Saying goodbye to iSpy

Hi there, everyone.  I'm not sure if you saw Kim's announcement last week on the iSpy blog but she's decided it's time to close the blog down.  Kim is working outside the home now and with all of us on the team so busy, no one was able to step up and take over the challenges.  I've loved being part of this team with such a fantastic group of ladies. 

 

In honor of saying goodbye to iSpy, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite cards I made while on the team. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane :-)

 

 

 

 

 

OMG!!! Exciting news!!!

Eeks!!!!! I have been sitting on some fun news for the last week and I'm so excited that I can finally share it with you!!!

I'm joining the Stamping Bella Design Team!!! I still can't believe it!! Stamping Bella has long been one of my favorite stamp companies and has always been one of my dream design teams.  I swear I must have looked like a fool doing my happy dance.  I officially start on December 1st so you'll be seeing a lot of fun cards from me soon.

 

In honor of this, I have combined this weeks' Bellarific Friday challenge (which is Holiday wishes) with this week's iSpy Sketch challenge. This week's iSpy challenge features  Jean Martin and is inspired by this card.

 

 

I think this sketch is truly fantastic and will keep it to use again at some point.

 

 

For my card, I've used one of the first stamps I ever purchased from Stamping Bella called "Polly Packages". The image was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers.  The DP is an older pad from Crate Paper called "Snow Day" (still one of my fave Christmas pads).  As you can see, I moved the bow to the right hand side of the card to balance it out.  Both the green and yellow DP were sponged in corresponding inks for a bit of extra dimension. 

 

Thanks for checking out my fantastic news :-)  I'm still on Cloud 9. 

 

  

YNS Meets ISSC18

Another quiet week on my blog... I took a small break from stamping this week to deal with life... I've been on the job hunt for a few months now and I finally feel like things have turned a corner and hopefully good things are coming my way.  It was one of those weeks where it was make cards or get my rear in gear and get some more resumes etc out there.  And the job hunt won... 

But enough about my life... I have some fun stuff going on this month!!! I've been asked to be this month's guest designer at Your Next Stamp.  Eeks!!! I'm so excited that I get to be a part of supporting a Canadian company. 

I'm loving this graphic!!! Hehehehe. Too cute!!!

Because I'm being revealed as the guest designer today, I decided to combine my announcement with my iSpy card.  This weeks sketch,  ISSC18 is from LeAnne Pugliese ( LeAnne Pugliese @ SCS) and is based on this card

For my card, I decided to use "Vacation Don" that I think is way too cute!!!

I told you he's cute!!! LOL!!! Gotta love a bear in a convertible with a surfboard in tow.  I have stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then I watercolored the image with Tombow Markers.  Easy Peasy!!! The sentiment comes from the YNS set called "Seasonal Icons One". 

As part of "Your Next Stamp", the ladies do what is called "Fun Friday"  where the DT provides extra info about how we stamp etc.  My Fun Friday tip/trick is to let you know "Don't be afraid to combine different companies' DP on your cards".  I am a sucker for DP especially in 6x6 pads.  Most people use only one pad for their cards, but I like to mix it up to make my cards stand out.  It makes your card a little bit different.  On my card, I have some older Cosmo Cricket, My Mind's Eye and Fancy Pants Design.  All of the colors "go together" to create a cohesive look.  Cool eh? 

Onto the iSpy info:

Here is how to play:

• Create a paper crafting project (card, scrap book page or 3D item), based on the sketch provided.Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery (using a code ISSC18), and link it here with the inlinkz widget below.
• Please provide a direct link to your post - not the generic link to your blog.
• A new challenge will be posted every Friday at 12:01 AM EST, and you have until noon on the following Friday EST to submit your entry.
• You may enter as many times as you like, but please provide a newly designed project with a new link for each additional project.
• We will choose the top 2 creations to be featured in our "Top 2 Winners" post every Sunday where we will announce who we have picked :) The winners will receive their very own iSpy Sketches blog badge!
• Don't forget that you may combine our challenges with others and use supplies from any company that you wish :)
• Have fun and we look forward to "spying" your creations!

Wahoo!!! A new blog design!!

WOW!!!! I was chatting with Kim Teasdale yesterday and casually mentioned I'd love a new blog design.  I had absolutely NO clue as to what I wanted so we started chatting today about some ideas.  I went off to make dinner and came back to an email with my blog banner. I LOVE it!!! I was absolutely blown away by what Kim created for me.  Have I mentioned I LOVE it???

Make sure you check out Kim's website called

You won't regret it. 

She has great watermarks as well. 

The background part of my blog is from

Mel Stampz

I'm giddy with excitement about my new blog!!! I hope you like it!!!

Kim, you ROCK!!! Thanks for being such a fabulous and amazing friend!! Love ya!!!

OMG!!! I'm a dirty girl!!!

OMG!!! Did you see the news?  I have my shovel and my gardening gloves and I'm getting dirty with the Dirty Dozen at Splitcoaststampers!!! I'm still in shock that I'm lucky enough to be part of such a fabulous group! 

iSpy with my little eye... something that is fun!!!

I have some fun exciting news to share!!! Kim Teasdale is back in the game and she's started a new Sketch blog called iSpy Sketches!!!!! It's a fantastically fun team and I can't wait to get started!! Our debut sketch will be Friday February 3rd so make sure you check it out.  Now pop on over to the iSpy blog to check out the new DT aka the Special Agents!!

Awesome News at Ribbon Carousel!!!

Hey everyone! Today is a big day at RibbonCarousel.com. We are debuting the Brand New Ribbon Carousel^© today and, of course, doing a giveaway on our Blog too! Here are the details:

The Ribbon Carousel^© is made out of White Marine Board Plastic (High Density Polyethylene), giving it a textured top with smooth scrolled edges. Each Carousel comes with 8 Clear Acrylic rods allowing for many different configurations. You can use it as a 4, 5, 6 or 8 post Carousel, depending upon your individual needs.

The Ribbon Carousel^© holds up to 60 rolls of 3/8" ribbon using 4 rods, 40 Wooden Spools or 16 spools of your favorite Baker's Twine using 8 rods. It SPINS around on a lazy susan, allowing you to access your ribbon and twine easily! This easy-to-use organizer is compact, with a footprint less than 7" square on your workspace. The Ribbon Carousel^© holds ribbon spools of any size up to a 4" diameter. Minimal assembly required.

To use: Simply unscrew the knob on top of the Ribbon Carousel^©. Remove the top and place your spools on the posts as desired. Replace the top by lining up the rods to the holes in the underside of the top. Replace the knob to secure the Ribbon Carousel.

Specifications: Each Ribbon Carousel is approximately 6.85" square and 13.5" tall. The manufacturing and assembly of each Ribbon Carousel^© is in Washington State, USA.

Now head on over to the Ribbon Carousel Blog or FB page to be entered in our Giveaway!

A few discounts for you!!!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and family!!!

 In honour of Black Friday, both There She Goes and Ribbon Carousel are offering discounts as a way to say THANK YOU!!!

Happy Shopping!!!!

Swimming for Katie Blog Hop and Fundraiser

From October 10-12 some of the best stampers are joining together to support and encourage our friend and fellow stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling inoperable gastric cancer. If you're not familiar with her, Katie’s cancer story started just before Christmas last year. This young, beautiful, healthy, vibrant mother of 3 with her infectious smile was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, virtually overnight. A few tummy aches and then stage 4 gastric cancer. Her first post about it is here. The idea of “Swimming for Katie” came from her recent post here.

This exclusive stamp used in my sample, designed by Becky Oehlers is available as a clear stamp, as well as a digis or a dig and SVG cut file. 100% of the profits go to Katie's fund to help her and her young family. Her husband Kevin and her three young children need our help and support. In addition to the Keep Swimming Octopus, Marianne Walker and True =D Doodle Designs both also donated digis that are for sale. Direct donations are also being accepted. Information central is HERE. This is a permanent page that will stay active at i {heart} papers with current information and the full 3 day blog hop listing, as well as the donation button.

Here are all the items available for sale.


I hope you will join me in supporting Katie through a purchase or donation. The following is a list of everyone who has projects posted today. I hope you will be inspired by them and moved to purchase or donate.








  If you would like to send Katie a card, her mailing address is:

Katie Renz
PO Box 5913
Bellingham, WA 98227-5913

Thank you!!!

Ashley Harris
Clare Buswell
Jessica Diedrich
Lisa Somerville
Charlene Merrick
Eva Dobilas
Judy Rozema
Sharon Doolittle
Tifany DeGough
Windy Robinson
Ashley Cannon Newell
Connie McCotter
Heidi Van Laar
Karen Maldonado
Lori Craig
Melissa Phillips
Tosha Leyendekker
Amy Kolling
Angela Thomas
Angelica Suarez
Angie Blom
Becky Oehlers
Betty Wright
Bev Gerard
Brenda Weaver
Carolyn King
Chari Moss
Charlene Driggs
Cindi Bisson
Claire Brennan
Corinna McGregor
Craft Critique
Karen Hunsaker (Rubbernecker Stamps Designer)
Keely Yowler
Kelly Schirmer
Keri Lee Sereika
Kim Hughes
Kimber McGray
Kittie Caracciolo
Kristin Eberline
Wendy Price

I'm a slacker...

Not sure if you should call me a slacker.... or just plain old busy.... My life has been pretty chaotic lately with family visiting from England, a few small trips away, and working quite a bit...  I haven't gone near my craft desk in a couple of weeks but I promise you'll be seeing something new soon.  To be honest, it's been nice having a little bit of a break crafting wise just to re-charge my batteries in terms of my creativity. I was really starting to burn out so the break was definitely needed.  My posting may be kind of helter skelter throughout the summer as I'm working quite a bit and I'd like to be outside enjoying the weather (although it's rained a few days here now).  Thanks for hanging in!!!

Hugs!

RCC1 - Inspirational Ribbon...

See that badge??? Isn't it cool? Yup, Corinna McGregor has started a Challenge blog called the Ribbon Carousel Challenge Blog in honour of her Ribbon Carousel which is a fabulously amazing Ribbon Storage System (which I must say is the best ever for ribbon lovers like me).  And guess what!!! Corinna has not only asked me to be on the design team but to be the "First Mate" aka Team Co-ordinator and I must admit this is an honour considering the rockstar Design Team that Corinna has assembled to be the "Carousel Crew". 

Today is the first week of the challenges and Tuesday will be our "Challenge" day on a weekly basis. 

For this week's challenge, we want you to get "Inspired".  The Ribbon Carousel is gorgeous!! So we've decided to see what inspires you by it.

Is it the Black, white, and a pop of colour?  Is it the ribbons on the Carousel (monochromatic)? Or those polkadots?  Or even a combination of the colours? 

Can you tell what inspired me?   LOL... I love colour and I rarely shy away from it... I love the bright vibrant ribbons in the inspirational photo combined with the polkadots as well as the stripes.  So I pulled out some older Echo Park DP, this cute Stella called "Suck it up" from Stamping Bella and coloured her up with my Tombow Markers.  If you know me at all, you'll know that I use the phrase "Suck it up Princess" on a regular basis so this Stella is definitely me.  I thought this would be a fun card for someone who needs a little bit of encouragement.  And of course, I used my handy dandy Baker's Twine on my card (after all, this is a Ribbon Challenge blog so you knew it was going to be somewhere).  The layout has come from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge that I have flipped on it's side so that I could use this image. 

*** Please remember that your creation must have ribbon, bakers twine, jute twine, lace (basically anything that comes on a spool). 

We’d love for you to participate!!! Make sure you link up with us using InLinkz at the bottom of the post on the Ribbon Carousel Challenge Blog. If you are uploading to an only gallery make sure you use the keyword RC1.  Remember – that you don’t need a blog to participate in our challenge.  Each week we will have a “Top Spool” !!

SSSC100 Hugs and Blessings for Katie

If you know Katie Renz, you know she`s a sweetheart.  What you may not know is that just before Christmas, Katie was diagnosed with Stage 4 Gastric Cancer.  She has been blogging about her journey on her blog, Katie`s Paper Haven.  Katie is married and has three young sons who all love and adore her.  I had the honour of being on the Clear Dollar Stamps DT with Katie for almost two years and in that time I found out just how amazing Katie is.  It breaks my heart to know the journey that her family is now on. 

A number of amazing artists have banded together on Jak Heath`s blog and created a bundle of digis in efforts to raise money for Katie and her family.  It is such an amazing cause for such an amazing lady!!! I urge you to head on over to Jak`s site and buy the digis.  They`re awesome!!!  For my card, I`ve used the digi that Lori Boyd donated for this cause.  They are just way too cute!! 

Take the time to hug your loved ones!!! 

PS. I have a blinkie on the right hand side of my blog that will direct you to Jak`s blog where you can purchase the digis.

Martini Time!!

WOW!!! I can't believe it's now 2011!!! So much happened in 2010 - both good and bad so it's nice to have it behind us.  I feel like my stamping has grown leaps and bounds in 2010 and I can't wait for new adventures and opportunities.  In 2010, I had the honor to serve on a few design teams - Skipping Stones Design as well as Clear Dollar Stamps in which my terms have ended for both. I was Mercy's Guest Muse in August and this was such an honor as well. In September, I became a Junior Trendsetter at There She Goes and then Mid November I was invited to be part of Lori Boyd's By Lori Designs DT.  I'm truly blessed to be part of such an amazing stamping community. I have made so many amazing friends over the last year and for that I am truly grateful!!!  You know who you are and I love you all!!!

My Favorite Things knew how to make my year end just right!!! Check out the post here.

In honour of a new year starting, I decided to make a card using Mercy's last sketch challenge. I'm so sad that I won't have Mercy's inspirations on Tuesdays anymore but I understand the time to move on. 

Now who wouldn't love a little Martini time to bring in the New Year right?  LOL.  I've used the MFT Flapper Doodle set called "Cheers to a New Year" as part of this week's MFT challenge at SCS which is to create a card with a party theme. I\ve watercolored the image with my Tombow Markers and kept the card relatively simple.  I also made this card for this week's challenge of "Celebrating" over at Crazy4Challenges. Who doesn't love the idea of celebrating the new year?  Celebrating friends with drinks?  Martinis anyone???  

Happy New Years everyone!!!!!!!

Exciting news at BLD

*** This is my second post today so please scroll down for the TSG Sneak Peeks****

As some of you may know, you will be able to find challenges at 

By LORi Designs very very soon!!

Our first challenge will be on Thursday, January 6th and the only hint I can give is that 

it's my favorite kind of challenge..... a Color Challenge!!

I have decided to add to the BLD Design Team ...YAY!!!

The Challenges will be Bi-weekly through out January and then once we have our 

Challenge Team, they will go weekly!!

I am so excited and hope you all love the challenges. DT Requirements: You must be willing and able to commit to a 4 month term. You must be able to meet deadlines. You must be willing to post a weekly card to your own blog. You must include a link back to By LORi Designs Shop in each post you post. DT Benefits: You will get digi images to use on your cards. You will receive a 50% Discount on any digis purchased from BLD.

If you would like to apply for a position on the 

By LORi Designs Team 

please link your name and blog to Mr. Linky  HERE

The Call Closes on Thursday January the 20th

Another Look Back - July to December

JULY: Love this card!!!  Great color combo, love the DP, one of my fave images.

AUGUST:  Love the DP, image, Mercy's awesome sketch, who am I kidding??? I think this is one of my fave cards I've made ever.

SEPTEMBER: I made this journal for my parent's two month adventure in Australia and New Zealand. 

OCTOBER: I fell in love with this DP as soon as I saw it.  Great stamp too. Love the color combo, the glittery snowflakes. Another fun Christmas card.

NOVEMBER:  A labor of love the MFT Guest Designer Challenge.  The cool part is that it was one of MFT's favorite finds that week and then Kim (owner of MFT) used it in one of their newsletters.  Way too cool!!!

DECEMBER: A classic color combo for Christmas cards.  Love how I made the J.  Fun and sassy!!

Thank you all so much for reading my blog!!! I love that I am able to share my passion with so many people.  I appreciate the comments you leave on my blog. You brighten my day!!

Have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy your time spent with family and friends.