Count Your Rainbows

Before we head off for church and Sunday School this morning, I'm posting another card that I made during my marathon crafting session yesterday.

The latest stamp release from DeNami Design included some really awesome new sentiment stamps! I've been waiting for just the right time to try out this new Count Your Rainbows sentiment, and I found the perfect sketch for showing it off. I'm playing along with this week's Tuesday Morning Sketches, where my sweet friend Jessi is this week's sponsor with a prize of her awesome crocheted mats! The challenge's "twist" this week is to make a monochromatic card, in addition to following the sketch. Done!

All of my stamps come from DeNami Design: the aforementioned Count Your Rainbows sentiment, Rainbow, and Small Cloud. I kept my rainbow monochromatic by coloring it with Copic markers from the Red family: R20, R24, R27, and R29. The patterned paper comes from an old, old DCWV mat stack. I made the fishtail banner  by covering a long piece of white cardstock with strips of red chevron washi tape that I picked up in the Target One Spot a couple of weeks ago.

Well, that's all for now--gotta run to get breakfast and herd everyone out the door on time!

I hope you have a fantastic Sunday today. Thanks for dropping by for a little slice of bliss!
Emily

My son has been busy . . .

So, our 14YO daughter is away this week on her 8th-grade class trip to Washington, D.C. She left early Monday morning and returns late Friday night. Our 10YO son has been kind of lost without her, so he's been asking to make cards with me. I'm tickled pink! It's keeping him busy (and taking his mind off his sister's absence) and giving us some fun stuff to do together.

We've been checking the daily challenge at SplitcoastStampers each morning and talking about what he'd like to make for it while we eat breakfast. And then if there's time, we'll start pulling out supplies before he heads off to school, and then he finishes up his project after school. He's doing a great job with everything! I have him cut and score his card bases (great math practice, as he needs to figure out where the halfway point is). And he's cut his panels and mats, too, figuring out the right sizes and margins along the way. He's a pro at stamping and punching, too!

I also showed him how to color with my Copic markers, which he loves! I'm not setting him loose on his own, mind you (they are just too expensive for that!), but sitting with him and giving him guidance on where to color light and dark, and showing him how to blend. The tendency of alcohol inks to bleed throws him off a bit, but he's doing a fabulous job.

He has been having soooooooooo much fun stamping with my DeNami stamps this week. I thought you might enjoy seeing what he's made so far:

A thank-you note for his band teacher (their last band practice will be tomorrow, so he'll hand-deliver his card with his hand-written message inside.) He made this for the SCS color challenge to use Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, and Daffodil Delight. The band stamp is an old one from Inkadinkadoo, and the rest are from DeNami Design: Just a Note from All Occasion Sentiments set and Mini Music Notes. We also used some Musical Notes Washi Tape from DeNami.
 

A Father's Day card for his daddy! He made this for this week's SCS sketch challenge.  He used Business Chickie, Computer Chickie, and Happy Father's Day cling stamp from DeNami.

This morning he made a thank-you card for one of his teachers (his regular 4th grade teacher is out on maternity leave right now, so this one is for his long-term substitute that his class is finishing out the year with.) He made this for this week's SCS ways to use it challenge, which is to make a one-layer card. My son LOVES using my Stamp-a-majig! The frame is from an old Stampin' Up set (Sweet Dreams). He also used Back to School Chickie and Brushed Thank You stamps from DeNami.

For my son, part of the fun of making these cards has been uploading them to his account on Splitcoast and seeing if anyone makes any comments. He's having a blast being part of the stamping community there!

Well, that's all for now--thanks so much for stopping by today and sharing a little bit of my proud-mama bliss!
Emily

Spring Hyacinth

I made this card thinking that it would be one more Easter card, but I also wanted to play along in this month's Unity challenge--and I don't have any appropriate Unity sentiments for Easter! I thought that the hyacinth would help communicate the theme, but I think the colors are all wrong for it. Oh, well! I still love how it turned out :). If I added an Easter sentiment to the inside, do you think it will be OK for Easter?

I used the sketch portion of the Unity challenge, turning it on its side:

I used Unity's Best Wishes & Blooms for the background stamping, and a sentiment from Unity's { . . . my thoughts are with you}. The hyacinth image is a journaling card from the digital Modern Romance kit from Webster's Pages. I think it is SO pretty! And I dug deeeeeeeeep into my stash of vintage trims to come up with that pretty green rick-rack from my grandma's sewing notions. It still had a price sticker from the 1960s on the package!

I'm also linking up to today's Friends with Flair blog hop. It feels like it's been EONS since I was able to join the hop, and I've really missed it!!

I'm also playing along with these fine challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Easter/Spring
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #212: Bring On Spring
• Shopping Our Stash Challenge #94: Easter or Spring

Time for family movie night, so I've got to run!! We're in the middle of watching the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series on Blu-Ray. Awesome!

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Easter Lily Greetings

Howdy! It's been a busy week here. Can you believe it? My kids had another snow day this week--8 inches mixed with sleet on the last day of winter! That means we have used up all five built-in calamity days this year. Please, Spring, be kind!

I've got to say that Easter has really been sneaking up on me this year. I had to jump start my Easter card stash last week when I realized that it was coming far sooner than I'd thought. And today it hit me that I'll need to start mailing out said Easter card stash on Monday or so. Yikes! So I kicked it in high gear today (in between other tasks) to put together this card:

That beautifully scripted Easter sentiment is from Flourishes' He is Risen set, that lovely Easter lily images is a digital element from the Beautiful Moments digital collection by Carta Bella, the baker's twine is from The Twinery, and the patterned papers are from the Lost & Found: Market Street collection by My Mind's Eye, which I found buried deep in my paper stash. In real-life, the punched label panel on this card coordinates beautifully with the coral colors of the patterned papers, but for some reason it looks all peachy (and clash-y!) in my photo. I'm not sure how that happened!

Well, regardless, I was inspired by a number of terrific challenges in the making of this card, including:

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Easter/Spring
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #212: Bring On Spring
• Shopping Our Stash Challenge #94: Easter or Spring
• Playing in Paradise #109: add some banners
• Tuesday Morning Sketches #190:                                                                    
• The Twinery Challenge: It's a Banner Day                                                               

I'm so glad you stopped by today! I hope you have great plans for the weekend. I can't wait to get mine started!

Oh, I have the March edition of my Ways With Washi feature going live on Monday. There will be another giveaway involved, so you just may want to plan to come back then ;).

Thanks for the visit!
Emily

Moving on to St. Patrick's Day

I told you I would be back to play in Flourishes' February Release Week Challenge, the Pick 1 Challenge again! Now that Valentine's Day is over (here's hoping yours was a fabulous one!), I'm moving on to the next holiday. Here's today's creation:

Remember, we were to pick one of three sketches,

one of three color combinations,

and one of three embellishments.

This time around, I used sketch #2, color combo #3, and embellishments choice #2 – buttons.

I used the very awesome Irish Blessing stamp set from Flourishes.

Got any big plans for the weekend? My kids get all next week off from school for February vacation and my hubby has Monday off for President's Day. I think we will be getting in some awesome family time!!

See you again soon!
Emily 

A Floral Birthday

Just a quick post to share a card I made for Flourishes' February Release Week Challenge, the Pick 1 Challenge. We were to pick one of three sketches,

one of three color combinations,

and one of three embellishments.

For my creation, I used sketch #1, color combo #3, and embellishments choice #2 – buttons.

I used two different Flourishes stamps sets for this card: the image is from Bloomin' Aussie Florals and the sentiment is from Hollyhocks.

This was such a fun challenge! I just sailed right through it. It is kind of addictive, so don't be surprised if I trying to fit in another replay before the end of the week. :)

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

DeNami Adorable Animals Blog Hop

Good morning, friends! I am so excited to be a part of today's DeNami Design blog hop! Today the DeNami Design team and DeNami Design customers are featuring some of the ultra adorable animals in the DeNami stamp lineup. Get ready to overload on cuteness!!

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Tina Milbourn's blog, A Timeless Treasure. 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 amazing 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, February 11, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

OK, now if you have ever taken a gander at the collection of DeNami adorable animal stamps, you know there are a ton to choose from--177, to be exact. But the one that has captured my heart most recently is the brand-new Squirrel stamp. Cuteness personified! I needed two cards so I made a couple of variations on a theme. Here we go!

There are lots of DeNami Design goodies on these cards. I used Squirrel, Nuts About You set,  Small Scallop Heart,  Hearts set, Teeny Heart Background, lavender cardstock, red stripes washi tape, and pink stripes washi tape, and a Crystal lacquer pearl pen.

I am still madly making Valentine cards to send out to friends and family. This afternoon I will be switching over from production mode to prepping for mailing mode! One of these cards will go to a dear close friend who now lives far away. She is totally batty for squirrels and her favorite color is purple. I am pretty sure she will get a kick out of this!

I used a few challenges to get the creative juices flowing for these cards.

• Stampendous February Challenge--Love is in the Air
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge--Have a Heart
• PaperCraft Star--Love
• Tuesday Morning Sketches
  

That's it for me! Before you leave for more adorable animals inspiration, 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 the very sweet and talented Andrea Fisher, Five Pine Designs. 
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,
Emily

A Craft Dash Valentine Card

Hello there, friends! Today DeNami Design Rubber Stamps is sponsoring this week's 10 Minute Craft Dash  Challenge! Sweet Paulina invited the DeNami Design team to play along. Challenge #11 is all about hearts.

I must admit that the idea of creating a card in less than 10 minutes is a bit nerve-racking for me :-)!! But it was fun nonetheless, especially because I got to pull out some awesome Valentine stamps from Denami!! Here is what I created.

I desperately wanted to add some stitching (right along that strip of patterned paper!) but there was no time to do it ;-). See? I was cutting it close as it was.

Want to give this challenge a go? I think you ought to – there is an awesome prize at stake! Check it out:

If you don't already have any DeNami Design stamps, then this is a great way to start your collection with no risk ;-). And if you do? Then you have the chance to feed your addiction!

I played along with two challenges in the making of this card:

• the brand-new CAS on Sunday challenge: Be Mine, Valentine
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge:  Have a Heart
• RetroSketches #49
  

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have an awesome Wednesday!
Emily

Warm & Fuzzy Wishes

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. Ours was pretty good, but went way too fast. My kids had an early release day on Friday, so at least we got to start the weekend early. They both brought friends home for lunch and to hang out for the afternoon. We squeezed in two family movie nights (so easy to do on these cold winter nights!)--Friday night we made more progress on our quest to see all of the Harry Potter movies in order, checking #3 (The Prisoner of Azkaban) off the list. Then on Saturday we rewarded ourselves with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island after a day of homework and chores.

It is a new week with a new to-do list. At the top of my list today is getting a birthday present and card ready to mail to my niece for her eighth birthday at the end of the week. This morning I worked on making her a birthday card. She is all about pink! I figured she would love this little furry creature.

And here is the message I stamped on the inside :-).

I used images and sentiments from the Party Posse stamp set by Paper Smooches and some pretty polka-dotted patterned papers from the Handmade collection from Lily Bee Design. Oh, and that polka dotty washi tape came from Target.

I am playing along with three challenges:

• The Drunken Stampers "Groundhog Day" challenge to feature furry creatures. My friend Jessi just joined the design team at Drunken Stampers. I've never played there before so I am doing so for the first time today in her honor! Congrats and thanks, Jessi!
• The Paper Smooches Stamps SPARKS Trend Watch Challenge: Polka Dots
  
• Lucy's Cards Sketch Challenge Day 1:
  

Well, it's time for me to grab some lunch, and then I must tackle some design team assignments. I hope you are having a terrific Monday! Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit today. I always love seeing you here :-).

Emily

A Sunshiny Birthday Card

Greetings! It's a gloomy, rainy, and cold day here so I thought I'd share a sunshiny card to help brighten things up.

This is for the Progressive Challenge over at Flourishes. The idea is to use the sketch, a monochromatic color scheme, patterned paper, and/or some sparkle in any or all combinations in order to play along.

I definitely did all four. (Sketch? Check! Plus, I've got my yellow/gold monochromatic scheme, my patterned paper is from the Handmade collection by Lily Bee Design, and I've got sparkle in the form of glittery gold Stickles and sunshiny yellow rhinestones.)

I used three different Flourishes stamp sets to make this sunny birthday card:

Hollyhocks

Honeycomb

Spring Botanicals

See that beautiful crocheted mat? That was handmade for me by my sweet friend Jessi. I just LOVE how it looks on this card--so elegant!! Thanks, Jessi!!!

I've got dinner bubbling in the crockpot, making the whole house smell delicious! I'm so glad that we don't have any after-school running around to do today. With the rain and cold out there, it's a good day to be inside for the rest of the day.

Thanks for dropping by!
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

Pilgrim Chicks

Well, Winter Storm Athena didn't thrash us or anything here in New England, but she did give us our first snow of the season! Not a lot, but this morning it covered the grass, leaves, and sidewalks--although it's sure to melt by lunchtime.

I'm still working on mailable Thanksgiving cards for my far-flung family and friends. Here is today's card.

These adorable pilgrim chicks are from Stampendous, and the sentiment is from DeNami. I did some watermark stamping in the background using a stamp from the Stampendous Summer Leaves set. The Stampendous November Challenge is to use any of the Stampendous Essentials products in your project. I flocked the pilgrim chicks using Stampendous Fun Flock.

I'm also playing along in these challenges:

• A Blog Named Hero: Punched/diecut elements (Those scalloped borders I used? I constructed them from a bunch of punched circles!)
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: my friend Jessi designed this week's sketch!
  
• Go Fish Challenge: this time round it's a color challenge
  

Don't forget that today is the last day to enter my Bazzill Paper GIVEAWAY. Check out this post for details! You can enter up until 11:59 EST tonight. :D

Thanks for dropping by today!
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

Thanksgiving Wreath

A new DeNami challenge starts up today, and this time 'round it's a sketch challenge. Here's the sketch:

Cool, right?

Get some more inspiration, along with all the challenge details, over on the DeNami blog. There are prizes up for grabs, so I hope you'll try to play along!

I used all kinds o' DeNami goodies for this card: Leafy Vine Wreath, Happy Thanksgiving, Chocolate Brown cardstock, Brown Kraft cardstock, Golden Tangerine cardstock, Rich Cocoa Memento ink, and Autumn Twine 3-pack.

Thanks for dropping by today!
Emily

PS Have you checked out my GIVEAWAY yet? If not, be sure to check it out HERE.