OCL Sneak Peeks!

I'm so excited to *finally* be sharing Our Craft Lounge sneak peeks with you!  It has been over a month since CHA, and I was working on samples for the few weeks before that, so it really feels like I've been waiting a long time to share these!  

If you've been around very long, you already know that I absolutely adore stamping for Halloween!  (I don't like to get too spooky, though!  It's cutesie Halloween for me!)  This combination of colors really speaks to me!

Today's card is made with some scraps of Doodlebug Designs Halloween paper and the brand new set, Swept Up!  It was illustrated by Copic's Marianne Walker.  Marianne, you know I really love your style!  This image has such sweet vintage appeal!  I think she is adorable and she's really fun to color!

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge Swept Up!
scrap of Doodlebug Designs dp
Nestabilities inverted wonky rectangles, long rectangles
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Ranger tea-dye distress ink
Copic markers
scrap of recycled orange satin ribbon (here's a great substitute!)
Curio button
Kaiser Craft rhinestones
twine
stickpin (it's there, just hard to see!)



Be sure to visit the Lounge for links to many more peeks by our fabulous OCL Design Team and amazing Guest Designers!  Trust me!  You don't want to miss any details about the peeks, Friday's hop, and prizes!

CPS 233

I have fallen in love with this soft, muted gold ink from Clearsnap, and was excited to get to try it out with some beautiful "ginger ale" Smooch Spritz for this week's CPS card.  The sketch lent itself perfectly to this Gina K set of Asela's, Nesting.  I added a touch of pearlized aqua Smooch to the eggs along with a few champagne colored pearls, leaving the layout clean and uncluttered (the way I wish my home could be!  *sigh* I need to work on that for a little while, instead of stamping so much)!

The Smooch Spritz sprays such a fine mist that it almost looks like pre-finished pearlized paper.  I wish you could see how pretty it is IRL!

Gina K is having a back-to-school special from now through September 5th!  Spend $35 or more and choose a free set from three beautifully illustrated sets!  Click here to find out more!

Notes:

Nesting, by Asela Hopkins for Gina K

Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx, Smooch Spritz in Ginger Ale, SmoochAccent Ink in Frosted Aqua, all by Clearsnap

Spellbinders classic ovals

Kaiser Craft pearls

There's a Little More Time!

You still have a few more hours to submit cards for this weekend's Virtual Stamp Night at Splitcoaststampers.  Honors recognition will be given for projects submitted by 8 p.m. EST tonight, and then another recognition will be given from "late submissions" from those affected by Hurricane Irene for whom the submissions deadline is Friday, September 2nd, at 8 p.m. EST.

I have two more Our Craft Lounge VSN projects to share today!  The first is a simple masculine card made for Lori's "Dusty Blues" VSN color challenge.  

Notes:

Our Craft Lounge Under Lock and Key

Basic Grey Capella designer paper

Memento Rich Cocoa ink

Ranger tea-dye distress ink

Copic markers

Nestabilities classic squares

May Arts burlap string

SEI button

Next up is e-i-e-i-Hello, made with a chick from the set by that name for Michelle's Party at the Ranch challenge.

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge e-i-e-i-Hello!, Shout it Out (comment shape)
Authentique designer paper
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic markers
May Arts polka dot ribbon
Sparkly Fluff

Most of the supplies for both of these cards came from i {heart} papers.

Wanted!

It is Virtual Stamp Night (weekend) at Splitcoaststampers, and in a couple of hours I'll be posting my very own challenge...for now I'm sharing a couple of cards made for some of last night's Rodeo!  Both cards use Our Craft Lounge's set, Wanted!, and fibers from May Arts.  I also used some Basic Grey designer paper and Copic markers from i {heart} papers.

I hope you'll join us!

Final Day of May Arts/OCL Product Share!

Hasn't this week of exchange of products between OCL and May Arts been an amazing week?!  I have loved seeing the different ideas our designers have shared!  I've always been a huge May Arts fan, and I am so grateful for all of the fabulous ribbon that they sent!  I still have yards to use, so you'll be seeing more in the weeks to come!  Remember, we've got an OCL blog hop coming up really soon!

Today's card is for a brand new OCL challenge with a "Lots o' Dots" theme!  I decided to go with a cheeky bird, dotty tree, a button and some rustic burlap string.  This Basic Grey background print caught my eye since the pad was still on my desk from a previous project (I've used it a lot this week!), so I worked the colors of this dotty pattern into the image using Copic markers, adding even more dots for shading.  Finally, I added some "skippy lines and dots" multiliner details to all the edges, so there truly are "lots o' dots" everywhere!

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge Tree-rific Trees
Basic Grey Oxford designer paper
Nestabilities classic circles die
Memento Rich Cocoa ink
Copic markers
Copic multiliner
May Arts burlap string
button

Be sure to visit the Lounge and the May Arts blog once again!  You'll find information about challenges, prizes, etc!  Come back next week for sneak peeks and blog hop featuring stamps from our new release!

Flower Soft and Our Daily Bread Designs

Are you ready for a Blog Hop?

Come join us in a special blog hop with The Flower Soft and Our Daily Bread Design Teams!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be two prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs.

Flower Soft and Our Daily Bread Designs will each be selecting a winner for a $20 prize package!

The blog hop ends on August 30th. The prize winners will be announced on the Flower Soft blog and Our Daily Bread Designs Blog on August 31st.

If you came here from Marie Berquist's blog you are in the right place. If not please start at the beginning at the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog.

It is rare for me to have a clear mental picture of a fully completed card before I begin, but for today's hop, I knew exactly what I wanted to do!  I envisioned a simple, soft, monochromatic pale gold and ivory card using ultrafine sand Flower Soft and the wheat image from the set, Our Daily Bread.

I love this set with this beautiful verse from the Lord's prayer...the verse and image remind me of the words Pastor Cory often shares when he asks the Lord's blessing over the elements for weekly communion at our church.  That God would take something as everyday as bread and wine to illustrate His great love for us helps me to remember that time with Him daily is as vital to my spiritual life as a meal is to my body.  He is the Bread of Life!  (If you've never done Beth Moore's study of the Tabernacle, you should!  Everything in the Tabernacle is a correlated to something about the character of Christ!  It is filled with Covenant imagery...love this study!)

Notes: 
ODBD set, Our Daily Bread
ultrafine sand Flower Soft 
Color Box Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx
Basic Grey Capella designer paper
Prima Innoscence 2 paper and pearl flower
Kaiser Craft pearls
sheer ribbon (I folded a short strand and heated it with the heat gun for "leaves")
JBS/Superior stick pens

Now hop on over to Angella Crockett's!  Can't wait to see what gorgeousness she's created!

Vintage Paris!

I've really been enjoying this week's focus on May Arts and Our Craft Lounge!  One of the things that has been fun about it is the variety!  The ribbons and fibers the generous folks at May Arts shared with me ranged from cutesie, happy polka-dots to rustic jute, elegant velvet, organza, and tinsel.  This gorgeous lace and rich velvet combo is one of my favorites!

Do you have stuff that just sits in your stash for ages, waiting and waiting for the right moment?  I have had these swirly Prima pearls for a really long time, and finally found the perfect occasion to use them.  They brought forth the old world elegance that I was hoping for with this lovely vintage image of the Eiffel Tower from OCL's Vintage Traveler.  I have only been to Europe once, and am grateful to say that this was one of our stops!  Sooooo romantic!  :)

The background print from Basic Grey's Oxford designer paper pad is reminiscent of a beautiful brocade traveler's bag.  I used Memento Rich Cocoa ink to stamp some other images from Vintage Traveler collage-style onto a layer of card stock, then tea-dye inked and distressed everything, machine stitching  the background layer to draw the eye to its worn, frayed edges.

The blossom accent is actually from May Arts' beautiful chiffon wedding floral ribbon with wired edges...I snipped the stitching to remove the flower and replaced its single pearl center with a cluster of pearls to match my pretty Prima pearl swirly.  A few strategically placed mini-glue-dots helped shape the petals into something resembling a dogwood blossom.

I really love how simple and yet elegant this card turned out!

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge Vintage Traveler
Memento Rich Cocoa ink
Ranger tea-dye distress ink
Basic Grey Oxford designer paper
Prima e. pearl embellishments
May Arts velvet lace
May Arts wired floral chiffon ribbon

Once again, remember to visit the Lounge and the May Arts blog for more inspiration and details on entering for a prize!  (My apologies to those of you who are having trouble leaving comments on my blog.  Blogger seems to be intermittently having trouble, and I'm not sure what the solution is!  Some have suggested logging out and commenting anonymously, leaving your name/email within your comment, although even this workaround seems not to be consistently working!)


And remember, we have one more day!  I hope to see you again tomorrow!

More OCL and May Arts!

Back with more May Arts and Our Craft Lounge goodness!  Gotta love this little garden hedgehog from Growin' with Granny!  This gorgeous two-toned satin ribbon is a perfect match for Basic Grey's Sweet Threads designer paper.  I tied on a pink button with some May Arts burlap string, and added some pretty May Arts lace to girlify this pink concoction even more!

This layout is Mojo Monday sketch 205.  I've listed the products I used below...most of them, with the exception of the gift of ribbon that I received from May Arts, are from i {heart} papers.  You can find lots of these and other May Arts ribbons there also!

Remember, visit the Lounge and the May Arts blog for more ideas...and while you're there, look for details on how to win some great prizes!

Notes:
Growin' with Granny
Basic Grey Sweet Threads designer paper
Memento ink

Copic markers
Nestabilities large and small classic circles
Pumpkin Delight Sparkly Fluff
May Arts lace
May Arts burlap string
May Arts two-toned satin ribbon
Curio button
MS corner and border punch set

If you're having trouble leaving comments on my blog, try not signing in, leaving your comment as "Anonymous"...but remember to leave your email address so you can be contacted if you win!

Last Chance!

Welcome to the last day of blogs4boobies!  There is still time to join in on the fun(draising)!!!!

There are two ways you can help:
1.  There is still time to bid on my project!  Here is another look at what I have up for auction. 

 
The auction will end at 8:00 p.m. Mountain time tonight, August 23rd.

The highest bid at the time this post was published was $10.  Please be generous and bid!  Think of the women (and men too!) that your generous donation will benefit!  I'm sure you personally know someone who has been affected by this dreaded disease...my thoughts and prayers are with them and with friends of mine, too, who are currently fighting like a girl!

To win this card, simply bid more than the highest bid currently listed in the comment section of THIS post (be careful, because I have multiple posts today!). YOU MUST INCLUDE your EMAIL ADDRESS with the dollar amount of your bid. This way we can contact the winning bidder!  If you are the top bidder you will receive a paypal invoice for the amount that you bid. 

Remember, 100% of what you bid will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation!!!

2.  There is still time to shop!!!  Through midnight tonight (the 23rd of August) Skipping Stones Design is still donating $2 to the Komen Foundation for every stamp set sold.

 
Together we can make a difference!!!

CPS 232

Another great CPS sketch this week, sponsored by the {stamps} of Life!  I have had SO much fun with guitars2play!  I was looking through my stack of patterned paper pads and came across this Kaiser Craft background dp which made me think of beads hanging in the doorway.

Notes:
TSOL guitars2play
Kaiser Craft designer paper
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Copic markers
White craft ink
Jolee's All That Bling (flowers)
Kaiser Craft Basics bling (rhinestones)