DeNami Touch of Twine Blog Hop

Good morning, friends! And welcome to the DeNami Design Touch of Twine Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design Team and customers alike are showcasing projects that show off any kind of twine.

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.)

Don't forget, there are some super-fun DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, November 11, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

Have you seen the great selection of baker's twine 3-packs that DeNami Design carries in the store? That's where I went for my twine on this card for today's hop:

That harvest-y twine that I used to frame the center panel comes from the Autumn 3-pack. I also used these items from the DeNami Design store:

Happy Thanksgiving stamp
Cornucopia stamp
EK Success Deco Scallop border punch
Rich Cocoa Memento ink
Vintage Sepia Versafine ink
Metallic Color Crystal Lacquer Pearl Pens

I'm so pleased with how my design turned out for this card!

I'm the last stop on today's hop, so that wraps it up! Before you leave, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes.

Thanks for popping in today!
Emily

Photo Tutorial: Thanksgiving Napkin Rings

It's my turn to share another photo tutorial over on the DeNami Design blog today. This time around I'm showing an easy way to dress up your holiday table settings with handmade napkin rings! Be sure to check out the DeNami blog to learn how to make these little beauties:

And just think of the possibilities for creating similar napkin rings for other holidays!! DeNami offers a full line of incredibly versatile circle stamps as well as small images perfect for filling those circles.

Thanks for stopping by today for this little peek of my photo tutorial. I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Emily

Sweet Apples

Welcome to the first DeNami Product Spotlight of August! Today the DeNami Design team is sharing design ideas for the utterly delightful Apples & Pears stamp set.

I paired this sweet little set with the equally sweet Apple Basket stamp to make a clean and simple card that would be perfect for thanking someone who's been super sweet to you!

To make this card, I also used these products from the DeNami Design store: You Are Sweet cling stamp, brown kraft cardstock, Tuxedo Black Memento ink, Satin Red Versafine ink, and Red/White Dot Line washi tape.

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's lovely creations today on the DeNami blog. Like what you see? Then you can score a great deal on the Apples & Pears stamp set--as our Spotlight Product, it's on sale at 10% off for the next week!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

DeNami Thoughtful Thank Yous Blog Hop

Good morning, friends! And welcome to the DeNami Design Thoughtful Thank Yous Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design Team and customers alike are showcasing projects that show off "thanks" in any way.

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Andrea Fisher's blog, Five Pines Designs. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are some super-fun DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, November 12, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

So, I chose to focus on a "give thanks" theme for my thoughtful thank you. Here's what I came up with:

I recently stocked up on some awesome DeNami circle frames, so I combined three terrific stamps to create my focal point: Turkey, Give Thanks Circle, and Medium Dot Circle Frame.

And did you hear the news? The DeNami Design store now sells washi tape!! That's right, you can shop for cutie patootie rolls of washi tape while you shop for your favorite stamps. I couldn't wait to get my hands on these. Aren't they yummy? I used some of the yellow/white dots washi tape on this card.

That wraps it up for me! Before you leave, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be on your way to the next stop on the hop, the blog of Jennifer Harris, Jen & Paper. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,

Emily

PS I derived inspiration for this card from a few challenges:

• ColourQ challenge: Cherry Cobbler, Kraft, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and White.
• CAS(E) this Sketch #5:
  
• The Kraft Journal Challenge: Happy Harvest 
• A Blog Named Hero: Punched/diecut elements   

thanks*giving

Happy TGIF, friends! I'm slowly closing in on my Thanksgiving card quota. Woo-hoo! Just in time to start jotting notes and stuffing envelopes next week so the cards arrive in time. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is now less than two weeks away!

Because Friday is Friends With Flair day over on the Unity blog, I pulled out lots of Unity goodness to put together today's card. And, without further ado, here it is!

Want a Unity accounting? Let's see . . . I've got leaves and berries from two {ippity} sets:  Where You Should Be (which is on sale right now!!) and The Simple Things. Words from Thank You Words (kinda makes sense, right?). And the background is the supremely elegant Quatrefoil Background.

Challenges have been my m.o. this week, so here's what inspired me:

• I took my layout from one of the two sketches featured over at Chick Challenges with Ippity this week.
  
• I took my color scheme from this week's ColourQ challenge: Cherry Cobbler, Kraft, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and White.
  
• Do You Stack Up? use a Leaves/Trees theme
• The Kraft Journal Challenge: Happy Harvest 

On Monday my kids will have the day off from school for Veterans Day, but sadly, my hubby does not. I'm sure we'll find something fun to occupy us on Monday. But in the meantime, the whole family needs to tackle the leaf raking. With the crazy weather and our crazy schedules, we haven't had any time to devote to this huge task yet!! Hurricane Sandy and Winter Storm Athena managed to knock down most of the leaves (all except the oak leaves, which will hang on for dear life until March and then drop once the grass starts turning green. What's up with that anyway?), so hopefully we'll only have to do this once. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of bliss! Have a great weekend!
Emily

Thinking of You on Thanksgiving

OK, East Coast, are you bracing for Winter Storm Athena? Here we go again! It's likely to get frightful outside here later today, but it's cozy and warm inside for the moment. Once the kids were off to school this morning , I cranked some jazz, lit a spicy candle, and cranked out some more Thanksgiving cards. Here's one of them.

I reached for my DeNami stamps for this one: Small Jack O'Lantern (I masked out his sweet face for this Thanksgiving card--such an easy way to stretch your stamps!) and the "thinking of you" sentiment from the Thoughtful Greetings Petit Four stamp set. I love this little stamp set--such a great and useful collection of petite sentiments. One of my favorites! I had fun watercolor painting that little pumpkin. I stamped it in Vintage Sepia Versafine ink on watercolor paper and then heat embossed it with DeNami clear embossing powder.

I'm playing along with a few challenges with this card:

• CASology: Orange
• A Blog Named Hero: Punched/diecut elements (I think I have 5 on this CAS card!)
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Thinking of You/Sympathy

In case you haven't noticed, I'm just mad for DeNami Design products! Are you intrigued? Then you should give the DeNami Addict Challenge a try!! This month's challenge is a fun sketch, and it's open for three more days. You do not need to use DeNami stamps, but if you win (and there's a good chance that you could: right now there are only 5 entries!!) you could win a $15 gift certificate to the DeNami Design online store to start your DeNami addiction collection :).

Of course, if you already have some DeNami stamps, then you should also try the DeNami Design challenge hosted on the DeNami Design blog. This month's challenge is also a sketch and requires at least one DeNami stamp. The pay-off for winning on this challenge? How about a $20 shopping spree in the DeNami Design online store?

And what if you are more of an instant-gratification kinda craftista? Then DeNami has got you covered! This month DeNami has a great online store sale. Check this out!!

I did some stocking up at the DeNami store myself over the weekend and will share some photos of the new haul when my eagerly anticipated package arrives!!!

OK, friends, stay safe, warm, and dry wherever you are. And thanks so much for dropping by!
Emily

Harvest Time

I'm plugging away on making easily mailed Thanksgiving cards. When I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel idea-wise when faced with the need to create {now!}, I turn to challenges. I wrapped several into this creation.

• The Craft's Meow November Sketch Challenge 
  
• Do You Stack Up? to use brads (two big fuzzy yellow ones!)
• The Kraft Journal Challenge: Happy Harvest
• A Blog Named Hero: use a punched or die cut element--I've got a diecut circle and a punched border

The sentiments are from a great stamp set from The Craft's Meow called Season's Greetings. The patterned paper is from an old Tim Coffey K & Co. pad, and the flocked brads are from We R Memory Keepers.

Thanks for taking a look!
Emily

Give Thanks

Hey, there! I hope that your Wednesday is off to a terrific start! Today I'm sharing a card that I had so much fun making for Thanksgiving.

I had the best time dressing up this card with buttons from DeNami's Sand Boutique Buttons collection. My card also features two terrific stamps from DeNami Design: Wheat Stalks and Give Thanks Circle, which just happens to be our Product Spotlight stamp this week!

That's right--you can snag this versatile stamp all week at 10% off, no coupon needed! Need some other great ideas for using this stamp? Be sure to swing by the DeNami Design blog today to see what the rest of the DeNami DT cooked up with it!

One more thing before you go--see those two fantastic patterned papers? They are digital papers (from the Thanksgiving collection and the Autumn Mega collection) from Shery K Designs that I printed out on matte presentation/brochure paper! Can you believe it? They are so vivid and crisp. Really, the paper makes all the difference. My husband could hardly believe that I'd printed them myself. He thought that I'd used commercially printed patterned paper. I'm just over the moon about this discovery! (A huge thanks to the lovely and talented Jocelyn Olsen for the presentation paper tip!!)

Thanks for dropping by today!
Emily

DeNami Anything But a Card Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Design Anything But a Card Blog Hop! Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Wendy Harrill's blog, Confessions of a DeNami Addict. 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 all about non-card projects!! 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 November 13 at 6 AM, PDT. However, you have until November 14, 2011, 11:59 pm PDT, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by non-card 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!


As much as I love making and sending cards, I am a bit of a two-timer. You see, I also love making and giving little gifts to folks I appreciate. But as I'm sure you know, buying gifts can really add up. So I like to concentrate on finding just a little something and then using my papercrafting know-how to spruce it up into a fabulous and thoughtful gift that really wows the recipient and makes them feel special--even if it is an inexpensive chocolate treat, cocoa envelope, tea bag, microwave popcorn packet, etc.

For today's non-card project, I'm sharing a little harvest-themed truffle box I made and gave to a friend when she invited me to lunch last month.
I used a fabulous printable truffle box template that I found on Splitcoast last month. It's the perfect size for two Ferrero Rocher chocolates. (A couple of Lindor truffles would also fit inside nicely!)
I used not one, not two, but THREE different DeNami Design stamps for this project:

1. Small Jack O'Lantern (masking out his sweet little face)
2. Wheat Stalks
3. Small Swirl Corner

I printed the template directly onto a sheet of cardstock, cut it out, scored the fold lines, and folded up the box so that the printed lines of the template are on the inside of the truffle box. My sweet little pumpkin was colored with colored pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits and paper blending stumps.

When I had completely decorated my little box, I simply popped in two chocolates and tied a bit of Mandarin baker's twine from The Twinery around the box, and I was DONE!
Before you hop off to your next stop on the blog hop, be sure to leave a comment here for a chance at some free DeNami products. Then head on over to visit talented DT member Wendy Elliot at her Created by Wendy blog for her awesome anything-but-a-card project!

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

A Note of Thanksgiving

After feeling "blah" creatively all week long, I was pleased to actually feel a spark of creativity this morning, and figured I'd better jump on it--quick. I'm still short a few Thanksgiving cards to send to my friends and family in the next few weeks, so Thanksgiving it is today:

The image and sentiment are from Flourishes' A Season of Thanks stamp set, which I won back in September. All of the patterned papers are from the Indian Summer collection by BasicGrey. I colored the image with my colored pencils and blended with Gamsol and paper blending stumps.

I was inspired by a few challenges in the making of this card:

• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday FTTC142: to use the Out of the Box technique. I don't have Spellbinders or anything die-like, so I used some Creative Memories oval cutting templates to cut out most of the way around my image and then cut the rest out with scissors.
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Buttons
• Clear It Out Challenge: your holiday
  
• Go Fish Challenge #4: to use this sketch

Thanks for dropping by for a little slice of bliss today!
Emily

P.S. The Lawnscaping Challenge Blog is having a fantastic GIVEAWAY--a set of beautiful Faber Castell watercolor pencils! You can check it out HERE.

An Original for FWF

Thank goodness it's Friday! This has been the week that would not end. If you visited me during last week's Friends with Flair hop, then you probably read that I was enjoying a visit with my sister. It's true! We had a great--and very productive--visit. Turns out that she needed to make 4-card sets for 15 people, not the originally thought 10. I do believe we worked our poor little fingers to the bone!! Yup, that's 60 cards in two-and-a-half days, and I'm not talking about a bunch of cookie-cutter, whip-them-out-assembly-line-style cards. Each set was tailored to the recipient! She loved how they turned out and will be so proud to give these thoughtful, personal gifts at Christmastime. But then she left on Sunday :( and my week has been spent catching up with the day-to-day stuff that slid while she was here, along with a bunch of other unpleasantness. I've gotta say, I'm wiped out physically, emotionally, and creatively.

But I realized early this morning that it is Friends with Flair day (hooray!) and I had nothing to share. This was the perfect opportunity to sit down for a few minutes and finally create something. I did mention that I'm wiped out creatively, right?? (See above, just in case you missed that.) So this is just a quick, easy card to reclaim just a tiny bit of time for me.

I used {ippity}'s Love in Return and {ippity}'s A Bit of Burlap along with some cute patterned paper from the Pumpkin Pie collection by K& Co.

I'm throwing this in a few challenges. Why not, right? It's for the Unity Stamp Company Challenge, which is to use an Autumn Harvest theme; the {ippity} Challenge, which is to make a mini card (4" x 4" or smaller)--mine is 3 1/2" x 4"; the Simon Says Stamp Challege, which is an "Anything Goes" challenge this week; and, finally, Chick Challenges with {ippity} #4, which is to use this sketch:

Be sure to check the Unity blog for a list of all of today's Friends with Flair blog hop participants!

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

Emily

Ooooooooo, I'm a Celebrity!

OK, well, probably not really, but maybe just a teensy famous. How, you may ask, did I claim my bit o' fame? Well, I just found out that I'm in the DeNami Design InTouch Spotlight! Here's the back story: on World Card Making Day, DeNami ran a fun WCMD challenge asking DeNami fans to create and submit a card inspired by this beautiful photo.
The prize? The chance to be featured in the October DeNami InTouch newsletter, which, as Paulina at DeNami describes, "is sent to thousands and thousands of people worldwide, so you have the opportunity to be famous!" Oh, and a $25 gift certificate to DeNami Design, too. {grin}

Um, I think I spoiled the punch line--you already know that one of my creations was chosen. (But if you want to pretend that you didn't already know, you can go check out the announcement of the winners HERE!) Anyway, here is the card that earned me a place in the spotlight:
A few details for inquiring minds:
For my pumpkin focal point, I stamped the Small Jack O' Lantern and masked out the face. I used the Gamsol Magic technique to color in the pumpkin (using colored pencils blended with odorless mineral spirits and a paper blending stump) and matted it on a circle of DeNami's Desert Orange cardstock. The design on the rest of my card was made using the recently released Wheat Stalks stamp. Using my Stamp-A-Majig, I stamped the wheat stalks in a fan shape around a white scalloped circle. Dots of Gold Lame Smooch alternate with the wheat in each scallop. And I did a little tone-on-tone stamping to create a wheat-stalk background on my DeNami Chocolate Brown card base. A little tag (created with the "Thanks" sentiment from the Everyday Greetings set), some twine, and a bit o' stitching round out this little card. Done!

Wouldn't this be the perfect note for thanking your Thanksgiving dinner hostess? (if, that is, you are lucky enough to snag an invitation elsewhere so that *you* aren't the one stuck with all of the cooking ;). )

I've listed all of my supplies below. But feel free to drop me a line if you have any other questions about making this!

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

Card Recipe:
Stamps: from DeNami Design: Wheat Stalks, Small Jack O' Lantern, Everyday Greetings set
Paper: Chocolate Brown and Desert Orange cardstock from DeNami, white cardstock
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia, Stampin' Up! so saffron
Accessories: EK Success 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circle punches, EK Success 3" scalloped circle punch, Stampin' Up! jewelry tag punch, Crayola colored pencils, odorless mineral spirits, paper blending stumps, foam tape, Gold Lame Smooch, Stamp-A-Majig, hemp twine, sewing maching, thread
Techniques: machine stitching, Gamsol Magic, background stamping

A {not white} One-Layer for the StampinBs

**Have you taken time to play in my WCMD Giveaway yet?**
Today is the last day! Entries close at 5 p.m. EDT. You can find all the details HERE!

Another Thursday brings us another challenge from the Stampin' B's Design Team! This week our hostess is Lois, who is challenging everyone to make a one-layer card that is not white. Shall we meet the card that stepped up to the plate?

I stamped this wonderful fall image and sentiment from my new A Season of Thanks stamp set, which I won last month from Flourishes, directly onto some yellow cardstock. I colored the Indian corn with colored pencils (no gamsol this time), added a few scored lines, rounded a single corner, and I was done! Clean and simple design, quick and easy production, light and flat for mailing. What more could a crafty gal want?

I'm also playing along with Flourishes' Wacky World Card Making Day Challenge, which was to be inspired by the colors of a favorite animated character. This time I picked up the orange, yellow, red, and (skin-tone)/tan of my favorite comic strip characters, Calvin and Hobbes.
Thanks so much for dropping by today for a little slice of bliss with me. 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: Flourishes A Season of Thanks
Cardstock: morning sun cardstock
 Ink: Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: colored pencils, scoring tool, corner rounder 
Techniques: scoring

Stampin' B's Thanksgiving Pumpkin Challenge

Happy Thursday and welcome to another challenge from the Stampin' B's DT. This week Brenda is our hostess, and she has challenged us to make a Thanksgiving card using pumpkin images. Here's what I came up with.
The image is a free digi from Paper Garden Projects. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, and paper blending stumps. I've been collecting a few digital stamp images recently, meaning to try the Gamsol Magic coloring technique with them (I've been a bit worried about the odorless mineral spirits making the inkjet printer ink run and bleed), so this was my big experiment. And I was pleasantly surprised by how well it all turned out!

These are the challenges I incorporated into the making of this card:

• Embellish Vintage Color Challenge: to make a vintage project using the colors green, yellow, and rust
• EtsyInspired Challenge: EIC111, to be inspired by something from the Etsy store Stiletto Heights. I was inspired by this Haunted Tree print.
• Card Positioning Systems: Sketch 190

I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it 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!! :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Fall Still Life digital stamp from Paper Garden Projects, tree from Mark's Finest Papers A Walk in the Woods, unknown vintage postcard rubber stamp
Paper: Mark's Finest Papers late afternoon sun CS, DCWV textured rust CS, Basic Grey Mellow collection DP
Ink: Palette noir black, burnt umber, haystack
Accessories: sponge, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, paper blending stumps, paper distressing tool, emery board (for sanding), sewing machine, vintage lace trim, vintage buttons, brad, foam tape, brass leaf charm from Mark's Finest Papers
Techniques: machine stitching, sponging, Gamsol Magic

Forever Thankful

Yesterday's color challenge CC291 on Splitcoast Stampers was absolutely yummy: rich razzleberry, so saffron, and tangerine tango. What terrific autumn colors! It was also the perfect combo for my first SNEAK PEEK of a beautiful new clear stamp set scheduled to be released by Mark's Finest Papers next week. This is Thankful for You, a versatile set that includes a wonderful mix of thankful sentiments and harvest images. (Isn't that wheat image beautifully detailed?) My inside sentiment reads "Happy Thanksgiving" in a lovely script.

Other challenges that went into the making of this card:

• Critter Sketch Challenge: this sketch
• Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: to be inspired by this abstract folk art Painting by Catherine Horvath Buchanan. I was inspired by the farms and fields to use wheat on my card and by the pretty autumn trees to use leaves. Many of the colors coordinate nicely with the challenge colors I used, too :)
• Stamptacular Sunday: Challenge #79, Layer It On, to use at least 5 layers
• Paper Sundaes: Something from Your Stash (I've had that satin ribbon in my stash forever and just recently discovered how nicely it coordinates with rich razzleberry!)
• Stamps R Us: Challenge #6, an All Nature Theme
• City Crafter Challenge Blog: Week 25, Hooray for the Holidays--create a holiday project for any holiday. I went with Thanksgiving for this one.
  
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Challenge 124, Sparkle and Shine. My glittery DP certainly does sparkle!
  

What am I happy about today? I finally have a Bow-Easy!! Yay!! I have always been quite definitely bow-challenged and have thought for quite some time that I should get a Bow-Easy. I didn't want to pay a lot for postage and didn't need a lot of other supplies (which might normally qualify me for free shipping somewhere). So I finally poked around and found an eBay seller through whom I could get a Bow-Easy for $6 (USD), including shipping. (Here is the Bow-Easy listing.) Sounds like the right price to me! :) It arrived on Friday, and I spent some time playing with it over the weekend. This online photo tutorial was a huge help. I'm happy that I can finally tie somewhat decent-looking bows, like the one on today's card. Not perfect, but a huge improvement. At least I'm on the learning curve now!!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a super day!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Thankful for You
Paper: PTI kraft CS, SU so saffron CS, SU tangerine tango CS, DCWV textured CS, DCWV sparkle DP from Indian Summer Stack
Ink: SU so saffron, SU tangerine tango, Palette bordeaux
Accessories: CM 1.25" square punch, SU scallop square punch, SU scallop trim border punch, SU scallop trim corner punch, SU wide oval punch, SU scallop oval punch, MS maple leaf punch, satin ribbon, foam tape, hemp cord, Bow-Easy