Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #26

Hello and welcome to the 26th Cupcake Inspiration Challenge from Hope Stamps Eternal! Before I get into this week's challenge, I want to remind you about the HSE Halloween Blog Hop - if you have not yet checked out the Sweeties' blogs to comment for a chance to win blog candy and to collect the "hidden" promo code letters, check out my post here.

Now, onto today's business! This is the first CIC we've had since fall officially started, and I think the cupcakes this week are perfect for fall - just look at those gorgeous colors! The colors are what I drew my inspiration from today.

I used one of the Anyas (stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink) from the Rain Snow Shine set by The Greeting Farm. This set is no longer available, but check out the new Dressy Anya set - so cute, and so much fun to color! I can't wait to buy that one myself! I used my Copics to color Anya in and to give her some cute striped knee socks! The umbrella is paper pieced using the Bestitched paper from Imaginisce.

The punch along the side is the Scallop Dot Edger punch from Martha Stewart. I coated Anya's buttons with Stardust Stickles and then the whole main image panel is popped up with foam adhesive dots.

I stamped the background with PTI's Polka Dot Basics to match the polka dotted umbrella and added a Zva Creative pearl swirl flourish along the bottom left corner. To finish off the card, I punched an oval out of the card front, and then stamped "My Friend" from the Greeting Farm set Sentiments on a white panel layered on the inside of the card.

If you'd like to play along, add a direct link to your project to the Mr. Linky widget on Rachel's post. The top 5 entries linked up by next Saturday night will be featured in next Sunday's collage.

Ok, now it's time to go and visit the other Sweeties!

Bonnie
Carolina
Colleen
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Tammy

Supplies
Stamps: Rain Snow Shine and Sentiments sets by The Greeting Farm
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, PTI Ripe Avocado, Copic markers
Paper: Bestitched paper from Imaginisce, PTI's Ripe Avocado, Melon Berry, and white
Other: Scallop Dot Edger punch from Martha Stewart, Stardust Stickles, adhesive dots, Zva Creative pearl swirl flourish

HSE Halloween Blog Hop

Welcome to the Hope Stamps Eternal Halloween Blog Hop! There is a TON of fabulous Halloween stuff available in the HSE store, and the HSE Sweeties wanted to showcase these goodies for you today, giving you plenty of time to plan your own Halloween cards and gifts!

Now, if you didn't arrive here through Tammy's blog, go back to the beginning and start on Rachel's post so you don't miss out on a thing! As you travel through the blogs, be sure to comment on each one by Sunday at 11pm EST, because one of us is the Secret Sweet Stop. One of the commenters on the Secret Sweet Stop blog will be randomly selected to win some amazing blog candy (shown on Rachel's post), but you don't know which one of us has it!

And, as you travel through the blogs, take note of a special letter highLighted in each blog post. Put those letters together in order and you'll get a Promo Code for 25% off EVERYTHING in the store from now through this Sunday, September 27! This includes all new and clearance items (though does not include pre-orders). Once you have put together the Promo Code, just enter it at checkout (use ALL CAPS when you enter it) to automatically receive the 25% discount.

Ok, now on to my cards! The first one uses lots of fun stuff from the HSE store! The main image is from the Inkadinkado mini clear set called Witches Brew and is heat embossed to really make her pop. The sentiment is from another Inka mini clear set called Scary Words. I first stamped it in Plum Pudding ink and then stamped it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink to create a shadowed look. I then traced over it with a black Spica glitter pen for some sparkle. The scalloped mat for the main image is punched out of the back of the Imaginisce Bestitched paper and all of the other fabulous patterned papers featured are from the Basic Grey Eerie pad. On each of the scallops is a small black stone from the Zva Creative Mixed Rhinestones Wheel and along the side and top of the card you'll see larger black stones from the Zva Creative Jet Crystal Lines. The last thing I want to mention about this one is that the main image panel is popped up with foam adhesive dots.

Now for the second card, I started with a 4.25" square base and really wanted to showcase some of the same Basic Grey Eerie paper that I used above. I then added a little topper using Happy Halloween, yet another fabulous Inka mini clear set. This sentiment fit perfectly inside the pink Marvy circle punch, and then I matted it onto a larger black scalloped circle. On each of the scallops here, I adhered a yellowish teardrop shaped gemstone, also from the Zva Creative Mixed Rhinestones Wheel. Sorry for the glare on the embellishment toward the bottom - that's an orange button with a big clear Zva Creative Crystal Dot.

I hope you like what you've seen! To continue on your Blog Hop journey, please visit Carolina at her Creative Pad!

Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: Witches Brew, Scary Words
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, PTI Plum Pudding
Paper: Imaginisce Bestitched, Basic Grey Eerie, PTI Plum Pudding
Other: Zva Creative Mixed Rhinestones Wheel, Zva Creative Jet Crystal Lines, adhesive dots, Marvy mega oval and giga scalloped oval punches

Card 2
Stamps: Happy Halloween
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Basic Grey Eerie, PTI Ripe Avocado and Lavendar Moon
Other: Zva Creative Mixed Rhinestones Wheel, Zva Creative Crystal Dot, PTI Orange Zest button, Marvy mega circle and giga scalloped circle punches

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #25

Welcome to Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #25 from Hope Stamps Eternal! These cupcakes are perfect for this week, as it's really starting to feel like fall. And to me, nothing says "fall is coming!" like the start of football season. So Quarterback Ian from The Greeting Farm is the star of my card today!

Ian is colored with Copics and I added some Diamond Glaze to make his helmet nice and shiny. It's too early in the season for it to be scuffed and dirty yet! The orange paper is the Imaginisce paper Bestitched from the Spooky Town line and I used the star cluster from the Inkadinkado set Angels to add a little interest. The sentiment is from The Greeting Farm set called Sentiments. To finish off the card, I add some Stitchin Button Brads from Imaginisce. The brown ones I used are sold out, but there are some adorable white and pink ones still available!

I wanted to mention the tons of NEW stuff just in at Hope Stamps Eternal. Lots of stuff from Basic Grey, Bella Blvd, Cosmo Cricket, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders...the list goes on! And one more thing...be sure to check back on Thursday for a very special Hope Stamps Eternal Blog Hop!

If you want to play along with this week's challenge, add a direct link to your creation to the Mr. Linky widget on Rachel's post. The top 5 cards entered by next Saturday night will be featured in next Sunday's collage.

Now go and check out what the rest of the Sweeties have done with today's cupcake!

Carolina
Colleen
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Tammy

Supplies
Stamps: Sentiments and Quarterback Ian from The Greeting Farm, Angels from Inkadinkado
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Really Rust and Close to Cocoa from SU
Paper: Bestitched from Imaginisce, PTI white and Summer Sunrise, SU Close to Cocoa
Other: Diamond Glaze, Stitchin Button Brads from Imaginisce

Ahoy Matey! It's CIC #24!

Arrrr! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day on Saturday, September 19, so this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge from Hope Stamps Eternal is a nod to the celebration!

I just love these fun cupcakes with pirate motiffs, and I thought this image from the Matey set by The Greeting Farm would be the perfect image for my card. Incidentally, this set is ON SALE, so I advise you to add it to your collection right now!

I colored in my image with Copic markers, then embellished the hat with Stardust Stickles and added black gemstones from the Zva Creative Crystal Wheel to the eyes on the skull belt. The image is popped up with Zva Creative Adhesive Dots.

The papers are both from the Imaginisce Polar Expressions line. The striped paper is pre-glittered, and then I used the Herringbone Cuttlebug folder on the green paper. The really cool thing is that with the white core of the paper, it gets a sort of aged/sanded look along where the embossed lines are. I love it!

If you want to play along, add a direct link to your creation to the Mr. Linky widget on Rachel's post.
The top 5 entries linked by next Saturday night will be featured in the collage next Sunday.

Now before you go off to create, be sure to check out the rest of the HSE Sweeties for more fantastic inspiration! Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

Bonnie
Carolina
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Tammy

Supplies
Stamps: Matey from The Greeting Farm
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI white, Pure Poppy, Imaginisce Polar Expressions
Other: Stardust Stickles, Crystal Wheel, Adhesive Dots, Herringbone Cuttlebug folder

Not Just for Picnic Baskets

My card today, another from Texas, uses the PTI set Vintage Picnic, but rather than using the flower image with any of the baskets included in the set, I decided to think outside the box a little. I really love how this turned out, I just wish I had stamped the flowers a little lower, because there's too much white space and it's a little off balance. But I didn't realize it until I'd finished the card and it had taken me way too long to try and redo it!

It may not look like much, but the reason it took me so long is that I stamped and colored the image again on a scrap and cut out all of those little flowers. I popped them up with the smallest of the Zva Creative adhesive dots. Take a look at the small picture for a close up of the popped up flowers.

The ribbon is PTI white twill colored with a Copic marker. I swear, that's the best trick ever! With the PTI Copic color matches, I'll never need to buy colored twill again! To finish off the card, I stamped one of the sentiments from the With Sympathy set.

Supplies
Stamps: PTI's Vintage Picnic and With Sympathy
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Paper: PTI white
Other: PTI white twill, Zva Creative adhesive dots

The Joys of Summer

I realized I still have a few cards left to share that I made during my trip to Texas in July. Since summer is pretty much over at this point, I figured I should hurry up and show this one!

This was just a quick and easy card, but I liked how it turned out. My apologies for the less than great photo!

All supplies are from PTI except for the Stardust Stickles from Hope Stamps Eternal and SU ink I used for the cones. I stamped the ice creams from Love Songs in Berry Sorbet and Dark Chocolate and the cones in Creamy Caramel. The sentiment is from A Day at the Beach and then I added a strip from Polka Dot Basics along the left side.

Enjoy these last few days before it officially becomes fall!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI's Polka Dot Basics, Love Songs, A Day at the Beach
Ink: Berry Sorbet, Dark Chocolate
Paper: Berry Sorbet, Dark Chocolate, white
Other: Stardust Stickles

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #23

Welcome to Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #23 from Hope Stamps Eternal!

Isn't this week's photo so beautiful?? I just love how elegant it is! The card I made to go along with it is pretty much not something I ever make - I have no reason to send lovey dovey cards like this, so it may sit in my stash for a while! But I do like how it turned out, so let's go over the details.

I used Nestabilities to cut out the scalloped card base and the white circle. The flowers are the Sweet Blossoms from Zva Creative, which I colored with a red Copic to match the red rose on the cupcake. The flowers were adhered with Judikins Diamond Glaze. The white circle was embossed with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is from The Greeting Farm set called Sentiments. I used some hardware from a SU hodge podge set to frame the sentiment. To finish the card off, I lined all of the scallops with Stardust Stickles for lots of lovely sparkle.

If you want to play along, add a direct link to your creation to the Mr. Linky widget on Rachel's post.
The top 5 entries linked by next Saturday night will be featured in the collage next Sunday.

Now before you go off to create, be sure to check out the rest of the HSE Sweeties for more fantastic inspiration!

Bonnie
Carolina
Colleen
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Tammy

Supplies
Stamps: Sentiments from The Greeting Farm
Ink: PTI Pure Poppy
Paper: PTI Pure Poppy, white
Other: Sweet Blossoms from Zva Creative, Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, Stardust Stickles, Judikins Diamond Glaze, SU hardware

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #16

Good morning! It's a beautiful Saturday here in Connecticut, and before I head to the beach, I wanted to share my creation for the latest Raspberry Suite Color Challenge from Dawn McVey.

This challenge has a lot more neutral colors than I usually use together, but I thought it was a great combination that speaks to the fall weather that's been creeping in at night! All of the products I used are from PTI, with the exception of the clear crystal dots and the Stardust Stickles, both from Hope Stamps Eternal. Oh, and the adhesive foam dots used to pop up the umbrella are from HSE too.

It's a little tricky to see in the photo, but the Summer Sunrise background is stamped with one of the images from the Background Basics: Retro set. The umbrella and sentiment are of course from Dawn's Scattered Showers set. After I completed the card, I was wishing I had put the umbrella straight instead of at an angle, because I think it disrupts an otherwise very symmetrical card, but then maybe that's a good thing. Who knows!

Everything else is pretty straightforward, I just wanted to mention one other thing the camera didn't really pick up. The flowers on the umbrella are all covered with Stardust Stickles, so there's some nice sparkle to the card in real life.

All in all, a quick and easy card that challenged me to combine colors I never had before, which is the whole point of the challenge!

Thanks for looking - be sure to come back tomorrow for the latest Cupcake Inspiration Challenge!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI's Scattered Showers, Background Basics: Retro
Ink: Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate
Paper: Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Kraft
Other: Stardust Stickles, Crystal Dots, Adhesive Foam Dots