*Embellish, Waltzingmouse, & some Announcements*

Hey there, y’all!

How was your weekend? Was it full of football?! Mine sure was, and I loved it! I did lots of chillin’ with my hubs on our big new couch, watching the Saints whoop up on ol’ Brett (tee hee)… Hubby & I purposely took the weekend off to “rest” our bodies & minds, so that’s why I’m here to catch up on some posting from the weekend and share a couple of updates with you.

First up is a mini card that I created for the current Embellish Color Challenge. Our sponsor is the fabulous My Favorite Things, and the theme is paper piecing. I used a really sweet mini stamp set called It’s a Cupcake Kind of Day! Cute, huh? I also played with some of their fun digi papers from the Sheltering Tree & Take Note collections, as well as some felt from the Banana Split collection. Now, check out the awesome inspiration board that Ashley put together for us:

Aren’t those colors so fun & fresh?! I love them…. the sweet folks at My Favorite Things were so generous that I made a second project to show off some of their fun product:

For this card I used a sweet sentiment stamp from the Green Thumb mini stamps set. I also created a fun die cut flower using some more digi paper from the Sheltering Tree digi paper set, and some more fun felt from the Banana Split collection. So fun to play with!

If you would like to play along, you have until Thursday, September 23rd at 11:59pm EST to upload your card. There’s an awesome prize up for grabs! I strongly encourage you to play along!

Next up I have a card for this week’s Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #14:

I used a fun new set that debuted yesterday over at Waltzingmouse called Teeny Trees. I used the stamps in a bit of a non-traditional form. I stamped the tree images (without the trunks/branches) using acrylic paint. It provides for a bit of a messy-stamped look, but I’m in love with “pretty messes” right now, so it was a perfect move for me. Just know that the stamps are very crisp, and stamp beautifully when done with normal ink. Claire has top quality stamps, and trust me, you’ll get a perfect image when you stamp with ink and not paint, lol!

Now check out the fun sketch:

And how about a close-up for good measure:

You can see that I used a smaller tree image as a background to the pretty sentiment that comes with the Teeny Trees stamp set. I also used the Vintage Labels #4 stamp set to frame my sentiment panel… fun stuff!

If you’d like to play along with us over at the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge blog, you have until Thursday, September 16th at 11:59pm EST to upload your card. Join us, and have some fun seeing what everyone else has come up with!

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And now for a few updates, to share…

My terms with 2 very dear design teams have ended. I will no longer be serving as an active design member of Lawn Fawn or Clear & Simple Stamps (App Team). I will truly miss being a part of these families of designers. I count it a complete privilege to have had the opportunity to work with each of them. As my terms end I take away something more important to me than any designing affiliation out there, and that is a treasured friendship with both of these special ladies.

Thank you Kelly, for trusting me to help represent your brand new (and fabulous!) stamp company. Thanks for making me stretch my design abilities beyond anything I’d ever expected they could be stretched! And thank you for your continued support -  you definitely have mine! Hugs!

Thank you Nicki, for always making me feel like a super star (even though I’m so far from it! Lol!). You have always made me feel like an asset to CSS, and that means so much to me. And thank you for inspiring me with your endless hard work and dedication to your amazing company! Hugs!

Alrighty, well I think that about wraps it up for today! Thanks for hanging in there for the long post, lol! I’ll chat with y’all again some time soon!

THE LINKS:

• Embellish Color Challenge: Paper Piecing
• Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #14
• Waltzingmouse Stamps New Releases
  

THE DEETS:

It’s a Cupcake Kind of Day Card

• Card Stock: Harvest Gold & Kraft (PTI)
  
• Patterned Paper: Sheltering Tree digi paper & Take Note digi paper (My Favorite Things)
  
• Stamps: It’s a Cupcake Kind of Day! (My Favorite Things)
  
• Ink: Chestnut Roan (ColorBox),White acrylic paint
• Embellies: Ribbon (Etsy.com – MemrieMare), My Favorite Felt – Banana Split (My Favorite Things)
  
• Tools: Standard Scalloped Circles – Small (Spellbinders), Adhesive (Love My Tapes), Big Shot (Sizzix)
  

Seeds of Love Card

• Card Stock: Harvest Gold & Kraft (PTI)
• Patterned Paper: Sheltering Tree digi paper (My Favorite Things), Thrift Shop (October Afternoon)
  
• Stamps: Green Thumb (My Favorite Things)
  
• Ink: Chestnut Roan (ColorBox), White acrylic paint
• Embellies: Twine (May Arts), My Favorite Felt – Banana Split (My Favorite Things), Eyelet trim (Craft supply), Button (Craft supply)
  
• Tools: Beautiful Blooms die (PTI),  Adhesive (Love My Tapes), Big Shot (Sizzix), Giga Guidelines Impression Plate (PTI)
  

Birthday Wishes Card

• Card Stock: Aqua Mist (PTI)
  
• Patterned Paper: So Sophie (My Mind’s Eye)
  
• Stamps: Teeny Trees & Very Vintage Labels #4 (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
  
• Ink: Wheat & Pink Petunia (VersaMagic), White acrylic paint
  
• Embellies: Border sticker – Snow Day (Crate Paper), Ribbon (Etsy.com – MemrieMare), Jewels (Recollections), Flower (Prima), Butterfly (Jenni Bowlin), Kraft envie (Maya Road)
  
• Tools: Labels #4 (Spellbinders), Paper Piercer (Ranger), Adhesive (Love My Tapes), Big Shot (Sizzix)

*Thanks again!*