Great Gifts Blog Hop!

SO SO sorry for being late - I'm experiencing technical problems with my camera!  The photos are from my phone, new ones will be added as soon as possible!

Good morning!! Welcome to a very special Blog Hop!! The eTeam from eclectic Paperie is joining the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps DT and the ladies from Technique Junkies Newletter to bring you a fun Great Gifts Blog Hop! First, here are the *need to know* facts:

• Each of the companies will be giving away a prize randomly drawn from their designers' blogs as follows:
• EP: 25% discount on a future order
• SNSS: $15 store credit
• TJN: Great Gifts CD or any TJN CD of winner's choice
• The winners will be posted on each company's blog by Sunday, December 9th. 
• To be included in the prize drawings, please comment by midnight Friday, December 7th.

This was such a fun hop to prepare for (although I must confess I waited until the last minute which didn't make for a relaxing crafty time - lol!)! We were sent a fun set of papers and embelliies from eP, a beautiful stamp set from SNSS and a great CD of Great Gifts tutorials from TJN!   It was fun to look through and get some great ideas for the upcoming holidays!!  I've never used TJN tutorials before and I will say that they are very nicely done, thorough, clear and with lots nice big pictures!

I chose the Gift Tag Box and got to work. I've had this idea brewing for a while now, ever since I saw a great video by Sandy Allnock (you can view it HERE). The stamps I was sent from SNSS were perfect!! The set is called Away in the Manger and is so sweet with the manager scene! 

This is really my first time trying this technique - of coloring an image to look like it's night time - it's challenging and I know I need a lot of practice but it's very cool!

After my image was colored I put the box together- again it was very easy following the great tutorial from TJN!  I used some beautiful paper from Winter Wishes by Echo Park.  

I paid a little visit to Kim last week and had the pleasure of actually shopping eclectic Paperie in person!! ;)  I picked up a product that Kim's been raving about - Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 Embossing Paste.  Jeepers when you see this stuff in action you MUST have it!!  It's so easy to work with, such a great consistency, not thick and clumpy but very light and smooth but really holds it's shape!!  I used a great stencil from Dylusions called Let it Snow (which I also picked up that day!) so I created a few sparkly snowflakes using the Embossing Paste and stencil, simply sprinkling on the glitter before the snowflakes dried!  Definitely *swoon* worthy! :)

Here's a peek at the little tags I created to nest inside the box.  I cut them out with my Cameo, just a few fun little shapes.  Then I pulled out some more SNSS stamps and stamped on a little corner of each tag,  I used Christmas Light and Love You This Much.

I hope you enjoyed my little project - I can't wait to give this away, I think it'll be a great hit!! Now it's time for you to hop on!! All the hop participants are listed and linked below so you can hop at your pace, but remember to leave some love for everyone for a chance to win a prize!! Have a great day my friends!

Echo Park Winter Wishes	Away In The Manger	Dylusions Let It Snow stencil
Studio 490 Embossing Paste	Ranger White Pen	Glue Dots
Midnight Blue Twine	Memento Inks	Vintage Pearl Pins
Crystal Trinket Pins	Copic markers	White Embossing Powder
Scor-Tape 1/4"

InLinkz.com

Happy Birthday Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

Good morning and welcome to the Sweet 'n Sassy Friends of SNSS Blog Hop!! I'm so excited and honored to be participating in this fun day celebrating   SNSS's 5th birthday!!!

I first met Korin at Stamping Around PA 3 years ago (wow time flies!). Since then, I've had the pleasure of being on The Sweet Stop (her sketch challenge blog) design team and of seeing her this past Summer in NH!  I love that Korin (and her husband) run the business with integrity. She is giving, loving and a talented artist to boot!  Thanks so much for inviting me to participate Korin - Happy 5th Birthday and may you have many more!!

Now, a few details:

~There will be 4 random participants from whom 1 commenter will be chosen to receive a $15 store credit.  
~To be included in the drawings, comments must be left by midnight EST Friday, November 30th.
~The winners will be announced on the SNSS Blog on December 1st at 8am EST

Ok, let's get to the card!  I pulled out a set I bought last year, Christmas Light by dkDesigns (by Dina Kowal ).   The image is just gorgeous and the sentiments in the set are timeless!  I also have the coordinating die, Christmas Light Die which makes this set even more fun to use!

I used this week's Card Sketch Challenge on SCS for the layout - love this one, nice and clean the way I like them! :)  I also used beautiful paper from Simple Stories. This image is just so nice to color as the shading is mostly all done for you - or at least it shows you where to shade! I love that!  I ran out of room for the sentiment so I had to stack it, but I plan on using one of the other sentiments on the inside of the card.

Thanks for sticking with me on this long post! Don't forget to comment for a chance to win a prize!! You should see all the participants below and be able to click through to the person right after me!! Have fun hopping!

Cardstock: (Lipstick Red) Gina K Designs, (Natural White) Neenah, (Garden Green) SU!, Patterned Paper: (Handmade Holiday) Simple Stories, Stamps; (Christmas Light) Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Ink: (Black) Memento, Accessories: (jute), (pearls) Want 2 Scrap, (Glitter) Palette, (Glossy Accents) Ranger, Tools: (Christmas Light die) Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Copic markers

Eskimo Kisses

This is copied from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps blog today.  TFL! :)

Happy Tuesday! It's my last post as a Guest Designer for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' and I want to say a huge thank you to Korin for having me! I have a ton of fun playing with SNSS's beautiful stamps and today is no exception.

I used an adorable stamp set, Eskimo Kisses and last Saturday's sketch from The Sweet Stop - perfect combo!!

The colors were taken from this pretty paper from SEI.  For the background burgundy paper I did a faux letterpress technique on it using the Spellbinders snowflake texture plate.  I coated it with white ink first and then ran it through my Cuttlebug.  Once it came out I sprinkled it with Iridescent embossing powder to give it some shine!  I wish you could see more of it around the side, it looks really neat!  Oh and a bit of Fun Flock around the trim of the jackets just adds a bit of fun!

Thank you everyone for visiting and hanging out with me this month!! It went so fast but was tons of fun!    Have a great day!

Cardstock:  Ripe Avocado, Scarlett Jewel (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper:  Kris Kringle (SEI), Stamps:  Eskimo Kisses (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), Ink: Black (Memento) Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink), Accessories:  Ripe Avocado Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Copic markers, tag corner punch (SU!), rhinestones (Kaiser), Snowflake texture plate (Spellbnders), Iridescent Ice embossing powder (SU!),  Open Scallop die (My Favorite Things), Fun Flock (Stampendous), snowflake (Target)

Warm Hugs

It's Tuesday - here's my Guest Designer post for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps! :)

Eeeks! It's about time to be thinking about preparing for winter!!  I'm not ready. . .I'm not even ready to think about getting ready! LOL!  But, I do have this adorable snowman stamp set, Love You This Much, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps that makes you believe snow is a good thing!  The snowman is just adorable right?!

I did some paper piecing for his coat with some fun houndstooth paper.  The colors are a bit unexpected but I had several pieces of patterned paper in front of me with a green, red and brown color scheme and thought it looked neat!  The layout is my take on this week's CPS sketch.

I love the sentiments that come with this set - different fonts, different sizes and layouts make it very versatile.  Warm Hugs just seemed appropriate!  Wherever you are today, I hope you're warm!  Have a great day!

Fall Mums

Good morning friends!  It's Tuesday which means I have a post up on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps blog.  My card today uses the beautiful November Chrysanthemum digi stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and a fun CAS layout.

For more pics, please check out my post on the SNSS blog!  Thanks for visiting!

Cardstock:  Harvest Gold, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink), White (GP), Patterned Paper: Scenic Route, Stamps: November Chrysanthemum (digital stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), sentiment from Papertrey Ink, Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Corner rounder punch, Button, Twine, Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Copic markers

Harvest Blessings

Hello friends!  Today is my first day as Guest Designer over at Sweet 'n Sassy and I'm so excited to share with you!  My card today uses a beautiful set called Harvest Blessings and boy was this fun to color - it totally relaxed me after a long day running around!

For more photos and info,please take a peek at the Sweet 'n Sassy Blog!  Thanks so much for visiting today!

Cardstock: Pumpkin Spice (Papertrey Ink), Ivory (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper (Bo Bunny) Stamps: Memento, Accessories:  Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Rhinestone (Kaiser), Scalloped  edge die (Papertrey Ink)

October News

TGIF!! Has this been a long week for you all as well??  I'm happy it's Friday for a couple of reasons.  First, take a look at this post.  That's me!  I'm super excited to be one of  the Sweet n' Sassy Stamps Guest Designers for the month!!  I'm looking forward to sharing some sassy goodness with you every Tuesday here and on the SNSS blog.

Second, today is a Friday Digi Release Day at SNSS and I get to play along with that as well!  There are 8 brand new, wonderful digis  - you can check them all out on the home page (scroll to the bottom so see the new digis) or the SNSS blog. 

I made a card for today using Cocoa's Pumpkin - very appropriate for this time of year!  I printed the digi stamp twice, once on my white paper and once on patterned paper so that I could piece the cute pumpkin. I then colored Cocoa and the leaf with Copic markers.  The layout is pretty simple, using a ric rac die to cut the edge of the pumpkin paper.  The little pumpkin button was made using shrink plastic and a pumpkin Nestabilities shape.  I colored it with a Copic marker and punched the holes before shrinking it - came out cute I think!

Hope over to the SNSS Blog for a list of all the designers who are sharing creations with the new digi stamps today - lots of fun!

Princess Kate

A week or so ago Korin, the beautiful owner/illustrator of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps asked some friends to help spread the word about a new digi stamp she created for a special little girl. You can read more about it HERE, but Kate Thornton was a beautiful little girl who was battling cancer.   Sadly, before I was even able to post something I received another email from Korin that Kate had passed away.  You can see more about here at Kisses4Kate.

Despite Kate's home-going Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps will still be collecting funds for her family through the sale of this digital stamp, Princess Kate.  Please consider purchasing it and using it so others might know of brave little Princess Kate.

I used a recent sketch from The Sweet Stop to make my Princess Kate card and some dp that I know any princess would love!  I purposely left on a sentiment so that I could choose something appropriate when needed.  Thanks for stopping by today and for taking the time to read.

Cardstock:  (Regal Rose) Stampin' Up!, (Pink Shimmer, White Shimmer) Papertrey Ink, (White) Neenah, Patterned Paper:  (Castle In the Clouds) Reminisce, Stamp- digi:  (Princess Kate) Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Accessories:  (Nestabilities) Spellbinders, (clear rhinestones) Kaiser, (pink rhinestones) Taylor's Tiny Twinkles (Ribbon) May Arts, (Swirls embossing folder) Provo Craft, Copic markers, (Iridescent Ice embossing powder) Stampin' Up!

Thanks for the Lift!

Sadly, today is my last post as a Sugar Baby for The Sweet Stop Saturday Sketch team.  My six month term has come to an end and there will be some brand new Sugar Babies next week.  It's been so much fun to work with all the great ladies and a HUGE thank you to Korin for having me!!

Today's sketch was lots of fun and I used a very pretty new digi stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Hot Air Balloon.  The colors were somewhat inspired by the cover of one of our school books from this past year, The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois (what a fun book that was!), although the pretty green didn't make it into the card.  I had some fun with my Copic markers and also a white gel pen on this card!  I think balloons are very "in" right now and this one is super cute!

You can check out today's sketch on The Sweet Stop blog along with the cards from the rest of the team - plus I know they'd love a visit too! :)  Of course, we'd love to have you link up your creation with the sketch as well!

Korin Sutherland
Audrey Gonzales
Andrea Vernagus
Candace Mitchell
Renata Elenbaas
Nancy Brown
Kathy Paige
Dana White
Kelli Caslow
and June Guest Cindy Coutts  

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

Cardstock: Kraft, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Dotty Biscotti (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: digi - Hot Air Balloon (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) sentiment from Up, Up & Away (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Button, Twine, Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), foam adhesive, Copic markers, white gel pen, Tools: Nestabilities, medium scalloped edge die (Papertrey Ink)

Take Care (SSS57)

Happy Weekend!  It's a beautiful weekend and I'm laptopless - LOL!  (sorry, that just struck me as funny).  My laptop is in the shop having pooped out on me yesterday.  I'm hoping it's just in need of a cleaning and file shifting but we'll see.  The bonus is that I've gotten more things done - sad, but true! :)

Ok, so it's time for the Saturday Sketch from The Sweet Stop.  I used a cute from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Peek-a-Boo Sophie.  I think she's just adorable and really fun to color!!  You can't see it behind the image but the blue paper has clouds on it . . . so, I used one of the new cloud dies from Papertrey for my sentiment - fun stuff!

Sorry to be quick, but please stop by The Sweet Stop to view the sketch and the cards by all of the Sugar Babies.  We'd love to have you play along too - just leave a link so we can visit!  Thanks so much for stopping by - see you tomorrow!!

Cardstock: Soft Sky (SU!), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: TCP Studio and My Little Shoebox, Stamps: Peek-A-Boo Sophie (digi - Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) sentiment from Everyday Button Bits sentiments (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Ribbon, Cloud die (Papertrey Ink), Copic markers, Nestabilities (Spellbinders), foam adhesive

Book Worm (SSS54)

I have 2 posts today so please scroll down for the Paper Pretties Release Day Post!!

It's Saturday again already?  That means it's time for the Saturday Sketch from The Sweet Stop.  This week I used an adorable digi stamp available from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, this is Milton Reading and while I generally don't think mice are all that cute (since I live in an almost 200 year old home mice just aren't a cute topic - lol!) this image of Milton sitting under the flower with his book is adorable!


I used some cute Jillibean Soup paper for my card and I even did a bit of sponging - shocking!  Head over to The Sweet Stop to see the sketch and what the rest of the Sugar Babies have made!  I hope you get a chance to try out the sketch for yourself - leave us a link if you do!

 Korin Sutherland
Audrey Gonzales
Andrea Vernagus
Candace Mitchell
Renata Elenbaas
Nancy Brown
Kathy Paige
Dana White
Kelli Caslow
May Guest Sugar Baby Debbie Standard

Have a great day!

Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Riding Hood Red (SU!), Patterned Paper: Chicken Noodle Soup (Jillibean Soup), Stamps: Milton Reading - digi (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) sentiment from Paper Pretties, Ink: Memento, Chamomile (Papertery Ink), Accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Flower (Cuttlebug - Provo Craft), rhinestones, foam adhesive