Some bunny loves you

Hello!  I have another Easter card for you using Hippity Hoppity.  I used some scraps from my Happy Day collection and more of my fabric covered egg embellishments along with one of our EXCLUSIVE Happy Day polymer buttons.  These buttons are hand crafted exclusively for us and are made to coordinate with the Happy Day collection.  The images and greeting are stamped in Palette Noir.  The tag is from Tags Trio and I sponged it with Palette ink.  I used some twine in the center of the button and some Stickles on the images.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I really appreciate it! 

Monstrously Old!

I decided to use this week’s OCC Sketch as a basis for John’s birthday card.  His birthday was yesterday and we celebrated with some yummy German Chocolate cake.  Mmm..

Anyway, back to the card.  I used one of my favorite Chicken Girl Designs clear sets, Silly Monsters.  Remember, now that Chicken Girl has gone digi the clear sets are only available until inventory is depleted so hurry up!  I stamped the little monster in Palette Charcoal and colored them in with my Prisma pencils.  I put some Glossy Accents on it to make them pop.  The greeting is Palette Jardin Moss.  The designer papers are from Green at Heart and Kioshi.  I used my new (LOVING THESE!) Classic Scalloped Petite Borderabilities for the scalloped edge (duh) and some black burlap twine (wrapped it around 3 times).  The final touch was one of IHP’s EXCLUSIVE polymer buttons, from the Happy Day set.

Thanks for popping in today!  Have a great week!

Eggstra Special: OCLDT06

Hello!  Another Saturday post for you!  And again I’m playing along with OCL’s DT Sketch.  I took some creative license with it.  :)  And, I used some new goodies on it - my Large Big Circle Scallop Nestabilities and some sheer pink ruffled ribbon.  I stamped the basket from Hippity Hoppity in Palette Noir on Copic Mediumweight cardstock  and then colored it in with my Prisma pencils.  I finished it off with some Glossy Accents.  The designer paper is the front and back of Easter Stripes and Chicks glitter paper.  I stamped the greeting also in Palette Noir onto a a tag from my Nesties Tags Trio, sponged it and attached it with a brad from my Bittersweet Glazed Brads.  The white background is embossed using a Quickutz Polka Dot embossing folder.

I think that does it!  Thanks for stopping by and visiting me.  We’re getting some gutter work done on the house today so I’m hoping to get some crafting done while they’re working away.

Have a great weekend!

Five Minute Friday: Cloud Shaped Card with Rainbow

Happy Friday!  I’ve been itching for Spring and with the weather we had last week – all blue skies and mid-60 degrees – I was inspired.  I freehand cut this shaped cloud base from a standard A2 card made with our new Copic Heavyweight cardstock.  It’s a nice 120 lb. weight and is perfect for one layer cards.  Then using Unity’s Could I Be Any Cuter? stamped the rainbow in Palette Charcoal and the greeting in Palette L’Amour Red.  I colored it with my Prisma pencils and then used some Glossy Accents on the rainbow part and some Liquid Pearls on the clouds.  I didn’t do a thick coating because I wanted the pattern on the clouds to still show through.

I hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Find Joy Everyday

Hello!  Happy Wednesday! Just a little mid-week  card for you.  I adore this Unity set, Could I Be Any Cuter? and my answer is no!  This is an adorable set! I freehand cut the little cloud, stamped the saying in Palette ink and then added a little gingham ribbon.  The bird is covered in Stickles and everything is colored with my Prisma pencils.  I *love* pencils on kraft paper.

Did you see all the new Zva bling and pearly stuff that came in this week?  Ooh…go check it out in the new section!

That’s it for today!  I hope you’re having a great week!  Thanks for popping in today!

Juggling Bunny SC272

Hello!  We had an absolutely perfect weather weekend.  We went hiking on Saturday with the pup to Cheesequake State Park.  Despite getting a little lost (the trails were pretty beaten from last weekend’s storm and some of the markers were missing…so we got a little off track) and walking over 6 miles (double what we planned!), we had a lovely weekend.  I even found some crafty time to play along with OCL’s sketch (scroll down if you missed my Saturday post) and this week’s SCS Sketch. 

I used the new Chicken Girl Juggling Bunny digi and printed her on medium weight Copic cardstock.  I used my Nesties Tags Trio to cut out the digi sentiment.  The papers are from the new SEI Happy Day line and I used my circle Nesties for the main image and then finished it off with some fabric covered egg embellishments, a scrap of lime glimmer ribbon and some sparkle gems.

Thanks for popping in today.  I hope you have a great week!  Be sure to check the new section of the store.  I added just a few goodies over the weekend!

Hoppy Easter! OCLDT05

Hello!  Today I’ve got a card for you using this week’s OCL Sketch, as seen here!

I decided to use Hippity Hoppity and cheat a little bit on the sketch.  :)  It’s OK, right?  The images are stamped in Palette Noir and colored with Prisma pencils and gamsol.

I used some new SEI Happy  Day paper along with one of our EXCLUSIVE coordinating buttons.  Isn’t it adorable?  I also used the Quickutz A2 Polka Dot embossing folder for the background.  I finished it off with a silk bow and some fabric Easter Egg embellishments.

Thanks for popping in today! 

Five Minute Friday: Take Time for…

Hello! Happy Friday! Today’s card is a simple topper card using the new Hero Arts set, What’s Perking. I stamped the cup and the checklist in Palette Charcoal and then paper pieced the coffee gripper. The coffee has some Glossy Accents on it and the steam is Liquid Pearls Platinum. The designer paper is from Basic Grey’s Lime Rickey line. It’s so bold and bright and summery! I finished it off by just layering the checklist over a tiny scrap of red ruffle edge faux suede ribbon. See! Keep those scraps! I love the little checklist. You can check off coffee, tea, donuts, brunch, a walk or a friend – or a combination like I did here!

I’m hoping for a calmer weekend than last. Last weekend we got pretty pummeled by the Nor’Easter (including a pretty bad hailstorm, as seen here) and have some house damage. I know people with far worse – trees fallen on their house and/or car, etc. so we were pretty lucky. Still, it was stressful and I’m looking forward to a quieter and more productive weekend. The weather is supposed to be GORGEOUS so I think I'm in luck!

Have a good one. Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Product Updates

Just a quick product post update. Basic Grey Kioshi and Green at Heart are now in stock along with various coordinating accessories. I LOVE both of these lines. Kioshi is very pastely and perfect for Easter or Spring cards. Green at Heart is bright pinks and rich greens – very earthy and pretty. There’s also some new ribbon in. Several of the new crepe ribbons were chosen at CHA because they coordinated so nicely with these lines and the new SEI lines, Happy Day, Claire and Jocelyn. (Claire and Happy Day also have EXCLUSIVE polymer buttons that are being made especially for i {heart} papers. You won’t find them anywhere else! )

I’ve added some ribbon suggestions to the paper pad pages of these two new BG collections to help you matchy match your ribbons.

We also now have white cardstock perfect for your Copics! This cardstock is manufactured in the US and was developed under the watchful eye of Sally Lynn MacDonald, Regional Copic Certification Instructor…so she knows her Copics! It is 8-1/2” x 11” and is available in a Detail Blending Weight, which is a medium weight 80lb paper and also in a One Sheet Wonder, heavyweight 120lb paper. The heavier weight allows you to do one layer cards with no bleed-through.

For comparison purposes, here are my opinions. The medium one is perfect for printing your digis or layering. It is heavier than Stampin’ Up’s white, but easily ran through my printer (HP Laserjet 1012) and is about the same brightness but not quite as smooth.

The heavier one feels the same as PTI’s white but is a bit smoother. I haven’t tried running it through my printer yet. My printer can handle PTI but it doesn’t really like it and needs to be hand fed. It’s a bit of a baby that way. :)

OK, enough rambling. Hey - are you our fan on Facebook? You should be! It’s the way to get up to the minute information on what I’m waiting for to come in and as soon as things are updated I post on Facebook. So…head on over and become a fan!

Have you missed some posts recently? Be sure to check out the new section of the store to see everything recently added (newest items are at the top!)

Thanks for popping in today. See you on Friday for Five Minute Friday!

Going Green IHP DT Challenge

So in honor of it being St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, the IHP DT Challenge this month is Going Green – but not in the traditional green for St. Patrick’s Day way.  The goal was to use this sketch from PaperCraftPlanet and use a recycled item on your card.

Here is my take on the sketch.  The strip of letterpressed paper on the left side is my recycled item.  I’ve been holding onto this for well over a year (since Valentine’s Day 2009).  My friend does letterpress and is actually in the process of opening her own retail store in Chicago and sent this Valentine’s Day card out.  As soon as I saw it I knew I’d want to use that pattern for something since it was a dead on match for PTI’s Raspberry Fizz.  This was the perfect chance!

I also used my new Hero Arts set, What’s Perking.  Mmm…I love my coffee!  I made the scalloped edge with my new Classic Scalloped Petite Borderabilities.  I used my Oval Nesties for the greeting.  Both the greeting and mug are stamped in Palette Charcoal.  The mug is colored in with my Prismacolor pencils and then I used Crackle Accents on the mugs part and Glossy Accents on the flowers.  The coffee inside the mug has a touch of cinnamon Stickles.  And the finishing touch was three little gems.  I {heart} pink, even for St. Patrick’s Day.  :)

Be sure to check out the rest of the team’s projects here:

Carolyn
Cathleen
Deb
Gretchen
Kendra
Loretta
Lori
Lynn
Megan
Tracy

Thanks for popping in today.  Have a good day!

i {heart} copics DT CGD cards

Hi there!  I’m swimming in rain from this awful Nor’Easter.  We sprung a small leak in our dining room so we’re working on trying to figure that out.  But, I wanted to share with you the cards that the i {heart} copics DT girls made for this week’s Fabulous Friday Challenge.  Please come play along!
This week they all used some of the new Chicken Girl Design digis and here are their fabulous cards. Click through to view the full photo album.

View Full Album

I’ll be back on Tuesday with the core IHP DT Challenge and hopefully a dry dining room!  Happy Sunday!

Five Minute Friday: Butterfly Birthday CAS57

Hello!  Happy Friday!  I’ve got a few things for you today.  My hand is mostly healed (at least enough that I don’t need the butterfly stitches anymore) so I’ve been getting busy in the studio.  So, with that, here’s my Five Minute Friday card, which is also happens to be this week’s CAS57 challenge.  Bonus for me!  :) 

I used some paper from the new SEI Happy Day collection and my Nesties Labels 8.  Then I used my Circle Nesties to frame the butterfly from my Lemonade Woolies.  I’m almost out of them!  What will I do??  I stamped my greeting from Birthday Sayings in Palette Cote D’Azure.  I finished it off with some Sparkle Blossoms in the corners.  Tada!

Next up, in case you missed it on Wednesday (and because I’m so excited about it!) I wanted to mention again that our Chicken Girl line of stamps has gone digi!  This month we’ve got 9 new images available (buy them as a collection and save or buy them individually!)  and today all of the design team over at i {heart} copics are doing their challenge with them.  Hop on over and join in the fun!

I’ll be back on Tuesday with our IHP DT Challenge.  I hope to see you then!  Have a great weekend!

Chicken Girl Design release!

Hello! I’m so excited to announce that our exclusive Chicken Girl Design line is moving to digistamps! This will allow more frequent releases, more seasonal releases and overall more flexibility. This month we’re launching 9 new images. The complete collection is shown here. Each individual image is only $2.50 or you can get all 9 images as a the March Collection for $20. Our clear polymer sets will remain available until inventory is depleted.

If you’re new to digi, here is how it works. You buy the stamp and on your emailed order confirmation invoice you will have a little icon that you click to download you file. See here:

Click that, a little box will likely pop up asking you where you want to save your file, save it (I usually make a folder in My Documents or save to my desktop) so you can find it and then open it in Word or your image editor and print it. That easy!

Our files are 300 dpi transparent PNG files but if you require a JPEG or other file type, just send me an email after you’ve ordered and we’ll work it out.

This is our first attempt at delivering downloadable content through the shopping cart and while it has been tested and tested and tested, there may be a few hiccups. If you experience any issues, please contact me and I will work to resolve it immediately.

So, now that all the technical jibber jabber is over, how about you go look at some amazing creations?

We’ve had some changes to our previous design team, so here is the updated list:

Christy
Tammy
Judy
Lori
Loretta
Shelly

Here is my card. I used the Just A Note digi and colored with my Prismacolor pencils. I used some new papers from the SEI Claire line. Both of the DPs are from this line. I used my rectangle Nesties to frame the main image and then used the NEW Classic Scalloped Petite Borderabilies.

I finished it off with some Hero Arts bling. Thanks for stopping in today! I hope you’re as excited as I am about this release! Have a great day!

NSR: One year later, still missing Bandit

It’s hard for me to believe a year has passed since we said goodbye to our big, loveable, nearly perfect except for the biting people thing, monster, Bandit. 

My heart still aches a year later.  Even though we’ve got a new, amazing pup…it’s not the same.  Bandit had so much character and personality.  We connected (and I’m not just talking about physically when he bit me!) and he was with me for longer than my ex-husband!  Haha.

I miss coming home to his smile literally right as soon as you opened the door, as if to say, “Hi there!  I’ve missed you.  Welcome home!  I’m so glad to see you!”

I miss lots of things about him but mostly I just miss him.

I’m taking a bit of an off weekend to escape, to remember and to make new memories to cherish and savor.

We’re going to try to take advantage of the warming temperatures and take Mr. Barbo hiking this weekend so I won’t be around much.   Doesn’t he look sharp in his little backpack?

Orders placed this weekend will go out in Monday’s mail.  Have a good weekend, whatever you do!

A secret is out! Product updates

This is my second post for today. Scroll down for today’s Five Minute Friday.

I’ve been teasing you with hints of upcoming news. And, today, I’m ready to release some of that news. The rest of my secrets will have to wait until next week.

Now available are these AMAZING polymer clay buttons, made exclusively for IHP to coordinate with SEI’s new lines, Happy Day and Claire. There is also an additional new line called Jocelyn.

You can buy them on their own or bundled with the coordinating 6x6 paper pad, at a small discount.

Claire buttons

Claire buttons with 6x6 pad

Happy Day buttons

Happy Day buttons with 6x6 pad

Also available to coordinate with the pads are various velvet paper assortments. You get 6 sheets of 6”x12” velvet papers in various colors.

Claire Velvet Assortment

Happy Day Velvet Assortment #1

Happy Day Velvet Assortment #2

Jocelyn Velvet Assortment

Also, the new My Mind’s Eye Quite Contrary line is now available as kits. You get two sheets of paper and the coordinating tags/dies/embellishments for that set, all for just $3.50!

And, we're now carrying some Stampavie stamps. If they sell well, we'll get more but we're trying out 5 new adorable ones just released at CHA.

Thanks for popping in AGAIN! You can see all the new stuff easily in the new section of the store!

Five Minute Friday: Donut!

Hello!  Happy, happy Friday!  My hand is healing but isn’t fully useable quite yet.  But I did manage to dig out some scraps that were perfect for what I imagined, which meant I could make something for Five Minute Friday, since my cutting and scoring was already done for me.  :)

I used my NEW Big Scalloped Petite Borderabilities to create the scallop.  I think I am going to be using these A LOT.  I really love the size and they are perfect for your A2 card size.  The background is the A2 Polka Dot Quickutz folder and the saying and donut are fromthe new Hero Arts set, Have a Donut.  They are both stamped in Palette Burnt Umber.  I colored the donut with my Prismacolor pencils (and scribbled over the word ‘donut’) and then went over the glaze with some Icicle Stickles.  I just smeared it with my finger to get full coverage.  I looks good enough to eat if you ask me.  Mmmm…now I want a donut.

That’s it!  I continue to add new goodies to the store almost every day and there is still more coming.  New My Mind’s Eye papers are here and are adorable!  Be sure to check the new section of the site to see everything!  New Nesties are here too (including the one I used on this card!)

Have a great weekend.  We’re supposed to be getting some nice weather finally and I think we’re going to try to go hiking with the pup. 

Thanks for popping by today! Now, go get a donut!

i {heart} copics DT announcement!

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who applied.  We had a great response but of course, we can’t take everyone.  I am thrilled that we have a worldwide team including people from New Zealand and the Philippines!  Isn’t that exciting?  They’re sharing the Copic love worldwide!
The IHC DT is as follows:
Jana – DT Coordinator
Christy Lynn
Danielle
Judy
Kym
Lilian
Lori
Louise
Samara
Tammy
Tracy
Please visit them and send your congratulations.  And, if you haven’t already joined, please visit the i {heart} copics group over on Papercraft Planet.  There are weekly challenges and it is great place to chat, learn more about your Copics and pick up some tips.  Don’t be intimidated – they are all levels of users, so come join us and join in the weekly challenges (listed in the Discussions area).
Thanks for popping by.  My hand still has me mostly out of crafting commission but I’m hoping to be back for a Five Minute Friday card later this week.