Hello friends!  As I mentioned earlier this week, I spent last weekend at a craft retreat in Coventry, Connecticut with my mom and four friends.  The joke of the entire weekend was how our friend Nikki brought
e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g from her craft room for the weekend.  And she had the smallest car of anyone!  If one of us didn't have something, we knew Nikki had it.  We started referring to her crafting area as "the store."  We would joke "when does the store open?" or "the store has excellent customer service!" and it was great for laughs all weekend long.  But, really, thank God for friends like this because there's a good chance someone will have something that you forgot.  Today's card uses a gorgeous large pumpkin bouquet from Stampendous that Nikki so generously lent to me from "the store" over the weekend!

This card was inspired by the rich November mood board colors from Butterfly Reflections, Ink:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Island Indigo cardstock.  Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting rectangles, I die cut the first layer from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I stamped the large pumpkin from Stampdenous in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I colored in the image with Copic markers and added highlights with a Uniball White Gel Pen.  I fussy cut the pumpkin and adhered it to the card using 3M foam adhesive.  I also punched two leaves out of gold glimmer paper and added them to the bouquet.  I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) in the upper right corner in Island Indigo Ink.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the entire colored image for added sparkle.

I hope you have enjoyed today's card.  Thank you to "the store" for letting me borrow this beautiful stamp and thank YOU for visiting.  Have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  Today I am sharing this shaker card over on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog.  This card really brings me back to my childhood and the very cold and snowy winters we had growing up in northern Maine.  While all of my brothers wanted to have snowball fights (usually filled with ice, might I add)! I wanted to make pretty snow angels.  I only wish I had all of these adorable woodland creatures to play with back then!

The base of this A2 sized card is made from red cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of white cardstock and stamped the outline of the snow angels in a dark brown ink.  I placed this directly on the red card base.  Next, I created the frame from a dark brown cardstock using two rectangle dies.  I adhered a piece of Hero Arts clear acetate to the back of the frame.  I lined the frame with foam adhesive so that it would allow plenty of space for the glitter to shake around inside.  

I placed approximately two tablespoons of Avery Elle Coarse Glitter directly onto the white cardstock and adhered the shaker frame on top.  I stamped the bunny, fox and bear from the Snow Angels stamp set on white cardstock and colored the images using my Copic markers.  I die cut the animals with the coordinating Snow Angels Creative Cuts from Mama Elephant and then I adhered the animals to the outside of the shaker frame using more foam adhesive.  

I stamped the sentiment "snow much love" in Versamark ink on red cardstock and heat embossed it with Lawn Fawn white embossing powder.  I notched both ends before adhering the sentiment strip on the outside of the shaker frame.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the animals to give them added sparkle. 

Shaker cards are probably one of my favorite cards to make and the glitter inside this one really looks like fluffy snow! Thanks for visiting and remember to shop the AMAZING clearance sale going on right now at Butterfly Reflections, Ink!

Happy Tuesday readers!  I returned yesterday from a 3-day craft retreat in Connecticut with my mom and several friends.  Today I am sharing another one of the little treats I made for everyone.   As I mentioned last week, it's become a bit of a tradition that when we attend a retreat, we each make little gifts for everyone else attending.  It doesn't necessarily have to be paper-crafted either.  We have some knitters in our group who have knitted hats, and this year my mom made jam for everyone!  Fortunately, it is a small group of six, so it doesn't entail copious amount of work or supplies.  It's simply for the fun of it.  On the first day of the retreat I gave everyone these hot cocoa treat holders, and on Day 3 I left these these "turkey treats" filled with candy on everyone's table.

These Lawn Fawn Fancy Box dies were cut from Rich Razzleberry cardstock.  I adhered a small 3 1/4" 2 1/2" piece of acetate to the underside of the box window before adhering the entire box together with tear tape.  I stamped the sentiment in Crushed Curry ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and notched the right end.  The turkey was made using the Patchwork Turkey die by Impression Obsession.   I cut the body of the turkey from Early Espresso and Crumb Cake cardstock.  The nose, legs and hearts were cut from Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  The turkey feathers were made from miscellaneous scrap papers.  I drew on his eyes with a black Sharpie marker.  *Note, I realized AFTER I made my turkeys that the orange hearts should have been his wings!  Oops!!

Here is the Lawn Fawn Fancy Box die I used to create today's treat holders:

I have been loving the simplicity of dies to create treat holders with.  I was able to put together both the Lawn Fawn Fancy Box and Lawn Fawn Goodie Bag dies without instruction, so that shows how easy they are to assemble!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello and happy Friday!  Toasty greetings is right!  It's freakin' cold out there today and I'm pretty sure we're going to see snow any moment now here in Mass!  I hope you have fun things planned for what's looking to be a very chilly weekend ahead.  My mom and dear friend Donna arrived on Wednesday night from Maine and California, respectively, and we are heading to a craft retreat in Connecticut with a few other friends for the long weekend.  Be sure to follow along on my Instastories for some behind-the-scenes fun!

Today I am sharing two cards that I threw together in very little time because, 1) I had already pre-made the alcohol ink backgrounds, and, 2) I had done all the coloring on a previous retreat!  I mention this because coloring is exactly what I'm going to be doing on this craft weekend as well.  Yes, for three whole days, I will do nothing but color (and eat and sleep, of course)!  I choose to do this because coloring takes up a LOT of time, something that I can never find enough of when I am at home.  It also means I don't have to pack a lot of bags for the weekend.  I can fit everything I need into one bag versus the multiple bags I used to bring filled with stamps, inks, paper and all the other things. 

The base of these A2 sized cards was made from either Gorgeous Grape or Call Me Clover cardstock.  I lined the base of the card with pre-made alcohol ink backgrounds (more below).  Using the Heffy Doodle Slopey Joe Landscape dies, I die cut two snowbanks from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I lined the edges of the snowbank with Lawn Fawn Chunky Glitter.  I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner of each card in either Gorgeous Grape ink or Call Me Clover ink.  I die cut the trees using the Lawn Fawn Birch Tree Lawn Cuts and adhered them over the alcohol ink background and tucked them behind the snowbanks.  I stamped all of the images from the MFT "Toasty Greetings" stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock and die cut them using the coordinating dies.  I colored each image with Copic markers and added highlights to the images using a Uniball white gel pen.  I adhered all of the images to the card using 3M foam adhesive. 

Because I am not currently creating video content and tutorials on my website, I highly recommend checking out this Easy Alcohol Ink Background Tutorial by Jennifer McGuire.  She has created a very simple introduction to working with alcohol inks to create some basic backgrounds.  This was the first video I watched after purchasing my alcohol inks and then I just spent time playing around with them!  The great thing is there is no right or wrong when it comes to art.  You just have fun (and usually make a mess) with it!  *My only tip would be that you don't need to spend your money purchasing polysynthetic Yupo Paper at nearly $1.00 per sheet.  You can use the reverse side of any high quality photo paper (like this one by Kirkland) and achieve the same results!

Here is the "Toasty Greetings" stamp set from My Favorite Things that I used to create today's cards:

There is a lot going on with both of these cards between the alcohol ink backgrounds and the coloring, but when you break it up, it seems less overwhelming.  Some simple advice that I can offer, from my own experience, is to dedicate some time for each part of crafting.  Pick a day and color.  Pick another day and create alcohol ink backgrounds.  Pick yet another day for die cutting all the pieces.  Make extras of each and set them aside.  Then when you want to put a card together, half of the work is already done!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!

You guuuysssss, I am overexcited to share today's card with you!  I think I made my very favorite Christmas card last weekend!  During the holidays, I have always decorated the living room of our house in silver, blues and white.  Every year I find these beautiful blue dyed poinsettia's at my local Agway store and it would just help complete the room.  No, don't worry, I haven't started decorating yet -  I'm a wait until after Thanksgiving girl!  But, that color scheme inspired me to create a card using the Altenew Poinsettia & Pine stamp set, and I think it came out simply gorgeous.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Blueberry Bushel cardstock.  I cut a piece of 5 1/4" x 4" gold foil paper and adhered it to the base of the card at an angle.  The gold foil paper is key in making this card sparkle with a touch of elegance.  I cut a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and stamped the berries, branches and leaves in Blueberry Bushel and Marina Mist inks.  I heat embossed the sentiment in the lower right corner using gold embossing powder.  On a scrap piece each of Blueberry Bushel and Marina Mist cardstock I stamped the large poinsettia in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in white embossing powder.  Using the coordinating dies, I die cut the poinsettia and adhered it to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive.  I also stamped the pine cone in Versamark ink on kraft cardstock and die cut it out adhering it behind the poinsettias.  Lastly, I added some blue rhinestones around the card for added sparkle. 

Here is the Altenew Poinsettia & Pine stamp set (with coordinating dies) that I used to create today's card:

And, just in case you like things a little more traditional, I also made the same card in red, green and pink.  This one is equally as pretty too, but, the blue is still my favorite!

I hope you have enjoyed today's cards.  Do you prefer one color over the other?
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hi friends!  Today I am sharing this winter treat project on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink website.  Next weekend, four girlfriends, my mom, and I are going on our annual craft retreat in Connecticut.  I'm looking forward to a long three-day weekend of crafting, chatting and chillaxing!  This weekend might be particularly chilly too because our local news is already starting to report the first snow for Friday!  It looks like I picked the perfect treat to make for everyone.  It's kind of a tradition for each of us to make small gifts for the other ladies when we go on one of these retreats. This year I chose to put hot cocoa packets into these Lawn Fawn goodie bags!  I wanted to also attach a candy cane, but surprisingly enough I couldn't find any in my local CVS or craft store and Amazon wanted $18 for a dozen! That's just plain crazy!

I chose three colors that are one of my favorite winter combos - Red, turquoise and kraft.  I think these colors are very fun, fresh and festive.  I cut the bags using the Lawn Fawn Goodie Bag die.  *Note, each bag does take a full sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, so it does consume a fair amount of paper.  I assembled the bag using Lawn Fawn 1/4" tear tape. 

To decorate each goodie bag, I used the Holiday Skates stamp set from Avery Elle. I stamped two skates, one candy cane and two branches for each bag.  I stamped the skates and candy cane in Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored them with Copic markers.  I stamped the branches in both kraft ink and turquoise ink and used the coordinatingHoliday Skates die Elle-ments to cut them out. 

I stamped the sentiment "your friendship warms my heart" in Versamark ink on red, kraft or turquoise cardstock and heat embossed it with Lawn Fawn white embossing powder.  The sentiment is from the Concord & 9th Winter Wear stamp set. I die cut each sentiment out using the Lawn Fawn Fancy Folded Banners Lawn Cuts.  I adhered the skates to the front of the goodie bag using foam adhesive and tied a little bow in red ribbon at the top.  I adhered the ribbon with glue dots.  Lastly, I put a packet of hot cocoa and some tissue paper in the bag and adhered the sentiment to the top of the bag. 

These goodie bags were quick and easy to make and I think my friends will really enjoy sipping their cocoa when we are all gathered together in the living room next weekend catching up on the last year's worth of life events.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends, I am happy to be participating in the 2019 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop this week representing one of the "super sponsors" for this year's hop, RG Avenue.   It's simple and quick to participate in this blog hop - all you have to do is create a project with a caffeinated element (coffee, tea, cocoa, hot cider, etc.) and link up your project HERE.  The blog hop will run until Friday, November 8, 2019.   By linking up to the hop you are entered to win some fabulous prizes from the 81 sponsors of this year's event!  I'll list all of those great prizes at the end of this post.

My card today features two digital stamp sets from RG Avenue called Donut Worry and Seasonal Mug.  I have made Christmas even better by adding donuts and coffee thereby truly making it "the most wonderful time of the year!"

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Sweet Cane sugar stock.  Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting rectangle dies, I cut the first layer from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  The sentiment is from a piece of Echo Park scrapbooking paper that I cut out and adhered to the center of the card.  I printed out two the images from the two RG Avenue digital stamp sets and colored them with my Copic markers.  I added highlights to some of the images using a white Uniball gel pen.  I adhered the donuts and coffee mugs to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I put a layer of clear Wink of Stella on the images for added sparkle.

Here are the two stamp sets that I used to create today's card:

A Jillian Vance Designs  ::  $20 Store Credit : FLASH Two $10 Store Credit
Altenew  ::  $20 Gift Certificate
Art Impressions  ::  Feast Mode Stamp Set
Avery Elle Stamps  :  $25 Gift Certificate
Butterfly Reflections Ink  ::  $25 Gift Certificate and coffee themed prize [one winner]
CAS-ual Fridays Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Certificate to store : FLASH Two brand new coffee sets releasing today – two winners
CTMH – Chris Franco  ::  $25 Gift Certificate
Club Scrap, Inc.  ::  $30 Gift Certificate ★
Concord & 9th  ::  $25 Gift Card
Crackerbox & Suzy Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Code for stamps
Dare 2B Artzy  ::  Two $10 Gift Certificates  :  10% off with code BREW19
DeNami Design  ::  $20 online Gift Certificate to DeNami Design
Digi Doodle Studios  ::  $25 Gift Card ★
Dina Kowal Creative  ::  Two $10 Gift Certificates  :  FLASH One 5×7 Art Print + One Teapot Ornament  :  20% off coffee + tea themed items – no code needed
Divinity Designs  ::  $25 Gift Code
DL.ART  ::  Two $10 Gift Certificates to Store :  20% off all Flair Buttons
Doodlebugs  ::  $25 Gift Certificate  :  15% off Storewide
Doodles Paper Playground  ::  Coffee Themed Prize Bundle including Pumpkin Spice Sparkle Blend – $20 Value
Ellen Hutson LLC  ::  $25 Gift Card
Erin Lee Creative  ::  Coffee Girl stamp set
Evelin T Designs  :  $25 Evelin T Designs Gift Card
Flora & Fauna  ::  $15 Stamp Set
Funky Fossil Designs  ::   £15 store credit  :  15% off all products from Nov 1 – 8
Gerda Steiner Designs  ::  $20 Gift Coupon
Gina K Designs  ::  $50 Gift Certificate  :   FLASH Five $10 Gift Certificates
Graciellie Design  ::  $25 Gift Code :  FLASH $10 Gift Code + 25% of Store Wide
Happy Town Studio  ::  One Coffee Cup Enamel Pin
Hero Arts  ::  $25 Shopping Spree
Honey & Pine Signs  ::  Winners choice of either Happiness is Stamping OR Happiness is Crafting Sign
Impress Cards & Crafts  ::  Goodie bag valued at $15
Ink Road Stamps  ::  $30 Shop Credit
Jaded Blossom  ::  $25 Jaded Blossom Gift Card : FLASH  One Stamp of Choice
Jane’s Doodles  ::  $25 Gift Certificate for the Jane’s Doodles Shop
JessicaLynnOriginal.com  ::   Two stamps – one winner : FLASH Two stamps one winner + Free Digital Stamp for all
Joy Clair Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Code
Kat Scrappiness  ::  $50 Kat Scrappiness Gift Package : 15% Storewide – All orders over $50 receive a free surprise!
Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Voucher to the Shop
Lawn Fawn  ::  $25 Lawn Fawn Gift Certificate
Limited Runs Stamps  ::  $20 Gift Code : FLASH Two $5 Gift Certificates to the Shop
Miss Ink Stamps  ::  $20 Gift Code : FLASH Two $10 Gift Codes
Muffins and Lace  ::  $25 Gift Certificate :  US Mailing Address = Free Shipping
Neat & Tangled  ::  $25 Gift Certificate
Newton’s Nook Designs  ::  $25 Gift Certificate : FLASH Slothy Coffee stamp set + coordinating die.
Not 2 Shabby Shop  ::  $25 Gift Code
Paper Smooches  ::  $25 Gift Code
Paper Sweeties  ::  $25 Gift Certificate  :  FLASH One Stamp + coordinating Die
Pink & Main  ::  $25 Prize Package
Polka Dot Orchard  ::  Two $10 Gift Cards  :  FLASH Two $5 Gift Cards
Poppy Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Certificate
Precious Remembrance  ::  Happy Art Stamp Set
Pretty Pink Posh  ::  $30 Pretty Pink Posh Gift Card
Reverse Confetti  ::  Two $25 Gift Cards  :  FLASH Five 6×6 Paper Pads = Five Winners
RG Avenue  ::  Coffee Mug Gel Press Petite + Stamp Set of Winners choice
Rubber Moon  ::  $20 Gift Card
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L  ::  $30 Prize Package  :  FLASH Two $30 Prize Packages
Scrapping for Less  ::  $15 Gift Code
Scrappin Happy Studio  ::  $20 Gift Certificate ★
Seven Hills Crafts LTD  ::   £25 gift Card
Simply Charming Bags  ::   (one) set Bunkie Zip Tote + Zip Accessory Bag :  FLASH Prize (one) set Bunkie Zip Tote + Zip Accessory Bag.
Spotted Gum Stationery  ::  $20 Gift Code
Stamp Simply  ::  choose 2 items from our Stamp Simply stamps/dies- 2 stamps, or 2 dies or 1 of each
Stampendous  ::  $25 Merchandise from Website  :  FLASH  Three – Cling Mounted House-Mouse Cookie Crumbles Stamp
STAMPlorations  ::  $20 Gift Code  :  FLASH Three $10 gift codes; instant 15% off on coffee-themed products
Stampin’ Up – Kelly Gettelfinger  ::  Coffee Themed Notebook Nook from Always Stampin’ with Kelly
Studio Katia  ::  Two $25 Gift Cards  :  FLASH Two $10 Gift Cards
SugarPea Designs  ::  $25 Gift Card
Sunny Studio Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Code
Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Code
Taylormadecards4u  ::  Coffee theme digital bundle worth $25 :  FLASH  Coffee Mini flash cards + 15% off Digital images
The Cat’s Pajamas  ::  Two $25 Gift Certificates  :  FLASH Two $10 Gift Certificates
The Rabbit Hole Designs  ::  $25 Gift Code  :  FLASH  Two – $10.00 gift code + 15% off everything in the Caffeinated Category USE CODE FallBrew
The Ton Stamps  ::   $10 gift code to the shop   :  FLASH $10 gift code to the shop  (applicable to The Ton Stamps/Dies/Gilding/Ink)
ThermOWeb  ::  $25 Gift Certificate  :  FLASH  Fall Gina K Designs StampnStencil Set
Topflight Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Code
Trinity Stamps  ::  $25 Gift Certificate
Uniko Ltd  ::  £25 gift Card  :  FLASH Two In-stock £5 Clear Stamp Set of Winners Choice = Two winners
Unity Stamp Co  ::  Coffee/Tea Themed Prize Package that includes 9 Unity stamps + 1 paper pack, value approx $189
Waffle Flower Crafts  ::  $25 Gift Certificate
Whimsy Stamps  ::  $25 Shop Credit
White Rose Crafts LLC  ::  $25 White Rose Crafts Gift Card
Your Next Stamp  ::  $25 Your Next Stamp e-gift Card

★ New Super Sponsor

Flash Sponsor Prizes will be announced on Facebook on the evening of Wednesday, November 6th and Friday, November 8th.  That means, if you want to be eligible for a Flash Prize, you’ll want to link up before 1 pm pacific time on the respective dates. (Please note that if you are a winner and not on Facebook, you will receive an email prize confirmation.)

All Super Sponsor Prizes along with Flash Prizes will be announced on the blog, Sunday, November 10th.  Please claim your prize within 7 days or a new winner will be drawn.

Thanks for visiting me today, and if you join the hop, good luck!

Hello friends!  It's no secret that I joined the RG Avenue Design Team in October, but today is my actual debut on the RG Avenue social media accounts.  Each new DT member was given a specific day to be featured and today is my time to shine!  I have thoroughly been enjoying my time over the last month on the RG Avenue team.  RG himself has been very welcoming, supportive and so unbelievably generous with his products!  Seriously, you should have seen the TWO large DT boxes I received last month - to include ink (Sugar Cubes), cardstock, stamps and more!  Kerry, the DT Coordinator is very organized (love that!) and my fellow teammates are equally as creative and complementary.  I feel very fortunate to be afforded this opportunity. 

Today I have created a picture frame using the Safari Boho stamp set.  I chose this stamp set because it reflects my love of animals and of the color blue.  This is an 11" x 13" gold frame with an 8 1/2" x 11" mat that I found at my local Wal-Mart store for $12. 

I cut a 8 1/2" x 11" piece of kraft lattice paper to mount in the picture frame opening.  Using the Lawn Fawn Grassy Border dies, I cut the grass from Tangy Apple cardstock.  I die cut the letters "W-I-L-D" from Rich Blueberry cardstock using large letter framelit dies.  Since the Boho Safari stamp set is a digital image, I printed the image onto Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and cut the images out using my Scan & Cut 2.   I colored each image using Copic Alcohol Ink markers and added highlights to each image using a Uniball White Gel pen.  I adhered the images to the kraft paper before inserting the entire image into the frame. 

Here is the Safari Boho stamp set I used to create today's framed image:

I would like to send a big thank you to RG, Gabby and the entire RG Avenue team in Arizona, as well as the DT coordinator, Kerry Urbatch, for selecting me to be a part of this creative family. 

I also thank each of YOU for following along on my creative journey and for taking the time out of your day to visit my website or other social media accounts. 
Your kind comments, feedback, support and encouragement keep me creating!

Many, many thanks today and always,