Ticket Trio Treats with Tami's Team! YAY!

***This is my second post of the day! Please check out my Mini Cards in THIS POST! Thanks!***

HA! That was fun. Okay...so what I really have for you today is a fun BLOG HOP featuring Tami Mayberry's newest set releasing TOMORROW by Gina K. Designs! The Tami Mayberry Design Team have come together to give you a super fun blog hop featuring Tami's stamps and some FABULOUS ideas! The official release party begins over at Stamp TV at 11am Central time! It's gonna be fun!!!

Here is one of the cards I created with Tami's brand new Ticket Trio stamps! I love the versatility of these stamps!




The patterned paper is Echo Park and the twine is May Arts. I stamped the numbers from the Ticket Trio set above and below the strips of paper and wrapped the twine around before adhering the paper for a clean, finished design. The tags were stamped and I added glitter glue to the crown to add a bit of sparkle. This card would be a wonderful graduation card or even a fabulous Father's Day Card! Just add the appropriate additional sentiment inside!




The next stop on the hop is Lalo! Be sure to check out her fabulous work!  Below you can find the entire hop list just in case!  :-) Have fun hopping!

Tami Mayberry
Ceal Pritchett
Donna Bowman
Jamie Cripps
Jennifer Ingle
Lalo Ik
Regina Hardy

Mini Note Cards? Yup. I've got that.

O.M.G. These were so much fun to make! When I got the two FREAKING ADORABLE camera stamps from Retro Cafe Art Gallery AND this fabulous washi tape in the same box, I pretty much had to use them pretty much in a RIGHT STINKING NOW kind of way. Just say'n.



I decided to create a fun set of mini note cards! I pulled out some Authentique papers, cut them to 3x6 and folded them in half to create the cards. Nice and easy and super cuteness!!! The stamps are SO FUN! The handles are actually camera shaped and so they are not ONLY functional stamps, but they look SO SUPER CUTE on my shelf, too! *LOVE THAT!!!!* I used both the Poulain Camera style and the Fotka Camera style. The Fotka is my favorite! YAY!



The hearts on that washi tape are super transparent, making it even cooler when you lay it down because you can see through them. *LOVE!!!* For reals, you guys...I {heart} washi tape. Just say'n. If you haven't checked out Retro Cafe Art Gallery for washi tape you are missing out! FABULOUS prices and a great selection!



I tied these pretties up with a bit of May Arts twine and stamped the sentiment with an awesome little Stampendous! stamp from the Happy Messages set! I love that set! So useful! It's a fun little project and makes a cute gift addition, too! YAY!

Happy Thursday, folks!

Jingle Out!

P.S. I'm five readers away from 1300 followers, so if you happen to know anyone who might enjoy my blog, I'd love for you to spread the word! Thank you all for reading!!! You make me smile daily!

Jingle Out...for reals this time. Just say'n.

New Tami Mayberry Stamps are on the way from Gina K.!

I am very excited to be posting for the first time as a member of the Tami Mayberry Design Team! Gina K. is releasing some brand new stamps and Tami has a fabulous new set in the mix! The party is tomorrow, Thursday, May 31 at 11:00 am Central Time in the Stamp TV Release Party Forum. Join us for Challenges, Contest Questions, Design Team Samples, Full Stamp Set Reveals and, of course, party chit chat!!! Everything will go "live" at 11:00 am Central in Gina's Store so there won't be any long wait to start shopping! Hope to see you there!

Here's a sneak peek of one of the cards I will be sharing with you at the party:



I used Tami's brand new Ticket Trio set for this card! You will get to see the entire set at the party tomorrow!

See you at the release party tomorrow! It's gonna be fun!!!

To see more great inspiration, check out Tami's blog for a list of links!

Fresh Rubber - WOYWW

That's what's on my desk. AND...you can see a card I created with it in my other post today above this one! The stamps were waiting for me in the mailbox when I arrived home after work yesterday and I inked the new release set up right away! (Okay, well, after doing the dishes, feeding the dogs, and other general 'have to do kind of stuff. Just say'n.)



I haven't inked up that set that you can see or the one on my cutter yet, but I am totally going to be doing that soon, too! These are such fun stamps! They are Tami Mayberry's designs from Gina K. FABULOUS!!!

Anyway...that's what is on my desk. Note the lack of skittles, jelly beans, swedish fish, or any other such sugary goodness...*sigh*. I'm out. Need to get in touch with my supplier..aka: Target. HA!

Jingle Out! :-) Happy Wednesday! For more WOYWW fun check out Julia's blog!

Celebrate Summer Gift Set - May Arts Design Team Application

As many of you know, I am currently a Prima Ribbonista on the May Arts Design Team. Well, it just so happens that it is that time of year again and I would absolutely LOVE to be a part of this team for another term! Mostly because May Arts is awesome. That's why. Just say'n. That being the case, I have created this SUPER CUTE Celebrate Summer Gift Set as my design team application for this term!



Here are the supplies needed to create the four projects in this gift set:
May Arts Baker's Twine - Red
May Arts 3/8" grosgrain - Navy
May Arts Sheer Woven Rosettes - White
Silver thread
1 pair white ankle socks
1 floppy hat
1 small jar candle
Strong sheet adhesive
cardstock
Celebrate stamp from Gourmet Rubber Stamps Everyday Sayings set
Navy ink
Vintage Buttons

We will begin by creating the socks! FUN!!!



Create two small bundles of twine and tie in the center to create a loose bow.



Tie a bit of navy grosgrain around the center of each bundle.



Cut a sheer flower from the sheer flower ribbon and stitch onto the side of the sock with silver thread.



Stitch the twine bow onto the flower with the silver thread, allow the thread to be a bit 'messy' to give it a sort of 'fireworks' feel!



And then your socks are ready to wear! To create the hat, follow the same instructions and stitch the embellishment onto the hat like this!



And now...we are going to create the fun jar candle part of the set!



Begin by adding a simple grosgrain bow around the lid of the jar. Set aside.



Next, cover the candle jar with sheet adhesive. I used Purple Cows, however, there are several options out there for this type of application. You want something that covers really well and isn't too messy (for your own sanity! LOL!).



Next, begin at the base of the jar and simply wrap the twine around the jar, sticking as you go, to cover the entire jar with the twine.



Finish the jar off by adhering a sheer ribbon flower and two vintage buttons.



Finally, you will want to create a card to give along with your super cute Celebrate Summer Gift set!



To create this card, create the base from cardstock. Cut a white panel slightly smaller and adhere the twine and ribbons across the card. Stamp the sentiment and adhere the panel with foam tape. Nice and easy!



And now you have a gift set with a fabulous card ready to give to a friend! YAY! Thanks for checking out my tutorial! Let me know if you try any of the projects I've shown today!

Jingle Out.

Color Inspiration with Skipping Stones Design

I am SO excited! We are doing a brand new kind of challenge this week with Skipping Stones Design! It's a color inspiration challenge! Here is the picture that we had to work with:

And now I want to be sitting on the beach, drink in hand, and no computer for miles. HA! No...that's not true...I would miss all of you desperately, however, I can say that I had very limited computer time over the long weekend and it was a bit nice to step away for a couple of days. I used the super fun Holy Carp set to create my card for this week. This is a GREAT Father's Day set and has sentiments for lots of other occasions, as well! Super fun!



Yes...I took that shot on my desk. Sheer and utter laziness is the only excuse I have for that one! LOL! BUT...the card is fun, isn't it? I cut a simple fish shape from orange striped patterned paper and then coated that with Martha Stewart glitter. I stamped the water, slit just a small wave and tucked in my little fish! FUN!!!!



The rest of the team has done some really gorgeous cards using this inspiration photo! Come on over, check it out, and then link up YOUR creation for a chance to win free stamps! You don't even have to use SSD stamps to win!

I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend!

Jingle Out!

Stampendous! Saturday - Gifts!

Okay...today is going to be quick, but I do have a fun gift idea to share with you for Stampendous! Saturday! This is the final week to participate in the challenge so don't forget to head over to the Stampendous! blog for more inspiration and to link up your project!!!

For today, I created a stamped monogram. These are great for the mantel or a child's bedroom! A wonderful housewarming or birthday gift!



I happened to have the letter 'J' around...I have no idea why... HAHAHA! But, obviously, you can do this with any letter! I stamped the image with StazOn ink and then colored it with Twinkling H2O's! I used the super pretty Flower Fields Image which you can find on the Stampendous! website or at your local Michael's stores.



I particularly love allowing the watercolors to go over the edges of the stamped image. It just looks so pretty like that! *LOVE!*

So... head on over to the Stampendous! Blog to check it all out and link up YOUR fabulous gift creation!

Jingle Out!

It's Raining Men! Or ... at least Cards for men, that is!

HA! Yes, my frieds, it's raining cards for men over at Gourmet Rubber Stamps this week! The Design Team had come together for the DT challenge and we are creating masculine cards (aka: Cards for men. Men in tights. *Tight! Tights!*...ooopsies...got a little carried away there...no...just cards for men. Just say'n.)



And...with Father's Day on the way, that is mighty convenient as many of us will be pulling out the supplies to create cards for the special men in our lives! I used the SUPER Adorable Daddy-O set for this card along with some fabulous papers and sticker from Echo Park Paper Company.



To create that fun sentiment accent I stamped the image in black, cut it out, stamped it again in juniper and cut out just the 'handsome or awesome' part, mounted that with foam tape onto the black version and then I mounted all of that with foam tape onto a sticker from the This and That collection. The background ties are all stamped in black ink and I colored some stripes in yellow and then paper pieced one tie to make it stand out EXTRA! This was seriously a super fun card to create!

So...who's a special man in your life? Dad? Father of your children? Father of your fur-children? Dad-like kinda guy? Uncle? Grandfather? Father of YOUR Grandchildren? Don't forget to create a little something to let them know you love them!

Don't forget to head on over to Gourmet Rubber Stamps to check out the challenge AND see what the rest of the amazing DT has created! These girls have serious skills! You will NOT want to miss out on these card inspirations!

'Tis the Season - in umm... May

So, sometimes you get in a random mood to make a Christmas card in the middle of May. That's normal, right? K. I'm going to just go with that. K? K. Thanks.



I created this card using the Snowflakes Fall From Heaven set by Jillibean Soup for Unity. I love this pretty little snowflake stamp! I combined it with a sentiment sticker from SRM Press and some twine from May Arts.



Nice and simple and fabulous. Not that I want snow, mind you. Nosirreeebob! I like the warm, comfy weather! No snow or me, thank. K. Glad we got that straight! HA!

I hope you have a super fantabulous Friday!

Jingle Out.

Football and Blenders

There's a title for ya! But...it's for reals! That's what I have for you today...Football and Blenders. Just say'n. Let's start with the football!

I was recently fortunate enough to win the May release from Sweet and Sassy Stamps. I was most excited about the super cute sports themed Father's Day stamps. A LOT of Father's Day stamps out there focus on fishing, ties, or cars...my Daddy HATES fishing, doesn't have to wear a tie unless he wants to (as he owns the place), and, quite frankly, isn't much into cars, I mean, I could get away with a cool vintage car, but, it's just not really his thing. BUT...sports - he's ALL OVER THAT! He loves football, baseball, basketball, and even watches hockey and some others from time to time if the first three aren't on. SOOOooo...I am stoked to have a Father's Day set that I can use for him!!!



AND...while being fabulously sporty...it's freaking ADORABLE, too!!! YAY! (That parts more for me than him, but that's okay..he won't mind. HAHAHAHA!) I paper pieced this adorable football and mouse and I love how cute it turned out! The papers are a mix of Crate Paper, American Crafts, Fancy Pants, and Glitz. The twine is May Arts. I am linking this one up to the Simon Says Father's Day challenge!



AND...I have another super fun card to share with you today, as well! Here comes the blender part of today's post...



Yup! The cutest.blender.ever. Just say'n. This one is done with stamps from The Alley Way! These stamps are seriously cuteness overload! This is the same set I used for my 'In a Jam' card that I posted earlier this week! *LOVE.IT!*



Again, this one is paper pieced. The patterned papers are mostly from the Scrapbook Circle You + Me kit and are from Fancy Pants and the twine is from The Twinery. I actually made this one some time ago, but I submitted it, so I had to hide it from you for awhile. It didn't make it, soooo...now I get to show you! YAY! I love this one!

So, anyway, this sorta kinda turned into a crazy long post, BUT, at least it has cuteness in it! Cuteness is always a good thing. Cuteness makes us smile. Just say'n.

Don't forget to check out the Skipping Stones/Twinery blog hop with giveaways AND my puzzle book giveaway - you can find links to both just under my blog header. Have a happy day!!!!!

Pwwwaaaaaa!

Jingle Out.

P.S. Leave a comment...let me know what you think of the cards...which do you love? Why? You know...that sort of thing. It pretty much just makes my day to read them. Just say'n. See ya, folks!

Pwaaa! You're the Best! {WOYWW}

I have a fun card to share with you today! It's all about the kisses! YAY!!! Nothing like making a friend smile big with some love in their mailbox!



I created this one using the Sealed With a Kiss set and the Everyday Sayings set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps. The patterned paper is Crate paper, the tape is from Love My Tapes, the rhinestones from Queen and Company, and the twine is from May Arts. I made this one just for fun and decided to enter it into the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest, too! FUN!!!



And this is the current state of my workspace. Yup. It's WOYWW time over at Julia's blog. I announced, after getting home from work last night, that it was most certainly time to stamp. SO...that being the case, I went to my desk and prepared a card base to get started. As you can see...that's as far as I got! LOL! I went to figure out what stamps I wanted to use and ended up going through a bunch and taking out stamps I need to sell or give away and never got to actually stamping anything. It all started with looking for a set that is new and I haven't even used it yet, but it appears to have vanished off the face of the Earth. What is particularly odd is that it came with the stamping tool and another set that go with it, and those are right where I expected them to be, but the other set is just gone! It's driving me a bit batty, actually. HA!

Well, that's enough chatter for today!

Be sure to head on over to The Skipping Stones Design blog today for DAY 2 of the AMAZING blog hop with The Twinery!!! It starts at 8am Eastern - and if you didn't hop yesterday, check out that, too! There are GREAT prizes to be won!!!!

Puzzle Books from Alpha Books - GIVEAWAY!

Hello, friends! I have a super fun giveaway for you all today! Do you love puzzles? Things that make your mind start turning and challenge you to see things in a new way? Then this is PERFECT for you! I received copies of three fabulous puzzle books from Alpha books to review AND they are giving one of you the SAME set of books!!!

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Picture Puzzles, Vol. 2 was my personal favorite of the three books that were sent. Do you remember doing the picture puzzles in Highlights Magazine as a kid? You know, where you had to find all of the differences in the two similar pictures? Well, that is EXACTLY what these puzzles are like, only for grown ups! They are wonderfully challenging and a lot of fun, too! I like how the book includes varying levels. The puzzles are clear and well printed and a lot of fun to play!

The Hubbums, on the other hand, is a logic man! He LOVES logic puzzles! Of course, being that he has a degree in philosophy and had to take several logic classes and is currently considering heading to law school, well...yes...he loves a good, challenging logic puzzle. LOL! This book was great for him! He found the more difficult puzzles to be challenging and fun and the lower level puzzles were just good practice!

The third book is a Sudoku book! Sudoku is super popular and I know a lot of people will find this to be their personal favorite!!!

Overall, the books are really well put together and a lot of fun! I was surprised at just how much we have been enjoying them! These would be PERFECT books to take for a day on the beach this summer! I plan on packing my picture puzzles for my next beach day! They are also great to toss in your carry on for in-flight entertainment, or to have in the car for road trips!

You can find more Complete Idiot's Guides and Puzzle books at the Idiot's Guides website!

Here is a bit more information about the books from the company:

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Picture Puzzles, Volume 2

ISBN: 9781615641390, January 2012, $10.95

Authors: The Editors and Designers of Alpha Books

About the Authors
The Editors and Designers of Alpha Books are uniquely suited to the task of producing The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Picture Puzzles, Volume 2. The editors and design group enjoy a close working relationship, enabling them to produce high-quality, four-color books such as The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to the Perfect Wedding Illustrated, Fifth Edition and The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Scrapbook Projects Illustrated. Moreover, the editorial and design groups’ background in game and computer books makes them especially suited to the task of producing this very fun and funny book.


Puzzle Baron’s Sudoku
ISBN: 9781615641215, September 2011, $9.95
Author: Stephen P. Ryder

Puzzle Baron’s Logic Puzzles, Volume 2
ISBN: 9781615641529, February 2012, $14.95
Author: Stephen P. Ryder

About the Author
Stephen P. Ryder is the founder and editor of the Puzzle Baron network of websites (PuzzleBaron.com). These sites focus primarily on textual games and puzzles, including acrostics, cryptograms, logic puzzles, drop quotes, sudoku, patchwords and many more. The Puzzle Baron network has upward of a half a million unique visitors each month, along with an extremely dedicated user-base of more than 50,000 registered players who compete against each other for record scores and times.

The Puzzle Baron site Logic-Puzzles.org launched in mid-2008, and though a relatively new site, it is consistently ranked #2 in Google and Bing for anyone searching for the terms "Logic Puzzles" or "Logic Puzzle". The site was featured in PC World (April 12, 2009) as a recommended site for logic puzzles, and currently has more than 10,000 registered members. It offers the largest library of grid-based logic puzzles available anywhere online—currently just over 5,000—and it has a statistical solving history on every one of the puzzles from the database of just under a million puzzles solved since inception.

Now for the GIVEAWAY! Would you like to win copies of each of these three books? One person will win ALL three titles!

To enter: Leave a comment here on this post letting me know your favorite kind of puzzle and where you like to work them! (This is mandatory.) Please include an email address so I can contact you if you win!

Additional Optional Entry:

Follow my Facebook page (see widget on right side bar) and leave an additional comment letting me know you did and your FB name.

This contest will be open through Tuesday, June 5th. Per sponsor request the winner must have a US address - no P.O. Boxes will be accepted. I was given copies of each of the three books to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Jingle Out.

Skipping Stones Design & The Twinery Blog Hop

WOW! There is SO much fun going on today in the Skipping Stones World!!! Super exciting stuff, folks! We have joined up with the folks from The Twinery for on amazing blog hop! If you came from Angelica's blog, you are already on the right track! If you'd like to start from the beginning (and you know you would!) head on over to The Twinery blog for the start of the hop! Seriously. This is pretty awesome stuff! We have a new sketch challenge for you AND a new release, too! I TOLD you there was a lot going on! PLUS...there are PRIZES to be won with the hop!!! The Twinery is giving away one Colorful Bunch Sampler Pack ($20 value) and Skipping Stones Design is giving away TWO stamp sets! The winner will receive the new release plus one more surprise set! All you have to do is leave comments on each blog as you hop! YAY!



This is the card I created for the hop today! I used the brand new Grapeful set from Skipping Stones Design and created my Lemontini using twine from The Twinery!



And don't forget that Skipping Stones is also running the ever popular PMS Sale! That means, the more you buy the more you save! Purchase More Stamps!!! Here's the breakdown:

Buy ONE set: Enter PMS1 for 5% off!
Buy TWO sets: Enter PMS2 for 10 % off!
Buy THREE sets: Enter PMS3 for 15% off!
Buy FOUR sets: Enter PMS4 for 20% off!
Buy FIVE sets: Enter PMS5 for 25% off!
Buy SIX or MORE sets: Enter PMS6 for 30% off!

And...to join in even MORE fun, don't forget to play along with this week's sketch challenge for your chance to win even MORE free stamps! You don't have to use SSD stamps to play, but we love when you do and with this sale, well...you can get some new ones!!!

Now...the next stop on the hop is Jessica Fick! Have fun hopping and don't forget to leave your comment! (If you get lost along the way just head over to the Skipping Stones Blog to get the full hop order!) Comments close at 11:59pm EDT on May 25th. Happy Hopping!

Heard You're In a Jam...

...Roll with it. Just say'n. Sometimes that's the best way to get out of a jam, isn't it, though? Just roll with it and let life carry you where it will. At least it keeps things interesting! HA! This is just a super fun card I created using stamps from The Alley Way Stamps.



I love those adorable little faces! CUTENESS!!! I used the super fun Kitchen Gadgets set. Is that jam jar not the cutest thing?! I love it! I paper pieced each jar with Lilybee Designs papers and colored the labels with Tombow markers. Just a bit of Twine from The Twinery finished the jars off perfectly! FUN!



I even went a little wild and crazy and did the INSIDE of this card! WHOA!!! HA!



But seriously, though, folks. Is that not the CUTEST rolling pin you have ever seen? HA! I know, I know!

Just a super fun card to send a bit of encouragement to a friend. YAY! I hope you have a super fabulous Monday, folks!

Jingle Out!

Coffee in a Jar - Sure!

This month the Stampendous! Challenge is all about Gift Making! I have a fun gift for you that is super easy to create! I stamped directly on this little glass jar that I found at Michael's and then created a tag and tied it all up with just a bit of ribbon! I used the From The Kitchen Perfectly Clear Stamp Set for my project! It's a fun one and makes a great gift!







Be sure to check out what my teammates have created for the challenge today!

Stampendous Impressions

Janelle Stollfus

Lea Kimmel

Melinda Gleissner

Pam Hornschu

Taylor Usry

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Price

And we want YOU to play along with us!  Simply make a gift, gift set (could be cards, could be an altered item), or a gift card holder of some sort and add the direct link for your project to our collection at the end of this post (or on the Stampendous blog) no later than Thursday, May 31 at 11:59 PM EST .  You do not have to use Stampendous products, but we sure love it when you do!  As an extra incentive for playing along, one lucky crafter (drawn at random) will receive this fabulous new Cling Jumbo Tropical Garden stamp set:

Due to shipping restrictions, the winner must have a US address.  We hope you have a chance to play along with us (you an enter as many times as you'd like!) this month...Happy Crafting!

I Loved You Yesterday, I Love You Still

...I always have, I always will.


Umm...is that not the most beautiful love sentiment ever in the existence of all sentiments? Yup. I thought so, too. THAT, my friends, is why I wanted it to really shine on this card that I created using Kendra's fabulous sketch over at Gourmet Rubber Stamps today!



I used the absolutely stunning Sealed With a Kiss set for this card. I loved how Kendra's sketch pretty much let me do anything I wanted with it! Those are the best - just a nice, strong starting point that you can totally make your own!



I am also linking this card up to the Simon Says Clean and Simple Challenge!

Also, just a note, Gourmet Rubber Stamps has made some exciting changes to the Diner's Club! Now, instead of pre-paying for stamps, you simply sign up and get an email each month showcasing the newest Diner's Club release. The email will also contain special discounts available ONLY to members (members being those who get the email)! There is NO obligation to buy, but you get first access to see the sets AND the discounts! What could be bad in that scenario? NOTHING!!! So, head on over to the Diner's Club to get your email address signed up so you can get in on the excitement!

AND...don't forget to enter my Shabby Apple Giveaway! This dress makes me feel SO GOOD! I know you will want one, too!

Now..have an awesome Friday because that's what Friday's are FOR!!!

Jingle Out, dudes.