Love or Hearts Challenge

This is my first challenge project for the weekly Cuttin and Stampin challenges.  This week's challenge is to use LOVE or HEARTS in your creation.  I'm a bit of an overachiever, so I used both.  Here's a quick sneak peek of my project:

You'll have to head over to Cuttin and Stampin to see the whole card and to participate in this week's challenge.

Happy Stamping!

Time to Celebrate!

Here it is, the day we've all been waiting for! We are having a blog hop celebrating the new Cuttin and Stampin DT and kicking off our weekly challenge blog. Each of us has produced projects to celebrate in style! (If you got here from somewhere other than Teresa R's blog, please click here to start at the very beginning of our hop.)

This blog hop includes the 11 new Design Team members, plus the final stop. Those hoppers who leave a comment at every blog in the hop will be entered to WIN blog candy -- two $25.00 gift certificates to A Muse Studio are up for grabs. So relax, grab a cuppa, and hop along to meet the NEW CUTTIN and STAMPIN Design Team.

For those who are first-time visitors to my blog, my name is Kim and I live near Boise, Idaho, after growing up in Fort Lauderdale, FL (big change!). Hubby Chris and I are owned by two sweet cats, Digit and Dusty. Chris developed life-altering chronic illnesses in 2001 shortly after we were wed, and I left corporate life shortly thereafter to care for him. Stamping was a nice, quiet hobby (sans the heat gun, hammering, etc.) for me. Throughout my stamping journey, I've met so many wonderful people and learned so many techniques... I wouldn't trade any of them.

For my project today, I have a celebratory birthday card created using the sketch from the Take Ten magazine's Winter 2013 issue:

Supplies:
Stamps: At First Sight (A Muse Studio)
Paper: Solid cardstock in sugar & grapefruit and chevron cardstock in grapefruit (A Muse Studio)
Paint/Ink: Grapefruit (A Muse Studio)
Accessories: Baker's Twine in cherry/white (A Muse Studio), Birthday sticker (Bella Blvd.), pop dots (3L)

I want to thank you all again for stopping by and being part of our CELEBRATION Hop. (Don’t forget to hop all the way through and comment at each blog to be eligible for the big drawing.) Your next stop is CallyAnn's blog, where she's got two wonderful projects to share.

Here's the complete blog hop lineup, in case you need it:

Tammy – http://cuttinandstampin.blogspot.com
Teresa K – www.createenjoyshare.blogspot.com
Janet – http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com
Doris – http://momsbeenscrappin.blogspot.com
Sherri – http://sherri-iloveflipflops.blogspot.com
Pam – http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com
Robin – http://create-a-latte.blogspot.com
Teresa R – http://freshandrenewed.blogspot.com
Kim – http://kimross.blogspot.com
CallyAnn – http://callyanncraftycreations.blogspot.com
Daphne – http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com
Wrap Up – http://cuttinandstampinchallenges.blogspot.com


Hope you've had a blast during our hop today! Challenges start soon, so be sure to check back!

Oranges and Golds

I grew up in South Florida, with no real change of seasons -- well, aside from Hurricane Season.  I just experienced my fourteenth autumn in Idaho, and I still miss the turn on my street because I'm mesmerized by the fall colors on the leaves.  I don't think I'll ever get over it.  With that in mind:

The stripes on the main panel were created using Tim Holtz alcohol inks rubbed across Stampin' Up! glossy card stock.   I've tried a zillion different glossy papers for this technique, and the SU paper is the very smoothest.  Others, for whatever reason, cause the ink to skip and bump.   The stamp is from Artistic Outpost.

This card's colors reflect exactly how the leaves in my neighborhood looked this fall.

Happy Stamping!