CPS229 (Don't forget to scroll down for BLOG CANDY!)

I love Card Positioning Systems sketches, and thought I'd give this one a go today. Thanks for the great sketch, Tami! I used a Cornish Heritage Farms edition of a Shady Tree Studio stamp. I don't think these two stamps are available right now, but Nancy Baier, the artist and owner of STS usually has a free digital image with purchase, and this one may be offered some day! At any rate, you can see how talented she is by looking at these stamps. Right now STS is holding a Christmas in July blog hop, and there are prizes involved. You can participate in the hop and be eligible for prizes by starting here!

Quick! Enjoy summer while you can!! (Don't forget to scroll down for BLOG CANDY!)

 My seven year old son and I started off the morning with the county fair parade. I think there should be more parades, don't you? Horses, weird old cars, floats, and lots of candy hurling always make for an excellent time in my book!!

 This homespun card fits well with the county fair theme, don't you think?

 I got four new sets from Artistic Outpost, two of which were free because I was published twice recently with their stamps. AO has a generous compensation plan for published work, which you can read about here.

 Plus, they just redid their website and it looks awesome! They also have an Etsy shop, if you prefer to shop that way.

 The banner is an AO stamp. The butterfly is from A Muse Studio's Butterfly Trio, which I LOVE! You can shop in my amuse store by clicking the link in my sidebar or at the top of my blog.

Finally, please scroll down for the opportunity to win some sweet stamps from Shady Tree Studio! I have a set to give away to one of my lucky readers! If you go through the entire hop, your chances will increase dramatically!

Shady Tree Studio Christmas in July Blog Hop!

Hello! You should have come from Joanne's blog if you are hopping with Shady Tree Studio.

I am so glad you are here, and hope that you love our two new stamp sets and enjoy looking at the projects the STS Design Team have cooked up for you! Also, we have prizes!! We are so proud of our STS stamps, that we want eight hoppers to have a set of their own-for free!! All you have to do is leave a comment on all six blogs to be entered, it's that simple! We will post winners on Tuesday, August 2, so please send your friends and family over so they can have a chance to win as well! As a bonus, if you follow the Shady Tree Studio blog, post twice and you'll be entered twice! Mention our hop on your blog, come back and post again, and you're entered THREE TIMES! How fun is that?!

Here is the hop order. If a link gets broken anywhere, you can always come back here to get back on track. This will be such a fun and easy hop with only six blogs to visit and terrific swag up for grabs!!

1. Nancy Baier at Shady Tree Studio
2. Roxie Glaza at Paper Scaper
3. Michelle Hetland at I Am Derby
4. Joanne Allison at Ambrosia and Iron
5. Carla Mayfield at Paper Pastorale (You are here!)
6. Lisa Silver at Silver Stamping

 This card features the adorable lamb from Naturally Christmas. The animals in this set are irresistible!

 On this card I used Naturally Christmas and Homespun Holiday.

Thank you so much for hopping with us! We appreciate your time, and hope that you love these two new sets as much as we do! Don't forget to check the STS blog and all the DT blogs to see if you are a winner. Every blog will be awarding a set of stamps for this hop! It's our way of saying thank you for your support! Now head on over to see what the fabulous Lisa Silver has in store for you at Silver Stamping!

Just some shabby stuff for my Etsy shop...

 More trinket pins. These sell reasonably well, and they are fun to make. I love shopping for the glass beads and deciding which order looks best on the pin. These are all new materials, but I frequently use vintage beads on my pins. It makes them a little more special.

 I put these on cupcake spikes and left off the flower and ribbon for cupcakes instead of drinks. This was a special request for a custom order, but I will now carry them in my shop.

 I have these in my shop in a more elaborate version on long sticks. They sell as swizzle sticks.

 This is just a little vintage dictionary paper mache bird's nest. I'll be carrying these in different sizes.

Those are regular eggs. This nest is about the size of an average cereal bowl. The silver candy dish does not come with;)

There be big doins' comin' up with A Muse Studio. You don't want to miss AMUSAPALOOZA!! We are releasing the gorgeous holiday catalog and will have extra special hostess swag! Now is the time to hold a book party if you've thought about it, or place a qualifying order yourself and get the hostess bennies that way. Remember, any time you plan a $150 order, you need to let me place it for you so you can get hostess bennies!

Shady Tree Studio Sneak Peek!!

 Yes, the darling prim snowman, tree and sentiment are all from one of Shady Tree Studio's new releases to be revealed on the 29th! Be sure to check back here tomorrow for more STS goodness, and always stop by the STS blog when you have a minute! There you can see the owner\artist's (Nancy Baier) work, along with the design team projects.

 I stamped them in Versafine Onyx then embossed with Ranger's Holographic powder. I gave them a quick swipe with my beloved Yasutomo shimmer paints and then began the layering. I think that snowflake is a Sizzix die, which I cut in half, coated with glue and glittered up. The paper is all Basic Grey or Stampin' Up!

 I sell quite a few trinket pins in my Etsy shop. These two are my newest styles. I designed them for Sarah over at SarahsPaperBakery to use in an upcoming kit of the month. I'd love it if you took a look at her new Etsy shop. She is getting off to the right start by supporting other small business owners. I feel pretty strongly about supporting other women and their businesses, and it feels good when other women do so as well.

 These are not hard to make. The heart pins are from Joanne's, and the glass pearls are from Walmart. I'm looking for better sources right now, but this is what I have access to, so this is what I work with.

 These are made from some vintage black glass beads from my stash. See the little circle on top? They started out as those little flat, yellow flower pins you can find anywhere. A quick dip into the Versamark and a dunk into Ranger's sparkling black embossing powder and TA DA! No more sweet yellow flower, hello classy black trinket pin!

Summer Card Camp 2011 FUN

This post and the following four are all for Summer Card Camp 2011. The linky over there will not allow me to link more than once from every post, so you see five posts instead of one. I made these little paper flowers and have been sticking them on everything.

Summer Card Camp 2011 JOY

This extrememly simple card has a belly band. My Winter White ep has been getting a workout lately.

Laugh Out Loud Summer Card Camp 2011

This card works for Ways to Use It WT300 A Doily Deluge at Splitcoast Stampers.

Summer Card Camp 2011

This card was inspired by a Jennifer McGuire card. Hers was clear and embossed, there the similarities end. I made the felt flower. Die cut it and stitched it together with some vintage pearls from a thrift store.

Summer Card Camp

This card was inspired by Dawn McVey. It has another one of those little flowers. I learned how to make them from the ultimate fount of papercrafting how to MelStampz. If you haven't been over to her place, get ready to be sucked into an amazing vortex of paper goodness.

Shady Tree Studio Christmas in July

 This sweet snowman stamp from Shady Tree Studio is called Embrace Christmas. You can see the whole set here. We are continuing to celebrate Christmas in July at STS and are looking forward to our blog hop and new Christmas stamp release on the 29th! I hope you will join us!

 I stamped it in Versafine and embossed with Ranger Holographic and painted it in shimmer paints. I used it to decorate the cover of a Christmas card portfolio. These are super cool little portfolios which can be decorated for any occasion. I get mine from Creative Cuts and More.

 This card is for Summer Card Camp. The colors are really giving me fits. I never work in these colors, and I'm finding that it is stretching me so much that I don't even know what looks good anymore! I am loving the camp overall, it's big fun, but I really haven't loved any of the cards I've made for it. It's hard to love a card made with colors I don't like.

 AHHH....This is more my speed. Here are some colors I can get behind!

Buttery yellow, soft green, and a little pop of blue! Isn't that Crafty Secrets image the cutest? We had a big rain last night, and Troy and I spent many an hour sucking up water in the basement, fun times. Things are drying out down here slowly but surely, and of course, it's raining again. I LOVE the rain, but my 100 year old basement isn't quite watertight! Toodles, girlfriends! I hope you are staying cool and dry!

Shady Tree Studio & A Muse Studio

 This is an older card using a Shady Tree Studio stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms. I don't think this exact stamp is still available, but if you love the beautiful art style as much as I do, you can check out what's currently available right here. You can also see my very first post on the Shady Tree blog and leave me a little love there so that Nancy knows someone is looking! We don't want her to have second thoughts about inviting me to be on the DT, now do we?

 I used A Muse Studio stamps on this card. I use those leaves all the time! They look so cool embossed with sparkling black powder. Out of respect for a|s's traditionally CAS style, I do try to tone my a|s cards down a bit, but I'm not making any promises that they will all be that way! This set is called Beautiful Botanicals 2.

 I used Bridal Beauty here for sort of a grunge or perhaps Scottish wedding. I don't know what gets into me sometimes. I guess I just don't like for my stuff to look like everyone else's or like it's "supposed" to look. I'm contrary that way, and have no plans to change.

That dress sure is sweet, though, isn't it? I probably will make a more traditional wedding card now that I got this one out of my system!

Shady Tree Studio Christmas in July

 I made this card for Mojo Monday 198. I used to play MM all the time, but I'll bet it has been over a year since my last entry. I also used the color palette for this week's Summer Card Camp, so this works for two challenges. I rarely make a card that qualifies for two challenges because I'm too unorganized to follow so many rules at once. This one wasn't too hard because it was a color challenge from one source and a sketch from the other. Even I can handle that!!

 I used SU! Cameo Coral, Pink Passion, Green Galore and Glorious Green here, plus MME Everyday Tango. I used SU!'s Noteworthy set on the little tag. It's the sweetest set. I put it in my Etsy shop to destash because I never use my SU! stamps anymore, and now that it's out where I can see it, I use it on everything!!

 This card is the whole reason for the post today! Shady Tree Studio is celebrating Christmas in July! The DT will be featuring past STS Christmas sets for the next week or so, then we'll begin sneak peeks of two MUST HAVE new sets, then we'll have a blog hop with prizes on the 29th and the sets will be available for purchase!!

 I used the sweetest set called Holly Jolly to make this card. I love the set, it just makes the prettiest cards!! The ornament is quick, easy and fun to color, and I love the font used on the sentiments in this set. I used SU! Handsome Hunter for my base, and then scraps of Melissa Frances and Bazzil, I think.

 These tags are for my Etsy shop. I love this little tree from A Muse Studio. It's from Woodland Friends.