The Stamps of Life and Cardmaker Magazine Blog Hop!

Welcome to the CardMaker and The Stamps of Life Blog Hop!

The CardMaker Designers and The Stamps of Life Designers will be teaming up to show you some wonderful projects featuring stamps from The Stamps of Life.

Make sure and comment on each of the blogs in the hop! One winner will be randomly chosen to win 3 stamp sets of their choice ($12.95 value or less)! The winner will be chosen July 31^st and announced on The Stamps of Life Blog on August 1^st.

I created a Happy Birthday card using the Label6Stamps, the Sizzix Framelits Die Set 12PK-Card, Square Flip-Its #2, the Sizzix Framelits Die Set 7PK - Labels, Fancy #6 dies, and Stephanie Barnard & ColorBox ink pad in Blueberry. 

The inside sentiment is from the moreladybugs2love stamp set.

Hop List

CardMaker: http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/blog/?p=10147

Tiffany Johnson: http://iheartartblog.com/?p=12967

Emily Niehaus: http://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/2014/07/cards-blog-hop_16.html

Theresa Momber: http://craftingtheweb.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-and-stamps-of-life-blog-hop.html

Joana Studer: http://joanastamps.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-stamps-of-life-and-cardmaker.html

Frances Byrne: http://stampowl.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-stamps-of-life-blog-hop.html

Jeanne Jachna: http://akeptlife.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-stamps-of-life-blog-hop.html

Vanessa Buzard: http://vanessaspapercreations.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-blog-hop.html

Kristine Reynolds: http://stampingandscrapingincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/07/tsol-hops-with-cardmaker.html

Penny Ward: http://www.pennywardink.com/2014/07/cardmaker-stamps-of-life-blog-

Tanya Adams: http://studio5380.com/2014/07/tsol-card-maker-blog-hop.html

Anna Wight: http://sweetmissdaisy.typepad.com/sassy_sweet_notes/the-stamps-of-life/

Noelle McAdams: http://noelle-paperandice.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-stamps-of-life-blog-hop.html

Jeanne Streiff: http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/?p=20136

Mae Nazareth: http://www.inkdpaperbymae.blogspot.com/

Kim Pargeter: http://stampinriley.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-magazine-and-stamps-of-life.html

Judy Rozema: http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-hop.html

Piali Biswas: http://touchofcreation.blogspot.com/2014/07/cardmaker-stamps-of-life-blog-hop.html

The Stamps of Life blog: http://stephaniebarnard.blogspot.com/

Good luck! Thanks for stopping by!

The {Stamps} of Life and Clearsnap Blog Hop!

Sorry this post is up late! 

The Stamps of Life and Clearsnap are having a blog hop featuring The Stamps of Life stamps and Clearsnap inks and other fun products. Be sure you comment on all the stops along the hop because prizes will be randomly chosen among the comments!

The Stamps of Life will be giving away a prize to 3 lucky people – one stamp set (of the winner’s choice) per winner.

Clearsnap will be giving away an assortment of Stephanie Barnard Colorbox Premium Dye inks.

I just love the Flip-it dies and how awesome they are. They create such a unique card and are so fun to make, not to mention quick and easy!

And the inside:

And can I talk for a minute about how awesome these ink pads are? They aren't textured, so you don't end up with a weave pattern on your stamped images. They are super-inky, so getting maximum coverage is very easy. And the colors are so rich and beautiful!
This card used the following products:

A Little Bit Country by Kristin Cronin-Barrow

Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Card, Fancy Frame Flip-its
Chevron Die Set
Sizzix Framelits Die Set 6PK w/stamps Labels, Fancy #2 (inside sentiment)
Messages4friends stamp (outside stamp)
Stephanie Barnard Clearsnap inks: Strawberry & Blueberry
Gemstones by The Paper Studio
Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro Perma-Tac

Thanks for dropping by! Now head on to your next stop: Tami Sanders!

Here's the whole hop list:

Clearsnap - http://clearsnap.blogspot.com

The Stamps of Life - http://stephaniebarnard.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Streiff - http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/?p=17629

Sabrina Alery - http://sabrinaalery.blogspot.com/

Judy Rozema - http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/

Megan Aaron - http://thoughtsoftraveling.blogspot.com/

Deb Felts - http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/

Diana Gonzalez - http://www.arteypoemas.com/

Vicki Garrett – http://summerthymestudio.blogspot.com/

Denise Hahn - http://inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/

Kim Pargeter - http://stampinriley.blogspot.com/

Suzanne Austin - http://whatsinalousyananut.blogspot.com/

Joana Studer - http://joanastamps.blogspot.com/

Tami Sanders - http://tamisanders.com/

Emily Niehaus - http://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Priest - http://hydrangeahippo.com

Kim Howard - http://basementstamper.blogspot.com/

Meet the Teacher Gift

Hard to believe my firstborn child is starting kinder on Tuesday! We had Meet the Teacher today and I made this little gift for her to give her kindergarten teacher.

I found the jar at Dollar Tree a while back and bought quite a few of them to have on hand for projects such as this one. The tag is made with digital papers from You Are... by Meghan Mullens. The font is DJB It's Full of Dots Straight Up. I cut out the tag using a scalloped Spellbinders Nestibilities die. The ribbon is some I've had in my stash forever. It was a quick and easy gift!

Fishing Game!

I had to share this cute fishing game I made a couple of weeks ago using Boardwalk Blues by Mari Koegelenberg and Karen Lewis.

I grabbed Lori Whitlock's 5x7 shadow box from the Silhouette store. I only added a patterned paper from the kit to the frame of the box, and left the rest of the box frame white. I just opted to sponge the edges with blue ink and then stamp them with the wave stamp from The {Stamps} of Life. The outside of the box measures 6" x 8" (the opening is 5x7), so I created a canvas in Photoshop that was 6"x8" and then created the bottom of the fishing pond using a paper from the kit. I printed that out and cut it with my paper cutter. I had the Silhouette Cameo cut out the fish. I reversed the image on half of the fish (flip horizontally) and then glued them together. As I glued them together I added tiny metal washers to their bodies to make it possible for a magnet to pick them up.

I used long lollipop sticks for the poles and tied Caribbean twine by The Twinery around them. I attached magnets to the other end of the twine. I assembled the box (super-easy once you watch Lori's video on how to do it), and voila! We have a super-cute fishing game that my kids love playing with!

Mojo Monday card sketch (On a Friday!)

Mojo Monday has this awesome sketch this week, and I thought I would play along. Consider this your sneak peek for some Sugarplum Paperie goodies coming to the Sweet Shoppe on Saturday, 5/12/2012!

Kitschy Kitchen papers
Natural Beauty mini kit
Bleached Cardboard papers
all by Sugarplum Paperie

coming to SSD 5/12/2012!

Recollections rhinestone stickers
Sentiments4Circles by The {Stamps} of Life
ribbon by My Arts
Sizzix & Cuttlebug embossing folders
Paper Studio gemstones

Thanks for looking!

Thank You Card

Just thought I'd share a quick card I made using Meghan Mullens Tree Hugger kit. This color palette is one of my most favorites ever - there's just something so happy about blues, yellows, and bright greens all together!

The Thank You stamp is by The {Stamps} of life. The button and ric rac have been in my stash of stuff forever. The twine is by The Twinery. I used Close to My Heart ink in ocean for the sentiment.

The {Stamps} of Life and Clearsnap Blog Hop!

Happy FRIDAY!!! 

The Stamps of Life and Clearsnap are having a blog hop featuring The Stamps of Life stamps and Clearsnap inks and other fun products. Be sure you comment on all the stops along the hop because prizes will be randomly chosen among the comments!



The Stamps of Life will be giving away a prize to 3 lucky people – one stamp set (of the winner’s choice) per winner.

Clearsnap will be giving away an assortment of Stephanie Barnard Colorbox Premium Dye inks.

Here's the card I created.

I used the happy2becircles stamp set by The {Stamps} of Life in conjunction with the Stephanie Barnard ColorBox premium dye inkpad in Blueberry. I used the Stephanie Barnard ColorBox premium dye inkpad in Bubblegum to ink the edges of the scalloped circle. The paper and other card elements are from the gorgeous digital scrapbook kit "Berry Sweet," by Mari Koegelenberg. It will make its debut in the Sweet Shoppe on Saturday! I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the scallops, scalloped circle, and flower sticker element.

Here's the entire blog hop list - make sure you hit all of the stops and leave comments!

Clearsnap – http://clearsnap.blogspot.com

The Stamps of Life http://stephaniebarnard.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Streiff - http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/category/inks/clearsnap/
Sabrina Alery – http://sabrinaalery.blogspot.com

Deb Felts - http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Stamps%20of%20Life
Steph Ackerman - http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com
Lydia Fiedler - http://www.understandblue.blogspot.com/
Mary Dawn Quirindongo - http://mypinkmexico.blogspot.com/
Kim Howard - http://basementstamper.blogspot.com/
Daniela Dobson - http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/
Tami Mayberry –  http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/search/label/clearsnap
Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com
Laura Williams –  http://www.lauralooloo.blogspot.com/
Kim Pargeter – http://stampinriley.blogspot.com/
Vicki Garrett – http://summerthymestudio.blogspot.com/ < -- You should have come from here!
Joana Studer- http://joanastamps.blogspot.com/ < -- You are here!
Emily Niehaus - http://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/ < -- Go here next, but leave me a comment first!
Beverly Sizemore - http://bevscreativepath.blogspot.com/

Thanks for hopping with us!

Seed Packet Card Blog Hop and Giveaway!

I'm so excited! One of my most favorite hybrid template and cutting files designers, Kelleigh Ratzlaff, has been busy creating templates again! I just LOVE her latest creation - it's a super-quick and easy template that has tons of possibilities! Check out what I did with it!

And the inside, with a Silhouette download card tucked inside the pocket:

Paper from Heartfelt digital scrapbook kit by Kimeric Kreations, available at The DigiChick on 4/26/2012. Thank You stamp from All4Moms by The {Stamps} of Life. Flower on the front from Aphrodite in the Mirror digital scrapbook kit by Sugarplum Paperie and Krystal Hartley at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Ecru crocheted ribbon by May Arts. Garden Green and Blue inks by Close to My Heart.

There are all kinds of things you can tuck into that cute little pocket!

Be sure to check out all of the stops along the blog hop to see the many different ways you can use this template! Leave a comment with your contact information, because Kelleigh is going to be giving away TWO $10 gift certificates to her store at The DigiChick!

The deadline to enter is Thursday evening at 9 pm Eastern time. Kelleigh will be posting the winners on her blog on Friday.

Blog Hop participants:

The Hybrid Chick
Ria
Nikki
Andrea
Rachel
Roelien
Cathy
Elise
Ceci V
Michelle P <<-You should have come from here!
Joana <<-You are HERE! End of the line!

If you want to get your hands on this fabulous little template, head over here!

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to leave a comment with your contact info!

Cookie Cutter Brownies!

I was inspired by this blog post to make these (and this photo gave me the idea for turning the gingerbread people cutters upside down to make reindeer).

I used Betty Crocker's gluten free brownie mix for these, mostly because that was all I had on hand and I didn't really want to make brownies from scratch. Using the gluten free mix means I can bless a friend of mine at church with one, since she can't eat gluten any more.



I lined a Wilton 15.25 x 10.25 x .75 jelly roll pan with parchment paper. I placed the cookie cutters onto the parchment paper. Then I mixed up the brownie batter according to the directions on the box (using Earth Balance margarine in place of the butter, since Earth Balance is free of milk proteins), and filled each cookie cutter about half way with the batter. This particular batter is fairly thick, so I had to spend some time pushing it into the nooks and crannies of the cookie cutters.

I baked the brownies at 325° for 20 minutes. Do yourself a favor, if you don't have an oven thermometer, GET ONE! The temperature display on most ovens is inaccurate (ours is 25° cooler than the digital display reads). Having a thermometer inside your oven will increase the consistency in your baked goods.

I let the brownies cool, and then I mixed up Spectrum palm shortening with some powdered sugar. I didn't measure it, sorry!. I placed the icing into my piping bag using THIS method (which TOTALLY rocks, mess-free piping bags? YES, PLEASE! Take the 3 minutes to watch the video, it's completely worth every second), and went to town. I admit these would probably be cuter with bright colors, but I don't have any food coloring in the house and a trip to the store to purchase some was out of the question.

I'm going to package these up, cookie cutter and all, and label them with cute Christmas tags. I'll post a photo of the completed packaging once I've finished it!

TSOL and The Twinery BLOG HOP!!!

Are you ready for some fun?
The {Stamps} of Lifeand The Twinery Design Teams are playing together for this hop!

About The Twinery

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it’s eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you’re gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, our baker’s twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! Our baker’s twine comes in 14 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look. For creative ideas & more…visit OUR BLOG!

About The {Stamps} of Life

We feature high quality, made in the USA, clear stamps and digital stamps/brushes for stampers, card makers and scrapbookers. Feel free to browse our gallery with more than 2500 samples using our stamps, watch our free how-to videos and join our club!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be 2 prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs:

One winner will win 2 stamp sets (winners choice) valued at $12.95 -total retail value: $26.90 per prize! from

The {Stamps} of Life

&

One winner will win the Ultimate Color Sampler Pack ($25 value!) from The Twinery!!!

The prize winners will be announced on The {Stamps} of Life and The Twinery Blogs on Wednesday November 16th.

Here's the card I created using Christmas4Him, Swirls2Build, Holly4Christmas and the Maraschino twine.

Green paper by The Robin's Nest, black ink is Licorice Premium Dye Inkpad by ColorBox and Stephanie Barnard. Other ink is by Versamark.

The hop list:

The Twinery Blog

The {Stamps}of Life Blog

Jeanne Streiff

Julie Ranae

Deb Felts

Monique Hansen

Vicki Garrett

Monika Wright

Emily Niehaus

Emily Leiphart

Beverly Sizemore

Hera Frei

Tami Mayberry

Stacey Winters

Lydia Fiedler

Caroline Stender

Kim Pargeter <<< You should have come from here!

Joana Studer <<< You are here!

Katrina Hunt <<< Go here next!

Laura Williams

Jen Carter

Kim Howard

Jenny Suchin

Sheri Twing

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to leave a comment to be entered in the drawings!

Altered Milk Carton Template

Head on over to The Hybrid Chick to see what I did with a milk carton template by Kelleigh Ratzlaff! You won't be disappointed!

Birdhouse Explosion Box

It's been a busy summer! I haven't had much time to write blog entries, though I have been busy creating! I'm hoping once the kids are in mother's day out come September, I'll be able to sit down and write lots of blogs to catch you up on everything I've been making!

I did want to share this cute little explosion box I made using Kelleigh Ratzlaff's Sweet Birdhouse Template and a great collab kit, Life is Sweet, by Meghan Mullens and Misty Cato.



Hope you enjoy!

Two More, As Promised!

Running in here right quick to share the last two projects I talked about yesterday! Kelleigh Ratzlaff has this awesome new box template just in time for Mother's Day!



And here's my second little 3" card with Dani's grab bag!



That's it for now - I'm super-busy with lots of new products coming to Sweet Shoppe Designs on Saturday!

Thursday is new release day at The Digi Chick, and making new release day even more exciting is the fact that the first Saturday in May is always iNSD (interNational Scrapbook Day). That means lots of awesome products from lots of awesome designers AND lots of really, really fabulous deals and sales throughout the weekend!

There are a TON of really great grab bags and other things available this week, and so I have several to share with you. First up is the digital layout I created using the grab bag by Mye De Leon. Isn't it so soft and pretty? The layout also uses a template from the grab bag collab between geniaBenia and Cluster Queen Creations. Seriously, 16 templates for just $4? That's a quarter a piece and totally worth every penny!

From the Arty Pants Grab Bag, this also uses Sugarplum Paperie's The Old Garden Gate and a border clipping mask from Mye's grab bag listed above. The flower was made with a Nestabilities blossom die and I used my digital brushes from The {Stamps} of Life All4Moms set.

Finally, here is one of three projects I created using the absolutely HUGE Color Me Happy grab bag by Dani. It's a little 3" card. I'll have the other two projects on the blog tomorrow - right now they're still in various stages of assembly on my workspace. I anticipated getting all three done today, but when your 18-month old teething son wants you to hold him, it makes it a little hard to get any paper crafting done!

I hand-cut the medallion, and added some Lilac twine from The Twinery to the card and button. I just love that purple!

Stop back tomorrow to see the other two projects I created with Dani's yummy grab bag! Happy shopping and scrapping this weekend!

Blog Candy Entry & Another Project

First, check out the awesome Nestabilities blog candy Col's Creating Memories has going on her blog until May 15!



And now the little hybrid project I made using Kristin Cronin-Barrow's digital scrapbook kit, Go Green. I took a 4" bar coaster and created this little piece of artwork. I applied Mod Podge to the coaster and then put the background paper on it. I sanded the edges, and then adhered the second layer. I absolutely HAD to make some paper roses from the newsprint paper in the kit. I printed it on regular copy paper and then created the three paper roses. I wrote a tutorial on making the rosettes (the outer flowers) for Jennifer Fox a while back. The center flower was made using this fantastic tutorial by Scrappy Cath.

A Couple of New Releases

A couple of my designers had new releases this week at Sweet Shoppe Designs and I thought I'd share what I made.

First is the layout using Libby Pritchett's Paper Clips - Photo Sheet Templates. These are really great templates for creating multi-photo layouts.

Penny Springmann released her digital kit, I Am (previously available as part of The Digi Files in March) and I used a couple of the papers to make this adorable little teapot using a resized and modified template from My Time Made Easy (I converted the pdf to a psd file in Photoshop CS5 and created some clipping masks for my papers). The original teapot holds 40 tea bags, but I wanted something much smaller to hold a few pieces of chocolate.

I added some Prima Marketing flowers to the top and then stacked a button, a flower rhinestone, and a pearl on top of that. I just love how cute and dainty it is!

Princess Cards

Here are the cards I made with the Princess4Life stamp set. This set is SO super cute!

The first one uses papers from Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Baby Girl digital scrapbook kit. I used my Silhouette to cut out the banner element to attach to the card. A friend asked me where I got those teeny-tiny clothespins - they're a digital element in the kit! Have I mentioned how much I love my Silhouette?

Next up is the princess card that uses Zoe Pearn's Summer Sorbet digital scrapbook kit. The swirls are cut from a QuicKutz die. The label is a Nestabilities die. I had to add some tiny rhinestones to the crown for added bling!

Finally, there's another happy birthday card using Sherwood Studios' Posy digital scrapbook kit. The flowers were made with Stacy Molter's Flower Templates & Cutting Files. I cut them with my Silhouette. The label is that same Nestabilities die.

Hybrid Cards

I created two square cards this week using brand new goodies from The Digi Chick!

First up is the way cool floral collage digital stamp by Arty Pants. I used Refresh: The Kit by Mari Koegelenberg for both cards.



I copied the dragonfly and butterfly a second time so I could cut out their wings and glitter them. I really wanted to use my crystal clear glitter by PK Glitz but apparently it is playing hide and seek on my workspace, so I used some of my Martha Stewart glitter instead.

My second card was based on this week's Mojo Monday sketch #188.



I used a little bit of twine from The Twinery to make the bow on the button, and then added a little Prima Marketing gerbera daisy flower to my accordion flower.

Not Your Typical Template Use...

Quick, run over to The Hybrid Chick blog and see what I did with this template! I guarantee you'll be surprised. ;)

Blog Hop!

Are you ready for some fun?

The {Stamps} of Life and The Twinery Design Teams are playing together for this hop!

About The Twinery:

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it's eco-friendly and made in the USA.
Whether you're gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a
friend, our baker's twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at
hand! Our baker's twine comes in 11 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted
against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a
creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun,
candy-striped look.

For creative ideas & more, visit OUR BLOG!

About The {Stamps} of Life :

We feature high quality, made in the USA, clear stamps and digital stamps/brushes for stampers, card makers and scrapbookers. Feel free to
browse our gallery with more than 2500 samples using our stamps, watch our free how-to videos and join our club!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be 4 prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs:

Two $20 gift certificates from The {Stamps} of Life

and

Two Colorful Bunch Sampler Packs ($20 value!) from The Twinery!!!




The prize winners will be announced on The {Stamps}of Life and The Twinery Blogs on Tuesday May 3rd.

Here's my card, inspired by Taylored Expressions sketch #135. The papers come from the Golden Afternoon digital scrapbook collab kit by Shawna Clingerman and Penny Springmann. I used the houses4us stamp set by The {Stamps} of Life.




Here's the hop list - if you got to my blog post without going through the hop, be sure to start at the top and work your way through, leaving comments so you have a chance to win!

The Twinery Blog
The {Stamps}of Life Blog
Jeanne Streiff
Julie Ranae
Deb Felts
Monique Hansen
Vicki Garrett
Monika Wright
Emily Niehaus
Emily Leiphart
Beverly Sizemore
Tifany DeGough <-- You should have come from here!
Joana Studer <-- YOU ARE HERE! :D
Katrina Hunt <--Your next stop!
Laura Williams
Jen Carter
Kim Howard
Jenny Suchin
Sheri Twing

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Hopping!