NC Demos Blog Hop - Let's CELEBRATE!!

I have not participated in the NC Blog Hop is a very long time so thought I would give it a try this month.  (trying to do 2020 right!)  The theme this month is CELEBRATE and don't we all love to celebrate good times!  

I looked up the meaning of Celebrate and here is what I found - 

verb (used with object), cel·e·brat·ed, cel·e·brat·ing.

to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities

to make known publicly; proclaim:

to praise widely or to present to widespread and favorable public notice, as through newspapers or novels:

to perform with appropriate rites and ceremonies; solemnize

verb (used without object), cel·e·brat·ed, cel·e·brat·ing.

to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies or festivities.

to perform a religious ceremony, especially Mass or the Lord's Supper.

to have or participate in a party, drinking spree, or uninhibited good time

So much to celebrate!  First off I made a card for my daughter who is in the U.S. Army.  She found out last week that she is on the list to be promoted to COLONEL!!  Whoo Hoo!  The promotion won't be until June 2021 but that gives us plenty of time to plan the celebration!!  In the meantime, I am celebrating by telling everyone the good news!  Yes, I am a proud mama!  So several of those definitions will fit this celebration.

This is a simple card that was easy to make.  I love the Feels Like Frost DSP stack which was in the Holiday Mini and I still have a bunch of it left so I am using it!  I wanted it to take center stage of the card and also thought the sentiment says it all (even though it is also retired!)  It is from Incredible Like You.  I dyed the ribbon to match the Highland Heather card.

 I used the Rooted In Nature stamp set to create a masculine birthday card.  That is another great CELEBRATION!

The base card is Pear Pizzazz.  I used a piece of Tropical Oasis DSP (from Mini Catalog) on top of the Pear Pizzazz.   Next is a piece of Grapefruit Grove with a Whisper White scallop die cut from Stitched Be Mine Dies at the top and bottom.  On top of that is a layer of Whisper White card stock.  I stamped the tree cut out with Soft Suede and the flowers with Grapefruit Grove (all stamped on Whisper White paper.)  The leaves were stamped with Old Olive ink onto Old Olive cardstock and the top one is stamped on Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Happy and birthday are both die cut using the Well Written Die set - one on Soft Suede cardstock and the other on Grapefruit Grove cardstock.  The ribbon is from the Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack.

I hope you enjoy my cards and will continue to the next stop on our hop.  Follow along with the blog hop and hop on over to Nedine's Celebration HERE.

Toni Campana

Jo Anne Hewins

Tina Lesson

Amy Kinler

Tracie Evans Langley

Frances Wagner

Sharon Maranich (you are here)

Nedine DuPree

Laurie Meier

Ariel Matera

April Blog Hop - Thankful for Mothers

Welcome to the April NC Blog Hop!  We are happy to share our Mother's Day projects with you.  Mother's Day is just around the corner - May 14.  I will be in New Orleans with my daughter on Mother's Day - wonder what we will do special!

Here are a few facts that I didn't know about Mothers Day -

In the US, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.  In some countries, it was changed to dates that were significant to the majority religion or to historical dates.  In most Arab countries, Mother's Day is always celebrated on the 21st of March, which is the Spring equinox.  In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mother's Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday).

Ok - now that you have learned a few facts, it's time to share my Mother's Day cards with you.  I think you'll be able to figure out my favorite new In Color!!

This first card is a sneak peek at a new stamp set - Lovely Inside and Out.  (It also has a coordinating set of thinlits.)  I paired the Lemon Lime Twist with black and love how the colors pop!  I also used Work of Art on the card and some retired washi tape.

This is the card I will be giving to my mom.  She loves flowers.  I took her yesterday to a local nursery and she bought a hanging basket that attracts hummingbirds and a camelia bush.  I ended up buying her a second hanging basket for her porch for an early Mother's Day gift since I will be out of town.  Mom is 88 and legally blind so she has a little trouble getting around.  The people at the nursery were great with her.  They got a wagon and pulled her around the nursery in it!!  I wish I had thought to take a picture.

This card uses another sneak peek stamp set - Oh So Eclectic which also has matching thinlits!  The "Happy" is from the new Happy Birthday thinlet - I just cut away the birthday portion.  The bird is stamped in Lemon Lime Twist and Always Artichoke.  The flowers are Fresh Fig and Berry Burst which is also the color of the card stock.The Mother's Day sentiment is from the retiring Crazy About You.

My final card is oh so simple!  I wish you could see how sparkly it is up close with Wink of Stella on the Dragonfly wings.  I stamped the dragonfly from Dragonfly Dreams in Lemon Lime Twist (told you it's my fav!), Peekaboo Peach and Soft Sky.  Each was stamped off first.  The body was stamped full strength.  The sentiment comes from another sneak peek set - Happy Birthday Gorgeous.

I hope you enjoyed the cards I made to share with you today.  Hop on along to the next blog and see what Laurie has in store for you.

Our April Blogs:

Tamra Davis
Jo Anne Hewins
Michelle Irinyl
Melissa Kerman
Tracie Evans Langley
Sharon Maranich (you are here)
Laurie Meier
Lisa Tedder 
Frances Wagner

Spring Time! March Blog Hop

It's spring time and time for the March blog hop by the NC Stampin' Up demonstrators. We do a blog hop on the last Sunday of each month.  Glad that you have joined us this month.  Now let's see what spring'y cards I have for you!

First is this cute Swirly Bird card!  I won't tell you how long it took me to get all those colors embedded behind the black swirl!  It's not hard - just time consuming to run all the different colors through the framelit.  But I think it was worth it!  The sentiment comes from Sunshine Sayings - a great stamp set for putting together sentiments.

What is spring without flying a kite?  How many years has it been since you have run with a kite coaxing it to stay up in the air?  I can't count the years! Plus I was never very good - or patient to fly a kite! I remember beach days when my kids were young and they would get their daddy to fly the kite with them - not me!!

This card also uses the Swirly Bird stamp and framelits as well as Layering Love.  I just love the font and the words in this set!  For a little sparkle, I adhered a few sequins.

Finally, I have a cute little box (that I CASE-d from a UK demonstrator) that I made using Sale-A-Bration products.  I made the box with the Inside the Line DSP and made a belly band around it using the Sale-A-Bration Glimmer Paper (Sweet Sugarplum.)  I die cut the bee from Mint Macaron Glimmer Paper also to coordinate with the little bee on the DSP.  The box was super easy to make and only takes a few minutes.  Here are the directions if you want to make one:  It should hold a few small chocolates for a sweet little treat.

Cut your DSP to 6" x 12" (so you can make 2 from one sheet of paper)
Score on the long side at - 2, 5, 7, and 10"
Score on the short side at - 2" and 4"

That's it!

I hope you have enjoyed my spring projects.  Hop along to see what Laurie has to share with you HERE!!

Here is the complete list of our blog hop participants:

Jo Anne Hewins
Michelle Irinyi
Tracie Evans Langley
Sharon Maranich (you are HERE)
Laurie Meier
Sue Root
Lisa Tedder
Frances Wagner

NC Demo Sale-a-Bration January Blog Hop

Creative minds have been at work here in North Carolina!  Welcome to our monthly Blog Hop. I hope you are getting lots of inspiration from the NC demos blog hop today.  Our theme this month is Sale-a-Bration, which means a FREE project for every $50 purchase from Stampin' Up.

I am sure as a paper crafter, you are probably aware of the popular new craze called adult coloring books.  The book publishing geniuses really hit the mark when they started offering coloring books for grown-ups.  A lot of us didn't even know how much we secretly missed them!   Not only is coloring super relaxing and fun, but it also takes us back to simpler times - when all we had to worry about was making sure we put our toys away.  As a child, coloring and paper dolls were my favorite things!  I didn't play with baby dolls or do sports, but give me a coloring book and I was happy.  It was so fun to get a new pack of crayons and try out all the colors - especially if you got the super big package!!  Fast forward to our new Sale-a-Bration catalog and guess what?!  Yes, a designer paper just begging to be colored.  It is Stampin' Up's! answer to this fun, out-of-the-blue craze.  The Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper leaves you with the opportunity to make the colors of each paper your own.  Think of all the ways you can use this paper!

I have chosen to highlight the Inside the Lines DSP for my projects.  There are so many choices when it comes to using this DSP.  Hopefully, you will enjoy what I have done with them.

I'm excited to share these cards with you.  Each card is colored using a different tool such as:  sponging, watercoloring, markers, and sponge daubers.  Each method provides a different look to the paper.  While the cards are different from each other, they are simple to make with only a few additional layers and embellishments.

For the first card, I cut a 3" x 5 1/4" strip of DSP and colored it using Stampin' Up markers.  I used the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits to cut the white card stock (4" x 5 1/4").  The middle piece was adhered on top of the DSP which was then adhered to my white card.  The two pieces on the left and right were popped up with dimensionals.  I stamped the sentiment from Thoughtful Banners and punched it out with the Duet Banner Punch.  The final step was to sprinkle silver sequins all over the card.

 My next method of coloring was with Copic Alcohol Markers.  I cut a flower out of the DSP and used the Watercolor Pencils to color the flower.  I popped the flower up with dimensionals.  I used my Two Way Glue Pen on the flower and sprinkled it with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  The sentiments are all from Thoughtful Banners and each one is popped up.  Can't wait to send this to my daughter!

My next card is watercolored using the ink from the Peekaboo Peach and Wild Wasabi ink pads and my aqua pen.  As long as you don't get your aqua pen too wet, the paper won't buckle.  I did use a SU marker for the darker orange (Tangerine Tango).   The sentiment (from Layering Love) is stamped on a piece of Peekaboo Peach cut out with the Stitched Shapes Framelit.

For my next card, I only used a small strip of the DSP (2" x 4") which was colored with Copic markers.  I used a lot of glue dots to hold down the pleated Sweet Sugarplum ribbon.  (You can find this ribbon on page 21 of the Occasions catalog.  It is the Succulent Garden Combo Pack.)   The sentiment is from Heartfelt Sympathy (pg 51 of annual catalog.)

For this card, I used the wonderful Watercolor Pencils found in the Occasions Catalog.  Sales for these pencils have exceeded Stampin' Up's forecast and are continuing to sell strong.  Because of the cost incurred in back orders, Stampin' Up has made the decision to place the pencils in not-orderable status as of last Thursday (1/26).  The estimated availability for them is Feb. 13.

I scribbled the pencils on the paper and then used my Wink of Stella to blend the colors.  You could also use an aqua pen (but not real wet) or a blender pen.  I have tried all three but I think I prefer the Wink of Stella (clear)!

My final card is super simple.  I used a sponge dauber and just daubed the Sweet Sugarplum ink randomly on some of the flowers.  I colored the leaves with the Watercolor Pencil also, blending it with my blender pen.  The circle is die cut from Stitched Shapes framelit.  I also die cut the flower from the Sunshine Wishes framelits.  This is a great set of framelits to have - check it out on page 194 of the annual catalog.  Not only do you get this flower but also the little butterfly, a heart and four sentiments (hope, love, congrats and sunshine).

I hope you enjoyed my take on the Inside the Lines Designer Paper and you are inspired to create your own cards using this paper.

Hop on along now to the next stop on the Blog Hop -

Tamra Davis -

Jo Anne Hewins

Michelle Irinyl

Tracie Evans Langley

Sharon Maranich   (you are here)

Laurie Meier

NC Blog Hop - My Favorite New Stamp (Jars)

It's the last Sunday of the month and that means it's time for another NC Demos Blog Hop!  This month we are each featuring our favorite new stamp set from the new annual catalog.  I am totally in love with Jars of Love - the stamp set and the framelits!  Oh - there are so many ideas running through my head for this set.  I used this set last week at Stamp Club and we made two different cards.  If you missed that post, check them out HERE.

This is the very first card I made with Jars of Love - flowers being poured out of the jar.

First I stamped the jar in the top left of the white card stock in Memento Black Ink.  Next stamp a bunch of flowers in the jar and coming out of it using Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo and Mint Macaron inks.  I used my fringe scissors to cut a little grass from Old Olive card stock, wrapped a piece of the Sweet Sugarplum ribbon around it and adhered it to the black panel which is then adhered to the card base (Sweet Sugarplum).  Die cut several flowers and adhere them to the grass.  Finally put a small pearl in the center of the die cut flowers and stamp your sentiment.

This next card is my favorite and it is a shaker.  It would be perfect to welcome a new baby!

My first step was to stamp the background pieces onto Whisper White.  For the mint macaron stripes, I brushed off the dust from the Brushstrokes Background stamp (don't know why I haven't used it much) and just stamped it on an angle.  (Another one that would work for this is the new Diagonal Stripe background stamp.)  I blotted some of the ink off the stamp before putting it to the paper and spritzed it a little bit with water because I didn't want it too dark.  The background piece on the bottom - Pink Pirouette - is made using the same Diagonal Stripe stamp and just stamping once horizontally and next vertically to achieve a checkered look.  Use a black fine marker to make stitch lines around the edges. I punched the large star using the Star Framelits from Soft Sky and stamped on it with one of the Timeless Texture stamps.  The small stars at the top are from the Star Framelits also. There is a piece of white twine wrapped around the top of the card before adhering it to a Mint Macaron card.  The jar is stamped twice on Thick White Cardstock in Mint Macaron ink and die cut.  I stamped a background piece one one of the die cut jars with different sized star stamps that I found in different sets in pink and blue.  I die cut a piece of acetate in the jar shape and adhered it to the back of the second die cut jar.  I used strips of dimensional tape on the edges but BEFORE you remove the backing on the tape, fill your jar with tiny stars and sequins.  Then take the cover off the adhesive and adhere the star stamped background on the back of the jar and acetate.  Stamp the jar lid with Versamark and emboss it with gold embossing powder.  Die cut and adhere to top of jar.  Punch out the tiny hearts in Mint and adhere them to the jar lid.  Wrap a piece of white twine around the jar and adhere it to the card.  Tie a piece of ribbon in a bow and use a Glue Dot to adhere it to the card.  Adhere a button to the ribbon.  I used my computer to type the saying and cut it out.


My next card was really simple to do.  I stamped the jar image onto a piece of vellum using Staz-on black ink and die cut it.  I die cut a piece of gold glitter paper and adhered it on top of the vellum.  Next stamp several of the leaves onto Whisper White card stock (3 3/4" x 5 1/2").  Stamp a couple of them full strength and a couple of them "second generation."  Adhere the vellum jar on the page using dimensional strips to the edges.  Tie a piece of ribbon around the left side before adhering the white piece to the Pool Party card.  I used a piece of retired Pool Party glitter ribbon.

My final card was also a simple one and a fun one to make!  I have flowers coming out of the jar above so this one needed fireflies coming out (or lightning bugs - which term do you use?  I say lightning bugs.)

I stamped the jar onto a piece of scrap white card stock and die cut it. (but you could just as easily stamp direct to the card.)  I used daubers to sponge a bit of Soft Sky around the edges of the jar and then adhered it to the left side of the card.  Next stamp the fireflies in black ink on the jar and flying up and off the right side of the Whisper White.  Use a Daffodil Delight marker and color the wings.  I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen to put a tiny bit of glue on each firefly and sprinkled Gold Glitter on them.  The "Just Sayin" is from Crazy About You and the other sentiment is from the Jars set.   Mount the white card onto a piece of black card stock and then onto the Daffodil Delight card.

OK - that's all for me.  But not for you - continue along with the Blog Hop and see what the other NC demos' favorite sets are!  The full line up below will help you move along so you can see all the projects.

TAMRA DAVIS
JO ANNE HEWINS
TRACIE EVANS LANGLEY
SHARON MARANICH (you are here)
FRANCES WAGNER

First Ever NC Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the NC Demos Holiday Hop!!

The NC Demos are doing their FIRST EVER blog hop starting today at noon.  We are featuring stamp sets from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  My pick for the hop is Gift Givers.  From Halloween to Easter to Christmas, the Gift Givers Set has everything you need for all of your holiday stamping.  Better yet, every single stamp in this seven-piece set coordinates with a different punch to help you create a variety of fun and festive projects.

You probably just came from Regina's blog.  She does outstanding work and I have been know to CASE her designs!  

So .... on to my creations.  I hope they give you inspiration as to all the things you can do with this great stamp set!

I used a toothpick on this card!  Love those pumpkins all lined up in a row.

I paper-pieced the reindeer onto the stocking.

My FIRST Rosette / Medallion / Lolly - whatever you call it!!

Close up of the lolly - the SU Scoring Tool makes it easy!

This little snow gal is so cute.  I made this one a shaker card using mica flakes inside.

Close up of the shaker.

Pulled one of my old tricks on this one - when I had finished I had done the card backwards (opening to the left and not right!)  Easy to fix - just turned it upside down and repositioned the heart!

Close up - used tiny pearls for owl's eyes.  The border on the side is made using the Curly Label Punch!

This opens up (see below) and holds a pack of gum!

So, I hope you have enjoyed my cards showcasing Gift Givers.  If you would like to win ALL of these cards, leave me a comment telling me which one is your favorite.


Now you want to hop on over to Sue Root's blog and see what she has designed for the NC DEMO'S HOLIDAY HOP.

This is a box I did a few weeks ago for a Newcomer's dinner using the Thanksgiving set from Gift Givers.

close up of the stamp - this box is not included in the blog candy!

WINNERS!

THIS WILL STAY ON TOP UNTIL SUNDAY - STILL WAITING ON SCRAPPERBECKA - IF I DON'T HEAR FROM HER, I WILL DRAW ANOTHER NUMBER SUNDAY.

Welcome to my first Blog Giveaway!!  I was blown away by all the wonderful comments I received in my Blog Hop.  So I decided to do THREE give-aways instead of two!   

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28 42 36 

Timestamp: 2010-11-30 22:36:18 UTC

Winner of Tag Holder and Tags:  

 CardMonkey said...

Love, love, LOVE your cards! Beautiful and inspirational. I am now a proud follower! Merry Christmas and happy New Year, with all the blessings of good health and prosperity to you and your family.

Winner of Holiday Planner #1: 
scrapperbecka said...
Very cute cards! You did a awesome job! I am now a follower, love your work.

Winner of Holiday Planner #2:  Giselle Varela
Giselle said...i love all of your projects. New follower :) the planner is soooooooooooooooooo beautiful!!

Contact me with your mailing address and I will get your goodies in the mail to you!  If I do not hear from you by December 5 (Sunday), I will draw more names.


Congratulations!

Christmas Card Blog Hop 2010

Welcome to my Inkie Fingers!  We are so excited to have you join us today.  You may have just come from Courtney's blog or you may be one of my followers or you may have just stumbled here…however you got here, you’ll be very glad you did!  Be sure to take the whole tour! - welcome!   There are about 30 blogs included in the hop and some of them are giving away Blog Candy.   

I decided to make my theme Christmas Trees and used a variety of stamps and folding methods to create three cards for you to enjoy.  The first one uses a retired set from Stampin' Up called Patterned Pines.  I just purchased this set last year and wasn't ready for it to retire!  Oh well, they didn't ask me, did they?  I stamped the trees on white cardstock and then embossed them in copper and cut them out.  The base of the card is Night of Navy with Pear Pizazz and Poppy Parade.  I used the oval Spellbinders dies and my Big Shot for the ovals.  The sentiment ("be merry") is also from a retired set (Warm Words) but there is a very similar set in the current SU catalog (Short & Sweet).

 Here is a close-up of the trees:

 My next Christmas Tree card uses a folding technique that I discovered on someone's blog but do you think I can remember whose it was???  (remembered - it was on Connie's blog!)  I cut out a 5 1/2" circle from Designer Paper with the Circle Scissors Plus (SU - pg 199), cut it in half and then made 3 folds to create the tree shape.  The base card is Crumb Cake and the DSP is retired.  I found this great ribbon in my stash and had to use it!

 Here's a close up of the tree - love that Glimmer Brad from SU's Holiday Mini Catalog!

My next card uses SU's Snow Swirled.  I stamped it on the Bride & Groom DSP and embossed it with Dazzling Diamonds.  I just love the elegance of this card with the pearls.

 Here is a close-up of the tree and the pearls:

I realized after I did these three cards that most of the things I used were retired.  So, I had to do one more and use a beautiful SU Sizzix Snowflake Die!  I just love the simplicity of this card!!

This card uses Night of Navy for the base card and Cherry Cobbler (one of my favorites!) and Shimmery White card stock.  The navy striped ribbon is included in the Ribbon Bundle in Stampin' Up's Spectacular Sale that is going on right NOW but ends Tuesday, Nov. 30.  Details can be found HERE .

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my Christmas Cards as much as I enjoyed making them.    I will be giving away BLOG CANDY if you leave a comment. And I hope you will come back to visit me or even become a FOLLOWER of my blog!!  Here is my Blog Candy - Holiday Planner and a Tag Pouch for 2 lucky people:

EDITED TO ADD - I'll draw for Blog Candy on Tuesday.  Deadline will be noon EST Tuesday, 11/30.

To continue on the blog hop, visit Holly - 1Crafty Dame!!