Monday, February 28, 2011

My Favorite Things Day 4 Teaser


I have another Teaser to share with you today from My Favorite Things! There are actually two stamp sets being debuted today... Inspired by Flowers (the first set in a 4-part, year-long series) and Bee Yourself, which I'm showing you today. But first...

  • The April Guest Designer Contest ends on Monday, February 28 at 10 PM EST. The winner will be announced at the release party. Get the deets here.
  • Teasers began Friday and will be daily through Tuesday, March 1st. Head on over to the MFT blog to see what the rest of the team has come up with for today's teasers. Every day there will be a prize hidden on two of the Creative Team's blog posts. Leaving a comment on every designer's blog post will give you the best chance of winning every day :) Check the MFT blog daily for the winners.
  • The March Hop and Shop will begin at 10:00pm March 1st, with the hop also starting at theMFT Blog.

I think this darling little bee is one of my most favorite cards yet for this week! She's so fun to color, and really versatile too...you could use this for a cute Halloween card next fall, as well! I created my card with a variety of October Afternoon papers, and a couple of Die-Namics... the Simply Scallops border and the Flower Trio. The layout is from Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #106 for this week.
I kept the inside kinda' simple...
I hope you like my card today! Again... I thank you so much for stopping by!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

My Favorite Things Day 3 Teaser


It's day #3 of Teasers from My Favorite Things, and it's my favorite day because we're showing you all the new Pure Innocence stamp sets available this month! Every stamp set in the line is so darling, and these are no exception! You'll see 5 new sets today... Daffodil (the next one in the Flower of the Month line), Warm Fuzzies, One Sweet Chick, Girl Scout and Boy Scout. Here are a few other details you'll want to know regarding the new releases...

  • The April Guest Designer Contest begins today and ends on Monday, February 28 at 10 PM EST. The winner will be announced at the release party. Get the deets here.
  • Teasers began Friday and will be daily through Tuesday, March 1st. Head on over to the MFT blog to see what the rest of the team has come up with for today's teasers. Every day there will be a prize hidden on two of the Creative Team's blog posts. Leaving a comment on every designer's blog post will give you the best chance of winning every day :) Check the MFT blog daily for the winners.
  • The March Hop and Shop will begin at 10:00pm March 1st, with the hop also starting at theMFT Blog.


Now, you would think that someone as anxious for Spring to arrive as I am (especially given the fact that I lost control on an cold, icy road yesterday and took out a pair of mailboxes with my Trail Blazer!) would have used one of the Spring/Easter-themed sets for my card today. However, I just couldn't resist the Girl Scout. I have such fond memories of being in Girl Scouts! I think a lot of those wonderful memories are because my Mom was such a devoted leader of my troop for so long, but I also remember fun times at meetings and at camp, and working on projects for badges. And selling cookies was the BEST part! I still remember being so amazed at one of my aunts ordering 10 boxes of Thin Mints one year!

So I got this cute little Scout inky for my card today, but instead of the traditional green we usually think of for Girl Scouts, I chose to go with the blue and brown of the Brownie uniform. (Must be a craving for chocolate?)
I came across this light blue houndstooth paper in my stash from Teresa Collins, and knew it would go perfectly with my cute little Brownie girl. My layout comes from the Fan Club sketch challenge for this month from Splitcoaststampers. The top two strips of cardstock were embossed with the Candy Cane Stripes Cuttlebug folder to mimic the angle of her sash. The bottom strip was cut with the Simply Scallops Die-Namics border, and I added Got Cookies? on a Sentiment Flag die from Lil' Inker Designs.
I cut out an extra sash and bow tie also, and added them with foam tape for extra dimension. Doesn't she look so proud of her badges? :) I still have my sash from Scouts! I should go dig it out. My girls would be so fascinated by what their momma used to do as a little girl! LOL
On the inside I added a quote from Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low, and the Dainty Dots Die-Namics border to echo the circle mentioned in the quote.

Thanks so much for all your visits this week! I know it's a lot and I appreciate those of you that keep coming back each day! Your comments make me smile!


Saturday, February 26, 2011

My Favorite Things Day 2 Teaser


It's day 2 of Teasers for the new releases at My Favorite Things! Today you'll be seeing two more stamps sets... Clearly Sentimental about Parenting, and Say What? which also has a matching Die-Namics set! But first, a few details...
  • The April Guest Designer Contest begins today and ends on Monday, February 28 at 10 PM EST. The winner will be announced at the release party. Get the deets here.
  • Teasers begin today and will be daily through Tuesday, March 1st. Head on over to the MFT blog to see what the rest of the team has come up with for today's teasers. Every day there will be a prize hidden on two of the Creative Team's blog posts. Leaving a comment on every designer's blog post will give you the best chance of winning every day :) Check the MFT blog daily for the winners.
  • The March Hop and Shop will begin at 10:00pm March 1st, with the hop also starting at the MFT Blog.

For my card today, I am using the Clearly Sentimental about Parenting stamp set, and have paired it with some Cosmo Cricket papers and some hand-dyed seam binding. I've used several of the Die-Namics on my card including the Butterflies, Simply Scallops border, and the Mini Rolled Roses (currently sold out). I included the flowers because today's challenge with the Crazy 4 Challenges girls is to be inspired by the coming Spring and create something with flowers! I also used the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club sketch #8 for this week from Splitcoaststampers.
Stop over at the C4C blog for all the challenge details for today, and see what the other girls have created for more inspiration!

I hope you'll come by again tomorrow, as it's Pure Innocence Teaser Day! Thanks so much for stopping by... have a GREAT weekend!

Friday, February 25, 2011

My Favorite Things Teasers-Day 1



It's day one of Teasers for the new releases at My Favorite Things, and since I'm the bomb-diggity GUEST DESIGNER this month, I'm extremely happy to get to share my creations with you using the new stamps and dies! Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times, and hold on tight.... I've got a lot to show you today! Here we go....

My first card uses the new Sassy & Sweet stamp set and coordinating Sweet Stack Labels Die-Namics die. This set is AMAZING and both of my daughters love it, but especially Kelsey who loves animal print of any kind, so she just flipped out over this stamp set with the zebra and cheetah prints! And there are a bunch of teenager-appropriate words in this set, too! You'll love it! I chose to go kinda' wild and edgy with my card, using purple and black (Yes, purple! I know, right... I don't do purple!) But it just fit with this style. The zebra print is designed to fit in the A frame from the die set, but I chose instead to stamp it several times in a row to create this strip across my card. I added some reverse scallops below the strip cut with the Simply Scallops Die-Namics and the butterflies are from the Butterflies Die-Namics. I added major blingage with the Prima rhinestones and some Glimmer Mist Silver spray.
I kept the inside simple by using these gorgeous flourishes that are also included in the set, and the butterflies.
My second card uses one of my favorite characters from MFT... Fred Bear! He's always so cute and cuddly looking and of course today he's just as charming as ever, 'cause who can resist a man with flowers, right? This set is called Oopsie Daisy, and with that name my thoughts turned immediately to this paper from the October Afternoon "Modern Homemaker" paper pad to pair up with Fred and his daisies. There are several sentiments in this set, and as per my usual habit I ended up cutting them apart to suit my need! Cutting them allowed me to curve the one ever so slightly and put it along the edge of the oval, then put the second half of it on the Sentiment Flag die at the bottom with no fuss and no muss!
And for the inside, I even cut "every" away from the rest of the sentiment, just to make that super-easy, too! (I know... someone should probably take the scissors away from me!) Adding some die-cut flowers inside and out with the Flower Trio Die-Namics was a no-brainer, too!
Be sure to stop on over at the MFT Blog for all the Teaser details for the coming week! We'll have more to show you through Tuesday evening when the release party officially starts over at Splitcoaststampers, and then you can GO SHOPPING! So stay tuned!

Here are all the Die-Namics I used on my cards today...

THANK YOU for visiting me today!!! I hope you'll be back for more!

Happy Birthday, Jan!


Let's light the candles and strike up the music! The owner of Flourishes - Jan Marie Caruso - is celebrating a birthday today and we're helping her by getting the party started! Why not hop on over to her blog today and leave her some birthday love and good wishes! Then hop on through all the Flourishes team members (listed below) who are honoring Jan on her special day today! (You might even find some birthday "gifts" along the way!) Happy Birthday, Jan Marie!

I pulled out my Let Them Eat Cake stamp set for Jan's birthday card today, and paired the cupcake image with some October Afternoon papers. Did you know this stamp set was actually designed for Jan Marie's birthday last year? I used the Sketch for You to Try for the layout on my card, and the sentiment is from the Tag Lines mini set.

Here are all the Flourishes team members who are participating in the blog hop today! I know you won't want to miss a single stop!


Thanks for stopping by again today, and HAPPY FRIDAY!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Color Throwdown #130


Hey everyone, happy Wednesday! It's time for another Color Throwdown and this week it's my turn to play hostess! At the store recently I saw a little girl wearing a brown winter coat with polka dots in yellow, pink and orange and I thought it was such a CUTE color combo, so that's what we're working with today! I hope you'll hop on over to the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details and play along!

For my card, I'm still trying to push Spring into coming very soon so I decided to use my new Out on a Limb Pure Innocence stamp set from My Favorite Things. (She must be currently sold out on the MFT website.) I used some October Afternoon papers with my design, and paper pieced her dress with some Bo Bunny Double Dot paper.
Stop and see what my Throwdown sisters have created using these colors, too!



Many thanks for stopping by! I appreciate it so much!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Timeless Tuesday #106


It's MY turn to host the Timeless Tuesday challenge today on the Flourishes blog, and since my birthday is approaching I thought I would challenge everyone to create a birthday card! Whether it's for an immediate need or if you just need to add to your stash, birthday cards are something you always need to be creating. So show me what you've got today to help someone celebrate their special day!

For my card, I pulled out the Friendly Reminders set and decided to use this simple straw hat hanging on the hook for my focal image, and used the "Celebrate" sentiment from Seasonal Wreaths. The layout is the Mojo Monday sketch for this week... GREAT sketch, don't you think? I picked out a variety of Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 papers for my design, and colored my image with Copic markers. The Die-Namics Faux Crochet border is peeking out below the seam binding, and I used some black KaiserCraft pearls from the Flourishes store to embellish, as well.

The other Flourishes gals have some fabulous birthday cards to share with you today as well, so be sure to visit their blogs for more inspiration!

Makiko * Silke * Laura, February Guest Designer

Be sure to visit the Flourishes blog for all the details on how to enter the challenge! You could win a $10 gift certificate to spend in the online store if you're the lucky random number drawn next week!

I want to thank everyone who left comments yesterday letting me know you were keeping my daughter Kelsey in your prayers. Our visit to the doctor was very helpful, and hopefully over the course of the coming 7-10 days she's going to be seeing a big difference in how she's been feeling! Thanks so much for your love and prayers!

Have a great day!

Monday, February 21, 2011

TCP Tuesday 146 - Sweets!


The TCP Tuesday challenge for this past week from The Cat's Pajamas is a technique/supply challenge being hosted by my sweet friend, Julie Masse and she's got a sweet challenge this week! Make something and incorporate candy into it!

My first thought for this challenge was that I was definitely tired of making Valentines and my second thought was how much I've always loved the Spring Fling stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas and it hasn't seen ink in awhile. So I popped into the bulk food store next door at work and found some Easter candy to get the ideas flowing! Using the adorable TCP penguins for my main image, I set to work making this card with Echo Park papers that houses....
JELLY BELLY jelly beans! I just measured the jelly bean box and created a small box for the inside of the card to hold it. More Echo Park papers and another image (I LOVE that TCP Pooch driving along in his carrot car!) and sentiment complete the inside!
Once I figured out the box measurements, this was so easy to complete! I believe I'll have to make some more!

One more note... if you're so inclined, please continue to keep my daughter Kelsey in your prayers. We're heading back to the doctor again today because the issues she's been having are still not resolved. What we thought were anxiety attacks now seem to be more medical-related and the symptoms are causing the anxiety. We need to find out what's wrong so it can be treated and she can start to feel better because the past few weeks for her have been miserable. Thanks so much!

Happy Monday, and thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

CrAzY for Dies - C4C75


Happy Saturday everyone! I'm so glad you stopped by today! The Crazy Girls have another challenge for you today to use dies on your card! How hard can that be? LOL I don't think I make a card these days without a die cut of some kind, do you?

The challenge today is being sponsored by Paper Pretties! One lucky participant will win a prize, so be sure to enter your creation over on the C4C blog, and check out some of the cards made with stamps from Paper Pretties for inspiration.
This card is one that I made at the store recently using new Spring stamps from Impression Obsession. This is one of the Large Chickadee stamps, sitting on the Budding Branch image. The music in the background is the Music Cover-a-Card background. The dies I used on this card include the Large Petite Oval and Labels 10 Nestabilities from Spellbinders, and the Mini Rolled Roses (must be currently sold out!) and Little Open Scallop Strip Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.
The Music CAC background, and this Warming Spring sentiment.
See what the other Crazies have created for more inspiration...
Again, I wish you a HAPPY SATURDAY! And thank you so much for visiting my blog today!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Cupcake Diva, Baby!


I totally spaced out last week and forgot, so I made getting the Bellarific Friday Challenge done this week a priority! (Except not really seeing as how I emailed my card to Emily at 11:40 p.m. Thursday night!) I had too many distractions while trying to get the card made... a daughter that wanted attention, a husband who was bored and kept trying to talk to me, and American Idol on the TV! None of those are conducive to stamping!

The challenge this week is a sketch challenge, as you can see above, so I pulled out this never-before-inked Cupcake Diva ADDY'tude stamp and some brand-spanking-new My Mind's Eye "Stella & Rose" paper and got to work! Oh, part of my delay too was the fact that I decided to dye seam binding for the card at the last minute, too! LOL I must work ahead this weekend and dye up a bunch of it!
I am in LOVE with how girlfriend turned out here! There are sprinkles on her cupcakes in the form of some chunky glass glitter, her big ol' earring and necklace are accented with a gold Spica glitter pen, and I put Glossy Accents on the lenses in her glasses!

Thanks for stopping by! TGIF!!!!!

Verses on Friday


It's time again for another installment of Verses on Friday! My Verses Design Team Sister Heather Stephens and I have more goodies to share with you today using stamps from Verses Rubber Stamps, so be sure to hop on over to her blog too, to see what she's created!

For my card, I could not wait to pair up this beautiful Inspirational sentiment I Believe (#IN0223-F) with this beautiful church stamp I recently got from Impression Obsession. The church was stamped with Vintage Photo ink, then stamped off once before stamping on the cardstock. Then I made sure the church image was perfectly dry before I stamped the sentiment in Vintage Photo ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I then cut the image out with a Nestabilities oval and sponged inside the oval with Antique Linen ink.
Some papers from My Mind's Eye and October Afternoon, some gorgeous crepe ribbon, an antique button and some pearl flourishes from my BFF Bar complete the card!

Again, don't forget to stop over at Heather's blog to see her Verses on Friday creation, too!

Thanks for stopping by today!


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Color Throwdown #129


It's Wednesday so that means it's time for another Color Throwdown! This week Cathy is our hostess, and she choose this color combo that would work well for something Spring-like!

I thought my Marjolaine paper from Basic Grey would work well with these colors (I don't have anymore Ballet Blue in my cardstock stash) and thought paper-piecing this little fellas raincoat with it would be so sweet. Isn't he cute, splashing in the puddles with his puppy? This little guy is a Pure Innocence image "Splish Splash" from My Favorite Things.
Here's what I added to the inside. On the front of my card I used the Open Scallop Border Die-Namics, and on the inside I used the Notebook Edge die.
Stop over at the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details! And for more inspiration, see what my Throwdown sisters have created, too!



Thank you so much for stopping by today! I 'preciate it!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

My Favorite Things VIP Blog Hop and Shop


Hey everyone, it's ME! The February Guest Designer for My Favorite Things! Can I get a woohoo??? :) I'm so excited to get to join in with the unbelievable talent that Kim has on her team, and I hope I won't put anyone to shame with the designs I have to share with you! If you came here from the blog of the fabulous Jodi Collins, then you're on the right track and you're actually at the end of the VIP Blog Hop. If you didn't start from the beginning, I suggest you hop on over to Kim's blog and start from there so you don't miss anything!

A few details first... the My Favorite Things VIP kit, which includes the stamps used on my project and other goodies is available beginning at 10:00 p.m. EST tonight (February 15th). This is a limited quantity product that gives customers the opportunity to purchase the Who's That Girl? set two weeks early! The mini set that is included in the VIP kit for free is exclusive to the VIP kit and will never be available for purchase.

The March VIP Package is $38.25 and includes:
-Who's That Musical Girl? stamp set
-Musical Girl MINI (VIP exclusive stamp set - will never be offered for sale or be available again-$9.00 value for FREE)
-10 pack of Wild Cherry Scalloped note cards
-an assortment of white and/or black pearl flourishes and cream/rhinestone stick pins
-Idea-ology Trimming Ribbon

Also being released tonight are the Wishing You Luck and All Star a la' modes!

So, are you ready to see what I created? I hope so!

I was so tickled when I saw this stamp set! It is absolutely right up my alley because I play piano and organ at my church! And one thing I've really been struggling with lately is staying organized! What am I playing, with who, offertory, prelude, accompanist, and when are common questions I'm always asking myself. I get emails from my pastor, and emails from our worship director with all that information, and while technology is a wonderful thing, I find if I don't write it down somewhere, I'm constantly setting myself up for failure.

So I pulled out my (very dusty from neglect!) Bind-It-All and made myself this snazzy little notebook to carry in my purse! Whenever one of those emails comes that says "we're playing 'Mighty to Save' for praise team this Sunday!" or "Tammy, can you do the prelude this Sunday?" I can just jot the information down!
I just love this Echo Park "Be Mine" paper, and because it's not necessarily Valentine-themed in nature I decided to use it for my notebook. I cut a frame for the musical paper on the cover using a Labels 4 Nestabilities, then embellished with some black pearl flourishes. My WTG? image was colored with Copic markers, cut out and mounted with some Nestabilities.

And here's the best part! Instead of plain old lined paper inside, I printed music paper for the inside to jot down my notes, and stamped each page with some sentiments and notes from the WTG? set and from the exclusive MINI set!

(I kept the pictures small so they wouldn't take up too much space, but you can click on them for close-ups!)








Do you like? I'm in love with it! Now watch... I won't want to mess up all the pretty pages, and nothing will ever get written inside! LOL

Thanks SO much for stopping by today and sharing my excitement at joining the MFT Girls for this evening! Please stay tuned... Teasers for more new and awesome stamp sets begin on Friday, February 25th!