Happy First Birthday Amber Ink Blog Hop!

Twelve short months ago
we made our big debut,
So now we'd like to commemorate
our 1st birthday with you!

This flash mob of torchbearers
always light our way.
Won't you please jog along
on our special day?

Leave your comments here and there
over the next 48
On Friday we'll announce the loot
Don't wait...let's CELEBRATE!

GO TEAM PURPLE!

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I was the second Purple torchbearer (thanks Karin for having faith in me!) for Amber and Pam...the two geniuses behind the company!

The card I created features some tasty cupcakes from Bake Me A Cake by Amber Ink with yummy frosting in different shades of pink and of course....with different levels of shimmer. Because every cupcake looks even more delicious with sparkle! Don't you agree?! A couple different ribbons and some buttons and we're good to go =)

Prizes will be drawn on Friday on the AmberInk Blog! Get hopping =)

Finally, I just wanted to share some of my crazy flowers that have been LOVING all the rain we've received...

MrPs favorite lilies



Close up



"The Ugly Lily"

 

Dahlias



The Garage Flowerbed
Perennial Overload including the first year of larkspur blooming!



Let's Celebrate Easter!

While I am aware of the spiritual significance of Easter, I am not much of a church goer. That said, I can definitely get behind any holiday that increases the amount of chocolate in my household! The challenge over at the Sisterhood of Crafters this week is hosted by me...and sponsored by some of my favorite peeps - the super sweeties at AmberInk! I had the chance to meet up with the incredibly artistic Amber while I was in NY and let's just say, MrP and I loved her the moment we met. I was a TorchBearer in August of 2010, nominated by my good friend Karin and I love Amber's stamps, but I've just been the worst TorchBearer and haven't used these stamps nearly as much as I should (I blame it on my very poor ability to color and lack of the most awesome coloring utensils ever invented - copics). That said, when I was thinking of what I wanted to do for my challenge, I baked up an idea...literally!

I started with the new Hide bunny from the Bunny Love line, dropped her into Photoshop CS3 (yes, for this purpose, I'm calling her Heidi and deciding she's a girl) and flipped her, then printed her out. Covered with a sheet of wax paper, I went over the image in piping gel.

Bring in the swiss chocolate cake (very roughly iced)

And transfer the gel onto the cake

(note: if you whip you're 'crumbcoat' of icing into a fluffy mess like I did, you may need to freeze the cake a bit in order to avoid repeating this step....like I did have heard people have done. Just saying.)

Go over Heidi's outline in a darker icing

Add stars to fill in(then realize your outline is too light and redo with darker color)

Finish re-outlining

(like a chump)

Finish tail in white and nose in pink

Add border and mini eggs

Please for the love of all that is tasty - get the Cadbury mini eggs - not the awful immitation Hershey Eggies.

Try your hand at adding Color Mist

Not bad for a first attempt. It's fun to play with!

Add "grass" in the form of green leaf icing and throw on some hiding eggs

Add a border

and skip the "Hoppy Easter sentiment because your my printing may wreck the cake

And finally, from this cute reversed version of Heidi

You get this tasty cake!

Or what I assume will be tasty.
I'm sending it with MrP to work so I don't eat the whole darn cute thing.

Now get over to the Sisterhood of Crafters blog for your chance at winning some AmberInk goodies! I'll be making the winners post on Tuesday, April 26th so you'll have until noon on Sunday, April 24th (my 30th birthday, thank you very much!) to get your entries in.
To view the most awesome design team map, check out what Amber did here!
And see if you can find me...

Bunnies in Love come Hippity Hopping

A perfect sketch for my cute Bunny Love pair, I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 104 to get the creative juices flowing for this fun card. Thanks to AmberInk's iPaper and some easy watercolor pencil coloring on the cute bun buns, this was a pretty simple, yet fun card. (Note to self: watercolor pencils color MUCH better on watercolor paper than regular cardstock) I used some liquid pearls for their cute little tails and along the scalloped circle. This fabulous sentiment is also an AI image (with a cute bonus Bunny in the B!)

Again, I pulled out some ribbon and ruffled the daylights out of it....getting tired of it yet?! I'm sure not!

Super talented Taylor had the idea of passing some virtual love in the form of a V-Day blog hop - plus there's 21 prizes to be had.  Check out the rest of the blogs on the hop you have until Thursday Feb 17 at 6pm EST to comment & get a chance to win the fun prizes!

Taylor Usry

Libby Hickson

Cindy Coutts

Cyndi Bundy 

Amber Hillman

Angelique Nederpel

Tanya Johnson 

Suzi McKenzie 

Cathy Wallington

Pam Hornschu

Wendy Price

Patricia Hays

Maria Levine

Sandie Dunne

Juanita Gillen 

Janelle Stollfus
Mary Collins

Berenice Rendon

Cheryl Gorka

Jessica Fitzgerald

Dee Morris

Darsie Bruno

Sandy Allnock 

Margie Cortina 

Kathy Fronczak

Cat Darling

Joyce Martens (Jolara)

Erin Leveille

Gudrun Loennecken

Mackenzie Bruckler

Melissa (Pink Cat)

Patty Tanuz

Emily Leiphart

Jane Matsumoto

Kimme Leach

Kerry Kung

Heather Lee-Reppen

Rachel Sztonyk

Jennifer Dove

Lysa

Erica Johnson-Wanzer

Tina Kiehn

Sugar Whiting

Karin Martin

Sunghee Chon

Tanis Palmer

Lindsey M-P

Kristi Parker Van Doren

Julie E

Alison Heikkila

Audrey E

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy

Wendy Jordan

Lynell Harlow

Terrece Siddoway

Passing of the Torch!

Today is the day the torch is passed and the super talented Melissa is going to carry the purple torch for September. Be sure to check her out, as wel as the July carrier of this fine torch, Karin!

It was such a treat to work with Amber's awesome digis and I feel so honoured - I had the pleasure of meeting Amber while we were in NY and had such a great time, I wish we were closer in distance to do it more often =)

Speaking of NY, I've got more pics to share, so check back later today. I'll have those up before I head out for my Climb of Hope!

You can also see more of the sweet new {th}Ink Tank here (because Amber Ink does the funniest biographies!!) or by heading over to their blogs:

Tasha

Sunghee

Christine

Joni

Apple Dumplings

I made Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings for my uncle when he lived near us briefly about a year ago and have been getting a request for the recipe from his girlfriend, so here's what I did for her. I used the Amber Ink Recipe Card - Ingredients & Recipe Card - Directions, as well as some of the apple images from Om Nom Nom.

Trust me - try them. So simple and tasty. But you might have to take up running like I did if you plan to eat them more than once a year =)

Bunny Love

A Happy Hello from the *hopefully* sunny skies this fine morning! With any luck, I'm currently on my way over to New York City for 8 days of indulgence in food and entertainment fun.

I used the Mojo Monday #155 sketch for this card and the sweet Amber Ink Love Bunny - Kiss, Kiss - Fluffy Bottoms. I had to have these adorable bunnies so I could paper piece them and use some liquid applique & sparkles for their adorable tails!

I had always seen paper pieced digis, but never attempted it before. I love how easy it is!

I almost paired it up with the adorable "Some Bunny Loves You" digi from Amber Ink, but I decided to go with the Happy Hello set from Verve for my tag and I was off to the races. I did a little sponging on the white and tried to settle the bunnies on the ground with some cocoa sponging and dirt 'mounds', but I'm sorely lacking in grounding abilities it seems! HAHA

Hope you have a fabulous Tuesday! Don't forget to check out what the rest of the {th}Ink Tank girls are doing!

you're never more than a thought away

And with this back to school cutie, you're even closer =) I wanted to see if I could use this adorable Turned My Head image from Amber Ink for a non-traditional type of sentiment. I'm going to sent it to my nephew, who is headed into grade one and loves to receive mail from Auntie.

Be sure to check out what the Amber Ink {th}Ink Tank girls have got going on. There's so much copic talent, it blows my mind!

Lisa Coe

Lynne Phelps

Thanh Vo

Wendy Price 

I'm in the final days before my NY vacation and I can't wait to get outta here, but this whole hurricane business I could do without. MrP is already a nervous flyer, so here's hoping it's all passed by Tuesday when we fly out!

Submitted for:
CES Challenge: Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts Challenge 31: Clean And Simple
Cupcake Craft Challenge 106: Let's Get Digital
Stampin' for the Weekend: Anything Goes

Ex Libris

According to Wikipedia, I'm a nerd. Wait - no - that's according to MrP. According to Wikipedia, Ex Libris "is a Latin phrase, meaning literally, 'from the books.' It is often used to indicate ownership of a book, as in from the books of... or from the library of..."

In this case, I've taken two of my most recent books to show you what I'm talking about! After reading reviews of both of these books, I had to pick them up. I've already read The Hunger Games and am currently reading the second in the trilogy (thanks, library!) and will eagerly await the third which is on it's way, having just been released yesterday. Technically, they're 'teen' books...but hey, so is Twilight!

Anyways, not wanting to have it misplaced or borrowed and unreturned, I used this fun book plate from Amber Ink to create a lasting reminder of whose book this is! Their INKredible 21 Day Challenge is now taking place over here and you won't want to miss it - just use one Amber Ink product to create something with the theme of books....be it a card, book plate, journal, recipe book, etc. Don't have any Amber Ink? Let me know....I'm hoping to offer up a little Amber Ink love soon =)

I take my books very seriously - and I will hunt you down if it's not returned =) I think these owls would be totally adorable in my Harry Potter books, but of course, there'd have to be a beautiful snowy one for Hedwig. Yep - I guess I am a nerd, dear =) But aren't we all?!

What's your latest read? Would you recommend it? Let me know!

Too cute for land...

these cuties are all about the sea!

Aren't these two adorable?! I love these baby mermaids and the fabulous iPaper behind them. They were colored with my pencils & OMS, then sparkled up (and some Smooch to highlight the rock) These are all different stamps and can be edited as much as you like for amazing results like Lynne's (now spelled correctly)!

The other {th}INKtank ladies have created some real beauties, so be sure to have a looksie!

Lisa Coe

Lynne Phelps

Thanh Vo

Wendy Price 

It's almost the weekend and let me tell you - it can't get here fast enough!

Entered in:
Treehouse Thursday Challenge #063: Under the Sea
Creative Card Crew: Sparkle & Shine

Another Sneak Peak for Amber Ink!

Yep - two whole days in a row, I'm posting! (And twice today, at that! Scroll down or click here for my prize-offering Sisterhood of Crafters blog hop creation) I've been inspired lately...what can I say?! These kiddos are so much fun to color. I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #87 and apparently great minds think alike - check out Thanh's card...

Alright, so hers makes mine look like a five year old did it...I like to think I'm a clean & simple stamper. Let's go with that ;-)

I have a couple of embossed lines in the kraft, but they barely stand out - look VERY carefully. Anyways, I used the New Girl from the fun kiddos and gave her a desk like I recall from back in my youth - with the green metal (hurray for the 80's schools!) A little embossing on the olive paper and some fun ribbon...all set for shipping to my cousin who just graduated. I'm sure she's happy not to be sitting at a school desk anymore!

The other torchbearers have some inspiring new creations to share - be sure to check them out!

Lisa Coe

Lynne Phelps

Thanh Vo

Wendy Price 

Have a wonderful Wednesday =)

Look who's a Torchbearer!

Alright - so it's not in the Olympic sense, but this is much more fun! I've been asked to be a part of the August 2010 Design Team, so I'm carrying the torch for the next four weeks and I hope I can do some justice to these fabulous products, which you can find at AMBER INK.

The other torchbearers this month are some truly talented and wonderful ladies - be sure to check 'em out!

Lisa Coe

Lynne Phelps

Thanh Vo

Wendy Price 

Of course, the General Stamping Ambassador of Awesomeness is the amazing Shannan Teubner, which means you can't help but to ALWAYS be inspired by some super duper Amber Ink awesomeness! And never to be forgotten, Amber...a creative genius!

There's some super fun new releases coming up and this card features one of the new kiddos!

I used some of the hot pink swiss dots ipaper, which was a first attempt at printing on our new printer with some Staples paper. I liked the muted rose that it turned out as, though, and rather than waste it, I used it and tried to match a button for the layered bow.

A computer generated sentiment and it's my niece's birthday card. She was tickled pink by this cutie! "It's me in school!" (She's not yet in school, but she's hoping this fall she'll get there.) This was exactly what my niece looked like when she opened up her Dora birthday video and Zhu Zhu Hamster house, too....such a blast when they're that age (and you can douse them in sugar & send them home!)

Be sure to check out what the other ladies carrying the August Torch have got under their sleeves. Special thanks to the July Talented Carriers of the Torch for their inspiring creations, which included my friend Karin (who passed along her torch), as well as Nicole, Pinky, Suzi and Taylor.

Entered in:

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge 72: Buttons & Bows

Our Creative Corner: Back to School