The Twinery and Poppystamps Blog Hop!

Hello friends and welcome to the first of two days of fabulous blog hops with The Twinery and Poppystamps!  I was so excited to work with Poppystamps dies and twine and hope you are inspired by the projects you see over the next couple of days!

Before getting started, I must apologize for the quality of these photos - I shot all of these this week expecting to be able to edit them as I usually do but I am having a lot of problems with iPhoto crashing and can't get any editing done.  I hope you can see the projects beyond the not-so-great photos and I will replace them with edited versions as soon as I can!

The first card showcases the Samirah Butterfly die and I had so much fun popping some of the little circles out.  A side benefit of these wonderful butterflies is really fun confetti!  :)  I layered a piece of floral patterned paper on a red card base and added the gold glitter sentiment, stars, and a coordinating sticker.  I cut two butterflies out of two different shades of pink/coral card stock that matched the patterned paper perfectly and popped out some of the holes.  I wrapped some Rainbow Teal Shimmer twine around the butterfly "bodies" and left the ends loose to make antennae.  I finished by folding the wings of the butterflies up a bit so they pop off of the card.

This week we are actually heading to Missouri for my husband's aunt's funeral.  She has bravely battled cancer for several years and finally went home.  We are so sad but know she's in a better place and is out of pain.  She's up dancing with the angels!  Anyway, I made this card for my mother in law (it was her sister) and hope this can cheer her up just a bit during this tough time.  I used a gradient of blues/greens watercolored over watercolor paper and stamped the sentiment in pale brown ink.  I cut out the flowers using the Fairy Flower die and finished the card with some Solid Natural twine.

Ah, I just love this die - Brevilla Houses - it will be so versatile!!  I layered a piece of patterned paper over a kraft card base and then cut the houses out of woodgrain patterned paper.  I added a coordinating sticker and brads to the card, stamped a sentiment on a coordinating die cut and layered it over some Solid Cappuccino twine.  Love this!

Here is the hop order for today and I hope you find lots of crafty goodness!  Thanks so much for visiting today!

The Twinery - http://thetwinery.com/blog

Poppystamps - http://poppystamps.typepad.com/

Jaclyn Miller - http://designsbyjax.blogspot.com/

Chunyuan Wu - http://dahliamemories.blogspot.com/search/label/PoppyStamp      

Lezlye Lauterbach - http://lezlyes.blogspot.com/search/label/Poppystamps          

Stacey Schafer - http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com/

Jean Manis - http://jeanmanis.com/category/poppystamps/                    

Melyssa Connolly - http://www.fantastink.blogspot.com/

Suzanna Lee - http://www.lifestrivialities.typepad.com/

Diane Barney - http://charmingly-creative.blogspot.com/search/label/Poppystamps         

Jennifer Cuthbertson - http://www.jencuthbertson.blogspot.com/

Katarina Damm-Blomberg - http://krumeluran.wordpress.com/

Cooling Off - Serendipity Stamps Guest Designer!

I am soooo very excited to be a guest designer for Serendipity Stamps' Challenge Blog this month!  This is the second of two posts for July where all of the designers are using twine!  Our first theme was "It's hot outside" and now we're cooling things off!  One of my favorite things to do to cool off at the end of a hot day is to hang out in the shade of my yard!  Serendipity has the most wonderful floral alphabet stamps that I thought would be perfect for this challenge!   

I kept things pale and simple for my first card, stamping the amaryllis onto some white cardstock and then adding just a bit of watercoloring in pale blue and green.  I mounted the letter over some gold shimmer twine and some pale blue patterned paper.  I finished the card with a few gold sequins.

For my second card, I layered a couple of pieces of coral patterned papers together and then stamped and colored the JOY letters.  I wrapped some silver twine for this one and did a bit of watercoloring as well.

Thanks so much for visiting today and a huge thank you to Mary, Jeanne, and the entire Serendipity team for having me along for the ride this month!

Be Strong

Hello friends!  Today is my turn at the Waltzingmouse Inspiration blog so I hope you head over there to check out all of the amazing inspiration with Waltzingmouse Stamps.  Instead of just a preview here, I wanted to share the story of little Roscoe Wackerly for whom I made this card.

Little Roscoe was born 3 months premature and is the nephew of a crafty friend of mine, Tifany DeGough.  Little Roscoe has had a pretty rough time the past month and can really use some prayers for healing so that he can live a full and long life.  I check his story every morning when I wake up and every evening before I go to sleep and pray for some wonderful news.  His story has touched my heart in a way I haven't been touched before I I'm really pulling for that little guy.  Makes me hug Amelia tighter and I try to spend more quality time with her every day.

I saw this verse in my Safe Harbour Sentiments set and thought it described his journey perfectly.  I stamped it over a frame I stamped from the Ocean Bound set.  I cut out the little card and added it over some nautical-themed papers.  I finished the card with a banner sticker and some wooden sequins (love those things!)

Here's to you, Roscoe, for making my world a little bit bigger.  And thanks, everyone, for visiting today!

Star Garland

Hello friends!  Today I'm up over at The Twinery blog sharing one of hopefully many more party ideas with you!  Our daughter, Amelia, will turn one in September and I'm starting to worry think about her party!  We've decided on a circus theme and I think these star garlands will be perfect decorations!

I started off with 3.5' lengths of Twinery twine in primary colors (Marigold, Midnight Blue, and Maraschino stripe) and then used a star punch to punch zillions of stars out of coordinating cardstock.  Okay, not zillions but it felt like it!  Thankfully Amelia enjoyed watching the process because I have a lot more to work on before the big day!

I glued the stars together over the twine so they can twist and turn in the breeze without showing an "underside."  I think these will be perfect on the desert table and hanging over doorways.  I'll be sure to share photos of my other projects for the party as well as the party itself!

 Thanks so much for visiting today!

The Twinery and Chic Tags Blog Hop

Hello friends and welcome to a wonderful blog hop with The Twinery and Chic Tags!  I was amazed and the wonderful products that came from Chic Tags and couldn't stop creating!  :)  I pinky swear I will start my PL one of these days but I'm just too overwhelmed right now and can't seem to get going. I have excuse after excuse and right now it is that my craft table is cluttered and I don't have shelves in my closet to put the extra stuff away…  Yes, terrible, I know…  Anyway...

What I love about journaling cards and other decorative die cuts/tags is how versatile they are!  I started off with a kraft card base and added a piece of grid paper, layered a journaling card, some gold shimmer twine, a tag, and some fun, wooden sequins for this card.  I made it with my daughter in mind but it would be perfect for a significant other or a new baby!

I thought this card would be perfect for an engagement or a wedding!  I started off with a sky blue card base wound with gold shimmer twine and added the wonderful ampersand card (I just love that shimmery gold!)  I finished the card off with some fun circular die cuts and some gold sequin trim.

For this final card I thought it would be fun to make a little gift card holder out of a little bag.  I used the sequin and "lovely" rub-ons to decorate the bag and layered it over some pink patterned papers.  I finished the card with a circle die cut, some blossom stripe twine, and a few real sequins. 

Now it wouldn't be a blog hop without some prizes, right?  Well, here are the wonderful prizes offered by The Twinery and Chic Tags for this hop.  Head over to the blogs for more information about how to win (links below) - 

And finally, here is today's hop list -

Chic Tags

The Twinery

Amy Coose

Tifany DeGough

Jennifer Haggerty

Christine Meyer

Mandy Kay Starner

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Jennie McGarvey

Suzanna Lee

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Happy 4th of July!

I promised a winner from the 4th of July blog hop last weekend and here goes nothing…

Lynn!

Thanks to everyone who commented and a very happy Independence Day to you and yours!  I've been saying all day that we used to stay up late for fireworks and now we get up early for parades!  Life has been blessed chaos since the minute Miss Amelia Grace came into our lives and we figure out things as they come.  She LOVED the parade today with all of the bands and even practiced her new waving skills!  Adorbs!

It's Hot Outside - Serendipity Stamps Guest Designer!

Hello friends!  I realized I went on vacation without announcing when I'd choose a winner for the twine package from this post so just to be fair, I'll choose and announce the winner on the 4th of July.  Comment by midnight Thursday to have a chance…

Okay, now to the fun stuff!  I am soooo very excited to be a guest designer for Serendipity Stamps' Challenge Blog this month!  I've been a big fan for a long time and had so much fun playing with some really great stamps and dies!  This month's theme is twine and I can't wait to see what everyone creates!  For the beginning of the month, we're talking "it's hot outside" and boy is it where I live!  You see, I'm about 15 miles north of San Francisco and since it is temperate most of the year, we don't have air conditioning.  Ugh.  Today it is 90 outside and just about the same inside my house.  Blech.  There are a few things I think of when it is hot outside - one is the 4th of July and the other is getting on the water!

For my first card, I used the fabulous month of July stamp with wonderful imagery for the 4th of July, colored it with some Copics, and added some Stickles for a glittery touch.  I cut out and layered the image over some patterned papers wrapped with twine, stamped the sentiment, and added a few die cut stars to finish it off.

My next two projects feature boating and the ocean which is a wonderful place to spend some time when it is hot outside.  I stamped the boat onto a journaling card and added some fun embellishments and some twine to finish the first card.  The second card has a wonderful sentiment stamped onto a journaling card (aren't they versatile?!)  I die cut the lighthouse twice in red and navy and pieced it together and finished the card with a twine "frame" and some glass glitter "sand."

Thank you so much for visiting today!  It has been an honor to play along with the very talented team at Serendipity Stamps and I look forward to another post later this month!