The Twinery + DiscountCardstock.com Blog Hop {Jul 7th}

The Twinery and DiscountCardstock.com Design Teams are joining up today for a Summer Party themed blog hop! As you hop from blog to blog make sure and comment on every post because there will be two winners chosen randomly along the hop. If you get lost anywhere along the hop (or if someone is having a blog glitch) a complete list of participants will be posted on The Twinery and DiscountCardstock.com blogs. The hop will end on July 13, 2011 and winners will be posted on The Twinery and DiscountCardstock.com blogs the following day.

Here are the prizes!

Colorful Bunch Sampler Pack (a $20 retail value) from The Twinery:

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it's eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you're gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, our baker's twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! Our baker's twine comes in 11 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look.

and

A paper sampler pack (a $20 retail value) from DiscountCardstock.com:

DiscountCardstock.com was launched in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our mission is to provide great quality cardstock and specialty papers at discount pricing. We offer 100% acid and lignin free, archival quality uncoated cardstocks, as well as metallic, vellum, hand-made specialty papers, envelopes, scored cards and high qualify art paper and cards that are specially coated and developed for use by professional artists and card makers using ink jet printers.

You already know how much I love The Twinery's baker's twine and it's not just because I design for them. Now I can also rave about the cardstock from DiscountCardstock.com! This was my first experience using their cardstock and it is gorgeous. The colours are vibrant and there are so many textures and weights to choose from, plus they all take ink beautifully! Let's take a closer look.

Since every party hostess needs a gift, I decided to make a gift set to show off just how beautiful these papers are. I chose their 80lb Kraft cardstock for the bases. The first card uses three of the brightest colours in my package. I created a sentiment background for the bottom panel and cut strips of cardstock in varying widths. Then I stamped the main sentiment on both the kraft base and the first strip of cardstock. In the close-up photo for this card, you can see how well the ink shows up on the paper as well as the detail on the 80lb Posh Red Linen cardstock in the centre. To finish, I added The Twinery's Lemondrop baker's twine.

For this second card, I chose a more muted combination to show off the 65lb Posh Khaki Crepe cardstock. The 80lb Posh White Linen is also very nice and I think the 65lb Grape does a nice job of highlighting the quality and detail of the two neutral cardstocks. The 65lb Grape looks so good with The Twinery's Lilac baker's twine, doesn't it?

Next up, I created another card with a bright colour combination. I loved the 80lb Posh Red Linen in the first card but this time I wanted to stamp on the texture and see how well it took ink. As you can see, it's amazing! This card also showcases the 105lb Posh Tangelo Dungaree cardstock. I love orange so you can imagine how happy I am with this combination of colour and texture. The Twinery's Mandarin baker's twine was perfect for this card.

And for my last card, I used a masculine colour combination to show off three textured colours. The 80lb Posh Milk Chocolate Felt is amazing! It's a gorgeous brown and the texture is dreamy. I'm not sure how to explain it but I love it! As you can see in the close-up photo, it takes ink really well even though it has a mottled texture. The 105lb Posh Grass Green Dungaree is to die for. It's probably my most favourite of all the cardstocks I received and of course it matches The Twinery's Peapod baker's twine perfectly!

Now I'm craving more from DiscountCardstock.com because the colours and quality are amazing and the best part is that they go so well with The Twinery's baker's twine! I hope I've inspired you to create with both. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Your next stop on this hop is Trudy Sjolander!

Sources for Happy Birthday: DiscountCardstock.com 80lb Kraft, 65lb Gold, 80lb Posh Red Linen & 65lb Sea Blue; Hero Arts Essential Messages; Memories Black ink; Marvy-Uchida 1/8" long reach circle punch; The Twinery baker's twine in Lemondrop

Sources for Hello Hello: DiscountCardstock.com 80lb Kraft, 65lb Grape, 65lb Posh Khaki Crepe & 80lb Posh White Linen; Hero Arts Essential Messages; Memories Black ink; Marvy-Uchida 1/8" long reach circle punch; The Twinery baker's twine in Lilac

Sources for Best Wishes: DiscountCardstock.com 80lb Kraft, 65lb Sea Blue, 105lb Posh Tangelo Dungaree & 80lb Posh Red Linen; Hero Arts Essential Messages; Memories Black ink; Marvy-Uchida 1/8" long reach circle punch; The Twinery baker's twine in Mandarin

Sources for Thank You: DiscountCardstock.com 80lb Kraft, 80lb Posh White Linen, 105lb Posh Grass Green Dungaree & 80lb Posh Milk Chocolate Felt; Hero Arts Essential Messages; Memories Black ink; Marvy-Uchida 1/8" long reach circle punch; The Twinery baker's twine in Peapod