Count Your Blessings

Happy Saturday - welcome weekend! Today I have a three-pack to show you. This first card is something I've been tinkering with ever since Wednesday's sketch challenge was posted on SCS. I already had the Citrus stack by DCWV out from an earlier project, so that's where I pulled my papers. (Here I go again with the blue and green color combo.)

I liked the kinda funky color and pattern combo enough to use it again for my sample for Jen del Muro's Sketch For You to Try:



Check out the sketch, Jen's sample, and guest designer Jody Morrow's sample over at i{heart}2stamp. The rest of the SFYTT sistahs are at the ready with even more ispiration for you:

Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

We always love to have you play along, but this week, there's more reason to join the fun - Jen has a prize up for grabs. I'll let her tell you all about it!

I used the colors and papers yet again for my sample for this week's sketch challenge at Our Creative Corner. I think this is my favorite of the three:



Laurie Schmidlin is our host this month, and her sketch is a great one - so versatile. Just wait 'til you see the variety from the OCC designers! You can see everyone's together at the Our Creative Corner blog, or for more chitchat and details, visit the individual designers:

Cindy Haffner
Dawn Easton
Jackie Pedro
Jennifer Meyer
Julee Tilman
Kim Teasdale
Laurie Schmidlin
Lori Boyd
Lynda Benden
Silke Ledlow

The flower image is from Anna Wight's Blossoms & Butterflies set. All three sentiments are from her Blooming Expressions set, which has the most unique, wonderful phrases - I love this set! Both sets are available from Whipper Snapper Designs. The flowers are colored with Copic markers. The centers are dotted with a white gel pen. Last, they are trimmed out and coated with Crystal Effects. The stem on the OCC card is colored with a blender pen and Stampin' Up ink pads. The hat pin on the SCS sketch card is from the Stampin' Up Pretties kit. The large and small pinked borders are done with the Pinking Border Piercabilities by Spellbinders. The black butterfly is punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The ornate tag shape on the third card is BossKut's Vintage Tag Die #0834, and the silver flower brad is by Stampin' Up.

Hope you have a great weekend! Tomorrow (Sunday, 3/1) is release day for Our Daily Bread Designs, and I can't wait to show you one of the awesome new sets! See you then!



Stamps: Blossoms & Butterflies, Blooming Expressions (Whipper Snapper Designs)
Paper: SU Basic Black and Kiwi Kiss, Papertrey White, DCWV "Citrus" dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU White craft, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive and Always Artichoke
Accessories: Martha Stewart lace border punch and butterfly punch; Spellbinders Pinking Border Piercabilities; May Arts sheer polka dot ribbon; SU Pretties kit (hat pin), dimensionals, filigree brad, 1/4" circle punch, filigree brad, crystal effects, paper piercer, clear embossing powder, and Kiwi Kiss ribbon; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder; black burlap string (available from Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts), Hero Arts rhinestones, Signa white gel pen

California Poppy

I posted this on SCS for Tuesday's color challenge - Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, and Summer Sun. I thought the color combo would be perfect for an orange poppy, and this image from Anna Wight's gorgeous Blossoms and Butterflies set was just the thing. The sentiment is from Blooming Expressions, also one of Anna's sets. Both are available from Whipper Snapper Designs.

I colored the image using a blender pen and Stampin' Up reinkers. To get some extra depth to the coloring, I added some shadows to the Pumpkin Pie flower using Really Rust and some shadows to the Kiwi Kiss stems and buds using Always Artichoke. I also added a glow of Summer Sun (had to work that in to qualify for the color challenge, right?) around the flower and also used Summer Sun for some highlights on the buds. The shapely tag die is from BossKut - Vintage tag #0834. I purchased mine from cutathome.com. The black mat is hand-trimmed.

Have an awesome day!

Stamps: Blossoms and Butterflies, Blooming Expressions (Whipper Snapper Designs)

Paper: PTI Vintage Cream; SU Basic Black, textured Kiwi Kiss, and Pumpkin Pie prints; Canson watercolor paper
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; SU Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Really Rust, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Offray ribbons, Martha Stewart lace border punch, BossKut Vintage Tag die, SU 1/4" circle punch, paper piercer, vintage brads, dimensionals

To A Tea-rific Friend

I made this card for an old high school friend, whose birthday I missed earlier this month. Back in the day, she was into mice. She drew them everywhere and even went by Souris (mouse) in French class. I'm sure she's moved on in the intervening decades, but really, isn't this image the cutest?! Rodents never looked so good. I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it.

All stamps are from Stephanie Fizer's Tea for Two by My Favorite Things Presents. I did my coloring with Copic markers, and then added some Stardust Stickles around the perimeter of the teacup.

Before I go, I'd like to share two awards I've received recently. Toni at 5 Inky Fingers has awarded me with the One Lovely Blog Award. Thanks, Toni!



Next, I received this award



from Laura at Texas Two Step. Thanks Laura!

In both cases, I'm supposed to nominate five blogs. Here goes (same 5 for both).

1. Betsy Veldman - Paper Scissors Superheroes
I followed a link to her blog last weekend from my SFYTT bud Susan Liles's blog and was BLOWN AWAY.

2. Jennifer Meyer - Jennifer's Sweet Designs
This week, my friend Jennifer is embarking on a new venture - her own stamp line! Good luck, Jennifer!

3. Angella Crockett - Body, Mind, Spirit, and STAMPS
Fellow Our Daily Bread Designs DT member Angella has a brand-spankin' new blog. Look out blogland, there is some serious talent over there!

4. Judy Rozema - Joy in a JAR
My CHA roomie, a wonderful blog friend, and an absolutely amazing stamper.

5. Linda Heavens - Heavens Created This
I'll bet she doesn't even know I stalk her blog. I usually pull her up in my reader, and for some reason sometimes I'm shy about leaving comments. Ridiculous, I know! Anyway, this girl can color like the dickens. I could stare at her cards for hours taking in all the nuances of her amazing coloring.


Thanks for stopping by!




Stamps: Stephanie Fizer - Tea for Two (My Favorite Things Presents)
Paper: Papertrey White, SU Basic Black, DCWV "Citrus" dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Prima flowers, Copic markers, Stardust Stickles, SU 1/4" circle punch, vintage brads, and paper piercer, black felt ricrac

Viva La Verve

Today I'm sharing my take on the current Viva La Verve sketch. Each week, Verve Diva Amber Hight posts a new sketch in the Verve Forum, and each sketch has a "twist," which is an extra requirement or restriction. This week's twist is to use acetate on your card. I ran a small piece of acetate through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder and layered it onto the vertical panels that has the ribbon on it.

Do you know that if you complete all four Viva La Verve sketches in any given month, you can enter the grand prize drawing, which is the next month's entire release? I can promise you February's grand prize drawing is one you won't want to miss! Why? Because Verve's biggest release EVER is coming on March 8, and all EIGHT new sets could be yours free if you win! If you haven't started on this month's sketches yet, or if this is the first you're hearing of them, no worries, there's still plenty of time. The deadline is not until midnight, CST, on February 27. You'll find all four Viva La Verve sketches in the "Contests & Challenges" section of the Verve Forum on SCS, and all the participation details are included in each week's sketch post. Hope you can play!

To make room for all the new sets that are coming, Verve is having a huge sale. Almost all of Verve's sets are discounted, but only through February 28 and only while supplies last. You'll find all the sale info and prices in the Verve store.

Also, save the date:
Verve's March Release Party
Sunday, March 8
8 pm EST

Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Fluttering By (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU Kiwi Kiss, Very Vanilla, Buckaroo Blue (retired), and Barely Banana; Making Memories "Chloe's Closet" dp
Ink: SU Buckaroo Blue (retired)
Accessories: Hero Arts bling, paper piercer, edge distressing tool, foam adhesive, SU Kiwi Kiss ribbon, acetate, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

Let Everything You Do ...

"Let everything you do be done
as if it makes a difference"

I love this quote from Anna Wight's Blooming Expressions set. I decided to pair it with some of the gorgeous images from Anna's new Wildflower Silhouette set. Both are available at Whipper Snapper Designs. The flower stamp is colored with Stampin' Up markers, huffed on, then stamped.

The layout comes from Jen del Muro's Sketch For you To Try. Head over to i{heart}2stamp.com to see what fun Jen has cooked up with this sketch, as well as what guest designer Jody Morrow has put together. Pay a visit to Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, Kelly Lunceford, and Susan Liles for even more inspiration. As always, you're warmly invited to play along. Just link up your creation to Jen's blog post using Mr. Linky. If you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT. It makes it so much easier for the players to find each other.

I started this card out with a different sentiment treatment that, honestly, looked much better. But I was desperate for this card to work for this week's challenge at Our Creative Corner, which is to use a tag on your project. Now that I look at it, I think it's really more of a label than a tag. Sorry! To see all the TAGS that the other OCC designers used this week, visit the OCC blog, or for more chitchat, visit their individual blogs: Cindy Haffner, Dawn Easton, Jackie Pedro, Jennifer Meyer, Julee Tilman, Kim Teasdale, Laurie Schmidlin, Lori Boyd, Lynda Benden, and Silke Ledlow. Also, help us welcome Rose Ann Reynolds as our guest designer for the week. Yay!!! Lucky us! Thanks for joining us Rose Ann! When you're ready to play, link your creation to the OCC blog and/or use keyword: OCCC if you upload to SCS.

Before I go, I've gotta tell you I'm in the midst of one of the worst creative droughts I think I've ever experienced, so if I'm quiet for a few days, you'll know why! It will pass, I know. I just hope it's soon, because it's making me VERY grumpy - LOL!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Wildflower Silhouette and Blooming Expressions (Whipper Snapper Designs)
Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Prismatics Dark Suede Brown, K&Co Classic K McKenna Mat Pad
Ink: Always Artichoke
Accessories: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Always Artichoke markers, oval Nestabilities, Offray brown twill, Spellbinders tag/label die, sewing machine, Making Memories decorative brad

Twistin' The Night Away

If you've come here by way of the My Favorite Things blog hop, no doubt you've had a chuckle or two, maybe even some blushing and giggles. If you haven't, you may want to go back to the beginning at Kim's blog and get caught up.

We are hopping to announce the release of Twisted Too. You may have been around a year ago for the release of the first Twisted, a collection of, shall we say, "colorful" sentiments that go along with your favorite MFT images. Twisted Too has even more! Some, like the one I've used, are pretty tame, but others are, well, a bit twisted, but oh so hilarious =)

Guess what else is new at MFT? Exclusive new 6x6 patterned paper packs! Each pack comes with 25 sheets (5 coordinating patterns, 5 sheets of each). I've used two of the patterns from the Summer Collection on my card. The colors and patterns are fun, stylish, and chic, and the quality is first-rate.

Only a few more stops on the blog hop ... next up is Cammie! Have fun!!

Also, a reminder, it's "What's Up Wednesday" in the MFT Forum. You'll find a Copic marker tutorial by Candice and a bling challenge from Chelsey.

Now for the card details: I stamped the image from Here's the Scoop in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Prismacolors, Gamsol, and paper stumps. The idea for the hardwood-floor look (you might have to click the image for a close-up to see this) comes from Candice, who has a tutorial in the MFT forum on SCS. I also tried to give the walls a woodgrain look. The stitching is all by machine. I cut the bottom border with the Cornice border punch by Martha Stewart. Any questions, just give me a shout. Thanks for hopping by!



Stamps: Here's the Scoop and Twisted 2 (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Ivory card stock; SU Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip; MFT Summer Collection dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Prismacolors, Gamsol, blending stumps, SU ribbon, Martha Stewart border punch, paper piercer, Bazzill ivory flower, red felt flower, chocolate brad, burlap string
Size: 5 1/4" square

Wildflower Silhouette

Today I'm showing a new set by Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper Designs called Wildflower Silhouette. The gorgeous images in this set are derived from Anna's own wildflower photographs. Very cool!

I went for a crisp black-on-white silhouette for today by stamping and heat embossing the image on a heavy watercolor paper and then layering it over a combination of mostly neutral patterned papers with just a splash of blue. I love the versatility of silhouette stamps and I love wildflower images - can't wait to show you my other ideas! Another day, though ... today I'm knee-deep in finishing up some decorations for a Western-themed Boy Scout event coming up this weekend. Fun!



Be sure to take a look at what the other Whipper Snapper Featured Designers have put together:

Anna Wight
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/sweetmissdaisy
Blog: http://sweetmissdaisy.typepad.com/sassy_sweet_notes/

Beth Matson
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/ematson
Blog: http://nevertoooldtocolor.blogspot.com/

Jackie Pedro
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/strappystamper
Blog: http://thescallopededge.typepad.com/

Lisa Zappa
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/lzappa
Blog: http://shabbychickjunk.blogspot.com/

Tosha Leyendekker
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/stamps4funinCA
Blog: http://stamptalkwithtosh.blogspot.com/

Anna also has a new set called Signature Series which has some of the cutest "handmade by" stamps ever - check it out!

Thanks for visiting,



Stamps: Wildflower Silhouette (Whipper Snapper Designs)
Paper: SU Bacic Black; Canson watercolor paper; "Story of Us" dp by ATD
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Spellbinders classic and scalloped oval Nestabilities and tag die, SU Top Note die and paper piercer, Robin's Nest dew drops, Offray black satin ribbon, May Arts burlap string, Martha Stewart lacy border punch, clear embossing powder

Happy Valentine's Day!

The challenge at Our Creative Corner this week is a sketch challenge. And a fun one, too! I puzzled over it for quite a while, but once I finally decided how to handle the three circles, my card came together quickly.

I really like how this one turned out (even if there is no stamping - boo). I would never list blue as a favorite color by itself - it wouldn't even rank in the top five - but pair it with green and you get one of my all-time favorite color combos. And the colorful Urban Prairie dp can't be beat! I have to point out something very cool about this card. See those two designer paper patterns? They are from two different manufacturers! Why is this noteworthy? Because less than a year ago, I was afraid of designer papers, and on the rare occasion that I used more than one at a time, they definitely came from some coordinated line. Now, I can't make a card without dp, but I still usually stick to a single line or at least a single manufacturer, so this is a big step!

Be sure to check out what the other OCC designers did with the sketch: Cindy Haffner, Dawn Easton, Jackie Pedro, Jennifer Meyer, Julee Tilman, Kim Teasdale, Laurie Schmidlin, Lori Boyd, Lynda Benden, and Silke Ledlow. Also, help us give a warm welcome to our guest designer this week, the absolutely incredible, one-and-only Tosha Leyendekker. When you're ready to play along, link your creation to the OCC blog and remember to use keyword OCCC if you upload to SCS.



My second card is for Jen del Muro's Sketch For You To Try. Check it out at i{heart}2stamp. While you're there, you'll see Jen's and guest designer Jody's samples. Next, tune in to see what Amy, Carole, Kelly, and Susan have put together. I don't think I mentioned it last week, but Shannan has stepped down from the SFYTT team to focus on some other stamping ventures. Best wishes to Shannan! To play along, link your project to Jen's blog and if you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: SFYTT.

This sweet image, called "Luvvie," is illustrated by Leanne Ellis, and is available from Sugar Nellie Stamps. If you haven't seen Sugar Nellie's different stamp lines, you should pay them a visit! My wish list is out of control! Luvvie is colored with Prismacolors and Gamsol. The heart, which has been painted with Shimmerz, is popped up on a dimensional.

Have a very happy Valentine's Day!



"Hi" supplies:
Paper: Bazzill card stock (Rain, Blackbird); Basic Grey Urban Prairie (floral); K&Co Classic K "Bailey" designer mat pad (dots); Canson watercolor paper
Accessories: American Crafts Boutique Blue ribbon, American Crafts Black Scalloped Ribbon, Mark Richards black crystals, Martha Stewart lace border punch, Prima Belle flowers, SU filigree brads, SU ice circle rhinestone brads, distressing tool, sewing machine, circle Nestabilities, American Crafts Vinyl Vera Black Thickers
Note: Most of the supplies for this card came from the January 2009 scrapbooking kit from Paper Posies. I've subscribed to various scrapbooking kits (one at a time, though!) for the last few years. I love my monthly "fix" - a big ol' box of random supplies, most of which I would never find in my local stores. Until recently, I set aside my kits for scrapbooking, but since I'm doing so little of that anymore, I've decided it's time to put the supplies to use on my cards.

"Luvvie" supplies:
Stamps: Luvvie (Sugar Nellie Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey white card stock; Basic Grey Bittersweet dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Old Paper Distress
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, mega curvy rectangle Nestabilities, SU chocolate twill ribbon, paper piercer, sponges, Basic Grey Bittersweet brads, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder, Martha Stewart border punch, dimensionals, Magenta Shimmerz
Size: 5 1/2" square

Flourishes Sneak Peek

I promised for today a peek at one of the new sets Flourishes will be releasing tonight. This set is called Signs of Spring, and it is gorgeous!! Look for all three new Flourishes sets at Stamper's Dream tonight at 9pm EST!

For me, the showpiece of the set is this large daffodil - love it! I stamped it five times on watercolor paper, heat embossed, watercolored with my water brush and re-inkers, then layered the flower using the paper tole technique. Here's a look from the side, so you can see all the dimension:




I put together this next card using the smaller flower in the set:



Again, I stamped on watercolor paper, heat embossed and watercolored. The freshness of the pale blue and yellow color combo always makes me think Spring.

Also previewing this set today are Stamper's Dream Team members Denise Marzec and Kimberly Crawford. I can't wait to see what they've done! In case you missed yesterday's preview, head to the Stamper's Dream blog for links to all the Stamper's Dream Team designers. A big thanks to Michelle, Stamper's Dream owner, for letting me play along with her awesome Dream Team!



For You:
Stamps: Signs of Spring (Flourishes)
Paper: watercolor paper, Basic Grey "Sugared" dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Barely Banana, So Saffron, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Always Arichoke re-inkers
Accessories: water brush, clear EP, sewing machine, SU Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain, paper piercer, Martha Stewart cornice border punch
Size: 5 1/2" square

The Richness I Achieve:
Stamps: Signs of Spring (Flourishes)
Paper: watercolor paper, Basic Grey "Figgy Pudding" (I used the back side for the pale yellow horizontal strip); K&Co's Classic K Cardstock Pad (these are pre-scored, double-sided papers sized to be an A2 card base when folded. Instead of using them as card bases, I cut them apart and use them for layering. I find them in the pre-made card kit section at my local Michael's)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Old Olive re-inkers, Antique Linen Distress
Accessories: white polka-dot ribbon (May Arts), Spellbinders tag die, Martha Stewart lace border punch, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Clearly, I {HEART} U

Check out the My Favorite Things SCS forum today for MFT's regular "What's Up Wednesday" feature. Holly has issued an Awesome Acetate challenge, and Joanne has a super cool "How'd They Do That" tutorial on making custom embellishments with Powder keg embossing powder (she's sold me!).

I haven't done an acetate card in a long time, so I was excited to play along in Holly's challenge. I took a 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" square of heavy acetate** and folded it in half for the card base. The lighter blue curvy rectangle (SU's retired Cool Caribbean) was cut with Nestabilities, and the Tempting Turquoise mat behind it was hand-trimmed. There is another Cool Caribbean rectangle attached on the back side of the card front to hide the adhesive. (Like a sandwich: caribbean, turquoise, acetate, caribbean.) I repeated that on the card inside. The letters are from Bling 'Bet by My Favorite Things. I stamped the circles on the background in white Staz-On using an image from MFT's Let's Go For A walk set.

These clear cards are really difficult to photograph. In the first photo, my lighting makes the acetate looks a little cloudy. In real life, it's crystal clear. This next photo is dark, but it shows the clarity much better:



Along with the WUW challenge and the How'd They Do That tutorial, MFT also has Wednesday specials in the store. To stay up to date on all the MFT happenings, be sure to subscribe to MFT's "Brand Spankin' News" newsletter. Scroll down to the bottom of the store's home page and you'll find the sign-up box.

** The acetate I used is clear card stock from Flourishes, LLC. I was ordering some stamps in their store recently and stumbled upon this. I *knew* anything by Flourishes would be top quality, and it is! I've used office supply transparency sheets before when the acetate doesn't need to be so thick (like window cards, shakers, etc.), but for card bases and making clear boxes, this stuff from Flourishes is amazing!

Speaking of Flourishes ... when I was at CHA last month, Michelle Rodgers of Stamper's Dream told me she's going to start carrying Flourishes stamps in her store. I'm excited - anytime I can consolidate my purchases and save on shipping is a bonus! This week, Michelle's Dream Team is doing sneak peeks of three new sets that Flourishes will be releasing on Friday, and Michelle invited me to play along. I'll be showing something on Friday, but today you can see peeks from Charmaine, Cammie, and Kimberly. And you'll definitely want to hop over to the Stamper's Dream store to see all the awesome new products coming in from Michelle's CHA shopping spree. My favorite place to start is the New Arrivals section!

Thanks for stopping by!

Looking Ahead to Easter

I promised myself I would not go full-speed into Easter until after Valentine's Day, but I've really been enjoying the new I Am The Way set from Our Daily Bread Designs, and can't wait to show you what I've made. This first one is definitely my favorite. I did my coloring with an aqua painter and Stampin' Up re-inkers, then trimmed out the lilies and attached them to the card with dimensionals. All the edges of the different panels are sponged with Antique Linen distress ink. The piercing is done with an Ornare piercing template, and the ivory die-cut behind the lilies is from BossKut.



This next one is harder for me to like, as I'm not much of a purple person. It's a good Easter color, though. Again, I watercolored the lilies, trimmed them, and mounted them to the card with dimensionals. The decorative corner pieces are 1 1/2" squares cut on the diagonal with wavy-edge deco scissors, then topped with a button and ribbon combo. The rest is just layers, layers, and lotsa layers. Designer papers are from Stampin' Up's retired Enchante pack.

Last, since it's the 9th of the month, I've also put together a little somethin' for the monthly Divine Design Challenge, which is to create a Scripture-based project:



I used the wonderful lighthouse from Our Daily Bread Designs' Keep My Lamp Burning set, along with one of the Scripture sentiments. The corner accents are pewter jumbo eyelets (by SU) threaded with natural hemp. They are not set into the paper. I used the Crop-a-Dile to flatten the shaft first, then added the hemp. I secured them on the front with two mini glue dots, and then taped the hemp ends to the back using regular Scotch tape. The papers are all from Close to My Heart's Simple Pleasures pack.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have a blessed day!




Easter Blessings:
Stamps: I Am The Way (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: SU Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla; K&Co dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Antique Linen Distress, Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, Mellow Moss, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand, More Mustard
Accessories: BossKut vintage tag die, Swarovski Bridal Boutique half-back pearls, Ornare piercing template, gold cord, ivory taffeta, MS lace border punch, Spellbinders tags trio die, cler embossing powder
Size: 5" square

Happy Easter:
Stamps: I Am The Way (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Perfect Plum, Enchante dp (all SU)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Sage Shadow, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, More Mustard
Accessories: tag corner punch, wavy-edge scissors, dew drops, circle Nestabilities, paper piercer, corner rounder, SU buttons, ivory taffeta ribbon
Size: 5 1/2" square

Psalm 46:1/Lighthouse:
Stamps: Keep My Lamp Burning (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: CTMH Cocoa card stock and Simple Pleasures dp
Ink: CTMH Cocoa
Accessories: paper piercer, jumbo pewter eyelets, natural hemp, sponge daubers, foam adhesive
Size: 5 1/2" square

The Secret to Having it All

Today's challenge over at Our Creative Corner is to pick a favorite embellishment and build a card around it. A while back, I picked up some fancy, glittery chipboard frame stickers from K&Co's Blue Awning line, but hadn't used a single one. So that's the embellishment I started with.

For my layout, I turned to Jen del Muro's newest Sketch for You to Try. All of my papers also come from K&Co's Blue Awning line, so this was a super easy card to pull together. As I was trying to figure out what to put IN the frame, I kept thinking what a nice layout for a photo. Pop a picture in there and frame it even. But I felt weird about making a project for an i{heart}2stamp sketch and not actually stamping, so I went with this great {stamped} quote from Stampin Up's retired Friendship Flowers set.

To get some dimension on the flowers, I curled the petals on the bottom large flower down and the petals on the top large flower up. They're each topped with a smaller flower, a 1/4" navy circle, and a navy brad. Here's a detail shot:



Ever wish SU carried brads in all of its colors? Heidi at Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts does! She even has the elusive ivory and white.

The inside is finished as well:



For more OCC inspiration, visit the OCC blog or head over to the individual designers' blogs: Cindy Haffner, Dawn Easton, Jackie Pedro, Jennifer Meyer, Julee Tilman, Kim Teasdale, Laurie Schmidlin, Lynda Benden, Silke Ledlow. This week, please help us welcome the newest OCC designer, Lori Boyd! We're also thrilled to have Gabriela Divine as our guest this week! Hope you can play along. Details are on the OCC blog.

To see Jen's awesome sketch this week, visit her at i{heart}2stamp, where you can also give a warm welcome to stamping rockstar Jody Morrow, guest designer for February. So excited for you to join us, Jody! Then check out what the rest of the team did with the sketch: Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, Kelly Lunceford, Shannan Teubner, and Susan Liles. Ready to give this sketch a try? Just link up your creation to Jen's post. If you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT.

Have a great weekend. I'm excited to get some warmer temps here in Virginia!



Stamps: Friendship Flowers (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: SU Night of Navy and Very Vanilla; K&Co "Blue Awning" designer paper
Ink: SU Night of Navy; Ranger Old Paper Distress
Accessories: navy brads and ribbon (Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts); flower, scallop border, and 1/4" circle punches, distressing tool, sponge (SU); chipboard frame (K&Co); sewing machine and gold metallic thread
Size: 6" square

L-O-V-E

In yesterday's post, I mentioned the new alphabet set from My Favorite Things ... Bling 'Bet. I finally got a chance to play with it, and I L-O-V-E it!! Believe it or not, I was going for a clean, lean, minimal design, but ended up with this. Once I got started, I couldn't stop - it's a sickness, I tell ya!

But seriously, this 'bet set is so much fun! The letters are designed with holes in them, which you can leave as-is or fill with crystals, pearls, Stickles, brads, eyelets, etc. You can even punch out the holes and layer the letters over another color or pattern. I stamped and heat embossed my letters in brown, then filled the holes with these teeny, tiny half-back pearls that I found in the clearance section at my local Hancock Fabrics a while back. I think they're intended as an embellishment for bridal wear maybe? Not sure, but that's what I seem to remember from the product packaging.

The papers are all from the Basic Grey Bittersweet collection. Do you know how many BG 6x6 pads I have that I've barely touched? Not this time! I intend to reduce the thing to scraps and only scraps. I painted the ivory flower with Angel Wings Shimmerz, the light pink punched leaves with Pink Poinsettia Blingz, and the darker pink flourish diecut with Magenta Shimmerz. Here's a closer look at all that shine - yum, yum. (Shimmerz paints are available in the MFT store.)



Bling 'Bet, Tea for Two (which I used yesterday), and a third set, a Who's That Girl called Digital Girl, are all now available in the MFT store. For the gotta-have-it-all types, you'll find special pricing on full collection. Last night's release also included Chocolate Kiss, a new collection of Stephanie Fizer digital paper. It's all pink and brown - perfect for this time of year.

Okay now, before I go ... does anyone know anything about blog counters? A month or so ago, my original blog counter quit working for several days in a row, so I added a second counter in case the first one never came back up. It did eventually, and there was about a 5,000 discrepancy, which seemed about right if the first one wasn't counting while it was down. For the last week or two or three, both counters have been running, and the strange thing is that the difference has grown from 5,000 to 12,000. I want to take one down, but I don't know which one to take down! I don't trust the original one since it flaked out for so long, but I also don't want to inflate my numbers, since the new one seems to be counting more hits. Anyone know how these things work and why they're different? (They're both free, and neither has any documentation, much less support.) Thanks a bunch!



Stamps: Bling 'Bet (My Favorite Things)
Paper: SU Chocolate Chip, Natural White; Basic Grey Bittersweet
Ink: VersaMark; Ranger Old Paper and Walnut Stain Distress; SU Regal Rose
Accesories: brown EP (?), halfback pearls (Swarovski), distressing tool, sewing machine, ivory velvet ribbon (May Arts), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, CTMH flower, Basic Grey brad, MS leaf punch, BossKut flourish die, foam adhesive; American Crafts plastic hearts, Shimmerz
Size: 5 1/2" square

CPS 101

[If you're here for the MFT blog hop, scroll down a little to the next post, or click HERE]

The designers over at Card Positioning Systems are featuring Our Daily Bread Designs images on their sketch challenge cards this week, so the ODBD design team decided to play along! Check out CPS Sketch 101 HERE, as well as all the details on how you can play along also. Kelley has donated both of the sets I've used today for the CPS anniversary giveaway. Use the sketch, link up your project at CPS, and you could win! (Using ODBD images is not a requirement, by the way.)

I chose to work with the new set Keep My Lamp Burning. Instead of coloring it like I did on Sunday’s card, I opted to stamp it onto patterned paper and leave it uncolored. See what I mean about how versatile this image is? It looks great both ways! For a little added interest, I stamped a second lighthouse on a lighter color of dp, trimmed it out, sponged the edges, and popped it up over the first lighthouse with foam adhesive. I wrapped some rope twine around the bottom and tied a simple square knot in the center to continue the nautical feel. All the edges are heavily sponged and distressed.

I also have something to show using one of the other new sets, I am the Way:



I love the font treatment on the John 14:6 stamp, so I made that my focal point. I just got a new BossKut die a few days ago, and was thrilled how well this stamp fit into it. Especially since the shape has the look of a vintage keyplate. I love the symbolism there – Jesus is the key. The designer papers are all from the Sweet Blush pack by Prima. I added some lace trim that I picked up at a local fabric store (love this look). For the gold edges, I used a VersaMarker to lightly color the edges, then dipped them in SU’s gold embossing powder. I wasn’t real crazy about this card until I added in that gold embossing. It’s surprising how that one small, barely visible detail can make such a difference.

I decorated the inside a little more than normal, too. Here’s a look at that:



Have a great day, friends!!

Tea for Two

Welcome to the My Favorite Things blog hop! You're at stop #2, so if you didn't get here by way of Kim, go back to the beginning and then come right back. Tonight (Wednesday February 4), MFT is releasing THREE new sets that you won't want to miss. Join us at 9 pm EST for a quick chat before the sets go live at 10 pm EST. You can win prizes, see loads of MFTeasers with the new sets, and get all the deets on how YOU can become MFT's next guest designer. It all happens in the MFT Member Company Forum on SCS. Hope to see you there!

I'm showing an adorable new Stephanie Fizer set called Tea for Two. How sweet is this?! I did my coloring with Prismacolors and Gamsol. All the patterned papers are from Basic Gray's Bittersweet line. I tried to create the look of the teacup sitting on a table with the wall in the background by streaking the brown dp with my Chocolate Chip ink pad to get kind of a woodgrain look and by scoring the wall to look like wainscoting (an idea I got from the fabulous Cindy Lawrence).

So glad you stopped by! Your next blog hop stop is the amazing Ana Wohlfahrt. Enjoy the HOP, and remember, you'll find an MFTreat at the very end!

Did you know this is the second MFT hop this week? Yesterday, some of the DT showed off a very special alphabet set with a "Bling 'Bet Bounce." Just in case you missed that one, start HERE! This alphabet is so unique that we gave it its own hop (well, okay, "bounce"), so you could see all the many ways to use it. At tonight's release, we'll have a downloadable tip sheet to go with this set. Ya gotta check it out!




Stamps: Tea for Two (My Favorite Things Presents)
Paper: SU Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Bittersweet
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Prismacolors, Gamsol, blending stumps; Scor-Pal, ivory taffeta ribbon, paper piercer, foam tape, dew drops, sewing machine, Martha Stewart Cornice border punch
Size: 5 1/2" square

Keep My Lamp Burning

I'm excited to show off a brand-new, beautiful stamp set released today by Our Daily Bread Designs. It's called Keep My Lamp Burning, and was illustrated by fellow DT member, Dina Kowal. The upper left corner is designed to hold one of four different sentiments, three are Bible verses and one is a quote. I really love the artsy, collage look of this lighthouse image. It looks great colored traditionally or stamped onto dp or onto a handmade background - great for technique lovers.

For today's card, I stamped on watercolor paper, heat embossed, and then watercolored with an aqua brush and re-inkers. The patterned papers are from a photo mat stack by K&Co. I embellished with a new-to-me BossKut flourish die. I love all these swirly dies and just keep on stocking up whenever I see one that strikes my fancy. This one, Flourish #0739, was purchased from Cut @ Home. I coated the lighthouse with Ranger Crackle Glaze. Here's a close-up:




And here's a look at the full set:




ODBD introduced two more sets today as well:

I Am The Way:




May God Hold You:



Be sure to visit the ODBD gallery to see what the design team has been up to. I'll be showing more samples here in the days and weeks to come.

Thanks for stopping by!




Stamps: Keep My Lamp Burning (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Medium and Dark Island Mist Prismatics (Prism); watercolor paper (Canson); dp (K&Co)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Soft Sky, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Prima flower, Ranger crackle glaze, Recollections glittery brad, BossKut flourish die, SU aqua painter, paper piercer, and Crystal Effects, sewing machine, foam tape, twill
Size: 5 1/2" square