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!!

Creations By AR - May 2014 Blog Hop - Designers Choice

Hi everyone and welcome to another fun filled blog hop brought to you by Creations By AR! This month we are changing things up a little and doing "Designers Choice"! How fun because you get to see our favorite templates and how we like to use them! I have no idea what templates the other gals are using and am curious to see if any of us picked the same one!! Ready to get started - here's the deets:

Designer's Choice Hop Info May 13

Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Post to go live:
Pacific:  3:00 AM
Central:  5:00 AM
Eastern:  6:00 AM
GB:  10:00 AM
Costa Rica:  4:00 AM

PRIZE:
One template of your choice

HOW TO QUALIFY TO WIN:
• Leave comments on each DT blog
• Leave comment on AR Facebook Page on which template is your favorite or which one you'd would like to win:

Comments accepted until Friday, May 16, 12:00 noon Eastern
One winner will be chosen from AR FB Page and will be announced March 17 on FB

I have so many favorites that it was hard to choose!! I finally decided on something that I thought y'all may like because it's so versatile. The Lil' Bear template is meant to be more of a tag since it doesn't open like a traditional card.  However, I've changed it up and made it into an open-able card with just one easy peasy little step!

To make the card so that it opens, I simply cut out an extra bear shape and attached it to the back of the tag

 I scored the 2nd bear I cut from plain card stock just under the ears and attached it with my ATG tape runner then stamped another inside. (all stamps used are from DeNami Design -boy bear- and Paper Sweeties -girl bear-)

Well I hope you liked my little bears as much as I do :) now off you go to visit with the other designers:

• Adela
• Doris
• Patti J
• Julia
• Tina  <----- you are here :)
• Monica
• Sue K
• Lisa E

Hope you enjoyed this stop along the hop and don't forget to leave comments along the way to be eligible in the random drawing to win a template of your choice!!

The Shabby Tea Room challenge #218 - "Tea Party"

Hi everyone and welcome to my turn to pick the theme for The Shabby Tea Room!!! I came upon the prettiest picture on Pinterest and couldn't resist using it for a challenge!

I ask that you INCLUDE A TEA CUP/TEA POT OR PETIT FOUR/SWEET TREAT, LACE/RIBBON and PEARLS!

This week I'd like to introduce you to The Paper Temptress! Ohh my goodness, the first time I ever visited her I was overwhelmed and blown away by the selection of cardstocks and specialty papers!!! I was excited to select a few pieces to work with and can't wait to fill up my little "shopping cart" with a few more wonderful selections right away! I don't care much for the thin cheap cardstocks that my big box stores carry so I am overjoyed to find really great paper at a great price!!

Ohh how I'd love to be at that tea party, how pretty!! Here's what I created....

Looking at the inspiration picture immediately made me think of the Best Wishes stamp set by Paper Sweeties. I just adore the wedding cake and pretty frame that the sentiments fit in. My papers came this weeks sponsor, The Paper Temptress. I had some beautiful and elegant papers to play with that were perfect for this little card.  The silver paper has a beautiful swirl pattern and iridescence that creates a beautiful "texture" and shimmer. The teal cardstock has an iridescence as well and is simply beautiful. The black card base is hard to describe, it's a heavy weight cardstock that's smooth but the feel of it is so soft and silky feeling, it's hard to believe it's paper not material...I kind of just want to sit around rubbing it, lol! ;)

Paper Temptress products:

Black (plike black text)

Lagoon (Mica/Metallic) 

Retro Silver Lustre 

This week's lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from Paper Temptress!

Please link your creations at The Shabby Tea Room by Sunday, May 18th to play along. Winner and Tea Time Terrific Top Three will be announced Monday, May 19th. We will have an all-new challenge for you to play along with on the 19th as well, so please come back and visit with us again for another chance to win!

Chalkboard Class

Hi everyone and HAPPY FRIDAY!!! I can't believe the weekend is FINALLY here...it sure took it's time and boy was it a rough week this week...sigh! 

Since it's Mother's Day weekend, I'm hoping to get a little much needed pampering ;)

Well, I thought I'd show y'all the chalkboard card for the class I taught at my local stamping store, The Stamp Pad. I had quite a few gals sign up, how exciting!!! I'm really happy anytime someone signs up but this class was fuller than usual so I'm over the top about that! :)

As with the other cards I've shown you from my classes, I have to use products that the store carries (makes sense when you think about it) so I couldn't slip in any DeNami, but rest assured, these could easily be recreated with some darling DeNami stamps!

I have to admit that at first I didn't like the Mother's Day card. After talking to the shop owner, LeAnna, about it she suggested changing the center of my rosette to the brighter color you see in the picture. Amazing what one little change like that can do for a card! I really enjoyed playing with the inks and fun stamps (really wanting the W Plus 9 set on the Mother's Day card!). The Mother's Day card and the copper colored birthday card used pre-made tags from American Crafts. Can you believe the coloring on 2 of the cards was done with regular ole colored pencils...how cool is that? The chalkboard paper I used has a rough texture to it and it holds the ink and colored pencil colors really well. 

That's it for me today, I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you Moms out there! :)

A Flower For Mother's Day

Goodness, I'm glad we are finally on the downside of this week! Monday started off WAY out of control and Tuesday wasn't much better...sigh! I have high hopes for today and tomorrow I get to have fun because in the evening I'm teaching a card class at The Stamp pad (chalkboard technique). I can't wait for some down time this weekend though, I SERIOUSLY need some!! ;)

Speaking of this weekend, Sunday is Mother's Day, are you ready??? I'm not, lol! Well, I take that back, I sorta am because one of the cards I made for my class is a Mother's Day card but I haven't been shopping in forever so I have no gift! Hmmm, maybe a gift certificate to The Stamp Pad...taking the easy way out but hey, it works! ;)

Well with Mother's Day on my mind I have another DeNami creation for you...

I used one of my favorite "go to" layouts and came up with something that used fairly non-traditional colors. Who would have thought charcoal for Mother's Day, right? I thought the charcoal would lend a touch of elegance and really make the pink pop. I used 3 stamps for this card...Happy Mother's Day sentiment, Elegant Spring Flowers set and the vase from the Garden Accessories set. There's a lot of "white space" and if you follow me for long you will soon realize that I don't normally do good with that, lol...I had to refrain from adding to this card. Now that I look at it on the computer screen I'm glad that I left well enough alone!

Well that's it for me today, I'll see ya on Friday!!!

The Shabby Tea Room challenge #217 - "pretty prints"

Hi everyone! This week at The Shabby Tea Room I really had to think outside of my box because the theme threw me off a bit. But after a lot of hard thinking I realized that I was OVER THINKING things...jeeze!!! What's new, right? Well, this week our assignment was to use the colors in the inspiration picture AND include fabric...how was I going to use fabric??? After a long while it dawned on me that DUH, pre-made flowers can be fabric, burlap can be fabric, fabric covered buttons, Use a strip of fabric to make a fun frayed knot in place of a ribbon one, etc...easy peasy!!! Not sure why my mind took so long to get into gear on this one, jeeze, lol!!!

create a card or project inspired by the COLORS IN THE PHOTO AND INCLUDE FABRIC!

Here's what I came up with after all of that AND it only took me a few minutes, lol....

I just got that banner die last week and am in love with it. I'll have to look up the name...I'm horrible about that, lol, but it made the patterned paper part and I layered the little kraft flags under it - CUTE! My paper came from a 6 X 6 pad as usual and I found some random flowers along with the yo-yo that is Michael's brand Christmas embellishment!! I finished up my card with one of my FAVE Paper Sweeties sentiments, Make Today Beautiful. I really love that whole set because it comes with flowers, leaves and a little pot so you can build your own flower, it's so adorable!! 

Paper Sweeties is owned and illustrated by Debbie Marcinkiewicz, and offers  high quality, on trend acrylic stamps and metal dies.  Our heartwarming images allow paper crafters to create adorable dolls with interchangeable outfits and accessories! We also have a wide variety of wonderful all-occasion sentiments, labels, frames and accessory sets - perfect for every paper crafted project!  The Paper Sweeties boutique carries tea-stained seam binding too!  The Sweeties dolls, accessories and sentiments are so much fun to play with and are sure to bring back fond childhood memories!  You'll enjoy using the Sweeties stamps and dies to create projects for card making, scrap booking, party invitations and favors, home decor, gifts and so much more!

Winner will receive a $20 gift certificate from the Paper Sweeties boutique!

Please link your creations at The Shabby Tea Room by Sunday, May 11th to play along. Winner and Tea Time Terrific Top Three will be announced Monday, May 12th. We will have an all-new challenge for you to play along with on the 12th as well, so please come back and visit with us again for another chance to win!

Mother's Day Daisys

Ohh my goodness, Mother's Day just keeps creeping closer and closer!! How about another card for inspiration?? The inspiration for this card came from one of the project booklets that DeNami had a while back.

This card was super easy to make! I started with a white square base then layered a fuchsia square in the center. I took a strip of celery cardstock and stamped the chevron from the Modern Borders set then added a narrow strip of the fuchsia in the center and layered it all onto the left side of the fuchsia part of the card base. Onto that I layered a square of the celery then the white square that I had previously stamped with the Mother's Day sentiment and tulips I "built" using the Spring Flowers set. To finish it all off I added glitter to the flowers and a few punched circles from the same cardstocks but it could easily be changed up by using some yummy sequins instead of the punched circles. 

Have a great weekend!!!