Sale at InStyle Stamps

InStyle Stamps is celebrating spring with a special discount for our customers! From now until April 30th, you can save 20% off of your entire order, so it is a great time to stock up on all of the cuties you have been drooling over!

To receive your 20% discount, go to InStyle Stamps and start filling your shopping cart. When you are ready to place your order, do the following:

1. Type my name, Melissa, in the Special Instructions box (so I get credit for refering you)

and

2. Type ISSA20009 in the Discount Coupon box.

Now hit the Recalculate button, and voila! your 20% discount is taken off of your order! Happy Shopping!

Day 1 of the M&DC's First Annual Mothers and Daughters Traditions Blog Roll

Thanks for joining the very first Mothers and Daughters Creations Mother’s Day Traditions Blog Roll. You can find all of the exciting details about this blog roll on the main Mothers and Daughters Challenge Blog, where our own Mother and Daughter Team of Linda and Tam will be sharing some very special Mothers Day memories and traditions.

This week Cathy is hosting the weekly card challenge for MDC on her blog, The Seaside Rose Cottage, and she’s offering some sweet blog candy – think key lime and strawberry. Here’s my card for Cathy’s challenge:

This weeks challenge is all about layers. You can either have fixed layers – things layered one on top of the other, or layers that lift up.

I decided to get a head start on my Mother's Day cards, and used Playtime by Stampavie for my image. Aren't those turtles adorable? I love their patch work shells! The turtles were colored in with copic markers, and then I added some diamond stickles to the flowers for a little extra sparkle. I based my colors on the pretty dp by Bo Bunny - Look at me and Spunky from the Alissa line.

Be sure to visit Cathy’s blog for the challenge details and a chance to win some blog candy. You can also see some more terrific cards that Giovanna and Leah made for the challenge on their blogs.

InStyle Sneak Peek - Meet Nico!

Isn't Nico just the cutest lil pirate you've ever seen?

He's all dressed up in his finest pirate garb, all ready to party the night away! Just stay away from that treasure chest of his and you should be fine. Otherwise he might have to use that sword and make you walk the plank! Don't say I didn't warn you! LOL!

Nico and the rest of the new releases by InStyle Stamps will be available in the InStyle Store this afternoon, so be sure to stop by! And don't forget, you only have one more day to get 20% off of your order! You can get the coupon code in my sidebar, and make sure to tell them that Melissa sent you!

It's Blog Hop Time!

Today is the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go Blog Hopping with InStyle Stamps!

The theme for this month's blog hop is "Contain Yourself!". The design team was challenged to make or alter some sort of container. I love the English toffee flavored cappuccino drink mix by Hills Bros, so I have a ton of empty containers just waiting to be re-purposed. I decided to use one to make a container for a "Girl's Night Out Fund" (grown-up speak for "piggy bank," LOL) to give to a friend of mine.


I used Joyce and Marcy for my image, and colored them in with copic markers. I layered the image using the Nestabilities Label 4 dies, and attached it to my container with pop-dots. The fun dp is Colorful Disco Fever by KI Memories (try saying that 5 times fast!). The crocheted edging was a dollar bin find at Michael's. It was originally this awful shade of fuschia, but I colored it with my copic markers to coordinate with the rest of the project.



Now back to the Blog Hop details...................

The blog hop will run from 12pm to 11pm EST on the InStyle Stamps forum. There will be contests with prizes throughout the day on the blog hop thread on the forum, so be sure to stop by and stay to chat a while!

After you've hopped through the design team's blogs, don't forget to go to the InStyle Stamps blog to leave us a comment and vote for me. Oops! I mean, vote for your favorite project. LOL. By doing so, not only will you be entered to win the grand prize, but you will also be helping us decide which design team member wins a prize too! You have until 11:59pm EST on Saturday, April 25th to enter, and the winners will be announced on Sunday, April 26th.

What are you waiting for? Start hopping!

Cathy http://www.cathy-cunningham.blogspot.com/
Jodi-Ann http://inkedinspirations.blogspot.com/
Joy http://daiseyfreak.blogspot.com/
Kim D. http://craftymakes.blogspot.com/
Kim G. http://www.craftsbykim.blogspot.com/
Maria www.stampininspirations.blogspot.com
Mary http://mycardz.wordpress.com/
Michelle http://www.donkeysmiles.blogspot.com/
Risa http://malieta-lifessimplepleasures.blogspot.com/
Sandy http://stampinsandy.blogspot.com/
Silke http://bastelzauberin-bastelzauberin.blogspot.com/
Taylor http://musingsofanaddict.wordpress.com/
Vicky http://vickygina.typepad.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

leaving the nest...

One of my co-workers is moving out of state, so I made a card for everyone to sign to wish him well on his new venture.

Since it is a "guy" card, I kept the frills and embellishments to a minimum, but I think it works. I printed the sentiment on the computer, and then stamped the tree and bird from the Olivia's Birdies set by CC Designs. I stamped the nest and the two birds sitting on it separately, cut them out, and attached them with pop-dots for a little added dimension.

The pretty edging is one of the new edge punches by EK Success. I have to tell you that I find these new punches much harder to punch than older SU and Fiskars style edge punches, and the smaller holes make them more difficult to line up. So while I admit to drooling over some of the new designs, I'm not sure that any more of them will be making their way into my craft room.

InStyle Stamps sneak peek!

When Virginia told me that I would be doing the sneak peek for Princess Clarissa, one of the soon to be released Anime images by InStyle Stamps, I was all but bouncing in my seat in excitement. I've loved fairy tales since I was a little girl. The romance and excitement coupled with those fantastic dresses! It's enough to make a girl swoon! LOL!

Isn't Clarissa just the perfect fairytale princess? She even has a castle of her very own. I bet she won't have to wait very long for her "Once upon a time..." to start! Prince Charming won't be able to resist such a lovely princess!

Princess Clarissa and the rest of this week's releases will be available in the InStyle Store this afternoon. And don't forget, the Instyle Stamps blog hop is this Friday! Be there, or be square!

Thanks for stopping by!

Method Monday with InStyle Stamps - Gift bag tutorial

It's Method Monday at InStyle Stamps, and it is my turn to challenge you with a fun tutorial using the exciting new product that will be debuting on Wednesday - digital paper! This debut is particularly special to me because... drum roll please... I designed 3 of the new digital paper lines!!! I have been bursting at the seams with excitement, and am so happy to finally be able to share my news!

Anywho, now that the squealing is done, back to our scheduled post...

If you are anything like me, you have probably moaned and groaned over having to wrap an oddly shaped gift because you forgot to buy a gift bag. Well, it is time to stop the moaning and groaning, because I am going to teach you how to make a quick and easy gift bag so you never have to worry about not having one on hand.


Supplies:
2 - 8.5 x 11 inch pieces of card stock
adhesive
ribbon
eyelet
scor-pal or other scoring tool
crop-a-dile

Instructions:
Select two patterns of digital paper (I used the stripe and floral design from the Mieko's Dream line) and print one on each side of your card stock to make 2 pieces of double sided designer paper. Be sure to use the borderless printing option if your printer has it. If it doesn't, that's ok, it will just make your gift bag a little smaller since you'll need to trim off the white border.

Using your scor-pal, score the 2 pieces of card stock 1.5 inches in from the left and right side, and 2 inches in from the top and bottom as shown below.


Now fold down your 1.5 inch score line from the top, and use your adhesive to glue it down. Then fold the remaining score lines in the opposite direction that you folded your top flap. Now you can see the design from the opposite side of the paper as shown below. Repeat with your second piece of paper.


Now that you have it all folded, you are going to apply glue to one of the 2 inch flaps. Line up the top flaps of your card stock, and adhere the 2 inch scored section of your first piece of card stock over the 2 inch scored section of the other piece of card stock as shown below.


Glue your other two 2 inch scored sections one over the other as described above, and you can see your gift bag take shape. Now you will need to finish the bottom of the bag by folding the corners in just like you would a present. (See below)


I use a piece of sticky strip to adhere the bottom flaps together as this will make the bag sturdy enough for heavier items. If you only plan on putting something light weight in your bag, you can get away with using regular adhesive. When you are finished, the bottom of the bag will appear as shown:

Now all you have left to do is attach your handle and do a little decorating.

I used my crop-a-dile to punch holes in the side of the bag and attach eyelets for my ribbon to slide through. Just tie a knot on the ribbon on the inside of the bag where it won't show, and voila! instant handle.

The birthday cake I used on my tag is actually the cake that Mellie is carrying. I used post-it notes to mask off Mellie so all I stamped was the cake.



And there you go. Instant gift bag all ready to be filled with one of those pesky, hard to wrap gifts! Once you get the hang of these, you can easily adjust the size to make a bag for just about anything. Go wild!

Be sure to check the InStyle Stamps blog for more sneak peeks, and don't forget, the digital paper you saw here will be available on Wednesday at the InStyle Stamps Store.

MDCC37 - out of the box

It's time for another card challenge at Mothers & Daughters Creations. Are you ready to play? This weeks challenge is to make a box on your card and have your design spilling out of it.

I decided to put a little spin on the challenge and made a shadowbox for my card. I've never made one of these before, and I have to tell you, they are a lot of fun and pretty simple to make. You can find instructions here.


I used chick with egg by Serendipity for my main image, and colored it in with copic markers. I cut the eggs out free hand from papers from Bo Bunny, Imaginisce, and Best Creations and then outlined the edge with a black colic marker for more definition. The rick rack and buttons were from my stash.

If you would like to play along, just leave a comment here with a link to your picture. Please use keyword MDCC37 if uploading to SCS or PCP.