We have a winner! and News of Note

I hope that everyone enjoyed the Belles N Whistles Blog hop this week! I know I loved seeing all of the gorgeous projects created with the Forever Young collection. Summer has drawn the name of the winner of the full set of images, and has it posted on our blog. But, did you realize that everyone on the blog hop is also giving away a stamp? Woo hoo! I used random.org to pick my lucky winner and it is Patricia Stewart! Yay Patricia! Summer will be sending you your very own Merry- Go to play with! If you didn't win, you can head to the store and order your very own sweetness. Remember, these will start shipping on June 23rd.




I also wanted to share a couple of special sales that are going on this weekend. Really Reasonable Ribbon is offering 15% off of everything this weekend! Just use the promotional code JUNESALE at checkout. Bonnie has added some gorgeous new ribbons and embellishments, so now is a great time to stock up!



Also, my friend Wendy, at Digital Delights is offering all of her customers a whopping 30% off all Digital Stamps!! The sale will be on until midnight Sunday!!All you gotta do to claim your discount is enter the following code at checkout!!BES100618155402

Navy, lime and turquoise- Yum!

I have been wowed by the great projects from the Beary Scrappy Gals this week. I love the color combination of navy, lime and turquoise - so no problem to come up with a card! And remember, we are challenging you to use these colors as well, and you could win some of the flowers that I used on my card, plus other wonderful goodies! Just be sure to get your entry in by June 30th 11:59 EDT.

I used Magnolia's Bubbling Tilda and some of our new Mulberry roses for this card. Trust me, you are going to love these flowers! They are so gorgeous in person. We can't wait to see what you come up with - we love visiting your blogs and seeing your beautiful creations!

Card Recipe:
Papers: MME - Just Dreamy 2, Kaiser - Lone Ranger, Core'Dinations CS
Stamp: Magnolia Bubbling Tilda
Medium: copics, Stickles (stardust)
Flowers: The Beary Scrap's Mulberry Roses
Other accessories: from my ever growing stash

Challenges:
Lili of the Valley - sketch
Dutch Dare: Bee Happy
Just Magnolia - In the Garden
Your Next Stamp - buttons

Let's Head to the Beach!

I love going to the beach, and can't wait to go in a few weeks! The challenge at Kraftin Kimmies this week was to make a beach themed card. Well, that would have been really easy if I had any of their new releases from the vintage beach line or the mermaids ( which are both too stinkin cute for words!) But, alas, I had neither. As I looked through my stash of KK stamps, I decided that if I just used the top of Polly, it would look like a bathing suit.

I made the sand-dollar with my cricut, using grungeboard and MME's paper. The beachy paper is from Graphic 45.

Challenges:
Kraftin Kimmie - Beach
Oh Alice - picture inspiration
Stamp and Create - charms
Truly Scrumptious - sketch
Quirky Crafts- summer
Lexi's Creations - Something old ( chain that I glued around the sand-dollar)
Shabby Tea Room - Summer fun
Design Dollies Elements challenge - beachy/sandy
Flourishes - embossing
Spoon Full of Sugar- sunshine inspired
Crafty Creations - stitching
Cricut Cardz - vacation themed
Meljen's - fiber, ribbon, lace
Paper Play - something old (chain around the sand-dollar)
S2G- something old (chain)
Crafty Ann's - embossing
Stamp Something - something summer

Summer Celebration!

It's Thursday, so that must mean that it's my day to share a little inspiration for Really Reasonable Ribbons. School is now out here, and summer is getting into full swing. To me, nothing says summer more than getting ready for the 4th of July! My Mom's birthday is on the 4th , so we always have a big family celebration. One of my best memories of this celebration was a couple of years ago at our beach house, (it's on a very small island in South Carolina). Every year, they hold a golf cart parade - and everyone on the island goes ALL OUT to decorate. It just reminded me of a simpler day and time, which was great!
For my card, I used some of the Wired Woven Check Red and manipulated the wires to scrunch the ribbon. I added some bows of America Stripe Grosgrain. The image is one of the newest from Karen's Doodles.

I hope that you will join us for our 2nd ribbon challenge, which is to use ribbon as a border - easy peasy!

Challenges:
Friday Sketchers - sketch
One Stitch at a Time - celebrations
Quirky Crafts- summer
Crazy Challenge - You're a Star
Pollycraft Monday - Inspired by a song - American Pie
Flourishes - embossing
Crafty Ann's - Fly the Flag
Clearly I Stamp - Birthday (for my mom - see above)

Belles N Whistles - Forever Young - Blog Hop

What an exciting day! We have a new release at Belles N Whistles - Forever Young. To showcase this fabulous new collection, we have a blog hop. I know you are going to love each and every new stamp - they are all adorable. And besides getting to see all of this inspiration, you have a chance to win this entire release! I'm sure that got your attention! If you have been hopping along, you should have arrived from my friend Elise's blog. If you just stumbled here, you will want to go back to the very talented Iris's blog. Be sure to leave some love at each of the DT's blog for your chance to win.

I love the stamp I am getting to hightlight - A Merry-Go. Doesn't that just bring back wonderful childhood memories?

You can pre-order these stamps today, and they will ship on June 22 or 23rd. (Please note, the store will be closed from June 23rd - July 5th, so you will want to get your orders in before that so you don't have a delay).
Now it's time to hop on to Jodi's blog - I know that she will have something fabulous to show you!

Challenges:
Paper Sundaes - sketch
Lexi's Creations - something old (old book was cut up for flower)
Shabby Tea Room - Summer fun
Colour Create - baby pink and blue
S2G - pink
Stamp Something - Happy somethings
Bunny Zoe's - Nice and Girly

Another one for the boys!

When I saw this cute retro Milk Man from In Style Stamps, I thought he was so funny! So after making several serious and sentimental Father's Day cards, I thought it was time to have a little fun.

It's very much of a CAS card for me, but since it's masculine, I think that's probably a good thing.

Challenges:
In Style - Father's Day/ Masculine
CPS - sketch
Stamptacular Sunday - Father's Day
Crafty Cardmakers - Cards for men
Cupcake Craft - One for the Boys
Double Dutch - Father's Day
Flourishes - embossing
Papertake Weekly - Ice Cream Flavors
C.R.A.F.T.- Father's Day
Caardvarks - stamps + embossing

Guess what's happening tomorrow?

I just wanted to tell all of my friends, to mark tomorrow down on your calendar for a new release from Belles N Whistles. These new stamps are adorable! There will be a blog hop tomorrow - with prizes! So be sure and check in tomorrow - you won't be disappointed!

Also, there is a new BnW challenge that started yesterday - Buttons and Bows. You could win your choice of BnW stamps just by playing along.

Summer is Here!

That's right! Summer is here. I spent a few hours at the pool on Saturday and have a tiny bit of sunburn to prove it. In honor of the season, we have a new challenge for you at Karen's Doodles - Show us summery.

I used one of Karen's older images, Mermaid - but I love it! And a Mermaid should certainly help ring in the summer. My paper and trims are from Webster's Pages (are they not yummy?)

Karen has tons of images in the store that would be great for this challenge, so if you don't have what you need, go pick out something fabulous and show us what you've got!

Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - sketch
Caardvarks - embossing and stamp
Just Us Girls - digital
By the Cute and Girly - Old, new, borrowed, blue
Bunny Zoe's - Nice and Girly
Quirky Crafts- summer
Stamp with Fun - Fairytales/mythical

Black and White plus One

This is a quick card I wanted to share with you that I made for the Timeless Tuesday at Flourishes. The challenge was to use black and white and one other color. I stamped my stems, and added some epoxy buttons for flowers.

Monthly Blog Hop Really Reasonable Ribbon

On the 13th of each month, the Design Team for Really Reasonable Ribbon will host a blog hop. We will be highlighting different ribbons from the store - and every month, you will have the chance to win our Ribbon of the Month kit! How awesome is that? If you have been following the ribbon path to get here, you should have arrived from Kym's blog. If you just stumbled upon this hop, then you will want to go back to the Really Reasonable Ribbon Ramblings to start. Be sure to leave a little love at each team member's post to be eligible to win this month's kit.

I had so much fun making this card! I found a birdhouse card template from the Dutch Dare Challenge blog. I cut it out using my Cricut and MTC - it worked like a charm, but you could also print it out and cut it by hand.

I used the Light blue organza ribbon with satin center and gold accents at the top and bottom of the card. This is such an elegant ribbon. My bow at the top is obvious, but did you notice what I did along the bottom? I used scraps of this ribbon, cut down the center, and pleated it, using scor-tape. So, see... you don't want to throw those little pieces away.

I cut flowers out using my Cricut, and colored them with distess inks, and then really distressed them for a nice shabby look. I added buttons and other die cut shapes to frame my opening. The bird is a fantastic vintage image that I printed from the Graphics Fairy. I printed it out twice, and cut out the wings and popped them up. I added stickles all over the bird and just spread the glue thin with my finger.

Finally, the sentiment is from Flourishes.

So, I guess it's time to get hopping, or perhaps my little birdie will help you fly away to the next eye candy at Amber's Blog. I know she will have something fantastic to share with you.

Challenges:
Crazy Challenge: Distress
Pollycraft - Ribbon and bling
Shabby Tea Room -Dad (We always get my dad a new birdhouse or birdfeeder for Father's Day)
ThinkInk - Use a new technique (I have not made this kind of flower before)
Spoon Full of Sugar - Floral Delights
Your Next Stamp - buttons
Charisma Cardz - Spots and Stripes
Cute Card Thursday - Anything but square
Dutch Dare - Birdhouse card
Paperplay - home
The Crafting Pot - Birdhouses