Seasons Giving Blog Hop 4

Hi Friends!  I hope you're having a WONDERFUL day!  We are doing great!  The kiddos are going to try to stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year, wish us luck!

This year, I finally got my act together to participate in my friend Latisha's amazing Seasons Givings Blog Hop.  This is the fourth year of this amazing hop.  The hop is just a bunch of crafters and crafting companies giving back to the crafting community.  A huge THANK YOU for the past year.  Each stop on this blog hop will have a giveaway.  It's a wonderful out pouring of generosity and I'm so glad I get to participate this year!  

I made a card for this hop.  :)  By the time this blog hop goes live, it will still be my birthday (Dec 31) so I made a birthday card.  Let's be 100% honest, I don't even really know how to make cards anymore.  I mostly do Pocket Scrapbooking and the cards I made this year usually had the elements provided by my amazing friend Rachel at her crops.  I figured I would just pull out some of my favorite items and let them speak to me.  I used an old collection from Dear Lizzy Daydreamer which I have used also every single bit of.  I've never used so much of a 6x6 pad before, I only have 3 whole sheets left in that pad.  The image is a sticker from the collection.  I added some Chickaniddy enamel hearts and a Paper Smooches sentiment.  I thought it would be cute to stamp the sentiment in pink but it's a little hard to see.  

 GIVEAWAY: Today, I'm giving away one (1) $15 gift certificate to 1 of my favorite online stores.  One winner will be able to pick a gift certificate from either: Butterfly Reflections Ink, Ellen Hutson, or Paper Issues.  Just leave a comment and I will pick a winner and post on Jan 7.

Please follow my blog to see my new posts in the new year.  You can also follow my Heart Hugs Designs Facebook Page.

The next stop on the hop is my DEAR DEAR friend Nicole Maki.  Please check out the rest of the hop:

Lawn Fawn

Lawnfawn.blogspot.com

Scrapbook Cards & Today Magazine

http://www.scrapbookandcardstodaymag.typepad.com

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

http://www.scrapbook-adhesives.com/blog

Reverse Confetti

https://reverseconfetti.com/blog/

Technique Tuesday

http://techniquetuesday.typepad.com

CAS-ual Friday Stamps

http://cas-ualfridaysstamps.blogspot.com

Verve Stamps

http://www.vervestamps.blogspot.com

Donna Salazar

http://donnasalazardesigns.blogspot.com

Richard Garay

http://www.richardgaray.com/blog/

AdTech

https://makesomethingreat.wordpress.com

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store

http://notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com

Inchie Arts

http://www.inchiearts.typepad.com

Avocado Arts

http://www.avocadoarts.blogspot.com

OHscrap (Bossy Joscie)

http://www.cutchens.com

Rubermoon Stamps

http://www.rubbermoonarts.blogspot.com

Latina Crafter

http://latinacrafter.blogspot.com

A Jillian Vance Design

http://blog.ajillianvancedesign.com

JustNick

http://justnick.myshopify.com/blogs/justnick

Your Everyday Stamps

http://youreverydaystamps.blogspot.com

Latisha Yoast

http://www.crafteebee.blogspot.com

AJ Otto

http://thewillowgarden.blogspot.com

Kimberly Crawford

http://kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com

Julia Stainton

http://juliastainton.com/blog/

Laurie Willison

http://www.soapboxcreations.blogspot.com

Teri Anderson

https://terisplace.wordpress.com

Jennifer Gallacher

http://jengallacher.blogspot.com

Vera Yates

http://www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com

Wanda Guess

http://www.ablogcalledwanda.com

Nichol Magouirk

http://www.nicholmagouirk.typepad.com

Kelly Klapstein

http://www.kellycreates.ca

Anabelle O’Malley

http://www.anabelleom.blogspot.com

Kim Watson

http://kj-starre.blogspot.com

Chari Moss

http://www.mossymade.com

Laura Bassen

https://laurafadora.wordpress.com

Lydia Fiedler

http://understandblue.blogspot.com

Lisa Adametz

http://www.papergrace.com

Alice Wertz

http://aliceslittlewonderland.blogspot.com

Daniela Dobson

http://danieladobson.blogspot.com

Jenn Shurkus

Shurkus.com

Lori Craig

http://loricraig.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com

Amy Tsuruta

http://tsurutadesigns.blogspot.com

Lisa Henke

http://www.mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com

Margie Higuchi

http://margieh.blogspot.com

Lee Murphy

http://luvleestamper.blogspot.com

Lori Tecler

http://inkingaloud.blogspot.com

Dina Kowal

http://mamadinis.blogspot.com

Loretta Lock

http://lovetocreate.blogspot.ca

Darsie Bruno

http://craftingwithdarsie.blogspot.com

Marcie Sharp

http://www.cardmakinchaos.blogspot.com

Veronica Zalis

http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/?m=1

Barbara Anders

http://barspaperpursuits.blogspot.com

Maria Levine

http://riacreations.blogspot.com

Dana Joy

http://www.gotjoycreations.blogspot.com

Melody Rupple

http://apapermelody.blogspot.com

Keri Sereika

http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com

Asia King

http://underacreativespell.blogspot.com

Jennifer Ingle

http://justjingle.blogspot.com

Yvonne Van de Grijp

http://phoebeez.blogspot.nl

Beth Pingry

http://bethpingry.com

Erica Houghton

http://ericahoughton.blogspot.com

Mary-Ann Maldonado

http://lumpbumpandclump.blogspot.com

Piali Biswas

http://touchofcreation.blogspot.com

Ashley Newell

http://www.hearthugsdesigns.com

Nicole Maki

http://madebynicole.blogspot.com

Julee Tilman

http://www.poeticartistry.blogspot.com

Leigh Penner

http://www.leighpenner.blogspot.com

Christina Griffiths

http://flowersribbonsandpearls.blogspot.co.uk

Lindsay Amrhein

http://lindsayamrhein.blogspot.com

Laura Williams

http://www.lauralooloo.blogspot.com

Debbie Seyer

http://www.debbieseyer.com/my_weblog/

Christine Emberson

http://creativity-continues.blogspot.co.uk

Kerry Urbatch

http://www.thestampingbugsjourney.blogspot.com

Linda Lucas

http://lovelylindascraftcentral.blogspot.com.au

Tosha Leyendekker

http://www.stamptalkwithtosh.blogspot.com

Giovana Smith

http://giovana-believe.blogspot.com

Bunny Vance

http://www.bunnyrunswithscissors.com

Stacey Schafer

http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com

Lee Ann Barrett

http://greytpapercrafts.blogspot.com

Ruby Naz

http://www.arareruby.com

Julie Dinn

http://www.kreativejewels2.com

Jill Hawkins

https://fastestturtle.wordpress.com

Christiana Reulling

http://christygetscrafty.blogspot.com

Jodi Collins

http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com

Gracie Chavez

http://gracielliedesign.blogspot.com

Michelle Woerner

http://stopandstamptheroses.blogspot.com

Tania Willis

http://www.throughtrialsiambeingpurified.blogspot.com

Karisse Schilling

http://karissejoy.com

Lori McAree

http://smilingwhilestamping.blogspot.com

Ashley Harris

http://www.ashleyharris.typepad.com

Emily Leiphart

http://www.leiphartonart.blogspot.ca

Heidi Blankenship

http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com

Coralynn Murray

http://sunrisestamper1.blogspot.ca

Tenia Nelson

http://jazzypaper.blogspot.com

Pretty Philosophie

http://www.prettyphilosophie.org

Jillian Vance

http://www.princessandthepaper.com

Misti Oblander

http://misti-acardaday.blogspot.com

Ceal Pritchett

http://simplybeautifulcreations.blogspot.com

You're Brrr-fect and a Bunch of Winners

Hi friends!  I hope you are well!  We are ok.  We still have some stress and we are working things out for our son at school.  Parenting is HARD!  We are also trying to get ready for Christmas and Avery's birthday.  It's a busy time of year!

Today, I'm posting a card I made for a holiday card swap at my friend Regina's house.  (Let me just say, Regina's house and scrap room are AMAZING and if you ever get the chance to go there, you should!  I wish I could just move in!)  We were to make a clean and simple card and make kits for everyone else so they can make your card too.  We had a great time, awesome food, fun conversation, and I made some new friends.

Here's my card using Chilly Chums by Paper Smooches.  I love this set with a passion!  I brought the whole set with me to the swap and some gals picked some of the other cute animals for their card.  I used some older Echo Park paper since I needed enough for 9 cards.  Then some good old fashion Stickles and goggly eyes.  I'm entering this in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge for this week.

I also wanted to announce some of the winners from my giveaways that recently ended.  There are a few more giveaways still open so please go enter those!

Jenny Bunny Scarf - Savannah O'Gwynn

Not Your Mother's Apron Strings - Miriam Prantner

Creative Embellishment - Jan Farnworth

Beautiful Creations MP- Andrea Murdock

Just Jewelry - Margie M.C.

Please email me via the email address in my sidebar or contact me on Facebook for your prize!  

Have a great day, friends!!  

Dynamitegun Dot Com Dot Cast

Hi friends!   I hope you are well!  Did you enter all my 14 giveaways I posted over the last week?  Check them out!

Today, I'm sharing a card with a funny story.  Over the last few weeks my husband has been hosting a podcast for his friend who had to go away for work.  I told them that the podcast needed a logo to which our friend responded "why don't you go stamp one?"  Umm... challenge accepted!  The podcast is called Dynamitegun Dot Com Dot Cast.  The podcast is mostly about geeky things like the iPhone 6 and video games.  They always have a drink and they review weird food items.  That's what I put together on this card.  I used Paper Smooches Teen Routine, Wake Up, Sugar Rush, and Alphadot.  The paper is Crate Paper Boys Rule.  What do you think?  Did I capture it?

A couple more things, I'm entering this card in Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge for this week.  Second, I was the guest on this week's Dynamitegun Dot Com Dot Cast (week 38 - Alternative Food Constructs) if you want to download it and listen, it's FREE!  Have a great day, friends!  

7 for 7: Paper Smooches

Hi friends!  I hope you are having a great weekend!  Have you entered ALL the fabulous giveaways I'm having?  I have 9 that I previously posted so be sure to check them out!

Giveaway Rules: Join me each day this week for a TWO new giveaways.  (There *might* be some bonus giveaways too.)  To enter the giveaways, you'll need to use the Rafflecopter that I post at the bottom of each blog post.  Each giveaway will be open for 14 days from the day it starts since it's a holiday week and I want to give people a chance to enter.  All readers are welcome, US or international, unless a giveaway specifies.  Winners will be announced on my blog and my Heart Hugs Designs Facebook Page.  Winners will have 72 hours to contact me or a new winner will be drawn.  Good luck to everyone!

Today, I have a giveaway from Paper Smooches.  Kim so sweetly offered up 1 stamp set of the winner's choice as the prize.  I know I have a wish list a mile long from Paper Smooches.  There stamps are the CUTEST!  They are awesome quality and the designs are fabulous!  I also have their dies and they are amazing as well.

I made a card to go along with this giveaway since I'm so thankful for my readers and all my sweet friends who offered up awesome giveaways to help me celebrate 7 years of blogging.  I played along with the sketch on this week's Paper Smooches Sparks.  I just needed a ton of this little hamster on a card so this is what I came up with.  Not sure that it works but I'm going with it.  The hamster and warm & fuzzy is from Party Posse and the thanks is from Pretty Phrases.  The paper is Basic Grey.

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Neon Coffee Love

Hi friends!  I hope that you are doing well!  We are ok around here.  We have this cough that won't go away but other than that, I think we might be turning a corner.

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for my friend Madison (she was on yesterday's blog post) as a send off.  She is heading off to college.  I met Madison at Starbucks, she's my barista.  I'm so proud of her for saving up, getting her own place, and getting a job in her new location!  I wanted to make her a fun card to let her know.  I used Paper Smooches Hot Concoctions stamps for this card.  Aren't these to go coffee cups the cutest??  I wanted to make a fun, young card so I pulled out some WRMK It Factor papers for the fun neon look.  I didn't want to go too crazy so I used a fair amount of black on this card.

I'm entering this card in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge for this week.  You know how I loooooove Paper Smooches stamps!

Have a great day, friends!  

Teacher Thank You Card

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a wonderful day!  Today is my husband's birthday.  I will be sharing his card after I make it.  LOL!  Isn't that how it goes?  Someday I will make cards before the day of the actual event.  Someday.

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for my son's teacher to go with her end of the year gift.  We went in on a gift with a bunch of other families and I made the card for all the kids to sign.  I made a HUGE card since all the kids were signing it.  This is 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches.  I took a while brainstorming what to do with so much space.  I decided to go with a grid of a bunch of things you do in school.  Our elementary school teachers also teach Physical Education so that's why the baseballs from Paper Smooches Little Fella are on there.  The laptop is from the Teen Routine set.  The other images including the little apple on the computer and the thanks sentiment are from Smarty Pants.  Then I used my Alphadots set to spell out the teacher's name at the top.  I pulled out my Copics for the first time in a long time.  My coloring needs a lot of work but you work with what you have.  On the binder paper, I used some gel pen.  I cut out all the items by hand and used a square punch for the white card stock to display them.

I'm linking up this card to this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge.

Have a great day, friends!  

Another Washi Card

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!  We are doing pretty good.  We are just trying to stay cool.  It's gets HOT here and we have a black mini van and it's VERY hot in there.  It's getting to the point where I only want to do errands in the morning and evening.

Today, I am sharing another card I made for Gallery Idol.  A while back, I made a set of cards using a panel I covered with washi tape then using both the die I cut out and the negative.  It is one of my most popular posts on Pinterest.  I decided to do a variation of that idea.  I covered a panel of white card stock in washi tape.  Then I die cut out the vases from Paper Smooches.  I covered the washi panel in glassine to mute the colors a little.  I offset the die cut vases on top of the glassine so it looks like a dark shadow but in actuality, you're seeing the black card base.  Then I added a sentiment from Paper Smooches and some enamel dots from Doodlebug.

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Die Crazy Challenge.

Have a great day, friends!

Throwing My Hat in the Ring

Hi friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We are doing ok.  It's starting to be very summery here.  I think it might be making the kids antsy to be off school.  Brady will be out pretty soon but Parker goes through the end of next month.  Sigh...  I hope he makes it.  ;)

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for the Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Gallery Idol 2014 contest.  I'm pretty sure I enter every year with the exception of last year.  I figured I would give it a go.  I'm not having a ton of luck making time for crafting right now so maybe this is the push I need.  What's the worst that could happen?  I haven't made it any other year so fingers crossed.

This year's audition theme is washi tape.  I have a BUNCH of washi tape and I don't use very much of it, just a few pieces here and there.  I figured I would go all out and use a whole bunch.  I am not very good at making gradients so I thought I would try one with washi.  I didn't have all the colors I needed so I layered a few of the tapes. I used a Memory Box die, a Paper Smooches sentiment, and some CTMH little rhinestones.

Have a great day, friends!

Hoppy Easter with Solid Divine Twine Banners

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!  We are enjoying spring break over here.  We are hanging out around town with our friends.  I've gotten a little bit of crafting done.  I'm not going to lie, it feels good!  I'm hoping that it keeps up.  

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for this week's Paper Smooches Spark's Picture Perfect Challenge.  I love playing along with their challenges!  Paper Smooches Stamps are some of my favorites.  This week's inspiration photo has lots of banners on it.  I decided to try to make my own banners with Solid Divine Twine.  I was really inspired by the banner with the fabric looped through.  That's the first one I made then I decided I needed more.  I made one with bows and one with knots that I pulled apart.  I used A Little Lovin and Alphadots on this card.  I really love being able to spell out my own matching sentiments.  I sometimes use words from sentiment sets and then add onto them especially to make puns.  The paper is Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!  

I Made a Card and Now I'm Gonna Blog About It

Hi friends!  I hope you are well.  So... you like my title?  It's pretty profound.  ;)  Honestly, I used to do this every single day.  Did you know?  I blogged everyday.  And now, I'm lucky to blog twice a month.  I'm having a hard time with this.  I WANT to want to stamp but I most often don't.  Does that make any sense at all?  I wish I still had that drive and desire.  Please send mojo!

My friend Veronica helped me get my bum in gear today.  I could not have done this without her.  I am playing along in a couple challenges with this card.  My friend Laura recently launched a challenge blog so I definitely wanted to play along with her Poppy Sketches.  I didn't realize that there would be a color challenge too so I tried to work that in.  Color challenges are the hardest for me.  I also played along with the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge for this week.  The stamps are obviously Paper Smooches from the Spectrum set.  I looooooooove unicorns!  The paper is Chickaniddy as are the stickers and enamel hearts.  I added washi tape and lace tape.  Also, the unicorn is colored in with the clear Wink of Stella shimmer pen.

Have a wonderful day, friends!  I hope to blog again soon.  Hopefully.  Some mojo would be nice.  ;)  

Dustin's Valentine

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a wonderful day!  We are doing pretty good.  We have a birthday party later on today.  The kids are very excited!

Today, I'm sharing the Valentine's Day card I for Dustin.  In case you didn't notice, I used Paper Smooches Stamps and Pebbles Yours Truly for all the Valentine's this year.  When I bought Teen Routine, I knew it was to make cards for Dustin and not for any teenagers.  He loves tech stuff and gadgets.  The heart and "hot stuff" is from Vegtastic.  And the "hey" is from Little Fella, I just masked off the "dude" in that sentiment.  I used a couple different kinds of washi tape for this as well.  I'm entering this in the Paper Smooches Fun and Cute challenge and the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge for this week.

Have a great day, friends!  

So So So So Loved

Hi friends!  I hope you're having an amazing day!  We had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  We had lunch with my sister in law and my 8 month old nephew.  Avery was so super cute with her cousin!  They adore each other, it was cuteness overload.  After the boys came home from school, we had our traditional heart shaped pizza for dinner, played games, and ended the night with a little family dance party in the living room.  It was a very nice day and I really needed a nice end to this awful week!

Today, I'm sharing the Valentine's Day card I made for Avery.  Last year, I just bought cards for the kids because I was just so tired from having a newborn.  This year, I just fell in love with the new Paper Smooches Spectrum set.  It has a unicorn and a rainbow.  I try to live in a life of unicorns and rainbows.  My life has been really really dark and I need to keep my head turned towards the positive things in life so this stamp set really spoke to me.  Of course I needed to use this special stamp set for my special princess.  Mostly because I don't think the boys enjoy 

I also tried to keep this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge in mind.  It's a lovely picture of a heart that is dark pink, light pink, and gold.  I wanted to use the colors in the photo and I wanted to use a lot of hearts.  I used the same Pebbles paper from yesterday along with some of their skinny washi tape.  I decided to make a pink heart unicorn because there's nothing better than a pink unicorn with hearts, glittery hair, and a gold glittery horn.  I think this card is the epitome of who I am.  I added some Peppermint Divine Twine and some enamel hearts from Chickaniddy.  I also used a little bit of Copics on this card.  I'm also entering this into the Cute and Fun Challenge on the Paper Smooches Blog.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  

Happy Valentine's Day: Silly Cards for Silly Boys

Hi friends!  Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you all are doing well.  It's been a VERY hard week here.  I've gotten a lot of bad news but I tried to cheer up for today and for my kids.  If there's one thing I've learned from this past week, it's take time to celebrate love.

I asked my boys what they wanted on their Valentine's Day cards and they wanted a turtle AND a dog on the same card.  I didn't really know how to make it work.  I went into my craft room and sat a bit and tried to work it out.  This is what I came up with.  It's silly and it won't make sense to anyone else but that's what a custom card is about, isn't it?  I made them the same but slightly different.  I don't want them to fight because they are upset the cards are different but I wanted them to be different enough that they would tell which card belongs to them.

Here's a close up of Brady's card.  I don't really think it's necessary to show both since they are so very similar.  I used a variety of Paper Smooches stamps for these cards.  The dog is from Chubby Chums.  The turtle is from Party Posse as is the accompanying sentiment.  And the bigger sentiment is one I created with the Alphadots set.  The papers are from Pebbles Yours Truly and the enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye.  I'm linking these up to the Fun and Cute Challenge over on the Paper Smooches Blog.  

I hope you all had an amazing Valentine's Day and expressed love to all those around you!  

Happy Birthday, Dude!

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  I'm blogging twice in one day because I'm apparently some sort of blogging machine.  Actually, I wanted to enter this card into a couple of things and didn't want to miss the deadline.  Since I never know when the baby is going to let me get things done, I figured I would blog at night while she sleeps.

Today, I'm blogging a card I made for Brady's friend's birthday.  Brady actually picked out the images and the sentiment.  He was SO cute!  He pointed to the "hey dude" and thought it was so funny!  Then he looked for another set with a birthday sentiment.  Then he ran off to play.  ;)  The monster and hey dude are from Paper Smooches Little Fella and the party hat and birthday sentiment are from Paper Smooches Party Posse.  The paper is Echo Park's A Boy's Life.  I added some Whisker Graphics Oyster Divine Twine and I colored the eyes with Copics then put glaze pen over the top.  I'm entering this in the Paper Smooches Jan 19-25 Anything Goes Challenge and the Ribbon Carousel Challenge Love, Birthdays, and Chicken Soup.

Have a great day, friends!