Farewell Karolyn!

Hello!  I just wanted to make a quick post to say thank you to our special guest designer, Karolyn, that was our very first guest designer!  She made April a very awesome month and far exceeded my expectations!  You can see all of her amazing projects using THIS link.  And believe me, you want to look at them!  It was a blast having her join the team this month.  We’ll have another guest in June so stay tuned!

I did a little stamping over the weekend and came up with this quick card using the latest Paper Smooches Kismet set Spring Groves and one of my fav sentiment sets, Chit Chat.  

I used a paper from the Hello Spring paper line (I loved how the little birdies coordinated with the image from the stamp set), stamped the bird in Memento black, (diecut using my square Nesties) colored it with Copics and then stamped the greeting in Memento Pear Tart.  Lastly I added some pearl lace trim and popped up my focal image using some of my favorite dimensional dots.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you have a great Monday and wonderful week!

DT Challenge: I’m feeling the felt!

Hello!  Welcome to our monthly DT Challenge.  Today we’re using the new 100% wool felt that I added to to store after CHA.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this felt.  It comes in a nice 8”x12” sheet and is perfectly priced at only $3.15 a sheet so you can get an assortment of colors for a very reasonable price.  This felt is so soft and cuts so cleanly.  For my project I used some new paper from the Hello Spring pad and die-cut some puffy clouds, with a few popped up with my favorite dimensional dots.  I stamped (using Memento ink) onto kraft paper and cut out the tree branch from the Paper Smooches Whimsical set.  Then I die-cut some snow white and  dusty rose felt using the Scalloped Buttons and Round Buttons dies and hand sewed them with some thread to hold them together.  Then I stamped the greeting from the new Simply Said Paper Smooches greeting set and added a knotted white stain ribbon as a final touch.

I hope you’ll hop around and see the team’s projects.  This month our guest designer, Karolyn is playing along so don’t forget her!

• Guest Designer Karolyn Loncon
• Carolyn
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• ME!!

Thanks for stopping in today.  Have a great day!

Happy Easter!

Happy (early) Easter (and Passover!).  I am in love with this card.  I love the images from the Paper Smooches set Spring Fling and this super cute Hello Spring paper line from Doodlebug.  I stamped the images in Memento Black, cut them all out and colored them with Copics before adding a touch of Stickles on them and a scrap of glimmer ribbon.

I hope you take some time with your family and loved ones this weekend.  I’ll see you again soon!  Thanks for stopping in today!

April Guest Designer: Karolyn Loncon

Hello!!!  I am bursting with excitement today to announce our very first guest designer, Karolyn Loncon.

One of the highlights of CHA for me this year was visiting the Paper Smooches booth and that is where I met Karolyn.  I’ve followed her blog for a while and was thrilled to meet her.   If you haven’t followed her, even after her rise to success as a 2011 Stamping Royalty winner, you really should!  She’s got a fabulous style and I am so thrilled she accepting my invitation to guest design for IHP for the month of April.  She will be posting several projects and will be part of our monthly DT Challenge later in the month.  So, stay tuned for all of her great projects.

Here’s what she has to say about herself:

“Hello!

I’m a retired legal assistant, married to my sweet hubby Garry since 1980, mom to Ashley (who’s married to Blake and mom to my two beautiful grandsons, Brecken and Brenner) and Amy. We are snowbirds – we spend the fall and winter in Chandler, Arizona, and the spring and summer in Mill Creek, Washington. I feel very blessed.

I’ve been stamping since 2002 – it’s what got me through the heartbreak of my oldest daughter going off to college. Stamping and paper-crafting is what makes my heart go pitter patter . . . it’s what I dream about, it’s what gets my motor running every day (besides my Starbucks! LOL), and it’s what makes me happy. I’ve had a bit of success with the publication game, and was named one of the 2011 Stamping Royalty winners by Paper Crafts Magazine!! OH EM GEE!! My most recent milestone in the stamping world is that I designed six background and element stamp sets for Paper Smooches. Now THAT was mind blowing!! I am a Girl Friday for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge and absolutely love it!!

I’m thrilled beyond belief to be guest designing for Kate and i {heart} papers for the month of April. Thank you, Kate, for the wonderful opportunity!!”

So please take a moment to stop by her blog and welcome her to the IHP team for the month of April!

DT Challenge Spotlight Winner: Ashley

Hello!! If you hopped along with our DT Challenge last week, where we spotlighted one of IHP’s exclusive lines, Mint Motif, you know we asked you to join us by choosing a card from the hop to inspire you and then create your own version. We had several great entries (Thank you so much for playing along. We hope to do it more in the future!) but today’s I’m spotlighting Ashley’s card. She was inspired by Lori’s card and even used the Mint Motif School Basics set. She also used some Authentique Celebrate paper.

If you don’t know Ashley, you should spend some time on her blog. She is currently the design team coordinator for Whisker Graphics (Divine Twine) and is on several other teams including Love My Tapes, who makes the fabulous fabric and lace tapes (new CHA goodies arriving from them soon!).

So thank you to everyone who played along. I’d love to hear your suggestions on what sort of challenges you like best and what would get you to play along. Have a great rest of the week!

DT Challenge: Mint Motif

Today’s DT Challenge features one of IHP’s exclusive lines, Mint Motif (which just had 2 new releases last week!) So today, the team is showcasing various Mint Motif sets.

My card today uses Beyond Borders (which was recently featured in the Paper Crafts Stamp It 3 Ways issue) and one of the new releases, Simply Sentiments, as well as the Cameo from Gourmet Rubber Stamps. I stamped the border in Memento ink and then diecut the cameo using the new Floral Ovals Nesties. I added some Zva bling and then some faux suede white ruffled ribbon layered with some black crepe ribbon.

Be sure to hop along and and play along! Make a project inspired by one of the ones you see here along the hop and a winner will be featured here on my blog next Tuesday. Link up using the Mr. Linky at the end of the post by 6 p.m. EST Sunday (that way you have the weekend to work on your post). Your project doesn’t have to use Mint Motif but bonus points if you do! :) Here’s the rest of the team for inspiration:

• Carolyn
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy

Thanks for stopping by. There’s tons of new stuff from CHA still arriving so check the new section. Make sure you’re signed up for the newsletter too (I give away a $10 gift certificate each month to a random subscriber but you have to be signed up and read it to claim it!). Sign up on the right side of the homepage. :)

Have a great day!

Mint Motif release: Day Three

Hello!  I hope you've enjoyed the last two days of our new Mint Motif sets, Beyond Borders, Too and Simply Sentiments!  Today is the last day of release day posts so be sure to stop by and see the other projects at :

Kimberly Crawford
Julie Masse
Tobi Crawford

For my card today I used one of the borders from Beyond Borders, Too, stamped in Memento ink, alternating pink and black. (Tip:  start with your centermost one and work out so your pattern is evenly spaced.)  Then I hand cut a pennant for the greeting from Simply Sentiments.  Then I used from Angel Pink Fireworks to dye my Tim Holtz Trimmings ribbon and added some Zva bling as the final touch.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great day!