CSS October 28 Sketch Hop

Welcome to my blog. I hope you arrived here from Linda's marvelous blog. If not, and if you want to start from the beginning of the hop, jump back over to Stamp TV where you will find the list of everyone participating in today's hop.

Today we are doing a sketch hop using this great sketch created by Melissa Cash.

This was such a fun and easy sketch to work with, so I made two cards to share with you. If I'd had more time I probably would have made more, but I will definitely be going back to this sketch again.

Both of my cards were made using stamps from the new Stamp TV kit, Wishing You Joy. I would have to say that this is one of my all time favorite Stamp TV Kits. I'm a huge fan of the holidays, and there are so many fun images and great sentiments in this kit. I'm sure many of my holiday cards this year will be made using it.

Here's the first card:

This was a really quick card to make. The main card base is made with Pure Luxury White heavy base weight card stock and the strips are Pure Luxury In the Navy and Silver Lining. I embossed the strips with some Cuttlebug folders that are one inch strips. They work perfectly for something like this. I stamped the ornament image in Versamark and embossed in silver. The edge of the oval is also embossed with silver, which I did by going around it with a Versamark pen. I colored the ornaments with Copics and filled in the stars with a glitter pen. The snowflakes were in my stash of stuff and I don't know where those came from. Easy to make, but not so easy to photograph; too much shiny, sparkly stuff, I guess.

And, here is the second card:

For this one I used a Pure Luxury Ivory base and Lipstick Red that was embossed with a Sizzix folder from SU. The paper strips on this one are from the Cosmo Cricket Dear Mr. Claus, which is one of my favorite new paper pads. It has a very vintage Christmas look to it and some really fun designs. I stamped the trees onto PL Ivory using Memento Tuxedo Black and then paper pieced them with more of the Cosmo Cricket paper. I didn't put a sentiment on the front of this one because it was busy enough with the paper strips, so it will just get a greeting on the inside.

Well, that's all for me! Hop along now to see what the creative Karen has in store for you. Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (November 1), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that lucky person will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Special CSS Blog Hop

Today we are doing a special blog hop for some very special kids. Our blog hop is a Card Drive for Kids with Spina Bifida. The four kids below were all born with spina bifida and October is spina bifida awareness month, so we made cards to send to send to these adorable, intelligent, fun-loving kids. 


You should have arrived here from Karen's wonderful blog, but if you didn't and would like to start at the beginning so you don't miss anything, jump back to Stamp TV.


I made two cards for the hop (and will be making two more, so I can send a card to each child). Here is the first one that will go to one of the boys, I think. I used the Gina K Designs stamp set called "Framed Friends" for both cards. On this first one I used the little versions of the stamps and then used the large stamp of the kitty for the second one.

This card started with a Pure Luxury Pumpkin Spice base with a layer of Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg dp. I used PL Chocolate, Ocen Mist and Ivory for the rest of the card. I stamped the little animals/bug with Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored with Copics. The sentiment if from the GKD set, Tag Lines. I edged the tag with Memento Potter's Clay.

This card will go to one of the girls. I started with Pure Luxury Passionate Pink layered with SU Going Gray and Echo Park Be Mine dp. The kitty and greeting were stamped with Memento London Fog. The kitty was colored with Copics and the pink sponging around it was done with Memento Angel Pink. I made the dots around the tag using a pink Spica pen.


Would you like to join us in putting a smile on the face of one of these kids (or all of them)? Here is what you need to do:

• Create a fun, uplifting card or cards for one or all the kids listed below (you can click on their names to read more about each of them). The card can be anything cheery, encouraging, supportive, etc.  Please DO NOT send sorry, get well or anything like that. Remember, we want to cheer them up. The kids:
  • Madison: 2 years old
  • Logan: 2 years old. (turning 3 on October 17th!!)
  • Tanner: 2 years old (turning 3 on December 25)
  • Rebekah: 9 years old
• All cards need to have a message in it for the child/family.  Please also sign your name and where you are from.  On the card envelope, write the name of the child.  Please, don't seal the envelope, as the parents might want to read the cards before the kids see them.
• Cards must be received by October 31st to be eligible for the drawing (see below for the photo and list of prizes)
• Mail your card(s) to Giovana Smith along with a piece of paper with your name, address, e-mail address and blog (if you have one). This will help a lot to contact the winner a lot faster!: 

Giovana Smith Card Drive for Kids 181 Perry Way Yakima, WA 98901 

Everyone who mails in a card for each of the children will be entered into the drawing to win this grand prize! 

• Awesome companies have donated amazing prizes for you! More than $400.00 in prizes!!
• Heartfelt Creations: 8 stamping sets + 1 Coordinated Die Set. Value: $150.00!
• Gina K. Designs: 2 StampTV Kits: Value: $70.00 (Gina will send the prize direct to the winner!)
• Unity Stamps: 10 Itty Bitty Stamps. Value: $70.00
• SP & Company: 3 Stamp Set. Value: $40.00
• Lawn Fawn Stamps: 2 Stamp Set: Value: $30.00
• Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: 1 Stamp Set. Value: $11.00
• Spellbinders: 2 die sets!! (Not included in the picture yet)

I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards. Now take a hop on over to Melissa's blog. I'm sure she has something fun and creative waiting for you!

Stamp TV CSS Alumni Inspiration Hop

Welcome to another Stamp TV CSS Alumni blog hop. This time we are doing an inspiration hop based on the fabulous picture below. I hope you got here from Karen's fantastic blog. If not, head back to Stamp TV to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don't miss any of the beautiful creations of the CSS alumni.

Here is the photo we used for our inspiration. Isn't this a gorgeous bedroom? I was inspired by the colors, the textures, and most of all by the rug on the floor.

Here is the card I created based on my inspiration from the photo. I am a bit disappointed with the photo of this card because it doesn't show the shimmer from the SU Shimmer Paint I spritzed on it. I think it is prettier in real life, so you will just have to use your imagination and give it some shimmer!

Card details: 
Cardstock - Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Kraft, Ocean Mist, and Ivory
Stamps: Gina K Designs - Wild at Heart and Tag Lines
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Crumb Cake
Other: Sizzix embossing folder; Stampin' Up ribbon; Stampin' Up Shimmer Paint Champagne Mist

Thanks for stopping by. Now hop along to the blog of Linda Payne and see the gorgeous creations she has to inspire you!

August CSS Sketch Challenge Hop

Welcome to another fun blog hop being hosted by members of StampTV's Center Stage Alumni. This time around the hop is based on a Sketch Challenge. If you came from Karen's  fabulous blog, then you're right where you should be. If not, you can also go to StampTV to see a list of all those participating.

Here is the sketch we had to work with.

The sketch was created by the very talented Melissa Cash who is celebrating her birthday today! We decided to surprise her and design birthday cards using her sketch! We wish you a wonderful birthday Melissa and here's the birthday card I made especially for you!

This is a fairly simple card so I decided to add detail to it with the buttons, not only along the bottom edge of the focal image as depicted in the sketch, but to dress up the flowers as well! The card base is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown. The next layer is SU Crumb Cake and the patterned paper is leftover from a Stamp TV kit. I used Nestabilities long rectangles to create the scalloped brown layer and the focal image layer, which is Pure Luxury Ivory. I stamped the flower from the Gina K Designs set, Garden Silhouettes twice. I used markers to color the petals, stems and leaves.The birthday wishes sentiment is from the same set and is stamped with Vivid Coffee Bean.

A simple birthday wish, but I hope you like it Melissa! :-)

Make sure you leave a comment at each blog as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (August 16th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and the lucky winner will get a stamp set of her/his choice valued up to $24.95!

To continue with Melissa's birthday celebration and to see more cards, head on over to Linda's blog to see her amazing card!

CSS Sentiment Hop

Welcome to the second blog hop for June of the Center Stage Spotlight alumni. I hope you arrived here from the fabulous blog of Linda Payne. If you didn't, be sure to hop back over to Stamp TV and start at the beginning of the hop so you don't miss any of the awesome creations of my fellow CSS-ers!

Today our challenge was to Get Wordy! Gina K. Designs is known for including some of the best quotes and sentiments in its sets. For this challenge we were to use a sentiment or quote as the main focal point. So, here is my card for this challenge. The only thing that is stamped on this card is the sentiment; everything else is designer paper.

This was a fun card to make, but it is more challenging than I expected to just use a sentiment as the focal image and not add in something else here or there. I guess that's why I went for the dp to fill in where I'd have done some other stamping. Try making a sentiment focused card sometime -- it will make you look at your stamp sets and other tools in a different way!


Thanks for stopping by. Now hop on over to visit my friend and stamper extraordinaire, Karen Knegten. Be sure to leave a comment at each stop and you just might be the lucky winner of a Gina K stamp set of your choice valued up to $24.95. A random winner will be chosen on Tuesday from all of the comments left along the blog hop.


Card supplies:
Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown; Ivory; SU Tangerine Tango, Sweet Stitches Designer Series Paper
Stamp Set: Gina K Designs Sew Pretty
Ink: Vivid Coffee Bean and Lemon Ice
Buttons: SU and Basic Grey

Stamp TV Center Stage Alumni Inspiration Hop

Wow! It's hard to believe we are cruising through June and it is time for our first Center Stage Alumni blog hop for the month. Today is an inspiration hop and you should have arrived here from the gorgeous blog of  Karen Knegten. If you didn't and you want to make sure you don't miss any of the wonderful creations along the hop, go back to Stamp TV and start your hop from the beginning there.

This inspiration hop is based on this very fun and summery photo.

Don't you just love the reds and yellows and flowers? The whole photo just made me feel like I was going to a summer party in someone's backyard! So here is my inspiration card.

Of course I had to go with red and yellow as my theme on this card since that is what really grabbed me in the inspiration photo. The base is Pure Luxury Red Hot, layered with Pure Luxury Dandelion. The dp is DCWV Citrus. I stamped the sunflowers from the lovely GKD stamp set, A Year of Flowers and colored them with Copics - R24, R27, R29 and Y15 and Y17. The greeting is from GKD set Stenciled Spring. I poked holes on the corners and then went over them with a white gel pen to  make them stand out. Brads are GKD and I used Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Poppy Parade, and Vivid Lemon Ice inks.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed my summer sunflowers. Now continue along to the fabulous Joy Hadden's blog for more inspiration.

Center Stage Alumni Sketch Challenge Hop

Another blog hop from the Stamp TV Center Stage Alumni group! You should have arrived here from the awesome blog of the Linda Payne. If you didn't, jump back over to Stamp TV and start the hop from the beginning so you don't miss any of the gorgeous creations from the Center Stage Alumni team.

This time we are doing a sketch challenge hop using this fun sketch created by the super talented Melissa Cash!

I had a blast making my card for this hop! I rarely make shape cards so this was out of my usual zone and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It made me think a bit more creatively, which is always a good thing!

I started with a scalloped circle made from Pure Luxury White and cut out using my largest scalloped nestie. The dp is Cosmo Cricket DeLovely. The layers are cut from Pure Luxury Passionate Pink and Key Lime (have you gotten this new color yet from Gina K? It is gorgeous and just says 'summer' to me!) and layering weight white. I stamped the flower from the Gina K set Garden Silhouettes using Memento Rose Bud and New Sprout markers. The sentiment is from Gina K Elegant Flowers. The flowers are from a pack from Michael's and the Baker's Twine is from Raisin Boat.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (May 17th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that lucky person will get a stamp set of their choice from Gina K Designs valued up to $24.95!


Next stop on the hop is Karen. I'm sure she has something amazing to share!