Another Fabulous Year of Being AWESOME!

Just a reminder... I need your votes for the Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking World Card Making Day Contest Honorable Mention! My card is the floral birthday card! Thank you so much to those who have already voted! You guys ROCK!!!

Today I am sharing a simple, but totally fun card. Date stamps. Somehow I feel like many of us end up with them somehow and then we tend to forget to use them. Or not have any clue HOW to effectively use them. I was definitely in this group, anyway. I received this super cute date stamp from the Shimelle Collection. It's adorable. Seriously. BUT, seeing as I don't scrapbook very often, AND, even when I did, I generally didn't use date stamps, I wasn't sure what to do with it. So, naturally, I took it out of the package and stared at it. Because that always works. HA!

And then I remembered THIS awesome sentiment from Altenew. Yup. Combined with my date stamp, we had LIFT OFF! I changed the dates, including the year, on the date stamp with each use to get all kinds of dates on my card. They go backwards, they go forwards, they basically go all over the place! And that works SO AWESOMELY WELL with the sentiment and I LOVE that. (And yes, awesomely is a word... spell check told me so. No...for reals, though..I was kind of surprised by that, so I thought I should share. Awesomely. It's a word.)

So, in conclusion...

• Date stamps are actually kind of awesome.
• Awesomely is totally a word.
• You actually CAN, awesomely, get ideas by staring at supplies you have no clue how to use.

Don't forget to vote. Awesomely. For reals, though.

The end.

Have a Happy!

I Need Your Votes!

Friends, this card won one of five Honorable Mention spots in the Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking World Card Making Day contest, but I need your votes to win the prize! One of the five gets the prize package! Please go HERE to vote! I'd love your vote if you love my card! Thanks for being AWESOME!!!!

Have a Happy!

Tape: Turns out, that stuff is useful!

The Paper Crafts Gallery Idol 2014 contest has come around and I decided to toss my hat into the ring again this year. The challenge was to create with decorative tape.

Tape.

See, here's the thing. I have, oh, say, 100-ish rolls of washi tape, a few fabric tapes, and probably some others that I don't even know I own. I have a lot of tape. I use it for simple things, though... a strip here or there, an envelope closure, a bit of cuteness on a mailed envelope.... I generally don't go terribly original with it. Well, that wasn't going to fly for Gallery Idol Open Auditions, SO....I dug deep and came up with these three ideas. Ready for it?

Three creative uses for tape.

1. Roll strips of tape and adhere them to create a shape. Fold a super long strip in half and essentially use like a quilling strip. (Yes, all that rolling takes a bit of time. And by a bit, I mean lots.)

2. Fold strips of tape, leaving one end sticky, roll into links, create a tape chain. (Yes, all that folding and linking takes a bit of time. and by a bit, I mean lots.)

3. Loop tape and adhere to a card base. Layer a raised, die-cut panel over the tape to create a puffy heart look. (Yes, all that looping and layering takes a bit of time. And by a bit,.... well, I'm sure you see the trend here, folks.)

So, lessons learned in tape exploration:

1. Tape is super versatile.

2. Tape is super fun.

3. Cool tape designs take forever and six days!
4. I obviously should buy more tape.

No, but for reals, these were a LOT of fun to create and not actually ridiculously time consuming. They just took a bit longer than my usual cards, and that's reasonable for a contest like this one, if you ask me! 

The top 20 will be announced on Friday, so, we shall see!

I have linked similar tapes to those I used. Not all are exact, but these will achieve similar looks.

*Simon Says Clear Stamps COLOR AND SUNSHINE sss101399 *My Favorite Things BIRTHDAY GREETINGS Clear Stamps MFT *Mama Elephant Clear Stamp ORIGAMI Set ME1402-060 *Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad SOFT GRANITE Mid-Tone 2012 AF226 *Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad CHARCOAL Black Mid-Tone 2013 af236 *Versamark WATERMARK Rubber Stamp Emboss Chalk Resist INK PAD *Hero Arts EMBOSS WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER *My Mind's Eye CHARMED Decorative Tape Washi Record It! REC103 *Little B Skinny Washi Tape MINI BLACK AND WHITE HOUNDSTOOTH 100002 *Little B Skinny Washi Tape GINGHAM RED 100003 *Freckled Fawn BLUE POSITIVE Japanese Washi Tape 630 *Queen & Company Trendy Tape POLKA DOTS RED TT956 *Queen & Company Trendy Tape POLKA DOTS YELLOW TT1017 *Love My Tapes AQUA TRIANGLES Japanese Washi Tape 354 *Love My Tapes LINED FLORAL PURPLE Japanese Washi Tape 005 *Love My Tapes POLKA DOTS ORANGE Japanese Washi Tape 615 *Precision Heat Embossing Emboss Tool Gun Hero Arts PW200 *Wplus9 CLEAR CUT STACKERS: HEARTS Designer Dies WP9D-042 *EK Success CUTTER BEE Scissors EKCB01 *Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Powder Blue & Teal 657900

InLinkz.com

I'm HOOKED on 3M Hooks! {A Fun Contest, Too!}

Recently I was offered the opportunity to try out a few of 3M Command Brand's latest products. I was excited at the opportunity, as we already use 3M Command products in our home and I LOVE how well they work! They sent me a box with several different products in them and I want to share how I used some of those in my studio... and in my home!

First of all, you have seen my cards. While yes, I have a Clean and Simple style, that somehow does not lend to being clean WHILE I work. HA! Nope. Not even a little bit. Due to my amazing ability to make a mess, I often wear an apron while I am creating. I have several that I keep hung in my studio on a couple of awesome 3M Command hooks. They easily hold 3 or so aprons each and they look great, too! I love that I don't have to worry about them falling off the wall, but when we move (we are apartment people...I always have to keep the next move in mind) they will come off cleanly without a trace of damage to the wall. LOVE THAT! For reals, though.


As you can see, I also keep my photo box backdrops hanging on one and somehow my CK Convention thingy (yup...totally the technical term) landed there, too. They can totally handle the weight and I LOVE THAT!!!!


The next place you will find 3M Command hooks in my studio I am super excited about! I just recently put these up with the new hooks that came in the package and I couldn't be happier with this fun way to display my cards! I tied some twine to each hook and now I can easily switch out which cards hang and always have some of my recent favorites on display! I so love that! I think it might be fun to do this with the Clear Window Hooks, too (so they are more subtle) and cover an entire wall with cards displayed this way. You could also totally use this method for photos by simply mounting photos on folded card fronts! LOVE. IT.


Isn't that just fun? I totally have the wall vision now. I'm going to have to do it. Oooooh, how I love a great idea!!!!


Okay, so... this last one isn't in my studio, but I HAD to share it because it makes me way happier than any little plastic hook ever should, but, alas, this girl LOVES a quality solution to a problem! The shower. Yup. 3M totally has a new line of bath products and that means that they have developed hooks that can handle the wetness and humidity of the bathroom...even IN the shower itself!


YAY!!! Prior to this we were using a suction cup style thing to hold up shower essentials. I hated that thing, but it was what was available. Why did I hate it? Oh, you know... because it would randomly come CRASHING DOWN FROM THE WALL somewhere between 2 and 3am. I have no idea why it never fell during an actual shower or even when nobody was home... but it was REALLY good at scaring the crud out of us in the middle of the night. HA! The 3M command hooks can not ONLY be trusted to stay put and not come crashing down, but they look WAY nicer than that did, too. I also feel like they are a cleaner way to store my essentials in the shower. I love that they have brought out this line. Genius, I tell you! GENIUS!


Aren't they just great?! I certainly think so! I also want to share a SUPER FUN contest they Command is currently running! This is perfect for any DIY kind of folks and the prize is totally awesome! It's the Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest! Yup! They are looking for people who can wrap with the best of 'em!

Entering is as easy as creating a 3-minute video with your best gift wrapping tips. You could be chosen as a finalist and flown to New York City for an all-expenses paid trip to compete for $10,000 on December 6! And, if you submit one of the first 50 valid entries, you will automatically win a package of new colored and patterned Scotch Expressions Tapes, which are perfect for papercrafting and personalization.

Enter, get more information and catch a glimpse of the 2012 contest here: http://www.MostGiftedWrapper.com/CFE

TOTALLY awesome, right? Totally.

Be sure to check out Command Brand Products from 3M (and the Scotch stuff, too... hello... WASHI TAPE!)! Here's where you can find them:

Command Brand Website
On Facebook
On Twitter

Have a Happy!


*I was provided with products to review for this post, however, I was not compensated in any other manner.  All ideas, opinions, and statements are my own.

Hey, Girlfriend!

Hello, friends!  It is Friday and I am happy about that.  Woot!  Woot!  I got the chance to play a little last night, so I spread my time out and did one card for an assignment, one card for a publication call, and one card just for fun!  You get to see that last one today!  YAY!


I used the super cute Hey Girlfriend Itty Bitty from Unity Stamp Co. for this card along with some Twinkling H2O's. I love those things! Shimmery paints of goodness, I tell you! I heat embossed the image and sentiment with black embossing powder on a canva-board base, so it kind of melted right into the paper which is pretty cool, actually.


I am linking this one up to Unity Friends With Flair Friday as well as the CASology Flame Challenge, as my colors are inspired by a flame.

In other news...I had something exciting happen yesterday!!! I was chosen to be the March Guest Designer for Paper Smooches Stamps!!! I am WICKED excited about this and I can't wait to share the fun new goodies with you guys!!!

And..one quick thing before you go...

I have entered my YOU ARE WONDERFUL Washi Tape Card into a contest on Facebook. It's a vote based contest and you can vote once per day. Just go to the app on Facebook and give my card 5 stars to cast your vote! I would SO love to place in this contest!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Click HERE to VOTE!!!

Have a Happy!!!!!!

Jingle Out!