Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Stampers Best - Stamps and a Coupon

Hello blogland! I cannot believe that the weatherman is talking about a few inches of snow heading to NJ tomorrow!  What happened to spring?  Oh my....well, while I'm waiting for my tulips to thaw out, I've been playing with some new stamps from Stampers Best.  I am so excited to be joining their Design Team and  love working with their rubber stamps!  They're deep etched red rubber and come mounted or unmounted.  Take a peek at my very first project:


I just love pink and black combos and this French Swirl background stamp was perfect for this.  For a step-by-step tutorial to make this card go HERE.  In honor of joining their Design Team, Stampers Best is letting me offer my readers 10% off their first order when you sign up for a FREE Premium Membership.  Just enter the coupon code mbs10off during check out - easy peasy!  Now go HERE to check out their beautiful stamps and if you're unmounting some of your wood block stamps like I did, be sure to check out their Cling Cushion which comes in sheets and bulk rolls too.

Friday, March 25, 2011

It's Friday and that means a new Clean and Simple Challenge

Hello blogland!  It's finally Friday and that means it's time for a new Clean and Simple Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts!  This week's challenge is to use texture on your card and the my fellow DT gals and I came up with some pretty good looking cards - take a look:

Here's our inspiration sketch

Here's my card - do ya' love it?  I used a Sizzix Swiss Dot embossing folder on the card base, some ruffled pink ribbon and I made these cute little pink felt flowers with a Die-namics rolled flower die from               My Favorite Things.  Easy peasy!


Here's Angie's adorable card - love those lady bugs on the ribbon!


Here's Amy's card - look at those yummy colors!


Here's Paula's beautiful card - so pretty!


And here's Yvonne's card - just look at that yummy cupcake!



Please stop by Simply Scrapping Crafts HERE and play along with us. By adding your CAS card to our challenge you have a chance to win this great prize that will be drawn on April 1!


                                    

And there's still time to apply for a spot on a few of the Design Teams - stop by SSC for all the details!




Wednesday, March 23, 2011

And spring is gone.....for now

Hello blogland!  Mother Nature is a funny gal - NJ woke up to SNOW this morning!  My poor little tulips and daffodils are so confused!  Look at these little crocus shivering:


I just heard the weather forcast for later tonight and not only can we get more snow, we may get THUNDERSNOW!  Oh that Mother Nature - what a funny gal she is!  How did she know that we put our snow shovels away last weekend when it was 75 and sunny?  I hope she has her laugh and tomorrow morning when I wake up it will be all gone and spring will have returned!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Spring is finally here!

Hello blogland and happy spring!  It was a long hard winter in NJ and I'm so glad that today is the first day of spring.  Time to hear the sound of birds chirping instead of snow blowers buzzing.  Time for all the tulips and daffodils to wake up and show us their beauty.  And it was with this thought in mind that I decided it was time to play with some of my favorites: flowers from I Am Roses and some sprays and stains and magical micas from Lindy's Stamp Gang:

I painted these flowers with Magical Micas, dried them, curled and layered them and viola - spring!

The recipe for both cards is simple: ribbons from My Favorite Things; skeleton leaves and flowers from      I Am Roses; Starburst stains and Magical Micas from Lindy's Stamp Gang.  Easy peasy!


Enjoy the first day of spring!

Friday, March 18, 2011

New CAS challenge posted and a Design Team call

Hello blogland!  It's Friday so that means there's a new Clean and Simple Challenge posted over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - come on over and play along!  This week's challenge is to make the focal point of your CAS card a SPRING theme.  Here's a peek at the sketch and my card:


 I made my card from a kraft cardstock base and used a Sizzix Daisey die to make the flower.  The stamp is from Stampin' Up as well as the twine.  Easy peasy!  Be sure to stop by SSC and play along for a chance to win this great prize package:



Do you think you've got what it takes to be a designer for Simply Scrapping Crafts Store?  SSC Store is seeking new Design Team memers to proudly represent our store on our Ning Site. You can apply by heading over to the SSC website HERE for all the details and contacting Judy Law. There are still openings in these Challenge Catagories:
  • COPIC: Seeking 3-4 Designers
  • COLOR: Which is Cards/Layouts Seeking 3-4 Designers
  • CAS: Seeking 2 Designers
Call Deadline: Sunday April 15, 2010

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hello blogland and Happy St. Patrick's Day!  On this day I think of my grandparent's grandparents who came from different parts of Ireland to the United States.  All I am is because of my ancestors and I'm proud to share that Irish heritage with my family.  Today I thought I'd share a few pictures that I took on a trip to Ireland a few years ago.
This is one of the beautiful sights found in the Ring of Kerry.

Looking up at Blarney Castle, just before we kissed the Blarney Stone.

My daughters Sara and Amy at the edge of Ireland at Slieve League.

The sun peeked out while we stopped for pictures at this pretty spot.

Enjoy your day and may the luck of the Irish be with ya'!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

An Irish Blessing

Hello blogland!  Are you ready for St. Patrick's Day this week?  Everyone's Irish that day!  I made this little card using non-traditional colors.  What do you think?

This lovely stamp and sentiment are from Flourishes and can be found HERE.  The base cardstock is from DCWV, the ribbon is just a random piece from my stash and the pearl embellishments are Prima.  But a new product for me that I'd like to share is the white panel from My Favorite Things that can be found HERE.  These pre-cut panels are the perfect size for an A2 card and are fantastic to use with Copic markers as I've done here.  They come in white and cream and I just love 'em - be sure to check them out! 
And now for an Irish Blessing:

May you always have
A sunbeam to warm you
Good luck to charm you
And a sheltering angel
So nothing can harm you

Friday, March 11, 2011

New CAS challenge posted at Simply Scrapping Crafts

Hello blogland! It's Friday and that means it's time for a new Clean and Simple Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts.  Come on over and play along with us!  This week's challenge was to use a patterned paper for our background or card base and here's what I came up with:

Card base: DCWV
Patterned paper: DCWV
Sentiment:  My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence Stamps
Border: Die-namics scallop border from My Favorite Things
Embellishments: Prima

Take a look at this great prize package from this month's sponsor Simply Scrapping Crafts:


Want a chance to win these goodies? Come on over to SSC, join the CAS Friday Challenge and check out how.  Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

CAS card challenge

Hello blogland!  This week is just flying by for me - here it is Tuesday already!  Want to see what I've been working on?  Here's my card for the Clean and Simple card challenge going on every Friday over at Simply Scrapping Crafts  - come on over and join us!




To make this 3-D effect, I stamped my images right onto the card base then again on a separate piece of cardstock and carefully cut them out. I rolled the butterfly wings around a pencil to make them stand up a bit, added a small dot of glue to the bottom then centered them on top of the first stamped image. Easy peasy!  The butterfly stamp and sentiment are from Unity Stamps, the inks used are from Stampin' Up, the border strip is a Die-namic die from My Favorite Things.

Be sure to stop by SSC each Friday for a new CAS challenge - hope to see you there!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

OWH Bunny Blog Hop

Hello blogland and welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home's Bunny Blog Hop!  If you've come here from the very talented Linda at The Stampers Torch, you're in the right place!  If you're lost, go can go to the start of the hop HERE.

Spring is less than 3 weeks away and I can't wait!  It's been a tough winter and I'm looking forward to the little flowers that are starting to poke their way through the frozen soil in my garden.  The crocus and little daffodils and tulips are waking up and soon will bring a welcomed splash of color to the rest of the sleeping garden.  It was with that in mind that I made the following cards to share with you today:


This little card was made using some white cardstock layered with a piece of  DCWV cardstock.  The gerber daisey stamp is from Flourishes and can be found HERE. I colored them with a few copic markers and found a piece of matching ribbon in my stash - a pretty little "Thank You" card for my next OWH box.

Just a quick reminder, the deadline for getting Easter cards delivered to the OWH mailers is March 18 and the Mother's Day card deadline is March 31.  If you've never made cards for OWH, you can all the details HERE.

If you're a first time visitor, thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back again!  And now your next stop on the blog hop is AMY at THIS BUSY GIRL  Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Holey Moley, I'm excited!

Hello blogland!  I'm so excited I think I'm gonna bust - I applied for a position on the Design Team of Simply Scrapping Crafts and was accepted!  I'll be working on CAS (clean and simple) cards but there is something here for everyone.  Want to know how to use Copic markers?  There are classes and challenges offered for that.  Do you like scrapbooking? There are classes and challenges for that too.  Do you like working with digital images and stamps?  That's there too.  Come on over and play with us HERE and be sure to stop back on Friday to play along with my first CAS challenge.  Here's a sneek peek:

See you there!