Inspired By Stamping Release Day!

Today at Inspired By Stamping all the new stamps and dies are in the store!  This release is just so beautiful.  Let me show you some of the goodies.

I used Flowers Bloom for the purple wedding (or Confirmation, graduation, whatever!) card below:

I stamped the frame with Perfect Plum ink, die cut it using the new Fancy Label Dies I, then colored the flowers with Copic markers.

The pretty White Curly Flower is sold at IBS, too.

For the next card, I used Small Fancy Labels I:

Although it's still winter - and I LOVE winter! - this card has a decidedly fresh, spring-like color palette (and of course, there are butterflies!).

I used Soft Sky to ink the frame, ran it through my Big Shot with the new Fancy Label Dies I, and stamped on a sweet sentiment.  Had to add some Liquid Pearls, you know!  tee hee

The next project was oh-so-fun to dream up!  I've recently bought lots of buttons, and needed some cool storage for them.  I decided to re-purpose little candle holders from Bath and Body Works using the new set, Crafty Organization and the Fancy Label Dies I.

Here's the candle jar before (this one smells a bit like frankincense...mmm!)....

...then cleaned and filled with buttons....

...and then topped with these snazzy labels!  I kept the labels flat, so that I can stack more button jars on top as I use up the candles for more button storage.

Blog candy alert!!  For a chance to win a 4" x 8" stamp set of your choice PLUS the new dies, leave love at these blogs today:

Colleen Dietrich (that's me!)

Deb Hickman

Kendra Sand

Joanna Munster

And then tomorrow, leave love on these blogs for another chance to win:

Liz Weber

Irit Shalom

Joanna Munster

Important Stuff To Know:

• The release starts on Thursday, January 10th, when all the products will be available for purchase.
• Special bundle pricing:   buy Small Fancy Labels 1, Just Because, Flowers Bloom and Crafty Organization plus Fancy Label Dies I for a 15% discount.
• Free shipping on orders over $25 THURSDAY AND FRIDAY ONLY.
• Blog candy!  To be eligible, please leave a comment on everyone's blog, both Thursday and Friday, for a chance to win.  We will have a winner on Thursday AND a winner on Friday.  Each winner will receive (1)  4" x 8" stamp set of his/her choice and the new die.  The die set retails at $19.99!
• Become a fan on our Facebook page for a chance to win the new die set!  Already a fan?  You're eligible and are entered in the drawing.  Please share this with your friends so they have a chance to win, too.

Thanks for joining me today!  I truly appreciate your visit.  :)



Purple Special Day:
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Flowers Bloom - Inspired By Stamping
Paper: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum - SU; white - PTI; Old World - DCWV
Ink: Perfect Plum - SU
Other: White Curly Flower - IBS; Copic markers; purple gems - Queen & Co.; Fancy Label Dies I - IBS

Butterflies For You:
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Small Fancy Labels - IBS
Paper: Daffodil Delight, green and yellow patterns - SU; white - PTI
Ink:  Soft Sky - SU; Versafine Onyx Black -Tsukineko
Fibers: blue polka dot ribbon
Other: White Opal Liquid; butterfly die cuts - SU; Fancy Label Dies I - IBS

Button Jars:
Stamps: Crafty Organization - IBS
Paper: white - PTI
Ink:  Baja Breeze - SU; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Other:  Fancy Label Dies I - IBS

Inspired By Stamping Sneak Peeks for January

Inspired By Stamping is kicking off 2013 with 5 new stamp sets and a fun set of dies, too.  Owner Joanna Munster's been very busy putting together a spectacular release for you!  Please check the end of this post for special offers and blog candy.  :-)

Today I'm sneak-peeking two new sets:  Just Because and Cute Circles PLUS Fancy Label Dies I.

Up first:  Just Because stamps and Fancy Label Dies I.

I used an ornament gift tag, leftover from a gift, as my 'glitter paper' for the punched hearts.

I LOVE this floral frame - SO gorgeous!  In this set, there are 3 frames and 5 beautiful, versatile sentiments in a pretty font you see below.  And the new Fancy Label Dies I fit these frames to a "T".  :-)  The crocheted White Fabric Tape is in the IBS store right now.  It's so easy to use!

You don't see orange too often here at my blog, but when I saw the NEAT-O circles from the new set, Cute Circles, orange just seemed right!  This set features 5 decorative circle frames and 6 sentiments.  I used 3 of the circles below.

After stamping the polka-dotted frame on orange patterned paper, I stamped it again on white, trimmed out the rectangle and added a sentiment.  Within the sweet polka dots, I dabbed some Liquid Pearls.

Be sure to check out the crafty-ness of these DT ladies today, too:

Deb Hickman

Kendra Sand

Joanna Munster

Tomorrow you'll see even MORE sneak peeks with new stamps and dies from:

Liz Weber

Irit Shalom

Joanna Munster

Important Stuff To Know:

• The release starts on Thursday, January 10th, when all the products will be available for purchase.
• Special bundle pricing:   buy Small Fancy Labels 1, Just Because, Flowers Bloom and Crafty Organization plus Fancy Label Dies I for a 15% discount.
• Free shipping on orders over $25 THURSDAY AND FRIDAY ONLY.
• Blog candy!  To be eligible, please leave a comment on everyone's blog, both Thursday and Friday, for a chance to win.  We will have a winner on Thursday AND a winner on Friday.  Each winner will receive (1)  4" x 8" stamp set of his/her choice and the new die.  The die set retails at $19.99!
• Become a fan on our Facebook page for a chance to win the new die set!  Already a fan?  You're eligible and are entered in the drawing.  Please share this with your friends so they have a chance to win, too.

Thank you so much for coming by today!  Let me know what you think...



Miss You Hearts:
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Just Because - Inspired By Stamping
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla - SU; London Market - Pink Paislee
Ink: Pink Passion - SU; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Frayed Burlap - Ranger
Fibers: White Fabric Tape - IBS; taupe satin ribbon - Michael's
Other: pearls; Heart-to-Heart punch - SU; glittered ornament tag; Fancy Label Dies I - IBS; flower border punch - Martha Stewart

Hello Circles:
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Cute Circles - Inspired By Stamping
Paper: Very Vanilla, orange pattern - SU; kraft pattern - The Paper Studio; white - PTI
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: orange and white stripe ribbon - SU
Other: circle dies - Spellbinders; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Doily Lace Trim punch - Martha Stewart

'My Sweet Love' Tag

Happy Friday!  I have that "fresh-highlights-in-the-hair" afterglow....what a great feeling.  I let my roots go too long this time.  LOL

I made this tag last night so I could play in A Blog Named Hero challenge - New Year, New You (use new stuff or new technique) and In The Pink's Pink and Pearlie challenge, and Simon Says Stamp's New Something challenge (new home, baby or new craft supplies).

The tag was already die cut, in one of those fabulous $1.00 Scrap Bags from my Stampin' Up! demo (Gail, you're a peach!).  There were actually about 20 of them in there, but I just used one for this project.

My new item is a stamp set by Paper Sweeties called Pennant Party.  I won it over at Word Art Wednesday and it's just the sweetest, most versatile set!  "My Sweet Love" reminds me of the George Harrison song, "My Sweet Lord."  When I was young and this song was new and on the radio all the time, I thought George sang, 'my sweet love'.  

The little tiny design beneath each word, plus the flourished borders, come from Technique Tuesday's Bijou Borders.  It's new to me, and even though I bought it last summer, had never inked it up until now.

The 'pearls' along the scalloped punch bottom are actually Liquid Pearls, applied with a heavy hand.

I've been generously blessed with some paper-crafting awards recently, listed on my sidebar.  One award that I did not get to post yet is from Anushka of Sunshine Creations.  My "Christmas Cottage" took top honors and so I get to be a guest designer with Anushka soon.  You know, she's only 11 years old and runs her own crafting challenge blog.  I am SO impressed.  Her mom is an accomplished paper-crafter, too, so it does run in the family.  :-)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Stamps: Bijou Borders - Technique Tuesday; Pennant Party - Paper Sweeties

Paper: Blushing Bride, Whisper White - SU

Ink: Cherry Cobbler - SU; Tattered Rose, Antique Linen - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko

Fibers: white twine - SU; white seam binding - Zipper Stop

Other: Fleur de lis die - Spellbinders; tag die - SU; Deco Fan border punch - Martha Stewart; pearls; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; doily - Wilton

A Quick Thank You Bouquet

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope you all had wonderful holidays.  We had a lovely but very busy break.   We had company three different times here at our house, and went visiting to others' homes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I made an Apple Sour Cream Crumb Pie (recipe from Martha Stewart Living) to bring to my in-laws, and oh my was that pie gooooood!  The recipe states that the total time for the recipe is 4 hours and 20 minutes, and I can vouch for that (and then some).  It's an all-day pie!   LOL  I'd make it again, but not for a while.  It's very rich.

The four of us saw "The Hobbit" (3 hours long!  I wish they'd give a brief intermission for something of that length), went out to dinner several times, shopping at the mall (aye yi yi, the crowds were thick!  the older I get, the less I like that) so the kids could spend their new gift cards, and more.  We were going to head to NYC for a day, but most of us were exhausted and so we cancelled the trip.  We bought tickets to the Observation Deck at the Empire State Building, and they're good for a year, so we'll need to reschedule our visit.

Although I had a wee bit of crafting time the other day, the projects are for the upcoming release at Inspired By Stamping and I cannot unveil them yet.

So, today I share a card I made a while ago and never posted. It's nothing special, but I didn't want you to think I fell off the edge of the Earth. ;-)

This card was made with a little bit of this and that, found in my cast-offs bin.  The Vintage Wallpaper (by Market Street Stamps) background was the center piece from the Artful Frame project more than a year ago.

The 'thank you' sticker is from a dollar bin at JoAnn's, and the pre-tied little blue bow was in a $1 Scrap Bag from my Stampin' Up! demo.  The lacy doily came in a pack from Martha Stewart.

Again, nothing special, but I wanted to say hello to you all and wish you a healthy, blessed, prosperous (and crafty!) new year.  :-)

Thanks for dropping by!



Dimensions:  4" x 4"
Stamps:Vintage Wallpaper - Market Street Stamps
Paper: Sahara Sand - SU; white - PTI
Ink: Sahara Sand
Fibers: blue ribbon
Other: doily die cut - Martha Stewart; pearls; thank you sticker - Studio G; Textile embossing folder - Cuttlebug; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger

Elegant Masculine Christmas

Hello again!  Yesterday, I mentioned that a friend asked me to make some Christmas cards for her to give to loved ones.  This is for her gentleman friend.  He is a classy guy, so I picked some earthy tones and elegant touches for him.

The Hero Arts tree was stamped on polka dotted paper (in green, of course!) and decorated in teal gems and pearls.  The dictionary page is a photocopy of an original.  I bought the 1940s dictionary at a thrift shop in North Carolina on Black Friday this year.  When I set out to make this card, I tore out the page that has the definition for "Christmas tree" and then thought I should photocopy it so I can keep the original.

I used several scrap strips of paper that were lying about:  the teal dots and Early Espresso (with punched border) from Stampin' Up!, the khaki damask from Market Street Stamps.

And shown in the photo below, I intentionally tied a knot in taupe velvet right over top of the Christmas tree, standing in for a star.  The sentiment is from Inspired By Stamping on a Memory Box tag.

Challenges entered:

• Simon Says Stamp - Merry Christmas
• Lawnscaping - Make it Glitter
• Ribbon Carousel - Holiday Spirit

There's a new post up at my photo blog, bleu hydrangea.  They're pics of - what else? - Christmas stuff.  I hope you enjoy!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Elegant Christmas Sentiments - Inspired By Stamping; Merry Christmas Trees - Hero Arts; Vintage Wallpaper - Market Street Stamps
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, teal patterned, green polka dot - SU; white - PTI; dark brown pattern - Le Romantique - Graphic 45
Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Sahara Sand - SU
Fibers: taupe velvet ribbon - May Arts; twine - Creative Impressions
Other: Copic markers; gems; bracket punch - EK Success; vintage dictionary page; Classic Tags die - Memory Box

One Card, Four Ways

Hello friends!  Thank goodness we still have several more days 'til Christmas.  All is not done here at the Dietrich household.  Still lots of baking to do and a bit of wrapping as well.  I repeat this mantra:  "It will all get done in time."  ;-)  You may be wondering why I am crafting, when there is still work to be finished.

A friend of mine recently gave me a custom order for a couple of Christmas cards.  I relished the chance to sit down and breathe deeply while making the creations for her.  I made four vanilla bases, each with the bottom half embossed with a Sizzix folder, Snow Globe.  Then, I decorated each a bit differently.  All sentiments are from Inspired By Stamping's Elegant Christmas Sentiments.

Not sure if you can see it, but I touched each holly berry on the embossed section of this card with White Opal Liquid Pearls.  So pretty and soft!

The poinsettia, tiny green leaves and red gingham washi tape on the following card are from Inspired By Stamping, also.

The card below is more mail friendly, with bumps coming from the two pearls and little twine knot.  Otherwise, it's fairly flat.

And finally, this last card closely resembles the first one I showed near the top of this post.  The Santa border is from K & Co.  In fact, all of the borders used on this group of cards is by K & Co.  They helped me make (sort of) quick cards.

I'm entering in Simon Says Stamp's Merry Christmas challenge, Word Art Wednesday's Glory To God / Anything Goes challenge, and also Go Fish's Anything Goes challenge.

Thank you so very much to Red Carpet Studio, Just Us Girls, Shopping Our Stash, and Cath of Moxie Fab World for my recent honors.  I am humbled.  :-)

Source credit

Before I go, I just have to share something so very sweet and touching with you.  My 5th grader came home yesterday and told me that her class - and also the 4th grade - made paper snowflakes for the kids of Sandy Hook Elementary School.  When the Sandy Hook kids go to their new school after the holiday break, the halls will be a Winter Wonderland with all of these snowflakes.  Each snowflake has the name of the child who made it, and what school they are from.  I know there are other schools in our country where students are doing the same thing.  It brought tears to my eyes when my 11 YO shared this with me.  She said, "We want to make the Sandy Hook kids happy.  Each kid is unique, just like a snowflake."  After school yesterday, she and I sat on the kitchen floor and made more of them to send.

It just gets me....right....here.  <3 p="p">


Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Elegant Christmas Sentiments - Inspired By Stamping
Paper: Vintage Cream - PTI; kraft tone-on-tone patterned - SU
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap - Ranger
Fibers: white seam binding - Zipper Stop; twine - Creative Impressions
Other: Tiny Green Leaves, Poinsettia, Red Gingham Washi Tape - Inspired By Stamping; pearls; button; Classic Tags dies - Memory Box; doilies - Wilton; holly leaves, Santa/Trees, scalloped borders - K & Co; Snow Globe embossing folder - Sizzix; corner rounder punch - EK Success; Liquid Pearls - Ranger

A Christmas Cottage

Last night I began making a little Christmas cottage.  It started as a plain wooden birdhouse from the craft store.  This is a photo-heavy post, just a little warning in case you're short on time.  ;-)

 

My first addition to the house (after painting it white) was a scrap of paper that I had in my cast-off box.  It's this beautiful Market Street Stamps Vintage Wallpaper stamp in red ink on white paper.  I added some skinny strips of red flocked patterned paper from Stampin' Up! along the exposed edges.  And what's a winter roof without some sparkling snow?  The snow was made with Snow-Tex, which has the texture of cake frosting, and then sprinkled some iridescent glitter on top.

On the two narrow sides, I repurposed some gorgeous aqua pearly paper from a booklet we received while in Hawaii.  I topped each wall with a doily-edged punch border that is also 'glitterfied'.

The photo below shows the back of the house.  I covered both the front and back of the house with embossed white cardstock.  I also added a pale gray wrought iron fence die, which is decorated with Liquid Pearls.

One light blue gem graces the eaves on the back of the house.

Here's a close up of the front of the house:

The wreath die cut is made from the same blue paper on the sides of the house.  I touched it with some Liquid Pearls.  The wrought iron fence sports some of that, too.  The little bird perch has a large pearl on the end as it looked too plain with nothing there.

Challenges entered:

• Lawnscaping - Make It Shine - I used glitter - lots of glitter!

• Sunshine Creations - Season's Greetings - this challenge is run by a sweet, talented 11 year old girl named Anushka, whose mom is also in the paper crafting business.  I'm so impressed by Anushka!  I have an 11 year old daughter, too.  :-)
• Simon Says Stamp - What's Your Fave (tool, product, etc.)?  I am using dies/punches - one of my many paper-crafty loves ;-)

Only a week to go 'til Christmas!  Do you have your shopping all finished?  How 'bout presents wrapped?  I'm still working on that!




Stamps: Vintage Wallpaper - Market Street Stamps
Paper: Going Gray, Whisper White, red flocked pattern - SU; pearly blue paper - upcycled from booklet
Ink: Real Red - SU
Other: wooden bird house - JoAnn's; Breezy Wreath, Estate Fence dies - Memory Box; Doily Lace Trim punch - Martha Stewart; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Snow-Tex - Deco Art; iridescent glitter; white paint; large pearl - Recollections; blue rhinestone - Want2Scrap; Petals A Plenty embossing folder - SU

Keen On A Neon Kite

Hello everyone!  I never thought I'd make a card with neon colors.  I lived through the Eighties, when the neon rage was first born.  I hated neon then, and don't like it now, either.  Then along came the Keen On Neon challenge at Moxie Fab World.  For some reason, I just felt compelled to play along, especially when I remembered I had some neon buttons from DeNami Design in my stash.

My MO for card-making with bright colors is 1 part brights: 3 parts white (or even more!).  And so it is that my card today is mostly white --

I paper-pieced the DeNami Fly A Kite stamp with Post-It notes.

Other challenges entered:

• ATCAS - 'Sweet' - I think this is a sweet kite..does that count?  ;)
• Go Fish - 'Anything Goes' (love that kind of challenge during a busy time!)
• Annette Allen's Celebrate link-up party - thank you, Annette, for this joyful challenge!

Thank you all SO much for leaving love to this ol' Moxie Fabber of the Week!  It was great fun keeping that most awesome of crafty secrets before the big announcement last Monday.  :-)  Thank you to my new subscribers and followers.  I really appreciate you being here!

Thank you to the kind ladies at Just Us Girls, for my Chic of the Week honor for my Ivory Christmas Tag.    What nice news!

And last, but most certainly not least, my heartfelt prayers go out to everyone touched by the tragedy at Sandy Point Elementary School in Connecticut last Friday.  Words just cannot describe the horror we all share about this.  It's touched every parent's very core, and I hope all of our children are getting more hugs and "I love you's" than usual.  Children are so very precious.  Life is so very precious.  Let us not forget to remind those we love how important they are to us, every day.




Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Sending You Love, Fly A Kite - DeNami Design
Paper: white - PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: white cotton thread - SU
Other: doily - Wilton; Post-It Notes; buttons - DeNami Design

Inspired By Stamping Challenge #39 - Christmas Holly

Hello everyone!  I'm here today with a Christmas card for Inspired By Stamping's Challenge #39, where the color palette this week is Sage Green, Red and White.

I was inspired by a layout in the new special issue from Paper Crafts Magazine called Paper Crafting Tips and Tricks.  I used a sentiment from Inspired By Stamping's Elegant Christmas Sentiments set.  LOVE the fancy font!  The embossing folder is new to me.  I picked it up at a JoAnn's store recently.  It's called Madison, and I love that you can use either side of the embossed piece; both images are gorgeous.

Here's the inspiration picture:

At this time ALL products (stamps, paper, dies) are welcomed with our challenge. You do not have to incorporate an IBS stamp set or flowers.

This weeks challenge deadline is…December 20th at 12pm Thursday @ 12pm Brisbane time.

If you'd like to be a Guest Designer with us, check out THIS post for all the details.

DESIGN TEAM CALL!  Interested in being part of the Design Team at IBS?  Click HERE for all the info.  Deadline is December 29, 2012.

Hope you'll come play with us this week!  Show us your Sage Green, Red and White projects!

Thank you for visiting with me today.  Have a wonderful, blessed day.  :-)



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Elegant Christmas Sentiments - IBS
Paper: Mellow Moss - SU; white - PTI
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Always Artichoke - SU
Fibers: dotted ribbon
Other: Madison embossing folder - Cuttlebug; button; twine; holly border - K & Co.; Branch with Leaves die - Sizzix