ICS Blog Hop - Blog Candy Giveaway!

Thank you for joining us for the Inspire, Create, & Share Blog Hop! This month the theme is "Free for All!" Every stop on the hop will feature a great project of the stamper’s choice. That means lots of inspiration and fun ideas are in store for you as you hop along. In addition, be sure to check out how to win some blog candy! Every stop on the hop will have blog candy to give away.

Are you wondering how to enter to qualify to win the blog candy? Just subscribe to any of the blogs you want to follow and you will be entered to win that blog’s candy. Each blog on the hop will draw a name from their new subscribers to win their candy. Why subscribe? When you subscribe to a blog’s feed you will be notified every time there is a new post. You never have to miss out on any of the inspiration, fun or news.

Here is my card:

For my card I decided to show off the Affectionately Yours Designer Series Paper, and coordinating washi tape.  I love the Stitched Shapes, and the Layering Circles Framelits with the small greetings from the Ready to Pop stamp set. 

Don't forget to subscribe to my blog today, for notifications every time I post, and also for a chance to win this BLOG CANDY!  You can subscribe by entering your email address in the upper left corner where wit says "Follow by Email".

Winner will be drawn on Tuesday April 11th, and announced on Wednesday, April 12th.  Be sure to check back to see if you won!

That is all I have to share for today.  Next up on our hop is Deb Naylor from The Flying Stamper.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Nichole

Product List

Ready To Pop Photopolymer Stamp Set [141513] $16.00	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] $6.50	Cucumber Crush 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [138335] $8.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00
Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100867] $8.00	Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper [141632] $13.00	Twine Baker's Whisper White [124262] $3.00	Affectionately Yours Designer Washi Tape [141635] $8.00
Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705] $35.00	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] $30.00

Going Away Party

 

You are probably coming here from Deb's "The Flying Stamper", isn't her stuff always just so cute?!  If you are just getting started here - Welcome!  Don't worry, you can hop all the way through, and still see Deb's fab project!

Welcome to our little Going Away Party for all of the fabulous items that are retiring in just a few short weeks.

I have seen the new book that starts in June, and let me tell you - it is ahh-mazing!!  But, there are still some retiring products that I will miss dearly!  (Can you say Gumball Green?!?)  

My card today is a simple card that showcases a couple of the retiring In Colors and also the Oh, Hello stamp set.  

I didn't use this stamp set a ton, but I sure did love it!  I am also really going to miss all of the 2012 - 2014 In Colors.  (Yes, even Summer Starfruit!)  This card uses quite a bit of Raspberry Ripple, with a hint of Gumball Green.  (& Crumb Cake - which thankfully is here to stay!)

Now.....who's ready to win some

::BLOG CANDY::

I will be giving away this card, and two others to one lucky winner!  All you need to do to enter is comment on this post, and tell me which item from the retired list you are most sad about.  

I will be doing the drawing at 9pm PST, on Thursday, May 8th, 2014.  The winner will be announced with my Friday morning blog post, so be sure to check back then!

Now, on with the hop!  Next up is Tina, and I am sure you will love what she has in store for you!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!  Don't forget to check back Friday to see if you won the blog candy!

Here is a list of this month's hoppers:

Deb - http://flyingstamper.blogspot.com/2014/05/last-chance-blog-hop-and-blog-candy.html?m=1

Nichole - http://scrappystampsandink.blogspot.com/2014/05/going-away-party.html YOU ARE HERE!

Tina - http://thesimpleandcreativecorner.blogspot.com/2014/05/going-away-blog-hop.html

Eva - http://mossub.com/?p=1731

Pearl - http://stampingwithpearl.blogspot.com/2014/05/last-chance-blog-hop.html

Sherry - http://stampingrandma.blogspot.com/2014/05/last-chance-blog-hop.html

Oliva - http://oliviastamps.blogspot.com/2014/05/last-chance-blog-hop.html

Jen - http://thestampdiva.blogspot.com/2014/05/its-time-to-say-goodbye.html

Darla - http://stampinwithdarlaandsisters.blogspot.com/2014/05/going-away-blog-hop.html

Tammy - http://stampingtammy.blogspot.com/2014/05/last-chance-blog-hop.html

SU Stars Blog Hop - Fun Folds BLOG CANDY!!

This weekend I am participating in a fun blog hop for a group I belong to called SU Stars.  It is a group on Yahoo for Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  If you are a demonstrator, head on over and join the group!  There are lots of kind, fun, supportive women there, and we have lots of fun!  You can join here: SU Stars.

The blog hop this month is for fun folds.  You are probably coming here from Monica's Add a Little Dazzle.  She always has gorgeous projects going on, and I can't wait to see what she came up with for this month's blog hop.  If you started here, you can go to the SU Stars home blog, and start from the beginning, or just loop all the way around - up to you.  :)

I have two cards for you.  The first is a Christmas card.  Big surprise there, right?  I wish Christmas wasn't so stuck in my brain - but it is.  (Maybe that means I'll actually be ready for it this year?)

Here is my closed card.  I wanted to keep it simple.  I had most of these pieces left over from a Christmas card kit Stampin' Up! sold a few years ago, and now that Wild Wasabi is a current color again - I have decided to use them up.  

The Bashful Blue snowflake on the left holds down the Real Red flap.  

I stamped a bit on the inside of the card.  I've seen quite a few people do that lately, and it just adds such a nice touch.

Now, onto the next card.  For this card I wanted to try a hidden message card.  A few weeks ago, I went away with a few girlfriends, and one of them had made one of these cards.  That was the first time I had ever seen one before.  I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to make one for this hop.  I forgot to ask my friend how she did it.. but google came to my rescue.  :)  I got directions from Vicki's blog.  If you email me, I'll send you a link.  I  knew as soon as I started working on this that I wanted it to be a birthday card for my best friend Jen.  Her birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I want to be ready.  I know by posting the card here - that she won't be surprised when she sees it, but she will be surprised when she reads the hidden message, and that is good enough for me. 

This is what the card looks like on the front.  There are many elements just to this front that are unusual for me.  I do not usually emboss DSP.  But I love this!!  I also usually have a hard time using the pearls (or rhinestones) that come in a line, and don't usually use that heart punch.  And I usually only use the poppin' pastels technique once a year - guess this is it!  I am so happy I was able to use so many things that are uncommon for me, and still love the outcome!

This is the inside.  I am just loving the Bella Chateau DSP that Stampin' Up! has this year!!  I knew I liked it, but had no idea how much I loved it until I started using it.  I wanted my greetings to pop off of the DSP, so I stamped them on Very Vanilla and punched them out with the scallop square punch.  The squares looked a bit plain, even with their scallops (ha, ha, ha) - so I decided to give them some ink.  I punched out the small oval on a post it note, and positioned it in the center of the square.  I then sponged some Pink Pirouette ink in the oval.  I sponged the outside of the squares with Marina Mist.

To find the hidden message, you want to fold the center of the inside up into a point.  Then, using your two thumbs, gently separate the middle.  

When you are finished, the secret area is now visible.  The three Marina Mist squares here are hidden at all times unless the center is opened like the picture above.  The stripes DSP (which is the back of the Marina Mist damask pattern on the greeting portion of the card) are visible on the back of the card.  So, if you want your message to be truly secret - put it on the cardstock!

I am so happy to be offering blog candy again this weekend. (as I have done with each blog hop in the past)  Leave me a comment, and tell me whether or not you have tried these hidden message cards before or not.  I will put the total number of comments in at random.org, and the winner will be notified via email.  (So be sure to leave me some way to contact you!)  The blog candy drawing will be open until 11:59pm PST on Sunday. Be sure to check back on Monday to see who the lucky winner is!

For your next stop in the blog hop, you will be going to see Shelly at Stampin' & Scrappin' News.  Shelly has an adorable card up for you to see - so be sure to check it out!  

We have big plans this weekend.  I have been pulling junk.. oops, I mean priceless treasures out of my basement all week.  We are having a yard sale this weekend.  Wish me luck!!  

We will wrap up the weekend by having dinner with the in-laws. (Someone remind me to make the pie!  I keep forgetting...)

This is a Triple Berry Pie  I made earlier this week.  I need to make another one to take to the in-laws.

 

JUGS 97 Stocking Stuffer & Blog Candy Winner!

I am sorry that I haven't gotten to posting the blog candy winner yet - this week has just kinda gotten away from me.  I am not a morning person - at all, but have started walking with my neighbor at 5am.  I am also trying to get ready for a yard sale we are having this weekend, that combined with two surprise visits from family this week, means I am behind in everything.  Check out the winner at the end of this post.  :)

Today I am going to share with you a fun challenge I found over at Just Us Girls.  The challenge was to alter any notebook.  That's it, no sketches, any colors, use anything you want.  I immediately thought stocking stuffers!

My six year old, Kassidy loves notebooks.  She is always making lists, and loves to carry around notebooks, everywhere.  I had a bunch of notebooks I had gotten on clearance a while back, and decided to use one of those.  The inside cover has a black/white zebra print.  I thought, this is perfect!  The colors were picked out for me!  I also wanted to include a pink (again, she is a six year old girl...), and decided on Melon Mambo.  I love the way it pops with the black and white.  I wanted to put her name on it, but the letters I wanted to use were too big for her whole name, so I just used her nickname.  At home, we always call her Kass. I made parts of the butterflies sparkle by using a sparkle pen I have.  I love glitter - but didn't have the time or energy for it today.  Now, onto the project.

So, let's talk about the blog candy winner.  I can't copy the random.org chart onto my blog, without it resetting - so I had my son, David pick a number between 1 and 23.  He picked lucky #13.  The thirteenth comment said:

"Nichole, love your poinsettias - I had not thought to make them this way but I will be making a bunch today! I do love all flowers, so thanx for the idea!! Love your ornaments too - how cute and I will be making a bunch of those too. Thanx for the plug .. lol. Hugs, Sassy"

Congrats Sassy Shirley!!  You are the winner of my blog candy.  You will receive a set of 8 ornaments like those featured in my blog hop post. (only yours will be done with current products.)  I will get them in the mail by the end of the weekend, hope you enjoy them!  Thank you to everyone who stopped in to take a peak and my punch projects last weekend, and for your kind comments.  I really appreciate them!

This is a picture of my cat Pumpkin.  She has been following me around all day, trying to get in the way of my photos.. and then when I do take her picture, she looks irritated.  LOL!  Cats!

Have a great day everyone!!