A Little Gingerbread House

Hey everyone! Are you in the Christmas mood yet? Today's card features a fun little die from Frantic Stamper that lets you create adorable Gingerbread Houses without all of the sticky mess!  :)  I used the Little Gingerbread House die to create the house in fun candy colors.  The hill was created with the stitched Scene Builder Edger Die that I use all of the time!  I also used one of the snowflakes dies from the Snowflake Trio die set.

I am entering this in the Paper Players challenge to use snowflakes.  

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #373

Welcome to the next Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #373!  This week the challenge is to use the theme "Sweet Inside" on your card, which means to decorate the inside of your card too!  Our sponsor this week and the prize is from The Greeting Farm. All of the details, including prize information, can be found on the Cupcakes Inspiration blog.  I hope you'll be able to play along!

I went with bright colors for this challenge.  I pulled out one of my favorite dies from Frantic Stamper called Elementals #14 Scalloped Square Basics.  This die cut the scalloped frame and the inside stitched square.  I then used the same die set to cut the little oval(ish) words out of patterned paper and then finished it off with some twine from The Twinery and a few sequnis from Pretty Pink Posh.

and now the sweet inside...

I used coordinating paper to match the front and then die cut the Lil' Inker Designs Hello Word die twice to give it a shadow.  

The theme this week is "Sweet Inside" which means to decorate the outside AND inside of your card.  You can choose to use the cupcake graphic for inspiration if you'd like but you don't have to, as long as your card or project fits the theme.

I hope you'll join us this week for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #373!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #371

Welcome to the next Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #371!  This week the challenge is to use the theme Shine Bright on your card!  Our sponsor this week and the prize is from Neat & Tangled Stamps. All of the details, including prize information, can be found on the Cupcakes Inspiration blog.  I hope you'll be able to play along!

For the "Shine Bright" theme this week I thought of sunshine.  I LOVE Neat & Tangled's Scandinavian Prints stamp set (with coordinating dies).  When I was looking at the stamp set I thought that one of the flower stamps looked like a whimsical sun so I started there.  To make the clouds, I die cut the largest flower from the die set out of the blue patterned paper and then cut it in half.  It made a great cloud shape!  I found several bright patterned papers to die cut my flowers with and on the blue ones I stamped images from the set on the paper.  The mats were die cut from a die set found here and here. The grass and sentiment is also from the Scandinavian Prints stamp set.

The theme this week is "Shine Bright".  You can choose to use the cupcake graphic for inspiration if you'd like but you don't have to, as long as your theme has something to do with "Shine Bright".

I hope you'll join us this week for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #371!  Thanks for stopping by!

Peace & Joy

Today I have a super easy Christmas card to share.  To start I cut my patterned paper to the size I wanted, just slightly smaller than the card front.  Then, I cut the Frantic Stamper Peace Card Band Die out with a light gray cardstock.

I wanted to make the pattern behind the Peace band slightly softer than the rest of the paper, so I cut a piece of vellum the same size as the die and adhered it to the back of the die cut.  Then, I attached the vellum/die cut combo to my card front.

To finish the card off, I popped the patterned card mat up with dimensionals, tied some red shimmer twine and then added some silver sequins.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you have a great day!

Supplies

Die: Frantic Stamper Peace Card Band

Patterned Paper: Pinkfresh Studio Christmas Wishes

Twine: Twinery Red Shimmer

Cardstock: PTI Aqua Mist

Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh 4mm silver sequins

Paper Sweeties Challenge Guest Designer

Hello!  This month I am a Guest Designer for the Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge #34 for August!  I am honored to be playing along with them this month!  

Here is the inspiration photo and color combo that I worked with.  It was such a pretty one!

For my card, I used the Pretty Posies stamp set & the Pretty Posies die set for this card.  I really like the shapes of the flowers in this set.  They are so whimsical and fun!  To color them, I first stamped & embossed the outlines in white.  Then, I put each die cut directly down on my pigment ink pad and covered them fairly well with ink.  When I took them off, I used an aqua pen to move the wet ink around. The ink becomes a lot like watercolor paint.  I added other colors to my flowers by dipping the aqua brush directly onto the ink pad and then coloring on to my flowers.

After I finished coloring them, I assembled them into a wreath shape, popping some up with dimensionals and then adding in a few clear sequins and some pink twine.  The sentiment is a free one from the Paper Sweeties blog that you can download here. 

I hope you have a chance to play along this month with the Paper Sweeties #34 Challenge!  Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Ombre Thanks

I am back today with a card I made using products from the last few Lil' Inker Designs releases. 

Laura and I laughed about our cards because we both had similar ideas using the new Ombre Stripes Papers.  Neither one of us had seen the others card when we created these!  (By the way, do you have the Ombre Paper Pads yet? Oh my!! They are SO. FUN!!  I totally recommend them!)  Anyway, for this card I used several of the papers and cut them into strips.  Then I adhered them onto a white cardstock mat and attached it an an angle to my card base.

For my tag, I die cut one of the Anytime Tags 2 in vellum.  I love how you can see the stitching on the vellum and also how the vellum fits in so well with the softness of the ombre paper at the bottom.  I die cut the Quilted Flower Die out of black cardstock & also out of black foam for the dimension & stacked them on top of each other.  The "Thanks" sentiment is embossed with Zing! Aqua embossing powder and is from the Pineapple Panache stamp set.  I wrapped some gorgeous Garn & Mehr Emerald twine through the hole in the top of the tag & added some rainstones to the card to finish it off.

Ombre Stripes Papers

Pineapple Panache stamp set

Quilted Flower Die

Anytime Tags 2

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies:

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Quilted Flower Die, Anytime Tags 2

Stamps: Lil' Inker Designs: Pineapple Panache stamp set

Patterned Paper: Lil' Inker Designs Ombre Stripes Papers

Other: Garn & Mehr Emerald twine; Zing! Aqua embossing powder

Sweet Birthday Wishes

Hello!  I found a fun sketch on the Sunday Stamps blog that I wanted to create a card with.

Here I am with a summer fruits card again, LOL!  I stamped the cherries and sentiment on a panel that I die cut with Lil' Inker Designs Dual Dotted Squares die.  I have to admit that I am loving these dotted dies!  They are super fun!  And, for an easy way to remove all of those little dots, check out the video I made here.

This is the sketch I used for my card.

Thank you for visiting today!  I hope you are having a good one!

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Whimsy Sweet as Candy Sweet Sentiments, Feeling Fruity

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Dual Dotted Squares

Paper: Heartland Farm American Crafts, PTI Spring Rain, White

Ink: Fresh Ink Red Currant, Avery Elle Celery, Amuse Blueberry, VersaFine Black Onyx

Twine: Twinery Solid Red Maraschino 

Paper Pieced Ombre Friends

**I have lots of new listings for stamp sets for sale on my "Stamps for Sale - Updated" tab above!  Or you can click here.  Take a look if you have time!  Thanks!**

I have some favorite products to share with you that I've used on my card today!

First, on my favorites list is this new Lattice Flower Square Panel Die that Frantic Stamper just released. It has so many possibilities and I have loved this pattern for quite some time! I used this same panel as a border on this card that I shared last week.  I wanted to make a soft quilt-like pattern on this card.  The prints in the Fancy Pants Summer Sun paper pad were perfect (and this is another product that is on my favorite list right now...which is subject to change tomorrow, but I love the texture this paper has!).  I just pieced the papers in where I wanted them (held together with tape on the back side) and then popped the entire piece up with dimensionals.

The "friends" sentiment is also from a Frantic Stamper die set called Good Friends Daisy Frame.  I die cut the sentiment three times and stacked them on top of each other for dimension.  That is one of my favorite techniques right now.  I love how it adds just the right amount of dimension without having to worry about the pop dots or tape showing underneath.

And that ombre paper.  Yeah, that is on my favorites list right now too!  That is a new release from Lil' Inker Designs and it is one of three ombre paper pads, this one called Ombre Stripes.  The entire collection can be viewed here.   It is the perfect subtle background for this piece.

The top of the card is tied with a piece of solid strawberry twine from The Twinery.  This card is based on a sketch from my Card Sketches Pinterest board.

Lattice Flower Square Panel Die

Good Friends Daisy Frame

Ombre Stripes Paper Pad

I'm entering this card over at the Just us Girls #297 challenge which was to use stacked die cut sentiments.

And, I'm also entering this card over at the Paper Sweeties Challenge where I was inspired by the colors

 in the banners and also the different patterns in the photo.  

And, last but not least I am entering this over at the Addicted to Stamps Summer Colors challenge & Avenue 613 Anything Goes Challenge & Crafting When We Can Challenge to Paper Piece.

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great day!

Friendship Hop for Simonne :)

Welcome to a very special blog hop!  Today the Whimsy design team members are hosting a  friendship hop in honor of a special member of the Whimsy Stamps family, Simonne Clay. Simonne has been a fixture here at Whimsy for many years and we all just wanted to show our appreciation for all that she does for each of us and for sharing her amazing talent as an illustrator.

I've only recently become acquainted with Simonne and she is just the sweetest person!  I have enjoyed getting to know her a little better over the months.  She is so just as talented as she is sweet too.  She does so much for our team so I am so happy to be able to help honor her and thank her for all of her contributions!

I chose the sentiment "a million wishes" because that is what I wish for Simonne...that her hopes & wishes will come true!  

To create the card I used stamp sets all created by Simonne.  I started by stamping the chevron background from Basic Backgrounds & Borders in Fresh Ink Slate ink.  I used two stamp sets to create the sentiment.  "A million" is from the Thanks a Million stamp set & "wishes" is from the Happy Everything stamp set.  The circle bursts are also from Happy Everything (that set has so many components that I have a hard time NOT using it on every card, it is just that versatile).  The little gold dots are from the Scandi Christmas set.

Be sure to visit everyone on the hop!

Whimsy Blog 

Alanna Moses

Debbie Eastman

Ellie Stover

Amy Kolling

Iris Wiechmann

Danni Bindel

Heather Pulvirenti

Jen Carter -- You are here!

Louise Roache -- Your next stop!

Shannah Bartle

Shelby Thomas

Becky Carafa

Bev Rochester

Deb Routledge

Jacque Beddingfield

Crissy Armstrong

Denise Lynn 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Whimsy Happy Everything, Basic Backgrounds & Borders 1, Thanks a Million, Scandi Christmas

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs Anytime Tags 2

Ink: Fresh Ink Slate, Sugar; Avery Elle Mint to Be; Delicata Golden Glitz; PTI True Black

Twine: Garn & Mehr Mint & Copper

Lil' Inker Designs & Timeless Twine

Lil' Inker Designs has joined forces with Timeless Twine to provide you with a week full of inspiration.  Each of the Design Teams will be sharing projects using both Lil' Inker Designs & Timeless Twine products.  Each company will be giving away PRIZES! Lil' Inker is offering a $25 gift certificate and Timeless Twine is giving away a $20 gift certificate! Winners will be chosen from the comments left on the blogs so be sure to leave some love as you hop this week!

My first project for today features Black Kraft Bakers twine.  I love the colors of this one!  And guess what?  It's on sale!  You only pay $8 for a whole 160 yard roll!  Here I used the twine as an accent to my tag.  My gray chevron tag was cut using Lil' Inker Designs Pinking Edge Sentiment Flag die set.

This bag also features some sneak peeks of some new Lil' Inker Designs products that will be available next week, beginning Wednesday, August 27th.   You won't want to miss that reveal!  

My 2nd card features the twine as an accent.  Just because it may be small, doesn't mean it doesn't pack a punch!  I love, love, love the colors of this twine!  It is called Aqua Blue & Red twine and it is also on sale for $8 for an entire roll!  

I used quite a few Lil' Inker products on this card.  I started by cutting the striped background with the Cover Up Die: Stitches & Stripes.  I then used the Circles & Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die and the Connected Circles Die to make the circle strip down the side.  I stamped the diamonds with the Darling Diamonds stamp set. I next cut the vellum flag with the Pinking Edge Sentiment Flag die set and stamped the sentiment from the Fancy Feathers Stamp set.

Be sure to visit the other designers who are playing along today!

Jen Carter- http://jensinkspot.blogspot.com/ -- that's me! Lisa Henke- http://mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com/

Madge: http://www.thescrappinlounge.com Isha: http://hobbyandideas.blogspot.com

There will be more inspiration tomorrow too starting at  Erin Schreiner's blog!

Caring Hearts Card Drive

Hey everyone!  I am here with a very special post today for the Caring Hearts Card Drive.  If you are following along in the hop, you should have come from my Lil' Inker Designs team member Isha Gupta's blog!  This drive is to collect holiday cards for the elderly that live in nursing homes.  With the holidays quickly approaching, there are many elderly who live in these homes who really feel lonely or are missing their family. Wouldn't it be so awesome if we can bring a smile to their face & brighten their holiday season simply by sharing our love of card making? A simple gesture to let them know that they are not forgotten.

This is especially personal to me this year as my Grandma is sitting in a nursing home at this very minute.  And my faithful and loving Grandpa sits with her, every day, even though she cannot respond to him.  He's my hero.  So for them, for me, this is personal!  I'm so thankful that I can be a part of this this year!

For all the details on the card drive, you can visit Vera Yate's blog.

I created a holiday card for this drive using lots of Lil' Inker Designs goodies.

I started by making the chalkboard background and then I diecut the Joy word die from the mat.   I stamped some snowflakes from the Winter Greetings Stamp Set & the  Jolly & Joyful stamp sets.  The holly leaves were die cut with the Holly Jolly dies.  And last,l I tied a little piece of Platinum Shimmer Twine from the Twinery to the front.

What do you say?  Do you like to craft?  Do your kids like to craft?  Why not send some cards for this drive and be a blessing to someone who needs some love this Holiday season! 

For details on how to participate, visit this post.

There are a lot of prizes for this hop (and even bigger prizes for the card drive itself)!  Winners will be selected from comments left on the participant's blogs (randomly), so the more blogs you comment on, the bigger your chances of winning will be!

To continue on in the blog, be sure to visit Sarah Jay's amazing blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little More Joy

Today is the wrap-up day for the Lil' Inker Designs holiday release!  I hope you've really liked the products that you've been seeing the design team showcase!  I know I sure had a lot of fun working with them!

I have two last cards to share with you today!  Bur first, if you are following along in the blog hop, you should have come from Jeanne Jachna's blog!  Hasn't she impressed you with her work this week?  What a joy to have her joining us! If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop, visit Laura's blog.

This card combines some other previously released products with the new "joy" die.  I used the Starry Sky Die to cut the stars in the Flags & Tags Banner die.  I also used the Spot On circle stamps with the Connected Circle Die to create a traditional Christmas colored banner.  The "joy" is cut with glitter paper (of course!).  To add a little more sparkle, I tied some Gold Shimmer twine from The Twinery around the middle.

This last card is way outside of my normal.  I don't usually use these colors but I was going for a more vintage look for this one.  I stamped several of the images from the Jolly & Joyful Sentiments set onto my patterned cardstock.  I embossed the sentiment, from Instant Camera Christmas, in gold.  The large Jingle Bell die was die cut and hung with shimmer twiner from The Twinery.

Thank you so much for joining us for this release!  Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a great prize from the LID store!  Your next stop on the hop is over to Karen's blog!  

Christmas Cover Up Die

Welcome to Day 2 of the Lil' Inker Designs holiday release! If you are following along in the blog hop, you should have come from our guest designer's blog Jeanne Jachna! Isn't her work terrific?  If you'd like to start at the beginning, visit Laura's blog.

Today I am showcasing a new Christmas Cover Up Die!  It is very detailed and I think you're going to like it!

Pretty cool die, huh!?  I die cut the Christmas Cover Up Die from patterned paper and attached it to a glassine bag.  I also die cut the medium sized new Jingle Bell and popped it up with dimensionals.

The sentiment "to you and yours" and that pretty orange snowflake are included in the new Joyful Jolly Stamp set. Inside the bag I have a cookie!  It is a quick & easy gift!  The bag is closed with the clothes pin.

I also used this cover up die on the front of a card.  I die cut the cover up die from a piece of glitter cardstock (I used a metal shim since the paper is a little thick and it worked perfectly!)  You don't need to add much to the card because the cover up die stands easily on its own.  

I added a few strands of colorful twine from The Twinery and that wonderful Lil' Inker Snowflake Die, die cut from white glitter paper, that I popped up with dimensional.  

The new products that I featured in this post are: 

It's time to send you on for more inspiration from the team!  Your next stop on the hop is over to Karen's blog!  Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win one of two gift certificates to the Lil' Inker Designs store!!

Supplies

Glassine Bag

Stamps: LID Jolly & Joyful Sentiments

Dies: LID Jingle Bell Dies, Cover Up Die: Christmas

Twine: Solid Maraschino from The Twinery

Patterned Paper: Lily Bee Designs Head over Heels

Card

Dies: LID Cover Up Die: Christmas, Snowflakes Die

Twine: Solid Blossom, Caribbean, Peapod, Pink Sorbet from The Twinery

CardstocK: PTI Aqua Mist, DCWV Glitter Blue & White