Made with Love Blog Hop...

It's blog hop time!  Yay!  I am so excited to be here with all my Gallery Idol friends for a Valentines Day hop! If you are following along on the hop, you have made it here from Dana Warren's blog!

 I have a fun little Valentine project here for you today!  A card and a gift bag!  

First off here is my card....

I used a Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangle along with a Avery Elle sentiment.  As you can see, I masked off the heart from the stamp and added in a little wooden heart.  

I took it a step further and made my card into the decoration for a gift bag.  If you missed my announcement yesterday, check it out HERE!  I have these dies available, that will turn your card into the decoration for your gift bag!  (All my Dies sold out! Check back soon!)

Now for another fun part!  Giveaways!  I have 2 fabulous giveaways from 2 fabulous companies!  First off, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is giving away one of their BRAND NEW sets from this February Release.  It's called Beanstalks and its adorable!  Check out all these amazing sentiments....

The next giveaway is from Uniko!  Uniko Studio is a small company based in the North East of the UK. Uniko Studio specialises in surface pattern design & clear stamps for the hobby market. Uniko Studio features high quality photopolymer clear stamps designed & manufactured here in the UK, along with a selection of digital products.   Beverly has has a beautiful new set to giveaway called Bright Butterflies. 

Leave a comment here, to win one of these fabulous prizes!  Commenting will end on Thursday, February 21st at 11:59pm.  

Your next stop is the super talented, Tessa Wise!  I can't wait to see all these crafty creations myself!  Thanks for hopping by today!  

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 Check out the Made with Love Blog Hop's AMAZING Sponsor List:

Avery Elle  | BasicGrey  | Becky Oehlers stamps  |  Bossy Joscie  |  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps   |  Fresh Squeezed Stamps  |  Gel-a-tins   |  Great Impressions Stamps  |  I {Heart} Papers  |  Lil' Inkers Designs  |  Mama Elephant   |  Neat & Tangled Stamps  |  Punky Sprouts  |  Ribbon Carousel   |  Simon Says Stamp  |  SRM Stickers  |  Sweet and Sassy Stamps  |  Sweet Stamp Shop  |  The Crafter's Companion  |  The Craft’s Meow  |  The Twinery   |  Timeless Twine  |  Unity  |  Uniko Stamps  |  Viva Las VegaStamps

The Card Hanger Die!

I have something to share today that I am really excited (and nervous) to share with you!  Awhile back, I was making THIS card, and wished that I had a way to showcase this card on the gift bag without actually tying it up like a tag.  So, I came up with a die just for the occasion!  I drew something up and with the help of my friend Barb...an amazing digital artist...we whipped these up!  I have had this die for awhile.  And I have to be honest.  I've been sorta freaked out to share it.  But with help from some friends and lots of encouraging words, Ive got it ready to go!

First let me show you some pics.  I have some new cards to share, showcasing the die and then some cards you may have seen before.

My new die is called a Card Hanger Die.  Basically this die, allows a clean and finished opening in your bag, to hang your card making a quick and easy gift bag.  You have the chance to showcase that card you spent so much time on instead of putting it in an envelope!  And your gift bag is decorated and ready to go in one easy step!  Just hang your card! :)



You can coordinate your card hanger with the card you are using.  Stamp on it, emboss it, personalize it...anything you want!





This card was so fun to make but obviously wouldn't fit into an envelope, so its perfect to hang right on the front of the bag....



You can see that the note is written inside the card, and slides in and out easily!



Here is one more bag that I made back in December.  I made this large medallion and this card definitely can't be mailed easily.  Plus this cute sentiment from Neat and Tangled is perfect for a gift bag!



This is one of my favorite Christmas cards from this last  year and I think it works so well here!



 Here is a video for you...(my first ever iMovie-made video!) so you can see how to use it.  Come back after you watch the video, so I can tell you a little bit more about the die....



I just love how this die makes it possible to use the card as your gift bag decoration.  Now all those cards that don't fit in an envelope, can hang front and center.  This saves us time too.  I have several bags in my cabinet already with kraft colored hangers on them.  I can grab any card, at any time and the bag is ready to go!  If I have extra time, I can make a card hanger that coordinates with my card!

In the video, I share 2 ways to use the die.  I forgot to mention that the first way to use the die is for the heavier cards.  They lay flat if the back side of the card is tucked in to the bag.  If you are reusing the bag, then cutting the hole in the bag and added the reinforcement card stock, inside and out, can make the bag last longer and hold those cards with larger details a little easier.

The second way to attach the hanger, works for those lighter cards.  Also, this die works great for making pockets on envelopes and has a few other fun uses too!  I have a few friends helping me out today and I would love for you to check out their blogs for some more amazing ideas....

Suzanne / Amy / Jen

I have a limited quantity of these dies for sale here on my blog.  I have a Paypal button on the side bar.  If I do happen to sell out, I am hoping to have more very soon!  Please email me with any questions!  I can't wait to hear what you think!

Would you like a chance to win one?  I have one to giveaway!  All you have to do is leave a comment here.  If you tweet about this new die, come back and comment again!  And if you share the news on Facebook, leave one more comment!  3 chances to win!  Thanks for helping me spread the word!  Commenting is open until Friday, the 15th, at 12pm CST.  I will announce the winner on Friday afternoon!  (Giveaway ended)

Stay tuned for some upcoming posts with more fun samples using this fun new die!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

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ETA: Answers to a few questions!  The die is around 5" long and the opening allows an A2 card to fit perfectly inside!  

CAS-ual Fridays Sneak Peeks..

It's Sneak Peek time over at CAS-ual Fridays!  :)  I have a card today using one of the new sets, soon to be released called Breathe....



This new set has lots of fun elements.  I wanted to share one using yesterdays sneak peek set, called Beanstalks...



Check out the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog to see more sneak peaks from the DT girls!  Thanks for stopping in!

Retro Sketches...

Please scroll down to see my Clear and Simple Party Hop post...

Hello there!  It's Saturday already and another week has just flown by!  I am ok with that because that means we are one week closer to summer!  How many of you are knee deep or more in snow right now?  We aren't here but it is pretty cold out.  Definitely makes for some good crafty time right?

Alright, here is my card for this week's  Retro sketch....

I used some Doodlebug Lovebirds paper on this card...a gift from my sweet friend Amy!  And, of course, you can see I changed up the sketch just a tiny bit.  I had to use the same elements, I just layered them a little differently.  The sketch is based off of my original card you can see HERE.  I had to bring back in that same wooden heart!

Here is this week's sketch...

I hope you get a chance to play along!  Check out the Retro blog to see what Kasia, Kim and Arielle have for you too!  Thanks for swinging by today!  Have a great weekend!

Welcome baby!

I haven't made any baby stuff for quite awhile.  So I thought it was time to pull out some pink.   Today the DT is having a little party hop over at Clear and Simple so I thought my party would be a baby shower!  First off, here is a little gift I made up using the new Party Favor 7 die....



I used some striped paper for the box and then added a little tag using Alpha Duo and a little Airmail detail on the side.

Inside, I made an insert to hold these sweet little bow's.  I took a strip of cardstock and then attached a smaller strip to the front using glue dots.  Then I was able to attach the hair clips to that. 

 I added in a topper die to give it a finished look.  

And then I completed this set with a welcome baby card....

I colored in the "Baby" with a C1 copic just for a little bit of contrast.   I hope you like my little party gift!  The other girls have some fun stuff to share too, so I hope you can hop around and check things out.  Here is a list of links...

Audrey Tokach 
Kim Duran
Laura Bassen 
Tracy Schultz
Lori Tecler
Elena Roussakis
Dana Grothaus
Jennifer Rzasa  
JJ Bolton, guest designer
CSS Blog 


Thanks for stopping in today!  :)