let's get glitter-cal, glitter-cal!

ha ha ha!!
this song has been stuck in my head since i started this blog post! ha! 

today, i'm ver at the sweet stamp shop blog! and my focus of there is all about...you guessed it! GLITTER! 

i'm looking at just 3 (out of a million!!) different ways to add glitter to your projects!! the sentiment is from the newly released elegant sentiments stamp set!

loose glitter:

LOVE this card!! i stamped the disco ball from happy hour onto some vellum and glittered it up too! the gold sequins just add to the 'boogie fever' that is this card! 

heat glitter embossing powder:

that bow!! it took a long time of messing with it, but i finally got a good bow! lol!!

and the wink of stella pen:

i also stamped those champagne glasses on vellum (also from the happy hour stamp set) and 'clinked' them together! 

what's your favorite way to add glitter? all three techniques have their good and bad qualities, but i think they all have their place in our world! ha!
check out the sweet stamp shop for more inspiration!! 
enjoy!

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas is almost over! it comes so fast, and leaves the same way!
i hope all of you were able to enjoy some quality family time, happy memories and good food too, perhaps!! :)

my parents are up visiting from florida and we're having an awesome time! to add to our own personal little griswald christmas, my husband's parents and brother are flying in from california and michigan (respectivly) tonight!! bring on the madness! lol!!

anyway, my parents needed two cards for the visiting 'menn' so i made these two little cards is record time!! and they're still sort of cute! i guess i don't need to agonize over every choice of every color, stamp, embellishment, etc! :) ha ha!!

here's the first card i made, which i'm also entering in the simon says stamp challenge: bling it on! :)

this is almost a one layer card - what? it's not though, so whew! i thought i was really overloading on the christmas cheer for a minute!!

the stamps i used are from the mama elephant stamp set: winter wonderland! SUCH a pretty set!

it was all stamped in some wet cement hero arts ink and then i added a free cut snow bank from my glitter tape. then i used the same glitter tape and my circle punch to add the 'glistening' snow!! :) the grey snow was also colored with my wink of stella pen! lots of glitter and lots of bling, right?

the next card was created just for fun for my brother in law, who, admittedly is, a cool dude!

i just paper pieced the snow man from paper smooches freezy fellas and popped him up over some layered washi tape! easy! and super fun!

i hope you're all having a VERY merry Christmas!! 
i can't wait to hear if you got any crafty goodies in your stocking! ha ha!
enjoy!

a layout sneak peak

it's saturday!!

before christmas!!

what's not to love?! 

and if you are feeling like checking out a fun layout by me, head over to the lawnscaping blog!! 

here's a sneak peak of what you'll see:

oh, and you still have time to play along with the latest challenge there! it's a brrrrrrr-illiant color challenge!! let me know you made something for the challenge below! i would love to check out your blog and leave some love! :)

enjoy!

newton's nook news!

hey there!
i have  a little bit of good news to share! :)

newton's nook is announcing their new 2014 design team, and i will be staying on!!
yahoo!!! i'm so excited!! 

check out the rest of the new team:

it's going to be a fun year people!! 
the talent - oh the talent!! :)

and in honor of that joyful news - i have created a card with the amazing newton's holiday mischief stamp set!! 
LOOOOOVE that stamp set!! :)

super fun right?
the J and Y are some old thickers that i had. i actually colored them with a darker green copic to add a (very) subtle ombre to match the coloring on the wreath!

i finished of the sentiment courtesy of the holiday wishes stamp set!

thanks so much for sharing this good news with me!! jennifer at newton's nook is amazing to work with and such a wonderful person!! i'm very honored to share this journey with her! :)

enjoy!

baby it's cold outside

hey there!
i'm on the newton's nook blog today with a super sweet card featuring stamps from the frozen friends stamp set! LOVE that set!

i used an awesome birch tree stencil and a light dusting of embossing paste over some natural colored cardstock for the backgrund. sooooo pretty! 

the sentiment was stamped onto a polka dotted vellum banner, which i was stitched onto the card. and those little love bird, snowmen? so sweet, right? they were colored with some copics and then popped up for dimension. 

i also swiped the sides of the white base of the card with some sandy colored inky to add to the blustery day feel of the card. :)

is it cold by you? it's still NOT here! lol! south carolina has it's perks, but weather, is not one of them! lol! i could really go for some cold breezes and hoodie weather! :)

have you created anything with newton's nook stamps? let me know in the comments below! i would love to visit your blog! 
enjoy!

lawnscaping challenge - an arctic chill!

it's time for a new lawnscaping challenge!  and people - it's their last challenge of the year!!! how is it the end of 2013 already?! wow!
the challenge this time is a color inspiration!! check out the brilliant colors below!

they scream, winter, don't they!! LOVE it!! this color combination is beauatiful! seriously!
so here' s my card:

i colored in the little owl (LOOOOOVE this image!! it's from winter owl stamp set!) with some copics and then popped him up over some beautiful large snowflakes! the snowflakes are from the frosties stamp set - and were colored with copics as well!

the sentiment is snuggled into the thinking bubble from the a birdie told me stamp set. 
oh, and i almost forgot to mention - the background of the card is some embossing paste meets houndstooth stencil! FUN!! it totally makes the scene look like a blustery day to me! :)

for even more inspiration (if you can stand it!), check out the lawnscaping facebook page! we're dedicated to keeping your creative juices flowing! :)

this week we're sponsored by lawn fawn! so get your card making on, and you could win a stamp set of your choice! :)

Lawnscaping Winter Blog Hop!

**for the congratulations Elise blog hop, click here! Or scroll down!**

what a fun day!! are you enjoying this wonderful, magical, winter wonderland of a lawnscaping blog hop?! i know, the talent is crazy good, and just looking at all the cards make me want to curl up with a nice cup of cocoa and blanket! 

you should have arrived here from anya's blog - AMAZING! she's such a brilliant color-er, i love her cards! 

as a quick reminder - don't forget there are lots of prizes involved, but you have to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway! you have all weekend to enjoy this wintery goodness, but only until sunday 12/15 at 11:59pm EST to leave a comment for the prizes!! what are the wonderful goodies up for grab? well, you'll have to check out the lawnscaping blog for jusicy details! 

so my card, i'll make it short and sweet so you can be on your merry way! :)

i don't think i was alone when i say i saw this halloween card by chari and thought it was AMAZING!!! i had an idea to dress up the same little doxie in a christmas sweater, how cute right?! so after i made this card, i showed it to chari and asked if i could post it (i didn't want to copy or anything! she was truely inspiring and she should know!) and she said yes! :) yahoo!!

so here is my mischevious little doxie stealing a cookie! shhh!!

so cute, right? ha ha!! everything was paper pieced! the cookies and little pup are also popped up for dimension. oh, and the card base was spritzed (heavily) with some studio calico shine! oooo, aaaah!

do you notice those little reindeer antlers on him?! lol! those are actually snowman arms from making frosty friends! lol!! love it! and of course a little red enamel dot for the nose! 

in addition to making frosty friends, the stamp sets i used were critters at the dog park, cozy christmas, say cheese and bows and holly (for the word 'happy' in the sentiment).

so that's it! 

you're next stop is ashley! and dude, i can't wait for you to see what she made! LOVE her work! :)

and don't forget, if you get lost along the way, you can always go the lawnscaping blog to get back on track! 

enjoy!

congratulations elise!!

it's a blog hop for elise!! one of the sweetest members of the lawnscaping challenge design team!
she just had a baby girl, and her lawnscaping family couldn't be happier for her!! :)

if you're following along on the hop, you should have come here from kari's blog! and if not, check out the lawnscaping blog for the complete list! :)

here's my card for the super sweet and talented and wonderful new mom!!

all of the images were colored with distress markers on watercolor paper! i die cut out the word 'baby' with the quinn's abc's dies and matching stamp set. then laid that in a sweet, little nest of branches from the home sweet home stamp set! the birds are from that same set and popped up for demension! and the banner was made with bannerific and harold's abc's! :)

i think this card is so sweet and i really just think of elise and her sweet, sweet style and personality when i see this card! :)
now, off you go!
next up is samantha casey!!! can't wait to see her sweet scene for elise!!

and elise - a million congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby girl!!! enjoy the ups downs, goods and bads - they'll only happen once with your new little sweetheart!! :)

enjoy!

a couple of sweet cards

hey there!
today i'm over on the sweet stamp shop blog!! i'm all over there talking about different ways to color images! what's your favorite way?

this time, i colored the same image (that cutie-pa-tootie washing mashine! from the newly release press it wash it stamp set!) with three different mediums! here's the result:

FUN, right?!

and here's my card that's over on the sweet stamp shop blog too!!

super fun!! i used a copic colored image and some looooooovely, dark, woodgrain paper! i stitched it on, and then added some wood veneers - that i of course had to add a little shine too!!
(thank you wink of stella glitter pen! ha!)

but guess what?! there's more! here's a BONUS card i made that totally compliments the first card! they could be set!
this time i used the distress marker colored image and some ligther woodgrain paper!

loooove this! i stitched on the woodgrain panel again, and popped up the washer! 
then, i colored the wood veneers with some distress ink (vintage photo) and then *cough* added more wink of stella glitter to these as well *cough*.

so that's it! 
now go on your merry way today, and read about some FUN coloring techniques on the sweetest blog around!! 
enjoy!

you are awesome!

i made this super fun card last night! well, at least i think it's super fun! it's not exactly my usual style, but i'm still digging it! :)
i was completly excited to play along with the most recent challenge at the runway inspired challenge blog! LOVE that inspiration photo! 

the colors are so fun! and i love all of that white space! :)

so here's my card! (i tried to go with a minimalist, bokeh feel...what do you think?)

i feel i almost got it! lol!
first i colored some vellum with two different shades of reds, teals and yellow copic markeres. then i stamped the super adorable heart image from the new you + me stamp set from neat and tangled! (the sentiment is from that set also. LOOOOOOOVE the sentiments on this stamp set, by the way! i love the font, and the builiding your own sentiment capabilities and everything!! this is an awesome stamp set!) 

each heart was cut out and layered on top of a white embossing paste background of falling stars. then the sentiment was also stamped on a strip of vellum! and then the whole white panel was wonk-i-fied! read: turned topsy-turvy! :) and also popped up for dimension. :)

so that's it! simple, but fun, right? and maybe a little bokeh...? i though the overlapping vellum hearts might lend to that. i tried! :)
enjoy!

another lawn fawn winter 2014 CHA contest card

well, this will be a quick post, because unfortunately, i have a bad case of strep throat, and i'm really feeling gross.
but i had this card idea for a week or so, and between fevers and dr appointments, i was able to color, fussy cut and finally put together the card. :)
it's for the current winter 2014 lawn fawn CHA catalog contest! i already made one card for it, but i just LOVE this one, and i wanted to share it before time ran out. so strep has to wait! :)

here's my card:

i used critters down under and bannerific for this card! :) 
first i used some embossing paste and a stencil to create the very fun background. loooooooove embossing paste - no surprise there! :) i just love the white on white on white! 

all of the images were colored with copics, and popped up (except the 'nest' of leaves for the egg).
i think this card is so sweet! and totally not your usual baby card! lol! :)

hope it made you smile (who can't smile about a platupus?!). 
enjoy!

Newton's Nook Designs Deck the Halls with Inky Paws Blog Hop!

i hope you have your mittens on, your holiday music loud and some nice, warm hot cocoa (white chocolate for me!) on your desk - we're having a great holiday blog hop with newton's nook designs!!

you should have arrived here from jocelyn's blog (eek!! i can't believe i have to follow her! lol! she's absolutely so talented and amazing - i swoon!). if not, head on back to the newton's nook blog and get your barrings straight! there are prizes involved people! :)

ok, so my card is pretty simple, but lots of fun! i used the holiday wishes stamp set and made this super fun and festive card!

the sentiment was heat embossed so it could really POP on that warm wood grain. then the jingle bells...ahhh, the jingle bells...let's just say, they were touch a go for a while! i die cut them and then heat embossed them in silver! sooooo love that! they're hanging by some twine! fun, right?

then i added a strip of some peppermint-y washi tape to the bottom of the card for an extra holiday touch! :)

Would you like to win a $10 coupon for Newton's Nook Designs online shop?We will be choosing Two lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

Comment on the Design Team Member and Guest blogs (see list below)! One winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the blog hop. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Sunday, December 8th at 9 pm CST to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Monday, December 9th.

Make sure you check out all the blogs on the hop to enter!

Newton's Nook Designs Blog

Jennifer Ingle

Tessa Wise

Jocelyn Olson

Samantha Mann

Shelly Mercado

Rachel W K

Jessica Esch

Chan Vuong

Ashley Marcu

Danielle Lounds

Alice Wertz

Danielle Pandeline

Kim Singdahlsen

next up is the uber-talented shelly!! (to say i was sandwiched between two amazingly talented ladies is an understatement! i hope my card can live up to their projects! lol!

enjoy!

sweet stamp shop's december release - and some exciting news!

so first of all, some news: i am on the sweet stamp shop winter design team! eek!! how FUN is that?! and i'm so thankful and excited and PUMPED to show off this new realease!! it's AMAZING! first of all, guess who's back with some of the cutest sets ever?! that's right, alyssa from alyssa lea designs has designed more stamp sets and they're AWESOME!
check out the official announcement of everything here!

there are 5 new stamp sets being released and also, some flair! who doesn't love flair?! lol!

i'm showing off 4 of the new sets and here they are:
full disclosure - LOTS of pictures in this post - LOTS of cards, and hopefully - LOTS of inspiration!

first up is cookie sprinkles! LOOOVE this super fun set!!

i have three cards with this set (and 1 is a shaker card!!):

fun fact - if you have 3/4 inch circle punch you can punch out those circle cookies seamlessly!! IT'S AWESOME!
i stamped the happy face from a different new release set onto some acetate for the shaker portion. the rest of the cookies have the 'sprinkles' stamped onto them in glitter! ooooo!  so happy!!

next up is super fun too - a plate full of cookies, and only crumbs left! lol! 

the cookies are all popped up on different layers of dimension and the plate was made with two circle dies! easy peasy!! looove this fun table scene!

lastly is my favorite card from that set:

the heart was watercolored with distress markers. the letters are from my allllllll time favorite sweet stamp set - alpha tabs, which were stiched on! the white panel was then popped up over some washi tape and a strip of the sentiment was added too. 
i added a wink of stella to the wood veneer arrow and some pearls and it's complete! so sweet, don't you think?

the next wonderful stamp set up is elegant sentiments, and it's PERFECT to pair with sweet stamp sets you already have!!

first up, i madea super cheerful distress inked background! 

the sentiment was heat embossed first and it just pops so much against that awesome...i don't know, paradise sunset, perhaps? i also added some pearls to up the pretty factor! :)

then i tried to do something totally out of the box with this set, and i made a masculine card - whaaaaat?? yes i did!

i stamped lots of the little sentiments onto some vellum tags that i die cut and stapled onto the base. then i added some wood veneers and it was done! so easy, and masculine too! elegant can be masculine!! :)

another stamp set in this release that i just LOVE is baking love - it's so CUTE!!!

i paired this set with the cookie from the set above because i couldn't resist!! 

all of the images were colored with copics and the little frosting guy was popped up for dimension. isn't this just the cutest christmas card!! and i WANT that lime green mixer! lol!! 

i had a lot of fun with the 2nd card i made - i splattered a lot of white mr heuy's all over (to look like flour!!) and then added my images to the card, clean and simple, like! the speech bubble is actually chalkboard, and i LOVE how it looks imperfect - it fits with the sentiment and the background of the card! win-win!

are you still with me, because i saved the best for last...the last set i have to share is called press it wash it, and it's SO COOL!!!

i made 3 cards with this one too! i couldn't stop!!

my first card is really fun - it's the washer with the cutest little face on the door, but what's that? it OPENS!! and inside is an extra special message! so cute, right?

my next card is my favorite!! eek!! 

ok, so i copic colored everything, blah ablah. then i sprinkled some white embossing powder randomly onto the card and heat set it. IT LOOKS LIKE DIRT! it was so fun to do! love this card, it's so sweet!!

lastly, is this card i LOOOOOVE!! and it totally makes me giggle!! 

doesn't that dust bunny look so cheeky hiding from the hardworking vacuum?! ha ha!!! random puffs of dust and the vacuum are popped up for dimension, and the flap was my favorite part! lol! :)


wow - DEFINTELY the longest post i've ever done!! sorry guys! but for sticking through it, you get a super sweet discount on these brand new sets!!! how does 20% off of these new stamps sound?! 
just use code DNR20 and you're good to go!!! 

so shop away! and check out the sweet stamp blog for the rest of the new winter design team annoucement!! :)
enjoy!