Important news from Catherine Pooler and StampNation!

Hey friends!  I'm stopping by today to announce a couple things that are about to take place over at StampNation and Catherine Pooler Designs.

   First, I wanted you to know that due to some revamping going on over at StampNation, they won't be able to accept new members thru the whole month of December. If you want to get in on the December Holiday Homecoming fun or you've asked Santa for a subscription you'll have to sign up before Friday, December 1st --->HERE<--- The doors will reopen to new members the first part of January. Current members can check in or check your email to hear all the latest news and upcoming events from StampNation and Catherine Pooler.

And get ready designers......Catherine Pooler is looking for some fun new talent!

Stop by her blog --->HERE<--- for more information on how to apply for a spot on this awesome team of artists and designers.  Good luck!

Paradise Found Release Blog Hop Day 2 - Catherine Pooler Designs

It's blog hop time!  Welcome to Day 2 of the Paradise Found Blog Hop featuring the newest release from Catherine Pooler Designs.  This release features:

• Plaid Background Stamp (rubber cling)

• Winter Woodland Stamps and coordinating dies.

• Wonderful Time of The Year Stamps and coordinating dies.

• Birds of a Feather Dies

• Small Doily Die

Of course the 8 beautiful new Spa Collection ink pads are also available NOW!

1. Royal Treatment
2. Mandarin Spice
3. Eucalyptus
4. Juniper Mist
5. Green Tea
6. Daydream
7. Sauna
8. Peppermint Scrub

 

I made a couple cards for the blog hop today using some of these great new products.  For my first card I used my personal favorite, Winter Woodland Stamps.  The die set is on my wish list but for this card I went ahead and did a little fussy cutting instead.

I stamped the trees, deer and Bunny using Icing on The Cake.  That ink is a little dark so I did some second generation stamping to achieve this lighter shade.  I used the rock and roll technique to add some shadow along one side of each tree.  Then I used the same rock and roll technique on the other side using clear Versamark ink and some white embossing powder.  This added a beautiful frosty snow affect to the trees.

As you can see, I stamped three of the trees directly onto the card front along with some white embossed snowflakes.  I cut out two more trees and raised them with some dimensional tape.  This gave some awesome depth to the woodland scene.

I had the most fun with this cute little deer and bunny.  Because I used second generation to stamp their bodies, they were a nice light brown with great texture!  I added some shadows and depth by using a brown Prismacolor pencil.  This really brought them to life for me and was so easy.  The nose and bow were stamped with Peppermint Scrub.  The blanket is actually half an ornament that I stamped from the Wonderful Time of The Year stamp set with Daydream ink.  The little bird is also stamped with Daydream.

I just had to add some of that wonderful Plaid Background stamp along the side of this card using Eucalyptus ink.  One small strip really catches your eye.

For my next card I used the Wonderful Time of The Year stamp set.  The new inks worked wonderful with this card.   The combination of stamps and inks really gave this card a nice traditional feel.  I started out by stamping the sentiment in Midnight ink directly onto the front of the card base. The I stamped the pine branches all around the outside of the card base using Eucalyptus Ink.  I added just a touch of a green Kuretake watercolor marker to the stems and blended them lightly with a water brush.

I stamped and then cut the ornaments out by hand.  I don't have the dies for this set yet but the are definitely a must have!   I used Peppermint Scrub, Sauna and Juniper Mist for the ornaments. The hooks and snowflakes were stamped with clear Versamark ink and embossed with Metallic Gold Sparkle by Wow.

I popped the ornaments up with some dimensional tape and it's ready to mail!

Along with all of these new items, Catherine Pooler  has also added the Naturally Inspired Collection to her online store.  If you didn't have a chance to order this Stamp of Approval Collection last spring, now is your chance!  All of the items are available for individual sale over at the store.  Here are just a few samples of the cards I've made using this awesome collection of stamps and dies!

Naturally Inspired Collection




OK friends, you know the drill! 

• Click the links below to visit our Design Team blogs, get inspired and leave them some love!  
• If you missed Day 1 of the hop you can start that HERE.  
• Be sure to check in tomorrow over at Catherine's blog to hop along with Day 3!
• You’ll have through Friday, November 17 at 11:55 am eastern to leave comments.  
• We’ll randomly pick 3 winners for $25 gift certificates to our shop!

Before you head off to Chrissie's blog, be sure to leave a comment below for another chance to win!

Catherine Pooler
Ilina Crouse
Laurel Beard
Kristie Goulet
Jill Hawkins
Maureen Merritt
Lisa Harrolle <---you are here
Chrissie Tobas <---go here next!


 Thanks for stopping by. 
 Have a great day!!

Naturally Inspired by a new line of inks!!

It's Release Day over at Catherine Pooler Designs!!   Have you seen her new Spa Ink Collection?  Wowee!  I wanted to pop in today to share in some of the excitement.  These inks are a fabulous addition to her whole line.  8 brand new colors, wooohoo!  I can't even choose a favorite so I decided to use them all on this card!

Inks:   Mandarin Spice, Sauna, Green Tea, Eucalyptus, Daydream, Juniper Mist, Royal Treatment and Peppermint Scrub and Midnight.

Stamps:  Simply the Best, Birds of a Feather.  Dies:  Birds of a Feather, Circles.  Paper:  Premium White Cardstock

Here's a closer look!

  There are also some brand new stamps and dies being released today.  This Birds of a Feather die set is one of them!  It's made to coordinate with The Birds of a Feather stamp set that was included last spring in the Stamp of Approval Naturally Inspired Collection.

Well guess what?  The entire Naturally Inspired Collection is NOW AVAILABLE over at the Catherine Pooler Designs online store today!!   If you missed out on this previous Stamp of Approval Collection when it was released, you can now buy these items individually over at Catherine Pooler's store.  Yay!!

Here's one more card I made using the beautiful new colors and some pretty stamps and dies from the

Naturally Inspired Collection.

Inks:  Daydream, Eucalyptus, Green Tea and Midnight

Stamps: Wild Garden, Simply the Best and Winter Woodland (for the dots).  Dies: Best Die, Wild Garden Dies.  

Paper: Premium White Cardstock.

The Wild Garden stamps and coordinating dies are beautiful!

Head on over to Catherine Pooler Designs for a closer look at all of the new stuff!!

Don't miss out on the 3 day blog hop for more of these items in action!!   And of course there will be prizes!!!   Day one is today starting over at Catherine Pooler's blog!  Click HERE!

I'll be participating in Day 2 of the hop so I'll see you all tomorrow!!

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!!

The Ton's November Challenge

Hi everyone. It's the first of the month and it's time for another awesome challenge over at
 The Ton's Challenge Blog: The Season.
For the month of November we are channeling our Holiday spirit.  We know so many of our cardmaking friends will be busy making their Christmas cards this month.  So, as long as you're making them, why not enter this challenge?  You have the whole month of November to enter as many times as you like, for a chance to WIN a $50 gift certificate  for  
The Ton online store.  You can click on the link to head on over and check out the details any time.  But first I'd like to show you a card I made for this month's Holiday Challenge!

.

I mixed up a whole bunch of  The Ton's stamps and dies to create this fun but simple card. 

Background
I stamped a tone on tone pattern using the Holly Branch stamp set and The Ton's Hampton White Pigment Ink.  Then I heat embossed the images with some Recollections Glitz embossing powder.  It creates a sparkly soft background that I diecut using the Large Double Stitched Rectangle dies.  I added this panel to the center of a horizontal A2 side folded card base with dimensional tape.

Stamps, Coloring & Dies

I stamped a this large Brushed Merry stamp in The Ton's Ballet Slippers Dye ink, then diecut using the Brushed Merry Coordinating Die.

The girl and tree image from the City Girls Winter Edition stamp set was stamped in The Ton's Copic friendly Noir ink.  Then I had fun coloring in some pretty Christmas colors.  I also used the Coordinating Dies to cut this image out.  Super easy!

To add just a little more color to this card I stamped some holly and berries from the Holiday Flourishes stamp set using The Ton's Lipstick Red and Bright Fern dye inks.  Then I fussy cut around the images to make one piece. 

Assembly

The snow hill on the bottom of the card was cut out by hand and glued directly to the raised embossed panel.  Then I adhered the Brushed Merry centered just above the hill.  I glued the City Girl and holly in place then added some clear sequins from The Ton's Glass Slippers Couture mix.

That's all  for today.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you'll make some time this month to join in this fun Holiday Challenge with us over at The Ton Blog.  We love seeing all of your creations and it's so fun to see everyone's interpretation of each challenge.  

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!!

The Ton's October Release Blog Hop!

Hello everyone and welcome to The Ton's October Release Blog Hop!   Today we're showcasing some of the new stamps and dies from The Ton's release earlier this month.   These gorgeous floral stamps were designed by Effie Cho and one of our awesome design team members Eunji.   All of these items are available right now over at The Ton shop so you can click on any of the links below to check them out anytime!

But first......I have a couple cards to show you and of course some information below on how you can win a stamp set of your choice so keep on scrolling!!

For my card today I used The Ton's beautiful new stamp set:

Rose Bouquet

These stamps are absolutely gorgeous!  The roses are so delicate looking and you have the option of building onto your bouquet with extra blooms and leaves.   I decided to do some no line coloring so I stamped a cluster of roses at the bottom of my card using The Ton's Warm Hazelnut dye ink.   This color is light enough to color over with Copic Markers.  I didn't have to do any masking for this card, it stamped easily using all the different stamps in the Rose Bouquet.  There are also dies that go along with this set but I didn't use them today.

When I finished coloring the roses, I stamped this sweet sentiment that is included in the Rose Bouquet set with Noir ink from The Ton.   And because I just can't seem to quit with a one layer card I decided to add some dimension to the sentiment using dimensional tape and the large circle from The Ton's Bokeh Burst Round die set.  Before adhereing the card front to the card base  I  diecut a stitched border around the edge with The Ton's  Large Double Stitched Rectangle dies. 

I added some finishing touches of sparkle with clear sequins from The Ton's Glass Slipper Couture Mix.  This is my favorite mix and I find myself reaching for it for just about every card I make.  I love that this package includes 5 different sizes of sequins.

Since this is October, what better way to celebrate than with some autumn greetings made possible by this beautiful new stamp set:

Autumn Wishes

This set is so pretty and super easy to color.   After blending the entire card front with some of The Ton's dye inks: Beach Blondie, Amber Citrine and Peach Blossom,  I stamped the largest branch twice and filled in with the smaller branches using The Ton's Caviar black ink.  Then I used my Kuretake watercolor markers to add a mix of vibrant colors to the leaves.

Check out those adorable little birds!!  I have to be honest, the birds are what drew me to this stamp set.  I love all the sweet little feathered beauties that this set offers.  I also think the sentiment options are great!  On this card I embossed white on black cardstock using The Ton's Hampton White Pigment ink and white embossing powder.

There are also coordinating dies available for the Autumn Wishes stamp set.  I didn't have them yet so I decided to add some depth to this card by using some other great dies by The Ton.  The outside frame was diecut with the Double Stitched Rectangle (Large) and the center was cut with the Modern Labels dies.  I popped up the outside frame and the inside label with dimensional tape.

For a limited time:
To celebrate our blog hop, The Ton  is offering a shipping discount for domestic orders.
All  U.S. orders, receive free shipping on orders over $75.*

Use code "USOCT17" at checkout.

 *This shipping promo ends on November 1 at 11:59pm. This promotion does not apply to prior purchases. The threshold amount is calculated before taxes and shipping.

Comment to WIN!The Ton is giving away one stamp of choice from the October Release to one lucky commenter!
 To qualify, you must leave a comment on each blog on the hop.
The comment period will close on Sunday, October 29 at 7pm EST. The winner will be announced on The Ton blog thereafter.

 Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to leave a comment down below before you hop on over to see my friend Janette!  Good luck!


The Ton
Olga
Anna
Lisa <---you are here
Janette <---go here next!
Brenda
Tae Eun
Jenny
Laura Jane
Vera
Eunji
Mayline

Have a great day!!

Watercolored Peony

Well happy Friday!!  I just thought I'd share a pretty little birthday card I made, coloring with my Kuretake real brush watercolor markers.  This is one of my favorite ways to add color to The Ton's gorgeous  floral designs and these markers really make it easy.  

Today I'm using the Dearest Peony stamp and die set from The Ton. I stamped and heat embossed it onto some 140 lb watercolor cardstock using Noir black ink and clear embossing powder.   I also stamped some Noir  Minor Stripes onto a piece of  white cardstock, then diecut a label using the Modern Labels die set.  Then I cut the striped label in half using one half for the top of the card and one for the bottom. The sentiment is from the Modern Labels stamp set and embossed in white on black cardstock.

After wrapping some natural twine around the peony stems, I added it to the card with some dimensional tape.  The sentiment banner is also popped up with dimsional tape.  I topped this card off with  my absolute favorite Glass Slippers Couture Mix from The Ton.

Well, that's all for today my friends.  Be be sure you come back on Thursday October 26th when I join in on The Ton's new release blog hop and I'll be showcasing some new stamps here..  The Ton has released a gorgeous array of florals designd by both Effie and Eunji.  And of course, there will also be a chance to win a free set!!  Want a peek at the new sets that are available now? ----->go here

Have a great weekend!  See you Thursday!!

Stamp of Approval Winterhaven Collection - Release Day!

Hi everyone!  Release day is finally here for the awesome new holiday box:

Stamp of Approval Winterhaven Collection!!

click on the "Available Now" for a fast link to order NOW!

Wait List:

Everyone who is signed up for the wait list should receive their emails at 9am this morning, east coast time, so be sure to be on the lookout!  The early bird link will be in your email.  If you really want this collection, don't wait too long to get your order in.   Ordering is on a first come, first serve basis and these boxes sell out crazy fast sometimes.  NO rainchecks, NO backorders, when they're out they're out!   We don't want you to miss out so get your order in quick!

Not on the list?

For those of you who are not on the wait list but are excited to get the SOA Winterhaven Collection, all remaining boxes will be be available for purchase in the Catherine Pooler Designs store at 6pm tonight.

Still time to hop!

Entries close on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11th at 9AM EST and will be announced on Catherine Pooler's blog later that day.

THREE commenters will be chosen at random from all the comments on all the blogs (one each day). The more blogs you comment on, the better your chance in winning!

Purchase your box today though because they may be sold out by tomorrow.  Don't worry, if you win and  have already purchased a box, you will receive a $100 gift certificate towards your next purchase. 

Here are the hop links to get you started:

Day1     Day2     Day3

Good luck peeps!  I hope you all get a chance to add these awesome stamps and dies to your collection!

In the mean time, I have one more card to share with you using the Stamp of Approval Winterhaven Collection.

Today my card has a ton of stamping using all Catherine Pooler Design inks.  I stamped all the way around the edge of this card front with the new Tis The Season stamp set from the Winterhaven Collection.  I only had to do some minimal masking to achieve this look. I stamped the large poinsettias first in Rockin' Red and Tiara ink then masked them off.  I then filled in all around the card front with the greenery, pine boughs and berries.  I gave the pine boughs some depth by first stamping them with Grass Skirt ink and then a lighter Lime Rickey over the top but just a little offset so you can see both colors.  I think this double stamping helps to make the pine boughs look more realistic.  The berries are a mix of Rockin' Red and Icing on The Cake. 

When I was finished stamping I heat embossed this whole card front with a layer of clear Versamark ink and some of Catherine Poolers exclusive Wanderlust embossing powder by WOW!  This gave the card an amazing amount of sparkle.  Once this glittery embossing powder is heated, it adheres really good and you don't have to worry about any of that glitter flaking off.
 Tip:  heat the embossing powder from underneath the cardstock.  It will keep any loose powder and glitter from blowing off and will also help ensure you won't scorch it with your heat tool.

For some added dimension I diecut the center of this finished card front using the inside tag from the Good Stuff Tag Dies.  Then I adhered both pieces onto the card base, popping up the center piece with fun foam. 

I did some selective inking on the Santa's sleigh from the Here We Come A-Caroling stamp set by masking off parts of the stamp so that I could make it multiple colors.  I touched up the face with a flesh color copic marker and  the white on Santa's suit and beard with a gray copic.  

The deer were stamped with Icing On The Cake and then the whole piece was diecut and stacked in three layers to give them some height and dimension.  It's a lot easier than adding dimensional tape to images this small. (Note:  the coordinating dies for the Here We Come A-Caroling stamp set is not included in the Winterhaven Collection but is available in the store as an add-on).  I am so in love with this cute little sleigh and reindeer!   I diecut the "Joy" sentiment from the Joy Wreath Die set and Catherine Pooler's Premium white cardstock.  Do you see how well all of these Winterhaven products coordinate?  It's so awesome!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for hopping along with myself and all of the design team the last three days.  I really appreciate the kind words you left for me on my blog hop projects.  I'm looking forward to seeing all of your cards around the internet in the next couple weeks using the
Stamp of Approval Winterhaven Collection.

Have a great week!!

Stamp of Approval - Winterhaven Blog Hop Day 2

Hi everyone and welcome to Day 2 of the Stamp of Approval blog hop for the release of  Catherine Pooler's brand new
 Winterhaven Collection

Thank you so much for joining us today.  This is the 2nd of 3 days of Blog Hops.  During these three days you're going to get to see all of these wonderful products in action and you'll also get a chance to win a Stamp of Approval box for free!!  All you have to do is leave your comments on each blog on the hop:  Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

What is the Stamp of Approval Collection?
The Stamp of Approval is a  wonderful mix of exclusive stamps and die sets that were chosen by Catherine Pooler and made to coordinate beautifully.   If you are new to the Stamp of Approval Collection, Click here to learn more about them.

Free Project Guide Included! 
With the Stamp of Approval box, Catherine always includes a PDF Project Guide with pages and pages of inspiring projects from the SOA designers.  They include colored pictures, supply lists and step by step instructions so that you can jump right in and start creating as soon as your goodies hit your mailbox!

Today I'd like to show you a few projects that I created using some of the wonderful products in the
Stamp of Approval Winterhaven Collection.

For my first traditional card I added 3 layers of festive foliage using the beautiful Joy Wreath Dies.
For the bottom of the card I embossed a border using Rockin' Red ink, a small accent stamp from the Tis The Season stamp set and some white embossing powder.

The cluster of embossed stars, the santa sleigh and the sentiment stamps are from the  
Here We Come A-Caroling stamp set.   Isn't that santa so cute?  And I am so in love with that scripty sentiment!   The coordinating dies for the Here We Come A-Caroling  stamp set will be available to purchase separately on release day as an add-on.

My second card showcases the beautiful new rubber cling  Ornamental Background stamp.  The Lime Rickey stamped details are so clear and crisp and really give this card a retro feel.  The poinsettia flower is from the
Tis The Season stamp set.  There is a coordinating die set for  Tis The Season that will be available as an add on.  While this flower is very easy to cut out as I have done here, there are many more detailed foliage stamps in this stamp set that makes the coordinating die set a must have on my wish list.  

The caroler silhouettes from the Here We Come A-Caroling stamp set are stamped in Midnight ink and are a great added touch to scenery cards as well as accents or focal point like this one.  Look at that cute little pup on the end!

For my last card I ditched the traditional colors and pulled out a bunch of Catherine Pooler inks to color these houses from the Winterhaven Dies: Grass Skirt, Rockin' Red, It's a Boy, Fiesta Blue, Sweet Sixteen, Tiara, Party Dress and Midnight.  Eye candy anyone?  This little village die set also comes with a curvy snow bank.     The embossed snowflake background was created with one snowflake stamp from the Good Stuff stamp set and a dot stamp from the   
Here We Come A-Caroling stamp set.   The sentiment and the mistletoe are from the Tis The Season Stamp set.

For a little touch of detail, I added some inlaid pieces into the little church.  Some copic markers, a black marker and some super strong reading glasses helped make some cute little stained glass windows.

Get on the notification list!
These exclusive items won't be for sale individually until next year and the collections sell out super fast so be sure to get your name on the notification list ----->HERE!  An email will be sent to you with a link as soon as they go on sale.

When do they go on sale?
For StampNation Members:  The pre-sale opens up on Monday, October 9th at 10pm during our live PJ Party.  Members sign onto StampNation for the link and more information.  If you're not a member, what are you waiting for? Go --->HERE and sign up today!

Notification List:  Emails will be sent out and sales will open up to everyone on the notification list on Tuesday, October 10th at 9am est.  Watch your inbox for the link!! 

In Store Customers:  If there are still SOA boxes available, sales will open up to the public Tuesday, October 10th at 6pm est. at Catherine Pooler Designs online store. Don't miss out, get on that notification list today!

WIN the Stamp of Approval Winterhaven Collection!

THREE commenters will be chosen at random from all the comments on all the blogs (one each day). The more blogs you comment on, the better your chance in winning! 

Entries close on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11th at 9AM EST and will be announced on Catherine Pooler's blog later that day.

Don't worry, if you have already purchased a box, you will receive a $100 gift certificate towards your next purchase.

Thanks for stopping by!  Leave you're comment and then hop on over to my dear friend Ingrid's blog for more SOA fun!

1. Catherine Pooler
2. Jen Carter
3. Amy Kolling
4. Ilina Crouse
5. Lisa Harrolle <--you are here! 
6. Ingrid Blackburn <go here next!
7. Chrissie Tobas  
8. Kimberly Wiener  

Have an awesome day!!