Valentine Love + a WINNER

Greetings and happy Thursday to you! I'm here with a quick card to show off a few more washi stripes along with some fun DeNami Design stamps. (Need some more ideas on incorporating washi tape stripes into your crafting? Be sure to see my Ways With Washi: STRIPES post from earlier this week.)

DeNami Design stamps: Love Flourish, Stitched Border, Small Swirl Corner, Hearts stamp set

I stamped on a journaling card from a digital collection by Carina Gardner and dressed up the background with some Smooch Spritz and Musical Notes Washi Tape from DeNami. I'm adding this to the stack of Valentine cards I'm collecting for sending out to family and friends.

Now, I've promised you a winner for my washi tape giveaway earlier this week. I used Random.org to draw a winner from all the comments left on my giveaway post and came up with lucky number . . .

. . . 3--and that was PAM!!

Congratulations, Pam! I'm off to email you next so I can get your new roll of DeNami pink chevrons washi tape mailed out to you. :)

A huge thanks to everyone who played along in my giveaway! I had so much fun reading all of your comments :). Be sure to check out my next Ways With Washi feature in February--it will be on the 4th Monday of the month (that will be Feb. 25). We'll do another giveaway then!!

Oh, before I go, I just wanted to mention that with today's card I was playing along with my friend Jessi's challenge to use MISTS over at Playing in Paradise Challenge #101! I love how the misting in my background turned out. Thanks for the inspiring challenge, Jessi!! I'm also playing along with the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp!

Thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss today!
Emily

Ways With Washi: STRIPES + a Giveaway

Good Monday morning to you, friends! I'm so excited to be sharing my very first monthly feature for the DeNami blog: Ways With Washi! My goal for this feature is to inspire you to use washi tape in lots of fun and unique ways. Each month I will highlight a particular way to use washi tape and give you some project-based examples to show you what I mean.

This month we are starting with a pretty obvious use for washi tape: making stripes. We have to start somewhere, right? Washi tape is perfect as a replacement for ribbon on cards. It is much thinner, which is great for mailing, and so much easier to adhere. Plus, washi tape is removable, so it's easy to gently peel up and adjust the placement if it isn't straight.

Shall we take a peek at a few examples? I was in the mood to make Valentine's Day cards ;).

On my first card I used this sweet red stripes washi tape (available in the DeNami Design store) much the same way as I would have used ribbon in this card design. The advantage is that it is less bulky-- so easy to slide into an envelope--keeping this card nice and flat for mailing. No extra postage required here!

Squirrel, Nuts About You stamp set, Teeny Heart Background, Double Circle,
white cardstock, red cardstock, Satin Red Versafine ink, embossed bracket border punch

Now, how about a bit of a twist? On my second card, I've used the DeNami white/red hearts washi tape and set my washi stripes on a diagonal. I'm still taking a page from the ribbon playbook here, but the process of finishing off the ends is so much easier! Simply wrap the ends of the tape around the edges of the card. Done. If you've ever tried a similar maneuver with ribbon, you know what a pain it can be to secure ribbon ends that have been wrapped around to the inside of a card on a diagonal. And over the card fold? Forget about it!

Cupid Chickie, Elegant Square Frame, Love Sentiments stamp set, white cardstock, red cardstock, Satin Red Versafine ink, Onyx Black Versafine ink, Wildflower Boutique Buttons, clear rhinestones

Finally, here on my third card I've let my washi tape stripes take center stage. Don't these pink stripes washi and pink chevron washi tape stripes look awesome as the base for that stamped Valentine's Day sentiment? Together they create a unique focal point.

Happy Valentine's Day, Hearts stamp set, Small Scallop Heart, Decorative Flourish, white cardstock, petal pink cardstock, magenta cardstock

Well, that wraps up this month's Ways With Washi! But, how about a little giveaway before you go?

GIVEAWAY

I have a brand-new roll of Pink Chevron Washi Tape from DeNami Design--the same tape that I used on my third project--that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post telling me whether you've ever used washi tape. 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 30, 2013, and will draw a winner at random from the entries. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, Jan. 31, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks so much for dropping by to visit today--it's always such a treat!!
Emily

To Everything There Is a Season

Last fall I completely decimated my stash of sympathy cards. Replenishing my supply has been an ongoing line-item on my to-do list. I just haven't been able to find time or inspiration to work on these, though. As I  contemplated a project for the Stamp With a Homemade Stamp Challenge in the Moxie Fab World,  a plan for a sympathy card came together.

I created my own stamp by hand-trimming a scrap of craft foam into the shape of a long flower petal. Adhering it to an acrylic block with some transparent two-sided poster tape made it very easy to "stamp around the rosie" to create my large blossom.

The sentiment comes from the Life Lines stamp set from Flourishes.

I'm also playing along with the Papercraft Star Challenge--Buttons.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Cheers

Just sharing a little CAS card I made this morning that I think will do nicely as a girlfriend birthday card. I used a couple of fun stamps from DeNami design--a fun umbrella drink from the Tropical Drinks stamp set and the sweet little "cheers" sentiment from the Everyday Greeting stamp set. My pink-striped washi tape (used for the vertical stripes) is also from DeNami Design.

I'm playing along with three challenges:

• CASology, which has the cue card DRINK this week
• CASual Fridays, to use markers
• CAS(E) this Sketch, which offers this sketch this week:
  

It is a frosty Saturday morning here! We warmed up with some hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast {thanks, Dough Boy ;) !! }, fueling us up for a day of Pinewood Derby car-making for my son, homework for my daughter, and miscellaneous household stuff for my hubby and me. We're hoping to squeeze in a movie here at home this evening for a little family fun time, so it's time to head off into the fray!!

I hope you have a great weekend, too!

Thanks for stopping by for a little slice of bliss!
Emily

Juggling Too Much?

Recently I've been busy, crafty-wise, with design assignments. But once the kids were back in school again after their long weekend, I was finally able to turn my attention to a project I've had simmering on the back burner for a while now. Here's my result:

Does this feel like you, too? Well, except for the stylish pencil skirt and those high-heeled shoes, this card pretty much sums up my life these days. Juggling a million details that keep my family running smoothly without any major train wrecks.

This card was inspired by the Use 10 Embellishments Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, in honor of the release of the new Paper Crafts special issue, 75 Creative Card Challenges.

Yes, indeedy, you guessed it--the idea here is to use 10 different embellishments all on the same card in an innovative way. That last part had me stymied for a while. I mean any old fool (this one included!) can slap a bunch of googaws on a card and call it a day. But I wanted mine to mean something, to really tell a story, and not just look like some useless afterthoughts (which is what usually happens if I try to add more than one or two embellies)! Ten? I had my work cut out for me!

My very wise hubby is a big fan of consigning the solution of vexing problems to the subconscious. Can't see how to tackle something right away? Familiarize yourself with the problem and just walk away from it, sleep on it, do something completely different for a while. And that ol' subconscious just plugs away on it, chews it over, and pretty soon smacks you up side the head--completely out of the blue--with just the insight, answer, approach, or solution method that you need. That's just how it happened for me:  in the middle of brushing my teeth while thinking about something completely different.

I selected my embellishments very carefully, picking them for the kinds of tasks that we modern women must juggle.  I had to increase my card size to a mega 5" x 7" to get them to all fit comfortably! Anyway, starting with that ribbon rose on the bottom left, and then going clockwise, we have :

1. The red ribbon rose symbolizes time spent bringing happiness, thoughtfulness, and our thankfulness to others in the form of gifts, cards, phone calls, emails, and favors.
2. The paperclip symbolizes time spent at work.
3. The baseball brad symbolizes time spent managing (and chauffeuring!) kid activities.
4. The wooden clock face symbolizes time spent managing and planning the family calendar.
5. The sparkly apple cabochon symbolizes time spent on planning, shopping, and preparing tasks that keep the family well-nourished.
6. The mini wooden clothespin symbolizes time spent on housekeeping chores.
7. The shiny star brad symbolizes time spent overseeing and helping with the kids' schoolwork.
8. The Asian coin symbolizes time spent on all the myriad financial management tasks.
9. The wooden Bingo number symbolizes time spent on family fun activities and "me" time.
10. The shiny little key symbolizes time spent on home and auto maintenance.

Whew! I'm tired now just thinking of it all! But this little exercise has also been a great reminder of all the many blessings we enjoy. Life may be busy, but it's also quite good!

So, if you feel like you are juggling too much, too, I do believe I know how you feel. And hopefully knowing that will lift you up and make the juggling just a tiny bit easier to manage. :)

Thank you so much for joining me for a little slice of bliss today! It's always a joy to have you drop by!
Emily

Nuts About You

Today I am celebrating L-O-V-E (and, apparently, squirrels) with this little card.

I used the latest DeNami Design Product Spotlight stamp. This week we are featuring the brand new Nuts About You stamp set. Isn't it utterly adorable?

I also used the brand new DeNami Design Squirrel stamp, Teeny Heart Background, lavender card stock, amethyst card stock, brown kraft card stock, Rich Cocoa Memento ink, and Spring Pansy Versamagic ink to make this card.

I love looking for inspiration for my creations in the stuff of my everyday life. I was reading our February issue of Family Fun magazine last week when I was struck by the table of contents page, thinking it would make a great layout for a square card.

I thought the tiny images from this week's Spotlight set would be the perfect scale for giving this idea a try. I had to flip the sketch a bit to make it work with my images, but I like how it turned out. It ended up measuring4.25" x 4.25".

Now, WAIT!! Don't go yet! The DeNami Design team has always done two Product Spotlights each month. This term we are shaking things up a bit ;-). We are still doing two Product Spotlights, but the second spotlight of each month will be done as a DT blog hop! And what's a blog hop without a prize? You can comment to win the Spotlight product! And this month that means you could win this adorable Nuts About You stamp set :). All you need to do is hop along to each stop in the lineup, leaving comments along the way. Here is the blog hop lineup:

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

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! But don't worry--if you don't win, you can still snatch up this sweet stamp set for 10% off during the next week.

Thanks for stopping by today! It was great having you visit!
Emily

PS I'm playing along with the Playing in Paradise Challenge #100, which has the theme of " Let's Celebrate"  this week. I am celebrating LOVE!!

A New Photo Tutorial

Happy Friday, everyone! I am so excited to have a new photo tutorial up over on the DeNami Design blog today. I am showing how to make gathered ribbon flowers. Here is a little sneak peek.

I hope you will swing by the DeNami blog to get the whole story. Feel free to ask me any questions about the tutorial right here on this post. :-)

Have a super day!
Emily

DeNami Wonderful Washi Blog Hop

Good morning, friends! I am so excited to be a part of today's DeNami Design blog hop! Today the DeNami Design team and DeNami Design customers are showing off wonderful ways to use washi tape. If you have heard my news about my new monthly blog feature {Ways With Washi} over on the DeNami Design blog, then you know that this is right up my alley!!

I am the last stop on today's hop. Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Donna Bowman's blog, The Crafty Corgi. 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, January 14, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

So, shall we get on our wonderful washi way? Here is what I created with some wonderful washi tape from DeNami Design.

You can click on this photo for a better view!

It's a set of mini note cards for my 10YO son! They all measure 3" x 3". I used DeNami Design's super awesome Road Washi Tape for these. And a bunch of DeNami Design rubber stamps, too, if you can believe that! The Cars & Trucks stamp set, Medium Double Line Square, Birthday Celebration Set 1, Make Way! It's Your Day!, Sending You Smiles, and You're "Wheel" Nice all made it to my crafting table. I was inspired to make these by the Make an Itty Bitty Card Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, celebrating the release of the new special issue, 75 Creative Card Challenges.

Anyway, my mini cars were fun, quick, and easy! All that was left to do then was package them up in a DeNami Design boutique box and tie them up with some baker's twine.

I hope you have collected tons of great ideas for using washi tape! I am the last stop on today's hop. Be sure to leave a comment before you go to be in a drawing for a Denami Design gift certificate.


Thanks for hopping along today!
Emily

More Love Letters

I did my civic duty yesterday and reported for jury duty. I arrived at the courthouse prepared for lots of sitting and waiting (no moss grows under me!), and, boy, it's a good thing I did. I stamped a stack of images to take along with me and spent five hours coloring in the jury pool (which sounds pretty splashy, tropical, and fun, doesn't it? I can assure you, however, that it is none of these!). I love it when I can turn potentially wasted time into productive time! (That's not to say that serving on jury duty is a waste of time--I'm happy to do my part, and I take pride in upholding my privileges and responsibilities as a U.S. citizen.)

Anyway, when I returned home, I put together this Valentine card with one of the images I worked on at the courthouse. It's perfect for this week's Flourishes new release challenge, Love Letters.

I used two Flourishes stamp sets: A Year in Flowers 2 and  Tag Lines. I was lucky to find a scrap of lace trim on my work table that was just the right length to add to this card :).

Even though I did a lot of sitting around, jury duty really exhausted me. I'm plum worn out today! I do believe there is a nap in my future ;). That sounds like a pretty big slice of bliss to me!

Thanks for dropping by for a visit! Have a super weekend,
Emily

Light and Airy Birthday Card

When I saw the current Tuesday Trigger inspiration photo (Sweet Dreams) over in the Moxie Fab World, I was struck by how light and airy the pictured bedroom was. I thought it would be fun to try to translate that feel into a birthday card (since I am running low on birthday cards in my stash).

Here's my card

and here's the photo that inspired it.

I used background stamps, heat-embossed in white, from three different companies: Sweet Lace from Market Street Stamps, Gingham Background from DeNami Design, and Quatrefoil Background from Unity Stamp Company. I thought these designs were good matches for the patterns on the bedspread, bench, and rug. I took my colors for this card from these items, too. The sentiment is from Unity's How YOU Doin' set, and the resin flower is from Stampin' Up!

I really enjoyed the creative process involved in making this card, and I am quite satisfied with how it turned out. I'm also happy to have a Unity creation to share with my Friends With Flair today!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Emily