Christmas in July

Happy Wednesday! It's very hot and humid in my part of the world so this week's Little Red Wagon Challenge - Christmas in July - is perfect for thinking cooler thoughts! Thanks to Sandy, our hostess this week, I've got another Christmas card ready for December too!

I used the Season's Tweetings stamp set from Lawn Fawn for the sweet little images and sentiment on my card. I also pulled out my embossing folders for the snowy background. The frame is from My Favourite Things and I used a Reverse Confetti cloud die to ink the sky background.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what Sandy and the rest of the design team have created and then link up your own Christmas project!

PS This is short and sweet as we're heading off for a camping trip on Wednesday morning. I'm blogging, making meals and doing laundry all at the same time!!

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You're Fintastic!

It's time for Feature Day over at Your Next Stamp and the theme this time round is "water".

I used the fabulous "Fishy Fun" set for my card, and interpreted the theme literally and with watercolouring. I started by cutting out a stitched rectangle and used a stencil to create some background bubbles before going over the background again with the stencil removed. I then added some seaweed in the corner and used the same darker ink I'd used at the bottom of my card to colour it in with a paintbrush.

Using Your Next Stamp's Die Tag One set, I created the frame for my sentiment and then added the sentiment and a fun little fish.

Be sure to head over to Your Next Stamp to see the fabulous projects created by the rest of the design team. Don't forget to leave a comment when you're there as one lucky blogger will win a YNS stamp set of their choice!

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YNS Challenge 44 - You are CU-TE

It's time for a challenge at Your Next Stamp and we would love for you to play along! You can choose between a sketch or a colour combination. I decided to try the sketch.

I used the Perfect Chemistry stamp set for my card and added a beaker and test tube (full of copper and tellurium!) in place of the larger circles of the sketch and used the chemical bubbles for the smaller circles. The main sentiment was stamped on white cardstock and I then used a die (that I've had for years but don't remember from where!) to create a notebook border. I added a black mat behind that for a bit of contrast.

Please head over to Your Next Stamp to see the rest of the design team inspiration. You've got two weeks to join the challenge and we'd love to see what you create! Plus, you have the opportunity to win a gift certificate to the YNS store! Don't forget to post your project to social media too. Here are the sketch and colour combination for you to start the wheels turning!

  

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Treat Yourself

It's Wednesday! It seems this month is flying by! We've returned safely from our holiday and it's good to be home. That said, we'll be leaving again next week for a camping holiday with friends.

I'm the hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and I chose the theme "I'm hungry!" - create a food-related project. I created this sweet little gift card before we left for vacation. One of my favourite treats is to go out for ice cream. In fact, the ladies at Baskin Robbins know exactly what to get for me as soon as I walk in the door! (I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!!) I used a die for the gift card holder itself and then spruced things up with some patterned paper from my stash. I also used some puffy cloud borders before adding the happy little ice cream container and sentiment. I love the way the "treat yourself" sentiment works so nicely at the top of this gift card holder. I can see me using it with all sorts of gift cards - not just ice cream!

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created. I'd love for you to create and link a food-themed project too. Since I'm the hostess, I'll be visiting all the entrants' blogs to leave some comments. I'd love to visit you too!

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It's Your Birthday - Have a Blast!

Hello from Prince Edward Island! My youngest son, husband and I are still enjoying our holidays and time spent relaxing at the ocean.

Mandy is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's chosen "You're a Star" as our challenge - use stars on your project. I had so much fun creating this card for my son's birthday next month. After blending a few inks on my background, I used a star stencil with texture paste. It's the first time I've tried this technique and I really enjoyed it! I used some Squeezed Lemonade distress ink and mixed it with the paste but it wasn't as bright as I would have liked so, once things were dry, I went over the stars with my yellow Zig marker. Then I was happy!! The rocket and sentiment are from Your Next Stamp.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then link up your own starry project! We'd love to see what you create!

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YNS Challenge 43 - Have a Fairy Nice Day

Hello from Montreal! My son and I have met up with my husband and the three of us are working our way toward the ocean. I can't wait to smell the Atlantic! It's one of my favourite scents on this earth.

It's time for a challenge at Your Next Stamp. You can choose between a sketch or a colour combination. I decided to work with the sketch by rotating it 90 degrees. I used Your Next Stamp's Fairytale Homes set to create my card. I used a number of distress inks for my background and then used my mini mister to spritz a bit of water over things. After colouring my fairy home, I adhered it to my card and added a sentiment. I finished things off with some pretty pink sequins.

Head over to Your Next Stamp to see what the rest of the design team has created to inspire you!! We'd love for you to link up your own project too - and you'll have a chance to win a gift certificate to the YNS store! You've got two weeks to join the fun! Be sure to post your projects to social media as well. You just might get noticed!!

  

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Enjoy Your Day

Happy Wednesday! This is my second post today. Please click HERE (or scroll down) to see my Your Next Stamp Design Team Dare post.

My youngest and I leave tomorrow for our trip to Prince Edward Island. We'll be driving just under 1700 kilometres - but stopping at different cities along the way as we go. My husband left on Saturday and cycled the first 500 kilometres. He made excellent time and arrived at his destination yesterday afternoon already. I wanted to head out early but have a board meeting this evening... Oh well, holidays will begin soon enough!! I love summer!

Speaking of summer, Donna has chosen "It's Summertime!" as this week's theme at Little Red Wagon. One of the things I love best about summer is eating outdoors so I decided to do a picnic theme for my card. There always seem to be insects too! I tend to like insects (unless they're mosquitoes or earwigs) so added some of those to my card as well. With the exception of the sun (Mama Elephant), all the picnic items and little critters are from Your Next Stamp.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created to celebrate the summer season and then link up your own project. We'd love to see what you create!

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YNS July DT Dare - Flippin' Fabulous

It's time for the monthly design team dare at Your Next Stamp! This month, the team was challenged to "Frame it" and we decided that we were up to the dare.

For my project, I created a card. I made my own patterned paper by stamping one of the sentiments from the NEW Flippin' Fabulous stamp set in a variety of Stampin' Up ink colours. I then cut some flip flops using the NEW Flip Flop Fun die set. This set is so fun! There are three different flip flop embellishments and I chose the little flowers, adding little pink gemstones to the middle of each. I then framed everything in with some blue cardstock to match the flip flops too.

Be sure to head over to the Your Next Stamp blog to see what the rest of the design team has created. Don't forget to leave a comment while you're there for your chance to win a stamp set of your choice!

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You Lift Me Up

I mentioned on the weekend that I am this month's guest designer at Your Next Stamp. I'm absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to join the team for a bit and to showcase some of the wonderful YNS products. Today, on the YNS blog, I'm being officially welcomed and introduced. I thought I would share my card here too.

I used the fun Just Plane Amazing stamp set for the happy little helicopter and sentiment. I stamped the helicopter both on white cardstock and on my patterned paper. I then fussy cut some parts of the helicopter and adhered them to the white cardstock and coloured in the rest. I then added some clouds (also from Just Plane Amazing) behind the helicopter.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Your Next Stamp's latest release, you can do so HERE. Plus, there's a blog hop going on (starting HERE) that ends today, July 5. One lucky participant will win a $25 gift certificate to the YNS store!!

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Your Next Stamp July Release and Blog Hop

It's time for the Your Next Stamp July Release and Blog Hop! There are so many fabulous new goodies and I know you'll want to be checking things out HERE. I think my favourite is Picnic Phoebe (which I used for yesterday's sneak peek project). I love all the little Phoebe sets from YNS - and who doesn't love a good picnic?!

For my project today, I've used the NEW Flippin' Fabulous stamp set. Isn't this little guy great? I also added a few images (palm tree and drink) from Vacation Phoebe. I used distress inks to create my background and cut the sand into layers in order to tuck my images into the dunes.

Now it's time to HOP! Check out the list of participants below. Leave a comment at each blog (including mine!) for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the YNS store - so you can pick out whatever you'd like!! Plus, everybody is a winner with this month's release discount. Once you're ready to shop, use the code below to save 20% on your purchase! Yay! New release products can be found HERE.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Your Next Stamp July Preview Day

Hello Crafting Friends!! I'm so excited to be this month's guest designer at Your Next Stamp. This means taking part in the new release!! Woo hoo!! There are some fabulous new products coming out. Today, we're all sharing sneak peeks and everything will be revealed (with a blog hop!) tomorrow! Be sure to head over to the Your Next Stamp blog to check things out!

For my first card, I used the NEW Picnic Phoebe stamp set. It's full of fun little picnic-related images and sentiments. I've used just a few on my card.

After watercolouring my background (using the "smooshing" technique), I added a YNS Stitched Heart Fence die cut and then coloured some Picnic Phoebe images to layer in front of the fence. My panel was then adhered to a bright pink card base.

I made a second card using the NEW Me Time stamp set. There are a number of stamps in this set, ready for you to create a relaxing home scene. I used the chair and a little cushion, as well as one of the sentiments. I also used a YNS Stripe-tastic Edge stamp for some added interest.

Don't forget to head over to the Your Next Stamp blog to check out more of the sneak peeks - and then come back tomorrow for the blog hop! As always, there will be a blog hop discount code AND a giveaway!

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