So long, farewell!

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living. ~Gail Sheehy 

Today marks the end of an era...not just because it is New Year's Eve and we're saying "so long" to 2013 but because IHP is undergoing some changes, most notably, a change/downsizing our design team.

Today we gratefully thank and say good-bye to long time DT members, Deb and Gretchen as well as the end of the term for Stacey, Wida and Lizzie.  Libby will be staying on with us behind the scenes but won't be spearheading our social media as she's been doing.  So...lots of changes but I'm positive that 2014 is going to be awesome.  Our DT lineup will continue to include 2 guests per month as well as long time members (since we opened 5+ years ago!) Tracy and Lori as well as Judy, Vera, Lindsay and Sarah.

One other change is that there will be DT project posts here on the IHP blog 1-2 times per week so be sure to check back regularly for some extra inspiration and the occasional blog only specials/giveaways. Tomorrow we will introduce our newest guest designer and say good-bye to Genevieve.

That's it for today.  Have a very happy and safe New Year's Eve!

Make sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!

12 Days of Craftmas winner

I hope you had a great weekend!  I spent it cleaning and wrapping, probably like most of you!  We did go out and look at Christmas lights and came across these two amazing houses.  What do you think?  Amazing or too much?

I think the second one looks like a life sized gingerbread house.

Random.org picked:

Kelli said...

my puppy's name is hugh. we rescued him from the dc animal shelter! he is getting lots of treats, toys and tons of kisses on christmas morning!

Please contact me for your gift certificate by noon on Thursday Dec 26 or I will select another winner.

Remember, no orders will be shipping from Monday 12/23 through Thursday 12/26. Orders will begin shipping again on Friday 12/27. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Responses to email may also be delayed during this time. Merry Christmas!

Make sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!

Paper Smooches winner

Happy Friday!  Just a quick post to announce the winners from the PS dog rescue sets hop we did earlier in the week.

The two winners selected from all of the comments left on the hop, are:

Disco Queen said...

Hi Kate, You & Kim have come up with a winning combination: Stunning stamps & dies, heartfelt sentiments & a contribution to a cause close to my heart. I hope you sell lots & lots. Theresa x

and from Deb's blog:

Joyce  

This is such a sweet card. As a new rescue-puppy mom, I really appreciate the sentiment and that great heart.

Congrats!  Please contact me with your full name and mailing address by Monday noon EST or new winners will be selected.

Have a great weekend!  You still have time to enter the 12 Days of Craftmas giveaway!  I'm giving away a $15 IHP gift certificate and the other girls all have goodies too!  

Make sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!

12 Days of Craftmas

Welcome to Day 10 of the 12 Days of Craftmas!  If you are stumbling upon this, be sure to start back at the beginning for your chance to win lots of goodies!

Day 1: http://www.ohsnaplizzie.com

Day 2: http://momscraftycloset.blogspot.com/

Day 3: http://www.atstudiod.blogspot.com/

Day 4: http://ladyguineveresinkyfaeries.blogspot.com/

Day 5: http://shemainesmith.blogspot.com/

Day 6: http://kelliewinnell.typepad.com/

Day 7: http://karynscraftingobsession.blogspot.com.au/

Day 8: http://insidethecraftersstudio.com/

Day 9: http://normajean8105.blogspot.com

Day 10: YOU'RE HERE!

Day 11: http://www.theoddgirl.com/

Day 12: http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com

In case this is your first time here, I am a huge animal rescue advocate.   A few months ago I suggested an idea to Kim Hughes (owner/designer of Paper Smooches Stamps) to create a stamps and dies to support our rescued furry friends. We worked together to create some really fun dog rescue products! A portion of the sales will be donated to Home for Good Dog Rescue. 

My project began by baking some bacon-cheddar dog cookies.

Recipe:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup boiling water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup Bacos or well drained, chopped bacon
1 egg, beaten
2-3 cups whole wheat flour (I add the extra cup to get it to a consistency that I can work with)

It's a sticky dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and place 1 inch apart onto a Silpat (or greased sheet). Take a fork and poke holes in each cookie to prevent it bubbling up. 

Bake 35 to 45 minutes at 350*, until golden brown and hard. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container.

I used the two new rescue themed sets, Paws For A Cause and Lucky Dog as my main set, stamping the dogs in Luxe Memento ink (my new fav ink for full coverage like on the solid stamps).  For the goodie bag I used red pom pom trim around the window of the bag (adhered with IHP's very own redline tape, i {stick} papers), stamped For You from the PS set Christmas Sampler on the paw pad of the large paw die from Dog Icons die set,  added a Santa hat to the dog from the Merry Motif set, colored with Copics and finished off with some Stickles.  I popped up the tag on dimensionals and wrapped the top of the bag with some red ruffle ribbon to conceal the bag closure.

For the gift card I used the dogs again, stamped in Luxe ink and the tree from Winter Groves paper pieced using Lawn Fawn's Into The Woods paper and added the sentiment from Bitty Bungalows.

My gift for today is a $15 gift certificate to i {heart} papers.  Just leave me a comment telling me the name of your dog/cat/fish, etc., if it is a rescue and what you're getting it for Christmas!  If you don't have any pets, then just tell me your favorite holiday cookie!  A winner will be selected and posted here on Monday Dec. 23 so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

And, don't forget to be sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!

Dog rescue Paper Smooches/IHP blog hop

Welcome to a very special Paper Smooches Blog Hop!

You all know by now I am a huge animal rescue advocate.  In addition to having two rescued dogs of our own (Mr. Barbo and BooBoo), in my spare time I volunteer with a rescue, drive transports and foster dogs.  Recently we took in a foster, Eclipse, from a high-kill shelter in NYC and saved her from death row.  She was adopted a week later and is living happily in upstate New York. Without opening our home as a temporary haven for her, she would have died in the shelter. 

And, as I write this, we have two more fosters, siblings Anderson and Amber, little 4 pound papillon mixes from a kill shelter in SC.  We even had a kitty foster, Bertucci, for 3 months who we trapped in our yard, got vetted and adopted out.  Anyway, a few months ago, I suggested an idea to Kim Hughes (owner/designer of Paper Smooches Stamps) to create a stamps and dies to support our rescued furry friends. We worked together to create some really fun dog rescue products! A portion of the sales will be donated to Home for Good Dog Rescue. Kim asked us to share these fun products with you, through our projects.  

My project for today was inspired by Eclipse.  I made this little card to congratulate her new owners on adding such an amazing dog to their family.  I used the two new rescue themed sets, Paws For A Cause and Lucky Dog.  I stamped them in Luxe Memento ink (my new fav ink for full coverage like on the solid stamps), A2 Sprig embossing folder, dimensional dots and the word bubble from another PS set called Fascinators.

Here's a closeup of the card for more detail:

On the inside of the card, I used the large paw print die from the Dog Icons die set and stamped the perfect sentiment from Lucky Dog in it.  I LOVE that this sentiment fits perfectly on the paw pad.

The goodie bag was filled with some cookies, tied off with some red twine and I added the small paw print from the Dog Icons die on a tag I made using my circle Nesties.

And just to show you a bit more of the versatility of these stamps/dies, here's a doggy sympathy card I made to have on hand.  I hate that I need these cards but sadly, every so often, I do.  It's very clean and simple.  I diecut the pawprint on heart die twice, once in red and once in black and overlaid the red fallout on top of the black.  I added a small piece of ruffled red ribbon and stamped the sentiment.  

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! 

• TWO winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs.
• The prize - A Lucky Dog stamp set, Paws for a Cause stamp set and Dog Icons dies.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed for your chance to win! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your chances) 
• You have until midnight MT on Wednesday, December 18th to leave a comment. 
• Please check back HERE at the IHP Blog on Friday, December 20th to see if you are one of the TWO lucky winners.

And here are the rest of the blog Hop Participants:

Kate/IHP: http://www.blog.iheartpapers.com (HERE)
Sarah Gough: http://thinkingstamps.blogspot.com/
Lori Tecler: http://inkingaloud.blogspot.com/
Judy Rozema: http://www.jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/
Deb Felts: http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/
Vera Yates: http://lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Wida Miller: http://beachorado.blogspot.com/
Stacey Schafer: http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com/
Lindsay Amrhein: http://lindsayamrhein.blogspot.com/

I will also have some more projects using these sets here on Thursday during my day of the 12 Days of Craftmas.

Until then, remember, don't shop, ADOPT.  Every breed has a rescue.  It may take a little extra research and effort but you'll be saving a life and not supporting puppy mills.  If you are looking for a dog and don't know where to start, contact me and I will try to help get you in touch with some local to you that can help.

And for those of you wondering, these are our two current foster pups.  Aren't they adorable?  12 weeks old and only 4 pounds!

Have a great day!  And thanks for stopping by today!

Make sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!

Dog Rescue Stamps from Paper Smooches!

A few months ago I approached Kim from Paper Smooches about an idea for a dog rescue-themed stamp set and some coordinating dies that could be used for both cards and scrapbooking.  Over the next few months we worked together to create these sets, and I am so proud of them and thrilled with how they turned out!  And to make things even sweeter, Kim is generously donating a portion of the proceeds to Home For Good Rescue.

In two weeks, on December 16, we will be having a blog hop to showcase these greats new dog sets and you’ll have your chance to win them both along with the coordinating dies!  So be sure to check back here then!

In addition to these great new sets, we have the rest of the Paper Smooches release currently in stock in the store! Check out the New Items, right HERE.

And a quick reminder that our Cyber Monday sale ends today! Hurry and take advantage of this great deal while you can - 20% off storewide on orders of $50 or more! Use code BLACK2013 at checkout.

Make sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!

Guest Designer for December & January - Sheri Gilson!

December is here, and we are ending the year off right! We have a fantastic new guest joining us for this month and next - Sheri Gilson! Sheri is a veteran of several design teams, and a Splitcoast Dirty Dozen alum. Her cards are simply gorgeous, we're thrilled to have her with us for the next two months, and can't wait to see what she shares!

Hello! My name is Sheri Gilson and I'm SUPER excited to be guesting for i {heart} papers!  I live in Northern California with my husband of 20 years and our 14 year old son.  I am currently a SAHM who loves to create.  I was first introduced to stamping just before the birth of my son and immediately fell in love with card making and now have an entire room dedicated to my obsession.  I can't wait to share some of my projects here.  Thank you so much Kate for inviting me!

Be sure to visit Sheri's blog - Paper Crafty's Creations!

Make sure you check in on our Facebook page, too!  We share news, updates, inspiration, and the occasional giveaway!