From My Hut To Yours

Okay, this is one of those projects that I wish I had a better photography set-up because the pictures do not do it justice- IMHO! When I saw this cute little tiki hut birdhouse at Michael's last week, I knew it had a place in a project featuring Artful Inkables "Paradise Island!" My youngest daughter is ill with a upper respiratory tract infection and an ear infection. You may recall, she had her second set of tubes placed in her ears this past January and the left one is completely clogged and is unable to drain- thus a perfect environment for an infection. She has already cultured MRSA (an antibiotic resistant strain of staph) twice so the doctor is treating her as if that is what it is this time until the culture comes back. So anyway, what does this have to do with my tiki birdhouse. Well, my poor little daughter basically just wanted Mom to sit and watch T.V. with her so while this project was actually pretty easy it became an all day activity- cover with a coat of paint, watch Dora, sneak away and give it a second coat then watch Backyardigans- I'm sure you get the picture!I started off by giving the birdhouse a base coat of Fresh Foliage acrylic paint by Plaid. The second coat is MM Banana paint and before it had a chance to dry, I raked a wooden 3-pronged tool through it so it would look distressed and have some of the green showing through. Next, I stamped my images, colored them with Copic markers and cut them out. They were adhered to the hut with Mod Podge then the entire wooden surface was covered in a thin coat of Mod Podge. After that dried, I painted Mod Podge around the base and added sand over it. I repeated this after the first coat dried making it easier to see. Finally, using the bamboo segment included in the stamp set, I made a frame, stamped in sentiment into the center and attached it to the birdhouse with linen thread. Like I said a cute and easy project, if you can just sit down and make it! I hope everyone is having an awesome and safe Holiday weekend! Tomorrow will be the last day for free shipping with orders over 35.00 at Artful Inkables so head on over and take a look! Truly some awesome stamps and I'm a sucker for free shipping! Also, don't forget the sale at Jacksonbelle Embellishments this weekend! Everything in the store is 15% off until Monday, September 1st. Just us the code LABOR08 for you discount! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Wahoo! A Sale at Jacksonbelle!

Edited to say: There was some breakdown in communication regarding the sale. The banner on SCS says the start date of the sale is the 30th but the actual start date is TODAY FRIDAY AUGUST 29th- so an extra day for super shopping- whopee! The coupon code is still LABOR08. Happy Shopping!

In honor of Labor Day weekend, Lindsey will have EVERYTHING at Jacksonbelle Embellishments 15 % off from Saturday, August 30th until Monday, September 1st! This will be an awesome time to purchase some of the new Inkadinkado stamps so you can join in on the September-long contest that JBE is sponsoring. And let me tell you, the prizes are AWESOME! I'll be posting the details this weekend! The coupon code is LABOR08- so happy shopping! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care and have a fun & safe holiday weekend!

Artful Inkables Limited Supply Challenge

Hello, All! It's Wednesday and time for the every other week Artful Inkables Design Team challenge. This week's challenge was a first for me- a Limited Supply Challenge. Kim Teasdale came up with this challenge and it was a "challenge" in every since of the word 'cause I LOVE my to use lots of supplies on my cards! If you would like to join us for the challenge here are the deets:

1. Only use 2 layers + a base (maximum 3 layers to this card)
2. Only one kind of embellishment allowed (ie: ribbon OR brads)
3. You may use one sentiment on your card.
4. No Designer Paper (GASP! I know, but this is supposed to be a
challenge - heheheheh)
5. Be creative with your paper for textures (dry embossing, score pal
lines, decorative scissors, just let your imagination run wild)
6. Your card must be any size of a square

Yes, definitely a challenge for those of us who rely on layers, PP, and embellishments for our projects. If you would like to see the beautiful works of the rest of the design team, please click on their names below to go to their blogs. Also, don't forget to check out owner/designer, Kristin's work at the Artful Inkables blog!

• Jennifer
• Julia
• Kim
• Pam

Remember if you would like to play along, please live a link to your card with a comment to this post or if you upload to SCS use ARTINK in you keywords so we can see your wonderful creations.

My card for today is very simple but in the end I really liked it! The inspiration for the color combo comes from this weeks SCS Color Challenge to use Basic Black, Rose Red and Kraft. It is impossible to see in the photo but there is quite a bit of sparkle on this card. I started with a 5 1/2" square base. For the next layer, I took a piece of Kraft CS and stamped the dog print image with Versamark all over it. Next I colored in the little heart of the footprint with a red Spica glitter pen. I wanted to accent the heart so stay with the theme of my sentiment. Next I used my waterfall Fiskers border punch along the side of the card and added some faux stitching to the other side. Since I only had 1 more layer and it had to be dedicated to my main image, I decided to use my 1 embellishment, ribbon (of course) highlight my focal point. After cutting the ribbon to the length that I wanted I adhered them to the kraft paper. My initial plan was to sew the ribbon to the cs but my sewing machine was acting up last night. I'll look at THAT today once I am more awake! Finally, my focal image was stamped on Cryogen white paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. Again, it is difficult to see but the little hearts on the bandanna have been sparkled with my red Spica pen. How is that for a simple, straight forward card. I was pleased the way it turned out but I will tell you the next card I make will make it up to my neglected supplies! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Jacksonbelle Boosday

"Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little 'cat' like you..." Yes, this is the song that kept going through my head as I made today's Jacksonbelle DT Challenge card! We would love to have you join us, so the challenge (should you choose to accept it) is to CASE a card from the oh-so-talented DT member, Erin McKinney. You can either link a photo of your card to a comment on this post or if you upload to SCS, please, be sure to use JBE017 in the keywords. I would love to see what you create! Be sure to see what the rest of the gals created!

• Amber Hight
• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Elezebeth Neumann
• Erin McKinney
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict
• Rachel Hope

For my card, I chose this one from Erin's blog. I absolutely love how she mounted the large scalloped square card on the base! Since I was so antsy to use my new Inkadinkado Halloween stamps, I decided this cute little cat would be perfect for this square layout! A quick word about these new Inka stamps- I love line drawn images as much as anybody. They are perfect for using my Copics, Gamsol Magic technique and paper piecing (all 3 favs) BUT for a super cute and quick card, this new Inka line is perfect! While most of the image is solid, there is still just enough to add a POP of color with your favorite color-in method! After stamping the image with Versamark, I heat embossed Sparkle black EP. Next, I painted the moon with Beeswax Shimmerz and colored the hat band in with a Mallow Copic marker followed by a coat of Angel Wings Shimmerz. I cut the image out with a scalloped square Nestie, added the heat embossed and Mallow colored "spooky" with Stampin' Dimensionals and finished the panel with Imaginisce brads in all 4 corners. This was mounted on a square piece of spider web PP by Carolee's Collections and a sheer piece of May Arts ribbon was tied on the side. This panel was mounted to a square scalloped card of Karen Foster PP and the whole thing was mounted to a piece of Doodlebug Sugared paper. Inside the square scallop card the Inka sentiment is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and the "R" is painted with Beeswax Shimmerz. Here is a photo of the inside:
If you notice the strip of Carolee's spider web paper on the inside, only outside 3 sides are taped down so I can slide a 5.00 bill in it when I send this to one of my nephews. It is a lot easier than sending a candy treat. Clever idea? Well, not so much. I only had a scrap of the plaid Karen Foster paper and I needed that to cover up the label!!! Stay tuned tomorrow for another Artful Inkables challenge (and this one is a doosie)! Also, later on this week there will be some big shopping news from JBE!!! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Congratulations!!!

Wow! I first want to say "thanks" for all the kind comments submitted for my blog candy drawing. It is so refreshing to see how truly appreciative everyone was for their blessings. Definitely uplifting! Without further ado, by using randomly generated numbers, my computer choose #20 Rose Ann as the winner of the goodies! Rose Ann wrote:

"Your card is so beautiful, Beth!! I love the colors, texture, and pretty image!!
Congrats on your hits!! You do such lovely work! My family is a huge blessing to me."

Well, Rose Ann, not only are blessed with an awesome family but some incredible talent. If you have never visited Rose Ann's blog, I suggest that your run, don't walk on over to see what this gifted gal has been up to. Rose Ann if you will please e-mail me with your postage details, I will be sure to get your goodies on their way!

My daughter and I returned from Atlanta late last night and it felt so good to sleep in my own bed. The concert was so much fun, although I still haven't recovered all of my hearing yet. The music was not so much the problem as the screaming fans! The look on my DD's face and the way she kept telling me "thank you" and "I love you" made it all worth while. They actually surprised Joe Jonas with a cap & gown and presented him with his high school diploma so all the fans actually attended his graduation (played Pomp and Circumstances and everything.) Mary Elizabeth thought that was pretty neat. It was, also, the opening act's Demi Lovato's 16th birthday (she is the gal from Camp Rock for those of you who know what that is) and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Certainly a memorable occasion for all! Dear ol' Mom was not without fun on the trip either. On Wednesday we visited Archivers which of course was great AND we went to another lss in Marietta called "Rubber Stamp Fantasy." This store was incredible. The owners, Debbie and Gary Taratoot were delightful and extremely knowledgeable regarding their trade. The store was wall-to-wall rubber stamps! They carried the entire line of A Muse products, Glimmer Mist in all colors, about any Tim Holtz product you could image, a huge selections of inks and EP and the list goes on, on, and on! I will definitely be back and if you are ever in the area this is a MUST stop! Thursday we spent the afternoon in IKEA and I bought several things for the girls and have some ideas that I want to put in to play for organizing my home (quit laughing) with some future visits.

Anyway, enough of our trip and on to this little treat bag that I made using the Artful Inkables new release, Orange You Sweet. This little orange image was made by putting scotch tape over the stemmed glass to prior to inking my stamp to prevent making that part of the image. After coloring the orange with Copics, I wanted to give it a juicy appearance so I painted on some Angel Wings Shimmerz (love that stuff)! The main image is cut using a square Nestabilities and matted on a scalloped Pumpkin Pie square. The scalloped rectangle is Wild Wasabi and the sentiment is from Artful Inkable Sunburst Dandies. This topper is trimmed with orange slice "scallops" made from Quickutz and again, sparkled with Angel Wings Shimmerz. It was placed on a SU small Cello bag filled with candies "orange slices" then punched with a double rectangle punch. The ribbon securing it is Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi stitched and May Arts black and white striped. A very easy, sweet little project! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Paradise Island Gift Tin and Card

********* BLOG CANDY DETAILS HERE!!!!**********

Well, today is THE day. Mary Elizabeth are on our way to Atlanta to see the Jo Bros! She is beside herself about the concert. I, on the other hand, am planning a trip to Archivers, and Rubber Stamp Fantasy in Marietta on the way there and then a trip to IKEA on the way home on Thursday! Definitely a win/win sort of trip! Actually, I'll enjoy HER enjoying the concert. It is great to do something special for my super sweet gal!

Last week I made this card using the Paradise Stamp set from Artful Inkables. I was prowling around looking for something for another project and came across this green raffia. It inspired me to make this little matching cylinder tin to go with that card. The raffia is adhered to a piece of natural twill tape with sticky tape then applied to the tin using the same thing. The paper is once again from BG Urban Couture and the ribbon is SU Bashful Blue grosgrain. The main image is colored with Copics and a bit of white Zig Painty pen is added to highlight the coconuts.
This little tag displays the sentiment "I'm Coco-nuts About You" and had a portion of the palm leave stamped and colored with Copic markers. The hardware is retired SU HHH (Antique Brass.) I'm considering putting some bite size Mounds or Almond Joys in it to send to someone special! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

********* BLOG CANDY DETAILS HERE!!!!**********

Across the nation, children are returning to school. As I mentioned before, our school system started on August 6th, so Rachel is well into the routine of her preschool life! That give Mary Elizabeth and I from 8:30- 1:30 to work on her studies uninterrupted and gives me a bit of stamping time on the side! Rachel's teacher, Mrs. Clardy, is, also, a good friend, neighbor and one of my assistant GS leaders so I am always wanting to show her my appreciation in one way or another, often with little homemade treats. This weeks JBE Design Team challenge was to use the PP line Jack's World from Cosmo Cricket. The samples of paper the I received from Lindsey were perfect for a "back-to-school" card! Be sure to check out the other DT members blogs to see what they have come up with this super cute paper. The versatility of this line really shines through with all the different ideas!

• Amber Hight
• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Elezebeth Neumann
• Erin McKinney
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict
• Rachel Hope

We would love to have you play along with us. It you don't have any Jack's World any Cosmo Cricket will do and if you should not have in Cosmo Cricket, how about a back-to-school card. Your may link your card to a comment on this post or to SCS. If you decide to join us and upload your card to SCS please use JBE016 in the keywords so we will be sure to see your beautiful projects!

My card today teams the Jack's World paper with the October Afternoon stamp set from the Detours line. I stamped the apple image once each with Ruby Red, Sunshine Yellow and Wild Wasabi Ink then cut them out with a circle Nestabilities and matted them with scalloped circle of Chocolate Chip. The numbers are cut with a Quickutz Olivia die from Beetle Black Sugared CS by Doodlebug. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things "Back to School" mini set and was cut from a Spellbinders tag die. Ribbon is May Arts and charm is Karen Foster. I used my SU corner rounder for the scallops and the Mat Pack and White Gel pen for the faux stitching. A fun and straight forward card I hope Mrs. Clardy will enjoy! I hope to post one more project later on this evening for tomorrow's post but will not post again until Friday. Think about me with all the screaming preteens at the Jonas Brothers. Actually, just having fun with my preteen daughter is certainly worth it! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Bountiful Blessing and Blog Goodies

Bountiful blessings- this is truly how I see my life. I am primarily a glass half full kind of gal but with the hectic pace of my life I rarely sit down and consider my blessings. My faith, my family, my friends, my health, my home, the list could go on and on. One of my many blessings is the friendships that I have formed through this ever growing world of paper craft blogs. I recently passed my 20,000th hit to my humble little A Stampin' Good Time and it truly boggles my mind ! You folks are awesome and to say Thank You , I have some yummies below for a random drawing. But first, a few quick details about my card (of course, you can always scroll down to the candy part first *wink*!


Today's card features the Artful Inkables set, Olive You. This is one of the 4 sets released last Thursday and like the rest is so versatile. I thought the little dove holding the olive branch was perfect for this Websters Pages rub-on "Beautiful Blessings." I teamed them up with BG, Periphery paper which I ran through my new Cuttlebug embossing folder, Leafy Branch. I love the way this new folder coordinates with the Olive set! My ribbon is May Arts and the brad is DCWV from Michaels.

Okay, now for the fun part!!!
I've been collecting some of the goodies for a little while waiting until I have what I thought was a worthy prize. For a chance to win the following: a My Favorite Things "Be Mine" stamp set, a Technique Tuesday mini stamp set, 2 bottles of Adirondack Tim Holtz's Alcohol Inks, a package of Making Memory summer themed felt embellishments, 1 piece of Tim Holtz Grunge Board and some May Art Ribbon, please, leave a comment on this post regarding at least one of your own blessings. I will draw a winner via Random Generator on Friday, August 22nd! So there you go! Hope everyone has a super week! It's AWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Doggie Treats

Hope everyone is having a happy weekend! The weather is a bit wet here but the temperatures are wonderful!!! Rachel had her first soccer game today. Eight little 4-year-olds running around in shorts so long and socks so long that you cannot even see there knees is truly priceless! Other than that and eating lunch at the local Mexican restaurant and visiting the nearby Books-A-Million, things have been pretty low key after a very hectic week! Some much needed rest for the Thomas family. Mary Elizabeth and I are off to Atlanta on Wednesday to see the Jonas Brothers, so another busy week looms before us! Tomorrow will probably be spent with chores but tonight after Rachel goes to bed, I'm heading for my Stampin' room!

Today, I'm going to share with you one of the projects that I made for the August 14th Artful Inkables release. This is another image from the oh-so-cute set, Top Dog! I apologize for the darkness of the photos. They were taken late at night and I just could not get the lighting to please me. Santa is definitely being asked for a light box and photo lights this year!!!! My youngest sister lives in Atlanta with her four-legged baby, Gracie May. Since we will be staying with Lee and Gracie Pup during our trip, I wanted to make a cute container to take GP some dog biscuit snacks. I had made this cute little box before, but this weeks SCS Weekly Inkling included the tutorial for the box from the very talented, Laurie Schmidlin, with a twist- to add some scallops to the edges of the lid. Again, it is difficult to see with the dark picture but there is, indeed, some Ruby Red CS scallops all around the edge of this cute lid! While the sample box was used to hold a set of 3 x 3 notecards, I change it up a bit and added the yummy dog treats! I stamped the main image, colored it with Copic makers, paper pieced the "spot" and popped the head and paper pieced the ears. This darling PP is SEI's Park Buddies collection. The only problem with this line of paper is choosing which cute designs to use! The little felt "woof" is Queen & Co. and the ribbon is SU Chocolate Chip twill.

I just noticed that I have pasted the 20,000 visits mark and I want to give each of you that stop by a huge shout out to say Thank you! I do have some awesome blog candy prepared just for this occasion so be sure to visit tomorrow to have a chance at some awesome goodies! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Paradise Found in Artful Inkables New Release

Today is THE day that the ever talented Kristin Soboloski releases FOUR new sets she has designed for her webstore, Artful Inkables. Now I hate to play favorites because all 4 of these fun stamp sets are wonderful, but I have to say that I am quite fond of this little tiki-style set, Paradise Island. Maybe it's the images are just so fun to color, or because they are so cute, or maybe it's because I really need a tropical vacation, I just don't know but I do know that I get pure stampin' happiness using them!

Today's card begins with a blast from the past for inspiration- Basic Grey's Urban Couture. I loved that line of PP and had been hoarding some away for just the right project. The washed-out brights of this botanical print along with the paper that reminds me of bamboo lattice reminded me of a retro (there's that word again) tropical paradise picture. My images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink then colored with Copic markers. I cut the little native fellow out and pop dotted under the cool palm trees. I almost made it through the entire card without the use of Nesties until I decided I wanted a ribbon slide for the sentiment. Ribbon is SU Bashful Blue, brown brads are American Craft and shell brad is Anna Griffin from Michael's this summer. I actually cut the brad part off of the shell because it was just too bulky. Simply replaced it with a glue dot and was much more pleased! A very straightforward card but such fun to make!

Enabling part: Be sure to check out this set in its entirety at the Artful Inkables web store. I joke about "enabling" 'cause I'm warning you this set would be hard to pass up! Seriously, there are so... many cute images and I think that no stamp collection is complete without a tropical themed set- think about all those cute invitations and decorations you can make for those end-of-the-year luaus! And if the beautiful, red rubber deeply etched stamps are not enough enticement, Kristin is offering FREE shipping for all orders over 35.00 during the month of August. I just love FREE shipping! Check back tomorrow for an idea for a little gift for "mans' best friend!" It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time. Take care!

Let's Celebrate Tomorrow's Artful Inkables Release!

And what better way to celebrate than with a CHALLENGE (bet you thought I was going to say something else, huh- teeheehee)! Well, it it time again for the every-other-week Artful Inkables Design Team challenge and this time around it is a challenge to use a particular stamp set. Since today was already scheduled for sneak peaks of this most FUN Olive You set, it was decided that it would be the Design Team's challenge set, as well. Now because we would love to have loads of folks play along and since this awesome set will not be available to sell until tomorrow, we expanded the challenge to include any stamp with a beverage theme. If you would like to join us, please be sure to post a link to your card with comments on this post or if you upload to your SCS gallery use ARTINK in the keywords. We would love to see your beautiful creations!

My challenge card today took on sort of a retro look. I know that martini's of all different sorts are very popular right now but somehow this elegant martini class with it's olive and little swizzle stick just yelled RETRO to me. When I combined it with the bright, groovy red PP from Cosmo Crickets Hello Sunshine paper pad, it cinched the look I was creating. The base of the card is Basic Black CS which I layered with the Hello Sunshine PP. Next, I took a panel of Green Galore (yes, even GG has it's place-lol) and ran it through the patterned square Cuttlebug embossing folder. I liked the way the squares contrasted with all the circular elements. I stamped my main image on Neenah Classic White CS with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic markers. I cut it out with rectangular Nestabilities then painted Crystal Effect on the glass. The little olives were stamped, colored then cut out and made into a metal rimmed tag with my MM Tag Maker and the sentiment was stamped and cut out with a circle Nestie. The bling are Jesse James glitter dots (one of my fav sparkly things)! FUN, FUN, FUN! Be sure to check out the awesome teasers from the rest of the AI Design Team, as well as, the AI company blog!

• Jennifer
• Julia
• Kim
• Pam
  

And don't forget all FOUR of the wonderful new sets will be available for sale tomorrow! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Another AI Tease and Jacksonbelle Boosday

Hi, All! It's Tuesday once again and time for a Jacksonbelle Design Team Challenge. It is, also, the day 3 out of 4 of sneak peaks for the Thursday release of FOUR new sets of stamps from Artful Inkables. So sit tight, this is a rather long entry but well worth it! First, the Artful Inkables team (aka "The Ink Girls) are spotlighting a most adorable stamp set in honor of "man's" best friend- Top Dog. This is an absolutely darling set that include 3 different dog images (not to mention sentiments and a few doggy accessories.) I love the fact that Kristin was able to create 3 very different dogs so that the dog lover can choose a style very close to their favorite breed. Once again, the set is designed with versatility in mind! Please be sure to check out the other sneak peaks both on the AI blog and the blogs of the rest of the Ink Girls!

• Jennifer
• Julia
• Kim
• Pam

You may want to get out your sunglasses before catching a glimpse of my card for today's teaser! Believe me, the picture does not pick-up half the sparkle of this little card. I love bling but am usually conservative in the amount I use- I'm definitely a "less is more" kind of girl- but the sassy little face of this darling pup image just pushed me right over the edge- bwahahahaha! I started off with a pink Bazzill base and layered a striped piece of PP and a piece of mint green Bazzill. The mint green cs was embellished with the cute little paw print image from the Top Dog set using The Essential Glue pad and Dazzling Diamonds then punched with my MS scalloped border punch. To accent the holes from the border punch, I glued tiny rhinestones using my Quickie glue pen. The "dog collar" was made with Basic Grey ribbon and and the "tag" is a sentiment from the set framed with hardware from WRMK. I made the little tiara by cutting a Prima Say It In Crystals flower center in half then adding a few individual rhinestones of my own to get the right fit. This was the first time I used my Copics to "color" something white. I simply choose the color that I wanted as highlights and shaded lightly around the edges then pulled the color towards the center of the image with the Copic blender pen. Finally, I added some gray shadowing for added dimension. Tomorrow will mark the day of the AI every other week challenge. The Ink Girls will incorporate the 4th new set with the challenge but have expanded it a bit so that everyone who would like to can play along!
For my Jacksonbelle Embellishment Design Team challenge- a sketch, I could wait NO longer to use many of my new Halloween goodies from the store! I started with my Cosmo Cricket Haunted paper pack and went from there. This paper pack comes with an awesome sticker sheet and is absolutely spooktacular! After choosing the PP for the base of my card, I took a piece of Co'ordinations with a off white core and ran it through the Cuttlebug using a new spider web embossing folder. Next, I lightly sanded this layer to bring out the embossing and give it a distressed look. My focal image is from the Inkadinkado set, Creepy Crawly. I stamped it on to vellum with my Essential Glue pad then sprinkled black Art Glitter on the wet image. Once it dried and I sprayed it with a sealant, I cut around the outline of the image. The little spiders are from the same set, stamped in Craft Elegant Eggplant on to vellum then embossed with Rainbow EP from Ranger. The large eyelets are from SU, the ribbon is May Arts, and the "hinge" is WRMK. All paper edges were inked with a sponge and Andirondack Pitch Black ink. This was such a fun card to make! Please be sure to check out the rest of the DT versions of this awesome sketch. I've included the sketch because we would love for you to play along! If you would like, either attach the link to your card under comments on this post or if you upload to SCS, please use JBE015 in the keywords so we can see your beautiful works!

• Amber Hight
• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Elezebeth Neumann
• Erin McKinney
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lynda Benden
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Maren Benedict

For some reason, I am having difficulty downloading the sketch but if you catch out the other DT members blogs you will definitely get a feel for this awesome layout! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Orange You Lovin' The Sneak Peaks!

Another day and another exciting sneak peak from Artful Inkables. This delightful set, Orange You Sweet, will be available for sell along with 3 additional new sets this Thursday. For more samples of this fun set be sure to check out the Artful Inkables blog and the blogs of the rest of the Design Team Members:

• Jennifer
• Julia
• Kim
• Pam

The clean, refreshing appeal of oranges (no pun intended) was the inspiration for my card. I wanted clean lines and bright colors! I started with a piece of Pumpkin Pie CS that I embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I topped that with a piece of wonderfully bright polka dot Chatterbox PP. To define the boundary between the CS and the PP, I adhered 2 pieces of Karen Foster's Scapper's Floss using a Sakura Quickie glue pen. I love to use the floss to maintain clean lines in place of ribbon. The main image is the wonderful decorative orange tree from the set. I have colored it with Copic marker and added some Pumpkin Shimmerz to the oranges themselves. I cut it out and embossed it with a rectangular Nestability and matted it with a scalloped rectangle in Night of Navy. A couple of little Pumpkin Pie grosgrain tabs, some American Craft blue brads and voila- a bright, clean look indeed! Stay tuned tomorrow for another sneak peak that has "gone to the dogs," as well as, a sketch challenge for Jacksonbelle Tuesday. I have Tuesday's post written and timed to be uploaded because I am having an epidural tomorrow for my back. Keeping my fingers crossed that the post appears when it is supposed to- lol! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

A Sneak Peak of Paradise

Paradise Island, that is!!! Wahoo! The Artful Inkables next release is just 4 days away and to peak curiosity and build excitement for the four, yes FOUR, awesome new stamp sets the AI Design Team will be posting some peaks of the new sets this week! Be sure to check out the AI Blog and the rest of the DT blogs for some amazing cards and projects!

• Jennifer
• Julia
• Kim
• Pam

The first day of teasers features this wonderful set, Paradise Island! Kim our fearless leader/owner/designer of Artful Inkables stamps truly lets her magic shine with this cute tiki- themed set! Your Copics, Prismacolor pencils, watercolors, whatever your coloring methods of choice are going to be loving this darling line drawn set. It's an absolutely MUST for luaus, house warmings, scrapbooking tropical vacations, to name only of few of the uses for this very versatile set! Can you tell I'm lovin' it!!! My card started with a base of Blue Bayou CS that was layered with a strip of Bo Bunny striped paper then Groovy Guava CS that I tore and glittered the edges with a peach Art Glitter to get a sand dune type of effect. No, I wasn't trying to make Guava colored sand but I thought the effect looked nice with the theme of this card. For the focal image, I stamped this cute little hut that would make the castaways on Gilligan's Island jealous (dating myself, huh) with my Momento Tuxedo Black ink then colored it with Copic markers. After cutting it out with Nestabilities, I matted it with a scalloped oval of Aqua Mist CS from PTI. The sweet hibiscus blossom is from the set, stamped on Groovy Guava then cut out. Next, I painted it with Pumpkin Shimmerz (love that stuff) and added some texture and more sparkle with Fruit Punch and Yellow Stickles. The ribbon is Always Artichoke by SU and the little brads are from Hobby Lobby. Be sure to check tomorrow for the next sneak peak of this awesome Artful Inkables release!!! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

Here we are at Tuesday once again and time for another Jacksonbelle Embellishment Design Team Challenge! This week it is time for a Color Challenge and DT member Lila Holgate has chosen to challenge us to use the color PINK ! I'm not sure that is much of a stretch for me because it is a color that I truly love! We would love to have you join us with this fun challenge! If you should decide to play along, please either link your card to a comment on this post or if you upload to SCS use JBE014 in the keycode. We want to be able to see everyone's beautiful pink creations! Be sure to check out the rest of the DTs submissions for this challenge on each of their individual blogs:

• Amber Hight
• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Elezebeth Neumann
• Erin McKinney
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lynda Benden
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Maren Benedict

You will, also, want to be sure to check out Jacksonbelle Embellishments to see all the new goodies that are available- new cuttlebug, fall and holiday Inkadinkado stamps, new Cosmo Cricket... the list goes on and on! I made my challenge card this weekend to take to one of my little great nieces for her birthday. The pink PP I choose to use was Basic Grey Two Scoops. I loved the idea of using the sweet ice creamie colors with the Inkadinkado Birthday Cupcakes for a little one-year-olds card! I stamped the largest cupcake image using Momento Tuxedo Black on 3 different pieces of the 6 x6 patterned paper and paper pieced it for a fun dimensional look. I added some white bugle beads as sprinkles, then topped it off the with little "icing" rosebud from the set. The rosebud was first colored with Copic markers then I added some chunky pink glitter from SU. I repeated the rosebud to more times to add as accents on the card. The Nestabilities mat is cut from vellum then the edges are trimmed with the same pink chunky glitter. The ribbon is a sheer piece of American craft topped with a piece of soft yellow rickrack by BG. Rachel starts preschool tomorrow so that mean Mary Elizabeth and I are back to our homeschool glasses. Although it does make for a busy schedule, it will definitely feel good to be back into a routine! Actually makes it easier to find stamping time! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care, Beth