If you’ve been following the Our Craft Lounge sneek peaks over the last three days, you have been treated to some amazing new sets!   I have had alot of fun playing with new images and wish it would never end.   But, the release is looming and we want you to see all the fabulous sets Our Craft Lounge has to offer.

Today I am showcasing the Hearts & Hugs set again.   Yesterday was so much fun, I wanted to go it again!   There are so many things that can be done with this versitile set.

I used heart shaped nesties to create the shaker type box for the front of the card.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Our Craft Lounge’s Hearts & Hugs

Colors: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, dp

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tim Holtz tea bag distressing ink

Accessories: ribbon, button, heart shaped pearls, acetate, heart shaped nesties, eyelet border punch, dimensionals, sticky tape

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Here are the other sneak peeks!:

Bird and Groom  - Beth , Debbie

Hang it Up Cupid - Carol, Vicki

Hearts & Hugs - Holly, Joy

The Journey - Charmaine

Life Is -Amber

Love Notes - Heather, Beate

Out for a Spin - Pam

Fairy Dust is a Must - Cami, Broni

Granny’s Truffles - Val

Jungle Love - Deb, Kendra

Shamrock Blessings -Cindy

Sweet on You -Kisa

Wanted - Lila

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Ok, here comes the fun part!   Comment on this blog post between now and 10pm tonight and a random winner will be chosen to win this set!  (You can enter on each of the blogs, but you can only win once).

You can find all the new release for purchase here:

Memories of Time
300 Central Ave.
Coos Bay, OR  97459
www.memoriesoftime.com

eclectic Paperie
www.eclecticPaperie.com

Addicted to Rubber Stamps
www.addictedtorubberstamps.com

i{heart}papers
http://www.iheartpapers.com/

Collective Journey

1755 Orange Tree Lane

Redlands, Ca 92374

909-793-2200

http://www.collectivejourney.com/

Jazi Crafts
4747 Oceanside Blvd Suite G
Oceanside, CA 92056 - United States

http://www.jazicrafts.com/

Paper Maniac
6616 W 82nd St
Bloomington, MN 55438 - United States

http://www.papermaniac.com/

Custom Impressions Scrapbooking

9737 Flower St
Bellflower, CA 90706
ph: (562)925-5927
fax: (562)925-5937

http://www.ciscraps.com/home

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Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

    ~~ Holly ~~

It’s day #2 of the Our Craft Lounge sneak peeks!   There are 13 new sets being released and over the course of these three days, you will see samples from all of them.   Tons of fun!

I was given the opportunity to sneak peek the new Hearts & Hugs set.   Believe it or not, I get more orders for Valentine cards than any other occassion.   My DH works construction and those guys are always ordering Valentine/Love/Anniversary cards!   I think the big burly guys are really romantics at heart :).

I have to admit, this didn’t quite come out as I had envisioned it, but I still like it.   I wanted to create ”heartstrings”.   Each heart is treated differently.  One is covered in crafty sparkles, one in glossy glaze and the last in stickles.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Our Craft Lounge’s Hearts & Hugs

Colors: GP White, Real Red, designer paper

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories:  ribbon, gold cord, dimensionals, glossy glaze, crafty sparkles, stickles, label 8 nesties, charm, gold 1/2 pearls

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Here is a list of the peeks you will find! :

Bird and Groom  - Beth

Hang it Up Cupid -  Lila

Hearts & Hugs – Holly, Kendra

The Journey - Charmaine, Beate

Life Is – Charmaine, Beate

Love Notes - Kisa, Joy

Out for a Spin – Carol

Fairy Dust is a Must - Kendra , Vicki

Granny’s Truffles - Broni

Jungle Love - Heather

Shamrock Blessings - Pam

Sweet on You - Cami

Wanted - Kisa

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Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day

   ~~ Holly ~~

The Our Craft Lounge girls are going to treat you to some sneak peeks over the next three days.   The new releases coming out are so diverse that there is something for everyone!

You may make a double take when you see that I am sneak peeking a St. Patrick’s Day / Spring set!   I thought it was rather refreshing to work with while we are buried in snow :).

Shamrock Blessings is a great little set.   Whimsical images and wonderful sentiments make it a must have!

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Our Craft Lounge’s Shamrock Blessings

Colors: GP White, Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green

Ink: Garden Green, Elegant Eggplant

Accessories: ribbon, 1/2 pearls, swiss dots embossing folder, oval nesties, dimensionals

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Here are where the peeks are! :

Bird and Groom  - Cindy,

Kisa

Hang it Up Cupid - Heather

Hearts & Hugs - Deb

The Journey - Kendra

Life Is - Kendra

Love Notes - Pam

Out for a Spin - Lila,

Vicki

Fairy Dust is a Must - Carol

Granny’s Truffles - Pam

Jungle Love - Charmaine

 Joy

Shamrock Blessings - Holly

Sweet on You - Amber

Wanted - Beth,

Carol,

Cami

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Thanks so much for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly~~

Good Morning, Friends!

It’s hop time!   The mastermind behind Artful Inkables, Kristin, has done it again.   This month’s releases are so awesome.   If you have arrived here from Sherry’s blog, you are in the right place.  If not, you will want to start back at Kristin’s blog to get the whole show!

Every one of us knows someone who is sick or injured.    You can’t throw a rock these days without hitting a person with H1N1, right?    Well, today I am sharing a project I made with the new Monster Medical set from Artful Inkables.   I was really excited when I saw this set, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do.   I needed lollipops for my project.   Finding suitable lollipops was quite an adventure!  I looked at every store I could think of and was about to give up, when we happen to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.   I don’t know if you are familiar with Cracker Barrel, but they carry the most incredible selection of old school candies.   There nestled in the hundreds of jars of candy were these Clove Honey suckers.   They not only looked yummy, they are just what the doctor orders when you have a sore throat or cough.

The suckers are on these really cool wood dowels with balls on the end.   They are slightly tilted, so I had to come up with a ”cover” for the candy so I could afix the decorative medallion.

I used a block of floral foam to hold the suckers for presentation.   I covered the floral foam with a box bottom, slightly larger than the foam and then tucked tissues in between the suckers to make it look like an arrangement.

Of course, I had to make a card to go along with it :).

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘ Monster Medical

Colors: Very Vanilla, GP White, Buckaroo Blue, Creamy Caramel

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Buckaroo Blue, copics

Accessories: Ribbon, scalloped circle punches, eyelet border punch, sticky tape, scoring blade, swiss dots embossing folder, dimensionals, floral foam, clove honey suckers, tissue,  circle punches, candy dots, word window punch, hole punch

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This project takes me back to the days when I was a little girl.  After each visit to the doctor, he would give me a sucker.   Ah, the memories!

Now it’s time for you to hop on over to Michelle’s blog (and give her a warm welcome!  She’s our newest Inkgirl!!).   I am sure she will have something amazing to share!

Thanks so much for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

     ~~ Holly ~~

We are doing the countdowns here in the McMillen household.   Five more days until Levi’s 15th birthday.   Eleven more days until Thanksgiving and my birthday.   Fifteen more days until my mother in law’s birthday.    Forty Two days until Christmas!!

Truth be told, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.   Not just because my birthday often falls on Thanksgiving, but because it brings back such wonderful memories.   I grew up in a large family.   My mother was one of ten children.   My grandparents (maternal) had nearly 50 grandchildren and I have lost count on the number of great-grandchildren.   Thanksgiving was always an amazing time.   We had a tradition of inviting people to Thanksgiving dinner who were without family for some reason or another.   We always had Thanksgiving dinner and my aunt’s house.   She was the only one who had enough room to accomodate such a large crowd!

This year, Thanksgiving is at my house.   It will be a small gathering… just 10 of us.   I am still looking for someone who doesn’t have a place to go to join us :).

Today’s Limited Supply Challenge on SCS is called Flights of Gratitude.   We were to make a thanksgiving/fall card to include a bird.   It’s perfect!   We are also showcasing the new Nuts about You set from Our Craft Lounge.

I first stamped the sentiment and masked it with a circle punch.   I then stamped the leaves around it to create the ”wreath”, then popped on nuts, a few extra leaves and the birdie.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Our Craft Lounge’s Nuts about You and Reindeer Kisses (birdie)

Colors: Very Vanilla, True Thyme, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durange, dps

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, jute, eyelet border punch, scallop circle punches, dimensionals

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“Our Craft Lounge is celebrating it’s FIRST BIRTHDAY this month!  Go on over to The Lounge  or The Forum and you can join in on the fun scavenger hunt they are hosting!  Good luck!”

Here is the link to the “contests” section of the Forum

Just an FYI about the prizes:
1st place winner - 2 stamp sets, 5 sparkly fluff jars, 2 chunky glitters
random honorary winner - 1 stamp set

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Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

    ~~ Holly ~~

Have you ever gotten an idea in your head and it just ruminates there for so long that it drives you nuts?   Well, that’s what this project did to me.   I even lost sleep over it!   I was to a point at about 2am Sunday morning that I wanted to get out of bed and get started on it.   I just knew if I did that, I would be regretting it.   Instead, I laid awake until after 4am.  Oy!

Over the last eight or so years that I have been stamping, I rarely make tags.   I love them though.   They are such a great ”little” canvas to work on.   So for my Monday Artful Inkables’ project, I made this little tag book.

The tags are 3 x 2″ each.    The book closed is 3 1/2 x 3″.   It took alot of planning and fidgeting to get the design just right, but I am really pleased with the way it turned out.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘ Holiday Treats and Tails (front sentiment is computer generated)

Colors: GP White, Real Red, Soft Suede, dps/acetate

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: Ribbon, circle punches, scalloped circle punches, word window punch, tab punch, 1/2 pearls, sticky tape, stickles, puff paint, snowflake punch, corner rounder, brads, dimensionals, scoring blade,  hole punch

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Thanks for stopping by!   Remember, Artful Inkables is having a sale on 35 sets until November 15th!   Be sure to check that out!

~~ Holly ~~

A few days ago, a challenge was put out on the There She Goes blog to “make a scene”.    I am about to make a scene here at home.   One of my boys had a project due in a class that needed to be photographed and e-mailed to the teacher.   Instead of taking my advice and doing it correctly, he just laid the project on a table and snapped a quick picture.   Why?  Because he wants to hurry and get it done so he can go to a friend’s house.   Guess what?   I nixed that poste haste!

Why is it that people (hint: my children), do a job right the first time and take pride in their work?   They certainly do not get that from me!   I think this current generation wants to just get it done and get the reward, without thinking of the quality of their work.

Ok, I will shut up on that subject now.

So, I went to ”make a scene” with the new releases from There She Goes.   It was a lot of detail work, but I just love how it came out!

The window has a piece of acetate in it that is decorated with a little frosted lace stickles to represent ice.   It sure looks cold out there, doesn’t it?

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes‘ Penguin Love and HSH Holiday Additions

Colors: GP White, Soft Suede, Real Red, dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, white gel pen, pencil

Accessories: ribbon, acetate, dimensionals, eyelet border punch, circle punches, sticky tape

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Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a peaceful day!

~~ Holly ~~

There is an old story that goes something like this….    A man, who’s life is full of burden, falls to his knees and cries out to God, “Please God, I cannot bear this cross you’ve given me!”.   Over and over again the man cries out.  Finally, the Lord comes to him and takes him to heaven.   He takes the man’s cross and the man is relieved.   He tells the man that he can pick a new cross to bear, so he takes him to an extremely large room filled with crosses.  There are crosses 20 feet high, there are crosses 30 feet high, there are heavily burdened crosses and then there stands a rather average sized cross in the corner.   “I’ll take that cross”, says the man.   The Lord smiles at him and says, “That, my son, is the cross you came in with.”

What’s this all about?   Well, yesterday afternoon, my husband came to me an nonchalantly advised me that he will be laid off between Thanksgiving and Christmas.   Immediately, my anxiety started flaring up and I was chewing my lip.   By evening, my blood pressure was so high, I was doing deep breathing exercises to calm myself.   I knew I was going to lose sleep.

Not long after that, I signed on to Splitcoaststampers and found today’s Limited Supply Challenge thread.   Silvia put out a challenge to make a Christmas card for a young boy named Noah.   My heart skipped a beat as I read Noah’s story.   I have a Noah.   I am so blessed that my Noah is strong and healthy.   Noah Biorkman is not.   Noah B was diagnosed with cancer when he was 3 yrs old.   He is now 5, and his precious little life is coming to an end.   The only thing Noah wants is Christmas cards.   I wish I could give him more.   More time.   More hugs.   More Christmases.   But, what I can give him is my prayers and a Christmas card.

You can read Noah’s story HERE.

This is for you, Noah.

So now that my cross seems so tiny in compared to Noah’s, I pray.   I pray for all of those who’s cross is bigger than mine.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Hambo Stamps exclusive digi Toy Soldier

Colors: GP White, True Thyme, Real Red, dp

Ink: Copics

Accessories: ribbon, jute, circle punches, dimensionals, candy dots

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Thanks so much for stopping by today.   May your cross be easy to bear and your blessing abundant.

~~ Holly ~~

Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting
for its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings a song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers
that will bloom again in spring

I have stamped so much this past weekend that I may have trouble getting motivated this week.   I had not stamped much in the past few weeks, so I kinda went overboard.   But, I am happy with what I have created!

I got to thinking about my punches.   Feeling the need to think ‘outside the box’, I set out to find a way to use them in different ways (other than what they were intended).   So, I am throwing out a challenge to all of you.   Find a way to use a punch that is ‘outside the box’, then come back and post a link to your project here.   I thought about offering up some blog candy and I may just do that, but for now, let’s just have some fun with it.

For this card, I used the side of the designer label punch on the top and bottom of the main image panel and the mat underneath that.   Then I used the slit punch on the 2nd (real red) mat and nestled my main image into that.   It was a little tricky getting it centered.   I had to put little tick marks at the centerpoint of each side and use that as a guide, but it worked out perfectly.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘  A Bird’s Song and sentiment from Holiday Treats and Tails

Colors: Real Red, Baja Blue, Paper Studio Dp, Parisian Breeze dp, GP White

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, Baja Blue, Buckaroo Blue

Accessories: velvet ribbon, red 1/2 pearl, snowflake punch, stickles, curvy label punch, designer label punch, slit punch, dimensionals, dauber

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ON SALE!

From November 1st to November 15th, Artful Inkables has 35 sets on sale for 25-35% off.   No special code is necessary.   And as usual, there is free shipping on orders over $45.   You can see the sets on sale by clicking HERE.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  Now go create something ‘out of the box’!   I hope you all have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

I cannot believe that it is October 31st already!    Crazy!  Well, we woke up to bright sunshine and fair warmth today.   The snow that fell the last few days is melting fast.   I am so glad, as I was worried about our little trick or treaters.

Since I only have four young kids in our little court, I decided this morning to make them each a little goodie bag.   I have seen these little frankenstein goodie bags all over and thought they would be perfect!   I actually made six of them and took a couple over to my aunts’ house for their little neighbor kids, too.

These are so easy to make.   It’s all punch work.   The nose is a round tab punch, the eyes are three different sized circle punches and the hair is my EK success wavy peirced punch.   The front is a 4 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Kiwi Kiss, sponged on the edges.   The back piece is 4 1/8″ x 3 3/4″ of Kiwi Kiss.   The bag in the middle is a tiny paper sack (I found them in black last year at Hobby Lobby and snagged a bunch!).

I wasn’t going to do much decorating this year, but when I got to Hobby Lobby this morning, they had all their Halloween decorations at 50% off!   I went a little nuts and bought some really cute stuff.   Now I have to go decorate!

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Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a spooktacular Halloween!

~~ Holly ~