The EIBH is HERE!!!

It's here! The Etsy Inspired Blog Hop is HERE! Be sure to check out ASHLEY'S BLOG for the lineup of challenges! Here is some info STRAIGHT from her blog:
On February 28th from 9am-6pm Pacific Time, we will be doing an event called Hop with the EtsyInspired Eight. Each member of the design team (including myself and our Feb guest designer Sara, so really there's 10) will have a challenge on their blog on Feb 28 at a different time. In between challenges there we will be chatting on our group on Paper Craft Planet.

Limelight Papercrafts has sponsored one of the challenges... And I'll let you in on a little secret! The prize for that challenge is the NEW Basic Grey Porcelain Paper Pad AND Glazed Brads!! :) And I hear that our own Lee Murphy is hosting the noon (I believe) challenge! I know I hope to play along today for all of the fun... And good luck to YOU on winning BIG! :)

Limelight *Big Puffy Hearts* Ashley!

LOOK HERE! Ashley featured us on her blog, Heart Hugs Designs. We are one of the Etsy Inspired Blog Hop sponsors, and we are thrilled to be so! Ashley is just the SWEETEST ever, and her Etsy Inspired challenged are ALWAYS awesome! Be sure to pop in on Ashley's blog Saturday, February 28, for challenges and *P*R*I*Z*E*S*!!! More details can be found HERE!

Want Some Rhinestones??

These lovely ladies have a package of Silver Rhinestones up on their blogs as blog candy... Check it out!!

Lorie

Lee

Kristen

Welcome, Kherington!

Last Monday, my cousin had her second baby, a sweet little girl! We all went down for the afternoon and had the privilege of meeting the little one! :) Here is a picture of my cousin, little Kherington, and me:


And of course, here is Drew with the proud papa! Notice the PINK t-shirt to celebrate the baby girl!! :)

The card at the top of this post is the card I made for her. I am always amazed when I visit my cousin's house that the baby card and gifts I made when her first was born are still displayed in the baby's (now big brother's!) room. Isn't that the best feeling???

Stamps: Wild About You, Short Order Alpha (SU). Paper: BG Euphoria paper pad, Soft Sky, Rose Red, GP White. Ink: Rose Red. Accessories: Splash Tulle, Petunia Tulle, Silver Rhinestones, Soft Pink Rhinestones, Copic Clear Spica Pen.

Limelight Sketch 15 WINNER!

Congratulations to Janice M, who wins the FREE package of Prima flowers of her choice! Check out her cute card HERE!! Janice, e-mail me with your address and choice of flowers, and I'll get it right out to you!!

Here are a few cards that I picked to share this week! Hope you enjoy them!!

Shannah:

Collette:

Gretchen:

Mandy:

Enchanted Lily is in the LIMELIGHT!!

That's right! The new Pink Cat Studios set, Enchanted Lily, is available for purchase TODAY!!! Here is an image of the set, along with a card sample by our very own super-talented Becky Carafa!


While you're shopping, be sure to pick up some cardstock and patterned paper, too! This week only, all cardstock AND patterned paper are BUY THREE, GET ONE FREE!!!

Request for Cards for a Stamping Friend

If you are up late and needing something to stamp, scroll down two posts! I won't be pulling a winner for the Sketch and Product Challenge until tomorrow morning after my husband's doctor appointment! So you really have until noon to enter!!

On another note, a sweet friend of mine, Elizabeth, just had surgery. You may know her as Cricketeew on SCS. She has had lots of pain problems for a while now and they removed her gallbladder the other day after about a week in the hospital. Anyway, she's hopefully going to be on the mend now... I was thinking that I'll bet Elizabeth would LOVE to get a bunch of get well cards from fellow stampers!! If you would be willing to send her a card, e-mail me. I'll send you my address, and I'll take all of the cards over to her. Thanks for being willing to cheer up (and pray for, if you would!) a fellow stamping friend!!

Emma's Birthday Party

Last week we threw a birthday party for my neighbor and friend Emma. It was great! My other neighbor Jodi helped us plan it, then the three of our families got together for fun and food! :) We decided on a 70's/Hippie theme. We all dressed up in our tie dye, ate fondue, and even applied flower power temporary tattoos!! All of us, six adults and six kids, had a blast! We are blessed to have such wonderful neighbors!!

This is the card and gift card holder I made for Emma. The paper is from the Paper Trunk 1974...this paper is called Far Out, Man! Appropriate, huh? ;)
Stamps: Eat Cake (SU). Paper: White Pocketbook Box, Canvas Limeade, WNP Chocolate, DoubleMates Berry Red, 1974 - Far Out Man (Paper Trunk). Ink: White Craft, Gable Green, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip. Accessories: White EP, Splash Tulle, Yellow Rhinestones, Orange Rhinestones, SU Corner Rounder.

I made a Smilebox of the photos we took, too. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Six Chicks Sketch #15

Wishing for Spring??
It may be snowy and icy but we can still 'think' Spring!
Bring on the flowers!Use the provided sketch and use FLOWERS!
They can be Primas, stamped flowers, flowered DP, etc...anything floral!

• Key word for SCS upload is LLPC015.


• Post a comment with a link to their card to this post on my blog by Sunday night at midnight.


• Prize is one package of Prima Flowers of the winner's choice! (And we have lots of BRAND NEW Prima flowers coming!!)

Happy Presidents' Day!!

Now through February 22, enter the code "PRESIDENT" at checkout to receive 10% off of your total order!

Last-Minute Valentines

Are you finding that you need a few more QUICK valentines? I have a very simple solution. I make variations of this card each year. It's quick, easy, and only uses a few supplies. On top of that, it's still quite impressive! What more can you ask for, right??

I used the technique where you punch out a shape - in this case I used the retired SU! folk heart punch (still love that one!) - and cover the punched-out area with clear packing tape. The sticky side should face out (away from the card base). You sprinkle iridescent glitter (but you could really use any color!) over the tape, and it sticks to the sticky side, leaving you with a shimmery shape! For this batch of cards, I used some Bittersweet patterned paper behind the glittery heart, but I normally use just the card base, so either pink or red.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday! Happy V-Day Eve! ;)

Stamps: Goody-Goody Gumdrops (SU). Ink: SU! Craft White. Paper: Basic Grey Bittersweet, Basic Black, WorldWin DoubleMates - Pretty Pink. Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Heart Punch, Packing Tape.

Weekly Sales at Limelight

February 9- February 15
ALL UNITY STAMP COMPANY STAMPS AND HANDLES 10% OFF!

A selection of our Valentine's Day themed projects are on sale this week, as well...

• Basic Grey Bittersweet Rub-on Olio Books and Element Stickers!
• Odd Bird Planet Hey Handsome and Me & You Stamps
• Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes Clear Stamp Set

Don't forget about our new CLEARANCE section as well! Take advantage of great prices on cardstock and envelopes NOW before they are all gone!!

Sketch 14 WINNER and Highlights!

Good morning, Blogosphere! It is going to be a BEAUTIFUL day here...close to 70 degrees! I am planning on finishing up a few things around here and then taking the kids to the park to play! I am SO longing for spring and SUMMER! :) But FIRST... I would like to announce the winner of the Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge! Tami, YOU are the winner! Zip me an e-mail with your choice of rhinestones and Shimmerz colors, and I'll get those right out to you!

I would like to again share with you a few of the WONDERFUL cards made by our challenge participants! The cards this week were PHENOMENAL! Click on the card image to visit the designer's blog or Splitcoast gallery!

Also, don't forget to enter the DUTCH DARE CARD CHALLENGE! Limelight Papercrafts is sponsoring the challenge this week, and I would LOVE to see our readers' cards for that challenge! You have through Wednesday to get your card posted!

Tami:

Gretchen:

Monika:

Janice:

Jacquie:

Amy's V-Day Gift

It's the 6th of the month ~ that means the Limelight Papercrafts Chicks have a project to share!

This month our challenge was to create A Valentine's Day Gift and Card you can give to a Friend. And I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret. I cheated! ;) I designed my sketch card I showed yesterday to match this project instead of making a separate card for it. So you'll be seeing that one again! I made my gift for my sweet friend Amy! I knew she would love to receive this, and she means the world to me! We all have friends like that, right? So I hope we inspire you today to make some gifts to tell those wonderful people in our lives how much they mean to us!

I embellished one of our Waste Not Paper White Pocketbook Boxes to hold a couple of Valentine's Day cookie sandwiches. I used a few pieces of BG Urban Prairie paper scraps and tied some Pink Sheer Heart Edge Ribbon around the top (isn't that ribbon to DIE for!?!?) I also tied some of the same ribbon around the top of the cellophane bag holding the cookies. Like the pocketbook box?? They are available in our new CLEARANCE section at the store! And let me tell you, NOW is the time to be stocking up on CARDSTOCK of all types! All of our Bazzill, DoubleMates (Worldwin), and Waste Not Paper cardstocks are 30-50% off!!

Now...about the COOKIES! My mom and I used to make these every year at Valentine's Day. We'd simply buy refrigerated sugar cookie dough and a tub of strawberry cream cheese frosting. (Nowadays I normally make my favorite from-scratch sugar cookie dough and frosting, but not this time!!) You roll out the dough and cut out a medium-sized heart shape. On half of the heart-shaped cookies, you will use a smaller heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the middle. This will form the "window" to the pink frosting! (HINT: I find it preserves the shape to transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet after the first, medium-sized, heart. THEN you can cut the smaller heart directly out of the cookie while it is on the cookie sheet.) After the cookies are baked, you will frost the solid heart with your pink frosting and then set a heart "window" cookie on top to form the sandwich. The only modification these days? My son INSISTS upon adding sprinkles!! :)


I hope you'll enjoy visiting each of the design team members' blogs today... They have some WOW projects up for YOU! :) Click on the links to their blogs in my sidebar!

Also, have some time for some challenges?? Limelight Papercrafts has issued another Sketch and Product Challenge! And...we are sponsoring the Dutch Dare Card Challenge this week! Click on the links for details... and to see what prizes are being offered up!

Dutch Dare Card Challenge is IN THE LIMELIGHT!

***THIS IS MY SECOND POST TODAY...SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT POST FOR THE LIMELIGHT SKETCH AND PRODUCT CHALLENGE!!***

That's right Limelight Papercrafts is sponsoring this week's Dutch Dare Card Challenge!! I'm posting the details HERE, but you are going to want to post your link to your card HERE ON THE DUTCH DARE BLOG!

Our challenge to you is to create a love-themed card...perhaps for Valentine's Day! The catch? You CANNOT use traditional Valentine's Day colors.... No reds or pinks! I know, ACK!! I have created two cards as samples for you. The first card at the top is a Valentine's Day card for my husband! Yep, I've gotten it done EARLY! :) I used the retired SU set Mixed Bouquet for the main image. I LOVE those flowers!! :) I took this second, tilted photo to try to show the Pixie Dust Shimmerz I painted onto the daisy centers and some of the little buds. Love that sparkle!

Stamps: Mixed Bouquet (SU), Simply Said (Unity). Paper: Limeade Canvas, Beetle Black Criss Cross, GP White, Petallics Silver Ore. Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Cat's Eye Pistachio, Cat's Eye Chalk Prussian Blue, Cat's Eye Silver, Cat's Eye Chalk Wisteria. Accessories: Yellow Rhinestones, Raven Tulle, Pixie Dust Shimmerz.

I couldn't help but make a SECOND card!! :) I actually used the sketch from the Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge that was issued today! So I combined the sketch with the Dutch Dare non-traditional V-Day colors challenge! And I LOVE how it turned out. Love that black and turquoise. Urban Prairie is HANDS-DOWN my favorite paper line right now.

Stamps: Goody-Goody Gumdrops (SU hostess set). Paper: Beetle Black Criss Cross, WNP Pool, BG Urban Prairie. Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black. Accessories: SU retired folk heart punch, Coluzzle oval template, Mint Green Rhinestones, Acetate, Pop-It Circles.

One lucky winner of the challenge will win the Unity Stamp Co. Delectable Delights stamp set AND a Raspberry Pixee Stix glitter tube from Limelight Papercrafts! Can't wait to see what you come up with!! :)

Six Chicks Sketch and Product Challenge #14

Well, here we are again... It's time for another sketch and product challenge with the Limelight crew! Our wonderful sketch this week is brought to us by the talented, the luv-lee (heehee!) Lee Murphy! The product we are focusing on this time around is PINK BLING! Does it GET any better than that??

I had lots of fun with this card. I started with a base of WorldWin DoubleMates in Fairy Tale Pink. Then I used my paper trimmer to cut a window, and I adhered some acetate. I just loved using the acetate with this layout! I used the old SU! folk heart punch to punch the hearts. And, just as an FYI, I glued a heart on the inside of the card on the backs of the hearts on the acetate so that the glued blank side of the hearts wouldn't show when the card is opened. We want pretty insides, too, right?? And another thing... I loved using the DoubleMates for this card because it's two-sided, and the slightly darker pink color really helps the hearts stand out on the acetate! :)

For the sentiment, I adhered Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes Press-Ons (rub-ons). I LOVE this "Do you like me?" sentiment! SO CUTE for V-Day! :) And the Pink Paislee rub-ons go on like BUTTAH.... I cut it out using my Oval Coluzzle template and matted it on the Urban Prairie patterned paper from Basic Grey. This was also the paper I used for my hearts. The sentiment is popped up on Circle Pop-It Shapes. To finish, I went CRAZY with Soft Pink Rhinestones! Love it!

Here are the details of the challenge:

• Sketch and Product Challenge with a focus on using pink bling!
• Uploads to SCS should have the keyword: LLPC014.
• Participants should post a comment and a link to their card here on my blog.
  
• All entries must be submitted by Sunday, February 8th , at midnight to be eligible win a jar of Shimmerz and package of rhinestones of the winning designer's choice!

Katy's First Pedicure

I did it. I painted the baby girl's toenails! And they are SO diva girl. Just like her. ;) See how cute?!?!?

Tomorrow and Friday I have LOTS of stamped goodies to share! Be sure to come back to see them, and especially come back to participate in our Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge AND the Dutch Dare Card Challenge, which will be hosted by Limelight Papercrafts this week! We have lots of prizes to give away, and lots of stamping fun to be had! :)

Announcements!

Don't you just love it when you find a simple way to present a gift to someone? Especially when it's SUPER easy and looks like it took WAY more time than it actually did? Yeah... me too! I bought this super-cute box from Target and filled it with matching baby blankets and toys for a coworker of Drew's who just had a sweet little baby. I ALMOST wrapped the box with wrapping paper, but I figured it was TOO CUTE to cover up! I noticed that the colors in the pinstriping matched the Candy Apple, Parakeet, and Truffle Tulles that Limelight Papercrafts carries! I simply gathered the three colors and tied a knot, snipped the ends so that they were all equal lengths, and then I made sure the fanned out circle they formed was even! Doesn't that look impressive?? ;) (Hint: Say "yes".)

We have LOTS going on this week! Lots of FUN!!! A Valentine's Day Sale and TWO challenges (with PRIZES!!)

***February 1- February 8 A selection of our Valentine's Day themed projects are 20% off this week only! Here are the items on sale:

• Unity Stamp Company Love Is Toxic and Rows of Yummies
• All Basic Grey Bittersweet Accessories (6x6 Paper Pads NOT Included)
• Odd Bird Planet Hey Handsome, Me & You, and Heart Lolly Tree Stamps
• Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes Clear Stamp Set

***Be sure to visit the Limelight Papercrafts creative blog on Thursday, February 5, for our next sketch and product challenge! The challenge will focus on PINK BLING, and we'll be giving away a free jar of Shimmerz and package of rhinestones to one lucky winner!

***Limelight Papercrafts is sponsoring the Dutch Dare Card Challenge this Thursday, February 5, in addition to our regular Sketch and Product Challenge! We'll be posting a challenge for you and giving away a fabulous prize to one winner! What will the lucky person win? A Unity Stamp Company Delectable Delights Stamp Set AND a Raspberry Pixee Stix glitter tube!

***Be sure you tune in THIS Friday, February 6, for our Design Team's big project of the month! This Friday, we will be showing you a Valentine's Day gift and card for a FRIEND! We all have wonderful friends who we love and appreciate, so stop by the DT blogs for projects you can create to make your friends' day!

Introducing the Seventh and Eighth Six Chicks!

Now I know what you are thinking.... "Now THAT is REALLY mathematically impossible!" But I digress...

We have TWO guest designers for Limelight Papercrafts for the month of February! And BOY, are they talented! Without any further ado, here are our lovely ladies, along with a bio and some card samples!

JENNIFER GRECO

Hi! My name is Jennifer Greco, and I am excited and honored to be the Seventh Six Chick for Limelight Papercrafts for February! I’ve been married for 5 years and I am proud to be a stay at home mom to my two boys, ages four and one. I live near Madison, WI with my family. I have now been stamping, scrapping, and covering all sorts of things with glitter for over 6 years and I will never give it up. I am a big fan of Limelight Papercrafts; from the contests and blog fun to the fabulous product selection, and I was a customer long before this DT position. I love all things papercrafting - it is my hobby, my therapy and my creative outlet all in one. I stamp every day! I hope I can bring you inspiration with my projects.

Be sure to visit Jennifer's blog HERE!!!

KRISTEN CATALANO

My name is Kristen Catalano and I am thrilled to be have chosen as February's Seventh Chick for Limelight Papercrafts. I am married to my husband Paul of 10 years, and we have two beautiful children, as well as 2 spoiled fur babies. I have been scrapping for approx. 8 years, and what I like to call "really" stamping for the past 2 years. I have a Passion for paper. I am a self proclaimed designer paper addict. I look forward to working with Mandy and team and I can't wait to share my creativity with you.

Be sure to visit Kristen's Blog HERE!!

We will be trying out having two guest designers for a couple of months, and I will contact the TWO ladies we've chosen for March VERY SOON! So DT applicants, watch your inboxes!! :)

I'll be back tomorrow with a project, some new SALE information for the week, and some great prize-winning stamping opportunities with us this week... That's right....opportunitIES! There are TWO of them! ;)