Quick Post! News to share!

Just a quick post to let you know two things!

First, I want to let you all know that the Ribbon Carousel announced that they will be sending out a monthly newsletter, and to celebrate there's a contest involved! Please visit their blog here for all the details! They're also offering up a March Madness coupon for the entire month - 15% off, including paper and bling!

And speaking of bling, the Paper Dolls have returned with a new challenge, a new look, and some new members, and this month's challenge (which I am co-hosting with Renee) is Spring Bling! Here's a sneak peek of my project:

Please check out all the fun here ... there's also some blog candy involved!

Hope that you enjoyed your weekend!

Always...

This week's Tuesday Trigger on the Moxie Fab World Blog really caught my eye, so I drummed up the idea for this card on the way home from work the other night. I really love how these Thickers letter stickers look on this card, which ended up being 5.25" square, big for me! Here is the inspiration photo:

What are your plans for the weekend? I'm getting a haircut and running a very first A Muse Studio party at Jessica's; hoping to have a ton of fun with everyone!

InLinkz.com

RCC43 with Whimsical Designs and Retro Sketches

This week's challenge at the Ribbon Carousel is "‘Cause we FELT like it" ... we are challenging you to use FELT on your card or project! We are excited to announce our sponsor this week is Stephanie Hedderick from Whimsical Designs.

Whimsical Designs is a blog where she does various posts each week with projects, crafty tips, and a brand new challenge every Wednesday. Stephanie also has a new line of stamps made in the USA from the highest quality polymer available on the market. The stamps can be found on the Whimsical Designs blog under the shop tab.

This week's RCC winner has a chance to win a fabulous stamp set from Stephanie, so hop on over to the RCC Blog and join us!

.......

Lastly, I should mention that the sketch for my card this week is inspired by the brand new Retro Sketches Challenge...who doesn't love a fantastic sketch challenge?

On my card this week, I used patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket's Clementine collection, as well as the Folk Art Florals die from WPlus9 and Caribbean twine from the Twinery, which is sold in the Ribbon Carousel Store, here. The sentiment comes from the Heartfelt Mix stamp set (WPlus9) and was stamped in French Roast ink from A Muse Studio. The felt is Hawaiian Shores felt from PTI.

Thank you so much for visiting today - it makes my heart happy!

Cosmo Cricket Clementine 6x6 Pad

Twinery Caribbean Twine

French Roast Ink

WPlus9 Folk Art Florals Die

WPlus9 Heartfelt Mix

Vintage Cream Cardstock

Hawaiian Shores Felt

InLinkz.com

Freshly Made Sketches #24

Nothing like entering a challenge at the 11th hour! I really wanted to make something last night and I thought that the sketch for this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge was a great chance to use some stickers that have gone unloved for too long.

The patterned papers, sentiment stickers and leaves are from SEI's Vanilla Sunshine collection, and the flowers are Martha Stewart stickers. I embossed the Vintage Cream cardstock with a striped embossing folder from SU! and rounded the corners of the center piece with my Corner Chomper. (I waited FAR too long to own this device. I LOVE IT!) I used a tag die from PTI to cut the tails of the yellow panel across the front of the card, too.

Hope you all had a great weekend! It was a whirlwind of fun for us, visiting friends and family, shopping, etc.; I'm looking forward to getting lots of work done in the office this week so I can do it all over again next weekend!

Snow! ...and a Card Drive

Yesterday was a snowy day; we finally got some snow here after a long and unseasonably warm winter. I worked at home, made a few cards, and played around with my camera...learning the ropes...and I caught these three photos of Teddy, who was in need of nap after jumping around in the snow that morning:

What can I say? It's hard being a doggy. ;)

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In other news, I wanted to tell you about a little boy named Larry, who was recently diagnosed with pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Laurie Winterton emailed some of us to let us know that she's collecting cards for Larry; he has nearly 4 years of treatment ahead of him, but the prognosis for his type of leukemia is good. If anyone is interested in sending him cards, I've included the mailing address below. You can read more about him on his blog, here. Consistent with rules for other card drives, I would like to recommend that there be no get well cards, or mention of anything that reminds him of being sick. Please send cards to:

Larry R.
9772 E Paseo Del Tornasol
Tucson, AZ 85747

 

Laurie said her goal was 100 cards...and I think we can get way more than that! What do you think?

12 Kits of Christmas: February with Cathy

It's month #2 of our 12 Kits of Christmas project, and this month's hostess is Cathy Weber!

Here's how it works: There are 12 of us, and each person takes turns hosting the challenge each month by mailing to each of the other group members a kit full of supplies - stamped images, patterned papers, bling, ribbon, etc. Any company, any style...it's all up to the hostess that month. Everybody in the group receives the SAME kit of ingredients, and each of us makes a card (or several cards) in secret using those supplies. On the last day of the month, we all post our creations...the fun is seeing what everyone else made with the same ingredients. We are allowed to supplement the kits with supplies from our own stash, but when I do that I will point it out to you.

Here is a shot of the haul we were sent...Cathy sent the most fantastic kit of Memory Box goodies!

And this month, I made three cards with the kit...

I added my own Thickers and vellum to this card:

On this one, I added the sparkly flourish diecut from MFT and the silky crush ribbon from A Muse:

And on this one, I used some of the green twine from Renee's kit last month, as well as some more vellum:

Here is a list of everyone else in our group. Have fun hopping around and seeing our creations!

Cathy: Empty Nest Crafter

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: Cupcakes Cards and Kim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: K and R Designs

Sharron: On Papillion Wings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: A Kept Life

Jessica: The Paper Parade

Christina: Sea Glass & Sentiments

Renee: It's A Patchwork Life

As I type this, the last of my Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mixes is baking in the oven and the house smells so delicious. I will have to wait until the Fall to get more. Thumbs down on that, for sure. ;)

Have a great day!

Card Positioning Systems #254

Last night I made this card for this week's CPS sketch challenge, using some new Echo Park This & That paper and WPlus9 dies and stamps (swoon! for BOTH!)...

I did use Vintage Labels 1 from A Muse Studio to outline the tag, but the pale pink flower and sentiment are from WPlus9's Folk Art Florals and that layered butterfly is just so gorgeous. I can't wait to try it out with tissue paper...

Oh yeah, and that ribbon is the Silky Crush ribbon from A Muse...you'll be seeing a lot more of that!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Papertrey Ink February Blog Hop

The theme for this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is interactive cards. Since I was lucky enough to receive my release order in time for this challenge, I knew that I just had to use my new zipper die from the Movers & Shakers Collection to make a birthday card for a friend.

I started with a Raspberry Fizz cardstock base and added patterned paper, zig-zag ribbon, and a journal card from the new Webster's Pages collection; the zipper die was used to cut some Bellini paper (A Muse Studio), which was later stamped with PTI's Polka Dot Basics I in Fresh Snow ink and heat embossed.

I diecut a Vintage Label (A Muse Studio) from Lemon Tart paper and cut it in half to create panels for each side of the journal card. The Raspberry Fizz buttons were threaded with a matching shade of yellow DMC floss and added for an extra pop of (my favorite) color.

I wish I could have "unzipped" this to show you that I stamped a fantastic Happy Birthday greeting from PTI's Birthday Bash Sentiments under the zipper, but I didn't want to ruin the card for my friend!

Happy Blog Hoppin', everyone!

Awesome Sale on the *NEW* Ribbon Carousels!

Have you seen the new Ribbon Carousels? Do you have one and want another?

Now through 2/29, you can get one for only $49.95! (They are regularly priced at $90 so this is a fantastic deal.) I have one and I love it. It is perfect for organizing all my twine and loose ribbon, and it looks pretty in my craft room. :)

Head over the Ribbon Carousel Store to check them out!

Have a great night! I'll be back tomorrow with a card for the PTI Blog Hop...

Freshly Made Sketches #23

I am playing along again in the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge this week using a new A Muse Studio stamp set called Under the Big Top. I paired it with some patterned paper from Crate Paper and colored it with Prismapencils, then I heat embossed the sentiment. My mom requested a card for a kids birthday party, so I am hoping she likes this!

Here's the sketch for the week...

Gosh, it's late and I need to head to bed! I spent the night coloring! Sleep tight!