8.30.2011

My Scrapbook Nook and a BABY layout!

Hi, everyone! So nice to see you all today! I hope everyone is okay after all the weather issues we've been having lately! We have been on and off with power for the past four days and it is SOOOO frustrating. Hopefully it'll stay on for good now, I'm not so good with being hot and hungry... lol!

I wanted to stop in quickly today to share this super cute layout I made and let you know some exciting news! Earlier in the month (actually, it feels like forever ago... lol!) I applied for a Design Team position for My Scrapbook Nook and ordered my very first kit. I have been having so much fun creating with my kit and have met some super nice ladies over on their forum! My big announcement is that I have been chosen for the "short list!" Basically, the applicants have been narrowed down to a Top 40 and I'm on the list! So exciting! I'll keep you posted and let ya know how I do!

Here's a layout I made with my August Nook Kit- it's full of pretty My Mind's Eye Lime Twist papers and embellishments- perfect for my little boy pictures! Believe it or not, I took these pictures 3 years ago and I'm finally getting around to scrapping them... lol! SO BEHIND!



And a closer shot of the journaling. I'm actually in a class over at the Scrapbook Nook right now called Getting the Story Straight and this layout is for our first assignment. The prompt was to journal in a more bulleted form, reporting the facts in a straight forward way! I had a lot of fun with it and I can't wait to see what other great journaling ideas I'll learn from this class!


Thanks so much for stopping by today! See you soon!
 

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8.26.2011

Market Street Block Party!!

SO excited to share with you this super cool contest today! New today on the Market Street Stamps blog is the announcement of the BLOCK PARTY!




 This will be a monthly linky party to keep you busy while you wait for your stamps to come in the mail after a new release! Not only is it a fun place to hang out, but you could win some fabulous prizes, one being a GUEST DESIGN TEAM SPOT! I can't think of a better prize than working with this fabulous Design Team!

I thought I'd play along and link up this month! It's really as easy as making ANY project using Market Street Stamps and linking on the MSS blog! Easy peasy!

Here's what I have to share today:


LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mixing and matching sets and exploring how they work together. It's one of my favorite things to do with stamps! For these, I used Here Comes the Sun, Vintage Music, and Hippie Chic to create this fun card and tag set!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and make sure you run over to the Market Street Stamps blog and link up a project for your chance to win!! Happy stamping everyone!



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8.25.2011

MSS reveal and The Play Date Cafe Challenge!

Hi! Hope everyone's having an AMAZING week! Make sure you run over to the Market Street Stamps blog to see the full reveal of the new August release stamps and see if you were a winner! Lots of fun stuff over there tonight!
Also super exciting is the challenge at The Play Date Cafe this week! Market Street Stamps is sponsoring and the prize is the two new background sets Gingham and Cane! Fab challenge and super fab prize- make sure you play along this week!

Here's the challenge:



And here's the card I made:


Had SO much fun with this one! That sweet little cow and the sentiment are from the new MSS stamp set For All It's Worth! My son had so much fun stamping away with this sweet cow this morning that I just had to play with him while Austin was napping! Totally cute! I snuck a little bit of the new Gingham background on the fence, too- can't seem to NOT use the Gingham on everything... lol!

Make sure you stop by the Market Street Stamps blog tomorrow for a super fun new contest! You won't want to miss it, trust me!!


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8.24.2011

MSS Sneak Peek: Gingham

Hi, everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the BEAUTIFUL projects presented by the Design Team this week! Don't worry- only one more day before you can order these sets for yourself! I have a feeling you're gonna want them all!

Here are the details of the release:
  • The August release stamps will be "sneaked" Monday-Wednesday at 7PM CST!
  • The full sets will be revealed on Thursday night!
  • Stamps will be available for sale following the reveal Thursday night!
  • The August release stamps will be 15% off in the store for an entire week following the release!! Want all 5 sets? If you order the whole release they'll be 25% off for an entire week!! Can't beat that!

Tonight I get to sneak peek a very special stamp! It's my new FAVORITE background stamp and I'm sure it will be for some of you, too! When I first became a Design Team member for Market Street Stamps, I sent an email to Angelica with some ideas for stamp sets and a full A2 size GINGHAM background was #1 on my list! LOVE gingham, LOVE the ease of stamping a full background in one stamp- can't be better than this!

So, please meet the new Gingham background stamp from Market Street Stamps:


Nuff said. I'm in love. I'll probably use this stamp a little bit on every card from here on out... lol! In addition to the beautiful Gingham on this card, I used some elements of the new Autumn Wishes set! Definitely a match made in heaven!

Thank you so much for stopping by tonight! Make sure to leave comments on all the designers blogs and the MSS blog for your chance to win this set and the other set being "sneaked" tonight- For All It's Worth!

I can't wait until you all see these stamp sets tomorrow! You're going to LOVE them all!


DON'T FORGET!!


There's still time to share your projects for the Cream of the Crop contest! It's easy as pie! All you have to do is share your project with us in the MSS flickr group, MSS Splitcoast Gallery, or on Facebook or Twitter! You have through Friday to WOW us! Can't wait to see what you make! Click HERE for more information!


 

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8.23.2011

MSS Sneak Peeks Day 2!


 Hi!

Just stopping in real quick to let you know that the second day of sneak peeks are up on the Market Street Stamps blog RIGHT NOW! Hurry over and leave comments to win the beautiful new set, "Autumn Wishes!"

 I'll be back tomorrow night with a final sneak- by the way... it's my new FAVORITE stamp set! You don't want to miss it!
  

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CAS-ual Fridays Embossing Challenge!


Hi, everyone! Stopping by today with a card for the latest Cas-ual Fridays challenge! I haven't had a chance to play along in awhile and I was excited to do some embossing this past weekend!

Here's the challenge:

 


And here's my card:


LOVE the way this one came out! I pulled out my Echo Park For the Record 6 x 6 pad and chose this beautiful, warm teal paper to emboss. Ran it through the Cuttlebug with my PTI Tin Types impression plate! The text paper is also from that collection!

Finished it off with a sentiment from PTI's Mat Stack 2 Collection and a sweet Enchanted Evening bow!

Really love this color combo- can't wait to use it again soon!

Hope you enjoyed my card today! Don't forget- we're right in the middle of "Sneak Peeks" of the new Market Street Stamps August Release stamps! Make sure you check the MSS blog all week for more information!!


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8.22.2011

MSS Sneak Peek: Comforting Florals

Hi! How's everyone doing?? I'm doing very well at the moment and I'm very happy to "sneak" some BEAUTIFUL new stamps from Market Street Stamps! Tonight is the first night of sneak peeks- make sure you visit the Market Street Blog for even more sneak peeks and a list of Design Team members who are also playing along tonight! Leave comments on all the designers blogs and on the Market Street Stamps blog for your chance to win a new stamp set! And it looks like you could earn even MORE chances to win- check the MSS blog for more information on that one!
Here are the details of the release:
  • The August release stamps will be "sneaked" Monday-Wednesday at 7PM CST!
  • The full sets will be revealed on Thursday night!
  • Stamps will be available for sale following the reveal Thursday night!
  • The August release stamps will be 15% off in the store for an entire week following the release!! Want all 5 sets? If you order the whole release they'll be 25% off for an entire week!! Can't beat that!

Who's ready to see a sneak? LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this new set. Perfect to "comfort" those in need of a little love- a great set for letting people know you're thinking about them, praying for them, and offering your condolences. Lovely set, indeed!

    LOVE the hydrangeas in this set. SO pretty and SO easy to color! There is so much detail in the image that there is no need for blending and shading! Just beautiful!
    Make sure you stop by all the design team members blogs and the Market Street Stamps blog to leave comments for your chance to win one this set! I'll be back on Wednesday with another sneak!!
    DON'T FORGET!! 
    There's still time to share your projects for the Cream of the Crop contest! It's easy as pie! All you have to do is share your project with us in the MSS flickr group, MSS Splitcoast Gallery, or on Facebook or Twitter! You have through Friday to WOW us! Can't wait to see what you make! Click HERE for more information!

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8.19.2011

PageMaps Card Contest!

Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! I'm here today to share a card I made yesterday for the PageMaps Card Contest. The prize is AMAZING this month and I just had to get my butt in gear and make something! Run over to the PageMaps blog for more information- I hope you can play along, too!

Here's the card sketch:



And here's my card:


I gotta admit... while I LOVE fall (it's actually my favorite season!) I am clinging in my crafty world to SUMMER! I love the Lauderdale collection from Basic Grey so I pulled it out for this card. LOVE the fun colors and those chipboard stickers are fab, too. One of my favorite collections- so great for summer!

I'm off to Archiver's with my friend Becky tonight for the Friday Crop! I'm kind of happy that Archiver's is an hour away or I would have a serious debt problem... lol! Can't wait to see all the new stuff they have in store! I'll probably be carrying some heavy bags home!

Are you ready for the new release sneak peeks from Market Street Stamps next week! I AM! So excited about the new stamps this month- you are going to LOVE them! Stayed tuned to the Market Street Stamps blog on Monday for our first sneak peeks!!

Also, don't forget about the "Cream of the Crop" contest! It's the EASIEST way to win some mullah to shop in the Marketplace with! Just post your projects in our Flickr Group, or Splitcoast Gallery, or just share with us on Facebook! It's SUPER easy!

See you on Monday with a sneaky peeky!! Have a great weekend!
 

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8.17.2011

MSS Sketch Challenge!

Hello, hello! Hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! I'm here today to share a card I made for the latest Market Street Stamps Sketch Challenge! The challenges on the Market Street Stamps blog are a great way to jumpstart your creativity and WIN stuff! Can't be better than that! The prize for this challenge is a Celebrate Cake stamp set and a Momento Tuxedo Black ink pad! Play along for your chance to win!

Here's the challenge:



And here's my card:


Hehe... LOVE those little birdies from the Cheep Talk set! SO cute! I stamped them on rustic cream cardstock and colored with Copics. Layered them on top of a piece of Echo Park A Walk in the Park patterned paper and a kraft layer that was stamped with the Woodgrain background. LOVE the little word bubbles in this set- thie so much fun and add so much interest to the card!

Make sure you visit the Market Street Stamps blog today to see oodles of inspiration by our FABULOUS design team! I pinch myself every day- so lucky to work with such amazing designers!! I hope you can play along!!








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8.15.2011

My Scrapbook Nook and MME Lime Twist!

Hi, guys! If you remember a couple of months ago I was asking for suggestions regarding a monthly scrapbook kit club. I think I may have found one that I really LOVE! I've been hanging with the ladies over at My Scrapbook Nook and they have been so, so sweet and welcoming! I recently received my first kit and I've been scrapping like crazy!
I have a couple of fun things to show you today- both use My Mind's Eye Lime Twist papers and embellishments from the Nook August kit!

First is a fun layout I threw together for the August sketch challenge. LOVE pulling out the baby pictures and putting them to use. Here's another one featuring my little man, Austin. He's not being quite as sweet lately as he was in these pictures... haha! Anyone else HATE the 3's? He's killing me! Anyway... here he is at 6 months old...





And... I have a card that I made a little while ago for a card sketch challenge on the Nook forum:


LOVE this kit- I've been having a blast with the ladies on the forum and there is so much inspiration to be found over there! Definitely go and check it out! Can't wait to see what will be in store for September! Can't wait!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday- I'll be back on Wednesday with a card for the next Market Street Stamps Sketch Challenge!



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8.13.2011

My Mind's Eye Card Challenge!

Hi! I hope you are all having a great weekend so far! Sorry for the quietness around here this week- we've had family visiting for the past couple of days and I've been a busy, busy hostess! I did squeeze in some crafty time last night with my sister-in-law and I thought I'd take some time to share it with you today!

I've been having a blast playing with my August kit from My Scrapbook Nook- it's chocked full of SUPER cute My Mind's Eye Lime Twist papers and embellishments. Since I am lucky enough to have all of these fun papers to play with, I thought I'd also play along with the Card Challenge from the My Mind's Eye blog.

Here's the challenge:

MME_CardSketch_2011_08


And here's my card:


LOVE the way this one came out! I used the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Collection to make these super cute tags. Then, I stamped this alphabet circle stamp and apple from the PTI Tag-its #6 on a Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprout! Super fun! The lace is from Hero Arts and the "thanks" sentiment is from the PTI Daily Design Sentiments set.

This is going to be the perfect card to give to my son's new kindergarten teacher! I love to give the teachers a little card and gift after the first week to thank them for all their hard work helping all the students adjust and transition smoothly. I know how hard it can be!

I hope you all enjoyed your visit today! Thanks for stopping by!

 

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8.10.2011

Echo Park Fresh Faces Campaign!!

Did you all hear about this monthly design team call from Echo Park Paper?? It's a wonderful competition that focuses on new and upcoming talent! LOVE the idea and LOVE Echo Park so I figured I'd take my chances and give it a try! What do I have to lose?

I've been concentrating on scrapbooking a lot more lately. While card making is my number one love, scrapbooking holds a big place in my heart because it centers around my family. Memory keeping is HUGE for me and I'm glad that I get to share my family memories with you!

My all time favorite collection from Echo Park is Little Boy. I have two little boys of my own and find myself reaching for the super cute patterns in this collection OFTEN! I have three projects to share with you today that all use elements from the Little Boy collection!




LOVE this first layout- encompasses all the fun of little babies... I miss those times every now and then! The little man in the green is my little Austin and the pretty girl in the blue is a dear friend's daughter. It was so fun to see them interact together!




All elements are from the Little Boy collection including this journaling card and the sticker letters. So easy to throw a page together when all of the elements coordinate so nicely!








Mixing and matching the patterns is one of my favorite things to do when I get a new collection and these patterns work together so well! I added a faux stitch border around the entire page with a black pen. The stamp on the bottom of the page is a SMASH stamp!

This next layout was another really fun one to create! It brought back so many fond memories! It's a series of pictures of my poor little baby boy being kissed by our puppy, Ellie! SO cute!




Again, I used the Little Boy collection a lot on this page! The buttons are perfect for punching out and using as embellishments. The title is layered on a hand cut journal tag I made with the Mini Scrapbook Series: Library Ledger set from PTI. The lines I used for the journaling are also from that set!











I added some great green satin ribbon to really draw attention to the photos on the page. This is a fun ruffle technique that really adds a lot of punch!

And lastly, I would like to share a clean and simple birthday card!


The focal image of this card is actually cut straight from the front sheet of the collection kit! Couldn't get any easier than that! And that also means that NO piece of this kit will go to waste! Haha! I added a strip of the scalloped sticker from the Alpha Stickers sheet, tied a pretty white ribbon around, and adhered it to the card base! Easy peasy! Then, I stamped this fun birthday sentiment from PTI's Say It With Style set and added a little rhinestone accent! What a fun and QUICK card!

I hoped you enjoyed seeing a little more scrapbooking on the blog- I really am having a blast trying to catch up and document these memories! There will be much, much more to come!

Thanks for stopping by today!! 


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8.08.2011

Tutorial: Dry Brushing with Distress Stains

Hi, everyone! I have a fun technique to show you today that I stumbled upon while playing around with my Distress Stains a little while back. I LOVE to sit down with my Distress Stains and just PLAY- you never know what you'll come up with!

This time I decided to see what kind of effect I could get with the Distress Stains by "painting" them on cardstock with a dry, firm bristled paint brush. I literally pulled this paint brush out of the kids craft supplies- you don't need any type of special brush- use what ya got!






Here are the supplies I used: Distress Stains (Antique Linen, Faded Jeans, Walnut Stain, and Weathered Wood), a paint brush, craft sheet, and white cardstock.




First, dispense some Distress Stain right onto the craft sheet.




Then, take a dry paint brush and dip it/swirl it in the Distress Stain.




Softly drag the paint brush across the cardstock, creating rustic, nonuniform lines all the way across.




Repeat this process with multiple colors of Distress Stain (I used 4 different colors), layering and overlapping colors until you develop a pattern you like! Have fun with it- add different colors and play around!




Here is the pattern I ended up with. It's very rustic and masculine looking- just what I was looking for!




Next, I inked up part of my Lost Garden background stamp with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I only wanted the background to go across the bottom and right side, so I only inked those parts of the stamp!




Stamp to create a fun layered look!




After stamping! See that bottom right corner- it was screaming for a sentiment from Simple Joys- so that's what I did next!




I played around a bit and decided on the sentiment combination "enjoy the journey." This card would be perfect to send to a friend starting college or starting a new job- so many possibilities!




I stamped and cut out the sentiments "enjoy" and "the" to be adhered with foam dimensional tape. This really helped the sentiment to pop!




Finally, I adhered the entire image panel to an A2 size card base.



Here is the finished card:



I hoped you enjoyed the tutorial today! Have fun with your Distress Stains- don't be afraid to play around with them a little bit! 


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