Sites of the week

Have you had fun checkin’ out the new Lil’ Inker dies and stamps? Today the design team has more to share with the new Jingle Joy stamp and die duo.

Please note, since this is a hop, you should have come here from Julie’s blog. I’ll be sending you along to Debby’s blog here in a moment. But for now, sit back and take a peek at what I have been up to in my studio

I told ya I was on a bit of a tag kick lately. For today’s post, I created this fun lil’ tag/embellishment that I am looking forward to adding to a giftie…

Yep, I used the tree from the Holly Jolly die set, too!

My favorite thing about this die set? The detailed bell…

Product images…

Alright, time to keep hop, hop, hopping along to Debby’s blog. Don’t forget to leave a little love {in the form of a comment} at each of your stops for a chance to win some Lil’ Inker goodness!

Yesterday I sat down to create another card using the fabulously fun November set from Avocado Arts, Bring on the Holiday Cheer, when I read about the passing of fellow stamper, Katie Renz. Needless to say, my cheery crafty mood was quickly deflated and I went into a more solemn mood as I created this card…

Detail shot…

I actually started creating a different card with the peppermint twists, but the understated elegance of the birch trees called out to me. I stamped them in black and then wanted to have a bit of cheery Christmas color on the panel, so I added the word “love” in red and then stamped the leafy sprigs in green. I’m pretty sure that I am not capable of doing Christmas cards without some sort of shiny embellishment, as you will notice by the trio of red rhinestones.

I would like to thank Avocado Arts once more for having me as a guest designer this month! I have truly had a ton of fun playing with these stamps!

It’s a hop! Did you come here from Jen Carter’s blog? If not, take a moment to rewind so you don’t miss a thing!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! In the crafting world, Christmas has been happening for a couple months already…or since June at Hobby Lobby {ugh!}. I’m definitely not ready for it in “real life,” but in crafting life I’ve had a lot of fun playing with the red, white and green lately!

This week Lil’ Inker Designs is releasing 2 die and stamp sets that you are sure to love! Today the design team is featuring the new HOLLY JOLLY stamp and die set…

This started as a tag with the holly leaves cut from felt and pattern paper. I added a button with linen thread and tied on a jingle bell…

I’ve totally been on a tag kick lately, but this time I wanted to use it a little differently~as an embellishment on a card…

Product pics…

I won’t keep you any longer, as there’s lots to see! Head on over to Sarah Jay’s blog for some more fun Lil’ Inker inspiration!

Happy Halloween crafty friends! Pumpkins…check; candy…check; costumes…check; kid who still refuses to wear hat that goes with Yoda costume…check. Nic is now going to be Anakin. The cloak is the same and we are just adding a light saber to the whole get up and hoping he won’t whack too many kids over the head with it!

Friday’s playdate was lots of fun! Here are a couple pictures…

Gotta love ideas snagged from Pinterest!

Nic and friend having cupcakes…or at least some frosting!

Ellie helping a friend make her spider hat {Ellie has hers on}.

All in all, it was a lot of fun! I’m already getting the itch to do another at Christmas {shhh…don’t tell Tony!}.

What’s a Halloween blog post without a Halloween project? Today I am sharing a card that was inspired by THESE TAGS that I made a couple of weeks ago. I knew that I wanted to use the 3D pumpkin on a card and I love the way that it paired with the “Trick -or- Treat” sentiment from the new Verve set, Boo to You…

Yep, I said **new** set. It wasn’t part of the last release because of some manufacturing hiccups, but it is now available. I love the images and fonts…so elegant and cute at the same time! I used them in combination here on the sentiment panel…

The black panel behind the sentiment panel is a die cut of the Vintage Oval die that I cut it half to make larger. I love the curves of this die!

Detail shot of the 3D pumpkin with leaves from the Bloom and Grow set {cut with the Elegant Leaves die from Verve}, tulle and a button tied off with linen thread…

That’s all for me today, friends! I hope you have a great Halloween and your kids have a blast trick -or- treating tonight!

TGIF Friends! I’m pretty excited about today! I’m hosting the “Cupcakes and Crafties for Kiddos” playdate/party that I mentioned earlier this week. I’ll have 15 kids ranging from 3 months to 5 years invading my house…eek! We are making a spider hat and a toilet paper tube mummy for our crafts and will have lots of yummies to fill our lil’ monster’s tummies. I’m doing a photo booth like I did for Ellie’s birthday, so I should have some fun pictures to share soon!

This week’s TCP Tuesday is hosted by the super sweet and talented, Julie. She is challenging everyone to use acetate on their card. WOW!…I think it’s been awhile since I broke out the acetate. Now that we are wrapping up the Halloween craftiness, I am moving on to winter/holiday, so I thought that it would be fun to try out an acetate snowflake paired with the oh so cute SHEEPISH set from The Cat’s Pajamas…

Detail of acetate snowflake cut from the TCP Snowflake CutUps die…

I had to add a little something to the snowflake. I cut a red felt heart from the Heart Trio CutUps die. I love the warm texture of the felt to go along with the paper pieced {Echo Park paper} sheep image…

Want to play along? Be sure to check out THIS post on the TCP blog for all the details how you can win the next release in its entirety. I’ve seen the next release and OMG is it ever cute! So, get to stamping and good luck!!

While this doesn’t fit in with the challenge, I still want to share another TCP card that I realized that I had not posted yet from the current release.

This first card uses my favorite lil’ bunny taking flight in OH CHUTE…

This card was so fun to paper piece. If you’ll recall, I am NOT a technique-y person, and paper piecing is about as messy as I prefer to get. I really like how you can piece the whole parachute or each segment. Gotta have options!!

Alright friends, I gotta run and get ready for mayhem! LOL!!