TAWS November Release Blog Hop

Yay!  Today is the blog hop celebrating the new November release at The Alley Way  Stamps!  Over the last three days you've been enjoying sneak peeks of the new stamps sets from our amazing Design Team and today is the blog hop where you have a chance to win ALL THREE new sets!  Woo hoo!

Before I tell you how you can win, I want to show you my card using the super cool images from Breakfast Club.  If you are a coffee lover like me, you will love this set!

Now on to business.  You have a chance to not only win this stamp set but all of the stamp sets from the November release.  And you don't need any special tricks to win!  All you have to do is a few simple things.  You can pick and choose the ones you want to do, but keep in mind that the more you do the more chances you have to win.  So here goes:

1. Comment on this post at The Alley Way Stamps blog
2. Comment on the Design Team blogs (you'll find a handy list if you keep scrolling)
3. Post about the new release on Facebook or your blog
4. Like us on Facebook
5. Follow us on YouTube
6. Follow us on Pinterest

That's it.  Easy peasy!  But before you think that's all we have to offer you just wait.  During the month of November if you spend $40 or more in the TAWS store you will receive a FREE stamp set!  How cool is that?  Here's this month's freebie, Pieces:

Without further ado here is our amazing Design Team!  Good luck as you hop around!

Freshly Made Sketches 110

Since Halloween is tomorrow I figured I better get one more spooky card in!  And Rita's sketch for Freshly Made Sketches put me in mind of a big spider web!

I love taking big images and cutting them into four squares, so that's why I thought a spider web would work well with this sketch.  I embossed it in black so that it would really stand out then embossed a couple of scary cats in black and orange to complete the spookiness!  I varied a little from the sketch by adding that fourth square, but I think Rita will forgive me.

The always fresh and fun Freshly Made Sketches design team have created some great cards this week to help you get your craft on!  So ink up!  We can't wait to see you in the gallery!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bite Me, All Holidays (SU)

Paper:  Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Tangerine Tango (SU); Distress Embossing Ink (Ranger)

Accessories:  Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Tangerine Tango embossing powder (SU); black embossing powder

TAWS November Release Sneak Peek Day Three

Hello crafty friends!  Today is Day Three of the TAWS November release sneak peeks!  I'm sure you've been enjoying the little snippets you've seen of the new stamps sets over the last couple of days and I'm so excited to share my project with you today!

In addition to paper-crafting I love to sew.  My mother taught me to sew when I was knee-high to a grasshopper and after taking a sewing class in Junior High I was hooked for sure.  I used to make skirts for myself all the time (to wear to work) and I'm proud to say that every curtain hanging in my house was made by me!  So I was especially thrilled to see this new stamp set which celebrates the art of sewing with some fun images!

My card doubles as a tag because a hand-stitched gift deserves a hand-made gift tag!  The sketch at Fusion provided my layout.

You have a chance to win this set for FREE (squeeeee) just by leaving a comment on this post at The Alley Way Stamps blog and by sharing that sneak peek on Facebook.  Be sure to leave a separate comment here for each that you do and make sure you do it by 9:30 pm TAWS time.

Good luck!

colourQ 213

I'm happy to say that I was a busy (and productive) beaver in my stamp room this weekend.  And now that Tuesday has rolled around I can begin to show you the fruits of my labor.  First up is this card that I made for the newest challenge at colourQ.  The layout I used is from the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and I even managed to fit in the Washi's Up challenge at Catered Crop!  Whew - a three-fer!

I broke out a brand new stamp set for this card that I just got from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps during their one year anniversary celebration.  They were giving away (yes, I mean FREE) the 4 Petal Set die and as that was already on my wish list it was a no brainer for me to accelerate my order (as it were) and get the companion stamp set too!  Those are the wee flowers on my card and I added a little rhinestone in the center because I can't resist a little sparkle!

Now as you can imagine, the colourQ design team will knock your socks off with their cards this week.  There's a whole lot of flowers, patterns, texture - you name it, they've used it!  So I recommend you check it out, then join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Turning a New Leaf (Papertrey Ink); Christmas Carols (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps); Textures 1 (Florileges Designs)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Peach Parfait (SU)

Accessories:  4 Petal Set die (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps); Basic Rhinestone (SU); washi tape

BE Inspired 40

It's time for another BE Inspired challenge at The Alley Way Stamps blog!  This week the inspiration photo got all my Halloween juices flowing!

Of course, after seeing the inspiration photo I had to ink up some images from Ghoul Friend and added a bit of spider web embossing for that extra spooky factor.  As an aside I embossed the sentiment and as I always do when I'm working with embossing powder I ran my Embossing Buddy over the cardstock first.  Well it left this cool dusty trail over the embossed spider web so I decided to really play that up by doing some extra taps and swirls of the Embossing Buddy over the web to create the look you see here.  I think it highlights the web nicely!  The layout for my card comes from the latest challenge at Try Stampin' On Tuesday.

Now for the best part about playing along with the BE Inspired challenge:  PRIZES!  It's simple to win.  All you have to do is  play along with the challenge using an image from The Alley Way Stamps.  And if you don't have any stamps you can find FREEBIES here!  One lucky person will be hand picked and one person will be randomly chosen and each will win a free stamp set!

I hope you have a chance to play along.  Good luck!

Freshly Made Sketches 109

It's time for a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and this week I'm the hostess!  I designed the sketch to be full of squares and rectangles with lots of room for creative interpretation.  For my card I decided to combine the sketch with the leafy challenge at Friday Mashup, which conveniently gave me an excuse to use these awesome new leaf dies.

I have secretly admired the sponged color effect that you get using Distress Inks so when there was a recent sale at Joann I decided to buy a bunch of colors and try my hand at it.  I watched a few videos on You Tube and went to work using some orange, green and brown colors.  I'm a novice but I think these nicely resemble leaves as they turn colors at this time of year.

As usual the amazing Freshly Made Sketches design team have created some awesome cards this week so be sure to check them out.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Meadow Greens (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Pure Ivory (Gina K); Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Well Worn DSP (SU); Neenah Natural White

Ink:  Early Espresso (SU); Vintage Sepia (Versafine); Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Walnut Stain (Distress Ink)

Accessories:  Stitched Leaves die (Lawn Fawn); Grove Branch die (Memory Box); Pierced Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

Choo Choo Tag

I love making gift tags and the Christmas Express stamp set from The Alley Way Stamps has got some fun images that are perfect for tags.

Aside from the Crumb Cake card stock I used mostly primary colors for this so that it would be good to use for a kid's gift.  I always associate trains with Christmas but I think this stamp set could be used for any occasion.  And best of all, it's free during October with any $40 purchase from The Alley Way Stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Christmas Express (The Alley Way Stamps)

Paper:  Real Red, Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Whisper White (SU); X-Press It Blending Card

Ink:  Night of Navy (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento); Copics

Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Jumbo Antique Brass eyelet, Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (SU); baker's twine (American Crafts)

colourQ 212

Is it any wonder that the new color palette at colourQ inspired me to dig out some more Halloween stamps?  And when I think Halloween I invariably think of this witch from a long-retired SU set called Best Fiends.   She's pretty awesome!

I actually had a couple of cards made with these colors but wasn't satisfied with either one.  Then I remembered this cool Deconstructed Sketch and knew that the circles would be perfect to show off these bright colors.  So I scrapped what I had done and started all over again.  From those circles it was a short leap to the square that features this old gal!

I hope you have time to check out the challenge and join us at colourQ.  The design team has put together quite a variety of projects for you, and not all of them are Halloween themed!  Head on over to check out the imaginative designs!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Best Fiends (SU)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Wisteria Wonder, Basic Black (SU); X-Press It Blending Card

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Copics

Accessories:  Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Nesting Squares die (Lifestyle Crafts); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Halloween sequins (American Crafts)

Freshly Made Sketches 108

This week at Freshly Made Sketches our hostess is Narelle.  You will, of course, recognize the sketch as being hers because it's got lots of layers.  And if you are familiar at all with Narelle's work you know that she skillfully incorporates layers onto her cards like nobody's business!

As you can see, I embraced the layers for my card and added lots of them.  I'm so proud of myself because I even added a layer that wasn't in the sketch!  By the time I was done with this I was practically dizzy!  

I almost made another sunflower card this week but pulled up short when I saw Jaydee's color challenge at The Paper Players.  Those blues go so well together I couldn't resist participating and inking up my favorite funky floral.

Be sure and pop by Freshly Made Sketches to check out the cards from the DT.  Then join us in the gallery!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Off the Grid (SU); Funky Florals (Papertrey Ink); Take Note (Verve)

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Pool Party (SU); Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories:  Pierced Rectangle STAX, Rectangle STAX 2 (My  Favorite Things); Banner Trio die (WPus9); Dimensionals (SU); washi tape

Monster Crossing

I am in full-on Halloween mode it seems and lots of the challenges I check out have got some kind of Halloween theme or other.  Today I've got a card using the fab colors at Fab Friday (pun intended!) and the sketch from Unscripted Sketches.

This monster is from Ghoul Friend and he makes such an adorable Halloween fellow, don't you think?  It's so fun to make Halloween cards that are on the less scary side sometimes and the images from this stamp set are perfect!  And you know what else is fun?  Using Christmas patterned paper on a Halloween card!  Yep, that paper is from an old SU set of Christmas paper.  Eek - so fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Ghoul Friend (The Alley Way Stamps)

Paper:  Basic Black, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Holiday Treasures DSP (SU); X-Press It Blending Card; Neenah Solar White (inside card)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Onyx Black (Versafine); Copics

Accessories:  Pierced Rectangle STAX, Pierced Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Halloween sequins (American Crafts); washi (inside card)

colourQ 211

I had a lovely three day weekend because of Columbus Day and got all caught up for the week ahead stamping-wise.  I wish every weekend could be three days long!  Think of how productive I'd be!  The first card I made was for the new palette at colourQ!  And since the colors said Halloween to me (inspired in no small way by the table in the photo), that's the card I made.

A funny thing about this card is that I started to make it for the latest challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  The chat bubbles would be represented by the spider webs and the spider on my card.  Then I added the splotches and dots and grungy chevrons and totally lost sight of the sketch!  LOL!  Lucky for me, though, the challenge at Cards in Envy is to make a Halloween card so I'm at least able to enter this over there!

Not everyone over at colourQ made a Halloween card with these colors, so be sure to head on over there and check out the DT cards!  I hope you can join us in the gallery this week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Bite Me, From the Crypt (SU); Spiderweb Mini (Inkadinkado); Sketchy Chevron Border (Impression Obsession); Grunge Me (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Ink:  Pumpkin Pie (SU); Lettuce (Adirondack); Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Halloween sequins (American Crafts)

BE Inspired 39

I'm so glad it's Friday for a couple of reasons.  First it means a bit of free time off from work and second it means there's a new BE Inspired Challenge at The Alley Way Stamps blog!  This week the challenge is clean, simple and colorful!

If you've been traveling around blog land this week you will undoubtedly recognize the layout of this card as the sketch from retro sketches.  I was a bit afraid of it when I first saw it, but after a bit I realized it would be a great sketch to highlight the beautiful, bright colors of the inspiration photo.  Among the strips of washi are the pig and companion sentiment from Bacon Bits.

Don't forget that just for playing along with the BE Inspired Challenge you have a chance to win a free stamp set from The Alley Way Stamps!  All you need to do is play along with the challenge by creating a project inspired by the photo and using an image from The Alley Way Stamps.  If you don't have any stamps you can find FREEBIES here!  One lucky person who participates will be randomly chosen and one will be hand picked to win a free stamp set!

So don't dally and come play along with us!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Bacon Bits (The Alley Way Stamps)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Melon Mambo DSP (SU)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Gingham Garden washi, Witches Brew washi (SU); other washi; Dimensionals (SU)