EBTKS - Challenge #24

Hey there! It's time for another EBTKS Challenge, and this time we are changing things up a bit. Lynnette has picked this really cool bag for us to use as inspiration. There are really no rules, just be inspired!

 This week's sponsor is Lilly Bimble.
They have some super cute digital items, and the winner is up for some free ones!

For my card I decided to play off the swirls from on the bag and use this really cool crow.

Digital Stamps: Spooky Silhouhettes (Lilly Bimble)

Stamps: Christmas Wonder (Practicing Creativity)

Cardstock: Kraft, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up)

Ink: Craft White (Stampin' Up)

Ribbon: Black Silk (May Arts)

I hope you'll go check out what the other girls made and come play along!


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Tomorrow starts a new release from Practicing Creativity. I'm super excited about this one.

2 Sketches 4 You #62

Hey gang. I hope you're having a great Monday so far! Today there's a new sketch challenge up on 2 Sketches 4 You!

Don't you just love that? I had so much fun with this one.

This week's sponsor is EAD Designs. I thought this little fox from Little Red was really cute.

Stickers: Little Red (EAD Designs)
Patterned Paper: Mix and Mend (Sassafras)
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)
Extras: Tan and white stripe Fabric Tape, Chocolate Twine (Shabby Green Door)

I got some patterned paper in from Two Peas, and I'm so in love with my Sassafras Mix and Mend Wee Bundle.  Isn't it so fun?

I hope you have a chance to come play along with this fantastic sketch over on the 2 Sketches 4 You blog!

My Favorite Tree

My friend Stacie is giving away a Practicing Creativity set on her blog, and she featuring this card there too.

Stamps: Barefoot Summer, Chatterbox (Practicing Creativity)
Cardstock: Berry Melon, Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Naturals Ivory (Stampin' Up!)
Ribbon: Champagne Net, Teal Twill (May Arts)
Ink: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Punch: 1" Circhle (Paper Shapers)
Buttons: Teal (DeNami Design)

I've always loved this tree and I think it makes a great baby, wedding... well anything soft card.

Scrapbooking with Misspelled Words

Yep, that's right. You are about to see a scrapbook page with an obvious misspelling. My problem was that I was starting in the middle and working backwards. I was really never good at that portion of cranium. Apparently my cranium just doesn't do backwards, and I'm okay with that. I did fix it, but it was after my photo. You all will forgive my mistake though, right?

So I've been in the scrapping mood lately, so since it hit I went for it. I just did a really simple layout about our trip to sPrinkles in Chicago.

Actually that night our entire dinner consisted of 4 Sprinkles cupcakes and popcorn from Garrets. I have to admit it was an AMAZING dinner.

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Random question... anyone listen to classical music while they create? I did tonight, and for some reason I'm feeling rather creative (and productive). Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Patterned Paper Balloons

I just made an order from Two Peas because I realized I've serious depleted my patterned paper stock. Usually this isn't a problem, but making an order always takes me so long I've kind of put it off. There is always too much to choose from and I'm always thinking there might be something I have to have release next week. Weird, I know.

For one of the recent magazine calls, I decided I would just make my own patterned paper with Look Up! and I was surprised at how much I liked the way it turned out.

To make this card, I cut a 3.75" x 5" piece of white cardstock, and I ran it through my die cut machine. I always try to die cut my piece first. I can't tell you how many smudged images I've had from not doing it first! And it is totally frustrating!

Once I had it die cut I started stamping with the larger balloon. Then I filled in the with two smaller balloons. Lastly, I masked off the larger balloon and used the cloud from You're Dandy. The scale on these two stamps work perfectly together.

Once I finished I just stamped my Chatterbox sentiment on my card base, adhere the patterned paper with foam tape, tied my bow and I was done!

Stamps: Look Up!, Chatterbox, You're Dandy (Practicing Creativity)

Ink: Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink); French Lilac, Moulin Rouge (Palette); Poppy Chalk Ink (Hero Arts); Onyx Black (Versa Fine) 

Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink) 

Ribbon: Hawaiian Shores Grosgrain (Papertrey Ink) 

Die Cut: Framed Greetings (My Favorite Things)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Tuesday!

2 Sketches 4 You #62

Happy Monday Friends! I am personally worn out from a lot of traveling lately, and of course the blooming weeds this time of year in Tennessee wreck havoc on my respiratory system. I absolutely love and absolutely hate this time of the year all at the same time.

Okay, but let's get back to this week's 2 Sketches 4 You Sketch! Here's this week's sketch by Laura:

This week's sponsor is Robin's Fetish. For my card I used this super cute dog.

Digital Stamps: Puppy Paws by Robyn's Fetish

Stamps: My Beach House (Practicing Creativity)

Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)

Twine: Orange (Divine Twine)

Ink: Onxy Black (Versa Fine)

Copic Colors: E09, R27

Buttons: Basic Grey

Frame: Framed Alphas (Tattered Angels)

I hope you'll come play along with this super fun sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You, and of course you'll want to check out what the other girls made this week!

EBTKS - Challenge #23

Hey guys, when you read this I'll be in Texas for work. So to my Texas friends, I'm waving to ya from the Frisco area!

It's time for another Everything but the Kitchen Sink challenge! Ann has a really fun inspiration sketch for us! She used her husbands PS3 to create a really fun, flexible sketch for us!

Here's what I came up with from the sketch:

Stamps: Chatterbox (Practicing Creativity)
Patterned Paper: Decor Notes (Hambly Screen Prints)
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink)
Ribbon: Hawaiian Shores Satin (Papertrey Ink)
Punch: Sunburst (Fiskars)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Silver (ColorBox)

For this challenge I'm sponsoring with a Tattered Angels Prize pack! Of course you can find Glimmer Mist to go along with this in the store.

I hope you'll come play along with us at the EBTKS blog!

It's Glitz Time

It's my turn to post on the Glitz blog today, and I don't know about you but I've been in a serious fall mood lately. I'm all about the weather, the colors, layering clothes, etc. So why not just make my Glitz cards with the things I'm so in love with right now? I broke out some orange, grayish blue, and dark green cardstock and got to work with some of my favorite Glitz products.

For this first card, I've always thought this piece from the Vintage Love Whatnots would make a great masculine card. However, I'm not really that great with masculine cards, but this piece really helped this card come together. I really love the outcome.

For this card I used Vintage Love Whatnots and Distressed Couture Blocks.

For this next card it was all about the Vintage Love Extra Rub-Ons. I think these random alphas are really cool. And you'll notice on both cards I push something outside the "boundary." Of course that makes it harder to mail, but if you know you'll be hand delivering it really adds an unexpected touch to a card.

For this card I used the Vintage Love Extra Rub-Ons and Fancy Frames Clear Stamps.

2 Sketches 4 You #62

Happy Monday Friends! Are you ready for another 2 Sketches 4 You challenge? I seriously loved this week's sketch by Kazan.

This week's sponsor is Starving Artistamps. I just loved these large scale stamps, and I really wanted to create a soft effect with them.

Honestly it's better in person. It was really hard to capture that vintage cream ink!

 Cardstock: Ivory (Gina K), Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink)

Stamps: Flowers (Starving Artiststamps)

Ribbon: Ivory Silk (May Arts) 

Embossing Plate: Papertrey Ink

Buttons: Black (Papertrey Ink); Black Vintage Buttons (Jenni Bowlin)

Hat Pin: Crystal (Maya Road)

Come play along with 2 Sketches 4 You!

Practicing Creativity Sketch Challenge Winner

I want to thank everyone that played along with our little sketch challenge! It is always fun to see how everyone is individually inspired. I always have a hard time picking winners, and this was no exception. I'm always amazed at how much talent is out there! I was going to get my husband to pick again, but as he just got back from a trip and is fast asleep. I'll have to be a big girl!

The winner is... Christina. She made a gorgeous card made from Dana's sketch!

Thanks again to everyone that played along!

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Inventory news, we are currently out of several stamp sets, Key to My Heart, The Whole Cycle, Chatterbox. They will be back in-stock very soon, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience!

The Numbered Pillow Project

Chase and I are already planning our vacation for next year. We didn't really get to go anywhere this year with me starting a new job and creating Practicing Creativity, so we are trying to go ahead and get something planned and on our calendars for 2011. To help save for the trip (because we are going to Europe), I've promised Chase that I wouldn't do any home projects until after that trip. AHHH! If you've been reading my blog very long you know that I love to decorate. I love a good DIY project. Here's just a few things we've done since we moved into our house two years ago...

Redid my craft room (June 2010)

Poured a larger patio (May 2010)

Put up bead board in our dining room (Fall 2009)

And before the bead board in Fall 2008 we changed the chairs pretty drastically:

And when we first moved in we painted our garage, both the floors and the walls:

And trust me that's just the beginning. We also redid our closet in a major way, made our fireplace into an amazing focal point and did numerous smaller projects. If you are interested you can see my decorating tag.  So I've been getting the urge to do some kind of project around the house, but since my budget to do anything is zero I'm having to get creative. I really love these pillows from Pottery Barn.

Of course these are $89 a piece at Pottery Barn. So, I have several pillows stuffed away that I don't either have a place for because of the color, or just don't like.

I have some canvas type fabric, so I just went to town with it. I knew I needed something decorative on the front. So I just printed out a large 5, traced on the fabric and painted with textile paint.

 I just sewed it up, and really if you can't sew, and I can't, pillows are the way to go!

Maddie has already broken it in! I think it looks really good in our living room!

So now that I'm done with that, anyone else know of any "free" decor projects?


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We've got some new wholesalers! Check out the list here to see them all!

Grateful For You, Yes You!

Whew! I've taken a few days off from blogging to kind of recoup after our last release! I did want to show you all this card a made. I can never have enough thank you cards!

I can never get enough of the Lush collection from My Mind's Eye. I so wish they would make 6x6 pads of this stuff!

And well, if you follow me on Twitter you've already already seen these, but I had to show them here too. Last Wednesday we had Mud Wars at church.

That a ton of muddy middle schoolers! Can you find me?

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Also, just one more day to play along with our little Practicing Creativity Sketch Challenge! We'll be picking one person to be our guest designer next month!