Fall Fun Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Fall Fun Blog Hop! A group of online buddies decided the Labor Day holiday weekend in the US would be a GREAT time to get creative (is there ever a bad time?) so we've put together a fall themed blog hop to inspire you as the autumn approaches. Some of today's bloggers may have goodies for you, so be sure and visit everyone on the list. We have hoppers from all over the globe today and they are amazing artists.

Thanks for visiting us - grab yourself a nice fall beverage and enjoy! (Full link list below) My card features a darling digi image from Sweet 'n Sassy and one of my newest steel dies from My Favorite Things. This sweet bear is named Rhubarb and he's one of the newest addition to the Sweet 'n Sassy gang (there's even a full stamp set featuring Rhubarb!) and this image is called Rhubarb and Birdie. I colored Rhubarb with Copic markers and then cut him out so he could stamp up in my lush die-cut grass, which came from the Fresh Cut Grass die. The fun leaf and tree paper (seen on the inside of the card) are both from Momenta. These are great textured papers, the leaves are all embossed and there is a slight shimmer to the paper - very pretty! My card is a tent card, adore this style of card...perfect for this type of image. My frame was created with Nestibilities circle dies and the sentiment is also from Sweet 'n Sassy. Hope you enjoy and the next person in our hop is: Cathy McCauley

PS - Leave a comment and be entered into my drawing for a grab bag of stamping goodies! I always have way too much so I'm happy to ship off a box of designer paper, stamps, embellies, etc. to another crafter!!

Here is the full list of our blog hoppers today:

Lydia Fiedler

Libby Hickson

Kim Williams

Michelle Single

Lee Murphy

Sara Henton

Yapha Mason

Lisa Adametz

Jimmi Mayo

Jeanne Streiff

Bev Gerard

Shannon

Dana Keith

Joan Ervin

Maren Benedict

Teresa Kline

Hannah Clark

Dina Kowal

Wanda Cullen

Korin Sutherland

Taylor Usry

Monika Davis

Harriet Skelly

Kim Schofield - YOU'RE HERE!

Cathy McCauley

Mary Marsh

Julia Aston

Bridget Finlay

Alison Habetler

Leslie Hanna

Sue Farrant

Michelle Hanway

Misti Oblander

Judy Rozema

Jenna Barber

Tammy Hershberger

Eva Dobilas

Kerri Michaud

Cheryl Navarrete

Neva McMullen

Marianne

Samantha

Cindy Wallach

Keep it Simple Sunday

Oh the glare! But late at night it was the only way to capture the fun embossed swirls on my acetate card. *smile*

This was a card I created for a Wholly Scrap! class, where we used acetate as our card bases. This was a 4.25" square card that was embossed with an embossing folder. Then all I had to add was a bit of designer paper and this darling monster from Hero Arts. Isn't he a cutie! I also paper-pieced Sir Monster and the balloon. For my faux googly eye (oh how I wish I had some in my stash!) I stamped the eye on white and then used Glossy Accents for a little shine. It's not a googly eye...but it's close!

Be sure to check back in tomorrow for the Fall Fun Blog Hop! Lots of eye candy and prizes in store!

And Away We Go

I adore shaped dies. I adore them so much that I'm teaching a class next week at Wholly Scrap! where we'll use a bunch of The Cats Pajamas dies. I can't wait.

Today's card features the following dies from TCP; Cloud Border and the banner from the Easy Rosette set. And that sweet little bunny is from the aptly named Away We Go set. (I also adore this bunny!) The fun, sparkly designer paper is from Momenta and the clouds were cut out of fun felt, also available from The Cat's Pajamas. And do you see those tiny pearls on the banner? They are from one of my new favorite products, Perfect Pearls. I love this product...It's amazing! You must go and buy at least 10 bottles of this stuff...it will change your life...OK, not really but you will have fun crafting with them!

Enjoy!!

You Bring Joy

Hi all! I'm back from a day spent without Internet access...oh, the horrors! Seriously, I can live without the lights but no Internet, it's almost more than I can stand! Thankfully, our area was not hard hit by Irene...my thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered more damage.

Today, I'm sharing a card that I'll be demonstrating at an upcoming Wholly Scrap! class. The class will focus on using some of those fancy new steel dies that are on the market. (And hey, did you know that Sweet 'n Sassy is offering dies now too! LOVE that!!) For this card I used the Notebook Edge die from My Favorite Things. I adore this die! I love the tiny notebook loops and how the die even creates a perforated line. So much fun!! The image is a beautiful stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy called Flowers in Bloom. I love this set! So fun and easy to color and it's the perfect size for so many card layouts. Speaking of layouts, mine was inspired by this card. (And I literally just realized that we both used a sentiment with the word "joy" in it!) The designer paper on my card is from Pink Paislee and the ribbon is from Papertreyink.

Enjoy! Oh, and Sweet 'n Sassy is hosting a challenge on SCS today...check it out!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Happy Sunday! I'm pre-posting on Saturday night just in case we're without power and ***gasp*** Internet access today! And believe it or not I'm back with a Keep it Simple card to share! This is a sweet card layout that I CASE'd from Tammy Hershberger. (Hi Tammy!!) Tammy demonstrated stamping on acetate at our OH Stamping Around event and I loved her sweet cards so much that I had to create my own! I used the Just Saying Hi stamp set from Hero Arts to create my card...love those old-fashioned phone images! The inside of the card contains the plain yellow cardstock and the blue plaid designer paper (from Graphic 45). The outside of the card contains the kraft scalloped piece and the heart paper, also from Graphic 45 (the Wizard of Oz collection). I then simply added the phone image, the sentiment (both stamped in black Staz-On), three rhinestones, and the black ribbon. Easy peasy! Enjoy!

Paper Smooches Birdie Thanks

Greetings! Just a quick post to share today's card, which is one I created a few weeks ago using the fabulous Paper Smooches digi stamps!

I created the cloud background with a hand cut cloud stencil and sponges. I also hand cut the tree branch, which I then embossed with a bark embossing folder from Tim Holtz. The leaves were also hand cut and attached with glue. The bird was colored with Copics and I added a sweet moss nest for her. The sun is just a punched circle with a little bit of yellow Distress Ink!

Enjoy! And if you don't hear from me for a few days it's because Ms. Irene has knocked out power in New England! Will be back asap!

Altered Canvas

Hey, I'm on a roll this week!! Let's go for yet another project and posting today! Yippee!!

I'm super excited about this project...an altered canvas! Last week I had an opportunity to attend a class, which is a real treat for me since I'm usually the one teaching. :-) The class was held at Talk, Paper, Scissors and was taught by Michelle Daigle. (You can see her beautiful work on her blog, The Paper Dog)

Michelle cut a bizillion 1" squares of designer paper, which the class attendees used to create the beautiful background on our 8" x 10" canvas. She then provided us with a box full of tiny trinkets, buttons, ribbon, and flowers. Perfect for decorating! She also used a Cricut to cut out any word or letters that we wanted. Love that we were able to personalize our canvases!

We didn't fully finish the project at the store (I didn't bring photos with me) so I finished the canvas after I got home. I printed out three B/W photos and then used foam tape to pop them up ever so slightly. I also added the 'enjoy the journey' sentiment and an 'adore' tag. Perfect sentiments for expressing the love of life with my wonerful family.

This was such a great project and I can't wait to add my canvas to my living room wall! I loved this so much that I asked Michelle to come teach at Wholly Scrap! We're looking forward to having her join our team of instructors! For more details, visit the Wholly Scrap! blog.

Enjoy!