A Happy Hello

Sending out a Happy Hello to all my blog friends this sunny May morning!

I hope you had a great weekend. It was a busy, busy one here at our house. On my personal agenda for the weekend was making a card to send to my aunt for Aunts' Week. She doesn't have any kids of her own, so when my sister and I were growing up, she and some of her fellow teachers declared the week before Mothers' Day as "Aunt's Week." All their nieces and nephews (which included my big sis and me!) were encouraged to send letters and cards that all the aunties could pin up and share on a bulletin board in the teachers' lounge. We still mark Aunt's Week each year! I wanted to make something really special for her, and I think I succeeded. But I'll tell ya, I kept getting interrupted by one or the other of my kids with questions and help requests in regards to special school projects they are both working on, so it took me all weekend just to make this card! But I guess the wait was worth it--I really like how it turned out. Plus, I'm so proud of myself for digging deep into my stash and finally using some trims and papers I bought from Webster's Pages a few years ago. Gotta stop hoarding all that and use it to spread some sunshine to the folks I love!! Anyway, here it is:

I love the fresh look of that red, bright blue, and chartreuse color combo! So cheery, don't you think? The sentiment and dotted circle are both stamps from the Medallion Motif stamp set by Flourishes. The papers and trims are from Webster's Pages All About Me collection.

I've got to run off now and tackle my monster to-do list, so I'll catch you later. Thanks for stopping by for a little slice of bliss with me today!
Emily

Summery Hi

How did it get to be the first day of August already?!?!? I am completely blown away by how fast this year is going. Back-to-school, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then {gasp!} Christmas are all just around the corner!!

But I'm getting ahead of myself! It's so important to enjoy summer, and all the things that go with it (like popsicles, swimming, and bright, bright colors), while we still can. So today I'm sharing a bright, summery card that's also being featured over on the DeNami blog today.

Perfect for spreading the bright joy of summer to just about anybody, right? I used the DeNami Solid Decorative Crest for my focal point and jazzed it up with lots of sparkle, supplied by a few peach-toned rhinestones and some sparkly green glitter glue. This image can make a card look quite formal (which somehow just didn't seem right with my bright and happy colors), so I toned down the overall formality by distressing the edges of the patterned papers (some ancient ones by Echo Park that I found in my stash).

Thanks so much for dropping by today. I hope you have a fabulous day! :D
Emily

Growing In Unity~Day 4

 Thanks for coming back for Day 4 of my week as Growing in Unity gal!

Today is a two-fer day! I've got two little Unity projects that I've been just itching to share with you. Let's get started!

The sentiment is from Unity's {my thoughts are with you} kit. Definitely a must-have! It is loaded with a great variety of "thinking of you" types of sentiments that are perfect for cardmakers. I love how this one in particular fits perfectly in my Stampin' Up! modern label punch.

The patterned paper is a digital print from the Beautiful Moments collection by Carta Bella (available from JessicaSprague.com).  I built the gilt frame around the portion I printed out using some really cool gold washi tape. It totally looks like a fancy picture frame, right? I think the effect is awesome.

Now, switching gears a bit.

This card pulls together two different Unity Stamp kits. The doily stamped in the background in white on kraft and the fancy label are from the Generations kit, and the fantastic "You are fabulous" sentiment is from the Where You Should Be kit. Quick and easy and perfect for dropping in the mail to a fabulous friend!

And I think that does it for today!

Please leave a comment on this post to be in the running for two free Unity Itty Bitty kits, one comment per person please. But if you are a follower of my blog (or become a new follower), you can leave a second comment--for a second chance to win--on today's post:  just let me know that you are a follower and how you follow my blog!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my last GIU post. If you haven't already commented on my GIU Days 1, 2, and 3 posts, you should check out and comment on those as well to maximize your chances of winning in the random drawing. I will leave commenting open through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 9, 2013, and will come back on June 10 to announce the winner here on my blog. If I can find a way to contact the winner via email, I'll be sure to do that, too. :)

I'm so happy that you stopped by to visit today!
Emily 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good morning and happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day is filled with fun, love, and hopefully some delicious treats :-). Chocolate, anyone?

Today I thought you might like to see this little creation that I made for a very dear friend for Valentine's Day.

It was fun to make because it is a bit different from many of the cards I usually make. Everything, except for the stitching and pearls, is a digital element from the Affectionate digital collection by Carina Gardener. That rectangular panel is a ready-made digital journaling card. Pretty cute, huh? I just love how this turned out.

I am playing along with a few challenges:

• Stampendous February Challenge--Love is in the Air
• Playing in Paradise--A Loved One 
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #207: Put Your Heart on It  

Got any last-minute Valentine preparations? Later this morning I will be working on getting Valentine's Day treats ready for the loves of my life. Some yummy treat bags for the kids {plus a Lego surprise for each of them--shh! Don't tell!!}, and a homemade cherry pie for my honey. That is his favorite dessert!

Have a fun one! And thanks so much for dropping by for a Valentine's Day visit :-).
Emily

Flocked Autumn Leaves

For today's DeNami Sketch Challenge post, click HERE.

Hey, everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I loved getting that extra hour due to the time change, but, man, it's sure to throw me off for the rest of the week!

I realized over the weekend that I am short on Thanksgiving cards, so I've really got to get myself in gear. Here's a quick one that I made this morning:

My goal is to make these cards as flat and easily mailed as possible! So there's nothing too elaborate here. I found some direction for my card with these challenges:

• Do You Stack Up? to use brads
• Stampendous November Challenge to use any of the Stampendous Essentials products in your project. I stamped leaves from the Stampendous Summer Leaves clear stamp set with a glue pad and flocked them using Stampendous Cinnamon Toast Fun Flock. 
• A Blog Named Hero: use a punched or die cut element--I do believe that my punched circle in the corner qualifies!

The patterned paper is from an old Tim Coffey K & Co. pad; the Happy Thanksgiving sentiment stamp is from DeNami Design; the lace is from May Arts; and the glittery mini brads are from We R Memory Keepers.

My daughter joined the newly formed photography club at her middle school this year. Their assignment has been to take lots of photos capturing "fall." I noticed last week in the woods by our house that a tree choked with bittersweet vines had been toppled by Hurricane Sandy. We both grabbed our cameras to take a few photos of the now-accessible bright red and orange berries. Here's one that I took:

Well, I've got several tasks to tackle for work, but be prepared to see more Thanksgiving cards sprinkled over the next few days. I've got to get these done!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Emily

Bazzill Beach House Giveaway

Happy Friday! Can you believe it's already November? I must admit that I've really let the time get away from me. Over the summer, Bazzill Basics Paper asked if I would like to try their new Beach House patterned paper collection and offered to send me two Beach House collection 6x6 pads, one for me to keep and use for myself and one to give away to one of my blog readers. Of course, I said I'd love to!! But the new papers arrived while I was away on our month-long vacation in August, and once we returned I was too overwhelmed to even crack open the new papers. But I'm finally caught up and was able to take time this week to play with them, and I loved what I saw!!

The 6x6 sheets in this mini pack are double-sided. There are a total of 12 different prints, with four sheets of each double-sided combo, for a total of 24 sheets in the pack. And guess what? These sheets are textured!! I LOVE that!! They have a lovely pebbly feel to them and add wonderfully subtle dimension to a card. I also love that the colors used in these patterned papers coordinate with the cardstock colors in Bazzill's Card Shoppe collection.

The prints in the Beach House collection are rather eclectic, I think. And that's a good thing!! They have a fun nautical feel to them, especially color-wise, but aren't overly beachy. There are some nice classics small-scale prints that would be perfect for paper-piecing, as well as some collage-type prints incorporating both ocean-life motifs (think whale, crab, coral, shells) and less obvious ones (such as bicycles, playing cards, cafe receipts, alphabet typography, manilla tags, vintage card game score sheets). I happened to use some sea shell stamps in the card I made with my Beach House papers, but you could easily use them with so many other themes!!

The card I made today is an anniversary card for my in-laws:

I used four different prints from the Beach House collection (House Tags, Weathered Wood, Receipt Dots, and Nautical Stripes), plus two coordinating cardstocks from the Card Shoppe collection: Whirlypop and Peanut Clusters. The shell images are stamps in the Beach Cottage Collection from Unity Stamp Co., and the sentiment is from another Unity set, It's All About Love.

 
My card design was inspired by one of the two sketches featured over at Chick Challenges with Ippity this week.

I'm also linking this up with my friend Jessi's challenge over at Playing in Paradise to make an anniversary project. 

OK, now for the fun part--the part you've all been waiting for: the GIVEAWAY!! Bazzill Basics sent not only a Beach House Collection 6x6 paper pack

but also a 56-sheet multipack of their Card Shoppe cardstock

to give away to one of my readers. Want a chance to win? All you need to do to be in the running is leave me a comment on this post using the word "OCEAN" before 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 8, 2012. I'll draw one "ocean"-using commenter at random to win  both the patterned paper and cardstock, then post the winner here on my blog on November 9. If I can find the winner's email address, I'll email her as well!

Questions? Feel free to ask! You don't need to be a follower of my blog to enter the giveaway, but I'd love it if you do become one!

A huge thanks goes to Bazzill Basics for letting me try out their amazing patterned papers and cardstocks! And thanks so much for dropping by.

May you find a little slice of bliss in your day today!
Emily

TCM October Previews, Day 3

This is my second post for the day.

For my DeNami Design Product Spotlight post,

please scroll down or click HERE. Thanks! 

Welcome to Day 3 of the October stamp release from The Craft's Meow! I'm back again today as the TCM October Guest Designer, and I'm sharing cards made with the last two sets of the six-set October release. Today I'm previewing Holiday Foundations and O Christmas Tree along with the TCM design team. I've gotta tell you, folks, the entire October release is fantastic, but I think that The Craft's Meow owner Lisa Hjulberg saved the best for last. These two sets are my favorites!

Let's start with Holiday Foundations. First, you need to know that this is a big 8" x 6" set. Second, it is filled with six fabulous 6-inch-long borders that may be used singly as bold borders or stamped repeatedly for easy-to-make backgrounds. There's also two over-sized holiday sentiments and four smaller companion sentiments. All of the graphic elements have a fun distressed feel to them. I can't tell you how excited I am about this set--it will be perfect for making quick and easy cards with maximum impact. Like this one:

When mass-producing holiday cards, I always love a great one-layer design, don't you? And pink and green are so fun for Christmas; I love the preppy feel. (For ink I used SU Pretty in Pink and VersaMagic Aloe Vera. The cardstock is Rustic White from PTI--a great match for the distressed look of this set, I thought.)

And now for the O Christmas Tree set, which is this month's free gift with a $50 TCM purchase. I've gotta tell you, this is one versatile (and super fun!) stamp set! Filled with all kinds of mix-and-match elements, plus lots of great words and sentiments, too. Here's what I made with it:

I love these colors for Christmas! And it was so much fun dressing up those trees for the holidays. :D (Ink: SU Pretty in Pink, VersaMagic Aloe Vera, VersaMagic Sea Breeze, Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress; Paper: PTI Vintage Cream CS, SU Pretty in Pink CS, PTI kraft, My Mind's Eye patterned paper)

Be sure to check out the delightful creations that the rest of the TCM designers made for today's preview of Holiday Foundations and O Christmas Tree over on the The Craft's Meow blog. TCM is giving away a free copy of each of these sets today only over on the TCM blog. You won't want to miss this! For a chance to win, just head over to the TCM blog and leave a comment on today's TCM post by 9:00 pm Pacific tonight. Two winners will be randomly drawn and announced in tomorrow's TCM blog post. Good luck!

That's it for this month's release previews, but be sure to come back tomorrow for the October Release Blog Hop! You'll see lots of inspiration for this month's new stamp sets and can comment for your chance to win all six sets!

Have a great day--see you tomorrow!
Emily

Happy 70th Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! I know she received her card in the mail on time, so it's safe to share it here on my blog now and not spoil her surprise. Here's what I made for her:

I bought some gorgeous 6x6 patterned papers from Webster's Pages back in the spring and have been struggling to find good ways to use them on cards. I think these papers are so beautiful with stunning vintage details, but it's so hard for me to find ways to cut into them for standard A2-sized cards. Which part of the beautiful pattern do you cut off? What part of the gorgeous design do you cover up with your own sentiment or embellishments? Does anyone else struggle with this? So this beautiful paper has basically been sitting untouched this whole time, and I was bound and determined to finally conquer it so I could make a beautiful card for my mom.

The stamps I used are from Unity Stamp Co. That fantastic label comes from the Just a Note Itty Bitty set, and the Happy Times banner comes from another Itty Bitty stamp set, Echo Park Banners.

And here is part of Mom's birthday gift (using Unity's Bitty Gift Tag stamp) , a gift "wallet" I made and packaged up for her:

I made a fold-over wallet to hold her gift (something directly correlated to that fantastic birthday milestone *wink*), decorated it with more Webster's Pages patterned paper (the other half of the sheet that I cut into for Mom's birthday card, in fact; guaranteed to coordinate!), and then slipped it into a glassine bag. After folding over the top of the bag, I added a doily and tied on the gift tag with baker's twine from The Twinery. Easy yet elegant packaging! I think that making more of these is in my future. ;)

It has been forever and a day since I last linked up with Unity's Friends With Flair, which I've always loved. Life has been just way too busy these past few months to play along, but with all of the Unity goodness in these projects, I just had to link up! I'm really hoping to make it to FWF more regularly. I've missed all of you FWFers!!!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Thanks so much for dropping by!!
Emily

Happy Birthday, Nami!!

Today is a special day at DeNami Design Rubber Stamps. It is the birthday of none other than Nami herself--the owner and stamp illustrator behind DeNami! Today DeNami friends are helping to celebrate this special day with a blog hop that's all about the birthday girl. Happy Birthday, Nami!!

I have the honor of being the first stop on today's blog hop! (If you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.) I can't wait to show you the birthday card I made for Nami!

When I first stumbled across DeNami rubber stamps, I was immediately smitten with all of the adorable DeNami animals. I mean, who can resist, right? But it wasn't long before I discovered the full selection of Nami's elegant stamp designs, and I find myself reaching for these timeless (yet fresh!) classics--like this Decorative Crest Circle--again and again. And no one does hand-scripted sentiments (like this one from the All Occasion Sentiments set) better than Nami--no one!! It is an absolute delight to play work with Nami's fabulous designs as a member of the DeNami Design team. I'm wishing you a day filled with happiness today, Nami, and many, many more!

Your next stop on the "Happy Birthday to Nami" blog hop is the fantastic Amy Smidebush. Be sure to check out her creation celebrating Nami and then make your way through the hop back to the DeNami blog to leave your good wishes for Nami. :)

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 4: A Two-Fer

Is it just me, or is this week absolutely flying?? Here we are at Day 4 of my Growing In Unity Week, already! As I was creating projects for my five days of GIU, I somehow ended up with six projects to share. So today you get a bonus project!

And we're off . . .

This "Sweet 16" card is for my husband's niece who, quite unbelievably, is turning--you guessed it!!--16 next week. Unity's Sweetest Day Itty Bitty stamp, a co-brand with Jillibean Soup, takes center stage. This adorable strawberry is ideal for paper piecing, and I think that sentiment is just perfect. I know I'll be using it a lot, with or without that fat berry. :) And do you know what else is perfect? That fabulous two-toned sheer ribbon from May Arts (a huge thanks to Jessi!), which looks amazing with some ivory rick-rack layered over top. I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

Up next: a little something different for me. After slicing off a panel of the pink striped paper I used on my strawberry card, I happened to flip over the piece that was left and thought it would make a fabulous frame:

I just needed a little something for the middle, and thought I knew just what it should be: a sentiment from Unity's Quote Bundle Pack. I added some matting and stitching, plus some buttons and rhinestones and paper flowers for dimension. Ta-da! A quick, easy, colorful, and inspiring card. And lots of flowers qualifies it for the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers.

So, now you may be asking "How are you doing on your personal patterned paper challenge?" Well, I can add two more collections to my utilized-papers list: My Mind's Eye Lost & Found--Madison Avenue 6 x 6 paper pad (dots and dark rose print on the strawberry card) and My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy--Tickled Pink 6 x 6 paper pad (leaves and stripes on the strawberry card, plus the entire panel on the second card). That should bring my total up to five different paper collections so far, and it's just Day 4 ;).

And there you have it--my Unity two-fer day! Come on back tomorrow for my last {sniff} GIU post. I can't wait to show you my creation!

Thanks for sharing a little slice of bliss with me today,
Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 3: Enjoy

(This is my second post of the day. For my DeNami Design Product Spotlight post,
please scroll down to my next post or click here.)

Welcome to Day 3 of my Growing In Unity week! Today's the day I'm being highlighted on the Unity blog, so if you just can't get enough of my smiling face {roll eyes}, you can swing by over there to check it out. In any case, be sure to comment on all of my Growing In Unity posts, Monday through Friday this week, to maximize your chances of being drawn as the random winner of two free Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.

All righty, on to my Unity project of the day:

The star of the show is a wonderful Itty Bitty stamp from Unity: Tattered Roses by Iron Orchid Designs. I just love this stamp! I colored it with chalks, applied with foam applicators, to give this the look of a hand-tinted vintage photo and then sponged on distress ink around the edges for a more aged look. The sentiment is from the How YOU Doin' {ippity} kit. Anyway, I thought those tattered roses would be perfect for playing along with the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers. I'm also entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

I challenged myself to use patterned paper on each GIU project this week--a different paper collection each day! Today I'm adding the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found--Market Street 6 x 6 paper pad to my list of utilized collections. It's a beauty! Those peachy/coral and heather green tones are so pretty for spring. I do believe that all of my patterned paper collections this week will be from My Mind's Eye. How did that happen? Well, it just may have something to do with the fact that A.C. Moore stores (the brick and mortar versions) carry MME 6 x 6 pads for the regular price of $3.99, which makes them pretty cheap. But when I can get hold of a 50% off coupon (which is often the case), I can get one of these pads for the bargain-basement price of $1.99!! I know, right?? Anyway, that may have something to do with the fact that I now own 10 different MME 6 x 6 pads now ;).

Well, thanks so much for stopping by to see what's making my happy today on Bliss Road! I'll see you back here--same time, same station--again tomorrow.

Have a great day!
Emily

Feminine Flair

I'm so excited that this is another release week at Flourishes! I love seeing each month's new sets and playing in all of the release week challenges. This time around the week-long release challenge is to add a little Feminine Flair to your project. I needed a get well card for yet another friend who is having surgery, and today's card will be perfect for her.
This card all started with a lovely piece of patterned paper that my dear, dear friend Colleen sent me (along with a delightful collection of SU scraps and diecuts that she picked up from her fabulous SU demo. Thanks a million, Col!!). I have no idea what it's from, but it was sized perfectly for folding into an A2-sized card. And I love that the back of the card will be patterned, too! My daffodil image is from Flourishes' A Year in Flowers Set 1. I stamped it in Versamark ink and used my Stampin' Pastels to reveal the image. I'm sure you can spy the feminine flair I added: a paper doily, vintage lace trim, a pearl stick pin, and lots of adhesive pearls. I realized that in my collection of Flourishes stamps I don't have any "Get Well" sentiments--something I should take care of fixing soon! So I used this perfectly sized "Take Care" instead. I can hand-write a "get well" message inside. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

A Shabby HI for FWF

I'm so happy it's Friday and time again for Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop! Check the Unity Stamp Co. blog for hop details and a full list of today's participants.

I'm also happy because my sister is visiting me from Ohio! She arrived Wednesday night and is here until Sunday. Today we are working on making some note card sets that she can give as gifts this Christmas. I am just thrilled that she asked me to help her make these :). So today we are up to our elbows in paper while we do two of my favorite things: catching up and papercrafting!

I know the FWF hop list is long, so I won't keep you. Here is my Unity creation for today:

That FABULOUS frame is from the Love in Return kit from {ippity} by Unity.

I'm playing along in these challenges:

• {ippity} Challenge: this time round the challenge is to choose and participate in a Hope You Can Cling To challenge over on SplitcoastStampers. I chose HYCCT1111, which is to create a card or project with some girlie embellishments on it. I used lace, a handmade pink ribbon rose, and a girlie hat pin.
• Textured to Perfection Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, to incorporate texture in an innovative way. I've combined textured cardstock, stitching, lace trim, sparkly (and textured!) chipboard letters. But what I hope will really catch Cath's eye is my overflowing-with-texture handmade wilted ribbon rose!
• All Things Unity: BINGO! 
  
    Play from this Bingo card
  
  I've got four in a row from lower left to upper right: Nesties (which I don't have, but substituted a stamped and hand-cut frame), use PINK, flower, and ribbon/bow.
• Clear It Out Challenge: Trims (I used some vintage yellow lace trim)

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

Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Love In Return from {ippity} by Unity 
Paper: DCWV textured cardstock, patterned paper from Sweetness Collection by Pink Paislee
Ink: SU Crumb Cake, Palette Burnt Umber

Accessories: hat pin, pink satin ribbon, vintage lace trim, DMC embroidery floss, glitter chipboard sticker letters from Pink Paislee, button, sewing machine
Techniques: handmade ribbon flower, machine stitching, shabby chic

Pinecone Christmas Ornament

This past week when my mojo was severely lacking, I visited, revisited, and revisited some more an idea for a card I wanted to enter in Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge #139: to make a Christmas card that features an ornament. It took forever for this to come together--I couldn't decide which approach I liked better for several aspects of the design, so I tried them all! By the time I finalized everything, I had completed four versions of this card. My stack of Christmas cards that I can mail to friends and family in December is growing!!
Flourishes also sponsors a Christmas Spirit Challenge over at SplitcoastStampers. The October challenge is to make something on your card shine like fresh candy! I decided to make this vintage-style pinecone ornament from Flourishes' All That Glitters set look shiny just like a an old-fashioned mercury glass ornament. I figured some shiny pearlescent paper would be perfect, but didn't have any the color I wanted. Hmmm. I thought this over for a while and did some experimenting. I think I've come up with a way to make my own pearlescent paper!

All it takes is a piece of cardstock in the desired color and some white nail polish. To make my pearlescent paper, I simply painted on a somewhat uniform layer of polish on the cardstock and let it dry completely.
Then I was able to stamp directly on my pearly surface just as I would any other glossy surface, allowing plenty of time to dry. (**Because of the flammable nature of acetone, the active ingredient in nail polishes, do not attempt to use a heat tool with nail-polish-treated paper, neither for drying nor heat embossing.**)
Finally, I experimented with ways to add "snow" to my pinecone ornaments: coloring with a white gel pen or adhering glitter to carefully selected areas primed with glue.
Although it was a long process to finally complete these cards, I just love how they turned out! Kind of a clean and simple design meets shabbily vintage details. Yup, that's my little slice of happy for today!

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Card Recipe: 
Stamps: Flourishes All That Glitters, Flourishes O Christmas Tree 
Paper: K&Co Tim Coffey Fall Pad patterned paper, kraft CS, hazelnut tan CS
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia, Ranger tea dye distress
Accessories: white gel pen, Pink Paislee glitter, glue pen, sewing machine, foam tape, hemp twineTechniques: machine stitching, ink distressing

Tailormade Friendship

**Have you taken time to play in my WCMD Giveaway yet?**
It's going on through Thursday, October 6, at 5 p.m. EDT. You can find all the details HERE!

I'm squeaking in under the wire on this one. Just a quick post to share a creation inspired by this Tuesday Trigger inspiration photo over at the Moxie Fab World.


I'd been thinking about this one all week and hoped to get time to actually put it together on World Card Making Day, but I didn't get very far. I was able to squeeze it in this afternoon, though. The dress form image and sentiment are from a new set by Flourishes called Feminine Charm, one of three September release stamp sets that I won from Flourishes last month. I was so excited to get these inked up!
I'm also playing in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and the Lots of Layers Challenge over at Paper Sundaes.

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Feminine Charm 
Paper: mint sparkle finish CS, white CS from The Paper Company, various DP scraps from Stampin' Up! 
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Ranger tea dye distress ink 
Accessories: sponge, decorative and modern label punches from SU, paper doily, needle and thread, foam tape, sheer white ribbon from Michael's, SU vintage flower adornments
 Techniques: sponging

Gettin' Spooky for Friends with Flair

Newsflash!

We interrupt this Friends with Flair post for an important announcement:

To commemorate my 3ooth blog post (which I just noticed was yesterday!) and to celebrate World Card Making Day (which kicks off bright and early tomorrow), I figured it's time for a GIVEAWAY!! Check back tomorrow, that's October 1, for the whole scoop.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled FWF programming.

Welcome to Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop! Check the Unity Stamp Co. blog for hop details and a full list of today's participants.

Today I'm sharing a one-layer Halloween card that I made using the chandelier from the Regal Greetings set from {ippity} by Unity.

I shabbied this up with some black ink sponged around the edges for a creepy Victorian look and drew in a spider web background. 'Cuz you know no one (with any substance, at least {wink}) has been around to dust those chandeliers in that old haunted house for quite some time! Anyway, I drew the web with a Sakura Glaze pen from my blogging buddy Jessi (thanks, friend!), dusted it with clear embossing powder, and heat embossed it for extra dimension.

A three-dimensional "Spooky" sticker from Anna Griffin and some black crochet string was all I needed to finish off this easy OLC!

I'm entering this Spooky creation in these challenges:

• All Things Unity challenge to make a one-layer card,
• {ippity} challenge to tie it up with twine, ribbon, or string on your project,
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge : ANYTHING GOES,
• Paper Sundaes Challenge: ANYTHING GOES

Well, I hope you have a fabulous weekend! My family has lots of fun stuff going on, and I am definitely hoping to get in some World Card Making Day crafting time. Be sure to peek in tomorrow for the details on my celebratory giveaway: sharing my bliss one little slice at a time!

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} Regal Greetings
Paper: PTI kraft CS
Ink: Versafine onyx black
Accessories: sponge, Sakura Glaze pen, clear EP, heat tool, black crochet thread, three-dimensional sticker from Esmerelda collection by Anna Griffin
Techniques: sponging, one-layer card, embossing

Have a Great, Fine, Happy Day!

Just a quick post to share a card I made for the Splitcoast sketch challenge this week.

I have come to adore anything to do with Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park Paper Co. The problem with this is that I don't have the budget (or space) to indulge these weaknesses, and they are also a bit tricky to track down. I recently found a decent compromise, a way to have a little CC or EP fix without breaking the bank or worrying about where/how to store yet more stuff. Both companies offer {at least some of} their paper collections in digital form, so you can print out just the paper or element you need on your own cardstock just when you need it. Now that sounds like a great example of just-in-time inventory control to me! I've recently discovered that the CC and EP digital collections may be purchased at JessicaSprague.com. What's even better is that once a week, Jessica Sprague runs a One Buck Wednesday sale where a selection of 8 to 12 digital packs are priced at $1 each for just 24 hours. Heck, yeah, that's a steal!! And it looks like there's usually a little Echo Park and/or Cosmo Cricket in the One-Buck mix. Oh, happy day!

So, in the last week I've been able to treat myself to Echo Park's hot new For the Record collection Echo Park's sweet and of-the-moment Springtime collection, and Cosmo Cricket's very Western Wanted collection (perfect for the horse-lover in my household). All for just $3. And believe me, that's going to go a loooooooooooooooong way.

So all this to explain to you that the card I made this week used a ton of my new digital goodness! I actually stamped the sentiments the old-fashioned way, but the two patterned papers, the black scalloped border, and the chipboard-ish flowers are all digital elements that I printed out from my new For the Record files. (The stitching was added afterward with my real-live "non-digital" sewing machine.) Anyway, that was fun!!! And I loved being able to use some hot and trendy DP, especially without guilt.

And here is another card I made recently with my new For the Record digital papers and embellishments:
Well, that does it for now. Thanks for checking out my little slice of {digital} bliss today!
Emily

Have a Great Day
Card Recipe:
Paper: Echo Park For the Record digital papers and elements, snow storm, vanilla bean fleck
Ink: Marvy LePlume II black marker, Ranger tea dye distress ink
Accessories: sewing machine, sponge dauber, foam tape, scissors
Techniques: digital papers, machine stitching

Hello
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes From the Garden, Strawberries (sentiment)
Paper: Echo Park For the Record digital papers, snow storm, vanilla bean fleck
Ink: Palette water lily green, noir black
Accessories: Fiskars 2" circle punch, SU 2.5" circle punch, SU jewelry tag punch, baker's twine, foam tape
Techniques: digital papers

Easter Blessings

I can't tell you how hard and time-comsuming this card was to make. The idea for it came to me quite easily, but when it came time to put the details together, I spent waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time just spinning my wheels. So frustrating. Ultimately I was quite pleased with it, but I nearly scrapped it I don't know how many times. I'm glad I stuck with it.

Detail of the embossing:

I love the look of hand-dyed crinkly seam binding, but I'm not lucky enough to have any. I approximated the look by ripping a narrow strip of fabric from some celery-colored duck cloth in my fabric collection. I frayed the edges and was good to go--the perfect nest for that perfect Prima rose.

Challenges:

• The Shabby Tea Room: Spring Color Challenge, to be inspired by the colors in this photo
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Easter creation
• Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
• Tuesday Throwdown: Spring Theme
• Stamps R Us: Easter
• ABC DT Challenge: Easter card
• CARDS Challenge Gallery: Easter cards
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Tons of Texture (Three types of texture: embossing on the Easter eggs, stitching, and ripped fabric ribbon)
  

This should be the last Easter card that I need for sending out to my family. Whew. I was worried I wouldn't have enough!

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Easter egg image from Michael's dollar bin
Paper: SU certainly celery CS, SU pink pirouette CS, Pink Paislee 365 Degrees DP, various scraps
Ink: Palette lavender sachet and toile pink, Ranger linen and tea dye distress inks, Versamark
Accessories: MS deco fan border and corner punches, SU tag corner punch, SU designer label punch, scissors, sponge dauber, foam tape, sewing machine, clear EP, heat tool, pearls, Prima rose, ripped strip of fabric
Techniques: ink distressing, heat embossing, machine stitching

StampinB Stamped Background Challenge

Happy Last Day of March!! Is March going out like a lamb where you live? We are expecting an April Fool's Day Nor'easter which could bring 6 to 12 inches of snow to our region. Not exactly lamb-like and certainly not how I was planning to welcome April!

Anywho, it's Thursday and time for a new challenge from the Stampin' B's DT. This week Vicky Gould is our hostess and she is challenging everyone to make her own background using only stamps--no designer paper allowed. I've only been able to make one Easter card so far this year, and having no Easter-themed DP, this challenge to make my own was the perfect opportunity to grow my Easter card stash.
I stamped my backgrounds using a pretty Easter egg stamp I found in a dollar bin at Michael's last year. I recently found a package of Recollections gold cross stickers on clearance (also at Michael's) and was thrilled to use my first one on this card. I made the large ribbon rose from scratch but the two smaller ribbon flowers come from Offray.

Challenges:

• EtsyInspired #132: to be inspired by the wares of Etsy store Fresh Metal Jewelry. I was inspired by this beautiful white fabric flower necklace to make my white ribbon rose.
• ColourQ #78:
• CardPatterns #108:
• Tuesday Throwdown: Florals
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Easter

And there you have it!! I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Easter egg image from Michael's dollar bin
Paper: SU pink pirouette CS, SU certainly celery CS, storm white CS, PTI kraft CS
Ink: Palette burnt umber, Palette toile pink, SU certainly celery, Ranger tea dye distress ink
Accessories: EK 2.25" circle punch, SU 2.5" circle punch, CM circle cutting system, CM corner rounder punch, EK rock fern punch, Stamp-A-Majig, sponge dauber, sewing machine, dotted grosgrain ribbon, narrow satin ribbon, pearls, Offray ribbon flowers, Recollections cross sticker
Techniques: machine stitching, ink distressing