Check this out! Cute free Digi Stamp!

Haven't been able to stamp for the past two days - lots of 'life' going on! But in the mean time wanted to share this link where you can request a super adorable free Digi stamp!

This new company is called Two Scoops Rice Designs and Renae is now taking pre-orders for her new March stamps seen here.

I'll be back soon with some new projects - I hope to have time to stamp tonight!

Thanks for coming by today!

Seeds of Spring

I made this card for the color challenge on Split Coast to use Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pashion and Chocolate Chip. I totally cased this adorable bunny and layout from Heather on her blog Pine Feather.I changed the colors and did the ribbon and sentiment differently but the basic layout and clever punched circle and ovals bunny are all Heather's. Thank you Heather for the great inspiration!

My card also covers this weeks Doubledog Dare challenge I do with some friends. Joanne was the hostess this week and her challenge was to make a card that screamed spring and also had seeds on it (!?!?). You will notice (I hope!) the 3 small black sunflower seeds growing out of the side of my sentiment 'flower'.

It took me more time to figure out how to get these seeds worked into the design than it did to make the whole rest of the card! But I finally figured out a way to place them that looked like they should be there (well sort of I guess!)

We'd love to have you join us in this Doubledog Dare Challenge - just post your card on your SCS gallery and use the keyword DDC so we can come check out your card. You can see all the Doubledog Dare cards here. You can see all the members of the DDC team on my side bar.

Stamps: Studio G Clear $1 Michaels set
Paper: Pink Passion, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip: SU, DP Amy Butler K&Co, white: PTI
Ink: Fresh Snow: PTI, Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: sponge, EK Success Circles edge punch, dotted grosgrain ribbon, brown satin ribbon, circle punches, oval punch, foam dimensionals, glue dots, glue pen, white pompom

In Everything Give Thanks - Eggspecially for You

An appropriate title for the season of Lent I think (the first part that is!) - a good reminder for us all. The featured stamper on Split Coast this week was Kelly H who has some beautiful cards in her gallery - I finally decided on this card to CASE. And here is the card I created:

I loved the white embossing on her card - but I don't have the stamp set she used (can you believe there is a stamp I don't have???! Shocking - I know!! LOL!!) - so I substituted the Bird Call cuttlebug folder which has similar lines. First I inked the inside of the front of the folder with First Snow Ink by Papertrey - put the card stock in the folder and ran it through the cuttlebug. I love the look that this technique gives. I cleaned off my folder immediately after embossing.

I added a second blue shade of color to my card by using the Blue Bayou for the Bible Verse (Verve Visual) and the framing of the cuttled panel. I did emboss the sentiment using Versamark embossing ink and white embossing powder. The butterfly was punched out of Glitter card stock using a Martha Stewart punch. I attached it to the card with a glue dot. I really like how the cuttled panel came out on this using the ink.

Stamps: Verve Visual - Pray without ceasing
Paper: White: PTI, baja breeze, blue bayou: SU, Solid Glitter White: Provo
Ink: Fresh Snow: PTI, Versamark Embossing Ink
Accessories: White EP, foam dimensionals, butterfly punch - Martha Stewart, Bird Call Cuttlebug folder, cuttlebug, Fresh Snow Satin ribbon: PTI, hot gun

Today's Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge on Split Coast was to use piercing or drawn dots on your card to highlight the image.In keeping with the 'less is more' idea of Clean and Simple cards - I simply stamped this egg on a white square, mounted it to a plum pudding square (I know - it looks black in the picture - the trials of night time photo shooting!) mounted that to the card - stamped the sentiment underneath the image and then used my Stampin Up grid, mat and piercer to add the lines of piercing. The card looks simple - but I went through 3 colors and 3 different stamps before I got the combination that looked good to me!! And I do like how the piercing looks on this!

This pretty egg and coordinating sentiment are from a new H&M Stamp Set called Eggstraspecial. It's one of Heather's 3 new sets so be sure to check it out!

We had about 7" of new snow today - mostly during morning commute - oh joy!

Thanks so much for coming by!

Stamps: Eggstra Special: H&M Stamps
Paper: white, Plum Pudding: PTI
Ink: Plum Pudding: PTI
Accessories: paper piercer, grid, mat: SU, creative memories square punch

A Basket Full of Happiness and other Easter Treats

I have a few Easter crafts to share with you today. We have faith that spring is coming right?!? I say this as 2 snow storms are predicted to hit us over the next two days!

I made this sweet little Easter Basket for the Inspiration Challenge over on Split Coast. I was inspired by these Easter treats here in the RoomService Home web site Stef showed us.I found the template for this adorable basket in the forums on Split Coast Stampers. It was designed by Claire (Waltzingmouse) Thank you Claire!! It is small - measuring only about 3" x 1" as you can see in comparison to the small Nestle Crunch eggs in and beside it (of course the ones beside it are no longer in existance - Ooops! or should I say Yum!)

The basket pattern is two pieces - the basket itself and then a liner that fits in it. When you print the template - there are two patterns on the sheets so you can make two baskets each time you print it out which is super! I cut the handle piece a little shorter than the 11 inches called for in Claire's pattern as I didn't want it to be quite so tall. There is a narrow scalloped rectangle Nestability attached to the bottom of the basket to finish it off and echo the scalloped edge on the side of the basket - you can just barely see it in the pics if you look closely for it.

I used a sweet new stamp set by H and M Stamps called Eggstra Special that is being released today! This set is designed by the ever talented Debbie Corbari from the H&M Design Team - this is her first design being brought to life on a stamp set - congratulations Debbie!!!

Stamps: H&M Stamps - Eggstra Special
Paper: vintage cream PTI, Mellow Moss: SU, DP - cratepaper Seaweed collection
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Mellow Moss: SU
Accessories: tacky tape, pink basket shred, corner rounder, oval punch, oval nestabilities, waxed floss, narrow rectangle nestabilities, vintage cream satin ribbon: PTI, cool grey copic, pink Prismacolor marker

My next Easter item to show you is a cute little wooden pin that comes on a pretty little card. Two gifts in one!!

I bought the wooden bunny already painted at AC Moore. I made the 'card' for the pin with Bazzill card stock - stamped the egg and sentiment and doodled around the edges. I attached a stick pin and backing to the back of the bunny and attached it to the 'card' though a punched hole. I place the card into a clear envelope when I sell them at our church Easter sale.

Stamps: Egg - Egg cited: CTMH, Happy Easter Bunny: Penny Black

Paper: Bazzill card stock

Ink: Desert Sand: CTMH, Onyx Black Versafine

Accessories: painted wooden bunny, stick pin with back, black micro pen

And my third craft for today uses the fun round top box I also used on this St. Patrick's day box. I totally cased this Easter design from Cheryl Rowley. I used different stamps for my main image but I loved her super idea of the lacey punched edge along the rim of the box - some people are SO CLEVER!! (you know - like when you see something and say "why didn't I think of that??)

This cute Poochie basket stamp is from The Cat's Pajamas and the sentiment is from My Favorite Things. The dots are from Polka Dot Basics by Papertrey Ink. The lacey edge is a Martha Stewart punch. The yellow strip is about 7" long after I punched it, I trimimed the depth to 3/4".

I usually make 6 of every craft I make to sell at our church holiday sales. So here is the herd! I put 12 pastel jelly beans in a plastic bag and nestle it into the paper shred inside each basket.

Stamps: Polka dot basics: PTI, Poochie Basket: The Cats Pajamas, Easter Greetings: My Favorite Things - Hoppy Easter.

Paper: Baja Breeze, Blue Bayou: SU, Lemon Tart: PTI

Ink: Onyx Black, Versafine embossing ink

Accessories: Brach Speckled Jelly Beans, sealable bags - Michaels, sponge, 1" sheer ribbon, ivory basket shred, Martha Stewart Lacey punch, oval nestabilities, Prismacolor markers.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Remember to stop by H&M Stamps to see Heather's 3 new stamp sets!

H&M Sneak Peek! Seasons of Trees

I am so excited today to bring you this sneak peek of one of Heather's new stamp sets from H&M Stamps. This set along with 2 others will be available to purchase tomorrow March 1!

The set I used on this card is called Seasons of Trees - it includes 14 stamps - the tree and 4 different tree tops - this cute bird house, the little bird, the cute nest, a ladder, rake, bushel basket, an apple and a tire swing on a rope! The sentiment I used here is from an already released set called Old English.

I used the Mojo Monday sketch for this card.

I hope you will check out the cards the other Design Team Members have made to show you today. Just click on their names below and see what stamp sets they used!

Carolina

Heather K

Heather R

Makiko

Maria

Melissa

Suzanne

So remember all three sets will be available to purchase at H&M Stamps tomorrow!

I appreciate your coming by today!

Stamps: Seasons of Trees & Old English: H&M Stamps

Paper: Ripe Avocado, white, aqua Mist, DP - Polkadot basics - all PTI

Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Olive: CTMH

Accessories: Prismacolor markers, foam dimensionals, copics, scalloped circle punch: SU, circle punch, Amuse gem stones, Gold Ice Stickles, small heart punch, EK Success Tree line punch.

Trying to Brighten Your Day & Four Punches

First - in case you were looking for the H&M Sneak Peeks today as I promised yesterday - we had to move it to tomorrow as some of the DT members didn't get their new stamps until today (me included!) so - we'll all be posting our peeks tomorrow so be sure to stop by! Heather has 3 fun new sets coming out on Sunday March 1.

My card today was made for the Limited Supplies challenge on Split Coast. We could use only one stamp on our card and we had to use it to make the designer paper as well as for the main image. You could only use ribbon and/or brads and only the sentiment that went with the stamp set you chose to use. I knew I wanted to use this great chandelier stamp as soon as I read the challenge. I just got it from the $1 bin at Michaels and thought it would work well as a background stamp. I cheated a little and used a Verve Visual sentiment - since my one image stamp wasn't from a set so obviously didn't include a sentiment and I really needed one for this card!

I clear embossed the chandeliers on the background and sponged all the edges with Lemon Tart ink. The sentiment and image are up on foam dimensionals.

This card also qualifies for Sharon's stamp simply challenge "Cabin Fever" to make a bright springy card. I think the Lemon Tart card stock makes this card very bright don't you??

Stamps: chandelier: $1 stamp Michaels, Sentiment: Verve Visual - Thoughtful phrases
Paper: white, lemon tart: PTI, basic black: SU
Ink: Onyx black versafine, Lemon Tart: PTI, versamark embossing ink
Accessories: clear EP, foam dimensionals, sponge, dotted satin ribbon: PTI, oval punch

And here is a picture of all the new EK Success punches that I've purchased over the last 3 days using my 40% off coupons from Michaels (Yippee!!) Some of you wanted to know which ones I got after I mentioned purchasing one the other day.

Top left is a fun tree line punch - top right is a wonderful fleur de lis edge with the bonus of leaving tiny fleur de lis pieces after you punch! Below that is a single Fleur de lis punch and bottom left is a dotted wavy line punch. The line punches sell for $14.99 and the single punch is $9.99. (that's before my 40% off). These punches cut through Papertrey Ink card stock which is thicker than Stampin Up. (I have had trouble with the Martha Stewart punches and the thicker card stock). The Michaels in my town has about 10 different styles of these EK Success punches. Another fun thing about the design on these low profile punches is that they lay flat - there is a little lock on the back that holds it closed when not in use for easier storage.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Please come by tomorrow to check out my sneak peek of one of the new H&M Stamp sets!

Sketchy Colored Plaid Cats in a Basket

What a day I had! First - I worked 8:30 - 2:30 - I left early because I had a dentist appointment - got done with that (just a cleaning and check up luckily!) - drove home in time to change and go off to Bible Study - that was starting early (6 pm) so that we could go to the Ash Wednesday service that started at 7 pm (Bible study usually goes 6:30-8). After church I just had to stop by Michaels with my 40% off coupon to pick up one of the new punches by EK Success that I've heard everyone blogging about! (and it does work SUPER on the thicker card stock!) THEN I was able to start my card around 9 pm (and you may notice I'm finally getting it loaded here at 11:30 PM!)


I didn't get to stamp yesterday (because I was just too tired!) so I had to make up for it today even though I had a late start. Plus - I just LOVE to do the SCS sketch challenge every week!


So I did use today's SCS sketch. I also got my colors from this weeks Color Throwdown #31 (Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Night of Navy). And I used a basket stamp and plaid designer paper for our Doubledog Dare Challenge from this week's hostess, Joan Ervin.

We'd love to have you join in on our Doubledog Dare Challenge this week - just make a card with a basket and plaid - post it to your SCS gallery and use the keyword DDC so we can come and see your creation! You can see the DDC gallery here.

All the stamps on this card are from the H&M Stamp set called The Cat's Meow. (sorry - just found out this set has sold out and is now retired)

BUT - all the H&M Design Team members are going to be doing Sneak Peeks on Friday and Saturday for 3 new H&M releases available to purchase on Sunday March 1! So be sure to check back to see the new sets! Plus - we will all be doing a Blog Hop on Sunday showing you some fun spring crafts to help get rid of the winter blues!! You won't want to miss that!


Ok - so now I'm off to bed! thanks so much for coming by today!!

Stamps: The Cats Meow: H&M Stamps
Paper: white: PTI, kiwi kiss, bashful blue, night of navy: SU, DP Art Impressions - pool plaid
Ink: onyx black versafine
Accessories: prismacolor markers, circle punches, Kiwi grosgrain ribbon: SU, foam dimensionals, dew drops, glue dots