DeNami Design Product Spotlight May 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 very timely Diploma stamp.

What newly minted graduate does not need thank you notes after commencement? I can't think of a single one! So I put this big ol' diploma to work on a clean and simple thank you card suitable for any guy or girl graduate. Here's how it turned out:

In addition to our spotlight Diploma stamp, I used Thank You Script, Black Stripes washi tape, and Tuxedo Black Memento Ink from the DeNami Design store.

You can purchase this Diploma stamp for 10% off the regular price for the next week. You also have the chance to WIN this fabulous product in today's spotlight blog hop! 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
Pattie Goldman
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 stopping by today--have a super day!
Emily

My Embossed Elements Winner!

Hello and Happy Thursday! I'm announcing my Embossed Elements giveaway winner today. The brand-new Graduation Hat Embossing Folder goes to lucky #21, which is Carol Hartery! Congratulations, Carol! I've emailed you to get your mailing information ;).

I had so much fun playing with this grad embossing folder! I wanted to share one more creation I made with it:

For this card, I created a chevron pattern with Black Curly Loops washi tape and Yellow/White Dots washi tape (in the school colors of the recipient!) on a cardstock panel before embossing the taped panel with the Graduation Hat embossing folder. Then I stamped and fussy cut a Diploma to use as my focal point! A fun design with lots of impact, I thought.

Thanks so much for dropping by for a little slice of bliss with me today!
Emily

Embossed Elements: GRADUATION + a Giveaway!

Greetings, friends! I'm here today with the April edition of my monthly Embossed Elements feature for the DeNami Design blog. Today I'm gearing up for graduation season with two different cards using fun embossing folders from the DeNami store.

My first project features the oh-so-festive Graduation Hat Embossing Folder.  I used it (along with Congratulations Circle and the diploma and mortarboard stamps from the cling Graduation Set) to make a congratulatory card for the new graduate.

I chose the colors of my daughter's high school (including some fabulous DeNami Leaf Green cardstock for the embossed panel and the paper-pieced mortarboard) for this creation and went with a design that really shows off that awesome embossed sea of graduation caps. Doesn't it look like a crowd of grads has just tossed their mortarboards into the air at the end of the commencement ceremony? That image always makes me smile :). Not only is this embossing folder super for graduation cards, but it would also be perfect for making graduation invitations or graduation thank you notes.

I don't find myself needing graduation cards all that often (although as my kids progress further through school, I imagine that will begin to change!), so I was reluctant at first to invest in purely graduation-themed products. Just in case you find yourself in a similar situation, I wanted to show you another option for a fun graduation card using non-graduation-specific products. This project features the Bunting Embossing Folder.

After embossing my white card base with the Bunting EF, I embossed several scraps of patterned paper (once again choosing a color scheme inspired by my daughter's high school) and then paper-pieced each of the pennants. I love how it turned out! I completed my clean and simple design with a loopy bow tied in baker's twine from the Spring Twine 3-pack and a stamped Small Congratulations sentiment.

I love the festive look that the embossed pennant banner gives this congratulations card. It's so easy to personalize the bunting with the recipient's school colors. But I can also think of all kinds of other occasions--not just graduations!--that this embossing folder would be perfect for: birthday, baby, weddings, anniversaries, Independence Day, New Year's, . . . the list could go on and on!!

Thanks for taking a peek at my embossed graduation projects today. I hope I was able to inspire you!

How would you like the chance to win this Graduation Hat 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 "MORTARBOARD." 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, April 30, 2014, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, May 1, 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

Growing In Unity~Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of my week as Growing In Unity gal!

Today I'm sharing a little clean and simple number. It measures 6" x 3 1/2", so it fits perfectly in a #6-3/4 size envelope. I love how this card turned out!
 

The sentiment comes from Unity's Quote Bundle Pack.  Perfect for an encouragement card, or even a graduation card! I stamped the quote over top of some paint strokes digital elements from the Gouache Painte Strokes kit by Nancie Rowe Janitz (available from JessicaSprague.com). I simply recolored the paint strokes in image editing software and printed it out on cardstock. I'd originally intended this to be a one layer card, but in the end I decided to cut out around the paint strokes and mounting this free-form panel with foam tape. I love the extra dimension that gives the card!

So, part of the deal with being GIU gal is that I get to randomly select someone to receive some free stamps from Unity Stamp Co.!  To be in the running for two free Unity Itty Bitty kits, be sure to leave a comment on this post, 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!

And then come back the rest of the week for more Unity inspiration and more chances to win in the random drawing! And if you missed my post on Monday, be sure to go back on comment there, too. 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. :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Wishing you a day filled with bliss,
Emily

DeNami Design Product Spotlight May Blog Hop

Good morning! Thanks for stopping by today! The DeNami Design team is featuring an awesome cling-style rubber stamp set in our Product Spotlight today, the oh-so-useful Graduation Set. And we're showing it off BLOG HOP STYLE!

I paired up some of the sweet images in this set with the very versatile Congratulations Circle stamp to  make a medallion for this graduation gift card holder:

I simply stamped some chevrons from the Modern Borders cling stamp set in Opaque Cotton White StazOn ink on a glassine bag (by the way, did you see that DeNami's glassine bags are on clearance???), making a sweet pocket for a gift card.

On the inside, I rounded the corners of a panel of black cardstock (enabler alert: all cardstock is on clearance in the DeNami shop!), attached some white grosgrain ribbon as a pull tab (another enabler alert: all ribbon is on clearance in the DeNami shop!), and adhered a gift card to the panel's face with some fun DeNami Black/White Dots washi tape. An easy gift idea!

You can purchase this fabulous Graduation cling stamp set for 10% off the regular price for the next week. You also have the chance to WIN this fabulous product in today's spotlight blog hop! 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! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.

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

What's Shakin' for FWF

Hello and Happy Friday!

I am super excited today to be posting a pair of projects for Unity's Friends With Flair blog hop. (Check the Unity Stamp Co. website HERE for a full list of this week's participants.)  I loooooooooove me some Unity and always enjoy linking up with FWF. But not only has life been a whirlwind recently, I've started working on a new freelance project, so my stamping time has been at a premium, to say the least. Almost all of what little time I've had has been devoted to design team assignments. That may explain why my last FWF post was March 30, nearly--eek!--two months ago!!

I'm here to remedy that today, though. But I'll forewarn you: I'm a bit rusty, so don't expect anything earth-shattering! I'll start with a clean and simple and definitely mailable card I sent recently to a dear friend, just to say hi:

Featuring the Unity Itty Bitty stamp, What's Shakin'

And another CAS creation, just in time for graduation season:

This quote is all about following your heart. What better image to use than this heart-bedecked tree from Unity's Lovely Bits & Baubles kit?

For this card, I decided to go in a direction completely different from the standard mortarboards and diplomas. I typeset this inspiring quote from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (part of the address he delivered to grads at Stanford University's commencement exercises in 2005) with enough room to stamp a tree that ties in perfectly with the quote. The number tiles turn this into a keepsake!

Time to get to work for the day! But I'm looking forward to the long weekend {grin}. We'll be hanging out here at home. It's time to tackle some major repairs on our little pop-up camper! Memorial Day weekend means that summer is just around the corner, and we can't wait to get on the road again. :D

If you are in the U.S., be sure to tell me what your plans are for the holiday weekend! Be safe!

Thanks for dropping by,

Emily

Graduation Congratulations

Hey, everybody! It's so hard to believe that we are already {over} a week into MAY, right? And that means that the Congratulation Season is upon us--you know, the time of year for graduations, weddings, and anniversaries. It's the perfect time for focusing on ideas for congratulations cards, and this week's DeNami Product Spotlight is just that: we are spotlighting the beautifully scripted Small Congratulations sentiment, which I've featured on a fun graduation card.

I've also used the mortarboard and tassel from the DeNami cling-style Graduation Set. I used a black gel pen to add a dotted line to show the path taken by a mortarboard thrown into the air by a celebrating new grad! Some clouds digital patterned paper made the perfect backdrop for my happy scene.

Curious as to how the rest of the DT used this lovely sentiment stamp? Be sure to swing by the DeNami blog to see their fabulous creations! And don't forget that you can get this stamp on sale in the DeNami store for the next week.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!

Emily