Birthdays are like purses . . .

Hi, and happy Saturday! I have a lot of March birthdays to make cards for and squeezed in this little ditty yesterday afternoon. (Taking the time to make it was a little treat to myself after surviving a busy, busy week. Some days you've just GOT to take a little time for yourself for the sake of sanity, right?)

I was inspired to make this girly card by the current challenge over at Just Punch It: Make It Girly. I made that cute little purse with the Stampin' Up! round tab punch and two of the SU oval punches (to make the handle). The purse flap is just a snippet of patterned paper trimmed from the end of a scalloped-oval punch (again, from SU). These punches came together to create a rather stylish little handbag, don't you think?? I searched through some of my old stamp sets and came up with one from Skipping Stones with a bunch of purse-related sentiments. So, you saw the first part of the sentiment ("Birthdays are like purses"), and here's the wink-wink punchline inside:

Tee--hee!!

And since I've used washi tape on my project, I'm linking this up to the current Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge: It's a Wash, to use washi tape. I love my washi!

Thanks for dropping in for a little slice of bliss today! Have a great weekend,
Emily

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day! I'd really hoped to write up this post yesterday (at the latest) and schedule it to go live much earlier today, but between having a husband home sick for two days this week and another Nor'easter winter storm that cancelled school yesterday, I didn't have much alone time to finish my top-secret Valentine's Day projects or get them photographed for a blog post. So, finally, everything is pretty much back to normal at my house, and I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on some Valentines and gifts for my family. It will be fun to surprise everyone at suppertime tonight!

I know that some folks pan Valentine's Day as an overly romantic, Hallmark-fueled holiday, but I really and truly love it! It gives me an event-kind-of-something to look forward to in the otherwise dreary, cold, and frozen month of February. The pretty colors (reds! pinks! lavenders!) are such bright spots in the colorless winter landscape, and the fun shapes/motifs (hearts! cupids! doilies! arrows!) and loving sentiments are true pick-me-ups. And how can you go wrong with a holiday that is rooted largely in chocolate? I say bring it on!!

I love giving Valentines! I give them to my husband and kids, but also send them to my parents, sister's family, in-laws, aunts and uncles, and friends all over the country. For me, Valentines are just such a fun way of sending a little love and letting the folks I care about know that I've been thinking of them. I spent a large chunk of my day on Monday getting my Valentines ready to mail: signing, stuffing and sealing envelopes, addressing, weighing and attaching proper postage, and then heading off to the post office to get them in the mail system before the end of the day. My fingers are crossed that everything will be delivered in time! Yes, it is a labor of love, but it makes me feel good, and I hope that a little something that I took the time to make and send will brighten the day of those I care about.

Over the years I've collected a number of small empty heart-shaped candy boxes, and I decided that instead of buying treats to give for Valentine's Day, I'd upcycle a few of my heart-shaped boxes and fill them with some homemade chocolate candies. Here are the boxes I decorated:

For my dad:

From DeNami Design: Dad stamp, Elegant Oval Frame stamp, heart from Whimsical Valentine stamp set, Chevron embossing folder, and Black Chevron washi tape

What's inside? Some hand-dipped Dark Chocolate Vanilla Creams!

I based these on this recipe from Land O Lakes.

For my mom:

From DeNami Design: Small Valentines Script stamp, Solid Rose Accents stamp set, and Red Heart Lace washi tape.

Wanna peek at what she'll be biting into? Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls!

I based these on this recipe from Parents Magazine (February 2011).

I have a punch art penguin-themed box for my hubby:
 

From DeNami Design: Square Word Bubble stamp, Love Sentiments stamp set, and heart from Whimsical Valentine stamp set.

a punch art owl-themed box for my 15YO daughter (to go with this card for her):

From DeNami Design: Square Word Bubble stamp

and a Despicable Me minion-themed box for my 11YO son:

The patterned paper is from Target's One Spot, and I printed the sentiment with my computer.

to go with the minion Valentine I made for him (I was inspired by this minion Valentine):

From DeNami Design: Small Valentines Script stamp, Love Sentiments stamp set, Small Heart Outline stamp, Small Scallop Heart stamp, chevron border from Modern Borders Set, and two white Boutique Buttons.

I can't wait to see everyone's reactions!!

Thanks for bearing with me through this long and photo-heavy post :D! I hope that you have a lovely day today.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Emily

Owl Be Your Valentine

Hello there! Today I have a little owl-themed Valentine to share:

Time is running out on my friend Pam's Just Punch It Challenge. Valentine punch art is this edition's theme. I'm still working on my Valentines and had a bit of time to play with paper today, so I dove right in. The patterned paper is from Target's One Spot. The Teeny Heart Background stamp and Rectangle Word Bubble stamp are both from DeNami Design. The branch stamp is from Schlosser Designs.

I created that cute little owl by starting with a rectangle of red cardstock and then punching part of an oval to create his tufted head and using corner rounder to shape his base. I used various sizes of heart punches to make his tummy, beak, and feet. His eyes are, of course, layered circle punches, and his wings are two halves of a small scalloped circle punch. He was so easy to make!

I simply used my computer to print the sentiment on cardstock and then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the word bubble around it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Secret to a Long Life

My brother-in-law's birthday is coming up fast, and I realized today that I didn't really have anything in my birthday card stash that would be suitable for him. I figure that humorous cards are always in style for guys, so I decided to take that route with the BIL's card. Here's how that went:

The inside of the card holds the punch line:

I'm playing along with the Paper Smooches SPARKS Picture Perfect Challenge, which is to be inspired by this photo:

There was so much to be inspired by! The colors, the blocking, the textures, the vertical elements, even the "text block" on top of the cake!

Of course, I used stamps from Paper Smooches for my card! The owl comes from the My Peeps set, and the party hat elements come from the Party Posse set. I printed the speech bubble and sentiments using MS Word on my computer. The font is called CK Buddies. I had fun adding texture to my design with two different "masculine-ish" embossing folders from DeNami Design: Thin Lines and Checkered.


I'm also playing along with the new challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. This week the challenge is to "Emboss It." Done and done!

Thanks for the great challenges, SPARKS and Simon Says!!


And thanks for dropping by, my friends!
Emily

Happy Birthday, Mom!

(Spoiler Alert:  MOM! If you haven't yet opened that package I sent you, do NOT read any further or you will spoil the surprise!!! OK?)

TGIF, my friends! This is the first time in what seems like eons that I've had any time at all to do (and then post about) even a little bit of recreational crafting all for my own personal purposes. Life on Bliss Road has been all kinds of crazy busy the past several months. Half the time I don't know if I'm coming or going! It's all good, but I miss creating regularly. So I positively welcomed the chance to do some personal crafting as my mom's birthday approached. I sent a package off to her earlier in the week (fingers crossed that it arrived in time!!), and I couldn't wait to share the fun birthday card I made for her. Without further ado, here it is:

and now for the punch line inside:

I hope this makes her laugh out loud!!! The image and sentiment stamps come from a hilarious stamp set called Gossip, Hot Flashes, and Crazy that I earned from Unity Stamp Co. back in June for being the Growing In Unity gal of the week. It's such a snarky collection! When I first saw this set, I started reading some of the sentiments to my husband and he told me that I absolutely needed to get this one. It kind of reminded me of Emerson Quillin's snarky "Listen Honey" cartoons, of which my mom has always been a fan, so my Gossip set was the first thing I reached for when it was time to make her birthday card. Those elegant retro ladies' dresses are such fun to paper-piece!

I also used a label frame from Unity's Season of Joy set, and the "happy birthday" sentiment is from How YOU Doin'? And a little red polka-dotted washi tape was just the ticket for dressing up the inside of this card.

Well, my To-Do list beckons and we have {yet another} busy weekend ahead of us, so I really must run. I'm linking up with Unity's Friends With Flair party today.

And, Mom, I hope you are having a FABULOUS birthday today! Is there a decorated birthday cake (or some other sinfully good yummy) in your plans for the day? If not, there should be!! Get out there and celebrate like you mean it!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

DeNami Design Product Spotlight June Blog Hop

It's the last Wednesday of the month and that means it is time to show off another awesome DeNami Design stamp with a blog hop! This month we are featuring the summery Tropical Drinks set.

When I was thinking about what approach to take to this project, it occurred to me that the middle drink in the set could be a soda. Then I wondered who or what in DeNami World would drink it? So I pulled out all of my DeNami animal stamps and immediately noticed that the squirrel is facing the right way and is the perfect size. Thus, my lime-and-Diet-Coke-drinking squirrel was born! Have a Coke and a smile! :D

My card also features these great items from the DeNami store:

Squirrel

Heartfelt Greetings Set

Modern Borders Set

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink

Smokey Gray Versafine Ink

Celery Cardstock

Charcoal Cardstock

Lime/White Dots Washi Tape

Brown/White Dots Washi Tape

Bakers Twine

You can purchase this fun Tropical Drinks stamp set for 10% off the regular price for the next week. You also have the chance to WIN this fabulous product in today's spotlight blog hop! All you need to do is hop along to each stop in the lineup, leaving comments along the way. Here is the blog hop lineup:

DeNami blog 
Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton  <==== you are here!
Lisa Elton
Kanani Kawamura
Dana Seymour
Tammy Hobbs

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.

I hope you have a day filled with bliss!!
Emily

Growing In Unity~Day 3

Greetings! Thanks for joining me for Day 3 in my week as Growing In Unity gal!

Today's project is a birthday gift card holder!

I revisited the paper bag image from the card I shared on Monday.  It's included in the July 2012 Kit of the Month, Ol' Bag of Fun. It was so easy to form a little pocket for slipping in a gift card! I simply stamped the paper bag image on kraft cardstock, cut it out, adhered the bag cutout to another piece of kraft cardstock along three edges, and trimmed off the excess. Done!

The blue banner and flag are digital elements that I printed out from the Falala collection by Design by Dani (available from JessicaSprague.com).

Did you spy a little washi tape? If so, good for you! I used a little of my now-signature embellishment to adhere my sentiment flag to a pearl-topped stickpin. Both sentiments also come from the July 2012 KOM, Ol' Bag of Fun.

Gee, it can't possibly be true that my GIU week is now half over! Please leave a comment on this post to be in the running for two free Unity Itty Bitty kits, one comment per person please. But if you are a follower of my blog (or become a new follower), you can leave a second comment--for a second chance to win--on today's post:  just let me know that you are a follower and how you follow my blog!

And then come back tomorrow and Friday for more Unity inspiration and more chances to win in the random drawing! If you missed my GIU Days 1 and 2 posts, you should check out and comment on those as well to maximize your chances of winning ;). I will leave commenting open through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 9, 2013, and will come back on June 10 to announce the winner here on my blog. If I can find a way to contact the winner via email, I'll be sure to do that, too. :)

Thanks so much for sharing a little slice of bliss with me today!
Emily

Growing In Unity~Day 1

Happy Monday morning to all of you! I am bursting with excitement today because this Monday morning kicks off my week as Growing In Unity gal for Unity Stamp Co. Yay!!

Not familiar with Growing In Unity? Well, it's simple. Each week Unity has lined up a different Unity stamp fan to share projects and inspiration all week long. At the end of the week, the GIU gal has the honor of randomly selecting one of the commenters from her week of projects to receive two free Unity Itty Bitty stamp kits of her choice. Is that awesome, or what? And with over 400 Itty Bitties to choose from, there is truly something for everyone.

So, let's get on with the show! I'm kicking off my GIU week with a kinda sassy birthday card.

Hilarious, right? I just LOVE that paper bag image. I think it is so very versatile (and just to prove it, I'll be using it again later this week). It's from the July 2012 Kit of the Month, Ol' Bag of Fun. Lots of fun accompanying sentiments to choose from, too. I've just got to think of exactly the right person to send this birthday card to, 'cause I'm not sure that everyone would appreciate it! ;)

The patterned paper is a digital paper from the Georgia Rose collection by Jodie Lee Designs, available from JessicaSprague.com. I love the vintage look of the paper to go along with the "vintage" bag!!

OK, to be in the running for two free Unity Itty Bitty kits, be sure to leave a comment on this post, one comment per person please. But if you are a follower of my blog (or become a new follower), you can leave a second comment--for a second chance to win--on today's post:  just let me know that you are a follower and how you follow my blog!

And then come back the rest of the week for more Unity inspiration and more chances to win in the random drawing! I will leave commenting open through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 9, 2013, and will come back on June 10 to announce the winner here on my blog. If I can find a way to contact the winner via email, I'll be sure to do that, too. :)

Thanks for dropping by My Little Slice of Bliss today and sharing a little happy with me! See you back right here tomorrow,
Emily

An Alien + a WINNER!

Greetings, Earthlings--and a happy Thursday to you! I'm here with a quick post to share a card and a winner!

First, my card (I know--I'm prolonging the agony and anticipation!):

Yes, kind of goofy, I know. It's an alien wishing the birthday boy a happy birthday! I made this a while ago for the tweenaged son of a very dear friend. Goofy is good for a tween, don't you think? I patterned it after some little clay alien figurines that my kids made for fun last year, and then gave him a Sing-A-Majig kind of mouth made from punches (yes, that's a heart punch that I used for his tongue!). Nearly all of the stamps (including the flourish I used for his skin texture) come from various The Craft's Meow sets (Just Sayin', Season's Greetings, and Timeless Tags), except for the dotted circle around his eye, which comes from a Flourishes set, I believe. Just for kicks, I'm linking this up to the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.

Now, I've promised you a winner for my washi tape giveaway earlier this week. I used Random.org to draw a winner from all the comments left on my giveaway post and came up with lucky number . . .

. . . 14--and that was Denise Bryant!!

Congratulations, Denise! I'm off to email you next so I can get your new roll of Green Graph Washi Tape from DeNami Design mailed out to you. :)

A huge thanks to everyone who played along in my giveaway! As always, I had a ton o' fun reading all of your comments :). Be sure to check out my next Ways With Washi feature in March--it will be on the 4th Monday of the month (that will be March 25). Giveaways are so much fun--let's do another one then!!

Thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss today!
Emily 

I'm Nuts for You

Hey there, everybody! We survived the blizzard :). It was hard to tell exactly how much snow we got in all, what with all the blowing and drifting. We tried to take some snow depth measurements and ended up taking an average. Our best guess is that we received about 18 inches of snow in our town. Boston, just 15 miles to our south, received 24.9 inches of snow. So, who knows? We'll get the official scoop in our hometown weekly newspaper on Thursday.

I took a whole stack of Valentines to be mailed at the post office today, and this was one of them. I made it for my aunt and uncle. My uncle had a long career as a shop teacher before he retired--I think they will get a kick out of this ;). Huge thanks to my sweet hubby for supplying me with some nuts from his garage stash! The letter stamps are from Alphabetically Adorable by Unity, and the patterned paper is a digital print from the Echo Park Paper Hybrid Note to Self collection. Those are some big letters, so this card measures 5" x 7".

I'm playing along with a few challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge--Have a Heart
• PaperCraft Star--Love
• Stampendous February Challenge--Love is in the Air
• Playing in Paradise--A Loved One 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with the winner of my blog candy.
Emily

Juggling Too Much?

Recently I've been busy, crafty-wise, with design assignments. But once the kids were back in school again after their long weekend, I was finally able to turn my attention to a project I've had simmering on the back burner for a while now. Here's my result:

Does this feel like you, too? Well, except for the stylish pencil skirt and those high-heeled shoes, this card pretty much sums up my life these days. Juggling a million details that keep my family running smoothly without any major train wrecks.

This card was inspired by the Use 10 Embellishments Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, in honor of the release of the new Paper Crafts special issue, 75 Creative Card Challenges.

Yes, indeedy, you guessed it--the idea here is to use 10 different embellishments all on the same card in an innovative way. That last part had me stymied for a while. I mean any old fool (this one included!) can slap a bunch of googaws on a card and call it a day. But I wanted mine to mean something, to really tell a story, and not just look like some useless afterthoughts (which is what usually happens if I try to add more than one or two embellies)! Ten? I had my work cut out for me!

My very wise hubby is a big fan of consigning the solution of vexing problems to the subconscious. Can't see how to tackle something right away? Familiarize yourself with the problem and just walk away from it, sleep on it, do something completely different for a while. And that ol' subconscious just plugs away on it, chews it over, and pretty soon smacks you up side the head--completely out of the blue--with just the insight, answer, approach, or solution method that you need. That's just how it happened for me:  in the middle of brushing my teeth while thinking about something completely different.

I selected my embellishments very carefully, picking them for the kinds of tasks that we modern women must juggle.  I had to increase my card size to a mega 5" x 7" to get them to all fit comfortably! Anyway, starting with that ribbon rose on the bottom left, and then going clockwise, we have :

1. The red ribbon rose symbolizes time spent bringing happiness, thoughtfulness, and our thankfulness to others in the form of gifts, cards, phone calls, emails, and favors.
2. The paperclip symbolizes time spent at work.
3. The baseball brad symbolizes time spent managing (and chauffeuring!) kid activities.
4. The wooden clock face symbolizes time spent managing and planning the family calendar.
5. The sparkly apple cabochon symbolizes time spent on planning, shopping, and preparing tasks that keep the family well-nourished.
6. The mini wooden clothespin symbolizes time spent on housekeeping chores.
7. The shiny star brad symbolizes time spent overseeing and helping with the kids' schoolwork.
8. The Asian coin symbolizes time spent on all the myriad financial management tasks.
9. The wooden Bingo number symbolizes time spent on family fun activities and "me" time.
10. The shiny little key symbolizes time spent on home and auto maintenance.

Whew! I'm tired now just thinking of it all! But this little exercise has also been a great reminder of all the many blessings we enjoy. Life may be busy, but it's also quite good!

So, if you feel like you are juggling too much, too, I do believe I know how you feel. And hopefully knowing that will lift you up and make the juggling just a tiny bit easier to manage. :)

Thank you so much for joining me for a little slice of bliss today! It's always a joy to have you drop by!
Emily

Happy Whooooo-lidays Treats

Yesterday I shared the owl gift sets that my 13YO daughter made as Christmas gifts for her friends. Today I'm sharing the Santa owl treat boxes (filled with holiday M&Ms--yum!!) that I made for her to give along with her owl gift sets. Ready?

I used the little girl owl from DeNami Designs' Owls stamp set and DeNami's Double Circle stamp. I "borrowed" the Santa hat from Santa Chickie ;) . The clear boxes also come from the DeNami Design store. The sentiment was computer-generated. I sealed the boxes with a little bit o' washi tape (taped all the way around the box) and dressed up the scalloped circle with a bit of glitter glue. Here's a close-up, you know--just in case ;).

I'm playing along in the new Lawnscaping Challenge, Make It Shine! My shine for this project comes from glittery Stickles.

I'm also entering these in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, which has a "What's Your Favorite?" theme this week. I'd say that punches are my favorite tools--and I used a bunch (OK, well, three) to make these little treat boxes!

Thanks so much checking out my little slice of bliss today!
Emily

DeNami Pretty Packaging Blog Hop

Good morning and welcome to the DeNami Design Pretty Packaging Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design Team and customers alike are using DeNami rubber stamps to make all kinds of packaging. Hop along with us for all kinds of packaging inspiration!

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Tammy Hobbs's blog, Creating Somewhere Under the Sun. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are some amazing DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, December 10, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

I always have a long list of Christmas gifts to give in December. My family likes to remember the kids' school teachers and Sunday School teachers, as well as our neighbors, with a small gift to let these folks know how much we appreciate them. We often whip up some homemade goodies or make up treat bags from treats purchased from our resident scouts, and when we do, we need some pretty--homemade!--packaging to dress these up. This year our gifts will be presented in some cute cranberry and kraft gingham gift bags I scored in a JoAnn Fabrics post-holiday clearance sale last January. All I needed were some classy gift tags to tie on the bags, and we would be all set! Here are the tags I came up with:

I used a fun collection of Christmas chickie stamps (Angel Chickie, Santa Chickie, Elf Chickie (Cling), and Reindeer Chickie (Cling)) along with some fantastic DeNami design elements (Merry Christmas Circle, Medium Double Circle, Polka Dot Background, and Season's Tweetings) to make my tags. These were so much fun to create!

That's it for me! Before you leave for more pretty packaging inspiration, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be on your way to the next stop on the hop, the blog of the very sweet and talented Kristy Smith, Kristy's Crafts. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,

Emily

PS I'm playing along with the Playing in Paradise Challenge this week. The theme is Winter Birds!!

Keen on Neon

Hello! It's been super busy here since Thanksgiving, and I've been away from my blog much more than I've wanted to be. One of the reasons for my busy-ness is that my son celebrated his 10th birthday over the weekend. We had a bunch of celebrating to do!! (And oh my goodness, where has the last 10 years gone? It seems like he was born just last week!) I'm also still struggling with some carpal tunnel issues, which become aggravated by all that pointing and clicking with the mouse. So many of you have been so sweet to come visit me here on my blog and it kills me not to be able to return the favor for right now. But I've got to get healed up first!! So please, bear with me. I'll try to get around to visit soon!!

Well, now that my son's birthday is over, he needs thank you cards to write notes for his birthday gifts. He has early-release days for parent-teacher conferences the rest of the week, so it's the perfect time for him to tackle his note-writing list! I wanted to make up a stack of fun note cards for him to use, so that was at the top of my list yesterday.

I haven't been able to play along with any of the challenges over at the Moxie Fab World in a very looooooooooooong time, but I was so very intrigued by Cath's latest challenge, Keen on Neon. I've seen a whole lotta neon out there in the world recently, and I thought it might be fun to see how to incorporate some in a card design. When I think of neon, the very first thing that comes to mind is highlighters!! Neon is always "in" where highlighters are concerned, and that's one of the very few neon items, crafting or otherwise, that we have in the house. I tried to think of how to keep the neons from overpowering a card design and decided that the best way to do that is to balance them out with a bunch of white space. Here's what I came up with.

Yes, I used a neon yellow highlighter to color in the chickie on this card! I also thought it would be fun to use the same neon yellow to highlight the punny part of the card ;). I used two rubber stamps from DeNami Design, Race Car Chickie and You're "Wheel" Nice, along with some markers and scored lines to make a simple flat design that will be super simple to mail.

My son loves how it turned out, and so do I! I ended up making a set of four duplicates. I'm also linking up to the Playing In Paradise challenge which has the theme of Mr. Masculine this week. I think these "wheel nice" cards I made for my son to use should qualify ;)!!

Well, I've gotta keep moving here or I'm not going to finish my to-do list for today. Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss!!
Emily

It doesn't suck to be Friday

(This is my second post for today.

Be sure to scroll down to check out my 

Bazzill Basics Paper GIVEAWAY in this post.)

Hello, friends, and Happy Friday! I needed to make a few birthday cards and got stuck on what direction to take. What's a gal to do? Dive into some challenges for direction, of course! This is what I ended up with, making two copies of this same design.

I used the {ippity} Itty Bitty Sucks to Get Old and a rick-rack stamp from Unity's Homemade 6-Bean Soup kit. I stamped and heat embossed the lollipop head on watercolor paper so I could paint the image in just the right colors. Then I paper-pieced that portion, as well as the bow.

These are the challenges that helped my card take shape:

• I took my layout from one of the two sketches featured over at Chick Challenges with Ippity this week, taking a CAS tack with it by doing all the layers in white.
  
• I took my color scheme from this week's ColourQ challenge: Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, and White.
  
• I took the theme of my creation from this week's CASology challenge cue.
  

And finally, because it's FRIDAY and I'm showing off my {ippity}/Unity stamps, I'm linking up with Friends With Flair over on the Unity blog.

Well, it's been a busy morning, but it's time to take stock and move on. Can't wait to be inspired when I make my rounds on the Friends With Flair lineup. I hope that all of you have a fabulous weekend!!
Emily

DeNami Cards for Guys Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Design Cards for Guys Blog Hop! Today the DeNami Design Team and customers alike are showcasing some of those often-hard-to-create masculine cards made with DeNami stamps.

 
Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Stacy M.'s blog, Sweethearts & Sweet Tarts. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are delightful DeNami prizes to be won! Two luckies will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, June 11, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize. 

Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes when I'm not sure how to approach a card for a guy, I just go with humor! Guys are always up for a laugh, right? And I'm sure most would take something funny over something mushy any day. So for my card for a guy today, I paired this punny You're a Hoot! stamp with the bespectacled owl from the Owls Petit Four stamp set. 

 
I chose some My Mind's Eye patterned paper in guy-ish colors to stitch down for the background of my card. I stamped the owl in Versafine Vintage Sepia ink on watercolor paper and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I watercolor painted that fun little owl with various dye inks to match the colors of the patterned paper. 

DeNami Design has a fabulous assortment of boy and masculine-themed stamps. Not familiar with them? Be sure to click HERE to see the entire collection!

Well, I'm sure you can't wait to see more guy-card inspiration! Before you leave, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be on your way to the next stop on the hop, the very sweet DeNami addict, Tina Milbourn, at her blog, A Timeless Treasure.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,

Emily

Stamps: You're a Hoot, Owls stamp set by DeNami Design
Paper: white byPapertrey Ink; Mudpie by Bazzill Basics; Baja Breeze by Stampin’ Up!; bubbles patterned paper from Fine and Dandy Boy collection by My Mind’s Eye; watercolor paper by Canson
Ink: Antique Linen distress ink by Ranger Industries; Baja Breeze, So Saffron, and Pumpkin Pie by Stampin’ Up!; Versafine Vintage Sepia by Tsukineko
Accessories: clear embossing powder by DeNami Design; brown buttons from my stash; brown burlap string by May Arts; wonky rectangles dies by Spellbinders
Techniques: machine stitching, heat embossing, watercolor painting

Calls for a Toast

It's been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long since I've been able to play with my Paper Smooches stamps. I needed to make a congratulations card (for our pastor, who has just become a published author! The book he co-authored came out in May, so I'm a bit late. Oops!), and I knew I wanted to use the "this calls for a toast" sentiment from Wake Up. So I peeked at this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge for some inspiration, and found it in spades.

I was inspired by that pretty piano to feature a turquoise toaster on my card. I went with lots of blank space in my design to honor the blank wall in the photo. I tied the color of my toast to the color of the floor in the photo, and the patterned paper strip under the toaster was selected because its polka dots reminded me of that wall of plates in the photo!

All of my patterned papers in this card are digital papers. The cork pattern for the toast comes from the Note to Self collection by Echo Park, the turquoise chevron print for the toaster comes from the Splash collection by Echo Park, and the dotted pattern comes from the Chit Chat collection by Betsy Tuma (a part of the free October 2010 Crop Collab available at Two Peas).

I hope you are having a good weekend! It's rainy here, so we're trying to get caught up on indoor stuff. 

Thanks for swinging by!

Emily

Stamps: Paper Smooches Wake Up

Cardstock: Rustic Cream by PTI

Patterned Paper: (all digital) Note to Self collection by Echo Park, Splash collection by Echo Park, Chit Chat collection by Betsy Tuma

Ink: Onyx Black Versafine

Accessories: Corner Chomper, sewing machine

Hang in There

We are off to march in our town's Memorial Day parade this morning. Both our daughter and son will be marching with their scout groups; my husband and I will be marching along with the Cub Scouts to help with crowd boy control and to lug along the mini American flags that the boys will be passing out to spectators along the parade route. Luckily our burdens will lighten the further along the route we get! This parade is always such a fun time, and the weather appears to be cooperating. Yay!

I wanted to pop in quickly to share the card I made for Paper Crafts' Gallery Idol competition, season six. The theme for the open auditions round is encouragement, and I thought and thought about it and finally came up with this card:

I figured that a frilly pink polka-dotted brassiere shaped card with an accompanying "hang in there" sentiment would be the perfect encouragement card for a girlfriend who's going through rough times! My daughter (13) thought this was the cutest ever. My 9YO son's first reaction was "I think that's kind of . . . um, inappropriate." When my daughter explained that "she wouldn't send it to a man, silly," his attitude softened a bit. But his response pointed out that what I thought hilarious and fun might not be received similarly by everyone else. So I do apologize to any and all who share my son's views!!

A few program notes: I designed this bra-shaped card myself. It's hinged at the top of the straps so there's a bra-shaped inside as well for a handwritten note. The card base is solid pink cardstock (The Paper Company), and the polka-dotted bra cups were cut from patterned paper in the Handmade collection by Lily Bee Design.  I glued some lace trim from my sewing stash to the back of the patterned paper, and then stitched the whole thing down to the card base. Remember when lingerie always had a little pink rose stitched to the center? That was my inspiration for the placement of this sweet little satin ribbon rose (a gift from my friend Carol--thanks, sweetie!). I stamped the "hang in there" sentiment (a retired stamp from The Angel Company, which is sadly no longer in business) on a strung marking tag from Avery to tie around one of the straps. A little bling on the tag was all I needed to finish this up. I love how it turned out, and really, it was pretty easy to make. A win, win!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend, and if you are in the U.S., that you enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day holiday! Thanks for dropping in for a visit.

Emily

A Valentine for my boy

He's nine, a third grader. He's sweet: loves his mom, dad, and sister, snuggles with his stuffed animals, thinks baby chicks and puppies are soooooooo cute, likes being hugged and kissed, thinks pink is fun. But he's definitely got his hard-core boy side, too: loves getting sweaty, playing computer and video games, exploring science, being sporty, taking pratfalls, telling jokes, making rude noises. He'll love getting a Valentine (and a handmade one, at that!) from his mom, but this year I thought it's probably time to move away from the cutesy and lean more toward something "cool," something that says "boy."

I saw my DeNami Rocketship rubber stamp and thought that would be a fun angle to take, especially because he studied our solar system in school earlier this year. I started thinking "moon," headed off to look at some photos for inspiration, and stumbled across this stunning photo:

I had exactly the inspiration I needed to make a Valentine for my boy:

As I mentioned before, the rocket is DeNami--and so is the Solid Decorative Crest that I used as the rocket's blast-off flames. The sentiment, "You're out of this world, Valentine!," was computer generated, trimmed into a flag, and adhered to a stickpin from Maya Road. I think this moon was claimed in the name of love!

I'm entering this card in two challenges over at the Moxie Fab World. This is my third entry in The Map to Your Heart Challenge, to incorporate maps in innovative ways. What can I say? I just can't get maps off my mind :). I'm getting lots of use out of that freebie world map from Doctors Without Borders. This time I circle-punched the tip of South America to play the role of Earth in my Earthrise scene. I did some trimming and shading to give it the correct perspective.

I'm also entering this in the Around the House Challenge, to incorporate an element that was created from a "tool" that you have around your house in an innovative way. My household "tool?" Buttons! I used rimmed buttons to "stamp" the craters on my lunar surface. I simply adhered a button to my finger with a glue dot, inked the button with some charcoal gray ink, and went to town "stamping" moon craters!
This one was a fun one to make! I'm hoping that my son will like it as much as I liked making it. :)

Thanks for spending some time with me for a wee slice o' bliss on this snowy Saturday morning!
Emily