Five Minute Friday: The Daily Dare’s 12 Days of Christmas

Hello and Happy New Year’s Eve!  Today I am hosting Day 7 for The Daily Dare’s 12 Days of Christmas.  Upload your creations to SCS using keyword DD12days07.  You have until midnight on January 9th to play any or all of the challenges.  Winners will be chosen and announced on Monday, January 10th.  Woo-hoo!

I am giving away a Silver & White goodie bag, including Silver Stickles, Silver Spica pen, Silver Liquid Pearls and assorted silver and white ribbons. 

My challenge to you to is to create a clean and simple card one color, one metallic and one neutral.  For my card, I used OCL’s White Christmas set, stamping the tree and greeting in Palette Seascape and the snowflakes in New Canvas.  I added some silver Stickles to the tree and to the snowflake centers and then some silver sheer ribbon (layered with some white satin).  My main image is cut from a Rectangle Nesties. 

Have a wonderful evening tonight ringing in the new year.  Be safe and I’ll see you back here on Monday.  Have a good weekend!

Five Minute Friday: 2010 Christmas Card

Hello and Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you’re ready for the big day tomorrow and can relax a bit today.

I wanted to share with you my card for this year. I made a little over 60 of them and each one took about 5 minutes. Of course I mass produced them so that sped things along. Here is a shot of all of my supplies before I started.

I used Memento Black ink, Palette L’Amour Red ink, Prismacolor pencils, Icicle Stickles, rectangle Nesties, some scalloped red ribbon and Unity’s Jolly Good Fun set.

The rest is pretty straightforward. :)

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones. There’s some new goodies in the store including a restock of Copics, all of the Divine Twine colors and Echo Park’s latest line, Be Mine, just in time for Valentine’s Day. So be sure to check it out.

I’m also have a post-Christmas/end of year inventory liquidation to help make room for goodies that I’ll be ordering during January’s CHA show. Use coupon code 2010giftblog for 10% off all orders $25 or more through New Year’s Eve, even on all the sale items! It’s my holiday gift to you!

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back again next Friday with a special post but will be taking a blog holiday for this coming week. Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night!

DT Challenge: Fashion Frenzy

Hello and welcome to today’s DT Challenge!  Today’s challenge was to create a project based on fashion.  Here’s a little secret…I don’t really pay much attention to fashion so as I was decorating my holiday cookies, I thought that the most fashionable person I could think of during this holiday season was SANTA!  So I went with that.  :)  I made this cute little Santa treat and coordinating card.  The TUBE is one of the newest items in the store.  I love how versatile (and inexpensive) they are.  I dressed it up with the red glitter sheet (love that it doesn’t flake) from the Christmas Specialty Paper Pack (on sale now).  I added a piece of ivory faux suede ruffled ribbon for the trim, wrapped a scrap of black faux suede around for the belt and then added some Zva bling for the belt buckle.  I used the Monogram “o” letter but you could just place single gems if you don’t have the alphabet.  Everything is adhered with i {stick} papers, which, BTW, got a shout-out on this YouTube video recently.  How cool is that?

I repeated this for my little card (measures 3”x3”).

Anyway, I made the little hat and trimmed the bottom edge with some vintage pom-pom trim and then used one pom-pom from this ribbon.  That one is slightly wired so I was able to stick it in the tip of the hat with a glue dot.  It’s stuck to the lid of the tube with some more i {stick} papers but not until I filled the tube with some candy cane Hersey Kisses.  YUM.

I do hope you’ll stop by the rest of my team to see their projects.  They’ve worked so hard on them during this busy season and I would hate for them to go unseen…so please go visit:

Carolyn
Cathleen
Deb
Gretchen
Kendra
Loretta
Lori
Lynn
Megan
Tracy

Thanks for stopping by today!  The newsletter will be going out in the next day or so and you’ll want to be sure you’re signed up to get it.  You can sign up on the right side of the homepage.  A little elf told me there might be a little post-Christmas sale going on.  Hmmm…just sayin’.

I’m not sure if I’ll have another post before Christmas, so just in case, I hope you have a very Merry day!  See you soon!

Christmas 2010 Cookies (dog and human)

Hello! I’ve been busy, busy, busy, as I’m sure all of you also have. Even thought we’re doing a fairly low-key Christmas this year I still did my annual cookie baking and decorating frenzy. This year’s menu includes fruitcake drop cookies, pecan snowballs, sugar cookie cut-outs, gingerbread cookie cut-outs, brownies, toffee and peanut butter doggie biscuits – all from scratch. No mixes here!

For our doggie friends, including our pooper scooper lady (I’m telling you, she is the best $10 a week we spend), I wanted to package some of these homemade special doggie treats for their pups.

I printed out a dogbone template (x2) on red cardstock and then made a quicky box (8-1/2”x8” scored 2” in on each side and then folded up and adhered with i {stick} papers) using my Scor-Buddy. I stamped snowflakes from OCL’s White Christmas in Palette New Canvas on the bones and then added a drop of Icicle Stickles in the center of each one and Eucalyptus Stickles on the tag. Then I stamped a tag from OCL’s No Peeking in Palette L’Amour Red and colored it with Copics. I wrapped some candy cane ribbon around the bow and attached the tag with some white metallic string. Finally I used some more i {stick} papers around the middle of the box and up the sides to hold the white satin ribbon handle in place. Then I placed the bagged cookies in the open box. I love how it turned out.

If you’re interested in the recipe, you can find it HERE on Mr. Barbo’s FB page (yup, I’m one of those crazy dog people).

And in case you are interested in my people cookies here are some pictures from my baking.

Thanks for stopping in today. Be sure to pop in tomorrow for our monthly DT Challenge! Have a great day!

Five Minute Friday: Mittens & FREE SHIPPING FRIDAY!

Hello!  Happy Friday!  Did you know that today is National Free Shipping Friday?  I didn’t know such a thing existed, but alas it does.  So, I am offering FREE SHIPPING ON ALL US orders (no minimums) and 50% off on Canadian shipping.  All other international customers will be invoiced for full shipping charges.  Sorry!   (Canadian customers PLEASE READ:  When you enter the code it will zero out your shipping but I will invoice you for the 50% off.  It’s a limitation of my shopping cart – I can’t place country restrictions on promotional codes.)  Please use promo code:  freeship2010

Here is my Five Minute Friday card.  I crated a matchbook fold card using Classic Scalloped Petite Borderabilities for the edging.  It’s being held closed with some ivory rope twine.  Then for my focal image I layered an element from Eskimo Kisses Pops on a die cut Circle Nesties and stamped the greeting from OCL’s White Christmas (on sale now!) in Palette ink.  That’s it!

Enjoy your free shipping coupon!  Valid today only for Free Shipping Friday!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a great weekend! 

Five Minute Friday: Together

For today’s card I used one of the die-cuts from the Kaiser Be Merry 6x6 pad (love that these 6x6 pads come with die-cuts, die-cut borders and some of the papers are glittered, embossed, etc.!) as my focal image and the little border too!   Then I die cut two little birdies from Nested Birds, added little pearl eyes and that’s it!  There’s a five minute holiday card for you!

Thanks for stopping in today!  Have a good weekend!

Only 16 more days…

And to help you with you shopping, or give you a little personal reprieve…today only 16% off everything ($25 or more orders), even all the Unity and Our Craft Lounge and everything else that is ALREADY on sale!  Use the promotional code 16days

Christmas Countdown

Enjoy!!  See you tomorrow for a Five Minute Friday card!

Five Minute Friday - Good Luck!

Just a quickie card for you today using one of the latest Mint Motif sets, What A Card.  I stamped the club/clover in Palette Giverny Green and then the sentiment in Noir.  I added some Green Stickles and a bright green silk bow and that was it!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

Just popping in to say hi.

Hi.  Nothing crafty to show you.  I have been just a wee bit busy (as evidenced above) packing orders - pretty much non-stop since Black Friday.  (Thank you!  So glad you loved my sales!!)  Right now I'm caught up except for a few orders that came in overnight and this morning.

My mailman hates me.  He deserves really good Christmas cookies.

So, I hope to get back into the studio soon for some crafty time.  The proofs for the January release of the next Mint Motif set arrived yesterday and I am itching to get inky.  So, so cute.  I think this may be my favorite release to date. 

There are still gobs of things that I left on sale for the pickings, including all of the new release Jillibean/Unity co-branded stamps – 50% off!  Everything is on the sale page so go grab them while you still can!

I’ll be back on Friday with a Five Minute Friday card for you!  Thanks for stopping in!

Cyber Monday

Happy Cyber Monday! I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving! This is the third batch of orders that went out this weekend. What an incredible response to the Black Friday portion of the big sale. Today begins the Cyber Monday portion. There is no coupon code but there are over 900 items steeply discounted on the SALE PAGE.

Here are some highlights, WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

• All Our Craft Lounge stamps are 40% off
• All Unity stamps, even the NEW RELEASES are on sale, most about 35% off, some much more than that. Itty Bittys are only $4.
• Spellbinders Nesties are all on sale.
• All BasicGrey, SEI and Cosmo Cricket 6x6 pads are only $4
• Open stock 12x12 paper is (mostly) 25 cents-50 cents a sheet – even all the fancy glittered, flocked, embossed and otherwise expensive papers!
• And much, much more…

BUT, only until midnight EST. No rainchecks…these items are only while supplies last! And AS ALWAYS, your US shipping is free with a $50 order but at these prices you're getting almost twice that amount of merchandise!

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Black Friday!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

i {heart} papers Black Friday sale!
One weekend - two specials!

From tomorrow, Black Friday through Sunday (11/28/10 midnight EST) use the code black25off for 25% off any order $25 or more. This is the biggest discount IHP has ever offered so take advantage of it while you can!

Then, in celebration of Cyber Monday (11/29/10), after the 25% off coupon has expired, there will be over 600 items on steep, steep discount - some up to 50% off! So shop early with your 25% off coupon to get what you really NEED to get and then come back on Monday to see all the fantastic savings that are left!

Happy shopping…but please read the details below!

The nitty gritty details – 25% off coupon does not apply to any previous orders or any items that are out of stock. Sale items are first come, first served and no rainchecks apply. And, no credits will be issued if you purchase something with the 25% off coupon and then it goes on sale at a later date. Sorry! But, if you expect you will be ordering on both days, please put a note in your first order and I will combine shipping for you (and refund if applicable.)

900 and thankful!

Last night…err…early this morning,  we hit 900 fans on the Facebook page (with the helps of lots of dedicated fans and the girls over at Unity’s FB page!).  This is monumental and I am so incredibly honored that so, so many of you are traveling this amazing journey with me…some old and many new.  And I am so appreciative for EACH AND EVERY ONE of you. 

I started IHP a little over two years ago – leaving my pseudo-successful direct sales stamping behind me and starting on this new path.  I’ve learned so much and met so many amazingly talented and wonderful friends along the way.  You have no idea.  My design team members, art designers, manufacturers & their reps, other store owners and so many more. 

And my customers – YOU.  Each of YOU.  I am speechless really.  You have touched my heart and supported me in ways I would never have imagined 3 years ago when this idea of opening a store started kicking around in my little brain.  This year alone I have had the pleasure of serving 989 UNIQUE customers.  To date, I have filled 3645 orders (with only 5 of them being casualties of the USPS!  HAHA!  And yes, I replaced them in case you were wondering!)  YOU are absolutely why I do this.  You are the {heart} of i {heart} papers and I just wanted you to know how THANKFUL I am for you.

There are so many stores out there – brick and mortar and online, yet you choose to come to me time and time again.  I am humbled and grateful.

So…happy Thanksgiving to my US followers and thank you to everyone. 

If you want some Black Friday sneaks read on:

What’s coming up?  I will be having an unprecedented coupon sale beginning on Friday and running through Sunday.  Then on Cyber Monday I will be having a different sale.  I will combine orders for shipping purposes and refund shipping if applicable (if you expect to be ordering on both days PLEASE put a note on your first order to HOLD until Monday or I won’t know to combine them!) but you will NOT be able to combine the two specials. 

Monday’s sale will involve steep, steep discounts, some up to 50% off but I expect inventory will be fairly low by then so if you want to make sure you get something, get it early in the first wave of the sale.  I won’t be able to honor Monday’s sale prices on previous purchases. 

Please also note that Copics cannot legally be discounted on the advertised price any lower than what I currently sell them for so I’d suggest using your coupon code because I cannot mark them down for Monday’s sale.

Thanks for stopping in today.  I know it’s a busy, busy day for so many of you.  The Facebook giveaways will continue this week until Friday so if you have a little bit of time, pop on over there and leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway drawings.

Happy 90th Birthday!

Yesterday was my grandfather’s 90th birthday so I made him a card (duh, of course I did).

I used the two newest Mint Motif sets, I’ve Got Your Number and What A Card.  I pieced the numbers and the lower panel are both from the Kaiser 6x6 pad, Up, Up And Away.  I liked the masculine colors (totally out of my comfort zone).  The greeting is stamped in Palette Landscape and Cognac and finished off with a piece of sage faux suede ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you have a great week and Thanksgiving and remember to pop back here on Friday for my Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale announcement.  You’re not going to want to miss it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Five Minute Friday: Blessings

Hello and happy Friday!! I have a quick holiday card for you today using some leftovers from my DT Challenge project earlier in the week.  I used some more Village paper, the same white satin ribbon, my all-time favorite sketch that I shared with you during Day 2 of the Birthday Bash and another dimensional element from the Eskimo Kisses Pops sheet.  Add some bling and an embossed panel using my A2 Snowflake folder and that’s it! 

I hope you have a great weekend.  Are you preparing for Thanksgiving?  Working on your holiday cards?  Whatever you do, I hope it’s great!  See you again soon.  Thanks for stopping in!

DT Challenge: Lights All Aglow

Hello!  Did you catch the Mint Motif release on Sunday?  If not, scroll down to this post.  I know sometimes weekend releases get missed but we can’t help it if the 14th falls on a weekend!  :)  You surely don’t want to miss the two new sets!

It’s time for another IHP DT Challenge!  This month’s theme is light, since so many holidays coming up have light as a key theme in them.  I decided to alter some

pillar candles and make a coordinating gift box and card.

I used Village and Thin Ice papers from the BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses line.  First I stamped some snowflakes in Palette Boudoir Blush on Thin Ice and wrapped the candles.  Then I trimmed the edge of the paper by wrapping some Glimmer Pink ribbon around the top and bottom of each.

  Next I altered the candle holder by wrapped the edge with some pink minicheck gingham fabric tape.  I LOVE this tape and it was the perfect touch to this plain glass holder. 

Then I covered an old Target Dollar Spot planter box that I picked up over the summer with the Village papers.  I added a ruffled white satin bow, some Zva flourishes, and stamped the greeting from Very Merry Sentiments and die-cut it with my circle Nesties.  The box holds both candles and the candle holder. 

Then I finished off my project with a coordinating card, using a few of the ornaments from the coordinating Eskimo Kisses Pops embellishments.  I added some white metallic string and stamped the greeting, again from Very Merry Sentiments.

There you have it!  I do hope you’ll play along.  If you do, be sure to leave me a comment and tag your creation with ihp1110 when you upload it to any of the online galleries.

Now…go hop through the rest of the design team to see their amazing projects to help BRIGHTEN your day.  Tee hee!  Here are the links!

Carolyn
Cathleen
Deb
Gretchen
Kendra
Loretta
Lori
Lynn
Megan
Tracy

Thanks for stopping in today.  See you again soon!

Mint Motif release day

Hello!! Today is Mint Motif release day! Today we’re introducing two new sets for you, What A Card! and I’ve Got Your Number. I made little playing cards and layered it over paper from the new BasicGrey Curio line. I stamped the numbers and hearts in Palette L’Amour Red and the greeting in Noir. I finished it off with a knotted piece of black faux suede ribbon and then applied some Christmas Red Stickles over the hearts.

Here are the two sets for you to see and here are the DT links for you to visit. Kimberly will be drawing from all the blog comments for winners for these sets so the more you comment, the better your chances at winning!

Go forth and comment (after you leave me a comment, of course!)
Kimberly (designer)
Geny
Bonnie
Julie
Melissa
Tobi
Ryann

Thanks for stopping in today! See you again soon!

Five Minute Friday: Be Jolly

Yes, it is THAT time of year…the time to start cranking out holiday card designs.  Only 40 more days until Christmas so you’d better get cranking!

For today’s card I used one of the die-cuts from the Kaiser Be Merry 6x6 pad (love that these 6x6 pads come with die-cuts, die-cut borders and some of the papers are glittered, embossed, etc.!).  I popped it up over a piece of red tinsel ribbon, added some Zva swirls and then I was done!  3 minutes!  Easy peasy!!

Be sure to stop back on Sunday for the Mint Motif release post!  Have a good weekend!  I’ll see you around!

Mint Motif Sneak Peek: You’re Quite A Pair!

Hello!!  Today is Mint Motif’s sneak peek day and the first for our new design team so please be sure to stop by and see their amazing projects and to show them some love!

We have two sets during this release and I am using both of them here:  What A Card! and I’ve Got Your Number.  I made little playing cards and layered it over paper from the new BasicGrey Curio line.  I stamped everything in Palette Noir and sponged the edges with Bordeaux.  Lastly I just added some bling to the sentiment.

Here are the DT links for you. 

Kimberly (designer)
Geny
Bonnie
Julie
Melissa
Tobi
Ryann

Be sure to stop back on the 14th for the full release.  I’ll be back tomorrow with a Five Minute Friday card for you!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Minty Monday...

Over on Kimberly's blog! She's got the winners posted from last week's giveaway so you'll want to make sure you check over there!

Nothing crafty today. I spent the weekend in DC and was pretty exhausted when I got home. I'll have something for you later this week. Have a great Monday!

Five Minute Friday: Fall Pumpkin

Hello!  Happy Friday and happy Halloween weekend!

I whipped together this little happy fall card using The Petal Press set Happy Harvest for the greeting (stamped in Palette Orangerie and Moulin Rouge) and a Bling It On rhinestone pumkpin, mounted on a large scalloped circle Nesties.  The two trips of paper are from none other than, wait for it…wait for it…Hippy Girl!  Who guessed it?  *grin*

The background is embossed with the A2 Vine embossing folder and that is it!  Clean and simple and under 5 minutes. 

I hope you have a great weekend.  I should have some interesting pictures for you next week! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Mint Motif Monday

Happy Monday! Today I have a quicky, quirky Charlie Brown card using Beyond Borders and Very Square Sentiments – to help usher in the new Mint Motif design team and saying good-bye to our current, inaugural team.

(I also used circle Nesties, black Palette ink and yellow glimmer ribbon overlayed on black faux suede.)

First, the good-byes and thank yous to our current team. You girls helped launch this fresh, new line off the ground and thought of ways to use Kimberly’s stamps that I never would have. Thank you for you work and dedication to us over these past 6 months:

Latisha Yoast
Geny Cassady
Kazan Clark
Julie Overby
Charlene Austin

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Beginning November, the new MM team will be (in addition to me and Kimberly):

Geny, our new design team coordinator
Bonnie
Julie
Melissa
Tobi
Ryann

Please visit them today and leave them some love and congratulations. (Hint...you *really* want to visit them...we are giving away TEN stamp sets drawn from all the comments left on the new design team blogs between now and Tues. Oct 26 10pm CDT. Winners will be announced on Kimberly's blog later this week.)

I am SO looking forward to seeing with they do with the two upcoming November release sets. Sneaks begin on Nov. 11.

Thanks for stopping by today!

NSR: Mr. Barbo…one year later

One year ago today, this was the first picture of our new pup, Mr. Barbo (previously named Sloppy Joe).

He was (and is!) super sweet and amazingly adorable. He hopped right in the car and then hung over the back seat like this while we put his “stuff” in the back, smiling the entire time.

Over the next few days and months we fell in love with him. He makes us smile every day and you can’t help but adore him...he’s just so darned cute! He loves to fall asleep

on his back with his belly totally exposed and his front feet tucked in(he did that the first day), sometimes with his bone in his mouth.

He’s everything we needed after Bandit died. He’s the most cuddly little pup…not very smart but sweet and affectionate and completely loveable.

I’m so incredibly grateful to Brent Hill, Nancy Gulick, Lynn Merli and Pilots ‘n Paws for rescuing him.

PnP is non-profit group of volunteers and pilot volunteers who help transport dogs who are about to be killed in high-kill shelters or overfilled shelters all over the country and relocate them to places where they can find their “furever” homes. Our little guy came from Danville, IL through Chicago then Baltimore and finally to NYC and then home to NJ. He’s a well flown pup! If you’re looking for a place worthy of donating money to…please consider them. They are guardian angels for these dogs, literally pulling them off of death row and bringing them to loving, adoptive homes. You can read plenty of their flight stories on the PnP Facebook page. His post read “This has become URGENT. They will have to get him out or put him down, he’s just handling being caged, and a sweetheart but depressed.” It makes me cry to think that he was days away from death.

Anyway, I’ll stop rambling now. I just wanted to commemorate this day. If you want to follow Mr. Cutie Pie himself, feel free to head over to his Facebook

fan page. There’s coverage of his transport, videos of him and plenty more.

Thanks for stopping by today. Check back in tomorrow for the Mint Motif DT announcement!

Birthday Bash winners!

(No Five Minute Friday post this week…) 

Note:  Our web host went down a little after midnight so if you tried to order or do the scavenger hunt and had a problem, don’t worry…I will honor all orders and scavenger hunt entries through the weekend.  (We will be moving hosting companies soon…which will require some downtime when it happens but it will be PLANNED.  This host is just giving me too much of a headache lately!)  Moving on…

The Birthday Bash was a huge success, and from what I can tell, everyone who participated had a great time.  Our Facebook page was hopping with activity all three days and we added a lot of new members to our PCP group.  I hope you all stick around even though the Bash is over.  *grin*

First some mushiness.  Thank you to my amazing design teams and my guest designers who participated in the big blog hop.  You all did incredible projects and I am so proud to know you and work with each of you.  A special thanks to my core design team, most of which have been with me since day one.  I’m so honored to call each of one of you my friend, all because I decided to open a little online store to feed my habit and supply my close friends.  It was the best move I ever made. 

A very special thanks to Deb, my wonderfully talented friend and DT challenge coordinator, who worked long and hard to make sure these three Birthday Bash days came together as they needed to and did!  I certainly couldn’t have done it without you.

And to each one of you, my customers, who come back time and time again and who I try to serve as quickly and efficiently and friendly as possible.  Without you, none of this would exist or be possible.  So, thank you.  And please know that my phone line and email is always open for suggestions, questions, recommendations or just to chat.  I need to know what you want or need or wish I carried in order to continue to serve you and make i {heart} papers the place you tell all your friends about! 

Thank you all for making these two years possible and exciting and rewarding and I look forward to many more years of serving you and getting to know you more and more.

And now..what you’ve all been waiting for – the winners!

Day 1:  The Perfect Pair winners are Jeanette (her Perfect Pair is here and Tara (here Perfect Pair is here). 

Day 2:  Kate’s Favorite Sketch challenge winners is Jennifer R.  (You can see her take on the sketch here.) 

Day 3:  Gift card holder challenge winner is Tanya.  You can see her awesome project here. 

PaperCraftPlanet group member winners:  Ruby Taylor and Jennifer Scull. 

Facebook:  This is me doing my best Oprah impersonation.  There were three giveaway threads this week plus if you posted to our wall, commented, uploaded a picture (prior to 3am Friday EST) or participated in either this or this or this thread, above my ***** entry, then you are the winner of a $5 off your next $10 order coupon.  (Sorry…only one per customer and can’t be applied towards previous orders or combined with any other discount.)  Contact me with “Facebook coupon” in the subject for your code.  That’s a lot of winners…at least count it was over 40.

Newsletter winners (if I didn’t have your name, it’s just the first part of your email address):  Donna Lyons, Holly Osbourne, NYTriplet Mommy & Grandma Lee T. 

And finally, the grand prize winner of the $50 gift certificate is Erika!  Congrats!

Winners please contact me with your address!!  Congrats!

Be sure to stop back on Monday for the announcement of the new Mint Motif design team.  Have a great weekend!

Birthday Bash Day 3 – Gift Card Challenge

Hello and welcome to Day 3 of the i {heart} papers 2^nd Birthday Bash! If you missed the posts from earlier this week please scroll down so you don’t miss a thing. It’s not too late to play along so go back to Tuesday’s post and start there.

You’ll want to be sure you participate in the scavenger hunt/blog hop to earn your 20% off coupon (and see some really amazing projects from 25 incredible designers!).

Today’s challenge is a gift card holder challenge. Deb is hosting it and has some links for templates and ideas on her blog, as well as a Mr. Linky for you to leave your project on to be entered into the drawing for today.

Please be sure to tag your uploads with IHPBB10GC.

Winners for each day will be randomly drawn from the day's challenge entries, and everyone who plays along, either with the challenges and/or the scavenger hunt will be eligible for the grand prize drawing that will close the festivities tomorrow!

Additionally, ALL orders placed during the Bash (Oct 19-21) will receive a free goodie bag of surprise merchandise. The more you spend, the bigger your goodie bag!

Also, there will be random drawings for additional prizes from our PaperCraft Planet group members, our mailing list (sign up on the right side of the homepage) and our fans on Facebook. If you are on all three, then you’ve got triple the chances to win!

Here’s my take on the challenge. I used a standard A2 envelope and covered it with (more) Hippy Girl paper, including the little tag. I added some Crystal Stickles to the tag. I love that Kaiser 6x6 pads come complete with borders, die-cuts, tags and the papers themselves are often glittered, embossed, flocked, etc. The ribbon is ivory faux suede, one of my favs!

I stamped the greeting from Very Square Sentiments in Palette L’Amour Red and then added and a brad from the Bittersweet Glazed Brads.

I do hope you’ll play along. Deadline to enter is Friday morning 3AM EST. Thanks for stopping by today!

Birthday Bash Day 2: Sketch

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of the i {heart} papers 2^nd Birthday Bash! If you missed yesterday’s post, be sure to scroll down to participate in the scavenger hunt/blog hop to earn your 20% off coupon (and see some really amazing projects from 25 incredible designers!)Today’s challenge is a sketch challenge. Be sure to post your direct link on this post, either as a comment or in Mr. Linky and tag your uploads with IHPBB10S.

Tomorrow Deb will be hosting another challenge for you.

Winners for each day will be randomly drawn from the day's challenge entries, and everyone who plays along, either with the challenges and/or the scavenger hunt will be eligible for the grand prize drawing that will close the festivities on Friday.

Additionally, ALL orders placed during the Bash (Oct 19-21) will receive a free goodie bag of surprise merchandise. The more you spend, the bigger your goodie bag!

Also, there will be random drawings for additional prizes from our PaperCraft Planet group members, our mailing list (sign up on the right side of the homepage) and our fans on Facebook. If you are on all three, then you’ve got triple the chances to win!

Here’s my take on the sketch. I used Hippy Girl paper, including the little tag. Kaiser 6x6 pads come complete with borders, die-cuts, tags and the papers themselves are often glittered, embossed, flocked, etc. They’re awesome!

I stamped the greeting from Very Square Sentiments in Palette Orangerie and then added some bling on the scallops. The ribbon is this amazing cream pleated satin ribbon.

I do hope you’ll play along. Deadline to enter is Friday morning 3AM EST.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Birthday Bash Day 1 – Blog Hop and Scavenger Hunt

Hello and welcome to the i {heart} papers 2^nd Birthday Bash blog hop and scavenger hunt! I am the first stop on the hop so if you’re just starting (or if you’re lost!) then you’re in the right place! Be sure to go through them all. There are scavenger hunt details below. You don't want to miss a thing so I know it’s a lot to read but it’s worth it!

Today we’re celebrating two great years of IHP and are delighted to have some fabulous guest designers playing along with our talented design team members to bring some birthday paper-crafting inspiration your way! Our design team and guests are revealing their creations for this month's design team challenge--to design the "Perfect Pair"--a birthday card and coordinating gift, tag or other presentation item.

We would love if you would join us in making a Perfect Pair of your own (upload to your blog or an online gallery with the keyword IHPBB10). Be sure to post your link on THIS POST so we can see your project and enter your name in our challenge prize drawings.

In addition to today's design team challenge, we've got some fun celebrating in store for tomorrow and Thursday! Don't worry - you won't have to hop every day! I will be hosting a sketch challenge tomorrow here, and Deb has another challenge for you on Thursday.

Winners for each day will be randomly drawn from each day's challenge entries, and everyone who plays along, either with the challenges and/or the scavenger hunt (more on that below) will be eligible for the grand prize drawing that will close the festivities on Friday.

Submitting your challenge projects is not the only way to win!

Tucked into the text of today's blog posts we've provided clues to an easy scavenger hunt (most have to do with our favorite products and tools or hobbies and interests we have) that we invite you to play as you hop. When you find the answer, click the link to visit the store and collect "evidence" that is listed on that particular product’s page and email your complete list, in blog hop order, to Kate when you're finished. You can take your time and stretch the hop over the three days of our Birthday Bash celebration...it's not a race, but like any other sale, the earlier you shop, the better the selection! Deadline to submit your scavenger hunt entry is Friday morning, 3AM EST.

By participating in the scavenger hunt you'll receive an exclusive, one time use 20% off coupon code to use when you shop at i {heart} papers. (This will be emailed to you after the Bash when entries are checked.) You will also be entered for your chance to win the grand prize $50 gift certificate drawing on Friday.

ALL orders placed during the Bash (Oct 19-21) will receive a free goodie bag of surprise merchandise. The more you spend, the bigger your goodie bag!

Also, there will be random drawings for additional prizes from our PaperCraft Planet group members, our mailing list (sign up on the right side of the homepage) and our fans on Facebook. If you are on all three, then you’ve got triple the chances to win!

Here is my Perfect Pair. I made a card, coordinating gift tag and the coordinating bow for the package. I used Chicken Girl Design Silly Monsters (hint, hint), colored with Copics and Hippy Girl paper from Kaiser. All images were stamped in Palette inks and then I finished them off with some burgundy faux suede ribbon.

Your next stop on the hop is Carolyn. If you get lost along the way you can stop back here and don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a sketch challenge!

Master Blog Hop List, in case you get lost:

1. Kate
2. Carolyn
3. Cathleen
4. Charlene
5. Deb
6. Geny
7. Gretchen
8. Jennifer
9. Joan
10. Judy
11. Julie
12. Kazan
13. Kendra
14. Kimber
15. Kimberly
16. Latisha
17. Laura
18. Loretta
19. Lori
20. Lynn
21. Megan
22. Michele
23. Rebecca
24. Tammy
25. Tracy

Mint Motif winners!

Nothing crafty today – I’m getting ready for the BIG BIRTHDAY BASH tomorrow so I’m just popping in to congratulate  the following winners of the newest Mint Motif sets!  Winners were chosen at random from all the comments left on the release day posts of the Mint Motif designers. 

Michelle Gross from Julie's blog, she wins Beyond Borders:

Michele Gross said...
Oh! fun project! Love the little gift tin and all the border layers are just fab!
October 14, 2010 6:19 PM

Tanya from Latisha's blog, she wins Very Merry Sentiments:

Tanya said...
These are so cute! Love the sparkle and the twine!
October 14, 2010 1:12 PM

Please email Kim with your addresses.

Be sure to stop in tomorrow.  It’s the beginning of the IHP 2nd Birthday Bash and there is lots lined up including a scavenger hunt that earns you a discount coupon, challenges, lots of giveaways (are you on the newsletter, on our Facebook page and on our PCP group?  You should be!  There will be drawings from each of those groups!) and more. 

Check back tomorrow for the blog hop and all the details!

NSR: Forging Foreshadows (15% off IHP coupons available!)

Us crafty people tend to associate with other crafty people…even if their craft isn’t the same as ours.  I am fortunate that my general pool of friends is FILLED with crafty and artistically talented folks and several of them are collaborating on this amazing new cyberfiction anthology and soundtrack.  I thought that some of you may be, or have hubbys or friends who are sci-fi/fantasy/Dungeons & Dragons geeks.  If so, this project is something they’ll want to know about.  I guarantee it.  Just take a minute to look at the list of contributors and you’ll see several well-known authors and musicians.

Anyway, watch the trailer.  I’m trying to help spread the word and make this project happen.  So…anyone who pledges $20 or more and mentions i {heart} papers will be rewarded with a 15% off coupon from me, as a personal thanks.  And, if you can’t pledge, please help spread the word to anyone you know.  It’s a truly unique and revolutionary project and I’d really love to see it happen.

Have a great weekend!  I’ll be back on Monday with the winners of the Mint Motif giveaway from release day!

Five Minute Friday: Mint Motif Fishy

Happy Friday!  Phew…LOTS of posts from me this week!  I’ve been a busy stamper!

Today I have a quicky card using more Mint Motif sets.  Again I cut apart one of the borders from Beyond Borders and made a little fishy (stamped in Palette Orangerie).  I covered him with Orange Peel Stickles.  Then I used some scraps of vellum I had around to make my waves, added some Zva bling and stamped the greeting from Very Square Sentiments and then I was done!

I’ve got to keep it short today…I’m busy gearing up for our BIG 2 year Birthday Bash next week.  Hint, hint…you’ll want to make sure you’re a fan on Facebook, on the newsletter (signup on the right side on the homepage) and a member of our PaperCraft Planet group.  Just sayin’!

Have a great weekend!

Santa Suit: Mint Motif release day!

Happy Mint Motif release day! I have a card today for you that uses Beyond Borders in an unusual capacity. As soon as I saw this one pattern I immediately though “belt buckle.” Add that to Very Merry Sentiments and out comes a santa suit card!

But, before I go on, here are the two new sets in their glory:

So, as you can see, I stamped the pattern in Palette Paris Lights and cut it out to create my buckle. I coated it with some Icicle Stickles (LOVE the way my camera caught the light in the picture…that sparkle was NOT Photoshopped!) and then added a little clear bling on the sides, because, every Santa belt needs some bling, right? I cut out the white stripe using my Jumbo Scalloped Petite Borderabilities and then used the belt and the buttons to cover up the holes it cuts. The buttons are coated with Black Diamond Stickles. Finally I masked one of the greetings from Very Merry Sentiments and stamped it in Palette L’Amour Red.

Be sure to stop by the other design team blogs to see their great creations. Kimberly will be drawing two winners from ALL the comments left on ALL the blogs. One winner will get Beyond Borders and the other will get Very Merry Sentiments so the more you comment, the better your chances!

Kimberly Crawford – designer
Latisha Yoast
Geny Cassady
Kazan Clark
Julie Overby
Charlene Austin

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by today!

Christmas Tag :Mint Motif Sneak Peek

Hello!  I’m here today with a sneak peek of the TWO newest Mint Motif sets, which will be available on the 14th.  Beyond Borders, which I used to create the background on my Standard Tag, has a variety of 5-3/4” long patterns that you can use for border, backgrounds and more.  The other set is Very Merry Sentiments is a versatile holiday sentiment set and can be used on their own or with Very Square, since they coordinate, just like Very Square Sentiments.  It is the same popular shape and clean font that you all loved so much.

I used Palette L’Amour Red and Giverny Green to ink my background and then made a ribbon flower from the red grosgrain pleated ribbon.  I finished it off with some natural twine through the hole at the top.

Please stop by the other design team blogs to see their great creations. 

Kimberly Crawford – designer
Latisha Yoast
Geny Cassady
Kazan Clark
Julie Overby
Charlene Austin

Have a wonderful Monday!  See you again soon!