A Blog Hop for Linda

Hi again! I know this is my third post of the day but this one is pretty special! (My cards for Our Creative Corner and Dynamic Duos are below this post.) This is a celebration for my blogging friend, Linda Callahan. Have you ever visited her blog? You will want to, she is amazingly creative! (Click her name to go to her blog!) Linda is about to become a Grandmother and a bunch of us wanted to take some time to celebrate the occasion. Congratulations, Linda! This is all for YOU! :) 

Although I do not have a card to share, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my own grandmother today. Here is one of my favorite photos, that is proudly displayed in our home. I have such loving memories of my Grandma Frances. Not only was she a beautiful woman, but she was incredibly kind-hearted and always full of love. She gave the best hugs, too! I miss her so much! I remember all of the wonderful times I spent with her and will never forget the lessons she taught me. I can still smell Sunday dinners cooking in her kitchen and have fond memories of our times together as a family. A couple of weeks ago, I came upon a Lily of the Valley scented candle and it instantly brought me back to Grandma's garden back in Upstate New York. It's funny how a scent can evoke such a memory. That made the quote for Linda's blog hop that much more meaningful for me: 

"A garden of love grows in a Grandmother's heart" - Author Unknown

Grandmother's are a wonderful gift and a blessing to cherish! I wish I had the opportunity to tell both of my Grandma's how much I love them today. Sadly, they have both passed on, but their memories live on every single day. Congratulations to you, Linda on the upcoming arrival of your new grand-baby! Enjoy every moment with that sweet bundle of joy, my friend! :)    

Please stop by the rest of the gals on the hop to see their creations, OR to simply share their memories...all to celebrate Linda! 

Lesley Croghan

Mary Fish

Cindy Hall

Anne Marie Hile (you are here) 

Jaydee (NEXT on the hop!)

Nance Leedy

Jen Mitchell

Tui Nathan

LeAnne Pugliese

Ann Schach

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Thanks for visiting! Have a wonderful day today! :)

Mix and Match Week at Dynamic Duos

This week at Dynamic Duos we have a fun Mix and Match challenge to try! Here is how it works...we feature one color to work with and YOU choose the other. As always, neutrals are welcome. Not sure what qualifies as a "neutral"? Check out the Dynamic Duos site for more info. We would love for you to join us...just remember that we ask that you do NOT combine our challenge with other color challenges. 

I got inspiration for my card design from this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout. I kept it simple with the Pennant Punch and added a wee bit of sparkle. I incorporated some texture with the embossing and the popped-up details. This is one awesome sketch...gotta love keeping it clean! :) 

I added some Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder to the stamped Crumb Cake banners for a little added pop. The little flowers and the sentiment are heat embossed. All of the supplies used are listed at the end of this post.  

A quick shot of the inside of the card: 

Sure hope you will join us this week at Dynamic Duos! We can't wait to see what you combine with our yummy Crumb Cake combo! Please stop by and visit the rest of the gals on the Design Team to see their awesome color combinations this week: 

The Dynamic Duos Design Team:

Allisa Chilton

Anne Marie Hile

Anika Lerche

Bronwyn Eastley

Kim Singdahlsen

Lesley Croghan

Lisa Elton

Melissa Chipperfield

Paige Grabau

Sue Joyce

Thanks for visiting today! :) 




Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Pennant Parade and Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Polka Dot Parade DSP, Crumb Cake, Real Red and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Real Red Classic ink and Versa-Mark Embossing ink
Punches: Petite Pennants Builder Punch
Accessories: Perfect Pokka Dots Embossing Folder, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Iridescent Ice Embossing powder, Clear Embossing powder, retired white ribbon with red stitching, Basic Rhinestones and Stampin' Dimensionals
Non-SU! Accessories: red and white baker's twine

Cupcake Birthday for Our Creative Corner

Hi there! It's Saturday and time for a fun challenge over at Our Creative Corner! I ended up missing last week's challenge due to a really hectic schedule. (So sorry, gals!) I have been a horrible blogger lately, life has been getting in the way. Please don't think I haven't wanted to visit your blog....I just need more time in the day lately. :( 

This week, the lovely and talented Kristin Tierney is our hostess and this is unfortunately her last challenge with OCC. Boo! Our theme is "Bakin' Beauties" and we are using the inspiration photo to get started. The rest of the challenge details are listed below, in Kristin's own words.

"I'm obsessed with beautiful cookies and 'fancy' cakes!  I always try to make them myself, but generally fall a bit short...  Your challenge this week is to make a creation based on these delish looking treats - the catch?  You MUST use something you would use in baking in your creations.  Get creative - use food coloring, paper liners, or sprinkles.  Know any cool techniques with egg whites, flour or sugar?  You need to explain your 'ingredient' in your description of your creation."

Although my card has a whole lotta ingredients, two were pulled from my kitchen cabinets. Can you guess what they are? The base of the cupcake is made from a light pink cupcake wrapper. I stamped the image on it, then punched it out. After punching, it lost a lot if it's dimension, so I punched another "base" out of white card stock, stuck the punched cupcake wrapper to it, then ran it through the Paper Crimper. The top of the cupcake is decorated with some edible sugary sprinkles...thanks Williams Sonoma! I guess technically the baker's twine could be considered a "kitchen" ingredient, so I will include that, too. 

I used the awesome sketch from Deconstructed Sketches for the layout. Check it out!  

Thanks for stopping by! We sure hope you will cook up some fun in the "creative kitchen" for this week's Our Creative Corner challenge. Please stop by and see what the rest of the Design Team have whipped up this week for inspiration: 

Linda Coughlin- The Funkie Junkie

Sue Butler- Scrumplescrunch
Anita Houston- The Artful Maven Haven

Anne Marie Hile- Stampin' Anne

Wendy Janson-  It's All About Stamping
Marcy Kaminski - En Papillote Arts
Holly Kean- Kean On Paper 
Irena Kowalczyk (aka Rudlis) - Love, Life and Crafts
Meihsia Liu- Simply Paper Crafts
Tui Nathan- Stampin Time
Lori Rider- The Diva Stamper
Kristin Tierney- Lilly Beth Boutique

Sharon Wheet- Designs by Sharon

Have a HAPPY day! :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List:
Stamps: Create a Cupcake and Teeny Tiny Wishes (sentiment) 
Paper: In-Colors DSP Paper Stack, Lucky Limeade Textured card stock, Lucky Limeade, Primrose Petals, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock 
Ink: Lucky Limeade and Primrose Petals Classic ink
Punches: Cupcake Builder punch and Owl Builder Punch (heart)
Accessories: Lucky Limeade baker's twine, Scallop Edgelits die, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Primrose Petals 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Paper Crimper, Bitty Banners Framelits, Basic Rhinestones and Stampin' Dimensionals
Non-SU Accessories: dotted embossing folder, circle and scalloped circle die

Lots of Layers for Paper Players #101

Hey there! It's Sunday and that means it is time for another challenge at the Paper Players! This week, Lesley is our hostess with this awesome sketch. This is a cool design...I had fun with it. I hope you will play along, too.


The color combo came straight from the SU! Color Coach. If the Color Coach says it's a good match, then it is. It's like the "Godfather" of crafting tools. Haha! I actually attempted to use as many new products as I could on this card. It's kind of ridiculous.I love a card with lots of layers and his one is chock full of them! 

I am absolutely loving the new In-Colors...especially Summer Starfruit, which I wasn't so sure about, at first. The main image was punched (...and punched...and punched) from the Quint-Essential Flower image. I love stamps that coordinate with punches and this one happens to match up with 5 punches. Pretty fabulous, right? I also used a cool new tool called the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, to add those paper-pierced elements around the circle, This is seriously an awesome tool...it has templates to punch around a variety of shapes. That has to be one of my favorite items from the new catty, for sure! The complete supply list is featured at the end of this post.

I realized after I put this card together that I added the sentiment to the opposite side of the sketch. Ack!! 

The inside of the card was dressed up with some plain card stock and a little DSP to add a personalized note. Instead of sharing that boring photo, I thought I would share a shot of my sweet Maine Coon kitty, Benjamin Maxwell. He likes to "supervise" me when I am in my craft room. Here he is on resting on the storage bins under the window, in my craft room. He's a BIG ol' mess! (Rita, I made him pose just for you!)  

Be sure to visit the rest of the DT to see what they created for the challenge this week over at the Paper Players. Please join us! The challenge closes on Friday, June 29th at Noon. Hope to see you there! :) 

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile 

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

      Also, please  welcome our wonderful Guest Designer:

 Vicki Burdick! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Quint-Essential Flower and Tiny Tags
Ink; Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit and Basic Gray Classic ink
Paper: In Colors DSP Paper Pad, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Basic Gray and Whisper White card stock. 
Punches: Scallop Trim Border punch, 2- 3/8" Scallop Circle, 1- 3/4" Circle punch, 1" Circle punch, 3/4" Circle punch, 1/2" CIrcle punch and Jewelry Tag punch 
Accessories: Chevron Embossing folder, Fancy Folds Embossing folder, 5/8" Whisper White Organza Ribbon,  Stampin' Dimensionals, Chevron Embossing folder, Square Lattice Embossing folder, Finishing Touches Edgelits Die, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals and Basic Rhinestones
Non-SU Accessories: circle die cuts

Dyamic Duos #8 - Papillion Potpourri

Hi there! Happy Saturday! Where did this week go? Yikes, that went by fast. It's time for a new challenge over at Dynamic Duos. We are going with a monochromatic mix of colors this week, using River Rock and Always Artichoke.  

When I sat down to create this card, I had two ideas in mind: using the Chevron Embossong Folder and making a masculine themed card. Only one of those ideas made it to the final project. I was distracted by the new Papillion Potpourri stamp set and matching Elegant Butterfly punch from my recent order. I know, I know..."More butterflies, Anne Marie? Can you find another critter to obsess over for a little while?" Um, NO. Any stamp set that has a coordinating punch is awesome in my book. The fact that it is butterfly-themed, is an added bonus. :) 

This is a pretty simple card, all around. I'm totally ok with that. Also, I do not have ribbon that matches either of these colors, so that was a little limiting. Ack! River Rock is just one of those colors that I never use. I think I still have the original pack of card stock I bought when it first came out. Although, this duo makes me look at the color very differently. Thanks to Lesley for pairing the colors up for us this week.

Here is the decorated inside of the card. Note the punched oval to cover up the fact that I stamped the sentiment crooked the first time. Whoops!  

Want to play along with us this week at Dynamic Duos? We would love to see what you create with this color combo. The challenge is open until Thursday, June 28th at Noon (PDT). Check out what the rest of the gals on the Design Team have whipped up for inspiration this week: 

The Dynamic Duos Design Team:

Allisa Chilton

Anne Marie Hile

Anika Lerche

Bronwyn Eastley

Kim Singdahlsen

Lesley Croghan

Lisa Elton

Melissa Chipperfield

Paige Grabau

Sue Joyce

Thanks for stopping by! Have a HAPPY day! 



Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Papillion Potpourri, Itty Bitty Banners and Occasional Quotes (ret. inside sentiment) 
Paper: To the Nines Specialty DSP (ret.), Always Artichoke, River Rock and Very Vanilla card stock
Ink: Always Artichoke and River Rock Classic Ink pad
Punches: Elegant Butterfly, Scallop Trim Border punch and Extra Large Oval (inside) 
Accessories: Bitty Banners Framelits, Chevron Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls and Stampin' Dimensionals

Celebrating 100 Challenges at The Paper Players!

It's Sunday and time for another challenge at the Paper Players. This week is a really special week for us as we celebrate 100 challenges with a special Blog Hop. 100 challenges already! Can you believe that? Wow!  

I started playing with the Paper Players shortly after I started my blog with Challenge #15...was asked to be a Guest Designer at Challenge #23 ...and was asked to be a permanent member of the team starting with Challenge #38. I am so happy to be a part of this team and love working with these amazing ladies, every week. They make creating fun and I am so proud to call them friends! :) 

I decided to recreate a card with LeAnne's awesome sketch from Challenge #60 for this one. I love things in "threes" and this sketch has always remained in my "favorites folder". Here are all of the past color and sketch challenges, for reference. You can use ANY past challenge (EXCEPT "Anything Goes" challenges) for inspiration, just make sure to list it in your blog post.

HERE is the link to my blog post for the pumpkin card that I made for the original challenge, 

pictured below:  

And here is my BRAND NEW card with same sketch and some new stampin' goodies: 

I have been itching to break into the new In-Colors, especially Summer Starfruit. I was inspired by the *new* Birds of a Feather DSP that I just landed on my doorstep with my order last week. My color combo is Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple and Whisper White. For this card, I dressed up the circles with some bejeweled butterflies and added a fun banner (heat embossed) sentiment. Of course, I added some bits of bling as a finishing touch. 

Here is a shot of the decorated inside of the card, with a sassy birthday greeting: 

**BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY ALERT!**

• We are offering up all of the DT cards to our Headliner this week!  We will mail them to you! One lucky winner is going to receive ALL of the DT cards from this hop! 
• So go ahead and HOP along to the design team blogs to see their favorite challenge from the past two years...and play along with your favorite past challenge from the Paper Players by Friday, June 22 at Noon (PDT), for a chance to win.

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile 

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Thank you so much for visiting today! 
Have a great day and happy hopping,  



Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners (sentiment) 
Paper: Birds of a Feather DSP, Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple, Island Indigo and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Versamark and Basic Black Classic ink
Punches: 1" Circle punch, 1- 1/4" Circle punch
Accessories: Elegant Wings Embosslit, Bitty Banners Embosslit, Chevron Embossing folder, Summer Starfruit 3/8"Satin Stitched Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Stampin Dimensionals and  Basic Rhinestones

Buttons, Burlap and Bows for OCC

(Looking for my Dynamic Duos post? It's right after this one! )

Hello there! I am running a little late with my card for this week's Our Creative Corner challenge. But better late then never, right? This week the fabulous Linda Coughlin (aka: The Funkie Junkie herself) is our hostess and she has whipped up a fun challenge for us. Here are the details, straight from Linda: 

"This week, we are going super simple with just two required ingredients, but they are some of my favorite embellishments - Buttons and  Burlap or Bows (must include buttons and either burlap or bows or both).  Easy peasy and lots of fun, right?  So grab your buttons and your burlap and your bows.  Let's see what you can do!"

Speaking of Linda, she actually inspired (and made a key component on) my card.  I got the flower and the burlap from her last fall and am so glad I did because in looking through my stash...it was the only burlap I had! Yikes! So, I suppose I am cheating a bit with this one as I didn't really make that gorgeous flower. Don't tell anyone, ok? Haha! ;)

I used all three components for the challenge, Buttons, Burlap AND Bows...well, just one bow but it still works. I used the new Argyle Embossing folder and distressed it with the watermark stamp from the French Foliage stamp set and a few squirts with the Color Spritzer Tool. The paper is retired, and I sponged some Chocolate Chip ink around the edges to tone down the fact that the print had sage green color which was not the right shade to match the flower. I guess those little circles look a little bit like buttons, don't they? Hmmm...

I sure hope you will join us and play along at Our Creative Corner this week. I think it is a really fun challenge, don't you? You can link up until Friday, June 22, 2012 at 11:59pm (EST). Please stop by and see what the rest of the awesomely talented gals on the Design Team have created, too:  

Linda Coughlin- The Funkie Junkie

Sue Butler- Scrumplescrunch
Anita Houston- The Artful Maven Haven

Anne Marie Hile- Stampin' Anne

Wendy Janson-  It's All About Stamping
Marcy Kaminski - En Papillote Arts
Holly Kean- Kean On Paper 
Irena Kowalczyk (aka Rudlis) - Love, Life and Crafts
Meihsia Liu- Simply Paper Crafts
Tui Nathan- Stampin Time
Lori Rider- The Diva Stamper
Kristin Tierney- Lilly Beth Boutique
Sharon Wheet- Designs by Sharon

Our Guest Designer this week: Jessi Fogan - One Crafty Mama

Thanks for stopping by. Have a HAPPY day! 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Curly Cute and French Foliage
Paper: Autumn Vine (ret.), Summer Sun (ret.), Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake Classic ink
Punches: 1- 1/4" Square punch (to make the banner end) 
Accessories: Argyle Embossing Folder, Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker, Color Spritzer Tool, Stamping Sponges, Basic Pearls and Stampin Dimensionals
Non-SU! Accessories: layered flower, burlap (from Linda) and yellow button from my stash