Guest Designer for Top Dog Dies

Hello, friends! On my last post, "A little about me . . . ", I mentioned that I'd be back soon with an all-crafting post for a guest designer gig that I was super excited about. Well, the time has come!! I was absolutely thrilled when I was contacted a few months ago by Top Dog Dies, asking me if I'd be interested in guest designing for them. Boy, was I!!! Not familiar with Top Dog? Here's a little about them:

Top Dog Dies is a new online store that offers their own brand of wafer-thin and steel-rule dies, along with dies from brands you already know and trust, including Little B, Lawn Fawn, Taylored Expressions, Savvy Stamps and Cheery Lynn Designs. Top Dog Dies is also the leading U.S. retailer for Tattered Lace, a new line of intricate dies designed by British designer Stephanie Weightman.

The wonderful folks at Top Dog Dies sent me three fantastic die sets to play with--Top Dog Dies Birds & Nest, Top Dog Dies Vintage Alphabet, and Top Dog Dies Tag Album--and I couldn’t wait to get started with them.

I made three Top Dog Dies projects in all, and you'll find the first two over on the Top Dog blog today. One is a set of note cards and the other is a masculine birthday card. I hope you'll go and check them out!

My third project is a gift tag that I made to coordinate with a lovely box I picked up (on clearance!) at IKEA recently. I thought it would make the perfect gift box! I used the smaller tag from the Top Dog Dies Tag Album set and diecut letters from the Top Dog Dies Vintage Alphabet set to personalize it. The apple stamp and sentiment come from Unity's to the core! Itty Bitty stamp set.

Perfect for Mom's next birthday, don't you think?

And now, how about a giveaway?

Top Dog Dies is doing a guest designer giveaway for the whole month of August! The winner will receive $50 worth of exclusive wafer-thin dies of their choice from Top Dog Dies.  Enter HERE! Deadline to enter will be Sunday, August 31, 2014, at midnight Central Standard Time.

Thank you so much for dropping by to visit me today. Don't forget to visit the Top Dog Dies blog today to see my other Top Dog projects AND enter the Guest Designer Giveaway!!

Have a day filled with bliss!
Emily

April DeNami Inspired By

Hello and welcome back to the April edition of DeNami Design's Inspired By feature! Each month we feature one talented DeNami customer's work, and then honor that wonderful artist with a host of DeNami DT projects inspired by it! This month we were inspired by Barb M.

Isn't that absolutely beautiful? You can read all about it right here on Barb's blog.

I really loved the colors that Barb used in her lovely creation, so I let those guide my design and decided to take a CAS approach. Here's what I came up with:

I used the Fancy Flutters cling set, Decorative Flourish, and Sending You Love sentiment. I embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder and used an emboss-resist technique with it while sponging on some dye ink. I was going for an ombre look--I hope that's what I achieved!

Be sure to head over to the DeNami Design blog today to see how the rest of the team was inspired by Barb's lovely creation!

Thanks so much for visiting today. May your day be filled with bliss!
Emily

DeNami Design ~ Lots of Washi

Hello there, friends! It's my turn to share a project over on the DeNami Design blog today. I made a colorful "love you" card featuring lots of washi tape from the DeNami Design store. I hope you'll swing by to take a peek and tell me what you think! Here's a little preview:

Thanks for dropping by! Have a super day!
Emily

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day! I'd really hoped to write up this post yesterday (at the latest) and schedule it to go live much earlier today, but between having a husband home sick for two days this week and another Nor'easter winter storm that cancelled school yesterday, I didn't have much alone time to finish my top-secret Valentine's Day projects or get them photographed for a blog post. So, finally, everything is pretty much back to normal at my house, and I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on some Valentines and gifts for my family. It will be fun to surprise everyone at suppertime tonight!

I know that some folks pan Valentine's Day as an overly romantic, Hallmark-fueled holiday, but I really and truly love it! It gives me an event-kind-of-something to look forward to in the otherwise dreary, cold, and frozen month of February. The pretty colors (reds! pinks! lavenders!) are such bright spots in the colorless winter landscape, and the fun shapes/motifs (hearts! cupids! doilies! arrows!) and loving sentiments are true pick-me-ups. And how can you go wrong with a holiday that is rooted largely in chocolate? I say bring it on!!

I love giving Valentines! I give them to my husband and kids, but also send them to my parents, sister's family, in-laws, aunts and uncles, and friends all over the country. For me, Valentines are just such a fun way of sending a little love and letting the folks I care about know that I've been thinking of them. I spent a large chunk of my day on Monday getting my Valentines ready to mail: signing, stuffing and sealing envelopes, addressing, weighing and attaching proper postage, and then heading off to the post office to get them in the mail system before the end of the day. My fingers are crossed that everything will be delivered in time! Yes, it is a labor of love, but it makes me feel good, and I hope that a little something that I took the time to make and send will brighten the day of those I care about.

Over the years I've collected a number of small empty heart-shaped candy boxes, and I decided that instead of buying treats to give for Valentine's Day, I'd upcycle a few of my heart-shaped boxes and fill them with some homemade chocolate candies. Here are the boxes I decorated:

For my dad:

From DeNami Design: Dad stamp, Elegant Oval Frame stamp, heart from Whimsical Valentine stamp set, Chevron embossing folder, and Black Chevron washi tape

What's inside? Some hand-dipped Dark Chocolate Vanilla Creams!

I based these on this recipe from Land O Lakes.

For my mom:

From DeNami Design: Small Valentines Script stamp, Solid Rose Accents stamp set, and Red Heart Lace washi tape.

Wanna peek at what she'll be biting into? Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls!

I based these on this recipe from Parents Magazine (February 2011).

I have a punch art penguin-themed box for my hubby:
 

From DeNami Design: Square Word Bubble stamp, Love Sentiments stamp set, and heart from Whimsical Valentine stamp set.

a punch art owl-themed box for my 15YO daughter (to go with this card for her):

From DeNami Design: Square Word Bubble stamp

and a Despicable Me minion-themed box for my 11YO son:

The patterned paper is from Target's One Spot, and I printed the sentiment with my computer.

to go with the minion Valentine I made for him (I was inspired by this minion Valentine):

From DeNami Design: Small Valentines Script stamp, Love Sentiments stamp set, Small Heart Outline stamp, Small Scallop Heart stamp, chevron border from Modern Borders Set, and two white Boutique Buttons.

I can't wait to see everyone's reactions!!

Thanks for bearing with me through this long and photo-heavy post :D! I hope that you have a lovely day today.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Emily

Owl Be Your Valentine

Hello there! Today I have a little owl-themed Valentine to share:

Time is running out on my friend Pam's Just Punch It Challenge. Valentine punch art is this edition's theme. I'm still working on my Valentines and had a bit of time to play with paper today, so I dove right in. The patterned paper is from Target's One Spot. The Teeny Heart Background stamp and Rectangle Word Bubble stamp are both from DeNami Design. The branch stamp is from Schlosser Designs.

I created that cute little owl by starting with a rectangle of red cardstock and then punching part of an oval to create his tufted head and using corner rounder to shape his base. I used various sizes of heart punches to make his tummy, beak, and feet. His eyes are, of course, layered circle punches, and his wings are two halves of a small scalloped circle punch. He was so easy to make!

I simply used my computer to print the sentiment on cardstock and then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the word bubble around it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Photo Tutorial: Shaped Cards

It's my turn to share another photo tutorial over on the DeNami Design blog today. This time I'm giving tips on making shaped cards--you know, anything besides a square or rectangular card base! Because it's February and Valentine's Day is right around the corner, I'm showing how to make a heart-shaped card. Be sure to check out the DeNami blog for all the details.

Thanks for stopping by today for this little peek of my photo tutorial. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Emily

DeNami Design ~ Clean and Simple Valentine

Hello there, friends! It's my turn to share a project over on the DeNami Design blog today. I made a quick and easy, clean and simple Valentine featuring a fabulous embossing folder from the DeNami Design store. I hope you'll swing by to take a peek and tell me what you think! Here's a little preview:

Thanks for stopping by! Have a day filled with bliss,
Emily

My first Embossed Elements winner!

Greetings, friends! I hope you are keeping toasty wherever you are. We woke to yet another frosty morning here, and while it certainly hasn't been as cold here as elsewhere in North America these days, I'm pretty sure I'm done with the cold. Between the low temps and the wind chills, it just hasn't been safe for our regular to/from-school walks with my youngest each day. I miss them!

And speaking of warm, thank you so much for your very warm reception of my new monthly Embossed Elements feature for the DeNami Design blog! I loved reading all of your comments :D.

On my Monday Embossed Elements post I promised to return today with a winner of my embossing folder giveaway, and here I am to do it! I used random.org to pull a winning commenter:

That corresponds to commenter #8, which was Brenda in IN!! Congratulations, Brenda!! I'll be in contact with you shortly to get your mailing information :)

I've got a long to-do list today, but before I rush off, I'll leave you with a little more Embossed Elements inspiration featuring the lovely Layered Hearts embossing folder that Brenda has won:

I almost always reach for reds and pinks when making a Valentine card, so I challenged myself to do something a little different. It's clean and simple for the most part, but I loved letting the heart texture take center stage. And using lavender and celery together makes my heart happy (and hopeful for spring!!!). The stamps I used are from DeNami Design: Love Script and this teeny floral heart from the Whimsical Valentine stamp set.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Keep warm!
Emily

DeNami Design ~ Love Gift Bag

Hello there, friends! It's my turn to share a project over on the DeNami Design blog today. I put together a fun little gift bag for Valentine's Day. I hope you'll swing by to take a peek and tell me what you think! Here's a little preview:

Thanks for popping in! Here's hoping you'll have a day filled with bliss,
Emily

My Brand-New DeNami Feature: EMBOSSED ELEMENTS + a GIVEAWAY

Hi there, everyone! I'm here today with the very first installment of my new regular monthly feature for the DeNami Design blog. With today's post I'm starting a series called Embossed Elements that highlights all of the wonderful new embossing folders being carried in the DeNami Design store. If you haven't checked these out yet, you should! You won't believe all of the variety in this collection: the DeNami store carries an amazing 142 different embossing folder designs!!

Now, I do have a confession to make. While I've been papercrafting for nearly 10 years now, I've only just acquired my very first diecutting machine (thank you, Santa!!). So for the first time ever, I'm able to dabble with embossing folders! I wasn't completely sure that embossing folders would be for me, but in the short time that I've been playing with the embossing folders that DeNami carries, I've become completely addicted to them! I love the fabulous texture that they add to my creations--everything is so crisp, and the designs are deep. They really stand out! And I can't believe how much visitors to my blog comment on the embossing I've been featuring on projects I've posted there lately. It must be really noticeable!!

So whether you are brand new to embossing folders like me, or an old pro, I'm hoping that my Embossed Elements feature will help you learn your way around DeNami's new collection of embossing folders--and maybe even give you some new ways to use or think about embossing!

Today I'm sharing with you two different projects for Valentine's Day, and both feature the very festive Layered Hearts Embossing Folder from the DeNami store. One thing I really love about this embossing folder is that, while many of the embossing folders in DeNami's collection are clearly designed for the portrait orientation, this one is perfect for the the landscape orientation. Let's take a look:

For this first project, I started with a panel of red cardstock and punched the bottom edge using the EK Success Deco Scallop border punch and then ran it through my Big Shot in the Layered Hearts Embossing Folder. I matted this embossed layer with white cardstock and then mounted the whole enchilada on a pink card base.

Next I added a pink cardstock panel that I had embossed with another Valentine gem from the DeNami embossing folder collection: the Heart Embossing Folder. I really like the look of both of these embossed patterns layered on top of one another!

I stamped the Elegant Word Plate on white cardstock with Onyx Black Versafine Ink, and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to align the pretty Sending You Love sentiment, stamped in Satin Red Versafine Ink, right smack dab in the middle. I decided to glam up my focal point just a bit with some gorgeous Ruby Red Sparklets Glitter adhered inside the loops of the word plate with a Quickie Glue Pen. A quick fussy cut was all I needed to get this ready for attaching to my card. I finished off my design with a simple red grosgrain bow.

My second card is a reminder that embossing folders are perfect for adding texture not only to rectangular panels, but also any precut shape you care to pretty up!

For this card, I started with a pink heart diecut, embossed it with the Layered Hearts Embossing Folder, and layered it on a heart-shaped card base die cut from red cardstock with a larger nested heart die.

Next I built my very own cupid's arrow embellishment with a wooden craft stick, a wooden veneer heart shape, and some bits of chipboard. I colored the wood bits red using a Faber-Castell Gelato and rubbed the color into the woodgrain with my fingertips. I trimmed angled fringe into two bits of chipboard to make the arrow's feathery fletching and colored them with a white Gelato. After gluing all the bits together to form my arrow, I outlined the heart-shaped arrowhead with dimensional dots drawn on with a white Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pen. 

Finally, I stamped the Love Flourish sentiment on white cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink, trimmed out the sentiment, colored in the heart-shaped O with a red Copic marker, and adhered it to the card with some foam tape. Done!

I hope that this opening installment of Embossed Elements has given you some ideas for using embossing on your Valentine cards!

How would you like the chance to win this beautiful Layered Hearts Embossing Folder? I have one up for grabs in an Embossed Elements giveaway! Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "HEART." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, January 30, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for joining me today!
Emily

DeNami Design Product Spotlight January Blog Hop

It's the fourth Wednesday of the month and that means it is time to show off another awesome DeNami Design stamp with a blog hop! This month we are featuring the versatile Love Circle stamp.

This stamp is perfect for Valentine's Day, but it's also great for so many other occasions: anniversaries, weddings, new babies, birthdays, etc. But because I'm building up a cache of Valentine cards to send out before long, I just had to go with a good ol' Valentine card:

I started with a red card base and layered on a panel of solid turquoise that came with a pack of Valentine patterned paper that I picked up at the Target One Spot recently. I gave that a faux stitched border with a white gel pen. Next I adhered a panel of patterned paper from that same Target pack that I'd punched with the EK Success Diamond Lace border punch from the DeNami store.

And now we get to the good stuff--the stamping! I stamped the Love Circle in turquoise three times on white cardstock and then filled each circle with a dotted heart from the Hearts stamp set stamped in Satin Red Versafine ink. All that was left then was to punch out the circles, mat them on red circle punches, and adhere them with a bit of foam tape. I tied on a bit of red/white baker's twine from the Classic Twine 3-pack as a simple bow for a final touch.

I know that the rest of the design team came up with some fantastic inspiration for this stamp! You should definitely go and take a peek at the cool things they did--and what better way than with a blog hop! If you hop along with us today, I'll have a chance to win your very own Love Circle stamp, so be sure to leave comments along the way.

DeNami blog 
Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton  <==== you are here!
Lisa Elton
Pattie Goldman
Dana Seymour
Tammy Hobbs

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.

Thanks for checking in today!
Emily

Polar Bear Love

I spent soooooooo much time in my crafting space over the weekend--it was awesome! I have a lot of cards to add to my collection of Valentines to send out to family and friends in a few weeks, which has given me a real sense of accomplishment. Yay!

Anyway, the card I have to share this morning is for my friend Pam's very awesome Just Punch It challenge. Her latest challenge is to create a punch art project with a SNOW theme. What a fun one!

The obvious choice for a snowy punch art challenge would be a snowman, but I already entered a snowman card like that in one of Pam's Just Punch It challenges back in December. Sure, I could have come up with a different snowman design and that would have been just fine, but I've really been having fun learning about and playing around with punch art, thanks to Pam's challenge. So I figured that this would be a great opportunity to push myself to try something new, and I ended up cruising the internet for inspiration. I was ultimately inspired by this creation made by Cindy Lawrence to make this polar bear card, which I think will be so much fun to give for Valentine's Day!

I used the beautiful Love Flourish stamp for my sentiment and a Snowflake Swirl embossing folder  for my background. Both are from the DeNami Design store. The polar bear faces were constructed with round punches (1 3/4" for mama and 1 1/8" for baby + 3/4" and 1/2" for the ears) and ovals cut in half for the snouts. Easy and super cute! Both of my kids sent up choruses of "Awwwwww!" when I showed them what I'd made :). I'd have to say that I'm inclined to agree!

Both of my kids are home from school today for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but hubby had to head in to work this morning (boo hoo). My daughter (HS freshman) has a week of mid-year exams to take starting tomorrow, so it's been a busy weekend of studying for her. But we are going to leave (hopefully in just a few minutes!) for a few errands and a bit of fun before lunch: we're heading to the arcade to use up the 100+ tokens we've had sitting around the house for over a year and a half now. It's time to clear those babies out! Then it will be back to the ol' grindstone (well, at least for some of us).

So, that's it for now. I hope you'll take a minute to check out Pam's Just Punch It challenge--it's really a lot of fun! She has some great prizes to offer! It's a relatively young challenge, so she doesn't have many players yet and I know she would welcome more folks to join in the fun :). I know, for one, that I'm having a blast!

Just Punch It challenge

Thanks for sharing my little slice of bliss for today!
Emily

Dots With Love

It's been a long time since I posted on a Saturday! It was a snowy day, and I was feeling crafty. So I stayed indoors and got busy in my crafting area. Yay for me!

I've been intrigued by this week's CASology challenge: DOT all week long. An idea had been forming for a couple of days, and I finally got a chance to get it all arranged on paper.

All of my design elements come from DeNami Design: dotted heart from Hearts stamp set, Large Dot Swirls, "with love" from Love Sentiments stamp set, Ruby Red Boutique Buttons, Red/White Dots washi tape, and White cardstock.

Well, my snow removal crew has just returned from their outdoor duties, so I've got to wrap this up and help get snacks and hot cocoa--and then concentrate on getting some supper on the table. I've had some chicken in the crockpot all day, and boy, does the house smell good!!!

I hope you've had a lovely Saturday! Thanks so much for dropping by,
Emily  

DeNami Design sponsors Curtain Call Challenge

Good morning, friends! DeNami Design is proudly sponsoring the brand-new Curtain Call Challenge, which starts today, and the DeNami design team is excited to be playing along! This Curtain Call is all about Love Letters:

DeNami Design is offering up a fabulous prize to the winner of this Curtain Call Love Letter challenge. Check it out:

Wouldn't that be a wonderful bonus? Just think of all the fabulous DeNami goodies that you could treat yourself to with a nice GC like that! I hope you'll play along :D.

Here's how I was inspired by the Love Letters theme:

I used three different DeNami Design stamps (Sending You Love, Teeny Heart Background, and Large Dots Swirl), plus two different DeNami Design washi tapes (White/Red Hearts, and Heart Clouds). I crafted a little envelope out of a glassine bag and filled it with some heart-shaped confetti. This design makes me so happy!

Be sure to see what the rest of the team created for this challenge with DeNami products, and check out the Curtain Call and DeNami sites today, too!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

Friends Warm the Heart

It has been soooooooooo long since I've created anything with my Flourishes stamps. I love them so and have always enjoyed playing along with the Flourishes challenges, but life got to be too, too busy recently to do it all. I spotted the most recent Timeless Tuesday challenge, all about shaped cards, last week. I tucked it away in the back of my mind for a while and finally took a little time today to make a little something for it.

This is a very simple card, but it was lovely to be creative, even if for just a little while.

I used two nested heart-shaped cookie cutters as the pattern for my heart-shaped card and the nested white heart-shaped panel (and then cut them both out by hand). The image comes from the Flourishes set Joy is in the Air, and the sentiment is from the Flourishes set Warm Winter Wishes (which appears to now be retired?). I colored the image with my Copics and added a sweet little felt heart sticker that I picked up in a 10-pack at Target's One Spot last week. It will be perfect to send to a friend for Valentine's Day.

The kids will be home from school soon, so I've got to get this posted before I get completely distracted {in a good way, of course! ;) }.

Hope you've had a great start to this new week! Thanks for dropping by,
Emily

DeNami Valentine Blog Hop

Who's ready for Valentine's Day? I myself am just getting started on making Valentine cards, so today's January blog hop is just in the nick of time. It's all about inspiration for Valentine's Day!!

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Deb Fischer's blog, Paws-itively Yours. 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, January 13, 2014, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize. 

Here's the Valentine I made for today's hop:

I used the lovely Small Valentines Script stamp, Elegant Oval Frame stamp, Satin Red Versafine ink, Deep Lagoon Versafine ink, Dotted Scallop Border punch, Heart embossing folder, Silver Rhinestones, and baker's twine from the Confetti Twine 3-pack, all from the DeNami Design store. The patterned paper and solid purple paper are from a pack of scrapbook paper I picked up in the Target dollar section last week.


it's time for me to send you along on your way. But before you leave for more DeNami Valentine inspiration, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes.  Then you can head out to see the next blog hop participant on today's list: Linda Carpenter. 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,
Emily

Photo Tutorial: Pencil Toppers

It's my turn to share another tutorial over on the DeNami Design blog today! This time around I'm showing how to create fun little pencil toppers, perfect for back to school or as kid-friendly (non-candy!) favors for birthdays or holidays. Be sure to check out the DeNami blog to see how to create these:

Have a fabulous weekend, and thanks so much for dropping by!
Emily 

Purple Anniversary Wishes

Thank goodness it's Friday! I'm ready to relax this weekend--who's with me? I'm also looking forward to Unity's Friends With Flair, a linky hop that is the highlight of many a Unity Stamp Co. fan's Fridays. I've got a special anniversary card to share for FWF today. Here goes:

I made this card in tribute to my dear friend Colleen who was recently honored as Featured Stamper over on Splitcoast Stampers. I couldn't be more thrilled for her! Today I'm playing along with her SCS Featured Stamper challenge (for a second time! Here's the first time. I just couldn't easily narrow down my list of Colleen's cards that I wanted to CASE).

For today's entry, I was inspired by this beautiful hydrangea wedding card of hers. I loved her gorgeous purple color scheme, so I kept that but went with purple patterned papers instead of embossed ones and pulled out my Unity stamps (of course!) to recreate the look of her card. I also kept her awesome sketch! I know I couldn't surpass the beauty of her stunning punched hydrangea, but I thought I might be able to get a somewhat similar look with the beautiful solid flower from one of my favorite Unity sets, Now & Always. The anniversary sentiment comes from Unity's Just Wanted to Say kit.

Thanks for dropping by for today's Friends With Flair for a little Unity inspiration! I hope you'll try to come back next week when I'll be serving up some more Unity inspiration each day, Monday through Friday, as Unity's Growing in Unity gal!! I'm so excited to share some of my Unity creations next week that I can hardly stand it ;). Be sure to comment on any or all of my GIU posts next week to be entered for a chance to win two free Unity Itty Bitty stamps of your choice! Unity rocks!!

I've got a busy day ahead of me today, and then we all are heading out to an art exhibit tonight. And not just any art exhibit! Our 4th grader had a painting accepted to our school district's juried art show, and tonight is his night to shine. We have no idea what to expect of this K-12 exhibit, but we can't wait to see the creation that landed him this honor. Should be fun!

Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today!
Emily

A Love-y Anniversary Card + a WINNER!

Good morning! Today is shaping up to be a fine early-summer day with temperatures predicted to hit 89F this afternoon. I think it's time for us to put in our window a/c units!

Wonder of wonders: I have a card to share with you this morning! My dear friend Colleen was recently honored as Featured Stamper over on Splitcoast Stampers. I'm SO happy for her!!!! I've had so very little time to stamp for fun recently, but I desperately wanted to play along with her Featured Stamper challenge. It's taken far too long to find time to do this, but I finally have a card I created in your honor, Colleen! After perusing Colleen's extensive and impressive Splitcoast gallery, I decided to CASE this beautiful card. Here's what I came up with:

I kept Colleen's elegant layout, including the fancy Martha Stewart punch-around-the page frame, but changed the color scheme. I also substituted a similar oval frame and love flourish sentiment from my collection of DeNami Design stamps. The patterned papers are from the New Beginnings collection by Webster's Pages. I always admire how artfully Colleen uses pearls in her creations, so I just had to follow her lead on pearl placement for this card! This card will make a perfect anniversary card for all of those June wedding anniversaries that I like to remember. :)

OK, thanks for indulging my need for card sharing. I know that you are eager to get on to the "winner" portion of this post! I owe you a winner for my washi tape giveaway from my May Ways With Washi feature. And here she is . . .

 Commenter #31, Amy McCue!

Amy, I couldn't find a way to contact you via email, so please drop me an email (you'll find my email address by clicking on the "View my Complete Profile" link just under the "About Me" section in the right-hand sidebar of my blog; look for the "Contact Me" section) with your mailing address so I can mail off your washi tape prize to you!! I can't wait to hear from you!! Congratulations!! :D

Thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who drops by for my Ways With Washi features and graciously comments! I always have the best time reading what you write.

Have an awesome day, everyone!
Emily

DeNami Fresh Florals Blog Hop

Good morning, friends! I am over the moon to be a part of today's DeNami Design blog hop! Today the DeNami Design team and DeNami Design customers are highlighting some of my very favorite DeNami stamps: florals!! I hope you'll hop along for loads of inspiration.

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Amy Smidebush's blog, Standing Ovation. 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 amazing 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, May 20, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

So, let me show you what I made with one very cool and utterly versatile DeNami stamp sets, the Whimsical Garden cling stamp set.

I just love how you can build your own blooms with this set! And the flowers and leaves are perfect for coloring with your favorite media. I also used the delightful You're On My Heart sentiment, along with Golden Tangerine cardstock, Cream cardstock, Tuxedo Black Memento ink, and some White/Black Dots washi tape from the DeNami store. Oh, and I nearly forgot--see the tone-on-tone stamping done on the card base? That fabulous look is courtesy DeNami's Polka Dot Background stamp and some Versamark ink.

I recently sent this card to a friend to let her know I'd been thinking of her!


That's it for me today! Before you leave for more Fresh Florals inspiration, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be on your way to the next stop on the hop, the blog of the very sweet and talented Pattie Goldman! 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,
Emily