The Look + A Winner

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week!

I wanted to pop on and share a project and announce the winner of the Altenew July Release blog hop.

First, a while back, I did a layout for Paper Smooches:

I have to start out by saying, I'm not much of a scrapbooker, but I'm starting to see the importance of memory keeping. My dad was into photography when I was growing up, and we had a darkroom for color photography in our house. I still remember the distinctive smell of the photo processing. ha ha It's so much easier now with a camera on my phone, and I've been enjoying trying to take at least one photo every day to document the everyday.

Anyhoo, a few months ago, I made this 6" x 8" layout using the Paper Smooches Fancy Frames stamps. The set is so cute, and now there are matching Fancy Frames Icons dies, too (I fussy cut the images here). I stamped the frames in the same colors as the Crate Paper Boys Rule collection.




I used a few of the Boys Rule stickers and chipboard and the "so you" die-cut is from October Afternoon's All Boy line. I added a few embellishments from Freckled Fawn, too--the cute emoticon and the acrylic arrow. After making this page, I decided I need an old manual typewriter. I think I may have to get one for my birthday. ;)

For the Altenew July Release Blog Hop winner, congrats to:

Brandi R.!

Congrats on the $30 gift certificate! Thanks everyone for the sweet comments!! <3 you all!!

Have a great day!

Smile + a Winner

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a lovely weekend!

I'm up on the Altenew blog today with positive and negative die-cutting. I hope you swing by and see the full card! :)

I'm also very tardy to announce the winner of the Altenew Dye Ink Blog Hop. The winner of the $30 gift certificate to Altenew is:

Kristie Larsen

Congratulations, Kristie! Please drop me an e-mail (see the "Contact Me"). Thank you to all who commented!

Spring Kites Home Decor

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!

I'm up on the Maya Road blog today with a home decor project.

I used a lot of altered Maya Road embellishments and American Crafts Serendipity papers to make kites. Now how springy is that? :) I hope you'll swing by the Maya Road blog and check it out!

I also wanted to announce the winner of the $30 gift certificate to Altenew for the Altenew Die Release Blog Hop. Congratulations to:

Jamie Vanskiver

Jamie, I don't see an e-mail for you, so please e-mail me at redballooncards at yahoo dot com and I'll pass your information on to Altenew. Thank you so much for all of the really sweet comments!

Have a great day!

Online Card Class Giveaway

Hi everyone! I have a post and a giveaway today:

Ever try a technique that ended up feeling just too complicated to use on a card (or worse multiple cards)? We’ve all been there! Happily, Online Card Classes is ready to help us take on that challenge with a little technique know-how! 

Online Card Class instructors Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, and Julie Ebersole are the instructors for Clean & Simple Card Making 4: Techniques Made Simple.  In this all-video class, they’ll be sharing ideas for embossing, die cutting, and more… all with a Clean & Simple twist that will make the techniques more approachable and useable than ever. 

I’m one of the guest artists in this class....I'm still kind of geeking out over it. :) The sneak on the bottom-right is my card. (Squeal!)

Want to take Clean & Simple 4 for free? I get to give away one spot in this fantastic class. Just leave a comment on this post by 1:00pm ET on Friday to be eligible! Class starts on Monday, January 26, 2015. I hope to see you there!

If you want to enroll in the class or see more about it, you can sign-up HERE. These classes are always awesome!

Have a great day!

Season's Givings Blog Hop

Hi everyone, and happy 2015! Welcome to the Season's Givings Blog Hop!

Latisha Yoast came up with a great idea to share our new/unused crafty supplies--to have a blog hop and give the supplies away to people hopping. I love this idea!

I'm so thankful for the blogging community. I know everyone is busy, and it means a lot to me that people take the time to stop by. I wanted to do the giveaways as a thank you!

Here is a card I made for the new year:

This month, Winnie & Walter is celebrating their first anniversary, and they're hosting a month-long birthday bash. Part of the celebration includes several challenges (they'll go live at 7am CT 1/1). I'm joining in the fun and playing along with Laura's challenge. If you get a chance, check them out (the prizes are huge!).

For my card, I used The Big, the Bold, and the Extras stamp set and matching cut files from Winnie & Walter.  I did some two- and three-step stamping for the flowers and layered them over some Maggie Holmes vellum flowers. The leaves were die-cut using the cutting files. I was very inspired by THIS gorgeous card.

Here's a close-up:

I'm also linking this card up to the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge. There's still time to link up.

I've been fortunate enough to receive or win some extra supplies, and I'm thrilled to be passing them on! I have two giveaways for two winners. If you enter once, you're entered into both:

[Click on picture to enlarge.] Giveaway 1: Mama Elephant, Avery Elle, and Imaginisce stamps; Crate Paper embossing folder, 6x6 pad, two sets of stickers from the same collection; Pink Paislee washi; Studio Calico sequins; ColorBox Cat's Eye.

[Click on picture to enlarge.] Giveaway 2: Fancy Pants 12x12 papers, stickers, die-cuts, felt flowers, buttons, and clips; KI Memories stamps; Glitz Design washi; Studio Calico ink pad. 

Here's the scoop: 1) You can leave a comment for a chance to win. 2) For a second chance, you can "follow" my blog and leave another comment to let me know if you already follow or are a new follower. You can follow my blog by clicking Google's "Join this Site" on the sidebar and/or following by e-mail.

The giveaway will end at 6am ET on 1/7, and I'll announce winners here. Also, I'm happy to pay for international shipping.

The people/companies below are all offering different giveaways. To enter, all you have to do is go to their blogs, leave comments, and you'll be entered:

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Lawn Fawn

Spellbinders Paper Arts

Reverse Confetti

Clearsnap

Ice Resin

My Favorite Things

Technique Tuesday

Paper Smooches

Sweet & Sassy Stamps

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store

Avocado Arts

A Jillian Vance Design

Latina Crafter

Die-Versions

Unity Stamp Company

Splitcoaststampers

Verve Stamps

Latisha Yoast

AJ Otto

Vera Yates

Julia Stainton

Judy Hayes

Kim Watson

Yana Smakula

Chari Moss

Taheerah Atchia

Shemaine Smith

Emily Spahn

Kimberly Crawford

Lee Murphy

Lovely Linda

Laura Williams

Lori Tecler

Chaitali Narla

Darsie Bruno

Lydia Fiedler

Giovana Smith

Teri Anderson

Beth Pingry

Dina Kowal

Daniela Dobson

Lisa Adametz

Piali Biswas

Kelli Green

Keri Lee Sereika

Jocelyn Olson <-- You are here

Julee Tilman

Michelle Woerner

Lori McAree

Theresa Momber

Anita Autore

Melody Rupple

Sean Fetterman

Bunny Vance

Tricia Traxler

Lisa Arana

Lorena Cantó

Amy Tsuruta

Jodi Collins

Tenia Nelson

Kelly Klapstein

Jill Cornell

Emily Leiphart

Becky Williams

Margie Higuchi

Lee Ann Barrett

Lisa Hoel

Heather Campbell

Lisa Henke

Sheri Holt

Michele Kovack

Ashley Harris

Sharon Harnist

Lori Craig

Nicole Nowosad

Laurel Beard

Michele Boyer

Christiana Reuling

Laurie Schmidlin

Jennifer Priest

Stacey Schafer

Heidi Blankenship

Heather Pulvirenti

Anita Madden

Gloria Stengel

Sarah Gough

Rachel Kleinman

Natalie Dever

Lorine Mason

Loretta Lock

Meihsia Liu

Sarah Martina Parker

Angeline Choo

Christine Emberson

Karen Hightower

Sabrina Alery

Debbie Seyer

Dana Joy

Cat Tidwell

Deborah Saaranen

Ceal Pritchett

Lisa Lara

Colleen Schaan

Anabelle O'Malley

Megan Hoeppner

Monika Davis

Marisa Ritzen

Wanda Guess

Jenny Peterson

Annette Allen

Gracie Chavez

Christina Griffiths

Niki G.

Kristi Schurr

Jennifer Ingle

Karolyn Loncon

Camille Robinson

Lindsey M-P

Kathy Clement

Maria Levine

Savitri Wilder

Savannah O'Gwynn

Teresa Horner

Laurel Seabrook

Libby Hickson

Yvonne Van de Grijp

Leigh Penner

Lisa Lee

Tina McDonald

Nina Yang

Angel Johns

Thanks for visiting! I really appreciate it!! Have a wonderful 2015!

Next in the hop is the super talented Julee!


Supplies
Cardstock: (Rustic White) Papertrey Ink; (white) Avery Elle
Stamps: (flowers, leaves, sentiment from The Big, the Bold, and the Extras) Winnie & Walter
Die-cutting/embossing: (white leaves from The Big, the Bold, and the Extras Cut Files) Winnie & Walter; (Woodgrain Impression Plate) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Versafine Smokey Grey) Tsukineko; (Birch) Fresh Ink; (Peridot Mixed Media Ink) ColorBox
Mists: (Opaque White, Dewey Mister Huey's) Studio Calico; (Solar Gold Radiant Rain) Luminarte
Embellishments: (vellum flowers from Open Book Floral Ephemera) Crate Paper; (Mint Color Theory star sequin) Studio Calico; (4mm Clear sequin) Pretty Pink Posh; (matte gold 10mm sequin) Teresa Collins

Boo Treat Tags

Hi everyone! It's the week of Halloween--yeah! Do you dress up for Halloween (if so, please share your costume)? :) I don't dress up, but my kids are going as a cat and a skunk.

I wanted to give a shout-out to some sweet friends who participated in the Getting to Know Me Blog Hop. All three linked up to me recently, and I wanted to say thanks! If you have a chance, please swing by their posts--they are incredibly talented papercrafters and truly good people, too!

Alice Wertz Her coloring skills are unbelievable, and if you haven't seen one of her stamped backgrounds, you're in for a treat! Every card is like a little masterpiece.

Lea Lawson Lea was one of my very first papercrafting idols, even before I started my own blog. :) I'm always inspired by her. She can do anything--using patterned paper, stamping, digi--she is so talented!

Lucy Abrams When I first got into digi/hybrid, I turned to Lucy's blog for her expertise--thanks, Lucy! Her cards are always perfectly stamped and perfectly executed. She has such an eye for knowing how to make a card look "full" but still keeping it CAS. She's also always been so helpful to me. :)

I already did my Getting to Know Me post HERE, but I wanted to be sure to give a shout-out to Alice, Lucy, and Lea. :)

I've been getting my kids' treat bags ready for their class parties. I'm doing a mix of designs, but I wanted to share one of the designs:

I used a lot of Paper Smooches here--Ghoulfriends stamps and Ghoulfriends Icons dies for the bat, Halloween Icons for the "Boo," and Stitched Tag for the tag die. These were super simple to make!

I switched up some other Ghoulfriends images for other tags, too:

I also have an extra "Thanks" die from Paper Smooches that I would like to give away as a thank you for reading!

I'll pick from the comments on Saturday (11/1).

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!


Supplies
Stamps: (bat, pumpkin, monster from Ghoulfriends) Paper Smooches
Cardstock: (Tangy Orange, Black) My Favorite Things
Patterned paper: (striped digital paper from One Little Bird) The Lilypad
Dies: (Ghoulfriends, Halloween Icons, Stitched Tag) Paper Smooches
Ink: (Graphite Black Brilliance) Tsukineko; (Grass, Ginger Fresh Inks) Impress
Twine: (Neon Orange hemp twine) Hemptique
Muslin bag: The Paper Source