Paper Maniac Halloween Sale!!

Paper Maniac is having a Halloween Sale!

All in stock items in the Halloween BOO-tique are 50% off!
No coupon needed, and yes, that includes the Basic Grey Eerie collection papers and buttons. Stock up for next year! Good until Sunday.

Also, past Unity Store KOTM have also been marked down to sell! Click here to see the new sale prices!

Winner of Whimsy Stamps Stroll Through The Seasons blog hop!

Sorry this post is so late!!

The winner of the Whimsy Reindeer stamp (by random.org) is....
#21 Mary!
"Your card is great! I just LOVE this reindeer! Too cute!"

Mary, please email me your snail mail so that I can get your stamp out to you! Thank you to everyone who strolled along with us.

Please check the Whimsy Stamps site to see if you've won the grand prize and the Whimsy SNR group to see if you've won the mystery prize, and all the DT's blogs to see if you've won their stamps, too! Wow, did we give away a lot of stuff!

Whimsy Winter Raccoons

Hey, have you heard? Whimsy Stamps now has a Whimsical Newsletter every Wednesday! And Denise, being the sweetheart that she is, has featured me in this week's Newsletter. I'm so lucky to be working with this wonderful company, wonderful stamps, and wonderful stamping buddies!

I created this card using one of the newest releases: Whimsy Winter raccoons. Later today, I will announce the winner of the Winter Reindeer stamp that I've used on the latest Whimsy blog hop. Stay tuned!

Stamp: Whimsy Winter Raccoon; Whimsy Holiday Postmark Sentiments; Paper: DCWV Holiday Collection; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, BIC Mark-It; Accessories/tools: Stickles, Martha Stewart Punch, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Crafty Creations + MyGrafico: Thank you

Middle of the weeks are always so busy for me! I guess that's a good thing because it makes the week just float on through to the weekends. Today I have a 2-for card for MyGrafico and Crafty Creations!

MyGrafico's Challenge:
Create a thank you card
Prize? Mix and Match set by Mujka Designs

Crafty Creations Challenge:
Thanksgiving/Gratitude
Prize? Me and my store are sponsoring this week!

AND your choice of 4 of your favorite quotes made into digital word art, kind of like the ones that I have available at Paper Maniac, but tailored to YOU.

So what are you waiting for? Come play along in all the fun!

Image: Mix and Match Set by Mujka Designs; Ink: Copics; Paper: Basic Grey Marrakech; Accessories/tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, ribbon

Pile It On Sunday: Blue, Yellow and Green

This week at Pile It On, we have a color challenge for you to try: blue, green, yellow. Please visit the blog to find out what the other DT members did with the challenge and to see if you made the top 3 this week!

This card is for a few challenges:

1. Pile It On - Blue, Green, and Yellow
   
2. The Fresh Batch - Sketch #37
3. Whimsy Stamps - Emboss-abilities
4. ABC Challenge - F is for Flyiing
5. PaperPlay Challenges - Favorite Embellishment (ribbon)
6. La-La Land Crafts - Sparkle (paper used for small flourish die cut is shimmery)
7. Daring Cardmakers - Favorite Things (ribbon!)
8. One Stop Craft - Celebration (Christmas card)

Stamp: Unity October Store KOTM; Paper: DCWV Holiday Collection; Ink: Colorbox; Accessories/tools: ribbon, Cuttlebug, embossing folder, flourish cut from Cricut

Paper Maniac Inspirations & Challenge: Crafting with Kids

The holidays are just inching closer and closer and I cannot wait until I get some of the new holiday stamps! Like I've said before, this is my first holiday card making season and I'm just totally going nuts with all the supplies. I recently discovered Cosmo Cricket paper and the Jolly by Golly pad is just AMAZING. I haven't used it here, but you will see it popping up in the next few weeks.

It's Sunday and we have a new theme and challenge at Paper Maniac Deliberations: Crafting with kids, with the optional challenge of using your supply in an unexpected way. I don't have any kids, but I am a kid at heart :) This week, I decided to make some paper ornaments using the beautiful Green Glossy cardstock that we have at Paper Maniac. The circle decoration could also be used as a gift tag, also.

I cut out the tree myself, but you can get the Christmas Tree Kit by Karen Foster at Paper Maniac. It comes with so many cute decorations! I wish I could have played with it when I was a kid!

Stamp: Unity October Store KOTM; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics; Paper: Green Glossy Paper; Accessories/tools: Robin's Nest Dew Drops, ribbon, Cuttlebug, embossing folder

Whimsy New Release: Strolling through the seasons

Can you believe we have another Whimsy Stamps new release with another set of fantastic animals?? Of course you can! To celebrate, we're having a fun stroll starting today, Friday October 23 Noon PST till Wednesday, October 28 Noon PST.

Whimsy's Stroll Through the Seasons

There are MANY stamps up for grabs because all of the DT members in the hop are giving away a stamp each! Yes, that's right, we're all going to choose a winner from our comments to win a stamp from the new release, but you must comment on all the other DT's blogs and at the Whimsy Stamps blog. Aside from all of the DT members giving away one stamp, you also have a chance to win the entire set of 4 new animals! If you've come from Erin's blog, then you're on the right track. If not, then start at Stacey's blog to make sure you haven't missed anyone!

I chose to work with this fun winter Reindeer from the new release.
Isn't he just too adorable?

Stamp: Whimsy Reindeer; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics; Paper; BasicGrey Jolly by Golly; Accessories/tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, embossing folder; paper piercer, Stickle, snowflake dingbat

After you visit the Whimsy Stamps blog to leave your final comment, head over to our Whimsy Stamps SNR group because there will be lots of things going on there, too! We're sure you'll have a blast.

Now, time to stroll along. Head over to Simonne's blog to see what she's cooked up for your viewing pleasure!

MyGrafico - Vintage Challenge!

Wow, can't believe that my birthday falls on a Wednesday this year, but it's gotta happen sometimes, right? lol. Kinda makes it less exciting, but I guess I just have to wait a few more years. Yikes, the big 3-0 is creeping up! I should stop dwelling :)

Speaking of older things, MyGrafico's Challenge this week is super fun - vintage! I think you can think of vintage in many different ways, but the route that I took (and what most of the other design team members took) was the bright, 60's vintage. I think it worked really well with the set that we were given to work with. Enter our challenges for a chance to win the Zenware Vintage Appliance Digital Stamps set! Enter both the sketch and the recipe challenge and get two chances!

Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun working with this simple teapot! At first I didn't know what to do, but it all came together with the great sketch that we got to use. Enjoy :)

Image: MyGrafico Vintage Appliance Stamps; Stamp: Unity October Store Kit; Paper: MMBI; Accessories/tools: Copics, ribbon from Paper Maniac; Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Crafty Creations: All Hallow's Eve

I wish I had more time to do this card! I think there could have been some great possibilities, but it seemed to end up very simple. Still, gotta love that BasicGrey paper! What a lifesaver! It went perfectly with the Halloween set that I put together here.

This week's challenge at Crafty Creations is Hallow's Eve and the challenge was set by the lovely Jaime. She is also sponsoring it herself and will be kindly donating the CTMH Tender Tags set to the winner of the challenge. How sweet is that? Head on over to the blog to see the other fantastic creations and to enter the challenge!

Image: Raindrop Echo Designs Halloween Set; Paper: BasicGrey Eerie; Accessories/tools: Paper Maniac ribbon, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Copics

Paper Maniac Inspirations + Challenge: Black, White, Pop of Color!

Are you ready for an exciting new Sunday with Paper Maniac? We've made things easier for you and we're now holding our challenges at the Paper Maniac Deliberations blog every Sunday. It will coordinate with the weekly DT themes so you'll have a lot more inspiration to work with.

We're showcasing cards and project using the color challenge: black, white, and a pop of color. Every week, you can also take up our optional challenge. This week, we have a fantastic sketch by Amy. I've actually used the sketch, but tweeked it a bit. You can pop over the blog to see the sketch. Thanks, Amy!

I also wanted to share with you a bit of info about the new kit that Paper Maniac will have in the store on Monday. In the new Black and White kit from Paper Maniac's "Make It Yours," you will get:

• 10 110 pound A2 cards in five popping colors
• 10 envelopes
• 10 8"x8" sheets of black and white patterned paper
• 14 A2 size cardstock panels in assorted colors and shiny metallics for layering
• 4 Neenah solar white stamping panels
• 8 18" ribbons in grosgrains, satins, metallics, and pompoms.
• Accessory package of buttons, brads, flowers, felties, dew drops

Wow, that's a whole lot of goodness!!

(all supplies used from Paper Maniac)

Stamp: Lala Land Stamps Whiskers with Pumpkin; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics; Paper: Making Memories 8x8 Paper Pad - Black and White; Accessories: 5/8" Argyle ribbon (orange and black), Making Memories Spooky Alley Decorative Pins, Kaisercraft Black Pearls

This card is also for a few challenges:

1. Papertake Weekly - The Dark Side
   
2. Cute Card Thursday - Spook Fest
3. Stampin' B's - Halloween
   

Whimsy Stamps - Feel better puppy

Do I love these stamps from the new release! I think this Pet Friends from Whimsy Stamps has become one of my all time favs. You just can't top that adorable face on this little puppy. Okay, maybe he isn't a little puppy, but he is still adorable! I think one of these days I'm going to turn him into a beagle so that he looks like my actual beagle :D

It will be so fun to turn the Whimsy dog into a beagle! For now, I've kept him as he is - I think he looks like a bloodhound, don't you think?
Stamp: Whimsy Pet Friends, Whimsy Circle Postmarks Sentiments; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics; Paper: Cosmo Cricket Early Bird, Recollections; Tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, MS border punch, BasicGrey pearls

You know what's really awesome? I designed the Circle Postmarks!! Denise was so nice to give me a chance and I really loved making them. I didn't think about coloring them until now (actually it's my first time inking them up), but it was so strange to be inking up something I designed.

Whimsy Circle Postmarks

Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm visiting family in San Diego this weekend and taking the camera with me!

New digital designs at Paper Maniac + FREEBIE

Hi everyone! I can't believe that we're heading into the weekend already. I'm so glad we are!

I just wanted to share with you some new digital designs out at Paper Maniac. I hope you like them :) The Halloween set is currently on sale for only $2.45 so grab it while you can! I'm giving away the "Mind Your Mummy" image/sentiment below. Just click on the picture to be taken to the download page.

The Worldwide Christmas set has a few images as well as "Merry Christmas" in 7 different languages. The sentiments are perfectly sized so that all you need to do is open them up an image editor and move them into the blank ornament.

Enjoy!

Halloween Set - on sale for only $2.45


Worldwide Christmas - $2.50

FREEBIE image: Mind your Mummy from the Halloween Set
(click picture to be taken to the download page)

SAS The Fresh Batch - New sketch!

Wow, what a busy week last week for the Stamps and Smiles team! We're back to our regularly scheduled programming and that means a new sketch at The Fresh Batch. We still haven't stopped playing with our new stamps so check out the rest of the DT's creations at the blog!

This card is also for a few challenges:

1. Scrappy Frogs - Tree Project
   
2. Saturday Spotlight - Dress up those trees!
3. Paperlicious Designs - Vellum (those panels are actually vellum on top of DP)

Stamp: Stamps and Smiles Trim a Tree; Paper: Unknown; Accessories/tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, ribbon, vellum, eyelets, embossing powder, BIC Mark It

Crafty Creations Challenge #34: Blues!

I don't get as down about the middle of the week at some people. Since I'm always thinking ahead, it always goes through my mind that, "Yay, it's almost Thursday and then just one more day until Friday!" I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. Maybe I shouldn't want the work week to be over to quickly, lol.

Saskia has come up with a wonderful challenge for us this week at Crafty Creations: use blues! We have a fantastic sponsor, too: SoftPencil. You can also visit Elizabeth's blog here. She was always very generous enough to offer up an image for the DT to play with. I love all her images; they're just so adorable! Visit the blog to enter this week's challenge and to see some fantastic creations by the other DT members.

This card is also for these challenges:

1. Bee Crafty - A sketch
2. Lili of the Valley - A Christmas card for a child
3. Creative Inspirations - Christmas in October
4. Whimsy Challenges - Punches and Dies
5. Everybody Art - Shapes and Punches
   

Image: Snowy Day by SoftPencil; Accessories/tools: Cuttlebug, embossing folder, Nestabilities; ribbon, Copics

MyGrafico Challenge: Tags!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've made something other than a card. Makes me kind of sad, but it's the quickest thing to whip up and nowadays, time's definitely precious.

This tag is for the MyGrafico Challenge which is to create some holiday tags using the Bumblebee Tag Stamp Pack. You can definitely make the clipart the tag itself and it would work perfectly fine! For our Wednesday Sketh challenge, Melissa has come up with two sketches - one for a card and one for a tag. I've decided to just make the tag since like I've said, I have very little time nowadays :(

Head over the MyGrafico Challenge blog to see what the design team did with the sketches. Make sure to also check out Monday's batch of tags using buttons.

This tag is also for the following challenges (wow I haven't done this in a while!):

1. One Stop Craft - Birthday Cards and/or Projects
2. Colour Create - Red, yellow, black, and white
3. Whimsy Challenges - Punches and Dies
4. My Time To Craft - Quick and Cute
   
5. Creative Card Crew - Scallops
6. Everybody Art - Shapes and Punches
   

Image: Bumblebee Tag Stamp Pack; Paper: Best Occasions, Recollections; Accessories/tools: ribbon, edge punch, corner punch

Paper Maniac Inspirations: Thank you cards and gifts

The time is just slipping by! The nights are colder and we actually have to use a comforter instead of just a thin blanket. It's nice to hear about people getting their first snow. I wish one of these days I could experience that, but for now, I'm just happy that fall/winter weather is rolling in and I'm not bathing in my own sweat.

This week's theme at Paper Maniac is thank you cards and gifts. Head over to the blog to see more of the DT's inspiring creations. Also, check out the newsletter to see Stephanie's beautiful tutorial!

This card is also for the Cupcake Craft Challenges which is "Thanks a Bunch" and the Crazy 4 Challenges "Truly Thankful" challenge.

Stamp: Unity September Store Kit; Paper: BasicGrey Indian Summer; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics; Accessories/tools: BasicGrey Brads, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Stamps and Smiles Blog Hop!

BLOG HOP IS OVER!
The winner of the goodie bag is.....
#3 Tracey!!
"hey ann! what i like most about winter...is snow! but i never get to see any where i live :(...probably for the best, shoveling it isn't fun...lol! thanks for hosting the hop!"

Tracey, please email me your address so that your goodies can get sent out to you as soon as possible. Thanks for joining the hop and enjoy your goodies!

Thanks for joining the Stamps and Smiles Blog Hop and release party! We hope that you've had fun this week. I'm your sixth stop and here's a picture of Jolly from the Tis the Season to be Jolly stamp set. Jolly is a little sad so let's help cheer him up. He would like something for Christmas, I wonder what it could be...


Grab the letter in Jolly's mitten and see what it spells. After you are done visiting me, your next stop is Rose Frydrych.

Once you have your answer, please email Jennifer at stampsandsmilesstore@yahoo.com. You will have until 9:30 pm CST tonight to email your answer. The winner will be announced at 9:45 pm CST on the Stamps and Smiles Blog. The Fall/Winter stamp release will be available for purchase tonight at 10 pm CST.

Just in case you get lost, here is the line-up:
Jennifer Stricker
Lisa Cook
Kim Gruetzmacher
Dalis Acevedo
Amanda Gill
Ann Vento
Rose Frydrych
Cynthia Burgess
Jennifer Meyer

AND if that wasn't enough, all of the DT members will have a Stamps and Smiles goodie bag up for grabs! We will each be picking a winner from our post. To be eligible, for either the grand prize or the goodie bag (which will have stamped images from the new release, white cardstock, and ribbon), you must visit and comment on all the DT's posts. Just for fun, if you like you can tell me what you love most about winter. Thanks for stopping by and making our release week a fun one!

Stamp: Stamps and Smiles Cuppy's Winter Wonderland, Tis the Season to be Jolly; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Bic Mark-It; Paper: Unknown

Here's all the five sets that were released this week. If you purchase all 5 sets, you'll get a 15% discount! Isn't that great?! The stamps will be available for purchase at the Stamps and Smiles store at 10pm CST tonight.

Unity Scrapbooking Collage Stamps!

Can you believe Patti got a hold of these stamps?


Yes, Unity's LeChic Vintage kit is for sale at the Paper Maniac store for $38.25, which is 15% off of the retail prize of $45! You can get FREE domestic shipping (within US or APO/FPO addresses) if you use the code BlogSHIP. This all expires October 31 when the price will revert to retail and the free shipping will be gone! Oh, and the free domestic shipping applies on your whole order if you wanted to add in an item or two.

Whimsy Blog Hop Winner!!

Simonne was the lucky mystery host for our Whimsy blog hop and she has picked a winner! Head over to Whimsy Stamps website to see who's won all the pet bundle from the new release!

Thank you to everyone who commented - we're all thrilled that you liked the new stamps and hope that you enjoyed our hop!

Stamps and Smiles Release: Day 4 - Trim a Tree

Today's new release features the set "Trim the Tree." This set has many possibilities, as you can see from the rest of the DT's creations at the Stamps and Smiles blog. I went with the simple route this time and came up with the cards you see below!

Remember, we have a hop scheduled for tomorrow night, 8PM CSS to 9:30 PM CST and you have a chance to win the entire set! I'll be posting up more info about it on tomorrow's post, which will feature the last set of the new release!

Stamps: Stamps and Smiles Trim a Tree; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: unknown; Accessories: eyelets, ribbon, embossing powder

MyGrafico and Crafty Creations Challenges

MyGrafico Challenges is proud be using this lovely set by Kelly Medina in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On Monday some of the DT showcased their cards using the color challenge, pink, and today, we're showing some cards using a sketch. Enter either the Monday challenge or today's sketch challenge and get a chance to win the digital set. Enter both and get two chances! Head over to the blog to see the other DT's cards!

This is also my card for the Crafty Creations Challenge which is to use soft colors/pastels. Our sponsor this week is Crafty Angels who have kindly donated two super cute Magnolia stamps to the winner of the challenge. Make sure not to miss a bit of inspiration - head over to the blog to see more soft-colored creations!

Image: Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp Set by Kelly Medina; Ink: Copics, BIC Mark It; Tools: Cuttlebug, Script embossing folder

Stamps and Smiles: Day 3 Release

Today's release features the new set: Tis the Season to be Jolly. See below for a picture of the set! Visit the Stamps and Smiles blog to see more DT inspirations and for new challenges.

Stamp: SAS Tis the Season to be Jolly; Paper: unknown; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, BIC Mark It

We also have a game we'd like you to play. Look for Jolly - he is hiding somewhere so hop around and see if you can find him!