Boo!

I couldn't wait to break out of one of my favorite 

new collections for the Halloween season

from My Mind's Eye, so thank you to Jax, 

our color story coordinator over at

The Play Date Cafe!

I love this color story!

{ well, when don't I? }

The color combination could have taken me in

a variety of directions, but when I saw this image

in the new 6x6 pad 'Mischevous' from MME,

decision made!

This was such an easy card to make because it was

a matter of layering the polka dot paper and wrapping

it in my favorite baker's twine from The Twinery.

I love using my Distrezz-it-All from Zutter and yes,

I do use it for the smallest jobs like card-making

even though it can also distress chipboard.

SRM Designs provides the beautiful 'sticker' sentiments.

This week, our Cup of the Week winner will receive

a fabulous shopping spree from

so make sure you pop by The Cafe

and check out all the amazing designs from 

our design team and then....play!

Before I go....

This is a VERY close up shot of the tree in
front of our home.  The colors are so close to
our challenge colors, I thought it was a good time
to share it.  The 'stormy'-looking sky is exactly
that...just 10 minutes after I snapped this photo
tonight, it poured.
My goal with such a close-up shot was to get the
tiny finch nest.  I don't have a fancy camera...in fact,
it's an eight-year old Kodak with limited capabilities,
but it gets me through each post and didn't fail me
when I wanted to capture the memory of this tiny
nest, which will be home to a new family next spring.

Project Recipe: 

Designer Paper: 'Mischevous' by My Mind's Eye 
Embellishments: Bakers Twine in 'Stone' from The Twinery
Sticker Sentiments from SRM

Tools:  Disstrezz-it-All by Zutter

Happy Fall from The Craft's Meow

For the

Sizzix Fresh Vintage

Blog Hop Post

Click HERE

It is Day #2 of the New Release Previews from

and today we feature the lovely designs of

Maree Truelove, one of our newest stamp designers.

This sweet set is called 'Happy Fall'

I thought it would be fun to use the solid design

of the pumpkin and create some texture by

using houndstooth paper and the Swiss Dot

EF from Cuttlebug.  I also accented the clouds

the same way.  Check out that tiny acorn!  Ca-ute!

Make sure you visit The Craft's Meow blog

and check out the rest of the design team's

projects.  You will get a real taste for this set

by the time it is released on Saturday! 

You can also win a set, 

so make sure to leave

a comment before you leave.  
TCM will be drawing a name 
each day

and you never know 
it could be YOURS!

Project Recipe: 

Designer Paper: 'Kay Autumn' by MAMBI,
Dots & Stripes Candy Shoppe by Echo Park Papers
Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento, 
Stamps:  'Happy Fall' by The Craft's Meow

Tools: Cloud die by Lil' Inker Designs
Swiss Dot EF from Cuttlebug, Distrezz-it-All by Zutter,
Notebook border punch by EK Success
Embellishments:  Bakers twine in Mandarin from The Twinery

Special Delivery from The Craft's Meow

It is Day Three of previews for the new release from

I absolutely AdOrE this beautiful set

designed by Nina Brackett

of Nina B Designs

I can't wait for you to see the entire set next week

because it is off the chain!

So many lovely elements to play with!

Make sure you pop by

 The Craft's Meow Blog

and check out the fabulous-ness

from all of the designers.

TCM is giving away a stamp set each day

so make sure you leave a comment

on my blog for a chance to win!

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope

you will plan to come by each day this week

so you don't miss a thing!

Today's Project Recipe:

Stamps: 'Telegram' & 'Timeless Tags' by The Craft's Meow 
Designer Paper:  'Summer Days' Echo Park Paper

Tools: 'Distrezz-it-All' by Zutter, 

Double Loop Weave punch by Martha Stewart,

'Grommet Tags' dies from Spellbinders, Big Shot

Embellishments:  'Sweet Taffy Aqua' flowers by Prima,

'Boutique Fleur' flower by Recollections, Doily Ribbon by TPC

'Sweet Talk' gems/pearls by KandCompany

A Little Hello from The Play Date Cafe

I am really excited to share this week's challenge 

with you over at....

I adore this color story and the palette that Ruby created!

I started out by creating this fabby background using 

stamp images from Martha Stewart.  No, it's not patterned

paper...it's hand-stamped using two different ink

from A Muse Studio, Sky & French Roast.

I then created the flower using my Spellbinders Dahlia dies

and MME's 'Stella & Rose Hattie' DP.

The blue layer was embossed with my Cuttlebug EF.

The rest of the details are below in Today's Recipe Section.

I did want to mention that the distressing that I did around

the edges of this card is pretty hard-core so I used one

of my favorite tools from Zutter, the Distrezz-it-all.

Here is a close-up of the colors and pattern I created.

We are very happy to welcome the very popular

designer, Laura Davis as our guest this week

and a returning sponsor

So make sure you skeedaddle over to The Cafe

and check out all the wonderful inspiration by

our most fabulous design team!

Thanks for popping by...hope you'll leave

a little love in the form of a comment...

I'd love to 'chat' with you, so make sure

you leave an email address where I can reach you!

Today's Project Recipe:

Designer Paper: My Mind's Eye 'Stella & Rose Hattie' Collection
Stamps: 'Clear Patterns' from Martha Stewart, sentiment from The Paper Studio
Ink: 'Sky' & 'French Roast' by A Muse Studio
Tools:  Big Shot, Spellbinders 'Dahlia' die cut, Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dot' EF,
Distrezz-it-all by Zutter

Embellishments: Rhinestone pebbles by Recollections

Fresh & Bright...The Play Date Cafe

I'm not sure if you've been able to tell, but I have

really been diggin' bright colors this week.

I think it's been a long winter and I am just ready

for some color.

It's great timing because this week's color challenge

over at The Play Date Cafe scratches me

right where I itch!!!

Three of our Senior Designers are

responsible for choosing our weekly

color stories and we each have our own

style and color palette that is all our own.

This palette....is pure Ruby 2 Shoes!

I decided to go with a distressed, aged look for this card.

One of my very favorite tools in the studio is the

Distrezz-it-All by Zutter.

It saves that cramp you get in your hand with tiny little

distressing tools and can handle a single sheet of

cardstock all the way up to chipboard.

This card is all about layers of designer paper and

embellishments.  The sweet little lucite cherries are by

Mary Englebreit and were the perfect little addition.

Of course I tied it together with a little baker's twine 

from The Twinery.

We have the talented Maria Gurnsey joining us as

our guest designer this week.

In honor of Maria, I used her 'namesake' 'Gingham Gurnsey'

stamp to create the tag under the 'my friend' sentiment.

Check out that story and learn more about Maria

when you visit The Cafe.

We have the most talented design team

waiting to inspire you, and here they are....

Sarah AndersonRuby McGuire

 Savannah O'Gwynn 

Andrea Ewen

Colleen Dietrich  

Fiona Shultz

Jaclyn Miller 

Jinny Newlin
Libby Hickson  

Michele Gross

Tracey Kuzniak

and of course, our sweet guest...
Maria Gurnsey

 So glad you stopped by and I hope you'll 

leave a quick little note to let me know

you were here : )

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

 Designer Paper: K&Company 'Sweet Nectar' & BoBunny 'Abbey Road'
Stamps: Papertrey Ink 'Friendship Jar & Ippity 'Gurnsey Gingham'
Ink: VersaMagic, Ranger Archival, Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Tools: Spellbinders 'Labels One', Big Shot, sewing machine
Distrezz-it-All, Martha Stewart punch 'Loop Heart'

Embellishments: Baker's Twine by The Twinery in 'Caribbean', 

Pearls by Martha Stewart, Cherry by Mary Engelbreit

A Walk Down Memory Lane

To join me for 'Growing in Unity'

scroll down or click here

It is my turn to host the challenge over at 

The Play Date Cafe.

I think it's really 'brave' to decorate in this bold design.  

Granted, back in the 90's, I happily painted 3 walls of my 

dining room hunter green and one wall merlot..  I even did my

living room with the bold shade of 'goldfish'

by Martha Stewart.  One wall only!

So I get it.

The question is....

are you willing to go outside the box?

I used great papers from Graphic45 (the dark blue),

Stampin' Up (the polka dot green) and American Crafts (silver).

I put my Distrezz-it-all from Zutter (my fave tool at the moment)

to good use on the edges of each layer.

How fun are these stamp images!?!

This week's sponsor is

 and I had a blast playing with them.

You could win over $60 

in rubber stamps!

Pop on over to The Play Date Cafe

and see what 'the world's best design team'

has done to inspire you to play.

Where Bloggers Create II...Welcome!

Welcome to 

The Party of the Year!

'Where Bloggers Create II' was started by
Karen Valentine over at My Desert Cottage
and this year, we have over 450 guests
participating, so I am just ONE on
the guest list...make sure you stop by
her blog, check out the guest list
and start your visits!

 While most other bloggers may share 

their entire studios with you,

I will be sharing the favorite parts

of my creative space with you.

If you make it through this post all the way

to the end, I will invite you to participate in

my PARTY GIVEAWAY!

So here we go.....

All in all, this is why it's difficult to have a good run at

any one project!  This is Lucy, my 16 year old

sweetheart who keeps me company quite often : )

Much of my inspiration comes from paper crafting

magazines.  This is just a 'smidge' of a sampling

of my British magazines.  Those who follow my blog

know that I am a magazine fanatic!

So believe me when I tell you that this doesn't begin to

cover the amount of 'inspiration' I can find on a 

regular basis.

There are two things in my little creative space that I can

never have too much of

Glitter...

...and ribbon.

I am creating quite a little collection of these as well!

I can't fit them all on one shelf at the moment,

but I think you get the idea  : )

Love my Martha Stewart punches from EK Success.

One of my favorite shelves is the top one with a

variety of cards, gifts and autographs from some

pretty 'famous' papercrafters and artists.

This shelf and the inspiration board house a few more

handcrafted cards from my friends as well as baskets

of things I 'just can't live without'.

Within easy are the tools that I use on an everyday basis.

And here is my new favorite tool...

My new paper distressor.  No more using my

little hand tools which eventually get dull.  You can

run a whole batch of cardstock, chipboard and more

through this baby and in one fell swoop...

Well, you get the picture  : )

One other small collection I have are these fabby

chunky books.  I use them for altered items and for

wonderful retro images on my cards.  I always manage

to find them in the bargain book section of my

favorite store...say it with me...

Barnes & Noble.

 

 
I decided to leave you with a few of my favorite things.

Now you may be asking yourself...

Isn't she a stamper?

Where are all her stamps?

Well..if you look hard in a few of the photos, you will

see them all lined up in a few baskets, but those are just

my clear or unmounted sets.  I have a boatload of 

old-school wood mounted stamps 

that I will never part with, but to be honest, I just did not

have the time or fortitude to organize them in a

presentable way for you   : )

So maybe next time, huh?!

So you made it to the end!

Now for the fabby giveaway...

Please leave a comment and

let me know which of the items

 in my creative space would

most likely be found in yours...

I will gladly part with a few things from my 

creative stash

and send it to the winner.

The deadline for leaving a comment on

THIS POST 

is Midnight EST, Saturday, June 26th

I will draw using Random.org

on Sunday,  June 27th.

Make sure you check back to see

if you are the winner!

While you're here, I hope you will become

a follower and help me celebrate my

ONE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY!

Click here for another

Fabby Giveaway!