Gina K Previews and Blog Hop!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Have you seen all the lovely sneak peeks that have started over at Gina K!?! Today is day 3 of sneak peeks and I am so happy that I can show a card from the lovely Seeds of Kindness stamp set that is the card kit stamp set of the month - I adore all the lovely sentiments and images in this stamp set - perfect for creating a card for a dear friend and showing them how much they mean to you :)

I made this card using the sentiment: "I love hanging around with you" and the sweet image of the hanging potted plant. I colored in the plant with copics and then glittered, glazed it and dotted it with liquid pearls. I made this card for my sweet SIL who I had a chance to hang out with this weekend. I adore every second we have to spend together - its always fun to go shopping, hang around and chat, watch our kids play together and just be together - I feel so lucky to have such a sweet SIL and wanted to make her a sweet little card :)

Here is a close up of the image/sentiment with the glitter/glaze and liquid pearls :)

I loved making this card and coloring and liquid pearling (yes - this is my new word! :) the images in this set! Can't wait to make more :)))

For even more samples with the stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out these designer's links:

• Gina Krupsky *illustrator of Seeds of Kindness
• Jessica Fick *creator of Seeds of Kindness Card Kit
• Nina Brackett *illustrator of Hugs and Prayers
• Theresa Momber
• Aslea Hopkins
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Cathy Tidwell
• Lee Murphy
• Carolyn King
• Donna Baker
• Kurtis Amundson
• Bev Gerard
• Colleen Schaan
• Valerie Stangle
• Emily Giovanni
• Erika Martin
• Janice Whiting *Seeds of Kindness Guest Designer
• Sankari Wegman

We'd also like to invite you to attend our Release Party this Thursday, July 1st starting at 7 pm central on StampTV! There will be challenges, contest questions, and more samples from our designers on all the new stamp sets being released this month! We'd love to have you join in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you are having a fantastic week so far!

big hugs,

Sankari :)))

Friends are Flowers in the Garden of Life

Good Morning Everyone,

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fabulous weekend! When I sat down at my craft table, I saw everything laying out from the card that I created yesterday (papers, stamps, ribbon oh my!) and I had so much fun creating the black and white card BoBunny inspired card using the Joyful Hearts Borders & Centers from JustRite Stampers that I thought it would be fun to create another similar card using the same color/stamp scheme (see it pays not to clean up your craft desk!!! lol!)

This time, I stamped the oval border separately and cut it out by hand and popped it up on tiny dimensionals - to create a popped up framed look which I then placed onto the stamped sentiment: "Friends are flowers in the garden of life" :

I added a little flower that I cut out from the Bo Bunny papers, next to the sentiment for a little embellishment and added a little red border accent with a little red ribboned accent. I tried to use another accent color on this card, but the red kept calling my name :))) I love it when craft supplies call my name!!! Lol!! This stamp set has become one of my new favorite ones! Its just filled with such great borders and sentiments - you can check out all the different gorgeous sentiments/borders over here!

Well, I am off to get Monday started right - with a little cup of energy!

Hope your monday and week are off to a great start!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

Your Kindness touched my Heart

Good Morning Everyone!

Hope your weekend has been going great!

Sometimes, I feel like I am a little oval challenged, but using these JustRite stamps oval borders and centers makes me feel like I need to get into the oval groove more! I created this card using the Joyful Hearts Borders and Centers stamp set from JustRite stamps and paired it with some yummy black and white papers from Bo Bunny (these papers are the back and front side of the same sheet) and somehow a red accent with the black and white palate is always so appealing to me! So I inked the image in some Ladybug Red Ink from Memento and embellished it with some punched out hearts, a touch of bling and faux stitching:

I love this sentiment: "Your Kindness touched my heart" its such a great sentiment for a thank you card and I wanted to make a more elegantish (can I make that a new word? It doesn't feel very elegantish to say it out loud thought! lol!) card so the black and white with red felt like something more in that direction. You could easily cut out the ovals with the oval Spellbinders (since it is matched perfectly for the different Spellbinder sizes) - but it was easy to cut out with my scissors and pop it up on a the labels 9 spellbinder die and then matte the shape onto some red bazzil paper.

It was so much fun to create this card and can't wait to make more!!! That's one thing that I love about crafting - it always puts a smile on my face and the therapy from something that you can give to someone else to let them know that they are appreciated is always so heartwarming :)

Hope you are having a great day!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Big hugs :)

Sankari :)

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #85 - State Fair

Welcome Everyone to the 85th Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge, where every week we pick a different movie and then create something (a card, layout, 3d item etc.) that is inspired by the movie. This week we are featuring the Rodgers and Hammerstein movie musical: State Fair. All over the country, you might have seen ads for the State Fair in your local state. We thought it would be fun to mark this summery event by featuring this movie!!! You might not have see this movie - but its just a fun and lovely classic - although the original movie was made in 1933 (and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, many people prefer the 1945 remake: State Fair movie which on an Oscar (for best original musical) over the second remake which was created in 1962. Our guest designer this week Lynne Phelps, suggested that we do pennants as the challenge requirement - what a great state fair-ish kind of embellishment - love it!!!

I have always loved musicals - its just so part of the Indian movie culture that I grew up in - where you would be watching a movie and then suddenly and seamlessly everyone would burst forth into song and dance and then resume everyday dialogue, that watching musicals always just leave me feeling happy :) That was the whole feeling for me from this movie - it is just a simple, light and sweet musical - so my inspiration came from the general feeling of the movie that "life is good" - so I created this card with the sentiments: "Life is Good" from the Beach Bum stamp set and I used the "Celebrate" stamp from the Celebrate Freedom stamp set (this stamp set is part of the Taylored Expressions A La Carte stamp section and comes with a coordinating image and sentiment set. After stamping the sentiment, I cut out the gorgeous fonted "celebrate" part of the sentiment and created a wavy sentiment to match the wavy sentiment created from the "life is good" stamp set.

And when Lynne suggested that we do pennants as the challenge requirement - I suddenly got so excited because of the Sa-wheeeet pennant stamp in the Hanging Out stamp set that was released earlier last month!!!! YAY!!!! So I drew out an arc and then stamped the pennants with different colored inks along the arc and then colored in some and for others - paper pieced it with some October Afternooon paper :) and created the hanging pennants and dotted it with some bling :) !!! I also stamped the cool graphic image from the You're My Hero stamp set in the background with different colored inks to create a festive night sky feel:

The ferris/rollercoaster image is a rub on and I added a strip of grass with the MS punch from Taylored Expressions :) I wanted to capture the feel of a fun day at the State Fair which is what the movie felt like to me - I have always loved going to the State Fair (can I just say two words: "Funnel Cake" YUM!) and it was fun to watch this movie and see how everyone comes together and celebrates the little things in life! Can't wait to take my kids when the Fair comes to our town! yay!

I hope you have a chance to play along this week - its such a fun movie and so summery - and who doesn't love pennants!!! You can check out all the details over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog!!

Hope you'll play along and can't wait to see your spectacular creations!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

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Card Ingredients:

Paper: October Afternoon (Fly a Kite), BoBunny, Prism

Stamps: all stamps from Taylored Expressions:

Beach Bum stamp set,
You're My Hero stamp set
Celebrate Freedom stamp set
Hanging Out stamp set - all from Taylored Expressions.

Ink: Memento Inks

Accessories: Embossing folder, bling, MS punch, dimensionals, Adirondacks Lettuce liquid pearls and Raspberry Twill ribbon from Taylored Expressions

Verve June Release Blog Hop!!!!!!

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!

Verve Stamps just released 3 new sets and the Divas are celebrating with a new release hop today! First, a little housekeeping… if you clicked over from the uber amazing blog of Charmaine, then you’re right on track. If not, then head on over to Julee’s blog, to start from the beginning. If the chain gets broken along the way, you can head over the Verve Blog for the full link list. Oh, and we’ve hidden a little prize for one lucky commenter along the hop, so be sure to spread a little comment love around as you hop! Okay, well, maybe it’s not so little. {grin} You could win the entire release, so let’s get hoppin’!

I created two cards for today's blog hop - and I love using every one of these stamps! The first card that I made uses the gorgeous Verve stamp set: Blue Skies. I just love this little notebook stamp - can't get enough of it - and I love that all the stamps in this set can fit perfectly in it - LOVE that! I used the VLV Feb. week 1 sketch for this card. I love this sentiment: "Within your heart, keep one still secret place where dreams may go" - what a gorgeous sentiment and I love the feeling behind it!

Card Ingredients:

Paper: October Afternoon

Stamps: Blue Skies from Verve stamps

Inks: Bahama Blue and Ladybug Red from Verve Stamps

Accessories: MS lace punch, copper plate from Taylored Expressions, dew drops, ribbon from stash (originally from a garage sale that my MIL was at in a different state and she fell in love with the ribbon and sent it to me - love when that happens! :), eyelet, embossing plate, dimensionals, liquid pearls.

I also made one more card using the Amazing Grace Plain Jane stamp set. I love this sentiment: "Amazing Grace will bring us through" - it is so inspiring and lovely - and the font is just absolutely perfect! I found myself humming Amazing Grace the whole time I was creating this card (and even now, its in my head) - I created this card using the lovely sketch from the beautiful ladies over at 2 Sketches 4 You (madly waving "hi" from here!!!):

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Basic Grey

Stamps: Amazing Grace Plain Jane stamp set from Verve stamps

Inks: Ladybug Red from Verve Stamps

Accessories:spellbinders, silvery gray ribbon (not sure from where, I wish I knew so I could get more!), embossing plate, dimensionals, liquid pearls and corner rounder.

I also adorned this card with the butterflies from the Blue Skies stamp set (LOVE this butterfly - you can paper piece it or color it in - and in this card I did both), I also added a butterfly from the BG papers on a wooden button at the bottom - couldn't stop with the butterflies or the liquid pearls in this card!!!

I loved creating these cards and I love these Verve sets that Julee has created this month!!! And you could have the entire Verve Release this month - Julee is giving away the whole release to one lucky commentator along the blog hop today - (comments entered through 8PM Monday will be entered to win!!! That's a lot of Vervey goodness right there!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopping today! Next up on the hop is the fabulously amazing: Lynda Benden!!!

Have a great weekend - hope they are full of blue skies and sunshine!!!!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

Verve Sneak Peeks Day 3- American Hero

Good Morning Everyone!

Happy Friday! Have you been enjoying all the beautiful sneak peeks of the June Verve Release on the Verve Blog - these sets that Julee has created are amazing! I absolutely love the fonts that are in this set and today we are peeking another wonderful stamp set called: American Hero - with such beautiful sentiments to create for those who have served, are serving, for all the unsung heros or for your everyday hero!

This set is so versatile and can be used in different ways - as soon as I saw this sentiment: "Thanks for making the world a better place", I immediately thought of one of my friends who works in the sustainable living program on our campus - she has really helped to create more awareness of our impact on the environment and how to do live in a more "green" and sustainable way. I wanted to have a more green layout for that - but she loves pink - so I went with a more pink themed card :) I used the Mojo Monday Sketch #143 for this creation:

here is another view of the card - I love all the different stars in this set - I added a little on in the bottom of the card:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Taj Mahal papers

Stamp set: American Hero from Verve stamps

Inks: Rosebud from Memento

Accessories: Spellbidners, dew drops, corner rounder, embossing plate, butterfly, liquid pearls, sponge dauber, red tacky tape

If you haven't had a chance to check out all the Verve release challenges that Julee has posted over at the over at the Verve Forum you still have some time to complete them and have a chance to win the WHOLE JUNE RELEASE FROM VERVE!!! Or even individual challenges allow you to win a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps! Woot!!! And don't forget to hop on over to the Verve Release Party tonight at 9pm EST!!!

Tomorrow we are having a Verve-a-licious Blog Hop - so I hope you will pop on back tomorrow!! Thanks so much for stopping by today!! Have a wonderful Friday!!!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

Quick and Easy card for any Occasion

Good Morning Everyone!

Hope you have been having a wonderful week!!!

Why is it that when I make cards, I still sometimes don't have a card on hand when I need it??? Sometimes the sentiments on the cards I have isn't exactly right, or the occasion isn't quite right and I realized that I haven't made that many blank cards that could be multi-purpose kind of cards. So I thought it would be fun to play around with some images/layout that would be simple and easy to create 8 blank cards that could be used for any occasion. I decided on the super sweet image of this lovely flower vase from the Wood Stamper 2" with 15pt Font& Center stamp set and paired it up with the borders from the Just A Little Caffeine Borders and Centers. I think this is one of my favorite things about the JustRite Stamps - that you can mix around borders for the stamp set or create your own bordered text for your stamp.I inked up the vase image in Tuxedo Black from Memento Inks first and then inked up the border separately in Cottage Ivy before combining the two in one stamper. I love the clean precise stamped image it gives everytime (you could also add a personalized message, monogram on the border using the font type). I wanted a bright and cheery card so I paired up some Cosmo Cricket paper with some yellow Bazzil paper and colored the flowers with bright colors with some copics and adorned them with bling :)

Since I wanted to be able to repeat this layout easily, I chose a 12x12 sheet of paper from CC which has patterns on front and back - so that that I could cut one sheet in quarters and create 4 cards from one sheet of cardstock. After stamping the image, I cut it out with my Spellbinders (and I absolutely LOVE the fact that JustRite stamps coordinates their images with the different Spellbinders sizes so you can easily cut out a circle with your circle dies because they match exactly!!! Gotta LOVE that!!!

I added two layers of scalloped edges and then a quick little ribbon! This card took only 15 minutes to create - and I LOVE the fact that it is simple and with limited papers and the fact that the JustRite images can be easily paired with the Spellbinders to make cutting a snap is such an awesome time saver!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

Verve Sneak Peeks Day 2 - Always On My Mind stamp set

Good Morning

Its Day 2 of sneak peeks of the new Verve sets that will be released on Friday and today on the Verve blog myself, Mercy, Jen d. and Teresa are peeking creations from the fabulous stamp set: "Always on My Mind".

Julee has created utter beauty with the sentiments and fonts in this stamp set - they are so from the heart and it feels like they express a feeling in your heart exactly and perfectly! Its hard to pick one sentiment, as every sentiment is simply lovely and beautiful! I loved this sentiment "You're in every one of my thoughts today" - it really expresses something so heartfelt and full of love and its almost like you are sending a piece of your heart when you give this to someone.

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Sassafrass Lass and Bazzil

Stamps: Always on My Mind from Verve Stamps

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento Inks)

Accessories: Spellbidners, MS punch, liquid pearls, dimensionals, bling, felt heart embellishment, ribbon from stash.

I wanted to create a feeling of the love from my heart emanating outwards - so I created little rays and waves flowing out by curing some paper and popping it up with dimensionals - of course I had to add a little liquid pearls to embellish (what can I say - I am addicted to liquid pearls and Verve :)) I love this sentiment - and can't wait to create more cards with the beautiful stamps in this lovely font-a-licious stamp set!

Check out the Verve blog for all the lovely peeks with this stamp set and for more details as to how you can win the ENTIRE Verve stamp release this month by playing along with the Verve Release Challenges over at the SCS forum.

And don't forget to mark your calendars to celebrate at the Release Party over at the Verve Forum this Friday (June 25th) at 9 p.m. ET!! It will be fun with all kinds of Verve-y goodness!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

WIshing you a wonderful day!!!

Big hugs!

Sankari :)

Verve Sneak Peeks Day 1 - Blue Skies stamp set

Happy Weds Everyone!

I am so excited that the Verve Release Sneak Peeks have begun over at the Verve Blog! Woo-hoo! Julee has organized some fun Release Week Challenges over at the Verve Forum - and one person who can finish all of them will win the entire June release from Verve!!! Holy Cannoli that's a lot of Verve-y goodness! I couldn't wait to peek this card created with the Blue Skies stamp set from Verve (will be released on Friday!!!) I absolutely love love love the feeling of this stamp set - and Julee always puts together the most wonderful sentiments that convey exactly what is in your heart!

I love the sentiments in this stamp set - this one in particular is just inspiring: "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "I will try again tomorrow". What a wonderful sentiment - I think it is such an inspiring sentiment to create a card for someone who is going through a hard time, who might have heard some disappointing news, etc. -- and I LOVE - seriously am in LOVE with this cute little notebook stamp!!! So darling! I used the VLV March Week 5 sketch for this card:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: My Mind's Eye

Stamps: Blue Skies from Verve

Ink: Memento Ink (Rich Cocoa)

Accessories: spellbinders, Martha Stewart punch, dimensionals, hole puncher, corner rounder, liquid pearls, red tacky tape.

I twirled the ribbon over the cut out circle and then popped it up on dimensionals. I stamped the notebook image twice, punched holes and tied the same ribbon that I twirled around the circle die cut and tied a bow. I love this sweet little butterfly that Julee has created - so whimsy and lovely!

Mark your calendars for the Verve Release Party this Friday at 9pm EST over at the Release party site on the Verve Forum!!! You can stop by the Verve Blog for more details for the June Release!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Wishing you a wonderful day!!

Big hugs :)

Sankari

Blast From the Past Blog Hop #2 - Color Inspiration

----------------- Good Morning Everyone!!! -----------------

I am SOOO Excited to be part of the Blast From the Past Blog Hop that that Taylor is organizing! This hop is a Taylored Expressions Customer based blog hop which previews earlier stamp sets that have been released. This month Taylor gave us acolor inspiration challenge as our base and I have to say - that these colors are SO happy together - aren't they just cheery and bright and lovely!!! I love yellow - in fact the room that I am in right now is painted yellow - and when I saw this yellow room - I just had to make the card base yellow.

I pulled out the stamp set "Frightful Night" which is traditionally for Halloween - but the house and tree stamps in the set are so versatile that I thought I would create a more summery look using them :) I first stamped the tree and then cut it out with my spellbinders placing it where I wanted it to be before cutting it out. I stamped and colored the house separately and then cut and pasted the windows after adding a little glaze to them. The house is popped up on a little bit of dimensionals and I added leaves for the tree using the Olive Leaf Trim ribbon from Taylored Expressions (I {heart} this ribbon!). The sentiment is "sending you sunshine" from theYear of Sweet Sentiments stamps set:

I added a little bit of the green scalloped polka dot ribbon on the bottom just for a little something :) is Here is a close up of the card. I did go a wee bit nuts with the Butterscotch liquid pearls from Adirondack and used a little bit of the October Afternoon Fly a Kit paper for the sun, which I embellished with a button is from the Bag of Buttons Hall Pass collection.

Card ingredients: Sending You Sunshine Card

Paper: Prism cardstock (Frosted Yellow), (Intense Yellow), (Blush Red Dark) , Intense Kiwiand Choice Snow White cardstock.

Inks: Memento Ink (Ladybug Red) and (Tuxedo Black)

Stamps: Frightful Night and Year of Sweet Sentiments from Taylored Expressions

Accessories:reen scalloped polka dot ribbon , October Afternoon Fly a Kit paper , Bag of Buttons Hall Pass collection. spellbinders (circles), corner rounder, Adirondacks Liquid Pearls (butterscotch), Olive Leaf Trim ribbon, liquid glaze, white gel pen, dimensionals, sponge dauber, cuttlebug embossing plate, EK success small scalloped punch, MS grass punch.

It was so much fun to create this card and I simply LOVED these colors so much, that I wanted to see if I could create one more card. So I played along with the CAS (Clean and Simple)challenge over at SCS - and this challenge is probably one of the hardest for me - I canNOT stop adding layers or dots or ribbon or dimensionals - and so to make a card that was more clean and simple: PHEW! let me tell you it was a workout! Next time I do one of those, I need someone to be next to me and be my liquid pearls interventionist!!! LOL! :) I used the CAS72 challenge to create this card using the Chillax stamp set from Taylored Expressions - I love the sentiment: "If Life gives you limes, make Margaritas!"

Card ingredients: Make Margaritas

Paper: Prism cardstock (Frosted Yellow), (Baby Blue Medium), (Blush Red Dark) and Intense Kiwi and Choice Snow White cardstock.

Inks: Memento Ink (Cottage Ivy) and (Tuxedo Black)

Stamps: Chillax Stamp set from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: Adirondacks Liquid Pearls (butterscotch), liquid glaze, white gel pen, dimensionals, corner chomper, green brads

This is such a fun stamp set -and I love the sweet little umbrella - which is paper pieced and popped up on a dimensional. After coloring in the glass - I added a glaze onto it for more of a glass-y look :) I had SUCH a hard time not to add some ribbon to this card.... sigh..... I still want to... but I am learning to embrace the zen-ness that comes from making a clean and simple card :D

I can't wait to see what everyone has created for today's hop! Check out all the links of those participating in the blog hop below!!! That's a lot of Taylored Expressions yumminess!!!!

Stay tuned to Taylor's Blog for more details of upcoming Blast From the Past Blog Hopdetails!!! And GUESS WHAT?! One lucky participant will be randomly selected to win a stamp set from Taylored Expressions!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!!

Sending you sunshine and margaritas! Ole!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

Ruff Day? Hang in There!!!

Good Morning Everyone - Happy Monday!

Hope you had a great Father's Day yesterday! The kids and I surprised DH with breakfast in bed and homemade cards (they were so cute in describing the all the reasons that they loved their Daddy - one of my favorite things that my son said was that he loves having muddy adventures with Daddy! It really is all about the small things in life that make such a big difference - we took the afternoon off to go for an adventure outside and after our long walk the kids were ready for bed.

I love it when they go to bed early - because it gave me a moment to make this quick card for one of my friends who has been having a busy time at work - thought I could drop it off for her on Monday morning with a bag of cookies that she can stash in her desk for emergency moments! I LOVE this sentiment: "Ruff day, Hang in there!" from the super sweet stamp set: "Pet's Places" from Taylored Expressions:

I love the sweet little doggies in this stamp set - they are sooo cute!!! I loved coloring them in and created a little scene for them with some rolling hills - and of course had to stamp some cute little paw prints on the side. This stamp set is a charitable stamp set that is part of the Taylored Expressions Giving Tree program - where every quarter a portion of the proceeds of a stamp set go towards helping a different charity - this quarter the proceeds will go towards supporting the Humane Society!

Hope your monday is not a "ruff" and hope that you have a great start to your week!!!

Big hugs :) and big thanks for stopping by today!

Sankari :)))))