Color Throwdown #85

It's time again for another Color Throwdown! Cathy is our hostess this week, and sadly it will be her last time to play with us, but only for a little while (we hope!) She's decided to take a break, and we will definitely miss her but hope that she'll come back to us refreshed and recharged! In the meantime, check out these pretty colors she has for you today! I'll admit, Garden Green is not one of my favorite colors so I was skeptical of this but now I love the combination! It's definitely fresh and Spring-like! Stop over at the Throwdown blog for complete challenge details, and to link up your creation! (Remember... direct links! If you only link your blog, it will be deleted.)

For my card, I decided to ink up this Stampavie stamp that I bought while visiting Joan Fricker earlier this month! I think this little girl is just adorable, out swinging in the Springtime air! I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch challenge #66 for my layout. And in response to "inquiring minds".... yes, the sky behind her is airbrushed with the Copic airbrush system. I masked my image, and used B32 to give her a bright blue sky to swing into.
Stop and see what my Throwdown sisters have created for today, too!

Cathy Indelicato

Barbara Anders

Danielle Kennedy

Kristin Bueter

LeAnne Pugliese

Broni Holcombe

Pam Speidel, March Guest Designer

Hope you're having a great week! Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: In the Park (Stampavie), sentiment (Impression Obsession)

Cardstock: Garden Green, Certainly Celery, designer paper (Stampin' Up!), blue (Bazzill), cream (Neenah)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)

Accessories: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon (Creative Impressions), button (craft supply).

Paper Craft Planet 3-D Tuesday Challenge

Hello all! I am hosting the 3-D Tuesday challenge this week at Paper Craft Planet, and I hope you'll like what I've chosen to do today! Everywhere you look lately you see these awesome paper flowers on cards and boxes. My friend Barbara Anders calls them "poofy flowers" and I think that's a good term to use! So today I challenge you to try a poofy flower! I found the flower and tutorial that Mercy Kerin included on her blog back in January to be fabulous, so that's the poofy flower I am using today. I know there are other stampers out there who have their own versions of a poofy flower, so feel free to use whatever you'd like. The challenge is just to make a flower. And since this is a 3-D challenge, you get bonus points if you combine your flower with a box of some kind, like I did here with this clear pillow box and these YUMMY candy-covered chocolate eggs from Hershey's. Oh my heck, these things are good!

I made my flower using papers from the new Basic Grey Kioshi collection, which you can get from Kate at i {heart} papers. I also sprayed my flower very liberally with Pssst! Shimmer Spray from Tsukineko, which Kate also has at IHP! Here's a close-up, but unfortunately because I can't take a decent picture to save my life, you can't see the sparkle but trust me, it's there! The sentiment I used on my tag is another stamp from one of Anna Wight's new cling sets at Whipper Snapper called Happy Thoughts!
I hope you'll give the challenge a try! Upload your creation to the gallery at Paper Craft Planet and tag your photo using 3d54 so everyone can see your entry! I'll create an album for all the photos later tonight or Wednesday, and if you don't use that tag I won't be able to find your poofy flower!

Thanks for stopping by today, and a BIG thank you to everyone for the sweet comments yesterday on my new gig as a Featured Designer for Whipper Snapper! Y'all know how to make a girl smile all day long! (((hugs)))

Stamps: Happy Thoughts (Whipper Snapper Designs)

Cardstock: black (Bazzill), designer paper (Kioshi from Basic Grey)Inks: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)

Accessories: scalloped circle punch (Stampin' Up!), Pssst! Shimmer Spray (Tsukineko), pillow box (Clear Bags).

Whipper Snapper New Release!

(Please visit here for my Kitchen Sink Monday post!)

THIS is the stuff that dreams are made of! Me, little ol' me..... I am a Featured Designer for Whipper Snapper Designs! I'm so excited that this day finally arrived and I can shout it from the mountain tops! (Well, not actually... I'm too lazy to climb up a mountain, but I'll stand in the street in front of my house and shout it out if ya' want me to!) Several weeks ago I got a Facebook message from Anna Wight asking me to email her! Yes, I instantly started bouncing off the walls! What in the world could Anna Wight want with me??? Anna is stamping royalty in my book, and I knew that in the past she personally contacts designers to help with new releases of her stamps. I dared to hope that she wanted me for that purpose! Turns out that is exactly what she wanted, and so yes... this is the stuff dreams are made of! Today I get to show you the newest of Anna's cling-mount stamp sets from Whipper Snapper and I'll be doing it again next month with much anticipation! I hope you will love these stamps as much as I do! Here is a sampling of what I've done so far, but I have lots of other plans up my sleeve, too!

If you follow Anna's blog, you've seent his cute country girl before as Anna has given us a few sneak peeks of her over the last few weeks! I just think she's so sweet with her bouquet of sunflowers and I can almost hear her saying "Howdy y'all!" I decided to follow the sketch challenge from Taylored Expressions for the layout on this card and used some accents in my design including stitching and a hand-crocheted flower embellishment. This new set, Think Happy Thoughts, is full of sentiments too, and this one here is my most favorite one.
My next card uses stamps from the second new release cling set called Beautiful Day. This set is full of cute little critters like a turtle, a chicken (of course!), and this cute little birdie! Since there is this "Happy Spring" sentiment included I thought that I'd color the little bird to look like a robin to celebrate the fact that Spring is here! (Hopefully to stay!)
Since I used a dark brown cardstock for my card base, I decorated the inside too, using another stamp from the set and another punched border. Everything in this set has a cute "stitched" accent as you can see here that even the flowers and leaves having stitches!
There's a group of designers who are also sharing in this "dream come true" day with me today, so stop by their blogs for more creations with Anna's new stamp sets!

Andrea Murdock

Barb Hardeman

Chrissy Le

Tobi Crawford

and of course, Anna Wight!

So, now you know my big news! It's been so exciting to get this opportunity! There are a handful of companies out there that are my absolute favorites and Whipper Snapper is definitely high on the list, so that makes this a day to remember in my life!

Happy Monday!

"Country Girl" card

Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts (Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper Designs)Cardstock: gold, blue (Bazzill), red (Gina K Designs), white (Neenah), designer paper (October Afternoon)Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)

Accessories: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars).

"Robin" card

Stamps: Beautiful Day (Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper Designs)Cardstock: Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Red Hot OP, Kraft (Bazzill), cream (Neenah)Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)Accessories: Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars), ribbon (May Arts), Swiss Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft).

Kitchen Sink Monday - Hello Spring!

(Please visit here for my Whipper Snapper New Release post!)

The weather has been beautiful here in Northeast Ohio so I thought I'd celebrate Kitchen Sink Monday by creating this "Hello Spring" card using Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #61 for the layout. Doesn't my bunny look like he's sitting in that pretty field of wildflowers? I think that is my most favorite piece of paper from the new Green at Heart collection from Basic Grey.

Remember, the Kitchen Sink Crew Challenge for March is still going on! The challenge is to use the masking technique in your design, and the deadline to enter is this coming Friday, March 26th!

The Kitchen Sink Crew members have some wonderful samples to inspire you today, so be sure to stop by their blogs!

Julie * Angela * Connie * Lisa * Makiko * Lynn * Maria

Please stop back later, as that big news I have to share is coming soon! :)

Stamps: 3-Step Honey Bunny (Kitchen Sink Stamps)Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Summer Sun, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah), designer paper (Basic Grey)Inks: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), Going Gray (SU!)

Accessories: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Swiss Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft), button (Basic Grey)

Rubbernecker Sale

Spring has sprung at Rubbernecker, and there's a 5-Day Sale going on right now! For one final week before product sales are suspended before the stamp convention season, you can take advantage of Ranger, Spellbinders, Tsukineko and Clearsnap products at savings of 15-28% off! Act now and stock up before these items are turned off until September! The sale ends at midnight on Wednesday, March 24th. All items on sale are marked as such. All other items are regular price.

Here's a card I made recently using the Wildflower Silhouettes stamp set from Rubbernecker. I combined this with some designer paper from the Basic Grey Nook & Pantry 6x6 paper pad.

So, what do you think of the new blog design? I'm totally loving it, and am so grateful to my sweet friend Jen Tapler for helping me with some of the graphics and getting it set up! It was easy to do once I worked through a few minor glitches! I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Friday Challenge #6

(Please see my Stamp Simply challenge card for today here!)

For the Fabulous Friday challenge this week on the i {heart} copics design team, we're using templates from Pixel Geek Designs at ScrapOrchard. There are all kinds of cute box templates that you can download, as well as many other fun things in their store! I chose to use this cute little take-out box for my project today, pairing it with the Chinese Doll stamp set from Hero Arts.

The paper I used on my little box is the new Kioshi paper from Basic Grey that Kate has in stock at i {heart} papers! You'd best order some quickly.... I have a feeling it will sell fast!
Here are the Copic colors I used, all available at i {heart} papers...
Stop by the challenge thread at Paper Craft Planet for all the challenge details, and to see what the other designers have created with their ScrapOrchard templates! Then set aside some time to play along! We'd love to see what you create!

Stamps: Chinese Dolls (Hero Arts)

Cardstock: kraft (Bazzill), white (Neenah), designer paper (Kioshi by Basic Grey)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)

Accessories: ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Nestabilities tag (Spellbinders), wire, brads (craft supply).

Stamp Simply #131 - Texture

(Please see my Fabulous Friday challenge project here!)

Hooray for Friday! It's the end of the work week, it's the day before my 3-day weekend, and it's time for another Stamp Simply challenge! That makes it a pretty darn good day in my book!

For today's Stamp Simply challenge, we're adding texture to our creations, but still keeping a clean-and-simple design. There are many ways to add texture... you can emboss, do some distressing, add embellishments, flocking, Flower Soft.... there are endless possibilities, but don't get carried away. We still want to see clean-and-simple!

For my card, I decided to try a technique that I've wanted to do for awhile and never seem to get around to. I had the pleasure of meeting the very sweet Peggy Cain a few years ago, and saw her again last year when we took Copic certification. Peggy has an incredibly creative mind, and teaches stamping classes around the Cincinnati-area. Back in September, she posted a "Tapestry Cuttlebug" technique on her blog that was quite intriguing, so that's what I did today. To do this technique, you'll need a piece of window screen fabric. And believe me, when I say fabric, I mean fabric! DON'T use a piece of metal screen like I did! I think I almost broke my Cuttlebug and the embossing folder I used now has permanent screen marks in it! LOL So, choose your embossing folder and ink the indented side with dye ink. On the opposite side, lay a piece of cardstock, then cover it with the screen. Close the folder and run it through your Cuttlebug. Take the folder out and carefully remove the screen, being careful not to move the cardstock, and run it through the Cuttlebug again. And ta-dah! It leaves a beautiful tapestry-effect to your cardstock! (Click on the picture for a close-up!) I finished mine off my spritzing it with the new Pssst! Shimmer Spray in Sparkle, but because I'm not a decent photographer, you can't see it in the photo. But it's gorgeous... trust me!

I simply finished off my card by using stamps from the JustRite Seeds of Kindness set, and layered my die-cut circle onto an oval then punched slots in each side for the ribbon. My fabulous friend Barbara Anders did something similar to this on her blog last week and I loved it so much I had to copy it! I was really up in the air as to what colors to use for my card today, so I went searching for a color challenge and decided to finally play along with the Curtain Call Color Challenge, Act #21 on Stacey Schafer's blog. Stacey's color combinations are always so pretty, so I'm glad to have finally had a chance to give her challenge a try!

Sharon Johnson, our fabulous Stamp Simply leader has a sweet sample for you on her blog, along with all the challenge details! After you've paid her a visit, be sure and see what my Stamp Simply sisters have created, too!

Barbara Anders

Jennifer Buck

Janine Orchard

AJ Otto

Deb Saaranen

Deb Neerman

Jenny Gropp

Barb Schram (is under the weather and sitting out for this challenge)

Marlene Bender, March Guest Designer

I hope you find some time to play along today! Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Seeds of Kindness (JustRite Stampers)

Cardstock: Barely Banana, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah)

Inks: Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories: Stylized Flowers Cuttlebug folder (ProvoCraft), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon (SU!).

All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge

Today's Wednesday challenge on the All That Scraps blog is to make an Easel Card! Now, I have seen these cards around the blogs and galleries a lot over the last few months, and just LOVED them but never got around to trying it myself. Now that I have, I know I will be making a LOT more of these! It's easy to do, and creates such a fun design. You can find instructions here to make your own.

I've had this Cherry Emma Sugarplums stamp at the store and have wanted to make a sample with it, so I paired her up with the Sugarplums Swing and the cherry print paper from Cosmo Cricket Early Bird to create my card! The "hang in there" sentiment is an old Inkadinkado stamp I happened to have on hand, and thought it went perfectly!
Here are the Copic colors I used...
Stop by the ATS Wednesday Challenge blog for all the challenge details and to see the fabulous Easel Cards made by our design team! We look forward to seeing what everyone creates for this week's challenge! Remember, every week there is a new and exciting prize being offered and in order to be eligible to win, your card must include a stamp that is sold in the All That Scraps store. Whether it is any of our wonderful in-house designs or from the various other stamp companies that ATS carries, the choice is yours. Then be sure to link up your creation with Mr. Linky by next Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. EST and only one entry per person, please!

Thanks for stopping by again today! I appreciate your visits and comments!

Stamps: Cherry Emma, Sugarplums Swing (CC Designs/All that Scraps)

Cardstock: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah), designer paper (Cosmo Cricket)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)Accessories: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), button (SU!), Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars).

Color Throwdown #84

The weeks are just flying by, and here we are at Color Throwdown #84! I LOVE these colors that Broni chose today.... aqua blue and orange is one of my favorite color combos, so I really looked forward to creating something for this challenge, and I am looking forward to seeing what YOU create! Stop by the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and leave a link to your creation on the Inlinkz!

I chose to use this sweet Hunny Bunny stamp that I got from Whipper Snapper Designs, and some paper from the Marrakech 6x6 pad from Basic Grey that went very well with these colors. And it seems like forever since I've played along with Jen delMuro's Sketch for You to Try, so I used the sketch from this past Saturday for my layout.
Stop and see what my Throwdown Sisters have created for today, too! You're sure to find some awesome inspiration!

Broni Holcombe

Cathy Indelicato (taking this week off!)

Barbara Anders

Danielle Kennedy

Kristin Bueter

LeAnne Pugliese

Pam Speidel, March Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll come back a little later for my ATS Wednesday challenge card! We're creating Easel Cards this week, so I made my very first one and now I'm hooked!

Stamps: Hunny Bunny (Whipper Snapper Designs), sentiment (Impression Obsession)

Cardstock: Pistachio, Black OP (Bazzill), Taken with Teal, Tangerine Tango (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah), designer paper (Marrakech by Basic Grey)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)

Accessories: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug dies (ProvoCraft), ghost flower (Heidi Swapp), button (Basic Grey), Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars).

Kitchen Sink Monday and Treasure Hunt

Paper Temptress and Kitchen Sink Stamps are partnering up for a St. Patty's Day celebration (we have hidden a pot of gold!) Be sure to visit PaperTemptress' Community blog to find out where to go to get the first piece of the puzzle (which is a phrase). Once you have all of the pieces of the puzzle you can enter to win Kitchen Sink Stamps newly released Multi-Step Shamrocks and Clover, 1 each of 2 inks - Memento Cottage Ivy & Pear Tart and St. Patty's KSS Green Package which is the stamps and paper from Paper Temptress that are spotlighted in the treasure hunt! A lot of fun and a giveaway so celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with us (make sure to bring green paper!)

For more inspiration using Kitchen Sink Stamps Multi-Step Shamrocks and Clover set, along with the KSS St. Patty's Day Green Paper Package from Paper Temptress be sure to visit the other KSS designers blogs (linked below). While I don't have a part of phrase, they just might!

For my card, I chose to use this shamrock from the A Year of Thanks II set and a sentiment from Ready 4 Any Holiday along with the packaged papers from Paper Temptress. My shamrock is stamped on Blanc Sparkle white paper in Versamagic Pearlescent Ivy ink. The dark green cardstock I used is the Emeraude Sparkle and the lighter green is Spring Larch Glimmer. The gold cardstock (which looks pretty cool with that embossing, I think!) is Gold Pearl Linen, and the card base is Heavenly White. The green and gold papers are so lovely and shimmery... I hope you're able to see it in the photo! I loosely used Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch for my layout.

Julie, Lynn, Angela, Makiko, Connie, Lisa and Maria have wonderful samples for you to see on their blogs too, and some of them are sure to have a part of that lucky phrase you're looking for!

Thanks for stopping by today!