You Mean So Much To Me *Heartfelt Creations Alumni Hop*

Welcome to my post for the

Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop!

Be sure to leave a comment on all the participating blogs. One participant will be chosen to receive a $25 Gift Certificate. Be sure the check the Winner Announcement on Sat, Nov 2nd. If you win, send an email to Emma Lou and write "winner of the September Alumni Hop" in the subject line.

Hop ends on Friday, Nov 1st at midnight.

How about a round of applause for Delicate Asters?! I'm going to baldly admit that I didn't care for the flower style when I first received this collection . However, I have loved it every single time I use it. I was inspired by this shabby chic page from Maiko's gallery. The papers are all from Delicate Asters Paper Collection. The doilies and labels are from Parisian Accents, Fancy Tags, and Layered Elegant Swirl. The butterflies and birds are stamped from Brookside Manor and cut from Garden Romance.

The purple flowers are stamped with Bold Delicate Asters and Delicate Asters. They are cut from Delicate Asters Dies. The pink flowers are stamped and cut from Posy Patch and Vintage Floret.

Thanks for stopping by!

Selma Stevenson- http://selmasstampingcorner.blogspot.com

Vicki Dutcher - http://allidoisstamp.blogspot.com/2013/10/heartfelt-creations-october-alumni-hop.html

Candy Slabaugh - http://candyscreationsblog.blogspot.com

Alissa Wells - http://willrunforstamps.blogspot.com/--- YOU ARE HERE

Cibele Glazer - http://flowerfoot.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-heartfelt-creations-alumni-dt.html

Emilia van den Heuvel - http://few-favourite-things.blogspot.gr/

Linda Payne  http://paynehollercards.blogspot.com/2013/10/heartfelt-creations-alumni-october-hop.html

Sarah Miller - http://plainandfancypapercrafts.blogspot.com/

Nataliya Simpson- http://lovecraftsforever.blogspot.ca/

Lisa Allen - http://toddandlisacreations.blogspot.com/

you make me smile all over my face

This layout is a whole mix of things from Memorable Seasons.

We've got Fancy Pants, October Afternoon, Lily Bee, and Crate Paper goin' on here. This layout is a lift of our September Member of the Month- Berta.

FUN stuff

I scrapped this visit to the Children's Museum back in 2008 and I was so proud that I created an 8 page layout. This year, I tossed it all out. Who has the real estate for 8 page layouts? haha. I stuffed 7 photos on this one. The papers are from Farm Fresh by October Afternoon. The watermelon brads are from the original 8 page spread.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mix and Mat Challenge *Memorable Seasons*

It's Card Month over at Memorable Seasons and we have lots of challenges to inspire your cardmaking finesse!

All papers and embellishments are from Persimmon by Basic Grey. I followed a sketch from My Favorite Things. The stamp is from Inkadinkado and colored with Loew-Cornell pencils.

I love to mix up my mat colors. On this card, I mixed orange, light blue and dark blue. Your challenge is to mix up your mat colors for your card!

Can't take your eyes off that cupcake? Lemme tell you about that cupcake :) I made a dozen of those babies for one of the PE teachers at my school. He's a body builder and doesn't favor sweets. However, he loves German Chocolate and who can ever expect to find it in the store? So, I scoured the internet for some recipes and settled on this one by Cassie. It looked pretty enough but I was doubtful about my skills to pull it off. The recipe is fussy, too. I gave it a go anyway.

This cupcake is dark chocolate cake with chocolate pudding stirred in. The inside center was carefully scooped out and stuffed with a coconut cream (like the traditional frosting German chocolate). The icing is a dreamy whipped ganache and garnished with toasted coconut and pecans.

It was amazeballs.

The bodybuilder ate two. Another teacher said she dreamed about these cupcakes haha!

Back to cardmaking reality.

Coloring with Loew-Cornell pencils.

I started on her skin with this dark peach color. I like to lay down the lightest colors first.

Heavier color in shaded areas, some peach and some light brown.

Added a rosy pink to her cheeks. The brown pencil in the photo is what I used on her skin.

Light blue on her outfit.

A bit of dark blue.

A wee bit of ultramarine.

I continued on with this same process throughout the stamp.

Give it a try with any pencils you have!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cutting Corners Challenge *Memorable Seasons*

It's Card Month over at Memorable Seasons and we have lots of challenges to inspire your cardmaking finesse!

All papers and embellishments are from Persimmon by Basic Grey. My cards often feature hand stamping and coloring, layers, machine stitching, and handmade embellishments. Sometimes... "ain't nobody got time fo' dat." hehe. This card features my favorite ways to cut corners. I kept my beloved layers and mixed up my mat colors. I didn't hand stamp anything and I used a cardstock sticker as my sentiment piece. Instead of machine stitching, I drew definitive borders with a Micron pen. The squirrel is a chipboard piece and it is propped up with foam dots for dimension. Instead of Spellbinders dies, I accented my squirrel with a chipboard circle.

Your challenge is to choose at least one of the following ways to "cut corners": pen instead of stitching,  premade shapes instead of dies, stickers instead of stamping.

This card was sooo easy to make! It still turned out cute enough to give away :)

Thanks for stopping by!

October Kit Reveal- Basic Grey's Persimmon *Memorable Seasons*

It's Design Team reveal time over at Memorable Seasons! You can find many of the items I'm using this month at a great price in the store! Check out Persimmon by Basic Grey.

It's Card Month and I am thrilled!

The papers and sentiment sticker are all from Persimmon by Basic Grey.

The stamp is a digital cutie from Whimsy Stamps called Autumn Friends. I printed the image on Bristol XL Recycled and colored with Loew-Cornell pencils. I love the raw look of these pencils!

Our MOTM is Colette Bate and this is her layout.

I love her style! You must check out her gallery for more inspiration.

This is my lift.

Thanks for stopping by!