Cyber Monday Sale!!

Hi everyone! Getting back into the normal work and life routine after a nice long holiday weekend is never fun, but I've got something to make your Monday a little better!

Hope Stamps Eternal is having a Cyber Monday sale - EVERYTHING in the store is 30% off!! Now is the perfect time to stock up on supplies for your holiday cards - check out all the Christmas items from Cuttlebug, Basic Grey, Inkadinkado and more! This is also a great chance to cross some craft-loving family and friends off your gift list - there's sure to be lots of goodies for any stamper or scrapbooker in your life!

Don't miss out on this one day sale - shop now!

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #35

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I can't believe it, but the season for leaves and pumpkins and all things fall is over and now it's time to think winter and Christmas! I LOVE this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge from Hope Stamps Eternal. There are SO many products in the HSE store that work for this challenge, so my creative juices were immediately flowing.

As soon as I saw the little snowman perched atop those gorgeous cupcakes, I knew I wanted to use one of the adorable stamps from the Keep Cozy set by The Greeting Farm. I love this little guy and think he's a perfect match for the one in the photo. I colored him with Copics, using the hat and scarf for my color inspiration, and then accented his hat, scarf, and mittens with Stardust Stickles. My frosty image was punched out with a Marvy scallop punch and then matted on a larger scalloped oval. I added a white pearl sticker from Memory Box to each of the scallops, using a Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, to mimic the pearl ornaments and embellishments in the photo.

The patterned paper is a gorgeous sheet from the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly collection. The color scheme and swirling snowflakes are absolutely perfect for this week's challenge! The sentiment, one of four included in the Keep Cozy set, was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, as was my image. That ink is still by far my favorite ink to use when coloring with Copics!

Across the top of the paper I used some ribbon from the Art Blanche Arctic Ribbon Pack. Again, the color is just perfect for this project and adds some nice detail to the card. Both the large snowflake embellishment at the top and the small one by the sentiment are from the Jolee's by You Snowflake collection - the big one is pre-glittered and both come with the gemstones already adhered to the center. Such pretty, yet simple, embellishments!

To adhere the snowman panel, I used the 1mm adhesive dots by Zva Creative and then, because I wanted it to pop up a little higher, I used a 2mm adhesive dot for the large snowflake. I love the different depths and sizes offered in those packs! I used the Sakura Quickie Glue Pen again to adhere the smaller snowflake at the bottom.

I'm so excited to have my first holiday card done for this year! In years past, I've been so efficient with my Christmas cards, and sometimes have even had them done by Thanksgiving, but clearly things have changed. I have a feeling I'll still be finishing my cards right up until Christmas Eve!

I hope you'll participate in this week's challenge and get yourself in the holiday spirit. If you play along, make sure you add a direct link to your creation to Rachel's post by 9pm MST next Saturday in order to be considered for the Top 5 collage next Sunday.

Now it's time to go and visit the other Sweeties for loads of inspiration!

Bonnie
Carolina
Colleen
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Teresa

Supplies
Stamps: Keep Cozy set by The Greeting Farm
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly collection, PTI white and Aqua Mist
Other: Memory Box white pearl stickers, Stardust Stickles, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Art Blanche Arctic Ribbon Pack, Jolee's by You Snowflake collection, 1mm adhesive dots by Zva Creative, 2mm adhesive dot

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #34

Hello and welcome to Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #34 from Hope Stamps Eternal!

For my card today I chose to sort of pull from the colors in the inspiration photo. I swear my colors in real life are a little closer - I could not get a good photo today for the life of me!

I wanted to use one of the Blooms-a-Bella flowers from Bella Blvd. They're such a great focal point and make for a quick and easy card- gotta love that! It's tricky to tell because of the lighting, but both the green paper and the red paper it's matted on are from the Imaginisce Polar Expressions Collection. I love when paper packs like that have patterns that are specifically for Christmas, but also include reverse sides that are more neutral patterns. It really extends your stamping buck when you have that kind of flexibility.

The designer papers are matted on a brown 4.25" square base (yes, it's brown, not purple!) The sentiment is from Sentiments by The Greeting Farm, and the finishing touch on the card is the lines of Memory Box white pearl stickers.
If you would like to play along, make sure you add a direct link to your creation to Rachel's post by 9pm MST next Saturday in order to be considered for the Top 5 collage next Sunday.

Now it's time to go and visit the other Sweeties for loads of inspiration!

Bonnie (out this week)
Carolina
Colleen
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Teresa

Supplies
Stamps: Sentiments by The Greeting Farm
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate
Paper: Imaginisce Polar Expressions Collection, PTI Dark Chocolate
Other: Blooms-a-Bella flowers from Bella Blvd, Memory Box white pearl stickers

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #33

Happy Sunday! Can you believe that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away?? Where has this year gone?? I think this week's cupcake inspiration photo is perfect for this time of year - it just screams fall and yumminess!

For my card, I used a sheet of Waffles paper from the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry collection. Check out that line of paper - talk about yumminess!! I then stacked three of the flowers from the Imaginisce First Class paper flowers collection. I just love the mix of shapes and sizes and colors included in that package! The embellishment was held together with Diamond Glaze and finished off with a Zva Creative clear crystal dot in the center. Emerging from under the flower embellishment is a Zva Creative crystal flourish. Once I adhered it, I realized the bling gets a little lost in the pattern of the paper, but if the light catches it right, it looks fabulous in person! The sentiment is from the Bella Blvd Plastino stamp collection.

If you would like to play along, make sure you add a direct link to your creation to Rachel's post by 9pm MST next Saturday in order to be considered for the Top 5 collage next Sunday.

Before I send you off to check out the rest of the Sweeties, I wanted to mention a few things. First, if you haven't yet, hurry up and enter to win Rachel's blog sweets - you have until 10pm MST tonight! Second, be sure to check out all the NEW stuff in the Hope Stamps Eternal store! TONS of amazing goodies from The Greeting Farm, Basic Grey, Cuttlebug, Inkadinkado and more!! And finally, if you love Martha Stewart (who doesn't??) go and scoop up some fabulous punches - all Martha Stewart items are 40% off!!

Ok, now go and visit the Sweeties!

Bonnie
Carolina
Colleen (out this week)
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Teresa

Supplies
Stamps: Bella Blvd Plastino stamp collection
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate
Paper: Waffles paper from the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry collection, PTI Pure Poppy
Other: Imaginisce First Class paper flowers, Diamond Glaze, Zva Creative clear crystal dot, Zva Creative crystal flourish

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #31

Welcome to the 31st Cupcake Inspiration Challenge from Hope Stamps Eternal!

These cupcakes are so pretty and spring-like, right? Well leave it to me to make a winter card out of it! The inspiration I took from this week's photo are the colors - the red, pale aqua, yellow, and green. I thought the Jolly by Golly paper from Cosmo Cricket pulled variations of those colors in really nicely, so that's what I used on my card today.

When trying to decide what stamp to use, I noticed the striped scarf on one of the Anyas in the Rain, Snow, Shine set from The Greeting Farm and thought it would be fun to use my Copics to color her scarf to match the paper. I like it! Sort of a faux paper piecing in a way. Anya's trim (earmuff band, buttons, etc.) are touched up with a clear Sakura Stardust pen for some nice sparkle, and to add some extra bling, I added a clear Zva Creative crystal dot to the center of my snowflake embellishment (created with two sizes of snowflake punches).

For the final touch, the edge of the cake plate in the photo made me think of dew drops, so I added a bunch of those to the border of my card using a Sakura Quickie glue pen.

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 9pm MST next Saturday night will be featured in next Sunday's collage.

Ok, now it's just about time to go and visit the other Sweeties, but I first wanted to mention that this is Tammy's last week with the HSE design team. She has been a great addition to our team and will be missed! But every cloud has a silver lining, so I'd like to give a big welcome to Teresa Kline, who will be taking Tammy's place as a Sweetie for the next couple of months. Check her out!

Bonnie
Carolina
Colleen
Kelli
Michelle
Natalie
Tammy

Supplies
Stamps: Rain, Snow, Shine set from The Greeting Farm
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
Paper: Jolly by Golly from Cosmo Cricket, PTI Aqua Mist, white, and Pure Poppy
Other: clear Sakura Stardust pen, clear Zva Creative crystal dot, dew drops, Sakura Quickie glue pen