WMSC Sketch - Ahoy Matey! and a winner!

It's Saturday - again!   and time for the Waltzingmouse Saturday Sketch!!  We've got another sweet design from Belinda this week!

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with this sketch  -  but finally came up with the following card!

A clean and simple card with lots of empty space at the top!   I die cut the waves, layering them on the card with foam tape.  I stamped the porthole and face, coloring them with copics and slipped it behind the wave.  To finish it off I stamped the little fish on the wave and the sentiment directly on the card!

All the stamps are from the sweet little set called  Half Pint Heroes.

So why don't you join us in the sketch challenge this week?!!   Check out all the details on the WMS Sketch Blog.

My card also works for the CAS-ual Friday challenge -  to have a fun edge on your card -  hopefully my waves qualify for that?!  and also for the SCS Free 4 All challenge -  Stripes!

Now I'm happy to announce the winner of my blog candy from last week's sketch post!   My DH  picked #17 as the winner and that was Velta!

Velta said...



Well Julia ~ You have done it again. Both of these last two posts are breathtaking. I just love that adorable gingerbread man! As for which set I would love to have...heck, I hate to admit it, but I do not have any...except for all of the "freebie" templates I have downloaded and used bunches of times! I like all of the WMS stamps...my go to favorite right now is the "Bountiful Baskets." They are so cute! Thanks for the chance to win!!

Velta -send me an e-mail at julia.aston@comcast.net with your mailing address and I'll get the Say It Loud set right out to you!   Congratulations!  you're going to love this set!

Advance notice !!!! -    Claire is releasing 8 new Waltzingmouse Sets on July 1 -  so the DT sneak peeks will be starting on Tuesday 6/28 -   be sure to come back and check out the new sets!!

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Half Pint Heroes
Paper:  orange Bazzill, white, enchanted evening, Hawaiian shores - PTI
Ink:  Ranger Distress Black Soot
Accessories:  foam tape, Catch a Wave die - MFT Stamps, creative memories silver pen, Copics: N2,N6, BG10, E13, E00, R20

Have You Seen the PaperCrafts 350 Cards & Gifts??

Good golly! I'm SO excited to share with you that I've been published! If you get a chance - check out your local craft shop for the PaperCrafts 350 Cards and Gifts publication. It's jam packed with all kinds of inspiring projects and cards!

Under the Gifts Section , on page 142 you'll find my little stamped canvas bag.   The stamps I used here are from Waltzingmouse Teeny Trees Set.

You can find these great little canvas bags at Pouch Mart 
And under the Food Wraps section on page 107 you'll find my little Doggie Treats box.

I even made my own little doggie milk bones to go inside! Check out the Bullwrinkle Web site under 'dog treat recipes' at the bottom of the page for lots of fun recipes.  The Nestie Frame stamp is from Waltzingmouse - Holiday Labels No. 14,  the dog bone and sentiment are from My Favorite Things - Friends Furever.

Thanks for indulging me and sharing my excitement today! Hope you have a wonderful weekend - we're finally getting warmer sunny weather here in New England - all of our snow piles have finally melted!

Canvas bag:

Stamps: waltzingmouse - Teen Trees

Paper: Night of Navy - SU, Rustic White - PTI

Ink: Ranger Distress Chipped Sapphire, Peeled Paint, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalane, barn Door, Crushed Olive, Stormy Sky, Rusty Hinge.

Accessories: circle punch & scalloped circle punch - SU, beaded key chain - Michaels, muslin drawstring bag - Pouch Mart.

Doggie Treats box:

Stamps: Holiday Labels No 14 - Waltzingmouse, dog bone and sentiment - My favorite Things

paper: Vintage cream, Bitty Dot Basics - PTI

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Tea Dye.

Accessories: pewter eyelet - SU, black twill & twine - PTI, black/tan striped ribbon -May Arts, Label 14 Nestability, gable box - PTI

You Make the Grade

Happy Friday dear friends!! Isn't it great to have the weekend ahead of us?!

I'm so excited to finally be using my MFT Pure Innocence school girl. I have 5 different Pure Innocence stamps and this is the first one I've inked up! - what's with that??!!

I made my card today for 2 challenges - the Free 4 All Friday over at Split Coast that was to use scallops and the Shabby Tearoom challenge where we were to be inspired by this picture.

I paper pieced my little school girl's outfit and embossed the blackboard sentiment with white embossing powder. I colored the rest of the image with Copics. My flower is cut with a PTI flower die and I used a Labels 3 Nestability to cut the image. Everything is sponged with Ranger Distress Tea Dye ink.

Tomorrow Kent and I are going on a boat cruise on the Essex River with the Adult Fellowship Group at my church. It's supposed to be in the 80's and sunny so it should be a wonderful day on the water! Then we're all going to Woodman's, a locally famous seafood restaurant for supper - should I get fried clams or boiled lobster?!?!? or maybe scallops...... baked scrod....... fried shrimp.....????? There's nothing better than fresh seafood from New England! Yum!

I'll be back tomorrow with my Saturday Waltzingmouse Sketch card - hope to see you then!

Stamps: My Favorite Things - Pure Innocence - You Make the Grade.

Paper: Bazzil Irish Eyes, Ocean Tides - PTI, DP Cosmo Cricket/Girl Friday, October Afternoon/Thrift Shop-Still in the Box.

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Tea Dye

Accessories: distresser, flower die - PTI, foam dimensionals, glue dots, hot gun, white embossing powder, spiral punch & scallop punch - SU, adhesive paper ribbon - K& Company, Labels 3 Nestabilities, Ink applicator - Inkssentials Ranger, brad, basic grey, Copics: B45, E19, E33, E35, E34, YR21, E51, 100, circle punch.

Apple Girl Thank You

I made this card for 7 Dare To Get Dirty challenges over on Split Coast this week! The challenges are in the Forum under Split Coast Challenges but you have to be a member of the Fan Club to access them! Come join the fun!

There are going to be 33 challenges in all - but you can combine challenges on your cards like I did with this one.

You can see all the challenge cards people have made for the challenges I did here, in the following SCS galleries:

DTGD10gbedwright

DTGD10rainy

DTGD10flowergal36

DTGD10JeanneS

DTGD10peanutbee

DTGD10craftycaro

DTGD10DeborahLynneS

Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence - Apple for you
Paper: White - PTI, DP Amuse
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Foam dimensionals, Copics E11, E00, E34, Y17, YG63, R20, R29, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Gems - Studio 18;, Ribbon - May Arts/Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, quickie glue pen
Techniques: paper piecing

A Day of Card Making

Sit down with your cup of coffee for this one! I participated in the World Card Making Day over at Split Coast where they issued 12 challenges! Each challenge was posted by a Stamp Company that is affiliated with SCS. I was busy all day Saturday and couldn't stamp - so I had to get to work on Sunday - I only got 9 out of 12 done and posted by the midnight deadline - so here they are!

The Flourishes challenge was to use this sketch. I used stamps from the Halloween Party set by Waltzingmouse Stamps

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps: Halloween Party
Paper: Ripe Avocado, white: PTI, DP SU
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ripe Avocado: PTI
Accessories: foam dimensionals, circle punch scallop circle punch,, sponge, orange zest twill: PTI, rectangle nestability

The challenge from Hanna Stamps was also a sketch. I used Cupcake Riley for mine.

Stamps: Hanna Stamps: Cupcake Riley
Paper: Scarlet Jewel, White: PTI, DP Basic Grey Bittersweet
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Sweet Blush: PTI
Accessories: Prima flower, sponge, foam dimensionals, pinking circle nestibility, circle nestability, scarlet jewel ribbon: PTI

The Crafty Secrets World Card Making Day Challenge was to make something with dimension, to make it pop. I made a little journal book based on Lisa's tutorial here . The J in Journal, the glittery button and the inkwell are all popped up on foam dimensionals.

Stamps: Clear Art Stamps: Journaling
Paper: Vintage cream, scarlet jewel, DP Holiday Cheer: PTI
Ink: Chai: PTI, Memento Tuxedo black
Accessories: crop a dile, copics: G20, G21, R21, Y26, Y02, E51, E53, E35, BG10, Lacey punch: EK success, Scarlet Jewell Twill: PTI, Vintage button: PTI, Twine: PTI, glue dots, foam dimensionals

The Unity challenge was to use a quote on your card.

Stamps: Unity: Perfect in Every Way
Paper: Vintage cream, Rustic White: PTI, DP Cosmo Cricket/Earth Love Recycle
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss: PTI
Accessories: Sponge, scor tape, glue dots, labels Eight Nestability, lace, twine: PTI, Vintage Button: PTI

This World Card Making Day challenge was from Stamping Bella and we had to show what we do with our girlfriends for fun - shopping of course!

Stamps: Charlotte Ketto: Stamping Bella
Paper: Pure Poppy, Ocean Tides, Vintage Cream: PTI, DP Cosmo Cricket/Early Bird Sunrise
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Dandelion
Accessories: dotted satin summer sunrise ribbon: PTI, foam dimensionals, glue dots, fence punch: Marth Stewart, Sakura Black glaze pen, oval nestabilities, sponge, dew drops, copics: R37, E51, RU11, R20, C1

Jenn and Biate's Split Coast challenge was to use chocolate or other browns, their sketch and to make it a thank you card.

Stamps: Autumn Abundance: PTI
Paper: Rustic White, Dark Chocolate, DP Bitty Dot Basics: PTI
Ink: Dark Chocolate;PTI
Accessories: foam dimensionals, sponge, square nestability, Labels 3 Nestability, copics: Y38, E35, E13, E59, YR24

This challenge by Verve was to use the colors in a country's flag (they showed us a web site of flags) - I used blue and white which are on the flags of Greece, Israel, Honduras and Antarctica.

Stamps: Verve Winter Wonder
Paper: Pacific Point: SU, White, DP Bitty Box Basics: PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, embossing pad
Accessories: argyle Cuttlebug folder, hot gun, white EP, Rhinestone stickers, circle punches, foam dimensionals.

This World Card Making Day Challenge from Magnolia Stamps was to make an ornament. I used a Magnolia Tree for mine, decorated it with dew drops and glittered it with Dazzling Diamonds - this really sparkles IRL! not so much on my pic here!

Stamps: Magnolia Tree
Paper: Bazzill Green, White: PTI
Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy, Colorbox Dark Brown
Accessories: Dazzling diamonds: SU, foam dimensionals, crop a dile, eyelet, dew drops, satin ribbon pure poppy: PTI, glue dots, quickie glue pen

And finally - the My Favotite Things challenge was to use pink, black, white and bling. I used silver ribbon and silver stickles for my bling.

Stamps: MFT: Flopsy FLowers
Paper: WHite: PTI, pretty in pink: SU, DP Black & White basics: PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Silver ice stickles, silver ribbon: PTI, foam dimensionals, copiics: T2, R32, R20, ribbon tag trio spellbinders, rectangle nestabilities

Thanks for looking all the way to the end here today!

Give Your Dog a Bone

My sister and her husband just adopted a rescue dog so I had a little cookout at our house to welcome Mini into the family. In honor of the occasion we are serving red hot dogs. (have you ever had those?! they are bright red, have natural casings and a little bit of spice)

They already have Gus (another rescue dog) and my son has two bassett hounds - so they will all be at the party along with my two nieces and their spouses and a close girlfriend who is moving to FL in a few months. We have two cats in our house - they will be hiding upstairs while we are all celebrating! (they are a little anti social when company comes!)

I wanted to make some kind of treat for all the pooches so I googled 'dog cookie recipes' and I found a whole slew of them! I finally settled on a Milk Bone Biscuit since it was pretty basic and looked healthy. I had picked up this fun dog bone cookie cutter somewhere in my travels many years ago - just because I knew I would want it someday LOL!!!

So here I am cutting the dough -

And here are the 'cookies' 50 minutes later!

I decorated these cellophane lined brown bags using heart Spellbinder dies and dog poem stickers. The paper is from Die Cuts with a View The Pets Stack - they are shiny hearts with paws in the center of some of them - very cute and shiny IRL!

So then I wanted to make a treat for the humans attending the party too! Some of us own cats and some of us own dogs so I made boxes for each. The boxes are one of Lauren's Timeless Templates called Rounded Wrap up by Papertrey Ink. I needed something that would be cute but quick to make 6 of and these fit the bill. The papers are from the same DCWV The Pets Stack. The boxes themselves are Spring Rain card stock by PTI.
I made sugar cookies using the same dog bone cookie cutter for the human's boxes.

The dog boxes have a cut out dog label (My Favorite Things Friends Fur Life set) that I stamped with the names of the receivers. The dog tag stamp in the circle that says I Love my Dog is by Inkadinkadoo. The little bone stamp along the top of the box is by Uptown Designs.

For the cat owner boxes I stamped a fish (Brown & Co Stationers) for the tag. The fish skeleton stamping along the top of the box is by Stampendous. The ribbon on both is double stitched Enchanted Evening by Papertrey Ink. I had some cute little chipboard cat shaped sentiments by Daisy Hill that I put on each box.

I know that the sugar cookies are delicious since I HAD to test them to be sure they were ok before serving them (right?) - but the dog biscuits have not been dog tested yet - I'll let you know what they think after the cookout!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have enjoyed seeing my little pet crafts! I'll have some pics of our little party to share soon!

Celebrate the Journey

I was asked by a coworker to make an upbeat 50th b'day card for a friend who is going to be having a big b'day celebration later this month. He said the friend is into planes so I thought this Cosmo Cricket Lil Man designer paper would work well on it. The Ways to Use it Challenge on Split Coast was to add pleated ribbon or paper on your card - so I tried it here even though it's usually a 'no, no' to put ribbon on a guy's card - and it seemed to work - yes?


My design was inspired by this card by beccabatgirl that I found in the Split Coast gallery when I searched on birthday.


I colored the grunge board numbers with an orange Copic and I stamped Happy Birthday repeatedly over the star (can you see it there?).


Here's what I stamped on the inside of the card. A positive upbeat sentiment don't you think?!

I hope the birthday boy likes it!

We're headed back to the cottage in NH for the weekend - a big 'cousin's' party on the lake - so you probably won't see me again until Sunday or Monday - have a great weekend everyone!

And remember to check out Waltzingmouse Stamps - Claire is posting 4 terrific new sets for sale on Sunday!

Stamps: Birthday basics: PTI , Inside: Going Places: My Favorite Thing, Karen Foster Snap Stamps.
Paper: White, ripe avocado, Bity Star Basics: PTI, Tangerine Tango: SU, DP Cosmo Cricket: Lil Man
Ink: Ripe avocado: PTI, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: saddle stitched ribbon: PTI, Tim Holtz Grunge Board Numbers, copic, spellbinders tag trio, circle punch: Fiskars, Janome sewing machine, nestability classic stars, foam dimensionals, distresser: Heidi Swapp, glue dots, dew drops, Tag Trio Nestabilities.

Simple Joys Soaking up the Sun!

This beautiful butterfly box designed by Qbee was the Try A New Technique challenge on Split Coast this week. I used the wonderful butterfly designer paper by Basic Grey and the Cuttlebug die cut butterfly that comes with 4 embossing options.

I inked the front of the butterfly folder with red ink before embossing it to give it the color - then colored with copics and a white gel pen to try and mimic the coloring on the DP (mine didn't come out quite so pretty!). I sponged the edges of the box and the sentiment rectangle with black and also used So Saffron on the sentiment (Green Thumb by PTI). The butterfly and sentiment are popped up on foam dimensionals. Wouldn't this make a great little gift box with some candies or a small gift tucked inside?! And it works up really fast.

Stamps: Sentiment: Green Thumb: PTI
Paper: White, Summer Sunrise: PTI, Basic Black: SU, DP Basic Grey Pattern Paper/Ambrosia/winsome
Ink: pure poppy: PTI, Memento Tuxedo Black, So saffron: SU
Accessories: Swiss dots cuttlebug folder, butterfly cuttlebug folder and die, copics: 100, C6, white gel pen, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, tacky tape, foam dimensionals, rectangle nestability, gemstones: Hero Arts, glue dot, sponge

This week's CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge on Split Coast was an inspiration challenge - we were to look at the Lands End Towels and Totes catalogue. I was inspired by this towel.

I immediately thought of the Basic Grey Urban Prairie designer paper and used it for my 'towel' under the bathing beauty from the MFT set "Hit the Beach". I colored the flip flops, cut them out and popped them up over the sentiment. My rectangle nestability wasn't the exact size I needed - so I cut the closest size then cut one edge off and overlapped it to the size I wanted. This beauty reminded me that summer is coming and even though I don't wear a bikini like this anymore - I do have to think about fitting into my tankini soon!! ok - I'm off for a walk now!! LOL!!!

Stamps: Hit the Beach: My Favorite Things
Paper: White, Pure Poppy: PTI, DP Urban Prairie Paper Pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Scalloped rectangle nestability, cuttlebug, copics: G00, BG12, R29, R32, E00, E13, foam dimensionals

A Pattern of Faith

The Limited Supplies challenge on Split Coast today was to use just one piece of card stock as your card base and the rest had to be patterned papers, no coloring supplies, and keep embellishments simple. I've had this wonderful damask designer paper from American Crafts for some time and have been dying to use it. I cut it using my Top Note die and stamped the sentiment right onto it over the damask design. All I added was sticky half pearls and the black satin ribbon. I attached the Top Note over the Bitty Star basics designer paper by Papertrey Ink using foam dimensionals.

It was very hard not to use more card stock on this for the sentiment or framing etc!

Stamps: Every Day Blessings: PTI
Paper: Sage Shadow: SU, DP American Crafts - Metropolitan, Text Style 2008 Bitty Star Basics: PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: top note die: SU, little pearls: Rhinestone Stickers (Michaels), foam dimensionals, black satin ribbon - unknown
Thought I'd give you a quick peek at what we'll be making at the classes I'm teaching tomorrow at the Papertree, in Manchester, NH.

This class is called "Rockin' Notes" and includes a 'pizza box', 4 - 3"x3" cards stamped with various Ketto's from Stamping Bella, and hand made envelopes.
My second class is called "Let's Go Shopping" and we'll be making this Gift Card holder.

this cute little gift bag,

and this accordion recipe/coupon holder. The pretty paper is Bloom and Grow by My Minds Eye and the stamps are Retail Therapy by My Favorite Things.

Well - gotta run - I'm still getting all my stuff together for the classes!

I'll be back over the weekend - AND - I'm on vacation next week - Whoo Hoo!!! We're just hanging out at home - puttering around - hopefully going kayaking if it's warm enough - or taking some hikes - and of course STAMPING UP A STORM!!!

Hanging It Up!

I made this card for two challenges - the Our Creative Corner Sketch and Sharon's Stamp Simply Hang It Up challenge - to use a hanging tag or charm or stamp an image of something hanging, etc.

I used some fun laundry line stamps that I've had for ages by Inkums Stamps and the sentiment is from Who's that E-girl? by My Favorite Things.

I turned the OCC sketch on it's side and tilted the sentiment block to accomodate my image.

I don't know about you - but I'm completely stuffed from Easter Dinner. We had a wonderful day with family and the sun was shining brightly here in New England although the temp was in the 40's with a biting wind. I was very happy with the sun though - I'm not complaining!!

Thank you for coming by today!

Stamps: My Favorite Things: Who's that E-girl?, Carla's Clothes: Inkums Stamp Set
Paper: Tangerine Tango: SU, Ocean Tide, Vintage Cream: PTI, DP - We R Memory Makers Grandmas Kitchen - Rich Ribbon
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Pumpkin Pie: SU
Accessories: Tags 5 Spellbinders, Copics, velvet brad: Making Memories, scallop circle punch: SU, circle punch, Daisy Doodles Primas, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder

A Basket Full of Happiness and other Easter Treats

I have a few Easter crafts to share with you today. We have faith that spring is coming right?!? I say this as 2 snow storms are predicted to hit us over the next two days!

I made this sweet little Easter Basket for the Inspiration Challenge over on Split Coast. I was inspired by these Easter treats here in the RoomService Home web site Stef showed us.I found the template for this adorable basket in the forums on Split Coast Stampers. It was designed by Claire (Waltzingmouse) Thank you Claire!! It is small - measuring only about 3" x 1" as you can see in comparison to the small Nestle Crunch eggs in and beside it (of course the ones beside it are no longer in existance - Ooops! or should I say Yum!)

The basket pattern is two pieces - the basket itself and then a liner that fits in it. When you print the template - there are two patterns on the sheets so you can make two baskets each time you print it out which is super! I cut the handle piece a little shorter than the 11 inches called for in Claire's pattern as I didn't want it to be quite so tall. There is a narrow scalloped rectangle Nestability attached to the bottom of the basket to finish it off and echo the scalloped edge on the side of the basket - you can just barely see it in the pics if you look closely for it.

I used a sweet new stamp set by H and M Stamps called Eggstra Special that is being released today! This set is designed by the ever talented Debbie Corbari from the H&M Design Team - this is her first design being brought to life on a stamp set - congratulations Debbie!!!

Stamps: H&M Stamps - Eggstra Special
Paper: vintage cream PTI, Mellow Moss: SU, DP - cratepaper Seaweed collection
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Mellow Moss: SU
Accessories: tacky tape, pink basket shred, corner rounder, oval punch, oval nestabilities, waxed floss, narrow rectangle nestabilities, vintage cream satin ribbon: PTI, cool grey copic, pink Prismacolor marker

My next Easter item to show you is a cute little wooden pin that comes on a pretty little card. Two gifts in one!!

I bought the wooden bunny already painted at AC Moore. I made the 'card' for the pin with Bazzill card stock - stamped the egg and sentiment and doodled around the edges. I attached a stick pin and backing to the back of the bunny and attached it to the 'card' though a punched hole. I place the card into a clear envelope when I sell them at our church Easter sale.

Stamps: Egg - Egg cited: CTMH, Happy Easter Bunny: Penny Black

Paper: Bazzill card stock

Ink: Desert Sand: CTMH, Onyx Black Versafine

Accessories: painted wooden bunny, stick pin with back, black micro pen

And my third craft for today uses the fun round top box I also used on this St. Patrick's day box. I totally cased this Easter design from Cheryl Rowley. I used different stamps for my main image but I loved her super idea of the lacey punched edge along the rim of the box - some people are SO CLEVER!! (you know - like when you see something and say "why didn't I think of that??)

This cute Poochie basket stamp is from The Cat's Pajamas and the sentiment is from My Favorite Things. The dots are from Polka Dot Basics by Papertrey Ink. The lacey edge is a Martha Stewart punch. The yellow strip is about 7" long after I punched it, I trimimed the depth to 3/4".

I usually make 6 of every craft I make to sell at our church holiday sales. So here is the herd! I put 12 pastel jelly beans in a plastic bag and nestle it into the paper shred inside each basket.

Stamps: Polka dot basics: PTI, Poochie Basket: The Cats Pajamas, Easter Greetings: My Favorite Things - Hoppy Easter.

Paper: Baja Breeze, Blue Bayou: SU, Lemon Tart: PTI

Ink: Onyx Black, Versafine embossing ink

Accessories: Brach Speckled Jelly Beans, sealable bags - Michaels, sponge, 1" sheer ribbon, ivory basket shred, Martha Stewart Lacey punch, oval nestabilities, Prismacolor markers.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Remember to stop by H&M Stamps to see Heather's 3 new stamp sets!

Blog Candy Winner and His Holy Name Challenge

Hi everyone ! Sorry I'm so late in posting but I had my monthly hair maintenance trim and color and it took forever!

First, I'm happy to announce the winner of my blog candy - and that winner is #7:

Jami {sgtStamper} said...
Soooo cute - love the colorful animals!! I went to the sale, added stuff to my cart and got sidetracked by kids.... then when I came back, the sets I wanted were sold out. Figures.hugs, Jami
January 7, 2009 6:23 PM

So Jami - let me know if you want the School Fun Percy

or the Percy builds Frosty. - and I'll mail it out to you right away! E-mail me with your choice and your address to julia.aston@comcast.net

They are both really cute stamps from H&M Stamp Co - you can see cards I made with them here and here.

And now I want to share with you a year long challenge that I am so excited to be participating in over on Split Coast.

It is called His Holy Name and you can see all the details here on Split Coast. It is run by Patter (identicaltriplets) on SCS and this is her description of the challenge:

"For 2009, we will be focusing on the Names of God. Every other week, I will post a name of our precious Lord along with a small devotion. You then will find a key scripture or a promise associated with that name and create a scrapbook page, card, ATC, Rolodex card or whatever you feel like creating."

She posts the challenge both on the Split Coast challenge thread and on her blog every other Sunday by 5 pm.

The name of God she gave us for our first challenge was "Holy". I am going to be making 6x6 scrapbook pages and I will be putting them in protective sleeves and hanging them on a wooden rack (that DH is making for me even as we speak!) that I can keep on my desk at work or on a table at home so I can flip through them and reflect on the different passages I chose for each name of God as the year goes on.

Here is my first page for the name HOLY: I chose Hebrews 12:14 as my verse: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy: without holiness no one will see the Lord.

My NIV (New International Version) Bible has a Concordance in the back of it that list words (such as Holy) and lists all the verses where that word is used - so that is how I will locate and choose the verses for the challenges. I looked through all the Holy references until I found one that 'spoke' to me. I thought this one particularly timely given the conflicts going on in the world right now.

And please notice my very own watermark on the bottom left corner! I FINALLY figured out how to make one on my Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 thanks to this wonderful tutorial by Kurtis that I actually found quite some time ago but never had the time to focus on until yesterday. I am just so excited by this little thing!

I hope you will look into the "His Holy Name" challenge - maybe it's something you'd like to do this year also?

Thank you so much for coming by!

Stamps: Scrolly & star - PTI Silent Night, Words and stem: PTI Rustic Branches, globe: MFT back to school, Lesson 1: Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Paper: white PTI, Night of Navy: SU, DP - narratives by Karen Russell Coral notebook
Ink: onyx black versafine
Accessories: crystal stickers, oval punch, designer label punch, copic B29, Avery mailing label, computer generated Bible verse: 3hourtour font and CK fraternity font

Edit: I just found out that Heather at H&M Stamps has re-ordered the following stamp sets - so if you were looking for those during the sale - she should have them in her store sometime soon.

Cats Meow

Lil Behind

Sweetly Stamped

My Favorite Valentine

Comfy Valentine

Old English

Christmas is a Good time for Cookies

A Pine Cone and A Tiled Inspiration

Can you tell what this ice cream cone stamp really is?? It took me forever to figure out what I could do for this limited supplies challenge on Split Coast - Stamps in Disguise - to use a stamp for something other than what it was!I was looking through all my sets (which took quite some time!) in between the trick or treaters arriving at my door - and I picked up this Close to My Heart pine tree and thought it looked sort of like an ice cream cone upside down!

So that is what I went with... The two scoops of ice cream are actually a round ornament stamp by H&M Stamps Create a Bulb set that I cut with scalloped edge scissors and the jimmies are holly berries from the same set!

I used another fun DP by Basic Grey called Wassail and my new Argyle cuttlebug folder. The sentiment if from My Favorite Things - How Sweet it Is set/ I used dew drops in the corners.

Super challenge Dawn! Thanks for making us really think for this one! Do you have some stamps that you could use for this challenge??

Stamps: H&M Stamps: holly berries, ornament circle from Create a bulb, Pine Tree: Close to My Heart The Beauty of Christmas, How Sweet: My Favotite Things: How Sweet it Is
Paper: White, Ripe avocado PTI, Purely Pomegranate: SU, DP: Basic Grey Wassail
Ink: Butterscotch: Adirondack, Basic Brown, Purely Pomegranate: SU
Accessories: dew drops, argyle cuttlebug folder, sponge, scalloped edge scissors, foam dimensionals

My second card is from the Inspiration Challenge at Split Coast this week. What fun prints by Don Li-leger to look at! I chose this one to be inspired by:

And here is the card I created:

I cut 1 inch squares from two Basic Grey designer papers - Ambrosia (the beautiful butterflies!) and Off beat. I just lined them up next to each other on the black panel and wrapped the ribbon and tag around it.

I cut 6 short pieces of ribbon and tied them together for the 'bow' and attached it with a glue dot.
Remember to check out the H&M Blog hop here - you can win some fun prizes by participating - deadline is Friday 11/7/08.

Thank you for coming by today!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink: Birthday Basics
Paper: white: PTI, basic black: SU, DP's - Basic Grey: Ambrosia and Offbeat
Ink: onyx black versifine
Accessories: ribbon: martha stewart, spell binders ribbon tag, glue dot, foam dimensionals

Celebrating the Journey and A Puzzling Thing

I have two things to share with you today - First we were given this sketch over on Split Coast

And here is my card using that sketch -

I used 3 different travel themed designer paper for my panels and paper pieced the dress with one of them also. Just in case you don't know what paper piecing is - you stamp the image - then stamp it again on some designer paper - in this case I stamped the dress area - I cut out the dress from the designer paper and attached it over the image. This traveling lady is from a stamp set called Going Places by My Favorite Things.

The sentiment is cut with a Spellbinders Tag Trio, embossed and up on foam dimensionals. I added a metal filigree thingy (that I purchased last week at the Antiques Fair I went to in Brimfield, MA) and a wooden leaf button in the corners. I colored my image with Prismacolor markers and a flesh copic. This card is going postal tomorrow morning to my friend who is definately celebrating her journey!

Stamps: Going Places: My Favorite Things
Paper: Vintage cream: PTI, Basic Black: SU, DP : Autumn Leaves Stack
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: glue dots, foam dimensionals, Prismacolor markers, Copics, wooden button, metal filigree, Spell Binders Tag Trio, Cuttlebug

My second offering today is this fun puzzle piece that I decorated. My brother-in-law and his wife have retired to Killington, VT and are involved with many social groups there. This month the The Killington Arts Guild is running a fun activity where they passed out these puzzle pieces for people to decorate - they measure about 20" x 20". They will display them and auction them off to make money for the Arts Guild programs. So knowing that I stamp and do other crafts - Carol asked me if I'd be interested in decorating one and I said "sure"! Of course then I had to think of something creative to do!!

So I came up with this idea of highlighting the New England States using old time post cards for each state and a couple of old time travel posters as well - one for winter and one for summer. And of course I had to use a ski one being in Killington and all! These images come from a Dover CD Rom & Book called Old Time Travel Posters and Luggage Labels. I just printed what I wanted on card stock and cut them out using photo edge scissors. I mounted them to the designer paper with foam dimensionals so they stick up a little. I used 3 fun designer papers from Cosmo Cricket called Mr. Campy to cover the puzzle piece - as well as some stickers that are also Mr. Campy. I sponged around the edges with Close to Cocoa ink.
So if you are in the Killington, VT area the weekend of Sept 27 & 28th - look up this Arts Guild show and see if you can find my puzzle piece!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!