Raindrop Echo Designs: October 2010

7 Kids College Fund: Birthdays!

Hello all! Today we have a new challenge over at the 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog! This week we have another easy one for you: created anything birthday related!

On my card, I've used the very fun Popcorn the Bear Party Time stamp set (it comes with the Party Time sentiment) along with a circle sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps Circle Postmarks set. As usual, the image was colored using Distress Reinkers with the Small Koi Water Brush. Nowadays, I've been coloring my images with only distress reinkers, but I may go back to using watercolor pencils and blending stumps. I remember it being so fun coloring that way, but lately I've just been lazy and distress reinkers are so much easier. The ribbons on the presents were topped with Stickles.

All papers used for this card are from the BasicGrey Oliver 6x6 Paper Pad. This is card okay for a guy? I mean, it has guy colors, but then it has that big old bow on top. I think it would still be okay if a guy got it, at least I hope, lol.

You can pick up most of the supplies I've used at the 7 Kids College Fund Store. Remember, shipping is FREE if you order over $75!

Stamp: Crafter's Companion Popcorn the Bear Party Time; Whimsy Stamps Circle Postmarks
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Small Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Oliver 6x6 Paper Pad
Accessories: Stickles, ribbon, button, twine
Tools: Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - Stick a number on it - "2" on circle postmark
Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle
2 Sisters Challenge - Anything Goes
CES Challenges - Buttons and Bows
I Did It - Surprise Me
Keep It Simple - Bow
Lexi's Creations - Birthdays
Craft Your Passion - Add glitter/sparkles
Cards for Men - Anything for male
Papertake Weekly - Sparkly and Bright
Tip Top Tuesday - Anything Goes
ABC Challenge - G is for Glitter
Friday Sketchers - Sketch

Merry and Bright

Whoo hoo! Two posts in one weekend!

This one was purely just for fun. I've been meaning to use my winter Lili of the Valley stamps for a long time now, but I just haven't had a chance to. This one is one of the newest ones I bought. Isn't it an adorable image?

The pennants sentiments banner is from the Happy Things Pennants sentiments set from Whimsy Stamps. I used the blank one and filled it in with my own sentiment. I ruffled up the ribbons in the back and glued it to the back of the sentiment. The sentiment on the bottom is from the Vintage Christmas set from Whimsy Stamps. I used some Stickles to add some glittery snow to the image, which was colored using Distress Reinkers with Small Koi Water Brush.

All papers used were from the BasicGrey Wander 6x6 Paper Pad. I was actually looking at the Wander paper pad and thought I wouldn't be able to use it for anything other than boy cards, but I thought this worked out perfectly! The paper right behind in the image looks like the ice pattern on the igloo so it was a match made in heaven.

Stamp: Lili of the Valley Igloo for Two
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Small Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Wander 6x6 Paper Pad.
Accessories: Wild Orchids Crafts flowers, Stickles
Tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Labels 11, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

Scrap Creations - Christmas
Paper Garden Projects - Holiday Cards
Delightful Challenges - Christmas
Lili of the Valley - Winter Fun
CCEE Stampers - Ruffles - I ruffled up a ribbon behind the sentiment
Fussy and Fancy Free - Winter Wonderland
AllSorts - Spots and Stripes
Challenge Up Your Life - Easel
Lots To Do - Easel or shaped card
wee Memories - Cute Holiday
Gingerloft Challenge - Winter
Midnight Madness - Sketch - I flipped it clockwise
Christmas Card Challenges - Christmas + flowers
Pile It On - Holiday + something soft - Does the ribbon count?
Paper Players - Recipe: One DP series, something punched, a sentiment

Sentimental Sundays Challenge: Distressing

Wow. Sigh. I can't believe it's been about a week and a half since I've posted on my blog. Well, at least cute little Henry got some well-deserved attention :)

And yes, can you believe it? I actually have a sample for the Sentimental Sundays Challenge this week! The challenge this week is DISTRESSING. I think I need to do some de-stressing of my own, but that's a whole other story.

For this card, I've used one of the newest additions to the digital sentiments collection at Whimsy Stamps called Fancy Swirly Square. It's Nestie friendly and best of all, since it's a digi, you can resize it to fit ANY of the sizes for this Nestie shape. Yep, very convenient, isn't it? I've practically covered up this card with flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. Oh, let me tell you really quickly about WOC. They must be one of the nicest companies out there ever! I ordered a whole bunch of stuff recently and a few days after, they said that they were lowering their shipping costs. So I was all bummed out that I didn't wait to order, but guess what? They refunded me the difference anyway. How cool is that!

Anywho, back to the card.

I've used various flowers from WOC and I also have some Prima Mini Roses in there. The leaves were punched out using a Martha Stewart punch. The Nestie shape that the sentiment is Nestabilities Labels 1 (which remains to be my most-used and my favorite shape) and it's laying on top of a die cut from the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant set. The edges of this card were distressed using Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool and the Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad. Oh, and all the papers are from the BasicGrey 6x6 Olivia Paper Pad.

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Fancy Swirly Square
Paper: BasicGrey 6x6 Olivia Paper Pad
Accessories: Prima Mini Roses, flowers from WOC
Tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Labels 1, Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant, Martha Stewart punch, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

We have LOTS of new members joining us at the Sentimental Sundays blog so make sure you head over there to see whose beautiful creations you'll be seeing for the next few months. Also, don't forget to grab the new freebie. Remember, freebies are only available for one week and after that you'll have to head to the Raindrop Echo Designs Digital Sentiments section at Whimsy Stamps to find some of them.

This card is for a few challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers - Use A Freebie - The digi was free because I created it, lol. Does that count?
Pear Tree - Free for All
TCP - Pink Embellishment - Pink flowers
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes
Tip Top Tuesday - Anything Goes
Craftalicious - Anything Goes
Flourishes - Focus on Sentiment
City Crafter Challenge - Rome, Vintage
ABC Challenge - Flowers
Whiff of Joy - Distressing
Stampin' Royalty - Ribbons
Meljen's Designs - Anything Goes
Stamp Something - Use a Digi
Frosted Designs - Die Cuts
Etsy Inspired - Stilettoheights - I used THIS as my inspiration
One Stop Craft - Photo Inspiration - I used the pinks and greens as inspiration
Mark's Finest Papers - Die cuts or punch
Sketch Saturday - Sketch - I moved the embellishments to the bottom!

7 Kids College Fund Challenge: Layers and Flowers!

Hello everyone! Hope you're all having a good middle of the week :)

Today we have a new challenge over at the 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog! It's an easy one so I hope you'll join us this week. We're asking you to create something with lots of layers and lots of flowers! For my card, at the thickest part, I have about 12 layers. The sketch over at the Whiff of Joy Challenge made this an easy card to put lots of layers on :)

On my card, I've used the super cute Whiff of Joy Stamp called Henry Mouse with Cup of Cocoa. The sentiment stamp is from the new Whiff of Joy Christmas Sentiments using the Fancy Shape die. I did lots of distressing using the my Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool and the Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad. All the papers on this card are from the BasicGrey Pyrus 6x6 Paper Pad. I really didn't think I'd be using these papers for a Christmas card, but I think it worked out pretty well! The image was colored using Distress Reinkers with Small Koi Water Brush. The border punch is the Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edge punch.

You can pick up most of the supplies I've used at the 7 Kids College Fund Store. You already know that Tab has the best prices, great customer service, and super fast shipping. Not to mention, you get free shipping if you order over $75!

Stamp: Whiff of Joy Henry Mouse with Cup of Cocoa
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Small Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Pyrus 6x6 Paper Pad
Accessories: Prima flowers, Wild Orchid Crafts flowers
Tools: Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad, Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edge, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

Whiff of Joy Challenge - Sketch
Curtain Call - Color challenge
Stamp Something - Something punchy
Secret Crafter - Distressing
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Winter Wonderland
Papertake Weekly - 3 of a kind (3 flower clusters)
Tuesday Throwdown - 3 of Something (3 flower clusters)

Tilda with Lacey Flag

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend was a good one :) I got a lot of crafting done, which I'm very happy about because it's been a while since I've been able to just create for no reason than just pure fun.

I used one of my newest Magnolia Stamps today called Tilda with Lace Flag. She just looks so sweet marching around with her flag! All the papers used on this card came from the BasicGrey Pyrus 6x6 Paper Pad, which is one of the newest releases from BasicGrey.

I've really been into creating panels lately and layering different-shaped Nestabilities. This time, for the two panels in the back, I've layered the Nestabilities Labels 1 on top of the Large Classic Scalloped Squares. I blinged out with flowers with some Stickles to give them a little pizazz and added some texture to the circle using the Bloom Dots A2 Embossing Folder.

As you can see, a lot of the supplies I used are available at the 7 Kids Store so make sure to hop on over to the store to pick up a few goodies!

Remember, we still have a challenge going on at the 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog! The current challenge ends on Tuesday night, so make sure to get your entries in.

Stamp: Magnolia Stamps Tilda with Lace Flag
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Small Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Indian Summer
Accessories: Prima flowers, Stickles
Tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Labels 1, Nestabilities Large Classic Scalloped Squares, Bloom Dots A2 Embossing Folder, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

BasicGrey - Sparkle (Stickles on flowers)
Incy Wincy - Sparkly Glitter
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Sparkle and Shine
Just Magnolia - 2 of Something (two blue flowers, two panels)
AllSorts - Inspiration from Song (When the Saints Go Marching In)
Midnight Madness - Sketch

Lili of the Valley - Fairy Fall Card

While some of you may be celebrating the wonderful change of the season, with the leaves turning into beautiful shades of oranges and reds and even brown, I'm here in Los Angeles sweating my butt off! Still, Fall is a beautiful season and it should be celebrated :)

I've created a card using one of the first Lili of the Valley stamps that I ever purchased called Fairies - On Tiptoe. I've actually had this stamp for quite some time now, but never got a chance to ink it up. It's such a darling image and so fun to color.

In the back, you can see some pattern on the Nestabilities shape. It's another digital image that will be releasing on October 15th at the Whimsy Stamps Digital Sentiments section called "Fancy Swirly Square" and is Spellbinder Friendly. There are two versions that come with these digital stamps, one filled in with a sentiment and one that's blank, just in case you wanted to use it for something other than to frame the sentiment. In this case, I've used it to add some detail around the frame of the image.

Stamp: Lili of the Valley Fairies - On Tiptoe
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Medium Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Indian Summer
Accessories: pearls, Prima flowers, Wild Orchid Crafts flowers, lace
Tools: Cuttlebug Nestabilities Labels 1, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

Lili of the Valley - Autumn
The Pink Elephant - Childhood
Magical Monday Challenge - Back to Nature
For Fun Challenges - Never Used (stamp)
Stampin' for the Weekend - Autumn
Stampin' B's - Fall
No Time To Stamp - Back to Nature
Challenge Up Your Life - Autumn
Charisma Cardz - Autumn Colors
Pals Paper Arts - Color challenge

Leafy Frame

Quick post!

Just wanted to share a card using one of the new digital sentiments releasing on October 15th at the Whimsy Stamps Digital Sentiments section. This is one of several Spellbinder-friendly frames that will be releasing; it's called "Leafy Frame." The frame comes with the sentiment inside and also without. Lots of possibilities!

Hope you're all having a good weekend! It's HOT over here in Southern California.

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Leafy Frame Digital Sentiment
Paper: BasicGrey Indian Summer
Accessories: lace
Tools: Cuttlebug Nestabilities Labels 2, Martha Stewart Doily Lacy Edge Punch, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

Digital Tuesday - Digi + ribbon, button, or bling
Totally Gorjuss - Not a Square (this is an A2 card)
Mojo Monday - Sketch

Whimsy Stamps releases Meljen's Designs in rubber!

Welcome to the Meljen's Designs rubber stamp release at Whimsy Stamps!

If you've come here from Vanja's blog, then you're on the right track. If not, please start at Chris' blog to make sure you haven't missed anybody!

Today we're releasing five new rubber stamps from the new Meljen's Designs Rubber Collection at Whimsy Stamps! Yep, you read right - rubber! All the images are adorable so make sure to check them all out HERE. The stamps are for pre-order, but they'll be in stock soon so get yours now! For this release, I've used the image "Santa's Puppy Helper." Isn't that a cute name?? I've used some some papers from the BasicGrey Wassail pad and created the four panels in the back with the Nestabilities Labels 12 die cuts on top of Nestabilities Large Scalloped Squares die cuts.

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Santa's Puppy Helper
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Medium Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Jovial
Accessories: ribbon
Tools: Cuttlebug Nestabilities Labels 12, Nestabilities Large Scalloped Squares, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

Make sure to enter comment on all the blog hop participants posts by Friday, Oct 15th at 12 noon (EST) for a chance to win some major goodies. There's also some candy along the way so make sure you don't miss a single one!

Now, it's time to hop along! Head over to Lorraine's blog to see her wonderful creation!

Winner of Whimsy Classified Ads stamp!

Hello everyone! Thank you for hopping along with us during our Holiday 2010 new release blog hop at Whimsy Stamps. All your comments were wonderful and I appreciate you taking the time to leave them.

Here's the winner of the Classified Ads stamp:

That's you, Linda!! I've sent you an email, but if you didn't receive it, please email me at ann@raindropecho.com

Make sure you all come back in a couple of hours for another new Meljen's Designs rubber release from Whimsy Stamps. See you soon!

Whimsy Stamps Holiday 2010 Release! And a chance to win!

This post will remain at the top until August 7th. Please scroll down for newer posts.

I can't believe today is finally here!

Thank you for joining the Whimsy Stamps Holiday 2010 Release Blog Hop! If you've come here from Deb Routledge's wonderful blog, then you're on the right track. If not, please return to Bev Rochester's beautiful blog to make sure you don't miss one amazing creation!

I can't believe that this day has finally come. Some of you may have been watching and waiting for the stamps to be available since the sneak peeks started on Thursday, but I've been waiting MONTHS for these stamps to be released. I am so very proud to be on the Whimsy team and to have the opportunity to design for such a fantastic company. I truly think that this release is one of our best so far. Crissy has done an outstanding job, like always, and I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I think about how lucky I am that I get to work with her. Not to mention, we have some of the most talented ladies using our stamps in their fantastic creations!

Anyway, I'll quit being sentimental now, but hey, what do you expect? lol

Today, Whimsy Stamps is releasing NINE new designs for your creative pleasure. We have something for everyone in this release! Really, we do! We have three new cute images (Starry Night, Santa's Midnight Snack, and Jingle Bell Ride), two new background stamps (Classified Ads and Life Defined), we have a beautiful Vintage Christmas set, a fun Holiday Wish List, a multi-purpose/envelope Vintage Happy Holidays stamp, and of course, we have some more of those infamous Holiday Ticket Sentiments. Whew, what a long list! There's definitely a good selection in this new release :)

I've decided to create a few cards using the Vintage Happy Holidays stamp, the Classified Ads stamp, the Life Defined stamp, and the poinsettia from the Vintage Christmas set. I went the clean and simple route for these cards. The first card just has a line of pearls with the sentiment stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa. The second card uses a sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps Oval Snippets set and embellishment with Wild Orchid Crafts flowers. The third card has a handmade flower made with a Nestabilities die and stamped on the edges with one of Crissy's accessory flourishes. I then layered it, crumpled it up, and held it together with a BasicGrey brad. For the fourth card, I paper pieced the poinsettia three times on two different colored papers from the BasicGrey Jovial paper pad.

I hope you like them!

Want a chance to win the

Classified Ads background stamp?

Denise has kindly allowed me to give a choice of a stamp I designed to one winner and I chose the Classified Ads background stamp. For a chance to win, please leave your link in the InLinkz below by October 7, 2010 12:00 PM noon.

But wait, make sure you hop along to ALL the blogs because there are lots of other prizes to be won! We have several opportunities throughout the hop for you to win some goodies so keep hopping.

Your next stop in the hop is the super talented Melanie Holt'z blog. If you've never seen Melanie's wonderful creations, you're in for a treat!

These cards are for a few challenges:

CPS - Sketch (2nd card)
Waltzing Mouse - Sketch (3rd card)
Sketch Saturday - Sketch (4th card)
Card Patterns - Sketch (3rd card)
Meljen's Designs - Monochromatic (first three cards)
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Spots and Stripes (4th card)
Creative Card Crew - Bloomin' Marvelous (3rd card and 4th card)
For Fun Challenges - Vintage (all 4 cards)
Little Red Wagon - Make your own embellishment (3rd card)
Your Next Stamp - Grow Your Own (3rd card)
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Fancy Floral (2nd, 3rd, and 4th card)
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Anything Goes
Lots To Do - Vintage (all 4 cards)
Stamptacular - Layer it on (4th card)

Thank you for stopping by today!

Whimsy Stamps Jingle Bell Ride

Hello everyone!

Today, I'm like to quickly share a card using one of the newest images from the Whimsy Stamps Holiday 2010 Collection called Jingle Bell Ride. The tickets are also from the newest Holiday Ticket Sentiments set. This challenge is also for The Crafty Den Christmas challenge.

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Jingle Bell Ride and Holiday Ticket Sentiments
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Medium Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Jovial
Accessories: pearls, Prima flowers, ribbon
Tools: Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

Remember, we have another new rubber release this Friday for the Meljen's Designs Rubber Collection! See you then :)

Whiff of Joy Happy Mail

Whew! Another Monday is over!

This is a quick post to share a card I made using some Whiff of Joy stamps. This card uses the Whiff of Joy City Girl Shape Sentiment Set and City Girl Shape die cut that released on October 1st (which I designed). I love how it works so perfectly peaking out! I've used an image from one of my favorite Whiff of Joy collections, the Happy Mail Collection. This image is Charlotte with Mailbox and the sentiment is from the Charlotte Riding on Pigeon.

I've used some beautiful papers from the BasicGrey Olivia 6x6 Paper Pad, used lots of pearls, lots of flowers, ribbon, and a button. The image was colored with Distress Reinkers with Medium Koi Water Brush. The inside is stamped with a large thank you stamp. Oh my goodness, this thank you stamp is SO OLD that it's actually wood mounted. I love this stamp, though :) The border inside was punched using the Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edge Punch.

Stamp: Whiff of Joy Charlotte with Mailbox
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Medium Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Olivia 6x6 Paper Pad
Accessories: pearls, ribbon, button, twine, Prima flowers, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
Tools: Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edge Punch, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

This card is for a few challenges:

Whiff of Joy Challenges - Thank You
Pals Paper Arts - All Buttoned Up
Mark's Finest Papers - Buttons and Bows
Paper Sundaes - Something From Your Stash (Thank You stamp)
Sundays with Crissy - Buttons and Bows
Pollycraft - Anything Goes
Paper Playtime - Ribbons, buttons or rhinestones

Sentimental Sundays Challenge #23: Autumn or Fall

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today at Sentimental Sundays, we have an Autumn or Fall challenge for you! We also have a DT call going on and you can see all the details for that HERE.

For my card, I've used some beautiful papers from the BasicGrey Pyrus paper pad. There are so many perfect papers for fall in this pad! I've used a digital sentiment from Whimsy Stamps which will be available on October 15th. I've used the Life Defined background stamp that will be releasing today (October 3rd) on the kraft paper behind the sentiment.

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Autumn Sentiments and Life Defined background stamp
Paper: BasicGrey Pyrus
Accessories: ribbon
Tools: Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

I hope you join us for today's challenge and that you try out for the DT call! As always, there's a new freebie up, but you have to head to the Sentimental Sundays blog to get the download link. Here's a picture of the new freebie:

This card is for a few challenges:

Tuesday Taggers - Autumn
Craft Your passion - Clean and Simple
A Crafty Little Place - Autumn Daze
Stampin' For the Weekend - Autumn
Papertake Weekly - Sketch
Our Creative Corner - Fall and Fall Colors
Crazy 4 Challenges - Color Challenge
Little Paper Shop - Fall
Stamptacular - Fall Colors

Whimsy Stamps Sneak Peak #2: Vintage Christmas

Are you ready for another Whimsy sneak peak?? You've probably been directed over here by my other fellow sneak-peekers because I'm late posting this :)

Today I'm showing you a sneak peek from the upcoming Whimsy Stamps set called "Vintage Christmas." It's a great set with several images of as well as accompanying sentiments. Make sure to visit my Whimsy teammates for their sneak peaks!

This card also fits the challenge at Charisma Cardz (Christmas) and Creative Inspirations (Christmas) and the Sketch at Critter Sketch Challenge.

Whimsy Stamps Sneak Peak #1: Starry Night

For the next few days, you're going to be getting A LOT of Whimsy here at my blog!

Today is my first sneak peak of the new designs which are releasing on October 3rd (this Sunday). There are nine new designs total! Three of them were used in my card below, which are: an image by Crissy Armstrong called Starry Night, a sentiment from the Holiday Ticket Sentiments, and a Classified Ads background stamp. And YES, the Holiday Ticket Sentiments fit PERFECTLY in the Tim Holtz Ticket Die!

Of course, I used some of the new BasicGrey Jovial papers which I just got my hands on. I am so in love with these papers! I stuck some Ivory Flower Soft on the polar bear's hat and on the penguin's ear muffs and used Stickles on the star (although you can't see it very well).

There are a few of us doing sneak peaks today so make sure you pay my DT sisters a visit!
Bev
Donna
Lori
Marley
Vanja

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Starry Night, Holiday Tickets, and Classified Ads (all releasing October 3rd)
Coloring Medium: Distress Reinkers with Medium Koi Water Brush
Paper: BasicGrey Jovial
Accessories: Ivory Flower Soft, Prima flowers, ribbon
Tools: Cuttlebug, Tim Holtz Ticket die, Making Memories Paper Trimmer, ATG adhesive gun

Also, quick reminder that the new Halloween Tickets and some new Halloween Sentiments are now available at the Whimsy Store!

This card is for a few challenges:

Sketch Saturday - Sketch
Totally Gorjuss - Christmas
Paper Sundaes - Things with Wings