memento Tuxedo Black ink 

White craft ink

Inkssentials white opaque pen

Copic markers

Copic Spica glitter pens (sky blue, mint, pink)

twine

buttons

Vintage Wine!

We're celebrating the third birthday of i {heart} papers, and that's definitely worth a toast!  The party is on, full-swing on our FaceBook page, so be sure to pay a visit!  You can use code 3bdayDT when you shop!

My card for today has an elegant, old world feel.  The dark "bottle" green, the shapes of the focal image panel and the distress inking were all inspired by the wine bottle in the midst of the clusters of grapes and hopefully the entire card looks like a label atop a bottle!  For some reason, the fleur de lis border photo'd a more vibrant purple than it is IRL. 

Notes: 

Our Craft Lounge "single" stamp set Vintage Wine

Echo Park designer paper

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Ranger tea-dye distress ink

Copic markers

Spellbinders Labels 10, Labels 18, fleur de lis border

sheer ribbon

Making Memories safety pin

heart charm

Kaiser Craft bling

Just putt-putting along!

This week's CPS sketch is sponsored by The Cat's Pajamas!  I decided to combine the sketch with Lydia's HYCCT Pink Critters challenge...this bunny pilot's pink is so pale you might almost miss it!

I was assembling this card and wanted to add some definition to the trio of rainbows in the background by adding some zig-zag stitching, but my machine was misbehaving!  The bobbin thread got all knotted and loopy and finally broke...then all of the stitching unravelled, so I had to start over.  I would've been okay with just "piercing" if the trail the stitching had left had been even, but it wasn't!  The tension on the thread before it finally broke caused the paper to feed more slowly and a little off kilter.

On the second attempt I wasn't quite brave enough to try the machine again, so the three separate panels still look like one larger continuous one.  That's okay...I really love this bright, happy paper, and I'm glad I was able to salvage even a narrow strip or two from the one with the messed up stitching so that I can use it on another card.

Notes:
The Cat's Pajamas Take Off, clouds cut ups
Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangles 
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic markers, multiliner, opaque white
Echo Park designer paper
Cosmo Cricket buttons
The Twinery twine
Ranger Glossy Accents

Mark your calendars!

Mark the date on your calendar one week from today for the beginning of a special blog hop-fundraiser, "Swimming for Katie!"  Over 125 TOP DESIGNERS are hopping to support our friend and fellow-stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling gastric cancer.

You can read more about how the idea for the hop came about, and find out more about Katie's story here!

TSOL release!

This month's club set from the {stamps} of Life is a really fun set filled with a great mix of images, large and small, solid and line-art, simply perfect for winter, Christmas, and gift-giving!  It's called penguins4Christmas, so you know there are some cute tuxedo suited fellas included!

The card I'm sharing with you today is a simple but elegant Christmas card in traditional red and not-quite-traditional green!  I stamped the wreath image directly on a punched out element from a Kaiser Craft designer paper pack, then colored it with Copic markers, added a few rhinestones, a punched border and some ribbon.  The only "fussy" thing about this card is the fussy-cut snowflake embellishment above the sentiment.  (The snowflake stamp is from joy2Christmas.)

I love making Christmas cards like this...I'm not so fond of mass-producing cards because after two or three it gets monotonous.  Making lots of simple one-of-a-kind cards is more fun but not so time-consuming that it becomes overwhelming!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!  I'm continuing my celebration of World Card-Making Day by stayin' inky!

Celebrate WCMD with ihp!

It's World Card-Making Day, and ihp is celebrating it's 3rd birthday! Those are two great reasons to party! We're celebrating all week long with a color challenge, Facebook giveaways and, of course, a coupon!  Here's a little about what the following days will bring:

• Today - October 1st - World Card Making Day!  Make a card and upload it to our Facebook wall and show off some products you've gotten from us. All entries will be eligible for a Facebook exclusive giveaway! Use code WCMD2011DT for 20% off everything in the store. No exceptions or exclusions! As always, free shipping with your $50US/$150CAN order.
• October 2nd and 3rd - Facebook giveaways. Send your crafty friends to "like" us and have them tell us you sent them!
• October 4th - secret Facebook happening (won't be announced until that day) with THREE gift certificates being given away.
• October 5th - IHP Logo Color Challenge. We would love if you would join us in making a project of your own (upload to your blog and link to the Mr. Linky on the IHP blog, upload to our Facebook page or an online gallery with the keyword IHPBB2011). Deadline to enter is Saturday at 12pm EST.
• October 6th - more Facebook giveaways! Send your crafty friends to "like" us and have them tell us you sent them!
• October 7th - Facebook giveaways and Operation Julie's Smile blog hop. Hop along for your chance to win a $20 IHP gift certificate or one of the other amazing prizes donated for Julie's fundraiser.

ALL orders placed during the Bash (October 1st-7th) will be entered for a chance to win the grand prize $50 gift certificate drawing on Saturday.  Refer a friend who orders at least $25 and have them mention you in their order comments and you each receive an extra entry!  Daily Facebook winners will be announced on that day. The winner of the $50 gift certifcate will be announced on the evening of Saturday, October 8th.

I hope to see you often this week as we party on!  Have a great weekend!

OCL and More WCMD!

Our Craft Lounge is celebrating World Card-Making Day by taking a look at our designers' favorite cards!  Visit the Lounge to find out what their favorites are and why!

I've got lots of deadlines coming in the next week, so I'm planning to spend most of the day (indeed, hopefully the entire weekend) getting inky!  More news about that in my soon-to-be-published post (so you should check back in a bit to find out what's about to happen)!

In celebration of the spirit of World Card-Making Day, which is all about the camaraderie of this great hobby as stampers around the world prepare for the onslaught of the busiest card-making season of the year, my friends from OCL and I are giving you the chance to win a stamp set!  Just leave a comment on this post to be entered in a drawing for OCL's Snow Place Like Home!  It's a great set that is perfect for the holidays or any of the cold days of winter!

If you have trouble commenting (blogger has been having issues for a while now), refresh the page and try again, or try leaving an anonymous comment...either way, be sure to leave your email so that I can contact you if you are the winner!

The winner will be drawn from all of the entries on this post today (10-1) or tomorrow (10-2).  The winner will be posted on Monday!

GKD & WCMD!

Gina K Designs is celebrating World Card-Making Day by having a special sale!  Check it out!  The sale begins at midnight CST October 1st and lasts until 11:59 p.m. CT on Monday, October 3rd.

World Card-Making Day is also the kick-off for the Hope You Can Cling To challenges at Splitcoaststampers.  This is a cause that is near and dear to the hearts of our GKD design team because our very own AJ is fighting like a girl!

Since I worked as a young physical therapy intern at M.D. Anderson before I graduated from P.T. school at University of Texas Medical Branch, I have yet another reason to draw your attention to the HYCCT challenges!  I hope you will play often, and send the cards you create to MDA in Houston!

Happy stamping!