IHP February Guest Designer: Kissed Goodnight

Hi Everyone,

I feel so fortunate to have been asked by Kate of i {heart} papers to be the Guest Designer for the month of February! Thank you sweet Kate!! I can't believe how fast this month has flown by and today on the last day of February - I am posting my last card as a guest designer - using the super beautiful stamp set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps: Kissed Goodnight: I love this sentiment:

"Even at midnight

the sun was still bright

all because you kissed me 

goodnight."

Isn't that sentiment so poetic and romantic - so sweet! I wanted to create a card that had both the colors of midnight and the bright sun - so I used the papers from the From The Record 2 collection from EP that had both of these colors and in the middle I added a strip of green using the beautiful 3/8" Solid Two Tone Satin Seafoam Green ribbon. I really loved creating this card - The sentiment was so beautiful that I wanted to create the symbols in this sentiment on my card as well: there is a sun at the bottom of the sentiment with a little heart cut out with a bit of bling, I punched out 3 hearts and to represent the love wrapped up in this feeling and little bling on the side representing the feeling of sparkles that you have in your heart when you are tingling in love :)

I added a little bit of twine from the ribbon going to both the sunny side and the midnight side of the card for a little added motion and then put a ribbon on top of the twine bow with some orange bling here and there on the card:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: From The Record 2 from Echo Park (6x6)

Stamps:  Gourmet Rubber Stamps: Kissed Goodnight

Inks: Memento Inks: Tuxedo Black

Accessories: MS corner punch, bling, circle punch, heart and star punch from MS,  3/8" Solid Two Tone Satin Seafoam Green ribbon, dimensionals and corner chomper

This was such a fun card to make because I had fun playing with the colors from the feeling that the sentiment evoked in me. Thank you so much dear Kate and the fabulous IHP Design Team for welcoming me this month - you are all so amazing and inspirational!!! Please check out all the items in Kate's i {heart} papers store - and if you are a ribbon addict enthusiast -  trust me - Kate and satisfy that ribbon hoarding craving with all the ribbon selection in her store - check them all out here and all the new items in the store here!!

Thank you so for having me as a guest designer this month - I loved every single minute of it and can't wait to see whose next month's guest designer is and look forward to seeing all the new creations from the DT!!!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

Why give up Cupcakes?

Hi Everyone,

Can I just say that I am officially addicted to cupcakes - and that I am in love with all things cupcake? I just love this sentiment from the Build A Treat stamp set from Taylored Expressions that says - "I could give up cupcakes, but why?" - a very, very intelligent question I might add!!! This is a question that I have asked many times and the answer that I have come up with is that cupcakes are cute, fun, delicious, a little bit of heaven and make the ordinary everyday extraordinary - and they have no calories!!! That's my story and I am sticking to it!! This month's gallery theme for SCS is Icing and Sprinkles - and I immediately thought of cupcakes!!!

I created these two cards using the SCS sketch #424 from last week  - I liked the design and I thought it was kind of CAS, a technique that is really hard for me - so I attempted a CAS design with these cards (why is it that the simple card designs take forever?!). I used the Simple Stories Snap Color Vibe DP - I love that fun patterns and it was easy to mix and match strips of color on the design. I stamped the cupcake from the  Build A Treat stamp set with different color inks to create the gradation on the cupcake and then colored the liner with copics:

I added die cut one strip of blue paper with the Jumbo Flower Border Die and then cut it in half for both of the cards to create a scalloped border edge on one side of the card. I added a little twine to the edge of the pennant (cut with the Pennant Border die) and popped up the pennants with some dimensionals: 

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Simple Stories Snap Color Vibe  designer paper (6x6)

Stamps:  Build A Treat stamp set from Taylored Expressions

Inks: Memento Teal Zeal and Rose Red for the sentiments, Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart and Bahama Blue for the cupcake and copics for the cupcake liners

Accessories: Pennant border die and Jumbo Flower Border die from Taylored Expressions twine, dimensionals, circle punch and corner rounder

I loved making these cards - they were so fun to make even though my attempt at making a CAS card nearly took half a day - good thing you can eat cupcakes while you stamp - they give you energy to keep stamping!!! :)

All this talk of cupcakes is sure making me hungry for 10,  ummm 1 cupcake! ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope your day is filled with cupcakes!

Ciao for now!

Sankari :)

IHP February Guest Designer: Treasured Memories

HI Everyone!!!

How is your week going? We got hit with a snow day today - and that means I get to bake something yummy for the kids and we get to stay in our pajamas all day! Woohoo! After lunch, the kids wanted to watch a movie and so I thought I would sneak away to my craft corner and get some stamp therapy in :) I am so excited to be this month's Guest Designer for i {heart} papers and I loved using this lovely sentiment from Gourmet Rubber Stamps: Treasured Memories for my project today - it has such a beautiful sentiment:

"When someone you love becomes a memory, 

the memory becomes a treasure."

I always find it hard to make sympathy cards - but this sentiment was so beautiful that I wanted to create a set of sympathy cards. I used Jen's Deconstructed Sketch #90 - I love her sketches and I loved this one with the different patterns behind the main image panel. I used the sweet papers from the Lovely collection from Authentique - love the black and white stripe pattern along with the different DP patterns on the red papers. Kate has a ton of new papers in the store - I love all the new 6x6 papers - you can check them out here. The fun part about this sketch was figuring out where to place the different patterns of paper - I also added some twine around the papers and then placed the sentiment on top of the twine. I then added a little butterfly to the center and a little bit of ribbon to the top of the sentiment. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this ribbon - its the 3/8" Satin Reversible antique gold/champagne - Kate has such a lovely collection of ribbon - so hard to choose because you want them all!!! You can check out all the ribbon at the IHP store here. Here is the card set that made using the beautiful sentiment:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Authentique papers: Lovely 6x6 Collection

Stamps: Gourmet Rubber stamps: Treasured Memories from i {heart} papers store

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Accessories: Wonky Spellbinders nesties, corner rounder, butterfly punch from MS, bling, 3/8" Satin Reversible antique gold/champagne, twine, small scallop edger punch from EK success

Even though the sketch didn't have a diagonal strip on the right side or that extra strip on the bottom left, I just wanted to add a little extra color. Here is another picture of one the cards from this set:

Even though I have a hard time making sympathy cards - this beautiful Treasured Memories  sentiment makes it really easy. Please check out all the new items that Kate has at the IHP store and check this out because the IHP Facebook page has hit the 3,000 likes - if you order anything from now through the 4th of March you can get 15% off with this store wide coupon: Woohoo!!

Have fun shopping!! That's my other favorite thing to do on snowy snow days - shop
online in my pajamas :)
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Ciao for now,
Sankari

IHP February Guest Designer: Hey Cupcake!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Our weekend has gone by so fast - filled with friends, family and snow --- and lots of snow means baking at home!!! I think I might have a thing for cupcakes! Not only are they fun to bake and eat - but they are also  so much fun to stamp! I used this super cute stamp from the i {heart} papers store: The Hey Cupcake stamp set from Gourmet Stamps. I love this cute little stamp set! That cupcake is just darling - and the cupcake and the sentiment come together in one stamp - but I separated the image and cupcake so that it could fit in with the Sweet Sunday sketch 178. 

I colored the cupcake and then popped it up with dimensionals and then added it to some circles that I punched out and die cut with my circle nesties. When I was putting it together, I felt like it needed something so I added some buttons here and there and added some Hemp Twine to the center of the buttons and then wound some around the card. 

Card Ingredients:

Paper: My Mind's Eye

Stamps: Hey Cupcake stamp set from Gourmet Rubber stamps from the IHP store

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coics

Accessories: (5/8") Pink Faux Sude Ruffled Edge, circle spellbinders, buttons from stash, Hemp Twine, dimensionas, corner chomper

I wanted to add some ribbon to the card, but it felt like I didn't have any room on the card, so I added a little strip of DP with the (5/8") Pink Faux Sude Ruffled Edge - it feels soooo soft and smooth!! Have you seen all the ribbons that Kate has at the {heart} papers store?? OMGosh - I want to get all the ribbon - there are so many choices!! You can check them all out here: Ribbons at IHP.

Thanks so much for stopping in today! Hope the rest of your weekend is filled with cupcakes and happiness!!

Ciao for now,

Sankari

SCS LoveFest 2013 - Taylored Expressions

Hi Everyone,

This month over at SCS, they are having a Love Fest!!! Oh YES! Each of the member companies are having challenges and prizes and today is Taylored Expressions challenge day: The challenge is to create 3x3 mini notecards that are perfectly handy to enclose with gifts and can be for any occasion :) There are some AMAZING prizes so please head over the the TE challenge thread at SCS for more information on how to play, the challenge rules and deadlines!!

I had a lot of fun with this challenge because I sure love little mini notecards - they are fun and easy to make in multiples and are perfect to have around when I am in desperate need for a quick card :) I didn't put any sentiment on mine - because in that way - it can be for birthdays, anniversaries, baby shower, congratulations cards for any event :) I decided to make them fun and festive and used the sweet little cupcake from the Build A Treat stamp set paired with some fun dies to make the card making process easy - these are:

1. Layering Doily die - small (set of 3) - this make s fun mat for the circle punch - and I die cut different cardstocks to create different colored mats
2. Scalloped Notecard die   - This die makes it super easy to create 3x3 notecards - and with a fun scalloped border!

I cut out my scalloped notecards and then created a little simple layout with some papers from the MME -Happy Day Collection - and then used the Pennant Border stamp to create the pennants that I hung from the corners:

 Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Pennant Border stamp,  Build A Treat stamp set from Taylored Expressions
Papers: MME -Happy Day Collection
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves, Bahama Blue, Rose Red, Lilac Posies and copics
Accessories:  Scalloped Notecard die, Pennant Border die, circle punch, corner chomper, pearls and dimensionals  Layering Doily die - small

The cupcake that I used is so awesome to stamp because it is solid - that way there is no coloring - just stamp the image in the inks that you like and voila - an instant cupcake! The cupcake bottoms were colored with copics and then everything was cut out and assembled together on a circle that was punched out and then popped up onto the doily with dimensionals. This was such a fun challenge - and I can't wait to see all the fun notecards that everyone has made with this challenge - check out all the rules here : TE challenge thread at SCS

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Wishing you lots of cupcakes and fun today and everyday!!! LOL!!!!
Ciao for now,
Sankari :) 

Taylored Expressions February Studio Challenge

         Please scroll down for my IHP February Design Team Challenge 

HI Everyone,

Every month the Taylored Expressions Design Team has a Studio Challenge where we share a little bit of our creative process, answer a crafty challenge and share some of our favorite tips and tricks :) This month's design team challenge is:

Recipe for success!  When you sit down to create a card just for fun, for the pure joy of stamping, without any type of assignment or deadline, what steps do you usually take? Tell us how you get started and take us along on your creative journey.

I love those moments when it is just me and my stamp corner - sometimes I am not sure where to start -so in those moments I usually try to find a sketch challenge online because then I can visualize a card - or sometimes, I look through my stamps and find one that I haven't stamped recently and just start stamping. For this card, I decided to pick one of my most favorite favorite stamp set ever: Hangin' Out (there are also coordinating Hanging Out stamp sets - At the beach, a Halloween themed one: Wicked Wardrobe and a christmas themed one by the North Pole) . I just love this stamp set and always love paper piecing the dress or creating a baby card with the other stamps in this set. Here are a couple of pictures of my card making process (it was taken by my phone so I am sorry about the quality of the pictures):

I love the DP from the Pebbles Family Ties 6x6 paper pad and paper pieced the dress from the blue polka dot paper and the sash from the yellow paper:

Here is a picture of the Border dies (cloud border) and Grass Border dies that I used for the card and the poles that cut out and colored in with copics (umm and yes, I always almost only have 2"x 2" of my table for my card making process - ha! )

After cutting out some hills and sponging the clouds, I added a little birdie to the hill - here I was trying to place it to try to figure out which hill to put the bird on :) I ended up deciding that the bird should go in the bottom right corner of the card (I colored it with copics and cut it out and popped it out with some dimensionals):

 And for the sun and the sentiment, I used the Garden Party Blooms stamp set and used both of those colors for the sun:

And here is the whole card put together - I just love this stamp set (I seriously just love it!! :) and mix and matching sentiments with this stamp set is so easy - so perfect for birthdays, friendships, thank you cards or just blank cards :)

Here it is from another angle, I added some dimensionals to the dress and some twine in between the poles and also some liquid pearls around the sun:

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Hangin' Out and Garden Party Blooms by Taylored Expressions

Paper: Pebbles Family Ties (6x6) paper pad

Inks: Memento Teal Zeal, Bahama Blue, Cantaloupe, Tangelo and Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Grass Border dies, Cloud border die, dimensionals, corner chomper

If you ever get stuck in the stamping process, its always fun to check out some sketch challenges or to go through your paper collections and paper piece something from some of your favorite papers - one easy way to have your papers coordinate is to try the Project Pantry kits that Taylor offers or join the Key Ingredients club where you can monthly receive an already put together kit ready for card making or scrapbooking :) I can't wait to see what all the ladies have created with the challenge this month - please hop over with me and check them out!!

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs!
Sankari :)

IHP February Guest Designer: DT Challenge

Hi Everyone!

Today over at i {heart} papers blog is the monthly DT challenge - and I am so excited to participate along with the wonderful IHP DT  this month we are all making projects using the 12x12 collections that Kate has in the store. I got to use the lovely Lucky in Love (12x12) paper pad from My Mind's Eye which comes with so many  lovely designs and a beautiful stickers accessories that coordinate with all the papers!

One thing that I love to do is to hit garage sales over the weekend and find something that I can do a little makeover too - and this weekend, I found this cute little birdhouse and I suddenly just imagined it all decorated and couldn't wait to get it home!

I sanded the birdhouse and then applied an acrylic coat of blue paint - waited for it to dry and then painted it again - and then one more time.Once it was painted, I decorated the roof with some chevron patterns that are in this DP along with cutting out the scallop pattern in the DP for some scalloped roof- liners (I know that's not even a word, but it was fun to type :) After I finished both sides of the roof, I added some bling to the roof and then added some bling along the sides of the birdhouse and also a little bling with a bow in the center of birdhouse.

One of the sentiments in the sticker Accessories sheet had the sentiment: "I Love You" on it - and I loved the font and thought it would be perfect on the front of the birdhouse - and then added some vertical lined sticker sheet strip along the sides of the birdhouse. After everything is finished, I added a little ModPodge to seal the papers. 

Project Ingredients:

Papers:Lucky in Love (12x12) paper pad from My Mind's Eye - sentiment from the sticker accessory sheet

Accessories: bling, dimensionals, Best Glue Ever, red ribbon from stash and some liquid pearls and Blue Acrylic paint - Birdhouse from Garage Sale find.

I had so much fun looking at all the different patterns in this DP set and picking out papers to decorate the birdhouse and I can't wait to see what all the lovely women on this wonderful team have created with all the lovely sets of 12x12 collection of designer papers!

Please check out all the wonderful creations here:

The i {heart} papers team:

• February's guest designer, Sankari Wegman  - <--- :="" me="" s="" that="">
• Carole
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Judy
• Lori
• Taylor
• Tracy
• Kate

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Sankari :)

IHP February Guest Designer: Sunny Skies!!

Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I had huge plans to clean the house and organize but instead decided it was more important and fun to take romps and hikes with the kids this weekend :) Finally this morning I had a little chance to play in my stamp corner and LOVED playing along with the super super sweet stamp set: Sunny Skies stamp set created by Lawn Fawn carried in Kate's I {heart} Papers store! I can't resist anything with sunshine or sunny skies - I especially love all the kites and sweet font in this stamp set - it has such a flavor of fun and summer sunshine! :)

I paper pieced the kites from the Sn@p Life (6x6 paper pad) - love the big dots and the little dots in this paper pad and colored in the sun with my copics and added a button onto the center with some twine in the center. My most favorite accessory in this card is the 1"Satin Pleat Ruffle Aqua Blue - isn't it sooo lovely - it adds such a lovely fun twist to the card and then I cut a banner into the sentiment and added it ontop of the ribbon with some dimensionals:

Card Ingredients:

Paper: Sn@p Life (6x6 paper pad) from Simple Stories from IHP

Stamps: Sunny Skies stamp set by Lawn Fawn 

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black and Teal Zeal ink

Accessories: dimensionals, bling, button with twine in the center, glue dots, and 1" Satin Pleat Ruffle Aqua Blue from IHP store. 

I think the hardest thing of making this card was not using every single stamp into this card - haha!! There is such a cutie birdie stamp in this set that I also wanted to use - but maybe next time!! Such a delightful stamp set - can't wait to make some more sunny skies stamp sets!

I love all the ribbons in the I {Heart} Papers store - SOOO many options to choose from (check out all the ribbon options here!!) and Kate is always getting new goodies into the store - check out all the new stuff here!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Hope your monday starts off wonderfully!

Ciao for now!

Sankari :)

Our House :)

Hi Everyone,

I still can't believe that I was asked to join the Dirty Dozen way back last summer and now I can't believe that my time on the dirt pile has ended :( and I am a Dirty Girl Alumni  - everyone told me that it would go by fast - and it really really did!

Here is a card that I made last August but wasn't able to show till now using the Cozy Cottages stamp set from Taylored Expressions - one of my favorite stamp sets (okay, I admit - that pretty much allllll of Taylor's stamp sets are my favorites ;) LOL!!!) I wanted to keep the focus on the images and kept the card blank on the inside - so it can be used for different occasions.

Stamps: Cozy Cottages stamp set and Love Grows here stamp set from Taylored Expressions. Paper: Bazzil cardstock and MME Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Ranger Stained Glass

Accessories: Dimensionals, copics, liquid pearls, EK success scallops, Martha Stewart star, grass and scalloped circle punch, corner chomper, dimensionals and twine.

I stamped the little house and paper pieced the top and bottom and then cut out the windows and popped them out a bit so that the shutters can open and close :) I stamped the tree image on both sides and then colored in the leaves with copics and added a little grass on the bottom. For the banner, I cut out a scallop border with an edger punch and then cut bent the edges near the scallops into an arc shape to create a banner on either side of the house and then added some twine on either side with a little sun in the center (MS star punch).

If you have a chance - check out all the super cute house images in this stamp set - Cozy Cottages - seriously toooo cute!!! So many possibilities!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Ciao for now,
Sankari

IHP February Guest Designer: Pull Up a Chair Friend !!

HI Everyone!

Happy Monday! Wow - mondays sure come around quick these days - but luckily I got some crafty me time this weekend and was grateful for a little stamp therapy before starting a hectic week! 

I am so excited to be February's guest designer for I{Heart} Papers  - Kate has tons of gorgeous stamps and crafty supplies for your crafting happiness :) I love these two stamps from Gourmet Rubber Stamps: Houndstooth Chair and the sentiment from Chair Saying: "Pull up a Chair and sit awhile friend" -  and  paired this stamp set with the Echo Park papers: For the Record 2 . I love this 3/8" Ruffle Edge Trim Elastic (golden yellow)ribbon that Kate has in the store - and added a little to the side

Card Ingredients:

Paper: For the Record 2 from Echo Park 

Stamps: Houndstooth Chair and Chair Saying from Gourmet Rubber stamps from I {Heart} Papers

Inks: Memento Bamboo Leaves

Accessories: 3/8" Ruffle Edge Trim Elastic (golden yellow) , heart punch, twine, pearls, copics, and dimensionals 

I paper pieced the Houndstooth Chair  and then cut out the chair and popped it up on the designer paper. I cut out strips of the lovely DP created a mat for it with some black paper and arranged it in strips and added the sentiment on the bottom with a little button with twine on the side.

This is such a perfect set of stamps to send to your BFF with a long letter written inside to catch up with all of life's events :) I hope the rest of your monday is awesome and that your week is beautiful!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Ciao for now,
Sankari :)

Taylored Expressions February Spotlights: Milestone Marker

Hi Everyone,

Did you catch the release of all the yummy new dies and stamps in the Taylored Expressions Store yesterday! There are so many new crafty wonderfulness at the TE store and today, I wanted to share some cards that uses the new stamp set: Milestone Marker and some of the new coordinating number dies - the Poster Graphic Number dies (which coordinates perfectly with the previously released: Poster Graphic Alphabet dies. 

One of our friends is celebrating a golden birthday and I thought it would be fun to create a personalized card with her name. I die cut her name with two different papers from the Pebbles Family Ties collection (6x6) using the Poster Graphic Alphabet dies and the number 50 using the new Poster Graphic Number dies. Here is a my card her birthday:

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Milestone Marker stamp set and Build a Treat stamp set from Taylored Expressions

Paper: Pebbles: Family Ties (6x6) and Choice Snow White card stock from TE

Inks: Memento Nautical Navy and Bamboo Green

Accessories: Poster Graphic Alphabet dies and  Poster Graphic Number dies  from Taylored Expressions, Banner Stacklets, Circle punches, Scalloped Nesties, stickles, Copics and dimensionals

I stamped the words "happy" and "birthday" with two different inks and then cut it out with the Banner Stacklets dies - which I also used to cut out DP for the layout of my card. I assembled the different "pieces" of the card and then added a little cupcake angled to the side from the Build a Treat stamp set. I couldn't put down either stamp set and kept going to create another card using the sentiments from the Milestone Marker stamp set. There are so many different ways to create sentiments in this set - different numbers for all those special milestones - along with anniversary, birthday sentiments to make it more personal. I also love the sentiment "____ is the new ____" ha! Love it! So for all those special friends or yourself turning a big milestone year - this is the perfect sentiment!!! I created one that says: "40 is the new 30" :

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Milestone Marker stamp set and Build a Treat stamp set from Taylored Expressions

Paper:  and Choice Snow White card stock from TE

Inks: Memento Rose Red and Bamboo Green

Accessories: Poster Graphic Alphabet dies and  Poster Graphic Number dies  from Taylored Expressions, Banner Stacklets, Circle punch, liquid pearls and stickles, Pennant Border, Corner Chomper and dimensionals

After awhile the age you are turning on your birthday starts to feel surreal doesn't it - age really doesn't matter it is how you feel on the inside - my grandmother at the age of 80 had waaaaay more energy than I ever did - I could never keep up with her! I love how this card turned out and can't wait to make more of these Milestone cards!

So excited to see what all the lovely ladies have created with all the goodies from this awesome release - Please hop over and check these rockstars out!!

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Jami Sibley (DT Coordinator)
• Jen Shults
• Kerri Michaud
• Lynnette Kauffman
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Tammie Edgerton
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess
• Anna Wight (Guest Designer)
• 
  

You can check out all the new products at the Taylored Expressions store on the Fresh Out of the Oven page!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Ciao for now,

Sankari :)