Bellarific Turtle

I did sit down with this week's sketch, with every intention of not stamping another turtle to share with you today... but he was un-inked, and exactly the right shape for this week's sketch.

Soooooo, I hope you're still liking the turtles. Because in all honesty, I have a brand new one that just arrived today... you'll be seeing him soon!

I also have something cute and non turtle-ish stamped up that I'll be sharing early next week.

As I was packing up my bags for CHA a *huge* package arrived from Stamping Bella. eeeeks! I'm looking forward to sharing LOTS of new Bella love with you soon!

Be sure to check out Blogabella to see all the latest from the sistahood!

Apple Lemonade Thanks

Yesterday I mentioned how much I adore the newest addition to the Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Family: Green Apple. Now seriously, look how fabulously this coordinates with the new Basic Grey Lemonade papers. Isn't it just sweet?

I'm going to have to make a point to buy some more Green Apple before you all go out and clean out the inventory of it.

This is also a preview of the newest One Free with Three from Gina K Designs titled "Tropical Windows." I inked the leaves and stem with a Pear Tart Memento Dew Drop using just the point of the ink pad. Then I added color to the blossom with an SU marker (A Pink Memento Dew Drop or the Memento Markers would also be fabulous if you have purchased them!)

Then, I just rubbed the tip of my brown Memento Ink pad all around the edge of the stamp for that nice frame for the flower image. Remember to huff quickly upon your stamp before setting it to the paper to re-moisten the ink.

The sentiments will all fit nicely within the bound square, but they're also just the right size to add onto any number of tag dies that you may already own (me, I have a *few*) giving me the ability to add a button, bow, tag combo (I know you're shocked to see that from me again...giggle.)

I added brads from the Stamp TV Kit to each of the corners for a little finishing touch. I *would* have sewn it, but the bobbin needs winding, which I don't really love doing... and besides, the brads were sitting there, needing some lovin' so its all good.

For more projects made with the stamps previewed today, be sure to check out our other Senior Design Team Member's Blogs:

Gina , Cathy, Donna, Emily, Erika Kurtis, Jessica, Lee, Lynn , Melanie and Theresa.

Our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team member, Sue Morris is joining in on our previews today showing off a card she has made with the new Free with Three stamp set - Tropical Windows.

Don't forget to join the team for the Release Party tonight over on SCS starting at 7pm CST. There will be contests, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too! You won't want to miss it!

Gina K Designs - Stamp TV Kit Previews

I've been playing around in my giant box from Gina K Designs and I've been working on some samples with the new "Signs of Autumn" Stamp TV Kit from Gina K Designs.

As always, the kit is filled with a mixture of amazing goodies, including TWO new colors of Pure Luxury Cardstock, luscious ribbon, a ton of brads and of course, two stunning stamp sets. Don't forget that this kit will be used for the next two months of Stamp TV tutorials!

Since the images are so varied, I couldn't use just one... I've got three cards to share with you today!

If you're like me, you've been bemoaning the loss of Kiwi Kiss cardstock. But I have the best news for you, I have in my hot little hands, the most gorgeous green cardstock and its pure luxury! The newest addition is "Green Apple" and it will be available Thursday night!

The color is rich and a perfect match for the newest Basic Grey patterned papers. You *know* that I love it with black for a really crisp look. For this card I used my Pure Luxury White and my Pure Luxury Black as well. I resisted my normal urge to load it up with designer paper, and used my scor pal to create this lattice packground. This cardstock holds such a nice crisp score line.

For my second card, I did go all out with the designer paper (eye roll, I couldn't help myself!!)

I just adore the rooster that is part of the collection and I used it to create a card that is so out of my normal style, but I had a blast working on it, and I do love it (if I do say so myself... oh that's SO rude!)

I've had this gorgeous paper from Graphic 45 in my stash for a year waiting for the right opportunity to use it and this was JUST the time - I was so glad I saved it. I stamped the rooster onto the script patterned paper and then inked all the edges with distress ink,

and sanded all around and stitched it down.

The grid layer is also inked, sanded and sewn, you'll see just a little *peek* of the new Pure Luxury cardstock Pumpkin Spice that is available as part of the Stamp TV kit.

What do you think, should I go for three?

I'm still loving the summer feeling in the air and trying to keep up with my two very active little boys. But as August approaches, I can anticipate picking fresh apples (which is good, because my boys are eating them by the bushel lately!) I always love refreshing my wardrobe with a few new pieces. Doesn't plaid just remind you of back to school?

This designer paper is the Basic Grey "Junebug" collection which Gina is adding to her store.... and I've added Pure Luxury Black Onyx, Ivory and Rocket Red to create my card.

Finished card size here is 4.25 inches square. I love that size!

So, now that I've written an epistle, don't forget to hop all around to visit Gina K and all the members of the Design Team that have previews with the new Stamp TV kit for you today.

For more projects made with the stamps previewed today, be sure to check out our other Senior Design Team Member's Blogs:
Gina, Asela, Cathy, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika Kurtis, Jessica, Lee, Lynn,

Melanie and Theresa.

Our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team member, Dawn Lusk is joining in our previews today showing a card today too. Remember to check out StampTV for the new video today - Gina will be showing a project made with the new Signs of Autumn StampTV kit!

I'm SO late to the Gina K previews this week - so in the very unlikely event that you've missed previews so far this week, be sure to head over to Gina's blog so that you don't miss any of the amazing eye candy that the team has come up with this week! Have a great day! I'll have another preview for you tomorrow!

Snuggled

My four year old has been having a rough go of the sleeping lately - consequently, we're both crabby in the morning. I've woken many a night over the past two months to him having climbed in my bed. The little rascal doesn't even wake me up, just climbs in and steals my pillow while I'm snoozing. Then I wake to his foot in my face, or worse....

I'm trying to remember that this too shall pass and before I know it he'll be asking me to drop him up around the block.. and not to give him a smooch in front of his friends.

This little fun folded card uses an A2 Foldout with Tag Flaps Diecut from Jody to which I added a coordinating belly band and some scalloped trim using Soft Suede and of course, my new favorite, Soft Suede polka dotted ribbon.

The Snuggle Bunnies stamp from My Favorite Things Presents by Stephanie Fizer which I stamped with Memento ink onto an MFT Perfect Panel then colored with Copics. I added liquid applique for puffy taile (and let it dry over night... which is key!) Then I added Sakura Stardust pen to the moon for a little bit of glimmer.

Thanks for looking, I'm off to snuggle that naughty bunny of mine while he still lets me!

Bubble Bunny - Finished Inside and Out

Good morning!!

This is my sample for this week's My Favorite Challenge over on the Splitcoast Member Company Forum for My Favorite Things. This week, the challenge has been to finish your card both inside and out.

Its a little something "extra" that I just love to do. I think it makes a handmade card just that more special.

I stamped my "Bubble Bunny" Flopsey once to a circular nestie and then again to a piece of scrap paper.

I colored the floor while he was still nested inside, leaving that nice crisp white edge all around. I've decided that I do love the new SU color Suede - I added a bow of the ribbon to my

project, then decided that the cardstock would be a nice accent color as well. All my edges are roughed and roughed some more for a nice shabby feel all around.

Finishing the inside literally takes a moment more, and usually you can just use the scraps from your front panel. I also think its a perfect way to add your sentiment.

If I'm hand delivering my card, adding a matching envelope also just adds *the finishing touch*

Today is the last day to enter this week's challenge before the newest one is uploaded to the forum on Thursday morning!

Sweet Bike Ride....

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We went to visit my parents at the beach and brought our bikes along. The boys had a blast riding on the bike trails, Nantucket is loaded with them, and my eldest had a little lesson in avoiding the sandy patches on the side of the road (ouch!)

I only wish I looked as cute at this on my bike, but the helmet sort of ruins the look. giggle. Guess that's why the stamp is called "I wish I looked so good on a bike-abella"

Although my knees are killing me today, its fun to have an activity that we all enjoy. The little guy rides along on the back of a "bicycle built for two" attached to the back of my husband's bike. Really, a fabulous invetion! And, now that we've all got the bikes, it doesn't cost anything - unlike our winter family activity - skiing that racks up quite a bill!!

Of course, the greenie in me just has to say that bikes are a fantastic mode of transportation, no gas use, no emissions and parking is a piece of cake!

I added a bit of kiwi kiss scalloped edging to my card, and used a trick I learned from my friend Lisa's blog, just tug up each scallop a little bit forward to give a little dimension and interest to your layout. I'm running low on this My Minds Eye paper, so it looks like I need to go find a new favorite?

Emily will be posting this week's sketch a little later today. If you haven't already hopped on over there to see the samples for last week's sketch you won't want to miss it!

Summer Breeze....

I've got another Dare to Get Dirty sample for you. This is a particularly fun sort of challenge, its a prior Splitcoast Dirty Dozen challenge that you all now get the chance to play along in "Mad for Music."

You'll find more about this in Deb Felt's Challenge today on the Splitcoast Stampers Dare to Get Dirty Forum.

I actually sent this card along to my mother and hopefully it made it there before I arrived with my brood and all their noise!

My inspiration for this card is "Summer Breeze." You may remember the original from Seals and Croft, but I just LOVE the remake from Jason Mraz. I have it on my ipod and its a great driving around, music up way loud type song. Go hunt for it on iTunes, you won't be disappointed.

Be sure to head on over to the Splitcoast Stampers Dare to Get Dirty Forum for all the challenges and have fun playing along! I can't wait to check out the galleries for all your amazing creations!

Summer Breeze

Dare to Get Dirty Continues!

As if it weren't enough fun to get to play along as a sample maker for Dare to Get Dirty, I also signed up to be a challenge hostess this week!

I selected an inspiration piece that is just so "me." I hope you'll come see the piece I chose and get stamping. You'll find my challenge HERE

I'm actually at the beach with my boys today, although, something tells me I won't look this relaxed... I'm sure I'll be digging holes, chasing small boys up the beach, or dodging seagulls who are trying to eat my tunafish sandwich... but I'm so excited to breathe the salt air, and wiggle my toes in the sand. Ahhhh. I love summer! This image is the latest "Who's that Girl" from My Favorite Things and is titled "Catch Some Rays."

Have a GREAT day! I'll have a sample for one more challenge tomorrow afternoon!

Its a Double Bella Day!

Last summer, I had SUCH a blast playing along in the Dare to Get Dirty challenges onSplitcoast Stampers.

This summer, I'm so excited that I've had the chance to participate as a sample maker. You may know that I adore sketch challenges, so I was thrilled that Cindy Haffner asked me to play along in her sketch challenge today!

This cutie is "Lil' Artist" from Stamping Bella. Since I'm a crazy addicted crafter, I happen to have lots of little artists here at my daycare. They love to create, and I love to watch them color and draw. We're never without LOTS of crayons!

You'll find all the details on the challenges on THIS forum. New challenges are added every hour! How fun is THAT! There will be a random prize draw from participants that complete them all and upload their creations by August 1st!

Psst. I'll be back with another post at 2pm!!

Happy Friday Little Turtle!

Happy Friday! Happy Bellariffic Friday that is! I'm always happy when I find an excuse to stamp a little Turtle love to share with you all, and I picked up this adorable cowboy from the Turtle Tots line in my most recent order from Stamping Bella.

I grabbed a handful of greens and browns to color up this little buddy, then hunted down some paper to work with the sketch the next day. For me its always a bit more of a challenge to do it that way, but that's why they call it a *challenge* right?

Lucky I had some of this fun patterned paper from Scenic Route tucked into the bottom of one of my paper bins, and it seemed just right for the project! For the circular element, I created one of those paper medallions by scoring back and forth with my Scor Pal, but then crumpled it a little bit for some texture.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, be sure to head on over to visit Blogabella to see all of the fantabulous submissions for this week's fun sketch!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cutie Gift Set

Last week, such a *sweet* little set was released from My Favorite Things Presents by Stephanie Fizer. Its called "Feelin' Fruity." I have a little thank you gift to give to a friend, and thought this would be a summery little bit of sweetness in her mailbox!

I inked up the strawberry and the watermelon for this little project and dug into my scrap pile for a summery assortment.

Quite often when you're making a card, you'll have enough "extras" from cutting down your cardstock that you can make two projects at once.

In this instance, I fiddled around with the leftovers and decided that I had enough to put together a bellyband with this circular panel to cover an acrylic box. Its filled up with Jolly Ranchers - I love that the clear box shows all the candies.

I've been reaching for this red, green and yellow pallette a lot lately. Maybe I've found a new favorite for the summer?

I wish that today was as cheery and sunshiney as this project. Its raining, and small people are crabby. I'm off to entertain them... and maybe sneak a piece of candy when they aren't looking!

MFT's Customer Blog Hop!

Each month, I love celebrating MFT Day - its just a fun little excuse to get your MFT stamps all inky, on the 20th of any given month!

Well, this month, I've invited some special guests to come and celebrate with me for a little MFT Customer Hop!

All the invitations were sent based on some outstanding samples to the many challenges that MFT holds over on our forum. You can find all the details here.

I hope you have fun surfing around visiting some of My Favorite Things talented, and dedicated customers!

Don't forget to leave them all a little love for their hard work.... and be sure to add your work to the MFT challenges this month, because I'll soon be sending out invitations for the August Customer hop!

The last stop on the hop will be the Celebrate MFT July gallery on Splitcoast. Come on, show your My Favorite Things team spirit and add your creations using the keyword "CelebrateMFT0709."

Without further ado, I invite you to HOP on over to visit the first customer in our lineup today --- Melody! I'm always SO in awe of her work week after week!

Thanks for stopping by and have fun hopping!

I'm friends with Mambo....

It has been ages since I've done an SU only card. But, with the new catalogue coming out, and the new in colors being released, I placed up a little order to pick up a little bit of this Razzleberry Lemonade paper. Every year, the new In Colors take some time to grow on me, but let me say this, I'm friends with Mambo.....

My sweet friend and upline, Erica, let me borrow this adorable stamp set titled "Great Friend" for my class. I just love that the sentiment sits so sweetly within this framed element. Its also the perfect anchor for the butterfly in the set.

I wanted the girls in my class to get to play with the papers so this card is light on the stamping, and heavy on the patterned papers.

In case it seems a little quiet around here in the next few weeks, I thought I'd mention that I'm going to be in and out - stamping a little less than my usual breakneck pace!! Summer, has finally arrived, with some sun, and we're spending every spare moment outside, or swimming, or biking. Have a great day everyone!!

Green Goodness

While cleaning up my disaster of a stamping area last night, I ran across VeggieBella from Stamping Bella - and thought that I'd give her a good inking up. You'll see she's got a sweet little green t-shirt on and is carrying a great little assortment of farm fresh lovin'. I've been so into all my new bella treasures lately that I've let some of my old favorite friends go untouched too long (shame on me!)

I'll admit, I have a black thumb... so you'll have to imagine that this is me picking up our weekly crop share from the local family farm.... or even stopping by our local farmers market (where I picked up the tastiest corn to go along with dinner last night!)

Veggiebella is stamped in Memento ink and then colored with Copic Markers. I pulled a smattering of now retired Kiwi Kiss papers - sniff sniff, I miss Kiwi Kiss already.

I only wish I looked this sassy headed out to pick up my veggies. Usually its a ponytail and my Red Sox baseball cap.

I think I mentioned a while ago that my husband and I joined a CSA at our local family farm. If you're totally unsure what I'm talking about, that stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Its been a wonderful way to help support a local family farm, and in return we reap a share of the weekly harvest.

My boys love heading off to the farm each week, they visit the chickens and the goats, help me collect our goods in the shed, and I also purchased 10 stems of flowers each week in the season. Each week its a surprise which variety of flowers will grace our kitchen table for a few days.

I've quickly found that my two usually picky boys will try anything that has been raised on the farm. Its been a wonderful way for them to realize where food actually comes from, how much work is involved. You can't even imagine how excited that in the last week I've convinced them to try both sauteed zucchini and green beans. (insert DANCE OF JOY here....) For me and my picky little ones, that was a major win for me!

I'm off to enjoy a lunch of farm fresh goodness! Have a WONDERFUL day!

Lovin the Love Beetle

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've been having a great week. These kids are keeping me so busy that the days are literally FLYING by. We're having fun for sure, but I can't believe how tired I am at the end of each day. My late night stamping adventures that I became so accustomed to during the school year are just not physically possible during the summer.

What's great when you don't have tons of time is a favorite sketch that you can work with, its such a great jump start to a project, and saves a ton of time.

This weeks sketch from Stamping Bella is one of my personal faves. I always have a ton of pattered paper laying around, and its easy to find two that will match up like this.

In fact, you'll recognize that this is nearly the exact same as the card I'd made for Emily's birthday, except the paper and stamp are different - today I got to play with "Love Beetle". Just a refresh of color can change the whole project from sassy to sweet!!

Now, I'm excited to have a sweet little birthday card set aside for a favorite little friend of mine. I was coloring it in alongside the kids today while they were coloring, so she happened to spy it. I think she'll be very happy when she finds it attached to a present for her in the near future!

I got to play with my new Copics with this card. I'm loving the super super light BG and W colors I have now... makes shading out to white so much easier, and creates a soft shadow that I'm digging.

Be sure to stop on over to Blogabella to see all this week's creations from the Babes as well as all of you in the peanut gallery!

Have a great weekend!

Celebrate MFT - Customer Blog Hop

I've been having SO much fun chatting with the "MFT Junkies", and working with my friend Christina on the new My Favorite Challenge each Thursday. Its been amazing to see a core team of girls contribute week after week, and its also been fantastic to see new players starting to join up in the fun too!

With that in mind, we decided to start a Customer Blog hop each month - to recognize some outstanding contributions using My Favorite Things stamps. The natural time to do it, seemed to be Celebrate MFT Day!

Now, who's been asked is a secret... but just for just a few more days... the first Customer Blog Hop will be on Monday, July 20th beginning at 11 am EST. The girls are all working on their projects, and I'm so excited to see what they've been up to. I'll be kicking off the hop next Monday, and it will end at the Celebrate MFT Gallery on Splitcoast.

That means that You also have a chance to show your MFT Team Spirit and participate in Celebrate MFT Day by adding your My Favorite Things stamped creation to the Splitcoast Gallery on Monday July 20th using the keyword "CelebrateMFT0709"

You'll find all the details on the MFT Member Company Forum on Splitcoast on this thread. But don't forget, that the entries to the weekly and monthly challenges on the MFT Member Company Forum might just earn you your invitation to next month's customer blog hop!!

Hopefully Hopping Along....

I hope you've been having fun hopping along to see all the latest creations from my pals on the My Favorite Things Design Team. If you didn't come here via Cindy's blog and you've just stumbled into this hop, I hope that you'll head on over to Kim's blog so that you don't miss any eye candy along the way!

Tonight there are three super cute stamp sets being previewed! I think they're all great, but in particular, I just love this Annie LaPoint image. They're just so different from anything else in my "collection" and they are truly a BLAST to color in! So many possibilities!

I really do wish that I loved gardening... but somehow that gene skipped me. I don't have a knack for it. Thank goodness that flowers come in stamps instead!

I've been reading and loving Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Mineral" and loving how she documents all of the fruits of her labor in a gardening journal. So, I was inspired to stamp up a little gardening journal for a friend. It was a great excuse to put my Bind It All to use!

I actually snipped in between pieces of the sentiment to make mine a little more bendy... I created an arch to mimic the top of the plants within the wheelbarrow. I didn't actually cut them apart, just made them more bendy! LOL!

The next stop on the blog hop is Kirsten in fact, I'm headed there myself to see what cuteness she's come up with! Don't forget to hop all the way along through to the end where there will be some blog candy!

Getting Bubbly with the Bunny!

Do you ever feel like you need a weekend to recover from your weekend? I hope that yours was as busy and fun filled as ours was! Baseball game, zoo, beach, carnival rides you name it, we did it! Seriously how can kids have SO much energy? But its been great to have some sunshine at last! Hooray!

So, I'd love to be able to get into the bubbly this morning like this month's Flopsey release titled "Bubble Bunny" from My Favorite Things. However, its just not in the cards! (oh, bad pun....)

I stamped Flopsey to my cardstock as well as to a scrap of patterned paper. He's colored with my W1 and W2 markers, with just a bit of R20 to the inside of his ears.

This is just one of three fun new mid- month releases from My Favorite Things! I have another card to share with you on the blog hop which will begin Tuesday night at 10pm. You won't want to miss it!

If you're looking for something to keep you busy in the interim, please join us on the MFT Member Company forum. The sketch challenge and the weekly "My Favorite" challenge are both still open, and don't forget, each one comes at the chance at a prize! You can find this week's thread HERE

To celebrate MFT's Third Birthday - this week only, all sets in the bin are $3 each! Wow! And, once these stamps are gone, they'll be fully retired, never to be seen again! If you see anything you like in the Bin - now's the time to grab it! Click here to see what's in this week's Bubble Bin!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm off to go find a cup of coffee!

Playing with Bears....

You may remember that I mentioned Whipper Snapper had three new releases from Anna Wight this month, I've worked with two of them so far, and I finally got a chance to play with the third "Beware of Bears!"

I had so much fun masking and stamping this fun little bear to place assorted items into his hands.

My go to Copic marker for things like bears, has gone dry... so a little light bulb went off in y head. Prismacolor Pencils!

And I'm actually sort of glad how that all worked out, because this was a blast to work on. I loved coloring his little olive shorts, and selecting just the right reds for the lantern... but most of all, drawing in that grass at his feet. Eeeks! Fun.

Now, normally I select papers first, then color, but this time, I worked backwards... well at least backwards for me. This time I got all the colors just the way I wanted, then I rifled through my papers to find something that matched. And again, I've got bits of everything in here. Some Mr Campy from Cosmo Cricket and several retired papers from Stampin Up. Lots of sewing to anchor all the pieces together, and really, lets face it, just cause I like to!

We're just home from a weekend at my in laws in Maine. It was fantastic, but man, I'm tired. Boys ran me ragged. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

You're #1!

Just an itty bitty post from me today, we're quickly packing our bags, lunches and headed to the beach to enjoy this beautiful day!

This is a brand spankin new You're My Number One-abella" and I couldn't wait to ink her up for this week's Bellariffic Sketch Challenge.

I had fun digging through all manner of scraps and grabbed a little bit of this, and a little bit of that to match with this fun little piece of Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday paper that I had just a little remnant of. I pulled the color Copic Markers according to the remnants I had. Once everything was stitched, assembled and tied properly, I added a little bit of stickles to each of the circles in the big old one.

Ask Karen, Stickles frighten me. I've been known to make an unholy mess with them....but as long as I put them on the project at the end, and then force myself to walk away (I've been known to pick and fidget with things, hence the stickly-mess!)

Please be sure to hop on over to Blogabella to see all the samples from this week!

Have an amazing weekend everyone!!

Gina K Designs - Lucky Seven Sale and Blog Hop

Welcome to the Gina K Designs - Lucky Seven Sale blog hop!

Today I have a little sample made for you using Many Happy Returns from Gina K Designs. I also used the designer paper which is included in the Eclectic Summer Stamp TV Kit - Lime Rickey from Basic Grey! I thought it was just perfect for margaritas! Mmmmmmm...

I used Copic Markers to color in the margarita mix, then added a coat of diamond glaze for shine and then added a coat of stickles on top of that.

You won't want to miss the today's blog hop tour of the Lucky Seven Stamp sets by my friends on the Gina K Design Team

Check out these GinaK Designs Senior Design Team blogs tonight for projects made with these seven Lucky Stamp sets!

Many Happy Returns: Joanne (that's me!) and Lynn
How Sweet it Is: Gina and Carolyn
Jumping for Joy: Cathy and Lee
Zoo Animals: Asela and Donna
Christmas Blessings: Kurtis and Emily
Whatever Floats Your Boat: Erika and Jessica
Cuddles and Hugs: Melanie and Theresa

Lucky Seven Sale Event: July 10-14, 2009

Buy any three of these seven stamp sets(regularly priced at $23.95 each) for $49.95 and you can choose from one of these normally priced $19.95 stamp sets for free! (A value of $91.80)

OR, for an even more amazing deal: Buy them all for $125! Purchase all of the Lucky Seven stamp sets and you will receive all 4 of the free stamp set choices for free! (A total value of $247.55)

Lucky Seven Stamp sets available for this sale event:
Many Happy Returns
How Sweet it Is!
Jumping for Joy
Zoo Animals
Christmas Blessings
Whatever Floats Your Boat
Cuddles and Hugs

Stamp sets available for free with the purchase of 3 of the Lucky Seven Stamp Sets:
WhooHoo!
Rectangle Greetings
Heartfelt Hits 1
Kindred Greetings for Kids

To take advantage of these sale prices, look for the Lucky Seven Button on GinaK's Online Store that will go live midnight tonight!

The Lucky Seven Sale event will start at 10pm CST on July 9th and run thru midnight July 14th.

How 'bout them Apples?

I've had this sheet of Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper sitting on my desk for a few weeks now, and it was just waiting for the right image to present itself.

Truth be told, I was saving it, because I had only one piece, and I wanted to admire it a while.....this fun green pattern is actually the flipside. I wish I knew in advance which papers I'd fall the most hopelessly in love with so that I'd have the sense to buy MORE. Giggle.

Well, today I finally got brave enough to cut it.. because I decided to pair it up with ... with this sweet little Hugabugg Appley Bowl image.

I stamped the image twice so that I could color that sweet bowl of apples and pop it up one layer for a bit extra dimension.

I think this sweet little bug likes apples about as much as my boys do. I can't keep enough of them in the house to keep the boys satiated, they LOVE them. But its okay, there are many worse things they could love than apples right? I'll just be happy when we can go picking and buy a BUNCH of them versus shelling out the bucks for them at the supermarket. Yikes, those boys are expensive.... but I sure do love to see them make healthy choices!

Edited to add: Someone asked me where I get my Cosmo Cricket Paper. I actually bought this early bird as part of a recent order from Stamping Bella - you can see their collection of cosmo here! I also pick it up at my local scrapbooking store - Right at Home Scrapbooking. Cosmo Cricket also just added what I think is an amazing new feature- you can order online through Cosmo Cricket and your order will be fulfilled through your local retailer. Read more about that here.

MFT Kits - Just Add Color!

I'm really excited to have a sample of a brand spankin new product from My Favorite Things for you today! Introducing "MFT Kits - Just Add Color!"

We are pleased and proud to introduce

something fresh, fun and completely
distinctive – MFT Kits!

Each month, a new Kit will be revealed,
complete with an exclusive, unreleased
stamp set, and the items you’ll need to
complete a very special project (s).

The set included with your MFT Kit is a brand new, unreleased set, and will not be available for a period of at least 3 months after the MFT Kit containing the set is released.

Its no secret that I love little die cut boxes, and just look, this fun little stamp set is quite literally made to fit the size of this box.

It was a snap to put it together, and the kit comes with all the things you need to put together six little boxes! Within the "By the Seashore Kit", you'll receive six of these diecut tall gable boxes, five yards of this twill tape, tons of hemp twine, brass brads, six MFT Perfect Paper Panels and even a Memento Dew Drop inkpad! All you have to do is add color to make it your own! You'll even get a download sheet with some tips and tricks as well as some finished samples that you can use for a little jumpstart!

Lots of my friends on the MFT Design Team have samples for you today be sure to hop on over to visit to see what they've come up with!!

Retired SU for Sale

I'm offering the following now retired stamps from Stampin Up for sale. Due to the terms of my demonstrator agreement - I can only sell to customers within the United States. I do apologize for any of you outside of the US borders.

They are all priced to move - really great bargains! I need to clean up around here! All payments must be via PayPal - please email me at basilefamily at comcast dot net with any questions! I will update the list regularly to let you know which stamp sets have been sold!

All stamps will be mailed via priority mail for a cost of $4.95 and I will combine shipping for larger orders.

Please contact me at basilefamily at comcast dot net if you're interested in any of these sets! Thanks and happy shopping!

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Blooming with Love - Purchased

Life's a Breeze - Purchased!

Big Bold Birthday - $15

Stitched Exotics - Purchased

Paisley Background- $10

Print Pattern Background - $5

Illuminations $15

Linen Background - Purchased

Beautiful Borders - $12

Punches Three - $7

Darling Dots - never opened!! - $10

Congratulations - never opened!! - $10

Boatloads of Love - purchased

Doodle This - purchased

Office Accoutrement - purchased

Big Pieces - $10

Wishing You - $10

Polka Dots and Petals - $5

Birthday Whimsey - $7

All in a Row - $7

Flowers and Flourish - $7

Tiny Talk - $5

Stars and Swirls - $5

Year after Year $10

Bright and Cheery for a Birthday Queen!

A few weeks ago, Shannan emailed me to see if I'd like to participate in a little birthday surprise for Emily - you know, THE Stamping Bella!

Of course I was thrilled to jump in, and I'm hoping that my card arrived to her already. If not, Emily, no peeking!

Christy Croll, one of the fabulous illustrators for Stamping Bella drew this image just for us to use for Emily's birthday cards and I totally LOVE it!

I instantly grabbed this fun and rockin' designer paper from American Crafts - love those blinged out hearts, and I added some of my Making Memories "Just Chillin" paper. Be sure to stop by Emily's blog today to grab the latest sketch for our Bellariffic Friday challenge. I'm off to work on my sample with some new goodies that arrived from Stamping Bella over the weekend!

I hope that you all had an amazing weekend. We finally had lots and lots of sun (HOORAY!!!) and we made up for lost time by spending the weekend swimming, biking, eating on the patio and staying up way too late! It was a wonderful, but totally exhausting weekend!

Happy Fourth of July!

Here's a little Fourth of July card that I made using the Gina K Designs free digital download paper "Stars and Stripes" from Stamp TV as well as the "Lazy Days of Summer" and "Ribbon Stripes."

I repeatedly stamped the "Ribbon Stripes" stamp set to Gina's Rocket Red Pure Luxury Cardstock, and then used my Scor Pal to form all my creases.  

I created a little bunting by making only  half of one of those paper medallions and then added two star punchouts from the Lazy Days set.  

Wishing you all a wonderful day celebrating our nation's Independence.  Thank you to all of you who are serving our country in the military, as well as to all of you who have family currently in service.  

Happy Birthday to MFT and Happy Shopping to YOU!

Did you know that this weekend will be the Third Year birthday of My Favorite Things Stamps?  It will also be my sweet friend Kim's (you know, the MFT Lady!) Birthday on Sunday! Be sure to go wish her a HUGE happy birthday!!

To celebrate, she's having a sweet promotion!  You'll find all the details below and also on this thread!

I'm not sure if this card has arrived to her in the mail, so she may be seeing it here before she finds it in her mailbox. I've GOT to get my act together with that sort of thing.  Can I make a mid-year resolution or what?

This card features the set "You Take the Cake" and some more of that My Minds Eye paper that I've had on my desk. I'm trying to be better about using up my scraps over the course of a few projects - I'm finding it results in less paper filing, and a cleaner desk. Imagine THAT!

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 This weekend ONLY (July 4th and 5th), we are offering a Buy 3, Get 2 FREE promo!

   Purchase any 3 full priced stamp sets (Excludes July New Releases) and they will add:

   1) One set from our Get Sentimental category (we will select the set for you) AND

   2) A FREE set of YOUR choice! (Excludes July New Releases)

   The July New Releases are excluded from this promotion. They don’t count as either your Buy 3 sets OR the 2 FREE sets.)

   They are:

   Catch Some Rays

   Puttin’ on the Glitz

   Puppy Chow

   Purrfect Treat

   But since we know the new stuff is on your wish list, we are EXTENDING the 10% discount on these sets through Sunday, July 5th as well!

On Cloud Nine

Looking at this card, you might think you're in the wrong place... its missing my normal background.  I had to give up my regular means of photography for a light box this week.

  

There has been a *serious* lack of natural light at my house. Its been raining for days and it was killing me to take pictures of cute cards and have them come out dark and dreary.

I usually only have this much trouble with photography in March, and hello, its July.  So, lightbox it is. I will say that its a handy thing, and certainly got me a much brighter photo than I'm used to.  Just seems strange to me to not have my sitting room in the background.  Maybe its just a matter of what I'm used to.....but I'm curious to know what you think.....

This is the Bellariffic sketch for the week, drawn up by Linda Heavens.  This was super fun to work with, and was just the right size for my new "Altee'Tude" 'from Stamping Bella.  I reached for my new little addiction, My Minds Eye paper.  I've been working on my straight stitching.  I haven't used the old go to, my friend the Zig-Zag the last week or so.  

I have a confession, I always have a hard time with pieces of images that should be white.  This time I decided I'd color with my BG10 all around the cloud, and leave it mostly white.  There is a touch of W1 to give it a little depth.  

The sentiment is largely hidden by my bow/button combo but reads "On cloud nine" I noticed while I was editing that it was tucked in behind, but didn't want to pull out all the apparatus to re-shoot.  Hope you'll forgive me as I learn some new tricks!

Till then, be sure to hop on over to visit Blogabella to see what all my friends the Babes came up with for this week's sketch!

Getting Green with MFT!

This week I'm the hostess of the My Favorite Things - My Favorite Challenge over on Splitcoast.

Christina had this fun idea of having everyone re-use something from their house to create this week's project after an amazing project by Barbara a few weeks ago. 

I hope you'll hop on over to this week's Chat and Chatter thread and play in this week's challenge as well as the weekly sketch challenge!!  Don't forget, there are prizes awarded for both!

I sifted through my storage area and found an old Prima package.  I pulled out the insert and recovered it with this fun striped paper from Scenic Route. Then added a bellyband and tied around some ivory ribbon.  

Then I reused again.  I had purchased these Memory Glass pieces and Frames to make Christmas ornaments (and sadly never did...)  So I added one as a charm, and added magnetic tape (leftover from another project) and tied that onto the packaging.  Lastly, I filled it with Hershey Kisses (ahem, leftover from another project....figured if I gifted them I'd stop EATING them right?)

Then of course, I had leftover papers, so what better for a re-use it theme, but to create a 3x3 gift card while I was at it.  What a perfect way to use up your scraps, and really at that point, the papers, stamps and colors are all pre-determined.... For the card I stamped the blossom twice with Pink Pirouette ink, then sponged all the edges.  I punched out just the center of the flower, crinkled, sponged and added it with a pop dot. Then added a button to the center.  I wrapped each of the petals around my paper piercer and rolled them forward for extra dimension. 

For a fun scalloped edge, I stamped Setting the Stage with Memento ink to some designer paper and then trimmed it out.  Such a fun, quick and easy little detail.  I've got to remember that more often!

So, dig into your extras, forage around your house and put your findings to use in a project! We'd love to have you stamp with us this week! 

Eclectic Thanks!

I've been so busy with new releases lately that I haven't really had a chance to just *play* with the images from the current Stamp TV Kit from Gina K Designs. In particular I've been dying to color up this sweet barrel of pansies.

This afternoon has just been rainy rainy yuck, so the boys are watching Bedtime Stories, and I'm trying to stamp myself a little sunshine!  

I rifled through my stash of patterned papers to find a good fit and I uncovered enough scrap of this Websters Paper pink pattern, and a leftover piee of paper from Basic Grey Bittersweet. 

I love using Gina K Pure Luxury White for my cardbases.  It has such a fresh feel and I love how sturdy it is.  I went ahead and used all the scraps I had available to make two cards, with coordinated linings.  

Be sure to hop on over today to visit Stamp TV.  Gina has posted a new video every Wednesday using the Stamp TV Kit and this week, she is showing the Crayon Resist technique, has a video showing how to use her piercing templates, and of course be sure to welcome this month's Center Stage In the Spotlight Team!