Bev's Bouncing Baby Boys Blog Hop

Today we are celebrating huge huge huge milestone in dear Bev's, owner of Uniko Studio and sweet dear friend. She became a mum just a few days ago to two beautiful boy twins and we want to celebrate this momentous occasion with a small blog hop. So some of us design team girls have hijacked her blog ;)

So here is a card to wish the mum and dad all the best...

Josh and Ben are very, very lucky to have you both as parents. And I know you will be make an amazing mum. You are kind, sweet, loving, patient, and generous...and all of these qualities will the key ingredients to raising those boys!



Remember to get some sleep and enjoy every moment. I hear they grow up fast ;)



Here a list of the girls joining on the blog hop for easy hopping. 

• Uniko Studio Blog
• Amber
• Kerry
• N@ Ali
• Erika
• Nicki
• Gillian
• Ren-Yi

For all of those who love Bev as much as we do and want to join in on the fun, head back to the Uniko Studio Blog - because there is a link up for all of you join in and the link up will remain open for a month. We know everyone is getting back into the swing of things with school starting up and coming back from vacation, but you will have plenty of time to join in on the fun. Spread the word, too, while you're at it? :)

Danielle's Special Delivery Blog Hop - Special Delivery

Hello there - today is a special blog hop for a special someone. Danielle from Neat & Tangled is one the sweetest persons I have ever met. And we are getting together to celebrate her sweet self and the delivery of Baby Everlyn. I can't wait to see pictures! And all the best wishes to you, Danielle, and the rest of the family.

You should be hopping over from talented, amazing Christine Drogt, who organized all of this!

Initially I wanted to make a card with lots of Neat & Tangled products, but I started to make a baby onesie and ended up making a card to match. Here it is

This onesie is super easy to make. Just find a shape as a template, adhere some heat bond to the fabric, trace around it and then you have yourself a fun appliqué. Then just iron the appliqué onto the onesie. If anyone is interested, i can make a tutorial... it's so easy peasy and we used this technique at the recent baby shower I organized.



I ended up making a matching card out of complimentary fabric. This fabric is just glued down onto some card stock, and then onto some wood veneer pattern paper. The rest is just some fun white doodling to go along with the white sentiment. So that's all from my side. Your next stop is Miriam Prantner - another amazing, talented designer. She even designed a few sets for Neat & Tangled ;)



Here the entire blog list in its entirety for easy of navigation...

• Neat and Tangled 
• Amy Kolling
• Jessica Pascarella
• Evgenia Petzer
• Ashley Marcu
• Yana Smakula
• Linda Trace
• June Houck
• Betty J.
• Amy Tsuruta
• Anna Kossakovskaya
• Barb Murphy
• Tracy Ercole
• Mary Dawn Quirindongo
• Heather Ruwe
• Mayuri
• Christine Drogt
• Ren-Yi Lo (you are here)
• Miriam Prantner

Hope you enjoyed hopping along on this fun occasion!

[Paperplay Challenges] Week No. 39 - Lace & Flowers

Note: If you are looking for DYSU Challenge - please keep scrolling :)

Hi there! How are you doing? We're here to introduce another Paperplay Challenge. Something sweet & easy: Lace & Flowers. I decided to dig into my My Mind's Eye stash...


Stamps: (Miss Caroline "Fiddlesticks" Collection -  "Story" Stamps) My Mind's Eye
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Smokey Shadow, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides) Papertrey Ink; (Miss Caroline "Fiddlesticks" Collection) My Mind's Eye
Ink: (Memento - London Fog) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Miss Caroline "Fiddlesticks" Collection - "Home" Pearl Swirls, "Story" Stickers Labels) My Mind's Eye; (Cottom Lace Trim 45mm) Waltzingmouse Stamps

The flowers are stamped from the My Mind's Eye set and cut them out. The lace is acquired from a Waltzingmouse Stamps purchase a while back - it's gorgeous, luxurious lace - one that I love looking at and feeling. It makes me happy :)

The swirls make a nice cute little focal point and the stickers help give the card a quick sentiment without having to ink up anything else.



That's all I have for you now. Go see what the other PPC girls did on this challenge. They will absolutely knock your socks off...! Hope you will be playing along with us this week...!

And if you're a regular reader on this blog, don't forget to answer my quick little survey on the top right or enter into this month's QuAC #1 inspiration! 

Our sponsor this week:

• Create with Kate

[Paperplay Challenges ] Week No. 25 - Use a Die

Note: If you are looking for DYSU challenge or Papertrey Princess Challenge - please keep scrolling :)

Hi there, again! I have lots of posts lined up for you today. We have another fun PaperPlay Challenge to help you break into your stash of tools: Use a Die. I thought I'd dust off some of my less loved Spellbinders and since I was in need of another baby card, I thought I'd break into my Authentique collection.


Stamps: (Hearts of Old Background) Unity
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Spring Moss) Papertrey Ink; (Delightful) Authentique
Ink: (Memento - London Fog) Tsukineko; (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Fresh Snow) Papertrey Ink
Embellishments: (Nestabilities - Classic Hearts) Spellbinders; (Miracle Girl - Noteables, Icons) Authentique; (Very Vintage Buttons - White & Cream Mix, Autumn Mix; Rustic Twine - Cream); (Wood Veneer - Stars; Mister Huey - Pumpkin Spice) Studio Calico

This Authentique collection is actually meant for a little girl, but this had so many cute tags and had enough neutral colors, that one can stretch it for a cute little baby boy. I really loved the animals and the "Little One" sentiment...I drew the rest of the pattern paper scheme based on these two items...



Those wood veneer stars are actually sprayed with Pumpkin Spice mist and appear much more orange in real life than the above picture depicts. I couldn't get the picture to lighten up without the stars to darken...picture manipulation is still a big mystery for me. So if you know any tutorials or favorite websites for photo dummies like myself, please leave a suggestion :) Thanks in advance!

Finally an up close shot of the heart die cut, that I sponged with Fresh Snow ink. The button is threaded with some fun rustic cream twine and adds a nice accent to the animal die cut.



Hope you like this little wee card. Hop on over to see how the rest of the PPC girls used a die! Hope you will be playing along with us this week...

Our sponsor this week:

• A Whiff of Joy

[Waltzingmouse Blog Party] New Beginnings

Hello everyone! It's time for my all-time favorite stamping event. This is one waltz or blog hop that got me addicted to stamping and paper crafting. The huge fun with the amazing girls and the amazing inspiration by all the Waltzingmouse fans and design team members that join in, really makes this a special place to get new ideas and ways to look at your stamps. I ran out of time last month so I didn't get to join, but this month I had my card done by April 7 - ten whopping days before it was due. That's because I checked the theme like a good lil girl...we're celebrating New Beginnings theme. I'm glad I finally got to have a moment at my crafting desk to whip it out. I hope you enjoy it!


Stamps: (Compact Sentiments; Sewing Box - Hugs, Chicken Wire) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Spring Moss, Lemon Zest) Papertrey Ink; (Nantucket Collection) Pink Paislee; (vintage cardstock) scrap
Ink: (Memento - London Fog) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Ribbons - Rose Trim) Prima; (Nestabilities - Classic Circle Scallops Small, Labels No. 18) Spellbinders; (Twill Ribbon - Lemon Zest) Papertrey Ink; (Embossing Floss) DMC

I am so in love with this Chicken Wire stamp. When I got my package of new goodies to play with, that was the first one I inked up and then inked up again about five more times after that. (I think it hasn't left my desk yet. Which stamp set has found a 'permanent' home on your crafting desk?) I made the rest inspired by the gray chicken wire on green card stock and the theme of new Baby, since so many of my friends are having their first child!



Sewing Box Hugs is the perfect stamp set to add a lil baby charm. I decided to stamp this little guy three times on some pattern paper, cut out each layer to stack him to give it a little bit of dimension. Then I paper pierced each stamped stitch along the pattern paper and then threaded each layer with some embossing floss. This card took so much hard labor and much love, that this will be going to a special family! ;) Adding the embossing floss around the perimeter of the bird takes patience and dedication - so don't dive into it thinking it'll be quick ... (yeah i don't know who would think that... ahem) but I do love the results: it's truly sewing box hugs :)

The ribbon trim from Prima and the Lemon Zest twill ribbon makes a great grounding element for the little bird and a separator to add the label panel for the sentiment. The label is a Labels No. 18 from Spellbinders that I cut into half. I wish the embossing on the label came through more...



Since I wanted this lil cute bird to pop more, I added a cream card stock from my scrap stash to make it pop a tad. The paper piercing around the scallop was probably me getting a little "paper piercing happy" after all that piercing from the bird ;)

Hope you love this little creation... I can't wait to see all of yours. In the meantime I want to hear what your go-to gift is for a new baby if the couple doesn't have a registry...I'll be making my rounds soon! Thanks for inspiring!

[DYSU] Challenge #66 - Friendly Critters

Good morning, everyone! I've fallen on radio silence here because I and the BF caught the flu. I came home sick from my training course on Friday and was in bed with a fever until Monday. Tuesday I still felt sick and queasy and was not able to move much. The boy decided to follow suit and we were lying in bed or on the couch like two helpless little kidlets. We played a lot of "Rock Paper Scissors" to see whose turn it was to go cook up another batch of tea. Then again, it could be worst, such as being sick by myself ;) I guess they are right when they say "Misery loves company." But we're slowly back onto our slow feet and hope that I get to catch up on all things crafty and good this weekend.

In the meantime, I'm glad I got this challenge done ahead of time. We're celebrating spring with Friendly Critters. Since I have a slew of baby cards to get done, I decided to pull a cute animal favorite out for this...

Isn't this giraffe not cute?


Stamps: (Snag 'em Stamps - Baby Powder Collection: Giraffe) imaginesce; (Compact Sentiments, Free Spirit) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft, Lemon Zest) Papertrey Ink; (Polka Dot) Scrap
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin No. 11 - Brown Sugar) Ranger
Embellishments: (Border Punch - Treading Water) Fiskars; (Nestabilities - Label No. 18) Spellbinders; (Soft-core Color Pencils) Prismacolor

Decided this CSA card needed to be less CSA and stamped the bubbles from the Free Spirit Waltzingmouse Stamps... They would make a good background for the giraffe to pop.



So that's all I have for you today; go check out the amazing creations by the talented DT. And I look forward to seeing your creations!

Our sponsors this week:

5 Gift Certificate

Winner’s choice of 7 digital images

Winner’s choice of 4 digital images

[Scrap Our Stash] March Challenge - Green

Good morning, folks! This is going to be a wonderful Saturday, because today is my friend's baby shower. I have been busy as a bee prepping a bunch of things for her and her husband, and am loving this complete Baby Zoo Animals theme that this party has going!

At Scrap Our Stash's March Challenge we are creating things around the theme Green.

Let's switch gears for a second and talk baby shower...My friend loves all things cute, but is not a pink fan. So even though she and her husband are expecting a lil baby girl, I decided to go with classic colors, such as green and yellow.

Here is a sneak peek of the baby shower cards:



I alternated yellow with green and green with yellow on the invitations, varied up the little zoo animals stamped onto them, and kept the text the same. Here is a little collage pic of my supplies (and supply list)


Stamps: (Join Us) Waltzingmouse Stamps; (Sarah Phelps Collection - Noah's Ark) Impression Obession
Paper: (Perfect Basics Card Stock - Lemon Zest, Spring Moss; Stamper's Select Vellum) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Memento - Tuxedo Black, London Fog) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Bubbles Edger Punch) EKSucces; (5/8" Saddle Stitch Ribbon - Ripe Avocado) Papertrey Ink

I always prototype a card first, before I go into mass production mode. And since I want to go with a graphic look, I decided to stamp off most the animals in grey and put one of the zoo animals in front center. 



The trim were cut out first, then the edge punched, lastly stamped on with the invitation from the Join Us Waltzingmouse Stamp set with again London Fog and Tuxedo Black to mimic the graphic effect of the animals. The ribbon is just a fun little touch to put a little bit of accent into the whole design. Here an up close look...



The inside has a little cute invitation poem that I came up with on one of my drives down to Maryland. It is printed with a laser printer on Vellum for a little bit of fanciness and glued carefully into the inside...



Details on the invitation poem and party favors will have to be posted up later on my blog...

In the meantime, check out the Scrap Our Stash's March Challenge. You have until the end of the month to get your inspirations in. What green things is tickling your creative mojo?

[Paperplay Challenges] Week 1 - New Year

Note: If you are looking for DYSU challenge - please keep scrolling :)

Hello again! Yep, second blog post for today. Are you feeling creative? How about a new PaperPlay Challenge? We are startling on our Week 1, and we are celebrating the New Year.

I have a card for you that's quite a big stretch. I was looking for fun ways to make fireworks, or a sentiment that said "auld lang syne" or "happy new year" but my stash didn't want to cooperate. In the last few weeks, I have also been hearing news of friends either expecting or have just given birth to their first kid. So lots of new lifestyle changes, new adventures, and new memories were lying ahead of them. It seems that these were sentences I was repeating in my Christmas & Happy New Year wishes. So I thought, why not make some baby cards?



Stamps: (Sewing Box Hugs) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Lemon Tart, Smokey Shadow; Vellum) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Memento - London Fog) Tsukineko; (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Fresh Snow) Papertrey Ink
Embellishments:  (Multi-colored Tiny Twinkles) Taylored Expressins; (Vintage Button - White & Cream Mix) Papertrey Ink; (Soiree Collection - Twine; Expressions Cushies Alphabet - Meringue ) Pink Paislee

I have not pulled out my favorite Waltzingmouse Stamps in a long time, so it was past overdue. In addition, I had bought a pack of vellum when I saw a few lovely cards in blog-land, but never opened the pack. Quite embarrassing how my stash is growing but not being used. Time to use what's home...



Here is hoping that this project fulfills the New Year. I guess we all get inspired in many different ways.

Please check out what the other PPC girls have prepared for this challenge. And welcome back :) We are looking forward to an exciting year!

Our sponsors this week:

• Simon Says Stamps

[Scrap Our Stash] November Challenge - Recipe Challenge

Lots of things have been going on at the office, including one of the co-workers becoming a new parent. So in honor of the new daddy role, I madde a couple of baby cards. For inspiration I used the Scrap Our Stash's November Challenge where we are using a Recipe. Kathy has challenged us with:

5 embellishments
4 words or letters
3 pictures
2 pattern paper
1 solid papers

This card is to welcome a little baby into the world and give the parents three cheers!


Stamps: (Sewing Box Hugs) Waltzingmouse Stamps; (Mega Mixed Messages, Just for You) Papertrey Ink; (Snag 'em Stamps - Baby Powder Collection: Giraffe)
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Lemon Tart) Papertrey Ink; (Basic Card Stock - Cream) Recollections; (Hometown Summer) Pink Paislee
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin - No. 6 Candy Stick, No. 8 Soap Powder, No. 11 Brown Sugar) Ranger; (Pigment Ink - Gold) Recollections
Embellishments: (Inkssentials - Glossy Accents; Stickles - Diamond) Ranger; (Rhinestones) Recollections; (Double-tipped Marker) Prismacolor; (Value Ribbon) Target; (Yellow Rope) Recycled

I managed to cramp the whole recipe onto this little card ;) Yep - go ahead and check :D



This giraffe is so cute, isn't it? I thought the Glossy Accents would be able to give the little guy a little special something to "shine" without sparkling light a Christmas tree. The blue & green color scheme is a great palette to make the yellow really stand out. This card has a recycled element from a bag that I saved (the yellow rope). And the blue rhinestone is a great accent, and so are the clear, sparkly Stickles...

,

Check out the Scrap Our Stash's November Challenge. You have until the end of the month to finish up. Perhaps some time over Thanksgiving, while the other are out shopping in madness ;)

[The Craft's Meow] July Release Day 3 - It's a Banner Day

First off, *Thank You* to each of you for all your sweet comments. They really made my day and it's always nice to hear what elements on the cards catch each person's eye. Secondly, did you like Life is a Carnival? You know you wanna get it... ;)

Today's preview at The Craft's Meow July Release is a small stamp set that will give you lots of bang for your buck. I love banners; I love alphabets & fonts - so this one is a good set to have in your stash. It's another Nina B Designs stamp set called It's a Banner Day. So let's get a our party hats out and celebrate, right?


Stamps: (Nina B Designs - It's a Banner Day) The Craft's Meow
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - White, Sweet Blush) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Fresh Snow) Papertrey Ink; (Jenni Bowlin - No. 11 Brown Sugar; Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Spun Sugar) Ranger; (Brilliance - Pearlescent Beige) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (White Thread) Gütermann; (Rustic Cream Twine) Papertrey Ink

Major confession time: When I saw this stamp set I was excited - can't have enough banners. But I was clueless how to showcase this set. A banner strung across with some pattern paper is a tad too straightforward. I wanted to do more for this little guy, you know? That's when it hit me...

Create a fun background using the letters. White ink on pink is always great. I love the soft, sweet color. Add some zig-zag stitching around the card and I had a great base. At this point I was stuck again...what next? So I took out some Antique Linen to distress the edge without a real reason. Hey - I do my best thinking when procrastinating some ;)



Four-piece banner made me think of four letter words - totally irrational because you can cut them apart, which I eventually did ;) But yes, with many friends being preggers, the phrase "Baby Girl" just popped into my head. I stamped the banner frames in Pearlescent Beige, added the letters and cut each banner out. Distressed the edges with some matching pink ink and strung them together with twine. Time to go hanging the banners up...:)

So if you would like to win this wee little darling stamp, get your party spirit on and leave a little love on the DT's blogs. You never know from whose blog we'll draw a lucky winner. You'll have until 10:00 pm Pacific tonight / 1:00 am Eastern tomorrow to make the rounds and leave comments.

• The Craft’s Meow Blog(Lisa)
• Amy Tsuruta
• Amy Young
• Debbie Pamment
• Jean Martin
• Jenny Suchin
• Jessica Fick
• Julie Ranae Murray
• Kim Yu
• Lindsay Amrhein
• Lynn Miller
• Miesje Flach
• Nina Brackett
• Viola Mahr

You'll want to see how each Design Team member celebrates...!

For a Baby

Just a little card to share today that I had made a while ago, but didn't put up on my blog. Elisa, lovely designer and illustrator of Mami Doodles, created this sweet little baby image as an inspiration motivator.


Stamps: (Baby in Pram) Mami Doodles; (Bi) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - White) Papertrey Ink; (?) Basic Grey; (Basic Card Stock - Cream) Recollections
Ink: (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Orange Zest) Papertrey Ink; (Brilliance - Pearlescent Sky Blue) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Soft-core Color Pencils) Prismacolor; (Vintage Buttons - Fall Collection; Rustic Button Cream Twine) Papertrey Ink; (Offray Ribbon - Orange) Michael's

I decided to use some cool colors for the baby's clothes and was tempted to almost color the pram into a cute, bright green pea color, because the baby reminded me like a pea in a pod. Doesn't he look comfy, bundled up?



Instead of green peas, I started pulling blues & oranges together. They seemed kind of cheery and went well together.



I'm still off traipsing on the European continent. Work and friends and other wonderful things ahead.

For A New Mommy

I was looking forward to pulling out my fun punches for this, except I stashed many of them in a box and totally forgot about them for this week's Mami Doodle Challenge. How terrible of me!

Instead I have a card to share with you that uses my corner rounder punch, a little bit of a cop-out, but when I finished this card yesterday around midnight, I was too tired to re-do another card. I recycled, does that count?


Stamps: (Mama-to-be)Mami Doodles; (Mega Mixed Messages) Papertrey Ink
Paper: (evelope) Recyclables; (Paper Basics Card Stock - White) Papertrey Ink)
Ink: (Memento - London Fog) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Pencil); (Soft-core Color Pencils, Double-ended Art Markers) Prismacolor;

Regarding the recycling aspect, I recycled an envelope from a card that I received. The inside had this beautiful, cheery polka-dotted yellow paper.



I fell in love with the polka-dotted pattern and knew I had to incorporated it somehow. The yellow/gray color scheme have recently been on my mind, so this card finally gave me an excuse to put this color combo into action.



I decided to find a bunch of baby-related sentiments and stamped them off on this pattern paper. I wanted to give it a layering effect, so the typography is build by creating a full base, but tapering off to the top & left. Just enough room to plant the beautiful mommy-to-be into the card.



She was an absolute joy to color. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy? Appropriate saying, since there is so much yellow on this card ;)

Hope to see you play along. Don't be like me, and remember to use a Punch!

The Cow Goes Moo

So this week at Embellish Magazine, this really fun company Lawn Fawn is sponsoring. I made a huge red circle in my calendar to make sure I entered a card for this one, because I really adore this company. I have been drooling over these Lawn Fawn stamps for a while, and have yet to place an order. Not to mention, when you meet the amazing Kelly Marie, how can you not love her stamps even more?! She had a very cute outfit on that complements her personality. Check out the pic I stole with her - I was tickled she took the time out. Thanks, Kelly Marie, for sponsoring this round.



So, in honor of making her proud with this week's Embellish Magazine's Challenge, I came up with a cute barn yard animal card. Here the deets on the challenge:

So, what does one do with new stamps that have been dying to be inked up? Take them out and love them with loads of ink, of course! My Unity Cosmo Garden Variety are the perfect cutesy stamps and fit the "New Stamps Need Love" campaign.


Stamps: Garden Variety (Unity + Cosmo)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Key Ingredient Kit - Petals & Paisley (Taylored Expressions); Basic Card Stock - Cream (Recollections)
Ink: Pigment Ink - Black (Colorbox); Brilliance - Pearlescent Beige (Tsukineko)
Embellishments: Softcore Colored Pencils - PC1011 Deco Yellow, PC924 Cream, PC939 Peach (Prismacolor); Special Value Ribbon (Michaels)

This stamp set had me at "Squeeze Me" and the Tomato, but "The Pig goes Oink" is pretty classic too, don't you think?



After I had a blast making this card with my little folded ribbon, and showed it off my to my house guest, he asked "And who would be the recipient for this card?"

Yeah good question. A baby? A kid? A random hello? I'd love to hear how you would classify this card...

It's a Girl!

I had so much fun playing in my first Embellish challenge, I could not resist to try for this next one! Not to mention, the talented Ashley Cannon Newell always is on the lookout on what's currently hot & trendy. Here are the deets for the challenge:

This card came pretty quickly together, since I had a good idea what my layout was going to look like, as inspired by the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #4.

Here is the card, not created on the last minute deadline rush on a Thursday night -- aren't you proud of my non-procrastination?

Stamps: Snag 'em Stamps - Giraffe (imaginisce), Wonderfully Whimsical (Papertrey Ink)

Paper: Basic Card Stock - Cream  (Recollections), Boxer (Basic Grey), Urban Prairie (Basic Grey), Oasis (sei)

Ink: Brilliance - Pearlescent Orange (Tsukineko)

Embellishments: Nestabilities - Cassic Small Ovals (Spellbinders), Nestabilities - Classic Scallop Ovals Small (Spellbinders), Vintage Button Collection - Spring Mix (Papertrey Ink), Taylor's Tiny Twinkles - Multicolors (Taylored Expressions), Hemp Cord (Darice), Ribbon - Coral (Michael's), General Purpose Thread - Pewter (Coats & Clark)

So this marks my first baby card. The four bows is a lose interpretation of the circle in the sketch. I used one of Claire's tips to ink up the card stock with the nestability frame still on. There is also clear embossing on the giraffe to add a little definition to the image.

Baby cards might be my new favorite kind of card to make. They are so adorable. What are yours?