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

StampinB Halloween Challenge

Happy Thursday! It's time for a new challenge from the Stampin' B's Design Team. This week Faith is our hostess, and she is challenging us to make a Halloween card. I had so much fun with Mr. Smiles earlier in the week that I just had to press him into service again:

That SPOOK bingo card is another digital element from the Haunted Collection by Carina Gardner that I first used earlier this week. Mr. Smiles once again was colored with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. And that bejeweled spider web? An adhesive embellishment I picked up in a clearance rack at Target last year after Halloween. (Unfortunately, there was no way to try out how it would look against that bingo card without it sticking. I'm afraid that it blends into the background way too much. It would have looked better if I'd adhered the web to some vellum and cut out around that before adding it to my card. Ah, well. Hindsight really is 20/20.)

I'm playing along with these challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge : ANYTHING GOES
• Paper Sundaes Challenge: ANYTHING GOES

Thanks so much for dropping by today. If you'd like to try your hand at this week's Stampin' B's Challenge, post your project 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!! :)

See you soon!
Emily

PS The sweet Paulina of Pretty Pink Posh is offering an awesome giveaway: a Big Shot Machine and two sets of Spellbinder dies. If you are interested, you should definitely check it out HERE.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mr. Smiles by Jane's Doodles
Paper: The Haunted Collection digital papers and elements by Carina Gardner, white CS, purple and lime green CS from The Paper Company
Ink: Palette noir black
Accessories: Lilac baker's twine from The Twinery, colored pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stumps, foam tape, scissors, EK BOO border punch, lime green buttons from Doodlebug, Colorbok adhesive gem spider web
Techniques: digital papers, Gamsol Magic

A few cards for my hubby

Know what's making me happy today? It's just been a great, feel-good day today. I got to talk on the phone with my dear friend who moved away over the summer. Both of my kids had great days at school and couldn't wait to tell me all about it. When they got settled here at home, they took charge of their school paraphernalia and got right down to work on their homework all on their own--no handholding required! Supper was quick to fix, delicious, and appreciated by the entire family. The fact that I found time to make not one but three much-needed note cards to be used by my dear hubby was icing on the cake! I had such a light-hearted, fizzy feeling inside the whole while. :)

It is no secret that my dear husband is, in addition to being an EE and my main IT squeeze, a complete gearhead. He is, always has been, and always will be totally into cars. He subscribes to four different automotive magazines, has two different car projects in the works, never misses a Formula 1 race, and claims Top Gear (both UK and US series) as his favorite TV show. So what's a crafty gal to do when her gearhead guy needs a supply of note cards for writing thanks yous and such? Dig out the car stamps in my collection, that's what!! Unfortunately, I don't have that many, and the cars I do have aren't exactly his style (he's more into exotics than classics). But the classic convertible in {ippity}'s Authentic Man kit is, well, just classy! So I'm pretty sure my husband will still be happy to write his missives on what I created.

My idea for this card started with wanting to try my hand at Piali's stamp blocking challenge over on Do More With Less. I'm also playing in the All Things Unity challenge to make a one-layer card, as well as the {ippity} challenge to tie it up with twine, ribbon, or string on your project. Finally, I thought it would be fun to join in the challenge to "alter your spooled items" in the Ribbon Carousel Challenge. I choose hemp twine as my spooled item and altered it by tying it into a decorative knot called the Long Single Strand Plait. You can find a picture tutorial here.

I started by stamping ink-coated acrylic blocks on scraps of watercolor paper to get the hang of it, and I also experimented with lightly misting the inked blocks with water. Once I got the kinks worked out, I was ready to block stamp directly onto my one-layer watercolor paper card base! Turned out great! But I also liked how all of my warmup stampings turned out, so turned them into these CAS cards.

I am inordinately pleased with my results. :D They are all ready to turn over to my dear hubby!

Thanks for dropping by to see what's making me happy today!
Emily

One-Layer Card:
Stamps: Authentic Man from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: watercolor paper
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, Ranger antique linen distress ink, Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: hemp twine
Techniques: clear block stamping 
Blue Card:
Stamps: Authentic Man from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: watercolor paper, SU Marina Mist CS, yellow CS from The Paper Company
Ink: SU Marina Mist, Versafine onyx black
Accessories: washi tape
Techniques: clear block stamping, sponging 
Rust Card:
Stamps: Authentic Man from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company
Paper: watercolor paper, DP from Provo Craft, cream CS 
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, Ranger antique linen distress ink, Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: MS modern garland border punch, foam tape
Techniques: clear block stamping

DeNami Product Spotlight: Small Jack O' Lantern

Today the DeNami Design Team is doing a Product Spotlight on an adorable DeNami Halloween stamp: the Small Jack O' Lantern!

Totally CUTE, right? I must warn you, though, working with this fun little guy is habit forming. I couldn't make just one card!
After the first, I was hooked and just had to make two more!
And even then I couldn't stop! I had to decorate coordinating envelopes (all #6 3/4 size correspondence envelopes, perfect for fitting the 6" x 3.5" cards.), letting me play along with the Young Crafters Unite challenge to make a card with a matching envelope.
All seven of these sweet pumpkin faces were watercolored (so fun!). And did you spot the baker's twine grass? I picked up that clever little technique from the talented Shelly Schmidt, who has a wonderful tutorial HERE.

I can't believe that this is the last week of September, can you? And with this post, my time as September Guest Designer for DeNami Design comes to a close. Boo hoo!! I've had a blast designing along with the talented DeNami team this month. A huge THANK YOU goes to everyone at DeNami for this fantastic opportunity. I've enjoyed every minute of it!!

Be sure to check out today's post on the DeNami blog for lots, lots, lots more inspiration for this week's featured Small Jack O' Lantern !! And as the DeNami Spotlight product, this sweet little pumpkin face is on sale at 10% off for the next week. Bonus!! You can add him to your DeNami shopping cart right here.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

PS I'm also playing along with these challenges:

• Ribbon Carousel Challenge #22: to alter your spooled item. I totally altered my baker's twine to make this fun grass:
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge : ANYTHING GOES
• Paper Sundaes Challenge: ANYTHING GOES

Orange Card Supplies:
Stamps: DeNami Small Jack O' Lantern
Paper: SU pumpkin pie CS, SU basic black CS, printed vellum quote from Anna Griffin Esmerelda Collection
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Ranger antique linen distress ink
Accessories: watercolor brushes, inks for watercolor painting, sewing machine, sponge dauber, black crochet thread, foam tape
Techniques: watercolor painting, sponging

Purple Card Supplies:
Stamps: DeNami Small Jack O' Lantern
Paper: purple CS from The Paper Company, SU basic black CS
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Palette lavender sachet
Accessories: watercolor brushes, inks for watercolor painting, sewing machine, sponge dauber, Peapod baker's twine from The Twinery, foam tape
Techniques: watercolor painting, sponging

Green Card Supplies:
Stamps: DeNami Small Jack O' Lantern
Paper: textured green CS from DCWV, journaling card die cut from Little Yellow Bicycle
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Ranger antique linen distress ink
Accessories: watercolor brushes, inks for watercolor painting, sponge dauber, black crochet thread, foam tape, ScorTape, black glitter from Pink Paislee
Techniques: watercolor painting, sponging

Boo! to You

It's Monday, Monday! How did your weekend treat you? It's been warm and muggy here ever since last Friday, but we had a lot going on to take our minds off the less than fall-like weather. On Friday, my kids had an early release day, so we went out to lunch and did a little shopping. We were finally able to celebrate their excellent end-of-{last}-year report cards! With a little help from some coupons and reward bucks, they were each able to pick out a new stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear Workshop, a little something fun from A.C. Moore, and a new long-sleeved T-shirt for fall. (Although that new T-shirt will have to wait a little while longer 'til the autumn weather returns.)

On Saturday and Sunday, our daughter went on a Girl Scout camping outing with her troop. Sounds like they had a super time, including a flying squirrel experience on a high ropes course! On Sunday our son had his first Cub Scout meeting of the year, his first as a newly minted Bear Cub. He is psyched for a good year! And as for me? Well, I enjoyed a phone date getting caught up with my sister on Saturday afternoon, and then met a few friends for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory that evening. It was my first time ever to eat at a Cheesecake Factory! (I know, where have I been?) It was a difficult choice, but I finally indulged in the Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake. YumMMMEEE!! But it was so rich that I could only eat half. You can bet your bottom dollar, though, that I brought the rest home with me for a Sunday evening treat. ;)

I'm thinking that our extended summer vacation really kickstarted my mojo!! It was hard to get back in the groove at first after we returned home at the end of August, but once I got going, I just couldn't seem to stop!! Ideas are popping out at me from everywhere, and my mind won't rest until I've created whatever I've been imagining. Here's my latest:

I'm playing along with The Play Date Cafe's terrific color story this week:

That lovable monster is Mr. Smiles from Jane's Doodles. I won him in a giveaway in June and thought he would be perfect for a Halloween card! I colored him by blending colored pencil with odorless mineral spirits.

The patterned paper and "Boo!" sentiment are digital elements from the Haunted Collection by Carina Gardner. I picked up this awesome black/white on kraft collection for just $1 during the One Buck Wednesday sale at Jessica Sprague last week. I just LOVE One Buck Wednesdays! It's a great way to snap up trendy paper collections (think Carina Gardner, Echo Park, and Cosmo Cricket!!!) for a song, and then I just print what I need when I need it. No storing bulky paper pads, no dealing with too pretty/too expensive scraps, no worrying about whether to hoard my favorite prints in the collection. Through the magic of digital, I can print out my favorites again and again without running out. Whoopee!!

I hope you had a great weekend, too!! Thanks for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss.
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mr. Smiles by Jane's Doodles
Paper: The Haunted Collection digital papers and elements by Carina Gardner, snow storm CS, SU tangerine tango CS
Ink: Palette noir black
Accessories: sewing machine, Mandarin baker's twine from The Twinery, colored pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stumps, foam tape, scissors, 1" and 1.25" circle punches, brads from Making Memories
Techniques: digital papers, machine stitching, Gamsol Magic

{Friends with Flair} on the First Day of Fall

Yay! It's Friends with Flair day!! Check the Unity blog for blog hop details and a list of today's participants. I'm in the lineup. :)

And not only is it FWF Day, it's also the first day of Autumn. Hoo-ray!! I'm celebrating with this little fall card.
I'll admit, it's dripping with {ippity} goodness. The banners come from {ippity}'s The Best, the background that I masked into the large banner is {ippity}'s A Bit of Burlap, the sentiment comes from {ippity}'s Moon Beams & Heart Strings, and the leaves are from {ippity}'s Now & Always. Having no fall-themed stamps from Unity, it was a fun challenge using these decidedly non-autumn-y stamps to make my "Autumn-with-a-capital-A" card.

I made this fabric flower with a torn strip of quilting calico. (Click HERE for a tutorial.)

This card was inspired by these challenges:

• {ippity} Challenge: Fall (use Ippity/Unity stamps to create a project inspired by autumn)
• Unity Stamp Company Challenge: Falling Leaves (any project, created with Unity/Ippity stamps, with leaves on it)
• Ribbon Carousel Challenge: #21 Add fabric, and be sure to include some type of ribbon, twine, hemp, lace....basically, anything that comes on a spool.(I used some hemp twine.)

I hope that your first day of autumn is crisp and colorful! Thanks for stopping by today to see what's making me happy. :)
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: The Best, A Bit of Burlap, Moon Beams & Heart Strings, and Now & Always--all from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Co.
Paper: SU cherry cobbler CS, K&Co Tim Coffey Fall Pad patterned paper, misc scrap of mustard CS, kraft CS from Paper Maniac
Ink: SU crumb cake, SU dusty durango, Palette moulin rouge
Accessories: foam tape, sewing machine, rhinestones, button, felt leaf sticker from Target, hemp twine, torn strip of calico fabric
Techniques: machine stitching, handmade flowers

Thankful for You

(with apologies to Emma Lazarus)

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses of used dryer sheets,
The wretched refuse of your laundry room.
Send these, the crumpled, tempest-tost to me,
I'll upcycle and rescue them from doom!

More recycled dryer sheet blooms today! (You can find a tutorial HERE.) This time I'm taking them for a spin on an autumn card, and I couldn't be happier with the results.
Smooch Spritz (or any kind of glimmer mist) is wonderful for coloring the dryer sheet circles for these blossoms, but what's a gal to do when the Smooch Spritz colors in her {very} limited collection don't match the earthy, autumn-tone colors she's leaning toward? Break out the brush-tipped markers, that's what!! I simply laid a dryer sheet circle over a scrap piece of paper and scribbled over the face of the dryer sheet. (Holding the marker at an angle to cover a wider swath is most efficient). The fibers soaked up the color beautifully. The top flower was colored with Golden Glow Smooch Spritz, and the bottom flower was colored with an SU Dusty Durango marker. And I think they both look pretty good.

I'm on a recycling roll, so this is yet another entry for Lynn's Recycling Challenge over at Do More With Less. I'm also very pleased to be entering The Craft's Meow September Card Sketch Challenge using this sketch: This challenge requires TCM stamps. The leaves and sentiment come from The Craft's Meow: Celebrating You , and the frame comes from Timeless Tags.

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

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Celebrating You and Timeless Tags, both from The Craft's Meow
Paper: natural vanilla bean fleck CS, K&Co Tim Coffey Fall Pad patterned paper, misc scrap of mustard CS
Ink: SU crumb cake, Ranger tea dye distress ink, Versamark
Accessories: gold EP, heat tool, sponge dauber, foam tape, sewing machine, rhinestones, gold button, gold brad, Gold Lame Smooch, gold glitter glue, Golden Glow Smooch Spritz, SU dusty durango marker
Techniques: sponging, machine stitching, heat embossing, handmade flowers

A One-Layer Thank You

I realized last week that I really need to work on some simple thank you cards, something relatively flat and easy to mail with little frou-frou. Something that my hubby wouldn't mind writing his thank-you notes on, say, after his birthday. Which is exactly the situation that resulted in this card.
While it isn't exactly "manly," it also isn't "girlie." So I'm goin' with "gender neutral" here. And, yes, I know that button may cause a bit of trouble in the postal system, but I had to risk it. My design, created with the leaf from {ippity}'s Now & Always stamp set, was just begging for some kind of focal point, and that SU Pumpkin Pie corduroy button was perfect. So I had no choice but to include it. :)

I'm entering my card in these challenges:

• Unity Stamp Company Challenge: Falling Leaves (any project, created with Unity/Ippity stamps, with leaves on it)
• {ippity} Challenge: Fall (use Ippity/Unity stamps to create a project inspired by autumn)
  
• All Things Unity: #40 No Layers (Use any Unity and Ippity stamps and create anything with only ONE LAYER!!! )
• Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge: #73 make a one-layer card
• Less Is More: anything CAS goes

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

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Now & Always from {ippit} by Unity Stamp Co.; Sentiments O' Simple by Unity Stamp Co.
Paper: ivory CS, SU pumpkin pie CS
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia, SU pumpkin pie
Accessories: SU scallop trim border punch, SU pumpkin pie corduroy button, hemp twine
Techniques: one-layer card

My First Christmas Card of the Season

Well, somebody flipped the switch and suddenly it's beginning to feel a lot like autumn around here! Ever since last Friday, it's been considerably cooler, with overnight temperatures dipping into the 40s. Sunday afternoon's project was taking out all five of our window air-conditioning units, which were doing some unintentional air conditioning each night--letting that 40-degree air just pour right in! We've broken out the jeans and jackets, added blankets to the beds, and started burning my Macintosh-scented candles. Yup, I'm all ready for the first day of autumn on Friday!

All of which reminded me that I don't have any Christmas cards made yet! Flourishes has a wonderful monthly Christmas card challenge that runs year round. It's designed to help everyone get a head start on making their holiday cards. Each month, I check out the challenge and think, "Wow! That's a great one! I really need make time to play along this month." And each month I never quite get around to it. Well, crunch time is coming down the pike, so I made this month's Christmas Spirit Challenge a priority and got 'er done today. The challenge is to make a card inspired by this photo.
I loved the reds, whites, and snowflakes in this photo, so I ran with those in my creation.
I used three different Flourishes stamp sets to create this card: Warm Winter Wishes (the snowflakes), Country Charm Labels, and O Christmas Tree (sentiment).

My layered flower is something I made myself today. It's a {recycled} dryer sheet flower! I found the idea for it, along with instructions, HERE. So easy to make (although allow plenty of time for drying). I know I'll be making more again soon! And--HIP HIP HOORAY!--because I recycled a used dryer sheet to make the embellie on this card, I am entering it in Lynn's Recycling Challenge over at Do More With Less.

Well, thanks for dropping by for my little slice of bliss today!
Emily

Stamps: Flourishes Warm Winter Wishes, Country Charm Labels, and O Christmas Tree
Paper: red and white CS
Ink: Versafine red satin, ColorBox frost white
Accessories: MS snowflake border punch, SU real red dotted grosgrain ribbon, foam tape, white EP, heat tool, recycled dryer sheet, Smooch Spritz, glitter glue, red metallic brad
Techniques: embossing, handmade flower

Garden Glory

Loved this inspiration photo from the Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: Garden Glory.
Couldn't get it out of my head, so I made another card inspired by it.
This time I went a little more clean and simple, and focused on the beautiful vase of what appears to white peonies.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Tag Lines
Paper: Mark's Finest Papers textured CS, BasicGrey Nook and Pantry DP, SU chocolate chip CS
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: SU ornament punch, Prima flower, sewing machine
Techniques: machine stitching

Three Layers for Flourishes

Another quick post to play along with a second September Flourishes Release Week Challenge, FLLC911B: the Three's A Charm Challenge, to use exactly three layers on your card. Layer one: card base; layer two: kraft panel; layer three: paper-pieced upholstery.
I can always use another thinking of you card!

This card was inspired by this wing chair and teal floral pillow in the current Tuesday Trigger challenge photo at the Moxie Fab World.

Thanks for coming back for another little slice of bliss today!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Chairs for You
Paper: SU bermuda bay textured CS, PTI kraft CS, patterned paper from BasicGrey's Nook and Pantry collection
Ink: Versafine onyx black, ColorBox frost white, Ranger antique linen distress ink
Accessories: colored pencils, sewing machine, white EP, heat tool, Webster's Pages Bloomers
Techniques: machine stitching, heat embossing, sponging

Autumn Thanks for Friends With Flair

Happy Friday!! I'm back again this week with another project for Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop. Check the Unity blog for details and a list of today's participants.

I am so psyched that the new {ippity} challenge is to make a card inspired by Fall. I really needed to start a supply of autumn-ish cards, so this was just what I needed to get going. I was inspired by what I think are quintessential fall colors.

I used three different {ippity} by Unity stamp sets to create this card: the flower is from Now & Always, the background is from A Bit of Burlap, and the sentiment is from Regal Greetings. Building that layered fall flower was a blast! I got to play around with canvas (so hot right now in the papercrafting world!) for the first time. It was fun experimenting with coloring the originally all-white canvas. For the bottom layer, I sponged the edges with distress ink. The middle layer was sponged all over with dye ink. And the top layer? I sprayed it with Gold Glow Smooch Spritz!

In other news, I had a bit of a field trip on Wednesday--I finally got to meet a blogging friend in person! It turns out that the oh-so-sweet and extremely talented Debbie Carriere, one of the Mojo Monday designers, lives in the next town over from us. Crazy, right? And now that our very busy summers are over (Debbie was busy with just a little thing called Paper Crafts GALLERY IDOL, making it all the way into the Top 10. WOW! Lil' ole me got to meet a papercrafting celebrity in the flesh!!) and our kids are back to school, we meet up for coffee this week. Meeting Debbie was delightful!! So cheery and down to earth. And thoughtful, too! After reading on my blog that I am die-less, Debbie gave me some fabulous die-cut panels and shaped cards that she had cut just for me--along with some fabulous Close To My Heart goodies. See? I told you she was oh-so-sweet!! I can't wait to use it all. To thank her for her generosity, I dropped this autumn thank you card in the mail to her this morning. (Debbie, if you are reading, I'm so sorry if I spoiled the surprise!!) Anyway, it was so fun to chat face-to-face with someone who "gets" this hobby of mine. I'm looking forward to getting together with her again soon--and next time, I'll remember to bring my autograph book!

Well, that wraps things up for now. Thanks so much for dropping by for my little slice of bliss today!!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} by Unity: flower from Now & Always, background from A Bit of Burlap, sentiment from Regal Greetings
Paper: SU Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron CS; Daydream from 365 Degrees collection by Pink Paislee; Still in Box from The Thrift Shop collection by October Afternoon
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, SU pumpkin pie, Palette burnt umber, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz
Accessories: SU oval punch, SU circle punch, SU corduroy brad, sewing machine, white canvas
Techniques: machine stitching, misting, handmade flower

A Flourishes Sketch

Just a quick post to play along with one of the September Flourishes Release Week challenges, FLLC911A, which is to use this sketch. Another birthday card for my dwindling stash!

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

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Lemons, Life, & Love; Flourishes Tag Lines
Paper: SU Dusty Durango textured CS, patterned papers from BasicGrey's Nook and Pantry collection
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia, Ranger antique linen distress ink
Accessories: colored pencils, foam tape, sewing machine, gold brads, button sticker from Recollections
Techniques: machine stitching

StampinB Border Punch Challenge

Well, it took a while to get back in the groove again after our long vacation, but I've finally got things in order and am so happy to be back again posting with the rest of the Stampin' B's DT for our weekly Thursday challenges!

This week, we've got a fun one! The challenge is to use at least two border punches on your card. Here's what I came up with:

I combined this with a few other challenges. The theme of my card was inspired by Emily Leiphart's Moving Challenge.
My color scheme comes from the new ColourQ #102 Challenge.
And finally, my sketch is from the Vertical Sketch Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. I took the liberty of rotating the sketch (a full 180 degrees!).
Thanks for dropping by today. If you'd like to try your hand at this week's Stampin' B's Challenge, post your project 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!! :)

See you soon!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU Good Neighbors
Paper: SU certainly celery CS, SU whisper white CS, turquoise CS from The Paper Company
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Versafine red satin, Palette reflection blue, Palette charcoal
Accessories: SU scallop border punch, MS picket fence border punch, sewing machine, dimensionals, red/white baker's twine
Techniques: machine stitching

DeNami Product Spotlight: Small Apple

Today the DeNami Design Team is doing a Product Spotlight on an adorable DeNami stamp, so timely for fall projects. It's the Small Apple stamp!

There are so many awesome possibilities for this sweet image--and you can get a ton of apple inspiration from the design team on today's post on the DeNami blog. And, as September Guest Designer at DeNami Design, I get to play along with the rest of the Design Team! Here's the project that I came up with:

I pack lunches for my two kids to eat at school every day. As I was preparing my project for this Product Spotlight last week, my kids were getting ready for their first day back to school--which, of course, got me thinking. They both use durable, re-usable Lands End lunchboxes, so we don't use many paper lunch bags. However, whenever my kids go on school field trips, they need to take their lunches in a disposable bag. I thought it would be cool to make each of them a decorated lunch bag so they'll be all set for their first field trips of the year (whenever those may be!). A specially decorated bag should help them spot their lunches in the crush of all those brown bags thrown in the crate their teachers use for transporting everyone's lunches--or that's the theory, anyway. I colored in a row of apples on each bag--that will be for writing their names (one letter per apple, of course!) on their bags later when it's time to pack a field trip lunch.

When I finished decorating these lunch bags, I just couldn't stop! So I expanded this into a "lunch set" by stamping matching paper napkins to send along with lunch and making a pair of "lunchbox notes" to drop in, too, to let the kiddos know that I love them and am thinking of them! Let the onslaught of field trips begin!

Don't have lunches to pack for anyone at your house? Not to worry! You could use a similar idea to make a quick and easy gift bag or party goodie bag. Wouldn't it be fun to package a half dozen apple cinnamon muffins for a neighbor or friend in a sweet little apple-decorated bag like this??

Thanks so much for stopping by for my little slice of bliss today!! See you again soon. :)
Emily

Project Recipe:
Stamps: DeNami Small Apple stamp
Paper: DeNami Red cardstock, Mark's Finest Papers white cardstock
Ink: Versafine Red Satin
Accessories: SU scalloped trim border punch, colored pencils, brown paper lunch bag, white paper napkins, red gingham ribbon

Missing You

How is everybody on this fine Tuesday? We had a great weekend with perfect weather. On Saturday morning, we headed out for our family's annual apple-picking trip to a local historic farm. We picked a 1/2 bushel of Macintosh apples, my hubby's favorite apple. He certainly loves his "apple a day," always packing one in his lunch for at work. Anyway, it was a fun, relaxing outing. The kids are old pros at apple-picking now, and we all love doing it! It takes no time at all to fill our half bushel. After tromping through the orchard, we headed to the farm stand to buy a half dozen of apple cider donuts and a gallon of apple cider--it's all a {yummy} part of our tradition!! In all it was a fabulous trip, perfect for recharging our batteries!! And, oh, the memories we made as well. :)

Do you remember me telling about my dear friend who had to move away over the summer? I sent her this card to greet her at her new house. Yesterday I got a note from her letting me know that not only is the card I made for her now framed and hanging in the living room at their new place, the colors I used in the card inspired the all-new decorating scheme they used for their living room!! Talk about happy mail!! :D That made my day.

Ever since I opened yesterday's mail, my friend has been on my mind, so I had to make her a card to let her know how much I miss her.

My color scheme was inspired by Flourishes' Fall Fashion Challenge to make a project with one or more of these hot fall colors for 2011: The bamboo, emberglow, and cedar colors really caught my eye, so I used all three, with a splash of coffee liqueur.

I have also been intrigued by the card sketches featured in the current crop of challenges at the Moxie Fab World. I don't make shaped cards very often, mostly because they are so hard to make without dies (which, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I don't have). But the MFW shaped sketch challenge really caught my eye, and--having recently found my missing mojo--I was really feeling up to, well, . . . a challenge!! Working without dies meant that I wasn't tied to set die sizes, so I decided to make this big to really show off the pretty patterned paper I used. The card is massive (or seemingly so to me, at least) at 6.25" in diameter. And because I made a shaped card, I was able to play along with today's new Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge #135, which is to make--what else?--a shaped card!!

The scallops are 1" circles that I punched from cardstock and adhered to the back of my main circular panel. That pretty edge stitching is also functional--it's keeping my scallops from falling off!!

Finally, this card also gave me a chance to use some fabulous goodies that I won from two terrific bloggers over the summer. Both prize packages arrived just before we left on our month-long vacation, which was torture because I knew I'd have to wait a while before I could use any of these!! The Flourishes Country Charm Labels stamps and BasicGrey Nook and Pantry patterned papers came from the lovely and talented Christine Okken. That beautiful two-tone sheer May Arts ribbon came from the sweet and equally talented Jessi Fogan. Jessi sent a whole box of beautifully wrapped goodies, each parcel tied up in a length of lovely May Arts ribbon. You can't let something like that go to waste! So each and every bit was rescued to be recycled on future projects. And because I have recycled some of my saved ribbon on this card, I am entering it in Lynn's Recycling Challenge over at Do More With Less.

Thanks for stopping by to check out what's making me happy today!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Country Charm Labels, Flourishes Tag Lines
Paper: SU Dusty Durango textured CS, SU Crushed Curry textured CS, patterned papers from BasicGrey's Nook and Pantry collection
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: SU 1" circle punch, Creative Memories circle cutting templates, foam tape, sewing machine, May Arts sheer ribbon, grass green rhinestones from Queen & Co., Tiny Twinkles from Taylored Expressions, Bow Easy
Techniques: shaped card, machine stitching