Newbie in town

I'm liking the look of the new Hero Arts challenge blog - A Blog Named Hero. If you haven't stopped by yet, take a look - there's some big names showcasing.

there she goes day 3

This is my second post of the day, please scroll down to see my last card with Laura Bassen as our muse for this week's CASE study.

Well today we are winding up the latest There She Goes sneak peeks but wow, what a set to finish on!

You LOVED Melyssa's Zoo-pendous set, and well, everything else she has created, but I REALLY think you are going to be bowled over by her new Jungle Out There set! Full of the CUTEST animals, and most HILARIOUS sentiments, what’s NOT to love??

Jungle Out There is a 6x8 set that includes a total of 20 stamps and will sell for $24.00.

I really have used my zoo-pendous set A LOT so am delighted to have more animals to have fun with! I chose this cheeky monkey to play with.

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes jungle out there; Paper - My Mind's Eye lost & found two, breeze

My inspiration for the layout of this card came from Laura Bassen as last week''s CASE study. While I was blog hoping around leaving a little comment love I came across this card by Kristii Lockart. How weird is that! I had already made this card when I came across Kristii's and there is no way Kristii can have seen my card as it hadn't been published anywhere. Spooky!!

Would you like to win the new Jungle Out There stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, March 31st with the winner being announced during the release party chat

case study challenge 84

Oh my goodness has another week gone by already? Well it must have because Thursday means CASE study! This is our last week with Laura as our muse and not unsurprisingly I have loved Laura's clean and simple style. Here's her last card for CASE study and boy is this card not just pure fabulous?!

I surprised myself by not taking the negative die cut route with this one, but instead concentrated on the colours of red, black and grey and the flower shape. That got my mind thinking to poppies and here's what I came up with.

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts designer woodgrain, small striped flower, Papertrey Ink round and round; Ink - Versafine onyx black, Versacolor chateau gray; Die - Lil' Inker Designs flags and tags

I kept the banner going across the card and a flower with a simple sentiment. I stamped and heat embossed the poppy before colouring with my copics and fussy cutting out. Then I curled the petals back and added glossy accents to the centre.

Well that's me for today. I'm off to enjoy what's left of this gorgeous weather! Pop by these lovely ladies for more inspiration and if you get the chance we'd love it if you played along with us this week.

Amy Wanford
Christina MacLaren
ClareBuswell
Debby Hughes - me!
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa):Owner
Jean Martin
Julie Lacey - taking a break
Maureen Plut
Teneale Williams
Teresa Kline

there she goes day 2

I'm continuing on today with There She Goes sneak peeks.

I think we can all remember back to a time when we idolized our parents, most of us still do, and we wanted to grow up to be JUST like them. I mean, what girl HASN’T put on their mom’s shoes, and what boy hasn’t worn Dad’s tie? Just in time for Mother and Father’s Day, Torico has illustrated the CUTEST dress up set!

When I Grow Up is a 4x6 set that includes a total of 15 stamps and will sell for $15.00.

When I set eyes on this set I could've danced around the room! I've long desired a glasses stamp and have seen some really fabulous graphic takes on this iconic image. So here's my version.

Supplies: There She Goes when I grow up, jungle out there; Paper - My Mind's Eye follow your heart be amazing

I used my favourite of late yellow, grey and white colour combo and created a panel of glasses with one pair set apart from the rest. The sentiment is a little sneak peek of a set I will be showing you more of tomorrow :)

Would you like to win the new When I Grow Up stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, March 3st with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

there she goes day 1

Yey it's There She Goes sneak peek time!

Torico has illustrated the most ADORABLE mini set, and for all you dog lovers out there, yep, there’s a puppy in this one, and he is up to no good!! With several stamps to create a scene, and 5 adorable sentiments, this set is a must have for anyone who has EVER had to say they are sorry!

Ruh-roh is a 3x4 set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $7.00.

I love this set! Do you remember me telling you about my sister's new dog? well this set is perfect for him LOL! Here's a picture of the scamp in question.

And here's how I coloured the pup from Ruh-roh - wonder where I got my inspiration!

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes ruh-roh; Card - Stampin' Up basic gray; Paper - My Mind's Eye follow your heart be amazing, be happy; Die - Papertrey Ink small scallop; Markers

We saw this sheepish look quiet a lot on their last visit!

Would you like to win the new Ruh-roh stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, March 31st with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

sorry I'm late!

Well I hope you won't be late which is why I'm popping in here to remind readers from the UK that the clocks went forward last night! To celebrate this timely event I thought I'd break open my first set of Uniko Studio stamps. I'm a big fan of Aimes and I kept seeing her create such wonderful projects with Uniko stamps that eventually I caved and bought the Extra Time set!

Supplies: Stamps - Uniko Studio extra time, Waltzingmouse Stamps labels 18; Inks - Amuse papaya, Versacolor pinecone; Paper - Studio Calico clasic calico vol2

I combined one of the clock images with a label from Waltzingmouse Stamps - I thought together they looked almost like the face of an old grandfather clock. I kept everything else really CAS, mounting my clock onto some new Studio Calico paper and on to a white card base. I love this pattern and mourn the fact that I've already used the two sheets that came in the pack!

Enjoy the last of the weekend!

500 followers and a giveaway!

Today I'd like to switch the focus from me to you. See that little collection of photos on the right side bar, the one entitled "followers"? That's you guys; the people who pop by here on a regular basis. For me writing this blog has been a wonderful journey. I remember hitting "publish" on my first post back in August 2010 and being uncertain as to why I was starting a blog, what did I want to achieve and if anyone other than myself would call by to see what I had been doing. Hitting "publish" was one of the best things I've done as blogging has opened a new world to me. A crafty world of goodness, friends, fun, challenges and recently of design teams and being published.

So as I noticed that counter move to 500 followers I thought it was high time to say thank you. Thank you for spending the time to call by and spend a few moments here. Thank you for all your kind comments, friendship and encouragement.

As it so happens I was recently contacted by Liz Gardner from My Memories, the producer of the award winning digital scrapbook software My Memories Suite.



Liz has very kindly given me the opportunity to give away one copy of My Memories Suite to a follower on my blog! My Memories Suite is rated #1 by Amazon and TopTen Reviews and retails for $40!

Here's the details:

• Make sure you are a follower here on my blog
• Pop by My Memories and take a look around
• Call back here and leave a comment telling me how you would use this software - scrapbooking, cardmaking, digi, hybrid ....
• Leave your comment by 31 March and I will draw a winner on 01 April
• That's it!

A wonderful thing about this giveaway is that because it's a digital download this giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world! Once the winner is chosen they can download their software immediately - no stalking the postie and talking of which there will be no postal charges for me either - bonus!

Now the giveaway is for one lucky winner to receive a copy of My Memories Suite but what if that lucky person turns out not to be you? Well Liz has also given me a code which provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store, so a $20 value!

Here's the code, be sure to use it if you pop by My Memories!

STMMMS97419

Now then lets move on to what this software can do. I don't scrapbook much these days, so I though I'd investigate how this software can be used by someone who is mainly a card maker. I downloaded a copy of the software and had a play - let me tell you that it is so intuitive! Everything is clearly displayed and easy to work out what options I have at my disposal.
 

I decided to use the My Memories Suite to create a piece of patterned paper as a base for a hybrid (mixture of digital and supplies) card. I chose my pattern then added some shapes in a darker hue to give the same impression as you would with versamark on a dark cardstock. Printed out and added a couple of bits from my stash and here you go!

The next card is a CAS one. I really like the shapes within the software package and used one shape repeatedly to create a design. I like that you can change the size of the shape to suit. Don't you find that the scale on a lot of patterned paper is too large for cardmaking? Well I could make these shapes as tiny as I liked! I created a grid and added a simple sentiment before printing out. I added just a few rhinestones for bling and mounted on to a white card base.

Phew, that was a long post for me! So once again a big thank you and I hope you will keep calling by. Oh and don't forget to leave a comment to be entered for this giveaway :)

lil' inker designs day 5

Are you ready for the final day of sneak peeks for Lil' Inker Designs March release? Hopefully as part of the new release blog hop for Lil' Inker Designs you've come from Teresa's blog and if so you are right on track. If not, pop over and see Laura so you can find out all the details.

Today I'm going to show you another project using the coffee cozy stamps and dies.

I tried something a bit different for me - lots of patterned paper and yep that's even some stitching!

Supplies: Stamps - Lil' Inker Designs coffee cozy; Inks - Versafine smoky gray; Card - Stampin' Up early espresso, Papertrey Ink rustick white; Paper - Studio Calico memoir collection (coffee cup), My Mind's Eye lost & found two breeze (background), rosy (background); Dies - Lil' Inker Designs coffee cozy, flags and tags

I was thinking of a cup of coffee with the morning newspaper when I put these papers together LOL! For the cozy, I die cut from kraft cardstock and then added scored lines before finishing off with a twist of twine.

Don't forget Laura's giving away a Funny Bunny set and a $10 store credit!

Now it's time to hop over to the Lil' Inker Designs blog. Have fun!

case study challenge 83

Ah, spring really feels like it's here! Warmer days, lighter too, bit of sunshine - perfect! I must check but I think here in the UK our clocks go forward this weekend :)

Anyhow, enough rambling let me jump straight in with this CAS beauty from Laura as this weeks card to inspire us at CASE study.

I pretty much kept all elements of Laura's card, just switched out the paper and stamps. I loved the full length panel popped up over the patterned paper and kept my image and sentiments down in the lower part of the panel too.

Supplies: Stamps - Paper Smooches healthy vibes; Inks - Versafine onyx black; Paper - My Mind's Eye lime twist life of the party; Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I tried different ways of using this plaster stamp - paper piecing, die cut heart out of red card etc but in the end I like it simply coloured with my markers. I've had a couple of questions about which markers I use. I use the term "marker" generally as I have Copics, Promarkers and Flexmarkers. I mainly use Promarkers for a number of reasons - they are more widely available in the UK, cheaper and I like the fine tip you can add on over the bullet nib. I have found that (within reason) Promarkers and Copics can be used together too :)

Pop by these lovely ladies for more inspiration:

Amy Wanford
Christina MacLaren
ClareBuswell
Debby Hughes - me!
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa):Owner
Jean Martin
Julie Lacey - taking a break
Maureen Plut
Teneale Williams
Teresa Kline

lil' inker designs day 3

Today I'm carrying on with the peeks for the latest release from Lil' Inker Designs! Hopefully as part of the new release blog hop for Lil' Inker Designs you've come from Teresa's blog and if so you are right on track. If not, pop over and see Laura so you can find out all the details.

So today we get to share a new set from the collaboration of Lil' Inker Designs with 2 Cute Ink. Let me introduce you to Funny Bunnies!

I went quiet white and CAS with this one; colouring in one of the bunny images and then adding a bit of grass and finally a patterned paper tab set off the sentiment nicely.

Supplies: Stamps - Lil' Inker Designs funny bunnies; Ink - Memento tuxedo black; Card - Stampin' Up lucky limeade; Dies - My Favorite Things fresh cut grass; Markers; Button

Don't forget Laura's giving away a Funny Bunny set and a $10 store credit!


Now it's time to hop over to the Lil' Inker Designs blog. Have fun!

lil' inker designs day 2

Today I get to share a wonderful new set from Lil' Inker Designs! Hopefully as part of the new release blog hop for Lil' Inker Designs you've come from Teresa's blog and if so you are right on track. If not, pop over and see Laura so you can find out all the details.

So what have we got in store for you this month; feast your eyes on these!

Take out coffee cups and cozies with matching dies! Such fun! I am still loving the grey with bright yellow trend and combined it with some kraft after seeing the colour challenge over on CR84FN.

Supplies: Stamps - Lil' Inker Designs coffee cozy, Hero Arts graph background; Inks - Versamark, Versafine onyx black, Versafine smoky gray, Versacolor canary; Paper - My Mind's Eye follow your heart be amazing; Dies - Lil' Inker Designs coffee cozy, My Favourite Things dog tag

I made this tag to go with a packet of Starbucks coffee I got for a coffee loving friend who could do with a pick me up. These coffee cozy stamps and dies are perfect for this sort of gift giving, not to mention they are adorable! There are 5 different cozies to fit the cup, also the cup, cozy and lid have matching dies and there's a handle die too :) not to mention the sentiments are spot on!

Oh and there's a give away this month too - Laura's giving away a Funny Bunny set and a $10 store credit!

I am going to pop this tag over to CASual Fridays. The challenge this week is to include a pattern, an image and a sentiment.

Now it's time to hop over to the Lil' Inker Designs blog. Have fun!

happy birthday

This week at There She Goes we are highlighting previous sets - "Flowers of Happiness", "Hunny Bunnies", "Bear Hugs" and "Tweeterpated". Not only that but these sets are on sale!

When I saw this flower image in "Flowers of Happiness" I was totally won over! I stamped the flower on different yellow cardstocks and selectively cut out the layers before adding a button and mounting on a die cut.


Pin It

Supplies: Stamps There She Goes numbered days, flowers of happiness; Inks - Versafine onyx black; Card - Stampin' Up barely banana, daffodil delight, more mustard; Paper - My Mind's Eye follow your heart be happy; Dies - Lil' Inker Designs flags and tags, Memory Box woven circle; Button - Stampin' Up desinger buttons playground

Here's the detail shot.

Now also going on at TSG is the weekly challenge which this week is to make a card or project with an Easter theme but incorporating animals. Pop by the TSG blog for all the details.

On a different note, my visitors left yesterday so I'm now full steam ahead with projects for this week and next. Can't wait to get stamping again!

tsg147 - sweet treats

Just popping in today to share a couple of quick and easy treats as part of this week's There She Goes challenge set by Theresa - to make a card or project with a hidden suprise.

Pin It

Pin It

Supplies: Stamps There She Goes bucket of love holiday additions; Ink - Versafine smoky gray; Card - Papertrey Ink rustic white; Paper - My Mind's Eye follow your heart be happy; Die - Papertrey Ink beautiful blooms, Spellbinders square bracket edge box, My Favorite Things berry box, dog tag; Button - Papertrey Ink

I wasn't going to share these pictures as I wanted to do something "more". But you know how it goes - sometimes time just doesn't allow. That's normal in all our lives and yet it's still great to be able to make something. These little treat boxes are quick and easy and the sentiment from Bucket of Love Holiday Additions was just perfect to finish them off.

To be eligible for the giveaway, create a card or project with a Hidden Surprise, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (March 19th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the lookout to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG147 so we can check out your beautiful work!

for your inspiration 26

This is my second post today, please scroll down to see my CASE study entry.

Here's the picture from For Your Inspiration for the next two weeks.

Aren't those rich colours amazing! Unfortunately my time constraints this week mean I can't play along today, but hope to rectify that as soon as possible. In the mean time if you fancy playing along but need inspiration then check these out:

Debbie

Debby - that's me!
Irena
Karen

Michelle

Rochelle
Sara
Steph

Sylvia

Vicki