LAST CALL for DT Spots!

Don't forget to do the EtsyInspired challenge this week!  Scroll down to the post on April 24th for all the details!  You could win a pair of earrings valued at $28!  Woohoo!

Also, tomorrow is the DEADLINE to apply for the DT positions.  I will make a post tomorrow asking who wants to put their name in to be on the DT.  One permanent position and one guest spot are currently available.  HOWEVER, you must complete ALL four of the challenge for April to apply for the positions!  Good luck!

It's Hip Hop Day!

Come hang out with me and the other Unity addicts in the Unity forum today!  It's Hip Hop day so that means lots of games, challenges, prizes, 4 new releases, and chatting with the best group of ladies around!  Woohoo!

Here's a card I made for the Clean and Simple challenge this week.  The challenge was to use tiny pieces of ribbon on your card.  I used just a tiny piece to make my ribbon tab.  The stamp is Unity's Create Your Life.  I colored the flowers, added Stickles to them, and finished with Primas and a brad.  Super simple!  

Happy Thursday friends!

Blog Candy Alert!

My friend De is offering up yummy yummy blog candy for her blogoversary. She's a sweet heart so go visit her and congratulate her on her one year! This is just ONE picture of the two things she's giving away! Woohoo!

Flutter By Wednesday #55

Wednesday means that it's Flutter By Challenge day on Danni's blog. This week's challenge is red, white, and blue. I did a spin on red, white, and blue and added a little black. I didn't want to make a patriotic butterfly card this time (not that I'm feeling unpatriotic, I just wasn't feeling the super bold colors right now.)  I used Unity's August KOTM for this card. This is also for the Unity anniversary challenge (FIRST BIRTHDAY) to make a card using Flowers, Insects, Ribbon, Scallops, and Teal.

Please check out Danni's blog for details and more fun samples. The amazing Nancy is the featured stamper this week. If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use keyword FBW so we can find all your lovely creations all in one place. Also, please check out the rest of the Flutter By team, they are in my sidebar >>>>.

One More for VSN and VOTE for Shannon!!

This is my late VSN card.  I couldn't make the deadline for all the challenges since it was a rough weekend for a lot of my friends and I just wasn't in the mood to create.  I think I'm going to try to do the rest of the challenges anyhow just to support my fellow VSN Hostesses!  Don't forget the BIG EVENT is coming up on May 16!!

This is for Carolina's challenge to make a card based on your favorite cocktail.  I found this really cool bag from Trader Joe's and HAD to use it.  I guess wine isn't really a cocktail but oh well.  I cut the wine glass, sentiment, and the circle I matted the sentiment from off the bag.  Woohoo reusing!  The stamp I used on the bottom of the card is Unity's Wine Rack.  

In other news: Shannon Bracken (Mrs.Mac) has made it on to week 7 of MFT Idol!  She NEEDS our votes to stay in the competition!  Please help her go ALL the way by voting HERE!

Maternity Pictures

Today, I thought I would share some maternity pictures that we took over the weekend.  I'm just over 32 weeks pregnant right now.  My step sister took these pictures for us and she did an amazing job.  We are in my parent's backyard for the outside shots and they have a studio inside for indoor pictures.  

Can I just tell you that an almost 2 year old is nearly impossible to take pictures with?  All Brady wanted to do was run off and explore or play.  He's a goof.  We did manage to get some good pictures with him in them though but it was QUITE the effort.  I can't imagine how family pictures are going to go once we have the baby too.  Oy, no one is going to be looking in the same direction!  

And here's my sweet boy loving his baby.  I can't even tell you how absolutely over the moon I am with this child.  He's the light of my life.  Look at his sweet face.  I think that's a face anyone could just fall in love with.  

Hopefully, I didn't bore you too much today with a personal post.  I'm super excited to meet my new little guy and start experiencing life with two children.  Brothers!  I can't wait!  Happy Tuesday friends!

More VSN and Happy Birthday Unity!

I have a couple more cards that I made at VSN to share today.  Remember, you have until 10pm tonight to make cards for VSN mini and get entered to win a prize!  Woohoo!  How awesome is that?

This first one is for Carole's challenge.  The challenge was to be inspired by one of the Beatle's songs from the show LOVE.  You can find the challenge HERE.  I was inspired by the song I Want To Hold Your Hand.  I used an image for Unity's April KOTM.  I really wanted to use pink since Carole loves pink!  And of course, I love pink and brown.  The DP is SU, the ribbon is American Crafts, and I added Primas, a brad, and some Stickles.

The next card was made for Jen's strip challenge.  She challenged us to use strips to paper on our card.  You can find her challenge HERE.  This was quite the challenge for me since I don't like to measure and make sure everything is straight and tidy.  I know, from a CAS card maker, isn't that shocking??  

I made this card with Unity's Bouncy Blue which the AMAZING Lynn Warner sent to me for winning a RAK on her blog.  She's the sweetest!  She sent me a bunch of stuff!  On this card, I made the strips and used the same paper to paper piece the stroller.  I just stamped the sentiment directly on the card base and added some Stickles.  Super easy peasy!

And speaking of Unity, (I used ALL Unity on these cards) they are celebrating their first birthday this week!  Woohoo!  It's so fun!  Check out the Unity Blog for all the amazing details!  There's gonna be challenges, games, and prizes galore!  

VSN Mini Cards

Yesterday was VSN Mini on Splitcoast.  Ack, how fun!  I had lots of mojo going in the morning but it puttered out  in the afternoon so I still have challenges to do.  But that's ok!  Since you have until Monday at 10pm to upload your cards for the VSN.

My first card was for the VSN challenge 1.  Sandy gave a point break down of what things on our cards were worth and we were supposed to try for 21.  Go HERE for the challenge.  I was inspired by my two little guys when making this card.  The red monkey is Brady and the little blue monkey is Parkie.  Aren't they cute??  This stamp set is Unity's Wild and Crazy Bunch, a must have for mommies with boys!  ;)

The beautiful Princess Cleo from Pez-A-Doodle returns for my next card.  The challenge was to use lots and lots of GOLD on your card.  You can find the challenge HERE.  I used some metallic gold card stock (DCWV), colored the gorgeous Cleo in gold sparkly gel pen, and I used gold Pez-a-Bling.  

Today, I'm off to get my maternity pictures taken by my step sister.  :)  If they turn out well, I might share a couple here.  Happy Sunday Friends!

EtsyInspired #33 ~ Opalescence

This week's EtsyInspired artist is Opal from Opalescence.  How cute is that name really?  Come on, I love plays on words!  She was recommended by my friend and EIC player Carole.  Opal spins the most BEAUTIFUL yarn I've ever seen!  The colors are rich and gorgeous.  And just look at that texture.  Oh la la!  If I could knit, I would definitely buy some of her yarn!  Also, if you see something you love, you better buy it now since all of her fiber is hand dyed and each yarn is one of a kind.  I would LOVE to see this yarn turned into a sweater or scarf, just stunning!  Opal also makes different sized stitch markers, earrings, bracelets and pendants.  

This week, Opal is giving away these amazing earrings valued at $28!  She made everything, even the ear wires by hand!  What a talented lady!  Opal is also offering FREE shipping to all our blog readers with coupon code "heart hugs" until May 10, Mother's Day.  If you'd like to win the earrings, just go to the Opalescence shop, choose any of her beautiful creations to be inspired by and make something.  Post a link to your creation right here on this post by next Friday, May 1 at noon Pacific time to be entered in a random drawing to win.  

Also, remember that May 1 is the deadline to be finished with ALL the EtsyInspired challenges for April if you would like to be in the design team contest.  Just complete all FOUR challenges for the month of April.  I will post a blog entry next Friday asking who would like to be entered for the DT spots, leave a comment there.  One permanent design team position and the guest DT member for June will be chosen from those applicants!  You still have time!  Go be EtsyInspired!

Here is my card for the week.  It is inspired by the amazing  Aubergine Wensleydale Handspun yarn and this Butterfly Stitch Marker.  I used the shades of purple from the yarn, the butterfly from the stitch marker, and also the little purple pearls from the stitch marker as my inspiration.  This is Unity's Butterfly Beauty set.  

Please check out the DT:

De (April Guest Designer)

Heather

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Kristen

Lee

Shannon

Taylor

Tiffany 

Tonya

EtsyInspired will be up in the mornin'!

I had a long and busy day.  I had a date with the hubs and now I'm going to bed.  If you want a head start on the challenge, poke around the DT.  I'm SURE someone will post on time but not me.  I guess it pays to be the boss lady sometimes.  

Random.Brady and EIC32 Winner and BLOG CANDY!

This is Random.Brady wearing his Random.Brady shirt that De gave him.  SOOOOO stinkin cute, huh?  Last Sunday, we went to a zoo that is also an animal sanctuary.  They let the chickens and the peacocks roam free through out the zoo.  Brady felt the need to chase one of the chickens, but don't worry, the chicken outsmarted him and ran away.  :)

The winner of the EtsyInspired challenge this week is Valerie!  YAY Valerie!  She made a bracelet!  How cool is that?  I didn't know she was so multitalented!  You can see her creation HERE.  Valerie, email me with what necklace you'd like to have and your address.  I'll get it to Heather.  HUGE thanks to Angel Face Designs for the awesome inspiration and prize this week!  Remember, you can still get FREE shipping until April 30th if you use coupon code "Etsy Inspired."  :)

Also, stop by Shannon's blog for Unity blog candy!  Eeek!  Or don't because it's really really good candy and I want to win.  ;)  

I'm BACK! HHH!

Wow!  It feels like forever since I've been able to participate in Hip Hop Hangover!  Dustin is finally back and life it finally getting back to normal.  I'm sure you can tell in my demeanor.  It is ROUGH to be both Mommy and Daddy while pregnant! Plus, there was QUITE a mess for me to clean up while Dustin was gone but it's pretty much taken care of now.

Enough about me, were you at Hip Hop yesterday?  Wasn't it super fun?  The specials are still going on over at the Unity site, you have all weekend.  There's a BUNCH of cute stamps for 40% off AND there's FREE SHIPPING!  I finally got to place an order and I'm super excited to get it!

My first card is for a challenge to make a birthday card without using "traditional" birthday stamps.  I used my April KOTM.  I seriously messed up on this card so many times.  But I just kept adding until I was happy with it.  Look AJ, I used Kraft!  (Thanks to my pal Lee, I am no longer Kraft-less!)    I started this as a clean and simple card but mistakes happened and this is what I ended up with.  But hey, I like it so that's all that matters.  

My second card was for the challenge to use the colors of the globe on your card.  The trees are from Tiny Trinity and you'll never guess what, I don't think I've EVER used those little trees before.  In fact, this might be the first Tiny Trinity card I've made without the round tree.  I added some paper piercing to this.  The ribbon stuff is all natural and organic, in honor of Earth Day a couple days ago.  And I finished with dew drops.  

Happy Friday everyone!  I'll be back later on today with the EtsyInspired winner for the gorgeous jewelry!  Remember, you have until noon Pacific time to enter EtsyInspired for this week.  

Reminder!

Don't forget about this week's EtsyInspired challenge!  You can win your choice of this necklace or the Tutu Cute necklace!  Also, you can win a spot on the permanent design team or as a guest design team member!  So exciting!  Scroll down to the April 17 post for the details and to link your creations!  Go be EtsyInspired!

Flutter By Wednesday #54

Sorry for the late post, life is so busy right now!  I thought it would be better since Dustin is home now but there still doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.  

Anyhow, it's Flutter By Wednesday!  Check out Danni's blog for all the details, a VERY special guest designer (one of my ALL TIME FAVES!), and our featured stamper the amazing Miss Jodi!  This week was an open challenge.  You could make anything you wanted as long as it had a butterfly or a fairy on it.  

This is my first week  using a fairy.  It's a Stamping Bella Chichiboulie Fairy.  She's cute, huh?  I made this card for my awesome friend Lee for her birthday which was yesterday.  (I'm telling you, I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off around here!)  Lee and I have two VERY important things in common, we LOVE pink and we love BLING!  :)  That's how I was inspired to do this card.  The cupcake and glitter border are Fruit Punch Stickles from Limelight.  Her wings are painted with Opal Shimmerz.  And there's a wee bit of extra bling in the corners.  Happy Belated Birthday Lee!

Be sure to check out the rest of the Flutter By team, they are in my side bar!  And play along with the challenge!  If you upload, please use keyword FBW so we can find your awesome work!  Happy Wednesday!

Pez-A-Doodle Release #3

***Please come back later on today for my Flutter By card***

This is so bittersweet for me. This is my last creation for this Pez-A-Doodle new release. I've had so much fun being on the team and showing everyone these awesome new stamps! And you'll see more Pez-A-Doodle from me, I'm hooked now!

Alright, this amazing new release is part of the Polka Dot Pie line, I think.  It's called Pezzy's Garden.  What's really cool about this is that along with the main image stamp, there are mini stamps you can use to create all sorts of scenes AND a couple borders.  Very fun!  This release goes perfectly with the little Picnicin Bee that I showed you last week.  The borders and minis are interchangeable giving you TONS of different options from just two sets.  Plus, they are extremely affordable!  

For my sample, I colored the main image with my markers.  I added Shimmerz to the flowers and Stickles to the bee and the sun.  It has a nice sparkle in person.  There's also a little bling at the bottom because I really just can't help myself!  

Pop on over to Marti's blog and see all the details of the new release.  Everything is available in rubber today!  Woohoo!

Vote for Shannon and Blog Candy!

Okie dokie, my friend and DT member Shannon has made it on to week SIX of MFT Idol!  She needs ALL our votes to stay in the competition!  You can vote for more than one person, but you can only vote once!  I voted for Shannon and just Shannon!  :)  Go HERE to vote!  (Her SCS screen name is Mrs.Mac)

Onto blog candy:

Tonya has some yummy blog candy to celebrate her 200 followers!  Woohoo!  Go Tonya!  Blog candy HERE.

Debbie is celebrating her blogoversary with HUGE blog candy.  Check it out HERE.

For My Sweet Friend Tiff

Tiffany Johnson is one of the first blogging and SCS friends that I made.  She's so very dear to me!  I call her about everything and her sweet calm demeanor helps me through it all.  I just hope she can lean on me as much as I lean on her.

Tiff and her family are now in Florida spending time with her MIL who has terminal cancer.  I don't even have words to express what she must be going through right now.  If you'd like to send Tiffany and her family a card, please send me an email and I will give you her address.

I have the HARDEST time with sympathy cards.  They are hard for me to make, hard for me to write in, etc...  This is a Gina K. stamp set, I used swiss dots on the mat, and behind are two different DPs but you can't really tell.  I added Stickles to the flowers and the mat.  

Hugs to all my friends!  

Welcome Baby

Don't get excited or anything, that's just the title of the card!  ;)  I made this over the weekend for the Limelight Papercrafts sketch and product challenge.  The product challenge was to use rub ons which I never ever use!

For some reason, every Limelight sketch makes me think baby.  I don't know why.  Anyhow, I have this cute set of baby themed rub ons and and I used a sentiment from that.  The baby is from Baby Talk by Stampin Up.  It was SOOOOO funny, I pulled the stamp out of the box and grabbed for an acrylic block to put it on.  I have forgotten what it's like to use a stamp that already wood mounted.  

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I did!  :)  Happy Monday friends!

Pez-A-Doodle New Release BLOG HOP!

If you just stumbled across my blog today, you'll want to go back to Catherine's blog to start the Pez-A-Doodle new release blog hop! Woohoo! I've been waiting for this day for a while. I really love this image AND that fact that it's going to be the first in a whole new line from Pez-A-Doodle!

FOR THREE DAYS only, Princess Cleo will be available for purchase as a digi before her rubber release on April 22! So, hurry and get to Pez-A-Doodle before she's gone! The BEST thing about the digis is that you can make them as big or small as you need. That and you just store it on your computer so it takes up no space in your stamp room!

Here's my sample for the amazing Princess Cleo! Isn't she so super cute?!? I love her! You want to know why? Well, when I was growing up, it was really hard to find anything but blond hair blue eyed dolls, cartoons, etc... I really love how culturally diverse all the aspects of my life are becoming! Especially stamping since it's such a passion of mine! So, thank you Marti! My kids will never have to grow up thinking there's no cultural diversity in the world and feeling odd like I did! (Asian princess next please! ;) )

I made a triangle treat box for my sample. I thought this princess needed her own pyramid! I think this would be SO cute as a little favor for a birthday party. You could put candy or toys inside. I colored Princess Cleo's outfit in sparkly gold gel pen, so she just shines. The triangle box is made out of metallic gold paper, super fun!

Ok, so to continue the blog hop, you just go on over to Marti's blog (our fearless leader!) Have a great day everyone!

Pez-A-Doodle New Release Clue #3

***For EtsyInspired, please scroll down!***

Eeek!  TOMORROW is another new release day for a BRAND new line from Pez-A-Doodle!  This will just be the first image in a whole new line of stamps by Pez-A-Doodle.  I'm super in love with this one!  To win a FREE digi of this stamp that's being released you just have to make a guess at what the stamp will be.  BUT you have to leave a comment on ALL three days to win.  I'll even give you links to the first two hints Julia and Kelly.  

Here's my hint:

Now, go add all the hints up and take a guess.  :)  Come back tomorrow when we'll be doing a blog hop with the awesome new release!  YAY!

EtsyInspired #32 ~ Angel Face Designs

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Angel Face Designs.  My pal Heather is the creative genius behind this awesome little store!  She's making stylish jewelry for the stylish mom.  She hand stamps the metal with cute little expressions, sayings, names, or whatever you want!  I think that her pieces are really fun, sassy, and cute!  I personally would LOVE a piece with my sons' names on it, I think it's just such a sweet thing.  She also makes jewelry for little girls like this adorable My Daddy Could Save Your Daddy necklace.  How cute would this be for a daughter of a fireman?  So darling!  In addition to that, Heather also makes brag bracelets, earrings, and wine glass charms.  

This week, Heather is offering the winner of the challenge a choice between two necklaces.  The winner can choose either the Mom Squared Necklace or the Tutu Cute Necklace.  I love that Mom Squared necklace, so if you win and you don't want it, please feel free to pass it on to me!  ;)  ALSO, Heather is offering FREE SHIPPING to EVERYONE with the coupon code "Etsy Inspired."  YAY!  

To win the amazing prize, all you have to do is go to the Angel Face Designs shop and pick ANY item to be inspired by.  Make any creation your little heart desires and post a link to it RIGHT HERE on this post by Friday April 24th noon Pacific time.  A random winner with be drawn!  Go be EtsyInspired!  

Also, look at the post below this one if you are interested in a spot on the EtsyInspired Design Team!

Here is my creation for this week.  Holy moly!  It's a layout!  Are you surprised?  I was!  I was inspired by the You are My Sunshine necklace.  Of course, it's a Brady layout.  These are a couple pictures from his 9 month professional photo shoot.  Oh, I miss that little baby!

Please check out all the amazing creations by the design team:

De (April Guest DT) 

Heather

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Kristen

Lee

Lindsay

Shannon

Taylor

Tiffany

Tonya

Random.Brady and EIC31 Winner AND HUGE ETSYINSPIRED NEWS!!

First up is the ever adorable Random.Brady.  This is on Easter.  Our friends invited us over for dinner, games, and an egg hunt.  They even had an awesome little bounce house for the kiddos.  Here's Brady right inside the entrance to the bounce house.

The winner of the EtsyInspired Challenge this week is AMY!  You can see her cute creation HERE!  Amy, please email me your address and I will send So and So Loves over to you!  Big thanks to Make Mine Mud for an awesome week of inspiration and the cool coupon!  I just got a thank you present from Melissa over at Make Mine Mud and let me tell you, this stuff is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!  

HUGE ETSYINSPIRED NEWS!!!

This is really rather bittersweet for me.  Lindsay Spencer is stepping down from the team.  :(  I adore Lindsay and her amazing creations.  I loved every single minute of working with her but she's REALLY REALLY busy right now.  We'll miss you so much Lindsay!  Thanks for all the hard work!

What does this mean for you?  Well, it means that there's a permanent position now open on the Design Team.  Soo...I've decided to extend the deadline for the EtsyInspired DT contest.  If you complete ALL FOUR EtsyInspired challenges for the month of April by May 1, noon Pacific time, you may choose to be entered for the June Guest Designer Position OR the permanent DT spot.  Just let me know (I'll make a post later asking who did all the challenges.)  So, get to work people!  

New Pez-a-Doodle Release!! WOOHOO!

I've been keeping this inside so long, I just wanna shout it from the rooftops!  Look at this adorable NEW RELEASE from Pez-A-Doodle!  Isn't he the CUTEST?!?  This is called Picnicin' Bee.  I just love him!

Marti is having a THREE DAY SPECIAL!  To celebrate the debut of this adorable bee, Pez-A-Doodle is offering him as a digital image but only for the next three days!  You can buy him HERE.  After that, you'll have to wait until he comes out in rubber on April 22.  I have him as a digi and it's so nice because I can just print him out as big as I want him to be.  The digi image is only of our cute friend the bee though, this extra watermelon slices and leaf border are only for rubber.  The accessories are made to go with all the other stamps from the Polkadot Pie line.  There's going to be a new release there in a couple days too!  Eek!  Can't wait!

Here he is on my card.  I used some Stickles to make his wings sparkle.  I also put some Glossy Accents to make his watermelon slice look extra juicy and yummy!  I am SO excited for summer!  The DP is just from the Target $1 spot and the ribbon is from the $1 bin at Micheal's.  I gotta be a thrifty girl in these times!

COME back in the next couple days because there are MORE Pez-A-Doodle new releases that I get to share!  Sooooo fun!  

Flutter By Wednesday #53

Ok, I'm a cheater cheater pumpkin eater!  This is a card I did a really long time ago.  I'm not sure if I've ever shown it so maybe it's new to you.  I'm just really really tired because my hubby has been gone for about 2.5 weeks now and I think Brady might be getting sick.  Oy!  I'm gonna keep it short from here on out!

Enough about me!  It's Wednesday and that means Danni's Flutter By challenge.  The challenge this week is to use punches somewhere on your card.  Here, I used the black circle punches.  All stamps are Unity Stamp Co.

Check out the new gals on the Flutter By DT:

Chris

Kim

Nicola

Stef

Harriet

Welcome ladies!  

EtsyInspired Reminder and Check this out!

Don't forget about this week's AWESOME EtsyInspired challenge!  I find these pottery pieces so amazing!  And don't forget that Melissa is giving EVERYONE a FREE pendant with any order if you anything in the shop and use code "EtsyInspired Blog" in the seller comments of your order.  How cool is that?  Also, you can win some Unity love from me if you are the winner of this week's challenge.

The DT contest continues as well!  You MUST do every challenge in the month of April to be entered into the contest!  You will be entered to win the guest designer position for the month of June!

And speaking of winning, my girl De is hosting Growing in Unity this week.  She's giving away a RAK EVERY SINGLE DAY this week!  How generous is that?  But I already knew that she's generous!  Check out her blog every day for your chance to win!

Quick Post

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Easter (if you celebrate it) or just a wonderful Sunday.  :)  We had SOOOOO much fun!  I'm still in a good mood from all the fun we had yesterday!  

Just a quick post with a card I made last week for Hip Hop.  This is the owl from Unity's Mix Up of Cuteness.  I love this set, it's one of my favorites since it's so versatile.  Though, I might think twice about making a polka dot owl again since it's kind of card to see her eyes, I gave her black bling eyes to make them stand out more.  

We have a busy day planned full of playing!  Hopefully, this week will go by quick for us and we'll be "back to normal" before we know it.  :)

Happy Easter and Art Share/Blog Candy

Happy Easter friends!  I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with lots of fun!  We are going to a friend's house today for an Easter Egg hunt, games, and some dinner.  YAY!  Should be fun!  But we'll still be missing Daddy the whole time!

Here's a picture of Brady last weekend at his friend's birthday party.  They had an Easter Egg hunt for all the kids and Brady had SO much fun!  How cute is he with his little pink egg?  He picked all the girlie colored eggs even though I tried to tell him to pick blue and green one.  ;)  

Art Share/Blog Candy (Just to let you know, I offered this on Facebook and no one followed directions and signed up.  If that happens again, I'm not doing these anymore!)

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice! For you! Could be a card I am really pleased with, an altered object or something else altogether! My choice! But this offer has some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be made with you in mind, so you won't get something I already made unless I think it suits you to a T.

3. It'll be done sometime this year. 

4. There is a catch - you must offer this same blog candy on your blog! Let me know you're in, then re-post this on your blog  and offer something you make - your choice - to the first 5 people who respond to your post. Add my name to the #1 slot on your list - I am your first participant. When you create your giveaway, you will become the first participant on the lists for the people who participate with you. Got it? :-)

Okay, so who wants to play??

1. Carole (FibreJunky)

2. Sara

3. Yael

4. Valerie

5. Ky

EtsyInspired #31 ~ Make Mine Mud

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Make Mine Mud By Little Miss Pottery.  Melissa is the owner and she makes the most amazing items!  She makes pendants, tiles, bowls, spoon rests, candle plates, jars, vases, platters, cups, and so much more!  I love her beautiful earthy colors and fun color combinations.  I also really love the flowers, hearts, and leaves designs on her pieces.  The intricate details make each piece seem so special!  Also, there's a little something for everyone on your shopping list in this shop like jewelry for the ladies, kitchen items for people who like to cook, and decorative pieces for anyone!  

This week is REALLY special.  Instead of offering a prize to just one person, Melissa has decided that ANYONE who orders from her shop and mentions EtsyInspired in the comments section of the invoice will get a FREE pendant!  (I've posted a picture below of some of the amazing pendants she has to choose from.)  How generous is that?  This is with ANY purchase!  

But of course, we have to have a prize for the winner of EtsyInspired right?  OF COURSE!  The winner will receive Unity's So and So Loves single from me.  To win the prize, all you have to do is go the the Make Mine Mud shop and pick out any item to be inspired by.  Make any creation that you wish and link it back here to this post by Friday April 17 at noon Pacific time.  A winner will be chosen by random drawing.  Now, go be EtsyInspired! 

 

Also, don't forget that if you want to enter to be June's guest design team member, you just need to participate in each challenge for the month of April.  At the end of April, I will have a post asking who would like to enter for the guest DT position, all you have to do is post on that and you will be entered.  A winner will be chosen from all the participants the first week of May.

Here's my card for this week.  It is inspired by the cute trinket holder in the first picture of this blog post.  Again, I went clean and simple.  I sponged over my Cuttlebugged paper with Chocolate Chip ink.  And I colored the rhinestones brown to kind of imitate the handle on the trinket holder.

Be sure to check out the rest of the team!  

De (April Guest Designer)

Heather

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Kristen

Lee

Lindsay

Shannon

Taylor

Tiffany 

Tonya

Random.Brady and EIC30 Winner

Friday means Random.Brady day!  If he were here, I'd put him the the shirt that De bought him and take a picture but he's off at Grandma's having the time of his life.  I believe they are off to the zoo today.  Lucky boy!  

I love this picture of Brady!  All that red stuff on his face is strawberry.  We had strawberries this size of my fist and he was eating them like apples.  Super cute!  And just to let you know, his hair is NOT sticking up, that's the pineapple in my fake fruit bowl behind him.  Dustin thought it was Brady's hair.  Dustin also thinks that Brady looks like ME in this picture which is pretty unusually because Brady is Dustin's Mini Me.  

The winner of the EtsyInspired challenge this week is Laurie!  I think it's her first week playing.  YAY Laurie!  You can see her project HERE!  It really cool, it's part of this mission statement frame she made and it's really inspiring to me!  I want to make one of those frames!  Congrats Laurie on your win, please email me your address and I will pass it on to the Lauren Alexander Shop.  And HUGE thank you to the LaurenAlexander shop for the cute prize and amazing inspiration!  

Friday!! HHH

Happy Friday everyone!  It's the start of the weekend!  Woohoo!  Did you have fun at Hip Hop yesterday?  I did!

I have a couple cards to share today.  This first one is for Unity's Think Green challenge, using anything found in nature and for this week's SCS sketch challenge.  The stamp is from Unity September KOTM, my favorite KOTM.  :)  I really wanted to go with a pink, green, and brown color combo.  I just got Fruit Punch Stickles from Limelight.  I couldn't wait to try them out, they are so bright and gorgeous!  The DP is Amy Butler.  I added some rhinestones.  And I did some doodling around the edges.  I really really like how this card turned out.  These colors just agree with me!

This next card was for this week's Clean and Simple challenge on SCS.  The challenge was to use distressing which to me, isn't really a CLEAN and simple technique but I gave it a try.  I think it turned out pretty well.  This card uses Unity's Feel the Joy which I got some images from my pal Dawn.  I used some Chocolate Chip ink to sponge over the image to give it a more distressed look.  I used my Cuttlebug Forest Branches folder for the Close to Cocoa paper.  

Have a good Friday everyone and come back tomorrow for another AWESOME EtsyInspired Challenge!

Reminder! DT Opportunity!

Remember, you only have until tomorrow (Friday) at noon Pacific time to enter this week's EtsyInspired challenge.  I love this shop and everyone who has left comments just adores the shop as well!  Super cute!  You know you wanna win that pendant! 

Also, if you do all FOUR challenges this month, you can choose to be entered to win a spot on the EtsyInspired design team for the month of June!  How fun is that?  So, go be EtsyInspired!!

One Layout, Three Challenges

My girl Kristen just started a challenge on her blog.  It's a scrap book challenge that's also being inspired by an Etsy shop but it's not connect to our current EtsyInspired challenge, you can check it out HERE.  THIS is the piece I was inspired by.  

I'm also using this for this week's Cafe Mojo challenge, to think spring.  For me, spring always reminds me of Easter and new beginnings.  So, this is Brady's first Easter.  How cute is he in his little bunny ears?  I love it!  And his shirt says "Chick Dig Me."  So true!  

And last but not least, for the 2 Red Bananas challenge to make anything but a card.  I don't really make many other things, but I do the occasional layout.  All my stamps are from Unity Stamp Co.  Speaking on Unity, hop on over to the Unity forum today for Hip Hop Thursday!  It should be fun!

I HAVE to Brag!

My friend and April's EIC Guest Designer De Swanick totally surprised me with happy mail today.  This has GOT to be, hands down, the brightest part of my week so far.  I am floored by her generosity, actually ALL STAMPERS generosity!  I can't believe someone I've never met would take the time to buy gifts for me and my boys!  It gives me a lot of hope in the world because I know how bad the economy is and how many people are grasping to every last penny they have.  But for someone to have it in their heart to do something kind for another person, even at this time, really gives me a great deal of hope in humanity.  So thank you De, not just for the amazing gifts but for this uplifting feeling in my heart today! 

She sent this for Parker.  Awww, so cute!  And that card is the most priceless thing ever!  It has his name on it!  So cute, definitely going to have a prize place in the baby book!

The love package she sent for Brady.  I burst out laughing when I saw the shirt!  He's gonna wear it everyday!  I love it so much!

Close up of the shirt.

And she even sent stuff for me!  I love it all!  Thanks so much De!

Flutter By Wednesday #52

Ok, so this isn't the best picture in the world but I was extremely busy and it's taken at night.  Once again, Wednesday means Flutter By Challenge on Danni's blog.  YAY!  This week was a free week, we could just do anything we wanted.  Also, Danni said you can now make your cards using fairies since they flutter too!  YAY!

This is also using this week's color challenge over at SCS.  For once, I had all the real colors we were supposed to use, thanks to WishRAK!  Woohoo!  I went with a really clean and simple card.  My mojo is all over the place these days.  This butterfly is from Unity's September KOTM, which is my favorite by the way.  A little Cuttlebug embossing, a little corner rounding, a little dew drop use and I'm done.  :)  Easy!

Check out the rest of the Flutter By team's creations too, they are in my sidebar.  Also, stop by Danni's blog where you'll see our featured stamper of the week and this week's special guest Lynn Put.  We'd love to have you play along too!  If you upload to SCS or PCP just use keyword FBW so we can find you!  

Clean and Simple Scrapping

My sweet and beautiful friend Jenn Buck is hosting a weekly clean and simple scrapping challenge on her blog.  This week's challenge had a sketch and a twist, to use stamping on your layout.  You can view the challenge details HERE.

Honestly, I'm not one for CAS scrapping.  I make CAS cards but usually with scrapbooking, I'm a bit more excessive so this was a challenge for me.  In fact, I'm still not crazy about all the white space that is left on this layout.  The stamp I used is from Autumn Leaves.  

This is Brady's March 08 layout.  I'm making a page for each month that highlights what he did that month and any milestones he achieved.  As you can see, I'm a little behind.  But how cute was my little muffin at 9 months?  I miss those baby days!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  Here's to a better day than yesterday! 

Wanna Be June's EtsyInspired Guest DT Member??

We're having a CONTEST!  Woot!

Here's how you enter:

~ Complete each EtsyInspired Challenge for the month of April, there will be 4.  Start with this past week's challenge.

~Post your creations on  your blog

~At the end of the month, I will have a post asking who participated in all FOUR challenges.  Be sure to post on that!

The winner will be announced the first week of May.  The prize will be the guest spot on the EtsyInspired design team for the month of June.  Good luck and tell your friends!