Team Edward or Team Jacob?!

Welcome to Skipping Stones Design’s Blog DT Blog Hop to celebrate the release of two new stamp sets, Fangs or Fur and Chocolate Vol. 2. This is our "sweetest" release yet, whether you're a Twilight fan or a chocolate lover, we have something for you!! If you just happened upon my blog today, you’ll want to go back to the beginning at Skipping Stones Design.

You should have arrived from Peggy's blog. Combined with the blog hop today, it's also Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday which means the Design Team is showcasing another great creation from Teri Anderson. We'd love for you to play along with the sketch. Just remember to use the keywords SSD031 if you are uploading to any online galleries, or link your card at the Skipping Stones Blog. We'll be looking soon for Guest Designers so you never know....

Here is our 5th sketch from Teri! We'll miss Teri and her sketches, but we've had a great time!

I'll admit, I'm not a "Twihard" but I've enjoyed the books and have liked the movies, so it was really fun to play with this set!

In this first card I used the gorgeous Edward/Bella heart image (covered in glitter!) and stapled some ribbons on (similiar to the Eclipse cover). I moved my sentiment (down from the sketch) and actually stamped onto the ribbon with StazOn ink.

I didn't want to leave the "Team Jacob" fans hanging, so I made a second card! For the small circle, I used glossy cardstock and brayered the two colors before I stamped the howling wolf.

So are any of you planning on catching the midnight release of Eclipse? Leave me a comment either with your "Team" preference, your movie watching plans, your favorite SSD stamp set, or anything else you'd like to comment about! ;) I have a Chic Martini stamp set up for grabs! Commenting will run through July 30th at midnight, and I'll post a winner on Thursday July 1st!

Also, today I have an article up at Craft Critique spotlighting some products by Just Imagine Crafts, (you can also see two cards using SSD sets!) and there is a giveaway for 3 lucky readers! So be sure to check that out!

Have fun hopping! Your next stop on the hop is to Jodi!

Disclosure http://www.cmp.ly/2

Rustic Tiles - Thanks

Two very CAS (Clean and Simple) cards as I was playing around with Rustic Tiles the other day. I wanted to try doing a one layer card that could be easily mailed to someone. To add a little depth (and to help me line things up, ha) I scored two lines to make it 2 inches tall and stamped the squares inside of that.

Same concept with this one, but a little paper at the bottom to pull the colors together.

Loving this set so much, I think there are so many more things I can do with it! Tomorrow we'll be having a special SSD Blog Hop so you don't want to miss out! There will be blog candy up for grabs!

Congratulations On Your News!

Sometimes simple is good, you know? I love, love, love this set Rustic Tiles by Skipping Stones Design, but wanted to go for a circular look. Enter my trusty circle cutter and my square stamped images turn into circles! Totally loving this color combo right now, too.

By the way, if you missed it yesterday, there is still time to leave a comment on my article at Craft Critique to get a chance to win a Creatopia! (CLICK ME!)

CREATOPIA GIVEAWAY!!!

My article on the Creatopia by Xyron is up at Craft Critique today! Be sure to leave a comment at Craft Critque TO WIN YOUR VERY OWN CREATOPIA!!! CLICK ME!



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HB 2 U!

Today is my brother Kyle's birthday!! Kills me to know that he is now 24!!! Happy birthday "little" brother!

Here is the last layout I did with my June Commit 2 Paper kit. It's a layout for Gwynie's birthday last year! Glad this is done before her party this Saturday! ;)

There are a lot of layouts in the Inspiration Squad Gallery that are so amazing! I just got my July kit in the mail on Monday and let me tell you its super fun! I can't wait to start creating with it and sharing the layouts!

PS - Don't forget to take a look at my Xyron Creatopia article today on Craft Critique!

Chocolate Slows the Aging Process...

Hi everyone! It's Tuesday and that means its time for another SSD Sketch Challenge with the Stamp Tramps of Skipping Stones Design!

Here is our fourth sketch for this month! June has five Tuesdays, so luckily we will have the super talented Teri back again next week!

Here is my card, sort of off from the sketch, ha! This one didn't get done until about 9 pm last night! We went out of town last week (hence the silencio on the blog) for the Utah Summer Games where both Jake and Brady wrestled. (They did amazing! I'll update our family blog and then link if anyone is curious, hehe.) We decided since we were only a few hours from Vegas that we would just go down for Saturday and Father's day on Sunday, so we ended up not getting home until late Sunday night. I had an HR conference to go to, and it was Gwynie's birthday Monday so we went out to dinner and took her shopping, and then I finally came home to work on this. Whew! Nothing like procrastination!

Totally love this NEW UNRELEASED set called Chocolate Vol. 2!! Next week this set, along with the Twilight inspired set Fangs or Fur, will be released so you don't want to miss it! Make sure you check out the Skipping Stones Design Blog so you can hear more from Heather about all the fun new stuff going on!


Also, tomorrow at 3pm (CST I believe) my article on the Xyron Creatopia will be up at Craft Critique. My kiddos helped me demonstrate it so you don't want to miss the hilarious video we did together! Gwynie was super serious through the whole thing and Brady was.....well Brady was Brady! ;) Gwynie has graciously volunteered to help me with the new Twilight stamp set, too. She absolutely, (unconditionally and irrevocably) LOVES the Twilight series! I'll be sharing both our cards for next weeks sketch!! :)

Be sure to check out the other "Stamp Tramps" and our guest sketch artist to see what they've come up with!
Amanda Sewell
Angela Thomas
Chels VanWyk
Erin Grotegut
Jen Ingle
Michelle Giraud
Peggy Russell
June Guest Sketch Artist Teri Anderson

All Star!

Hi everyone! It's Tuesday and that means its time for another SSD Sketch Challenge with the Stamp Tramps of Skipping Stones Design!


Here is our third sketch for this month from Teri Anderson! I won't lie, this one was a toughie!

Eventually I just couldn't cut the basketball so it isn't exactly the sketch, but still close! I used the set All Star for this card, and it was perfect for the sentiments around the edge and the bouncing basketballs!

Two fun "techniques" on this card! For the bouncing look of the basketball, I stamped it at the bottom, and then kept stamping upwards so it was the "stamping off" effect to get them lighter. Then, for both the basketballs and stars, I flipped the stamp around and stamped the "back" of the stamp to fill them in.

Not sure if you can tell, but I ran the ball through my Big Shot to get the dots, and then sponged orange on for more dimension. Fun little card and it was a great sketch to get me thinking outside the box!

Supplies
CS: Black, White, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Black
Stamps: All Star by Skipping Stones Design
Misc: silver brads, Dots plate w/ Big Shot

Be sure to check out the other "Stamp Tramps" and our guest sketch artist to see what they've come up with!
Amanda Sewell
Angela Thomas
Chels VanWyk
Erin Grotegut
Jen Ingle
Michelle Giraud
Peggy Russell
June Guest Sketch Artist Teri Anderson

Sleep & Grow

I love that I could take such a girly kit and make a boy page with it! I used the June Commit 2 Paper kit for this layout and I love it!

I knew I wanted to use the large blossom swirl and this title with these pictures, but I wasn't quite sure about the whole layout itself. Enter the Soul Scrappers sketch challenge #12, and my page was done! As simple as this page is, it still took about an hour since I was trying to figure out the placement of everything, and even after it was done, I added in the lines around the edges to ground it. Still, it accomplished the challenge 12. Finish a page in 60 minutes. So now all of the time limit ones are complete!

Blog Carnival!

Craft Critique is running a call for Father's Day projects for the Father's Day Blog Carnival! Simply email your project link to the email in the link to have your project featured on Craft Critique! If you haven't participated in the past, make sure you do this time! There is always a great card or project to get your crafty mojo going!

The Wizard of Oz!

Last year for the school play Gwynie was a cute little munchkin and this year (last night actually) they performed some Shakespeare plays. Gwynie was in The Tempest and played Sebastian. She was adorable and darling, funny and cute, all while playing a boy. ;)

I didn't get any pictures last night because I was too busy recording (and the ones Brady took were way blurry haha - Jake was at wrestling), but these were from the play last year.

I loved how the June Commit 2 Paper kit has these greens that worked so well for this layout about The Wizard of Oz! There are definitely so many cute girly flower papers, but I actually got a layout done for Brady with this kit too! I'll share that one later for sure.

Ok I have a zillion things planned for this weekend. I hope to get lots of things crossed off my to-do list. Hope your weekends are all relaxing and/or productive! :)

Sassy Girl!

Another layout created with the June Commit 2 Paper kit. Loving these colors for pics of Gwynie! This layout is about her amazing smile, but that we have to coax it out sometimes! Love the little sticker tag that says "secret" so it worked great for this little fun fact about Gwynie!

Getting closer to the day when the Inspiration Squad Gallery is full of layouts with this kit! I can't wait!

Frog Cake!

There was a recent sketch challenge at Soul Scrappers and this is my take on the sketch. I almost missed the deadline though! I had wanted to play along and an hour and a half before the deadline Sunday I got working on my page. With the sketch already in place, the deadline looming, and great product to work with (June Commit 2 Paper kit) the result was a cute page made in only 30 minutes!! I have never scrapped that fast! I seriously think I need to scrap like this more often, haha.

My friend Sharon made this froggy cake for Gwynie's birthday last year. Last year both Gwynie's birthday and Father's Day fell on the same day so we celebrated out at Jake's mom and dad's house with the fam. (Her friend party was the day before.) Everyone loved her cake, and yes it was super delicious! :)

Everything on this page is included in the kit, except the pale plum cardstock. Also, since this page was made in such a short amount of time, it fits with the challenge #10. Finish a page in 30 minutes from the 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges book.

Hawaiian Birthday Blessing!

Hi everyone! It's Tuesday and that means its time for another SSD Sketch Challenge with the Stamp Tramps of Skipping Stones Design!

Here is our second sketch for this month!

So I kinda didn't follow the sketch exactly, ha! But I really loved the sketch and hope my interpretation works! ;)

I used the set Tropical Birthday, a definitely funny and cute set!

Here's the inside with the funniest sentiment ever! Love this set! Its framed by the smaller flourishes in the set.

Supplies
CS: Kraft, Garden Green, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Black, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Tropical Birthday
Misc: Nashville wraps mesh, Fiskars apron lace border punch, Birds and Blossoms die, So Saffron brad, Copics

Be sure to check out the other "Stamp Tramps" and our guest sketch artist to see what they've come up with!
Amanda Sewell
Angela Thomas
Chels VanWyk
Erin Grotegut
Jen Ingle
Michelle Giraud
Peggy Russell
June Guest Sketch Artist Teri Anderson

Fishing You...

Yesterday was my parents 29th wedding anniversary! I tried calling but no one answered, they were probably still at the beach. :)

This is the card I made for them and is perfect for them! They love the beach, and anything sea-ish, so this stamp set and sentiment were a perfect fit!

I used the set Tropical Birthday by Skipping Stones Design. This set is so fun and I have another card tomorrow using this set for our weekly SSD sketch challenge!

Supplies
CS: Kraft
Ink: Night of Navy, Chocolate Chip
Stamp: Tropical Birthday by Skipping Stones Design
Misc: glass glintz (EcoGreen Crafts), Nashville Wraps ribbon, Fiskars apron lace border punch

Yay Friday!

ACK!!! I forgot to hit PUBLISH last night!! Belated post!!

As much as I love me some short weeks I almost wish there was another work day this week, ha! Crazy right?! I'm sure by the end of the day Friday I'll be laughing at myself and thinking how ridiculous that is, but I'm sure some of you out there know what I mean.

Anyway, some fun stuff today...

At 3pm today (CST I think), I'll have an article go up at Craft Critique about the EK Success Punch Revitalizer. Be sure to check it out!

Next, how about (yet again, ha) another layout! ;) Don't worry, I feel the "card craftiness" coming back, and while I'll still be working on my layouts it won't be selectively one or the other I think.

I actually had a hard time deciding which layout to show today because everything I've created with the June Commit 2 Paper kit I absolutely love. It's such a good combo of colors and embellishments that have been working so well with cute pics I have of Gwynie! But I figure they will all be shown eventually so I just had to pick one!

So how about this one - it was at the beginning of school last year. Brady started a week after Gwynie did (they do a week of testing for the Kindergarteners and then school officially starts for them), so this was his first day, and her "first day" of her second week of school. And I just realized, the date is wrong on this! It was actually 2008 not 09, I'll have to fix that before it goes in her book, oops.

So for the layout, I took some of the patterned papers/solid reverse sides and cut them into 1/2 in and 1 inch strips and randomly cut them at either 10 or 11 inches long. I stacked and layered them and then added pictures and a few embellishments. I love the way different colors peek through!

The journaling reads:

You are so confident and know exactly who you are and what you want to be in life. I love that you are only 10, but have it all figured out!

Of course she doesn't have it alllll figured out (HA!), but I love that she is so passionate already about the things she wants in life and how to get there. Ever since she was 2 years old she's wanted to be a Neonatal Nurse (baby nurse). At 2 she was watching the Labor and Delivery shows and was fascinated by it all. She was always alarmed when the baby was in distress, and always breathed a cute little sigh of relief when everything was ok. She's always loved babies and I know she's counting down until she can actually baby-sit a real live baby! :) (Um friends babies, not us - we are DONE, ha!)

Anyway, a super fun layout and it was super quick. I actually did this layout in about 45 minutes, and it only took that long because I kept cutting and rearranging the strips. ;) So that falls under the challenge #11. Finish a page in 45 minutes - for the 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges book. Sweet! Hope your weekend is a blast!

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C2P June Kit!

I wanted to share two layouts today created with the June Commit 2 Paper kit. Here are the kit contents, it's the Bliss collection by Crate Paper, and I love it!

Funny thing about this kit though...I'd already bought some of these same papers, chipboard pieces and brads at my LSS a few weekends ago!! Luckily I hadn't scrapped with it yet (haha), so it made it that much easier to create these pages because I'd already had some ideas, ha! It's nice having extras though so I can create a little more now, hehe.

As you all probably know by now, I love to do a page with my kids' school picture (and class pic) and have them write their current favorites. You can see three previous ones here and one other here. Its a great way to watch their handwriting change, see their new favorite things, or laugh at how some things stay the same.

For the first time in years Gwynie's fav color has changed!! Apparently its no longer pink (or hot pink), but LIME GREEN! Nice how the papers compliment that then, ha.

Technically they are still in school for another month, but at least I'm a little ahead of the game this time! Now I need to work on Brady's so I make sure to capture his cute handwriting and thoughts!

Flower Girl

Hey everyone! Back with some more scrapbook layouts! ;) Now normally if I'm doing a layout that will be a double page spread I complete them at the same time. Everything is already out, I already have the idea, etc. But every now and then I get rushed and don't have time to finish the second page. So I put all my supplies together so that when I get back to it everything is all ready for me to finish the page.

I originally did this page back in November and posted it to my blog in December. Well, I finally did the second page to go with it last weekend, ha!

This is the first page that the link shows you, and then below is the second page I did, along with the two of them side by side. It feels so good to have these "complete" and in Gwynie's book! This was my sisters wedding almost 4 years ago.

I'd already used book print (poofy and punched flowers and scallops) on the first page, but since I made the second page recently, I'm going to count it for a challenge requirement! Challenge #31. Incorporate book pages or sheet music on a layout from the 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges book can now also be called "complete". I'm 9 challenges down and still going!

Tough Guy!

Hi everyone! It's Tuesday and that means its time for another SSD Sketch Challenge with the Stamp Tramps of Skipping Stones Design! Um, can you believe it's aleady June?! I'm seriously wondering where the year has gone, but a new month brings us a new Guest Sketch Artist! We are so lucky to have a wonderful June Guest Sketch Artist, the amazingly talented Teri Anderson!!

This is Teri's first sketch for the month, isn't is super fun?!

I loved the circles and went through my sets wondering what would be great for the circle images when I thought of the bolts in Tough Guy! Keeping a "minimal guy" design in my head, I kept it basic with a little ribbon, and some brads. I embossed the background with the Sizzix Distressed plate, and I did some heat embossing in black for all the stamped images to make them pop a little more. This set is so great for all the guys in your life!

Be sure to check out the other "Stamp Tramps" and our guest sketch artist to see what they've come up with!
Amanda Sewell
Angela Thomas
Chels VanWyk
Erin Grotegut
Jen Ingle
Michelle Giraud
Peggy Russell
June Guest Sketch Artist Teri Anderson