Spring Birthday Card

Today's share is a card that we made in my recent Mother's Day card workshop. It uses some of my favorite retiring products. While I'm very excited about the new products coming out, it makes me sad to see such pretty stamps and papers retiring!  The upside is that there are some amazing sales on retiring products right now. You can see them all here: www.sherrithompson.stampinup.net. 

                        

All supplies from Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: All Abloom Stack (RETIRING)

Stamps: Crazy About You, Petal Potpourri (RETIRING)

Ink: Basic Black (RETIRING), Daffodil Delight, Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow

Punches: Flower Medallion, 7/8" Scallop Circle, Ornate Tag Topper, Scallop Edge Border

Other: Blushing Bride Baker's Twine (RETIRING), Frosted Sequins (CLEARANCE)

Thanks for popping by today!

     

Lily Pad Cards' First Birthday Blog Hop

Welcome to the Lily Pad Cards’ First Birthday blog hop! You should be joining us from Pia’s blog. There are three prize packages with a total retail value of over $300! These prizes will be awarded by random draw. To be eligible, you need to “like” us on Facebook HERE. For even more chances to win, comment on the blogs participating in this hop (including the Lily Pad). For each comment, you get your name entered again (just one comment per blog, please!) Many of our blogs have some blog candy of their own to give away, too! Start hopping at the Lily Pad Cards blog so that you won't miss any of the fabulous birthday cards or blog candy!

This hop features birthday cards, but I chose to make a 1st birthday card, since it's Lily Pad Cards' 1st birthday. You could easily change this for any birthday by just changing the number, or leaving it off altogether. Get ready for some Paper Smooches cuteness:

Isn't that pup just too cute? He is from Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums. I just got this set and couldn't wait to ink it up! I love to mix and match my stamp sets, so I added a party hat from {ippity}, a number 1 from Unity, and a sentiment from Studio Calico. Spreading the love, lol! Paper is from a mix of companies, too: Cosmo Cricket, DCWV, Heidi Grace, Bo Bunny, and Basic Grey.

Ready for some blog candy? I have some brand-spanking new {ippity} to give away! It's so new that I can't even share a sneak with you yet, but I have it right here on my desk, ready to send to one lucky winner! Unity designer Angie Blom has created our April release sets for us, and I am giving away a set called "Let Your Heart Take Flight." To be entered to win, you must leave me a comment on this post AND be a follower of my blog. All comments for the Lily Pad prize package and my blog candy must be received by midnight (EST) on Sunday, April 8th. Check back on Monday, April 9th to see if you are a winner!

I am so glad that you hopped by today! The next stop on the hop is the amazing

Vanessa Menhorn:

http://www.wingsofabutterfly-vanessa.blogspot.com/

If you hit a bad link, you can always go back to the Lily Pad (http://www.lilypad.inlinkz.com) to view the master list of blog links. Please report any bad links to aris@inlinkz.com. Happy hopping!

Happy Birthday Wishes

Just a quick share today using some patterned paper strips that I had leftover from a class. I also used this week's sketch from Chick Challenges {with ippity}. You can now use both {ippity} AND Unity stamps for the challenge, so I paired an {ippity} frame and "happy birthday" sentiment with a "wishes" stamp from Unity. They fit together perfectly! I love combining my sets like that-love getting more mileage from the stamps that I already have!

I have also been making a ton of new cards using the new {ippity} stamps that are coming out on thursday.  they are SO cute!  I can't wait to share them with you!  Here is a sneak of one of my projects using one of the new sets:

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today!  Be sure to come back on Thursday to see all of my cards for the new release!  

Getting Old...

Today's share is a fun birthday card, filled with sarcasm. Kind of...but as a thirty-something girl, I can totally relate to the sentiment! Can you?
I used one of {ippity}'s February releases, "Sucks to Get Old". You can now order that set directly from the Unity website-just click on me as your {ippity} chick!
I paper pieced it with white and hot pink cardstock, then mounted it onto a cropped Spellbinders die cut. The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder. It was a challenge for me to do a "color pop" card like this because I love patterned paper and lots of color! However, I wanted to play along with this week's challenge at the Play Date Cafe. The challenge was to use black and white, with just a splash of hot pink. I missed the deadline to enter, but still wanted to give it a try! You just never know what technique will give you great results!

Counterfeit Kit Cards

Today is the last day of the month, so I am TRYING to use up as much of my July Counterfeit Kit as I can. I have three layouts in mind that I want to make, but I have to print some photos. I decided to make some cards using the smaller pieces of paper and some of my embellies. The lighting on these is a little wonky...not sure WHAT'S going on with that! Someday I'll learn how to use all of the features on my camera and photo software. :)I love the coral and teal color combo, so I made this card using scraps of each and some of the Basic Grey Hopscotch stickers. I reddened the pink sticker a bit with chalk to make it match my paper, and the butterflies are stickers from the same sheet.

(Sorry-these cards are now both out for publication!)

This one's kind of corny, but hey-that's me. :) I hadn't planned on using the "boombox "paper with this kit (the reverse is my "clothesline" print), but it was cute and I thought it would stretch my kit a bit to make a boy card. I think that all of the neutrals balance out the teal and orange. I used my chalks again to recolor the white letter stickers a teal color. Those chalks have been a great resource for me this month! I also "raided" my June kit for the tiny black alphas and black cardstock scraps.

Yep-another corny sentiment. :) I saw a stamp set once that had a camera and "Oh, snap!" as the sentiment. The idea was cute and stuck with me. I knew when I made my kit that I wanted to pair that sentiment with the camera paper. I attached a ribbon camera strap to the camera that I cut from patterned paper. I wrote "I missed your birthday!" on the inside of the card using those same black tiny alphas from my June kit.

Invited

More paper piecing. I love it. It's my favorite technique. :)
Cute little cupcakes and a sentiment from Unity ("Mix-up of Cuteness" and patterned paper from Basic Grey's Lime Rickey collection. Love those fun colors and patterns! I also love that this card could go for a boy or a girl.
I also want to share a little trick with you. I originally stamped the sentiment directly onto the white cardstock mat, but the ink had a little bubble and it just wasn't a clear image. Since I had already stamped and pieced the cupcakes, I didn't want to start over completely. So, I stamped the sentiment again onto the green strip, notched the end, and adhered it over the original sentiment. I love the end result more than the original!
I used this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems to make this card. Thank you for visiting! Make sure you stop by the Momenta blog today, too-I have a cute project to share with you!

Cuppy Cakes

I made this cute little cupcake card using the "Cuppy Cakes" stamp set from {ippity} and papers from Basic Grey's Lemonade collection. These cupcakes were so fun to paper-piece! I can't wait to make more. I am entering this card in 2 challenges. The first is the {ippity} paper-piecing challenge. Although {ippity} chicks can't win, many of us play along just to share some fun ideas for how to use the stamp set. You, however, could win a $20 gift certificate to your favorite {ippity} chick! If you play along and win, I'd love to have you shop with me! :) You can find the details for the challenge HERE.
I am also entering this card in the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. This is my first time entering this challenge, although my friend Lesa has been playing along for quite a while. I am a bit intimidated by the numbers-there are already 148 cards entered in the challenge! WOW! The great thing about that, however, is that there are a ton of great ideas to peruse through the linky.
Thanks for visiting today-I will be back a little later with a couple more challenge cards to share!

A Fun Birthday Card

I can share this one with you now that the recipient FINALLY got it in the mail! I am really good about MAKING cards, but not-so-good about actually MAILING the cards. Many of you know this about me. ;) I should probably just stamp every birthday card I make with a belated birthday sentiment, just to be on the safe side.
This card uses Lawn Fawn's "Bake Me a Cake" stamp set and fun new papers from Momenta. Lots of paper piecing here, which is one of my favorite techniques ever. I think it comes from my love of patterned paper (and the hoarding of said paper!)
Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Cupcakes

Today's card is for my SIL, Jeanie. Jeanie is a cardmaker, too, so I wanted to do something fun! I made this card during the Hero Arts 90-minute Scramble last weekend. The challenge was to make a birthday card with more than one fold. My card has the "main" fold at the bottom, and then the top has a flap that folds down. After scoring my folds, I used my circle cutter to round the flap. Then I covered the card front and the flap using papers from My Mind's Eye's Quite Contrary collection. Such pretty and fun colors! The string and button closure holds the top flap down, and can easily be untied to open the card.

The cupcake and sentiment stamps are all from Hero Arts. I paper pieced the cupcakes and added some Crystal stickles to the frosting. I originally stamped the sentiment directly on the card front, but it just didn't "pop" the way I wanted it to, so I stamped the words again on cardstock scraps, trimmed, and adhered them right over the originals using foam squares.

Thanks for stopping by! I will have lots more shares in the next few days (all of my submission rejects, lol!)

Birthday Butterfly

This is a card I made for my friend, Connie. Her birthday was yesterday, but I didn't want to post the card until I knew she had it. I didn't want her to see it on the blog first!

I used this sketch from Stepping Stones Design. The colors were inspired by EAD Designs' Turtle Love Color challenge. All of the stamps used on this card are from {ippity}. This week's Unity Addicts Challenge (UAC34) was to pick one of your oldest Unity stamps and pair it with one of your newest. I just started using Unity stamps last summer, so they are all pretty new to me! I decided to take a stamp from {ippity}'s first release in Fall 2009 and use it with one from the most recent release. The butterfly is from Devoted and the sentiment is from the new Party Hat Wishes set. I love this butterfly stamp. It is perfect for layering. The bottom layer is pink marbled cardstock and the top layer is pink patterned paper. All of the patterned paper on this card is from Stampin' Up! Finally, I knew that the sketch included 5 little accents under the sentiment. I have been using a ton of gems lately, and I was all out of pink and brown rhinestones. So, I pulled out one of my cases of brads and found these rich chocolate brown brads that matched perfectly. This week's challenge over at 4 Crafty Chicks was to use metal on your card, so this fit the bill perfectly!

So, Happy Birthday, Connie! I hope you have a great day and got lots of scrappy birthday goodies! ;)

Birthday Eye Chart

I had to chuckle when I saw this stamp in the new Party Hat Wishes set from {ippity}. You can see the whole set HERE, and you can order it by emailing me at sharecropperskits@gmail.com. How cute is that birthday eye chart?! For this card, I paired this set with a fun color combo from ColourQ challenge #67. The sketch is part of the Hip Hop Twist Challenge for January. Thanks for stopping by today! Today is a snow day here-which means lots of inky time today. :) Stop back tomorrow for more projects

Plum Birthday

I made this elegant card for my mother-in-law's birthday. I started out with a very different design in mind, but ended with this simple design. I loved it! The embossed background was just what this card needed to make the white space as elegant as the image.

As you can see from the inspiration photo above, this card is made using the beautiful colors that Kim has selected for this week's Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge. The plum/burgandy and taupe cardstock are from SEI, and I think that the ribbon is from SEI, too. I'm not sure-I've had it in my stash forever! The paper, however, is brand-new. I just received it from CARDS magazine as a goody for being published in the September 2010 issue. :)

The design is based on this sketch from Create with Connie and Mary. The JUGS Challenge this week was to decorate and line a matching envelope for your card. It gave it such a finished look!

Happy Birthday to my Mom...and a present for YOU!

Today is my mother's birthday. Shh...don't tell her I told you, but she is 75 today! We are having a little party for her here this afternoon, so I'm just going to do a quick post...with a GIVEAWAY!
First up, though, is the card. I made this card to match the gift bag from THIS post. The card is based on the sketch from Unity's Hip Hop Sketch Challenge #39. I really loved the design, plus I added the scalloped border that extends beyond the edge of the card. I love that look!

Now for the GIVEAWAY! I am giving my mom lots of different cardmaking supplies for her birthday, including some {ippity} stamps (of course!) Would YOU like to win some {ippity}? I'd love to give you some! Here's how you can win:

1. Leave a sweet comment for my mom for her birthday. :)
2. Become a follower of my blog.
3. Check back here on Monday for a winner!

I will take comments until Sunday, 1/9, at 11:59 PM EST. I will draw a random winner and post the name here on the blog on Monday. You've got to check back! The winner will have one week to email me at sharecropperskits@gmail.com to claim their prize. If I don't hear back from her, I will draw another name.

BONUS: I am giving away the "Life's Little Moments" set to one lucky winner. HOWEVER, if I get 100 followers, I will draw 2 names, and the second winner will win the "Love in Return" set. AND, if I get 200 followers, I will draw a third winner to get the "Farm Fresh" set! How cool is that? Be sure to spread the word! :)

Some Birthday Projects and *HAPPY NEWS*

First up today is a card I made on Monday. I really love this stamp set-it's perfect for paper piecing. I used cardstock and patterned paper from SEI. I made this card for the JUGS Sketch Challenge #65.

This next project is a gift bag topper. What a beautiful way to dress up a simple kraft bag from the dollar store! I used two {ippity} stamp sets to make this: Now & Always and Just Wanted to Say. You can get them both HERE. All of the papers used on this projects are also from SEI. The gorgeous ribbon is from American Crafts. I made this project for the Unity Addicts Challenge #32. Yes, I am a Unity addict...and an {ippity} addict, a Lawn Fawn addict, and a Hero Arts addict! ;) This bag is going to hold some special scrappy goodies for my mom, who turns 75 this Saturday. I think she will like the bag as much as she likes the gifts inside!

And *HAPPY NEWS*-two of my cards have been chosen in challenges this week! My Doily Thank You made the Top 5 over at the Cupcake Craft Challenge, and my Heartfelt Thanks card was spotlighted at 365 Cards. A huge thank you to everyone who has left me such sweet comments all week long-I LOVE reading them, and I have been leaving lots of comments on blogs all week, too. It's just a nice thing to do, and I appreciate your sweet words. They always make me smile!

Thank You and Birthday cards

First up is a different type of card than what I usually do. All black and white! This one is based on last Thursday's challenge at 365 cards. The challenge was to use a silhouette on your card, and the twist was that you could only use black and white. This was a hard one! I stamped one of my Mimi images (from DeNami Design) and just colored everything in with a black marker. I was quite pleased with the results! I then reached into my scraps and found a piece of black and white patterned paper from American Crafts. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn. I stamped it with Versamark ink and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I thought it needed some "oomph", so I gave the girls a little bit of bling with Icicle Stickles.

I just love this next card, Peachy Birthday. This card was also made for the 365 card challenge blog. Last Wednesday's challenge was to "Keep It Simple" by only using one image, one sentiment, and one embellie. Another twist was that you could only use 1/3 of the card surface. Again, quite a struggle for me since I love embellies! I love the patterned paper cake layers, though-I think they are an embellishment in themselves. All of these papers are from an old DCWV stack-Nana's Nursery. The cake stamps are from Lawn fawn, and the sentiment is from imaginisce. The colors were inspired by Mona Pendleton's new challenge blog: CR84FN.

Finally, I have a birthday card for my Hero Arts friend, Marilyn. I missed her birthday the other day, but I still wanted to send her a pretty card. Plus, I owe her one! Marilyn sent me an adorable card last summer, so it's my turn. :) This card is based on Sketch #2 of sketch week by Lucy Abrams. I used another stamp (the dressform) from Lawn Fawn, and the same Imaginisce sentiment. I also embellished the tag a little bit with a Martha Stewart border punch. Making a dent in my stash, too-the red polka dot paper is AT LEAST 10 years old! It came in a Bitty Paper stack from Provo Craft which I got when I first started scrapbooking way back when. I loved the color and the print, though, so it never made it's way into the circular file. I love the combo of red and teal. They look great with the kraft and white, don't you think?

DeNami Design Color Challenge

We're bringing our color challenge to you a little early this month-so you will have the long weekend to play along! Our colors were selected by DT member Michele. These colors look fabulous together! I always admire cards that feature black and white with a splash of color, but I have to admit that I struggle to use just one color! Most of my cards feature lots of colors because I love patterned paper and images that you can color or paper-piece. So this "Challenge" was definitely a challenge for me! If I can do it, though, so can you!

While I love patterned paper, I didn't have any that used just the featured colors. So, I made my own! I stamped black polka dots on hot pink cardstock using DeNami's Polka Dot Background. Then I stamped my focal point image-one of my favorite DeNami stamps-the Cupcake Tower. I colored the image with markers and added some Crystal stickles to the frosting. Although this didn't add any color, it added some sparkle and a little bit of texture., which I love. The final touch was to stamp Happy Birthday and add a touch of bling. Easy design, but a fun result.

I hope that you can play along with our Color Challenge! You can see the details of the challenge, along with the Design Team's beautiful cards, over on the DeNami Design blog. Thanks for stopping by today!

Get Sketchy #53

I am just loving my {ippity} stamps lately, so when I saw this week's Get Sketchy sketch, I immediately went to my {ippity} drawer to find the perfect stamps! I used a flower from the "Because of You" set, which is available on my {ippity} blog. I paired it with leaves from {ippity}'s "Fall for You" set and a birthday sentiment from Unity's "It's Your Day" set. The "Fall for You" set is also available on my {ippity} blog.

You will be amazed when you see the gorgeous cards from the Get Sketchy DT. You can see them all on the Get Sketchy blog, along with this week's sketch. Hope you can play along with us this week!

Also, there is still time to enter this week's challenge over on the Wee Memories blog! Our theme this week is "Sweet Treats-with a ribbon on top!" Simply make a card that incorporates a sweet treat-candy, cupcakes, birthday cakes, donuts, etc.-and add some ribbon. Easy as pie-oh, there's another idea for you! :)

It's a Birthday Challenge!

About half of the cards that I make are birthday cards. Sometimes, I feel like I have made the same designs over and over again. Do you ever feel that way? Well, the DeNami Design team is here to inspire you! Today over on the DeNami Design blog, each of the DT members has created a special birthday project. Lots of great ideas!

My card features Mimi with Birthday Cake, Polka Dot Background, and All Occasion Sentiments. I also used Magenta and Charcoal cardstocks, and I added a splash of color with Lime Green grosgrain ribbon.

DeNami is also sponsoring our third "Theme Challenge". The theme, of course, is birthdays! All you have to do is create a birthday project using at least one DeNami stamp and link it to the DeNami blog. You can see all of the details HERE. Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Wee Memories Challenge #18

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm so glad it's the weekend. I have a busy day today because I am exhibiting at a craft fair in Augusta. Wish me luck-it's my first with my cards and my {ippity} stamps. Hoping to sell a few cards, a few stamp sets and make lots of new contacts!

I also get to share the newest challenge with you from Wee Memories. This week's challenge is to use BUTTONS, BRADS, AND BLING! (You can choose one or more of these.) We have a fabulous prize for you this week: a package of 10 Cuttlebug goodies! Our generous sponsor this week is Oh My Crafts! You can click on their logo below to see all of their yummy scrapping goodies.

For my card, I used Lawn Fawn's "Bake Me a Cake" stamp set and lots of patterned papers from Momenta. I was inspired to make this funky cake after seeing Ayana Posadas' Whimsical Cake card a few weeks ago. I added some bling (Stickles) to the candles and blingy brads (glitter brads from Imaginisce.) Is any card really complete without a little bling? :)

We'd love to have you join us this week over at the Wee Memories Challenge. You have until Friday at 11:59 PM PST to post your card. Can't wait to see what you create!

DeNami Product Challenge: Glitter!

It's the 5th of the month, so that means that it's time for a challenge over on the DeNami Design blog! This month your challenge is to use glitter on your project!

First of all, I decided to make an easel card. I love these! I used papers from SEI's Play Day and Happy Day collections, and ribbon and buttons from DeNami Design. I also love the Mimi with Birthday Cake image! Call me crazy, but as I coloring Mimi, I was picturing the adorable Michele from the DeNami DT! Don't you think they look alike?

After coloring Mimi with colored pencils, I added Strawberry Freeze Sparklets Glitter to the cake. Even though I had colored the cake with a cream colored pencil, the pink glitter added just a hint of color but a lot of sparkle. The Quickie Glue Pen makes adding glitter to your images so easy. I love this glue pen and I use it for glitter, flocking, and paper-piecing.

So do you have some glitter that you've been saving for a special project? Show us what you can do with it! Head on over to the DeNami blog to see the challenge details and to see the amazing projects by the other members of the Design Team.