Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Christmas in July blog hop! If you are coming from Carla, then you are in the right spot. If you just happened to stumble across this post, please start at the beginning of the hop at Angela's blog.  You won't want to miss all of the amazing Christmas inspiration! 

In addition to seeing some awesome projects, there is some blog candy! To be eligible to win the blog candy, you must leave a comment on each stop in the hop as well as hitting that little "follow" button! Winner will be chosen on Monday, July 28th so you have all weekend to stop by! 

Now on to my project! 

For my Christmas in July projects, I've made some Christmas cards, as I'm trying to get a jump on the Christmas season!

Some of these are for the Christmas in July challenge in the Yahoo group Scrappin' 'n' Chattin', and a few others are ones I've completed this year for the 52 Week Card Challenge in the same group.

Up next is Jessica

In case you get lost, here is the complete lineup:

Angela

Alicia

Carla 

Ashley

Jessica

Connie 

Sarah 

Haidee

Madge 

Robin L. 

Miranda
Leah

Thanks for hopping along with us! 

Freedom card for Linnie Blooms

Happy Hump Day!  Ashley here with my Linnie Blooms July challenge creation for you!  I decided to make a patriotic card, so I used the canvas stars from Linnie Blooms.

I painted each star with watercolors (Yes, I painted the one on the left, too!).  The background paper is Celebrate Paper from the Simple Stories Sea to Shining Sea collection, and I inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Barn Door.  The sentiment in the bottom right corner is from a Studio G patriotic set and was stamped using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Faded Jeans.  I adhered the canvas stars to the background paper with fabric glue, then I added some Stickles in Xmas Red and Star Dust.  The blue glitter I added was from Studio G.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you're enjoying our projects this month!

For the Boys Blog Hop

Hi Everybody!  Welcome to the For the Boys Blog Hop!  We all know how hard it can be to create guy/boy themed projects, so this hop will help you with that!  You'll find tons of inspiration for the men and boys in your life!!

If you came here from Angela's blog, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon this Blog Hop, make sure to head over to Jenny's blog so that you see the full hop from the very beginning.

I thought I'd share with you the cards I made for my husband, dad, and father-in-law for Father's Day this year.

The sentiments and images on the first two and the bottom one are from There She Goes Clear Stamps, which unfortunately is no longer in business.  The third card image is from TPC Studio's Coffee Cafe set, and I also used an image from that set to stamp on the envelope.  

Before you go, make sure to sign up to win these AMAZING PRIZES!

$5 Gift Certificate

Close to My Heart A Size stamp set

Now it's time for you to head over to Jessica's blog.  Here is the full line up in case you get lost along the way:

Jenny - http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Janet R. - http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com/

Melanie - http://afternoonscrapper.blogspot.com/

Alicia http://www.goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com/

La-Vie B. - http://cestla-viedesigns.blogspot.com/

Gina - http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com/

Miranda - www.nanasscrapspot.com

Angela- www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com

Ashley ~ http://marinewifesscrappinlife.blogspot.com

jessica ~ www.craftinandstampin.blogspot.com 

Sarah ~ www.sarahbiswabic.blogspot.com

Robin L. ~ http://create-a-latte.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you enjoy the rest of the hop!

Flower bookmark for Linnie Blooms

Happy Hump Day, everyone!  Ashley here with another Linnie Blooms design project for you!  Today I've made a flower bookmark using two canvas flowers and a canvas bookmark, all from Linnie Blooms.

I colored the larger flower with three different shades of pink using my Fibracolor markers; then, I colored the smaller flower using three shades of yellow.  I finished the flower off by adhering the two together and adding some yellow sequins around the edge of the smaller flower and a couple of purple sequins in the middle.  I stamped the stem and leaves using a border stamp from a Fiskars Borders clear stamps set using spearmint ColorBox ink from Stephanie Barnard.

I also want to share today that a previous challenge project I completed for Linnie Blooms won a blue ribbon in our county fair!

I was SUPER excited!!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to come back tomorrow to see what else we have going on this month!

Red, White, Kaboom! Blog Hop

Welcome to the Red, White, Kaboom! Blog Hop!  Happy 4th of July!  We hope you are having a great holiday and thanks for spending a little time with us today.  You should have come from Anne.  If not, go back and start the hop at Alicia's blog.  We hope you enjoy our creative efforts we have to share today.  Enjoy your holiday!

I've got two projects to show you today!  The first is my take on a project I saw on Pinterest.

The wreath I saw on Pinterest used white buttons on the blue yarn, but I wanted stars.  I was lucky enough to find a package of red, white, and blue glittered stars at Hobby Lobby, so I picked them up and used most of the white ones on this wreath.  I started by wrapping navy blue yarn around about a quarter of the styrofoam wreath.  Then, I measured around the outside of the rest of the wreath and divided it by thirteen, since I was going to do thirteen blocks to simulate the thirteen striped on the U.S. flag, and made a small indentation in the back of the styrofoam wreath for each section.  After that, I simply alternated wrapping the red and white yarn for each section and used my hot glue gun to adhere the yarn ends to the wreath.  I made sure to pull the yarn tight to get the exact look I wanted.  The stars are hot glued to the blue yarn, and to make the hanger, I simply cut a couple of pieces of red and white yarn, knotted them together at the end to form a loop, and stuck a stick pin through the knot and into the styrofoam.  It took me ALL DAY to wrap the yarn around the wreath, but I really LOVE the finished product!  PINTEREST SUCCESS!!!  I'm also going to enter this at Red Carpet Studio Challenge to create a patriotic themed project. 

My second project is a card I shared on my blog the other day but one I thought should be shared again today.

I originally completed this card for a couple of challenges in the Yahoo group Scrappin' 'n' Chattin'.  I used ZING embossing powder in white for the song words, and I really like the way it turned out on the navy blue cardstock; the faux stitching around the edges was done with a white gel pen.  The U.S. flag stamps is from the Made in the U.S.A. set from Technique Tuesday, and I used my ZIG Writer pens in Pure Red and Navy to color the flag, then I accented the tassel with gold Stickles.  I'm entering this in Art by Miran's Challenge #9 for Anything Goes.

Here's some blog candy from Alicia at Golden Goddess Designs for one lucky winner!

The rules:

Become a follower of every blog in the hop.

 Leave a comment on every blog in the hop.

Easy peasy!  Do this before midnight EST on Sunday, July 6 and Alicia will pick a winner using random.org from those that qualify.  Winner will be announced on Wednesday, July 9 on her blog.

Next up is Sarah!

Here's the entire list in case you get lost along the way:

1.  Alicia ~ www.goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com

2.  Connie ~ http://www.conniecancrop.blogspot.com/

3. Lori - http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/

4. Theresa - http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/

5. Angela - www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com

6. Anne - http://www.MyArtisticHeart.wordpress.com

7.  Ashley W - http://marinewifesscrappinlife.blogspot.com

8.  Sarah - www.sarahbiswabic.blogspot.com
9. Miranda - www.nanasscrapspot.com

Thanks for hopping with us today!

Time for some patriotism!

Time to show off one of my patriotic projects for this year!

One of our monthly card challenges at Scrappin' 'n' Chattin' was to make a long card, and one of our weekly challenges in the 52 Week Card Challenge was to include a flag on your card, so I thought I'd combine the two!  I used white ZING! Embossing Powder on the song lyrics, which is a new stamp from Deep Red Stamps.  The faux stitching around the edges was done with a white gel pen, and I used gold Stickles on the tassel hanging off the flag.  The flag stamp is from the "Made in the U.S.A." set from Technique Tuesday (I believe), and I used my ZIG Writers in Pure Red and Navy to color it in.

Challenges Entered:

Scrappin' 'n' Chattin' 52 Week Layout Challenge

Scrappin' 'n' Chattin' Monthly Card Challenge

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #267--Photo Inspiration

Red Carpet Studio Challenge #73--Create a patriotic themed project.

My Craft Spot Challenge #142--Patriotic

The Pink Elephant Challenge #257--Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back with more projects later this week!

Italy

I can't believe it's July 1 already!  Where is the year going?  Today I'm sharing with you two layouts I created using this week's sketch at Lasting Memories.

The first layout uses the left side of the sketch and some photographs from my 2002 trip to Italy:

I really enjoyed this trip, and the visit to Vatican City was one of the highlights of my trip.  I hope to be able to take my husband and sons one day!  I'm entering this in Challenge #197--Sketch Time! at Lasting Memories; it was also entered in Scrappin' 'n' Chattin's June Monthly Layout Challenge--Geotag.

I made a second layout using the right side of the sketch and wanted to share it as well, even though I think I can only enter this challenge once.

My dad is such a wonderful man, and I probably don't tell him that enough.  I truly value his opinion, and I don't hesitate to turn to him when needed.  This layout was entered in Scrappin' 'n' Chattin's June Monthly Layout Challenge--Inspiration Photo (Super Dad).

Thanks for stopping by!