Thinking of You card *Inspired By Stamping*

Hello there friends. Today I'd like to share with you a card I created with beautiful products from the Inspired by Stamping store along with scraps from a previous project. As most of you know, last month IBS teamed up with Die Versions for a fun blog hop. I used the background die as a mask and created a one of a kind accent on my scrapbook page found here.

I loved the effect of the mist on the cardstock so much that I decided to use that as a background on this card. Because the paper had glittery mist on it, I decided to use a gold embossing powder for my sentiment to make the elements coordinate.

 I added a satin trim and a yellow from, both from the IBS store to finish off this card. What do you all think?

     

Everyday greetings stamp set, Inspired By Stamping

Vintage Floral Paper, Inspired By Stamping

Rosewood Satin Ribbon, Inspired By Stamping

Yellow Medium Flowers, Inspired By Stamping

Others: Cardstock, Die, Orange mist, Gold embossing powder, adhesives

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!

Hello friends. Today is a special day for memory preservers all around the world. It might sound silly to some but we celebrate the first Saturday of May every year as the "National Scrapbooking Day". It's a day to commemorate all the documentation that we do and why we are passionate about it. Here's a quote that I found a few weeks ago from Big Picture Classes that sums up how I feel about scrapbooking in general...

Here's a blog post I created last year which enumerates my personal reasons for doing what I do. It hasn't changed since then so I'm just going to link you to the original post. This following layout is one of my earliest scrapbook page. My style has definitely evolved since then but my love for memory documentation remains.

Looking for fun ways to celebrate today? Check out the following links. There will be many things going on today...virtual crops, blog hops, giveaways and challenges. Visit your favorite scrapbook site and you might feel overwhelmed. I know that I've felt that way before so this year, I'm picking only a handful to participate in. I'm definitely going to visit BPC to check out their activities...

Then I'll hop over to Inspired By Stamping site to check out the deals...

and the fun challenge they have. Oh don't you just love that color combo?

and finally what is a NSD post without a couple of recent layouts? Here's a couple I've made in the recent months...

 Papers and journaling blocks from Elle Studio; Stars from Pink Paislee; Sequins and washi tape from Studio Calico.

Letter stickers from American Crafts; Epoxy dots from My Mind's Eye; Cardstock from WorldWin papers; Frame and stickers from Heidi Swapp.

I wish all of my fellow scrappers out there a fantastic day. Let's all cheer for the art of memory keeping and being able to be a part of this great community. 

Till next time,

Grace

That Smile layout *Inspired By Stamping*

Hello there crafty friends. I know this project is a bit different from all the floral themed projects you've seen in this blog this month. I have loved using the new releases but I was also itching to use some bold colors on my next project and for that I veered slightly away from the floral accents. Instead, I had put together a layout featuring "arrows" and LOTS of it! Thankfully IBS is so versatile in it's stamps sets that I was able to pull out different sets to complete my "arrow" designs.

As I was going through some pictures recently, I came across these four images of my daughter hamming it up in front of the camera while we were enjoying a day at the beach a few years ago. I loved her happy disposition and it reminded me that there's never any stress in life that can't be handled with a little laugh and a whole lotta smiling!

Because the design of the page is mainly geometric, I decided to play with the arrow stamps to create two blocks that added some design to the page. I also made the ends of the arrow to point to my photos directing the viewer's eyes to my images. After that I added one of my favorite sentiments from the new Sweet Pea stamp set which was released last month.

With a some papers, twine and stickers to add dimension, the page was complete. For my stamped arrows, I got the color combination from my daughter's bathing suit, making the arrows blend well with the photos.

I initially added white paint to the edges of my background papers but after some thought, I decided to stamp some more of the arrow design (with red ink) on the edges of my orange paper to give it more design and interest.

I added the round circles with foam adhesive to give it a little bit of a boost. I also placed them in three different parts of my page so that I am able to create a visual triangle with this project.

So there you have it. I hope this project inspired you to gather some of your similar stamps and put them together to create your own background paper.

Happy Creating,

Grace

 

Stamps- Sweet Pea,Inspired By Stamping

Arrows ,Inspired By Stamping

Background Basic Lines ,Inspired By Stamping

Chalkboard Birthday ,Inspired By Stamping

Papers and stickers- BoBunny

Twine- The Twinery

Pen- Millennium, Zig

Others- Paint, Ink pads, Adhesive

Sending you sunshine card *Inspired By Stamping*

Hello crafty friends. 

Today's share is a card created with some stamps from Inspired By Stamping. 

Sending you card

I started this card by coloring the floral stamp. I am admitting that i'm not the best 'colorist' out there so I opted to try it out on a tag first versus on my actual card. Just in case I didn't like the result. I used some colored pencils from Faber Castell to bring some color to the stamped image. 

I then stamped the frame on another coordinating paper, cut it out then adhered it to my card with foam adhesive. I decided to heat emboss the sentiment on yellow paper to make it stand out against all of the background.

What technique have you tried lately that you were super afraid of?

Till next time,
Grace

Card set with Animal trims *Ribbon's Unlimited Inc.*

Hello Ribbon’s Unlimited Inc. friends. Today I’m sharing a card set that I had created inspired by some of the fantastic animal print trims Ribbon’s Unlimited Inc. offers.

I wanted the ribbons and its design to stand out so I opted for a plain (but texturized) background and added a few stickers just to complete the sentiment.

Instructions:

1. Gather your supplies. I started with three white card base, picked some cardstock that will coordinate well with my ribbons, a sticker sheet to match the theme, buttons, twine and an embossing folder.

2. First I cut the cardstock pieces 1/8” smaller than the card base (my card base are A2 sized which is 4 ¼ x 5 ½”) I ran all of them through my Cuttlebug with a striped background embossing folder from Darice. The striped background reminded me of the lines on a cage that we normally see in a zoo.

3. Next I adhered the cardstocks on the card bases and then matched them with the ribbons that I had. 

4. I then cut a slit on the bottom fold of the card so that the ribbons can slip through it to be adhered on the inside of the card. I also tied two buttons around the trims with twine.

5. I layered some stickers, another button with twine and a sentiment on the top of the page to finish off the cards.

I kept the design of the cards pretty similar to one another which made creating this set super easy and fast.

Here’s another look at the individual cards… 

So there you have it. Who says that you can’t have fun with animal prints? With these cards, you can help but get a little ‘wild’!

Happy Creating,

Grace

Supplies Used:

Neon Zebra, 7/8", Ribbons Unlimited Inc.

LilacLeopard Grosgrain 5/8”, Ribbons Unlimited Inc.

Giraffe 7/8”,Ribbons Unlimited Inc.

Cardstock- WorldWin Papers, Bazzill

Stickers- (sentiments) SRM Stickers; (others) SEI

Buttons- Foo fala

Twine- Doodlebug Design Inc.

Embossing Folder- Darice

Scallop die- Spellbinders

Frame punch- EK Success

Welcome Spring! layout *Inspired By Stamping and Die Version Blog hop*

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Inspired By Stamping and Die Versions Blog Hop.  Twenty two talented designers have united to celebrate the new season and shake off the malaise of a snowy winter. Yay!!! Inspired by Stamping, which designs and manufactures the highest quality of photopolymer stamps that bring superior stamping to all crafters, has teamed up with Die-Versions, makers of low profile metal dies which works with virtually every machine out there and cuts through most materials, to create this special eye candy of Spring themed projects.

One lucky "hopper" will get a total prize package of $100 in gift certificates, a $50 gift certificate from Inspired by Stamping AND Die-Versions, so you can stock up on some awesome products that both of these companies have to offer.

For your chance to win the grand prize, visit all of the participating blogs, leaving a comment at each, then leave a comment telling us what you like the most about Spring at the Inspired By Stamping blog. All comments entered between now and April 28^th at 10 pm (Pacific time) will be eligible for the grand prize. We also encourage you to leave a comment on each of the designer’s blogs along the way, I’m sure they would appreciate the love.

Here's my contribution to the hop...

Welcome Spring! layout

Here's a couple of "behind the scene" photos while I was creating my layout...

When I received the background die from Die Versions, I was very impressed at how easy it was to create this intricate dot design. I liked it so much that I thought it would be fun to use it as a mask on my background page. I created the image on plain cardstock and then used that as a stencil over my pattern paper.

To add some "spring" flowers to my page, I used the Daisy stamp from Inspired By Stamping to create my layered floral embellishments. This is a great technique to use up scrap paper cause it adds some interesting look to your stamped images.

To finish off my layered flowers, I handcut them then layered them over each other. I added a button with twine threaded through it as a finishing touch.

I even used the misted cardstock on my page by punching out a tag from it which I layered over another plain cardstock. I loved the layered look of it.

I used the "remember" die to put on the top of my photo. It was a great little accent on the top of the page.

I decided to add a really cool quote on my page so I used this stamp set, cut out into strips then added it to the page. 

And here's the final page again....

and here are some close up shots...

Your next stop on the hop is Leah's blog  and if you ever get lost in the hop you can always go to Die Versions blog and Inspired By Stamping blog for the complete order list.

Till next time,
Grace

Easter 2014

Happy Monday. Hope you all had a great Easter weekend. 

We had a mix of fun and not so fun that went on in our home. On Friday, after school the kids colored their eggs. I love how the kids are never too old for this fun tradition. Here are some photos...

The thing I love about their age is that I can help set up the activity and then watch from the couch. They know the drill and have kept the mess to a minimum. Once in a while I think about how our family dynamics would be this time next year when the baby comes. It makes me enjoy my children's independence a little more, especially knowing that it's going to be all "hands-on" again soon. :)

Here's some of the finished eggs. Maddie took more time in making her eggs have a bolder color that Marcus did but I really like how the vinegar makes the eggs pop versus just water.

Right before dinner started on Friday, Marcus started complaining of stomach pains. After a sleepless night tending to him we suspected he was hit with either some kind of food poisoning or stomach flu. We were suppose to host Mitch's friend and his kids for dinner that night but had to cancel because Marcus wasn't feeling well and we weren't sure if what he had was contagious. Thankfully on Sunday morning he felt better and we were able to go on with our day's planned events.

This past week was a Spring break for me so I had sometime to really plan out our Easter outfits. I love this little tradition with my family. This is the only time in the year that I really make sure we coordinate with our outfits. You can see 2011 outfit here and 2012 here. 

As you can see Maddie and I had matching skirts. I had sometime to sew some simple maxi skirts this week and that's where I pulled our family color scheme. I already had a yellow top so I went with that as the main color that will go across the board. I went to the thrift store later in the week and scored Mitch's tie, Marcus' shirt and Maddie's shirt and jacket. I was so excited when I scored Maddie's lilac jacket as it is a Gap brand and I only paid $2.50 for it. Don't you just love bargains? 

Maddie was the only one that had a purple so I rummaged through the belt section of the store and found a purple floral belt that I was able to incorporate with my outfit. 

Can you tell these kids were told to pose like this? I wonder for how long I can incorporate my need to pose people onto my children before they start complaining?

Here's me and my "mini" me. She's definitely a treasure and I am so blessed to call her my sweet daughter.

After church we had some friends over for the traditional Easter dinner of ham, potatoes and green beans. Then we headed to their home for an egg hunt and some yummy dessert. 

So that's how our weekend rolled. The kids don't have school today and we were planning on enjoying the lovely day outdoors but it seemed like Marcus' stomach flu went back and I'm back to "nurse" duty. Well at least our Easter Sunday went off without a hitch. 

Hope you all have a great week. 

Till next time,

Grace