Heather's Ink Pad

OCL Blog Hop Day!

2011-06-03T03:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Friday! And what a wonderful day it is! Today is Our Craft Lounge's BLOG HOP! So happy you could hop along with u:s!

You should have arrived here from Deb Felts' blog. If not, go back to the beginning - at the OCL BLOG - and hop along! You have a chance to WIN one of the FOUR BRAND NEW stamp sets that OCL is releasing!

Today I am showing you a card I made using the new stamp set Monkey Around. I *LOVE* this set! It is absolutely adorable! Wanna see???

Isn't it CA-UTE?!?! Now for my card:

I love the paper I used! It came from a Die Cuts with a View paper pack. These monkeys hanging like this remind me of the monkeys in a barrel that I played with as a kid - and revisited when I had kids!

I used Coffee Bean Brown Sparkly Fluff on the girl monkey's belly. It is so sparkly and soft - I swear I can't live without the stuff!!! Yep - it's an addiction - and I'm NOT going to rehab!

For this button embellishment, I punched out a circle from the Die Cuts with a View patterned paper and glued a clear button to it. I colored the banana and cut it out and adhered it to the button. VOILA!

Well - this photo is turned on its side - but you get the picture. I put ribbon through the button and tied a bow. But for some reason, I didn't like how it looked with the bow on top. I was looking at it and looking at it - and my husband said "why don't you turn it upside down?" I thought - seriously?! Bows are to be looked at, DUH!!! Well - I turned it upside down and - WHAT????? - I liked it!!! Who knew!!!

So - do you want a chance to win the new stamp sets OCL is releasing? Well, hop along with us - to all of the blogs participating (go to the OCL Blog to start at the beginning). Four random winners will each win one stamp set! Winners will be announced on the OCL Blog on Monday, June 6th!

Now - it is time to hop on to JOY STAGG's Blog!

Have fun!

It's a Sneaky Peeky Kind of DAY!

2011-06-02T03:00:00.001-04:00

Hello there, friends! I'm so happy to see you today!

Did you come from Denise Marzec's blog? If so - AWESOME - you are hopping along with us! If NOT, then go back to the beginning at the OCL BLOG and hop along from the beginning - you DON'T want to miss out on this!

It's that time again when Our Craft Lounge sneaks a peek at NEW STAMP SETS! They are releasing FOUR BRAND NEW stamp sets! And take my word for it - they ROCK!

Here's my sneak peek, using the stamp set Shout it Out!

This card was FUN to make! I used Die Cuts with a View cardstock - isn't it PERFECT? This alligator makes me SMILE! I even paper pieced him. But I did it in a special way.

I stamped the alligator on to a transparency. I then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. After that was done, I glued the transparency directly on to the patterned paper using Glossy Accents - let it dry - and then cut the whole guy out. He SHINES - I love it!

WANT TO WIN one of the four stamp sets? Leave a comment here for a chance. Once tomorrow's BLOG HOP (that's right - hopping tomorrow with more eye candy and you'll be able to see all of the sets) is over, FOUR LUCKY PEEPS will each win one stamp set from this new release!

OK - so now you neeeeeed to go see some more eye candy sneak peeks! So it is time to hop on.

Go to JOY STAGG'S blog for the next stop!

And come back tomorrow!

National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop

2011-05-07T03:00:00.003-04:00

Hi there friends! It's been a while - but I'm still kickin'!

Today is National Scrapbooking Day! And what better thing to share than a scrap page! Today, Our Craft Lounge wants to celebrate with YOU! Go HERE and read all the information about how OCL is giving away TWO FREE STAMP SETS!!!!!

My scrap page was created using the stamp set Football All-Star. How PERFECT for this photo! My son plays football and his team won the SUPERBOWL for their division this past November. Actually, our town set a record, having all THREE divisions not only go to the Superbowl, but win! The boys were happy.

To see some more FUN samples, go to the following blogs - get hopping - and then play along with OCL on the Blog!!!

Heather McNally (you're here)
Kendra Wietstock
Amber Hillman
Latrice Murphy
Mandy Sarver
Deb Felts
Pam Hooten
Lori Tecler
Debbie Seyer
Happy Mother's Day weekend!

A*Muse Studio news and BLOG HOP

2011-04-02T00:01:00.001-04:00

Hi there! I am so excited today! I'm betting you'd like to know why!

Well - I have jumped in and signed up to be an A*Muse Studio Creative Consultant! WOOT WOOT! I am very excited about this new opportunity - and today I want to share this with you!

I have a website - you can go HERE to look at it. You can rder A*Muse Studio products directly from this site! SUPER EXCITING!

And today we are having a blog hop - a few of the new Creative Consultants are participating and there's lots to see! If you are hopping along, then you have come from Lori Barnett's blog. And now it is time to see what I have in store.

Here is my card.

I used the tree image and sentiment from the stamp set Woodland Friends. The clouds are from the stamp set Make a Scene. All cardstock is A*Muse Studio (solid cardstock is colored on one side and white on the back - nice and easy to make a card base and have a white inside so that you can write on it). The "grass" is A*Muse polka dot cardstock - and the tree is cut out of A*Muse gingham cardstock. I LOVE doing paper piecing - which is what I did with the entire tree and the clouds.

The clouds were stamped on Sugar cardstock - and then colored in with the Quickie Glue Pen and covered in Diamond Glitter. Oh how they SPAAAAHKLE!!!

I also used 1/4" Grosgrain Stitch Ribbon - the color is lime. I love me some ribbon!

Now for some more fun:

* I am giving away a SURPRISE FUN BLOG CANDY PACKAGE! Sooo - if you want a chance to enter, please leave a comment, along with a way to contact you and let you know that you've won! I will select a winner on Sunday, 11pm EST - and will post Monday morning by 9:30am EST.

** The NEXT STOP on this FABULOUS BLOG HOP is Melissa Roell. Be sure to stop by and see what fabulousness she has to share with you!

*** If you just happened to stop here, but weren't aware of the blog hop - go to Samantha Kania's blog and HOP ALONG!

Thank for stopping by! :)

OCL Blog Hop - The Pond

2011-02-25T03:00:00.001-05:00

Hi there OCL friends! I'm thrilled to be showing you one more card on this BLOG HOP to celebrate our Brand New Release of 11 new STAMP SETS!!!

The card I made uses the stamp set called The Pond. This set is STINKIN' ADORABLE! I am in LOVE with it! There are so many uses for this set. Baby cards, "hello" cards, scrapping. Just think of making a page of you and your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew going to visit a pond!

So here you have it. I wanted to make something simple, as I have been sick lately. It wasn't coming together at first - but then I had played around with my card and now I really like it!

One depressing fact - I can't find my Lemon Drop Sparkly Fluff!!! DEVASTATING! Say it isn't SO! I was going to fluffify (yes - my new word) the duck. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. So instead I cut out the front wing and popped it up. Now I am happy. :)

And here is the stamp set in full:

OK - so you have a chance to WIN THIS SET! Here are the rules:

* Leave a comment here on this post (you can increase your chances by leaving comments on my two previous posts - the sneak peeks - as well).

*I must be able to contact you - so leave your contact information.
* Blog candy closes at midnight Saturday night (2/26).
* Each person will only win ONE stamp set - so be sure to visit all of the blogs of those playing along.

Now for the list of bloggers who are playing along.
Amber Hillman
Bev Gerard
Broni Holcombe
Deb Felts
Debbie Corbari
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Stagg
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Latrice Murphy
Melyssa Connolly
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Stephanie Serrano
Tammie Edgerton

And don't forget - today is OCL's Sketch Challenge. Be sure to play along for ANOTHER chance to win a stamp set!!!

Sneak Peek Day 2 - Bundle of Joy

2011-02-24T03:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday! Are you here to see some more SNEAK PEEKin'??? WOOHOO! That's right - Our Craft Lounge is releasing 11 new stamp sets. I'm showing you a card I made from one of them.

The set is called Bundle of Joy. It is a SUPER CUTE set that will definitely become a staple set for me whenever I need to make a baby card!

I made a SUPER SIMPLE card using this set. I wanted to use this patterned paper that had multiple colors and glitter on it - so I decided to go simple.

I did use some Sparkly Fluff on the ribbon of the rattle. Aaaaah - I love Sparkly Fluff!

Go check out what the other OCL Girls have done - and remember to come back TOMORROW for the Blog Hop! Oh - and don't forget - leave a comment here for a chance to win the set I am giving away tomorrow. You must be signed in to blogger - or leave your e-mail address - so we can contact you if you win!

Amber Hillman
Bev Gerard
Deb Felts
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Stagg
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Latrice Murphy
Lori McAree
Melyssa Connolly
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Stephanie Serrano
Tammie Edgerton

OCL Sneak Peek - Build-A-Bouquet

2011-02-23T03:00:00.002-05:00

Hi there, friends! Long time, no see!!!

Welcome back for a FUN DAY! Today is a SNEAK PEEK for a new release by Our Craft Lounge! OCL is releasing 11 brand new AMAZING stamp sets! You are going to LOVE what you see!

Today I am showing you a card that I created using the new stamp set called Build-A-Bouquet. It is a super fun set that you can build with - and this is the best building I've ever done! I also used the sentiment stamp set Big Thanks.

Here's a close-up of the flower

I cut out different layers of the flower to create dimension. To add the Sparkly Fluff to the center of the flower, I used a Pop-up Glue Dot. HOW FUN!

There are quite a few OCL girls showing more sneak peeks. Follow along and check them all out!

Be sure to leave a comment here. On Friday we will be having a Blog Hop - and any comments left here today will be entered into the drawing to win the Blog Candy I will be giving away!

Amber Hillman
Broni Holcombe
Deb Felts
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Jeanne Streiff
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Melyssa Connolly
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Stephanie Serrano
Tammie Edgerton

OCL Blog Hop WINNER

2010-11-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the winner of my blog candy from the OCL Blog Hop . . .

Carol said...Great sentiments set, so versatile! I love how you used it for your picture frame.

Carol B

Thanks to everyone for hopping with us!!! You can go HERE to see the full list of winners.

~Heather~

Blog Hop - Valentine

2010-11-18T03:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome back! I'm so glad that you are here for the Our Craft Lounge Blog Hop! As you probably know, Our Craft Lounge is releasing FOUR BRAND NEW Valentine stamp sets! These stamp sets will be shipping out to RETAILERS in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled.

Today I get to show you a project I made using the new stamp set called Notes of Love. This set is super sweet and versatile.

I decided to make a really simple, yet sweet framed layout of my boys. I love this photo of them wearing their PJ's, happy as can be. I truly love them to the moon and back.

Below you can see the close up of the image that I used.s I adore this sentiment. I used some Lemon Drop Yellow Crafty Sparkles to glittery the moon image. LOVE anything that spaaahkles, baby!

So would you like a chance to win this stamp set? Here's what you need to know:

Leave a comment on this post
Be sure to leave your e-mail address or be signed in to Blogger when leaving your message (if I don't have a way to contact you, I will have to draw another name)
Please enter on this post only once
You may enter up until Saturday night at midnight
I will contact the winner directly
This stamp set is not ready to mail yet - so if you win my blog candy, it will be sent out within the next few weeks

Here is a list of all the talented OCL designers who are participating in the Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by their blogs for your chance to win one of OCL's many fabulous Valentine themed stamp sets.

Amber Hillman
Bev Gerard
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Deb Felts
Debbie Corbari
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Kennedy
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Pam Hooten
Tammie Edgerton

Good luck! Enjoy the rest of the designers' creations! Hopefully it will inspire you!
~Heather~

I Lava You

2010-11-17T03:00:00.002-05:00

Well hello there! Welcome back! I've been missing in action a bit. I guess life just has a way of changing my plans. LOL But here I am!

Today I have something FUN for you! A sneak peek of a brand new stamp set by Our Craft Lounge! Wanna see??? The set is called I Lava You and it is SUPER FUN!!!

Cute, don't ya think???

Our Craft Lounge has FOUR brand new Valentine sets coming out. You'll definitely want to visit all the blogs listed below to see some more fun sneak peeks.

A few things to know:
* these new stamp sets will be hitting retailers in the next few weeks
* there will be a BLOG HOP beginning tomorrow - so be sure to come back
* as you know, with OCL Blog Hops come FREE STAMP SETS
* you can leave a comment TODAY and be entered to win the stamp set I am giving away
* one comment per post, please

To find retailers who carry Our Craft Lounge products (stamps, acrylic blocks, glitter, and sparkly fluff), you can go HERE.

And here are the other bloggers who are showing some sneak peeks using the new OCL stamp sets:
Amber HIllman
Bev Gerard
Broni Holcombe
Chelle Fowler
Deb Felts
Heather McNally
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Kennedy
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Pam Hooten
Tammie Edgerton
Be sure to come back by tomorrow for the Blog Hop and to see what stamp set YOU COULD WIN from me!

~Heather~

OCL - 2010 Holiday Blog Hop

2010-08-20T03:00:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday!! Today is doubly exciting because it is OCL's weekly sketch challenge - as well as the OCL BLOG HOP! So - are you hoppin' here from Denise's blog? Or did you come here directly from the OCL blog? Either way - WELCOME! Be sure to read all the way through there are lots of details you'll want to read!

Here is my card for today. The sketch comes from a card that Holly made - and it was really fun to work with! I must admit - this card had several versions. I used the stamp set White Christmas - that is brand spankin' new by Our Craft Lounge. Wanna see what the whole set looks like? Wanna WIN THIS SET????? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post - but YOU MUST leave your e-mail address or be signed in to blogger so that I can get in touch with you if your name is randomly selected. If I can't reach you, I will be forced to draw another random winner. You have until NOON Pacific time (3pm EST) to leave a comment, at which time the drawing will be closed so that a winner can be selected.

Isn't this set GORGEOUS? Can you see why I used all the GLITTAH (er - actually the fabulous Crafty Sparkles - they SPARKLE like no other)??? It just screams for it! I even pulled out my Xyron and covered the whole sentiment. Oh how it makes me smile.

OK - now go check out what all the other girls have been working on - and enter to win their fabulous prizes! Here they are:
Amber Hillman
Beate Johns
Beth Silaika
Bev Gerard
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Debbie Corbari
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Kennedy
Julie Okada
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Maree Truelove
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Tammy Hershberger
Terri Thill
Vicki Garrett

And here is a link that will bring you to all the retailers that carry OCL products! http://www.blog2.ourcraftlounge.com/?page_id=40

Have a FANTASTIC weekend - and BE SURE to come back SUNDAY afternoon to see if you won!!!

OCL Sneak Peek Day 2

2010-08-19T03:00:00.002-04:00

Welcome back! Today is another fun day for me - I get to show you two more cards - sneaking you images from two new stamp sets! I hope you are having as much fun seeing everyone's beautiful artwork as I am!

My first card is showing you the stamp set Tweet Trees. OMW - this set has CUTE CUTE trees and birds! I absolutely adore this tree in particular - and had so much fun sorting through all my buttons finding just the right ones.

This second card showcases the stamp set Vintage Traveler. I don't find it easy to use vintage images. I sat down to make this card and got a little bit stressed at first. And then - BAM - it just cae to me. I used a Cuttlebug folder for the top 2/3 of the gray cardstock. The card is shimmery IRL - I used Pearl Glimmer Mist on the image of the Eiffel Tower itself - VERY pretty! I definitely lost the stressed feeling and had FUN!

Now you MUST go check out what all the other girls have to show you today!
Amber Hillman
Beth Silaika
Bev Gerard
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Debbie Corbari
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Kennedy
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Tammy Hershberger
Terri Thill
TOMORROW - is our HUGE BLOG HOP! Be sure to come back - you can win one of the 24 new stamp sets that OCL is releasing!

~Heather~

OCL Sneak Peeks - Day 1

2010-08-18T07:57:00.000-04:00

Well hello there! Yep - it's me! Long time, no see! Life has been busy (as is everyone's) and I've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes kind of stuff. But I'm baaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaack!

Today I am thrilled to be able to show you sneak peeks for TWO new stamp sets from Our Craft Lounge! And there are many other girls who have even more to show you - so let's not waste any time.

First I used the new stamp set No Peeking. It is a super cute set of a number of tags and sentiments. The great thing is that it can be used for ANY OCCASION - not just Christmas (though that is what I used it for in this sample).

It is a super simple card. But what I love about it is the detail I was able to put into the tag itself. I colored the tag in first. Then I used Platinum Sparkly Fluff on the garland, and then three different colors of Crafty Sparkles (Rockstar Red, Lemon Drop Yellow, and Blue Hawaii).

My second card is set on a white base. This stamp set is called Under the Mistletoad. Ha - mistletoad! Love it!!! I used Rockstar Red Sparkly Fluff and Sugar Sparkly Fluff on his hat, and Rockstar Red Sparkly Fluff again on his scarf. So fun!

I hope you have enjoyed my cards today. Go see what the other girls have to share:

Amber Hillman
Beth Silaika
Bev Gerard
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Debbie Corbari
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Kennedy
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Terri Thill

Happy Mother's Day and OCLDT12

2010-05-07T10:17:00.000-04:00

Friday is my favorite!!! Well, actually I love Saturdays because my husband gets up with the kids and I get to sleep in a bit - and then we have a family day! But Friday means Saturday is coming! One reason I love Friday so much is it is the Our Craft Lounge Design Team Sketch Challenge!

Today's sketch is based on a fantastic card by Charmaine Ikach. I LOVE the card, the colors, everything about it!

I have to say, I did take some liberties with the sketch this time. It all revolved around my stamped image - so some changes had to be made. I am happy with how the card came out!!! I sure loved coloring the flowers - from the stamp set Friendly Flowers. And it was fun adding the dew drops to the center of some of the flowers. I just love adding some dimension. The sentiment is from the stamp set Vintage Roses.

I hope you have some time to play with the sketch challenge.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Winner of Sparkly Fluff . . .

2010-05-03T07:57:00.000-04:00

Monday, Monday, Monday. I have to be honest - I don't typically love a Monday. BUT - today I get to announce the winner of my blog candy. So . . .

rudie2shoes said...

The sparkly fluff looks so delish!

Congratulations rudie2shoes! You won 6 jars of Sparkly Fluff! The colors are: Punk Purple, Platinum, Irish Green, Brown Sugar, Rockstar Red, Breezy Blue. I think you'll have FUN getting fluffy! We will be in touch with you for your address.

Have a wonderful day!
Heather :)

OCL Blog Hop - come and play!

2010-04-30T03:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday! I can't tell you HOW happy I am that today is Friday!!! And I'm also SUPER EXCITED about the fun stuff going on with Our Craft Lounge!

First - OCL is releasing THIRTEEN new stamp sets!!! You can get them starting today at participating online retailers and brick & mortar stores! Have you already seen the photos of the sets? We've been sneak peeking them on the OCL blog and on the blogs of the Design Team. FUN FUN STUFF!

Today I'm showing you a card that I made using the adorable new set Tweet Thang. I used the OCLDT11 - OCL Friday Design Team Sketch Challenge layout to make this card. It's such a great layout - making this card was easy peasy! And I used Appletini Green Sparkly Fluff to make the grass stand out - and give it texture. OMW - I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Sparkly Fluff! And I get to GIVE SOME AWAY!!!

That's right - I AM GIVING AWAY 6 COLORS OF SPARKLY FLUFF:

Punk Purple, Platinum, Irish Green, Brown Sugar, Rockstar Red, Breezy Blue

So what do you have to do to win????
1 - Leave a comment here on my blog.
2 - You MUST be signed in to blogger when you leave your comment OR leave contact information in your coment.

3 - You can enter to win on each blog once on each day (Wednesday, April 28th was the first post you can leave a comment on).
4 - You will only be eligible to win ONE prize. Blog candy winner will be selected on Sunday, May 2nd at noon PST (3pm EST). Winners will be notifie by the designer & a full list of winners will be posted on the OCL blog.

Be sure to check out all the following blogs for more chances to WIN, WIN, WIN!!! And of course the eye candy that these girls have created is to die for!

Amber HIllman
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Chelle Fowler
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Holly McMillen
Jeanne Streiff
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Pam Hooten
Terri Thill
Vicki Garrett

Peekies!!!

2010-04-29T03:00:00.002-04:00

Hello and Happy Thursday! I'm having so much fun being able to show you some sneak peeks of the new stamp sets being released by Our Craft Lounge. They truly come out with the most incredible stamps!

Today I am showing you a card using the new set School Notes. Another perfect set for both cards and scrapbooking. The patterned paper just said "SCHOOL STAR" to me! I added some brads and some dew drops and voila!

Tomorrow Iwill be playing along with the OCL Blog Hop. You will have a chance to win a fabulous prize! As a matter of fact, you can even enter to win TODAY. Just leave a comment here on this blog post. Just keep in mind:

1 - you MUST be signed in to blogger when you leave your comment OR leave contact information in your coment.
2 - you can enter to win on each blog once on each day
3 - you will only be eligible to win ONE prize. Blog candy winner will be selected on Sunday, May 2nd at noon PST (3pm EST). Winners will be notifie by the designer & a full list of winners will be posted on the OCL blog.

Good luck! And be sure to stop by tomorrow!

Here's a list of girls who are playing along with the sneak peeks today - go give them some comment love.

Amber Hillman
Beth Silaika
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Chelle Fowler
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Holly McMillen
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Pam Hooten
Terri Thill
Vicki Garrett

OCL Sneak Peek - Beach Days

2010-04-28T03:00:00.002-04:00

Hi there! I am happy to be back and posting a card! :)

Our Craft Lounge is releasing 13 stamp sets this month! And I am lucky enough to be able to show you a sneak peek for a set called Beach Days. It is a fantastic, fun, adorable set and I had a lot of fun coloring and putting this card together!

Isn't she ADORBLE??? I used some bling (a FAVE product I cannot live without) on the corners to jazz up the card a bit. The patterned paper for some reason just made me think of the beach.

Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek. I'll have another one tomorrow - and Friday will be a BLOG HOP! Be sure to leave a comment, as I will be giving away a fun PRIZE!!!

In order to win:

1 - you MUST be signed in to blogger when you leave your comment OR leave contact information in your coment.

2 - you can enter to win on each blog once on each day

3 - you will only be eligible to win ONE prize. Blog candy winner will be selected on Sunday, May 2nd at noon PST (3pm EST). Winners will be notifie by the designer & a full list of winners will be posted on the OCL blog.

There is a lot more eye candy made by other girls on the OCL Design Team - go check them out:

Fabulous Friday!

2010-03-12T03:00:00.002-05:00

It's FRIDAY! I am THRILLED! I am looking forward to some family time.

It is also Our Craft Lounge's Friday Design Team Sketch Challenge. This week the sketch is based on a beautiful card created by my friend Pam Hooten. I hope you can play along - if you can, GO HERE.

Here's my card. I used the OCL stamp set The Botz Family. It was a FUN sketch!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Ah yes - OCLDT Sketch Friday!

2010-03-05T03:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday to you! I can't believe it is FRIDAY already- and MARCH!!!! OMW - I need more time! LOL

HERE's today's Our Craft Lounge Lounge Design Team Sketch Challenge - #3. It is based on a super sweet card made by the fabulous Valerie Stangle. I hope you can play along - I just love to see what everyone does with a sketch!

I used the stamp set Irish Blessings. Being that my hubby is Irish, I think I'll give this to him for St. Patty's Day!

Have a fantastic weekend!

OCL DT Sketch Challenge - 02

2010-02-26T03:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings and Salutations! I hope that you are having a great day so far!!!

Friday brings one of my favorite things - the Our Craft Lounge Design Team Sketch Challenge. This is the second one - and I loved playing along. Go HERE to see the sketch, the gorgeous card that the sketch is based on (created by Charmaine), and the rules to play along.

My card uses one of OCL's new ADORABLE sets called Hippity Hoppity. ACK - I love love LOVE it! The little snail is soooooooo stinkin' cute!

Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Friday Our Craft Lounge DT Sketch Challenge 01

2010-02-19T03:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! I'm so excited to be playing along in the new Friday Sketch Challenge for Our Craft Lounge. Go to THE LOUNGE to check out the details! It's going to be lots of fun and I hope you can play along, too!

Here's my card. This would be a fun invitation to host a Happy Hour. I love the sentiment "It's 5 o'clock somewhere" - makes me laugh out loud!

Here's the sketch - based on a FANTASTIC card created by OCL DT member Broni Holcombe.

Hope you have a FANTASTIC FRIDAY and a wonderful weekend!

~Heather~

And the winner is . . .

2009-11-21T08:21:00.003-05:00

We have a winner for the Blog Hop Candy!!!

Stephanie said...
what a great card, cute set!

This is Stephanie's blog.

Congratulations Stephanie - please send me an e-mail (hamcnally@comcast.net) with your mailing address so we can send out your FREE STAMP SET!!!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

OCL is Hoppin'!!!

2009-11-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday! And what a fun and exciting day it is! Today Our Craft Lounge is releasing 13 new and awesome stamp sets!!! And I get to show you one of those sets!

Here it is - Love Notes. The beautiful and the distressed come together to make this amazing set! I just love how it can be easily used on cards and for scrap pages!

I made a simple card for today's sample. I thought it would be fun to just let the stamps show themselves off. I did stamp the heart with pigment ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder to add a different texture - and a focal point.

Would you like to WIN THIS SET?? All you have to do is leave a comment here on this post. PLEASE be sure to leave your e-mail address or be logged in to blogger when you leave your comment. If I don't have a way to reach you, I will have to select another winner.

Now you just have to check out all the other stamp sets and samples. These girls rock!!

Go - go now - and purchase! Here is a link to where you can get your fix now!

Of course you can always go to my favorite place to shop - eclectic Paperie!

And DON'T FORGET the BIG CHALLENGE GAME - go HERE to check it out - you could win a $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO OCL!!!

Peek #2 - I'm Not Lion

2009-11-19T07:39:00.003-05:00

Happy Thursday! And that brings us to Sneak Peek Day #2 for the new release of Our Craft Lounge stamps!!

Today I am showing you one of the images and a couple sentiments from the new set called Jungle Love. It is simply adorable!!! And since I have a couple of little animals (ha - a 7-year-old and a 3-year-old), it is oh-so appropriate for my household!

I colored the image with Copic markers. The lion's mane was then blinged up using Coffee Bean Brown Sparkly Fluff. I swear I can't make a card without using that stuff.

Here is a list of other blogs you can hop to to check out more sneak peeks of the new OCL release. Be sure to leave a comment - it will be entered into the drawing to win a FREE STAMP SET from OCL!!! The rules: leave a comment, please either leave your e-mail address or be signed in to blogger so that I have a way to contact you if your name is selected.

Bird and Groom - Beth
Hang it Up Cupid – Lila
Hearts & Hugs – Holly, Kendra
The Journey – Charmaine, Beate
Life Is – Charmaine, Beate
Love Notes – Kisa, Joy
Out for a Spin – Carol
Fairy Dust is a Must – Kendra , Vicki
Granny’s Truffles - Broni
Jungle Love – Heather
Shamrock Blessings – Pam
Sweet on You – Cami
Wanted – Kisa

Tomorrow we will be having the big blog hop - so be sure to come back!!!

And DON'T FORGET the BIG CHALLENGE GAME - go HERE to check it out - you could win a $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO OCL!!!

Sneak Peek - Hang It Up Cupid

2009-11-18T09:26:00.006-05:00

Hi there!

This set I get to show you a sneak peek of is SO fresh and fun!!! It is called Hang It Up Cupid and is made by Our Craft Lounge. Yep - Cupid - you aren't needed here! LOL

Recently my friend HB did something COOL here. So I had to follow suit. I used sticky tape and some Cosmo Crystals Crafty Sparkles. Super fun and SPAHKLY! It was a very easy border to create - and really created interest on my card.

I also blinged up this heart. I used a heart punch, used a pair of decorative scissors to create the broken heart, and then applied glue and Rockin' Pink Sparkly Fluff to the heart. LOVE how it came out!!!

I hope you find this card as much fun as I do. Come back tomorrow for another sneak peek. And on Friday, there will be a big blog hop. BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT - TODAY, TOMORROW, AND FRIDAY - all comments will be entered into the GIVE-A-WAY we will be having!!!! You just have to leave a comment and PLEASE either leave your e-mail address or be signed in to blogger so that I have your contact information.

These girls have some more FAB sneak peeks for you to check out!

Bird and Groom - Cindy, Kisa
Hang it Up Cupid - Heather
Hearts & Hugs - Deb
The Journey - Kendra
Life Is - Kendra
Love Notes - Pam
Out for a Spin - Lila , Vicki
Fairy Dust is a Must - Carol
Granny's Truffles - Pam
Jungle Love - Charmaine , Joy
Shamrock Blessings - Holly
Sweet on You - Amber
Wanted - Beth, Carol, Cami

And BE SURE to check out THIS POST for more BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION and the chance to win $100 in OCL product!!!!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Birthday Bash Challenges

2009-11-16T08:59:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope you had an awesome weekend! Thanks to all of you who played along with the OCL Scavenger Hunt!!!

This week is going to be an EXCITING one for Our Craft Lounge! As you know, they celebrated their ONE YEAR Birthday on November 14th. We're continuing the celebration all week.

Starting today, you can participate in the Birthday Bash Challenges. Go to The Lounge or The Forum for the rules - and PLEASE PLAY ALONG! I can't wait to see what everyone does with all the challenges.

And - the GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive a $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE to Our Craft Lounge!!! That seriously ROCKS!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

OCL Birthday Bash and Scavenger Hunt

2009-11-13T09:00:00.006-05:00

Hi there! I'm sorry I've been MIA! Lots and lots of things happening around here. But I'm back, baby! LOL (you've been warned)

So - it is an EXCITING time for Our Craft Lounge!!!! They are celebrating their FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! And I am lucky enough to be the hostess for their big BIRTHDAY BASH!!! So come join us for some FUN and PRIZES!!!!!

Let's begin with a fun Scavenger Hunt. My friend Mish did a similar hunt for her first Blogaversary - and I just thought it was so much fun that I adapted it for OCL.

Want to PLAY???? There will be TWO WINNERS: a First Place winner and then a random "honorary" winner. So I highly encourage you to participate!!!

Also - did you know that OCL hosts an opportunity to win an OCL stamp set of your choice EVERY MONTH??? GO HERE to see the Monthly Sketch Challenge. It is really fun to see how everyone interprets the sketch. Play along - YOU could be the WINNER!

Go to The Lounge or The Forum to find the rules - you'll find everything you need to play along.

And now for a blast from the past. This is the first OCL card I posted back a year ago. I still *heart* Pea-Nut the elephant. He is SO FUN to color! Pea-Nut is one of my favorite characters. I also adore Pat the Dog. I LOVE that there are FOUR Pat the Dog sets! Makes me smile! :)

GOOD LUCK - and be sure to keep coming back - this is going to be a FUN WEEKEND and WEEK coming up (next week will be our Challenges Game)!!!

I See You

2009-09-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

I have SO MUCH FUN coloring with Copics! I will admit - when I first bought them, I was intimidated. I needed to learn and really play a lot. Now - I just LOVE it!

The stamp set Peek-a-Boo by Our Craft Lounge is SUPER FUN to color! I colored the image a while ago - and then just thought and thought about what to do with it. Well, I decided to let the image speak for itself. The rest of the card is simple. I did use a Cuttlebug embossing folder to add some texture and interest to the purple cardstock. VOILA!

Hope you have a spook-i-licious day!

Sparkly Spooky Tree

2009-09-27T02:00:00.000-04:00

Hi there! Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!!

OK - so I went away last weekend and spent some time with my girls - the Scrap Chicks. We had a blast in the beautiful New Hampshire weather! It was New England at its best! There was a LOT of laughter and just general fun!

Well - I decided to pick up and play with the stamp set Spooky Nights by Our Craft Lounge. I LOVE this set - and the tree is just AWESOME!!! It is illustrated by the Fabulous Debbie Corbari. :) So I stamped the tree and glitterfied it with my Eyeliner Black Crafty Sparkles. Oh - HOW PRETTY! And my friend Donna leans over and says "I think you should cut it out now." I laughed - nah - I don't think so.

And then I sat and thought - and thought - and was like "dang - I am taking that as a challenge!" So I set to cutting it out. It took a little while - but WOW - I absolutely LOOOOOOOOOVE the results! LOVE! I only popped a few spots up so that the tree could curl and look "alive".

So there you have it - my fun Halloween Sparkly Spooky Tree!

Happy Sunday!

Spooky Nights!!!

2009-09-11T10:39:00.004-04:00

Well hello there! Sorry I've been MIA. The sickies reached our house big time - but we are all on meds and mending.

Halloween is coming - and give it a few weeks and it will be coming on fast and furious! So why not get started playing now?!

I had so much fun making this card! I used the stamp set "Spooky Nights" by Our Craft Lounge. The tree in this set is FANTASTIC!! And the sets of eyes - OMG - SO MUCH FUN! I colored each set of eyes a slightly different color - and then used Ranger Glossy Accents on them.

What are your li'l ones going to "be" for Halloween? We haven't even started thinking about it here - I'd better get on the ball before all the "cool" costumes are gone!

On a more somber note, I just want to take a moment and say that today I am thinking of all those who lost their loved ones or were affected by the tragedy that occurred on this date 8 years ago. I still find it absolutely shocking and truly can't comprehend the level of devastation, nor the desire to do something so terrible. My heart broke that day, as did the hearts of millions of others. I wish healing for everyone.

Have a beautiful weekend.

You Dazzle Me

2009-09-02T09:26:00.002-04:00

Hi there! It is a beautiful and sunny day here in Massachusetts! *aaah* I love Fall weather!! :)

Today I am showing you a simple and fun card I made with the stamp set For-bitten by Our Craft Lounge. I thought I would use some of what I am calling the "supporting characters" and putting them in the spotlight!

In order to really play up the sentiment "You Dazzle Me", I decided to use lots of Crafty Sparkles on the hearts. Oh - so fun!

I added some texture by using a Sizzix Texturz plate on the bottom half of the grey cardstock - it is a flourish plate and kind of matches the flourishy oval that surrounds the sentiment.

Hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Forbitten Love

2009-08-31T09:48:00.003-04:00

Are you a TWILIGHT fan? I am! Oh yeah, baby! Can't wait until New Moon hits the theaters!

So today I am showing you my first card for the week using the Our Craft Lounge Spotlight Set of the Week - FORBITTEN! This set is HOT!

I had fun using my Nestabilities. And then I went to town with the GLITTER! The Crafty Sparkles from Our Craft Lounge are DEEEE-LISH! Seriously - look at that SPAHKLE! I used Eyeliner Black and Rockstar Red. For the drops of blood, I stamped them, cut them out, and then I put Ranger Glossy Accents on them to give them some shine.

Hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

And the WINNER is . . .

2009-08-11T08:32:00.003-04:00

Eek - sorry I'm late, girls! I'm on VACATION in Florida - and I literally lost track of time.

So - without further ado - the winner (selected by random.org) is . . .

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 110

Lynn said...

super cute card and a super cute stamp set!Thanks for the chance to win some blog candy!
Lynn

Congratulations, Lynn! I'll be contacting you!

Enjoy your day!

Spotlight on Back 2 School

2009-08-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for the BLOG CANDY and BLOG HOP, click HERE! :)

A quick and heartfelt HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my son Tyler, who turns 7 today! I LOVE YOU TY!

Yes - it is that time ALREADY that we are thinking about going BACK 2 SCHOOL! When people talk about it, you get one of two reactions.

Reaction 1 - parents - WOOHOOOO - it's back to SCHOOOOOOL!!!!

Reaction 2 - teachers - TEARS!!!! (and perhaps a wee bit of denial)

My Mom was a teacher - and every year she and her best friend (also a teacher) would call each other starting in the beginning of August and say "can you hear me crying already?".

Well, being a parent, I am in the "woohooo" category. NOT because I don't love my kids. But, well, I get sick of hearing "I'm bored." Man - kids don't appreciate that they ARE kids - and parents wish we could just play all day long. LOL

Anyway - I have a card here for you using the stamp set Back 2 School by Our Craft Lounge. It is an easy set to use, doesn't require much coloring (though I DO love to color), and can easily be used in scrapbooking. I think that ability to easily use it in any paper crafting avenue really makes the set extremely versatile.

I went with a black card base and just let the colors pop. I used my Die Cuts With a View stack "The Grade School Stack" - it is so fun and colorful! I based my card on the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge - SC240. It was a very fun and easy sketch to use.

I hope you enjoy today's card. If you want to see any of my other Spotlight of the Week cards, visit HERE.

Hope you have a fabulous Friday!

OCL Blog Hop-a-roonie!

2009-08-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Thursday - and welcome to the Our Craft Lounge Blog Hop! Today OCL is releasing 31 (HOLY CROW) brand new stamp sets! Some are elegant, some are fun, some are funny, some are cute- there's something for every stamper!

Today I am showing you the stamp set called Peek-A-BOO! AND YOU COULD WIN THIS SET - read all the way to the bottom for details!!! OMW - I saw this set and fell IN LOVE! It is just so cute and FUN! Now, I have 2 young boys, so playing peek-a-boo and hide and seek are just part of my day every day. So this set just spoke to me immediately. It will become a staple for my Halloween card-making, gift giving, and scrapbooking!

My first card was really fun to make. I saw the little "monster/dragon" hiding behind the tree and I knew I would color him some version of purple. Well - purple and black were a must - and then I knew what I HAD to use - Crafty Sparkles! So I pulled out my Punk Purple and Eyeliner Black sparkles and had fun.

My second card started with the image - I colored it and then sat down and tried to figure out what I wanted to do. Once I decided to use my Nestabilities, it all fell into place. If you look up close, you will see that I have a polka dot embossed background on the base of the card.

On the little circle "tag" - I used 2 black brads in the letters "oo" - and then used my Signo white gel pen to turn the brads into "eyes". FUN!

OK - so do you want to WIN this Peek-a-BOO set???? Here are the rules:

you must leave a comment on THIS post
you have until Sunday, August 9th at 9pm EST to leave the comment
you must leave your e-mail address or be registered with blogger so that I can get in touch with you if you win
though there are 31 stamp sets, each winner selected can only win one set

All stamp sets are being released Thursday, August 9th at retail stores. For a list of locations you can purchase them, look HERE.

Want to see all the other FABULOUS posts by all the other participants in the hop??? Go here, to OCL's new blog. Good luck and have FUN looking at all the eye candy!

Happy Thursday!!!

Heather :)

OCL Sneak Peek Day 3 - Granny's Potion

2009-08-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

It's WEDNESDAY - Happy Hump Day! *wahoo* we're half way to the weekend!!! Have you been having a good week? I've had a good and busy week.

So - Wednesday also brings about the last day of Sneak Peeks from Our Craft Lounge. If you've been checking out all the blogs posting the peeks, you'll have seen all 31 sets that OCL is releasing this month! If you haven't caught it all - or you want to look again, go to OCL's new BLOG and check out all the participants in the fun eye candy!

Today I'm showing you a card I made using the set Granny's Potion. I LOVE Granny - she is fun and very witty. Now she's celebrating Halloween!

One of the fun things I did on this card was something I saw my friend HB (Carol Halvorson) do - I punched out some stars and placed them on the base of the car. When I punched them, I did it in the same color cardstock as the surface I was putting them down on - so they made a subtle background pattern. That HB is brilliant!

Oh - the buttons! Buttons are such a fun embellishment. Well - I used Punk Purple Sparkly Fluff to cover the buttons - HOW FUN! They are fuzzy and sparkly!

To create the moon, I punched into a piece of cardstock using my circle punch - and then punched a little further over using the same punch. VOILA - a moon (crescent) shape! I covered it up in liquid glue and sprinkled Lemon Drop Crafty Sparkles all over it. Ooh-la-la!

I finished my card by coloring Granny with Copic Markers - and colored the stars and moons on her dress with atyou Spica Glitter pens. There is LOTS of SPAHKLE on this card! :)

TOMORROW - be SURE to come back and check out the HUGE BLOG HOP! OCL is giving away one of each stamp set from this new release. That means there are 31 NEW STAMP SETS up for grabs!

OCL Sneak Peek #2 - Thankful!

2009-08-03T23:42:00.007-04:00

Welcome to sneak peek day #2 for the new release of Our Craft Lounge stamp sets! Today I have a beautiful and elegant set to show a peek of. It is called Thankful Flourishes.

This card was simple to put together - and I thought it came out fairly elegant. I wanted it to be mainly black & white with a little punch of color. I think that has such a clean feeling. So I used my Nestabilities to make the card pop. I colored the flowers in with my beloved Copic markers.

The large flower was colored, then cut out and popped up on Stampin' Up!'s stampin' dimensionals to give the card a little "height".

I sure hope you enjoyed this sneak peek. COME BACK TOMORROW for another sneak peek - and then THURSDAY for a HUGE BLOG HOP! You'll have a chance to win one of the 31 stamp sets being released by OCL! Those girls sure ROCK!

Check out the new Our Craft Lounge Blog - it has links to more girls who are sneaking more peeks for your viewing pleasure!

Also - a FUN place to go - the OCL Forum! We have some great things going on there - including the monthly Sketch Challenge - where you can enter to win a free stamp set of your choice!!!

Have a FUN-TASTIC day!

OCL Sneak Peek DAY 1

2009-08-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

Well HAPPY MONDAY!!! I hope you had a FABULOUS weekend. I enjoyed a lot of time with my family - which was nice because we've been so busy lately that we haven't spent a lot of quality time together.

So - I've got something fun and exciting for you today - as do a few other girls! Our Craft Lounge is having another HUGE release! And today a bunch of us girls are showing you sneak peeks of 10 of these new AWESOME stamp sets! There are a total of 31 (yes - 31) new sets! The girls have been working HARD to bring you more eye candy!

Here is my card - using the new set called "Merry Wishes". It's a fantastic set to use for both cards and scrapbook pages. Seriously CUTE CUTE sentiments with little bits of artwork. CA-UTE! I used some fun Rockstar Red Crafty Sparkles on the Santa hat. I colored over the letters with coordinating Copic Markers - what a FUN way to add a focus point - and also some pizzazz! And then all the dew drops underneath the sentiment to draw the focus there. SHAZAM! I'm almost in the Christmas spirit already!

Now - if you want to see MORE MORE MORE, go to OCL's NEW HOT BLOG and see who the other girls with sneak peeks are. Get the napkins ready to wipe up the drool! :)

I have one more thing to share with you! Our Craft Lounge has a fun section in the FORUMS - and one part of that is the Spotlight Stamp Set of the Week. This week, I am spotlighting a great and versatile set called Back 2 School. That time is coming faster than you might think (yikes)! So here is a fun and simple card I made. I used a sketch from Card Positioning Systems - # 109. Totally fun! Go check out the OCL forums and see what we have in store for you!

Have a fantastic day!

Sparkly Pat the Dog

2009-08-01T05:30:00.000-04:00

As a stamper, I am drawn to texture. I love to hold a card and feel all of the elements used to make it a piece of art. The layers, texture of the cardstock, glitter, buttons, etc. - it all makes me happy. So when Our Craft Lounge combined glitter and fluff - well it was MAGIC for me!!!

I love to use Sparkly Fluff on Pat the Dog. He just CALLS for it!

I participated in the first ever card swap for Our Craft Lounge - and just couldn't help but use Pat the Dog so I could use my beloved Sparkly Fluff. So this is the card I came up with.

I hope you have a FAB day!

Dino-rific Birthday!

2009-07-30T22:09:00.005-04:00

Happy FRIDAY!!! Yes - I am excited - can ya tell? Well - I recently started working part-time. I have been a stay-at-home-mom for 7 years. I was nervous getting back "out there" - but it is turning out to be a fun experience! So TGIF has a re-newed meaning to me. It means I get to spend the whole weekend with my boys (my 2 little men and "Daddy").

Speaking of my two little men, I thought it would be FUN to make a Happy Birthday banner for a boy's party. So - what do little boys like? DINOSAURS!!! Both of my boys think they are pretty cool. So I reached out for my stamp set Dino Mite by Our Craft Lounge. It SCREAMS "make a dinosaur themed birthday party"!!! I sat down and really thought about what I wanted my end result to be. I knew I wanted to use my Nestabilities - and that I wanted to embellish each letter - but had to keep it "masculine".

I figured out what Nesties I thought would be good for the dinosaurs and went from there. I chose to use two different shapes - Labels Four and Curved Rectangles. I LOVE the end result of how they worked together!

For the alphabet, I used a stamp set by Technique Tuesday - Main Street Lowercase Letters, Extra Large. For alphabet stamps, Technique Tuesday is truly a step above!! They are fantastic for special projects and scrapbook pages. And because they are clear, I was able to cut out the shapes using my Nesties and then stamp later.

Once I started thinking about colors, I decided to see what embellishments I had that could be "masculine" - but matched cardstock and ink that I had. So through my embellishment drawers I went. I kept going back to BUTTONS! My friend Lana *hearts* buttons - and she has kind of made me develop a bit of a sickness for them also. So - I had a plethora of buttons to search through -and found 3 main colors that stuck out at me: dark brown (matched my Chocolate Chip cardstock by SU!), olive green (matched my Old Olive by SU!), and blue (matched my Baja Breeze cardstock by SU!). I found the coordinating Copic markers and went to town.

Additional accessories used include chocolate chip grosgrain, Extra Large eyelets (SU!), aged brass hardware (SU!), and some hemp twine. I really had fun embellishing each piece.

I hope you find it as fun as I do!!! My youngest (3 year-old) LOVES it and wants to touch it all the time. Aaaah - what torture it is to look and NOT be able to touch because Mommy doesn't want grubby little fingerprints all over her work. LOL

Have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Dino-mite Featured Stamper

2009-07-20T05:30:00.000-04:00

Well hello there! I've been MIA - I started a new job and also had an Open House - all at the same time. So I've been SUPAH BUSY!

I found myself wanting to stamp today - but had no MOJO. So what's a girl to do? Check out the FEATURED STAMPER on Splitcoast - that's what! My friend Bethie hosts this challenge - and it is always a great one!

This week's Featured Stamper is Minnidr - check out her gallery! Lots of eye candy. I chose this card to CASE. I turned her card onto its side, changed the colors, and changed the stamp set used. I used the stamp set Dino-Mite by Our Craft Lounge. It's a PERFECT set for me, as I have 2 boys. There are so many girly sets - but sometimes it's really fun to do something different. I often have my boys in mind. :)

I love to distress. So on this card, the two "blue" stripes are sponged with 2 different inks and then distressed on the edges. The rust piece of cardstock was run through my Big Shot with one of my Texturz plates, then I sanded the raised area. FUN!

I colored the dino in with my Copic markers - and I used my BRANDY NEW BG0000 for the sky color! I sure was lucky to get the new colors from eclectic Paperie! I love Daisy and Joy!

Sure hope you had a fantastic weekend - and Happy Monday!

A Sketch and a Dog

2009-07-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings and Salutations! :) I can't seem to stop playing with Pat the Dog - he's cute and fun - and I love adding some texture to him!!!

Sometimes when I stamp, I can sit down and play with papers and come up with a layout. But I LOVE to have a sketch to work off of - I find it very inspiring. Occasionally it may lead to something else altogether. Today I decided to play along with the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge (SC236). I decided to use Pat the Dog (by Our Craft Lounge) as the main image. So what better to use for patterned papers than dog themed papers? I dug out my Die Cuts With a View pad and it was fun and easy from there.

For my main image, I cut it out using my Nestabilities. I colored Pat in with my Copic markers - and added some FLUFF with my Coffee Bean Brown Sparkly Fluff. I just love the sparkle that it has - and the fun fluffy texture it gives my project. I popped my main image up on dimensional foam tape.

Hope you have some time to stamp today!

Who's Your Doggie?

2009-07-03T06:50:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday! It is weekend FUN time! :) LONG weekend fun time! Happy 4th weekend fun time! Are you going to see any fireworks displays? I have always loved fireworks. It is a great family event. We always pack up some snacks in the cooler (grapes, watermelon, drinks) and head out to enjoy the evening.

Today I've got a cute and sparkly card for you. The stamp set I used is Pat the Dog by Our Craft Lounge. Pat is super cute and fun to color! I cut him out using my Nestabilities - oh how cool they are!

So how did I make Pat even more special? I colored him in using my Copics - and then added some Coffee Bean Sparkly Fluff to Pat's dark brown patches. Then I added some Chunky Crystal Crafty Sparkles to the heart for some added bling - and I loved the result!!

For the pink background paper, I ran the Pretty In Pink cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Heart Blocks embossing folder and then sprayed it with some Gold Glimmer Mist. Add some ribbon and a bunch of brads all in a row - and I was happy!

On the inside, I stamped the row of paw prints and the sentiment "Who's Your Doggie?" - so fun!

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day and Happy Fourth!!!

*Heather*

Bookworms for the Class

2009-06-28T05:30:00.000-04:00

It's Sweet Sunday!! Here's hoping that you get to have a nice relaxing and fun day with family and/or friends. That's my plan today.

So school's out - and we have had a week off so far. Well hmm - I guess it's about time I post my end of school projects, huh? LOL

I have a bunch of pictures to share - so I'll keep this short and sweet. I had fun making gifts for the teachers, other school staff, and a bookmark for each kiddo in my son's class. The first picture is of the gifts I made for Tyler's teacher. I also included some chocolate- HAVE to give something tasty!

Then a close-up of the tin. The tin was approximately 3"x3". I put a bunch of 1.5"x2" post-it notes inside. Can't have enough of those. Isn't this apple and worm ADORABLE?!?! It is from the stamp set Bookworm by Our Craft Lounge. ACK - I was so excited to make this ensemble using this set!

I made some of Val's desktop notecard holders - OMW - they are SO CUTE and SO EASY to make - thanks to Val's brilliant mind and fantastic tutorial. THANK YOU VAL FROM CAL!

I love having bags around in the house in case I need to put a gift together. These bags were PERFECT! I just stamped up a couple of apples (Stampin' Up! image) and voila - the bags were adorable!

Here are the little tags I made for each bag. Using Nestabilities, I put a simple tag together (white version on the back so I could write the "to" and "from" information). Added a little bit of star bling and I was happy!

And last but certainly not least, the bookmarks. The stamp set Bookworm is PERFECT for any school gifts you might want to make. As soon as I saw the set, I knew that I would be making bookmarks for all of Tyler's classmates (and the teachers) at the end of the year. I loved making them - put each kid's name on the bottom of their bookmark, and laminated them.

Hope your day is AWESOME!

Some grad fun

2009-06-26T07:53:00.003-04:00

Happy FRIDAY!!!!! I can't believe that it is the end of another week and almost the end of JUNE! Where is the time going? In Massachusetts, we have NOT had summer yet. The entire month of June was overcast and rainy - which is very unusual. The weather reporter said that we haven't had a single day of full sun. So here's hoping that July brings some sun our way!

Speaking of the ending of June - school ended! My son's last day of 1st grade was only on June 19th. And there were plenty of graduations. So today, I have 2 graduation cards that I had made to show you.

First was a simple and fun card - and I used it in a class I taught. I love using one color with black. The color just pops! So here I used Tempting Turquoise (by Stampin' Up!). I used the stamp set School's Out by Our Craft Lounge. To add some texture and interest, I used my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder on the top portion of the turquoise layer. Do you have that folder? IF NOT - RUUUUN TO ECLECTIC PAPERIE AND GET IT - you'll NEVER regret that purchase! :) To add a little dimension to the diploma, I glued on a bauble. Using some liquid glue (instead of a glue dot) really popped the color through the bauble.

The second project I have to share is a graduation gift card holder. Again I decided to go with one color and the black. Oooh - I love using red and black together! I got this idea from my friend Pine - she posted her gift card holder here. You can also see more information and a link to a tutorial here.

Once again, I used the stamp set School's Out by Our Craft Lounge. I stamped the mortar board on the red cardstock in Versamark so that I would have a subtle background. For the main image on the front, I stamped the mortar board once on the white circle and a second time on a scrap piece of white and cut out the top part to pop it off. I poked some holes and used some black hemp for the tassel - and then added some Rockstar Red Crafty Sparkles by Our Craft Lounge - ooooh how I love adding some GLITTAH! Add the sentiment and some brads - and VOILA - a card and a gift card holder for that special grad in your life.

This stamp set is AWESOME for some quick and fun cards - but also PERFECT for scrapbooking! The stamps create crisp images - and quickly!

I hope you have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

Tide Pool Play

2009-06-18T06:36:00.004-04:00

Happy Thursday! Today is the second to last day of school for my son Tyler. He really likes school - but is also looking forward to summer vacation. You know - playing with his friends, playing outside, staying up late, and going to the beach. Speaking of the beach . . .

Tyler's class and another class participated in a play this week. It was called the Tide Pool Play. As part of their science curriculum (1st grade), they learned all about tide pools and all the "creatures" you find in them. They performed the most DARLING play - each child had their own part, describing their sea animal and many songs were sung. I was laughing so hard at times that I was crying - IT WAS SO CUTE! Tyler doesn't really love being the center of attention - so I half expected him to be super nervous. He did FANTASTIC! He learned his lines very early on - he was articulate and confident. Boy, was I a proud Mom!

So here he is - Tyler, my little Moon Snail! :)

Now - when one goes to the theater and knows one of the performers, it is often customary to bring flowers. However, I knew Tyler wouldn't really be too excited about that, being a 6 year old boy and all. LOL So what is the next best thing? A "plant" full of CANDY!!! So I got a small paint can out of my stash, covered it in some paper that I had that was the image of water. I printed out a photo (the quality is poor, so I'll have to replace it at some point) of him when we had gone to the beach recently, and decorated it with some shells we had collected at the beach. I soaked the shells in bleach and then water - then let them dry so that they wouldn't smell. Attached the candy bars to some thin wood dowels and stuck them into the foam that I had put in the paint can - and VOILA! He was ECSTATIC!

And one last photo of the beach we went to. This beach is called Corporation Beach - located in East Dennis, MA - Cape Cod. It was GORGEOUS! We had an absolute blast - and will definitely be heading back there this summer.

Hope you have a beautiful day.

Flyin' Again

2009-06-17T04:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday! It's hump day - the week is half over - and the weekend is coming up! :) This Friday is my son's last day of school - so summer vacation is around the corner. He's excited - and we are busy working on what our plans will be.

I wanted to participate in one of the challenges on SCS. I have always loved looking at them - but I tend to be a lurker. Participating was SO MUCH FUN!! And it made creating really easy! So this past Sunday, I did the Featured Stamper challenge. This week the Featured Stamper was Sumtoy - and boy does she have a fun gallery! She is also the Aunt of one of my fab friends, Cami!

This card is the one I chose to CASE. It is so much easier for me to stamp more feminine cards - but I have 2 boys - so sometimes I need to do the more masculine stuff. I knew JUST the stamps to use - Flyin' Birthday by Our Craft Lounge. It was a pretty easy card to make - just a little bit of cutting and VOILA - a card for a birthday boy!

I had tons of fun doing this challenge - and think that it will be something I do much more often in the future.

Hope you have a happy day!

Thanks Coach!

2009-06-16T10:04:00.003-04:00

Hi there! As you probably know from a previous post, my son Tyler plays baseball. He recently played his last game for "The Angels" for the season. So I thought I would make a card for the Coach (hey - better late than never - LOL). His coach is a great guy - and deserves some acknowledgement - especially for dealing with a group of wild 6 and 7 year old boys - and volunteering to do it!!!

So I went to my stamp set Game On by Our Craft Lounge. It is perfect for both card making and scrapbooking. I just LOVE the star in the sentiment "You're A Super Star". So I decided to use that for my card. Now what? Hmmm - I need a layout. So off to Card Positioning Systems to see if something spoke to me. And BAM - there it was - CPS#20. It even had a STAR in the sketch!!! Perfection! (yes - little things make me very very happy)

For the main image using the sentiment, I used a star brad inside the star - an idea I got from my friend Kendra, who used a star brad in the middle of a star on one of her projects. And then I punched out my embellishment star with my SU! star punch. What card is complete without SPARKLE???? So I used my Lemon Drop Crafty Sparkles and blinged the star up! Oooh yeah - that's what I'm talkin' about!

Oh - and once again I made my own background - on the grey I stamped "Go Team Go" repeatedly. I love that - being able to create something to match with stamps!

Hope you have a great day!

Flyin' for You

2009-06-09T05:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I hope your week has started off great!

Today I have a fun birthday card for you. I thought this would be a PERFECT card for a boy. I used this color challenge from SCS - So Saffron, Bashful Blue, and Pumpkin Pie. The set is Flyin' Birthday from Our Craft Lounge. It is a fun set - especially for boy stuff - and, well, I have 2 boys! :)

I was very happy with how the card came together. I started with cutting the airplane image out with Nestabilities. Next - on to find some ribbon. There were 3 different ones I was considering - and then a moment of *woohoo* came to me - USE THE RIC RAC and put BRADS in each groove! ACK - I don't often have those moments - LOL! The rest kind of fell into place.

I absolutely LOVE using my Crystal Effects for a nice raised glossy effect - so I added that to the goggles and the windshield. A little Sakura clear glitter pen on the propeller made it shine. Next came the hemp twine to hold the Happy Birthday sign flying behind the plane. I popped the banner up - but it looked too plain - so I pierced some holes around it to help it pop even more. VOILA - I was very happy!

Here's hoping that you have a wonderful day!

Spotlight on Bookworm

2009-06-02T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday!! Yesterday was a GORGEOUS day here in Massachusetts. I was able to be outside, have my windows open, and just enjoy the day. I played basketball outside with my boys, dead-headed some flowers, and just enjoyed. Aaaah - fresh air feels awesome!

My 3-year-old (ACK - he turned 3 last week - how does time go by SO FAST???) was playing basketball with his red bouncy ball. He kept throwing it to the basket and every single time he would screech "I DID IT!!!!" and then run to me for his high 5. SO CUTE! He actually even got it in twice in a row.

The beautiful fresh air and the playing outside is a glimpse of what summer will bring. School is coming to an end. And that means I need to get working on some projects for Ty's teachers. So I started out making a thank you card. I decided to try out one of the SCS challenges - the Featured Stamper. You can look HERE at the gallery of this Sunday's Featured Stamper Rox71. I chose this card to CASE. WHY have I not participated in these challenges before now????? This was super fun and super easy!!! And here is my card:

I used the stamp set Bookworm by Our Craft Lounge. This set was drawn by the FABULOUS Debbie. How CUTE is this set?! It is OCL's Spotlight stamp set this week. I used my Copics to color. I looooove my Copics!

I hope you are enjoying your day and week so far.

OCL Announcement and some FUN!

2009-06-01T03:00:00.004-04:00

WOOHOO! Today is an exciting day! This post is going to have lots of fun information, so buckle up!

First and foremost, I am *thrilled* to tell you that I am a member of the new and fantastic Design Team for Our Craft Lounge!!! OMW - this is so exciting! And today, all of the girls on the DT are having a bog hop - look toward the bottom of this post to check out the rest of the team and see their AMAZING creations

Today I'm sharing an 8x8 scrapbook page that I created using the OCL Crafty Clear stamp set Game On. My son loves to play sports - any sport -any time - any place. Right now he is on "The Angels" on our town's Farm League. This was his first time crossing Home Plate - I was excited to capture an action shot!

It can be hard for me to create masculine cards and pages. This set makes it so easy! And as a Mom of 2 boys, I am SURE to need to do lots of sports-related pages and cards for coaches, parties, etc. This set is PERFECT for scrap pages and cards. Create your own embellishments like I did using the sentiment "You're a SuperStar". I made a litle pennant and glitterfied it using Crafty Sparkles Lemon Drop Yellow. I also used the the glitter on the star I punched out - OH BOY do they SPAHKLE!!

Oh how I had fun making my own brads. I used the Stampin' Up! create-a-brad and the baseball stamp from Game On. I stamped the baseball, punched it out with the 1/2 inch punch, and created 3 fun embellishments.

Need a background paper but can't find just the right one? MAKE YOUR OWN!! I took 5 different stamps from the Game On stamp set andcreated my own background. The stamps are clear, so I just took a large block and placed them all on the block to create myown pattern. I then stamped tone on tone - and repeated the pattern. VOILA - super easy and very effective!

Spotlight set of the Week - This is a new section in the OCL Forum. Each week, OCL and the Design Team will be showcasing one stamp set, giving some fantastic samples to inspire. Go check it out HERE. This week's set is Bookworm.

Monthly Sketch Challenge - OCL is hosting a monthly sketch challene! You can go HERE to see June's sketch and participate. Each month OCL will post a sketch challenge on the 1st -you can participate until the 25th of the month, and a winner will be posted on the 26th. Go check it out and PLAY! My scrap page from today's post is based on the Sketch Challenge. Thanks to Melissa C for such a FAB layout!

Swap - OCL is hosting it's very first swap! Go HERE to check out the details and join. It is a 5 + 1 swap and will be a super fun way to get some great cards.

So - here are the other girls on the OCL Design Team. I am beyond happy to be a part of such an incredibly talented group! Go check out their blogs.

Amber Hillman http://ambersantics.blogspot.com/2009/06/olc-blog-hop-with-announcement.html

Beth Silaika http://www.freckledandfun.com/
Carol Halvorson http://www.happinessblooms.blogspot.com/
Charmaine Ikach http://oodabugalley.blogspot.com/2009/06/our-craft-lounge-blog-hop.html
Cindy Lawrence http://onehappystamper.typepad.com/
Deb Felts http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/
Denise Marzec http://www.thepaperlandscaper.blogspot.com/
Heather McNally http://heathermcnally.blogspot.com/
Holly McMillen http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/06/01/official-our-craft-lounge-blog-hop/
Kendra Wietstock http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/
Kisa Peters http://kisaspapercuts.blogspot.com/
Lila Holgate http://lilascreativecorner.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Pam Hooten http://www.pamhooten.blogspot.com/
Valerie Stangle Val's direct link - http://valeriestangle.blogspot.com/2009/06/our-craft-lounge-dt-blog-hop.html

The OCL Chicks:
Cambria Turnbow http://cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/
Joy Kennedy http://joyofstamping.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Marianne Walker (OCL Illustrator) http://ilikemarkers.com
Debbie Corbori (OCL Illustrator) http://www.dbdoodle.com/
and of course Kimberly!!!

Have a fantastic Monday and week!

Happy Birthday Joy!!!

2009-05-28T09:17:00.003-04:00

Today is JOY's birthday! WAHOO!! You all know her from Splitcoaststampers.com, eclectic Paperie, and most recently from Our Craft Lounge. She is just a beautiful person inside and out - and I am *thrilled* to be able to give Joy huge birthday wishes and participate in this fun SURPRISE for her!!!!

Eclectic Paperie and Our Craft Lounge have worked together on an EXCLUSIVE stamp set - ONLY available at eP!!! You can go HERE right now (Joy thought it was going up live tomorrow - but Daisy is SNEAKY - it is up for Joy's special day) to get it!!!

So a bunch of Joy's friends have made some fun eye candy for her as a fun surprise. You can go to Cami's blog HERE to see the list of all the girls participating. And then be sure to go to Joy's blog and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hugs and tons of love going out to from me, Joy!!!

And the new winner is

2009-05-12T19:47:00.002-04:00

The new winner for my OCL blog candy is:

#113 (as selected by random.org)

Heather said...
Your cards are totally adorable! Great job!
May 2, 2009 2:39 PM

Congratulations, Heather! You win the stamp set Summer Sweets.

Blog Hop Winner

2009-05-11T14:41:00.002-04:00

Hi there! Last Monday I selected a blog hop winner for the OCL hop. I haven't heard from the winner as of yet. So I am going to give 24 hours from now for CraftyViolet to claim her prize. If the prize isn't claimed by 3pm EST on Tuesday, May 12, I will draw a new name.

Here is the info:

CraftyViolet said...Would definitely use this stamp set. Love your cards. Hope you pick me.May 1, 2009 3:45 PMSo - CraftyViolet -please contact me at hamcnally@comcast.net - send me your name and mailing address. Your Summer Sweets stamp set will be coming directly from Our Craft Lounge! Congratulations!!!

Not Quite Extinct

2009-05-05T06:30:00.000-04:00

For the BLOG HOP WINNER, please see this post.

Happy Tuesday!

I have a card to share with you today that cracks me up! The stamp set I used is called The Tribe - by Our Craft Lounge. It truly is a funny and fun set. I sat down to play and remembered that my husband had picked up some burlap for me. I jumped right up and grabbed it - PERFECT! From there, the card was born. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for some texture on the cardstock. TOO FUN!

I am going to have to make a card using this set for my hubby to give to my Mom. They have a running joke - Dan is always telling her she is old. They adore each other - it really is just a joke. But as soon as I saw this set, I KNEW that it would be one I would have to have in my hot little hands.

Hope your day is FANTASTIC!

And the WINNER is . . .

2009-05-04T14:27:00.002-04:00

The winner for the stamp set Summer Sweets from Our Craft Lounge was drawn by random.org.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:74
Timestamp: 2009-05-04 18:23:25 UTC

CraftyViolet said...
Would definitely use this stamp set. Love your cards. Hope you pick me.
May 1, 2009 3:45 PM

So - CraftyViolet -please contact me at hamcnally@comcast.net - send me your name and mailing address. Your Summer Sweets stamp set will be coming directly from Our Craft Lounge! Congratulations!!!

Thanks to everyone for playing along and for leaving a comment. And a HUGE thank you to Cambria, Joy, and Kimberly, the Craft Lounge girls!!!
Come back tomorrow for another FUN card! :)

Our Craft Lounge Blog Hop and Blog Candy!

2009-05-01T06:30:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday!!! I've been looking forward to today for many reasons - one of which is the RELEASE of new AWESOME stamp sets from Our Craft Lounge! 24 brand new sets! I've had the opportunity to play with these images already - now it's YOUR turn.

I know you've probably already heard the buzz about the new illustrator Debbie Corbari. I had the chance to meet Debbie, who is BFF's with my friend Bethie, at CHA in January. Those girls are FUN! Her sense of fun and her sweet personality flow through her into her illustrations for these stamp sets. This girl has talent and style! And she has SOMETHING ELSE EXCITING to share with you. But - you have to GO TO HER BLOG to find out what it is. Trust me - YOU WANT TO GO! :)

I have two cards to show you today. They are both using one of the new Our Craft Lounge sets called Summer Sweets. Yep - it's illustrated by Debbie! Here you can see a peek at the set in all its cute glory.

This first card is just so bright and summery! I used the first Sketch Challenge that OCL posted as my design and had fun.

The second card makes me want to run out and get an ice cream cone. YUM! This set is just so flexible - you can use it for scrapbooking and cardmaking. But you can also use it specifically for celebrating the Fourth of July, ice cream parties, birthday parties, etc. It's good for boys and girls. Limitless, I tell ya! I used some chunky glitter on the ice cream -it SPARKLES - oh so pretty! :)

*** So - would you like to get your hands on this hot Summer Sweets set??? Here's how - leave a comment here on my blog. Tell me your favorite place to vacation in the summer. On Monday at approximately 12 noon (Pacific Standard Time), I will have random.org choose a winner and I will post it. Good luck!!! Please enter only once. ***

And now for the party! Our Craft Lounge is releasing 24 brand spankin' new stamp sets today. They are giving away one of each set! HOW? Below you will find a list of links to other bloggers. Each of us is giving away one set. So - get ready to hop, hop, hop - check out each blog and leave a comment.

Granny's Secrets - Diana Gibbs

Beauty and the Beach- Jeanne Streiff

Bubbles - Nancy Morgan

Oceans of Fun -Valerie Stangle

Sandy Sunsets- Vicki Garrett

Coastal Wishes- Denise Marzec

Garden Thoughts - Lila Holgate

Mice Friends- Holly McMillen

The Tribe - Pam Hooten

Flyin' Birthday - Jacqui Lines

Let Freedom Ring- Marianne Walker
Bees Knees- Carol Halvorson

Swingin' By -Debbie Corbari

Sunkissed - Deb Felts

Life's a Beach - Joy Kennedy

Bring on the BBQ- Cindy Lawerence

School's Out- Sherry Cheever

Bookworm - Kendra Wietstock

Nailed It - Bethie Silaika

All About the USA - Roseanne Knowles

Dino-mite - Kisa Peters

Game On- Cambria Turnbow

Back 2 School- Amber Hillman

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Sneakin' in some Oceans of Fun

2009-04-30T01:05:00.005-04:00

Hello again! So happy to see you today! I hope that you have had fun catching all the sneak peeks of all the new upcoming stamp sets from Our Craft Lounge. I sure have had fun peeking at everyone's awesome work.

Today I'm showing you a card I had fun making - using the set Oceans of Fun by OCL. I love how CUTE this set is! Give me stamps, paper, embellishments, and COPIC MARKERS, and I could just play all day.

I absolutely love coloring with my Copics! I took the Copic Certification with Marianne in March - and learned so much. Mostly, I just learned not to be afraid of or intimidated by my markers - and just play! I am coming along.

So - wanna see some more? Huh? I know you do. Go ahead - peek at the following blogs. It'll make you happy. ;) And be sure to stop by tomorrow for the HUGE BLOG HOP and a chance to WIN the NEW RELEASES by Our Craft Lounge!

Holly - http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Debbie: http://www.dbdoodle.com/

Kendra - http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/

Cami - http://www.cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/

Jacqui - http://www.sisterlines.blogspot.com/

Beth - http://freckledandfun.blogspot.com/

Kisa - http://kisaspapercuts.blogspot.com/

Pam - http://pamhooten.blogspot.com/

Cammie - http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/
Val - http://www.valeriestangle.blogspot.com/
HB - http://www.happinessblooms.blogspot.com/

Joy - http://joyofstamping.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Roseanne

Vicki

Happy Thursday- hope your day is full of fun!

Flyin' Birthday - OCL Sneak Peek

2009-04-29T00:00:00.003-04:00

Hi! I hope you are having a fantastic week so far. We've had some GORGEOUS weather here in Massachusetts! It's been so nice to be able to open the windows, go outside without a jacket, and just see the sun!

So here we are - Sneak Peek Day #3 of the soon-to-be-released stamp sets from Our Craft Lounge. It has been so much fun being able to play with these images! Cami, Joy and Kimberly are super talented girls with a great sense of fun!

The set I used here is called Flyin' Birthday. Look at that cool hot air balloon. And the sentiment that goes inside it. ACK! There is just so much you can do with it. I chose to color and then make it SPARKLE (spahkle - Boston speak). Glitter is SO MUCH FUN! Here I used the Cosmo Crystal Crafty Sparkles by Our Craft Lounge. There are tons of great colors - and boy do they sparkle.

I thought it would also be fun to add some of that glitter to the card base to create a background. So I took some sticky tape and put it on some Bashful Blue cardstock - trimmed on either side of the sticky tape, and then poured the glitter over the tape. Ooh-la-la!!! To add some dimension, I also used a Cuttlebug folder on the top portion of the So Saffron cardstock. Put it all together and *mwah* - a seriously sparkly and fun card!

Be sure to come back to continue seeing more sneak peeks all week - and FRIDAY there will be a huge and fun blog hop (can you say serious eye candy) and GIVE-A-WAYS!!!!!!! You won't want to miss out.

Head on over to these girls' blogs to see some more fun sneak peeks:

And a few more:

Holly http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Charmaine http://oodabugalley.blogspot.com/2009/04/bubbles-happen.html

Jacqui www.sisterlines.blogspot.com

Happy Wednesday - hope you have a beautiful day!

Back to School OCL style!!

2009-04-28T03:00:00.003-04:00

Hi again!

Sneak peek Day #2 - HOW EXCITING!!! I am thrilled to be showing you TWO samples from an upcoming stamp set by Our Craft Lounge called Back to School. It is a FANTASTIC set for Scrapbooking, as well as card making. And talk about super easy to use - it sure makes paper crafting fun and easy!

So this first sample is a scrap page (8x8) that I made. When I first saw the images in this Back to School set, the "Here Comes the Bus" SCREAMED out to me! My son Tyler absolutely COULDN'T WAIT to get on the bus. His first year of pre-school, he thought he was going to go to school on the bus. Boy, was he disappointed when I told him that I would be driving him. Well - two years later he got his wish! This page is simple - but that is the beauty of this set - you can make something bold, yet simple. Getting the picture printed took longer than the rest of the page (well - that's my fault - I was having trouble with my printer - LOL).

The second sample I have to show you is a card. I absolutely LOVE this image! And again - it was so simple to put this card together! Totally fun - and the feel of Fall and the beginning of school that it evoked in me - aaaaah, memories - was just too fun! Next I think I'll have to make a bookmark with this image for my son. He is in first grade and loves to read.

This set, Back to Basics, will be available on FRIDAY!!!

Want to see some more FUN-TASTIC samples of upcoming sets from Our Craft Lounge? Go visit these blogs:

Be sure to come back and see more sneak peeks each day - and on FRIDAY - there will be a big blog hop (a total par-tay), the RELEASE of all the new sets from Our Craft Lounge, and some fun give-aways!

Bubbles - an OCL preview

2009-04-27T03:00:00.002-04:00

OCL is doing it AGAIN - they are coming out with some of the CUTEST STAMP SETS EVAH!!!

I am a lucky girl - because I get to show you a preview of one of the new sets coming out from Our Craft Lounge. This set is called Bubbles. It was illustrated by the fabulous Miss Marianne. It is absolutely ADORABLE - and you can get it on FRIDAY at Our Craft Lounge.

So I got to play with this set. Coloring Bubbles in was just too much fun! I used Copics and the atyou Spica Glitter Pens - oh yeah baby!! What a fun little bit of sparkle they add to any project.

Want some texture on your card? Just grab a Cuttlebug embossing folder, run it through (super easy), and TAH-DAH!! I used my Stampin' Up! Tempting Turquoise Stampin' Spot to add some tone on tone color on my textured cardstock. As much as I love to use patterned paper, sometimes it is fun just to create my own background and texture using all my fun tools. Ah yes, I am a tool junkie. Come on - admit it - you are, too!

I'll have sneak peeks all week with different new stamp sets from Our Craft Lounge, so be sure to stop by. And FRIDAY will be an exciting day - be sure to stop by then!!

There will be sneak peeks ALL WEEK - so head on over to the following blogs to see more!

Cami
Kendra
HB
Pam
Kisa

Enjoy your day!

Our Craft Lounge sketch challenge

2009-04-02T10:58:00.006-04:00

WOW - so much time has gone by! I'm happy to see winter ENDING! I can't wait to really start opening my windows and airing out all the germs - ack!! And Spring brings SO MUCH to look forward to - new leaves on the trees, green grass, flowers, birds, and kids running around outside.

Spring also brings Easter. So I thought I would get out my Pea-Nut Bunny stamp set by Our Craft Lounge and play! To get a jump start and have some fun, I played along with the OCL April Sketch Challenge. It is a great sketch - and was really fun to play along. You have the whole month of April to play along!! I'd love to see what you do!!

I took the Copic Certification class with Marianne recently. WOW - she is AMAZING!!!! I learned so much and had a fantastic time playing with the Copics! I feel much more confident using them now - I was seriously intimidated when I first bought them. Marianne makes it look SO EASY! She is incredibly knowledgable and a great teacher! Thanks Marianne. :)

So I really enjoyed sitting down and coloring this cute Pea-Nut Bunny in! I really feel like I am getting the hang of blending. The results you get with the Copic markers are just outstanding! I highly encourage you to just sit and play!

This card was inspired by my friend Val.

Hope you have a beautiful day!

*Heather*

2009-03-02T06:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday! How are you today? It's snowing here - snow day for all of our local schools. My son is thrilled! Although I think I've had enough of winter, I can say I do appreciate the beauty of snow falling and blanketing the earth and trees.

This card was super fun to make. I absolutely LOOOOVE dachshunds ("hot dogs")! I had one growing up - his name was Fred. Yeah - kind of an unusual name for a dog. LOL He was soooooo cute! My parents have a hot dog now - his name is Bruno -he is absolutely adorable!

The dachshund stamp is from Penny Black and I got it from my friends Daisy and Joy at Eclectic Paperie. The sentiment "hot diggity dog" is from A*Muse Art Stamps. I just adore both stamp companies! A*Muse has the most FUN sentiments. Add some stickles, use a Cuttlebug embossing folder, a few die cuts, ribbon - and buttons for a special friend, and I was HAPPY!

My Mom saw the card before I sent it out and has asked me to make a few for her. LOL

Hope your day is great!

Irish Blessings

2009-02-25T10:06:00.004-05:00

Hi there! Happy Wednesday! Is the sun shining? It is here - and making me smile. Spring is coming - it HAS to be. LOL

So today I have two cards I made with the stamp set Irish Blessings by Our Craft Lounge. With a name like Heather McNally, you'd *think* I was Irish - but I'm not. My husband is, however. He's got the red(dish) hair and freckles to prove it!

The first card design just kind of popped into my head. Now THAT is something for me - I usually sit and think, think, think - and eventually just start playing. But this one just screamed out. I absolutely LOOOOOVE my Cuttlebug embossing folders! I wanted the card to have a fresh feeling, so I used mostly white with touches of green and gold. Oh - the gold - do you see the SPAHKLE (my Boston speak)?? It is the atyou Spica Glitter Pens - I *adore* them!

On the next card, I also used my atyou Spica Glitter Pens. I mean, you can't have GOLD that doesn't SPAHKLE!! I got out my Versamark so I could create a background on the Garden Green cardstock. I think it is so much fun creating my own backgrounds. I had a lot of fun playing with Nestabilities for this card. Adding a little black to the card really made it POP! Top it off with a button and call it a day! :)

I really had a lot of fun coloring these images. I am learning more as I play with my Copics. Looking forward to taking the Copic Certification Class in March to learn more. :)

All colored cardstock is Stampin' Up!

White cardstock is Neenah Classic Solar White.

Hope you all have a beautiful day!!

Granny speaks up!

2009-02-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

WOW - everyone's response to the 28 new stamp sets that Our Craft Lounge released was AMAZING!! Thank you to everyone who entered my blog candy give-away!!

Here's a card I made using Granny's Support Team. OMG - this set CRACKS * ME * UP!!!!! I knew I was using this set. But what did I want to do with it???? Well - first I found the patterned paper. For the life of me, I can't figure out whose paper this is - it was a scrap. I loved the colors. So next - I looked at the sentiments - and I decided that the patterned paper was like wallpaper - and the sentiment would be a wall hanging. From there, I just colored and had fun!!

I glitterfied the panties - why not?!?! That just made it all that much more fun. I used my AtYou Spica Glitter Pens. Oh - am I thrilled to have those babies - they make me HAPPY!!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! This week is school vacation in Massachsuetts - so I'll be hanging out with my boys. I'll see if I can get them stamping! :)

And the winner is . . .

2009-02-15T17:38:00.005-05:00

Hi stampers!! Thank you all for the wonderful comments!! It was so much fun to blog hop and see everyone's beautiful work with all the Our Craft Lounge stamps!!!!

I am a little bit late because of some technical difficulties.

So here's the winner of the Snail Mail stamp set from Our Craft Lounge . . .

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:15
Timestamp: 2009-02-15 22:38:18 UTC

Karen said...
Great card. I love flowers for you but this set is soooooo cute!
February 13, 2009 9:42 AM

So - Karen -CONGRATULATIONS!! Send me an e-mail at hamcnally@comcast.net with your snail mail (ha ha) address and the Snail Mail stamp set will be on its way to you. It is coming directly from Our Craft Lounge!!

This blog candy thing was fun! I think I'll have to do another one SOON!!

Happy Sunday!

Friday FUN!! Sign up HERE!!

2009-02-13T07:42:00.009-05:00

Good Friday Morning!! Boy - is there some EXCITEMENT in the air! Not only is it Friday - who doesn't love that - but Our Craft Lounge is releasing 28 NEW STAMP SETS TODAY!! And wow - they are just AWESOME!! Click here to go check out the new stamps.

I am thrilled to be able to offer YOU one of those sets. It is called Snail Mail. And I have a sample here to show you just how much fun this set is. I loved coloring the snail in - he's just so stinkin' cute!!

So - what do you have to do?? All I ask is that you comment on this post - and tell me which of the new Our Craft Lounge stamp sets is your FAVORITE. You can enter one time on my blog - between now and Sunday, February 15th at NOON PACIFIC TIME. That is the time I will be drawing and posting the winner.

And there's MORE!!!! Our Craft Lounge is giving away ONE OF EACH of ALL 28 new stamp sets! WHAT???????? Yep - that's right! So here's what you can do. Visit each of these blogs for your chance to enter. OCL is BOMB, baby!!

Cambria Turnbow

Laurie Schmidlin
Kisa Peters
Sharon Harnist
Dianna Gibbs
Beate Johns
Lila Holgate
Charmaine Ikach
Shannan Teubner
Vicki Garrett
Joy Kennedy
Marianne Walker
Nancy Morgan
Kendra Wietstock
Cindy Haffner
Carole Burrage
Jeanne Streiff
Jane Bosi
Pam Hooten
Lisa Zappa
Broni Holcombe
Amber Hillman
Libby Hickman
Holly McMillen

So - what did I use on this super fun card? Here are the deets:

Stamps - Snail Mail (OCL)
Cardstock - Stampin' Up (colors) and Neenah Solar Crest White
Patterned Paper - Prima (The Sasha Paper Collection)
Ink - Distress Black Soot (Ranger)
Accessories - Copic Markers, AtYou Spica Glitter Pens, Nestabilities, May Arts ribbon, Prima flower, button

Hope you have a FUN-tastic Friday!!!

A few random cards

2009-01-05T06:30:00.001-05:00

Hi there, friends!!

So I wanted to get a few FUN things up here on my blog. A few simple, fun cards that I have done. They make me smile, I hope they make you smile, too!!

Well - what do you know -they are ALL monkey cards!!!!!!

The first two are using Stampendous' CHANGITO - you can get him at Eclectic Paperie!! The sock monkey is a Stampin' Up! image. They are all fun!!

ATC swap fun

2009-01-04T22:22:00.004-05:00

Hi there! Yep - I'm still alive! Sorry I have been neglectful. I had a HUGE project to work on for the month of December (who doesn't?) and it just took up all my free time. But I'M BACK, baybee!!!!!!

Here's an ATC that I did for a swap hosted by my beautiful friend Stevie.

I *heart* ATC's and I *heart* A*Muse stamps!! So put them together and I am a happy happy girl!! All stamps used are A*Muse and Elzybells. You can find them here.

And a shaker card - how much fun is that? A mini shaker? ACK - that just makes me SQUEAL! I know - I'm crazy. LOL I used all SU cardstock (Night of Navy, Kraft, Shimmery White, Brocade Blue). I used a Sizzix die to punch out the acetate snowflake. I used my Nestabilities to cut the scalloped rectangle and rectangle in the middle. TONS of fun!!!!

Have a great day!

Our Craft Lounge CHALLENGE!

2008-11-22T06:30:00.000-05:00

Wahoo!! Stampinalex over at Splitcoaststampers issued the very FIRST "Our Craft Lounge" Challenge! Here is the sketch she created. I was just about to pack it in for the night when I decided to look at the OCL forum and noticed this challenge. OK - so it is now 1:42am and I am just posting and then heading to bed. But I had FUN, baby!!!

So here's what I came up with. I decided first that I wanted to use the "censored" stamp from the Pat the Dog set by OCL. I think it is SO FUNNY! Well - what would you see near such a "pile" other than the foot prints of the guilty party?! The thought of it just cracked me up.

I pulled out my My Mind's Eye patterned papers from eclectic Paperie - oooh they are DELISH! That is what dictated my color scheme. Then I pulled out my Copic markers and off I went. I even used my turquoise AtYou Spica Glitter pen on the little bugs flying above the "pile". *I can't stop snorting out loud every time I type PILE*

I hope you are able to take some time and stamp today - and heck - why not try out this fantastic challenge!! If you do participate, be sure to post your card on SCS and use the "code" OCLSC01 in your keyword search section.

WOOHOOO!! and Have a Lovely Day

2008-11-21T06:30:00.002-05:00

Hello - and WOOHOO!! I'm so excited to be the Eclectic Paperie Friend of the Week!! Thanks Daisy and Joy - you girls ROCK!! Not only are these two girls fantastic, smart, fun, talented, and great business women - but I am lucky enough to call them my FRIENDS!! :)

So I sat down last night to create. I have been really enjoying designing lately. So what did I grab - my new Tree-mendous Love set by Our Craft Lounge. Eclectic Paperie has a fantastic selection of stamps from this new company! I just *adore* the birds that come with this set - and as soon as I saw the tree, I KNEW I had to stick a little birdie in there!! ACK! I love it!

I colored with my Copics. I am still very much a beginner using them (yeah - um -don't click on the card and look too closely at my coloring -eeek) - but am really enjoying the results. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I look at all my markers and all the luscious colors!

I based the colors I used (all colored cardstock is Stampin' Up!) on the patterned paper by My Mind's Eye. Oooh - the colors! YUM!

Have you ever used Cryogen White cardstock????? I love how well images stamp on it - and ooooh-la-la -the shimmer is GORGEOUS!! Yep - that's right - a SHIMMERY cardstock. Imagine stamping your winter images, or punching out snowflakes, using this!!

Although the white cardstock already had a shimmer, can you EVER have enough? Not in my opinion - so I used my Stickles on the hearts and dots of the tree. WOW - in real life, this card is BLINGED OUT, baybee!! Gorgeous! It is amazing - a *tiny* dab of Stickles, and your image really comes to life!

As the card says, I hope you have a lovely day! And I certainly hope that your day involves just a bit of stamping (or heck, all day - LOL)!

Peek-a-boo

2008-11-17T07:43:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday! OK - typically I am not a Monday morning girl. LOL - but today I am just so happy to post my peeking giraffe card that I can let that slip for once!! I have been thinking about making this card since I got this set. So I finally made myself sit down and get it out of my head. This was my first time sewing on a card. I am NOT one who sews - believe me - so I was terrified. Now that I've done it - I can see sewing on cards in my future!! It was a lot of fun!! And all the colors of thread - oooooooooh the possibilities!!!! I am finally catching on!! *snort*

I used my fun Tree-mendous Love set from Our Craft Lounge. This giraffe just makes me smile. He/she is SO CUTE! No - the giraffe is not confused - you can just make the giraffe a "him" or a "her" depending on your coloring! HOW FUN IS THAT?! And the DELISH patterned papers by My Mind's Eye that I got at Eclectic Paperie! YUM!

Hope you have a great day and week!!!! Thanks for looking.

Supplies:
Stamps - Treemendous Love (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper - Cardstock: So Saffron and Wild Wasabi (SU!), Georgia Pacific White (Wal*Mart); My Mind's Eye Patterned Paper
Ink - Black Soot Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories - Organdy ribbon, Nestabilities, Bling Brad (CK OK), Stampin' Dimensionals, Copic markers, Sewing machine

Tree-mendous baby love

2008-11-16T09:05:00.005-05:00

Who doesn't love a sweet baby card? This giraffe just makes me smile! He is from the set Tree-mendous Love by Our Craft Lounge. Have you been Loungin' yet? Their stamp sets are just adorable - and if you click on a stamp set, you can also view samples for each set. And they have MORE FUN STUFF coming our way in the future!!

I hope you are having a FANTASTIC weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps - Tree-mendous Love by Our Craft Lounge

Paper - So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Whisper White (SU!) and SU! Designer Series Paper

Ink - Black Soot Distress Ink by Ranger, Chocolate Chip Classic Ink by SU!

Accessories - Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (SU!), Nestabilities, Copic Markers

It's a Dog's World

2008-11-15T11:02:00.003-05:00

Look at how happy Pat the Dog is! Aaaah - to live a dog's life. Ok - well there's no stamping involved in a dog's life - so - uh - forget it! LOL

Our Craft Lounge, a fantastic and FUN new stamp company, opened its doors for business yesterday! That's where you can get Pat the Dog, Pat the Good Dog, and many other HOT new stamp sets!!

I want to say a HUGE Congratulations to the owners of Our Craft Lounge, Cami, Joy, and Kimberly! I also want to say a HUGE Congratulations to Marianne, the artist who drew these sweet sweet stamps!

Be sure to visit OCL - and DON'T FORGET about the DRAWINGS!! If you make a purchase the grand opening weekend of Our Craft Lounge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday ~ November 14, 15 & 16th), you will get one pink ticket included in your order for each stamp set you purchase! Hold on to these tickets because OCL will start choosing winners the following weekend (November 21st to 23rd), and every weekend until December 1st. You never know when a new ticket number winner will show up on the front page of our site so check in to see what the prizes are, but trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Supplies:
Stamps - Pat the Dog by Our Craft Lounge
Paper- Cardstock by SU! (Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White); Patterned Paper by My Mind's Eye
Ink- Black Soot Distressed Ink by Ranger, Chocolate Chip by SU!
Accessories - Twill tape, Hodgepodge Hardware (SU!), Nestabilities

Our Craft Lounge - LIVE!!!

2008-11-14T00:17:00.009-05:00

Our Craft Lounge - an exciting new company - is LIVE!!!! Go check it out - you are going to *love* their stamps!!

This card is something I just saw in my head (scary - huh?) as soon as I saw this set! It's raining hearts, baby. A few of the hearts were cut out and popped up - and then I added the AtYou Spica Glitter pens to those.

This card was just FUN to make. Who doesn't love GLITTER???? And paper piecing. And those GORGEOUS patterned papers by My Minds Eye! ACK - eye candee for sure!

Both cards were made using the set Lola Love by Our Craft Lounge. OMW - they are FUN FUN FUN - like paper dolls for adults! :) And I don't have girls - I have two boys - so this is my way of being able to play "girlie".

Check out some more fantastic samples using OCL stamps:

Cambria Turnbow at http://www.cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/

Kisa Peters at http://www.kisaspapercuts.blogspot.com/

Kendra Wietstock at http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/

Pam Hooten at http://www.pamhooten.blogspot.com/

Carol Halvorson at http://www.happinessblooms.blogspot.com/

Bev Barton at http://bevbarton.blogspot.com/

Lila Holgate at http://lilascreativecorner.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Lisa Zappa at http://shabbychickjunk.blogspot.com/

Lana Lepinski at http://www.lunarlana.typepad.com/

All cardstock - Stampin' Up

Ribbon - May Arts

Coloring done using Copic Markers

Hope you are as excited about this new company as I am!!!!!

Salud! OCL Style

2008-11-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

YEP - another *sneak peek* at a fantastic new stamp set by OUR CRAFT LOUNGE!! You are just going to LOVE what they have in store for the stamping world!!

This set is called "Going Gourmet". Very classy - and PERFECT for so many uses. Invitations, gifts, menus, recipe cards - it goes on and on. I *heart* the saying "Salud!" - meaning "to health". If you watched The Sopranos, you've heard it many times.

Here I made a wine ensemble. Forgive the photos - they are not the best, but I was so excited to get the pics taken, I overlooked the lighting a bit.

The card I created as an invitation. The background I stamped with a wonderful "swirl" line stamp that is part of the set. And the best part - THERE IS AN INDIVIDUAL SWIRL - I used it around the "You're Invited" sentiment. :) It's the small things that make me smile!

The tag above is the same as the focal point on the card. I masked the word "Salud!" so that I could create a "label" on the wine bottle. ACK - CUTE!
I haven't worked with Polyshrink in a LONG time - so this was TONS of fun! Who doesn't love SHRINKY DINKS?! I had to run out and buy some red/burgundy colored beads to match my project - ANY excuse to go shopping. *snort*

You can find some other FABULOUS sneak peeks here:

Cambria Turnbow at http://www.cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/
Kisa Peters at http://www.kisaspapercuts.blogspot.com/
Kendra Wietstock at http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/
Pam Hooten at http://www.pamhooten.blogspot.com/
Carol Halvorson at http://www.happinessblooms.blogspot.com/
Bev Barton at http://bevbarton.blogspot.com/
Lila Holgate at http://lilascreativecorner.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Lisa Zappa at http://shabbychickjunk.blogspot.com/

Our Craft Lounge is going LIVE - TOMORROW! You won't want to miss it! Check in tomorrow morning for a link - and you can get these FUN-TASTIC stamps for yourself. :)

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!! Don't miss out on the Grand Opening Prize Drawings!! If you make a purchase the grand opening weekend of Our Craft Lounge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday ~ November 14, 15 & 16th), you will get one pink ticket included in your order for each stamp set you purchase! Hold on to these tickets because OCL will start choosing winners the following weekend (November 21st to 23rd), and every weekend until December 1st. You never know when a new ticket number winner will show up on the front page of our site so check in to see what the prizes are, but trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Stamps - Going Gourmet by Our Craft Lounge
Ink - Black Soot Distress Ink by Ranger
Cardstock - Bravo Burgundy, Certainly Celery, Whisper White - Stampin' Up!
Accessories - Copic Markers, AtYou Spica Glitter Pens, Celery Organdy Ribbon, Gold Cord, Celery Brads (SU!), Ticket Corner Punch (SU!), Polyshrink, Swarovski Crystal Beads, Darice Gold Jump Rings and Wire Rings

Meet Li'l Peanut

2008-11-11T23:28:00.014-05:00

Isn't she CUTE?!?! I'm in love with an elephant!! Not something I ever expected to hear myself say . . .

This A-DORABLE little ellie is BRAND NEW - from a BRAND NEW STAMP COMPANY!!! The stamp set is called Li'l Peanut. The company is Our Craft Lounge!! What? NEW??? Yup - BRAND SPANKIN' NEW!! I've got some fun sneak peeks for you coming the rest of this week.

FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY! Yes - that is the day you are waiting for. On Friday, I will post a link to Our Craft Lounge - and you can buy this Stinkin' Sweet Li'l Peanut - along with many other FANTASTIC new stamps!! They will "blow" your mind. Seriously - I love them all!!! Gotta have 'em.

Here are some other Sneak Peeks that you won't want to miss out on:

Cambria Turnbow at http://www.cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com/

Kisa Peters at http://www.kisaspapercuts.blogspot.com/

Kendra Wietstock at http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/

Pam Hooten at http://www.pamhooten.blogspot.com/

Carol Halvorson at http://www.happinessblooms.blogspot.com/

Bev Barton at http://bevbarton.blogspot.com/

Lila Holgate at http://lilascreativecorner.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Lisa Zappa at http://shabbychickjunk.blogspot.com/

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!! Don't miss out on the Grand Opening Prize Drawings!! If you make a purchase the grand opening weekend of Our Craft Lounge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday ~ November 14, 15 & 16th), you will get one pink ticket included in your order for each stamp set you purchase! Hold on to these tickets because OCL will start choosing winners the following weekend (November 21st to 23rd), and every weekend until December 1st. You never know when a new ticket number winner will show up on the front page of our site so check in to see what the prizes are, but trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Supplies
Stamps: Li'l Peanut (Our Craft Lounge), Polka Dots (SU); Cardstock: SU (Pretty In Pink, Going Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White); Ink: Ranger Distress Ink Black Soot, Going Grey (SU); Markers: Copic; Accessories: Velvet Ribbon (May Arts), Black Brads (SU), Crystal Effects (SU), Spica AtYou Glitter pens, Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

Count Cupcake

2008-10-03T19:57:00.007-04:00

Hi there! I am SO EXCITED about Halloween!! I love the fact that there are more and more fun stamps, accessories, papers, and decorations in general every year for this fun Holiday! Yesterday I did my Inspiration Station (thanks Mish) - so here's another card using my fun stuff!!

I used the Dracula cupcake from Taylor Van Bruggen's new stamp set Trick or Sweet. I ADORE this set!! Does it GET any cuter?!?! A wonderful friend sent me this set for my birthday - YAHOOO!!!!!

The cardstock is all Stampin' Up! The black ink I used is Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Black Soot. The ribbon is Stampin' Up! I used my Copic Markers to color this cute little vampire in.

It's Saturday - I hope that you are having a great day and enjoy your weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Inspiration from all over

2008-10-03T10:41:00.008-04:00

My sweet friend Mish inspires me regularly. Well, today she issued a challenge and I accepted. Put together a Halloween Inspiration Station. Mish has been doing this for a while - and I just haven't gotten around to it. Well, today I decided to just DO IT - no excuses!!

So I went around and collected Halloween-related products. Oh yes - I have much more than you see here. But there was only so much room to put it all together - LOL (I bet you can relate).

My two new favorite Halloween products that I picked up this year are both punches from the Martha Stewart line. I got the Bat punch and the GOO PUNCH (I just love saying that - *snort*)! I picked them up at Michael's.

Thank you, Mish. You inspired me to pull out all my Halloween stuff, get stamping, and get blogging again!

I am teaching a Kids Halloween class tomorrow. This card is one of the 5 we'll be making. I was INSPIRED by my friend Otter for this card. At our retreat in August, Otter made an ADORABLE little basket using the GOO punch and this cauldron stamp (SU!). So I took inspiration from her and turned it in to a 4.25x4.25 card. Thanks Otter!

Thanks for looking!

I hope that you find inspiration in lots of places!! Keep stampin' and smiling!

Rustic Branches fun!!!

2008-09-01T06:30:00.003-04:00

Greetings and salutations!

My friend Pine (Heather Nichols) just debuted her brand new and first ever STAMP SET, Rustic Branches, via Papertrey Ink!!! I was lucky enough to be with Pine at a retreat on the night of the big reveal - HOW EXCITING! She was so happy, as were all of us there to celebrate this amazing occasion with her! I was also lucky enough to GET THE SET!!!

So I sat down last night and had to play with it for the first time. I didn't do the set justice - it is truly a beautiful, elegant, and versatile set. I used Papertrey white cardstock - I love working with it! The rest of the cardstock colors are Stampin' Up! - Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, and Ruby Red. I stamped the sentiment on twill. I also used a spica glitter pen that you can get from Eclectic Paperie.

It's been a lazy weekend so far! Tomorrow is the holiday and we are planning on going to a pond that has been made to resemble a beach, has a playground, etc., with some friends. Looking forward to some time out and a nice picnic lunch!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

2008-08-29T07:45:00.005-04:00

I LOVE Changito!!!!! He just makes me smile!! I got this guy at Archiver's - he was in a set (by Stampendous) that is exclusive to Archiver's.

I was in a swap involving my girlfriends from the Retreat I went to. So - being that I am the world's WORST procrastinator, I made this card while at the Retreat. I had inspiration from the super talented Anna Wight, as well as from my fantastically talented friend Bethie!

All cardstock, ribbon, and brads are Stampin' Up! I embossed the Rose Red layer using the Cuttlebug and the Houndstooth folder - you can get your Cuttlebug supplies at the FANTASTIC store ECLECTIC PAPERIE!!!! That is one of my MOST FAVE places to - um - do damage! ;)

And I can't tell you how excited I am to have received THIS!!

My beautiful friend Pam Hooten (Piris) sent me this award! Thanks Piris!!!!

Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated.

So here we go:

1. Cambria Turnbow
2. Bevie Barton

3. Katrina Kopp (Kookie)

4. Jennifer Hollett (Otter)

5. Suzanne Henrich

6. Joy Kennedy

7. Avril Miller

Have fun checking out their blogs - I know I do!!!!!!!!!

Hope you all have a FANTASTIC FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

School Daze!!

2008-08-27T18:06:00.005-04:00

Hi!!!! Yep - I'm alive and kicking!! LOL

The last 2 months have been CA-RAZY! Along with regular life, my husband was laid off from his job due to company downsizing, my biggest little man turned 6, and I went away to a FANTASTIC retreat!!!!!! I hung out with 21 of my best friends, my true SISTERS! What a BLAST!!!! My friends Pine and HB planned the entire thing- I can't thank them enough for the memories, the classes, the food, the friendship!!!!!!!

My 6-year-old Tyler also started FIRST GRADE today! ACK - he is growing WAY too fast (remind me to find a way to stop that)!

So I decided to make a "note card" for his teacher to say hi and offer to volunteer. It was quick and easy. I would love to do some days in the classroom, helping with projects or reading to the kids. I thought it would be fun to send a cute little note card - especially since her friend (and co-conspirator when it comes to big projects at school) is one of my stamping friends!!!!!

The images are A*Muse Art Stamps - oh how I LOOOOOVE A*Muse!!!! The white cardstock is PaperTrey Ink - the quality is wonderful! The rest of the cardstock is Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Wild Wasabi, and So Saffron). I did a super quick coloring job using the SU! markers (same colors as cardstock). The ovals are Spellbinders Nestabilities that I purchased from Ellen Hutson. I also used (though you probably can't see it) the Copic atyou Spica glitter pens that you can get from eclectic Paperie - I used the gold glitter pen on the bell on the school house.

Sorry about the lousy photo. I had to write it up last night - and of course the lighting at night isn't so great. I'll work on my skillz.

Here's Tyler on his first day of 1st Grade! I love that little stinker!

Hope you are having a GREAT day!

My Stamp HAVEN!!!!

2008-07-17T19:33:00.005-04:00

The pictures here are of my stamp room!! It took a LONG time to complete. This is in my basement. My Grandfather built my house - so he did the knotty pine paneling and built-ins. The rest my AWESOME hubby did for me. I got a LOT of stuff at IKEA (all the metal wire baskets holding the ribbon on the walls - $1.99 each - YEAH BABY). A lot of bargains were found to put this room together. I have been holding classes since April of this year and LOVING it!!!!

A bunch of girls have asked that I post pics of my room here so that their hubbies can see (and realize that NOBODY has as much of a "problem" as I do - snort). I've already made a few little changes since I took these pics - mostly adding more art, etc.

I loooooooooooooooooove going down to my stamp HAVEN and just creating!!!! Thanks for looking and have a FAB day!

Changito Love

2008-07-11T06:45:00.002-04:00

I absolutely ADORE Changito, don't you??? He's IRRESISTIBLE!! OMG - those *three hairs* make me laugh! That swirly tail! I'm in love! *snort* OK - I'll calm down now.

This Changito image, the vine, and the sentiment come in a clear acrylic set called "Changito Dos" by Stampendous, and you can find it at Eclectic Paperie!! Joy and Daisy are FANTASTIC women, friends, and business women!! And they just happen to carry the cutest stamps, best papers, and most incredible accessories!!!

The brown (Chocolate Chip) and green (Garden Green) cardstock are Stampin' Up!, the blush and white cardstock are Bazzill. I used my Air Art Spritzer tool by Stampin' Up! to squirt some Blush Blossom marker on to the white heart, to give it some additional color and punch. I watercolored my Changito image using my Aqua pen and Stampin' Write markers from SU!

The ribbon I bought at the store I was "cropping" at, so I don't recall who it was made by.

It's FRIDAY!!!! My hubby has been away on business - he'll be home tonight! The kids and I are very excited to see him. We'll have a great family weekend. Hope you have a great weekend, too!!

Sparkling Summer

2008-07-08T15:00:00.007-04:00

Hey there! I'm still alive. I haven't stamped for FUN in a loooong time. So last night I went down to the stamp room and just let myself have fun. I am NOT showing you how the area looks after my whirlwind - let's just say that I think I ended up working in a space about 4"x4". *snort* I had a great time, though!

Today I decided to follow in my friend Lana's footsteps and post an oldie but goodie. I am using Stampin' Up! stamp set Sparkling Summer. I just love it still!!

I found this patterned paper seen in this first card - it is Die Cuts With a View - Summer Pack. The paper itself FORCED me to pull out Sparkling Summer. Oh - and STICKLES!!!! Oh - how I love love love my Stickles!!!

The baubles I actually found at Michael's - but they are now discontinued. However you can get baubles from Ellen's store!! I also used my Nesties that I got from Ellen - oh how I *heart* my Nesties!

All cardstock is Stampin' Up! Black ink used to stamp images is Palette Noir. Markers are Copics (forgot to write down the numbers) - they closely match SU cardstock colors. Ribbon is May Arts that I bought from Cindy.

OK - now I have to find something to do with the kids! LOL Hope you have a great day!

Happy Day!

2008-06-17T07:43:00.002-04:00

Good day! Ah yes - I'm still alive! LOL I promise I will get better at this blogging.

I love my friend HB's style. So I CASEd a layout of hers to make this card. She has such a sense for style, color, design - AMAZING!

I had this stamp set sitting collecting dust. But NO WAY, I totally don't have too much stuff!! *snort* Now don't go down to my stamp room to try to refute my claim. I'm stickin' to it! I decided to pull it out and play - and boy was I happy that I did that!!!! Pick some fun colors, some ribbon, a clear button and GLITTAH - and I had a great time!!!

All supplies Stampin' Up!. I hope you are able to play and enjoy yourself today - and hey - pull out some glitter - it always makes me smile! :)

Fresh Cuts swap

2008-05-27T07:49:00.003-04:00

Hi again - it's been a while!

Since I last posted, I went to CKC, had 2 sick kids, a brother who had emergency surgery, a husband who had surgery, and a kiddo birthday party - YIKES we've been busy!

I joined a swap with some friends using the stamp set Fresh Cuts from Stampin' Up! I love the 4.25 x 4.25 card size - it is just so cute!

Happy 2nd Birthday (yesterday) to my baby Caden! I can't believe how fast these 2 years have gone by! He had a BLAST at his party - what more can a Mom ask for?!?!

Stamps - Fresh Cuts, Twill
Cardstock - Old Olive, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, River Rock
Ink - Old Olive Craft, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky
Accessories - SU! distressing blade, SU! flower punch, clear embossing powder, SU! vintage brads, twill

Sure hope you had a FANTASTIC Memorial Day weekend and have a WONDERFUL week!

Welcome!!!

2008-05-15T13:41:00.004-04:00

Hi there! :)

have a class coming up on Tuesday. I finally got the sample done (nothing like last minute, baby)! My FANTASTIC friend Cami helped me with some suggestions with ribbon placement - THANK YOU CAMI!!!! So here it is!

The alphabet stamp set and the "always" stamp are Stampin' Up! All cardstock, paper, ribbon, and hardware are also Stampin' Up! The flowers are Prima. The dragonfly stamp is Technique Tuesday. The frame is from Wal-Mart. I hope the girls like it!!!!

I am leaving in 15 mintues for Creating Keepsakes Convention in Manchester, NH. I am signed up for 9 classes - am I crazy???? I can't wait!!

Have a great day!

My Girl Scouts Project

2008-05-13T13:41:00.010-04:00

Is there much better than FRIENDS?????? That is what I thought when I was asked by a friend to design a project for her Girl Scout (Brownies) troop. I kept thinking that I wanted to do a mini book. The subject FRIENDS just kept coming to mind - so I went with it.

This was a group of 6-9 year old girls. It had to be cute and cool, too! So I decided to start with patterned paper. The paper I ended up choosing is Stampin' Up!'s "Cutie Pie". So that dictated the colors. All supplies used are Stampin' Up! (punches, cardstock, patterned paper, ink, stamps, brads, ribbon).

We made the book with the Girl Scouts last night - and they had an ABSOLUTE BLAST!!! They managed to finish the whole book in 1.5 hours and even stamp in their book for fun! They did a fantastic job!!!!

Another "class" card

2008-05-12T07:11:00.003-04:00

I'm back! LOL

Here's another card I did for a class. I CASEd my fantabulous friend HB - she is SUPER TALENTED - and a wonderful woman!

I used my Papertrey Ink stamp set Green Thumb. Nichole is such an incredibly talented woman - her designs are classy and timeless -and a delight to use!! The girls in my class ADORED this card!

The cardstock, ink, and patterned paper (Designer Series, Bali Breeze) are Stampin' Up!

Teaching classes in my new stamp studio in my basement has been a BLESSING! I am stamping again (before I did my studio, I couldn't find anything because it was all CHAOS in literally well over 100 "totes"). I am having so much fun - and my friends are loving coming over for classes. I have met a bunch of NEW friends, too - and am having the time of my life!

Hope you are having the time of your life, too! :)

Cards for Class

2008-05-04T07:06:00.005-04:00

Happy Sunday!!

I've got 2 today! I'm teaching a class on Tuesday and thought I would share 2 of the cards that we are doing. They are pretty simple, but I think fun!!

I decided to pull out my Papertrey Ink stamps and just let myself have fun. I LOOOOVE the elegance and timelessness of the Papertrey stamps!

The first card was inspired by my friend Mish. I love her layouts and sketches!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Swap Time

2008-05-01T06:44:00.004-04:00

Hi! Hope today finds you well!!

I recently did a swap with a group of friends. Now, typically I have no problem participating in a swap. BUT - this time it was for the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog, and I actually didn't have any of the stamp sets at the time *the horror*!!!! My friend Suze hosted the swap. She said she could stamp off some images for me and send them so I could participate! WOOHOOOOOOO!!!!

So I received my image - it was from the stamp set "For Father". I was nervous - NERVOUS!!!! The image was stamped on SU!'s watercolor paper. I'm not so great at watercoloring. And it's not like I HAVE the image to stamp again once I screw up!!!! LOL

I actually like how it came out. The coloring wasn't horrific - I actually had fun coloring the images. That watercolor paper is WONDERFUL! I also used the background stamps "Twill" and "Sanded" from Stampin' Up! The swap was complete and I LOOOOOOOOVE the cards I received in return!

Thank you Suze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Changito makes me smile!

2008-04-30T09:20:00.009-04:00

Aaaaah - Changito!! Stampendous has created a LOVABLE character in him!! I love all of his antics. LOL

This card is a "tall" card - it fits into a #10 size envelope (business size). WAY fun!

I used this stamp set (Changito Dos by Stampendous) that you can get from eclectic Paperie. Joy and Daisy ROCK - and they have a full Changito collection! I'm addicted. The black rick rack is Cindy ribbon (May Arts ribbon that I buy from Cindy Lyles). The cardstock is all Stampin' Up!. I watercolored the image using Stampin' Up! markers and an aquapen. The leaves are stamped on the green cardstock using Versamark.

Hmmm - I think I need MORE MONKEYS! LOL

I hope you are all having a fabulous day and that it only gets better!

Mission Control

2008-04-27T09:46:00.005-04:00

My friend Bevie issued a MISSION to a group of friends. We each received a uinque image and were to play! HOW FUN!!!! I got a fun cupcake image (unfortunately I'm not sure what company it is from) and decided to go WILD!!!!

I first looked through my stash of patterned paper and decided to use this Junkitz paper - FUN! So I based everything on that - and really let myself just have fun! I used some sequins trim that I had picked up at Joann a long time ago in their clearance section. I used bling brads, stickles, and FINALLY used my Bella Baubles that I've been hoarding!

The result - a wild birthday card that I LOVE! Thank you Bevie Pearl - what a fun, fun challenge this was!

And I have to add - the title of this post is making me sing "Ground control to major Tom . . . " - I love David Bowie! :)

Happy Birthday stamp from Stampin' Up!, patterned paper is Junkitz, cardstock is Stampin' Up! (Taken with Teal, Basic Black, So Saffron, Pink Passion), Yellow Stickles, Bella Baubles, SU! jewel brads.

Have an awesome Sunday!!!!!!!

Hugs,

I'm a BLOGGAH!!

2008-04-26T12:42:00.013-04:00

That's Boston speak, as I live in the Boston area.

So here I am. What next? FUN!! I love to play with my kids, stamp, hang with my hubby, stamp, LAUGH, stamp. LOL

I recently renovated my basement - so now I have a stamp room - I call it my Haven. With this new studio, I have started teaching classes. WOW - in just a few weeks I have made some new friends, started a stamp club, gotten a few friends ADDICTED to stamping, and lots more! It truly has been a huge blessing!!!!

So here's to fun, stamping, laughter, and friendship!!!!!

Here are pics of my two little men - doing what they love best - EATING ICE CREAM!! At least the 5-year-old isn't as messy as the almost 2-year-old! LOL