PK Celebrate Christmas Blog Hop

Good morning! I'm excited to be hopping with my alumni friends and the 2013 team over at Peachy Keen Stamps this morning! You should have arrived here from Michelle - if not, you might want to check the entire line-up at the bottom of this post...I know there will be tons of inspiration, and one pretty fabulous prize!

I pulled out my favorite Peachy Keen Christmas set - the November 2012 Kit of the Month to make my card - using a technique I was inspired by on THIS post at Paper Crafts Connection to stamp two layers of vellum, then stack them together!

Here is a small picture of this kit - I love the deer! But I also wanted to use one of the adorable sentiments, and that leafy branch stamp - there is always so much fun variety in these sets, and for such a great deal! You really just can't go wrong!

I started off by stamping the deer on one piece of vellum, as well as the branches in darker ink. I colored the sweet deer in with my Copic markers. I layered another piece of vellum over the top, and stamped the branch in a lighter green ink.

The ink I used was MFT dye ink - and the trick, I found, was to use my heat gun and thoroughly dry it before touching it! That was the only way I could find to get it not to smear! For the deer, I used black Staz-on ink.

I stamped the sentiment on the front layer, then attached them together, before adding a strip of Avery Elle woodgrain paper on each side, and attaching it to a card back. The front kind of looks like a stained glass window - love the effect it gave!

You're next stop on the hop is the amazing Gigi! 

Don't forget to leave a comment before you leave for a chance to win the giveaway! Comments will be accepted until Midnight Central December 1st! Thanks for stopping by - and have a wonderful weekend!

Blog Hop Order:

Saundra Rega

Leanne Garner

Michelle Criswell

Heather Hoffman (you are here)

Gigi McKellips

Christina Garcia

DoBea Alberts

Emma Aguilar

Jeanne Streiff

Heidi Ann Giebel

Amy Crockett

Lisa Buttafuoco

Vivienne Holden

Melissa Haas

Amber Kroening

Peachy Keen Stamps Blog

SPS Inspiration - Baby Girl Elephant card

Good morning! I'm sharing on the Shop Pumpkin Spice Blog today! I recently had a brand new baby niece born - so I had to make a sweet little welcome card for her!

I started off by creating a shape card using my Silhouette Designer Edition Software, then cutting it out with my Silhouette Cameo and some October Afternoon pattern paper.

I curved up the ear a bit when I attached my pink polka dot paper to my cardbase, then tucked a couple of flowers from an Echo Park sticker sheet next to it. The tag sticker, and alphas came from a different Echo Park sticker sheet, and I finished off with a few MME Enamel Dots.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!

MCS Challenge - Christmas Shape Cards

Good Monday morning! Can you believe that it is almost Thanksgiving...and then December is right around the corner? Yeah...me neither!

But since it is Monday, it is also time for a new challenge at My Craft Spot - and this week the challenge is Shaped Cards! Here is what I made:

I used my Silhouette Cameo to weld together this snowman into a card shape, then cut a front layer of pattern paper. Next, I added a banner using Straight Ribbon Banners Dies (one of my new favorite dies!) and a sentiment from the coordinating Christmas Banner Sentiments stamp set. Finished off by tying a bow with some Cherry Red Traditional Bakers Twine and Natural Jute Twine.

Can't wait to see the shaped cards you come up with this week! Make sure and head over to My Craft Spot to check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration, and to link up your own creations!

Ribbon Carousel Holiday Blog Hop

Hey everyone! We've got such a treat in store for you this weekend! To celebrate all of those beautiful Ribbon Carousels being used around the world (yes, we've shipped Carousels to 27 countries now!) to keep ribbon, twine, washi tapes and spooled items tidy, we'll be hopping around our amazing Crewmates blogs this weekend showing you all of the beautiful and creative ways that our designers use THEIR Ribbon Carousels!

Here is mine - freshly assembled and loaded - and I still have LOTS of room on it! Still can't believe how much it will hold!

I also have some tags to share, using some jute twine right off the carousel!

I used some Webster's Pages pattern paper, a couple of Lifestyle Crafts dies for the doilies, and the main tags were cut with a My Creative Time Die. Added some lace trim, a Paper Smooches Sentiment on a hand trimmed banner, and that jute twine tied in a bow with an October Afternoon button.

Would you like to win your very own Ribbon Carousel? Here is what you need to do: Visit the Designer’s blogs that are participating in each day of the blog hop and comment on their posts as you go. One of the Crewmate’s Holiday blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Crewmate’s Holiday Blog Hop post. 

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more Crewmate Blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning your very own Ribbon Carousel! The Blog Hop will be open until 11:59 PM Eastern Time Monday, November 25th with the winners being announced Tuesday morning on the Ribbon Carousel Blog.

Already have a Ribbon Carousel?  Share a photo of YOUR Ribbon Carousel on our FaceBook page OR email it to info@ribboncarousel.com, and we'll share it for you!  You'll be in special drawing  for your choice of a Ribbon Carousel or 4 packages of spools!

For those that want a Ribbon Carousel NOW! Mark your calendar! We'll be having our LOWEST SALE PRICE of the YEAR sale on the Ribbon Carousels and Spools beginning Wednesday, November 27 - Cyber-Monday, December 2!  No coupon code needed!  Just go to our store and enjoy some happy shopping!

Here are the participants for Day 2 of the Ribbon Carousel Holiday Blog Hop. Enjoy!

Chalkboard Christmas

Good morning! Just dropping by with a quick card for Unity Friends with Flair - this is a card I put together for a card class I am teaching in a couple of weeks - my first one ever! Eeeek! 

I used (roughly!) the colors from the current Be Inspired Challenge:

I used two different Wit and Wisdom stamps to do the chalkboard technique - Rejoice for our Silent Night and Santas, Stockings, and Candy Canes.

A few sequins, some pretty MME pattern paper, some ribbon, baker's twine, doily, and October Afternoon button to finish it off...

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday Banners!

Good morning! I'm sharing a card that I actually made some time ago for a publication call and wasn't picked up! I was waiting for just the right time to share it, since I really loved it! And when I saw the new Avery Elle November Challenge - Create Any Project You Wish - I knew it was the perfect opportunity!

For this card, I used some MME pattern paper, my banner dies are from My Craft Spot, the stitched square is a die from Lil' Inkers, and I used the adorable Party Animals set from Avery Elle - you just can't go wrong with this set! It is SOOOO cute! The background is Avery Elle kraft cardstock, misted with Mister Huey's and with a bit of distress ink around the edges. I stamped the sentiment repeatedly for my background, and fussy cut out the balloon animal before adhering with foam adhesive. Finished off with some of my favorite jute twine tied in a pretty bow!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful day!

N&T November Release - You + Me

Good morning! It's the last of day new release sneaks for Neat and Tangled Stamps!

Today's set is probably my favorite of the bunch! It's called You + Me - and so very  much fun! Here is what I made with it:

Danielle designed it to create your own Venn diagrams - with lots of fun sentiments as well! I have had THIS photo on my Pinterest boards for a while now, and was dying to use the color combo:

I started off with an Avery Elle kraft paper cardbase, and used a Mister Huey's mask and some embossing paste to make a background. I quickly sprinkled some glitter on the embossing paste after removing the mask, so it would still be wet enough to stick.

While that dried, I stamped the reverse of the circles with Hero Arts ink in Mint Julep and Fresh Peach, then turned the stamp over, and stamped the outline and heat embossed with gold Zing embossing powder. Finally, stamped the sentiment in three parts across it. I then fussy cut it out.

Once the embossing paste had fully dried, I inked the edges with distress ink, then attached the stamped piece with foam adhesive. Added a couple of enamel dots, and a bit of jute twine to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure and head over to Neat and Tangled to see all the other Design Team samples, and to check out the info on today's giveaway! And of course stop by tomorrow for the full reveal and release!!! Have a great day!!!

N&T November Release - On the Corner

Good morning! So glad you stopped by for Day 3 of new release sneaks for Neat and Tangled Stamps!

Today's set is called On the Corner, and was designed by Miriam Pratner! And OH the FUN possibilities with this set! I'm in love already! Here is what I made: 

I started off by stamping my street sign, and coloring it in with Copic markers. I stamped "AWESOME" and "AMAZING" and heat embossed in white over the coloring, then added the other sentiments with  MFT ink.

My map paper is from MME, and the green stripe is from a Crate Paper paper pad - LOVE how perfectly it matched my Copic coloring (which is fortunate, since I didn't plan it that way ahead of time!) - I also inked the edge of the white cardstock with distress ink to blend it in a little better and not leave the edges so stark in contrast. Finished off with a couple of wood veneer potty people, and a couple of enamel dots.

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure and head over to Neat and Tangled to see all the other Design Team samples (I can't wait to see what they created with this set!), and to check out the info on today's giveaway! Have a great day!!!

N&T November Release - On the Edge

Good morning! Welcome back for Day 2 of new release sneaks for Neat and Tangled Stamps!

Our set to play with today is called On the Edge - and as the name would suggest, it is a set of borders to go on the edge of your card, or whatever your imagination might come up with! I combined it with a sentiment from Party Dots for my card:

Super simple card - white cardstock, and a couple colors of MFT ink stamped right on the cardstock. Then - since I couldn't make it a completely flat card, I added a jute twine bow on there too!

So pretty - and so simple! This would be fun to make in several different colors schemes - perfect for a set of cards to give for a gift!

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure and head over to Neat and Tangled to see all the other Design Team samples, and to check out the info on today's giveaway! Have a great day!!!

N&T November Release - Everyday Labels

Good morning! YAY for the start of new release sneaks for Neat and Tangled Stamps!

Today the Design Team is sharing samples from the new set called Everyday Labels - a set inspired by the ever popular label maker (something I think I need to get one of!). Lots of fun options to build your own sentiment - I paired it up with the previously released Just for You stamp set:

I stamped my sentiment and the balloons in alternating colors of MFT ink on kraft cardstock, then masked them off. Added the strings on the balloons, but bending them on my block and partially inking to make them land where I wanted.

Finished off with a spritz of Mister Huey's in white, then blotted it with some plain paper, and removed my masks and let it dry.

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure and head over to Neat and Tangled to see all the other Design Team samples, and to check out the info on today's giveaway! Have a great day!!!

Paper Smooches SPARKS - Joy Elf

Hello! It's time for a new challenge over at Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge! Hard to believe this is my final post for my Design Team term! Can't wait to see who made the new team!!!

This week it is a Cool Shades Challenge:

Here is the color palette - Thanksgiving:

Despite the name of the color story being "Thanksgiving" - I went with a winter/Christmas theme card! I used the fun Enchanted Elves set for my little elf girl, my little sparkle stamp came from Warm Hearts, and my sentiment is from All Yule Need. I used my Spica Glitter pen on part of my elf - hard to see in some of the pictures - but this one shows it a little bit better:

I made a window using Paper Smooches Ovals 1 Dies, and used some Crate Paper pattern paper for my card. Ink is Versamark and Hero Arts, and I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the side of my card - love the lacy effect! 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Please stop by and see what the rest of the SPARKS team put together:

Jamie

Larissa

Heather

Pamela

Savannah

Gold and Navy Thanks

Good morning! Just popping in with a quick card for the current Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Thanks/Thanksgiving. I used some Navy cardstock from Bazzil to make my cardbase, and inked the edges with some blue distress ink. It is a little hard to see in the photo, but adds some fun depth in real life! Cut a feather from glitter paper using a Simon Says Stamp die, the Thanks word is by Paper Smooches, and the bling is from Michael's. 

Thanks for dropping by! Have a great weekend - we are off to help some friends move today!

Unity FWF - Tree Silhouette

Good morning! Just popping in with a quick card for Unity Friends with Flair today! I made this with the September 2013 KOTM for a publication call a bit ago, and it wasn't picked up, so I thought I would share it here!

Made a mask with an oval die, inked my white cardstock with two colors of distress ink, blending in the middle then stamped my tree before removing the mask. Added the sentiment, and as easy as that - all done! (Except for the first couple of tries that my inky fingers made smudges...whoever things clean and simple cards are easy is crazy! Takes a lot of work to keep all that white space clean - at least on my desk!)

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful Friday!

Bountiful Blessings - My Craft Spot post

Good morning! I'm over on the My Craft Spot blog this morning sharing this card:

I started off by misting Heidi Swapp Color Shine and Mister Huey's in several fall colors, then stamped my leaves, sentiment, and a border (using the liquid stamp for filling jars) from Jar Full of Fall:

To finish it off I added a few sequins from the Tuxedo blend from My Craft Spot:

I also rounded just the top left hand corner of my card to add some balance. And right there is a rare one-layer, easily mail-able card!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!