Cards that Care

Two sweet friends, Vera Yates and Jennifer McGuire, have teamed up for the Cards that Care Card Drive and today's blog hop. The card drive will collect handstamped cards for the elderly living in nursing homes to bring them a little holiday cheer.

You can get all the details of the card drive here on Vera's blog. Send in your cards and you'll be eligible for some fabulous prizes from such wonderful sponsors. The more cards you send in, the more chances to win!

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Today's blog hop is huge, but it's for such a worthy cause--AND, there are prizes just for leaving comments! Winners will be randomly chosen from participating blogs, so the more you comment, the better your chance of winning.

The prize sponsors are some of your favorite  companies: Hero Arts, Lawn Fawn, May Arts, and Penny Black, to name a few. Visit Vera's blog or Jennifer's blog to see a complete list of prizes and start hopping!

You should have arrived here from Aga's blog. If not, start at the beginning at Vera's blog and you'll find the master list of blogs. You can also visit Vera's blog in case you get lost, or if there's a broken link along the way. 

Here's my card for the hop and the card drive. All stamps are from Sweet Stamp Shop's new release. The snowflakes and sentiment are from Tree Traditions, and the adorable bunny is from Furry Friends Forever. 

The snowflakes were clear embossed and ink distressed with three different distress inks. I added some Glitter Domes for a bit of bling, and I made sure the bunny was cozy warm with a ribbony scarf.

And now hop over to Nicole's blog. Remember to leave comments along the way for your chance to win some awesome prizes. You have the whole weekend to visit and comment. The deadline is Sunday, November 6th at midnight CST.

I hope this hop has inspired you to create some cards for the card drive, spread some holiday cheer, and win some prizes, too.  Happy hopping!

Stamps: All Sweet Stamp Shop

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Ink: Ranger distress inks, Versafine, Memento, Versamark

Other: Copics, clear embossing powder, Glitter Domes, ribbon, dimensional adhesive

Hello, Gnomies!

Hello, hello! It's the last day of Sweet Stamp Shop's previews and today we're all sharing the Sweet Alpha Doodles stamp set. The set includes some doodled frames and a cool handwritten alphabet font, too.

Fellow Sweet Tooth gal, Leigh Ann, designed this door template that you can find here on her blog. It makes for a charming card for the cute little Gnomies who remind me of some holiday elves. 

I stamped Hero Arts' Woodgrain Background and die cut a hole with some Circle Nestabilities. The leaves are from the Melvin and Vernie set, and do you see the "hello" sentiment? That was made using the alphabets from the new set. 

I like that there are several duplicate letters in the set, so you're able to spell out words like "hello" that can be stamped all at once.

The sweet news is that the three new stamp sets will be released today! If you've been following all three days, you have a chance to win some stamps just by commenting on each blog post. 

Now hop on over to Geny's fabulous blog and see what she's created. When you reach Nicole's blog at the very end, she has a coupon code you won't want to miss! 

And thanks so much for hopping along with us the past three days. We hope you love the new release as much as we do!

Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop, Hero Arts

Cardstock: Paper Accents kraft

Ink: Memento, Versafine, Ranger distress ink

Other: Copics, Nestabilities, dimensional adhesive, door template by Leigh Ann, Liquid Appliqué

My giveaway winner!

(Note:  Please click here or scroll down to see Day 2 of Sweet Stamp Shop's previews! Thanks!)

Just popping in to announce the winner of my "with hope" giveaway.

Random.org helped me choose #15--Linby.

Congratulations, Linby! Please email me with your mailing address so I can send your goodies to you. Thank you all for your comments and for your support of breast cancer.

Girls rule!

Hi there! Here's my card for Day 2 of Sweet Stamp Shop's new preview--Sports Fever. This stamp set is dedicated to all the tomboys out there who love sports as much as guys do. Nicole came up with some fun sports equipment and clever sentiments to match.

I paper pieced the football, basketball, and baseball with Making Memories' Just Chillin' papers. The background was stamped using Hero Arts' Raindrop Background and Versamark ink.

The baseballs were popped up using dimensional adhesive, and I masked one of the footballs to add the "Girls rule" sentiment. I added a bit of wonky faux stitching with a white pigment pen, and some Twinery twine finished the card.

Here's a peek at tomorrow's card. I mixed some older stamps with the new set and used a cool template designed by a fellow Sweet Tooth gal. Now head over to Geny's blog to see her sweet creation.

And be sure to comment on all of today's blogs for a chance to win the Sports stamp set. See you tomorrow for the last day of previews. Thanks for hopping by!

Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop, Hero Arts

Ink: Versafine, Versamark

Cardstock: Paper Accents kraft

Patterned paper: Making Memories

Other: Copics, corner chomper, dimensional adhesive, puffy heart stickers, twine

Furry Friends Forever

Hello, and welcome to Day One of Sweet Stamp Shop's newest preview--Furry Friends Forever. I couldn't wait to ink up these adorable critters! I pulled my Copics out of hibernation and colored them up in no time at all.

I used Nestabilities Labels One dies and pre stamped some kraft cardstock with Hero Arts' Designer Woodgrain stamp--I wanted to give my card a "foresty" feel. The leaves are from the Melvin and Vernie set.

I curved the sentiment--gotta love clear stamps to be able to do that!--and stamped it above the critters. A bit of Twinery twine and my card was done. A great little card to share with a BFF!

Here's the best part of a new stamp release: Nicole is having a giveaway of a stamp set each day to one lucky person! Simply follow Sweet Stamp Shop and the rest of the design team and leave a comment along the way.

Get a bonus entry when you share on Facebook, and leave a comment on Sweet Stamp Shop's wall, letting us know that you shared. That gives you two chances to win!

Now hurry over to Geny's wonderful blog to see what she did with this sweet set. Before you go, here's a sneaky peek of tomorrow's card.

Thanks for stopping by today...hope to see you tomorrow!

Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop, Hero Arts
Ink: Memento, Ranger distress inks
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Paper Accents kraft
Other: Copics, Nestabilities Labels One, dimensional adhesive, twine

Sweet sneaky peeks!

Hello there! Hope you're all having a great, crafty weekend! Beginning tomorrow, October 31st through November 2nd, Sweet Stamp Shop's design team will begin sharing cards using three new stamp sets with hand drawn sweetness by Nicole Rixon.

I thought I'd tease you with a sneaky peek of my card. Any guesses?

Tomorrow, start here at Sweet Stamp Shop and visit the rest of the Sweet Tooth gals and see their wonderful cards and projects all featuring the same set. And be sure to come back to see my card's full reveal!

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And are you signed up for Holiday Card Boot Camp 2011? Summer Card Camp was so much fun, I decided to join Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner for more cardmaking fun and tons of holiday inspiration.

Class begins on November 7th and registration is opened indefinitely. Hope to see you there!

with hope...and a giveaway!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Hero Arts has this stamp for sale with all profits going to various charities that fight breast cancer. My stamp arrived a few days ago and coincidentally, I had my annual mammogram, too.

I created a card using Hero Arts' Traditional Butterfly and added the pink awareness ribbon in place of the antennae. The sentiment was stamped in the center of a Labels 18 die that was sponged with pink distress inks before it was removed from the die.

I happen to have an extra stamp that I would like to give away, along with a 6x6 pad of Lost and Found Two Blush patterned paper from My Mind's Eye, and two pink Cat's Eye stamp pads.

Simply leave me a comment here and I'll choose a random winner on November 1st. I'll ship internationally, too, so spread the word!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope that you'll "think pink" for the rest of the week!

Stamps: Hero Arts
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Ranger distress inks, Versafine
Other: Spellbinders Labels 18, Couture Creations Pinstripe embossing folder, gemstones, ribbon, dimensional adhesive

Winter Wonderland tags

The current challenge at the Penny Black blog is to create gift tags. For my tags I used some Spellbinder ornament dies and the adorable birds from the Winter Wonderland set.

I sponged the background before I removed it from the die and I stamped each of the birds from the set. They were all colored with Copics and I dotted some falling "faux snow" with White Opal Liquid Pearls. Liquid Pearls were also dabbed on the furry parts of the Santa caps.

The sentiments are from the Winter Wonderland and Winter Wonders stamps sets.

I knotted some red grosgrain ribbon and added a bit of twine and the tags were done.

Hope you're having a great week so far. Thanks, always, for stopping by!

Stamps: All Penny Black
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Ranger distress inks, Memento
Other: Spellbinder Heirloom Ornament dies, Copics, Liquid Pearls, twine, ribbon, hole punch

full of gratitude

Hello, hello! It's taking me a while to get back to stamping. Feeling a little tired. A little lazy. I'm trying to catch up visiting blogs and commenting but it seems there aren't enough hours in a day. Somebody please give me a jump start with those battery charging cable thingies.

Going through my stamping supplies, I discovered some Papertrey Ink stamps that have (gasp!) never touched ink! I always do that. Buy the stamps as soon as they come out because someone made such a fabby card that I HAD to have those stamps. Do you do that, too? Please say that you do.

I did a bit of hunting for my heat embossing tool and Cuttlebug and after a two month hiatus, I managed to finally stamp a card.

I loved Dawn McVey's card when it was on the cover of the Create: Stamping magazine and used it as inspiration for my thank you card.

I substituted the paper doily she used with the Starburst Lace stamp from Hero Arts. And the butterflies that she used are way smaller than the ones I had, so I used only three on my card. The sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink.

After I made my card, I went and ordered the set that Dawn used on her card. Yes, I just HAD to have them! Hopefully, I'll ink it up sooner than I did these.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to share some Purple Onion and Sweet Stamp Shop cards very soon. Have a happy, crafty week!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink (butterflies, sentiment), Hero Arts (doily)
Ink: Memento, Versafine
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Other: Dimensional adhesive, pearls, corner chomper

Halloween fun with Purple Onion Designs

My fellow Onions and I were asked to come up with some Halloween projects using Purple Onion Design stamps. Instead of my usual "go to" project, I actually came up with something other than a card. Yay, me!

I used the Caution Labels set and stamped them in Spiced Marmalade and Black Soot distress inks. I love the distressed look of the labels so you don't have to be concerned with a clear, crisp image. After cutting them out, I added some Halloween buttons for a bit of fun.

I filled some skinny cello bags with black and orange M&Ms, tied them off with some black and orange twine that I found here on Etsy (thanks for the heads up, Torico!) and tied the labels on. Done! I'm planning to assemble a bunch of these for my daughter's first graders for Halloween.

Visit Purple Onion Designs to see many more Halloween cards and projects from the rest of the design team. Trick or treat!

Stamps: Purple Onion Designs
Ink: Ranger distress inks
Other: Cellophane bags, twine, decorative buttons

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For anyone interested, I'm happy to announce that our kitchen is 99% complete! 

Here's a "before" shot. All the cabinets and drawers were ripped out and several layers of flooring were removed.

Here's the finished project. The porcelain tile flooring still has to be waterproofed and some finishing touches done on the walls, but for the most part, it's functioning and we love it! Our workman will build an island and then it will be completely done. 

I'm so happy to be cooking again and not having to order take out anymore...

Thanks for visiting today! I'm fully recuperated and hope to share some cards and projects soon. Have a great week!