CrAzY for Tents - C4C98

It's another cRaZy Saturday on the C4C blog and today we're making Tent Cards! I'll tell you, I was at first groaning... I don't like having to read directions to make a card! But these are EASY, fun and really cute! I'll be doing more, for sure! Check out Beate's tutorial on Splitcoaststampers and give it a try!

For my card, I decided to double-duty and make something for the TCP Tuesday Challengethis week at The Cat's Pajamas, so my "Wheel Love" bunny here fits into the transportation-themed challenge! I used some Country Drive paper from Echo Park on the card and stamped my sentiment on a Sentiment Flag die from Lil' Inker Designs. The grassy border androlled rose are both Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.

Check out the Tent Cards from the other Crazies, and be inspired...

Barbara Anders

Cindy Haffner

Frances Byrne

Jessie Rone

Joanne Grzelak

Jocelyn Pelkey

Maria Bell

Silke Kittman

Vicki Garrett

Happy weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Bellarific (Christmas) Friday

For the second time this week, it's looking a lot like Christmas here at the Stamp Happy blogarooni! I promise, after today it's back to heat, humidity and good ol' Summertime! But for today's Bellarific Friday challenge we're getting a jump start on Christmas!

There was no doubt in my mind, my Christmas card for today HAD to be Mavis Wearing Holly! She's just so incredibly cute in her Christmas finery! I paired her with some Echo Park "Everybody Loves Christmas" paper. I embossed the bright cardstock with the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder, but used the reverse de-bossed side on my card front, spraying it liberally with some Perfect Pearls mist for shimmer. Mavis is colored on Bella's Bestest Cream cardstock and colored with Copics, and then I did some shading with some Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, as well as the blue-ish "halo" effect behind her!

For my card layout, I was again inspired by the CPS #228 sketch for this week, turning it sideways to fit my Mavis image.

Hop on over to Blogabella to see all the Christmas creations from the Bella Babes, and the Sistahood! Remember that if you play along with our weekly challenges you can be in the running to win some major Bella Bucks to spend! And don't forget to leave a comment on the Bella Blog too, because one lucky commentor wins also! Can't beat that! Next week's challenge is Heavy Metal.... create your card with eyelets, brads, and other hardware to put the pedal to the metal! :)

Happy stamping!

There She Goes New Release Blog Hop-Day 3

Peacocks, and hippos and snakes, oh my! Judy Rozema was our lucky winner from this year's Mother of All Blog Hops and one of her prizes was the chance to work with TSG to design a stamp set in a theme of her choice. She said that she would like a fun zoo stamp set that incorporated some animals that are different than you might find in other stamp sets, and we knew just who the perfect illustrator would be for this! Melyssa's adorably whimsical zoo animals will have you going wild! Zoo-pendous is a 6x8 stamp set that will sell for $24.

For my card, I decided to use this adorable Penelope Peacock and fancy Flossie Ostrich (yes, I named all the characters! LOL) I thought they were perfect to go with the "shake your tail feathers" sentiment! The papers I used here are from the Jillibean Soup "Watermelon Gazpacho" 6x6 paper pad. I colored with Copics, of course then added some glitter to their tail feathers! And I kept looking at Flossie Ostrich thinking she looked kinda' said with her "bald" head, so I gave her a flower... it's the latest trend, after all!

Would you like a chance to win the Zoo-pendous stamp set? Here's what you need to do... go to each of the Trendsetter's Blogs and leave a comment on their Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out all the eye candy and have left some love, head over to the TSG blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly to receive their very own set, and will be announced during the Release Party on Saturday, July 30th.

If you arrived on my blog from Melyssa's blog, then you're right on track and should continue on to Tobi's blog! If not, hop on back to the beginning at Angela's blog!

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by today!

There She Goes New Release Blog Hop-Day 2

Awhile back Torico had posted some of sketches on her Facebook page and this adorable boy and his puppy got lots of attention! So many of you said that it needed to be made into a stamp and we agreed. Not only is this mini set great by itself, but it can also be combined with many of Torico's other TSG stamp sets for more versatility! "Float My Boat" is a 3x4 set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $7.

I just had to pair these sweet stamps with some "Splash" paper from Echo Park for my creation, and used Iwona's Sketchbook Saturday challenge #21 for the layout.

Would you like a chance to win the Float My Boat stamp set? Here's what you need to do... go to each of the Trendsetter's Blogs and leave a comment on their Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out all the eye candy and have left some love, head over to the TSG blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly to receive their very own set, and will be announced during the Release Party on Saturday, July 30th.

If you arrived on my blog from Melyssa's blog, then you're right on track and should continue on to Tobi's blog! If not, hop on back to the beginning at Ann's blog!

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #152

It's time for another Color Throwdown, and this week is my turn to pick the colors! I saw a mix of these colors in a pile of scraps on my table one day and thought they were quite pretty together (contrary to what SOME people might think *not pointing fingers at Bar!*) LOLOL I rarely use Soft Suede or River Rock, so in the spirit of being challenged, I thought we'd give this a try today! I hope you'll join us!

For my card, I discovered that this paper from October Afternoon... one of my favorites actually, was a great match for these colors! I pulled out my Verses Rubber Stamps and chose to use this Cheer You Up stamp along with some pretty new Linen ribbon from Flourishes, a Prima flower, a leaf stick-pin (thanks Bar!) and the High Tea Doily Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.

My layout was inspired by the sketch at Card Positioning Systems this week, although my design took a turn and strayed somewhat from the sketch! Still, it was inspiring!
My Throwdown sisters have more inspiration for you, so be sure to check them out...

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Danielle Kennedy

Keva Brown, July Guestie

Thanks for stopping by today! I 'preciate your visits and comments so much!

There She Goes New Release Blog Hop-Day1

Melyssa will have you giggling at this mini set that features fabulous flip flops and sassy sentiments! These "thongs" are perfect for coloring, paper piecing, creating backgrounds and so much more. This mini set will be the perfect addition to your summer stamping collection. "Get Your Thong On" is a 2x6 stamp set that includes a total of 11 stamps and will sell for only $7!

As mentioned, these stamps are great for creating your own custom background, as I've done here! The flip flops were all stamped in rows and colored with Copics. Then I just did a simple sentiment flag and used an acetate flower so I wouldn't cover up too much of the colorful footwear!

Would you like a chance to win the Get Your Thong On stamp set? Here's what you need to do... go to each of the Trendsetter's Blogs and leave a comment on their Thong Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out all the eye candy and have left some love, head over to the TSG blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly to receive their very own set, and will be announced during the Release Party on Saturday, July 30th.

If you arrived on my blog from Melyssa's blog, then you're right on track and should continue on to Tobi's blog! If not, hop on back to the beginning at Angela's blog!

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by today!

Timeless Tuesday #128

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... in the Flourishes store! :) Flourishes is having a Christmas in July sale going on now through July 31st and all Christmas sets are a whopping 20% off! So now is the time to get in the Christmas spirit... and to help you, the Timeless Tuesday challenge today, being hosted by Makiko is to make a Christmas creation! Stop over at the Flourishes blog for all the details to join in... YOU could be the lucky winner of $10 to spend in the Flourishes online store!

For my card today, I have used the Vintage Postcard stamp set to create this old-fashioned beauty. The papers I used here are from the Basic Grey "Jovial" collection, and I've paired the paper with some red gingham May Arts ribbon. I stamped the image in Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I distressed the edges and applied Antique Linen distress ink...

and spritzed the image with some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mixed with water for shimmer. For a finishing touch I colored in the "frame" around the image with my E30 Copic marker. If you click on the photo below for a close-up you can hopefully see some of the added shimmer.

Stop and see what the other Flourishes Bloggers have created today for Christmas in July...

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Heather Jensen

Makiko Jones

Silke Ledlow

Shannon White, July Guest Designer

We'd love to have you play along! Happy stamping!

TSG117 - Sketch Challenge

Hey everyone, happy Monday! Since it's Monday that means it's time for another challenge from There She Goes, and today to kick off a new release week, Jessica has a sketch challenge for you to try! Anyone who plays along is eligible to win!

To be eligible for the giveaway, you are to create a card that uses the sketch provided, and then go to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of the challenge post. The challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (August 1st). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the look out to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG117 so we can check out your beautiful work!

I pulled out one of my favorite sets, Lighten Up and some Jillibean Soup papers for my card! I paper pieced the lamp shade with some of the JB paper, and this yummy gingham ribbon I've been hoarding for awhile!

I hope you'll join us for this challenge, and also stay tuned this week for new releases from There She Goes! There is an AWESOME line-up of new stamps ready for your viewing pleasure... I just know you're gonna' LOVE them all!

Happy stamping!

Shake Your (CrAzY) Booty!

The Crazies are shakin' things up today with our next challenge! Cindy is our hostess for July and today she's got us making Shaker Cards! If you've never tried one of these before, you really ought to... it's a really fun change of pace from plain ol' cards. I actually hadn't made a Shaker Card in a few years, so this was fun to go back and try again. Check out Beate's tutorial on SCS to get started! Then link up your creation over at the C4C blog!

I thought this cute Percolator Circle from Stamping Bella would be cute for this card, and I used the sentiment from Perk Me Up Peeps to go with it. Since I made my shaker a circle, I knew I'd have a hard time using dimensional adhesive to raise up the frame from around my image, and I didn't have any more foam tape (like Beate uses in the tutorial). So what I did was use two Nestabilities circles, one that perfectly fit around my image and one just slightly bigger and cut out frames from about six pieces of lightweight white chipboard. Then I glued all those circular frames together to make the "box" for my shaker beads to go in. Worked like a charm! Otherwise, I kept my card design pretty simple, adding a bow with this pretty ribbon I found recently at Pat Catan's, and a background using my Cover-a-Card Gingham stamp from Impression Obsession.

Stop and see what's shakin' with the other Crazies today...

Barbara Anders

Cindy Haffner

Frances Byrne

Jessie Rone

Joanne Grzelak

Lynda Benden

Maria Bell

Silke Kittman

Vicki Garrett

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Happy stamping and thanks for dropping by!

Bellarific Friday

It's fabulous Friday and that means the Bella Babes have another Bellarific Friday challenge for you! This week, Ebrubella has created these two sketch variations for our challenge. You can check out all the creations from the Babes over at Blogabella, and I hope also that we'll see a LOT of creations from the Sistahood! There's nothing better than a good sketch challenge, so I hope there were a lot of Sistahs playing along!
I chose to create the square version of the sketch, with the circle element within the square using the Curly Silhouette flower, and the Eclectic Butterfly on Print stamps. My sentiment comes from the "Sadie" by Mo Manning stamp set. I stamped the Curly Silhouette flower on the left side with Versamark ink, embossed with clear embossing powder, then sponged Ranger Distress inks in Tumbled Glass, Dried Marigold and Wild Honey around the image. I then cut out the circle, and stamped the Eclectic Butterfly using black Staz-On ink. The circle was distress on the edges and sponged with Antique Linen ink, then I also added a few spritzes of Perfect Pearls mist for a shimmer (that unfortunately doesn't show up in the photo). I embellished with some silly-stiches, pearls and a Prima flower.

If you missed the chance to play along this week, why not join us next week? The challenge is Christmas in July, so get out your Stamping Bella Christmas images and get inky! Remember, there's always some Bella Bucks available to one person who plays along, and to one person who leaves comments on the Bellarific Friday post! These days, who can afford to pass up the chance to win some spending moolah? :)

Happy Friday and happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #151

It's time again for another Color Throwdown, and this week Kristin is our hostess! And this week we're letting you do something we usually ask you to refrain from... create with a rainbow of colors! You can use them all, or just use some of the colors.... or you can create rainbows like I did for today!

My daughter needs to send tons of thank you notes for the gifts she got recently for graduation, so this is one batch of the many I've been creating for her to use. I simply took a whole bunch of scraps of designer papers and cut out rainbow after rainbow using Laura's Rainbow die from Lil' Inker Designs! Then I cut out some clouds (also from Lil' Inker), and quickly assembled a dozen of these 4 1/4" cards!

I actually highly recommend, if you're cutting out paper for one rainbow, do a bunch more at the same time and just keep them handy! It was so fun to shuffle through the variety of colors and patterns I ended up with to create all these rainbows! :)

See the colorful creations from my Throwdown sisters today....

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Kristin Eberline

Laura Pryor

Keva Brown, July Guest Designer

Happy stamping, and thanks for stopping by!

Products used from Lil' Inker Designs...

Timeless Tuesday #127

Hello everyone! How is your week so far? Since it's Tuesday, it's obviously time for another Timeless Tuesday challenge with the Flourishes Blog Team! Silke is our hostess this week, and she has chosen this fabulous Summer photo for inspiration! Take a good look at it, and be inspired to create! Be sure to let us know in your post what it was about the photo that inspired you!

For my card, I was obviously inspired by the colors and textures! I'm NOT a big fan of purple (especially a shade of purple that reminds me of that obnoxious purple dinosaur!) but I have to admit I was taken in by this photo! The colors are so fresh and relaxing. I would LOVE to have a nice indoor/outdoor room like this to lounge in.
I was ecstatic when I found this purple flower in my stash that matched the photo so well, and even more excited when I found cardstock to match! :) I chose to use the Country Charm Labels stamp set on my card, and cut out the label with my Grommet Tags Nestabilities. I added a script background stamp (source unknown) to the background of the gray paper to mimic the textures in the wicker furniture too, and accented with some black. The gray seam binding I used her was a gift from my BFF, Bar! The butterfly is from Creative Charms.

Be further inspired by visiting my blog team sisters...

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Heather Jensen

Makiko Jones

Silke Ledlow

Shannon White, July Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy stamping!

CrAzY Joy - C4C96

We're getting cRaZy again this weekend with the C4C team, and today Cindy is challenging us to create Joy Fold cards! If you're not familiar with this style of card, I highly recommend you check out the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. And as you'll see from the samples on the C4C blog, you can do these a variety of ways! Check it out, join us for the challenge and have some fun!

For my card, I chose to use this darling Alice image from Stamping Bella and the sentiment from the Perk Me Up Peeps stamp set. The papers I used here are Echo Park's "Country Drive." (Edited to add an answer to one comment... the colors I used on her hair were Y21, YR23, and E35. I also added touches of Y35 when I was done to brighten it up a little.)

Check out the joyful folds from the other Crazies for more inspiration...

Barbara Anders

Cindy Haffner

Frances Byrne

Jessie Rone

Joanne Grzelak

Jocelyn Pelkey

Lynda Benden

Maria Bell

Silke Kittman

Vicki Garrett

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Enjoy!

Bellarific Friday with Bella and Stella

Hooray for Friday! Not only does it mean the blessed weekend is here, but it's also time again for Bellarific Friday! This week the Babes are showing off their Bellas and Stellas, and I hope we have a lot of sistahs that played along, too! Check them all out over at Blogabella!

For my card, I chose to use Stella Thinks She Can Cook, along with this sentiment from Stamping Bella. I have always loved Stella, but up until recently the only one I owned was a Halloween-theme, so I included this image in my last order and am really glad I did. It was fun to combine her with some cooking-themed papers, and a page from an old cookbook on the left side of the card! Stella is colored with Copics on Bella's Bestest White cardstock, and the designer papers I used here are October Afternoon's "Modern Homemaker."

Now, how about joining us for next week's challenge? Be inspired by either of the sketches below by Ebru, create a card and email it to Emily by next Thursday to be included with the Bella Sistahood next Friday! We'd love to see your creation!

Happy Friday, happy weekend, and happy stamping!

Just have to say....

(Google image)

.... in the last several days, I think the comments left here on my blog have been some of the best I've ever received! I just wanted to say a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who has visited lately! I am feelin' the love, and appreciate it more than you know!

Flourishes Release Week - Noontime Challenge #2 - A CASE of Fun!

Welcome to another one of Flourishes Noon Time Challenges! It’s a challenge that could have you walking away with Flourishes’ entire July release. All you need to do is play along! So, without further ado, let’s get to the action!

HOW TO PLAY: All you need to do to enter is to look at the blog rolls on the right hand side of the Flourishes blog from ANY one of our teams — our Design Team, our Friends of Flourishes team, or our Bring Back Beautiful team. Surf around our team link list and choose a card they created using Flourishes stamps and CASE it — you know what CASE means, right? It means Copy And Steal Everything. Be inspired by one of our designer’s layouts and create a “Copy Cat!” Follow the rules below and when you are done, be sure to link up your creation on the Flourishes blog using our Inlinkz widget! Just that easy-peasy!

THE RULES:

• Pick a designers card to CASE. When you choose, be sure to link to the original creation in your blog post or gallery post so we can see your inspiration!
• Entries need to be in by Friday, July 15th by 5 PM EST.
• Those that use Flourishes stamps will be counted twice for their entries.
• You must link your creation on this post using our inlinkz widget in order to qualify.
• You must have a link to our challenge in your blog or gallery post.
• Please DO NOT combine challenges! While we love challenge chasers, we want to give those that follow the rules a chance at a prize valued at more than $60.
• If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCJUL02.

For my creation, I was inspired by this card from Sr. Design Team member Dawn Burnworth! I used the general layout of her design to create this card using the new Moments in Time stamp set! This stamp set is SO wonderful... I feel like I should be on a roof shouting that to everyone! You will love it for masculine cards (as you'll see in my second creation below) as well as all-occasion! But, back to the card.... in this instance you might say that CASE stands for "Copy And Selectively Edit" because my finished product didn't quite end up looking a LOT like Dawn's card! The papers I used here are from the Spring/Yacht/Country collection from Webster's Pages, and I embellished with some KaiserCraft black pearls, a flower/ribbon/stickpin combo, and a sentiment flag from the Spellbinders Nested Pennants Nestabilities.

And below is a more masculine card using the same stamp set... this card I made before I read the requirements for the challenge today! But I wanted to share it with you as well! The layout for this design was inspired by Iwona's Sketchbook Saturday #19, and the papers I used here are from the Reflections line of papers at Prima. Don't you just love that "Old Timer" sentiment?

We can’t wait to see what creations you’re inspired by. So get those fingers inky and be sure to link up your creations on the Flourishes blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flourishes Release Week - Noontime Challenge #1

Hi all, and welcome to our first noontime challenge for the July release at Flourishes! It's one where -- if you play along -- you could win Flourishes' entire release for July! Pretty exciting, right? So, let's get to the action!

HOW TO PLAY: See this sketch above? All you need to do is make a card or creation by using this as your inspiration and link it up over at the Flourishes blog, and you’ll be in the running! It’s just that easy! With four stamp sets on the line, what are you waiting for?
We want to thank Barbara Anders for coming up with this beautiful sketch! You can see her adorable creation on her blog today!

THE RULES:

• Entries need to be in by Friday, July 15th by 5 PM EST
• Those that use Flourishes stamps will be counted twice for their entries.
• You must link your creation on this post using our Inlinkz widget in order to qualify.
• You must have a link to our challenge in your blog or gallery post.
• Please DO NOT combine challenges! While we love challenge chasers, we want to give those that follow the rules a chance at a prize valued at more than $60!
• If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCJUL01.

And here is my creation using the sketch! The Bee My Honey stamp set is ADORABLE, BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING! You will LOVE it! It's wonderful for summer, but also has TONS of possibilities for use again at Valentine's Day! Can you image how cute the bee hive would look in pink? LOL

For my card, I broke out the "Hattie" line of Stella & Rose papers from My Mind's Eye... I can't believe this is the first time I cut into this beautiful paper! Obviously with the bee hive image, the oval just didn't work for me, so I used my Labels 1 Nestabilities to cut out the image, framing it with another die-cut in black. My card is accented with some black twill ribbon (thanks Bar!), some black KaiserCraft pearls, and the sentiment was stamped on a flag from the Nestabilities Nested Pennants dies. My image is colored with Copic markers on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock.

Inside the card, I stamped the new Honeycomb stamp on the left in Pumice Stone distress ink, then accented with more papers and a scalloped border, and added another sentiment and a bee from the Bee My Honey stamp set.

Need a little more inspiration? Check out these fine ladies' creations to get those creative juices flowing! All of our sketch designers are showing off our new set Bee My Honey!

• Betty Wright
• Heather Jensen
• Silke Ledlow

Don't forget to make your challenge entry county by linking up below using our Inklinkz Widget on the Flourishes blog!

Thanks for buzzing by today.... happy stamping, and good luck!