SSINK Blog Hop - Spring has Sprung!

Spring has sprung! The flowers and trees are budding everywhere and I am loving this Spring weather we are having (well, minus the days of downpour, but flowers need the rain, I suppose!) For this month's blog hop we are sharing all things Spring!

As you hop along, please be sure to comment and show some love on every blog! We are always excited to hear from our followers! You should have just left stop number 7 on the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration Blog Hop - Donna at Organized Chaos. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn't work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

I have been trying really hard to work with as many of my retiring stamp sets as I possibly can, so that I can squeeze every last use out of them. As demonstrators, it's typical for us to go with the philosophy "out with the old, in the with the new" when a new catalog comes out. I am excited to play with my toys (that just arrived today!), but I also want to take some extra time to use some of my favorite retiring products one last time!

I created this card awhile back, but decided to revamp it up with some different colors, ribbon, and sentiment. I used this card for a card making night last week and although many of the stampers weren't so sure about all of the fussy cutting, they all agreed this card was a WOW card! We were joking that many of them weren't sure if they were going to actually give this card to anyone because of all of the hard work it took! ;)

To create the background, I stamped the image first using White Stazon. After that I ran it through the Texture Boutique with the coordinating embossing folder to make it POP!

Stamp Sets	Wildflower Meadow, Four You
Ink	White Stazon, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Calypso Coral
Paper	Whisper White, Soft Suede, Pool Party
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 1/2" Calypso Coral Seam Binding, Pearl Accents
Tools	Texture Boutique Embossing Machine, Wildflower Meadow Embossing Folder, Decorative Label Punch

Both of these coordinating products are on the retired list...
and both of them have been reduced!

Wildflower Meadow Wood Mount - $13.46 (reg. $17.95)

Wildflower Meadow Clear Mount - $10.46 (reg. $13.95)

Wildflower Meadow Textured Embossing Folder - $3.98 (reg. $7.95)

To continue your Spring inspiration, head on over to The Stamp Doc to see what Melissa has in store for us today! Click on the next below.

Blog Hop Participant List:

1. Melissa at Stamp Doc
2. Jennifer G. at Jenny G Paper Crafts
3. Cynthia at Ink-A-Doodle Creations
4. Jennifer C. at Happy 2 Scrap 4 Life
5. Bree at Craft-Somnia Momma
6. Kim at Stamping with Kim
7. Donna at Organized Chaos
8. Heidi at Stuck on Stampin'

the creation station blog hop - in the garden

I'm so glad to be back on The Creation Station Blog Hop as I had to opt out from the last one! And, boy am I sorry that I did. The projects and cards the design team created were AMAZING (to say the least)! If you'd like to hop along with last month's "Confetti-Inspired" hop, please start here at Jen's blog.

But this 3rd Sunday of the month is a whole new hop with a whole new set of stamping inspiration for you! You should have hopped on over from Sara's blog.

For today's hop we were able to choose from the following (any or all!): 

1) Flower Patch stamp set (with or without the coordinating dies)

2) Theme: In the Garden

3) Product Showcase: Decorative Masks

I don't currently own the Flower Patch stamp set (although very tempting, especially after all of the inspiring cards and projects I saw at Convention this last weekend!), so I chose to think of what I wanted for the theme "In the Garden". I haven't used my Wildflower Meadow stamp set (pg. 175) yet and I thought would fit perfectly for the theme!

And, guess what?! This set comes with a coordinating embossing folder (pg. 227).

I combined the two of these together and created this card...

I first stamped the image using White Stazon ink on Soft Suede cardstock. I then ran it through the Big Shot with the Wildflower Meadow Embossing Folder. After inking up a second time in Blushing Bride and Pool Party, I fussy cut the flowers and bird and popped each of them up with Dimensionals. I added a pearl in the middle of each of the flowers and added a trio of a Candy Dot, pearl, and rhinestone in the top right hand corner. I chose to use the Really Good Greetings stamp set and punched it out with the Modern Label Punch. Lastly I tied a piece of white organza ribbon and tied with a knot.

Stamp Sets	Really Good Greeting, Wildflower Meadow
Ink	Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Bermuda Bay, White Stazon
Paper	Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Whisper White,
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Rhinestones, Subtles Candy Dot (Blushing Bride), Pearls, White Organza Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Wildflower Meadows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Modern Label Punch

I wanted to keep going with my projects and share a few more samples to help inspire you (I especially wanted to play around with the Decorative Masks!!), but I ran out of time before leaving for Convention!! But have no fear...the rest of the team I am sure has much in store for you!! So keep on hopping along to enjoy the rest of The Creative Station.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope that you will continue on through the hop and stop by to Jennifer Frost's blog by clicking the next button. If you are wanting to go backwards, click on the back button to visit Sara Levin. Happy hopping!