DeNami Design April 2014 Blog Hop - The Skys The Limit

Hi everyone, are you ready for another fun AND inspirational hop brought to you by DeNami Design? This moth's theme is The Skys The Limit!

When: The blog hop starts on May 18th, 2014 at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until May 19th, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

You should have arrived here from the uber talented Pattie Goldman's blog but if you didn't no worries, the full list of participants is on the DeNami Design blog!

Ready to see what I have to share with you today? I had issues deciding what stamps to use because DeNami has sooo many little cuties that would work with this theme...cloud, airplane, balloons, hot air balloon, cute little winged critters (just to name a few)...Paulina was right, the sky's the limit with this fun theme!

I've always been partial to the pretty little kite and since I haven't used it in ages I decided to pull it out.

I pulled out a new 6X6 paper pad that I had recently gotten (swoon) and found some bright and fun patterns. I stamped the kite then again on a scrap of patterned paper so I could pop it up on foam tape. I just love my little candy striped clouds...a recent purchase from Paper Smooches and finished it all off with a few pieces of bling and springtime sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Stamps Used:

Fly A Kite

Assorted Greetings petit four set

I couldn't resist being an over achiever ;) (hehehe) so I made up a little something using my favorite butterfly stamp too.

I just love a white on white card with a pop of color! I scored the white panel then cut the top at a wavy angle and attached butterflies that I had stamped and fussy cut. Fast card to put together and it makes a statement...that's a win win! ;) Can you see the subtle sparkle in my butterflies...I stamped them in several colors of Brilliance Ink. I just love that ink :)

Stamps Used:
Polka Dot Butterfly
Heartfelt Greetings petit four set

Well that's it for me today, now off you go to visit with Jennifer Loftfield...I can't wait to see what she has in store for us! Don't forget to leave comments along the way for a chance in the random drawing for a DeNami gift certificate!!

The Shabby Tea Room #210 - Anything Goes!!!!!

Ohh my goodness do we have a surprise for you this week at The Shabby Tea Room!! This weeks them isn't a beautiful picture or even a sketch....well, that is it could be if YOU wanted it to be....

This weeks theme: ANYTHING GOES!!!

This week we have no rules as far as what you make or include on your project...woo-hoo for free play, right?!?!? So what are you waiting for...go create!!!

Ohh wait, you wanna see what I made and of course find out who our sponsor is this week to see what prize is up for grabs don't you, lol?

Well, our sponsor is the one and only Bugaboo Stamps! They have the most ADORABLE images and I always enjoy working with them :)

With this weeks theme there's no excuse not to play along at The Shabby Tea Room!! And who knows, you may be one of the winners and score a few Bugaboo images!!

I found this little image, Birdhouse - Beehive, that reminded me of my hubby since he's a beekeeper. Because it's kind of a tall image I decided to pull out a tried and true layout that's a favorite of mine. I made a little polka dot background with one of my top 5 favorite DeNami stamps and added a fun sentiment from DeNami's Heartfelt Greetings set.

Are you in the mood for love....

Ohh my goodness, have you looked at the calendar lately?? We are well into January already and do you know what that means??? That means DeNami's spring 2014 release sneak peeks are underway AND Valentines day is right around the corner!

Let's get to DeNami's sneak peek first. Starting this past Monday Paulina and the design team have showcased some of the DARLING new images on the DeNami blog. Follow along and leave comments to be entered into random drawings to win some of the new release...how fun is that?!? As soon as I finish up here I'm headed over to DeNami to do just that!! Don't forget, the new release will be available in the shop on Friday!

Now then, let's discuss valentines day. I haven't made any new DeNami Valentines day cards yet because I'm waiting to get my new images. But just in case you want to get a head start, I've pulled a couple of my faves from the archives. 

This is a little easy to make card that I did a start to finish video on :)

 

love flourish, teeny heart, teeny heart background

I just puffy heart the rosevine heart, here's a couple of easy to make cards featuring it...

 

Rosevine heart, love flourish,  rosevine cluster

How about a classic Valentine...

heartfelt greetings, solid decorative crest 

Well I hope these gave you a little inspiration to kick start your Valentines day cards. February 14th isn't that far off...ohh my, and here I still haven't recovered from the Holiday card season quite yet, lol!!  As soon as I get my little hands on the new DeNami images I'll have a little more valentine inspiration to share :)

Shine like a star

Hi everyone! Did you get a chance to read yesterday's post...hope that I have inspired YOU to take a chance and join in on some challenge fun or to start submitting your work to magazines. :)

The comments from yesterdays post brought tears to my eyes...ruined a good make-up day ;)  Ya'll are just so sweet (hugs)! I greatly appreciate you and the time that you take to read my blog and Facebook posts. You play a big part in what keeps me going!! I better get to today's post before I tear up again...ya'll have me overwhelmed!!

Today's card is a challenge submission, lol, plus the next 2 days will be challenge submissions too! See, I don't give up! ;)

I've had the idea for this card in my head for quite a while, however, I planned in using hearts because I was actually going to try the layout for a shower card during my wedding theme week. I ended up making too many cards so this idea got shoved back, lol. When I saw the 10 Minute craft Dash's current theme this layout immediately came to mind.

My desk before starting:

The carnage as a result of working within the 10 minutes ;)

Here's my creation...

The time was pretty close - 9min. 57sec. - those stars took forever to punch out! I wanted the stars to have motion so I cut the patterned (stripes)by hand  in a swoosh (starts up then goes down and back up again) and attaching them went quickly since I didn't want them uniform. I made the pattern paper at the top using the teeny star background stamp from DeNami. I originally wanted a little bling between the sentiments but all the ones I had were too big so I ended up using a marker for the separation of the words. Unfortunately I was running low on time so I had to make the decision to just add the twine bow instead of threading it through a button. However, I like the plain bow and the button may have just been a distraction from the stars.

Have you had a chance to read all about our birthday celebration here on at the Addict blog?? I'm giving away a yummy DeNami gift certificate to a random winner. All you have to do to enter is follow one little rule...make a birthday themed card of your choice! No DeNami products have to be used & no special color palettes. Link up to the birthday celebration and at the end of the month I'll be drawing a random name for the prize package!

That's it for me today, I'll see you right back here tomorrow with a card for The Shabby Tea Room challenge! Thanks for joining me today :)

What do you do with all of those left over scraps??

We all have scraps of coveted patterned and plain cardstocks along with random lengths of ribbons, misc baubles and stickers that we save up telling ourselves that someday we will use them. In reality we shove them in a basket or some other sort of container where they stay until...well, they just stay don't they? We don't admit it to ourselves, but we know we aren't ever going to use them. Today is the day to break out that stash of scraps and finally use them.

Did you know that DeNami has quite a nice line of little boxes and bags? I've shown you how I used little bags for treats in the past here & here & here. Well I thought I'd show some of the boutique boxes that can be made for pennies and still make adorable gifts.  These boutique boxes are great for using up your scrap paper, ribbon and other misc left over embellishments! I barely used any paper or embellishments and came up with four adorable gifts. I wanted what was in the box to stand out and decorated the boxes as to let the contents become part of the embellishment.

Have you ever gone to a crop or friends house that was hosting a crafty get together? Why not make her a little hostess thank you gift? I simply filled this little box with some yummy DeNami goodies; buttons, lengths of ribbons, a length of  twine, a couple of little bows that I tied and some (non DeNami) flowers. Added a little trim and tag that I attached with Crystal Lacquer and you have something any crafty hostess will be sure to love. The other box I made up for a friend. She loves Crystal Light and what's more fun giving little random gifts and cards to people...this was perfect! I picked up the hot pink from the packaging and added little punched borders that I attached with my ATG and added a little tag with a bow. You can't get any simpler than that!

 I've had these little boutique boxes for a while now. I originally ordered them because I use my petite four stamp sets waaaaaaay too much and some of the boxes were starting to look a little worse for wear and these are the same little boxes. I had so much fun making the other little boxes I thought I'd make a couple of more using my left over petite four boxes. Did you know that you can actually stamp on any of the boxes? Since they come folded flat it's really easy and all you need is a little Staz-On ink in the color of your choice. I simply stamped my fishies and air/water bubbles then cut a couple of strips of scrap cardstock to form the band. Add a couple of layered punched circles with a chickie and there you have it...easy peasy! It was really heard not to eat those little Swedish Fish...they're my favorite candy, ;)  however, I made this little fishy creation for my hubby...hopefully he shares!! The other treat box I made for my sister, Denise. Again I used just a few left over scraps of cardstock. I used my hole punch to make the dots and just randomly glued them to the box. Using my hole punch again I punched a small hole in the sides of the box to thread my ribbon to make a cute little handle. I made a tag from some scraps laying around and attached it to the handle. How cute is that??

I sure hope you try out some  bags or boxes and use up a few of your scraps. If you do, let me know, I'd love to see what you create!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Pink Poodle

Hello everyone!

Today I have another little creation to enter in the CAS-UAL Friday challenge...Let's Strip.

I came up with the idea of using fringe as a little border, but alas, I have no "cowboy" stamps. I'm thinking Nami needs to make a cowboy chickie, how cute would that be?!?!?! Anyhow, I didn't want to give up on my fringe idea, so I came up with doing something girlie and am calling my cowboy fringe a little fringe skirt instead, lol!

I made the strips the hard way...with my paper trimmer. I wanted them to be perfectly even so I had no choice. (You should have seen it when I tried it free handed...what a disaster!) I topped it off with a little punched edge and ribbon treatment. I just love that little poodle from the Playful Puppies set...isn't she adorable? How can you just not want to color her in in pink? 

Thanks for stopping by!

I can see clearly now...

Hello everyone,

This morning I have a card to share with you that I made for the latest CAS-ual Friday challenge.

CFC57: Create a Clean And Simple project using acetate or vellum

Since Wednesday was the first day of summer I decided to make a little something in celebration....

Fun colors and flowers that just scream "Welcome Summer"! I used aquamarine iridescent cardstock for my card base but I lined the inside with white cardstock for stability since it's rather thin. I used a 2" Marvy scalloped circle punch to make my little window and added a layer of acetate. I couldn't manage to capture the acetate in any of the pictures I took...trust me, it's there ;)

I'll see ya back here tomorrow with a little card I made using the color palette for our current challenge right here on the Addict blog. Have a great day!

Yellow water lilly

Good morning everyone. I only have a minute, my back was killing me all weekend and doesn't seem to be any better this morning and now I'm running late for work. Don't ya just love Monday's...sigh.


I wanted to show ya'll a little card I made up for the current DeNami challenge. I just can't get enough of this color combo, it's just so pretty!

I only used 3 stamps: water lily (I stamped and fussy cut it 4 times to form my flower), large dot swirl, and for the sentiment, heartfelt sentiments set. The panels are all flat but my lily is popped up on foam tape for a nice shadow effect.

I gotta scoot now...hope ya liked it. Have a great day everyone!

 
Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Have you checked out the new challenge??

If you haven't checked out the new challenge over on the DeNami blog, you really should!! Why not enter a lovely little card while your there...what have you got to loose? ;)

Now we all know how I love me some layers and true to my nature, I created faux layers using the masking technique for my first entry. For this one I really wanted to challenge myself and come up with one layer that was clean and simple. However, I still wanted it to express "me" so it had to be colorful and fun at the same time . Whatcha think......

I wanted to pull the colors around the sentiment and really had a hard time deciding weather or not to use a little bling to do it. As you can see, in the end I decided to keep every aspect of this little card "one layer"  and used the same markers I used for the flower stamp instead of rinestones to make the little dots...whatcha think?

Pssst...did ya get a chance to click on the new "learn" tab on the DeNami homepage?? What a wealth of knowledge. Lots of tips, tricks, tuitorials and eyecandy for inspiration!

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Mimi and polkadots...

I think out of the whole Mimi collection, this has to be my favorite image...it was also my very first Mimi stamp of course!

Along with using my fave Mimi, I pulled out my fave color combo too...green, pink and chocolate :)  Wow, this card is made of all my favorite things...polka dots and the scalloped border stamp too!! How's a girl supposed to give it away???

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Classic colors of love

I just love me some black and red color combo!! A valentine for my hubby is a great time to use it....

I moved the tag several times...can't decide if I like it like this or if I liked it better straight and lowered to the center of the card....sigh



Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

I stole Wendy's Monday post....

Wendy and I usually rotate days for our posts and she actually had something set to post Monday and I canceled it so I could post something now to serve as Mondays post...shhh, don't tell her ;)

I've already entered my "drink projects" and a card for the current Anything Goes DeNami challenge, but I have one more little thing I wanted to enter....

 I used the mini solid filigree to make a border and added the stitched border to hang the heart outline and the 2 hearts from the hearts stamp set. I then added the bow from the whimsical Christmas set. I added strawberry freeze glitter to all three hearts and magenta glitter to the bows and stickles to the "hanging ribbon".

I left just a little border of the base card (black) showing between the charcoal & pink panels and pink grosgrain ribbon. Oops, I almost forgot....I added the love sentiment from heartfelt greetings set :)


Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Love and sparkles

Being the Valentines season just gives me one more reason to use pink, glitter and hearts!! Well, it's not like I usually use an excuse really...I mean, heck, who doesn't LOVE them some pink glittery anything, right?

I did a little background stamping on a pink card using the teeny heart and "love" sentiment from the Heartfelt Greetings set, then stamped the N21 heart border on a diecut in pink and filled in the hearts using the DeNami Strawberry Freeze glitter...the pinkness of the glitter is pretty faint with all the other pink around it. I added a strip of DeNami pink grossgrain ribbon under the diecut and trimmed the ends in a "V" pattern. After adhering it to the card face I added two little pink bows in matching ribbon.


Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

swirls of smiles

My bad...I don't know how to count obviously lol! When I posted the entries for the November sketch challenge on the DeNami blog I had said that I made 4 cards that I needed to whittle down...ummm, yeah, how bout 5. Geeze, what was I thinking? Woo-Hoo for Enney-Meany-Miney-Moe!

This one was a real contender for submission...I really love it. Black and pink together = pretty in my book! I actually punched the 2 layers of the tag and have them attached with the ribbon.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

A little sketch challenge reject

Ya'll remember a little sketch challenge that DeNami had in November?? Well, I entered...no surprise there! I made this card for that challenge but it didn't make my cut.

 I was gonna add glitter to the flowers and stamped bow, then decided that I wanted to send this in with my other OWH cards and opted for the crystal laquer instead.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Happy Birthday to a friend

I got to thinking (I know, I'm still in shock myself) about a birthday card for a friend. I was thinking that all her cards are going to be alike and say happy birthday on the front, balloons or a cake or something birthday related. Well, I decided to make something that would stand out as different...kinda like myself lol. ;)

I decided on black and purples for my colors and pulled out some of my all time favorite stamps. I wrote the appropriate birthday greeting on the inside...but sometimes you have show your true "spots" and to dare to be different....

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Happy Anniversary to me :)

I interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post for an important announcement...I am announcing that Wendy is the bestest person ever!! Look what I got in the mail yesterday;

Seriously, can you believe that?? There was a little sumthin else in the box that I didn't show...I think she should totally show it on the upcoming blog hop! Isn't she amazing...I feel so honored and blessed to have a friend that is so thoughtful and amazing...she's the glue to my sparkles!

Welcome back to our regularly scheduled programing:   ;)

Statistics say that hubby & I should not still be together (long story - jumped into relationship too soon sorta business)...meh, what do the statistics know and just who the heck are they anyways?? Obviously they aren't that smart, cause here it is, 21 years later and he can still take my breath away! *sigh* He makes me all mushy ;) just don't let him know that or it will be used against me for sure!

Have you gals ever tried the DeNami cardstocks? If not, you ARE missing something...the colors are so rich and fab! For my hubby's anniversary card I chose their deep rich black cardstock and paired it with the wonderful shimmery aquamarine and silver cardstocks...to die for in real life, wish I could have gotten the camera to capture it better. Here's a little different angle...

I just couldn't wait to use my new border punch...40% off coupon...WOOT for me!! It's not too feminine is it...isheesh, I hope not lol!! Ohh well, he's gettin' it anyway! ;)

Looking forward to another 21 years...although I may have had to off him by then...or maybe just lock him in the basement, he has a few uses  (don't go there Wendy...that's not what I ment ;) Someone has to open the salsa jar ya know. )!

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Learning a new technique....

So, there's this little trick I've seen some gals in the crafty world do and I've really been wanting to try it out....

I've seen the gals stamp distress inks onto a stamp block (for clear stamps), spritz it with water and use the special little tool with the felt pad to swirl them together onto the paper. I dry embossed white cardstock to give it a little texture then combined 2 shades of green and one blue...Not too bad for a first time, whatcha think? For the flower I used pencils and gamsol...I heart that effect!

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!

Versitile Sketches

I love to make sketches...they are never perfect...couldn't draw a straight line if my life depended on it, but I don't let a little minor thing like that get in the way ;)  

Well, I decided to pull out a few sketches and try them on for size.

As you can see from this picture (I highlighted the pencil sketch so you could see it better), the sketch was a good idea, and can very versitile. I can see Mimi's Boutique buttons down the side and one of the darling  petit four sets as background paper...I think I know what my next card is gonna be!!!

Go ahead and play with it and let me know what you come up with, I'd love to check it out!

Supplies:
PF32 Owls stamp set
PF28 Heartfelt Greetings stamp set

Have a great day, Tina

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....good or bad....or even better - what would you have done differently??...crafty minds wanna know!