Thursday, November 17, 2011

Christmas Tag Bloghop and PRIZES for COMMENTS!!




Hello friends!
Today we have a Christmas Tag bloghop to inspire your Christmas tag making this year!  The Design Team has each created some GORGEOUS tags for you, and for those of you who hop through and come back and leave a comment here on this blog post by SUNDAY midnight, I will draw 'some' names for $10 gift certificates at the Inspired Stamps store!! (Depends on how many enter as to how many will win!)

Please feel free to copy our blog hop announcement photo above and share with your blogging friends!!  Remember, whenever there is a giveaway, if someone comes here and says you sent them...then their name is drawn as our winner, we thank YOU with a winning prize too!!

Here's my entry in the blog hop:

All stamps you see on the Blog Hop can be purchased at www.inspiredstamps.com  including this $3.99 stamp called Matthew 1:23! 

Ready to hop?  Ok, your first stop is to AMBER's BLOG.  If you get lost along the way just look to the sidebar of each person's blog for their Design Team names/links.  We're going alphabetically!

REMEMBER after Kary's blog, she'll send you back here to leave your comment on what you LOVED about this blog hop!!  There will be winners :o)
Enjoy,
Be the blessing!
~Antoinette
www.InspiredStamps.com (shipping orders the same day most orders are placed!  40% off coupon good through FRIDAY!)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A decked out TAG/Envelope...

Hello Friends!  Be sure to come to the blog Thursday for the Inspired Stamps Christmas Tag Blog HOP!!  The Design Team has put together some BEAUTIFUL artwork just for your inspiration!!

I have been working today on Friday's (week 7) 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations and am so excited to get to share that with you Friday with a great giveaway attached....!!!

Today I have a Card I made using a manilla tag, envelope, lace, Petaloo flowers, and Distress Inks with the Inspired Stamps:  Fall Gratitude, Labelmaker Alphabet, and more found at www.inspiredstamps.com:
 I designed this to be a place to keep track of what I am thankful for next year.  The opening of the envelope has the tag coming out of it so you can see...I can glue a photo of someone I am thankful for there or journal on the back.  I can add a tag for each month or even create a mini album to put in the envelope.  Here's a close up of the left and right sides of this:

(I love that Labelmaker stamp set...It allows me to create a border for most any size word I have!)  Here's the right side...I used my cuttlebug to emboss the tag and the paper is from Kaisercrafts:
Thanks so much for stopping by today!!  Only 2 days left to use the 40% off coupon in the Inspired Stamps store!

Until tomorrow's hop,
Be the Blessing,
~Antoinette

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Hello Friends!  Just 4 more days until our 1 year birthday celebration!!  We are so excited to get to celebrate with some great prizes for you!!  Be sure to plan to visit us Saturday!!

This week we are focusing on tags here at Inspired Stamps (our Design Team Christmas Tag bloghop will start Thursday!!)  Today I am sharing a tag I made for a Scrapbook Store that carries our stamps:
I used paper from a 6x6 pack of Kaisercrafts paper plus stamps from the Inspired Stamps online store:  Blessed Little Christmas, Christmas Verses, and Nativity

I have a favorite project to share with you tomorrow, so be sure to stop back by for a visit!

until then,
Be the Blessing,
~Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com (40% coupon good through FRIDAY!  Someone who ordered today got a special 'Thank You' in their order:  a FREE His Little Ones:  Christmas Boy was added!!  Enjoy!)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Our Birth Day is SATURDAY!! We're giving YOU the presents!!

Hello friends!
Don't forget you have until FRIDAY to use this coupon at www.inspiredstamps.com 
We are celebrating our first year in business all month, and this coupon is just the beginning!
Thursday is a BLOGHOP with the Inspired Stamps Design TEAM (Christmas Tags!!)
 
You will want to be sure to stop by Saturday and Sunday this weekend for our BIRTH DAY CELEBRATION with lots of fun surprises planned!

Then starting Sunday we will have a week of GUEST DESIGNERS posting their Inspired Stamps artwork...some have been on our design team in the past and some are great Inspired Stamps friends who post our stamps as artwork on their own blogs!  We are super excited to get this week started with the announcement of our Week 6 of the Inspired Stamps 12 Weeks of Inspired Stamps Christmas Creations!  Thanks to everyone who commented and shared us with your friends!!  This coming weekend will be even bigger, so be sure to come back...

Congratulations  to the winner of the $20 Michaels Gift Card plus the Free Inspired Stamp Set of your Choice...

Tanya said...
WOW Great tutorial! I'm always messing these up so this is going to help me out :) I've shared the giveaway on my FB page as well commented on the FB post :) Thanks for a chance to win a stamp!! **************************************************************************
CONGRATULATIONS TANYA!!  Email us by this FRIDAY at noon with your MAILING address AND which stamp set you'd like and we will mail that out to you Saturday!  If we don't hear from Tanya, this prize will go into our BIG GIVEAWAY at the end of our 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations!! Tomorrow, I have some really beautiful artwork to share!!
until then, ~Be the blessing! ~Antoinette www.inspiredstamps.com  (we ship most orders the same day as they are placed!)

Friday, November 11, 2011

Week #6 of our 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations: Rosette Ornament TUTORIAL

Hello friends!
We had SNOW here yesterday (ok a passing snow flurry, but it counts when you love snow as much as I do!)...so this Veterans' Day I am not only thankful to all those who serve in our armed forces, but also thankful for the beautiful weather we had to celebrate it in!!

Today I am going to share with you a tutorial I made so you will hopefully be inspired to make some yourself.  These are not a fragile little paper ornament, but really are a nice, substantial gift!! Here's the first one I made for you today and the tutorial will follow (BE SURE TO COMMENT HERE and/or ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE...YOU'LL SEE THE GREAT PRIZE AT THE END OF THIS POST!):

This is the finished ornament.  You can see the dimension of it at the photo at the top of this post.  I used the MILITARY stamp set for the sentiment and His Little Ones: Soldier Boy with Flag stamp set from the Inspired Stamps online store.  Colored with Copics and inked with Distress Inks.  Wanna see how easy it is to make one?
Double Rosette Ornament:
You'll need:  Martha Steward Score Board (or your scored cutting tool and a stylus will work too)
4 pieces of patterned paper (1.5inches wide by 12 inches long)
4 pieces of patterned paper (1 inch wide by 12 inches long)
hot glue gun
string or twine of your choice to hang it
Decorations (stamps: like I have with the sample)

Step 1:  Score each piece (yup all 8) at every half inch as shown:
 Step 2: Fan fold on the 1/2 inch marks like shown above and below...
 until you get this:
Step 3:  Glue each piece end to end of the same pattern paper (so all the 1.5 inch strips together; then all the 1 inch strips together):

You'll glue the top piece of the long strip to the bottom like this so it's a large circle.  

Step 4:Now the hardest part, (but only awkward, not really difficult).  You'll want to lay the inside down and form the rosette like this:

Step 5:  Using Hot Glue, glue the inside circle (you can do the back if you aren't putting another one on top so your top stays 'clean') and HOLD IT FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES:
(You can add the string at this point or wait)
Do the same to make your smaller one:
You have to hold it while it dries, making sure to get the Rosette adjusted like you want.  Then glue the small one onto the top one and decorate as you like.

Here are some more samples:

The one above has a Spellbinders die cut along the back and the Scripture is also cut with a Spellbinder's die!
And here is the banner that hangs on one of my Inspired Stamps studio walls...these Rosettes are 3" wide!

 You can also put simple stamps on the back of your Rosette (or even the front!)

LOTS of photos tonight, huh?
I hope this has inspired you to want to make these for yourself!  I am going to have to get a day and just make a bunch of these for family and friends!!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!  OK....Here's a Giveaway that is gonna help you to make these Rosettes.  All you have to do to enter is LEAVE A COMMENT HERE !  Your chances increase if you ALSO leave a comment on our Facebook Post this weekend that shares the Rosettes....AND if you let your crafty friends know about our Giveaway and one of them wins, YOU'LL WIN AUTOMATICALLY TOO!! We will draw the winner's name from all the comments here and Facebook randomly on Monday, and you only have until FRIDAY to email your mailing address or this prize will go into the BIG GIVEAWAY at the end of the 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations!!

The Giveaway THIS week, our half-way point in the 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations, is:
An Inspired Stampset of YOUR choice PLUS a $20 Michaels gift card (so you can get your own Martha Stewart Score Board or if you already have one, some cute papers and strings/ribbons to use to make your own Rosettes!!)

So, enjoy your weekend and I look forward to reading your comment!!
Be the Blessing,
~Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com (40% off coupon can be found on the store website...good for only one more week!)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Design Team Thursday: His Little Ones with Bible Verse Stamps

Hello friends,
How much I look forward to Design Team Thursdays, don't you?!?  Today's assignment was to create using a His Little Ones stamp along with a Bible Verse Stamps.  Above is a peek at Kary's beautiful card shown in full here:
    

Deneen's Card:
 Jamie's Card:
Jenn's Card:
What a FABULOUS job all the DT did for today's DT THURSDAY!!  Next week we will be having an Inspired Stamps Christmas Tag Bloghop!!  I can't wait!!

Tomorrow is 11-11-11 and Veteran's Day here in the USA!!  The 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations continue tomorrow and you are going to love what we have planned for you!!

Be the blessing,
~Antoinette
www.inspiredstamps.com (40% off coupon good for one more week!!) 



Wednesday, November 9, 2011

BEARS all things

Hello friends!
Today, as promised, I have created another Distress Ink Colored image!  I chose one of my favorites, one of the bear images from BEARS ALL THINGS found in the Inspired Stamps Online store.  Here is the full card, a close up of the Bible verse stamped out, and the stamp set all packaged up:


The Paper and Inks are all Ranger, INC (Tim Holz), the gold flower is a Prima, and the two colored are from the FLOWER BUDS Inspired Stamp Set.  Mocha Opaques are from CTMH.  I used Copic Markers to color the flowers. 

Thursday the Design Team has some AMAZING artwork for you so be sure to come back for a visit...Friday is 6 weeks (our half way to Christmas!) of the 12 Weeks of Inspired Christmas Creations and I am LOVING this week's project I will share with you!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!
Be the blessing!
~Antoinette
www.InspiredStamps.blogspot.com shipping the same day as most orders are placed!!