Happy Luvlee Birthday!!

Surprise!!! It's a mini-hop to wish a very, very

to my sweet friend, Lee - she of the many amazing smilies!!

When I heard about this, I was excited to take part. Lee has been so supportive of me during the two and a half years that I have known her. Even when I've fallen down on the job, she's been there to help pick me back up and dust me off. So Lee, this one's for you! I hope you have a truly fantastic birthday!!

Of course, since this card is for Lee, it had to have pink and it had to sparkle. It wouldn't be a Lee card without either of those things, would it girls? I may have gone a tad overboard with the stickles, but I just couldn't help myself. (I'll redo the pic once the stickles are dry...and yes, there's a story behind that. Somebody remind me that I really do love my son?)
Here's a list of the rest of the the birthday bloggers...and of course, don't forget to stop by and wish Lee herself a happy birthday!

Allison
Christi
Crafty Math Chick
Joanne
Lori
Lydia
Misti
Nancy
Paula

And one more time, Lee...

EtsyInspired #129 - Desired Things

Good morning everyone! Are you ready to be EtsyInspired?? This week, we're coming to you from Desired Things, a super cool shop with quirky jewelry and abstract art. I love her paper charms and altered notebooks!! I could get lost in all the beautiful colours...

For my inspiration this week, I chose this beautiful bracelet in greens and blue-greens. It reminds me of leaves and the newness of spring, which I will be very glad to see stick around for a while. After some beautiful weather, it dropped to a high of 38 on Thursday and lows in the 20s this entire past week. EW!

So, with that in mind, I thought I'd make a spring-y card. I pulled out some GinaK stamps and StampTV Sketch Spotlight Challenge #15 and went green.

Deets:
Stamps: GinaK StampTV Kit Autumn Splendor
Cardstock: Prismatics Classic Yellowgreen, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: VersaColor Rainforest
Etc: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, hand-dyed rayon crinkle ribbon

Check out the rest of the DT and then head over to the EtsyInspired blog to link up your own project. Full challenge deets, including information on this week's sponsor, Sparkle Creations, as well as this week's prizes, are on the EIC blog.

Angi
Ashley
De
Emily B.
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Libby - March Guest DT!!
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia
EtsyInspired Blog (LINK YOUR PROJECTS HERE!)

EtsyInspired #126 - GlowGirl

Saturdays are all about being inspired. EtsyInspired, that is!! This week, we're bringing to you a shop that is not only environmentally conscious, but has an owner with an inspirational back-story of her own: GlowGirl! Oh! And she's fairly local to me! How cool is that?

Here is what she has to say:
My inspiration for starting this business was - I'd lost a great 15 yr position that I thought I'd be retiring with...was in a panic realizing that as a 50 yr old, I was going up for jobs against younger and better educated folks than me. The challenge was on! I decided to step out of the corporate world and return to my crafty roots (I had a successful crafts business in the 80's). I bought a sewing machine, learned how to sew...and fell upon some cool upholstery fabrics and starting making grocey/tote bags. Was starting to successfully sell them at craft fairs and told my husband I'd start clipping coupons to help save money...didn't like the store bought ones and designed this for myself, and they quickly became my best selling items! Had a set-back in late 2009, breast cancer, and my etsy store became my sole source of income, and also provided me with some peace of mind as I spent almost a year battling cancer. I missed two holiday seasons of craft shows but etsy was a godsend for me, both emotionally and financially. I'm now fully back on my feet, planning shows for 2011 and getting ready to expand my lines and soar!

In addition to her Etsy Shop, she has a blog and she's on Facebook! While we are concentrating on her GlowGirl shop, I highly recommend checking out her GlowGirlFibers shop as well. I'm particularly enamoured of a woven messenger bag she's got listed.

For my inspiration this week, I chose a coupon organizer holder, made from this lovely floral print. Pink and flowers...what's not to love?
I made my card using StampTV's Sketch Spotlight Challenge STVSKSP12 and the colours from the Play Date Cafe Challenge #68, along with the pretty flowers from the coupon holder.

Now, before I send you off to the rest of the team, there are a couple little details for this week. One winner will win a coupon organizer from GlowGirl - winners choice of mega or regular!!! How cool is that???

Second, we've got an awesome sponsor for this week. It's The Stamping Boutique. I was simply unable to choose a stamp to use from the store - because there were too many that I wanted! Too be honest, I *think* my favourite may be this one, but if you ask me again in another hour, I'm liable to give you a completely different answer! A second winner this week will be able to choose 5 digis from The Stamping Boutique!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I always love the feedback I get from everyone!!! Check out the rest of the DT (below) for some amazing inspiration, then hop on over to GlowGirl, find an item or items to be inspired by, and create! For full deets, and to link up your project, visit the EtsyInspired blog! Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Angi
Ann Cox - February Guest DT!!
Ashley
De
Emily B.
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia
EtsyInspired Blog (LINK YOUR PROJECTS HERE!)

EIC #123 - Nanny's Room

Welcome back to another EtsyInspired Saturday! This week, we're visiting a gorgeous shop called Nanny's Room. Jeanne Forsyth grew up in Arizona, and her original artwork is inspired by the Southwest. Let me tell you, that artwork is just stunning!! Her use of colour is breathtakingly vibrant.

One player this week will win his or her choice of necklace. Aren't these some gorgeous examples?? Not only that, but just for EIC shoppers, Jeanne is offering 10% off any purchase through January 31! Just use the code "etsy10" at checkout.

I chose this set of 3x4 notecards as my inspiration this week.

Instead of going Southwest, I made little Valentine/lovenotes. From left to right, the stamps are Memory Box (Dandelion Ball Combo), Karen Lockhart (IB Chintz Heart), Taylored Expressions (Kid at Heart), and GinaK (Hopeful Hearts). The photo is courtesy of my daughter, Meagan.
Our sponsor this week is The Twinery, home of gorgeous bakers twine!! Alas, I did not get my twine sample in time to tie my cards similarly to my inspiration photo. A second player this week will win a Trio pack of twine in the winners choice of any 3 colours!! Before you even ask, YES, I'm jealous!!

So go create something, because you know you want to win at least as much as I wish I could!! Remember, you do not have to make a card. You don't even have to papercraft. Just create something inspired by the Modern Bird Etsy shop. Be as creative as you want to be and post a link to your creation on the EIC blog no later than 12 noon Pacific time on January 28, 2011.

Head on over and see what the rest of the DT has to share today. I'll be back tomorrow with a new challenge from All Things Unity!

Ashley
Angi
De
Emily B
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Rachel - January guest DT
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

Happy Dance

I've been waiting all day to find out if I made it to round 3 for the Design Team search for the Clean & Simple Cards Challenge DT over on Splitcoaststampers. The good news is that I did!! I've tried out before and made it to round 2, but never made it to round 3. Now, there is still one more round of competition with another card to make, and I'm up against a lot of talent, but considering everything, I'm extremely thrilled to have made it this far.

For round 2, we were to make a CAS card for a family member. The caveat? It had to have that member's title on the front of the card, so it needed to say Mom/Mother, Grandmother, Dad, or whichever member of the family you chose. Oy. It turns out I don't have much to choose from in that area.
Fortunately, GinaK came to the rescue with Friends are Forever and Not Forgotten. I actually think this card works for either Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. The technique is a variation on one I've done before, and GinaK has a lovely tutorial on StampTV.

I used two different inks on the stems, because I didn't have the green I wanted. I first inked them up with Unity's Viridian Green and then went back over the top with Distress Ink Shabby Shutters. The combination gave me exactly the look I was going for. Oh, and I started out with a yellow card base and a completely different patterned paper, but this is what happens sometimes when a card starts talking to me in the middle of things!

Another Early Birthday Card

Lately I've been trying really hard to use stamps (and other items) that have been sitting around unloved and unused. With that in mind, I thought I'd play along with one of the StampTV challenges from this weekend. It was a sketch challenge for a birthday card. No problem, Hannah's birthday is next month.

Since this week is Etsy Inspired Challenge's big 100th challenge party, I'm trying to make at least one card for that challenge every day. So I hit this week's shop, Cathy Walters, to see what I could find to use as inspiration. My first thought for Hannah was one of the Eiffel Tower pendants, but that didn't say birthday card to me. So I started looking at the colours in Cathy's creations and she has this pretty green and yellow sunflower pendant. Aha! Hannah loves green...and I have an almost full pack of Basic Grey Origins paper. I can work with that!

I took the Basic Grey, some SU Summer Sun and some Bazzil yellow for the texture, and GinaK's Best Friends stamp set, and added them to the sketch.
I'm also entering this card in Cute Card Thursday Challenge 124 - whateva. Cute Card Thursday requests that people enter their cards in no more than 5 challenges, including that one. I've entered this card in a total of 3, so I'm good to go!

Back again tomorrow!