Sparkle & Shine - November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to another Stamp of the Month blog hop! This month we have over 50 hoppers sharing ideas for Illuminate, a set of 15 stamps sure to light up your life.  If you've arrived here from Judy's Making Time for Memories blog, or if you're just starting out, you're in the right place.  When you're done here, we'll head over to Haley's Inky Scrapper blog and see what she has to inspire us this month. If you get lost along the way, you can find the full list of hoppers here.

I had a great idea for a scrapbook layout this month, but not enough time to find the pictures and pull it all together. So I wound up deciding to make a Christmas card, and I love the way it turned out!

I used a sketch from this week's Paper Players sketch challenge. I'm also playing along with the Layers challenge at Heart 2 Heart.  Here are some details on my design:

The papers and rosette are from the Sparkle & Shine Workshop on the Go. I used washi tape for both the blue houndstooth border and the three banners. I stamped the lantern and sentiment in black pigment ink and embossed it with black embossing powder.  I added a candle stamped in Ruby, and candlelight stamped in Honey pigment ink and embossed with clear detail embossing powder.

I'm afraid I'm a little out of practice making snow and I did this a little too quickly. To make it look nicer, you want to use Liquid Applique to draw on your snow design, sprinkle on some prisma glitter, and let it dry a few hours. (The dry time is what I forgot about!) Then heat emboss it and it will puff up and look like sparkly snow.  I added a sprig of holly with Glitz glitter gel.

The circles behind the rosette are from the Sparkle & Shine chipboard elements with bitty sparkles added. I also sponged the edges of all the papers with coordinating ink. And I thought the sentiment was perfect for Christmastime. I'll add another sentiment to the inside of the card.

I hope you enjoyed my idea for you today.  Be sure to let me know what you think, then head on over to Haley's blog to see her project.

Deepest Sympathy

I needed another sympathy card this week. These are my least favorite cards to make, obviously, so I always find it easiest to start with a sketch. I decided to play along with Mojo Monday this week, and this is what I came up with.

The pattern paper is discontinued, and the cardstock and inks are all from Close To My Heart. The bee is cut by hand from a paper embossed with a Cricut embossing folder.

The beautiful sentiment stamps and honeycomb stamp are from Our Daily Bread Designs.  I hope my card idea inspires you next time you need a sympathy card.

Design Team Day with Lisa

Just WOW! That's all I can say about this sneak peek from Lisa.

That photo just pops against the For Always papers, and I love the addition of the floral touches (which I think are from Echo Park, but I could be mistaken).  Let's go visit Lisa's My Creative Endeavors blog and see this whole project!  Remember, if Lisa inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Lisa's My Creative Endeavors Sent Me!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 17th anniversary, so I made hubby this card yesterday afternoon. I just received this stamp set from the new Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide, and I knew this image would be perfect for this card.

This plane was calling my name for some reason, but it has a star on its side. So, since there was also a little heart in the set, I stamped that separately, cut it out, and popped it up over the top of the star. I also stamped a couple of clouds from the stamp set, cut them out, and also popped those up.

I colored everything with Copic markers. It's hard to tell in the photo, but I used a light BG color on the clouds for a little depth and definition. Before adhering everything, I sponged the edges of all of my papers in coordinating inks.

Here are the supplies I used:

• For Always paper packet
• Lifting Spirits stamp set (in Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide)
• Memento Tuxedo Black ink for stamping
• Lagoon and Honey stamp pads for sponging
• Copic markers to coordinate
• 3-D Foam Tape

**Items in the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide are available until December 31, 2013.   You can choose one "star" item in the catalog free for every $100 of retail-priced items in your order.

Design Team Day with Mandie

Hello! Today I have a share from my DT member Mandie from Mandie's Scrappin'. Looks like she's using Huntington papers based on her sneak peek here:

I don't know about you, but I'm off to see her full project! Remember, if she inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Mandie's Scrappin' invited me!"

Harvest Pumpkins - Creations by AR October Release Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the October New Release blog hop for Creations by AR! This month we have an adorable Harvest Pumpkin Set that contains files for both a card and a pumpkin shaped box. You can win your very own copy of these files by following the rules later in my post.

I was going to make a grouping of pumpkin boxes, including trying one in a larger size, to have them as a centerpiece on the table. I thought they would make a great place to keep little treats under wraps and be a pretty tablescape at the same time! However, I had some difficulty with my Silhouette Studio software, so I reverted to using Make The Cut with my Cricut and just made one for now. I hope to find time to figure everything out and make more later this week!

Here's the one that I did make, and I LOVE it!!

 

(Pardon the linty look of my background. I'm in the process of moving my craft room and some things are getting messy!)

I used the Glitter Paper from Close To My Heart because it's my favorite right now. It combines the nice bold color of the American Crafts glitter cardstock, but with a thinner weight, making it MUCH easier to work with without it creasing where you don't want it to. Not quite as smooth as the the Pow! glitter paper from AC, but the colors of that are more muted than I like.

I just love the details that Adela included in this file. The leaves are a great shape, and that vine is the perfect finishing touch!

I creased the leaves down the center and curled the sides back with the back end of the same quilling tool I used to roll up the stem. I sponged on some coordinating ink with a sponge dauber to add more depth and dimension.

If you'd like to try to win your own copy of the Harvest Pumpkin Set, here's what you need to do:
• Leave comments on each blog
• AR FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-AR/154314751303824
• AR PCP Group: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/creationsbyar

Comments accepted until Oct 20 (12:00 noon EST)
One random winner will be announced Oct 21:
AR FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-AR/154314751303824
AR PCP Group: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/creationsbyar
AR Blog:  http://cbyar.blogspot.com

So, if you're ready to check out all of the other awesome inspiration from the Design Team, here's where you need to go:

Adela:  http://cbyar.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-release-harvest-pumpkin-set.html

Jak: http://www.jakheath.com/2013/10/new-release-blog-hop-creations-by.html

Julia: http://createwithjulia.blogspot.com/2013/10/creations-by-ar-october-release.html

Lisa: http://www.lisasomerville.com/2013/10/creations-by-ar-october-release-hop.html

Lori: <<<<<>>>>>

Lyn:  http://www.lynspaperpetunia.com/2013/10/creations-by-ar-new-release-hop.html

Patti J: http://cherisheachpreciousday.blogspot.com/2013/10/creations-by-ar-harvest-pumpkin.html

Sue K: http://suesstampingstuff.blogspot.com/2013/10/creations-by-ar-blog-hop-harvest.html

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking us out! Be sure to come back later to see more of these fabulous pumpkin boxes. 

Design Team Day with Amber

Hey all! Today, Amber has a super cute layout to share that she made using some Chantilly paper I sent her, and some other goodies from her stash.

 Be sure to head over to Amber's Sew-Ink blog and check out all of the details. (Did you SEE the cute stitching on the corners of her pics - fabulous!) When you're there, if Amber inspires you to go shopping on my website, be sure to click on the link that says "Amber from Sew-Ink sent me!" This helps me keep track of what and who inspires you.

I hope you enjoy her project; I know I'm looking forward to checking out all the details!

Third Post for Mojo

Mojo Monday won't let me link multiple cards from the same blog post, so I'm just adding another one here to link up - go to 2 posts previous to this one to see all 3 cards together!

Second Post for Mojo

Mojo Monday won't let me link multiple cards from the same blog post, so I'm just adding another one here to link up - go to the previous post to see all 3 cards together!