CrAzY for Red - C4C372

Hey there!  Guess who forgot to do her blog post today?  Yep, that’s me! 

I’m the hostess-with-the-mostest for February at Crazy 4 Challenges, and this week I’ve got an interesting twist for you!  With Valentine’s Day approaching, many people have a date night that involves dining out, amiright?  So for today’s challenge, I want you to include a food/dining/dish theme on your card, AND include the color red!  Maybe some romantic chocolate with red hearts?  Or some red wine!  Or chocolate AND wine (that’s MY favorite, but a big no-no in my current eating plan!)

For me, I HAD to turn to my beloved Pyrex-like stamps from My Favorite Things…

Inspired by the current sketch #319 at MFT, I pulled out my Kitschy Kitchen stamp set, and got to work!  I die-cut the bowls from the matching Die-Namics, and stamped them using my MISTI with Razzle Berry and Wild Cherry hybrid inks, and added the whisk stamped in Steel Grey hybrid ink.  For the circle element, I used the Stitched Mini Scallop Circle STAX Die-Namics and added an insert to the circle with pink polka dot paper.  I added the sentiment on a strip of Wild Cherry card stock, and a piece of pink patterned paper in the background die-cut with the Pierced Rectangle STAX Die-Namics.  Then on the background piece, die-cut with a large stitched rectangle from Blueprints 13, I stamped the BG Distressed Stripes background with Versamark ink and heat set it with white embossing powder.  A few black enamel dots for embellishment, and I was done.  This will be a perfect Valentine’s Day card for my hubby, who gets into the Pyrex collecting as much as I do!

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Lisa Henke, February Guest Designer
Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sending You X’s and O’s

Hello everyone!  It’s February 1st, so you know what that means… time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  Here’s our inspiration photo for this round…

I was immediately drawn to the X’s and O’s in the photo, and thought it’d be fun to create the whole card background with the letters.  So I turned to some retired Die-Namics from My Favorite Things to create my card…

Yes… if you’re wondering, that DID take me some time, to glue all those letters down!  LOL  But I’m happy with the final result.  I added a Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics banner across the center, with a sentiment stamped from the Essential Sentiments stamp set from MFT, and behind that I added a die-cut vellum heart.  My colors were inspired by the new Color Throwdown challenge, which I spotted as a sneak peek on Facebook last night!

Please be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  You could be in the running to be chosen as the “Lead” and be our guest designer for the next challenge!  And be sure to visit the Crew for plenty of inspiration…

Betty Wright
Kim Singdahlsen
Leigh Penner
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Sheri Gilson
Silke Ledlow
Stacey Schafer
Tara Godfrey

Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Treats

I decided to surprise some of my co-workers today with some Valentine treats!  My oldest daughter graciously helped me make some chocolate, and sprinkle -covered pretzels last night, and then we bagged them up in cello bags, and tied on some tags I've been working on for a few weeks!  Here's a sampling of the tags with product links under each photo!  For all the tags, I used the Pierced Traditional Tags STAX and the Traditional Tags STAX Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.

 

LLD Accent It - Feathers and Arrows Die-Namics, Hearts Stencil

("Love Struck" sentiment from a retired set)

 

LJD Scribble Roses, LJD All My Love

 

Hearts background and "xoxo" are retired from MFT.

 

BB I Knead You and matching Die-Namics, BG Tiny Hearts background

(Thanks for the loan, Kirsty!)

 

 

The "love" and "sweet" dies are Lovey Words Confetti Cuts from Reverse Confetti, with Lovey Words Coordinates stamps, as well as the Double Heart Garland Confetti Cuts, and the Whole Lotta' Hearts stamp set.  Also used here are stitched clouds from the Rainbow & Clouds die from Lil' Inker Designs.

 

I'm feelin' the love!  :)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hi stampy friends!  Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope you’re ready for a day full of love.  At my house this evening there will be a romantic dinner consisting of filet mignon, seared scallops, roasted asparagus and cherry cheesecake!  No, we don’t eat like that on a regular basis!  LOL  It’ll be a romantic dinner for three, since our youngest daughter is by her lonesome right now, having recently had a bad break-up.  :(

For Kelsey, I plan to give her this card along with a Starbucks gift card…



I got my very neglected Bear Hugs stamp set from The Cat’s Pajamas out to make this card. and decided to play along with the Anything Goes challenge at TCP.  I also used the colors from the Colour Q challenge #279 this week (red, black, neutral and newsprint), and the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge #225 for the layout.  On the red panel behind the bear, I used a few circular heart stamps from the Loving Mew TCP stamp set. (I think that set might be retired.)  On the cream card stock panel, I stamped an Impression Obsession newsprint background using Grout Gray hybrid ink from My Favorite Things, and overstamped the newsprint in Cherry Crisp hybrid ink (stamped off once) using the Tiny Hearts background.

On the inside I added another sentiment from the Bear Hugs stamp set, and another background stamped with the Tiny Hearts background.



And this card, even though it might be a little girly with all that pink, is for my husband…



Maybe the kraft card stock will feel more manly to him?  For this one, I used the new Love Die-Namics from My Favorite Things, and Smitten With You stamp set.  My hubby texts me and our daughters every morning with “I love you” and very often my reply is “I love you more!” so I just had to make his Valentine with that phrase.  On the kraft card stock panel, I used the Tiny Hearts background, and on the pink card stock behind the panel I stamped the Diagonal Stripes background.  I embellished with some die-cut hearts from the LJD All My Love stamp set, some sequins, and some pink and white baker’s twine.  On the smaller heart, and the letters I added some sparkle from a Wink of Stella pen, but darned if it doesn’t show up in the photo.

I wish you all a big lovey-dovey day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Kitchen Sink Monday on Thursday

I’m chasing my tail this week, and not making any progress!  I made this card on Saturday, meant to blog it on Monday but now here it is Thursday…  Will I ever catch up?

Here is used the Multi-Step Guitar stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps to make a simple, and I guess a little masculine, Valentine!  My guitar was stamped with…
#1 – Memento Peanut Brittle (stamped off once)
#2 – Memento Desert Sand
#3 – Memento Rich Cocoa
#4 – Memento Espresso Truffle (boy I could go for a truffle right now!)
If you hop over to the other Kitchen Sink Crew members blogs, I’m sure they had inspiration for you too, back on Monday!  :)
Lynn McAuley
Connie McCotter
Lisa Somerville
Thanks y’all!

You’re Magic – Color Throwdown #228

It’s time for another Color Throwdown challenge and this week it’s my turn to host the challenge.  I thought something romantic was in order since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so here’s the color combo for today….

For my card, I decided to get some very neglected stamps inky again and to play along with the new TCP Tuesday challenge at The Cat’s Pajamas.  The challenge for February is to use your stamps in a new and creative way, so I used this non-Valentine stamp set called Presto! and created a Valentine…

I combined this sweet bunny with some older Valentine paper from My Mind’s Eye, and added a seam binding bow embellishment.  Behind the bunny, I added a Heart Ring Frame cut on my Silhouette Cameo.
Please be sure to visit my Color Throwdown sisters as well as our new Guest Designer for February for more inspiration.  And stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge details!
Barbara Anders Broni Holcombe Denise Marzec Joan Ervin Kerri Michaud Lori Tecler Lynn Put Wanda Cullen Kim Hahn, February Guest Designer
Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

Flourishes Tutorial – Chalkboard Technique

Hello friends!  I’m sharing a Create with Me Monday tutorial over on the Flourishes blog today, demonstrating how to do the wildly popular Chalkboard Technique!

I’d love it if you hop on over to the Flourishes blog today and check it out! 
And to whet your appetite, here’s another card I made using the technique…

This card uses a sentiment from the darling Heartlines mini stamp set.  I liked this sentiment because of the open letters within it that gave me space to add a little color with a Prismacolor pencil.  I was also able to add the little row of hearts at the top, also from the stamp set.  To create this look, you need some Flourishes Classic Black cardstock,
Versamark ink, Versamagic Cloud White ink, an embossing buddy, and white embossing powder.  Items also used on my card today include new Valentine papers I just picked up from Pink Paislee, a red felt heart die-cut with the Classic Heart Nestabilities, some Kaisercraft black rhinestones and a cream leaf stick pin.  The layout for my card comes from an old Mojo Monday sketch.
Want to give this technique a try?  Please stop over at the Flourishes blog today and check out my tutorial!  Then…. get inky!
Happy stamping!

Love by Candlelight

I was digging around in my stamp room a few days ago, looking for something and came across a package of battery-op tea lights I forgot that I had.  It got me to thinking about a way to use them, and after seeing another idea on Pinterest, I got this idea to make these little boxy tea light holders!
I found a simple box pattern in the Silhouette store, then used my High-Rise Lowercase Alphabet Die-Namics to cut out the letters.  On the opposite side from each letter, I used my heart-shaped Nestabilities to cut out a heart, then adhered vellum to both sides and stamped a few hearts from the Lovey Dovey Sentiments stamp set before assembling the boxes.

I embellished the boxes with a few hearts from the Hearts a Plenty Die-Namics, some buttons, baker’s twine and silver cord.  Here are some additional views that show the heart cut-outs and the papers I used (My Mind’s Eye “Love Me”)…

Around the top of each little box I added a scalloped border using the Small Scallop Border Die-Namics die.  However, my first box I just cut four little strips of the scallops and adhered to the four sides…. and it did NOT look good!  The edges didn’t match up and it looked terrible to me.  So I decided I needed to cut one long strip and score it to fit around the perimeter of the box top.  Trouble was, my strip needed to be 7 1/2 inches long, and the die is only 6 inches.  So here’s what I did!
I started with a 7 1/2” x 1 1/2” long strip, and scored it at the halfway point…

then I scooted over to my Cuttlebug and folded that strip in half…

and cut the folded strip!
 
Then all I had to do was score the strip in two more spots….

and glue to the inside of my boxes!
Now…. as soon as I get my mind set, I might finally put away the last few Christmas decorations on my front entryway table, and decorate for Valentine’s Day with this to display!
Feel the love! Happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #225

Welcome to Wednesday, and Color Throwdown #225!  This week Kerri is our hostess with this sweet color combo…

I can’t wait to see what everyone does with these colors!  For my card, I got a little Lovey-Dovey…

and used my Lovey Dovey Sentiments stamp set from My Favorite Things!  I stamped the sentiment on gingham paper from LilyBee Designs “Head Over Heels” using Versafine ink, then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I added a second sentiment from the set down below my row of hearts, also stamped in Versafine and embossed.  the dies used on the big sentiment are the Layered Label Die-Namics and the Designer Labels 3 STAX.  The row of hearts is this cut file I found in the Silhouette online store.  The layout for my card is based on the Sketchbook Saturday #87 sketch.
Be sure to visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Kerri Michaud
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Miriam Napier, January Guest Designer
Thanks bunches for stopping by!

Completely In Love

Hey there!  I pulled out some new Wplus9 Design Studio stamps and dies from eclectic Paperie earlier this week to create this sweet Valentine!  The stamps are the new Cupid’s Arrow set, and I also used the matching companion die to cut out the cupid on the upper left.  I saw this sample card made by W+9 design team member Jean Martin, and loved how she cut out the little banner at the bottom of the sentiment so it still fit the die-cut heart, so I stole her idea!  :)  I also added a little border at the bottom using the XO Border die… I just think that thing is SO cute!  The papers I used are Echo Park “Love Story”, and my pink ink is Ranger Picked Raspberry distress ink.  The large die cut hearts are from Spellbinders.  (Kim doesn’t currently have these in the eP store, but I’ll bet she could order them if you ask!)
Hope this makes you feel all lovey-dovey!

Flourishes January New Release

Well, it’s the moment you have all been waiting for — the Grand Finale of Flourishes’ January Release! If you’ve been following our sneak peeks this week, they are no longer peeks! All three of our new sets are now live — RIGHT HERE! As always, we have our special New Release Bundle as well — which will give you 10% off all sets when you purchase them in a bundle. The set we are showcasing today is part of a collection of sentiment sets aimed at giving you oh-so-many options for the insides and outsides of your cards!

Inside and Out You by Becky Fleck is the perfect little sentiment set for all the different ways to tell that someone special so many different things! The mix and match sentiments are all packed on this 4″ by 3″ set! If you like this set, you might like our others called Inside & Out Just Because , Inside & Out Thank You or Inside & Out Happy! Be sure to check them out as well.

For my card, I compared the new Inside and Out You stamp set with the From the Heart stamp set, stamping the big heart with Memento Rose Bud ink.  The sentiments were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and I embellished with some gray seam binding, ivory jute and black Kaisercraft rhinestones.
Want to win this set?  All you need to do is figure out…

One of the ladies on our link list below will be picking a name from the comments on her blog post today. We don’t know which one it is… so the more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win!
Before we get to the link list of talented ladies – we do have some fun news to share! First up, we have a brand new Silhouette cut file designed to coordinate with our new Roses are Red stamp set! You can find it right HERE in the Flourishes store. The SVG file will come along as well very soon! So, stay tuned for that! And so, without further ado — hop on over  to see our fabulous design team and the gorgeous creations they fashioned using our brand new and ever-so-versatile set that’s perfect for…. YOU!

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan

THE CLOCK IS TICKING TO WIN OUR JANUARY RELEASE!

If you want a chance to win all three of our brand new sets, you can still play in our Love Letters Challenge – there will be multiple winners here! BUT, you have to act fast — the deadline to enter is 5PM EST today! OR, play along with the gals for this week’s Timeless Tuesday Challenge! Check out the links for the official rules!
Thanks for stopping by!

Flourishes January Release Day Two

Hi everyone, and welcome to day two of Flourishes’ January Sneak Peeks featuring three of our newest sets! Today’s sneak is all about love and a cute little poem we all seemed to learn when we were kids! Only now, it’s paired with a few beautiful botanicals that are just screaming to be colored up! Are you ready?

Roses are Red by Marcella Hawley puts a new spin on that old, sweet poem! Roses are Red, Violets are Blue — you finish the phrase with these mix and match sentiments! This set offers a bunch of roses and violets and a single flower bunch that is perfect to send to your sweetie. Use this set for Valentine’s Day or any time you want to serve up some love in the form of a card!

I made my card for this week using the new Roses are Red set, and the Sketchbook Saturday challenge #87 for the layout.  The papers I used are some old Basic Grey.  The floral image was stamped on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics from the Candy Pink, Pistachio, True Purple and Daffodil collections.  I embellished with some Baby Pink seam binding, a crystal trinket stick pin and a button tied off with some ivory jute.  The little row of hearts at the bottom was made using my Silhouette machine and this cut file.

Inside I added the image again, along with the rest of the poem.
Want to win this set?  All you need to do is figure out…

We don’t know which one of these ladies below will be the Mystery Blogger but one will, so leave comments on all of our designers’ blogs and you’ll be in the running to win today’s Roses Are Red set! Want to see all the fun things you can do with this little number? Head on over and see…..

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan

DO YOU WANT TO WIN OUR ENTIRE RELEASE?

If you want a chance to win all three of our soon-to-be released sets, you can always play in our Love Letters Challenge – there will be multiple winners here! OR, play along with the gals for this week’sTimeless Tuesday Challenge! Check out the links for the official rules! Also, if you like what you see on our designers’ blogs today, you can pre-order this set (along with the other two sets as well) by taking advantage of our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all three together. All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release. So, be sure to stick with us this week as we unveil a whole new host of paper crafting goodies!
Stop by tomorrow for one last peek at the new releases!