TAWS July Release Blog Hop!

It's Blog Hop time at The Alley Way Stamps and one lucky person (that could be YOU) is going to win all three stamps sets that will be released on July 1st!

I hope you've been enjoying the sneak peeks the past few days as the design team has revealed little snippets from the upcoming release.  For my part I've got to say that I am so relieved that I'm am all set for Talk Like a Pirate Day after seeing a couple of the new sets!  I'm a little early for that, but I just couldn't resist inking up this guy from Land Ho today.

Now let's talk about how you could win all three sets!  These are the ways you can win.  You can pick and choose which ones you want to do, but the more you comment the more chances you have to win!

1. Comment on The Alley Way Stamps blog
2. Comment on the DT blogs (you'll find links below)
3. Post about it on Facebook or your blog
4. Like us on Facebook

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you do.  You have until 9:30 pm TAWS time to leave them.

And that's not all!  For the month of July this fun mini set, Iconic, is FREE when you spend $40 or more!  It will be automatically added to your order so you don't have to anything but shop!

Here are the links to the rest of the Design Team who have got some great cards to show you.  And don't forget to leave them some comment love for your chance to win the new stamp sets!

TAWS July Sneak Peeks Day 2

Hey all!  It's day two of sneak peeks of the new July release at The Alley Way Stamps blog!  The stamp set we are featuring today has got some great school-time images.  Perfect for both teachers and students!

I love to read so I chose this cool stack of school books and a book's best friend:  the bookworm!  How cute is he with those big reading glasses!

If you'd like a chance to win this stamp set all you have to do is leave a comment at The Alley Way Stamps blog and share THIS POST on your own Facebook page.  That gives you two chances to win!  Woo hoo!  Be sure to leave a separate comment for each on The Alley Way Stamps blog.  Comments close at 9:30 pm TAWS time.  Good luck!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the latest Mojo sketch provided the inspiration for my layout!

  

Freshly Made Sketches 92

This week the lovely and talented Jen Brum has created the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week.  And I think you're going to love it!

I've been dying to ink up this beautiful stamp set ever since I got it last week, and I finally got the chance.  It's got these beautiful flower stamps that go with the leafy stems.  I randomly stamped some of the images on the green layer to create my own background paper.  I'm not entirely happy with how I stamped the red flowers because they seem a little out of proportion - what with the big one on the left there.  But I think they are ok.

I can't wait to see how you interpret this sketch!  The design team have got some beauties this week so be sure to head on over to Freshly Made Sketches and check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Snow Drifts die (My Favorite Things)

colourQ 195

Boo hoo the Bruins lost their chance at the Stanley Cup last night, but on the bright side today we get a brand new palette at colourQ!  

Last week I popped into Michaels because it was down the street from IKEA where I spent a leisurely afternoon poking around.  I try to avoid the mass market crafting stores because their inventory is lousy, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have a look around.  Well, it didn't hurt at all because I scored a Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamp set on the clearance rack for six bucks!

And since Arielle's colors this week seemed a bit eclectic I turned to these new stamps plus a chicken wire stamp from My Favorite Things for my card this week.  I love layering stamps on top of each other in fun and interesting colors.  Mistakes are impossible to spot and best of all, you can just have fun stamping randomly all over the place!  Oh, and I can't possibly forget to mention that my layout comes from retro sketches.

The colourQ design team has, once again, outdone themselves in the inspiration department so be sure to head on over to check them out.  I hope you can join us in the gallery this week!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Canvas (SU); Grunge Cirque (Stampers Anonymous); Distressed Background Blocks (My Favorite Things)

Accessories:  Scallop Edge Border punch (SU); crochet thread

Fly! and CTS 33

I had lots of ideas churning around in my head for the latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  Those three elements on the sketch kept calling to me and I changed my mind several times before I settled on the beautiful butterfly from Awesome Blossom and some enamel dots.

The sentiment is one that I made myself using Alphabet Soup.  How awesome is it that I can make any sentiment I want!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Awesome Blossom, Alphabet Soup (The Alley Way Stamps)

Accessories:  Enamel Dew Drop Stickers (Freckled Fawn); washi tape; Basic Pearls (SU)

BE Inspired 31

I'm a little sad that Friday means my vacation is just about over :(  But, today is also the new BE Inspired challenge at The Alley Way Stamps blog, so that's a good thing!  The colors of the inspiration photo put me in mind of July 4th and from there it was a short leap to Ka-Pow which has some images that make great fireworks!

Coincidentally, the challenge at Color Throwdown was what tipped the scales for me in making a 4th of July card and the sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments provided the perfect layout!

So if you would like a chance to win a free stamp set from The Alley Way Stamps all you have to do is participate in the BE Inspired challenge.  You have to use an image from The Alley Way Stamps, but don't worry if you don't have any because you can find freebies HERE!  One lucky participant will be chosen to win a free stamp set and another lucky participant will be randomly picked and will also win a free stamp set.  So get inky and link up!  You can find all the details HERE as well as some fantastic inspiration from the always amazing design team!

Thanks for stopping by!

Freshly Made Sketches 91

This week at Freshly Made Sketches, Cindy is our hostess and she has designed a sketch for you that leaves lots of room for your creative interpretation.  I love sketches like that!

I decided to use the great color challenge from Create With Connie and Mary for my card.  Partly because I seem to have discovered that yellow, in all its many shades, is a pretty awesome color and I really liked how it looked with Island Indigo and Early Espresso.  I'm coming to realize that yellow looks pretty fantastic with just about everything!

I've got to say that each week the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches is chock full of projects that are beautiful, inventive, and inspiring.  It seems you really like the challenges that we bring you each week and we really like seeing how you have interpreted the sketch.  So keep 'em coming!  

This week our amazing design team has got some beautiful cards to inspire you so please hop on over to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Now That's a Good Point!

Today is my mother's and my sister's birthday!  But instead of showing you some beautiful birthday cards I made to commemorate those occasions I've got a card that I made just for fun (because that's what I do)!

The Fusion sketch this week had me intrigued and after hunting around in my stamp room for a bit, I realized that all these fun arrows in Good Point from The Alley Way Stamps fit the challenge quite well.  And I added a sentiment from Get the Point, so this is a very pointy card all around!

Thanks for stopping by today!

colourQ 194

This week at colourQ Arielle continues on the bright and summery theme with this beautiful palette.  Anyone with a fondness for watermelon will love this summer beach towel!

I went a little uber CAS on my card this week, sort of unintentionally.  Using the layout from CAS(E) This Sketch I designed this card in my head where it looked pretty good.  By the time I put it to paper, something got lost in the translation and I got this card instead!  

The colourQ gals have got some great projects to inspire you, so head on over to check them out!  Hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Reason to Smile (SU); You (Simon Says Stamp)

Accessories:  You die (Simon Says Stamp); washi tape

Wild About Flags for FTL245 and CTD246

Is it my imagination or are there flags and banners appearing everywhere on projects around blogland lately? I don't think I'm imagining it and I since they are so popular I'm so thankful that I broke down and bought a couple of flag dies because I was getting tired of hand cutting them all the time!

For this flaggy card I used the sketch at Clean&Simple (where I have not played in a dog's age) and combined it with the colors at Color Throwdown.

I actually made this card on Saturday with the intention of posting it Sunday morning, but after a short trip into work for a little computer upgrade and a few errands run on the way home, the weeds in the garden were calling my name and I couldn't ignore them for fear of disturbing the neighbors.  So alas the post had to wait.

I'm happy to say that many of the weeds are gone (though many remain) so I will be very busy this week on my vacation getting down and dirty outside.  It's supposed to rain AGAIN today and Tuesday, so I think I'll head on over to IKEA for a little browse.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  En Francais (SU); Beautiful Blooms II (Papertrey Ink); Lean on Me (Verve)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Blushing Bride, Sweet Pea DSP, Cottage Wall DSP, Twitterpated DSP, Blushing Bride DSP, Pear Pizzazz DSP (SU)

Accessories:  Elegant Scrollword die (Memory Box); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Stitched Sentiment Flag die (Lil' Inker Designs)

Butterfly Birthday for STB19 and PDCC186

I had some time last night to play around in my stamp room.  The Bruins were off, the Red Sox were tied, and the rain was coming down endlessly.  Perfect ingredients for crafting!  I was really struck by the colors at The Play Date Cafe and thought they were perfect for the sketch at Seize The Birthday.

I almost never take pictures of my cards from this angle, but it was the only way I could show that I layered the pink butterfly on top of a black cut out of the same butterfly.  I love how this looks in real life, especially with the line of black rhinestones down the center of the butterfly.  They are sparkly, which doesn't show up on the photo at all!

Well as I mentioned above it is raining here AGAIN.  This has got to be the worst spring I can ever remember because mother nature gives us one beautiful day followed by a week of cold, wet ones.  I'm worried that my annuals and vegetables will not be able to withstand all this rain and I'm worried that I'll never get a tan!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Extreme Elements, Papillon Potpourri (SU); Just A Number (Close To My Heart)

Accessories:  Elegant Butterfly Punch (SU); black rhinestones (KaiserCraft)

Freshly Made Sketches 90

This week at Freshly Made Sketches Linda Callahan is the hostess and she has created a square sketch that is right up my alley.  As luck would have it, one of my co-workers is turning the big 5-0 today and I remembered almost at the last minute that I needed a card.  All the stars aligned because the color challenge at The Paper Players seemed adaptable to a masculine card and the challenge at Catered Crop was to make a masculine card, so I combined all three to make this:

I love the color-block look of this card, totally thanks to this fun sketch.  And what makes this extra fun is that this card I made last week was a Mellow Yellow winner over at the Catered Crop so my card today will be featured over there.

Our super-deluxe Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some super-deluxe and fantastic cards to show you this week so be sure to check them out.  I hope you have time to join us in the gallery!