Winner of my Blog Candy!!

And the winner, chosen by Random Number Generater - is comment #10

And that was:
Beverly aka beestamper said...
Hi Julia...Congrats on all of your hits!! That is fabulous, and what a fun way to celebrate! I don't have any MFT stamps, so I would love to win this! You have a GREAT blog! Inky hugs, Beverly aka beestamper

Congratulations Beverly!!

Please e-mail me, julia.aston@comcast.net - with your mailing address and I'll get the stamp set and papers right out to you!

Thank you everyone for all your wonderful encouraging comments - It means so much to me! I'm sorry you couldn't all win! - I'll offer blog candy again so keep checking back!

Coach Egg Box - PapertreyInk Honorable Mention!

I'm so excited! Wanted to share my fun news that I got Honorable Mention for this PapertreyInk egg box I decorated and submitted to their March Guest Star Stamper contest.

I had already purchased 4 of these cute egg boxes from Papertrey when they came out last month and so when I found these fun sports eggs at CVS I decided to try and figure out how to decorate it using them inside.

At first I thought along the lines of making it for a child involved in sports - but I couldn't get a good design in my head. So I went to Michaels looking for some DP that might inspire and direct me. I found the paper I used on the top of the box - by Bohemia - called Blue Bird: All Boy Stripe and thought this sort of looked like a sports field with the lines on it. I had the DP of a photo of grass by Die Cuts With a View already and the design clicked in my head. I just rubbed the ink pad directly onto the insert in the box with the holes in it - I think it looks like they are laying on the grass inside the box.

I used the Papertrey set - Just Hatched - for the oval on the top left - it says 'Half-Dozen Treats - Just Hatched - Especially for you'. I used my Karen Foster Snap Stamp alphabet to stamp COACH, and another Just Hatched sentiment - 'Just a Little Something' under that. The baseball stamp by Stampabilities is cut out and up on dimensionals as is the coach oval.

The ovals were punched with my Nestabilities. The green dotted ribbon is also from Papertrey.

Of course - if you were really giving this to a coach - you would buy several sets of these eggs so you would have 6 of the sport the coach was actually coaching - unless she/he really was an 'all around' coach!

Check out all the Papertrey March winners/honorable mentions here.

Debbie Olson has some good instructions on how to cover the egg boxes here:

Thanks for checking this out today! I'll be posting the winner of the Blog candy in the post below first thing tomorrow!

Stamps: Papertreyink: Just Hatched, Karen Foster Snap Stamps, Baseball: Stampabilities
Paper: Kraft, DP: Grass - DCWV The Stack III, Bohemia Blue Bird all boy stripe
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Meadow Adirondack
Accessories: Egg Box & Ribbon - PapertreyInk, Sports Eggs: CVS, Nestability Ovals, dimensionals.

My First Blog Candy for You! A My Favorite Things Set

So here it is! My first Blog Candy as a thank you for all of my new friends that stop by here to check out my craft offerings! I've hit 2000 views on my blog!

This is a new - never used - My Favorite Things set called How Sweet It Is - as well as six 6x6 squares of double sided Chocolate Stampin Up Designer Paper for you to use with this chocolate themed set.

You can win this Blog Candy just by saying 'hello' and leaving me a comment - just click on 'comment' at the bottom of this posting. Be sure you are commenting here and not on another post.

I will pick a random number to find the winner. You have until midnight Tuesday 3/18/08 to post your comment.

Please note: If you check off annonymous when you post your comment - you need to put your name in your comment so that I will know who the winner is!

Thank you everyone for checking out my blog now and then - I am so enjoying this and it means so much to know that people are coming by!

I'll post the winner on Wednesday morning so be sure to check back!

Candy Rain

Hi Everyone! hope you are having a good Saturday - it's the weekend again - Yay!! We've had a mixed bag of weather this morning - first it was snowing - then it was raining and now it's just cloudy and the temp is about 34 degrees. A good day to be inside and stamping!!

First I wanted to show you my new stamp that I just got from Paper Angel that I use on the back of my cards and paper crafts (seen above). I also have one with my e-mail address on it - but since I started my blog - I wanted people to be able to look me up - so I had this one made with my blog address on it. Check out their site - they have lots of fun stamps other than signature ones and they have really great prices and are often running special sales!

My card today was made for two challenges - the Inspiration challenge on Split Coast where we were to be inspired by some fun clothing items (including an umbrella) that were made with colorful material in a candy print. The second challenge is from Sharon's blog at No Time to Stamp - to use paper piercing on your card.

So - I used my circles brass template from SU for my piercing and I used a wonderful new DP that I just got from Michaels by The Paper Company called Florentine Green and Gold. It's not a candy pattern but it has lots of bright colors and I think looks just as cheerful as candy!

I used the technique of paper piecing on the girl with the umbrella - where I first stamped it in black on a piece of very vanilla card stock - then I stamped it again in black on a piece of DP - then I cut out the parts of the stamped image from the DP that I wanted and attached it to the image stamped on the vanilla. The umbrella piece is mounted on dimensionals so it stands out a bit. A fun and pretty technique don't you think?!

The card is embossed with my new Cuttlebug folder called Distressed Stripes. I had stamped the raindrops from Rubber Soul on the card before embossing.

I stamped part of the raindrop stamp over the sentiment from Hero Arts in a light ink - Memories Soft Baby Blue so you could see it but it didn't obscure the words.

The girl and the sentiment panels are mounted with dimensionals.

So a rainy umbrella card for a rainy grey day - but the bright colors of the DP and me being able to stamp today - makes it a sunshiny day for me!!

Thanks for coming by on your busy Saturday and spending a little time with me!

Paper: Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Black, DP - The Paper Company - Florentine Green & Gold.
Stamps: My Favorite Things - Shower Time, Rain - Rubber Soul, Sentiment - Hero Arts.
Ink: Pitch Black Adirondack, Memories Soft Baby Blue
Supplies: Paper piercer and pad, Brass Circle Template SU, dimensionals, CB folder- Distressed stripes.

Genuine Grunge

Well........ today's card is a first for me - I actually made a 'grunge' card. The challenge on Split Coast was to make a card using only designer paper no card stock - accept for the card base. I needed a masculine card so thought I'd use Stampin Up's Classic Pickup's set - which I love!

Then I went looking for DP and found my Cosmo Cricket Halfway Cafe paper and it included a sheet of journaling designs. This piece had the tag and sentiment printed right on it so all I had to do was stamp and color the truck. I didn't start out thinking I would do a grunge card - it just sort of evolved - I guess based on the already antique look of the DP. First I distressed the edges, then I tore some of the edges and I sponged Chocoloate Chip Ink over all the edges. I even distressed some of the card edges. I was OUT OF CONTROL!!

I wouldn't usually add ribbon to a 'guy' card - but this dark red with black edge ribbon seemed to work here. I also added a piece of hemp. The card actually looks like it went through a fire doesn't it!!??

So - I ventured out into unknown territory today - and I survived! So while grunge is not my favorite technique - I see that I am able to do it on occasion!

I'm going to be offering some blog candy later next week - my counter hit 2000!! and I'm overdue to offer thanks - so keep checking back! I just have to organize myself and I've got several things going on the next 5 days.

Stamps: Classic Pickups: SU
Paper: Kraft, DP CosmoCricket Halfway Cafe
Ink: Azure Stazon, Choc Chip
Accessories: Sponge, dimensionals, ribbon, hemp, distresser, brad
Techniques: distressing, grunge

I've Been Tagged!

So yesterday I saw on Danielle's blog - Wild Dragonfly Designs - that she tagged me. That means that I am now supposed to list 7 Random Things about myself.

So here are some things that make me who I am.

1. I am a person that makes lists. I have 'stickies' all over my computer at work, in my stamping room and several stuck to my kitchen cabinet above our eating counter so that I see those every day until the items on them are done. If I don't make a list - I promptly forget what I was supposed to do. My mother always made lists so I guess I learned it from her - but I really could not function without writing my lists!

2. Seeing a beautiful sunrise or sunset, a giant harvest moon on the horizon, or riding in NH or Maine and turning a corner to a vista of tall mountains - takes my breath away.

3. I always order the same meal whenever I go to particular restaurants - I don't mean I only eat one thing whenever I go out - but I have a different favorite thing at each restaurant. It drives my husband crazy - he says I should try new things - but I say, I know what I like and if I order something different - I often don't like it!

4. I love traveling to other states and countries - I never traveled far when I was young as it was too expensive - but as an adult I have been able to travel more and I love seeing how people live in different areas and the different topographies etc.

5. I have a very bad sense of direction. I never know if I'm going north or south or which way I should turn on a road when given a choice - when I finally learned how to read a road map it helped a little (what an ingenious thing, a road map - you can actually get from one place to another by following the roads on it!!) Usually I'm traveling with my husband and then I leave it up to him - he used to drive a truck - so he is really good on getting places!

6. I love to do things outside - gardening, walking, snowshoeing, hiking, bird watching, easy mountain climbing and Kayaking are a few of the things I like to do.

7. I am a collector - some of the things I have collected over the years: Noah's Arks, dolls, antique quilts, anything antique!, Wallace Nutting Pictures, tea cups and now STAMPS!

So there you go - now you know me a little better - hopefully you will still be my friend!!

I'm supposed to tag some other bloggers - but Danielle already tagged Linsey and these two ladies are my only close blogger friends at the moment being new to blogging! so - I may have to blog someone later on!!

Update: I'm making blogging friends! so I have tagged LeAnne and Beverly
check out their great blogs!

thanks for stopping by - do you want me to tag you??? LOL! leave me a comment!!

Riley's Brewin

Hello everyone! I didn't think I would get to a card tonight - when I got home I had to work on more Easter crafts and make an ATC (artist trading card) for an exchange I do with MissHelenStamps on SCS and make and eat supper! - but, of course I did get to my card - it's the sketch challenge on SCS after all and I ALWAYS do that challenge, right??!!

And I finally used my Riley stamp from Hanna Stamps. I bought about 7 of them (Easter, St. Patricks, in the plane, in the chair) - He is just so cute and doesn't he look comfy in his easy chair with his coffee and cupcake?! After I put this together I thought the back panels looked just like a couple of windows that Riley is sitting in front of in his den - and he is looking right at his big screen tv where we are standing!!! lol!

I used my Prismacolor markers to color him in. I like them much better than the Copic Markers. I have a few Copics - but they don't seem to color as well for me as the Prismacolor markers. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that I only have 12 copics and you really need several shades of each color to do the proper blending etc. and they are very expensive... so for now I'm happy with my Prismacolors and just filling in with solid color.

I was tagged today by Danielle over on her blog - Wild Dragonfly Designs! So I have to write 7 random things about myself. I'm going to think about this overnight - so check back tomorrow to find out what I have to reveal about myself!!

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Stamps: Riley: Hanna Stamps, Sentiment - Art Impressions
Paper: Very Vanilla, Bazzill Brown, DP K& Co
Ink: Pitch Black - Adirondack
Accessories: dimensionals, nestability circles, prismacolor markers, cranberry crisp stitched ribbon - SU