A Little Message for You . . .

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: Little Fawn. And boy, what a cutie this one is!

I pulled out an old Basic Grey 6x6 pad of patterned paper (PB&J collection) and picked out a bunch of fun patterns to use together. With all that pattern and color going on, I figured it would be best to leave my stamped images uncolored, so I stamped Little Fawn and the log from Woodland Logs Set on kraft cardstock and then fussy cut each for my design. Here's what I came up with:

My sentiment is DeNami's A Little Message for You stamp. I added a boutique button and some orange rhinestones, along with a chevron arrow trimmed from one of my selected sheets of patterned paper.

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 sweet woodland critter--as our Spotlight Product, it's on sale at 10% off for the next week!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

Winter Forest Birthday

I'm just sharing a little something for Unity's Friends With Flair today.

Stamps are from Unity Stamp Co.: sentiment is from How YOU Doin' and bird is from a Unity grab bag--sorry, I don't know which set exactly!

My daughter turns 15 next week, so this card will be for her. She loves these birch trees, so I think she'll love this card! Simple, but unfussy and elegant. Perfect for the grown-up gal she's turning into!

This is my last day with the kids out of the house before Christmas, and I'm off to make the most of it.

Have a great weekend!
Emily

Ways With Washi: FRAMES + a Giveaway!

Hello there, DeNami Friends! Today I'm popping in with my August edition of Ways With Washi, a feature I developed for the DeNami Design blog. Today we are going to take a look at ways to use washi tape to add decorative frames to your cards and papercrafted projects. I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to give up summer quite yet! So I thought we could hold on to those halcyon days a little bit longer by featuring some of the newest DeNami stamps that I think capture summer perfectly. All three of these adorable chickie stamps have a camping theme, one of my family's favorite summer activities! I couldn't have been more thrilled when these camping stamps were included in last month's new release.   

So, let's get to it! Starting off my washi-frame parade today is this card featuring a super-simple frame made with Purple/White Dots washi tape. I simply matted my focal-image panel on a second piece of cardstock and then adhered strips of washi tape along the edges of the central panel, wrapping the washi tape edges around to the back of the mat. Quick and easy!

DeNami supplies: Road Washi Tape, RV Chickies, White Boutique Buttons, and

Next, I made a frame that somehow reminds me of something more rustic, like a twig frame. Red Stripes washi tape was perfect for this project--I used the stripes as cutting guides to create more slender strips of washi tape. Plus, I love the long, lean framing effect that the stripes add to the design!

DeNami supplies: Chickie in Tent, Peacock Feathers Set, Small Cloud, Small Solid Circle, and Hello Friend   

For my last project for today, I wanted to show you a really fun patchwork style of washi-tape frame! I trimmed a panel of white cardstock just a bit smaller than my card base and then adhered short strips of three different washi tapes (Pink/White Dots, Yellow/White Dots, and Orange Stripes) all around the edges. There's no need to line up the washi-tape strips; I simply wrapped one edge of each piece around to the back of the panel and varied how much was wrapped behind with each piece.

DeNami supplies:  Campfire Chickies and Let's Get Together stamp set

I hope you enjoyed this little camping adventure while we explored a few ways to make frames with washi tape!

GIVEAWAY

How would you like to win a roll of washi tape to try making some washi frames for yourself? I have a brand-new roll of Brown/White Dots Washi Tape from DeNami Design that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "VACATION." 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, August 28, 2013, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, August 29, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

I'm so glad you dropped by for a little slice of bliss today!
Emily

DeNami Design Chickies Sneak Peeks

Welcome to Day 1 of the DeNami Design Fall/Winter Release Sneak Peeks!! Today brand-new DT Member Pattie Goldman, veteran DeNami DT member Lisa Petrella, and I are giving you sneak peeks of brand-new DeNami stamps about to be released in the always-fun CHICKIES category! Be sure to read all the way to the end of this post for details on a great giveaway :D.

Do the sweet DeNami chickies totally tickle your fancy? If so, you are positively in luck! The new release includes brand-new chickie stamps for summer activities, various sports, girlfriends, camping, gardening, Halloween, and Christmas. Whew!! That's quite a few! 

Are you ready to take a peek at what's in store for the chickie category? Let's get started!

The new chickie stamps I was most excited about are the camping ones! Not only do I have my very own Girl Scout and Cub Scout in my family, but our family loves to go on camping road trips. This card uses the brand-new Campfire Chickies stamp and Chickie in Tent stamp. I thought this would make a perfect thank-you card for my daughter to give to her Girl Scout leader! Her troop LOVES to go camping. :) I also used the ultra versatile Small Cloud and Thanks A Bunch sentiment, and threw in a couple of Sand Boutique Buttons. (All of the patterned papers are digital prints from the digital Campout collection by Design by Dani, available from JessicaSprague.com.)

Now how about taking a gander at a pair of stamps that are perfect for the rockers in your life?

This card shows off the new Rock Band Chickies stamp and the fun You Rock! sentiment. I added some chipboard alphabet stickers to spell out "dude," the perfect touch for a teenager-bound card. A bit of Black Curly Loops washi tape and some red DeNami cardstock round out my design.

Next I'm shifting gears to autumn and Halloween!

For this creation, I paired the brand-new Pumpkin Patch Chickies stamp with the cling-style Trick or Treat sentiment stamp. Aren't those chickies sweet? I made my background from an assortment of DeNami washi tapes: Lime/White Dots, Black Curly Loops, and Orange Stripes. I also used some Desert Orange cardstock and black baker's twine from the DeNami store.

And finally, let's have a little Christmas in July!

Don't you just love those sweet little Caroling Chickies? And I am completely captivated by the tiny sentiments in the brand-new Christmas Greetings petit four stamp sets!!! This is a set that I have been waiting ever so patiently for :D. They are just the perfect size for Christmas tags, and that's exactly how I put them to use.

The DeNami To and From stamps are perfect for completing these festive tags. I also used some red DeNami cardstock and red baker's twine from the DeNami store. 

All of the new stamps I used today in my sneak peek projects will go live in the DeNami online store on July 10 at 9am PST.

OK, are you still with me? Thanks for hanging in there through this long post. :-) I mentioned a giveaway way back at the beginning of this post.

DeNami Design is giving away two gift certificates today! Be sure to leave a comment here on my blog post, Pattie's chickie sneak peek blog post, and Lisa's sneak peek blog post, too. Then head over to the DeNami Design blog and leave a comment there, too, for another way to win today!

I'm so glad that you dropped in to check out some of the new chickie stamps in the DeNami Design Fall/Winter Release! Be sure to tune into the DeNami blog tomorrow for more sneak peeks and giveaways.

Until then, have a day filled with bliss,
Emily 

Pleated Washi Frame Tutorial

It's my turn to share another tutorial over on the DeNami Design blog today! A few weeks ago I shared some ideas for using pleated washi tape in my April Ways With Washi feature. One of my projects featured a ruffled frame constructed from pleated washi tape. So I thought that today I'd show, step by step, how you can do this yourself. Be sure to check out the DeNami Design blog to see how to turn this

into this

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous weekend,
Emily

Pining Away for Christmas

Welcome! This morning I have a wintery Christmas card to share.

It features the latest DeNami Product Spotlight stamp, the Medium Pine.

Isn't that an elegant pine tree stamp? For more ideas on how to use it, be sure to visit the DeNami blog today where the entire design team is sharing some awesome piney inspiration. This stamp is on sale in the DeNami store this week, too!!

To create this card, I stamped the Medium Pine three times without re-inking and layered a glitter-edged "snow" panel on top. The gold star at the top of the tree and the snowflakes come from the Petit Four Holiday stamp set, and that pretty hand-scripted sentiment is the Whimsical Merry Christmas stamp. Additional goodies from the DeNami store that I used on this card:  Sage cardstock, Red cardstock, Satin Red Versafine ink, Olympia Green Versafine ink, red Boutique Button, red/white twine from the Classic Twine 3-pack, and the EK Success Dotted Scallop border punch.

Thanks for sharing a little slice of paper bliss with me today!
Emily

I {heart} Nature

Just a quick post here to play along with Market Street Stamps' November Block Party!

I had so much fun making this card! I used stamps from the oh-so-adorable MSS Woodland set. I paper-pieced the sweet little birdie with papers from the BasicGrey Nook and Pantry collection, and I colored the whimsical MSS branches with markers.

I'm also playing along with the Do You Stack Up? Challenge, to use a Leaves/Trees theme.

Thanks so much for taking a look! I hope you are having a great weekend. Come back soon!
Emily

Pine Boughs at Night

The first noontime release-week challenge over at Flourishes is called Night & Day, and the challenge is to show a time of day in your creation. It gets dark so early around here at this time of year, so I was inspired to try to capture the look of snow-dusted pine boughs at dusk.
I used Meg's fabulous Poor Man's Spectrum Pad technique with a brayer to create my dusk sky, then stamped the pine branches from Flourishes' All That Glitters set in black to create a silhouette. I glittered up the boughs with some glitter glue and did some scoring on a panel of Marina Mist to give my scene a subtle background. The sentiment, from the Flourishes set Country Charm Labels, is stamped on a panel of vellum.

It's a simple card, but hopefully elegant--that's what I was going for, at least! It will do nicely as a post-Christmas thank-you card.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Stampin' B's Snowflake Challenge

Welcome to Thursday!! Time for another Stampin' B's DT challenge. This week Joanne is our hostess, and her challenge to us is Snowflakes, Snowflakes, Snowflakes. Done and DONE!!
So my dusky evergreen scene is framed in snowflakes and matted on some shimmery, silvery snowflake DP from Pink Paislee. And I was SO thrilled to be able to add this luscious lilac baker's twine from The Twinery that I won in the Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge a few weeks ago. Plus, I used my brand-new Martha Stewart Nordic snowflake punch and SU jewelry tag punch for the first times (along with my new SU Tiny Tags stamp set, as well). It's so much fun to play with new toys! :)

I was able to incorporate a few other challenges into this 5" x 5" card:

• Create For Fun: CR84FN4, to use purple, light purple, and gray
• Card Positioning Systems: CPS 193
• Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge: #29, Snowflakes
• Paper Sundaes: #44, Pick Your Own Sundae Toppings! Choose at least two of these toppings: punches, ribbon, embossing, or the color blue. I used lots of punches, and I'm counting my pretty new baker's twine as ribbon.
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge: FTTC93, Christmas Card

I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks so much for checking out my creation for today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers A Walk in the Woods, SU Tiny Tags, SU Christmas Punch
Paper: SU whisper white CS, The Paper Company CS, Pink Paislee Tinsel Town Collection DP
Ink: Palette inks: violette, lavender sachet, charcoal
Accessories: CM circle cutting system, MS Nordic snowflake punch, SU boho blossoms punch, SU jewelry tag punch, sponges, dimensionals, rhinestones, pearls, baker's twine
Techniques: sponging, punches

Forest Sympathy

I've been itching to play the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge SC300 ever since it was issued last week, and I finally got the chance to do so last night!! Wow, 300 weekly sketches--that's quite a milestone. It was perfect for a CAS sympathy card I'd been picturing in my mind for a while.

This is a SNEAK PEEK of a new clear stamp set scheduled to be released by Mark's Finest Papers next week. This time I am using A Walk in the Woods (along with the birch tree trunks from an older set, Stinky Situation). A Walk in the Woods features a variety of gorgeous tree images (I used one in the background stamping on the saffron panels) and a variety of comforting sentiments, including this "with Sympathy" sentiment. My inside sentiment reads "Peace be with you."

I just adore the birch trunks image! And so versatile--it can be used as a background, or, because it is so detailed, as a focal point, as I did here. I stamped them in Versamark on watercolor paper, covered with black embossing powder, and heat set. Then I had a lovely time watercoloring, the coloring method that makes me happiest!!

I also incorporated these challenges:

• Embellish Magazine: Background Stamping Color Challenge
• Stamptacular Sunday: Challenge #79, Layer It On, to use at least 5 layers
• Stamps R Us: Challenge #6, an All Nature Theme

I never got a chance to tell you about our geocaching adventures on Saturday. We had a blast!! We found two caches hidden in a nearby conservation area that we'd never even heard of. It is tucked in a residential area about a mile and a half away. I was amazed by the forest we walked through--nicely groomed, well-marked, wide forest paths through really tall, widely spaced pines and hardwoods. It was so peaceful!! It seemed like we were miles from civilization, yet in reality we were only a stone's throw from folks' backyards. We found our geocaches without too much trouble; the kids loved checking out the trinkets stashed in each one, exchanging swag from their personal collections for cool finds in the geocache; and we all enjoyed an easy hike. A restorative afternoon!

Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of happy!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers: A Walk in the Woods & Stinky Situation
Paper: SU basic black, SU so saffron, The Paper Company grey, Canson watercolor paper
Ink: Versamark, SU so saffron, Marvy LePlume II black marker (sentiment), Rubber Stampede black (for watercoloring)
Accessories: black embossing powder, heat tool, watercolor brush, dimensionals
Techniques: watercolor painting

A Blue Autumn

I made this card yesterday when I was feeling productive, creative, and having a wonderful day. I had all kinds of fun things to share with you about our super Saturday, but ran out of time before bedtime to blog about it. Sadly, I'm feeling super tired today and kinda cruddy, so this will be a just a short post.

Challenges:

• Off the Wall Craftiness: Challenge #27
• Limelight Papercrafts: Challenge 57 and Leaves
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Challenge 123, Spots and Stripes
• Speedy the Cat's Friends: Challenge 23, Buttons and Bows

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Autumn Fun
Paper: SU baja breeze, SU DP, The Paper Company cream CS
Ink: Palette burnt umber
Accessories: scoring tool, sewing machine, Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stumps, felt stickers from Target's Dollar Spot, buttons from my stash, dotted grosgrain ribbon, Bow-Easy
Techniques: Gamsol Magic, scoring, machine stitching

Midnight Madness Sketch and Another CONTEST!

Happy World Card Making Day, everyone!! I was so pleased to be able to squeeze in some card-making time for myself today. So without further ado, let's meet today's card!!
I have been dying to do some watercoloring for several weeks now, so I was so pleased to finally take some time to do what makes me happy!! The stamped leaf image is an old stamp from The Angel Company. I've never really used it much because I was so intimidated by coloring the wide open space inside the lines. But watercoloring is a game-changer!! So easy, and I love the look I ended up with. It's kind of a big image, so this is a big card--it measures 5"x7".

The text panel behind the image panel was cut from a vintage book I bought specifically to hack up for paper crafts and then sponged with pumpkin pie ink.

Challenges that I incorporated into this card:

• Midnight Madness: Sketch Challenge#73
• Simon Says: It's Autumn, use this photo for inspiration AND use beautiful autumn colors
• Color Throwdown: color combo #112
• Tuesday Taggers: All About Autumn
• Stamptacular Sunday: use as many colors as you’d like BUT only colors you’d see in the FALL
• City Crafter Challenge Blog: week 24, Flowers and Frills, include at least one flower and some lace or a doily

In other news, the September Gallery Comment Contest I was hosting over on Splitcoast Stampers ended just before midnight on Thursday. We had an unbelievable 634 entries--which translates into awarding 8 prizes!! I'm having fun assembling all of my prize packages and hope to have everything ready to mail out to my winners by Monday morning :) .

I decided to host the CONTEST again for October, so if you are interested in finding out more, please check out the October 2010 Gallery Comment Contest thread over on SCS. You can enter as many times as you like and comment on whatever cards you like!!! The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. on October 31. I'd love to have you join us!! Just let me know if you have any questions. :)

Well, that does it for today! Did you get in any card making or supply shopping for to celebrate World Card Making Day? Leave me a comment to tell me how you celebrated!! See you soon! :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: The Angel Company
Paper: SU pumpkin pie, SU old olive, SU rose red, Canson watercolor paper, DCWV Indian Summer Stack DP, page from vintage book
Ink: Palette burnt umber, SU pumpkin pie, SU old olive, Rubber Stampede scarlet
Accessories: SU scallop trim corner punch, SU boho blossoms punch, MS maple leaf punch, watercolor brush, sponge, lace trim, olive brads, orange rhinestones
Techniques: watercolor painting, sponging

Fall Leaves and My Last Blog Award

Happy Monday to you! I feel like I have things reasonably under control this morning, so I wanted to take a moment to share a card that I made yesterday. I just LOVE how this one turned out!!
I won this beautiful Stampin' Up Branch Out set as blog candy from Shelly Schmidt at My Creative Rumblings over the summer. I have always drooled over it and was thrilled to finally own it!! But my crazy summer didn't allow time to play with it, so I finally treated myself yesterday and took time to assemble it and do some stamping. :)

The felt curlicue is a pre-cut self-adhesive Felt Fusion border from Queen & Co. It comes in a 12" strip (which I found on sale for $0.74 at A.C. Moore) and is easy to cut. I love how it dressed up my card!! The buttons are from my stash, and I tied a bow of brown burlap string through the big button.

These cute leaves are from a pack of autumn harvest felt stickers that I just picked up last week at Target's Dollar Spot. The pack of 75 stickers includes these deep maroon maple leaves, green oak leaves, orange pumpkins, and brown "FALL" words (you can just see the part of one of these on the inside of my card.) I think I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of these!!

This card is for these challenges:

• Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge:
• Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: to be inspired by this afghan. I was inspired by its gorgeous fall colors!
• Crafty Creations: falling leaves
• Stamptacular Sunday: fall colors
• 4 Crafty Chicks: celebrate fall

I know I mentioned last week that I had one more blog award to accept and then award to fellow bloggers. Unfortunately, blogging time has been rather elusive the past several days, so I wasn't able to fit it in. However, it makes me very happy to finally get the chance to accept this One Lovely Blog Award from two fellow bloggers, Sally of Cards for All Reasons and Susan of Imagine.Create.Express. Thank you so very much, ladies!! I am touched and honored by your awards. :)

And now I get to pass on this award to seven more bloggers with lovely blogs. My picks are:

Judi, paper-rose-petals
Brenda, Benzi Stampz
Meg, Corgi Creations
Linda, Snail's Space
Kristy, Kristy's Crafts
Lynn, Confessions of a Left-Brained Stamper
Vicki, All I Do Is Stamp

I think that ALL of these ladies do beautiful work and have friendly and inviting blogs that are a joy to visit!! (If you haven't checked out these lovely blogs, it would be worth your while to do so.) Congratulations to all of you, you are truly deserving. Have fun spreading the love!! :)

And with that, fair readers, I bid you adieu. My To-Do list beckons. Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit!!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU Branch Out
Paper: SU pumpkin pie CS, SU whisper white CS, DCWV Indian Summer Stack DP
Ink: Palette burnt umber, SU so saffron, SU pumpkin pie, SU old olive
Accessories: CM oval cutting system, sponge, sewing machine, buttons from my stash, brown burlap string, Queen & Co Felt Fusion scroll border, leaf felt stickers from Target's Dollar Spot
Techniques: sponging, machine stitching

Autumn Sympathy

A happy Wednesday to you! What a crazy week. At first I started typing "happy Monday" and then changed it to "happy Tuesday" before realizing that it is already Wednesday. Where has the week gone??? I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Saturday. I'm not sure how that happened. I trust that all of you had a super weekend. We certainly did. Our DD (11YO) had a fantastic Girl Scout encampment weekend. The weather was perfect! On Saturday, our DS (7YO) was thrilled when my DH took the training wheels off his bicycle. He was obviously far past ready to be released from training wheels land. He had everything mastered within minutes! He spent his weekend tearing up and down the driveway with no training wheels to slow him down. :)

Then on Sunday afternoon, after DD returned from her camping trip, all four of us went apple picking. It's our family tradition to go picking at a local orchard the very first weekend that MacIntosh apples come into season! It was fabulous. We picked 3/4 of a mixed bushel of Macs and Galas. That should last us for a couple of months of lunches (and maybe a few pans of apple crisp, too.) Yum!

I stole an hour (OK, probably a bit more than that) this morning to make a sympathy card I've needed for over a week now. It was lovely to be creating again. I do hope that this will help to comfort one of my fellow DT members who lost her mother last week.
I stamped the birch tree trunks (an MFP stamp from the set Stinky Situation) in Versamark ink and applied SU chocolate chip chalk with a sponge applicator. The oval of "DP" under the main image was recycled from a Panera gift card holder I received earlier in the year. To make the messy pleated ribbon, I ran a line of adhesive from my tape runner down the length of the ribbon (on the back) and stuck it down, to itself and to the card underneath.

Here are the challenges I incorporated while making this card:

• Splitcoast sketch challenge SC298,
• The Paper Players Challenge #15, to use Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and Early Espresso,
• City Crafter Challenge Week 22, Tree of Books, to create a card/project that include the image of a tree/trees or a book/books,
• Delightful Challenges, Ribbon Recipe,
• Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #20, to use fall colors,
• A Spoonfull of Sugar Challenge 121, autumn color challenge,
• Tuesday Taggers, Diamonds are Forever. I scored a piece of textured card stock with a diamond pattern,
• Tuesday Throwdown #17, distressing. I used an emery board to sand my scored diamond pattern and to distress the edges of most of my panels and mats.

Thanks for stopping by to visit today!

Card recipe:
Stamps: MFP Stinky Situation, My Sentiments Exactly (MSE) Sympathy Sentiments
Paper: SU chocolate chip CS, Cosmo Cricket Pixie Dust CS, various scraps of CS, recycled Panera gift card holder
Ink: Versamark, Palette burnt umber
Accessories: CM oval cutting system, SU modern label punch, scoring tool, emery board (for distressing), Stampin' Pastels, sponge applicator, hairspray, dimensionals, wrinkled ribbon
Techniques: Poppin' Pastels, distressing

Edited 10/12/2010 to add:

Just discovered that I was named a City Crafter Challenge Blog Spotlight Artist for Week 22 for this sympathy card.

Nuts are DELICIOUS!

Just a quick post to share a card I made for yesterday's SCS CAS challenge, to be inspired by the word "delicious." While we were on vacation, my sister shared some Big Triple Nut Bars by Planters to restore our flagging energy reserves while at an amusement park. Wow!! These chewy delights boast honey-roasted peanuts, almonds, cashews, and a sprinkling of granola. Talk about delicious!! We couldn't wait to go out and buy more for ourselves. These delicious treats inspired my "I'm Nuts about you!" card featuring this adorable little squirrel out collecting--what else??--nuts!

This is a sneak peek of a new set called Autumn Fun, scheduled for release from Mark's Finest Papers next week. I thought the sentiment was perfect for Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #18, to make a friendship card! And my monochromatic color scheme was inspired by this sweet Brown Owl Ring from The Caged Fairy Etsy shop, as part of this week's EtsyInspired Challenge #103.

Thanks for stopping by my little slice of bliss today!

SUPPLIES:
Stamps: MFP Autumn Fun
Paper: MFP hazelnut tan CS, MFP Snow Storm ultra smooth finish CS
Ink: Palette burnt umber
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, scissors, dimensionals

P.S. Be sure to check out the Jillibean Soup GIVEAWAY that Mandy has on at Limelight Paper Crafts. A winner will be drawn on Friday, September 3!