Blog Hoppin' with InStyle Stamps

Welcome to the Hop! This month we are dreaming about the soon-to-be-warm summer weather with a beach theme. So put on you sun hats and start hopping!

For my project, I decided to make a Shadow Box Card (instructions can be found here) with the adorable new mermaid, Ariel (available today in the InStyle Store). Isn't she a cutie? I think I have a new favorite image!


I colored Ariel with copic markers, and then used hot pink, light green and turquoise pearl ex with a aquapainter filled with Future Floor Wax to add some shimmer to her scales. You can kind of see the effect in the photo, but trust me, in real life the result is simply stunning.

Here's a side view so you can see the depth of the card. The layers of "sand" (torn kraft paper) are only attached to the center front of the card, so they stick out to the side when the card is opened to give it a little extra support.


Do you like the underwater background? I recently purchased a Wacom drawing tablet (great for people with wrist pain issues) and have been having fun using it to do some doodling. I knew I wanted an underwater background for Ariel as soon as I saw her, so I couldn't resist making one.

The depth of the shadow box (1 inch deep) presented a challenge when it came to getting Ariel to float over the background. I did a little brain storming, and used a little bit of wire from my jewelry making supplies to create a spring. So now, not only is she at the level I wanted her at, but she wiggles around a bit like she is trying to swim in place. Neat, huh?

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Now on to the details that you have been waiting for - the prizes! LOL!

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and one lucky design team member.

To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs (you can find them in my sidebar), and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) Make sure to leave a comment in addition to voting in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize.

You have until 11:59pm EST on Saturday, May 30th to enter, and the winners will be announced on the InStyle Stamps blog on Monday, June 1st.

So what are you waiting for? Get hopping!

InStyle Sneak Peek!

Hello all! Are you ready for a sneak peek to start off your Friday? Meet the latest addition to the InStyle Stamps Retro line - the Band!

Aren't they fabulous? My DH is quite the musician, and has been in several bands over the years, so I was very excited when Virginia showed the Band to me! In addition to the 5 images shown here, there is also a keyboard player and an amp to round out the collection. How exciting is that?

Any good band needs a stage, so I got a little creative with the crimper and Nestabilities, and voila, instant stage. As you can see, the curtains stick out a good 1/2 inch, so this is definitely a card to hand deliver. Oops! Maybe I'll surprise DH with it some time soon.

The Band will be available for purchase in the InStyle Store soon. While you are there, don't forget to pick up a gold and a silver Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pen so your instruments can sparkle like mine do. These pens write beautifully, and dry almost instantly, so you get your sparkle fix without the wait. Gotta love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday!

Today was my father-in-laws birthday. I've been fighting off a cold, so we weren't able to go see him today, but I thought I'd share the card I made for him.


Isn't this little digi fisherman great? I found him on the Victoria Case Art Design website when I was looking for the horse image in the previous post, and knew he would be perfect to use on a project for my father-in-law.

My father-in-law isn't into frills, so I kept the card very simple. I used punches to make the sentiment into a bobbin, and added some silver cord for the fishing line (the real fishing line didn't show up well).

I hope he likes it!

A horse, of course...

As some of you might know, my DH is working toward getting a MSW. Tomorrow marks the end of his first internship, and he asked me to make a card for his supervisor to thank her for all the time she has put in with him this year. She apparently is a horse person, so he asked me to make something with a horse. Huh? Ok, city girl here, never got the horse thing, hence no horse stamps. What's a girl to do? Google horse digi images, of course!

After a little searching, I found this adorable horse image by Victoria Case Art Designs. It is available in rubber, or if you email her, you can purchase it in digi form, perfect for those last minute cards. (Because, of course, DH always waits until the very last minute to ask if I can make him something!)


The image was colored with copic markers, and layered using the Nestabilities Oval set. I printed the flower twice and layered it on pop-dots for a little something extra. I finished it off with some pretty dp from the Imaginisce Twitterpated collection.

It's all about the support...

I've mentioned before that I am the official card maker for my office. Well, my supervisor's birthday is this week, so we're going to have a little party for her. Any excuse for a party, right? LOL.

My office is what I would consider a "fun" office, in that we all get along well and share a zany sense of humor. With that in mind, I decided to make my boss a rather tongue in cheek card.

The sentiment is hand printed. I found the template for the bra along with a matching pantie here. I opted not to use the pantie, so as not to embarrass the males at the office too much, but you could easily use it in the inside of the card.

Wouldn't this make a great card for a bridal shower or anniversary?

Day 8 of M&DC's Mothers and Daughters Traditions Blog Roll

Today is the regular “Thursday Card Challenge” at Mothers and Daughters and our blog roll continues with a special treat. Giovana is hosting the challenge so hurry on over to her blog for all the details – challenge, blog candy, and a stunning card to inspire you.

Today's challenge is to make a Mother's Day card using at least 3 flower. I decided to go for a sweet and simple layout for my card:

The pretty flowers are made from dp from BoBunny's Dot to Dot line in Tutu, Blush, and Decaf.

After punching out each flower, I pressed them in my palm to make the petals bend up. The BoBunny paper is nice and heavy, so it holds the shape really well. The centers are popped up on pop-dots, and I added a touch of Cinnamon Stickles to the dots on the Decaf paper to make them stand out a bit more.

Be sure to check out the blogs of my fellow DT members to see their lovely creations!

Links:

Cathy http://seasiderosecottage.blogspot.com/

Dawn http://dawnsrubberroom.blogspot.com/

Leah http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/

Giovana http://giovana-believe.blogspot.com/
Melita http://www.calonghorn.wordpress.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Day 7 of the M&DC's Mothers and Daughters Traditions Blog Roll

This is lucky Day #7 of the Mothers and Daughters Traditions Blog Roll. *Be sure to read down to the bottom of the post for details on how you can win today's prize!*

For today's challenge we’re getting away from cards and scrap pages to take a crack at recipe cards. Robin, Cathy, Giovana, and Laurie have come up with some adorable recipe cards for your viewing pleasure, and since today is my turn to host, I am going to show you how to put together this cute little recipe book to put them in.


I don't know about you, but to me Christmas just isn't Christmas unless the house is filled with the smells of holiday baking. When I was a child, my siblings and I would get so excited when Mom took Grandma Soper's sugar cookie recipe out of her recipe box, because that meant that the holiday season had officially started. LOL. Now that we are all adults and starting our own families, I thought it would be nice to collect all of our family Christmas recipes in a little book and give a copy to each of my siblings.

Supplies:

1 piece of 11 x 4.75 card stock
1 piece of 6.5 x 4.75 card stock in a contrasting color
photo album inserts (pick one up at the $1 store and tear off the cover - you only need the photo sleeves)
crop-a-dile
ribbon
scor-pal or scoring tool of your choice
large needle

Instructions:

Using your scor-pal, score the 11 x 4.75 piece of card stock at 7.5 and 8.5. Fold the creases to look as shown in the photo below:


(I embossed my 2 pieces of card stock with Cuttlebug embossing folders at this point, but this is completely optional.)
Line your second piece of card stock up against the shorter scored edge of your first piece of card stock (as shown below) and glue in place.


Insert your photo sleeves, lining them up with the longer scored edge. Use a few pieces of double sided tape to hold it in place.
Close the album, and use your crop-a-dile to punch holes along the folded edge. (I punched 5 holes, but the number is completely up to you.)
Cut a 24 inch section of ribbon and thread it through your holes in the pattern of your choosing to bind the layers together to make your book. Alternately, you could skip the ribbon and use brads, binder rings, etc, to hold your book together.


Decorate the front as desired. (I used Skating by Stampavie with Decaf Dot dp by BoBunny.)


For the first page of my album, I made a simple "recipe" card with the "Recipe for Christmas Joy" on it. I thought it would be a cute way to start the album.

Now go hop through the design team's blogs to get some inspiration for recipe cards to fill your album!

Cathy http://seasiderosecottage.blogspot.com/

Leah http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/

Giovana http://giovana-believe.blogspot.com/

Robin http://www.rwade1969.blogspot.com/

Laurie http://www.lovinmylife.typepad.com/

MDC Challenge Blog: http://mdcchallenges.blogspot.com/

Now for the part you have been waiting for - the details on today's prize! LOL. Today we will be giving away a package of SEI Morning Meadow epoxy stickers! To be entered into to win today's prize, you will need to make a recipe card and then leave me a comment below with a link to your project.

The deadline for all challenges is Saturday, May 16th at 12 noon. We’ll announce winners the next day on the various blogs with a complete list on the MDC Challenge blog. Remember, there will also be random prizes for just posting on the different blogs!

Method Monday with InStyle Stamps, and a Sneak Peek!

This week is my turn to host Method Monday on the InStyle Stamps blog, so be sure to stop by for (ahem) great tutorials for two of the techniques I’ve used on the card shown below:


I'm delighted to be able to bring you not one, but TWO sneak peeks today! InStyle stamps will be debuting some new images soon, and let me tell you, they are just the cutest things ever! Today I get to show you Ava from our new fairy line, as well as the tree stump Ava is leaning against from our new accessories line!

Aren't they fabulous?!? Be sure to stop by the InStyle Stamps blog for more sneak peeks this week.