Sites of the week

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Can you believe that the 4th of July in just 2 weeks {ok, a little more than that}? Weren’t we just battling snow and ice? Seems like this year is flying by…just like all the others!

After making the patriotic shadowbox the other day, I still had the Verve set, American Hero {currently ON SALE…a really good sale, too!}, sitting on my desk. Hmmm…what to do, what to do!?! Make a cute lil’ acetate tag is what you do…

I first cut the acetate tag with my Labels 19 Nestabilities die and then embossed half of it. The bottom portion is covered with pattern paper on both sides. The front side is stamped with the “4th of July” sentiment and I adorned the star with yet another {embellished} star…

The rosette was created with the Easy Rosette die and cut from some fabby Pink Paislee paper that has stars on it. I {heart} using pattern paper with simple designs to make these rosettes. I think it provided the “punch” for this project. The firecracker was a late addition, but I am glad that I decided to add it. It was just what this embellishment/sentiment needed…

I added a little bling bling to make it shine and then topped it off with some {very} thick hemp twine and linen thread. I was going to go with ribbon, but I needed/wanted something to complement the kraft cardstock on the tag. Subtle, yet effective.

Hope you all are finding fun inspiration for all your patriotic projects. I’m off to keep creating! Have a great weekend!

It’s time for the March Creative Challenge from the My Favorite Things DT. This month we are bringing you home decor projects made using the MFT Die-Namics dies. We recently did a makeover on Ellie’s room. It used to be painted green and she was BEGGING us to paint it pink. So, a couple weeks ago when she went to Disneyland with family in California, Tony and I got busy and painted it “Fairest of Them All.” Four nights and three coats of paint later, she had a pink room. I also added some flowers and butterflies throughout room {pics coming soon…PROMISE!}, so I thought that it would be fun to make something with the Die-Namics Butterflies that would compliment the rest of the decor.

My inspiration came solely from THIS project Making Memories.

Although, I had a lot of trouble capturing a good picture of my mobile I hope from the several mediocre ones that I did get you can see how it came out {cute, if I do say so myself!}…

I cut out A LOT of butterflies from the Echo Park Springtime {and Little Girl??} line and attached them to clear thread hanging from the inside circle of an embroidery circle.

I added tulle around the embroidery circle to make it a little more POOF-Y…

One suggestion I would make if you choose to do one of these…Attach your tulle before attaching your line of butterflies {or whatever suits you}. I don’t know what I was thinking doing these in reverse, but I did and it was a mess at times. All of the strings would have had 3 large, 3 medium and 3 small butterflies, but some of the strings got tangled. Then, more got tangled. Words were said and scissors made an appearance. I like what I ended up with still, but it was a learning {the hard way} experience!

Ok, enough of my jibber jabbering! There are lots of home decor items to see from many of the MFT girls! You can see a full list on Kim’s blog HERE! Enjoy!!

That’s right, it’s Anni-VERVE-sary time again! Verve Stamps is celebrating 3 years today! I am so happy to say that I have been with Verve for these 3 years and it has been a wonderful ride. It’s rare that I meet someone that is not familiar with Verve, but when I do I get to tell them about the beautiful stamps and the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING SENTIMENTS! There’s no way I could pinpoint one thing that’s my favorite, but I have to say that the sentiments are right at the top of the list. They give me a chance to make scrappy type cards that I might not otherwise make, but adore creating. With that in mind, I created my card for our Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop.

Yep, I said HOP! That means that you should have started at the Queen of “V” Julee’s blog and come here via Tosh’s blog. There’s lots of Verve eye candy and candy along the way. Yep, I said CANDY…meaning that there are some special prizes hidden along the way, so be sure to give some love at each of your stops for a chance to win! You’ll be checking out creation from all of us Divas, as well as awesome Verve fans and customers.

Here’s my card using a sentiment from the set SWEET ON YOU, which you have a chance to win just by leaving a comment on this post!…

If you check out the other sentiments in the set, you will see that these are all meant to be paired up with some sort of popular candy like “You’re a Lifesaver” and “Love You to Pieces”…as in Reese’s Pieces. The sentiment that I used can be paired up with just about any candy that comes multicolored. I actually used this sentiment and pattern paper idea on THIS project. I paired that with the ricrac idea that I had on THIS project.

See why I love Verve sentiments??

Ok, did I do enough BLAH BLAH BLAH? Just kidding

It’s time to hop, hop, hop on over to Libby’s blog for more Anni-VERVE-sary greatness.

Hey there! This is the last SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY of the month and the last chance at the GIGANTIC prize package that is going to be won by a very lucky SFYTT participant. A new Designer of the Month will also be chosen from the participants. Just want to put up the deets one last time…

1. A new sketch will be posted here each Saturday in February
2. There will be a Slide Guest Book that you can post your creation(s) at the end of each of those posts.
3. You will have until March 2nd to post your creations to the corresponding sketch. Be sure that each of your creations is posted to the correct Slide Guest Book.
4. You can enter as many times as you like, but must upload each creation separately. All entries should be posted to your blog or online gallery, as well. Please use the keyword “SFYTT” for all online galleries.
5. All participants will also be considered for next month’s Designer of the Month, as well.
6. A RANDOM participant will win the prize package and will be announced on March 3rd. Winner will have five days to contact me via email to claim prize.
7. The March Designer of the Month will be chosen and contacted March 3rd, but will not be announced until the first Saturday of March here.

Ok, so here’s the sketch…

Here’s my take on it using some American Crafts paper that I just got from Emma’s Paperie and a My Favorite Things sentiment…

***********REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION*********

Detail of the flower, which was cut out using my Slice Wedding Design Cartridge…

A very special Thank You to Mona Pendleton for joining us this month. As always, she has created a beautiful sample…

You can check out more fabby creations from my SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY sisters…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O’Brien
Susan Liles
and Kelly Lunceford

PSST…There’s gonna be some new faces to the SFYTT Sisters next week! Stay tuned!

Finally, here is where you upload your card. PLEASE use the Slide guest book ONLY for uploads; comments may be left in the comments section of this post below. THANK YOU!!!

Hey Everyone! Nicolas is ONE MONTH old today! Wow, that went by fast! I’ve enjoyed the time off, but it’s time to get back into the swing of things again. SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY is back and this month is extra sweet! “How’s that?” you ask. Well…

1. There is a PRIZE PACKAGE worth well over $200 up for grabs!
2. We’re looking for next month’s Designer of the Month!

First, let’s talk about this GINORMOUS PRIZE PACKAGE that’s up for grabs. Several {and I mean LOTS} of GREAT companies have donated fabby stamping and crafty products. I would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to the crafty donors; please visit their sites by clicking the links below…

My Favorite Things
The Cat’s Pajamas
Verve Stamps
Skipping Stones Designs
Stamping Bella
The Stamps of Life
Our Craft Lounge
Stamper’s Dream
There She Goes
Lizzie Anne Designs
My Time Made Easy
eclectic Paperie
Gina K. Designs
Jacksonbelle Embellishments
Taylored Expressions
Prism Papers
Splitcoast Stampers {one year Fan Club membership}

Want to win and/or be the next Designer of the Month? Check out these guidelines…

1. A new sketch will be posted here each Saturday in February
2. There will be a Slide Guest Book that you can post your creation(s) at the end of each of those posts.
3. You will have until March 2nd to post your creations to the corresponding sketch. Be sure that each of your creations is posted to the correct Slide Guest Book.
4. You can enter as many times as you like, but must upload each creation separately. All entries should be posted to your blog or online gallery, as well. Please use the keyword “SFYTT” for all online galleries.
5. All participants will also be considered for next month’s Designer of the Month, as well.
6. A RANDOM participant will win the prize package and will be announced on March 3rd. Winner will have five days to contact me via email to claim prize.
7. The March Designer of the Month will be chosen and contacted March 3rd, but will not be announced until the first Saturday of March here.

Here’s this week’s sketch {which was based on THIS card}…

Here’s my sample…

This month’s Designer of the Month is the super talented MONA PENDLETON…

A little bit about Mona, in her own words…
I have a passion for papercrafting and a strong desire for inspiring others. I started paper-crafting approximately 7 years ago when I began scrapbooking my children’s photos and creating any occasion greeting cards & haven’t stopped since. I have developed a sort of shabby chic, vintage style.

Her gorgeous take on the sketch…

You can check out more fabby creations from my SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY sisters…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O’Brien
Susan Liles
and be sure to visit theother new mama on our team, Kelly Lunceford

Here’s where you upload your creation…