Introducing For the Love of Grids

You may remember last April we release For the Love of Dots, this month we are releasing another set that I've wanted for awhile, For the Love of Grids. I wish you could see just how dirty my For the Love of Grid stamps already are (unfortunately dirty stamps = well loved around here).

For my first card I used two of the stamps. One is this great hatch looking grid. I also used it when I illustrated Look Up! Additions in the little banner stamps. It's the great texture on the gray. The other is the large diamond pattern I used on yesterday's card as well.

I also used the sentiment from Another Year in the flower along with May Arts Teal Twill.

Check out what the design team created!

 

Valerie

 

Valerie used all three of the background stamps to create the background and her flowers. Isn't it so cute? She also used the Thanks from Look Up! Additions.

 Karen 

Karen used the classic grid set, and I love the effect. You can use the stamp a thousand different ways. She Chatterbox for her sentiment.

 

Dana

Isn't the background so fun? This set includes a larger dot to use inside this grid or where the small dot is (tomorrow I'll show this in the video). Dana also used Chatterbox.

I know you'll want to visit the design team's blogs for more details on their cards!

So what do you think of For the Love of Grids? Which pattern do you like the best?

We'll be back tomorrow with some more sneak peeks, and the set will go on sale at midnight tomorrow night!

Practicing Creativity February Sneak Peek

Hey there! It's February 1st and that means it's time for another Practicing Creativity release. But first we have to say goodbye to the fabulous Paulina. I have just loved having Paulina on our design team, and I especially loved getting to meet her last summer at CHA. We will certainly miss her. This month we also welcome a new design team member, Valerie Mangan. I've loved Valerie's work for awhile, and I'm just thrilled to have her join the team!


This month we are just releasing one stamp set, but it's a go-to stamp set for sure. I've already been wearing it out. Are you ready for some clues?

You can visit each of the design team members blogs for a little clue (three different distorted views of the set).

Dana

Karen 

Valerie

And I have another little hint here as well. Do you remember this card, originally seen here? 

Well, I used the one of the new stamps on this card. Can you find it? Leave a comment below with your guess and we'll pick on winner!

Tomorrow we'll be showing off some different projects using the set! See you then.

Valentine's Day Treat

Thank you for your concern about Maddie. Last week was honestly pretty rough. She made some progress through the week, and we started to see the "real" Maddie come out a little. She did have another seizure yesterday, however it was a minor one. Of course we don't want any seizure, but we can at least handle small seizures better than the "grandma" seizures. It's honestly something I never want to see Maddie go through again.

With everything going on with Maddie I thought I'd make some Valentine's Day treats in the hopes it would cheer me up.

I'll tell you a secret about Chase and I. We seriously love Fun Dip. It's like we're 12, but we still love it. Yummy colored sugar. Here's how I created these little Fun Dip wraps.

1. Cut 2.5” x 10” stripe of patterned paper.
2. Score twice at 2” and 5.75”. Wrap piece around candy.
3. Punch decorative edge and adhere inside patterned paper.
4. Tie bow around candy.
5. Stamp image and sentiment, die cut.  Adhere with foam tape. 

 Stamps: (Look Up!) Practicing Creativity
Ink: (Craft White) Stampin’ Up!, (Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Cardstock: (Pretty in Pink) Stampin’ Up!
Patterned Paper: (Lush Red Diamonds) My Mind’s Eye
Die Cut: (Labels 1) Spellbinders
Ribbon: (Pink Twill) May Arts
Punch: (Apron Lace) Fiskars

 Thanks for stopping by today!

One Crazy Week

I have a quick card to share with you today. It's one I made awhile back because I haven't made anything this week. Our sweet little 5lb. Yorkie, Maddie had a seizure on Monday, and we've pretty much been on dog duty this week testing medicine. It was a really bad seizure, but we are hoping the medicine will work. However right now it's too strong and she is like a little deer trying to learn how to walk. Since Chase and I don't have kids, Maddie is our kiddo. So it's been a rough week.

So here's the card!

 

 1. Make card from cardstock, adhere rub-on.
2. Punch border and adhere to card.
3. Stamp sentiment on cardstock and adhere with foam tape.
4. Cut heart from cardstock and adhere with foam tape.
5. Tie bow.

Rub On: (Out on a Limb, Antique White) Hambly
Stamps: (Key to My Heart) Practicing Creativity
Ink: (Onyx Black) VersaFine
Cardstock: (Innocent Pink) Gina K, (Hibiscus Burst) Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: (Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink
Punch: (Starburst Border) Fiskars

And I know this card is way way way too pink for me. But I kind of like it... (shhh..). Thanks for stopping by!

Farewell to 2 Sketches 4 You

Today is a sad day. We are wishing 2 Sketches 4 You goodbye. When I heard the news from Laura and Kazan I was sad, but I totally understood. These challenge sites really take a ton of work, and I know Laura and Kazan both have great things in store for us in the future.

All of the current design team and design team alumni are working with two fabulous sketches. I know you'll want to join us for these two final sketches!

And here's what I came up with (we are all focusing on miss you/good bye cards).

1. Make card from cardstock.
2. Cut stripe of cardstock and adhere to bottom of card base.
3. Cut a 2x3 piece of patterned paper. Stamp balloon and adhere.
4. Stamp balloon three more times, cut out balloon and accent piece adhere.
5. Stamp cloud, cut, and adhere with foam tape.
6. Stamp sentiment, adhere.
7. Tie bow and adhere ribbon.

Stamps: Look Up Additions, You're Dandy (Practicing Creativity)
Cardstock: New Leaf, Hawaiian Breeze, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Powder Blue (Jenni Bowlin), Black (VersaFine)
Ribbon: New Leaf (Papertrey Ink)

So go check out 2 Sketches 4 You and wish Kazan and Laura luck with their new adventures!

December Daily Week - Day 3

It's the last post with pictures of my December Daily album. Have I told you about our cake pop experiment? Well I got Bakerella's new book. I've read her blog for a long time, but I had never actually tried cake pops before. Chase actually volunteered to help me make them, so why not right? I thought it was awesome, but Chase was pretty tired of the decorating once we got to that step. They turned out great though. You can click on any photo to see it larger.

 Here's the back side of that page with Chase and I in action with our cake pops. Don't you love our plaid shirts. We have problems. On the right starts the 24th page. That's my brother and Chase. They are so goofy together. You just can't help but to laugh.

 This page worked out great with the frame I had already adhered to the acrylic date page. I love how it ended up working!

This is Chase and I on Christmas. I broke out another one of my book plates for this special page.

 This is another family Christmas party. My dad got me an electric cutter for Christmas. I've been having fun creating some really cute title headlines.

 To be honest on the 20th I didn't have much to say or show. So instead I did a December Tweets page. I stole this idea from myself and this scrapbook page. I still love doing these pages.

So that's all of my December Daily. It really was hard this year, but I'm so glad I did it!

December Daily Week - Day 2

Hey friends. I'm back with some more pages from my finished December Daily again. These four are some of my most favorite pages from the completed project.

 This first one is the back of the intro page. I used the shape I had originally used as a mask for this card. And I just love this picture. It's of my nieces birthday party. Isn't she the cutest?

I just love this page because the picture is so funny (although the color is way off). The Funky Griddle in Nashville is where you cook your own pancakes or grill cheese. It's really good. We were celebrating my friend Pam's birthday. I decided to add lines to the page, it needed a little funky.

One of my other coworkers Becky made chocolate covered bacon for the Kids Ministry 101 blog we both write for. It was so fun. And for the record I'm not a fan, but a lot of people liked it.

And this is our neighbor Sam. Sam loves Maddie. It's super cute.

Alright thanks for stopping by!