Cute Card Thursday - Sparkles

Happy Halloween!

Cute Card Thursday's theme this week is

Sparkles

Good excuse to get out the glitter and stickles!

I am making mini albums instead of Christmas cards for my kids this year, we never throw out hand made cards so they will be even more of a keepsake this time!

We are sponsored by Heather's Hobbie Haven this week!

Supplies

Whimsy stamps - Time 4 Tea 'presents'

dies - Whimsy stamps Christmas Tree die, Whimsy Stamps Holiday Sentimentables, and the Whimsy Stamps Layered Snowflake Dies.

Papers - My minds eye Winter Wonderland.

Cute Card Thursday - Spooktacular!

Our theme on Cute Card Thursday this week is 

Spooktacular!

Perfect timing with Halloween just around the corner!

Spotted a few of these square cones around but couldn't find a template that would work so I ended up drawing one myself.  It was pretty simple and I am sure I will use it again!

The papers and embellishments are an assortment of Authentique and My Mind's Eye, both my favourites!

WE are sponsored this week by Bugaboo, hope you can join us!

Thanks for dropping by!

Whimsy Stamps October Rubber Stamp and die release!

Welcome to the Whimsy Stamps October Release Blog Hop!

We have 17 new images, 2 paper packs, 4 dies and 3 new shape EZs.  All available in the Whimsy Stamps online store today!

On my creation today I used Crissy Armstrong's Snowman String of Hearts.  Aren't they adorable? I just love these little snow people!  On the inside I also used the new Reindeer die and the Holly and berries die on the front and inside.

This is actually a Christmas planner  made from an accordion file folder, not a card.  I got the inspiration from Dena who made one the other week, the tutorial I found on splitcoast stampers.

For those of you who are new to Whimsy Stamps, we hold a 3-day new release event each month: aSneak Peek Blog Hop on the day before the release (today), a Release Day Blog Hop on release day (tomorrow), and finally a Review Day Blog Hop the day after the release.

Each blog hop has a prize of 2 new release stamps hidden somewhere along the way and you have 24hrs to enter each prize draw! To be entered into today's blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT's posts listed below by 12.00PM EST tomorrow. All winners will be announced here on the Whimsy blog on Friday.

To take a peek at today's fabulous new release creations, please click on the links below...

Ann-Marie, Debbie, Heidy, Iris, Patricia, Shannah and Shelby.

Thanks so much for dropping by and happy hopping!

WOYWW

Currently, I am working on a bit of colouring.  This is going to be for a project I need for next week!  I am very excited about this!  I have had to order some special dies for it!  It had to be done! This is something I need to make!

Can't say more than that for now!  All I will say is, it is a bit ambitious so don't be surprised if next week I have ditched it and made a card instead!

Sorry about the shadows, pic taken in the evening and I always have sun here at this time of the day.  I love it, my room gets a lovely golden glow!

So what is on your workdesk this week?

If you would like to join in pop on over to Julia's blog for more details!

Whimsy Stamps Freebie Friday!

It's freebie time over at Whimsy Stamps! This week we have an oldie called Whimsy Reindeer.

Here is an oldie I made with this stamp back in 2009!

 To download the freebie please visit the Whimsy Shop and scroll down the main page. Once you see the image, right click on it and select save to computer. For those with a Mac computer, if you do not have a right-click enabled mouse - hold down the Ctrl key when you click to get the same effect as pressing the right-click on a two-button mouse.

Be sure to grab the freebie today as it will be gone tomorrow. Freebies only remain on the website for about 24 hours, if you miss it, you can always purchase the image in the shop. Please tell your friends to stop by to grab it for themselves too. Have a great weekend!
http://whimsystamps.com/

Cute Card Thursday - Candyman

How about this for a super quick Christmas gift?  I think this would be perfect for the school bus driver or the music teacher. I will definitely be rustling up a few more.

This is my creation for this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge! 

The theme is Candyman!

We are sponsored this week by Whimsy Stamps.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Whimsy Stamps Challenge - Shabby Chic/vintage

The Whimsy Stamps Challenge this month is

Shabby Chic/vintage

I used this cutie from the Crissy Armstrong Collection

Mousey Candy Cane

I knew he would be perfect for my December Daily.

Also from Whimsy Stamps I used the Holly and Berries die, Large Leafy Flourish die, Layered snowflake dies, and the Just my Type sentiment stamps.

So far I have only have the front cover completed so I can't add the ribbons to the book rings yet which should finish it off nicely!

The chipboard album is Recollections from Michaels, it came with a cute mini album too.  

I have found with any book that I create that it is best to keep the covers as flat as possible otherwise you have huge problems storing them and find things get knocked off.  The dies are the perfect embellishment as they still add some texture but without the bulk.

The challenge information -

 3 Prizes - $15 gift voucher for the Whimsy Store, 5 digital stamps and a mystery rubber stamp!

...as well as random winners being chosen each challenge, one lucky player who has used a Whimsy Stamps image (rubber or digital) will have the opportunity to be a guest designer for a future challenge. If you have used a Whimsy Image and would like to be a future guest, please add GDT to your name when entering. The guest designer will be able to choose a digi stamp of their choice from the store to create their guest card too!

Anyone can enter our challenge and we don't mind you combining with other challenges either! Please remember no more than 3 entries per challenge and all we ask is that you add a link in your blog post to tell your friends you entered the Whimsy Inspirations Challenge

WOYWW

A busy desk again but at least all the stuff from last week was put away before getting this lot out!

I am working on my December Daily.  You can see the chipboard album there on the right, much bigger than my previous years' albums.  I am being a little ambitious here!  Particularly as I have never completed an album yet!

Never say never, I have all the photos, just need to get creative with them and pop them in.  In 2011 I got halfway through the month, last year  I didn't get a single photo added!  Must sort that out!

You can come back on Wednesday at 12 noon EST to see the front cover completed.  Sorry, can't show until then!

 See, it really was all cleared off.  The only thing on here at the weekend was my chipboard album waiting to be opened and some table runners that I cut in half and hand stitched for my two little hall tables. 

Love my table like this, it didn't stay that way long though!

That is my weekly show and tell.  If you want to see more workspaces or would like to join in pop over to Julia's blog for more details!

Cute Card Thursday - Neutral Zone

 Our theme for Cute Card Thursday this week is neutral zone!

We are sponsored by our regular monthly sponsor Whiff of Joy this week!

Time to get out those gorgeous neutral papers!  I used Authentique papers and the fabulous Christmas sentiment stamps are all Whimsy Stamps.

Each one finished off with the Holly and Berries die.

(Sorry for the dodgy photography, was in a hurry to get these mailed off and so by the time I discovered the blurred pics they were already dropped off at the post office!)

Love all the Whimsy Stamps letter seals, this one is from the Winter Letter Seals set!

This saying is from the Whimsy Stamps Christmas Sayings set.

 This one from the Tis the Season Notables 5

 Another from the Christmas Sayings set!

Thanks for dropping by!

WOYWW

Very messy desk from me again this week.  I am hoping to get it all cleared off this week although as I am scheduled to decorate my son's room this week I will be relying on paint drying time to do anything else!

Fingers crossed next week it will be immaculate.  I am feeling frustrated trying to work in here, I do much better in a clean and tidy environment.

ON my desk are some  Authentique papers, some Whimsy stamps sentiments and some partly made Christmas cards.  These are now finished and winging their way over to Jan's in the UK for her Women's Refuge Charity.  I will be posting the finished cards on Thursday this week if you care to see them.  I am rather pleased with how they turned out for such a simple design so I plan to make more for other charities as I must confess to not sending many Christmas cards myself!

If you care to join in this week you can get all the details on Julia's blog!

Circle of Friends Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to our
  Circle of Friends blog hop
especially for our dear DT member and friend Bev Rochester

Unfortunately, Bev has had to take a little break from crafting over the past few months due to ill health. We are missing her here at Whimsy and want to let her know that we are thinking about her and wishing her a speedy recovery. Even though the Whimsy family is scattered all around the world, we have come together as a circle of friends to show Bev our love and support by each making her a card. Although this hop is for Bev, we do hope you will hop along with us to support our wonderful teammate and friend. If you arrived here from Louise's blog, then you are in the right place! If you’ve happened upon this post by chance and would like to hop with us, hop on over to the Whimsy Stamps blog to begin the hop. For my creation, I decided to ink up ...September Rose and coloured her with Prismacolor pencils.

I also used one of the sentiments from the Spring Letter Seals!

  So now it's time for you to hop over to ... Ann-Marie's blog. Finally, here is a full hop list in hopping order:

Whimsy Stamps blog Simonne Clay Jacque Beddingfield Kathy Tanner Debbie Eastman Louise Roache Deb Routledge Ann-Marie Sinfield Heidy Blom DeNetra Bates Iris Wiechmann Shelby Thomas Melissa Andrew Patricia Garcia Shannah Bartle Tammy Louise Cunliffe Denise Lynn

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Cute Card Thursday - Signs of Distress!

Here is my card for Cute Card Thursday, the theme is Signs of Distress!

We are sponsored by Bunny Zoe's Crafts this week!

Hope you can play along with us!

Supplies

Rubber Stamps - Whimsy Stamps - Tea for Two Fall Love

Colouring medium - Prismacolor Pencils

Whimsy Stamps - Seasons Greetings Notables 7

Dies - Notables 7

Ornaments Die

Paper - My Minds Eye - Vintage Christmas

***************

Thanks for dropping by!

WOYWW

This is my desk from earlier today in the process of making a card (will be shown on Thursday).  There are remnants from the Scrapping Retreat I was at over the weekend -  the Ferrero Rocher tub filled with lots of useful tools, the brand new washi packs and the magnetic pots filled with brads.

You can see the rest of the stash from the retreat below!

 A giant stack of various paper collections.  Some I purchased, the rest were freebies.  Some 6x6 pads, brads, enamel dots, sequins and other embellishments and some stickers and glue runners.

We made some amazing projects, including cards, a layout and a fantastic mini album.  (Will photograph them and share them next time!)

The retreat was fantastic as always and I loved every minute of it! I think the best thing is meeting up with crafty pals who return every year!  This was the 3rd one and I have been to all 3!  My highlight was having Teresa Collins teach a class, we made a lovely mini with her.  She is such an inspiration!

We also had American Crafts, MME and Echo Park.....sigh, fabulous!

If you want to know more about WOYWW pop on over to Julia's blog for the deets!

Thanks for dropping by!

Cute Card Thursday - Pretty Ribbons

Our theme this week on Cute Card Thursday is 

Pretty Ribbons!

I have decorated a chocolate bar as a special Halloween treat!

So love this image from Whimsy Stamps she is Trixxie Treat by Kenny K.  She is coloured with Prismacolor Pencils.

 We are sponsored this week by Crafty Devils.

Hope you can join us this week!  Thanks for dropping by!

WOYWW

Time for Whats on your Workdesk Wednesday!

I managed to clear off part of the table last week only to fill the space with project life stuff!

This does have a home but I am starting to gather up bits for my up coming retreat.  I like to make a pile to check through before I start to pack!

Project Life seems like a very convenient thing to work on while on a retreat.  I only need my packages and photos (you can see, I have one or two of those too)!

The tin, stamp and metal embellishment pack are a pressie from the hubster, (I know, I trained him well!) they are most likely going to be packed up to come to the retreat.

I love the stamp it says 'One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats'

The other packages to the left are some bits I picked up from Michaels today, along with my second PL card pack as I thought they would be perfect to work alongside my PL cards!

The orange card and black ribbon are the remnants of a project I just finished, you will be able to see it on Thursday!

I hope you can join us this week, pop on over to Julia's blog for more details and link ups!

Whimsy Stamps September Rubber Stamp and Die release Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Whimsy Stamps September 2013 rubber stamp and die release BLOG HOP!

Our brand new September Release Rubber Stamps, Stamp Sets, Whimsy Shapeology Dies and Whimsy Designer Paper 6x6 packs are now available to buy from the Whimsy Stamps store!!

To celebrate our new release, the DT are holding a blog hop today and are sharing creations made with some of the brand new Elisabeth Bell, Time For Tea Designs and Raindrop Echo Designs stamps! The blog hop has a prize of 2 new release stamps hidden somewhere along the way and you have 24hrs to enter each prize draw.

To be entered into today's blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT posts listed below by 12.00PM EST tomorrow. All winners will be announced here on the Whimsy blog on Friday.

Here is my card using Santa Baby from the Time for Tea collection, Seasons Greetings notables 7 from the Raindrop Echo Sentiments collection, Notables 7 die, Holly and Berries die and the Snowflake border die.
This is also my card for the Whimsy Stamps Challenge, the theme this week is 'Masculine Cards'!

To take a peek at today's fabulous new release creations, please click on the links below...

Debbie Eastman
DeNetra Bates
Ellie Stover
Heidy Blom
Iris Wiechmann
Janette Garcia
Jodi Amidei
Kathy Tanner
Melissa Andrew
Patricia Garcia
Tammy Louise Cunliffe
For a full reveal of all the stamps, dies and papers released today pop over to the Whimsy Inspirations Blog!

 Don't forget to visit today's DT and leave a comment on their blog posts to be entered into our prize draw!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy our new release!

Don't forget to pop back tomorrow for our final blog hop!

WOYWW

My desk is a huge mess this week!  Just completed another project and not got around to tidying up from the previous project! Will have to make a big effort tonight to put some stuff away!  I have created a space for all the fabrics I have been buying so that should clear up some of the mess!  I have fabric and interfacing, embroidery hoops etc at the top underneath other things, my paper crafting stuff at the front right.  

The project life binder and core kit are new, the binders are on offer this week at Michaels, this is one of 3 that I got and the core kit I used a 50% off coupon on! Now, need to find somewhere to house 3 new binders!  As you can see, they are not particularly small!

 I am busy painting the house so not getting a lot of crafty time but I did manage to finish the rabbit's legs!

Come and share your crafty space with us, pop on over to Julia's blog for details!

Cute Card Thursday - Hip to be Square

I am very late with this card for Cute Card Thursday.  Our theme is Hip to be Square!  I kept everything I could square and kept it flat and simple to that it is an easy mailer.  This one is another for the collection going to Jan for the ladies at the refuge!

The image is a Whimsy stamp called Little Flower.

We are sponsored this week by Whiff of Joy!

Thank you for dropping by!

Whimsy Stamps Alberto Gava debut digital stamp release!

We are thrilled to welcome a brand new digital artist to the Whimsy Stamps team of artists... Alberto Gava

This month we are releasing FOUR digital stamps illustrated by Alberto Gava for Whimsy Stamps. To celebrate Alberto’s debut release we are holding a fabulous BLOG HOP to showcase creations made with these fantastic new digital stamps.

 The hop starts today (Wednesday September 11th at 8.00AM EST) and ends on Sunday September 15the at 12.00 midnight EST. For this hop we have a TWO GRAND PRIZE DRAWS!

Two lucky hoppers will each WIN the entire new release of ALL FOUR DIGITAL STAMPS.

But that's not all ... we've also hidden 9 single digital stamp prizes throughout the hop and I’m one of the prize stops! To be added to the draw to win one of the new Alberto Gava digital stamps (winner’s choice!), please leave a comment on this post! We will draw the winners shortly after the hop ends, and a full list of winners will be posted on the Whimsy blog on Monday 16th September.

Here is my creation!

A yuletide banner!

I coloured up Alberto's supercute Red Hat image and of course had to make her hat red!  Then green came naturally and once I saw her I knew I wanted to make something festive!

I have just ordered a new piece of furniture for my kitchen and knew this was what I wanted to make to decorate it for Christmas!  

 I used Authentique 'festive' and 'peaceful', October Afternoon buttons and the Stampin' Up stocking and pennant dies.

  Thanks so much for stopping by and happy hopping!

WOYWW

 Wednesday again ( at least it is in the UK!) so that means time for WOYWW.  Doesn't it feel like we just did this?

ON my desk today ( photographed Tuesday) are these die cuts.  The paper is Authentique and the dies are all from Stampin' Up.

You can see this finished (believe it or not) later on Wednesday!

Not enjoying the crochet as much as I do knitting so after finishing off my scarf ( will share once I can get someone to model it) I started this at the weekend.  Working on the second foot/leg and I love it! So looking forward to meeting this little sweetie!

You can find this pattern here!

If you want to share your workspace you can do so at Julia's blog!

Cute Card Thursday - Pretty in Pink

A nice easy theme on Cute Card Thursday this week, Pretty in Pink!

Never difficult for me to use pink!

WE are sponsored by Bunny Zoe's Crafts.

I used this sweet image from Whimsy Stamps which is now only available in Digi form.
She is called Summer Day Emma.

We have a colouring challenge going on at the Facebook Whimsy Stamps Inspiration Group (Whimsy Fans can request to join) which is to colour pleats.  I couldn't resist a little extra practice but then it seemed a shame not to finish and  use the image!

This and some of my future cards are going to be kept as flat as possible so ensure easy posting.  I am going to send a few cards over to Lunch Lady Jan who is asking for cards to send to a women's refuge that she supports.

Many thanks for dropping by!

WOYWW

I don't know where the week went!  I didn't get much creating done at all!  I was a bit under the weather all last week which zapped my mojo! I was horribly lethargic which is not me at all, I usually have to be doing 3 things at once!  Anyway, whilst I had no energy I worked on my family tree and ordered some more certificates so at least the week wasn't a total loss!  Now that is out the way I hope I am immune for the rest of the year!

This week I am catching up with some colouring of  stamped images.  I have a great pile waiting to be coloured up for the month ahead!

This one is offered on the Whimsy Inspirations Facebook page as a free digi to join in a colouring challenge.  This time it is pleats! That is something I certainly need practice on so I welcome this challenge!  If you are a Whimsy fan you can request to join the group!

I am keeping some large sheets of packing paper on my new desks now.  I got some pencil marks on one of them which are not easy to remove so I came up with this solution.  I love that I can just jot down any notes or plans right onto my desk!  You might just be able to make out some dates and also a card sketch in the top right!

 This was part of our Labor Day celebrations this week!  It is an annual event where golf balls are sold to raise money for charity and are then released down the makeshift race track.  Luckily, we were on a hill!

Once the balls were cleared away a parade followed.  I loved this yarn bombed golf cart!

Back to colouring for me.  What are you doing this Wednesday?  Let us know by popping over to Julia's blog for links and more information!

WOYWW

Here is what I am working on just now. 

3 more needlebooks, I already finished one on Sunday,  you can check it  out  here!

The tutorial for these is available here!

I am really enjoying making these.  I am also working on some colouring for cards I need  but can't share them yet.

How perfect is the stamp I used, it is part of a set from Whimsy Stamps?

 I won this fantastic crafty bag in a silent auction for charity on Saturday night. I was so determined that I wasn't going to come home without it! It is fantastic, has a little of everything in there, so perfect for me!  It even came with a complete set of tools and I mean real tools, I now have my very own hammer, screwdrivers, wrench and some other things that I don't know the name of! 

Pop over to Julia's blog for more details on WOYWW and links to many more desks!

Stitchy Sunday!

I have been bitten by the sewing bug, sewing fabric that is!  Always a fan of stitching paper I finally put some fabric under my sewing machine this summer and discovered I love it maybe even more than stitching paper!

I found this needlebook tutorial on Nana Company blog and had to give it a try.

I did want to incorporate stamping somehow so I found this very appropriate stamp by Whimsy Stamps from the A Touch of Elegance stamp set

 The bonded by love stamp on the back is also Whimsy Stamps from the Friends and Family Mini Postage stamp set.

 I wanted to make this a little sewing kit rather than just a needle book so thought the addition of the thread would be useful.  I will also add some needles.

 If you want to make one you should check the tutorial but here are some pics in progress.

 The patchwork on the back is so fiddly but so worth it I feel!