Stamp Something Birthday Blog Hop!

Stamp Something is celebrating it's 2nd birthday today, and to celebrate, we are having a blog hop! If you came here from Janna's blog, you are right on target. If not, head on over to the Stamp Something blog so you can start the hop off right. Our monthly sponsor, Simon Says, has offered up a great prize for one lucky hopper, and several of my team mates are offering up candy of their own, so trust me, you don't want to miss any of the stops!

Since this is a birthday celebration, the team has been challenged to make something cake or cupcake related/inspired. I decided to make a masculine birthday card featuring a cupcake with some yummy frosting & sprinkles (more on that later...).

The cupcake image is from the Hero Art Cupcake set, and was colored with copic markers. The yummy frosting is Liquid Pearls in White Opal. While the Liquid Pearls were still wet, I sprinkled on some Twinklets Diamond Dust to mimic sugar crystal sprinkles. I thought it needed a little more color, so I made some custom red sprinkles by dumping some Twinklets in a jar and adding a few drops of SU Riding Hood Red reinker.

CANDY ALERT!!!

Would you like some custom red Twinklets of your own? I've added a bag of them to my birthday mini candy, so be sure to leave me a comment for a chance to win. Just for giggles, please share what your favorite birthday dessert is. Inquiring minds want to know!

The candy will close at 7pm EST on Thursday, May 27th, with the candy winner being announced in the following day's challenge post on the Stamp Something blog.

Now, what are you waiting for? Hop on over to Lols blog to see what she has in store for you!

ISS - Love & Romance blog hop

Yes, I know, it's not the last Friday of the month, but this month InStyle Stamps is holding our blog hop a week early since we know everyone will be way too busy next Friday to blog hop. LOL.

The theme for this months blog hop is Love & Romance. If you've landed here from Jodi's blog than you are on the right track - continue on! If you've accidentally stumbled here on your own, take a moment go to the Instyle Stamps blog to start the hop off right. Trust me, you really don't want to miss any of the lovely projects the design team has in store for you! Be sure to visit each stop on the hop and leave a comment so we'll know you were here.

For my project today, I'll be showing you the soon-to-be-released digital image, Mitchel and Tiff. Aren't they sweet? I still needed to make a Christmas card for my hubby, and what could be more romantic than a Christmas kiss under the mistletoe?

Mitchel and Tiff were colored with Copic markers, and Tiff had a bit of eyeshadow added with a Sakura Stardust gelly roll pen. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the mistletoe, and went over it with Distressed Stickles in Peeled Paint. I kept the layout clean and simple since my hubby isn't a big fan of bling or frills. Think he'll like it?

Copic markers used:

On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, finish hopping through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) 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!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post.

Thanks for playing along with us today! Next you will head to Joy's blog to see what she has in store for you! Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Holidays!

InStyle Stamps Blog Hop

It's 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 months blog-hop is Holiday Ornaments. If you've landed here from Raquel's blog than you are on the right track - continue on! If you've accidentally stumbled here on your own, take a moment go to the Instyle Stamps blog to start the hop off right. Trust me, you really don't want to miss any of the fabulous projects the design team has in store for you! Be sure to visit each stop on the hop and leave a comment so we'll know you stopped by.

I hope all my US readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! Did you brave the cold and the crowds this morning to do some shopping on Black Friday? We normally do, but decided that sleeping in was a much better option this year. I don't know about you, but I'd rather shop in my pj's on the couch and avoid the crowds! LOL.

For my project for today, I created a double-sided ornament using the adorable Kimi. Double-sided, you ask, how'd she do that, you ask. Well, let me tell you. One of the benefits of digital stamps is that you can play with them with your photo editing program. I printed off one copy of Kimi as she comes, and then flipped the image so she was facing the other way and printed that off too. After coloring both images, I carefully cut them out and then glued the wrong sides together (sliding a piece of gold cord in the middle to make the hanger). Once the ornament was together, I added stickles to her wings (letting the one side dry before applying them to the other side, of course).

Kimi will be part of a friends Christmas gift this year, so I decided to make a card to hold her. I used  oval Nestabilities to cut a window in the front of the card and put a piece of acetate in between the layers.

Once I was finished decorating the card front, I used an exacto knife to cut a little oval in the back of the card to slide the ornament hanger through. A little bit of tape will hold it in place until my friend is ready to take Kimi off of the card and hang her on her tree.

On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, finish hopping through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) 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!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post.

Thanks for playing along with us today! Next you will head to Lysa's blog to see what she has in store for you! Thanks so much for stopping and good luck!

Spread the Love blog hop for Jaimie

Welcome to the “Stamp Something…for Jaimie, Spreading the Love & Hope” blog hop. If you came here from Jaime Schlangen’s blog, then you are right on track. If not, then please start at the beginning of the hop at Katharina Frei’s blog.

Jaimie and her mother were the victims of a senseless crime that resulted in the death of Jaimie’s mother, Kimberly, and left Jaimie seriously injured. (See details below.) We want to flood Jaimie with love and well-wishes, and are asking everyone who reads this to take the time to join our special Card Drive Challenge and send Jaimie a card. We have generous sponsors who have kindly offered up some prizes to anyone who makes a card, posts it on their blogs, and lets us know they mailed it out.

A little about the cause of our hop:

On October 4, 4 teenagers armed with knives broke into a home in a small town in New Hampshire. Alone and sleeping inside were a mother and her 11 year old daughter. These 4 boys broke into this home with the intent to rob and kill anyone inside. They stabbed the mom, Kimberly Cates, to death and left her daughter, Jaimie, for dead in their driveway. It was a completely random act, their home was chosen only due to its secluded surroundings.

Our hope is that everyone hopping around today will stop for a moment and think about Jaimie and her father and what life must be like for them now. One moment in time has changed their lives forever. We are asking that everyone reading this message please take a moment to make a card and send it off to Jaimie. You can make something very simple or much more involved, but please share some words of hope and love and let her know that people do care and want the best for her. Please send your card to the address below:

Jaimie Cates
c/o Mont Vernon Fire Station
Main Street
Mont Vernon, NH 03057

The hop will run until Monday, November 9th, so you have a full week to participate and make a card for Jaimie. Once you’ve sent your card, pop on over to the Stamp Something…for Jaimie blog and leave us a comment for a chance to win some fabulous prizes generously donated by our sponsors.


For my card, I decided to use Vanessa, one of the adorable anime images by InStyle Stamps. I had pj's just like this when I was a teen (mine were blue and red), so this image always brings back memories of slumber parties with my friends. You know, the ones where you pigged out on Mountain Dew and Doritos, and stayed up all night giggling over boys. Those were the days! LOL.

Jaimie's favorite colors are hot pink and black, so that determined the colors I used for my card. I colored Vanessa with copic markers (see bottom of the post for the colors) and then went over the LOVE on her pj's with a silver Spica pen for a little sparkle. (There is a close up below so you can see the sparkle better. It is really pretty IRL.)

My card layout is from the Club Anime sketch challenge for this week. Jaimie is not a girly-girl, so this layout was perfect for a non-fussy card. I just added a prima flower and some flat-backed gems for a little bling. I'm not sure of the brand of the patterned paper. It was in a stack of loose sheets a friend gave me a while back and the name slips my mind.


Now what are you waiting for? Head over to Erin Bailey's Blog to see what she has made especially for Jaimie.

Markers used:


**I noticed after I uploaded the photo that my RV02 marker was turned the wrong way, so that is the mystery pink ciao.

ISS Blog Hop - Set the Table

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! If you didn't come here from Lysa's blog, then you might want to go to the InStyle Stamps blog to start the hop so you don't miss any of the great projects the dt has in store for you!

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, this month our theme is "Set the Table". And as usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I decided to use the adorable new Anime images, Virginia and William. Aren't they just the cutest little pilgrims?

Around here, "Setting the table" during the holidays always includes a pretty container of seasonal flowers. I decided that my pot of mums needed a little dressing up, so after coloring Virginia and William with my copic markers, I cut them out and used glue dots to attach them to a pair of chop sticks I had laying around (unused, honest!).

The mums came in one of those plain jane green plastic pots, so I rummaged through my collection of decorative pots and found this great tin basket. I added some green ribbon around it, and then used my nestabilities to make a cute flower for the sentiment.

The flower is very simple to make. Just use a scalloped circle nestie in a size to coordinate with your center circle, and snip in each scallop toward the center to make your "petals". The sentiment is computer-generated using one of my favorite fonts, Kayleigh. (Download it for free here.)

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On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) 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!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post.

I'm the last stop on your hop today, so now you'll want to go back to the InStyle Stamps blog to vote and enter the hop contest.

Thanks for playing along with us today!

Blog Hopping with InStyle Stamps

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! This month, the design team has been challenged to show you some Treats! And as usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I decided to use the adorable new Anime image, Patches. Isn't he a cutie?


My little nephew, Ryan, dressed up as a pumpkin for his first Halloween last year, so every time I see Patches, it makes me think of him (he's a cutie, too!).

I love using the Staples brand gel pens for work, and they come in clear plastic boxes that are just too nice to toss once the pens are gone. I re-purposed one into a treat container by making a new insert for it and tying a little ribbon around the outside. (Please excuse the slight waviness at the bottom of the box. The clear plastic kept picking up all kinds of reflections.)



Patches was colored with copic markers, and then layered using Rectangle & Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities. The pretty orange polka-dotted background paper is from an ancient DCWV paper stack that I've had for 4+ years. Have I mentioned that I hoard paper? LOL!


For the back of the box, I downloaded Meltdown, a Halloween-appropriate font from dafont.com and printed off my sentiment. The center of each letter was colored in with a YR14 copic marker.

On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) 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!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post answering the following question:

"What is your favorite fall treat?"

My favorite fall treat is fresh apple cider from The Cider Mill in Endicott, NY. Mmmm. If you are ever in the area, make sure to stop by to get a gallon of it. It is freshly squeezed, and is so much better than that stuff you can get at the grocery store.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Now what are you waiting for? Get hopping!

Jennifer http://www.kiyomikrafts.com/
Jodi-Ann http://inkedinspirations.blogspot.com/
Joy http://daiseyfreak.blogspot.com/
Kim http://www.craftsbykim.blogspot.com/
Lysa http://lysaq.blogspot.com/
Mary http://mycardz.wordpress.com/
Maylee http://mayleescreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Piali http://touchofcreation.blogspot.com/
Raquel http://raqode7.blogspot.com/

Blog Hoppin' with InStyle Stamps

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping InStyle Stamps! Our theme for this month is Back-to-School, and of course, we have some fabulous new images to help you celebrate getting the little munchkins out from under your feet! As usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I made a cute little backpack for a co-worker with two children who will be returning to school soon.
You can find the pattern for the backpack here. I used Circles and Posies and pink gingham (coming soon!!!) digital paper for my pack. Isn't it pretty? Here's a side view so you can see the ribbon "straps".


Now, what's a backpack without something to go in it? When I was in grade school, my mother would always tuck little notes into my lunch box, so I've included four little 3x3 notes inside the backpack for her to use for her children.


I used Janice and Jacob, and the soon to be released school house for her cards. Aren't they cute? I hope she likes them!

On to the blog hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for 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!) The leave us a comment on that post in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize.

InStyle Stamps Fantasy Blog Hop

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! This month, the design team was given an image from our new fantasy line, debuting today! As usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

When Virginia showed me the new images, I knew I had to work with the adorable new Twirling Fairy image. She is just so cute!


For my blog hop project, I decided to make a birthday card with matching wrapped gift for a friend who's is celebrating the big 40 next week. Think she'll like it?


Matching wrapped gift, you say? How did you do that, you say? Well let me let you in on a little secret... not only is digital paper great for cards and scrapbooks, but it makes great custom gift wrap!

For my gift wrap, I printed the White Circles and Posies digi paper onto copy paper. Yup, you read that correctly, plain old copy paper.


I then added on ribbon, lace, and a pink button to match my card. See how quick and easy it is to add a personal touch to your wrappings?


For the card, I colored in Twirling Fairy with copic markers and added some highlights with my trusty white gel pen. I don't know about you, but when I think of fairies, I picture gauzy dresses made out of some gorgeous shimmering fabric, so I went over the image with Angel Wings Shimmerz to try to recreate that effect.


As you can see, the designer paper is more of the White Circles and Posies digi paper, this time printed onto cardstock. I used the ribbon and lace from the gift wrap, and added in two pink buttons in a smaller size so everything coordinates.

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On to the blog hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for 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!) The leave us a comment answering the following question in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize:

What is your favorite fairytale? (Now or as a child.)

My favorite fairytale has always been Sleeping Beauty. I saw the Disney movie as a child and was enchanted. The amazing music and the funny antics of the 3 Fairy Godmothers sucked me right in. "Make it Blue." "I said Pink!" LOL. I've read many other versions of the tale (Robin McKinley's "Spindle's End" is an entertaining romp with a less helpless heroine.) over the years, but the Disney movie version remains a favorite.

Yippee Ki-ay! It's blog hop time!

Today is the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps!

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for 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.

This month's theme is Cowboys and Westerns, so I decided to use the new Anime cowboy, Nate for my project. Isn't he a cutie?

And now on to my project... I have a nephew who wants to be a cowboy when he grows up (or maybe a farmer, he hasn't quite narrowed it down yet). His birthday is coming up, so I thought Nate would be perfect for his card.

Nate was colored with copic markers, and layered using the rectangle Nestabilities set. The reverse scalloped trim is actually the leftovers from cutting out the scalloped rectangle. I outlined the trim and the black scalloped rectangle with a silver copic aytou to make it stand out a bit more (click on the image for a larger view if you'd like to see it better). The sentiment was hand written, and punched out with a SU word window punch.

Nate and several other new cuties will be released later today. While you are waiting, be sure to hop on through the rest of the design team's blogs for more peeks!

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!

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!

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!