Stamper's Dream & Friends Blog Hop

Today, the Dream Team at Stamper's Dream and some very special guests have teamed up for a blog hop. Along the way, you'll find more eye candy than you'll think is even possible, plus you'll have a chance to win some hidden blog candy. Let's get going!

Here's today's hop order:

Debbie Olson
Becca Feeken
Michelle Rodgers
Laurie Schmidlin
Amy Sheffer (you're here)
Denise Marzec
Tosh Leyendekker
Mona Pendleton
Cindy Lawrence
Silke Ledlow
Arlene Cuevas
Charmaine Ikach
Mariana Grigsby
Lea Lawson
Joan Ervin
Teresa Kline
Jeanne Streiff
Kellie Fortin
Christina Fischer
Jo Thompson

And here's the blog candy that will be awarded to one random commenter along today's hop:

Be sure to leave lots of comment love to increase your chances of winning! Michelle will announce the winner this Thursday evening, the 16th.

For my card, I wanted to play with some newish goodies: Spellbinders Grand Calibur, Grand Labels Four Nestabilities, and Tim Holtz's Papillon stamp set by Stamper's Anonymous. I also incorporated a sentiment from You Are My Anchor by JustRite, a set with which, I must say, I'm quite taken.

I started by making the shaped card base using the largest Grand Labels Four Nestabilities and my Grand Calibur diecut machine. Next, I cut the green panel (a butterfly pattern from Graphic45's Once Upon A Springtime 8x8 pad) using the next smaller Grand Labels Four die. The sentiment, from You Are My Anchor, was stamped onto a  layered circle and lacey circle panel. I strung a Melissa Frances Super Mini Envelope and Tag (aren't they *adorable*?) from some crinkled seam binding, then embellished with a stamped and colored butterfly (from Papillon), some trim, a Zva Creative pearl flourish, stitching, and a chipboard glittery star.

Thanks for visiting, and enjoy the hop!

Happy Go Lucky Tag Trio

I made some super quick, easy thank-you tags last weekend for some year-end gifts, and whipped up a batch of extras to have on hand. I used the same basic layout each time, just changed the paper combos and sentiments to make three variations. The tag shape is die-cut with Verve's Sweet Scallop die, and the sentiments are all from Verve's Sweet Treats stamp set. The papers are Happy Go Lucky by My Mind's Eye.
 
They were so quick to assemble that I made three of each:

 And here's one in action, tied onto a clear cello bag containing an amazingly fragrant handmade bar of soap that I found at the local farmer's market.

I gave these away by themselves, but they'd also be perfect along with a gift card when you need a bigger gift.

Hope you're having a great weekend!





Stamps: Sweet Treats (Verve Stamps)
Paper: My Mind's Eye Happy Go Lucky, Papertrey Kraft
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Verve Sweet Scallop die, Stampin' Up 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, small star punch, and curly label punch, Papertrey buttons, The Twinery twine

Happy Birthday, Sailor

Nina's sketch (#118) over at Card Patterns was too interesting to pass up! I paired up JustRite's new You Are My Anchor with Webster's Pages Yacht Club papers to make a masculine card. Both the sentiment and captain's wheel image were stamped and diecut with Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities. I then stamped the captain's wheel a second time onto white card stock, colored it with Copics, trimmed it out, and popped it up for dimension. The boats are part of the Yacht Club paper design. I embellished with a couple of sailor knots, a die-cut border, distressing, and stitching. It didn't quite turn out like I had hoped, but I'm glad I gave the awesome sketch a try!

I have to show you the full You Are My Anchor set, now available at Stamper's Dream. Love this set!!

And here's the Card Patterns #118 sketch (I moved the circle element to the opposite side):

Happy Friday!



Stamps: You Are My Anchor 2" Round Borders & Centers (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up Confetti White, Papertrey Ocean Tides and Kraft, Webster's PagesYacht Club 6x6 dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Paper, Brushed Corduroy Distress, Papertrey Fresh Snow
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities, Copic markers, foam adhesive, Stampin' Up rope twine, string, Papertrey Eyelet Border die, paper piercer, needle, thread
Size: 5 1/2" square

Recycling Mojo

To everyone making "green" choices and reducing your footprint -- this card is for you! I printed the green recycling logo onto a ruled Basic Grey Basics pattern, then stamped the sentiment, from Verve's American Hero (currently 40% off as a June Stamp of the Month selection), on top.The little ribbon tails are a 5/8" lightweight ivory twill.

For the vertical strips, I tore up a page from an old architecture paperback. The horizontal strip is made up of some burlap, a narrow strip of corrugated cardboard, household string, and a scallop border that I die-cut with My Favorite Things' Open Scallop Border Die-namics die.

The layout is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge (#194). It's a contest week, which means there are lots of Verve prizes available to challenge participants -- good luck! (Click the link for all the contest details.)

This is a different style of card for me -- thanks for looking!

Happy Tuesday!





Stamps: American Hero (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, text paper from recycled book, Basic Grey Basics White dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Versamagic Wheat chalk ink
Accessories: Spellbinders classic circle Nestabilities, 5/8" lightweight natural twill, MFT Open Scallop Border Die-namics, burlap, recycled cardboard box, household string, foam adhesive
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Happiness Is You

Your Next Stamp sponsored last month's Sketch For You To Try, and this adorable image, Tea Time Fhiona, is what I chose to work with. It may be a new month/new sketch/new sponsor, but I just had to show this image some more love - it's so cute! I colored with Copics, sponged around the outside with Aquatic Splash VersaMagic chalk ink (with the Nestabilities die still in place), then added some hand-stitching.

The layout is last week's Card Positioning Systems sketch, #220. Turned sideways, it was perfect for this image. I kept the layout clean, with minimal layering and only a few embellishments ... a white crochet flower topped with a button, some baker's twine, a punched strip, dry embossing, and a little tab in the upper right where the sketch shows three small circles. The card base and background layers are Papertrey's Smokey Shadow card stock. The designer papers are from My Mind's Eye's Happy Go Lucky 6x6 pad.

Hope you had a great weekend! I spent too much time (and money) shopping for the kids and just the right amount of time watching baseball and enjoying some of the best weather ever! Today, laundry, the yet-to-be-planted vegetable garden, two half-finished home improvement projects and a dirty car are calling yelling my name.

Here's a photo of my 10-year-old doin' his baseball thing:

Have a fantastic day!





Stamps: Tea Time Fhiona (Your Next Stamp)
Paper: Copic X-Press It card stock, Papertrey Smokey Shadow card stock, My Mind's Eye "Happy Go Lucky" dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMagic Aquatic Splash
Accessories: Spellbinders Rectangle Nestabilities, paper piercer/needle/thread, foam adhesive, Fiskars corner rounder, My Favorite Things Little Open Scallop border die, The Twinery twine, Stampin' Up white crochet flower, button from stash, Stampin' Up label punch, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder
Size: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

June SFYTT - Maisy Ketto

Any ideas how it got to be June already? Eeek, what happened to May? And April, too, for that matter? The good news with it being June already is that it's time for a brand-new Sketch For You To Try! This month, our sponsor is Stamping Bella! I'm super excited because on my mental list of images I wish I had more time to stamp with, my Bellas would be at or very near the top!

I've used Maisy Ketto for today's card. Coloring is with Copic markers, finished with Prismacolor pencils. The papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Salt Air. The cardstock die-cut flowers and butterfly are also from CC. I tucked in a Verve sentiment (from Fairy Tales), which I die-cut using Li'l Inker's fabulous little Sentiment Flags die. Perimeter stitching is all by hand using both taupe and ivory threads. The string along the bottom is just some basic household string.

Here's the sektch:

The SFYTT sisters have been busy making gorgeous sketch samples. Click around and you'll see what I mean! Be sure to give Joanne Basile a warm welcome -- she's our June guest designer!!


Jen del Muro with guest designer Joanne Basile
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock (coming later)
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

We bid a fond (and hopefully temporary) farewell to Sony Christoph  this week. She's stepping down due to her current course load, which sounds positively monstrous. Good luck and hang in there, Sony!

To play along with the June SFYTT, just make a card or other project using the sketch and link it up HERE anytime before the end of the month. Those who participate in all of the 2011 sketch challenges will be eligible for a mega prize drawing at the end of the year. And remember, all future guest designers are chosen from current participants!

Cheers!




Stamps: Maisy Ketto (Stamping Bella)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Vintage Cream, Copic XPress-It blending card stock, Cosmo Cricket Salt Air
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Versamagic Thatched Straw
Accessories: Spellbinders circle, lacey circles, and Labels Sixteen Nestabiltiies, Stampin' Up corner rounder, paper piercer, needle, thread, foam adhesive, Li'l Inker Designs Sentiment Flag die, Cosmo Cricket Salt Air cardstock die-cuts, Papertrey button, household string
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Out On A Limb For You

Just checking in with a quick post this beautiful Friday afternoon. I've put together a little something for the Color Throwdown Challenge #144:

The cutie-pie image, from Tree Limb Cling Stamp Set by Stampendous, is colored with Copic markers. The leaf trio and bird are popped up for dimension. The sentiment tag is one of those metal-rimmed tags that were sooooo popular a while back (like several years back!). The pink polka-dot panel was die-cut with a Grand Labels Four Nestabilities die using my Grand Calibur (love the big cutting size!). I pleated some woodgrain pattern paper in a kind of whimsical, sloppy fashion, then tied some hemp twine around it. To finish off, I added a random sprinkling of black buttons for a little pop. My papers are by My Mind's Eye. The pink, I believe, is from Life of the Party, and the green is from Out of the Blue.
Update: My bad ... the pink is from Tickled Pink and the green is from Happy Go Lucky. Sorry about that!

My youngest son and I went up to the local farm where we have our CSA membership to pick up our first box of produce today.

I loved watching Gabe jump on the giant jumping pillow ...

... while waiting for the tractor, which took us out to the u-pick strawberry fields ...

... where we picked these!

Bonus: those berries haven't been sprayed with a single chemical, the sky was a picture-perfect light blue, and the morning was breezy and in the mid-'70s. Does it get any better?

Have a great weekend!