Tradefish Designs-Merry & Bright

Hi, there!  Today's card is a bit non traditional.  I used a pink pirouette base and some papers from Fancy Pants that I bought years ago.  I cut the trees from the DP.  The blue sky background is also DP from this collection.  I cut and layered some white cardstock and added some glitter for my snow.
The sentiment is stamped in Licorice ink by Stephanie Barnanrd.  The sentiment is from Tradefish Designs set, Sentiments of The Season.  I have gotten so much use from this set this holiday season.  It has been a wonderful addition to my stamp collection. Lucky for you, it is on sale for half off!  All stamps at Tradefish are 50% off so go check them out! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

Sorry! I Frog-got!

Hello! Today I have a card using The Stamps Of Life set sayings4froggy.  I stamped the frog in kiwi kiss ink and the sentiment in chocolate chip ink.  The bottom panel is kiwi kiss cardstock that was run through the Cuttlebug with the tiny bubbles embossing folder. It made me think of bumpy skin on a frog or toad! I added a loopy baker's twine bow from the The Twinery. 

I am happy to report that my Christmas shopping is almost complete! I got a much later start on my shopping this year, but the only people left to buy for are my parents and my MIL.  Unfortunately, they are the most difficult to buy for!  I always leave some room to buy one more present for the boys in case something comes up that they HAVE to have.  I don't think that will happen this year, as their lists were smaller and it has been difficult coming up with ideas for family members.  I feel good as a parent that my children are content and do not need or want a bunch of things, but on the other hand it IS Christmas! 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Emily

'Tis the Season...

Hello!  Did you all have a great weekend? Sure hope so.  Today's card has NO stamping.  I used some fab Authentique Wonder paper and a die cut sentiment from that same collection.  I also used my Sugared embossing folder on the red panel.  Added some burlap twine, a paper rose and some holly on the doily.  I like the vintage look.  I love my CAS cards, but I have been having lots of fun with vintage themed cards and projects.  You will be seeing more of that from me mixed in with my usual CAS.

I cooked a big, fat turkey last night!  I have never had to do a big turkey dinner, as my mom has always done Thanksgiving dinner for as long as I can remember for our family.  I decided it was something that I should do, so we cooked a 10 pound turkey with all of the fixings for just the five of us.  I put out the good china, crystal, and candles in our formal dining room for the boys.  They thought it was fun to be eating another fancy turkey dinner!  I was surprised at how easy it really was, and it was super yummy!  Good news...I won't have to cook a bunch this week! Lots of yummy leftovers to make sandwiches, turkey dumplings, turkey noodle soup and turkey tetrazini!

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

Glad Tidings...

For the card above, I used this week's sketch on SCS found HERE.  I pulled out my Trendy Trees SU set, that had never been used!  I think it was one of the last sets I bought when I was still a demo.  I created a winter scene and just stamped the trees in black and added some red kaiser pearls to a couple of the trees.  I used the Sizzix Sugared embossing folder for the red panel.  The sentiment is from Verve.  I used circle punches to punch out the circles on the sides of the red and black carstock panels.
So did you all eat way to much turkey and yummy desserts on Thursday?  I know I did, and I was LAZY on Friday.  Didn't do a thing but hang out and watch Christmas movies with my boys in our jammies all day!  It was fun, but we decided to put some clothes on before dinner and enjoy the nice weather.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

Happpy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!  Hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends.  My card above uses some older DP from Daisy D's. Do you remember that company? I used to love all of their vintage designs.  The vintage turkey image is a free digi from Red Lead.  I added some seam binding and a paper flower.  The sentiment on the vintage digi reads:

Thanksgiving Joys

For love and better living,

For the knack of finer giving,

For the day we call Thanksgiving,

Father we give Thee thanks.

Wishing you blessings on this day and always,

Emily

Tradefish Designs-All Twisted Up!

Hi, there! I needed a break from Christmas and Thanksgiving cards, so how about a Valentine's card?  I used stamps from the Tradefish Designs set, Snack Time.  I stamped my pretzel several times in soft suede ink (SU) onto my card base for the background.  I also stamped my sentiment in soft suede ink and matted it with a strip of soft suede cardstock.  I layered some felt hearts, and added a baker's twine bow!
You can see this fab stamp set below:

 This set is on sale for $7.50 along with lots of other great sets! Go check out the TFD site for more fun stamp sets on sale today!

Emily

Jingle....

Hello!  Today I have a card in honor of my sweet friend, Tenia!  She is the featured stamper over on SCS today.  I chose THIS card in her gallery to be inspired by.  I really loved the layout of this card.  I centered my vertical banner, changed the colors and papers, but kept the general layout of her card.  I used some DP from Simple Stories 25 Days Of Christmas collection.  I used the Sugared embossing folder from Sizzix.  I then sponged distress inks over the raised pattern.  I added some green burlap twine from May Arts and a rusty jingle bell.

Are you all ready for the holidays?  I don't have to do anything for Thanksgiving.  My mom always puts on a wonderful Thanksgiving spread every year.  I show up with my side dish and enjoy the day.  So nice when you have kids to not have to worry about a big shin dig for lots of people.  As far as Christmas...totally not ready!  My kids haven't really given me a lot of ideas this year.  Usually, I am almost done with shopping by now!  I am going to start my decorating tomorrow! LOVE decorating the house for Christmas.  I usually clean each room really good and then put out the decorations for each room.  Tomorrow, I will start with my dining room.  My dining room is shabby chic in decor and so is the tree.  Fun, frilly and girly!  I am going to make some new vintage ornaments for the tree this year. Will try to post some photos this week of my holiday decor!

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

Circle of Snowflakes...

Hello!  Today I have a card using my snowflakes embossing folder.  I used silver ink to rub across the raised snowflakes and added some rhinestones to the centers of some of the snowflakes.  The circle is Pacific Point and so is the ink used to stamp my sentiment.  The sentiment is from The Stamps Of Life set, Christmas2build.  I added some silver cording to finish it off.

It has a been a crazy, busy week of kids activities every night.  We have a family birthday and friend birthday this weekend still to go! I am ready to put my jammies on and curl up on the couch and watch football.  Sometimes the simplest of things are oh, so comforting!

My boys birthdays are not until spring, but at what age do you stop having big, huge birthday extravaganzas?  Just curious, as to what you all do.  Obviously, I still have quite a few years for the twins, but not sure about Will.  He will be eleven.  I can't even remember when I stopped having big birthday parties as a child.  I guess I should keep having them until he says no, right?

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by,

Emily

What's Up?

What's Up?  Today I have a card using a new set from The Stamps Of Life called morepenguins2love.  This sets coordinates beautifully with the penguins4Christmas set. I used some Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride patterned papers for this card.  I love the arrows pointing up on the paper to go along with the sentiment.  I stamped my penguin guy in black and then pieced his beak and feet with bits of the orange DP I used.  I created a "sign" for him to hold with the sentiment with some more coordinating DP.  Of course, I had to add a baker's twine "loopy" bow.

I have had several folks email me about how I make my baker's twine loopy bows and I plan on doing a photo tutorial soon!  It is really very easy.  Can't wait to show you.  I may attempt a video tutorial, but I don't know if I am that savvy yet! LOL!  I may need a little help from my techie friends on that one.

I had another boy home sick yesterday with the stomach crud! YUCK! I am hoping everyone is well for turkey day next week.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Emily

Tradefish Designs-Happy Blessings

Hello!  Today I have a card using Got Leaves set from Tradefish Designs.  I colored and cut out the two pumpkins from this set.  I used some My Mind's Eye Blackbird  DP along with some text pages from an old book.  I inked the edges of everything with walnut stain and antique linen distress inks.  The sentiment is stamped with walnut stain ink.  I love that you can miss and match the sentiments in this set.  You can see the entire set below:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Off to mail off some Thanksgiving cards to family and friends.

Emily

Hop on over to my pad!

Hi, there!  Today I am sharing a card I made with The Stamps Of Life set, sayings4froggy.  This set is a smaller set that works perfectly with the set froggy2love.  The lily and pad are from the frogy2love set and the sentiment is from the sayings4froggy set.
I stamped the lily in black onto patterned paper from Crate Paper's Random collection.  The lily pad is stamped in certainly celery and cut out.  I used foam dots to pop the lily up over the lily pad.

I plan on hosting a stamping party at my house soon for some girlfriends.  I plan on sending out these invites with the time and date stamped and written on the inside.  I used to host many classes at my house and kind of miss getting together with those ladies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

FWF-JOY...

Hello! Happy Friday, everyone. Today I have a card for Friends With Flair using the ippity set, Gingham Christmas Greetings.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this set.  I added a green, felt snowflake and some red, burlap twine to finish off the card.
I buy my ippity from the fabulous Noelle.  She has the best deals, free shipping and free twine with every order. You gotta love that!
I am hoping to get some crafty time in this afternoon.  I have had a couple of sick boys home with stomach viruses, so not a lot of stamping in my house this past week!  I am off to disinfect bathrooms, kitchen and tidy the house. Fun stuff...

Thanks for stopping by,

Emily

The Stamps Of Life and The Twinery Blog Hop!

Are you ready for some fun?

The {Stamps} of Life and The Twinery Design Teams are playing together for this hop!

About The Twinery:

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it’s eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you’re gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, our baker’s twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! Our baker’s twine comes in 14 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look. For creative ideas & more…visit OUR BLOG!

About The {Stamps} of Life:

We feature high quality, made in the USA, clear stamps and digital stamps/brushes for stampers, card makers and scrapbookers. Feel free to browse our gallery with more than 2500 samples using our stamps, watch our free how-to videos and join our club!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be 2 prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs:

One winner will win 2 stamp sets  (winners choice) valued at $12.95 -total retail value: $26.90 per prize! from The {Stamps} of Life.

&

One winner will win the Ultimate Color Sampler Pack ($25 value!) from The Twinery!!!

The prize winners will be announced on The {Stamps}of Life and The Twinery Blogs on Wednesday November 16th. 

I used two different sets from TSOL for my card. The stocking is from the Christmas2build set and the sentiment is from the Penguins4Christmas set.  I stamped my stocking on white cardstock and then cut it out.  I applied a moderate coating of Tombow multi all over the stocking and let it dry for about 30 minutes.  I then used some red and green baker's twine to fill in the parts of the stocking.  I like how the twine gives it a "knit" kind of look!  I hung my stocking from some more baker's twine and added a couple bows on the end.


Your next stop on the hop is the fabulous Emily Leiphart.  If you get lost along the way, check out the entire list of blogs below.

The hop list:
The Twinery Blog
The {Stamps}of Life Blog
Jeanne Streiff
Julie Ranae
Deb Felts
Monique Hansen
Vicki Garrett
Monika Wright
Emily Niehaus
Emily Leiphart
Beverly Sizemore

Hera Frei

Tami Mayberry

Stacey Winters

Lydia Fiedler

Caroline Stender

Kim Pargeter
Joana Studer
Katrina Hunt
Laura Williams
Jen Carter
Kim Howard
Jenny Suchin
Sheri Twing

Tradefish Designs-Out of This World!

Hello!  I pulled out my Tradefish Designs Out of This World set and paired it up with some October Afternoon Rocket Age DP.  I stamped the planet image on patterned paper and then used a copic to color in the ring.  I stamped my sentiment on cardstock and then cut out each word.  I used a brown marker to create the faux stitching and used some baker's twine from The Twinery for my loopy bow.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Emily

RIBBIT!

Hello!  Today I have a couple of cards I made using the new froggy2love set from The Stamps Of Life.  I used patterned paper from Crate Paper's Random collection.  The frog is paper pieced and I used a beaded circle nestie to frame my frog.  I love the little fly you can stamp with the frog! Too cute!

On the card above, I used some Copic markers to color the frog.  Patterned papers are same as above.  I added a loopy bow made with baker's twine from The Twinery and a paper rose from Prima.  The word bubble is from the TSOL talk2me set.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Emily

Little Pro Super Bowl WINNERS!

WHOOT! WHOOT!  My oldest won his 5th grade super bowl game!  It was a beautiful day for football, and the boys were so excited after being runner up in the super bowl the past 2 years. GO RAMS!

Love You To The Moon and Back....

Hi, there!  Today I have a cute little treat box to share with you.  This was for the Free 4 All challenge over on SCS.  You can find the instructions and a lot more examples HERE.  I am going to stuff some money into this for my oldest son.  I just went to his first Middle School conference, and his teachers had nothing but good things to say.  He also has all A's and B's, so I am one proud mama.  I was worried about middle school being a big adjustment for him, with his ADHD.  He has been so busy with football and his First Lego League, and still managed to get wonderful grades.  I am beyond happy!

Onto the treat box....I used stamps from Tradefish Designs set, Out of This World.  It goes perfectly with October Afternoon's Rocket Age collection.  The moon is paper pieced and the UFO on the inside is stamped on patterned paper and also colored with some copic markers.  I added a little velcro for the closure.  These are so easy to make, and all you need is a 6x6 piece of patterned paper and a scoring tool!  You will find what the box looks like opened below:

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

Have a "Hoppy" Good Day!

Hello!  Today I am sharing a card I made with the new release from The Stamps Of Life, froggy2love set.  I decided to make a OLC.  I stamped the frog in Spearmint ink and the flies and sentiment in Licorice ink.  I love Stephanie's new inks.  They are super juicy, and stamp a fabulous impression every time.  I colored in the centers of the frog's eyes with a black pen, and created the border with a black pen.  You will be seeing more of this set in the week's to come!
 

Thanks for stopping by today,

Emily

Birthday Butterfly....

Hi, there!  I played along in the sketch challenge over on SCS today.  If you would like to play along click HERE.  It will take you to the sketch and thread.  For this card I used my My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two-Sunshine DP.  Love the yellows, blues, and browns in this one.  The butterfly is from ippity's Thankful for You set.  I stamped it in brown on some aqua, polka dot DP.  I distressed all of the edges of my paper with distress inks in Walnut Stain and Antique Linen.  I popped the butterfly image with foam dots and added a baker's twine loopy bow.

I am trying to get caught up on some household chores that have gone by the wayside the past week.  I feel like my mojo is in the toilet.  Sigh...difficult week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Emily

Go Fish Challenge #4-A Sketch!

Hello!  Today I am sharing a card I made for the Go Fish challenge.  I just love the sketch and will definitely be using it again.  I pulled out my Sentiments Of The Season set from Tradefish Designs.  I love this set!  I decided to use some of my Authentique Christmas paper. Love that stuff, too.  I was able to find the perfect sentiment for that vintage Santa image.  The kraft strip was run through my CB with the swiss dots folder, and I tied some baker's twine around it and made a loopy bow.  I used distress inks on the edges of all of the papers.

Hope you can play along in the challenge!

Emily