Treehouse Stamps October Contest

Hi Friends! Have you ever thought about being on a design team? Would you like to be a guest designer?Well, here is your chance.


Treehouse Stamps is proud to announce that we will be holding monthly card contests for all of you! You have a chance to win gift certificates and a "Guest Design Team" spot! Yep, that's right...if you've ever dreamed of being on a design team...now could be your chance. The details of the contest are HERE.

Here is the image you will be working with. You can 'right click' on it and save it to your computer.
When you visit The Treehouse you can see the design teams' creations using this image.


This is the project I created using this image.

We look forward to seeing what you create with the October image. Good Luck!!



On the Grid

Thursday is here again, and it is time for the Treehouse Thursday Challenge. Today's challenge (#69) is to create a card or project that includes the grid technique from Splitcoast Stampers. You can find the grid tutorial HERE. At The Treehouse Blog you can see the great creations from the Design Team.

This was a new technique for me, and I am glad I gave it a try. The technique provides an interesting background. For my card I used images from Treehouse Stamps Autumn Leaves digital set. Since the images are digital I was able to manipulate the sentiment into the tree image.

Recipe:
Treehouse Stamp Autumn Leaves images
Papertrey Ink white cardstock
Copic markers
EK Success punch
felt leaves
rhinestones
SEI rub-on
SU ink
Bazzill cardstock

If you decide to give this technique a try be sure to link your creation to The Treehouse Blog. Have a great day! Enjoy the fall weather! LC

Make Your Own Flowers

It is time for a new challenge from Your Next Stamp. YNS Challenge (#26) was issued by Wendy. She has challenged us to create a card or project and make our own flowers for it. You can see the Design Team members' creations HERE at the YNS Challenge Blog. There are all sorts of pretty flowers....some made from gathered ribbon,  folded paper, some made by using punches, and some with accordion folds. Jayne and Barbara, the guest designers, will inspire you with their creations also.

When you read the details of the challenge HERE you will see there are 2 prizes offered, so get out your punches, your papers, your thinking card, and create a card or project with the flowers you designed and created. You could be a winner!!

For the challenge I used Your Next Stamp's 'Thankful for You Fhiona' from the September release. You can see her HERE. 

Recipe for my card:
Your Next Stamp 'Thankful for You Fhiona' stamp
Memento tuxedo black ink
Papertrey Ink white cardstock
Copic markers
Nestabilities circle and scallop circle
Bazzill cardstock blue and yellow
K&Co. designer paper stack
Sizzix florish die
SU die
Kaiser pearls
brad
I made the yellow flower from cardstock using an old punch. The blue flower was made from the K&Co. paper using a UTube tutorial. I will attempt to find it and will post that information. If I am unable to locate it I will post with pictures how I made the flower. It was super easy to make!

Now it's your turn to 'make your own flowers'! Have fun! Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments. LC

'Out of the Box'

Wednesday sure rolls around quickly. Today's Whimsie Wednesday Challenge 'Out of the Box' is issued by Donna, the September Guest Designer. She challenged us to create a card from a shape. I just recently sold my Cricut so the task of making a shaped card was a bit more daunting. I decided to print the ghost from Whimsie Doodles Halloween Minis and use it for my shape. The Halloween Minis are digital so it is not difficult to manipulate the images. In my photo program I removed the circle from around the ghost and then enlarged the ghost to make it card size. I printed the image on white cardstock. After I cut out the printed image I sprayed it with spray adhesive. I then sprinkled white glitter all over the shape. I shook off the extra glitter and then ran the image through my Big Shot to press the glitter into the adhesive. The pressure from the Big Shot sets the glitter and keeps the glitter on the shape. I added google eyes.

Now it is your turn to make an 'Out of the Box' card. Check out the Whimsie Doodles Blog for the details. After you have finished your card be sure to link it to the WD blog for a chance to win a prize.

A Southern Tradition

Most of you know I spent my early childhood years in Arkansas. I grew up around boys and men who talked hunting and fishing. Like some families whose year goes through a sports cycle of soccer, baseball, football, and basketball, the families around me went through the cycle of fish, squirrel, deer, bird, and duck.
I lived in a home with shotguns and rifles that weren't locked up or hidden from children. Growing up in a family of hunters, children learn these are tools and not toys.

Obviously things have changed in Arkansas over the many years I have been away; however, one thing that hasn't changed is the tradition of hunting and fishing. Little boys start wearing camo early to imitate their big brothers, daddies, grandpas, and uncles. They probably dream about their first 410 shotgun or single-shot bolt action rifle and talk on the playground about their first squirrel season. A hunter education course is taken in preparation for hunting. Having a hunting license is a rite of passage just like a driving license

Probably you are wondering why I have blogged about this topic today. With the change of season I thought about my family's tradition of hunting. I also was reminded of a layout I did several years ago of a friend's little boy wearing camo. When I first saw the photograph of him with his wistful look I imagined he was thinking about his older brothers and daddy going hunting without him. He seemed to be longing for his day in the field.

Distressed Again!

Those of you who have scrapbooked with me in the past will vouch that I once distressed every piece of paper I used. My fingers were always brown....'Van Dyke' brown to be specific. Sometime during the last several years I put away the brown ink and picked up Copic markers. I have been coloring stamped images for two years now and have distressed very little. It seems that reds, blues, pinks, and yellows had taken over my paper. Until yesterday....

I created a card yesterday that reminded me of my former scrapbook pages. It is made with older vintage-looking papers and is distressed quite a bit. I used  Treehouse Stamp  'Autumn Leaves' digital image and sentiment printed on Papertrey Ink white cardstock. I colored the leaf with Copic markers and then distressed it and the pattern papers I had chosen. I did a bit of machine stitching and then added the 3-D embellishments. I like the way it turned out.

Other products I used:
kraft cardstock
Tim Holtz tape
Dew Drops
brown button
MS baker's twine
Rebecca Sowers stamp sticker
EK punch
Stampin' Up! ink
Nestabilities

YNS Retired Stamp Sale

Karen, owner and designer for Your Next Stamp, has decided to retire some of her stamp sets. The discount is a whopping 60% so this is a great time to get some of your favorites. Here is the link to the retiring sets. Check out Rainy Day Fhiona, Get Well Soon, and Bad Hair Day...they are SO cute!! The sale ends September 30th...better hurry on over!

Here is a quick card I created using YNS's Hedgie Family....out for a fall walk; however, I just noticed the grass is a bit green for fall. Oh well...that happens!

A Banner Day

Well, Wednesday has rolled around again so it's Whimsie Wednesday Challenge time at Whimsie Doodles. Andrea, a Doodle-licious Diva has challenged us to 'string it up'....in other words, she challenged us to make banners or use banners on our cards or projects. You can read about Andrea's challenge on the Whimsie Doodles blog.

I took the easy route for this challenge and used design paper with banners from My Little Shoe Box. The other design papers I used are older sheets of Heidi Grace from Fiskars. The Whimsie Doodles images I used for the card are Hope Fights. They are digital images that are $2.00, and all proceeds from the sale of the images go to research.

The recipe for the card is:

Whimsie Doodles Hope Fights digital images

Papertrey Ink white cardstock

Copic markers

Nestabilities square/scallop square

Martha Stewart border punches/punch

Prima flowers

Bazzill cardstock

Kaiser pearls

Stampin' Up! border punch

I hope you visit the Whimsie Doodles blog and get inspired to create a card or project with a banner.

Be sure to link your creation to the blog for a chance to win a prize! Thanks for stopping by! LC

Thankful for You Card

How many people are in your life that you are thankful for? I am lucky to have people in my 'circle' that I am grateful to know, love, and call my friends. There are ladies I craft with, friends and family who live away, neighbors, church friends, people I have worked with...and today's card is created in their honor.

Your Next Stamp is sponsoring this week's Scrappy Saturday Challenge#23 at Wee Memories. YNS Design Team member Jenny challenged us with an SOS....String, Orange, and Scallops challenge. The challenge was to incorporate 2 of the 3 elements on our card.

For my challenge card I used Your Next Stamp's Thankful for You Fhiona cling stamp and sentiment.
I stamped the image on Papertrey Ink white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. I cut the oval and scalloped oval with Nestabilities. The cardstock I used for the card is kraft, and the strip of checked paper was cut from a scrap. I used orange Bazzill for the scalloped oval. The image and sentiment were stamped with Memento tuxedo black ink.

This card is not as 'busy' as some of the cards I create, but I like the simplicity of it. I especially like this Fhiona image. It can be colored to be a spring, summer, or fall card....maybe even winter if you live in the tropics! Since the sentiment is a separate stamp it can be used with many other stamps or on its own.

I hope you decide to participate in the Wee Memories SOS challenge. Check our Jenny's blog for the details. Have a great week! LC

Whimsie Doodles Halloween

Have you seen the Whimsie Doodles Freaky Little Friends images? Here they are.

Here are a couple of cards I created using these images:

Hope you are having a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by. LC

A Sponged Background?

As a Guest Designer for Treehouse Stamps during September I get to play along with the Design Team on their challenges. This week's Treehouse Thursday Challenge #067 , to create a sponged background, really was a challenge for me. It only takes one stamping 'technique' challenge for me to realize I am not a stamper. I am a color-er who makes cards. Yes, I can stamp an image and color it, but when it comes to stamping techniques, I definitely am challenged!

So how did I go about sponging a background? I had already printed my Treehouse Stamp image (Monkey Business) and sentiment, colored it, and cut the image into a circle. I then traced the image on copier paper using my light box and cut it out to make a mask. Using a make-up sponge and an ink pad with the mask in place I sponged ink around the image. If I had been thinking I would have researched sponging at Splitcoast Stampers and read THIS.

Here is my card:

The recipe for my card:
Treehouse Stamp set Monkey Business
Papertrey Ink white cardstock
Copic markers
Nestabilities circle/scallop
Basic Grey 2-sided paper
Coordination brown cardstock
Bazzill teal
Stampin' Up! sage shadow ink
Sizzix die flourish
Flowers from stash
Buttons brown from stash
Martha Stewart baker's twine
3-D adhesives

You know they say 'you can't teach an old dog a new trick', but I did learn something new today. If I decide to try this technique again I will have a better idea of what I am doing. Now it's your turn. Why not check out the Treehouse Stamps Blog and give sponging a try! Thanks for stopping by! LC

Give Thanks Challenge

Thursday Challenge #25 for Your Next Stamp is to 'Give Thanks' and create a Thanksgiving or Thank You card. You can find the details of the challenge HERE at the YNS Challenge Blog. Be sure to check out the PRIZES!!

Here is my card for the challenge:

The YNS image I chose to use for my card is Best Buds. Here is a close-up. Aren't they cute boys? I like the curly hair and the camo pants.

The recipe for my card is:
YNS Best Buds stamp
PaperTrey Ink white cardstock
Memento tuxedo black ink
Copic markers
Nestabilities square
K&Co. paper
Tim Holtz stapler
Bazzill black, yellow cardstocks
Stampin' Up! border bunch
EK border punch
Sassafras flower with button
Sentiment is computer generated

Visit YNS Challenge Blog and create a Thanksgiving or Thank You card.....there are PRIZES!!!
Thanks for visiting my blog! Have a great day! LC

Whimsie Wednesday Challenge #49

It's Wednesday and time for the new Whimsie Wednesday Challenge. Today's challenge is issued by Joy, a Doodle-licious Diva, and she asks "Sew What?". The challenge today is to sew on your card or project, either faux stitching or the real thing. You can find all the challenge details HERE.

Here is my card for the challenge:

Here is the recipe for my card:
Easel card instructions can be found HERE at Splitcoast Stampers.
I used Whimsie Doodles SPELLS digital image ($3.00 at Whimsie Doodles )
Paper Trey Ink white cardstock
Copic markers
Glossy Accents
Stickles-green and yellow
Black and lavender Bazzill cardstock
Making Memories 2-sided designer paper
Quickutz spider web and spider 4x4 die (I layered the spiders to add dimension.)
Creative Imagination sticker letters
Sewing machine and  black thread

I hope you decide to participate in the challenge. You could win a prize from Whimsie Doodles in the random drawing. Good luck!

Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate you and your comments! LindaC

I'm Back!!

What a whirlwind weekend! A friend and I made a fast trip to Memphis to shop at Archiver's and Eclectica. We had a great time! We ate dinner at Macaroni Grill where we stuffed ourselves with pasta; we shopped at Archiver's and Eclectica for the latest Graphic 45, Tim Holtz, and 7 Gypsies; we met my cousins from Arkansas at Eclectica for a brief visit; we stayed up too late laughing and talking; we hit I-40 and headed home. Fast, furious fun!

Needless to say, I have not done any crafting this weekend; however, I do have a project to share.

This is a corner bookmark I created using EEK the Bat  from Your Next Stamp . This is a simple project, and the directions to make one can be found HERE at Splitcoast Stampers. The bookmark does not require a great deal of material and can be made from your scraps. I hope you give it a try.

Treehouse Thursday Challenge #66

It is Thursday and time for the Treehouse Thursday Challenge. You can get all of the details HERE.
TTC #66 is to create something 'recycled'. You can recycle a card you have already created, create something from an item you normally throw away, or use just part of something you would put in the trash.

My creation today is a candy-filled jar with a tag. I created the tag using several Treehouse Stamps digital images. The images are from the Fall Blessings set. The jar was originally filled with olives.

I used some fabric I have had for years, jute, and a couple of leaves to decorate the jar. The images were colored with Copic markers and the tag was cut with Nestabilities. I think this project would make an awesome gift for teachers, co-workers, and friends.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I appreciate you and your time! LC

Your Next Stamp Sale

Your Next Stamp is holding a 25% off sale for 3 days only!

Hop on over to http://www.yournextstamp.com/ to grab yourself a bargain!

Enter code YNS25SS when checking out to receive 25% off your entire order!

Be quick, as this sale ends on September 11th!
Happy shopping and stamping!

Whimsie Wednesday

It is Wednesday and time for a Whimsie Wednesday Challenge. Today's challenge is issued by Doodle-licious Diva, Alicia, and she has given us a sketch for the challenge. Here is her sketch:

Here is my creation for the challenge:

Here are the supplies I used:

Whimsie Doodles digital image from Freaky Little Friends  (seen below) This set is $5.00.                
Papertrey Ink white cardstock
Copic Markers
Stickles
Google eye
2-sided design paper, unknown
Nestabilities
Martha Stewart icicle border punch
Red and white cardstock
Recollection red pearls













I hope you create a card or project using this fun sketch. If you decide to, be sure you link it to the Whimsie Doodles Blog. A prize will be given to the winner of the random drawing. Have a great day, and I hope you have time to play. Thanks for stopping by. LC

Halloween Fun

Yesterday the new Whimsie Doodles September images were released. Not only did the release contain school related images but also Halloween images. You can see all of the new images HERE.

Today I thought I would show you one of my creations with a Halloween image called Inkie's Costume.

I colored Inkie with Copic cool greys and his owl costume in warm greys. The designer papers I used are older Junkitz papers. I used 2 Martha Stewart punches: the fence and grass. The green pompom ribbon came in a Scrapbook Obsessions kit. The 'eeek' came from a Michael's 3-D sticker sheet, and the Dew Drops are from Robin's Nest. I applied Glossy Accents to the pumpkin, spider, Inkie's eyes and beak, and the 'eeek. I used Nestabilities to cut the circles. I hope he's not too scary!

Thanks for stopping by! LC

Whimsie Doodles September Release

It is the 5th of September and time for the new Whimsie Doodles September release. There are 'School Goodies', 'Freakie Friends', and lots of Halloween fun. You can see all of them HERE and purchase them HERE.  Be sure to check the blogs of the other Doodlelicious Divas to see what they have created. You can find their blogs listed on the right side of my blog. There are awesome creations to enjoy!

Here are two of my creations made with September releases.

These are Post It note holders that I made using the tutorial posted by Sheri, a super creative Doodlelicious Diva. You can find the tutorial HERE. These are simple to make and are great teacher gifts.

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow there will be more samples of projects from the Whimsie Doodles September release. See you then!

Whimsie Doodles Sneaky Snippets

It is almost the 5th of September and time for the new releases from Whimsie Doodles. You can see my 'Sneaky Snippets' below and then visit the Whimsie Doodles Blog to see the 'Sneaky Snippets' from other Doodlelicious Divas. There are lots of new fun images from Whimsie Doodles for September!

What do you see? What do think the new images are? Be sure and check back on the 5th to see what I created with the new Whimsie Doodles images. I've had fun with these. I think you will also!

Treehouse Stamps Guest Designer

I am excited to tell you that I have been asked to be a Guest Designer for Treehouse Stamps during the month of September! Woo Hoo!! I am starting the month off running with a challenge right away!

Treehouse Thursday Challenge (THT065) details can be found HERE at the The Treehouse Blog. The challenge is to make a circle card. You can see examples of circle cards by visiting the blogs of the Design Team members. Simply click on their names to visit their blogs. You are going to see some great cards!

Ashley Bowen
Neva McMullen
Kelly Hampton
Maria Levine
Gloria Mozien
Heather Prince
Kimberly Lowrey
Stephanie Serrano
Virginia Lu
Margo Smith

Here is my circle card for the challenge:

To create this card I used an image from the Treehouse Stamps Fall Blessings. Fall Blessings digital set is a September release. I printed the image on white cardstock, colored it with Copic markers, and cut it out with a Nestabilities. All of the four circles you see, plus the card base, were cut with Nestabilities. The base cardstock is Stampin' Up! and the designer papers are Fiskars' Heidi Grace. The pearls are from Recollections.

Be sure to check out the Treehouse Thursday Challenge! Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate each of you! LC

Goodbye Summer

What does the end of summer mean to you? Are you buying school clothes, packing lunches, and getting up early? Do you have your first kindergartener or your last senior? The end of summer seems to always bring some sort of change into our lives.

The Whimsie Doodles' Whimsie Wednesday Challenge #47 is all about the end of summer....in fact, the name of the challenge is 'Goodbye Summer'. You can read all about the WD challenge here. If you decide to participate in the challenge, be sure to link your card or project to the WD blog. There will be a random drawing, and you could win a prize.

Here is my 'Goodbye Summer' card:

For my card creation I used Whimsie Doodles Swing Koale. I printed the digital image on Papertrey Ink white cardstock, colored it with Copic markers, and cut it out. I used 3-d foam adhesive to add dimension to Koale and some of the leaves.The design paper is from a DCWV stack. The sentiment is computer generated, cut with a Nestabilities, and held in place by red brads.

Here is a close-up of Koale:

Here is a close-up of the inside of the card:

For the inside I used a piece of the DCWV paper, red cardstock, leaves from the DCWV paper, a bit of Bazzill paper edges, and a 3-D owl from Recollections.

Don't we all say 'summer went by so fast'? I know I do!
Thanks for stopping by! LC

'Fall into Halloween'

Hi! Welcome to the Your Next Stamp 'Fall into Halloween' BLOG HOP! I'm sure you've guessed from the title that we are showcasing some awesome new YNS Fall and Halloween stamps today! These new stamps are available to buy right now from the Your Next Stamp store along with all your YNS favorites.

Not only is there a fantastic Blog Hop for you, but today is also the official start of the new YNS Design Team term! Woo Hoo!I am excited to be a part of this talented group! Today is also a YNS Challenge Day, so we've combined the Hop creations with our YNS Challenges #24!

If you would like to participate in the hop, and you didn't arrive here from Kerri's blog, please CLICK HERE to return to the start of the hop at the YNS Challenge Blog, as you don't want to miss these fab new releases! The Hop starts today (Wednesday, September 1 at 03:00 EST) and ends on Monday (September 6 at midnight EST).

As always, at Your Next Stamp, we have some wonderful prizes for you to win! Two lucky winners will be drawn at random to each receive a new release stamp package, but please make sure you comment at every stop along the Hop to be eligible to be entered into the drawing. We'd love you to join us at our new Paper Craft Planet (PCP) Group. As an incentive anyone who becomes a member of our YNS PCP Group will automatically receive a second entry into the Blog Hop GRAND PRIZE draw! How great is that? It's free and easy to join PCP!!

Not only is Karen offering two amazing prizes, she's going to include a free surprise gift with every order placed at Your Next Stamp during the Hop! On top of all this fun, if you join our YNS Group at PCP, you'll be personally emailed an exclusive PCP-YNS Group-only YNS store discount code! Who doesn't like a discount??

So.... onto my BLOG HOP creation! I used Hedgie Family. Aren't they cute little creatures?

For my 'Anything Goes' YNS Challenge #24 creation I used Mother Hen.

Now it is time for you to hop on over to Wendy's blog as she is the next stop on our Hop. Don't forget to leave me a comment before you go!

                                            Kerri
                                            Linda - You are here!
                                           Wendy


Thanks so much for hopping with us today! I hope you enjoy looking at the new releases and the DT creations! Have a great day! LC