Christmas Stampin' All Year Long!

The new challenge today over at CSAYL is to put down those Copics and watercolor your image instead.  I think some of my design team members may have shed a tear or two.  Putting down those markers seemed to be a true challenge for many of us!  But hey, that's why we call it a challenge, right?

Our generous sponsor this week is InStyle Stamps and they have offered 4 digis to the winner!

My preferred method of water coloring is to use my Stampin Up ink pads and an aqua-painter.

I squeeze the ink pads while the lid is closed and then slide em' open.  Then I just dip the tip of the aqua-painter into the ink on the lid.

I used an image called "Mr. Ludwig".

Here's a close up of my frosty little friend.

I'd love for you to play along with us!  Only 36 more weeks until Christmas - yes, I counted.  Just think, 1 card a week for 36 weeks and you'll be all set!  Have a fantastic weekend and be sure to leave a link to your project over at the CSAYL blog.

New from InStyle Stamps

InStyle Stamps has a brand new set featuring Patty.

They also have a brand new sketch for April.

Here's what I came up with using an image called "Sitting Patty".

This is one of those images that can be used for a variety of occasions: thank you, friendship, Mother's Day. 

I used some papers by BasicGrey and paired them up with Crushed Curry cardstock and polka dot ribbon.

Be sure to hop on over to the InStyle blog for more sketch samples and challenge details.  I'll be back tomorrow with a new challenge for CSAYL!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

It's challenge day over at CSAYL!

Our sponsor is InStyle Stamps and 4 digis are up for grabs to one lucky participant!

This week our challenge is.....
"I can see right throught that!"

Hop on over to the challenge blog for all the juicy details.

Instyle Challenges

Did you know that InStyle Stamps posts a new challenge every week? 

And the best part?

You have an entire month to play along!

Check out the color challenge for March...

Definitely not my normal color palette, but with the Spring season just around the corner, these colors are perfect!  I used a brand new image from a set called, "Patty Bunny Wuv".

You have until April 11th, 2011 by 11:59 pm PST to enter. You could win either 1 or 2 digital stamps depending of if you use an InStyle Image or not.

And here's the Inspiration Challenge for March that was just posted today...

Here's what I came up with...

 I used another image from the new "Patty Bunny Wuv" set and took the opportunity to practice my blonde hair coloring technique.

InStyle Stamps aren't required to play along with the challenge, but if you got em', use em'!  Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back tomorrow.

New Stamps and a Sketch Challenge

InStyle Stamps has new rubber in the house!

The Easter tree was my fave of the bunch so that's what I played with, ehem.....I mean worked with first. I used the March InStyle sketch to get started. And here's what I came up with...
I used Kraft cardstock for the base and patterns by Memory Box.
I used part of a 3" circle for the main panel, added some die cut grass and layered on the tree.

To finish it off, I added a rub-on sentiment, some half-back pearls and a bit of paper piercing.

Here's a close up of the image before I cut it out. I used a glitter pen to accent the eggs and color the white flowers.

If you're inspired by the sketch, hop on over to the InStyle blog and play along with us! Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Whoa Baby!

I'm surrounded by pregnant women! There must be something in the water out here, because everywhere I look these days, I see baby bumps. I totally have baby fever now, and figured I'd put all of those feelings to good use and make some cards for all of the new arrivals that will be coming soon. I made this one just in time, because my good friend just became a Grandma four days ago! I used a super cute elephant image by InStyle Stamps. The elephant is actually part of a scene, and I just cut it out. I embellished with some jewels, okay a lot of jewels, and a ric-rac border punch. The sentiment is actually a printed playing card that I thought worked well with the rest of the card.
Thanks for stopping by today.
If you're a fan of CSAYL, you can hop on over there for a quick post about the challenges for this year.

Meet Steph

This is Steph.
Isn't she cute?

As soon as I saw this image, I had to have it. So sweet, so girly.
You can find her over at InStyle Stamps, along with lots of other great images.

This was a really quick card to put together, so I thought I'd show you how I did it. The first thing I did was choose what papers I wanted to work with. I found a great pattern from the "Hopscotch" collection by BasicGrey and paired it up with a fun polka dot cardstock by BoBunny. I decided to use a pink base to pull off the girly look that I was going for. Then I colored my image to match with Copic markers.The next step was choosing a layout. This is usually the most time consuming part for me. Once I picked something that I was happy with, I cut my papers. For this card I cut a 3.5" circle and a 4" x 5" rectangle. Then I adhered them to the card with the rectangle overlapping the circle.I added the image panel on top and popped up the phone and part of Steph's hair with dimensionals. Don't ya just love pop dots?! Next up was some embellishing to finish it off.
Voila! Girly card completed!
Thanks for stopping by to peek at my project today. I'll be back tomorrow with something fit for a princess.

Mod Podge Madness!

My buddy Taylor is hosting a Valentine's Day Blog hop. If you'd like to start at the beginning, just click here.

As part of the InStyle Stamps design team, I had a fun opportunity to play with some great products from Plaid. Check out all of these goodies that I received in the mail! Who doesn't love pop dots and glitter glue?
I was able to put together a really cute gift set, in record time, with many of these great products offered from Plaid.
Here's what I came up with...
A gift tin, altered mini notebook and matching card.

The tin measures about 6 inches tall and I used a new image from InStyle Stamps to decorate the front.

Above is a close up of the mini notebook and the card.

Here's how I put it all together...

I cut my patterned papers to size and then brushed Paper Mod Podge Matte on the back.

After that layer dried (5-10 minutes) I painted over the top of it with the Sparkle Mod Podge.

When they say "Sparkle", they're not kidding.

This stuff is AWESOME and this is only one coat!

After I added the image panel, I embellished with black chipboard, flowers and buttons.

This little cutie is called "Mom Love" and you can find her right here. I used a Nestability to cut out the image and then sponged some "So Saffron" ink around the edges to soften it up a bit.

Then I added some pink grosgrain ribbon around the edge of the lid.

Here's the mini book that I altered...

I put a Copic next to it to show the size.

I used more of this cute patterned paper by We R Memory Keepers and adhered it with Mod Podge Matte finish.

For embellishing, I colored a white paper flower with Copics,

and then brushed over it with Mod Podge Sparkle.

After it dried, I used a pop dot to add a chipboard heart to the center.

I also used some Mod Podge Sparkle on the balloons that I used for the card. This image is also by InStyle Stamps and can be found here.

Are you still with me?
If you are, you're a champ!
Here's one last look at the complete set.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today! The next stop on the hop is my buddy Melissa! She's got lots of info on all of the great prizes up for grabs today on the hop!
I'm off to school to throw a root beer float party.
Happy Valentine's Day!