It's Love!

New + Stampendous Stamps = LOVE!  These cute little Kissin Kiddos are no exception!  This adorable smooching duo can be found on page 7 of the new October 2012 catalog.  You should have arrived here from Kristine's blog.  It's always exciting when a new catalog is published, that means there's more Stampendous goodness to get.  Take a peek through the catalog and I bet you'll be making a wish list like me!  So here's my card for the hop today and I do hope you like it:

My card is a 5"x5" square with a base of Bazzill.  My patterned papers are all from the Fancy Pants Designs 6"x6" paper pad called Childish Things.  I don't believe I could have found a better paper choice for this stamp!  My image is colored with Copics, my favorite medium of choice.  Here's a close up of the image:

I love the embarrassed look on his face and the sweet look of love on hers!  I tried to give him just enough of a flush to go with the expression.  The buttons are from my stash and that's Timeless Twine I've used for accent and I've put it all together with Zip Dry from Beacon Adhesives.  Well you have lots of other projects to take a look at so I won't keep you any longer.  There are 3 sur-prizes for today's hop but you are only eligible to win if you leave comments along the way.  Next on the hop is Mary Dawn, one of our new and very talented BlogStars.   Here's the complete hop list:

 Annette Witherspoon 

Asia King 

Barb Turpin 

Cyndi Bundy

Janelle Stollfus  

Jennifer Ingle 

Jennifer Dove 

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel  (me!)

Mary Dawn Quirindongo 

Melinda Gleissner  

Pam Hornschu 

Rhea Weigard

Suzanne Czosek

Taylor Usry

Tenia Nelson

Tobi Crawford

Wenday Jordan

Wendy Price 

Yana Smakula 

 Enjoy your previews and hopefully I'll see you back here in the near future!  Thanks for stopping by and if you've left me a little love, it's greatly appreciated!

Hugs,
Lea

Hoping I Stack Up!

Hi there!  Today we are playing along with Do You Stack Up (DYSU) Challenge Blog and I'm hoping my card stacks up!  The theme for this week is "Something Vintage," not actually old in years but old as in vintage style.  Vintage just screams Fran•táge in my book and I love the aged embossing powders from Stampendous.  For my card I used Bird Post and the flourish from Vintage Crowns Perfectly Clear Stamp Set.  I also used Clear Bark embossing powder, Aged Black embossing enamel and Tea Stained Mica Fragments.    Using a mortar and pestle, I ground up some of the Tea Stained Mica Fragments and added them to my Aged Black embossing enamel because I wanted to use the aged black but I wanted it to have a rust colored undertone.  Here's how it turned out:

As you can see, the Tea Stained Mica Fragments that I ground up really stuck to the VersaMark ink I used to emboss with.  I really like the effect it created! I added some Clear Bark ep over a few of the spots on the main image and I used Clear Bark on the large flourish.  I needed a detail powder and Clear Bark added just the right amount of warmth I needed. For the "nest" I created below the bird, I used the same mix but added more of the Aged Black and then threw in a few large mica fragments just for good measure.

I put together my paper layers (Bazzill and My Mind's Eye), added some ribbon to the bottom layer, adhered all the papers and then added a little more embossing enamel here and there around the card.  Next I added some Tim Holtz distress ink in Tea Dye.  For my finishing touch I added this cute little Tim Holtz crown embellishment and a little pearl on each side.

Now, if you want to play along, and you know you do, be sure to post your card on you blog and then link your card to the DYSU Challenge Blog using their Mr. Linky.  Keep in mind that you are not allowed to back link, each card you link must be created during the time frame of the current challenge.  You're allowed to enter up to 3 projects.  Full details are on their blog. Thanks for stopping by.  Happy crafting!

Hugs,
Lea

Core'dinations Comes Calling

Eeeekk!  It's Mumeek!  And, he's surrounded by some seriously goofy Jack-O-Lantern friends.  As I'm sure you already know, there's a blog collaboration between Stampendous and Core'dinations this week and we've have a great time playing with their paper and they've played with our stamps!  It's been a win/win for all!  Speaking of winning, if you comment on my blog, you're entered to win a prize.  If you don't comment, you won't win.  You should have landed here from Kristine's blog.  And here's my card:

I'm going to show you the card in two different lighting situations, this is because of the embossing powder I used and I want you to get the full effect.

Do you see the difference?  Isn't that embossing powder just yummy!?  Here's an even closer look:

I love this embossing powder!  This was so much fun to do.  My Core'dinations papers, both from the Tim Holtz Distressed Collection, are Black Soot and Spiced Marmalade.  That's right!  Core'dinations has a great collection of papers in most of the Tim Holtz Distress Ink colors.  This makes it so easy to coordinate your paper and ink.  Anyway, I took my piece of Black Soot and ran it through my Cuttlebug using a Cuttlebug folder of Jack-O-Lanterns.  Rather than using the embossed side of the paper, I used the debossed side, inked the inside of each Jack-O-Lantern with my VersaMark pen and then embossed with Carnelian Pearluster embossing powder from Stampendous.  Next, I used the Versamark pen inside the leaves and pumpkin stems and embossed with Jade Pearluster embossing powder also from Stampendous.  Once they were all embossed on the debossed side (still following?), I set about doing some light sanding.  The sanding is much more noticeable in the first picture.  I attached this piece to my Spiced Marmalade card base and added my ribbon and bow.  I set this aside and stamped my image on Neenah, colored it with Copics and then added some Tim Holtz distress ink in Black Soot to the edges.  I layered my image on a smaller mat of the Spiced Marmalade and attached it to my card base with pop-dots.  And there you have it!

Here's the complete blog hop list in case you've lost your way or are just starting with my blog.  If you splashed down here from Kristine, then your next stop is at Mary Dawn's blog.  Don't forget to comment if you want a chance to win a prize.

Stampendous Blog

Core'dinations Blog

Annette Witherspoon

Cyndi Bundy

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Ingle

Krissy Fossmeyer

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel (that's me!)

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Melinda Gleissner

Rhea Weigand

Stephanie Lee (Arty Carty)

Suzanne Czosek

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan

Wendy Price

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Lea

Scared to the Core!

Trick or Treat!  Yep, it's almost that time!  I love Halloween, it's my favorite holiday as it's the one day of the year you can be who or whatever you wish to be.  This week Stampendous is doing a blog collaboration with Core'dinations ColorCore Cardstock.  Try saying that three times fast!  Today is just a short blog hop with a full blog hop this Saturday.  There are prizes all week so be sure to comment as you move along as that's the only way to win!  Okay, so on the my card!

Let me just say that I love Core'dinations' papers!  They're so vibrant and fun to use.  I used Grassroots, Dusty Concord from the Tim Holtz Distress collection and some Black Magic Hermit for the fence.  I really like the fence as I think the Black Magic makes it look like rusted wrought iron.  Three different stamps were used in the making of this card.  I used Scared Cat Kiddo, Picket Pumpkins and Autumn Words.  I created my card base for a 6" x 6" card.  I cut the Grassroots and the Dusty Concord each 6" wide but different heights with the Grassroots being the "highest" and the Dusty Concord being about an inch "shorter."  I tore the top and bottom edges of each piece.  Using Autumn Words I stamped the background on the Dusty Concord piece and adhered it to the Grassroots piece with Beacon's Zip Dry glue.  I created a bow with some lovely sheer ribbon from May Arts and attached it to the two torn pieces and adhered them to the background.  Using the Black Magic paper, I die cut three pieces of fence and sanded them down for my "rusty" finish and adhered them to the background pieces.  I stamped my images on Neenah and colored them with Copics then cut them out.  Using the Zip Dry I glued the pumpkins to the fence and pop-dotted my little kiddo completing my card.  Here's a close-up that shows the "rusty" fence a little better.

She might be scared of those jack-o-lanterns but she sure is cute!  I hope you think so, too!  Here's the list for everyone playing along today.  As I said above, be sure to comment if you want a chance to win!

Stampendous Blog

Core'dinations Blog

April Derrick

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel

Melinda Gleissner

Tenia Nelson

Debbie Standard

Don't forget to see who's playing tomorrow and then come back on Saturday for the complete blog hop, we'll have more Core'dinations goodness to share with you!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Lea

Wrapped in Ravishing Ribbon!

It's World Card Making Day!  Have you made your card yet?  At Stampendous we have been doing a blog collaboration this week with May Arts ribbon.  Since the early 80's, May Arts has been the leading distributor of ribbon for crafters and they pride themselves on providing the highest quality and most affordable product possible.  I've been using their ribbon for the past 11 years and I love it!  They have a wonderful variety that just can't be beat!

Initially I had something else in mind for today and I will post that project at a different time but once I realized it was World Card Making Day I felt the need to create a card instead.  After all, that's how I started in this "hobby" of mine.  I've been making cards for a number of years now.  How do I know when my card is complete?  When it's wrapped in ravishing ribbon, of course!  There's just something about pretty ribbon that dresses up a card or a scrapbook page in a way that nothing else can.  May Arts has always been my ribbon of choice and my sweet little card here has been wrapped in a 5/8" soft yellow taffeta ribbon that perfectly matches my papers.  Here's my sweet little Stampendous Ballerina Kiddo stamped on Neenah and colored with Copic markers.  I've used multi ultra fine crystal glitter on her wings and the fairy dust around her wand to give her added sparkle.  And, as if that wasn't quite enough bling, I've added Shaved Ice for her to dance around in; what ballerina wouldn't want to?

My patterned papers are from Best Creations and Lasting Impressions, the pink base paper is Bazzill.  This is a very simple card but with all the glitz I didn't want to overdo it.  Besides, with this gorgeous ribbon, you don't need anything else!  Here's another shot that brings it in a little closer:

I've created a bow with three loops to add extra fullness and fluff!  That's one of my favorite ways to create bows as I love the added dimension.  I hope you have enjoyed my card and if you have, the please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (That's also how you might win a prize, wink, wink!).  Here's a list of my teammates that have created something special to share with you today.  Be sure to hop along and leave comments on each blog to be eligible for a prize in celebration of our blog collaboration with May Arts.

Stampendous Impressions Blog

Cyndi Bundy

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Dove

Jennifer Ingle

Krissy Fossmeyer

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel (That's me!)

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Melinda Gleissner

Pam Hornschu

Stephanie Lee

Suzanne Czosek

Taylor Usry

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan

Wendy Price

May Arts Blog

Thanks for hopping along with us on World Card Making Day as we wrap up our week-long blog collaboration with the generous folks at May Arts.  I'll see you again soon!

Hugs,

Lea

Ribbon, it's not just for bows!

At Stampendous it's time for another fun collaboration and this time it's with May Arts Ribbon.  If you love ribbon the way I love ribbon then you surely know May Arts is absolutely the best.  I've never seen such variety and, oh my goodness, all those glorious colors!  If you can't find a ribbon that works for your project, then you aren't looking hard enough!  Seriously, they have everything you can imagine and then some!  Here's the scrapbook page I did using some of their 2.5 inch burlap wired ribbon in a gorgeous olive green.

Like my title says, ribbon isn't just for making bows!  Here, I've used my ribbon in two different ways.  First, I've created a banner at the top of my page by taking a piece of the ribbon, dove-tailed each end, attached my sentiment, created a little "hill" on each side of the sentiment and adhered it to the page. I also used the ribbon for cutting out a couple of leaves.  I love the texture the burlap provides!  The stamp I've used is the Cling Jumbo Dahlia.  It's such a beautiful flower and so much fun to color!  One of the little tricks I've learned with this stamp if I want to use it multiple times as I have on this page, stamp it twice per flower, color the middle section of one and the outer section of the other.  When you do this, you can turn the middle section in different directions and shift it just a little, this gives the illusion of being different flowers.  Just a fun and easy way to stretch your flower!  Here's close-up of one of the flowers and the leaves:

I love this flower!  My sentiment is also a Stampendous stamp, Cling Flower Path.  It's one of my favs as well!  For a chance to win a prize, make sure you visit each of the blogs playing along today and be sure to comment to be eligible to win.

Stampendous
Jennifer Dove
Kristine Reynolds
Lea Kimmel (Me!)
Melinda Gleissner
May Arts

In case you are wondering, that's my son-in-law, Andy, and my granddaughter, Emmaline Grace, in the pictures.  These were taken at the very lovely Reynolda Gardens here in Winston-Salem.  I hope you like my page and be sure to come back by on Saturday when we do the big blog hop, you don't want to miss it!

Hugs,
Lea