Win the MFT New Releases - June's One Click Challenge

Previews have begun for the June release from My Favorite Things!  And, you have a chance to win the full release for free!  One winner will be selected as the winner of the One Click Challenge that Christina and I are hostessing this month on the Splitcoast Stampers Member Company Forum for MFT. 

This month, Christina and I challenge you to put your chipboard to use.

If you're like me, you've got a handy stash of the stuff that you've collected!  I also have loads of chipboard coasters (um, just in case I have a chipboard emergency?) giggle.

If you're lucky enough to not be a chipboard hoarder like me, you'll also find chipboard at the back of your paper packages, on cereal boxes etc.  

I found a piece in my (ahem, quite generous) stash that I covered with designer paper and then gave a coat of Diamond Glaze. I wanted to give it that feel of those epoxy accents that I see in the store.  

This sketch is the MFTSC83 from Cindy - you'll find a new sketch from Cindy or Frances each Thursday in the MFT forum. They'll be tucked into each week's challenge and chatter thread... by the way, there's always a few of us hanging over there chatting - if you create any MFT cards this week, or just want to chat with us junkies..... come hang with us! This one was just the jumpstart I needed!

I've also been on a digital paper kick lately, this time, I used the MFT Simply Spring Collection for the gingham picnic blanket.  I sponged in a puffy sky background with a sponge dauber and a scalloped circle punchout, and then sponged in a little green grass in the foreground.  Using a blender pen, I softened the edge between the sky and grass.  I added in the things that I like on a picnic... wine, cheese and grapes. Yum!  Now all I need is my hansome hubby to come share a picnic with me!

Blog Hoppin with the Kettos!

I hope that you've been having a wonderful time hopping along through the first Ketto Blog hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! 

If by chance you've just popped into the hop in the middle then be sure to CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

I hadn't inked up this little Lucy Ketto and thought that this blog hop was just the time to do so!  

I picked up this amazingly fun paper from American Crafts at my LSS, I knew it was just right for a Ketto card! This sketch is from Taylor's weekly sketch challenge. 

Lucy is stamped with Memento Ink then colored with Copic Markers.  I added clear Spica pen to her wings for a little bit of shine!

I'm off now myself to head through the hop! Can't wait to take in all the eye candy.. but guess what, it gets EVEN BETTER. 

How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $40 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! 

The fun part is...we're not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winner will be announced on Monday!

Thank you SO very much for stopping by to visit today! The next stop on this blog hop is  Brandi at Sparkle Shimmer and Twinkle! 

Pick a sport....

Happy Friday!

Seriously this week zipped right by again!  Emily and Nicky had a fun sketch prepared for all of us for Bellariffic Friday again this week.  

As a mom to two boys, how could I NOT buy this sweet little stamp "Tyler the Jock" from Stamping Bella.  

This stamp so epitomizes my life right now.  Our weekends are filled with activities for my older son. Swimming, baseball, soccer, cub scouts.  But its all good. He's loving it, and its so fun to watch him play!  Last weekend, he learned to ride without training wheels! Hooray!

Usually I display my finished cards on the mantle, or up in my stamp room shelving, but this one is safely tucked away to give to him to celebrate the last day of soccer.  I made sure to photograph it when he was still off at school for the day, so it will be a full surprise! 

Can you tell how sad I'm going to be when Kiwi Kiss is officially retired?  I'm getting down to scraps at this point... but its such a good BOY color! 

Be sure to stop by Blogabella today to see all the samples made by the Babes, and all of you in the peanut gallery too!  

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Gina K Designs: Spots, Stars and Stripes!

This is a preview of "Lazy Days of Summer" which is the new "One Free with Three" set which will be available this evening from Gina K Designs!  

You might notice that between my red white and blue balloon yesterday and then these Nautical Notecards today, that I'm loving the red white and blue color scheme provided in this month's Stamp TV Kit and coordinating digital paper!

Its such a summery and fresh feeling color scheme and I took the opportunity to embrace the white space on this little Nautical Note set. Is it me, or does this paper remind you of a pool cabana?

I did add some fun little details to these cards - I added a strip of the Rocket Red cardstock to both cards which I distressed the edges, then sewed in place.  Then I added strips of the digital paper to the top of each card, and sewed that in place too.  

I printed my digi papers out with Photoshop Elements.  I was able to scale down the patterns to make a mini star paper - I love that having the digital files give me the flexibility to print the patterns out at different sizes depending on the scale I need for my project!  

I used the remnants of each piece to add a little detail to the inside of my cards as well! 

The images are stamped with Memento Ink, then I colored with my Copic Markers, and then added a further POP of color using my Koh-i-noor pencils.  

Remember, if you combine marker and pencil to marker first, then pencil, or else you risk damaging the nib of your marker with the wax from the pencil.  

Also available this evening is a fun set titled "Ribbon Stripes." 

Since I already had a clean little notecard set going on, I thought it would be fun to illustrate how you can use Ribbon Stripes to add a quick bit of detail on cards.  

I'm often have to mass produce cards, and its hard to track down enough of the same piece of designer paper for multiples - I don't always want to use up my ribbon stash.  

And sometimes, admittedly, I need a card in a hurry, (you know, without spending over an hour to design it!!)

I reached for a piece of that luscious Pure Luxury cardstock in Chocolate Kiss.  I also grabbed a 1/4 sheet of my Kraft Cardstock and one of my all time favorite sets "My Cuppa Joe."  

By the way....if you don't have an acrylic block large enough for these long ribbon stripes, then you can use your Cuttlebug embossing plates! I like to line my stamps up on top of my Scor Pal Mat so that I can be sure to have nice straight placement!

With my Scor Pal, I added some embossed lines - one just above the white polka dots, and two much closer together up top. I'm fully kicking myself that I haven't yet picked up a Scor Bug, because that would have been super fun to work with here.  (Note to self, grab one today before everyone buys them tonight with their orders!)

Be sure to join us on the Gina K Designs Splitcoast Member Company Forum from 7-10pm CST on Thursday, May 28th.  Gina has contest questions, challenges, sneak peeks and of course lots of chatter! You're all invited, and we hope you can make it!

To see more previews of both of these new sets, be sure to visit: Gina, Theresa, Donna, Carolyn, Jessica, Erika, Cindy, Melanie, and Melissa

Gina K Designs - New Stamp TV Kit!!

You may have noticed that the Gina K Designs team has been previewing new stamps since Monday.  If you've missed it, you'll want to hop on over to Gina's Blog so that you can see everything. 

This month's release is simply HUGE!  It includes a five stamp sets, a new Stamp TV kit, two new colors of cardstock, three new ink colors, three new digital paper packs plus TWO FREE digital paper packs!  

My son had a full calendar of events for the holiday weekend that kept me from stamping... but I've got previews for you today and tomorrow and a few goodies stashed for Thursday night's Launch party!

If you've been watching Stamp TV, you've seen that Gina has had so many fantastic techniques to the last few months with the original Stamp TV Kit Floral Frenzy.  Its now time for the release of the highly anticipated second Stamp TV kit, which contains the Eclectic Summer stamp set and the Eclectic Summer Sayings.   Gina will be using these two stamp sets over the next eight weeks of Stamp TV!  

Inside this kit, you'll also find two new luscious colors of Pure Luxury Cardstock - In the Navy and Rocket Red, along with coordinating brads and ribbons.  I used In the Navy for my card base and lined it with Pure Luxury White.  The star patterned paper is a digital paper download which will also be made available on Thursday night.  You may know that I'm totally obsessed with ribbon, and this grosgrain stripe is fabulous.  For me, its the perfect width, and holds up nicely as a bow.  Its beautiful!! 

I have to say that I simply adore the coordinating stamp set in the Stamp TV Kit - Eclectic Summer Sayings. I just LOVE the font on this set and so many fabulous sentiments are included.  It obviously coordinates with the images in the Eclectic Summer set, but I also think that it is a perfect compliment to many other Gina K sets in my "collection!"  

For this card, I paired Eclectic Summer Sayings with "Tropical Flowers."  The patterned paper here is Emily's latest digital paper design "Bright Summer Grunge".  I love the cheery tones, and beautifully designed elements.  I used my SU Mellow Moss (stamped off once) for the leaves, and stamped the blossoms with Apricot Appeal.  I trimmed out the blooms, popped them up with a dimensional and added a button to the center of each flower.

If you're looking for even more inspiration from this month's Stamp TV Kit, you'll find more samples of the latest Stamp TV kit from Gina, as well as Theresa, Carolyn, Jessica, Erika, Melanie, Emily and Melissa our In the Spotlight Designer this month!

I'll be back tomorrow with another preview (or possibly two...) from this month's release!

Minis Continue - Shower Bugg

I mentioned yesterday that I had another mini card to share!  I don't know why, but I can't step away from this size lately.  I added a little side border of scallop trim and tied a bow vertically around the panel.  You'll laugh that I decided to stitch the card after it was fully assembled. So, I took a breath and prayed I didn't goof.  

I started coloring this Shower Bugg from Stamping Bella to coordinate with a scrap of Collage Press patterned paper that I found in my scrap bin.  But then, as I went to turn it into a card, I realized that the blue in the patterned paper clashed with my finished image. But, with a zip zap of my Copic marker, I changed the color of the polka dot to more closely coordinate with my image.  

This week, Emily has another sketch challenge for our Bellariffic Friday challenge.  Be sure to send your entry using Stamping Bella stamps to Emily by Thursday to be included in her Bellariffic Friday post! 

Sending You Sunshine

Christina and I have a sweet little wildcard challenge for you for this weeks My Favorite Things - Who's That Girl Challenge.  This week, pair any WTG set with the sentiment from any other set from My Favorite Things for your card!

I grabbed two summer themed sets and paired the images from "Hit the Beach" with the sentiment from "By the Seashore."  

I had this fun piece of patterned paper from the MFT Summer Patterns pack handy, and I grabbed a scrap of So Saffron cardstock.  All the layers are stitched up and I added a bow of coordinating So Saffron cardstock.  

I happen to be on a little 4 1/4 square card kick lately.  I've got a few more to share later this week.  But for now, I've got to run!  My son is walking in the Memorial Day Parade today, then we've promised them an afternoon swimming at the pool!  

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend and that wherever you are, the sun is shining!

Welcome Summer!

I feel like I blinked and its Memorial Day weekend.  I seems like I just put my little guy off on the bus to his first day of Kindergarten, and already we're into the final days!! 

We've started a nice new routine which I'm just loving...dinner on the patio!  Last year, my littlest one couldn't sit still out there long enough to eat anything.  This year, he sits down and eats without fooling so he can go play!   Tonight he made up a song and dance that had the rest of us in stiches  "Bees are not friendly, and they STING you!"  Complete of course with full dance moves.  I've had it stuck in my head all night.  Seriously, where is my video camera when I need it??

So, one of my very favorite things about the summer is my mother's fried chicken and potato salad.  Yum.  If you ask me, somehow its even tastier for lunch the next day. You know, sort of like how tunafish just tastes better at the beach.  Tell me you know what I mean...right?  

This is the Beach Bum set from Whipper Snapper illustrated by Anna Wight, and I just HAD to use this adorable chicken first.  He's colored with a combination of  Copic Markers, and Koh-I-Noor pencils. Just a tip, if you combine marker and pencil, use your marker first, and THEN the pencils, as the wax from the pencils can damage your marker nib. 

Wishing you and your family a wonderful weekend.  My son has just joined Cub Scouts and will be helping to reflag the Veteran's graves and will be marching in the parade on Monday. I'm looking forward to many more nights this summer of impromptu t-ball games, silly songs by my little one and relaxing patio dinners.  Just wish there was a fairy that would clean it all up afterwards.  

Be Happy!

Be happy! Its FRIDAY! And if you're in the US then may I wish you a Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!

We've got a parade, soccer, baseball, swim lessons, and I fully plan on making a big old pitcher of sangria and enjoying dinner outside this weekend! 

In my most recent order from Stamping Bella, I went a little Turtle Crazy! I bought a whole bunch, but awww they're so cute!

This is my Bellariffic Challenge card for this week.  What a fantastic sketch!! This card is totally not mailable because it has a kajillion layers, but it was so fun to work on! I used my Nana's Nursery patterned paper from DCWV that has been sitting around feeling neglected! Don't forget to visit Blogabella today to see all the samples from Emily, the Babes (see my sidebar) and all of the loyal customers that send in samples each week.  One lucky participant, and one of you in the peanut gallery will win some Bella bucks.  

For this little cheering turtle, I stamped her pom poms a second time onto scrap, cut them out and picked and pulled at them to give them lots of dimension.  I thought I'd pair it with this fun sentiment that was also in my order. I can see using this one a lot, and even after all this time, thinking of that song still makes me smile!

And then, as long as I was playing, I wanted to stamp this sweet little Turtle with Teddy.  He just melts my heart.  I kept the layout super super clean, because I loved this patterned paper.  Black accents, machine stitching and a quick bow of black grosgrain ribbon. 

Don't forget when you use a dark color like black for your cardbase, to add a quick liner to your card! You *can* just write with a white gel pen, but personally, I never get even results and then your card is a mess after you spent all this time making it!  So for me, dark card base means just take a few seconds to make a liner!!

Have a truly WONDERFUL weekend!

A Tweet Little Sketch

I really loved the sketch provided from Splitcoast this week, and rifled through my stamps for something that was the right fit.  

This sweet bird from "Home Tweet Home" from Gina K Designs came to mind. And I haven't used in ages, so it was due a little inking! giggle. 

I hunted through my patterned paper and selected soft scripted patterned paper from Scenic Route and the coordinating dotted panel.  I reached for my last watercolor panel (eeks!) and my reinkers.  

I used a variety of stitched to put this one together, the zig zag a straight stitch, and then a very close zig zag on the base layer. 

Its been fun to see all the new birds arriving to our yard daily as the weather improves and as new things bloom in my perennial garden.  I've got to get to the store to buy some more feed for those guys.....

Time for the Bubbly: Coffee Sugar Scrub

I hope you've been having a blast hopping around to see what everyone has done to fill their jars today! If you didn't start at Kim's blog, you'll want to head over there so that you don't miss anything along the way!

I am a bath product junkie - but now that I've got kids, I feel guilty spending lots of money on expensive shampoos, scrubs and what not.  My husband likes to call the hand rail in my shower the "spice rack" because I've got little bottles of "stuff" all lined up.

I'm going to walk through the ingredients in my jar as well as details on my project, but in case you're just looking to hop along, the next step on this fantastic blog hop is FRANCES!

One of my favorite indulgences used to be the Origins sugar scrub.  But seriously, its sugar and oil!!!!  So, I let my fingers to the walking and was able to make a yummy sugar scrub with ingredients I already had in my pantry, it cost me NOTHING!  

And, as a bonus, I happened to have all the organic versions of my ingredients, so this little scrub has no chemicals, no preservatives, its completely natural! 

I filled my jar with sugar, then poured it out into a mixing bowl.  I should have been more precise, but my guess is that its 2-3 cups of sugar.  I added about 1 1/2 cup of olive oil.  From my reading online, the preferred oil to use is avocado oil or almond oil.  But, since I didn't have avocado oil handy (although it sounds delicious!) and as both my children have nut allergies, I clearly don't have almond oil.  I did check though and both are available at my local supermarket.

Then I added in a dash of vanilla for a tasty scent, and five tablespoons of ground coffee.  If you wanted to give this sugar scrub an upgrade, you could substitute essential oils or even add in a fresh vanilla bean - my supermarket carries them both, but with just my standard ingredients it was perfect!

You *can* mix everything directly in your jar, but I'll just say the oil and coffee was getting a little messy.  I mixed it all up in a bowl, then smooshed it back into the jar.  The extra was my serving for a shower this morning.  I of course couldn't recommend it till I'd tried it! 

The coffee was a great exfoliant and the scents were amazing!  As my shower got all steamy the whole bathroom smelled like a warm vanilla coffee. YUMMY!  And after I got out of the shower, my skin felt so soft.  I will warn you however, that you will have to clean out any remaining residue off your shower.  For me, it was a wonderful excuse for an extended shower - just about the only quiet time I'm likely to get any time of day!   

Depending on what you put in YOUR jar, you can stamp the label, or create a little tag like I've done here.  I created a quick bellyband for my jar and adhered it with Zip Dry Glue, it is 2" in height.  Then I traced the lid onto the backside of a piece of coordinating cardstock, and trimmed just inside the pencil line.  I adhered it with a bit of Zip Dry to the top of the container then sanded all the edges. 

Once I had my jar all altered up, I decided it really needed a matching card using "Time for The Bubbly." It was easy to do since I already had all those leftover scraps from my jar project!  I'll use this to include the ingredients and a little note to the recipient!  

I even found a cardmakers size of that fun damask print in my stash pile for a smaller scale print for paper piecing the wallpaper!  I don't usually add two different ribbons to a card, but I was going for girly girly on this so I went with it anyways....

Thanks so much for visiting and reading my GINORMOUS post today!

Stamping Bella on Card Positioning Systems!

This week Stamping Bella is the sponsor of the sketch at Card Positioning Systems. They always have a fun sketch of the week, and now I had an excuse to fit it into my "stamping schedule!"  

When I arrived home from Disney, I found a ginormous order of Bellas waiting for me!  Hooray!

Up first in the lineup was this adorable little Addy'Tude!

I just love her, isn't she marvelous with her fancy coat and those enormous glasses.  Aaack, makes me laugh.  I gave her a fuzzy stole with the help of my Flower Soft.

Addy's coat is paper pieced with Making Memories paper and I added a strip of bling to the grosgrain ribbon to match with the provided sketch!

Be sure to hop on over to Card Positiong Systems and participate in this week's sketch, there will be a Stamping Bella prize for one lucky winner who submits using the Mr Linky!

A Fun Surprise!!

I've been having fun holding out on a secret that I can finally share!  Several weeks ago, I received an invitation from Anna Wight to work as a Whipper Snapper Featured Designer for the months of May and June!  

I've been about to bust with this news, but was such a good little girl and kept my lip buttoned! I so love Whipper Snapper and Anna's images in particular, and then I saw the newest sets, and let me say, I think they're PERFECT!!  I'm having so much fun already! 

I've got a sample for you with "Swimmin' By" to share with you today.  I think this little submarine is just ever adorable!  I colored the sub with Koh-I-noor pencils for a bright and cheery hue and then added Diamond Glaze to the windows and bubbles to give a glassy effect.  

I cut a frame with my nesties by cutting once with the scalloped circle, then running a smaller sized circle through the center to cut an opening.  I used Kiwi Kiss cardstock and patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket for this cheery and summery birthday card!

I can't wait to see what Anna and the other featured designers have come up with this month!  I have some finishing touches to add to a little chicken card I've got in the works using "Beach Bum" which is the other set that is being released today  

Be sure to hop around and visit the May and June Whipper Snapper Featured Designers:

Julie Campbell

SCS Gallery
Blog

Joanne Basile (that's me!)
SCS Gallery
Blog

Sandra MacLean
SCS Gallery
Blog

Shellie Daniel
SCS Gallery

Tab Robinson
Blog

Anna Wight
SCS Gallery
Blog

Simply Sweet!

You know what I love about summertime?  Ice cream for dessert! Now really, you can have it any old time of the year, but don't you think its maybe the most refreshing on a nasty hot day?  Mmmm..  Alright, who's already heard the ice cream truck?  

This designer paper is K&Co Berry patterns package, I love all these bright colors, so cheery, so summery.  Um, if this was a skirt, I'd wear it! LOL!

I used the patterned paper as the inspiration for my ice cream dish - its like that vintage glassware you find....  

I stamped the image three times so that I could pop up the ice cream one time, then I added the fudge sauce and cherry up one more layer.  Lastly, I added a coat of Diamond Glaze to the sundae glass to give it lots of shine.

This sweet image is from MFT's "Here's the Scoop" stamp set! Hope you're ready for lots of fun with MFT this week, we've got the Who's That Girl Challenge hosted by Christina tomorrow, along with new items in the Bubble Bin where you'll find the latest specials - some of which are only while supplies last!  And of course, Michelle Boyer will be bringing you a new "Weekly Spotlight".  

Then, on Tuesday, the MFT Stamping Idol Top Four will be posting their challenges  for their chance at the coveted TOP TWO spots - yes, that's right, this week is a double elimination!  Have you been following along? Their creations are amazing - each week I continue to be blown away by their level of enthusiasm, dedication and creativity!   Then, late Tuesday night, we'll have a fun blog hop for you with our mid-month releases - I've got one teaser done, and hope to eek out another in the next few days!  

Of course Cindy and Frances will have a new sketch for you all on Thursday!  Be sure to join us on the MFT Member Company Forum on Splitcoast every day this week so you don't miss a thing!

Scrap It!

While unpacking from our trip, I remembered EEKS! My son had a birthday party to attend, and making a card was on my to do list before we left, but I didn't get done.

I grabbed a box of designer paper scraps and rummaged for something boyish...  I had all these blue papers handy at the top of the bin.  And then a quick perusing of my stamps led me to this fun set "Whatever Floats your Boat" from Gina K that hadn't gotten inky in a while... and a quick birthday card was in the works!

No new pieces of cardstock were cut for this project, it was all remnant pieces from other projects.  The skateboard is actually the reverse of a piece of patterned paper that I had handy, I paper pieced that and added some shadows with my Versamarker.  I stamped and cut out a turtle separately which I colored with copics, then gave shine to the shell with Diamond Glaze.

When I'm trying to assemble assorted patterned papers into a card, I like unifying them with stitching.  If I wasn't moving so quickly, I wanted to stitch in a circular motion all around the focal panel, but as timing for the party was tight, I had to skip that step....  

For me, this card is still pretty basic, ordinarily I'd fuss about with extra layers, embellies and the like.  But, given that my house is still in shambles from our long vacation and that we had to get out the door to the party (coupled with the fact that this card is likely already in the trash - gasp!) I had to just keep it simple and get going! It was either that, or have to succumb to my six year olds request for a store bought card from the drug store - YIKES!!!

Since I'm hostessing today's Pot Luck Friday Challenge on Stamp TV today, I figured I'd use scraps as my challenge!  So, grab your scrap pile and meet me over at Stamp TV! Don't forget, all of the daily challenges come with a chance at a free stamp set for one lucky participant!

I'm back!!

Hi everyone! Its been pretty quiet around here for the last few days. For the first time in two years, I took a blog break!  I've been in Florida with my husband and sons for the last seven days.  It was amazing, we didn't tell the boys we were going till we woke them up at 4am last Wednesday and put them in the car.  Needless to say, they were thrilled! 

As you may know, both my sons have severe food allergies and we rarely eat out as a result. So, going on vacation for me, is well, maybe a little more stressful than for most.  

When we checked in at the airport, I mentioned that I was travelling with two food allergic boys.  The attendant had the snacks for the full flight switched right away and we were given priority boarding to get the boys settled in.  I cleaned all the surfaces with wipes according to the recommendation of our allergist.  This is to prevent the boys from picking up any residue from snacks previously served.  And as always, I travelled with several epi pens and lots of Benadryl - just in case!  My little guy was thrilled that the airline attendant had the full plane sing him Happy Birthday!  So fun!! Thanks Southwest!!

For the last week, we've been at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, which the boys have been calling the "Lincoln Log Hotel" all week.  It was outstanding, and I think we will be hard pressed to stay anywhere else for future trips to Disney.  We were a short boat ride from the Magic Kingdom and hopped on the "Mickey Busses" to go anywhere else.  The boys were troopers, it was incredibly hot all week, and we were on the go each and every day.  

I must say that, Disney is truly fantastic at handling food allergies.  At every single restaurant, the chef came to our table, discussed the boys allergies with me, and recommended some safe options for each of my sons.  Many times, the chef would return the boys dinners directly to our table. We were even able to have a custom cake baked for my little guy, he was totally thrilled!!!  This may sound like a simple thing, but my littlest one is allergic to corn, which means he can't have standard things like regular baking powder, confectionary sugar, or even vanilla extract (did you know all those things are made from corn? But that's a story for another day....) 

As a backup, we had shipped down some staple items for the boys to enjoy.  It was a good backup to have a few bags of "safe cereal" which was corn free for my little one each morning. It was also wonderful to have an assortment of safe snacks, including treats from Natural Candy Store to carry in our backpacks to tide the boys over in case we couldn't find safe alternatives in the park. 

Once there, I was thrilled to find that that the parks offer lots of safe and healthy alternatives, including lots of fresh fruit stands throughout the parks.  I was even able to find a frozen strawberry fruit bar that the boys could enjoy that was safe for all their allergies.  I was pleased that applesauce and carrot sticks are the first choices for children's sides - fries are only offered upon request.

We had such a wonderful time, it was great to spend so much time just playing and having fun, no commitments - just lots of fun!!

I'm home now, and working on unpacking, running the washer and dryer non stop and trying to get life back in order.  I've got a Gina K card to show you tomorrow and hope to squeak in some stamping over the next few days to have new things to show you next week!!

Birthday Flopsey!

You all know I just adore Flopsey, he's just ever so sweet!  And what's better than a ginormous cake to go with him?  Awww, aint he cute??

I paper pieced the cake with the Chocolate Kiss printed paper which is now available at My Favorite Things and then added fluffy frosting with Liquid Applique.

Similar to my Bella card the other day, I went out of the box with both of his ears, trimming gently by hand around his ears to extend the panel as needed to fit those floppy ears!

I had to stamp his little hands again so that I could tuck the cake inside his hands, I trimmed out his two teeny paws and adhered them over the patterned paper layer.  

And do you see that beautiful satin ribbon? EEKS! Its part of the new luscious ribbon bundle that perfectly coordinates with the Chocolate Kiss paper!  

My son is making up to me for requesting that I buy a store bought card for his friends birthday last month (eeks!!)  the poor kid, he felt very guilty about it! My husband has been having fun giving him a hard time for not liking my cards!  But, admittedly, all the ones I had finished were a bit girly for his taste.  I'll have to load up on boy cards for the upcoming slew of parties he's invited to!

So, when he saw me coloring up this Flopsey the other day, he asked if he could please please have it for an upcoming little girlfriends birthday.  

I added a coordinating strip of the patterned paper.  Remember when you're making a card with a dark cardbase to line your inside so that you can easily write a message. And, it makes for a coordinated inside and oustide.  A heavy card for sure, but luckily this one will be hand delivered, not mailed!

Have a HOPPY day! (Sorry for the pun, I just couldn't help myself!)

Out of the Box Birthday

Its another Bellariffic Friday!!  This week, the assignment was easy and I got to play with one of my very favorite Bellas in my collection "Cuppacakeabella"  Her little dress is so fun to paper piece, and ahem, easy to trim out too!  

I decided I wanted to have a slim little panel for this layout, so I cut her out of the box, letting her teeeny little leg hang out over the edge.  Its easy to do, you just use your trimmer just to the edge where you want to be "out" of the box, and then hand trim around.

This patterned paper is from October Afternoon and is all fun shades of light pink, aqua and yellow. So springy and girly, don'tcha think?

After punching the scalloped border, I tugged them all forwards and upwards for a fun little touch.  

Be sure to head on over to Blogabella to see all the creations from my Bellariffic Sistahs (see my sidebar for all the links)  and to see all the submissions!  Don't forget, prizes are awarded both for participation as well as for commenting on Emily's post!

Happy Stamping, and have a wonderful weekend!

Watercolored Memories

Whenever I sit down with a new floral set to color, I like to search around to find interesting colors to work with for inspiration.  However, I already had the perfect inspiration for this gorgeous Calla Lilly illustration from the Friendships Garden by Asela for Gina K Designs.  

My sister had a truly beautiful fall wedding, seriously beautiful, get this, it was published by The Knot! We carried the most luscious flowers, with deep red roses, and gorgeous calla lillies.  They were truly magnificent. 

Actually, truth be told every single detail of her wedding was truly magnificent!  In any case, I knew right away that I'd use her bouquets for my inspiration.  

Then I picked up my new favorite, Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Cardstock in Chocolate Kiss.  Yum.  I'm always happy to use that....mmmm chocolate.  Tasty, even as paper! Giggle.

With a piece of patterned paper from My Minds Eye I was on my way. My last (eeks!) piece of watercolor paper was stamped with Stazon Ink.  I grabbed my So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Riding Hood Red inkpads for the flower, and Mellow Moss, Old Olive, River Rock and Close to Cocoa for the petals, stones inside the pot and the pot itself.  

I began by applying the So Saffron to the entire blossom and set it aside to dry.  Then I layered Pumpkin Pie around the edge and finally gave it a rich ruby color on the edges and outside (just like in the actual photo I was following as a guide.)  Once that was dry, I added just the littlest bit of Copper Shimmerz for a little bit of luster.  Once I had finished the full image I added a shadow with Soft Sky around.  

I kept the design of the card simple as I wanted the watercoloring to be the focal point.  Also because I'm giving this to my mom to use and I don't want her to have to fiddle around stuffing one of my signature giant bows into an envelope!  I added a flat length of stitched grosgrain ribbon and of course lots and lots of edge distressing.  

I finished the inside of the card with matching cardstock and a Pure Luxury Ivory Liner. Its always a nice touch to a finished card, but truly necessary when its a dark base.  

Just a reminder that the latest Episode has been posted over on Stamp TV!  I always love finding a quiet moment and a cup of tea to go see what Gina's been up to each week!

MFT Preview - Snuggle Bunnies

Welcome to this early installment of the My Favorite Things Blog Hop! We're starting early this time which is fantastic because I can blurf around before bedtime!

If you didn't start at Kim's blog, you'll want to hop back over there so you don't miss anything along the way! 

I couldn't help but ink up this "Snuggle Bunnies" set first, isn't it just so cute?  

Although my littlest turns four tomorrow, he's still my baby, and a snuggly little one at that. So, I'm using this as his birthday card. I figure its the last year I can get away with a cutie pie card verus a big boy card.

I stamped the snuggle bunnies to a So Saffron piece of cardstock for the moon, then sponged all the edges with So Saffron ink, trimmed it out, and coated it with Shimmerz.  

Then I stamped the bunnies again to my MFT Perfect Panel and colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  I wanted a really soft effect on them.  Of course, I had to add little rosy cheeks too.  I was a good girl and even let the Liquid Applique dry overnight according to Jody's rules, and the tails puffed up so sweetly the next morning.

My main panel is sewn down with a zig zag stitch, and then I used several layers of nesties for my focal panel. Each layer is popped up on dimensionals so in real life, there is lots of dimension to the card.  

I hope you have a blast hopping through the Design Team creations.  I'll race you over to Candice's blog I just know that girl has some gorgeous eye candy waiting for us!