Happy Earth Day !

I am pretty sure this is a first for me in the 16+ years I've been

a paper crafter....I'm celebrating with a card for...

As soon as I got the newest stamps from Paper Smooches, I just

new I was headed for an Earth Day card, no question!

This design is ala my dear friend, Savannah O'Gwynn.

Doesn't this look like something Savvy would put together ?

I am a huge fan of everything she does but she IS the master of whimsy !

I've been collecting sheets of alphabets for about six months now and decided

it was time to start using them and I managed to do that with this card!

'Happy' is from Authentique

'Earth' is from Prima

'Day' is from Echo Park

The base paper is from MME's Fine & Dandy 'Girl' 6x6 pad.

I thought it worked perfectly with these stamps.

I used a little Stickles around the cloud for some additional texture.

How about those tall trees from Paper Smooches ?!

All the paper-piecing was done with a variety of papers 

{ see recipe below }

I also pulled out the 'Forest Whimsy' set from PS as well because no 

little forest is complete with a a tree stump and a squirrel to join the party!

So happy you stopped by today!

Thank you as always, for all your kind comments

left along the way....

Project Recipe:

Patterned Paper:  Fine & Dandy & Honeycake from My Mind's Eye

Portrait by Crate Paper & Blossom by Jillibean Soup

Stamps:  Forest Whimsy & Spring Groves by Paper Smooches

Embellishments: Alphas by: Prima, Authentique & Echo Parks
pearls by Recollections, Stickles in stardust by Ranger

Here Are Your New Play Date Cafe Designers!

What an exciting week over at

The Play Date Cafe!

The new Designers who are joining

our fabulous team have been revealed.

You must pop over and check out each of

the posts as the designers have shared a bit

about who they are and their passions.

Introducing the newest additions to

The Play Date Cafe Design Team...

Jaclyn Miller

Designs by Jax

Michele Gross

StudioMSG

Tracey Kuzniak

Trace's Tri's

Jinny Newlin

Soaring

Libby Hickson

Libby's Little Addiction

Fiona Shultz

Made by Fee

and our next 'Private Blend Designer' is....

Colleen Dietrich

Dietrich Designs

We are also excited to share that...

 Andrea Ewen

EwenStyle

will be joining us as a first-term designer

after being our most recent 'Private Blend Designer'

and more good news....

Savannah O'Gwynn

Savannahland2

and

Ruby 2 Shoes

Ruby 2 Shoes Design

will be joining Sarah Anderson and

myself as Senior Designers.

I hope you will stop by each designers blog

when you have an opportunity and encourage

them on their new journey.

Then plan to check out our 'Christmas edition'

challenge which will be posted tonight

at Midnight, EST at

The Play Date Cafe.

A Very Happy Christmas Gift!

What a terRIFfic Christmas gift!

Many of you know Savannah O'Gwynn from her wonderful

and creative blog, Savannahland2.  You may also know her

as one of my fellow designers over at The Play Date Cafe.

I was super excited to get the call that Sav & her husband Travis,

would be traveling through Chicago on their way to O'Hare airport

and I jumped at the chance to go spend some time with them.

Because we have been design-team-mates for nearly a year,

(which we only just realized tonight)

and because we Skype all the time, recognizing the really

tall girl at the door of The Longhorn Steak House

was no problem!

Travis was a great sport as Savvy and I spent a good portion

of the two and a half hours talking blogging, stamping, etc...

Paul was supposed to make the trip with me, but he had to

work a couple of extra hours today at B&N

(no rest for the retailer at Christmas...)

What a great couple!

I highly recommend spending time with fellow bloggers

when you have the opportunity.

Now I am working on the idea of a reunion of the designers 

from The Play Date Cafe...how fun would that be??!!!

So here's a question for you....

Who have you had an opportunity to meet 

since you've been blogging?

I'd love for you to share by leaving a comment.

OH!  Before I forget, I want to thank Susanna over at
Paper Craft Planet for
the Holiday Blog Post they featured today.
You can view it here.... 

I loved making that collection of cards and was
happy to be asked to share them with you once again.

Inspired by Others

Over on Facebook, I have been fussing about the fact 

that I have had a hard time transitioning out of

Christmas creations to what's next, whether that be

just general winter-themed card or even, dare I

say it....Valentine's?

I found terrific inspiration by way of two

different challenges.

Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger

and the

Scrappy Saturday Challenge

in which I CASED one of my favorite designers...

Savannah O'Gwynn!

I absolutely love the colors from both photos. The softness

of the cakes and cookies were reflected in the sweet

wreath from Heidi Grace.

The sentiment is from Paper Inspirations

and my favorite baker's twine from The Twinery 

wraps it up so sweetly.

The beautiful pink rhinestones in Sav's card came alive

in mine with the pink rhinestone hearts and of

course the 'themes' mesh as well.

Before I forget, Jenny over at Wee Memories

(host of Scrappy Saturday Challenge)

is having a giveaway of this fabulous storage 

cubby from Studio 3 Solutions.

If I were you, I'd go check it out!

What a great little Christmas pressie this would be!

Fingers crossed : )

Thanks again for stopping by!

I LoVe hearing from you!