CropStop Grand Opening Challenge

Hi Everyone! Today's project was made as an example of my specific challenge over at CropStop. Head on over to continue the Grand Opening Celebration. If you haven't already registered yet, make sure you do and you can check out all the fun games and challenges (many that are still open until tonight and into the week) for a chance to win some great prizes.

My challenge is called Basket of Blooms and all I'm challenging you to do is make something 3-D. It can be anything - either a project like mine or if you have your own favorite shape, size, design, please feel free.

My basket is SUPER EASY and is a great foundation box to decorate however you want for just about any occasion!

Here is a quickie tutorial for you.

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Start with and 8x8 piece of cardstock. Score at 2 1/2" on all 4 sides. Cut on 2 of the opposite sides.



Next, I cut 4 sections of cardstock that were just shy of 2 1/2" x 3". I then ran all pieces through my wood grain cuttlebug embossing folder and then attached to the sides.

For the handle, cut 3 sections that are approximately 1/4" wide. Length really depends how long or short you want your handle to be. Attach top with a brand (just to hold in place), then just braid. You will have to manipulate the cardstock to conform to the shape you want. Its supposed to rip and bend etc - remember its that "rustic" or "weathered" look. (lol)

For my Basket of Blooms, I used cuttlebug flower die cuts and prima flowers to create my flowers and stems. I used a hot glue gun to sandwich my wire stems between 2 or more layers of flowers. Finally, I crimped and cut several shades of green cardstock to create my grass.

Make sure you head on over to CropStop to participate in this challenge for you chance to win.

I would love for you to leave a link here if you post your project to a blog and/or gallery, but make sure you post your project with the correct title of the challenge on the CropStop Message Board to be eligble for a prize. All directions are posted there too. Winner will be drawn by random drawing and will ran a surprise goodie bag.

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Don't forget, you also have a chance to play along with us over at Limelight Papercrafts. You have until midnight tonight to post your card for the Sketch and Product Challenge. Visit THIS POST for all the details.

And remember, all the New Releases and lots of New Product from Clear Dollar Stamps are available for purchase! Plus, BIG NEWS - Lori McCroskey the owner of Clear Dollar Stamps has started a blog and she started with a BANG with an awesome tutorial - Go check it out and say hi! Click HERE.

Thanks as always for stopping by and I hope you have a great rest of your weekend.

A Walk in the Garden with CropStop - Grand Opening all Weekend

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone survived Halloween. I've got some cuuute pictures for the boys that I will share later. I was very pleased with the way the costumes turned out - especially Nate and Will's. Part of their "cuteness" just lies in the fact that there are 2 of them. People (myself included) just can't help it. Anyway, on to crafty business...

Today is the beginning of CropStop's Grand Opening Celebration called A Walk in the Garden. CropStop is a great online store that offers quite the variety of products, from paper kits, all sorts of Die Cut machines, to embellishments. Check out the store, but make sure you don't spend too much time shopping because this is your chance to win lots of great prizes all weekend long.

One thing that you will have to do if you haven't already is register on the CropStop message board and the gallery. This will direct you to the where's, why's, and how's to go about increasing your chances of winning.

Today is the First Bouquet Blog Hop! If you are looking at my blog right now, you have either already visited the necessary blogs before me and are looking for your last "collection" or you are visiting and realized that something fun is going on. If I'm the last stop, then head back to CropStop for even more fun and if you are the latter, then head straight over to CropStop anyway to get all the directions and details as to how to start your collection.

So without further ado, my item to complete your crafty bouquet are BUTTONS! Who doesn't love buttons? To celebrate how fun buttons are I made a little card just because. I was lucky enough to pick up a whole bunch of Daisy D's matching buttons, flowers, and ribbon at my local scrapbooking store - Treasury of Memories. Each container was only $2 each. The paper, and sentiment are Close to my Heart products.

Thanks so much for hopping on by! I will have another segment of the fun and games to be had for the Grand Opening here tomorrow. Hint - its a challenge - but easy :).



{Recipe}
Cardstock: White, Garden Green (CTMH)
DP: Blue Ribbon Level 2 (CTMH)
Ink: Black (CTMH)
Stamps: Treasure Life (Stamp of the Month - CTMH)
Other: Daisy D's Ribbon, Buttons, Flowers

Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peak #4 - Lamppost Expressions

Happy Halloween for those of you into the Halloween thing! I am hoping to have some really cute pictures of the boys to share later. Their costumes were finished in a timely fashion (yeah for me). I was very pleased that I wasn't up till the wee hours last night sewing.

Today is also my last set of cards to share with you from Clear Dollar Stamps. Today's stamp set is called Lamppost Expressions and as soon as I saw it I loved it. It has an old time, kind of romantic, maybe a Charles Dickens look to it.

The main image was stamped on glossy paper, colored in with Copics, sanded with sand paper, and finally inked with some dye ink. I then distressed the heck out of the background paper and my mat. Black and brown is one of my favorite color combos too.
{Recipe} Cardstock: Kraft (PTI), Black, Desert Sand, Glossy Cardstock (CTMH) Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics Stamps: Lamppost Expressions (CDstamps) Other: Sanding paper, Edge distressor (CTMH), Black Ribbon, Brads



My next card card has a more holiday feel to it, but with the variety of sentiments in this set, your options are definitely not limited. Isn't that kitty the cutest? I didn't take a close up, but I fun flocked the white sections of the stocking and it turned out so cute.

{Recipe} Cardstock: Ponderosa Pine, Cranberry, Desert Sand, Colonial White (CTMH) Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Cranberry (CTMH) Stamps: Lamppost Expressions (CDstamps) Other: Brads, Nesties

And finally, my last card combines Lamppost Expressions with an individual set you can purchase - TOMORROW :) Its called Iron Fence :)

I stamped the fence with Versamark ink and then embossed it with black embossing powder and then cut it all out :) I also embossed the lamppost on glossy cardstock as well as the edges of the cardstock. Other than that the rest of it is pretty simple. Another favorite color combo - red and black.

{Recipe}
Cardstock: Black, Cranberry, Glossy (CTMH)
Ink: Versamark, Black (CTMH)
Stamps: Lamppost Expressions, (CDstamps)
Other: Black Embossing Powder, Ribbon, Nesties, Bitty Brads

That's it for sneak peaks - remember that all new stamps and items to the store will be available to purchase tomorrow, November 1st! Ack!!! Did I just write November!!! This is a crazy busy month for us.

I wanted to show you one more little thing. For my 1st sneak peek I chose to use the Card Categories set. I wanted to share a picture of how I have my own personal card stash organized. I like to have a ton of dividers so there are a couple that I added myself, but out of all those categories, I only created 3 of my own. The basket I purchased at Michaels and it fits 3 rows of standard A2 cards perfectly. Call me crazy, but I'm making another set to organize my odd shaped cards and smaller cards too. I LOVE this set.

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Extras you need to know about!

*** Limelight Papercrafts has our Sketch and Product Challenge going on right now. Click -->HERE<-- for all the details. You have until Sunday to play along!

*** CropStop is a great store that has tons and tons of great die cuts and other great scrapbooking products available. Haylie-Jo is continuously adding to her inventory. This weekend, November 1 -2 is the official "Grand Opening" of the store and there will be TONS of fun challenges and games for your chance to win TONS of incredible prizes. Make sure to stop by and visit the store message board this weekend.

Just another Tidbit

This is my 2nd post for today, so make sure you keep scrolling to see how you can win a great Limelight Papercrafts prize and become a Limelight Lady or one of the Six Chicks!!

I wanted to share a bit of fun news with you all. I will be December's Guest Designer for a great little webstore called CropStop. I first "met" Vicki Crawford when she was a guest DT for Clear Dollar Stamps. It will be fun to "work" with her again. I'd like to thank Vicki and Haylie Jo (owner) for letting me have some fun with their goodies. Go check them out and you will find lots of fun crafty stuff. Plus, there is a message board if you have any questions or just want to chat it up and a great gallery of great projects by the Design Team Members.

In celebration, I have a coupon code to share with you. Just enter KDTB-91 when you check out and you will get 10% off any purchase over $20.00.