A Giveaway and Please Vote!

My friend Heather, the owner of Angel Face Designs on Etsy is having a giveaway!  She makes ADORABLE jewelry and wine charms.  She does metal stamping, isn't that cool?  You can get things personalized to your liking, I really want to get one with the babies names on it.   You should check out her shop, you'll love it!  It is super cute!  Check out Heather's giveaway HERE.  

Also, EtsyInspired DT member Shannon has made it onto another round of MFT Idol!  Woohoo!  She's made the most FABULOUS girl's night out set for this week!  You MUST go vote for her!  Vote HERE for Mrs.Mac!  You have until April 1 at 10pm EST to vote, hurry!

CAS With Unity's March KOTM

Have I told you all that I have a fairy Godmother?  This special person makes the Unity KOTM appear on my doorstep each month.  There's no invoice, no name, no note, but I am SURE I know who it is.  

This is my first card with the March KOTM, which I received on Saturday.  I tried my hand at this week's SCS Clean and Simple challenge.  The challenge was a sketch by StampGroover, you can see her card HERE.  There's nothing to this card, just one layer.  I put Stickles on the cloud and added some dew drops.  Easy peasy!  

So, on to Day Two of no Daddy.  Yesterday went well, but I broke down and cried last night when Brady was calling for his Dad from his bed.  That kid just kills me sometimes.  But overall, it was a good day!  Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Reverting Back

This card was made for a VSN challenge on SCS.  The challenge was to be inspired by the shark reef at the Mandalay Bay Hotel Casino.  Also, you had to use a playing card on your project.  

I kind of reverted back to my old ways on this card, it's not what I would call Clean and Simple.  I have no idea why I did it but what can you do?  The card is from a scrapbooking deck I got at the Dollar Tree.  It has 54 "playing cards" with different words and definitions on them.  The little whales are from Unity's Mix Up of Cuteness set.  I paper pieced them and used pop dots to give more dimension.  I'm not sure I like this card but I guess it meets the requirements of the challenge and that's good.  :)

So, today is DAY ONE of no dada.  We are doing well so far but it's before lunch still so we'll see how the day goes.  Happy Monday everyone!

Viva Las VSN

So, after last week and the mini album I made, I'm kind of tapped on mojo.  But I really wanted to play along with some VSN challenges for the mini yesterday.  If you didn't get a chance to play along, you still have until tomorrow (Monday) to submit your creations!  

My first card is for Jenn Buck's challenge.  The challenge was so be inspired by the beautiful flowers on the Bellagio Casino ceiling.  And to use a transparency on your card.  This is the ONLY transparency I have.  You might remember it from last time I had to do a clear card challenge.  I just stamped a sentiment from Unity's Aug KOTM, added some bling, and a flower with a brad.  Super simple but like I said, I don't have a lot left in me after last week.

The next card I made is for my good pal Sherry Campbell's challenge.  She asked us to be inspired by the colors of the Venetian Hotel.  Now, the Venetian is one of my favorites since it has a gondola ride that runs through it and the whole thing looks like Italy.  It's a very pretty hotel.  The colors Sherry had us use are burgundy, gold/yellow, blue, and white/cream.  Again, tapped for mojo, I went super simple.  This is Unity's Gratitude = Joy stamp set.  I just layered paper.  

Anyhow, the next VSN mini will take place in April.  I hope you will join us.  It's just a fun day of chatting on the SCS forums, lots of challenges, making new friends, and you can even get chances to win prizes.  I LOVE VSN!

Unity World Record Blog HOP!

(EtsyInspired post was moved to Friday, please scroll down)

Woohoo! The BIG day is finally here and it's time for the Unity World Record Inspirational blog hop! I hope you are joining me from the talented Jan's blog. If not, please start at the Unity blog and hop to ALL 215 blogs with us! Ack! Isn't that crazy?!?

Here's my inspirational quote, long but it changed my ENTIRE LIFE. No joke.

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

~Marianne Williamson

My creation has absolutely nothing to do with this quote. It's a mini album for my hubby who is leaving on a 3 week business trip. It serves two purposes: 1) To remind him what he left me with and 2) So he remembers what he'll come home to. I used Unity's Cuter Than Most, Daddy's Little Helper, and assorted KOTMs and grab bag journalling spots. The DP is all Cosmo Cricket.

Now head over to the uber sweet and super talented Shannan Tuebner's blog. She's AMAZING!

Random.Brady and EIC28 Winner

***Second post for today, please scroll down for EtsyInspired (a day early)/Hip Hop Hangover***

Okay, so super fun Random.Brady pictures this week.  Yesterday was the first day I put Brady in shorts and a t-shirt this year.  It's gotten rather warm around here.  Guess what?  He actually leaves his shorts on!  Isn't that crazy?  I guess he just doesn't like pants.  Anyhow, I put him in an outfit I just LOVE that I got him last year and it still fits!

So, today I have for you a then and now Random.Brady set of pictures.  The first one was taken last May and the second one was taken yesterday.  Please ignore the black eye in the second picture.  He was playing with a bin he shouldn't have been which I keep under a table, slipped, and hit is eye on the table.  My poor kid is so banged up and bruised.  Funny though, if you look at DH's baby book, you'll get the same story!

And the EtsyInspired #28 challenge is Catherine!  YAY Catherine!  You can go HERE to see Catherine's beautiful card!  We had lots of great entries this week and Catherine won the random drawing!  Catherine, please email me your full name and mailing address so I can give it to Alliebeans to get that small pouch to you.  And a HUGE thank you Alliebeans for the awesome giveaway and all the inspiration!    

EtsyInspired #29 ~ Handmade By Rebecca

I have a really special shop for you all this week. Handmade by Rebecca is a shop that is run by a fellow paper crafter that you probably all know and love Rebecca Grohall, her blog is Bella Carta and she's amazingly talented! She's not just a paper crafter either! She dabbles in a bunch of different crafts. I wish I was multitalented like her! She makes jewelry and does felting along with her paper crafts. Also, she's a Twilight fanatic like me! So, there's some super fun Twilight inspired things in her shop. I wish I could show you her whole shop, but you go look in there. I was really drawn in by this silk scarf that she STAMPED with Unity Stamps. Oh my, so pretty! She's made a bracelet with Prima flowers, gorgeous. And she has so much fun Twilight stuff!

This week, Rebecca is giving away this awesome wall hanging made with Unity stamps! (Unity is one of my favorite companies, if you didn't already know that. All you have to do to win is go to the Handmade by Rebecca shop, choose any item to be inspired by, make any creation that you'd like and post a link right here to this post. Since she's a card maker, you are allowed to CASE her but give her the proper credit please. All entries need to be linked to this post by next Friday April 3 at noon Pacific. You will be entered in a random drawing to win. Now, go be EtsyInspired!


I made a Twilight inspired card this week. What can I say? The movie just came out on DVD last weekend, I needed to celebrate. :) I was inspired by THIS bracelet. I cut the heart out of metallic silver paper, Stickled the life out of it and then covered it in Crystal Effects for extra shine. I added the red bling like on her bracelet. Ohh, and I used this cool Basic Grey paper that SO reminded me of Twilight.



Be sure to check out the rest of the DT too!

Heather

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Kristen

Lee

Lindsay

Shannon

Taylor

Tiffany

Tonya

Ky's Challenge

My friend Ky has a fun little challenge on her blog.  She asked us to use some pretty flowers that she got for her anniversary as inspiration.  Go HERE to see the challenge.  

I combined this challenge with the SCS Sketch Challenge this week.  It's just a super simple card.  I just got this stamp in the mail yesterday from my friend Kristen.  It's Unity's Flower Trio.  Isn't it sweet?  I'm also using this card for the Unity Hip Hop challenge to make a spring card.  Man, I'm such a multi-tasker!  

Have a great day everyone!

My EtsyInspired #28 Card

FINALLY!  Ok, I've actually had this done for a couple days now but I was waiting to post it since I wanted to use it for a reminder post.  I was inspired by THIS awesome pencil case.  

It's been a really long time since I've made a card like this.  I fell in love with the floral paper and decided to try to cover up as little of it as possible.  I just added a quote on DP from Unity's Something Within set, ribbon, and rhinestones.  Super easy but the point of this card is that amazing paper that I'm just in love with.

Anyhow, don't forget to play along with this week's challenge!  All you have to do is find inspiration in the Alliebeans shop, make something, and link it to my original post on March 21 by Friday March 27 at noon Pacific time.  You will be entered in a random drawing to win a small pouch from Alliebeans!

Flutter By Wednesday #50 & Vote for Shannon!

Wow!  Flutter By Wednesday has hit the 50 mark!  Woohoo!  Danni is offering blog candy this week!  Just play along to be entered!  Run over to Danni's blog to see the picture of the awesome candy and enter!

This week, we were given a sketch by Maria Bell to use for our challenge.  My friend Carole sent me some amazing Basic Grey paper last week and I've never used any before so this is my first time.  I also used my Basic Grey Butterfly Bitty Stamp set.  There's organdy ribbon on there, not sure you can see it and I finished with a couple Primas and a brad.

Check out Danni's blog to see the special guest designer Catherine St. Clair's creation and featured stamper this week Heather's creation.  Plus, there's that awesome blog candy!  Check out the rest of the team!

Ami
Ann
Ashley
Cassie
Cathy
Heather
Jodi
Kimmie
Kristie
Michelle

Other news:

Also, my good friend and EtsyInspired DT member Shannon is in the top 9 for MFT Idol.  Please go HERE and vote for Mrs.Mac!  She rocks!

Super Quick Post

We have so much running around to do today.  Dustin is off today and we have to prep for his three week trip since he'll be working 10 hour days until he leaves this coming weekend.  I'm so sad about this whole thing!

Anyhow, this is an Easter card I made.  It's a bit like one that I've already made but I wanted to try the grass on top of the eggs this time to make it look like they were hiding.  Also, I painted Shimmerz Blingz on these eggs to make them sparkle.  

Hope you all have a great day!  Oh, I have more exciting news!  I was chosen to be a Showgirl for the next VSN.  Join us on Saturday March 28th for the first VSN mini for this season!  YAY!

Some Exciting News and A Card

Guess who is finally on a REAL STAMP COMPANY DT?!?  I'll give you a hint, it's ME!!  (Good hint, huh?)  I've been holding this in for so long and I'm bursting to tell the world.  Marti from Pez-A-Doodle asked me to be a guest design team member!  YAY!  There's a new release coming up in just about a week and I've seen some sneak previews, they are FABULOUS!  So, be on the look out for lots of Pez-A-Doodle eye candy from me and the super fun that comes with a new release next week!!!

In other exciting news, Mandy from Limelight featured one of my cards on her blog.  You can see the post HERE!  I just about fell out of my chair when I saw my card on there!  Thanks Mandy!  Also, Limelight has their first ever scrapbook sketch challenge up on their blog today.  I can't wait to play along.  There's even a prize!

Ok, and in normal not that exciting news, here's a card I made last week.  This was for last week's color challenge.  I NEVER do color challenges because I don't feel like I ever have the right colors since I don't have many SU colors but this one I was able to replicate with what's in my stash.  I used Hey Chick from Unity.  Ohh, and Kraft paper.  I got some from WishRAK.  I only have a few pieces but I'm loving it.  AJ would be so proud to see me using Kraft.  She thinks it's pretty sad that I don't have any.  And a big thanks to Dawn who lit a fire under me to get this card done!  

Photo Tagged...Again

Have I shown this picture before?  I can't remember.  I've been tagged AGAIN.  By Lindsay.  It was probably her the first time too!  :)  Maybe we should try looking back like 4 months and seeing if I've written the same thing with the same picture.  

This is Brady's first bath.  Look how tiny he was.  I love him!  

Now these tagging games have rules and here they are:

•Open your photo folder on your computer

•Open the 6th folder of photos

•Select the 6th picture

•Post the picture on your blog with a description

•Invite six friends to join the challenge

•Link your six friends to your blog post

I will tag:

~Heather

~Danni

~Kerry

~Wendi Winn

~Emily

~De

EtsyInspired #28 ~ Alliebeans

This week's EtsyInspired artist is Alliebeans. They make handmade fabric accessories. They make pencil cases, makeup bags, pouches, keychain pouches, wristlets, gift sets and more. Allie is the owner. She is an architect and at night she makes these gorgeous bags because she just loves to sew so much. I love all the cute fabrics she uses with adorable animals. She also had cute geometric patterns for people with non critter wearing tendencies. And there are just lots of other cute fabrics that fall somewhere in between. She also takes custom orders so you can contact her through the Alliebeans shop and work with her on making your own custom bag. How cute would these be as gifts for bridesmaids made to match their dresses??

This week, Alliebeans is offering up a small pouch for the prize. The winner of this challenge will be sent a small pouch of Allie's choice but you KNOW it's gonna be super cute! All you have to do to win is make ANY creation you would like based on any of the amazing items in the Alliebeans shop. Take a picture of your creation, upload it to your blog or SCS or PCP (please use keyword EIC28) and post a link right here on this post. All entries are due by noon Pacific time on Friday, March 27th. Everyone who plays will be entered in a random drawing to win! Now, go be EtsyInspired!

I had a really really hard day yesterday and didn't have it in me to make a sample for this week. Sorry, I'll be back later on this week with a sample.

This is Tiffany's card. Isn't it super cute with the paper and the sewing mannequin? How fun!

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT too!

Heather

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Kristen

Lee

Lindsay

Shannon

Taylor

Tiffany 

Tonya

Random.Brady and EIC27 Winner

***Second post today, scroll down for HHH***

This is Random.Brady at that park.  Isn't he cute?  I actually wasn't there for this since I asked DH to take the little guy out of the house so I could sleep.  He went down the slide ALL by himself!  He's so big!

Ok, Random.Brady picked Wendy to be the winner for this week's EtsyInspired Challenge.  You can see her GORGEOUS card HERE.  Thanks for playing along with us Wendy!  If you could email me (under Contact Me in my sidebar) I will get you that AMAZING prize from Pez-A-Doodle!  Thanks so much to Marti at the Pez-a-Doodle shop for giving us such a wonderful prize this week and the awesome coupon code!!  

Eggstra Special HHH

Unity's Hip Hop this week was all about Easter.  How fun!  It's coming you know?  And you know what else Easter means?  That's right, Lent will be over and I can buy supplies again.  :)  But enough about me and my selfishness!

At the Unity Hip Hop, they released a new stamp designed by my good friend Lindsay Spencer.  It's on her blog and so stinkin cute!  I love it!  And Unity's having a 30% off sale.  Yeesh, can you say amazing?

Anyhow, my first card is made for the Unity challenge to make a card with an oval on it.  This is also for the Limelight Sketch.  The challenge over at Limelight was to use their sketch and something fuzzy or fluffy.  I don't have any flock so I went with this fuzzy felt ribbon.  

And in the theme of all things pink and blingy, here's my next card.  Did you know there was a moment on Thursday when I thought I was over using pink and bling??  Can you believe it?  I actually thought about giving them up or cutting back.  But then I remembered that no one would believe that they are on my blog if there was no pink and bling.  

This card is for the Cafe Mojo challenge to use your stapler!  I love my stapler!  It's pink.  And I have pink staples for it, can you tell?  They are hot pink!  SO cute!  Anyhow, my friend Carole sent me these images of Petey the Peacock from Unity's KOTM.  I would have cut him out but my hands were a little shaky from drinking coffee on Wednesday when I made this card.  (That was the day Brady woke me up at 5am.)  But it's pink and covered in Stickles, what more could you ask for from me?

Anyhow, happy Hip Hop Hangover day and I'll be back in the afternoon with the EtsyInspired winner.  You have until noon Pacific time to enter!

A BIG Thank You

Earlier this week, I got a HUGE package of happy mail from my friend Carole.  She sent me stamps, paper, the most amazing chocolates I've ever tasted, but what really touched me was the books she sent for the babies.  I mean, how sweet is she to go out of her way and send something for the little guys?  

I tried to wait until Friday for Random.Brady picture time but I can't wait one second longer and I think Carole needs her own post.  This is Brady after he discovered the books.  I didn't give them to him, I just left that out in my office.  He came in and "oooohed"  and "aaaahhhed."  I guess he knew they were from him because he took them over to the living room and read them while he drank his milk.  

So, thank you Carole for being such a sweet friend and always putting a smile on my face!  And Random.Brady thanks you.  Tank Coo, he would say.  :)  

Challenges for a Challenging Thursday

It seems like lately, by Thursday Brady and I are just sick of each other.  Sigh...  What can you do?  Well, I think I got the ok from Dustin to send him to daycare just two mornings a week.  Hopefully, we'll be able to scrounge the money to do it.  

Anyhow, here are some cards for some challenges this week.  The first one is for Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday.  This week, Taylor's little girl Ava Grace (who was the guest Twinkie for the week) came up with a color challenge.  It was Close to Cocoa, Garden Green and Whisper White.  I did what I could.  I'm not thrilled with this card but what can you do?  The owl is from Inkadinkado.  The background is Wispy Grass from Unity.  This was a really hard color challenge for me since I'm usually using lots more "girlie" colors.  

This next card I made for a Paper Makeup Stamps challenge.  There is a sketch on their PCP group, there's a link on the blog.  I'm limited in my PMS since I gave up buying supplies for Lent so here's the Swirlie Tree again.  I only have one sentiment from PMS so I left off the sentiment and used a little bling instead.  This is just super simple.  

  

EtsyInspired Reminder!

Hi everyone! Just a quick reminder that you still have until Friday at noon Pacific time to do the EtsyInspired challenge! Just look for my post below and follow the instructions! You will be entered in a random drawing to win a $20 gift certificate to Pez-A-Doodle!

And don't forget, I have a Pez-A-Doodle discount code for you! 10% off your purchase if you use coupon code etsy10! YAY!

2RedBananas and Today's Sketch

Look at me, making an Easter card BEFORE Easter!  I am SO on top of things.  Hehe!  I say that b/c I often end up making holiday cards after the holiday actually passes.  

This is using today's Sketch Challenge over at SCS.  I combined that with the 2RedBananas Challenge to make a spring themed card.  The lovely Jen Erickson sent me a couple goodies from March's Unity KOTM  for winning a prize from here and I had to ink this egg up.  How cute is it??  I paper pieced them since I'm not sure if I can actually color these.  I used SU designer paper for the eggs.  The background the eggs are sitting on is Unity's Wispy Grass.  

Now, I'm off to enjoy this spring day with Mr I've Been Awake Since 5am!  Hugs to all!

Flutter By Wednesday #49

Wow!  It's Wednesday already?!?  I can't believe it!  That means it's time for Danni's Flutter By challenge.  And GUESS WHAT?  I'm the featured stamper this week!  :)  So, you can also see my card on Danni's blog.  The challenge this week was to use buttons along with our butterflies.  Not too hard, I do love the buttons.

This is a card I made for this week's SCS Featured Stamper, Twinshappy.  THIS is the card I CASEd.  I changed up the colors, stamp set, used buttons instead of brads, left off the sentiment and some other stuff.  Also, this is for the Pink Elephant challenge this week which is also to use buttons.

I HAD to use this butterfly ribbon since Danni loves butterflies and I thought she would like the ribbon.  This is a new (to me) Unity set I traded my friend Carole for.  It's called Spring in the Mail.  I really love this set!  It's perfect for spring!  That's all, easy peasy.

Please check out all the FABULOUS Flutter By ladies in my sidebar.  And if you play along, please use keyword FBW on SCS or PCP.  Leave a comment for Danni too!  

St Patty's Brady and GO VOTE FOR SHANNON!

This is Brady in his St Patrick's Day garb.  He HAD to have this shirt.  He picked it out himself at Target and would not let it go.  Luckily, it was on sale for $5 so I bought it for him.  This is the FIRST time he has ever shown interest in clothes so I figured I would get it for him.  Especially knowing how often he likes to take his clothes OFF.  

So, Happy St Patrick's Day from Random.Brady.  His shirt says "Not Lucky, just Cute."  Appropriate, wouldn't you say?!?  I think so.  

In other SUPER EXCITING news, my friend and DT member Shannon Bracken made TOP TEN in My Favorite Things Idol!  Her screen name on SCS is Mrs.Mac.  Go HERE to vote for her!  

Happy St Patty's Day!

Ok, so I didn't really make a St Patrick's Day card.  I'm not even sure I have stamps for that but I did make a green card, that counts right?  

I'm an oddball that celebrates St Patrick's Day even though we aren't Irish.  I think it's the love for corned beef.  We always had corned beef and cabbage on St Patrick's Day growing up.  This year, we are on a tight budget so we aren't able to do that but hopefully we can have some soon.  But today, I'm gonna make green milkshakes for DH  and Brady so we'll still celebrate!

My card is actually for the Clean and Simple Challenge on SCS.  The challenge was to be inspired by Robeez shoes.  Here's the pair I took my inspiration from.  I love this Unity set!  It's called Cuter Than Most.  The little aliens are so cute and perfect for me since I have a little boy.  I don't actually have this set, the images are RAKed to me by my friend Ky. Thanks Ky!

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!  Be safe but have fun! 

EtsyInspired Rules

I wanted to post this since I've been getting some questions from people and I thought I would share the answers with everyone.  

1. You can make ANYTHING you want.  Just because we are mostly card makers, it does not mean you are limited to making cards or even just paper crafting.  You can make jewelry, a cake, a drawing, a poem, do a dance, etc...  It doesn't matter to me what you do as long as your inspiration comes from the shop.

2. You may enter as many times as you wish.  If you find a prize or a shop particularly interesting and you want to make 10 items, go ahead.  However, each one must be either uploaded to your blog, SCS or PCP and you must leave a separate comment to each individual item.  

3.  You need to mention that you made the creation for the EtsyInspired Challenge.  It's not fair to take something you made last week and try to submit it.  The point is to find inspiration from these amazing artists.

4. There are no vendor requirements.  Ever.  

5. All creations are due (linked the the original EtsyInspired blog post for that week) by the following Friday at noon Pacific time.  Please remember to link your creations!  It would be a shame not to be entered if you made something.

6. You may combine the EtsyInspired challenge with any other challenge you wish.  I know that some of us are very busy.  If you want to combine this challenge with your DT work, SCS challenges, or a challenge from another blog, no problem!  

 

7. Tell all your friends!  Ok, so this isn't really a rule but it would be awesome.  The more people who play the merrier!  Also,  if we can get a larger following, I'm sure that larger prizes will follow!  

And as always, thanks for all your support with this challenge!  EtsyInspired is my baby and I absolutely love it so I hope you are getting joy from the challenge too!

Crazy Sunday

Yesterday, Brady came back from my mom's house.  I ASKED for him to come back in the morning however they disregarded my request.  They brought him back at 1pm after a 5 min nap in the car.  Well, he refused to nap here so you can pretty much guess who the rest of my day went.  

So, today we switch gears.  This is Parker.  :)  In just about 3 months, I get to meet him.  I'm beyond thrilled and I just can't wait to have another baby!  This ultrasound is actually from a couple months ago.  My scanner broke and after a while, I just gave up and took a picture of the ultrasound.  I still think you can see his head, his little arm, and even his foot.  Speaking of his feet, I've discovered that the little guy LOVES sugar!  Any time I have some dessert, he turns into a wild dancing machine in my tummy!  

So, here's to hoping that today is a better day and I'll get to share a paper creation with you tomorrow instead of a picture of one of my kids.  Happy Monday everyone!

PMS Blog Hop!

Not too long ago, my friend Katie Cotton started an amazing stamp company called Paper Makeup.  She has the cutest stamps ie sweet little fairies, adorable animals, and beautiful quotes.  Today, is the PMS (that's the nickname for the company, hehe) blog hop!  It's going to be so much fun!  There are new releases, games, challenges, and prizes!  Check out the PMS blog for the details!  

I made a card from the Panda Hugs set but I really wanted to do a classy and elegant card so I left my friend the panda off.  I used the beautiful heart flourish for the background and the You Hug My Heart quote on top.  I love that sentiment!  I put some Stickles on the heart, added some bling, and tied on some ribbon.  Easy peasy!

Check out everyone else in the blog hop too!

Lisa Kind - http://kindcreations.blogspot.com

Jennifer Greco - http://glitterinmyhair.blogspot.com

Tangii Crain - http://www.tangiink.com/

Danyel Owens - www.psychostamper.blogspot.com

Lisa McKinney - http://www.lisabeesponderings.blogspot.com 

Dawn Knight - http://dawnsrubberroom.blogspot.com

Melissa Craig - http://stampitscrapitshareit.blogspot.com

Ashley newell - http://hearthugsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Ceal Pritchett - http://simplybeautifulcreations.blogspot.com/

Tina Hale - http://woodedviews.blogspot.com/

Jamie Morris - www.jaymerzstamps.blogspot.com

Shannon Bracken - http://shannonssentiments.blogspot.com

Cheryl Penner - http://mycreativetherapy-cheryl.blogspot.com/

Tenia Nelson - http://www.jazzypaper.blogspot.com/

Nancy Bush - www.southernyankeecrafter.blogspot.com

Joni Wilson - http://astickysituation.blogspot.com/

Kimberlee Doktor - http://craftingforsanity.blogspot.com/

Sara Henton - saracreativemind.blogspot.com

Cassie Larson - http://www.fortheartofit.blogspot.com

Shaela Odd - http://www.shaelaodd.blogspot.com/

Heather Lee-Reppen - www.inkonmyear.blogspot.com

Kim Stewart - http://impressyourself.typepad.com

Christi Thorsen - http://cici510.blogspot.com/

Katie Cotton - http://papermakeup.blogspot.com

EtsyInspired News!

If you didn't already know, I'm about to have a baby.  :)  But I really wanted to take care of my EtsyInspired challenge while I was gone since it is also one of my babies.  So, I've decided that for the next four months, the EtsyInspired Eight will become the EtsyInspired Eleven!  I've asked three more wonderful crafters to join my team while I get ready for baby, have the baby, and recover.  

The ladies are:

Kristen Dyer

Tonya Hopkins 

Taylor Usry

Leave them a little love.  They will be debuting next Saturday.    My hope is that their varying styles and fun personalities will give you more inspiration to keep doing the challenges.  Not that I need 3 people to replace me but I love alliteration!  :)  And don't worry, the EtsyInspired challenge will still be posted right here on my blog!  Thanks for everything and don't forget to check out this week's challenge down below!

Toddler Free Saturday = Challenge Cards!

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Brady is still at my mom's so I had a fun day to myself!  I baked, watched some TV that didn't have cartoons on it, napped, chatted with some friends, and made some cards.  Yay me!

On the Greeting Farm blog, Marie issued a challenge to case a card.  You can see the challenge HERE.  I knew I wanted to make an Ian card.  I borrowed Joni's idea of having Anya in her underoos (Dress Me set from The Greeting Farm) actually be Anya in her bathing suit.  I applied this to Ian.  I also used Joni's clever trick about stamping them on tan paper instead of white so you don't have to color all the skin.  So, that's my lounging in the pool Ian card.  Maybe I should call him Swimming Ian.  Oh how I wish it was warm enough to swim!

My second card is for the sketch over at 2RedBananas.  They are going to start having a challenge every Sunday to play along with.  Isn't that fun?  This is my second try at this sketch.  I wasn't happy with how the first one turned out.  Here, I used Unity's Butterfly Beauty.  I painted Shimmerz which I got from 2RedBananas on my Primas and added some brads.  I did  little bit of doodling with some markers and this is what I ended up with.  This is also for SCS's Limited Supplies Challenge if you count each different kind of paper as a layer.

EtsyInspired #27 - TR Mack Studio and a Sponsor

This week's EtsyInspired artist is TR Mack Studio. I was really drawn in by the stunning colors and the beautiful tree silhouettes. This is definitely my kind of art. Bold and eye catching. I enjoyed the backgrounds of the dots and mosaics. This shop offers original paintings, different sized prints, mini prints and ACEO prints. With the wide selection, it's perfect for any size home or if you just want to collect some small pieces of art. Believe it or not, the artist is self taught! Check out the TR Mack Studio shop and be EtsyInspired!

This week, things are a little different. Since the artist couldn't afford to do a giveaway at this time, I was just gonna give away something from my stash BUT through some crazy miracle Marti from Pez-A-Doodle emailed me and asked if she could sponsor a challenge. Isn't that AWESOME?

Now, if you haven't been to the Pez-A-Doodle shop, you must run there! They have the CUTEST exclusive stamps that are based on Marti's own little girl. I'm showing you an image of the sweet Pezzy who I am just in love with! Marti also carries whole lines of Studio G stuff, embellishments, mini kits, tools, Tim Holtz stuff, and much much more!

The awesome prize this week is a $20 gift certificate for ANYTHING in the Pez-A-Doodle shop! Ack! I would be like a kid in a candy store! You can also check out the Pez-A-Doodle blog for updates and fun challenges! Not only that, but Marti is giving you ALL a coupon code for 10% off your purchase!! Just use coupon code: etsy10.

This week's card was so hard for me! I've made three different cards and I don't really like any of them.  I think it's because I like the shop so much, I haven't been able to make anything that I find suiting.  This is Unity's Dream Tree and the sentiment is from Unity's Butterfly Beauty.  

Here's the list of the team, please visit their blogs for amazing inspiration!:

Taylor Usry (March Guest Designer)

Heather

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Lee

Lindsay

Shannon

Tiffany

PS Tomorrow, I have an exciting EtsyInspired announcement to make!

Random.Brady and EIC Winner

So, I've decided that every Friday (like it or not) will be Random.Brady Friday.  Hehe, since he's everyone's favorite random drawing picker he should have his picture shown off.  So, here he is in all his curious glory.  :)

This week, Random.Brady is at Grandma's so Random.Dustin will just have to do.  Random.Dustin picked De to be the winner.  You can check out her card HERE.  De, contact me with your info and I will pass it on.  Thanks to Expressing You for being our shop this week and giving away a cool prize!

Come back tomorrow for our first ever STAMP COMPANY SPONSORED challenge.  The prize is killer!  I love it!  

Hip Hop Hangover, I'm Psychic!

Happy Hip Hop Hangover Day aka Friday!  We had a wonky hip hop yesterday since SCS decided to be crazy.  But we still had fun!  I have a couple cards to share with you today.

This first card is for Wednesday's SCS sketch challenge.  I used Tanis's house from the Unity January Kit of the Month, which I got by trading with my pal Jacquie.  Seriously, how cute is this little house??  I thought it should be yellow and after much deliberation and chatting with some friend, the trim should be pink.  I love pink!  The pink card stock is Cuttlebugged with Swiss Dots.  The designer paper is from Target (I love that $1 bin!)  I actually matted the house on some DP too, it's a subtle green patterned paper.  And I added some crystal effects to the windows and dew drops the corner of the card.  I really like how this turned out!  

My next card fits a whole bunch of challenges which is one of the reasons that I'm so psychic.  ;)  Okay, really I'm psychic because I made this card yesterday and a bunch of the Unity DT members used this same set on their cards.  It's Gratitude = Joy.  I love this set!  This card is for the Unity Addicts challenge to use green as a focus, the Limited Supplies challenge to make a card in under 30 minutes, and the Ways to Use challenge to make a card that's green.  Way to multitask huh?  

Happy Friday everyone!  Come back tomorrow for our EtsyInspired challenge with our first ever stamp company sponsor!  I'm so excited!