I have such exciting news to share - it is one of my craftiest highlights ever to announce that Laura invited me to be a part of the Lil’ Inker Designs family, starting this week…which just happens to be release week! YaAaaaAAAAY!

Today is Day 1 of a 3-day release hop, and if you’re hopping along with the team then you may have arrived here from Sarah Jay’s blog. And if you’re lost along this hop, you can always head on over to the Lil’ Inker Designs blog to start at the beginning.

Today we are showcasing the Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern die, and the coordinating Connected Circles Die and Darling Diamonds stamp set, all of which are available in the store today.

On my first card, I used the Circles and Diamonds Stitched Pattern die to emboss the stitched circular pattern onto some light green cardstock, which I then cut out with a circle punch to create this bubbly Hello card. The sentiment comes in the coordinating Darling Diamonds stamp set.

On my next card, you can see how I used the stitched pattern die in a more traditional way, embossing the front panel of cardstock with the pattern before adding my flower and sentiment.

This sentiment comes from a super cute new set this month called Awesome Sauce, which is free with a $75 purchase this month while supplies last. Enter code AWESOMESAUCE at checkout.

I hope you keep on hopping because there are some Lil’ Inker Designs $10 credits available as prizes to folks who comment along the way.

Your next stop on the hop is the Lil’ Inker Designs blog! Hope to see you again tomorrow for Release Day 2!

XoXo,
Suzanne

I fully admit to loving non-traditional colors for holiday cards, and raspberry fizz is my all time favorite color but honestly and truly…Michael’s has been out of red bling for ages! That is making Christmas cards kinda tough to do in regular colors.

I took a break from some late night work to make this card for this week’s Make It Monday: Glitter Detail Technique at Papertrey Ink and Mojo Monday Challenge:

I used Candy Cane Christmas and Stylish Sentiments: Holiday on this card, and I accented the candy candy and raspberry fizz strip with bubble gum glitter from A Muse Studio. The rectangle was diecut using Stitched Mats: Rectangles from Lil’ Inker Designs and the holly was diecut using PTI’s Holly Jolly dies. The patterned paper is from Echo Park’s Holly Jolly Christmas line- one of my favorites of all time.

Now, I’ve gotta get back to business and finish up some work before bed, but at least I’ve got my singing shows to entertain me while I do it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Suzanne

The paper piecing was really easy and fun, and I enjoyed coloring the little girl’s face with Copics. I swear that the aqua Bazzill base matches! It’s just that the aqua clouds have been covered up by the other layers.

How’s your week going? I am going to Providence for the day for work on Friday. I’ve never been to Rhode Island! Ever. 33 years in Boston and I’ve never been. I am kind of excited!

Sorry for not posting any Three for Thursday yesterday. I have been busy working on this project for my grandmother, who we call Nonna Nina. She has Alzheimer’s and is moving to assisted living this weekend. My mom found some old photos at her house and asked me to make something for the 8×10″ shadow box that hangs outside her new place, so I got to work.

This is first scrapbook-like thing I have ever worked on, and it took a tremendous amount of time. Choosing the photos alone was difficult because I didn’t want to cut them up too much, but I also wanted to display a good balance of the people in Nonna’s life. And thus, I have a new respect for scrapbookers. I swear I could have made all my Christmas cards in the time it took me to do this…but it was so worth it. I love how this came out.

All the stamping for this project was done using Papertrey Ink’s Love Lives Here set, along with the coordinating die cuts. The houses were stamped using Pebble and Blush ink from A Muse Studio. I think glittered some Raspberry Fizz cardstock and attached it to the back of each house so the hearts would show through the little windows. I cut some extra hearts for the top of the page as well; I love how the glitter tones down the boldness of the Raspberry Fizz cardstock. I also diecut some clouds using PTI’s cloud dies; I used their Vintage Cream cardstock and dry embossed them with the Linen impression plate.

In case your wondering, I chose these three photos because the top photo is a picture of Nonna with my grandfather, Nonno. The photo on the bottom right is a shot of her with my mom and her two brothers. The photo on the bottom left is a photo of Nonna (back row, in the middle) with her mom and sisters and a niece - and that’s me in my great-grandmother’s, Nonna Santa’s, lap.

Jessica and I got together again last night, as we have been doing on Wednesdays. I always struggle with what to pack with me when it’s my turn to go to her house. Last night I tossed all my Echo Park Season’s Greetings into a bag with some scissors and adhesive and headed out knowing that I would plan what I was going to make once I got there.

After I was done with my cards, I realized that this may be a great way for me to start using up my paper packs…afterall, how else could I justify buying more? LOL! So Three for Thursday is going to be my attempt to share what I make on our Wednesday nights and to motivate me to use more of my supplies.

But I must say I am a bit disappointed that today is the day my camera didn’t want to cooperate, so these pics were taken with my phone…

Here are three of my cards from last night…I gotta say, not using any stamps was sorta challenging, but I do love the ease of using chipboard and stickers!

The ribbons on these cards are both from Ribbon Carousel. They’re the Olive Satin Center Band Ribbon and the Red Grosgrain Satin Edge Ribbon. They’re also celebrating their new website with a 15% off coupon code: NEWBLOG.

Hope you enjoyed these!