Snowflake Thank You Note Gift Set

Good Monday morning to you! We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning--our first tracking snow! Only about an inch or so, really, but everything is white and pretty. The snow is to turn to sleet and rain later in the day, so I know this won't last, but still--it makes me happy to see it!

I'm going to celebrate by sharing a little snow-themed gift this morning! I made this snowflake thank you note gift set for the Purple Onion Designs Holiday Design Team. It's a set of six one-layer thank you notes with three each of two different designs. I used both gorgeous snowflakes heat-embossed in white, from the Vintage Snowflakes Set, both embellishments from the Vintage Journaling Set, and a beautifully scripted Thank You sentiment, all from Purple Onion Designs.

I slipped the set of notes along with six envelopes into a clear note card box and set about prettying up my packaging. I used the smallest label from the Plain Jane Labels set to make a gift tag just the perfect size for the "let it snow" sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday set. I decorated my tag with a little blue rub-on snowflake embellished with a tiny pearl. Finally I stamped the Merry Christmas tape from the Holiday Border Tape Set on a cardstock band to wrap around the base of the box.

And there you have it:  a snowy little card set all ready for holiday giving!!

I hope you have a fabulous day in your neck of the woods today! Thanks for stopping by,
Emily

Good News!

Greetings, friends! I'm popping in here quickly to share a bit of good news: I just got word that I've been selected to be a member of this year's holiday design team for Purple Onion Designs! Over the next two months I'll be sharing holiday projects featuring Purple Onion Designs' fabulous rubber stamps. I have some fun decorations, gifts, and packaging all planned out and I can't wait to share them with all of you. I'm so excited to be part of it all!

Not familiar with Purple Onion Designs? I first discovered POD's unmounted rubber stamps a few years ago and have loved working with them. In fact, I've been published several times with POD stamps. Here are two projects featuring POD stamps that I had published in Northridge Publishing's Simply Handmade: Holidays 2012 issue last year:

Stamps:  USA map, star circle, and airplane from Road Trippin’ set by Purple Onion Designs

Stamps:  Vintage Journal Label by Purple Onion Designs

Purple Onion has tons of fabulous alphabet stamp sets, trendy subway-style noteblock stamps, cool vintage elements, and ultra-handy scrapbooking-themed stamps. Lots of variety! Sound intriguing? Be sure to head over to the POD website to take a look.

Right now Purple Onion Designs is promoting the release of a new line of holiday stamps from the very talented illustrator Stacey Yacula. Between them, Purple Onion Designs and Stacey Yacula are giving away two sets of her Winter Wishes collection and you can be a part of it! Check out the details on the Purple Onion Designs blog and Stacey's blog. The giveaway ends tomorrow (that's October 31, 2013) at midnight EDT. Be sure to swing by for your chances to win, and if you do, let them know that I sent you {wink}.

It's time for me to get back to work, so that's it for now. I hope you have a fabulous Wednesday!!

Thanks for stopping by and take care!
Emily

Greatest Dad on Earth – Unity FWF

TGIF! Just a quick post to share a little something I made for today's Friends With Flair hop for Unity Stamp Co. This card is already winging its way to my dad for Father's Day.

I took a clean and simple approach to this card featuring a fun stamp or two from Unity's Retro Road Trip stamp kit and lots of washi tape.

My 10-year-old son has been making lots of cards this week. Be looking for him (Legoboy) to link up to today's FWF list later on. He started a card using loads of Unity stamps before school this morning but didn't finish it in time. He will wrap it up after school and link up then.

I hope you have awesome plans for the upcoming weekend! My husband and son are attending an all-day Cub Scout camp on Saturday, and we have plans for some special Father's Day celebrating on Sunday. There may be some special desserts involved. Just sayin'. ;-)

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

Best Mom(s) in the World

[Edited to add: I originally posted these cards on Friday, May 10, right before Mother's Day when they were nice and timely--but there was no Friends With Flair that day!! So, I'm linking them up to this week's Unity linky party a week later instead, knowing full well that Mother's Day has already passed. I still wanted to share them because I just looooooooooove these Unity stamps, so I'm very, very sorry about that "stale" subject matter! Please forgive me!]

I made a couple of Mother's Day cards to mail to a few faraway friends this week, nothing too fancy--just quick, easy, and colorful.

Inside I wrote "Happy Mother's Day to one of my favorite moms!"

Some Road Washi Tape was the perfect accent for these cards!

I just LOVE the signs and fun motifs in Unity Stamp Co.'s Retro Road Trip stamp set! Doesn't that Best Mom sign remind you of a vintage Holiday Inn sign?

Or maybe the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign?

I know, maybe a bit tacky and not for everyone. But one of my card recipients shares my passion for all things road-trippy (and the other at least gets it!!), so I think these will do the trick. :)

It's been sooooooooooooooo very long since I've been able to play with some of my beloved Unity stamps. I'm so happy to be linking up with today's Unity Friends With Flair hop! (Hi, everybody!!)

I hope that you have a fabulous weekend celebrating all of the special moms in your life.
Cheers!
Emily

Turn Your Face to the Sun

Yesterday was such a hectic day for me. I spent most of the day running errands (that I thought I could wrap up before lunch--HA!), and then our evening was rushed so we could attend our daughter's middle school holiday concert (thoroughly enjoyable--she really shone!). But all of yesterday's busy-ness left me in need of some quiet time for myself today. Here's what I did with my bit of "me" time:

I made this card for Flourishes' Let's Hop Progressive Challenge, which requires 8 components:

1. NOT an A2 size (my card is 5" x 7")
2. Use some type of floral (mine is this beautiful hollyhocks image from the Flourishes Hollyhocks stamp set)
3. Add ribbon or lace (mine is from May Arts)
4. Be inspired by this beautiful photo (I drew my colors from it)
   
5. Add a tag (used it for my sentiment, which comes from the Flourishes Sunflowers stamp set)
6. Add a rounded corner (check!)
7. Add ink distressing or sponging (which I did around my sentiment tag, main focal panel, and card base edges)
8. Use a die cut or punch somewhere (I used medium and large tag punches)

This is was such a fun challenge, and putting my card together was so relaxing. Just what I needed today! Now it's time for me to head out to do my weekly grocery shopping, so that's all for now.

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

Non-Traditional Holiday Colors

Just a quick post to share a card I made for the new Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, to make a holiday card with non-traditional festive colors.

I used icy blue, pink, and brown. The stamps are from two retired Flourishes stamp sets, All that Glitters and O Christmas Tree.

I'd love to stay and chat a bit, but I developed a splitting headache a few minutes ago and all I can think of now is going to lie down. I'm so sorry!

Thanks for dropping in,
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 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

Clean and Simple Birthday Wishes

I'm pushing my luck and posting at the last minute to (hopefully) squeak in under the wire again this week for Chick Challenges {with Ippity}. Here's my creation for this week's sketch:



I used two {ippity} sets: Just Wanted to Say and Dots for Sure. That rick-rack I used is my "fantastic find" for the Kraft Outlet Fantastic Finds Challenge. It's truly vintage! I discovered it in my gramma's sewing basket, and it was still in the original cellophane wrapper--complete with its 32-cent price sticker for three yards. Wow!!


It's been a busy day (more on that in a minute), so I kept my design clean and simple--and that means I can play along with the {ippity} Clean and Simple challenge. I was also inspired by this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:

I picked up on the red polka-dotted print, the green rick-rack, the aqua bird, and the natural linen color.

Now, my busy but extremely pleasant day: I took the kids and my daughter's friend to nearby Rockport, MA, a quaint little fishing village on Cape Ann. We wandered the town catching glimpses of the ocean and harbor between weathered cottages, fishing shacks, and artsy shops and restaurants. It's the off-season, so not many of the shops were open, but we hit our favorites--a historic candy store and a pewter shop--and did lots of window shopping. So much to see! The weather was mild, and the normally ubiquitous and quarter-hungry parking meters must be hibernating for the winter. We had lunch at The Red Skiff, a local diner. I ordered the haddock sandwich and was blown away by the huge slab of fresh-off-the-boat deep-fried haddock which, along with a hunk of fresh lettuce and two thick slices of tomato, practically dwarfed the bun it came on. Seriously, that must have been an eight-ounce haddock filet!! Absolutely delicious. Somehow we found room for a few treats we picked up at the candy store for our dessert. But I must admit that none of us had room for anything more than a bit of fruit for supper!

Well, time to wrap this up. I'm exhausted! Thanks for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss today,
Emily

Chiclectic Birthday for FWF

I'm running a little late to the Unity Friends With Flair party today. I had a morning full of errands and then had lunch with a dear friend who's back in town for the weekend. In between I squeezed in this card:

I have a ton of birthdays to recognize in March and my birthday card supply is running low, so this will be a welcome addition to my stash! I used two Unity stamps: Bitty Happy Birthday and the Iron Orchid Designs co-brand Tattered Roses.

My colors and design were inspired by this week's Chiclectic Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger photo:

There's a lot going on here, right? But I just LOVE hot pink and orange together and wanted to give this a try. I incorporated the photo's main colors in my design, minus the gilded tones--that was just too much. I also picked up the vintageness of the toile design in the pillow shams and on the wall paper with my tattered roses focal point, as well as the black and white diamonds of the bedspread with my background paper (a free digi paper that I downloaded from the now-defunct Angel Company several years ago).

I based my layout on the sketch for this week's Ribbon Carousel Challenge:

My kids have next week off from school for February Vacation, and my husband has Monday off for Presidents' Day. We don't have any big plans except to relax and have fun! My kids and I are starting to plan some adventures for next week. I've had a request that we visit nearby Rockport and that we hit the used book store. And I know that they both want to work on their scrapbooks (which reminds me, I've got to get some photos ordered for them to work with!) We're all looking forward to the break. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

My Flourishes Release Week Creations

It's time for a new stamp release at Flourishes! I love playing along with all of the Release Week Challenges. Here we go . . .

Up first is my card for the B&W+1 challenge, FLLCFEB12, to use black and white with a pop of just one color. Here's my take:

I used two Flourishes stamps sets to create this card: Medallion Motif and Feminine Charm. I'm also playing along with Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge #114.


Next I'm sharing my entry for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #155, which is to use bird images/elements for your creation. I don't have any Flourishes bird stamps, so I made my own bird for this card:

I used two Flourishes stamp sets for this card: Damask Background and Strawberries. I'm also entering this in the Love is in the Air Challenge at Simon Says Stamp, in the Anything Goes Challenge at the Ribbon Carousel Challenge, and the "La-La-Luv You" challenge at the Kraft Journal.

This week's first noon-time challenge, FEB12PIN, was to be inspired by this lovely photo:

And here is my clean and simple interpretation:

Believe it or not, I used three Flourishes sets to make this relatively simple card: Country Charm Labels, Country Charm Borders, and Life Lines.

Finally, here's my creation for the second noon-time challenge of the week, Framed (FLLCFEBRW2). This challenge was to use a frame of some sort on your creation. I made mine from washi tape printed with a fancy gold picture frame pattern!

I used two Flourishes sets: A Year in Flowers 2 and Tag Lines. I heat embossed the roses image on watercolor paper and painted it with dye inks. This card will go to one of my aunts in a few weeks. Her favorite flowers are yellow roses!!

Thanks for taking a look at my Flourishes creations!
Emily

13th Birthday Card for FWF

Happy Friday and Friends with Flair day! Check out the Unity blog for all of today's blog hop participants. (Don't forget: there's a prize up for grabs for commenting!)

Today I'm sharing the birthday card I made for my daughter's 13th birthday. I can't believe how my baby is growing up! A teenager in our house? WOW!!

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

I used a bunch of digital elements from the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 and Odds and Ends collections to put together the tag and two beautiful doily images from Unity's Generations kit stamped in white on kraft to build the card background.

I pulled my colors from the current colourQ #118 challenge.

I'm also entering Ribbon Carousel Challenge #34 (Anything Goes), and the Simon Says Stamp "New Something" challenge (my "new" is using something new: my Unity Generations stamp set!), The Kraft Outlet's Anything Goes Challenge (using kraft cardstock), and the Unity Gift Wrapping challenge (which includes gift tags; the cool thing about this card is that the tag easily detaches so my daughter can use this tag as a gift tag for one of her friends or incorporate it into a scrapbook page--perhaps a layout for her 13th birthday!).

Thanks for checking out my little slice of happy for today!
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

Thanks Sew Much

Have I mentioned before that I like love to sew? It's absolutely true: I do, I do. I've been hand sewing since I was a child and machine sewing since seventh grade when I took my first home ec. class. I ran a successful home-based business making and selling handmade fabric bags (handbags, purses, tote bags, drawstring backpacks, eyeglasses cases, wristlets, coin purses, and such) for six years before I realized that I had hit the wall. Yup, I overdosed on my first crafting love. By then the economy had hit the skids, so that decline, coupled with my burnout, made my decision to fold up shop a relatively easy one. I don't sew nearly as often these days (aside from the sewing that I love to do on my papercrafting projects), but rather than viewing it as a breakup with my first love, I prefer to consider the current state of affairs as just "being on a break."

I know I'll delve head-first into my love affair with fabric and thread again sometime, but in the meantime I am so enjoying the wonderful sewing notions papercrafting trend we are seeing right now. I love spotting retro-chic sewing machines, pins and needles, dress forms, pincushions, spools of thread, thimbles, sewing scissors, patterns, tape measures, button cards, zippers, and more just about everywhere! And plus, you just can't beat the puns in the world of the seamstress--sew funny, right?

So (or perhaps I should say "Sew"), it was with great interest that I read about the I'm Sew Excited! Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. I knew I could have a lot of fun with this one!! But because of my great love of sewing, I also knew that this couldn't be just a casual fling of a card. It had to be something really amazing, if only I could pull it off. So I put a lot of thought into my creation. And when I was done, I had something that I really, truly loved. Loved! Loved so much, in fact, that I was feeling a little overprotective--at first, I wasn't sure that I wanted to share it! Is that so weird?? My much-more-rational hubby talked me down, though, convincing me that I have nothing to lose by linking this up. So, here goes:

There! I did it!

Did you catch the vintage straight pins? The hand stitching and machine stitching? How about that retro sewing machine and the vintage buttons? Yup, I've fallen in love with sewing all over again. This one makes my heart so happy.

Thanks for dropping in today. May your day be filled with bliss!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Thankful Mums and Pumpkins (Thanks sentiment) by Mark’s Finest Papers; Taglines (Much sentiment) by Flourishes; Total Cuteness (frame) by Unity Stamp Co.
Paper: Kraft CS from Papertrey Ink, Natural CS from Neenah, Gertie Papers from Stella and Rose Collection by My Mind’s Eye
Ink: Old Olive dye ink by Stampin’ Up!
Accessories: vintage straight pins, vintage buttons, SU Sweet Stitches rub on, flower stickers by Sandylion Essentials, foam tape, sewing machine, thread, CK Monogram font (www.creatingkeepsakes.com)
Techniques: hand stitching, machine stitching

DeNami Fabulous Frames Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Design Fabulous Frames Blog Hop!

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Ruza Rebel's blog, Ruza's Craft Corner. 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.)

This month's blog hop is packed with ideas for making or using frames, all in conjunction with fabulous DeNami stamp images, of course ;) !! Hop along for some great inspiration and comment along the way for a chance at some free DeNami products! Here are the details:

When: The blog hop starts on June 12 at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until June 12, 2011, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by beautiful frame creations featuring DeNami Design stamps and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: DeNami is giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to their website! They'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random blog hop participant (DT members not eligible) and then they'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

Ready to get going? Then check out my 4.25" x 4.25" DeNami Fabulous Frame card:
Thanks to winning a DeNami challenge in May, I recently acquired the fabulous and, as Paulina tells me, very popular Decorative Crest Circle stamp. This frame stamp is SO versatile! Pair it with some pretty patterned paper, pop in just about any sentiment in the center, and you've got a quick and easy card for almost any occasion! Dress it up, dress it down. Make it fun, make it serious. Doesn't matter!! This frame stamp can handle it.

Are you drooling over my background paper? Yeah, I was too when I won this as part of a Webster's Pages 4" x 4" vellum sampler pack on the Simon Says Stamp Blog last month. So pretty and detailed, it's a shame to cover it up! Webster's Pages designs are an easy way to get a collage-y, vintage-y, layered feel without a lot of work or a lot of layers. The perfect lazy crafter's product!

Let's see . . . details? I kept it to a minimum (see paragraph above.) Of note: the ruffled ribbon rosette I made. So easy! I basically followed this tutorial. The ribbon I used wasn't stitched ribbon, so my first step was to add a running stitch along one edge with my sewing machine. My ribbon is narrower than the ribbon in the tutorial, so my flower is flatter. But I love it just the same!

OK, I'm scanning my checklist . . . and that looks like everything I wanted to cover!! Be sure to comment here for a chance at some free DeNami products before you hop off to our next Fabulous Frames Blog Hop participant:

Andrea Matthews

A member of the DeNami design team, she always has some creative DeNami goodness to share! Go give her some love. :)

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

Card Recipe:
Stamps: DeNami Decorative Crest Circle
Paper: cream CS, Webster's Pages Vellum Fun Pack, SU baja breeze CS, Neenah natural CS
Ink: SU baja breeze, Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: 2.25" and 2.5" circle punches, sewing machine, grosgrain ribbon, foam tape, mulberry paper roses
Techniques: machine stitching, handmade ribbon rosette