My Pinkalicious Blog Hop Friday! ***Giveaway Alert***

SOOOO super excited to be sharing with you on another My Pink Stamper Pinkalicious Blog Hop with  the My Pink Design Team!

You should have gotten here from Kassidy's blog. If not, start at My Pink Stamper's blog to join in all of the fun! 

We have some wonderful inspiration for you today! We wanted to "think Spring" and it felt so good to craft with warm, happy colors!

For my project, I knew I wanted to use My Pink Stamper's: Buggy Punnies "Cutie Patootie". When I nannied 4 children, I called Hope (3 years old) cutie patootie. She used to giggle and giggle when I said it. So when I saw that Robyn and come out with a stamp that said it, I was thrilled and had to have it! This card is going to Hope (now 7) because she lost a little spoon that went with her pretend tea set and I told her I would send her one that I had and wasn't using (a salt spoon) along with a card that I made showing "her" stamp! 

Of course, Echo Park Paper: Springtime was a perfect fit!

Recipe:

My Pink Stamper: Buggy Punnies™

Paper: Echo Park Paper: Springtime™

Cartridge: Straight from the Nest™

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Victoria™

Ink: Momento in Cocoa™

Twine: Paper Trey Ink™

Glossy Accents by Ranger™

Brown and White Cardstock: Paper Trey Ink™

Adhesive: Glue Arts™

I am SO delighted to announce that Echo Park Paper has generously offered to give away Playground to one of my lucky commenters! I don't even have this collection otherwise I would have used it for this post! It isn't even out yet so I really think this is a HUGE honor! Please leave me one comment only and I will send the address of the winner to Echo Park and they will send it to you directly. I will be choosing a winner on the 18th so you have a full week to get your comments in. :) THANK YOU SO MUCH to ECHO PARK!!! Please leave a comment on either their Facebook page HERE or their blog HERE to thank them for this opportunity! 

If you get lost in the hop, here is a complete list:

Robyn

Julie—readysetstamp

Lori

Cristi

Shelley

Anges—Flowerdisco

Andrea

Raechel

Bling Queen Wendy

Sonia

Pam

Helen

Edna

Angela’s Simple Creations

Tracy—Craft Junkie Too

Shauna at Craftee She

CarrieAnne

Michelle—Meesh’s Pieces

Kassidy

Courtney—Court’s Crafts <--You are here! :) 

Kristal--Getting Cricky (This Month’s Special Guest Hopper)

Maria

You are now off to Kristal's blog. She is our guest designer this month and I want to thank her SO much for joining us on the team this month! Please make sure to leave her some extra love and wish her a warm welcome! 

10 Things You Didn't Know About Courtney Lee

***SCROLL DOWN FOR MY ARTFUL DELIGHT POST***

Head on over to the Imaginisce blog to see the: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Courtney Lee


If you came from the Imaginisce blog then WELCOME!

When I submitted my DT application, I said that I wanted to be on the Imaginisce Design Team because, "I would like to be part of the Imaginisce team because I think Imaginisce is as on par with innovation as Provo Craft. I love Provo Craft and the fact that your company has teamed up with them is very exciting. The places you could go together are endless."


Now that I have been on the team for a few weeks, I can tell you that it's because of the AMAZING ladies that serve, help each other, encourage each other, and inspire each other as well as our fearless Queen Lori! 

A few of you may have seen this already, but here is what I created for my DT submission. 

Design Notes: 

If you look through the sparkle on the tree - the white parts - you can see the snowflakes underneath. This is a lot more apparent in person, but was hard to photograph. It was my favorite part of the layout! :)

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Christmas Noel Solutions™, Cake Basics™ (scalloped circle)

i-rock and lots of Hot Rocks (from the) Compact™ - I admit it... I'm blinging everything!

Stencil for the flourishes: i-rock Swirls Stencil™

Sentiment stamp: MME Holly Jolly™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Ribbon: PaperTreyInk™

Sparkle: Pixie sparkle - for the red parts: on top of Studio G red glitter glue

Vinyl photo corners from EAD Designs™

**********************

 Next up we were asked to create a card... Of course I chose a shaped card:

Design Notes: I got the jingle bell from Michael's and you may or may not notice that I embossed the green background. I used clear embossing powder to create the shine on the red part of the flower.

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™

Embossing: Holly Ribbons Emboss Folder™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Twine:  PaperTreyInk™

*********************

Lastly, we were asked to create something of our choice. My mom really liked my Autumn banner and requested that I make one for her that said, "thankful". This is now inside of her house. 

Recipe:
Imaginisce Apple Cider Collection™
Cartridge: Designer's Calendar™ and  Cake Basics™
Embossing: D'vine Swirls™ and Victoria™

A few close-ups. Sorry the colors aren't quite right. It was raining this day too!

I hope you enjoyed this post. Be sure to hang out at the Imaginisce blog all week long to see what quirky things we tell you about ourselves! AND we'll either be showing you our favorite projects or our DT submissions on our personal blogs!

OF COURSE Imaginisce is giving stuff away - they are always giving stuff away! So Lori was great enough to let me choose something that inspires me and I can't tell you how much I love.... the Petal Roller and the Rolie Rosies!!! Thank you Lori and Imaginisce!! Seriously - they are going to be showing up on everything soon! SO leave a comment here and then go back to the Imaginisce blog and let them know you came by to be entered to win it!!! 


****Scroll down for my Artful Delight post****

2011 Imaginisce Design Team Member!

Hello everyone!!! I am absolutely thrilled and honored to have been selected as part of the 2011 Imaginisce Design Team! 

I have been on cloud 9 and just couldn't wait to tell you all! 

I always consider these kind of successes to be about all of us - as I say - my grandmother was my first "follower" so for those that encouraged me from the beginning, share in the joy! 

I couldn't decide what to put up here as my first project so I just decided to show you what I created for my DT submission. 

Design Notes: 

If you look through the sparkle on the tree - the white parts - you can see the snowflakes underneath. This is a lot more apparent in person, but was hard to photograph. It was my favorite part of the layout! :)

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Christmas Noel Solutions™, Cake Basics™ (scalloped circle)

i-rock and lots of Hot Rocks (from the) Compact™ - I admit it... I'm blinging everything!

Stencil for the flourishes: i-rock Swirls Stencil™

Sentiment stamp: MME Holly Jolly™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Ribbon: PaperTreyInk™

Sparkle: Pixie sparkle - for the red parts: on top of Studio G red glitter glue

Vinyl photo corners from EAD Designs™

**********************

 Next up we were asked to create a card... Of course I chose a shaped card:

Design Notes: I got the jingle bell from Michael's and you may or may not notice that I embossed the green background. I used clear embossing powder to create the shine on the red part of the flower.

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™

Embossing: Holly Ribbons Emboss Folder™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Twine:  PaperTreyInk™

*********************

Lastly, we were asked to create something of our choice. My mom really liked my Autumn banner and requested that I make one for her that said, "thankful". This is now inside of her house. 

Recipe:
Imaginisce Apple Cider Collection™
Cartridge: Designer's Calendar™ and  Cake Basics™
Embossing: D'vine Swirls™ and Victoria™

A few close-ups. Sorry the colors aren't quite right. It was raining this day too!

I hope you enjoyed this post and have a very Merry Christmas! I am really looking forward to joining in such talent and learning a lot from these really talented ladies!

Thanksgiving Menu!

Courtney Lee

Good Monday morning to you!

I am doing the tutorial this morning for Passionately Artistic and was asked if I could make a Thanksgiving menu to put on the plates before dinner. I was excited to do it!

These are the actual dishes that I made for Thanksgiving two years ago (the food items, not the plates :).

Recipe:

Machines: Gypsy™, Cricut Expression™, Cuttlebug™, i-rock by Imaginise™

Cartridge: Tie the Knot™, Thanksgiving™, Winter Woodland™

Embossing Folders™: Swiss Dots™ and Victoria™

Card stock: Paper Trey Ink: Dark Chocolate™, Ripe Avocado™, Stamper's Select White™, Pure Poppy™, Orange Zest™

Metallic Pearl Glam Rocks™

Ink: ColorBox Olive™, Momento Rich Cocoa™

Buttons: Paper Trey Ink Vintage Holiday Mix™

Twine: Paper Trey Ink Rustic Cream Button Twine™

Adhesive: Glue Glider Pro Perma-Tac™, Glue Arts Extreme Adhesive Squares™

Glossy Accents

Three-dimensional foam

Instructions:

1.  I used my Gypsy to elongate a tag from Tie the Knot Cartridge™ and I hid the hole that is at the top. Then I made one slightly smaller to nest inside of it.

2. I cut these out of white Paper Trey Ink™ cardstock and Dark Chocolate from Paper Trey Ink™respectively. (Ignore the Pilgrim's hat - I decided not to use it when I got to the end.)

3. I inked the outside of the white cardstock with Olive ink from ColorBox™

4. Next I printed out the Menu on my computer in brown ink and used the brown layer as a template to trace and then cut around.

5. Then I burnt the edges of the paper - please be careful that nothing catches on fire and allow for the burning to take in more of the edge than you expect even after you've blown it out. As you can see - I lost my word "gravy" and part of my "M"!

6. I used my i-rock by Imaginisce™ to heat set the Metallic Pearl Glam Rocks™ next to the main titles.

7. Next I cut out leaves from the Thanksgiving Cartridge™ at 1.75" and 3".

8. Then I Cuttlebugged those leaves using the Victoria Embossing Folder™.

9. Next I cut out the leaves from the Winter Woodlands Cartridge™ in various sizes ranging from 1" to 5".

10. I Cuttlebugged those leaves using the Swiss Dots Embossing folder.

11. I then inked around the edges of those leaves with Momento ink in Rich Cocoa™. I also used a paper towel which I had inked up to run over the top of the Swiss Dots embossing.

12. I selected my buttons and tied bows using the Paper Trey Ink Rustic Cream Button Twine™

13. I adhered the leaves and all layers to the different locations using the Glue Glider Pro Perma-Tac™ cartridge. I did pop dot the Dark Chocolate layer to the white card stock layer.

14. I adhered the buttons using Extreme Adhesive Squares™ (those things are amazing! They really mean "extreme adhesive" and I am totally addicted!)

15. Lastly, I used Glossy Accents™ over the green leaves which were inked.

Enjoy your hard work and how impressed your family members look when they read over your menu! :)

I hope this helps you personalize your own Thanksgiving menus! We would LOVE to see them if you decide to link them up to Passionately Artistic! You may get featured and win a prize! :)

Artful Delight November Sketch, kit, and first DT post!

YAY for November - time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas and hot chocolate and apple cider. The weather has only recently turned chilly here in San Francisco and I am thrilled to start baking and roasting more.

You see, when you live in a 450 Sq. Ft. place, and you roast something on a hot day - it turns out you are roasting yourselves! So on cold days I like to bake or roast as an eco-friendly way to heat up the house and get us fed! :)

Anywho, I did this LO right after we got back from London and Paris, so that romantic trip was on my mind. Here is what I did with one such memory:

This is my first post as a member of the Artful Delight Design Team and I am SO excited to show you this AWESOME kit that Leeanne and senior DT member Jamie have put together! 

Let's see... how many lay-outs have you seen me do.... EEK! I was so nervous about this, but I am pretty happy with the way it turned out! Thanks to fellow DT member Debbie who created the sketch! Good goin', girl! 

I moved the elements around, but they are all in there. :)

Here is the Sketch:

Here is my take on it:

Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Storybook™ (background for picture and swirly thing at the bottom)

Embossing: Cuttlebug Victoria Emboss Folder™

Everything else came from the November Kit! 

My opinion on the kit:

Okay, seriously... who includes both Stickles and Tattered Angels as bonus items in a kit?!? I just LOVE that. She hit all the major elements. 

I couldn't believe how much stuff just kept coming out of my box. It was really incredible. I have supplies for months! 

These patterns are sweet and whimsical and incredibly romantic. I loved them. 

The flocked transparencies are SO cool. I will be using them very soon... In fact... one of them made it onto my spiderweb card I did a few days ago... :)

There are rub-ons, thickers, alpha sets, stickers, glittered transparencies, prima flowers, ribbon, twine, chipboard, and so so much more. I was in embellishment overload and therefore embellishment heaven!

One disclaimer: She meant to throw in some solids, but filled the spot with embellishments. Next month you can guess there will be solids. :) 

I have never seen a kit like this and am SO thrilled to be on the DT sharing such a great product that Leeanne has put together.

Here is a small picture of November's kit and what is included (the pic doesn't do it justice!):

Pattern Paper

Fancy Pants - Lilac House Collection - 12x12 Double Sided Paper

1 sheet Heirloom

1 sheet Tapestry

1 sheet Chamomile

1 sheet Weeping Willow

1 sheet Garden Gate

1 sheet English Garden

1 sheet Rose Damask

1 sheet Lavender Leaves

1 sheet Photo Board

1 sheet Needlepoint

1 sheet LH Strips

1 sheet LH Cards

1 sheet Printed Transparency

1 sheet Flocked Transparency

Embellishments

1 sheet Lilac House Glitter Cuts

1 sheet Lilac House Rub-ons

1 sheet Lilac House Sticker Elements

1 sheet Lilac House Sticker Alphas

1 sheet Bo Bunny Jazmyne 12x12 Adhesive Chipboard Stickers

1 package American Crafts Thickers - Stroll in Chestnut

5- 5 inch Doilies

10 - Prima Essentials Flowers - So Cute

10 - Prima Sprites no. 3 Flowers

12 - Tim Holtz Idea-ology- Adage Tickets

3 - Prima Flowers - Lilliput Roses in Iris

1 1/2 feet - Bean Stalks Ribbon - Jillibean Soup

1 1/2 yards - Been Stalks Twine - Jillibean Soup

5 - Maya Road Trinket Pins - Brown and Turquoise Leaf

BONUS Misc (included)

1 bottle Stickles - Waterfall

1 bottle Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Juneberry Wine

Isn't that kit beautiful? You will get the whole Lilac House Collection Pack which retails for $24.99. The best part is this kit is only $27.99 for a single month purchase. Which means you will get ALL those other great products for only $3.00. That is a FABULOUS DEAL!!

You can click HERE to buy the kit!

Come and use this month's sketch for a chance to WIN December's kit... I can't tell you what it is, but I AM SO EXCITED about it and I can tell you that it has (at least) one of my favorite-favorite products in it!

If you sign up to purchase the monthly kits on a regular basis and you win one of the challenges, Leeanne either extends your subscription by a month or refunds your money for the kit you won - I'm not sure which, but I will find out! So go ahead and sign up because she is working hard to make sure these kits are AWESOME.

Autumn Banner!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALAKAI!!!! WE LOVE YOU! It's our Godson's 1st birthday today and I can't wait to get back and celebrate him in style!
---
I have to say that I don’t make a home decor project unless I intend on putting it up in our home. However, with 450 square feet total (we live in a studio in San Francisco), my wall space is precious and whatever I put up everyone sees. I actually have already hung this up and am very excited about it.

Originally I had planned on hanging it left to right and putting it on the front door. However, I was video chatting with my best friend’s Kourtni and Phil and Phil said, “that is going to look great straight up and down.” (I showed it to him before I added the ribbon when the leaves were just laying on the table) I thought that was a FABULOUS idea so the creative genius to hang it straight up and down entirely belongs to Mr. Phil! Thanks, friend! 

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION!

I have to tell you, the success of this project was based on the awesomeness of Glue Arts. I put all the leaves together in a jiffy with the Perma-Tac Glue Glider Pro and then used their Glue Arts Extreme Adhesive Squares™ and put ONE square on the ribbon and pressed the leaf down into it. Those leaves aren’t going anywhere. They really have made some amazing products. 

And, I wasn't sure what I thought about the Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg line, but when it is all together, how cute is it!?! 

Recipe:

Cartridges: Designer’s Calendar™ (leaves), Cake Basics™ (letters)

Embossing: Victoria Emboss Folder™, D'vine Swirls Emboss Folder™

Paper: Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg Collection: “Cinnamon” (red with spots and salmon color), “Autumn” (red wood grain + letters), “Acorn” (green leaves and blue shadow), “Maple” (brown woodgrain), “Falling Down” (stripes)

Cuttlebug™

Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac™

Glue Arts Extreme Adhesive Squares™

SORRY! Out for publication!

Be Inspired Wednesday #104 - Breast Cancer Awareness

Good morning. Today at the Cuttlebug Challenge we are making cards for a wonderful cause: Breast Cancer Awareness. 

This card dawned upon be very quickly and I love how it turned out! Joanna did one similar a while ago and while I also had the idea to make it a shape card, I used hers as inspiration for the doodling since she is the doodle queen!

Recipe: 
Gypsy™
Cartridge: Tie the Knot™, Designer's Calendar™
Embossing: A2 Victoria Emboss Folder™
Stamps: My Pink Stamper: Everyday Occasions™
Pixie Stix from Pink Paislee™(black glitter)
Hero Arts Gems
Glossy Accents
Pop Dots

Instructions:

1. Select bodice, bodice blackout, and bodice shadow (twice) on your Gypsy™ from the Tie the Knot Cartridge™.

2. Weld two of the bodice shadows together to make the card base. This is the light pink layer.

3. Select Designer's Calendar™ pink ribbon from the October page twice. In the Gypsy™ you can see both the bodice and the bodice blackout. Lay them perfectly on top of each other on their individual layers.

4. Place one of the ribbons in the middle of the bodice. Place the other one on the layer with the bodice black out and also make sure these are perfectly on top of one another. This method allowed me to the cut ribbon out of both layers where you could see the pink of the card base all the way through.

5. Cut out all layers.

6. Doodle white around the edges of the dark pink layer.

7. Run dark pink layer through the Cuttlebug™ with the A2 Victoria Emboss Folder™. 

8. Adhere to black layer (bodice shadow).

9. Doodle black around the light pink layer.

10. Place pink and black layers over the card base.

11. Take My Pink Stamper: Everyday Occasions ribbon (it's the black ribbon) and stamp it in black in the middle of the cut out ribbon.

12. Use Glossy Accents™ on top of the black ribbon stamp. 

13. Sprinkle Pink Paislee Pixie Stix in black over the top. Tap the card to remove excess.

14. Use pop dots to adhere dark pink and black layers to the light pink base. The black ribbon should be showing through the center cut out ribbon.

15. Add Hero Arts™ adhesive gems to the top in the middle and the points of the cut out ribbon on the bottom (you can barely see mine, but they are hot pink). 

16. Give it to someone who is fighting the pink fight! 

I went to a Crop for the Cure on October 2nd in honor of Monique Griffith. So I gave this card to her! 

Head on over to the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has created and play along with us! 

Be Inspired #102 with Whoopsi Daisy!

These digital stamps are too cute for their own good! Whoopsi Daisy is sponsoring us at the Cuttlebug Challenges this week! I love these images! :) We had to use at least two buttons and a bow!

I made this card without the Cricut (this one is for you, Dee!) :).

This is a feel better soon card. I always recommend drinking tea when sick, so why not send a tea bag with the card? What kind of tea, you ask...? This one happens to be Royal tea - it's close to an Earl Grey. I love Lady Grey and Rose tea. Those are my two favorites. Usually it's just peppermint when sick or sleepy though! Enough about me, onto the card!

I had so much fun coloring in this little lady and while the angle doesn't let you see, she is carrying a trey with a tea pot, sugar bowl, and milk pitcher. Too cute!

Recipe:
Embossing: A2 Victoria Emboss Folder™
Paper: DCWV™, Bo Bunny™, Bazzill™
Image: Whoopsi Daisy™ Sheet 42
Ribbon
Tea bag
Buttons
Glossy Accents™
Sharpies and Copics

Come play along this week for your chance to win Whoopsi Daisy images! :)

My card for Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge #24

Now it's my turn! :) This card was made for Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge #24 - Kim's blog! :)

I just got Winter Woodland yesterday in the mail from OhMyCrafts.... hint hint I bought two of them.... and why would I need two unless I was giving one away in the future.... :) Naturally I had to use the cartridge as soon as it came.

I loved this little squirrel. I hope you like it too! I Cuttlebugged the background layer and the acorn with Swiss Dots and the body with the Victoria Cuttlebug folders. I used my Fiskars Hearts™ border punch that Christy just gave me (THANKS CHRISTY!) and a cute little card was born! I finished it off with My Pink Stamper's Winter Punnies™ new stamp set (both the snowflakes and the sentiment) LOVE it! I have two more of her stamp sets on their way to me!

Recipe:
Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
Embossing: A2 Swiss Dots Emboss Folder™, A2 Victoria Emboss Folder™
Border Punch: Fiskars Hearts
Sentiment: My Pink Stamper's Winter Punnies™
Stamps: My Pink Stamper's Winter Punnies™
Ribbon

Off the Wall Craftiness Inspiration Photo: