Hopping the day away...

...it's Friday Hop Day!  Woohoo!

It's fun in the sun time again with another collaboration between Stampendous and Dreamweaver Stencils! We'll be playing together all of this week, with a fabulous hop on Friday, August 2nd, featuring a slew of amazing talent from both teams, and of course...prizes!!!

Two prize packages will be given away for the comments left on posts Monday-Thursday, July 29th - August 1st, and one prize will be given away for comments left on the hop day, Friday, August 2nd. Winners will be selected randomly and announced Thursday, August 8th. (Note: USA addresses only, please, due to shipping costs.) Here's what you could win:

Stampendous Surfer and Sandcastle Kiddos • Dreamweaver Hot Air Balloon, Ice Cream Cones, Summer, Mosaic Swirls, Bird Words, and Sandcastle stencils

 Here's what I created:

I love summertime weddings!  I decided to go for a more simple yet (hopefully) elegant look today!  I used Dreamweaver Stencil LL3034 Your Wedding and pasted it with matte black embossing paste.  Once dry I cut it out with a Spellbinder die and set it aside.  I trimmed a piece of white cardstock to the size I wanted and using Stampendous Zinnia stamp, I stamped it randomly on the cs with my Boss Gloss ink.  Next I heat embossed it with Kaleidoscope Embossing Powder and set it aside.  I used my VersaMark marker to highlight just part of the flourishes on my stenciled piece, then added Kaleidoscop EP on it and quickly heated it being careful not to bubble my paste.  Once that was done I created my card base from black cardstock, added a bit of May Arts silk ribbon to my white panel and adhered the two.  Using some pop dots, I attached my sentiment and, voila!, a simple card for that special couple getting married!  I added the two close-up photos so you can, hopefully, see the sparkle!  This is so pretty in real life and the pictures never seem to capture the true beauty of the sparkle!

Now, hop on over to the next in line. Don't forget to leave some love for a chance to win, and just 'cuz it's nice!

Dream It Up!

Stampendous

Louise Healy 

Jamie Martin

Janelle Stollfus 

Jennifer Dove

Lyn Bernatovich  

Krissy Fossmeyer

Terrece Siddoway

Laura Drahozal  

Kristine Reynolds

Pam Hornschu  

Lea Kimmel (me)

Cherylynn Moser

Cyndi Bundi   

Suzanne Czosek

Jessica Griffin

Stacey Rumsby  

Tenia Nelson

Heidi Erickson

Rhea Weigland

Tobi Crawford
Asia King

Thanks so much for joining those of us at Stampendous and Dreamweaver for this week long collaboration.  I hope you've enjoyed it and been inspired along the way. I appreciate all the wonderful comments you've left this past week, it's heartwarming to read them and know you've enjoyed my work.   I'll have more projects for you soon so be sure to check back in next week.  See you soon!

Hugs,
Lea

Stamping the night away...

...or maybe I should say stenciling!

It's fun in the sun time again with another collaboration between Stampendous and Dreamweaver Stencils! We'll be playing together all of this week, with a fabulous hop on Friday, August 2nd, featuring a slew of amazing talent from both teams, and of course...prizes!!!

Two prize packages will be given away for the comments left on posts Monday-Thursday, July 29th - August 1st, and one prize will be given away for comments left on the hop day, Friday, August 2nd. Winners will be selected randomly and announced Thursday, August 8th. (Note: USA addresses only, please, due to shipping costs.) Here's what you could win:

Stampendous Surfer and Sandcastle Kiddos • Dreamweaver Hot Air Balloon, Ice Cream Cones, Summer, Mosaic Swirls, Bird Words, and Sandcastle stencils

 Here's what I created:

This card was a lot of fun to create as I love the silhouette look with the black matte embossing paste using LL 379 Tall Palm Trees!  I knew I wanted to do a sunset sky with several Memento colors fading into a darker blue but I needed to know where to place everything.  To accomplish this, I laid the stencil down and using a pencil, I lightly traced the design onto my paper.  I removed the stencil and stippled and sponged my color on in all the right spots!  I put the stencil back on the paper making sure my lines matched up and pasted it with my black paste.  Once dry, I trimmed it down and then I looked at my sun that was black.  I thought, hmmm, unless there's an eclipse going on, my sun needs to be yellow.  I pulled out my Stampendous Yellow Ultra Fine Pastel Glitter and discovered it was the perfect shade for my sun.  Of course I realized that putting the light yellow glitter over black might not give me the coverage I really wanted so I used my white Sharpie poster paint pen and covered the sun portion with white.  Once it dried I add my glitter with some Zip Dry.  My card base is black CS I purchased at Michaels and my patterned paper is part of the Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Collection.  The sentiment is a partial sentiment from the Sandy Kiddos Digital Download set from Stampendous!  

Now, hop on over to the next in line. Don't forget to leave some love for a chance to win, and just 'cuz it's nice!

Stampendous

Dream It Up! 

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Jennifer Dove Bonner

Pam Hornschu

Cyndi Bundy  
Kristine Reynolds

Stacey Rumsby  
Lea Kimmel

Rhea Weigand

Terrece Siddoway  

That's it for today!  Tomorrow is the BIG HOP with lots of inspiration.  Make sure to participate and comment to win!  Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow!

Hugs,
Lea 

Resin-ating With Happiness!

I love it when all the little elements of a project come together!  All this week the Stampendous!® Design Team is doing a blog collaboration with Environmental Technologies (ETI) Jewelry Resin and Nunn Design Bezels. Today I've created a fun little necklace that I hope you'll like.

 I used a silver-tone round bezel, a punched circle of Michael's Recollections patterned paper that I stamped my sentiment using Ranger's® Archival Ink on from Hand of Friendship Perfectly Clear™ Stamps that can be found exclusively at Michaels and a few little rhinestones I had in my stash for the main part.  Because my sentiment was a two-part sentiment, I had to decide how I wanted to add the first part.  I looked around my craft room and my eye caught on my shrinky dink paper.  That's right, shrinky dink!  I just like to say shrinky dink, 'cause it's fun to say!  Anyway, I stamped the beginning of my sentiment with the Small Typewriter Alphabet Perfectly Clear™ Stamp set, and a little flower also from Hand of Friendship PCS™ that I colored lightly with Prismacolor Pencils.  I added the little dangling pearl from a set of Tim Holtz™ findings.  I really like how it all pulled together so perfectly!  Here are my teammates that are playing along today, hope you'll leave them some love!

Resin Crafts Blog
Stampendous

Kristine

Rhea

Suzanne

Tenia

That's it for today, be sure to drop by tomorrow for the big blog hop as we'll have lots more inspiration for you.  Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again soon.

Hugs,

Lea

3 Ring Circles in a 3 Ring Circus

Yes, my life often feels like a 3 ring circus between kids, work, teaching classes and all the daily business of living.  Crafting keeps me calm and allows me to de-stress while letting my creativity flow whether it's creating a bangle, pair of earrings, card, or, in today's case, a wreath!  I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I've had with this week's collaboration between Stampendous and DIY Bangles!  I used a wreath form from DIY Bangles line of "3 Ring Circles."  This project was especially fun to do as I enjoy creating wreathes.  Admittedly, I don't usually get to combine a wreath with stamps but I did and I like the combination!  I started out with the 3 Ring Circles 12" Floral and Craft Wreath ring.  I wrapped approximately 7 yards of green ribbon around the ring completely covering the bare wood.  I could have just painted it but I had something else in mind and I often go with the flow of creativity.  Next I added strips or white tulle by just looping each piece on.  I have this really cool sparkly May Arts ribbon that I wrapped around leaving  it loose giving it an almost floating look.  For the final touch I added three Jumbo Cling Poinsettias that I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, colored with Copics and cut out.  This stamp can be found at Michael's. I attached them to the wreath with pop-dots.  It's a very simple wreath but I'm a simple kinda gal!

Here's a close-up of the poinsettias:


I hope you get some time out from your 3 ring circus to do some crafting, maybe even with some 3 Ring Circles! There are several different sizes and widths to choose from but no matter which one you pick, you're sure to love it!  A lot of the design team ladies are playing along today and we've each created a project we hope will inspire you to create your own.  For now, how about a hop?  At each blog (or just the ones you want) leave an insightful comment that lets us know you actually looked at the project and we'll enter you once for each comment in a chance to win some DIY Bangles, beads, or circles plus some Stampendous goodies with which to embellish them.  Now who wouldn't want to win one of those prizes?  Stampendous goodies are always the best kind of goodies!!

Annette Witherspoon

April Derrick

Barb Turpin

Jennifer Ingle (Jingle)

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Melinda Gleissner

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Price

We sure hope you've had some serious fun with our collaboration this week! Thanks for joining us. Would you mind sharing our hop on your Facebook page? We'd sure love to grow our audience a bit more to be able to keep bringing you all these great prizes.

Join us as well for our new December Challenge - CAS (Clean and Simple) Christmas Cards. We'll be doing our best to give you last minute card ideas you can complete quickly to fill out your card sending list. We'll be providing simple Christmas card inspiration all the way up until Christmas day, so stick with us. This will be our last challenge of the year and we're mulling over what to do next year, so stay tuned for that as well!

Stick around and we'll announce November Prize winners and the Winners from this hop early next week (once the staff has recovered from their Warehouse Sale and Holiday Party this weekend!).  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again really soon!

Hugs,

Lea

DIY Dangles and Bangles

One of the highlights of being on the Stampendous design team is the opportunity to collaborate with other companies using a mix of their products with Stampendous products.  Indus Trading Company of DIY Bangles has provided the team with a variety of wooden bracelets, beads and wreaths for us to turn our imaginations loose on.  Now how fun is that!  Pretty darn fun, if I may say so myself!

Steampunk is a huge trend at the moment and I must admit it appeals to my funky side.  I grew up in the 60's and 70's so this particular style suits my inner hippie!  Here's my bangle and my dangles!

 

I made a point of photographing the bangle on all sides so you can see each one.  These were both really easy to make but it did require some patience.  I did the bangle in small sections by covering it with Stampendous Boss Gloss first and then a mix of aged black embossing enamel and aged silver embossing enamel.  I love the texture it created! Once I had the entire outer side of the bangle covered and cooled, I added the gears from Michael's using Beacon Adhesives Gem-Tac.  The gears are from Bead Landing's Found Objects line and are in the bead section at Michael's.  The gears are super cool and can be used on a variety of projects.  To finish off the inside, I dusted on some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in black soot.

The earrings, or dangles as I've called them here, were done in a similar fashion.  They sent me the two large teardrop wooden beads that I've covered in the same mix of embossing enamel.  I put jewelry wires up through the middle and added the gears with jump rings.  I added some spacer beads I already had in my stash on top, formed a small loop at the top and put them on the hooks.  These were very easy and fun to create.

Be sure to check back on Saturday when I'll have another project for this same collaboration.  The dt is taking turns throughout the week sharing projects on their blogs and we'll have a blog hop on Saturday.  You can find out who's playing each day on the Stampendous blog.  Be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win Stampendous or DIY Bangles goodness.  See you again soon!

Hugs,
Lea

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Ho! Ho! Ho!  Merry Christmas!  Isn't that what every Jolly Santa says!?  Here I've used Stampendous Jolly Santa that can be found this season at Michael's stores.  I love this particular stamp of Santa as he looks like the traditional Santa of my childhood.  I used Bazzill as my card base and Recollections Sugar Plums 6x6 paper pad for my two patterned papers.  I stamped my image on Neenah paper with Memento Rich Cocoa and colored it with my Copics.  I trimmed the image, distress inked the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink in bundled sage and layered it on Bazzill.  I put my layers of paper together, added some ribbon I knotted, pop-dotted my layered Jolly Santa image and finished it off with some buttons from my stash. Well, I almost finished it off!  I decided at the last minute to add some Stampendous fresh green crushed glass glitter to the holly leaves on Santa's hat using Zip Dry from Beacon.  I liked the little touch of sparkle it added which really just completes the card.  Here's a close-up of Jolly Santa:

 I love how this card came out.  There's just something magical about a rosy cheeked Santa that looks like he just got home from a night out delivering wonderful gifts! In my heart, I will always believe in the magic of Santa.  I know he's not the reason we celebrate Christmas but I love the symbolism of St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa!

May you find the perfect gift for the warm and wonderful family and friends on your Christmas shopping list.  May you not be trampled while shopping.  May all the register lines be short.  Most of all, when December 25th arrives, may you have the merriest Christmas ever!

Hugs!
Lea

I {heart} Fast Finish!

Really!  I love this stuff and you will, too!  It's so easy to use and just like the name says, it's F-A-S-T!




I went to Michael's earlier this week and picked up this really cool wooden heart.  I've been wanting to create some decorative wall items for my shabby chic-styled craft room.  I'm fortunate to be one of those people that can pick something up and an idea instantly pops into my head as what I can do with it.  Well, as soon as I saw this heart, I knew what I wanted to do!  First, I stamped these images and embossed them with Clear Bark embossing powder on a Lost and Found 6x6 paper pad from My Mind's Eye.




  I used Stampendous images Deco Lady, I Love Paris, and Carte Postale.  I loved the vintage feel of these stamps and knew they would be great together.  (I added a tiny bit of pink and green to Deco Lady with my Copics!)

After stamping and embossing the images on the papers I picked out, I set about doing the background of my heart.  First I covered it with Tim Holtz distress ink in Antique Linen, then added accents in Spun Sugar.  Next I covered it with a thin coat of Distress crackle paint in Picket Fence.   While waiting for the crackle paint to dry, I used my Spellbinder heart and scalloped heart dies and cut out a few hearts using scraps from the paper I stamped my images on.  When the paint dried, I laid the stamped images and hearts out and found a layout I was happy with.  I did end up tweaking it just a little!

Next up was adding the Beacon Fast Finish Decoupage adhesive.  Let me tell you, I love how quick and easy this adhesive works!  I let the first coating dry, added a little more around the edges and sprinkled some chunky glass glitter around the edges for a little vintage sparkle!  For a finishing touch, I added some ribbon and bow to hang it with.   Here's a close-up.

I'm so pleased with how this project turned out and I hope I've inspired you to try this product for yourself.  I'm sure you'll love it just as much as I do!

These are the team members playing along today, so be sure to visit all of the blogs and leave some insightful, kind comments (the kind that let us know you looked at the project) and we'll give some great prizes, sending some of you with U.S. mailing addresses some Fast Finish Decoupage Medium and some Stampendous Stamps. Here we go...

Kristine Reynolds

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Melinda Gleissner

Stephanie Lee (Arty Carty)

Suzanne Czosek

Janelle Stollfus

Krissy Fossmeyer

April Derrick

Lea Kimmel (me!)

Wendy Price

Tenia Nelson
Wendy Jordan
Tobi Crawford

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again soon!  Have a blessed day!

Hugs,

Lea

It's Magic...

...no, not Magic Mike, Halloween Magic,  one of the newest images from Stampendous.  I really like this image because it can be used for parties, Mardi Gras and other fun occasions, not just Halloween!  As you know, this is Release Week for Stampendous and we've been sharing new images all week long.  Tomorrow is the last day to celebrate and we are having a huge blog hop, you don't want to miss this!

Getting back to my card, I used Bazzill for the base, We R Memory Keepers for the patterned papers, and Neenah for my image that I colored with Copics.  Once I got all my layers put together I added some  Aged Aqua Embossing Enamel over some cool little gears I found in the bead section of Michael's.  Yep, the bead section!  Who would have thunk it!?  Anyway, that was my cool Steampunk Fran•táge addition to the card!

A few of my teammates are showing off new products from Stampendous as well! Not only do some of them have their own blog candy, Stampendous will be drawing a winner for this great prize pack.

How do you win it? It's easy! One of the featured bloggers today will be choosing a random commenter from her blog, and that lucky person will be announced on the Stampendous blog tomorrow. The more places you leave a comment, the better your chances are to win! Below is the list of team members who are sharing inspiration today:

Stampendous Impressions
Kristine Reynolds
Jennifer Dove 
Taylor Usry (has blog candy)
Jan Garber
Lea Kimmel  (me)
Pam Hornschu
Rhea Weigand
Wendy Price
Tenia Nelson
April Derrick

Please leave some love along the way as we've all worked really hard this week to showcase these images just for you!  Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the final hop for this week.  Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be entered for my secret surprise blog candy!  See you tomorrow!

Hugs,
Lea

Resin-ating with EnviroTex!

Hey everybody!  This week those of us on the design team for Stampendous are playing with EnviroTex Craft Resin. Carmi over at the Resin Crafts Blog generously sent us some jewelry resin to create with and has shown us some cool techniques to try out. We've all jumped in with both feet and created some awesome things to inspire you to try this craft yourselves. The possibilities are infinite with all the wonderful micas, glitters, etc in the Fran•táge Essentials Collection.  Stampendous images are just perfect for jewelry and home decor, from the really big ones right down to the little bitty ones! Here's what I've created!

My first project here was created using a fragment charm from Tim Holtz for a base.  I stamped my piece using my Jet Black Staz-On pad and three stamps from the Charm Collection Perfectly Clear Stamp Set from Stampendous.  I punched out a small heart with red Bazzill paper and adhered it to the back side with Glossy Accents.  Next it was time for Resin!  On the front side, I added a little sprinkle of Black Crushed Glass Glitter and added my resin.  Once that side cured, I flipped it over and added a layer of Multi Ultra Fine Crystal Glitter then covered it with resin.  When that side cured I added a jump ring, some black satin cord and a few more charm findings from Michael's.  This is going to be a really cool necklace to wear!  My next project was equally fun to create using a bezel sent by Carmi. First I put down a layer of Royal Ultra Fine Jewel Glitter for my water, then I added a little Taupe Color Fragments for my sand.  Next I stamped just the seahorse from the Cling Mermaid Kiddo stamp on Neenah Classic Crest with Memento Tuxedo Black ink by Tsukineko.  Next I colored it with Copic markers, cut it out and added a layer of Glossy Accents to keep the ink from blotching.  Once my Glossy Accents were good and set, I place the seahorse where I wanted it, added three seed beads for "bubbles" and added my resin.  Once cured, all it needed was a jump ring and a chain to wear it with!



Yet another cute piece of jewelry I can wear for years to come.  Just knowing I created it myself will make it that much more special!

Come see what the others playing along today have done!  Visit them, leave some love! Win cool stuff! If you get brave and try this, leave a photo on our Facebook Page so we can see what you've done!

ResinCrafts Blog

Jennifer Ingle

Lea Kimmel (that's me!)

Suzanne Czosek

NATURALLY there are Prizes!! Carmi has 3 prize packages that can be won by our fans in Canada where she lives. She will draw three Canadian winners from the comments on her blog all week. We also have 3 prize packages for our friends with US mailing addresses.

• We'll draw one winner from the weekly comments on our blog.
• We'll draw one winner from the comments on Saturday's Big Blog Hop
• We'll draw one winner from Facebook - You need to SHARE one or more of our posts about this project on your Timeline **

Each prize package from us will include a Jewelry pack of Resin, a bottle cap, bezel and button to try, and the Stampendous Charm Collection Perfectly Clear Stamps - perfect jewelry sized stamps for your crafting pleasure! ** Why do I need to SHARE the post ? Because Facebook has changed the way they show posts from a Page to that Page's fans. (There are millions of posts a day now!) When you "share" a post it lets Facebook know you want to see posts from us. It also tells your friends what we're up to and extends our "reach". Maybe they will come like us, too! That IS why we're doing this, to meet more people! How do I SHARE a post? Visit our page on Facebook - Stampendous - We'll keep an EnviroTex post pinned at the top this week - just find it and click on SHARE underneath the post, it's blue. It will pop up a window that says Share On Your Own Timeline. You can write a message in the box if you like then click Share This Link. That's it...easy!!

Don't forget to come back on Saturday for more eye candy and more chances to win as the entire team is playing along.  Woohoo!  Now, leave me some love! Your comment might just be the winning comment.

Hugs,
Lea