A few more projects, some AWESOME Imaginisce news, and a WINNER!

Good morning everyone!

Hope you've all had a SPECTACULAR weekend!  It was unbelieavably windy here yesterday...to the point where the chairs on our deck were all over the place and  we lost the cover to our grill - which had been velcroed along the sides and is nowhere to be found!  We still managed to get out and go to our gym where we rock-climbed with some friends and had a fun dinner out before coming home and watching the new version of "Robin Hood" with Russell Crowe.  I know this is not a blog about movies, but let me say this - I've seen two recent Russell Crowe movies ("Three Days Later" and "Robin Hood") and all I have to say is this - Russell Crowe is a good actor, but he needs to make BETTER choices in movies because both were pretty bad.  Anyways, I should get back to the point...

Thank you for your kind words about my Guest Designer project for Pink Cricut.  It is always great to hear feedback (especially when it is positive!) and thank you to all of you that became followers.  I do try to keep up with this blog as much as I can given the constraints of my job and family obligations, and I'm making an effort to dedicate more time to this in 2011 than in 2010.  I will be listing my winner of the stamp set at the END of this post, so please have a bit of patience :)

For those of you that were discussing mailboxes you purchased that could be used for this project, the mailbox for this particular project was from Michaels.  It was the only one we could find in the store and I think it might have been $1.99-2.99.  It was bigger than the ones from Target.  HOWEVER - I did use the ones from the Dollar Spot at Target to create smaller versions to send to my parents, sister, and my sister's boyfriend.  I filled them with candy and made little cards to go with them.  My family absolutely LOVED them :)  I will share them in another post later today - this one is already getting quite long and I have some important information to share with you! 

IMPORTANT IMAGINISCE NEWS!  Imaginisce has an E-NEWSLETTER now!!  WOOOOOO HOOOOO!  I fell in love with Imaginisce products when I created a card for their Halloween contest (for my new followers: the post is here).  The product lines are absolutely beautiful, fun, and perfect for ANY project -- and of course, who can forget the iRock, the iTop, and the iBond tools??!!  I am definitely an Imaginisce fan :)  The link to their e-newsletter can be found at:  http://www.imaginisceblog.com/2011/02/our-first-official-e-newsletter.html.  Definitely go check it out and get INSPIRED!

Okay...now to what you've all been waiting for...DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

The winner of the Pink by Design "Crop 'til You Drop" stamp set is...lucky number #43 (I only used 1 through 48 in Random.org since someone posted twice...):

suzyQ2 said...

Cute projects! Would love to win those darling stamps.
Miss SuzyQ2, I will be e-mail you shortly for your e-mail address!

Thank you again for following my blog - and stayed tuned for some more project pictures this afternoon! 

~ Ashley "Scrappin' Pink Piglet ~

>:@

Pink by Design Guest Designer Post :)

Greetings everyone!

I am super excited to be included as one of the guest designers for Sarah's Pink Cricut blog.  Sarah has been a huge help over the past 6 months or so that I've had my Cricut and has put up with my endless questions and e-mails - thanks Sarah! :)  Not only that, but I L-O-V-E the stamp sets she creates.  The sheer quantity of sentiments and the creativity Sarah puts into each one cannot be rivaled by any found in your everyday craft store.  I am a huge fan of this stamp line (couldn't you tell?)! :)

Once again, the pictures of my project:

And the recipe:

Supplies:
- Gypsy

- Cricut Cartridges: "Create a Critter”

- Pink by Design Stamps: “Be Mine”

- Peachy Keen Stamps: “Happy Lashes Assortment”, “Critter Faces – Medium”
- Black and Red Stamp Pads

- Standard Colored Cardstock (Value Pack) (yellow portion of bee)

- k-i Memories Designer Paper Pad “Funky Paper Pad II” (12 x 12) (solid pink hearts)

- DCWV “The Natural Stack” (12 x 12) (black glitter portion of bee)

- Gartner Studios “Cruise Voyage Collection” Stack (12 x 12) (patterned paper glued to mailbox)

- Origami Love Notes kit (paper used for the base of all 4 flowers found on the mailbox)

- Stickles: “Cotton Candy”, “Christmas Red”

- Martha Stewart Crafts’ Scoring Board

- Paper Cutter
- Scissors
- Pink ATG
- Adhesives

As you can see, my card was inspired by the sentiment I chose from the Pink by Design “Be Mine” stamp set.

How to Recreate My Project:

1.  I took a 12 x 12 sheet of red patterned paper from the Gartner Studios “Cruise Voyage Collection” stack.  I folded the paper from edge to edge of the mailbox and marked it with a pencil.  Using my paper cutter, I trimmed the paper along the lines I had drawn. 

2.  I cut the paper a second time from the base up to the rivet in order to allow the flag to move.  I used my scoring board to fold this portion in order to make it easier to cut.  I attached the paper to the mailbox using my pink ATG.

3.  I cut the base of the bee from black glitter paper found in the DCWV “The Natural Stack” at 1.86” wide and 2.5” high.  The yellow portion of the bee was cut from standard cardstock (like that which you find in a value pack) at 1.52” wide and 2.5” high.  I used various adhesives to attach the two parts together.  I used Peachy Keen Stamps’ “Critter Faces – Medium” to stamp each bee’s face. 

4.  To create the flowers that adorn either side of the mailbox and the flag, I cut paper I found in an “Origami Love Notes” kit I had.  The flowers were cut at 2” wide and 3.56” high.  The hearts found in the center of each of these flowers were cut from light pink paper from the k-i Memories Designer Paper Pad “Funky Paper Pad II” at 1.5” wide and 3.73” high.  I used Peachy Keen Stamps’ “Happy Lashes” faces to decorate a few of the flowers on the mailbox as well as “Cotton Candy” and “Christmas Red” Stickles to decorate one of the flowers. 

5.  I cut the flowers on the front of the mailbox using paper from the “Origami Love Notes” kit and standard white cardstock at 2.5” wide and 7.94” high as well as 1.75” wide and 5.56” high.  The sentiment was stamped from the Pink by Design “Be Mine” stamp set using red ink. 

6.  I attached all of my cuts – including the small red hearts that were sent to me by Lisa over at Honeybearz Designs (thanks Lisa!) – using various adhesives, including my ATG.  And – voila! – my finished project!

The project I shared for my guest post was one that I had a lot of fun with and one that was definitely a learning experience.  It was a bit more complicated that my previous altered item project since it had some moveable parts (like the flag) that couldn't be covered but once I figured out the little nuances I was able to create something that I truly loved - so much so that I ended up creating 4 ADDITIONAL smaller ones for my family!  (You can find those pictures in a separate post following this one.)

If you made it this far, you deserve a reward...right?  How about your own PINK BY DESIGN STAMP SET?  I'm giving away the "Crop 'til You Drop" set seen here:

Please leave a comment with a way to contact you if you'd like to win this set.  I would also love it if you became a follower - I try to keep this blog updated as often as I possibly can and I always love having feedback :)  Entries close on Friday, March 18th at 11:59pm and I will have my winner posted on Saturday (though if you provide me with an e-mail address I will contact you there as well). 

Thank you for visiting and thank you again to Sarah for including me as a guest designer!

~ Ashley ~

>:@

YourStory Bundle Giveaway!

To celebrate the redesign of their site and blog, the team at "Create & Craft" is giving away a YourStory bundle!  Check it out by clicking here!

~ Ashley ~

>:@