A Triple Dose of Paper Smooches

Kim is featuring both the February sets and March sets as well as the CHA sets on the Paper Smooches Blog this week! My first card features stamps from one of the February releases, Spring Fling. To create the row of beans, I drew a pencil line where the yellow cardstock would end up and stamped the outlines of the beans across the card. Then I used the solid bean and chalk ink to fill them in.

The paint brush was masked on to the blue bean and to get it that one bean to look unfinished, I slowly lowered the stamp on to the cardstock at an angle and kept the bottom corner from completely making contact with the card. As soon as my son saw this set, he wanted to stamp with the beans. He doesn't understand pun of the sentiment but he wanted to use it on his card. ;)

*****

For my second card, I used one of the March releases, Metropolis, with one of the CHA releases, He Said, She Said. I overlapped the two skyscapes to create depth and dimension. I stamped the road with watermark ink to retain the original yellow colour. I used the two clouds as bushes on the side of the road to create a visual triangle with the car and the speech bubble from He Said, She Said.

I incorporated all six cardstock colours from the Esther Collection. These are all textured on one side and smooth on the other for endless possibilities. I love the convenience of coordinating colours in one package! Both Metropolis and He Said, She Said will be available for purchase on March 1st. That's only two days away!

Don't forget to visit the Paper Smooches Blog today and tomorrow for two more chances to win a CHA release! All stamps will be available for purchase this Thursday, March 1st.

Sources for How Have You Bean?: Gina K Designs white cardstock; Bazzill Basics yellow textured cardstock; AC brown textured cardstock; SU Going Grey textured cardstock; Paper Smooches Spring Fling; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Hero Arts Punch, Grass, Cerulean and Iris chalk inks; Copic markers; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper

Sources for Miss You: Gina K Designs white cardstock; Paper Smooches Esther Collection; Paper Smooches Metropolis & He Said, She Said (available March 1st); Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Versamark Watermark ink; Spellbinders Lacey Circles & Standard Circles Large; May Arts pink burlap string; foam tape

Paper Smooches Winner Announced!

Good morning! I'm here to announce my winner from the February Paper Smooches Release Blog Hop on Thursday and that lucky lady is:

Congratulations, Karin! Please email me with your mailing address so we can get Smarty Pants sent out to you right away.

Thank you all for hopping along with the Paper Smooches design team for this release! Starting Monday, Kim will have three more days of CHA reveals and then all 20 of the CHA stamp sets as well as the three March releases will be available for purchase on Thursday, March 1st. Eeek, this is the week! See you on the Paper Smooches Blog for inspiration all month long. Have an amazing weekend!!

February Paper Smooches DT Blog Hop!

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches March stamp release with you! The three NEW clear stamp sets will be available to purchase on March 1st. You will find them HERE. Follow the Paper Smooches blog for more sneak peeks.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! Just leave a comment on any of the five design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of the three new March stamp sets! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify) You have until midnight MT on Friday, February 24th to leave a comment. Please check all five blogs on Saturday, February 25th to see if you are one of the five lucky winners.

• Emily Leiphart <--- You are here.
• Heidi Van Laar
• Kryssi Ng
• Laurie Schmidlin
• Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post

2. Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop

3. Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop

4. Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

My card features the teacher, pile of books and one of the sentiments from Smarty Pants. This set is mega cute and it has the word 'smart' in it so that tells you how versatile it is! This guy makes me laugh. I love his face, don't you? He looks like a mad scientist to me. Imagine how fun it would be to swap out the stick for something else!

I bent his leg so that his shoe would lie flat on the stack of books. I also used one of the circles from Whirligigs to pattern his tie. Don't forget to leave a comment on the Paper Smooches Blog for a chance to win Whirligigs, another one of the CHA releases that will be available for purchase on March 1st. I hope you are prepared to spend on that day! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Remember to check back here on Saturday to see if you are the lucky winner of Smarty Pants!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Smarty Pants & Whirligigs (available March 1st); Memento Tuxedo Black ink; SU Real Red ink; Copic markers

Hope You Feel Better Soon

Today, the following members of the Avocado Arts Pit Crew are inspiring you with more projects made with the February Stamp Set, Wishes and Kind Thoughts:

Emily Branch

---> Emily Leiphart <---

Kelley Eubanks

Savannah O'Gwynn

My card was inspired by several of my son's books that feature animals riding in umbrellas. He will always remark, "That's not a boat!" LOL So here it is, an owl sailing the high seas in his umbrella. The ocean waves were created using the long curvy branch from the same set. The photos don't show it very well but the white layer is actually behind the die cut blue frame.

There's so much to love with this new set! If you don't already own any Avocado Arts stamps, I guarantee, you will love them. Every image is exceptionally versatile and they're all designed to work with previous and future stamp sets. Did you know that Avocado Arts has a Club Membership where you can save more than $3 per stamp set? Click HERE to discover Avocado Arts!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white & kraft cardstock; SU Pool Party, So Saffron & Calypso Coral cardstock; Avocado Arts Wishes & Kind Thoughts; Memories Black ink; SU Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise & Taken With Teal ink; Spellbinders Labels Eight; foam tape

Wishing You Sunshine

Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today! It features stamps from Eco Friendly and Spring Fling. I created masks for the cloud and sun and stamped them across to create a one-layer card. I added a smiling flower at the bottom and coloured everything with Copic markers. To finish, I rounded the diagonal corners with both sizes of my corner chomper.

Don't forget, Kim is giving away at least one new set every weekday this month on the Paper Smooches Blog to celebrate her mega CHA release on March 1st! You will want to hop on over there daily for a chance to win one of these incredible new releases. Thanks for stopping by today!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Eco Friendly & Spring Fling; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Copic markers; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper

Hello Robot Tags

Humour me, will you? ;) I thought yesterday's card would've helped bring back the mojo but, after I finished it, I spent several hours sitting at my desk staring into space! I admired my stamps and flipped through my inspiration book and still nothing came. Today, I decided to do something fun regardless. For the Hero Arts February Contest, I used Sketch #3 to make a set of tags that could go on gifts or serve as embellishments when attached to cards. I thought these would come in handy for my son's friends when he starts school this fall.

A sentiment like 'Have fun!' or 'You're cool!' would've made more sense but because I am in a funk, my mind was thinking that I had to make this fit all three categories. After I stamped the 'hello' sentiment, I thought I rendered these tags unusable because I didn't think there would be an occasion to send a simple hello card to a little boy. Then I remembered that several of my friends made cards for a little boy named Sebastian so I slightly modified one of the tags and turned it into a card for him. Now I'm thinking, I may have to convert the other two to cards as well!

I just got Echo Park's A Boy's Life so I wanted to cut it up immediately and I'd only used the MFT Die-namics Layered Label Die once since I got it for Christmas. Since a couple of the dies matched the sketch perfectly, I decided to use that as the shape of my tag. I stamped off (or second generation stamped) the Friend Definition on the centre labels directly on patterned paper. Then I stamped the same robot from Robot Trio in three different colours and fussy cut them. I hadn't fussy cut 120lb cardstock in a while and I'd forgotten how painful it was or maybe it was because I'm so out of practice! LOL I punched holes for the burlap string, looped them through and stapled it in place before stamping the sentiment from Essential Messages and adhering the robots with foam tape. Lastly, I added some Stickles to the stars on their chests.

Some of you were shocked that I used a sketch for my last card so I'll explain. I will very rarely use a sketch if it speaks to me and sometimes they do. The Hero Arts February Contest sketches inspire me but I'm not saying the mojo is flowing out from my fingertips the way ideas normally have in the past. I do hope that feeling will return quickly otherwise I will be in a panic soon enough with design team projects and publication calls looming. So now I will go and try to make a different theme of card for the last sketch. ;)

Sources: Echo Park A Boy's Life paper pad; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Hero Arts Friend Definition, Robot Trio & Essential Messages; Ranger Distress Inks in Wild Honey, Fired Brick & Broken China; SU Dye Ink in Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Wild Wasabi & Night of Navy; Marvy-Uchida 1/8" long reach circle punch; May Arts burlap string in Natural, Bittersweet & Navy; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Ranger Stickles in Yellow, Orange Peel & Turquoise; foam tape

Hello On The Go

I made this card for the Hero Arts February Contest. It features my interpretation of Sketch #2, falls into the Hello category and uses die cuts. I combined three different Hero Arts sets - Zig Zag, Newspaper Skyline and On the Go Bike - plus five colours of their chalk inks. I'm totally in love with the Hero Arts chalk inks right now and need a couple more to complete my collection. ;)

This is also the first time I've made anything new in a week! Trying to find my mojo has been like trying to squeeze water from a cactus. I decided that staring at my new Hero Arts stamps wasn't going to force my mojo out of winter hibernation so I decided to just ink them up. Even though I am satisfied with the result, this card did not come together easily and I recycled a lot of cardstock in the process. In reality, it took me about four hours to make this card. I knew what stamps I wanted to use. It was the colours and fiddling with the images that took a while. I must've stamped that 'hello' arrow at least a dozen times in different colours, with and without backgrounds!

I thought this would be a fun card to send to a friend I haven't talked to in a while as a reminder that even though we lead such busy lives, I am still thinking of her. Why not say hello on the go, right? I hope you like it! I think I will now attempt those other two sketches in the hopes of jumpstarting my mojo. You have five more days to play if you want to join me. :)

Well, my husband just popped by and saw this card saying, "Ooohhh, I really like that," so the card might not be going anywhere now. LOL

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft cardstock; SU Naturals White cardstock; Hero Arts Zig Zag, Newspaper Skyline & On the Go Bike; Hero Arts Snow, Poppy, Punch, Grass & Cerulean chalk inks; foam tape; SU Basic Rhinestones; green Copic marker

Unity Friends With Flair {Feb 17th}

Here I am again at the very last minute playing along with Unity Friends With Flair! I love this card but it's been rejected at least three times so I am finally sharing it with you. To create the background, I used the damask stamp from Happily Ever After, a couple of the scrolls and ornaments from Greetings of Christmas and the title sentiment from Think Happy Thoughts. To get the two-toned orange and pink colours in the damask, I used the rock-and-roll technique.

I'm selling a lot of Unity sets under my For Sale tab HERE so please have a peek and let me know if you're interested in giving these wonderful stamps a new home! :)

I wish you all a fun weekend! It's the Family Day weekend here in Ontario and a few other Canadian provinces so I'm happy to have my husband home for an extra day. Maybe I'll get in some crafting time if my mojo ever returns. LOL

Sources: SU Tempting Turquoise cardstock; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Unity Stamp Company Happily Ever After, Greetings of Christmas & Think Happy Thoughts; Vivid! ButterScotch ink; SU Pink Passion & tempting Turquoise ink; Memories Artprint Brown ink; Spellbinders Labels Five; foam tape

Caught a Bug?

Today's Paper Smooches card features Helping Hands, Healthy Vibes and the giveaway of the day, Primary! Be sure to leave a comment on the Paper Smooches Blog for a chance to win this fabulous set. To create this card, I used one of the 'thumbs up' hand from Helping Hands and cut it to insert the spoon which was reverse stamped using another Paper Smooches CHA release which you will be seeing at the end of the month. Are you excited?! They're all must-haves. :) The spoon, germ and sentiment are all from Healthy Vibes, one of the Kismet Collection stamp sets. I inked the rings from Primary with watermark ink to create a border on the ivory cardstock as well as the soft stone cardstock. The blue strips were left uninked. Again, be sure to stop by the Paper Smooches Blog today and every weekday this month and leave a comment for your chance to win at least one of the CHA releases!!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury soft sand & white cardstock; SU Pool Party & Naturals Ivory cardstock; BasicGrey Wander paper pad; Paper Smooches Helping Hands, Healthy Vibes & Primary; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; VersaMark watermark ink; Copic markers; foam tape

Happy Easter

Today, the entire Avocado Arts Pit Crew has loads of inspiration to share with you! We've all made cards featuring the February Stamp Set: Wishes and Kind Thoughts with sneak peeks of the upcoming March Stamp Set: Springtime Celebrations. Please visit these amazing blogs for inspiration galore:

Avocado Arts Blog
AJ Otto
Becky Oehlers
Emily Branch
---> Emily Leiphart <---
Julia Stainton
Kelley Eubanks
Kimberly Crawford
Latisha Yoast
Savannah O'Gwynn

For my card, I used the base of the wishing well from Wishes & Kind Thoughts as a basket. I coloured the stones in a basket weave and inserted two eggs on a straw bed, three parts which are masked together in one piece, from Springtime Celebrations. The sentiment is also from the upcoming March release. I created a basket handle with burlap string and Copic coloured gemstones.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you are playing with Avocado Arts, leave me a link to your blog post or gallery and I'll be sure to stop by to check it out. Oh, and in case you didn't already know, Avocado Arts has a publication incentive program! If you are published with more than just a sentiment, you will earn a free stamp set of your choice. :)

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft & white cardstock; SU Pool Party cardstock; Currys Japanese Linen cardstock in Avocado; Avocado Arts Wishes & Kind Thoughts & Springtime Celebrations; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Scattered Straw & Walnut Stain distress inks; Copic markers; May Arts natural jute twine; SU Basic Rhinestones; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper; foam tape

Happy Anniversary

Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today! It features a fabulous anniversary sentiment from Good Gab and a few stamps from Spring Fling, both of which are February releases. I'm completely in love with the script on this sentiment and it's going to see a lot of ink in my craft room! I made the egg couple with the egg, face and bow from Spring Fling, combined with the mustache from Chubby Chum Pals and the hand from Wake Up. Then I coloured and shaded them with Copic markers. This is a true one-layer card since the bow and arms are masked into the eggs. I'll be giving this one to my husband for our eight anniversary next month. Maybe I'll stamp the 'You're a Good Egg' sentiment from Wake Up on the inside. ;)

Thanks for stopping by today! I just wanted to remind you that Kim is giving away at least one new set every weekday this month on the Paper Smooches Blog to celebrate her CHA releases on March 1st. You will want to hop on over there daily for a chance to win one of these incredible new releases! :D

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Good Gab, Spring Fling, Chubby Chum Pals & Wake Up; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; SU Real Red ink; Copics

Unity Friends With Flair {Feb 10th}

Wow, it's been almost two months since I joined in on the fun with Unity Friends With Flair. I've missed it! These days, it's rare that I don't have a required post on Fridays so today I'm taking advantage of it even if it's an hour before Mr. Linky closes. ;) Today, I wanted to share a card that was rejected for Paper Crafts magazine's Card Creations: Get Inspired special issue which was released in November 2011. If you have this issue, you can turn to pages 52 and 53 to see the cards that were selected for the inspiration photo my card was based on. I did have four other cards picked up for this issue which I was absolutely thrilled about! It was one of my favourite calls to create for.

My card uses my favourite Unity background stamp, Giving It All Meaning, the large key from With Love, the small key from Honey, I'm Home! and a sentiment from Think Happy Thoughts.

I hope you all have a fun, relaxing and creative weekend! It felt like spring here this past week but tonight we got some snow and it's going to be a freezing cold weekend. We'll be doing some toy shopping and hopefully some baking!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury red cardstock; SU Naturals Ivory & Early Espresso cardstock; Unity Giving It All Meaning, With Love, Honey, I'm Home! & Think Happy Thoughts; SU Crumb Cake ink & Riding Hood Red ink; Memento Rich Cocoa ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Antique Linen distress ink; EK Success 1/2" circle punch; foam tape; DMC red embroidery floss

Dad, Make a Wish

Wow, I am really behind on my blogging! I have so much to share with you but not enough time. Isn't that a familiar story? ;) Do you remember the card I made in haste for my Mom's birthday last month? I ended up making another one in 30 minutes for my Dad's birthday last week right before they arrived at my house for his birthday lunch. I keep putting myself in these last-minute card making situations. I ought to stop that doing that. It's entirely too stressful, especially since I was the one who had to do the cooking this time! Since my Paper Smooches stamps were sitting out, I threw a bunch of stamps together based on the fact that my Dad loves bright, happy colours and he always asks for salmon steaks to be part of his birthday meal. The fish is from Birthday Buddies, the splash droplets are from Surf & Turf, the sentiment is made up of two sentiments from Word Up and Chit Chat, and the waves are the wind from this month's Eco Friendly release! Since it's a one-layer, I couldn't resist embellishing it with Stickles which I let dry while we enjoyed lunch. My Dad loved the card and said it was really beautiful. :)

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies, Surf & Turf, Word Up, Chit Chat & Eco Friendly; Memories Tuxedo Black ink; SU Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, Real Red & Island Indigo; Copics; Ranger Stickles in Yellow & Turquoise; SU Basic Rhinestones; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper

Great Job!

This is my second post for the day. If you're looking for my Avocado Arts post, please click HERE or scroll down.

Kim is sharing this card on the Paper Smooches Blog today! It features the mesmerizing chick from Spring Fling and a sentiment from Good Gab, two sets from the February release. That chick is my favourite from this month's release. The little fellow is so cute! His eyes draw me in like a vortex and I can't pull my gaze away. LOL Much like the squirrel from Hang Ups, this chick from Spring Fling can be used for everything. I think you're going to need him! ;) I turned this into a fun graduation card by masking the cap from Sunny Side up in order to keep the little tufts of hair visible. I added the shadow from Vogue Abode and star from Hang Ups. The oversized banner die is by Lil' Inker Designs and the patterned paper is from Echo Park's A Walk in the Park Collection.

To celebrate Paper Smooches' grand CHA releases on March 1st, Kim is giving away a new set every weekday this month on the Paper Smooches Blog. You will want to hop on over there daily for a chance to win one of these incredible new releases! :D

Sources: SU Island Indigo cardstock; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Echo Park A Walk in the Park Collection; Paper Smooches Spring Fling, Good Gab, Sunny Side Up, Vogue Abode & Hang Ups; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; SU Island Indigo & Summer Sun inks; Copics; Lil' Inker Designs Flags & Tags die; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

So Sorry for Your Loss

Today, the following members of the Avocado Arts Pit Crew are inspiring you with more projects made with the February Stamp Set, Wishes and Kind Thoughts:

Emily Branch
---> Emily Leiphart <---

Kelley Eubanks
Savannah O'Gwynn

I'm not sure why I chose to make a sympathy card since they are ones that I typically avoid and hope never to have a reason to make. However, I did want to show another way to use these fabulous stamps. My card uses the long branch shown at the top of the set in the graphic below. I straightened it on my acrylic block and stamped it several times across the card at different heights. Then I allowed the branch to take on different curves for a few branches in the centre. I went way out of my element for this card and enjoyed playing with my new Big Shot and more of the Spellbinders dies my in-laws gave me for Christmas.

There's so much to love with this new set! If you don't already own any Avocado Arts stamps, I guarantee, you will love them. These sets are a steal at $20 each because you will use every single stamp in so many different ways. However, did you know that Avocado Arts has a Club Membership where you can save more than $3 per stamp set? Click HERE to discover all the money-saving, stamp-loving options!

In case you missed the announcement on the Avocado Arts Facebook Page yesterday, here's the new Borders and Sentiments set that will be releasing soon. Talk about love at first sight!

Sources: SU So Saffron cardstock; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Avocado Arts Wishes and Kind Thoughts; Tim Holtz for Ranger Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord & Scattered Straw distress inks; Spellbinders Nestabilities Lacey Squares, Classic Squares Large & Ribbon Banners; foam tape

Lil' Inker Designs February Product Spotlight Hop {Day 4}

Welcome to the final day of the Lil' Inker Designs February Product Spotlight Hop! The following design team members are showcasing Of the Heart and Hamster Cupid today:

Laura Pryor

---> Emily Leiphart <---

Alicia Thelin

Sarah Jay

Lil' Inker Store

For my card, I used the Of the Heart dies and sentiment as the focus accompanied by the curly label die and coordinating stamps from Flags & Tags. I used the patterned labels to stamp on each of the three hearts. I love simple layouts with layers and patterns focused in one spot.

Have a lovely weekend! I'll be in sublication hibernation so this blog will be quiet 'til Tuesday. :)

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft & white cardstock; SU Night of Navy & Real Red cardstock; Lil' Inker Designs Of the Heart & Flags & Tags; SU Crumb Cake, Night of Navy & Real Red inks; Tim Holtz for Ranger Walnut Stain distress ink; We R Memory Keepers corner chomper; foam tape

Lil' Inker Designs February Product Spotlight Hop {Day 1}

Lil' Inker Designs is having a product showcase today through Saturday. We invite you to hop along with a few members of the design team each day for more inspiration using the Valentine's Day Bonus Goodies that were released on Friday, January 20th during our January Release festivities! Here's who's inspiring you today:

Laura Pryor

Debby Hughes

---> Emily Leiphart <---

Jen Carter

Teresa Kline

Lil' Inker Store

My card features both the Hamster Cupid and sentiment by 2 Cute Ink holding the arrow die from the Of the Heart dies. I used Echo Park's Holly Jolly Christmas papers to show that they can also be used for a Valentine's themed card. I die cut the arrow twice so I could have enough length to cover the original arrow on the stamp and there are stickles on the hamster's wings. I also used my Lacey Circles nesties for the first time. They were one of several sets of nesties my in-laws gave me for Christmas. I sponged the edges with the die in place before stamping the XOXO sentiment around the entire edge. The loopy red circle could've been a tad smaller so I guess I'll have to add the Standard Circles Small nesties to my wish list. ;)

Please hop along with the following design team members tomorrow and Friday for more inspiration.

{Day 2}

February 2, 2012

Laura Pryor

Amy Kolling

Alicia Thelin

Jen del Muro

{Day 3}

February 3, 2012

Laura Pryor

Debby Hughes

Jen Carter

I will see you again on Saturday for {Day 4} of the February Product Spotlight Hop. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft cardstock; Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas paper pad; Lil' Inker Designs Hamster Cupid & Of the Heart dies; Memories Black ink; Tim Holtz for Ranger Walnut Stain distress ink; Spellbinders Lacey Circles & Standard Circles Large; Ranger Diamond Stickles; foam tape