Some Inspiration Over at TCP Tuesday

*Please scroll down for my There She Goes Sneak Peek post. Thanks!*

Hey everyone!  It's been a busy week here in my house so when I had a few minutes to *play* I jumped on the opportunity.  You know how much I {heart} me some Cat's Pajamas stamps ~ did you know they are releasing some new stamps next week?  The sneak peeks have been a-ma-zing! ~ and this week Jen has a gorgeous Inspiration Challenge for us for TCP Tuesday 186:

I just {love} the softness and elegance of the photos, but you know me, those aren't usually words in my vocabulary.  ;)  So, I took inspiration from the Paris winter scene - when my DS and I were in Paris a couple of years ago, it was such a surreal experience that I had to stop and often remind myself to "Take a Deep Breath" and really appreciate what we were seeing.  So, I used TCP's "Deep Breath" set and Jen's Sketch For You to Try for November and came up with this:

That bunny gets me every time!  He is soooooo freakin' adorable!  I used some retired DSP from Stampin' Up! (it's got to be at least 2-3 years old) and colored my little bunny-dude with Copics.  I kept the rest fairly simple...you likey?

If you haven't seen any of the TCP sneak peeks, please RUN over to the Dancing in Pajamas blog to check out the first three days - they've got a new bunny, a honey bear and a penguin with a fish... yep, a penguin with a fish...for Christmas.  You MUST read the sentiment for that set - cracked me up!  OK, gotta run and get the monster from school.  Have a lovely day, friends!

There She Goes Sneak Peeks {Day Three}

*Please scroll down for my 4 Crafty Chicks post*

Torico is in the mood to make winter all warm and cheery. She has illustrated a fabulous set that will keep you in stitches or get you in the mood to make gingerbread houses and sugar cookies. The set includes hearts, stars, and snowflakes to create a one of a kind snowman or holiday tree. This set also includes six dies – so warm up your die cutting machine and let the baking begin. What set wouldn’t be complete without a few sentiments to add to your winter projects?

Warmest Wishes is a 4x4 set that includes a total of 23 stamps and six dies and will sell for $31.50.

 
I ADORE this set - just wish it would have made it to my house in time so I could *really* play with it. :(  Nonetheless, I persevered and came up with something I love - who doesn't love a bit of houndstooth?? {heart}  I paper pieced the tree (love the stitching detail) and used a new 6x6 paper pad from Simple Stories called "25 Days of Christmas."

Would you like to win the new Warmest Wishes stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetters' blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetters' blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post. 

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM ET Saturday, November 26th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

That's it for me today!  Enjoy your hopping and we'll see you on Saturday for the release party!

It's Snowing at the 4 Crafty Chicks

Morning everyone!  Can you believe we are at the end of November already?  ARGH!  Who's done their shopping?  Who hasn't even started yet??? {sheepishly raising hand}  Whatever!  It will get done eventually...

Who's ready for another 4 Crafty Chicks' challenge?  This week's hostess is Lori and she LOVES her snowflakes so that's what she wants to see - snowflake paper, snowflake die cuts, snowflake stamps...whatever you've got!

I just finished making a bunch of gift cards for a local chocolate store and this was one of the ones I came up with - very simple:

Stamps: Ornamental Christmas (Verve)  Ink: Early Espresso  Paper: Soft Sky, Early Espresso, scrap of DSP  Accessories: Scallop Edge notecards, sponge dauber, paper piercer, gingham ribbon, snowflakes embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by - don't forget to come back in a few hours for Day Three of the There She Goes sneak peeks!  Have a great day, everyone!

There She Goes Sneak Peek {Day Two}

No two snowflakes are alike…each with a beauty of their own and Melyssa Connolly has captured the beauty of snowflakes in this new Holly Jolly set that are sure to make you wish it were snowing. This amazing set also includes a die! It’s a fabulous versatile set that will surely bring a holiday glisten to your projects – all you need to add is the glitter! 

Holly Jolly is a 6x8 set that includes a total of 35 stamps and one die and will sell for $31.50.

Unfortunately, because I live over the border from Jessica, my stamps and dies didn't arrive in time for me to use the fabulous snowflakes and die like I had wanted to. *boohoo* SO - I had to make do with some of the smaller images in this amazing set.  I used last week's TCP Tuesday sketch (which actually is PERFECT for these little images) and, since I still had it out on my desk from yesterday's card, I used Echo Park's Holly Jolly Christmas paper pad:

Would you like to win the new Holly Jolly stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM ET Saturday, November 26th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

It's Sneak Peek Time Again at There She Goes! {Day One}

I can't believe it's been a month since our last release!  I thought October's release was amazing but I *think* this might be my favorite so far.  :)  You are going to LOVE this month's Christmas-themed stamps and, yes, coordinating dies!!!  WOOHOO!!!

What images come to mind when you hear sleigh bells ringing? Santa and his eight tiny reindeer of course! Torico has illustrated the perfect mini set to create your winter wonderland scene. This is the perfect set to create holiday tags, cards, and gift boxes. A complete must have.

Hohoho is a 3x4 mini-set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $7.

Just when you thought the World’s Best & Die stamp set couldn’t get any better…here comes another fabulous set illustrated by Melyssa Connolly to add snowmen, reindeer, and angels on the tails of your ribbon or flowers of the World’s Best stamp set. What a great set this will be to dress up a holiday bottle of cheer!

Holiday Ribbons is a 2x3 mini-set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $4.

Holidays are not complete without all the wishes of the seasons. Jessica has illustrated a beautiful set of timeless sentiments so that you’ll never be at a loss for words. This mini set would complement the collection of holiday stamps sets released this month!

Wishing You is a 3x4 mini-set that includes a total of 6 stamps and will sell for $7.

I managed to combine images from all three sets on one card - Santa and reindeer from "HoHoHo," sentiment from "Wishing You" and the little jingle bell flag from "Holiday Ribbons:"

Would you like to win the new Hohoho, Holiday Ribbons, and Wishing You stamp sets? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday November 26th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

See you back here tomorrow for another fantastic sneak peek!

Recipe Challenge at There She Goes!

Welcome to the weekend everyone!  I have a quick card for you all today for this week's There She Goes challenge - create a card or project with the following recipe: A snowflake and a bird (it must have both images), and at least one kind of ribbon or a button.  Easy peasy, right?

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and the color inspiration came from a new My Mind's Eye paper pad, 12 Days of Christmas:

Stamps: No Peeking (out of stock), BOL Holiday Additions (out of stock) - both TSG  Paper: Lucky Limeade, Riding Hood Red, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, 12 Days of Christmas (MME)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Embossing powder, Snowflakes embossing folder, paper piercer, Snowflakes die (Sizzix), button, twine, Copics

That's it for me - lots to do today!  Get ready for a fabulous week of sneak peeks for the TSG release next week - Jess has some FANTASTIC sets for you all this month.  :)  Later!

Paper Piecing With the 4 Crafty Chicks!

Welcome back!  How's your November going so far?  The boys all had last week off from school so we spent some of the time away visiting family and now we're back for the long stretch before Christmas (which will be here before we know it!)  Tamie is our hostess with the mostest this week at the 4 Crafty Chicks and she is challenging you all to show us some paper piecing.  This is such a fun technique and always looks so fantastic.

For my card, I used Arielle's Colour Q combo and Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch (both from last week). I was also able to play along with TCP Tuesday's Challenge "Food Fight." For this challenge, I had to use a TCP stamp with food in it - I got to use my cute "Forget About the Cake" set with that cute-as-a-button, flopsy-eared bunny and paper pieced the cake:

Stamps: Forget About the Cake, A Girl and Her Cake (TCP)  Ink: Soft Suede  Paper: Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, Very Vanilla, Dusty Durango, various DSP scraps  Accessories: Apron border die (TCP), Copics, button, twine, paper piercer

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day!  I hope you will play along with us this week.

Oh Baby!!

Welcome Back!  How's everyone doing today?  I have been VERY lazy this week - the kids have a week off for Fall Break and we've done a whole lotta nuthin'!  It's been soooo nice to sleep in a bit and take the day as it comes...slow and leisurely.  :)

So...it's time for another 4 Crafty Chicks challenge and I'm your hostess with the mostest this week and I want to see some BABY-themed projects.  I don't have many friends who are still having babies but it's always nice to have one or two cards on hand just-in-case!

I used a PERFECT color combo from the gals over at the CR84FN Color Challenge and the sketch is one of Julee's Mojo Monday masterpieces:

Stamps: To The Moon, Tag Time (Verve)  Ink: Pink Pirouette, Versafine Onyx Black  Paper: SU! DSP, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette  Accessories: Sewing machine, Curvy Bookplate die (Verve), Circle Nesties, Tipsy Hearts die (Sizzix), button, twine, metal clip pin

I hope you will play along with us this week - have fun!  Thanks for stopping by.  :)

4 Crafty Chicks #62 {Die Cuts}

We've got a fun challenge for you this week at the 4 Crafty Chicks.  Leanne is our hostess with the mostest and she wants to see die cuts on your card/project.  Use your spellbinders, your sizzix, your Tim Holtz... whatever you've got - we want to see 'em!

For my card I used one of this month's Viva la Verve sketches (rotated, of course...) and my circle nestabilities:

Stamps: Words of Wisdom (Verve)  Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Lost & Found Two - Blush DSP (MME)  Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Pink Pirouette  Accessories: Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, sewing machine, Nesties, buttons

Thanks for stopping in today - I'm guessing there will be many of you playing along this week since it's a pretty easy one, right?  I can't wait to see what you create!  Later, gators!

A Double Dose of Viva la Verve-aliciousness!

Happy Hump Day everyone!  How's your week been going so far?  Things here have been busy and the weather is getting progressively cooler...a definite chill in the air which can only mean one thing - the white stuff is inevitably on its way.  I'm not exactly looking forward to it but it makes everything look so pretty.  ;)

This morning I sat down to get a couple of cards done for this month's Viva la Verve Sketch challenge.  I had two left to do and wanted to get them out of the way before I forgot about them!  I LOVE the colors in this week's TCP Tuesday challenge (my favorite kind of challenge!) so I had to use them along with one of my new TCP sets, "Oh Chute!"  Isn't that bunny the cutest little thing you ever did see???  I must apologize to Maureen right now for totally missing the ribbon/bow part of her Week Three sketch - I took a few other liberties with the sketch as well...please forgive me, Moe?  I can send chocolate if that will help... ;)

Stamps: Oh Chute (TCP)  Ink: Early Espresso, Memento Tuxedo Black  Paper: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Early Espresso, Whisper White, SU! DSP and Happy Days DSP (Echo Park) Accessories: Circus Panels Cut-Ups die, Circle Nesties, paper piercer, twine, button, Copics, Clouds border Cut-Ups die, Square Lattice embossing folder

Now for my second card - this one combines the Viva la Verve Week Five sketch with this week's Color Throwdown combo.  I've also used the There She Goes challenge "Au Naturale" to use twine, canvas, or some other "natural" material on your card.  Oh...yeah... I made a few adjustments to this sketch too... GOSH, can't I just leave a sketch alone?  LOL

Stamps: Follow Your Bliss (There She Goes), Graph Paper Plain Jane (Verve)  Ink: Old Olive  Paper: Miscellaneous DSP scraps, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Baja Breeze  Accessories: Loopy Blooms die, Rounded Scallop Frame die (Verve), World's Best die (tag, TSG), twine, button, sewing machine

So, there you have it - that's how I spent my Wednesday morning.  Now I guess I'd better get the *real* work done 'cause it won't do itself.  :)  Have a fabulous day everyone and don't forget about the new 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge tomorrow morning!  See you then!