A bit about me . . .

So today's post is a little different! My dear friend Colleen Dietrich, of Dietrich Designs, called me last week to ask if she could tag me as part of a blog hop she is participating in. It seems that the goal of the hop is to learn about other blogger/artists by sharing some details about one's self, one's work, and one's creative process in a fun "interview" style blog post. The posters were encouraged to tag one or two fellow bloggers to share the fun, and I'm so honored that Colleen chose me! Colleen asked me to share some details about myself in this post today, so here goes . . .

1) How do you know Colleen?

My friend and fellow stamper, Colleen Dietrich

I first "met" Colleen on Splitcoast Stampers sometime after I first joined that online community in 2009. She always made the most beautiful cards and left the most wonderful comments. Not much has changed in either area! Before long we were sending PMs (that is, private messages) through Splitcoast, then exchanging our email addresses for more direct access, then snail-mail addresses so we could mail cards to one another, and finally phone numbers so we could chat even more easily.

It has been a wonderful journey building this friendship of ours! To have someone to chat with about our shared papercrafting interests has been a godsend--someone who understands the drool-worthiness of a new stamp set or paper collection, the thrill of finding fun paper punches or dies on clearance at Michael's or A.C. Moore, the joy of being asked to join a design team, the frustration of losing one's creative mojo, the elation of having a papercrafted project accepted for publication, or more often: the dejection of not having a project accepted for publication. Colleen was the one who encouraged me to start this blog in 2010 shortly after she had established her own. And then we had yet another interest in common: the world of blogging! Even more to chat about ;). But we aren't just papercrafting/blogging friends. Over the years, we've discovered we have so much more in common than our shared hobbies. These days we call one another to chat about our families, our jobs, our health concerns, our vacations, our daily triumphs and aggravations, our joys (and frustrations) of motherhood, and more. I am so blessed to count Colleen among my very closest friends!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Colleen, for your gift of friendship!!!

2) What are you working on right now?

Well, as much as I'd like to say that I'm knee-deep in challenging, meangingful, and creative papercrafting projects right now, that would be the furthest from the truth. In fact, I just noticed that my last post on this blog o' mine was on June 26, over a month ago! I do believe that's the longest lapse in posts I've ever had on this blog. Yikes! I never intended for that to happen, but sometimes everyday life gets in the way of the best intentions, right?

So, since the end of my kids' school year the last week of June, my 11YO son went away to a week of arts camp sponsored by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; my 15YO daughter and I went away on a trip to Burlington, VT, with her Girl Scout troop; my hubby and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary; our family worked together to replace our disintegrating wooden deck with new Trex planks and vinyl-clad aluminum railing systems; AND our family went away for a week to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary! As our gift to them, my sister and I rented a Victorian house in Cape May, NJ, for her family, my family, and my parents to stay in while vacationing for the week. What a lovely time that was for the three generations to hang out together!

Our rental house in Cape May, NJ

That's me in the sunglasses posing in front of a shipwreck just off Sunset Beach. In the background, the cousins are folicking in the waves along this pebbly beach known for its superb beachcombing.

The Dr. Henry Hunt house in Cape May's historic district. We found it on one of our early morning walks and just had to take a photo. We found out later on a trolley tour of historic Cape May that it is one of the most-photographed examples of "drunken" Victorian architecture--known as such because it combines elements from multiple different Victorian styles all in a single "drunken" mish mash!

My hubby and I near Sunset Pavilion at the end of Cape May's Promenade just before sunset. See the Cape May Lighthouse in the distance?

My parents, the happy Golden Anniversary couple!

So I guess that's what I've been "working" on right now! I'm happy to report, though, that I'll have an all-crafting post to share with you soon as part of a guest-designing gig I'm really thrilled about! More on all that later. Stay tuned!!

3) What is your signature style?

I like to dabble in all sorts of different styles! I play around with clean and simple, shabby chic, vintage, bold and graphic, fun and cute, layered and frilly, elegant and classy, punch art, . . . you name it, I've probably done it. I generally use the projects I create for my own purposes (as gifts to give, or birthday cards to mail to friends and family, etc.), so I guess overall you might describe my signature style as "mailable!" I like to make relatively flat cards to make them as USPS-friendly (and low-postage!) as possible!

Here's an example:  the mailable golden anniversary card I made to send to my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary:

Background stamp is from Hero Arts; flower is from Unity; sentiment is from Flourishes

4) What are your favorite types of projects to make?

I enjoy making all kinds of projects! Cards are easily what I make the most of, but I think my favorite projects to make are papercrafted gifts to give. This past spring my daughter and my nephew were both confirmed at their respective churches. I enjoyed making each of them some commemorative gifts to mark the occasion.

I created a framed and personalized piece of subway art for each confirmand using a variety of electronic brushes and fonts I've collected over time and my favorite (and free!) photo editing software, The GIMP

I made each confirmand a papercrafted bookmark perfect for use in their favorite Bibles. Each bookmark was personalized on the back with the occasion and date.

And here are the confirmation cards I made for these special young people:

For my daughter: because I could hand-deliver it, I added a less than "mailable" embellishment on the cross. Stamps are from The Craft's Meow

For my nephew: an elegant, mailable card. Stamps are from The Craft's Meow

If you are interested in seeing more of my papercrafted gift projects, please be sure to check out these "Gift Idea" posts!

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Well, readers, thank you so much for sticking with me through this long post! I think I'll wrap it up here. A huge THANK YOU to the fabulous Colleen for inviting me to post with her today. If you have arrived here outside of the blog hop, I'd love it if you popped over to meet Colleen and say HI! Her work is so beautiful and elegant--I know you'll love visiting with her!!

Thank you so much for visiting today!! I hope that your summers have been swell thus far and continue to be.
Be well!
Emily

My Embossed Elements Winner for June

Hello and Happy Thursday! I'm announcing my Embossed Elements giveaway winner today. The brand-new Cloudy Sky Embossing Folder goes to lucky #23, which is Nikki C.! Congratulations, Nikki! Please email me (you'll find my email address on my "Complete Profile" page--see the right-hand sidebar under my picture) with your snail mail mailing address so I can get this embossing folder sent out to you ;).

My newest embossing folder from the DeNami Design store is the Butterflies in Corner embossing folder. My 15YO daughter ooooo-ed and aaaaaah-ed over this one, so I just had to use it to make her a card. It's a birthday card; well, actually it is her half-birthday card. My sweet thing was born on Christmas Eve. The first few years we celebrated her big day on the actual day, but it was so hard to make it special with Christmas just right around the corner. So starting around her sixth birthday, we asked her if she'd like to celebrate with cake and presents on her half-birthday, so she could spread out the celebrating more. And we've been doing it ever since! So this is the card she'll get from us when we celebrate her half birthday this weekend. My kids' last day of school was Tuesday--June 24!! So celebrating her half birthday is a great way to kick off the summer :) Here's how her half-birthday card turned out:

I used a sweet stamp from the Fancy Flutters set, a sentiment from the Thoughtful Greetings set, a Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen, and some pink baker's twine.

I think my daughter will love how it turned out!!

Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit today!
Emily

DeNami Design Product Spotlight June Blog Hop

It's the fourth Wednesday of June and that means it is time to show off another awesome DeNami Design stamp with a blog hop! This month we are featuring the celebratory Balloon Trio stamp.

I was looking ahead to the Fourth of July when I designed this card:

In addition to the Balloon Trio stamp, I put the Starry Burst stamp and Stars Embossing Folder to use in this design. I rather like how this design turned out. My daughter says it reminds her of fireworks! It's a little something different, that's for sure ;) .

You can purchase the Balloon Trio stamp for 10% off the regular price for the next week. You also have the chance to WIN this fabulous product in today's spotlight blog hop! All you need to do is hop along to each stop in the lineup, leaving comments along the way. Here is the blog hop lineup:

DeNami blog 
Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton  <==== you are here!
Lisa Elton
Pattie Goldman
Tammy Hobbs

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by today--have a day filled with bliss!
Emily

Embossed Elements: Cloudy Sky + a GIVEAWAY

Hi, everybody! I'm coming to you today with the June edition of my monthly Embossed Elements feature for the DeNami blog. Today I'm featuring a truly versatile item: the Cloudy Sky Embossing Folder from the DeNami store. There are just so many different ways to use this awesome design!

My first card is a sweet all-purpose card. It uses just one DeNami stamp (Noah's Ark), and two embossing folders: Cloudy Sky and Beach Waves. I think this would be so cute as a baby card, a baby's first birthday card, or even a thank you note for a Sunday School teacher!

My second card is perfect for the 4th of July! I again used the Cloudy Sky embossing folder as a backdrop, this time for an outdoor celebratory scene featuring Chickie in Balloon, Chickie w/ Sparkler, and Patriotic Chickie. The sentiment comes from the Everyday Greetings stamp set.

I hope this gives you some ideas you can use with the Cloudy Sky embossing folder! Thanks for taking a peek at my embossed projects today. Be sure to check out my giveaway!

How would you like the chance to win this Cloudy Sky Embossing Folder? I have one up for grabs in an Embossed Elements giveaway! Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "CLOUDS." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, June 26, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for joining me today!
Emily

June DeNami Inspired By

Greetings, blog friends! Welcome to the June edition of DeNami Design's Inspired By feature! Each month we feature one talented DeNami customer's work, and then honor that wonderful artist with a host of DeNami DT projects inspired by it! This month we were inspired by Jennifer Loftfield.

You can read all about Jennifer's inspiring design right HERE.

Here's my creation that was inspired by her fun card:

I used DeNami's sweet Giraffe, Square Word Bubble, and "hi" from Everyday Greetings stamp set, as well as the Cloudy Sky embossing folder and some Pink/White Dots washi tape from the DeNami store.

Be sure to head over to the DeNami Design blog today to see how the rest of the team was inspired by Jennifer's lovely creation!

Thanks so much for visiting today. May your day be filled with bliss!
Emily

New Parents Congratulations

Greetings, my friends! Today the DeNami Design Team is sharing designs over on the DeNami Design blog that show off the stamp in this week's Product Spotlight: the very versatile Congratulations Circle.

It's perfect for all kinds of occasions: baby, wedding, new house, anniversary, graduation, retirement, new car, . . . the list could go on and on! I chose to go the new baby route with my project:

I used the Congratulations Circle to create a sweet little award ribbon with Little Duck as its focal point. The embossed background is the Beach Waves Embossing Folder from the DeNami store.

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's lovely creations today on the DeNami blog. Like what you see? Then you can score a great deal on this versatile stamp--as our Spotlight Product, it's on sale at 10% off for the next week!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

Embossed Elements: Father's Day + a Giveaway

Greetings, friends! I'm here today with the May edition of my monthly Embossed Elements feature on the DeNami Design blog. Today I'm preparing for Father's Day with a pair of cards featuring the very cool Diamond Plate Embossing Folder from the DeNami store. It's perfect for those sometimes hard-to-create masculine cards!

My first card is a clean and simple one for Dad's Day. It uses just two DeNami stamps (Dad and Solid Block Border), two colors of ink (Habanero and Deep Lagoon), and two colors of cardstock. I used the Diamond Plate EF to emboss punched squares of cardstock. I love the bold, graphic look of this design. So easy to put together, too!

My second card is a little more involved, but really not too much more. And oddly enough, it has basically the same sketch as the first one! That was totally unplanned, but there you have it ;). For this one I used the Diamond Plate EF to emboss a panel of vellum as a background for my card. I diecut a few gear shapes (perfect for a guy card, right?) that go with that diamond plate background perfectly. Once again I used just two DeNami stamps in my design (Happy Father's Day and Stitched Rectangle) and two ink colors (Satin Red and Onyx Black). This design is perfect for any mechanically inclined dads!!

Thanks for taking a peek at my embossed Father's Day cards today. Be sure to take a peek below at my giveaway!

How would you like the chance to win this Diamond Plate Embossing Folder? I have one up for grabs in an Embossed Elements giveaway! Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "GUYS." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, May 29, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for joining me today!
Emily

May DeNami Inspired By

Greetings, blog friends! Welcome to the May edition of DeNami Design's Inspired By feature! Each month we feature one talented DeNami customer's work, and then honor that wonderful artist with a host of DeNami DT projects inspired by it! This month we were inspired by Tina M.

You can read all about Tina's inspiring design right HERE.

I was inspired by five aspects of Tina's creation:

1. the monochromatic color scheme
2. the two-tone stamping on the focal image
3. her use of an embossed background
4. the layout of her design
5. the little gemstones she used as an accent at the bottom right 

I tried to pick up all of these in my creation:

I went monochromatic, only with shades of blue {Pearlescent Sky Blue Brilliance ink} rather than black. I achieved her two-tone focal image by stamping off with the larger image in the Peacock Feathers stamp set.  I changed up the embossed background by using the funky Multi Circles embossing folder. I altered her sketch a bit by incorporating the sentiment (Medium Double Circle, Thank You Circle, and a heart from the Hearts stamp set) into the focal image panel. And finally, I riffed on Tina's trio of gemstones by embellishing the center of each circle in my embossed background with a pearl drawn on with a 3D Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen.

Be sure to head over to the DeNami Design blog today to see how the rest of the team was inspired by Tina's lovely creation!

Thanks so much for visiting today. May your day be filled with bliss!
Emily

DeNami Design Sky's the Limit Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the May DeNami Design Blog Hop! The theme of this month's hop is The Sky's the Limit!!

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Greta Hess's blog, GG Creations. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are some super-fun DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, May 19, 2014, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize. 

Here's how I interpreted this month's theme:

I went with a high-flying patriotic kite that's perfect for Memorial Day or the 4th of July! A few other sky-themed DeNami products, the Small Cloud stamp and Cloudy Sky embossing folder, were perfect for rounding out my Sky's the Limit design. I also used the God Bless America stamp and two patterns of washi tape from the DeNami store: Blue/White Dots and Red Stripes.

Well, that does it for my creation! It's time for me to send you along on your way. But before you leave for more DeNami inspiration, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes.  Then you can head out to see the next blog hop participant on today's list: Stacy M.    
 
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,
Emily

My Embossed Elements Winner!

Hello and Happy Thursday! I'm announcing my Embossed Elements giveaway winner today. The brand-new Graduation Hat Embossing Folder goes to lucky #21, which is Carol Hartery! Congratulations, Carol! I've emailed you to get your mailing information ;).

I had so much fun playing with this grad embossing folder! I wanted to share one more creation I made with it:

For this card, I created a chevron pattern with Black Curly Loops washi tape and Yellow/White Dots washi tape (in the school colors of the recipient!) on a cardstock panel before embossing the taped panel with the Graduation Hat embossing folder. Then I stamped and fussy cut a Diploma to use as my focal point! A fun design with lots of impact, I thought.

Thanks so much for dropping by for a little slice of bliss with me today!
Emily

Embossed Elements: GRADUATION + a Giveaway!

Greetings, friends! I'm here today with the April edition of my monthly Embossed Elements feature for the DeNami Design blog. Today I'm gearing up for graduation season with two different cards using fun embossing folders from the DeNami store.

My first project features the oh-so-festive Graduation Hat Embossing Folder.  I used it (along with Congratulations Circle and the diploma and mortarboard stamps from the cling Graduation Set) to make a congratulatory card for the new graduate.

I chose the colors of my daughter's high school (including some fabulous DeNami Leaf Green cardstock for the embossed panel and the paper-pieced mortarboard) for this creation and went with a design that really shows off that awesome embossed sea of graduation caps. Doesn't it look like a crowd of grads has just tossed their mortarboards into the air at the end of the commencement ceremony? That image always makes me smile :). Not only is this embossing folder super for graduation cards, but it would also be perfect for making graduation invitations or graduation thank you notes.

I don't find myself needing graduation cards all that often (although as my kids progress further through school, I imagine that will begin to change!), so I was reluctant at first to invest in purely graduation-themed products. Just in case you find yourself in a similar situation, I wanted to show you another option for a fun graduation card using non-graduation-specific products. This project features the Bunting Embossing Folder.

After embossing my white card base with the Bunting EF, I embossed several scraps of patterned paper (once again choosing a color scheme inspired by my daughter's high school) and then paper-pieced each of the pennants. I love how it turned out! I completed my clean and simple design with a loopy bow tied in baker's twine from the Spring Twine 3-pack and a stamped Small Congratulations sentiment.

I love the festive look that the embossed pennant banner gives this congratulations card. It's so easy to personalize the bunting with the recipient's school colors. But I can also think of all kinds of other occasions--not just graduations!--that this embossing folder would be perfect for: birthday, baby, weddings, anniversaries, Independence Day, New Year's, . . . the list could go on and on!!

Thanks for taking a peek at my embossed graduation projects today. I hope I was able to inspire you!

How would you like the chance to win this Graduation Hat Embossing Folder? I have one up for grabs in an Embossed Elements giveaway! Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "MORTARBOARD." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 30, 2014, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, May 1, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for joining me today!
Emily

April DeNami Inspired By

Hello and welcome back to the April edition of DeNami Design's Inspired By feature! Each month we feature one talented DeNami customer's work, and then honor that wonderful artist with a host of DeNami DT projects inspired by it! This month we were inspired by Barb M.

Isn't that absolutely beautiful? You can read all about it right here on Barb's blog.

I really loved the colors that Barb used in her lovely creation, so I let those guide my design and decided to take a CAS approach. Here's what I came up with:

I used the Fancy Flutters cling set, Decorative Flourish, and Sending You Love sentiment. I embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder and used an emboss-resist technique with it while sponging on some dye ink. I was going for an ombre look--I hope that's what I achieved!

Be sure to head over to the DeNami Design blog today to see how the rest of the team was inspired by Barb's lovely creation!

Thanks so much for visiting today. May your day be filled with bliss!
Emily

Happy Easter Eggs

Welcome to another beautiful day here at My Little Slice of Bliss! Today the DeNami Design Team is sharing designs over on the DeNami Design blog that show off the stamp in this week's Product Spotlight: F160 Happy Easter.

Recently, my hubby gave me a set of egg-shaped dies, and I couldn't resist using them for a trio of Easter-egg themed cards for today's Product Spotlight! Here's what I created:

A pair of egg-shaped cards! I used only two stamps on both of these: Happy Easter and Elegant Word Plate, but I amped up the "festive factor" with lots and lots of washi tape from the DeNami Design store.

DeNami products: Purple/White dots, Green Stripes, Yellow/White dots, Pink Stripes washi tape and baker's twine from the Confetti Twine 3-pack

DeNami products: Lime/White dots, Pink Chevron, Teal Chevron washi tape

I also tried a standard A2-sized card using another of my new egg-shaped dies. I was trying to recreate the look of this purple Faberge-style egg. To do so, I embossed my egg diecut with my Wire Fence Embossing Folder from the DeNami store, and rubbed a metallic gold ink pad across the raised embossing to give it a gilded look. Then I embellished each point of intersection in the design with liquid pearls.

You can see the sheen of the pearls a little better in these two photos:

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's lovely creations today on the DeNami blog. Like what you see? Then you can score a great deal on this beautiful Happy Easter sentiment--as our Spotlight Product, it's on sale at 10% off for the next week!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

DeNami Design ~ Easter Basket

Greetings, friends! It's my turn to share a project over on the DeNami Design blog today. I made a fun Easter card featuring the adorable Chickie Easter Basket stamp (thanks, Brenda!!!) and the new Basket Weave embossing folder from the DeNami Design store. I hope you'll swing by to take a peek and tell me what you think! Here's a little preview:

Thanks for dropping by! Have a super day!
Emily

My Embossed Elements Winner!

Happy day to all of you! And welcome to another wonderful Thursday. I'm announcing my Embossed Elements giveaway winner today. The brand-new Basket Weave embossing folder goes to lucky #10, which is Roey!! Congratulations, Roey! I couldn't find any way to contact you directly, so please email me (you can find my email address on my Profile page) with your mailing address so I can get your new embossing folder sent out to you right away. :)

I wish I could give all of my fabulous readers one of these lovely embossing folders. You are all so sweet! But that's just not possible, so I'm hoping a little eye candy will help soothe any disappointment ;) . I want to share another card that features the beautiful Basket Weave embossing folder, something perfect for spring:

I can't wait to see all the daffodils and tulips blooming this year! How about you? I am craving color in our dull and (still) frozen landscape. So I figured making a card featuring tulips and daffodils that I could color myself would be just what the doctor ordered. Here are the fantastic products from the DeNami Design store that I used for this card:

Large Spring Basket

Spring Flowers Cling Set

Spring Greetings

Yellow/White Dots Washi Tape

Pastel Baker's Twine

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink

I love how this card turned out!

Thanks so much for dropping by for a little slice of bliss with me today!
Emily