Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My Best Bud - PKS Challenge #53

Hello and good morning!!  Welcome to The ThINKin' Spot, and another Peachy Keen Challenge.  For Challenge #53, we have a wonderful sketch to follow, and this challenge also includes a twist.  The twist is that you need to include sponging somewhere on your creation.

For my card, I used the Hillbilly Holler set #2, from Peachy Keen Stamps.  These adorable and hilarious stamps are illustrated by Missouri artist Steve Yarbrough, and they always bring a smile to my face.  I don't know about you, but I think we need a lot more smiles in this day and age, and I'll take all I can get!!  Isn't this little bee with his toes hanging out too darned cute?  I just LOVE him!!!
The patterned paper for this card all comes from the Hello Sunshine paper pack from Peachy Keen Stamps, and did you know you can find LOTS of bling on the PKS website as well?  I used some white pearl flourishes and colored them with my Copic markers to match the colors in my card.  The image was also colored with Copics.  It's a little difficult to see, but the bee's wings have some stardust Stickles on them for added sparkle.  For my sponging, I chose to sponge on the bottom of the Marianne Design Creatables die cut with some Always Artichoke ink, and the top of the die cut was sponged with Baja Breeze classic ink.  Both of those shades are from Stampin' Up!.  The grass, which was cut with my Martha Stewart punch also has some Always Artichoke ink sponged on the tips. 

We have an amazing guest designer to welcome this week, and I sure hope you can drop by her blog, Paper Crafting in Cocoa to check out Iris's beautifully colored images and gorgeous creations!  You WILL love what you see, and speaking of loving what you see, be sure to check out the samples from all of my DT sisters who have creations to share with you for this challenge.  Hop over to the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge Blog to check them out, and get all the details about what you can do to enter this challenge.  There is always an amazing prize for one lucky winner.  We have an exciting week at Peachy Keen, because starting tomorrow you're going to get to see some sneaky peeks of the newest releases, and on Friday, we'll be blog hopping, and sharing our projects with the new stamps.  Below are the deets, and I sure hope to see you at the hop.  As always, we're giving away free stamps, and you sure don't want to miss that!!!
Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Weekend and that your Tuesday is shaping up to be a beautiful one!  Have a blessed day, and happy stamping!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Homemade Salsa Tag

Good morning!  I have something yummy to share with you today, and I'm not just talking about my homemade salsa.  I think I love this tag even more than I do that homemade goodness in the jar.  I made this cute little tag using the Homemade Tag die, and the coordinating Home Baked Clear Stamps that are a part of the recent In The Kitchen release at The Scrapping Cottage.
 I started with a base tag, and you can cut your own, or use a die, as I did.  Mine was a Sizzix die.  I then used the Homemade Tag die to cut the the lighter paper to be applied to the base tag.  I stamped the veggies with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored them with my Copics.  The edges of the tags are sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Vintage Photo.  I did a little bit of paper piercing along the edges of the tag, and each layer is popped up with foam dimensionals.  I added some vintage hardware, a bit of burlap, and seam binding ribbon, which I crinkled for a more vintage look.  The homemade salsa is some from last year's garden.  I sure hope this year will be bountiful so that we can whip up some more of this.  I've given lots of it away for gifts, and it would be a great bake sale item.  The tags just make them irresistible!!  Oh!  Have you checked out the first Cottage Blog Challenge?  There's still time to enter, and you can find all the details here!!
Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Weekend!!  Happy stamping and scrapping!

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Spice of Life

Hello and happy Friday!!  Oh my goodness!  Have you seen the newest release from The Scrapping Cottage?  This In The Kitchen release has to be my all time favorite!  After operating our own restaurant for 7 years, and our son just taking it over within the past month, this couldn't be more timely!  I'm seeing all kinds of food and restaurant themed projects and cards in my future!!   When I saw this adorable Spice Rack & Jars die, I fell in love!!  Am I the only one that is totally addicted to spices and unique flavors when I'm cooking?  If I happen to get to the Amish store in our area, I'm hard pressed to make it out of the bulk spices aisle!!  I LOVE spices!!!  This adorable Cottage Cutz die comes complete with 12 stamps to make your spice cabinet personalized to your liking and is over the top fun to work with.
I kept this card on the clean and simple side, because I didn't want to detract one bit from this wonderful die, and I didn't want the card to become too busy.  I cut this with a variety of colored card stock and sponged the edges of nearly every element with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.  Although the gingham and baker's twine in the photo look black, they're actually chocolate brown.  The sentiment is computer generated, and is popped up with foam dimensionals.  I hope you like this as much as I do!!

Oh, and before I forget, have you checked out the first ever challenge from The Scrapping Cottage Blog?  Please check Monday's post to find all the details about our newest venture.  There is a fabulous prize that will be awarded to one lucky player, so pull out those Cottage Cuts and Cottage Impressions, and play around with the inspiration challenge this month!!!  I can't wait to see what you're doing with your Scrapping Cottage goodies!!  You can find all the details here.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a beautiful and blessed weekend, and some happy stamping, too!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Peachy Keen Challenge #52

 Good morning!!  It's time for another fabulous challenge at Peachy Keen Stamps.  We have a great sketch to follow, and the design team has come up with all kinds of inspirational creations for you to enjoy.  For my card, I used one of the Hillbilly Holler set 2 stamps from Peachy Keen Stamps.  I love this little frog.  I smile every time I look at those teeth!!  "Let's Do Lunch."  Yeah RIGHT!!!
The DP for this card is from K&Co., and it's actually Halloween paper.  I used my label Nestabilities to cut out the frog, and embellishments consist of the wonderful pearl and rhinestone bling, which can be found in the Peachy Keen Stamps store, a button, and some satin ribbon.  

This week, I'd like to welcome the very talented Irit who is guest designing with us!  Her blog, Irit Shalom's Designs is a treasure trove of inspiration, so please drop by for a visit, and leave her some peachy love!!  While you're hopping around, be sure check out the Peachy Keen Challenge Blog so that you can see all the fine details of the sketch, and the wonderful samples from our sweet and talented designers.

I'm so glad you could stop by today.  I wish you a blessed day and lots of happy stamping!


Monday, May 16, 2011

Belated Kit Cat & The Scrapping Cottage Challenge #1

 Hello and happy Monday!  Cards to post for two days in a row!  I think I've found my stamping mojo!  Thank goodness!!!  LOL!!!  For my first card today, I have a very belated Kit Cat card.  Everyone else in our group posted their creation on the day they should have, which was the first Sunday in May, but with all I had going on at the time, my card was of course not finished.  Since I've found a bit of crafting time in the past few days, I've tried to use it well and get caught up, and here's what I came up with.
 Our kits were put together this time by the sweet and fabulous Susan, and she really brought it on with all this wonderful goodness to work with.  She included in our kits this fun stamped image, which comes from Stampin' Up!.  This image comes from the Time For You stamp set and is retired.  The gorgeous paper is from K&Co.'s Sweet Nectar collection, and there was some luscious  DCWV textured card stock, as well.  For embellishments, I used the rhinestone bling from Darice, and the beautiful stitched lime green ribbon. that Susan included, but there's so much more fun stuff left for me to play with another day!   The image was stamped with Memento ink on Georgia Pacific white card stock.  I left the sentiment off of this one for now, because I'm not exactly sure what I might want to use this card for, so I'll wait until the appropriate occasion comes along and add it on then.

Now for my next card.  There's a new challenge in town, and it's being brought to you by The Scrapping CottageJanice was brave enough to dive into the uncharted waters and take a turn as our first hostess, and she's brought us a fabulous inspiration challenge.  Here's the photo we're to take inspiration from, and the only requirement for this challenge is that you use a die or stamp from The Scrapping Cottage on your card or project.
I was totally inspired by the colors in this beautiful photo of cherry blossoms.  Now, it may not be the colors that inspire YOU, and that's okay, but this is where this challenge led me...

 I used some more of that beautiful paper that Susan sent me, and paired it with one of the birthday releases from The Scrapping Cottage.  This is the celebration cake die (4x4).  I love the way this turned out, and as usual, I've just gotta bling it out.  I did that with some paper flowers adorned with rhinestones, then I also added some rhinestones to the flowers that are a part of the die cut.  I sure hope you can play along with our very first challenge.  I can't wait to see what you're doing with your Cottage Cutz dies!!!  

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a blessed day, and happy stamping!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Under The Weather & Picnic Ant

Boy, Blogger has been very contrary the past few days!  It took me what seemed like forever to log on to my Blogger account to make this post.  Whew!!  I'm sure glad the problem has been solved.  I have a couple of cuties to share with you today. 

I used the Duck with Egg die and Duck Accessories to make this little fella.   If you haven't checked out these new dies, you should.  The Scrapping Cottage and Peachy Keen Stamps has partnered up once again to bring you these wonderful designs by Kathy Jakopovich, which include several stamps for different faces to use with the dies.  It's a perfect combo, and one that allows all kinds of creativity to flow.  I cut this cutie out with white card stock and colored him up with my Copics.  The paper is available as a kit and can be found at the Peachy Keen Stamps store.  This one is the Hello Sunshine 6x6 paper pack.  I LOVE the paper in this selection, and there's even brands, and ribbon to match!!!!  I added some rain dots for texture and shine to this card, and the satin ribbon gives this card a soft and pretty element.  Of course I couldn't get by without bling, so I added some stickles to the duck's bow.  The grass was done with my Martha Stewart grass punch.
 This 6x6 recipe card was one I made for a swap I was in on Splitcoaststampers.  There's usually an abundance of ants at a picnic, but I don't think many ants bring something yummy along with them.  I thought this little pot brad was so cute in this Picnic Ants hands.  This IS a really yummy recipe, BTW, so feel free to click on the image to see a larger version and copy the recipe. 
Thanks so much for visiting today.  I'm so glad I was finally able to log on and share something fun with you!  Have a wonderful day, a blessed weekend, and happy scrapping!


Friday, May 6, 2011

Celebrate A Beary Happy Birthday

Good morning!  Happy Friday to you, and welcome to The ThINKin' Spot!!  I have an adorable 8x8 layout to share with you today, made with the newly released birthday dies from The Scrapping Cottage.  I've had the most fun playing with these dies, and I don't think I'll be getting enough of them anytime soon!!  This release is AMAZING!!!!!
For this page, I used the Peeker Pocket (from a previous release), Birthday Peeker Bear, Pennants (plain), Pennants Pinking, and the Celebration Phrase, all from the birthday release.  I cut the bear with white card stock and colored him with my Copic markers.  The pocket was first stamped with the Burlap Background stamp from Market Street Stamps, then I added stitching with a white gel pen.  I cut the "Celebrate" in several different colors and paper pieced some of the letters for some color variation.  All the little stars and confetti are from the Celebration Phrase die, and I used those here and there for a fun touch.  

Thanks so much for taking visiting today!  Have a happy and blessed weekend and happy stampin!!


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Peachy Keen Challenge #51

Welcome to The Thinkin' Spot and another Peachy Keen Challenge!!  This new challenge is a sketch challenge with a twist.  Little did I know that when I made this card I would inspire a new PKS challenge, but here we are.  The twist for challenge #51 is to have the image popped up. 

 
For this card, I used the caterpillar from Hillbilly Holler Set Two from Peachy Keen Stamps.  I colored it with my Copics, and made layers of grass to pop him up in, using my Martha Stewart Grass edge punch.  The paper for this card comes from the American Crafts Hello Sunshine paper pack that's a new item available at Peachy Keen Stamps.  The pompom top border and flower buttons come from Stampin' Up, and the sentiment banner was cut by hand. 

The Peachy Keen Design Team has some amazing samples to share with you, as well as this week's guest designer,  Alison.  Please be sure to visit the Peachy Keen Challenge Blog to see all the wonderful creations, and if you drop by Alison's Stretch n Bubbles blog, she will have some eye candy for you throughout the week!  Now you can't beat that kind of inspiration, so head over there ASAP!!!!   As always, if you can play along with our PKS challenge, there's a great prize up for grabs, so I sure hope we'll see you there.

Before I finish this post I want to announce the winner from my blog for the Royal Wedding Blog Hop.  90 numbers went in to the hat, and lucky number 62 was pulled out.  That winner is Tamara, who left this comment:

Your card is absolutely beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing!



Congratulations, Tamara!!  I'll be in touch to get your mailing information so that I can get your blog candy on it's way to you!!!

Thank you all,  for the well wishes for my grandma.  She's still in the hospital, and there's really not been much change in her condition.  Your caring thoughts, well wishes, and prayers are most appreciated!  Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a blessed day and happy stamping!
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