Little Scrap Pieces - Winter Blues

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Happy Friday!! My gosh, this week flew by!! I hope you have fun plans for the weekend :) The challenge this week at Little Scrap Pieces is "Winter Blues"...you can either create a winter themed project or use the color blue :)


I chose to use blue for my project. I am slowly replenishing my stash of cards so that I don't have to rush to make one when I need it, which is what I seem to always do :/


The base and first layer of the card are Spellbinders Labels 17 dies. The paper is from My Mind's Eye Meadowlark paper stack. The gem swirls are from Prima.


The middle die is a new Spellbinders D-Lites Medallion Two die. The white paper is heavyweight cardstock from Canvas Corp. The gorgeous ribbon is from Karen. The middle circle was inked with Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress Inks. The sentiment is from K Andrew Designs Sympathetic Sayings stamp set. This set is sold out, but there are still several sets available at 60%. Click HERE to visit her online store.


I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp - Black, white + a splash of color
2. DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge - Anything Goes
3. Sunday Funday #5 - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to Little Scrap Pieces to see the amazing projects my talented design team sisters have created for today's challenge. Then link up your Winter Blues project...I can't wait to see what you create :)

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It's Always Been You

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Happy Wednesday!! I hope you are having a fabulous week!! It's my turn to post at Getting Cricky and I have a quick Valentine's card to share with you today.


The paper for this card is from Pink Paislee's Spring Jubilee stack.


The base is a Spellbinders Fleur De Lis die. The next layer is a Spellbinders Classic Squares Small die, popped up with foam tape for dimension.


The hearts are a Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Heart and Classic Heart, both layers popped up with foam tape. The sentiment is from K Andrews Design Beautiful Thoughts stamp set. This set is sold out, but there are still a few sets left at 60% off!! Click HERE to visit the online store. The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby, and the gems are from Recollections.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge - Anything Goes
2. Sunday Funday #5 - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)

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Life Isn't About Finding Yourself and WINNER!!

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Happy Sunday!! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!! It's been cold and snowy here...perfect weather to stay inside and craft ;) I have a winner to announce from my Valentine Giveaway, but first, I want to share with you another new technique I've discovered.


As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of my resolutions this year is to expand my crafty knowledge and learn new techniques. I found this awesome technique HERE. After I started, I discovered I was completely out of clear embossing powder, but I did have UTEE, which is clear, but very thick. I decided to try it anyway and it worked :)


I am really bad about taking pictures as I go along because I never know what direction I'm going with projects. I started with a piece of cardstock from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found paper stack.


I embossed it with the Cuttlebug Bit of Paisley embossing folder. Then I took a brayer and inked it with TH Distress Embossing Ink and ran it over the embossed portion. Next, I covered the ink with Ranger UTEE and embossed it. I repeated the inking and embossing so that it had a nice texture. Once the embossing was completely dry, the next step is to take black craft paint and a sponge, and cover the entire card. The sponge works the paint into all the cracks. Then you take a cloth or baby wipe and remove the paint from the embossed portion. Finally, you put the paper between two sheets of paper towels and iron it to remove some of the embossing powder. This is the result:


Isn't that gorgeous??!! The colors of the paper pop through, really highlighting the texture.


I didn't want to add too many embellishments so that the background would really show.


The star is a Spellbinders Stars die, cut with paper from the same TH Lost and Found stack, and wrapped with hemp fiber from Michaels. The rosette was cut with a Tim Holtz Rosette Die and the same paper stach. The paper for the sentiment is heavyweight white cardstock from Canvas Corp, inked with TH Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Aged Mahogany and Brushed Pewter Distress Stain. The edges were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The sentiment is from the Tim Holtz Mini Classics stamp set, inked with Walnut Distress Ink. The crinkle ribbon is from my sweet friend Karen of Little Scrap Pieces. The star is another Spellbinders Stars die, the edges inked with Walnut Distress Ink, with a gem from Recollections.


I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge - Seeing Stars
2. Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes
3. Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations - Anything Goes

Valentine's Day Giveaway WINNER!!

Thank you all so much for following me and entering my giveaway!! I wish I had something to give all of you. But...my 2 year blogaversary is coming up in less than 40 days and I'll have a huge giveaway to share with you!! For this giveaway, Random.org chose as the winner....................


And #22 is...................


Congratulations, Pam!! I'll email you or you can email your address to me at indymermaid(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll get the stamps and paper in the mail to you!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

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My First Dylusions Spray Project and WINNER!!

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Happy Sunday!! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend!! I've been playing with my new Dylusions Ink Sprays and I am in love!! They are so much fun!! The colors are so bright and vibrant!! I hope you don't get sick of seeing me use them because I foresee lots of inky projects in the near future :)


I'll try, but I don't think I can even explain how I did the background because most of it was just playing around with the sprays and stencils and stamps :) I will also include a list at the bottom of all the supplies used.

The paper is watercolor paper from Strathmore. The Dylusions sprays used are Squeezed Orange, Pure Sunshine, Lemon Zest, Postbox Red, Cherry Pie, Bubblegum Pink, Funky Fuchsia, Dirty Martini, Fresh Lime, White Linen and London Blue. A Cosmic Swirls stencil from The Crafter's Workshop was placed over the paper and sprayed with Postbox Red. Another stencil from TCW, Numbers, was placed on the corners and spritzed with water for a ghosting effect. A Dylusions Dotted Flowers stencil was placed along the top corner and spritzed with London Blue. A waterbrush was then used to color in parts of the flowers with different colors of the sprays. A TCW Mini Art Is stencil was placed along the bottom and then covered with Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste. The Dylusions Dotted Flowers stencil was placed back over the original one and a few of the dots were covered with the embossing paste. Two stamps from the Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge set were stamped with Peacock Feathers and Fired Brick Distress Inks. White Linen Spray was then flicked on the background for subtle spots. Black Soot was sponged along the edges and then the paper was adhered to cardboard painted black.


Dylusions Pondering Petunia was stamped with Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black and then colored with TH Distress Markers in Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, Wild Honey, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Picket Fence and Faded Jeans. A Sakura Gelly Roll pen was used to outline Petunia and the flowers.


The sentiment, from TH's Just Thoughts stamp set, was stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink on TH Specialty Stamping Paper. The words were cut out and inked with Antique Linen and then Walnut Distress Ink along the sides. The arrows are from TH's The Journey stamp set. They were cut out, glued on and outlined with the white gelly roll pen.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp - Use an Arrow
2. Dl.Art Thankful Thursday - Linky Party
3. Sunday Funday #6 - Linky Party

And now for the winner of A Lovely Blog Hop!! First, I have to apologize...I was supposed to announce the winner over a week ago. Time completely got away from me. So without further delay, the winner of the Fiskars Friendship stamps is:


and #56 is:


Congratulations, Missy!! Email your address to me at  indymermaid(at)gmail(dot)com and I will get them in the mail to you!!

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

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Happy St. Paddy's to you Lads and Lassies

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Although Mom isn't big into studying ancestry, with a maiden name like Kennedy she surely has some Irish in her genes. So while doing a li'l bit o' ye old research, I found this Irish saying that Dad and I think is particularly on point with Mom.

"It is better to spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there's no money!"

Erin go Bragh!
Our cousin Quest, who's partying in Belridge Maryland, agrees with us wholeheartedly. With his good looks and "knock out" Boxer personality, it's clear that the Katandy Kids are not shy of the camera.
Katandy's Reagan's Quest

Kids' cable punches it up with film, game tie-ins

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Kids' programmers are ramping up with tunes, toons and movie spinoffs. In their new and upcoming lineups, they're emphasizing ties to movies and games from their corporate siblings.

• 

  Nickelodeon

  The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra is a spinoff from the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Nickelodeon

The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra is a spinoff from the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"Programming is more competitive than it's ever been," says Margaret Loesch, a veteran of kids' TV who runs the new kid on the block, The Hub, a joint venture between Discovery Networks and Hasbro. "What I'm getting as feedback from kids and advertisers is consistent: They're looking for more choices."

Most of the kid-targeted cable networks are up this year in the ratings, with Disney XD, Disney Channel and Nick Jr. leading the increases. Leader Nickelodeon is down slightly, and third-place Cartoon Network, up 1%, is seeking a boost by "trying to refresh; they're trying to be more Adult Swimmish," says Amy Sotiridy, senior VP at ad firm Initiative, referring to that channel's successful (and far edgier) late-night block.

What's on tap:

Nickelodeon

On Friday Nick launches Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures (8 ET/PT), a buddy comedy about two surfer dudes. But the network is putting its biggest emphasis on animation, where SpongeBob SquarePants, which premiered in 1999, remains unrivaled. Some will be spinoffs, including The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. This fall, look for a new version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the self-explanatory newcomer Robot & Monsters. In live-action, Nick will take a page from Disney next year with How to Rock, a music-based series starring rapper Master P's daughter, Cymphonique Miller.

Disney Channel

Bidding farewell to a trio of hits, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place and Suite Life on Deck, Disney is eyeing recent addition Shake It Up (Sundays, 8 ET/PT), a dance-fueled buddy comedy, as the next franchise for tween girls. (It's the top-rated series among that crowd.) Animated hit Phineas and Ferb, which plans an Aug. 5 movie, will serve as a platform to expand more deeply into animation, including next summer's Gravity Falls, in which twins visit their great-uncle's weird town. New live-action A.N.T. Farm (Fridays, 8:30 ET/PT), about an 11-year-old musical prodigy, will be joined this fall by Jessie, an ambitious teen from rural Texas who moves to New York to become a nanny. On Disney XD, look for animated spinoffs Ultimate Spider-Man and Tron: Uprising in 2012.

Cartoon Network

After years of working at arm's length from corporate sibling Warner Bros., Cartoon is now embracing the studio and its DC Comics label. New programming block DC Nation will showcase projects such as Green Lantern: The Animated Series, coming next year. Ratings for a revamped Looney Tunes Show (Tuesdays, 8 ET/PT) have been solid. Cartoon is gearing up for Level Up, a 2012 live-action series (a movie is due this fall) about three gamer pals who enter a real video game; the return of ThunderCats July 29; a new version of Ben 10; and How to Train Your Dragon, based on the DreamWorks film. Goofy toon Adventure Time is its top-rated series, and overall, there's a "shift in emphasis," says chief content officer Rob Sorcher: "The stuff that's really worked is at its core a comedy."

The Hub

A new joint venture between Discovery Networks and Hasbro, The Hub this fall will give The Aquabats, a "super-hero" rock band, a new platform in The Aquabats Super Show, from the creators of Yo Gabba Gabba. Investor Warren Buffett is behind Secret Millionaire's Club, a series of animated specials that will teach "business principles." And a pint-size riff on American Idol is due in Majors & Minors, in which 16 singers are mentored by X Factor's Leona Lewis and Idol winner Jordin Sparks for the chance to win a record deal and concert tour. And while The Hub downplays its role as promotional vehicle for Hasbro products, the channel is mining the toymaker's vaults with shows pegged to Clue, The Game of Life, Scrabble, Transformers' Rescue Bots and trading-card game kaijudo.

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Monaco's Prince Albert has another wedding

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Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock wed, again.

That's right. The royal couple of Monaco followed their civil wedding on Friday with a Roman Catholic ceremony Saturday in front of some 300 guests gathered in the Main Courtyard of the Prince's Palace in Monaco.

Among the celebrity guests in attendance: fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli and Georgio Armani; supermodel Naomi Campbell; French President Nicolas Sarkozy; and actor Roger Moore.

Armani confirmed early this year that he would be the wedding dress designer. The gown was an off-white silk design featuring a long train with floral embroidery trimmed with stones in gold shades and crystal.

See photos of: Naomi Campbell

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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