TGIFC53 - Casing April Favorites!

Wow!  What a great turn out we had last week for the two challenges over at TGIF Challenges!  We had such great cards for the "All About Mom" theme and you all did a great job helping us celebrate our first blog birthday!  We will announce who won the free stamp set soon :)

Usually at the end of the month we do our Remix challenge .. But things have changed and I'm excited to say we are now doing something different at the end of the month.  Now instead of mixing 2 or more of the monthly's challenges together, YOU get to pick your inspiration.

You could pick any card from April - a design team member, a challenger, a winner... YOU decide! 

So for today's card, I chose Krista Frattin's card.  I love her chic style and soft color choices.  She has been one of my favorite designers since I saw her at Convention a few years ago.  (Long story short, I actually thought she was Mindy from BadaBing Paper-Crafting.  I went up to her and told her I loved her blog and then said, you're Mindy Backes right?.... yeah... that was embarrasing.)  Fast forward a few years and I'm on a Design Team with her! Say whaaaaa? 

I really like the technique Krista used on her background.  She sponged the white cardstock with versamark ink and embossed it with silver.  However, mine didn't look as cute.  I decided to stamp the background with the Watercolor Wash stamp in So Saffron ink.  I used the Botanical Builder framelits and cut white and vellum flowers.

The strip of filter paper is actually a Honeycomb Embellishment that I stretched apart and flattened out.  I did not have any filter paper, but I'm loving the way this looks! Might have to try the other colors.

So this card is for my best friend.  Her and her husband adopted little E last September, so this will be her first Mother's Day.  They waited years to be placed with a child and I'm so happy for them. God is good! :) 

Hope to see you playing along this week!  You can head on over to TGIF Challenges for all the links for April's challenges.  Pick and choose something that inspires you and make it your own! 

Have a great weekend!

-Holly 

Picture Perfect Mother's Day for TGIFC52 & Giveaway!

Just a quick post today to remind you of a few important things:

1 - The TGIF Challenges site just turned ONE and we have a giveaway! (ends tomorrow)

2 - The TGIF Challenges weekly challenge is all about MOMS <3 (also ends tomorrow)

3 - Mother's Day is less than 2 weeks away!

Guess you better get stamping!

Here's a card I made last night - and not quite sure if I will give it to my mom or my MIL since they both read my blog!  Either way, I hope it gives you an idea for this awesome Picture Perfect stamp set.

I will say it again and again... I'm not a big floral fan when it comes to stamping, but SU! is doing a pretty good job at persuading me!  I love these roses and how beautiful they look with the different shades.  Really gives it a 3D look.

To make this a true Mother's Day card, I inked the 'mother' part of the sentiment from Crazy About You and stamped the background.  I stamped the word off before stamping the background because I wanted it to be subtle, but I think it may be too subtle.  Can you see it?

If you have time, head on over to TGIF Challenges and play along!  You have until 10am PST Thursday, April 28th!

Blessings!

-Holly 

Thank You Two Ways for GDP033

I love a good color combo and this particular one I have used before.  It's very nautical and reminds me of when we lived by the beach in Rhode Island. Heck, all three color's names correlate to the ocean in a way.  Navy, Coral, Sand - how can you go wrong?

So I certainly couldn't pass this challenge up.  Make sure you head on over to the Global Design Project website for more inspiration!

I recently scored the Perpetual Birthday stamp set on a used stamp facebook page for $12 and I could hardly wait to use it!  In fact, I only waited about 5 minutes after walking back from the mailbox to ink it up!  I needed a thank you card idea for a class coming up this Thursday and I had a plan.

(Don't you just love when a plan works out better on paper than in your head?) :)  

I held a party for my MIL back in March and had 6-7 ladies interested in a monthly Stamp night!  This is our very first class on Thursday and I'm very excited.  These ladies are somewhat new to stamping themselves, so I wanted to show the ladies how you can make a simple card and how, with just a little extra, you can "step it up".

You could certainly skip the embossed butterfly layer too if you don't have a Big Shot.

For the second card I added some Sahara Sand Lace Trim (so sad it's going away!) and an extra sentiment.

I think it's important to know that you don't need everything when you're first starting out.  Both of these are simple and pretty thank you cards.  Don't be discouraged from having fun stamping just because you may not own it all.  (trust me... I don't!)

If you DO want to own more, you could join my team!  The discounts, promotions, incentives and freebies* are all worth it!  Message me with questions!

Remember we are celebrating our 1st birthday over TGIF!  You have until tomorrow to enter our weekly challenge and giveaway!

Have a great week!

-Holly

If you would like April's Card Class to go, leave a comment.  You will receive all 4 cards with envelopes for $16 shipped to US.  Outside of US will be $14 plus shipping.

*Card inspiration, left to right: Connie Collins, Teneale Williams, Judy May - last is my creation*

PPA297 and Giveaway!

Nine years ago yesterday my husband and I said "I do" under the tree in our back yard surrounded by our families and a few church friends.  I am so grateful for the blessed life The Lord has given us and I'm so thankful for the past 9 years.

But I won't bore you with sappy lovely dovey stuff - I'll just share the card I made Shawn instead! :)

The colors I chose were inspired by this week's Pals Paper Arts color combo.

I ordered the From Land to Sea set particularly for this lighthouse.  I love lighthouses and the symbolism of them.  I thought the sentiment from Going Global fit perfectly with the lighthouse and an anniversary card.

I wanted to make the look of the waves splashing against the lighthouse and sand and the Timeless Textures set was perfect.  I colored the lighthouse, Pool Party sky and added some sand that I drew "freehanded".

I also used the striped stamp from Timeless Textures to add some of the gray clouds.  A Wisteria Wonder button was added for a little more texture and color.

For the inside, I carried over the Timeless Textures and a strip of the black paper from Going Places DSP Stack.

Hope you all enjoyed my card.  Make sure to head on over to PPA's website.  And while you're stamping, make a birthday card to help us celebrated our FIRST BIRTHDAY at TGIF Challenges!

Our awesome "founder" Mercedes Weber is giving away a BRAND NEW, NOT-YET-TO-BE-RELEASED, stamp set from the upcoming SU! catalog!

Happy stamping!

-Holly 

Stamp Review Crew - Balloon Celebrations

Welcome back to another Stamp Review Crew Monday :)  Today we are featuring the Balloon Celebration stamp set from Stampin' Up!  I've seen so many cute birthday cards with this set and I wanted to make something different.  I was actually just going to make cupcake toppers and keep it simple, but then I tried fitting some other sentiments in the balloons and the idea for baby shower invites came to be. I'm also using this project for the SUO Challenges "shower theme".  

I'm also showcasing the Sweet Li'l Thing stamp set.

I started by stamping the white layer with the outline of the balloons in Pool Party.  I also added some Pool Party stars.  The clouds were made by rocking the cloud stamp in Smoky Slate, stamping off and cutting out.  The "it's a boy" sentiment fit perfectly inside the balloon!

(Not sure why the following pictures look so blue - I used Pool Party and Bermuda Bay)

These cupcakes are one of my favorite and it was so hard to take pictures and not want to eat them all!  And my poor boys were watching (and waiting) the whole time!

For the girl's card I used Blushing Bride and Rose Red.

  

I actually used the same toothpicks with the blue and pink on each side.  These would be fun for a gender reveal party or a baby shower for boy/girl twins!

I hope that these inspire you!  You can do so much more than just cards :)  Plus, this was a perfect excuse to make cupcakes!

Make sure you head back to the lovely Val or next to sweet Yapha!  Either way you go, make sure you head to everyone's blog!! If you get lost along the way - head on over to the Stamp Review Crew blog for the list of everyone!

Blessings,

Holly 

Get Your Shine On TGIFC51 - Diamonds Out of Dust

Welcome back to another (late) TGIF Challenge!  This week has been really busy - busy enough that I lost track of what day it was and forgot all about my post!  We celebrated a birthday, went bowling, cut down a tree and pulled weeds, went fishing, doctors appointments, put together a trampoline... Can't complain because it's sunny and warm finally, BUT I'm tired!  

This week's challenge is all about the glitz! Diamonds, Pearls, Glitter!  The timing was perfect because I received some happy mail yesterday from a good friends (Jessica Williams) - Maybe you've heard of her?) She had sent some Shine On Specialty DSP!  Awesome!  Be sure to click the image below to see what the rest of the team came up with!

So I was thinking about what stamp I could use for this challenge and it came down to my beloved Alphabet Rotary Stamp.  I seriously LOVE this thing.  If you don't believe me, you can click on the tag at the end of this post and you will see all of the posts I've done with this awesome stamp!

So here is my card:

So you might be wondering - what does that even mean!?  Well... Long story short, this past Sunday would've been the day my husband would have pinned on Captain.  We were both enlisted and then Shawn commissioned to become an officer in the Air Force.  Shortly after leaving for Officer Training School, he was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and within a year he was medically retired from the service.  We had so many questions and fears with the unknown.  We had been in the military for 9 years and now we were leaving for the civilian life.  But we were trusting God the whole time - knowing he knows best.  

So this card is a reminder to me that He takes the tough situations, the job loss, the miscarriage, the failed marriage, the hard days of being a parent - He takes the dust of our lives and makes diamonds.  

This is a card to encourage someone.  I don't know who I made it for - but HE does... and I hope it will encourage whoever receives this card!

So what's with you music video you ask?  Go ahead and listen to where the sentiment came from!  It may get stuck in your head (sorry not sorry).  :)

Blessings,

Holly

Picture Perfect for Stamp, Ink, Paper 43!

It's super late here and I just realized I've spent so much time playing with other challenges this week that I totally spaced on my card for tomorrow's TGIF Challenge!  YIKES!  Looks like my night just got a little longer...

But good news is, I have another card to share with you!  This time I'm playing along with one of my first Design Teams.  Stamp, Ink, Paper has a easy sketch this week so I thought I'd join the fun.  It's been awhile!

I just received the Picture Perfect set last week and wanted to use it right away.  I love any of these 2-step (even up to 4-step) stamps.  They give so much depth and dimension - they're great!

I wanted to highlight the more current in-colors and start detaching myself from the ones that are leaving.

That will be a sad day... 

I trimmed some Watermelon Wonder ribbon and added some pearls for a little extra. 

Hope you like it!

I will be posting late, but I hope you come back tomorrow for a new challenge!  And be sure to head on over to Stamp, Ink, Paper and see all of the other creations!

-Holly 

Butterfly Basics for GDP31 (again)

I'm back with another "nature" themed card for the Global Design Project.  If you missed my post Monday, make sure you check that card out too!  

And be sure to click the image below to see all of the cards from talented design team members.

I wanted to make a card with leftover scraps.  3 weeks ago I had my first SU! party in over 6 months.  We made a card using the Butterfly Basics stamp set.  I had a leftover stamped piece that someone had smudge and I thought I'd save it and do something with it later.  

Sometimes we cover up ink smudges and sometimes we just cut everything out! :)

I cut the flowers out and layered them a little to give them some depth.  I also added Crystal Effects to really bring the flowers out.

I added a scrap piece of Newsprint DSP I had saved.  (I hope they carry that over again!)

I used my very last bit of Watermelon Wonder Lace Ribbon - love just letting a little peek through.

The background DSP is the Going Places DSP and the birthday sentiment is from Silhouettes & Script hostess set.   I added some Metallics Sequin Assortment and Gold 1/8" Ribbon.

I sent this to my dear friend Steph in Rhode Island.  This was my 8th birthday that I've sent so far in April.  If you missed Shannon West's Birthday Card Initiative - You can read about it here.  It's more fun to send and receive birthday cards and phone calls than it is to just write on someone's facebook wall. 

If you would like to receive a birthday card from me - leave a comment! :)

Blessings,

Holly 

You're a Great Catch! - GDP031 and Guest Designer Eli!

I have a special treat for you today!  I have my youngest (and first) guest designer!  If you follow me here on Instagram, you may have seen my little Eli watercoloring with me last week.  We were attempting to make bubble stationary with soap, water and food coloring.  It was an epic fail - certainly didn't work out like I remember as a child.  So we decided to get some reinkers out with watercolor paper and do something different!  Eli had fun and I was so amazed by the job he did!

So this weekend I sat down and made a card with the paper.  I received the From Land to Sea stamp set in the mail on Friday and wanted to try it out.  I was really pleased with the card and was planning to blog about it today when I saw the new challenge at Global Design Project was "nature"... PERFECT!  Btw, I'm so honored that I was chosen as GDP29's pick!  Thank you everyone! <3

(Click on the image below to go to the site and see all of the other nature inspired cards)

I love the marlin in the stamp set.  When we went on the KLove Cruise with my inlaws in January, we stopped at a Guy Harvey restaurant and store in the Cayman Islands.  I had never heard of the guy "Guy" but his artwork is amazing.  Marlins are one of the things he paints.  So I was inspired to use the blue and purple from the paper Eli made and used the Lost Lagoon and Blackberry Bliss for the marlin too.

I used corrugated paper to make it look like the fish was mounted on wood.  I thought the texture would look better than stamping the hardwood stamp in brown.   I colored the fins using the clear Wink of Stella and found the perfect sentiment from Settin' Sail.  (It's a current photopolymer set with SU!)

Because I stamped the image on Coaster Board, when I colored it using an Aqua Painter, the paper curled.  I wasn't at all upset about it - made it look like a real fish that was mounted!

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope that you are inspired to make your own background paper!  Be sure to head on over to Global Design Project's blog and see some more!

Blessings!

-Holly