Top Dog Dies Guest Designer and Giveaway!

Good morning!  Today I have a special post!  Meagan over at Top Dog Dies has asked me to be their Guest Designer today!  She was very understanding about my lack of time these past few months and waited patiently until my semester was over to post my projects :)  I couldn’t wait to get inky and use this TOTALLY ADORABLE dies! 

Top Dog Dies is a new online store that offers their own brand of wafer-thin and steel-rule dies, along with dies from brands you already know and trust, including My Favorite Things, Sizzix, Savvy Stamps and Cheery Lynn Designs. Top Dog Dies is also the leading U.S. retailer for Tattered Lace, a new line of intricate dies designed by U.K. designer Stephanie Weightman.

First up is my Onesie Baby card…girl or boy, you decide!  I used to make my own onesie by measuring and using the SU circle punches.  But no more!  This die makes the onesie shape AND the crease fold at the top!  It would be so easy to make a set of baby thank you cards or invitations to a baby shower :)  Here’s what the dies look like.  The onesie die looks like a BIGZ die and the Finisher dies are the wafer type. 

Next up is a card using their Madison doily die.  I didn’t make many Christmas cards this year so am finishing up with New Year cards.  Oh, I love this doily design…so intricate and worth the few extra minutes of poking out the pieces!

I made 3 doilies to begin with.  I chose the white one for my New Years card and am saving the red heart one for Valentine’s Day :)

Head over to the Top Dog Dies blog to see more photos of my projects. BUT wait!  Before you go, I’ve got a giveaway!  Top Dog Dies is sponsoring a $50.00 gift card to their store! 

To be eligible, just follow this LINK and register on the page.  To get extra entries, you can comment here on my blog, or follow Top Dog Dies on their Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.  Click on each to go directly to those pages. The deadline to enter will be Monday, Jan. 6 at midnight.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

 

Top Dog Dies: Madison Doily, Onesie Card (A2), Onesie Card Finishers Die Set

January 2013 Rewind

Good morning friends!  Well, things are becoming a bit more quiet around here as some of the family has headed back home.  My son and his girlfriend are still here for a few more days.  I am thankful for my time off to spend with them.  I snuck into the studio yesterday to make a few cards and post something so y’all won’t wonder where I am! LOL  I don’t think I’ll be making an all year rewind of my favourite cards, but I thought today’s post could at least showcase a few of my favourites from last January.  Plus there are some Valentine’s Day ones in case you are starting to think of pink, red, and hearts :)  This first one is one of my first attempts at Chalkboard Art…oh, how I still love this look…must be the teacher in me :)

Wood is good and I just love die cutting from balsa wood and stamping on it.

I became a little obsessed with that heart frame stamp and die from Verve…the stamp set is on SALE at 50% off and the die is 20% off over in the Verve Store!

I just love the shading effect you get with these Papertrey Ink flowers :)

HA! There’s the heart frame again!  Can’t wait to pull it out again very soon!  Well, these are my favs from January!  It sure was fun to look back and see them again.  Thanks for visiting! 

P.S. The annual Good Buy sale is on over in the Verve Store…check it out! The best sale of the year!

Papertrey Ink December Blog Hop

Happy Boxing Day everyone!  I’m avoiding the crazy stores in Canada today and participating in the Papertrey Blog Hop instead. This time we are asked to “tie a few of our favourite things up.”  Well, how ‘bout some jingle bells?  Oh, do I love me some jingle bells!  This card was given to my bonus son and his wife.  AND I made it while watching The Sound of Music Sunday night :)  LOL I just love this sentiment and all those gold accents, right down to the gold bakers twine!  Have a great day and enjoy the hop!  I think it’s going to be a fun one again!

 

what’s in it?

stamps: Verve Every Heart Plain Jane, pti bells and boughs

paper: pti white, music sheet paper, crate paper bundled up

ink: su smokey slate, color box gold

dies: pti bells and boughs, spiral note page, poinsetta leaves

Love, Peace, and Joy Baby

Good morning! Happy Christmas Eve!  Just wanted to share the card that my darling husband is getting tomorrow :)  I CASED Danielle Flanders Make it Monday design a few weeks ago.  I loved the layering on her card and the vellum elements.  The sentiment on the card base is from Dawn’s boutique line, “Oh, how I Love You.”  Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and some peaceful moments with those you love.  Group hug!

stamps and dies: Papertrey Ink

Another Christmas Thank You

Good morning!  Just popping in with a little Christmas thank you card I made for a sweet family at school.  I taught their son 3 years ago.  For Christmas that year, the mom made me the MOST DELICIOUS biscotti I’ve ever had.  It was one she actually made for a local coffee shop. She was so kind to give me the recipe and it’s had rave reviews from the recipients.  Each Christmas (actually starting in the Fall), I ask my former student if I’m still on the biscotti list.  Every year I am! LOL  I thought that maybe this year I might be off, but sure enough, a plate of this fabulous biscotti came to my class on Friday :)  Each year I make a thank you card with “Joy” on it…that’s the mom’s first name!  How cool!  I took one of the Joy tags I made awhile back and added it to a card:)  Thanks for visiting!  I have one more card to share tomorrow…for the dh…and then I’ll be making merry with the family for a few days.

stamps and dies: Papertrey Ink

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge Reminder!

Well, it seems only fitting that I share a snowflake card on the first day of Winter.  This day is significant for me as it means there will be one more minute of daylight each day starting tomorrow!  Woohoo!  I am a daylight girl for sure!  Today’s card CASES one that Maile Belles made for the Papertrey Ink October release.  I just LOVED it!  Maile’s card (see it here on THIS POST) sold me on these snowflake dies!  The Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge is still up so head over to the blog to see all the details and more gorgeous samples.  Uniko Stamps are sponsoring this challenge and you could win this stamp set!  Good luck!

stamps: Uniko Stunning Snowflakes

dies: Papertrey Ink

Season’s Greetings

Woohoo! It’s Friday!  AND as of 2:25, I’m off for two weeks!  No more school, no more books!  AND with my second semester starting January 10th, I’ve got 3 weeks of doing what I want!  So let’s get this party started with another Viva La Verve Sketch Rewind…this one comes to us from May of this year, Week 4.  I participated this week as well…here’s my first card.  I had just returned from Boise, Idaho, where I met Julee and Mark and their adorable boys :)

Head over to the Viva La Verve forum and see how you could win $100 in Verve GCs!  Then check out the Verve Sale happening over in the Verve Store!  Have a great day and thanks for visiting!

stamps: scroll plain jane, Peace on Earth (Verve)

dies: scroll die (Verve)

paper: Bundled Up (Crate Paper)

Diva Dare Hostess!

Hi friends…just popping in to say I’m hosting the Verve Diva Dare today over on the Verve Blog!  Head over to see what Verve set is my favourite (3 guesses! lol)and learn a little more about my other “favourites.”  See you there!

Cool Christmas Tags!

Good morning friends!  I was busy making my Christmas gift tags last night.  I saw this cool idea somewhere a few months ago and for some reason didn’t pin it or save an image of it.  I may have seen it in a magazine at the gym…I really can’t remember!  BUT I kept it in my head because I thought it was so fabulous.  Just print out pictures of the gift recipient in black and white!  No writing necessary and they’ll certainly remember who gave them this awesome present and tag!  After printing out the photos on photo paper, I made a template out of an acrylic sheet with the tag dies I wanted to use…

Then it was easy to align the die over the part of the photo I wanted to use.  I made up a quick gift bag to see the full effect.

I’ll gussie this up a bit more, but you get the idea!  How cool!  Thanks for popping by…4 more work days! 

Let it Snow ~ Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge

Happy Sunday everyone!  I’m officially done my first semester so now I can focus on the last week with my students and start getting the house in order for arriving family members.  Today’s card is for the brand new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Snowflakes.

I took my inspiration from the colours and, of course, from the gorgeous snowflakes.  I made a HUGE snowflake out of felt and layered it with smaller glitter snowflakes for a bedazzling effect!  Uniko Stamps is our sponsor this week and graciously sent each DT member this set…Stunning Snowflakes.

Head over to the Curtain Call Inspiration blog to see what the Design Team came up with, then join in the fun! Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

stamps: Uniko Stamps

dies: Papertrey Ink and Lil’ Inkers Designs

Prepare Him Room

TGIF!  Wow, it’s here! My final weekend of classes for my first semester!  It’s been a whirlwind but a great learning experience.  It is quite different to go back to university after teaching for 21 years than it was going to university right out of high school.  I snuck in some inky time last Sunday to play along with this week’s Viva La Verve Sketch.  We are using former sketches this month and this one was used in August 2011, week 4.

Here’s my original…found on this post.

We were building the new house at the time so I had a makeshift studio in my Dad’s basement :)  OH, I love that gorgeous ribbon!  Head over to the Viva La Verve forum and see how you could win some Verve GCs by playing all month long!  Thanks for visiting and have a fabulous weekend!

what’s in it?

stamps: Chevron Love, Every Heart plain jane (Verve)

paper: white (PTI), Bundled Up (Crate Paper), glitter cardstock (Recollections)

ink: onyx (Versafine), raspberry fizz (PTI)

accessories: Wavy Hearts and Heart Quartet (Verve), fishtail flags (MFT), half and half die (PTI), jingle bells (Michaels), bakers twine (Twinery), enamel dots (MME), chipboard heart (Heide Swapp)

December Rewind #2

Good morning, friends!  I’m popping in with another rewind, although, this one came at the very end of November last year, not December! LOL   see the original post HERE.  My love for handmade doilies, seam binding, twine and jingle bells has not faltered since last year and I’m glad to see so many of you are jumping on the jingle wagon!  I love to shake these cards before I mail them and hear the happy “jingle, jangle.”  Thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow for my Viva La Verve card!  Guess what you might see on it?  LOL

December Rewind!

Hey friends!  I’m working on my last paper and juggling Christmas concert, crafts, gifts and such.  With little inky time this week, I thought I would rewind to last December for a day or two while I plow through the last 2 weeks of work.  I went back to last December and found some cards I still love and wanted to share again.  This one is from December 8th.  It was the last sketch of the Sketch for You To Try Challenge last year.  I just love the colours and of course, my ribbon, bells and silver cording.  Check out the post as it shows my year long line up of SFYTT cards.  Thanks for visiting and bearing with me as I finish up my first semester and work for the year :)  You’re the best!