Memorial Day H{ippity} Hop!

It's Memorial Day here in the US. It's a day for us to recognize and honor all those that serve and have served in the Military and fight hard to keep us all safe. In honor of that, Kelly's H{ippity} Hop challenge this week is to make a card or two to send to Operation Write Home. You can read about all the details here. It's a great organization and we would be so proud to have you join us in sending in some cards for the troops. There are a few guidelines, so make sure you read through them before sending in your cards.

I whipped up 2 quick cards Friday night and I'm sending them in to OWH. It's another round of CAS for me, but I think the color combos are fun. Plus they use some of my favorite images from Life's Little Moments.

I made a birthday card and then a lovey card. Cards are the the same, I just changed up the stamps a bit. The love quote comes from A Moment in Time.
You can buy Ippity HERE!

Stop by the ippity blog for the full line up!

Dude! It's hot!

I've got another Billy card for you today. I can't believe I have never inked this one up yet. It's from the Sporty Billy stamp set and man, I sure wish I was riding that wave. It is so super hot here in the midwest, and feels even worse sitting at the soccer games. Thank-goodness for the pool and lakehouse. Hope you all are finding a way to keep cool. Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Great sales going on over at Limelight Papercrafts, keep cool, stay inside and do some shopping at Limelight Papercrafts.

Want 20% off your entire order?Through Monday, May 31 ONLY, enter MEMORIALDAY at checkout to receive a whopping 20% off of your entire order!!

Soccer Thank-you's

It's the end of soccer season once again. We have a tournament this weekend and then we get a break until Aug. I love that I can come up with a cute, fun, and different soccer card each year for our coaches, thanks to my stamps. This year I kept it CAS and used sweet little Billy by Pink Cat Studios. Mandy has a great stock on Pink Cat stamps and I've been a fan of Billy's since the beginning. With a house full of boys, how could I not. LOL! I used the soccer Billy from the Sporty set and decided not to color him, and used a fun pop of color with this October Afternoon dp. I think it's from one of their first lines- Detours. Our team was lemon yellow this year, so I added a strip of that color just for fun. Finished it off with some twill and burlap string!

Stop by the Limelight store and see what other fun Pink Cat Studio stamps are there-Mandy just got a whole new batch in!

Millie for Joanne!

I can't pass up one of Joanne B.'s challenges. Have you seen it? She's got a fun sketch + 3 challenge on her blog. There is blog candy up for grabs, but I'd play for free, lol! And if you read her +3 list, well....I think I hit the whole list (okay, I used all but 4), hahaha! I used sweet little Millie Mouse by MFT, pieced her up with some Cherry Hill dp by October Afternoon, added some gingham with the MFT Perfect Plaid ribbons, used a text print dp from the same paper pack. I stitched on my borders and used kraft for my card base and sentiment. I thought she had felt on her list, but instead it was denim-oh, well. I still love the soft, prettiness the strip of MFT felt adds to the card. Oh, yeah, I also added the scalloped scallop die-namics strip to the bottom of the sketch. The sneak peeks start today for the next MFT release...I can't wait to see what the new die-namic dies will be. thanks for a great challenge, Joanne! Stop by her blog to play along.

post no. 3-{ippity} + Unity = Hip Hop!

****Please Scroll Down for the Limelight Papercrafts Sketch and Product Challenge AND for TSG SNEAK PEEKS***

Not a lot of chit chat today. I'm busy with the last day of school fun for my boys. I always loved the last day of school and I love making this day full of fun for my own kids. So today I'll just post my card and send you on your way. It's CAS all the way, but as one of the sentiments from the
The Simple Things

set, says, "sometimes simple says it best!

I kept a neutral card and added a pop of color with a red button. Need some {ippity}? You can buy it here!

Be sure to stop by the Unity and {ippity} blogs for all the fun details and then join us for a day of chit chat and prizes in the forum.Off you go to Maria's blog. I know she'll have some fabulousness for you!

Limelight sketch and product challenge!

Have you seen all the wonderful goodness Mandy has added to the Limelight Papercraft store lately? I can't keep up! LOL, BUT that's a good thing-more choices and all the latest and greatest. It seriously is a great place to shop! This week we have another sketch and prodcut focus challenge for you. Here's the sketch and our focus is fluff and fuzz.

Isn't is just a fabulous sketch? I just love anything with scallops. Here's my take on it and I used felt for my fluff and fuzz!

The stamp is from the Nov.09 Unity Store Kit of the Month- believe in fairytales. It is out of stock, but have you seen all the other Unity stamps! Paper is yummy jillibean soup, as are the letters-alphabeans! Ribbon and burlap string are also from the store. Come play with us for a chance at a prize! Here's what you need to know:

**Use the sketch above and a fluff and fuzz

**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC048

**Post a comment with a link to your card to Mandy's blog and the challenge post by Sunday, May 30, at midnight (or before winner is drawn Monday a.m.)

**PRIZE: One lucky winner will receive a Webster's Pages Coco BLOOMERS.

Up next is the very talented-Lynn

Don't forget about the amazing sale!

15% off your entire order?

Enter MAY15 at checkout!

Day 3-There She Goes Peeks

How fun was yesterday's hop? I loved all the sea scape scenes created. That set is sure a beauty!
I Hope you are enjoying the sneak peeks. I hope you just came from Kim's blog. If not, then you need to start back at the TSG blog for a chance to win today's stamp set. Today we change gears and we get to share a set for the men in our life. I'm sure a lot of you are like me and struggle with masculine cards, well, now I have a perfect manly set that will make Father's Day cards that much easier. Today we're showing you the stamp set, Dadisms. Again, another huge set-37 stamps in all! Here's what I have for you. I used my top note die to cut some cork-have you added cork to your stamping supplies yet? It's soooo cool to work with and I think it's perfect with any masculine card. I even stamped on it! I used 5 different stamps from this set. One of my faves is the text block of all things Dad's say-I love it! I think I could check off all the ones on the block, yep-my dad said them all! hahaha! I even did up the inside. It really adds the finishing touches to any card and I love that I could add 2 more stamps from the set to say, Happy Father's Day to my dad.

Would you like a chance to win the Dadisms stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their Dadisms Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own Dadisms stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (May 29th) during the Release Party Chat. Have fun, up next is Mercy.

Day 2- There She Goes Sneak Peeks

As great as the other two stamp sets are that There She Goes is releasing this month, this set is my favorite! I just love the ocean, the sea, and anything to do with it. Plus, it was a perfect set to watercolor with and lately, I've rediscovered this technique. The set we get the show you today is called By The Sea. I just know the DT will have some fabulous samples for you. Hopefully you just arrived from Kim's amazing blog. If not, hop on back to the TSG blog to start things off.
I first cut out some watercolor paper with my nesties lable 10 die, then I stamped the main sea image and watercolored with my aqau painter and watercolor crayons. I added the sail boat and the birds to complete the scene.


At the last moment I decided to stamp and emboss the shell image and add it on as a charm to my bow. What about the sentiment? Isn't it so beautiful and motivational. I was really drawn to it, so I used it here today.

Would you like a chance to win the By The Sea stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their By The Sea Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own By The Sea stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (May 29th) during the Release Party Chat. See you back here tomorrow. Be sure to finish the hop, off you go to the oh-so-talented, Mercy.

TSG Sneak Peeks Begin

ahhhhh, I just love release week! It is just so exciting to share my creations of these fabulous new stamps and I love to see what the DT has done with them. Like I say every month-you are going to LOVE these stamps. They are so unique and are an awesome addition to any stamp collection.
Hopefully, you just arrived from Jody's blog. If not, hop on back to the TSG blog to start the fun. First up is A Woman's Place. If you are at all familar with There She Goes stamps, you know how many images Jessica squeezes into a set-this is no exception. It's an amazing kitchen,-scene builiding set and as you can tell from my sample it works perfectly with Domestic Goddess!
See her glass of wine? This is me. I love to cook and when I do, I usually have a glass of wine in hand (okay, so not really during the week, but as long as I don't have to taxi the kids around it's okay!) The sentiment reads, "I love cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food."

Would you like a chance to win the A Woman's Place stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their A Woman’s Place Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own A Woman’s Place stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (May 29th) during the Release Party Chat. See you tomorrow for another peek at a new TSG stamp set. But, first, be sure to finish the hop, Mercy is next!

A quickie for H{ippity} Hop!

***POST no. 2-Scroll Down to See Jessica's Surprise Birthday Hop for TSG!***

Finally we've got some sunshine. We needed the rain, but I've been ready for some sunshine. I just wasn't expecting the humidity with it! WOW, it's 88 degrees today! I've been busy doing lots of gardening (did I tell you we bought a plot in the community garden right up the street-it's awesome, but a lot of hard work. Let me just say-I HATE WEEDS!!!!) and yard work. Good thing is, the hard work is almost done and our yard and the garden look great. We even had our first fresh salad with our homegrown lettuce last night-yummmm!

With all this out door work, my crafting time was minimal all weekend. I did whip up this card for the H{ippity} Hop. This week's challenge (IHHC25) is FAUX anything-I went with a Faux Silk technique. I love the soft, subtle texture it adds to a card. It's easy, and quick, and really is pretty.

Stamps I used today are from Now & Always and sentiment comes from The Simple Things. Want some {ippity}?? You can place your order HERE!

Maria's Blog is next! Here's the link to the {ippity} blog for the full list of players today!

Suprise! Happy Birthday Jessica!

Oh, boy, do I love being part of pulling off a surprise. Today is Jessica's birthday and the There She Goes DT has been plotting and scheming to pull off this Surprise Birthday Blog Hop! Hopefully you just arrived from Heather's awesome blog. If not, then be sure to start back at the beginning of the hop, so you don't miss out on all the fabulous birthday cards and wishes for Jessica. Oh, and if you feel like leaving a little love for Jessica, you can do so at the TSG blog or on her personal blog-I know she'd love it! Here's my card for Jessica! I used the amazing birthday set from TSG, Make a Wish!
I used one of Mercy's sketches again, and some yummy Oct. Afternoon-fly a kite dp, and this card came together fairly quickly. It's so bright and cheerful, I'm sure Jessica will love it!

Hope you have a fabulous birthday, Jessica. You work so hard to bring us amazing stamp sets, an awesome stamp company, and a fun and fabulous DT to work with-you deserve the BEST! Wishing you HUGE birthday hugs on this special day!

Off you go to Holly, the mastermind behind this whole surprise (thanks Holly for your time and for organizing all this birthday fun!). enjoy the rest of the hop!

How about a Chuckle?

I got some new-to-me There She Goes stamps this week! Jessica creates some of the cutest and funniest stamps I have ever seen. Love the ROTF Taglines-they just make me laugh. sorry, it's out of stock right now, but Jessica is great at getting product back in the store ASAP! I had to ink up this sentiment first, becuase as organized as I like to think I am-a lot of days this is how my brain actually feels! hehehe!

Crazy, fun papers are from the Cosmo Cricket mini deck-Road Trip. I've also been embracing my skinny grosgrain ribbon. I think I made 4 cards this week with it! Sketch is by Mercy-MTSC74 .

Did you know there is a Friday night chat in the TSG forum every week? Come see what it's all about. 7 pm Pacific time!

Ippity and Hip Hop!

Can I get a Hip Hop? Love Thursdays.....love to see ippity and unity all in one place! I've had fun creating this week and I used a great sketch by Maria to make my first card today.

I actually ended up simplifying the sketch a bit, but the basic layout is still there. Used the awesome new ippity set, Fall For You to make this sweet love birdie card that I will be sending to my sister and her fiance'. Their wedding is fast approaching and I thought it would be nice to send them a card, just because.

I even did up the inside since there were more words in this set that would work with my card, plus it's a nice added bonus to the recipient of a card to see it all done up on the inside, too! Paper is more deee-lish Fly a Kite by Oct. Afternoon. Swooooon!!!! I also have another quickie, CAS card I made earlier this week for the CAS challenge-make a clean and simple shabby chic card. This time I used my fave flower from Now & Always along with the sentiment from A Moment in Time. The flower is pieced up with Thrift Shop dp, crumpled and sponged with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink! You can order your {ippity} HERE!
Okay, so off you go. Maria is up next! Remember to leave comments along the way for a chance at a prize! Oh, and did you see who was joining us today???? THE super talented and HUGE {ippity} supporter, Jen Marie! She won last week's lace H{ippity} Hop challenge, so she get's to be a part of our hop today as an extra Guest Designer! Be sure to leave her some extra love, too! We are so happy to have her join us today.

Limelight and Esty Inspired Challenge

I'm a sucker for a good challenge, so I can't believe this is the first Esty Inspired challenge I have played along with. WOW! fabulous stuff on that blog. This week, Limelight Papercrafts is the sponsor and you still have time to enter! There is some amazing inspiration to chose from this week. I went with this photo



I was drawn to that crystal knob in the center, the woodgrain, the aqua blue color, and the flowers hanging on the left. I knew right away that I would use one of the awesome Vintage Sparklers by Webster's Pages. Then I went through my stash of Unity that Limelight carries and I pulled a few from my FAVE store KOTM-Sept.09, Everything Extraordinary. This is what I came up with.

I stamped the image on some Oct. Afternoon dp, colored the flowers with copics, and tied off the vintage sparkler with some burlap string (LOVE this stuff!!!!).

Get your cards uploaded to the EIC blog for a chance at a great prize from Limelight.

Be sure to stop by Limelight Papercrafts-they have

NEW Basic Grey and LAWN FAWN STAMPS!
Want 15% off your entire order?Enter MAY15 at checkout!

How about this Cutie Patootie?!

I just had to ink this cutie up the moment I got him last week. He's a new addition to the My Favorite Things line up. The stamp set is called, Little Loveosaurus! I couldn't resist him!I also used two other new MFT goodies-felt and the cloud dies! Did you hear the news? MFT has their own line of steel dies, called Die-namics and I couldn't be happier! I also used the new scalloped scallop die they came out with- see it, on the bottom of the olive dp (that's Jillibean soup, btw). I used the negative of the scallop, because I thought it looked a little like chomp marks. I colored the loveosaurus with copics. Quick and easy. Hope you like him. Enjoy the day!

H{ippity} Hop with New Ippity!

Sooooo after a much needed few days off from crafting, I am back! Yes, I admit, my creative brain was fried after all the new release excitement and a Dirty Dozen gallery deadline. I needed a break. My parents came into town and so by Friday I had my craft room cleaned and now I'm ready to create again. Ahhhhh, it's so refreshing to come into a clean craft space! Why oh, why don't I keep my space like this more often, lol!

Anyway, I'm back and can't wait to share a simple and fun card made with new {ippity}! I do love these stamps. Today I focused on the amazing sentiment set, Delightful Little Things and added a touch of Burlap on my card base. I just love this positive message! I drew my color combo from the Oct. Afternoon dp-Fly a Kite-ripe avocado, Hawaiian shore, and a touch of Enchanted evening. The olive scalloped strip is actually a bit of felt and it just warms up the card, I think. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot I added the stamped frame from Season of Joy-fits perfectly with Labels 10 nestie die.

I've got the new {ippity} stamps in stock. You can purchase them HERE! I wanted to take a moment to say, Thanks for all your sweet comments last week for my sneak peek cards. Your kindness is sooo appreciated. Check out the Ippity Blog for a full list of inspiration. I'm sure you'll see lots of new stamps being used!

Come See Our Garden

It's the 15th of the month, and that means the May Dirty Dozen Gallery is now open! If you are a SCS Fan Club member (if not, go ahead and join today :) you will be able to see all the gorgeous garden creations the team has made. While you're there be sure to say hello to our two newest members- Julie Campbell and Darleen Admo. Their work is amazing!

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts"

What are your "Garden Thoughts?" If it grows, it goes this month - flowers, vegetables, trees or garden dwellers are all planted in this month's theme, so dig in!