Andrew + Crate Paper

     Hey there everyone! I wanted to share a GORGEOUS card that my very artistic nephew made last weekend!! He saw my craft room, and asked me, "What are we going to create today?" I thought to myself, "Dearness me, he is ADORABLE!" So, I pulled out Toy Box from Crate  and let him choose some ribbon, buttons and embellishments. With a little help gluing and cutting, Andrew made this adorable card which he told me he would proudly keep in his room at home!

The amazing little man himself (with my pet Mr Green)!

Epiphany + Clearsnap Day 2

   Hey there! I'm back again! I know, twice in one week? Well, now that my design teams are in full swing again (in addition to another creative surprise that I'll mention in Jnauary 2012), I have lots of fun things to share with you.
   Day two has me sharing a fun Halloween party invitation using Epiphany Crafts Vintage settings and Clearsnap Pigment Ink and watermark ink. I really enjoy the incredible quality that Clearsnap creates. Rich colors, easy to use and great results. Check them out-their product line is extensive.

It's really easy to make this invitation. Trim some "Haunted" paper from the Phantom collection by Pink Paislee. Fold into a gatefold, trim envelope edges and attach a  Vintage setting

Trim some "Obscure" paper from the collection, stitch the top, stamp the Skull image with Clearsnap watermark ink, emboss with clear powder and ink over for a fun resist!

You can print your own info on the inside card to customize this invitation.

I hope this inspired you to think about fun halloween ideas for your upcoming party! Make sure to stop by the Epiphany Crafts blog to see new projects all week!

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Epiphany Crafts + Clearsnap

    Hey there everyone! Were continuing the Epiphany Crafts and Clearsnap cross-promotion! What a great idea to combine the fun tools of Epiphany Crafts with the inks, spritz's and accessories of Clearsnap--SIMPLY PERFECT! I had so much fun with them that I made two projects! I'll be sharing one today, and you'll have to come back tomorrow to see the next project.

     Today's project is a mini canvas album from my 2-year anniversary with my husband to Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania--AMISH COUNTRY. I have a small, okay BIG obsession with the Amish people. My husband worked from January to May in DC, and since our anniversary falls on my spring break, I flew out to DC, spent some time with him there, and then we drove to Pennsylvania. It is a vacation EVERYONE should take. There's just something about staying in a lovely inn and drinking coffee, while lookint out the window and watching an Amish farmer till the soil---a much simpler pace.

     I thought that a canvas album mixed with the Fresh Goods line from Pebbles would suit my Amish Country trip perfectly. Plus, it seemed a really FUN way to showcase how you can combine Epiphany Crafts with Clearsnap products.

"Amish Anniversary" Album

For the cover I layered and stitched some paper and sticker borders, threw on some yummy polka dot ribbon.

  I layered the 25 Flower button over flowers that I painted on

with the Clearsnap Smooch which I used as a painbrush, painting directly onto the canvas the same flower motif that appears in the the patterned paper.

Here's another little close up of this fun technique. The canvas really absorbs the Smooch well, so no worries about bleeding.

 For the second page, I decided to stamp directly on the canvas with a cute gingham swatch using Clearsnap's Color Box Pigment Stamp Pad. The ink is rich, bold and PERMANENT--so, less is more.

The vintage settings are my FAVORITE Epiphany Crafts product. I punched a circle with the Round 14 and then added a bow of baker's twine to the center.

The next page features a fun little tile technique that I stumbled upon just by playing with the new 25 Square tool. All you need to do is punch the squares, layer them on the canvas and then add the epoxies over some of the squares for dimension. I also repeated the fun painting technique with the Smooch. I also added a cute vintage dairy cap I picked up at an antique store to add to the charm of the farm photo.

     For the last page I wanted to use a masking technique, but I wanted it to look clean as I'm not a fan of altered work and heavy paints, mists and the like.

I used the Smooch Spritz to spray over the 25 Heart Epoxy mask. I then stitched the hearts for some contrast.

I also added another vintage setting, punching a circle with the Round 14 and adding some pearls.

Well, that's it for me today! Come back tomorrow and I will share with you a fun Halloween party invite idea.

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3 Different Ways to Use Your Epiphany Crafts Tool

      Hey there everyone! It's been so long since I've made a design team post, but I am back at it again with some fabulous ideas of how to use your Epiphany Crafts tools in a new way! I am excited that Julia Sandvoss has joined the  Epiphany Crafts  team as our Design Team/Social Media coordinator. I've worked with her before, and she is the sweetest, most helpful lady EVER!! She's designed our new blog, and set up some really fun assignments that will share  Epiphany Crafts  products and ideas ALL MONTH LONG!


    Today I am going to share with you a fun idea for a Halloween party--a trio of mini treat bags that showcase three different ways that you can use your Epiphany Crafts tool!

Trio of Mini Treat Bags

You can use the 14 Button tool to anchor a banner to the front label of a bag which creates a nice focal point

Threading the buttons with string makes it look vintage!

Another fun technique that showcases the versatility of Epiphany Crafts tools is using them as punches to create a chevron border.

On this treat bag I used my 25 Square tool to create punched squares. I then trimmed the squares in half to create triangles. I then adhered those triangles to the paper block, creating this border--SUPER EASY

The last technique that I'd like to share with you is using your tool to make an embellishment on your project

To make this cute little pumpkin embellishment, all you need is your 25 Oval tool. Punch some ovals using your tool, fold the ovals pieces in half and adhere the backs together. Make sure to trim a stem to complete the look

I hoped these little techniques showcased the versatility of these tools in some new ways. It's always fun to discover new uses for a tool!

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Operation Julie's Smile + A Card

Welcome!

    I am so happy that you could join us for a special blog hop, for a special lady, Julie Ranae Murray.

She is a bright sunshiny ray  in the paper-crafting community, and when I found out about this wonderful blog hop and was asked to participate, I definitely wanted to be involved. If you came here from Lynn Miller's blog, then you are in the right spot! If not, you may want to start from the beginning at the Sweet Stamp Shop's blog and take your time. You have all weekend to hop with us and win prizes, I do hope you continue and see the lovely work of all the ladies involved.

     You may know her as the Design Team Coordinator for many wonderful companies, from bakers twine, die cuts, rubber stamps and more. What many people don't know about Julie Ranae Murray is that she has had some pretty major dental surgeries in her lifetime due to medication she had to take as a child. It was in her plans to think about having all her teeth replaced at some point in the next five years, a decision  that was pretty easy to plan out. But, then it happened....she chipped her front tooth on a weekend a month ago. The dentist told her there was no way to save them, and that it was his recommendation that she give in and have all her teeth removed very soon; but for that day, they needed to get her front teeth done so that her gums could begin to heal. He said that he would 'work out payments with her to have ALL this work done, but when she called to make an appointment for the first set of impressions, his staff told her the amount of money that it would cost, and that the payments only applied to the the teeth that were extracted that day. So, this is how she has found herself in this situation-needing at least $4000 to get started and another $3000 to finish it up, totaling $7000.

   Nicole Rixon, owner of Sweet Stamp Shop put together this benefit after finding out about this situation, and before Julie Ranae Murray knew it, the blog hop took flight! An organizer by trade, Julie Ranae Murray has taken on the job of organizing all of the blogs in this hop as her way of "working overtime" for what she needs, the same as if she were able to work overtime at an outside job to pay for all the work to be done.

    If there is anything that you can do to help with a financial donation, there is a donation button ready for you to click on the left side bar of this blog. Any amount is appreciated and ALL DONATIONS will be eligible for prizes from our sponsor pool of over $2500!

A thank you card for Julie! We all appreciate you and, were thankful to have you in our lives.

Don't throw away pieces of string! You can use them in your projects

to add a little dimension.

   

   I hope you enjoyed your stop here on the blog hop. Your next stop is Iwona Palamountain. Make sure to leave a comment here so that you can have a chance to win one of the amazing prize's up for grabs. If you can, please make a donation so that we can help bring back a new smile for our friend.

WCMD 2011 + American Crafts

   

   Happy World Card Making Day everyone! I had a lot of fun today, and even though I didn't work too much on cards, I was happily creating in my craft room on some FUN DT projects for SEI. World Card Making Day is a relatively new holiday that Paper Crafts Magazine started to recognize the joy of card making and jump start the holiday fun of homemade gifts and cards. I am excited to jump start that fun, as I have signed up for my VERY first holiday fair this year! Eeek! A relatively small fair, I am hoping to clear the shelves of old projects and cards and gain a little extra cash for my design funds.

    I thought I would share this fun little tag trio that I paper pieced with a little American Crafts and a digi stamp! Enjoy!