The little things that make me happy here on Bliss Road~~Emily Keaton

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Sending You Smiles

I know, it's been a while since I've posted, right? With company, appointments, doing stuff with the kids, and dealing with a tree that was blown down in our yard by a nasty thunderstorm last week, I've had my plate full to overflowing! But I'm here today to share a quick friendship card that features a brand-new sentiment from DeNami Design, "Sending you smiles across the miles." Don't you just love that? I know I'll be using it a lot :D!!


This fun sentiment stamp just happens to be the DeNami Product Spotlight this week, which means it's on sale for 10% off for the next week! Just drop it into your shopping cart--the savings has already been applied.


Be sure to drop by the DeNami Design blog today to see all the creative ways the rest of the DeNami Design DT used this awesome stamp!

Thanks for visiting!
Emily

Stamps: Sending You Smiles (cling), Race Car Chickie (cling), Retro Borders 1 Set (cling) by DeNami Design
Paper: DeNami Sky Blue cardstock, PTI white cardstock
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, PTI Hawaiian Shores
Accessories:  Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stumps, scoring board, foam tape
Techniques: Gamsol Magic

Friday, July 13, 2012

Another SYS project


Here's one more project for Day 3 of Stretch Your Stamps, which focused on alphabet stamps. (You can see my other project for Day 3 here.)


I had fun playing with the flower and leaf images in two new-to-me Unity stamp sets: Best Wishes & Blooms and You + Me = Bliss. The letters in "thanks" are from the {ippity} Alphabetically Adorable set.

I'm linking this up to today's Friends With Flair hop over on the Unity blog, Unity's Summertime challenge, and Kim Kesti's  Crafty Month challenge--to create a card that combines at least one new item and one item from your stash (at least one year old). My new items are my two brand-new Unity stamp sets and my old item has been in my stash for practically forever--the hot-pink border note card that I'm using as my card base. I picked that up on clearance at Target eons ago!

Thanks for looking!
Emily

Stamps: Alphabetically Adorable from {ippity} by Unity; Best Wishes & Blooms and You + Me = Bliss by Unity
Paper: PTI white CS, neon green CS from The Paper Company, pink-bordered note card base from Target
Ink: Habanero Versafine; SU pretty in pink, melon mambo; PTI Hawaiian Shores, Palette chartreuse
Accessories: Post-It notes
Techniques: masking

A Stretch Your Stamps Project


Just a quick post here to share a card I made for Day 3 of my Stretch Your Stamps class--alphabet stamps. Jennifer McGuire shared a masking technique, which I adapted for this card.


Can you see the scored frame on the white card base that I made to surround the stamped panel?

I'm entering this in Unity's June Challenge: Summertime.

Thanks for taking a peek!
Emily

Stamps: Alphabetically Adorable, Now & Always from {ippity} by Unity
Paper: PTI CS
Ink: SU pumpkin pie, pretty in pink, melon mambo
Accessories: scoring board, paper flower, pearl, Post-It notes
Techniques: scoring, masking

FWF Collage

Happy Friday! This morning I'm sharing a summery collage card for Unity's Friends With Flair.


The butterfly collage stamp is from the It's All About Love Itty Bitty from Unity. It's a co-branded stamp from Iron Orchid Designs. Can I just say that I love these Iron Orchid stamps from Unity? SO cool! And believe it or not, I made that stamped background with the new Quartrefoil background from Unity! It looks kinda different, huh? Here's why:


I'm currently taking Online Card Classes' Stretch Your Stamps class, and Day 1 was all about getting more from your background stamps. I was blown away by the very easy double-stamping technique, and that's what I did to make my background. I love how it turned out! I also tried out some of the techniques we learned from Day 2, which focused on collage stamps.

I'm also entering this in Unity's June Challenge: Summertime. What's more summery than butterflies and citrus-y colors?

I also couldn't resist showing off a new toy. I took the kids shopping at Wal-Mart this week and got them outfitted with back-to-school supplies (although they won't be needing them for another two months!). While browsing the school/office supply aisle, I stumbled across a Dymo Embossing labelmaker. I'd been thinking about one of these for months now, and was never able to track one down. But it practically leapt off the shelf into our waiting cart and begged to be taken home! So, that was my "mom back-to-school" treat :D. The kids and I have been having a blast playing with it. My son just may be addicted ;). His folders for school are already neatly labeled with his name!

Looks like it will be a hot one here today! The kids have an invitation to our neighbors' pool, which will help pass the time until our weekend company (my folks!) arrive. We're looking forward to a fun weekend! I hope you have some fun cooked up for your weekend, wherever you are. :)

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Stamps: It's All About Love, Quartrefoil Background by Unity
Paper: PTI cardstock
Ink: Spanish Moss Versafine; Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, So Saffron by SU; Versamark
Accessories: clear EP, sponges, sewing machine, Dymo label maker, foam tape
Techniques: double-stamped background, emboss resist, machine stitching

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Blue Skies Thinking of You

Today I have a high-flying "thinking of you" card to share.


This clean and simple card features the super-fun Fly A Kite stamp from DeNami Design. Today the entire DeNami design team is sharing creations made with this stamp to give you some great ideas for using it as part of this week's product spotlight. For the next week, you can snag a 10% discount on Fly A Kite just by dropping it into your shopping cart!
I chose to paper piece the kite's body with some bold Red DeNami cardstock, but it would be a ton of fun to color with your favorite method, too. I colored in the kite's tails with a red glitter pen, which worked beautifully, even on the shimmer surface of the Iridescent Blue Ice cardstock I used as my background. I thought DeNami's Small Cloud stamp paired perfectly with this fun kite, and the cling-style Thinking of You Script sentiment was just what I needed to finish off my design.

I hope you'll take a peek at what the rest of the team cooked up with this week's spotlight stamp over on the DeNami Design blog. I love seeing everyone's different take on the same stamp!

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Stamps: Fly A Kite, Small Cloud, Thinking of You Script from DeNami Design
Paper: Iridescent Blue Ice, Red, Amethyst cardstock from DeNami Design; white cardstock from PTI
Ink: Noir Black Palette hybrid ink
Accessories: Sakura red glitter pen, foam tape, sewing machine, EK Success Dotted Scallop border punch
Techniques: paper piecing, machine stitching

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Woodgrain Background Two Ways

Last month I won a spot in the new Stretch Your Stamps online class, and yesterday was the very first day of class. I've never participated in an online papercrafting course before so I was very curious about it and eager to try it out. And I must say, the first day was AWESOME!! I learned soooooooooooo much. The first day was all about stretching your background stamps, and I couldn't wait to try some of what I learned. So I took a little time to make these cards this morning:




Both use the Designer Woodgrain stamp from Hero Arts and sentiments from the Messages set, also from Hero Arts.

The colors I used on the first card were inspired by this Vera Bradley backpack in Lime's Up. I suppose I was also a bit influenced by the pattern, too ;).

My colors in the second card were inspired by the July Hero Arts color challenge:

I'm so excited to be able to play along with A Blog Named Hero: Challenge #7 STRETCH Your Stamps with these two cards, showing how I used the same woodgrain background stamp in two different ways in two very different projects. :D

I'm also playing along again with Kim Kesti's Crafty Month challenge--to create a card (the neon colors one) that combines at least one new item and one item from your stash (at least one year old). For this card, my new item is the Hero Arts Woodgrain stamp, and my old item from my stash is the Websters Pages Bloomers. I've got to stop hoarding that ribbon!!

I have a lot on my list today, so it's time to go tackle it. Thanks so much for checking out what I did with my little bit of "me time" today!
Emily

Stamps: Designer Woodgrain, Messages by Hero Arts
Paper: PTI cardstock, The Paper Company cardstock
Ink: Onyx Black and Vintage Sepia Versafine, TAC Bubblegum
Accessories: circle punch, sewing machine, foam tape, rhinestone, Bloomers by Websters Pages
Techniques: machine stitching

Sunday, July 8, 2012

DeNami Summer Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Design SUMMER Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design Team and customers alike are showcasing some fun summer-themed projects made with DeNami stamps.


Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Dana Seymour's blog, Kismet, Art, & Life. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are some super-fun DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, July 9, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize. 


Let's get on with the show! Nothing says "summer" to me more than bright colors and fun, outdoorsy activities--like catching butterflies! So I put my Chickie and Butterflies cling stamp to good use, and constructed this scene using lots of patterned paper:




Those sweet butterflies are from the Fancy Flutters Set, the little "hi!" is from the Everyday Greetings stamp set, and those dotty flight lines were made from the ultra-versatile Steam Curl stamp.


Well, I'm sure you're eager to see rest of the sweet SUMMER lineup! Before you leave, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be on your way to stop number three on the hop, the blog of Carol Hartery, Carol Hartery's Creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,

Emily

PS This is also another entry for Kim Kesti's Crafty Month challenge--to create a card that combines at least one new item and one item from your stash (at least one year old). For this card, my new item is the Steam Curl stamp, and my old item is the BasicGrey Lime Rickey collection patterned paper I used. It has a copyright date of 2008--you know it's been in my stash for more than a year (or two or three!)

Stamps: Chickie and Butterflies, Steam Curl, Fancy Flutters Set, Everyday Greetings stamp set by DeNami Design
Paper: DeNami Celery and Iridescent Aquamarine cardstocks, patterned papers from BasicGrey's Lime Rickey collection, white cardstock from The Paper Company
Ink: Noir Black Palette and Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stumps, sewing machine, foam tape
Techniques: machine stitching, Gamsol magic, paper piecing