Sneak Peek Day 6 Featuring Heartfelt Friends Stamp Set

Today is Day 6 of our 2 Red Bananas Week of Peeks and we are showing off the Heartfelt Friends stamp set today. This set contains several heartfelt friends but I chose to use the flamingos because I have recently begun to love these pretty birds. And no, I don't have any in my yard yet! All stamp sets shown off this week on the Design Team blogs will be available at the online store Monday, February 2nd!

This was a fun layout! I bought the BasicGrey background paper a while back because I thought it was cute and loved the flamingos. Then I received the Heartfelt Friends set, I saw the flamingos stamp and thought it would look good with the paper. So here it is. I stamped the flamingos in brown and colored their bodies with a Sakura Stardust pen and accented with a white pen. I colored their beaks and legs with a clear glaze pen. The sticker letters are from October Afternoon. I used the Sakura Stardust pen again (I LOVE that pen) to go around the edges of the letters. For the transparency, I typed the definition of a flamingo, printed it out, ran some pink paint on the back side so it would show up better and adhered with double-sided tape. This set has several animals in it, so be sure to hop around to the other DT member blogs to see which animal they used!

Paper(s): BasicGrey Beloved, Paper Loft Fern, other BasicGrey scrap

Ink(s): ColorBox Dark Brown

Other: Chip Chatter chipboard letter F, October Afternoon alpha stickers, Prima flowers, Me & My Big Ideas gems, pink ribbon, Sakura glaze pen and stardust pen

If you are participating in today's BLOG HOP, you will need to go to each DT member's site, leave a comment and hop to the 2 Red Bananas blog and answer the question for the day. The question will be: Where do you 'hang out' to get inspiration - can you be found most often on SplitCoastStampers, PaperCraftPlanet, TwoPeasinaBucket, Blog hopping, or reading papercrafting magazines (if so, what is your favorite magazine)?

Remember to come back tomorrow to see projects posted with the last new set for this release! Thanks for joining in on the fun.

Sneak Peek Day 5 featuring Value of Joy stamp set

Welcome to Day 5 of our Sneak Peek week! Today we are featuring the Value of Joy stamp set- another set designed by fellow DT member, Jami Bova. I used the Mojo Monday Sketch as my card layout.

I had read in one of Jami's earlier blog submissions this week that she designed her stamp images with paper piecing in mind. So for the dog in the butterfly bush image, I paper pieced it. I first colored the butterfly bush with Stampin' Up markers and stamped it. Then on a separate sheet I stamped the full image in black and cut out the dog and butterfly. For the dog, I used Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and a pink Stampin' Up marker for his bandanna. For the butterfly I used a black Prismacolor pencil and the same pink Stampin' Up marker. Then I attached the dog and butterfly onto the white piece that has the butterfly bush on it. The sentiment was colored with Stampin' Up markers too.

Paper(s): white and black cardstock, purple pattern (not sure), green butterflies from SEI

Ink(s): Stampin' Up markers, VersaMagic black ink

Other: May Arts Ribbon from 2 Red Bananas

If you are participating in today's BLOG HOP, you will need to visit all design team member sties, leave a message and then hop over to the 2 Red Bananas Blog and leave your answer to to following question: What theme of stamps do you feel there are not enough of on the market (i.e. boys, sympathy, spring, etc.)? Thanks so much for joining in on the fun! Remember we will be featuring new products through Sunday. All new stamp sets featured this week will be available Monday, February 2nd on the 2 Red Bananas website!

Sneak Peek Day 4 featuring Snowman Love

It's the 4th day of Sneak Peeks of the new exclusive 2 Red Bananas stamps. They will all be available for purchase February 2nd online here. The store also carries a variety of papers, ribbons, embellishments, inks and more.

Today we are featuring the Snowman Love set which includes several pieces that allows you to make it "snow themed" or "love themed". I chose to use the love theme with the snowflakes that have hearts in the center of them and the "love" sentiment. This is the first time I've used my glue pad. I stamped the images with the glue pad and sprinkled glitter on it. Once they dried, I colored in parts of the images with a white pen and used a brown glaze pen on the stick arms. All the pieces were then cut and assembled with the top hat and the mittens being adhered with popdots. That cool ribbon is from May Arts and it's stock now at 2 Red Bananas here for only .40 a yard! The snowflakes on the base cardstock and "love" were stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed in white. The hearts in the center of the snowflakes were colored in using the Sakura Stardust pen.

If you are participating in the BLOG HOP, please visit the 2 Red Bananas Blog first to get full directions and be sure to visit the rest of the design team sites to see their creations. We still have 3 more sets to post so be sure to come back again tomorrow!

Sneak Peek Day 3 featuring Come Home Soon Stamp set

Today is Day 3 in the unveiling of the new exclusive stamps offered by 2 Red Bananas. All stamp sets featured this week will be available for purchase Monday, February 2nd at the online store here.

We are featuring another set designed by Jami Bova today. It's called Come Home Soon. There are many stamps included in this set. I used 4 stamps in my project: soldier hugging the child, Come Home Soon sentiment, Land of the Free/Home of the Brave circle, and HERO. I inked the images and edged the cards with black. The colored areas and tracing around the soldier was done with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.

Paper(s): cream & kraft cardstock, Rusty Pickle's Primitive Hearts (an old favorite!), Paper Loft's Spring Fever

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Come Home Soon

Other: twill ribbon

To participate in the BLOG HOP today, you will need to visit the 2 Red Bananas Blog to get instructions. Be sure to hop around to each DT's site and leave a comment on the post for today. Thanks for hopping by. Be sure to visit each day to see what's new!

Sneak Peek Day 2 featuring the January Journaling Spots

Today is Sneak Peak Day 2 featuring the January Journaling Spots. We have 2 different January Journaling Spot Sets that will be available in the 2RedBananas store Monday, February 2nd!

Living in Louisiana, we RARELY get snow so I had to pull out some OLD photos for these layouts. Which it worked out well since I didn't see me getting around to doing layouts of 1998 anytime soon :-)

This first layout is using Bo-Bunny Holiday Cheer Plaid paper as the background. The snowflake clusters scattered on the page and the large journaling snowflake are from the 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot Stamp Set. All the snowflakes were heat embossed and I added some sparkle stickers in the center of the cluster snowflakes and the centers of the black flowers for some bling. The large journal snowflake is embellished with the stickers as well as some Doodlebug jewels. The "winter" transparency is from Daisy D's. It's hard to see in the photo but I used the Sakura Stardust pen to color in the large snowflake and edge around the swirls on the background paper to add some shimmer. The snowflakes were easy to use the embossing technique with because the image stamped so well.

Paper(s): Bo-Bunny Holiday Cheer Plaid, Black & White Cardstock
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas Journaling Spot snowflake clusters and large snow flake journal spot
Other: Sakura Stardust Pen, white embossing powder with VersaMagic ink, Stampendous Class A 'Peel Stickers, Doodlebug jewels, Prima and Target flowers, Winter Daisy D's transparency



For the 2nd layout, I used Pink Paislee for the background as well as some BasicGrey Shiver (with the snowmen) and scraps I had in my box. This layout features the 2 Red Bananas January Journal Spot 2 Stamp Set, which will be available February 2nd! The mitten is stamped in black ink and colored with Sakura glaze pens. The sentiment "Cold Hands Warm Heart" is heat embossed in white. The mitten and sentiment are both in the featured stamp set. I used a stencil and white pen to do the swirls around the flower cluster. The ribbon used is May Arts and available now at 2 Red Bananas.

Paper(s): Pink Paislee Rain Showers, BasicGrey Shiver, various scraps
Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot 2, black ink, white embossing powder with VersaMagic ink
Other: Crafter's Workshop Swirl Stencil, Signo white pen, Prima flowers, Sakura glaze pens, May Arts ribbon

And, I made this card using the 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot Stamp Set. It is a birthday card for next year. (That is if I can remember where I store it :-) The January stamp is from 2 Red Bananas and the celebrate stamp is from Paper Salon. I used the Sakura Stardust pen to edge around the word January and the swirls next to it. I also edged around the embossed edges of the nestie. The "1st" glitter stickers are Making Memories Paperie. I also used a Fiskars decorative edge trimmer on the bottom of the patterned paper and topped the card off with a sheer polka dot ribbon.

Paper(s): white cardstock (base & nestie), BasicGrey patterned, pink shimmer cardstock (Nestie)

Stamp(s): 2 Red Bananas January Journaling Spot and Paper Salon Small Talk

Ink(s): ColorBox Lime Pastel and Pink Pastel

Other: Sakura Stardust pen, Making Memories Paperie stickers, Fiskars decorative edge punch, sheer polka dot ribbon

If you are participating in the Blog Hop today to be entered in the random drawing for BOTH January Journaling Spots sets plus some new ribbon, the answer to my question is the new May Arts crinkle ribbons. Be sure to visit the other DT sites to leave a comment to their post for today and to get all the answers to post back at the 2 Red Bananas Blog. If you are just starting here and want to play along, visit Jami Bova's blog and get the full instructions.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek Day 1 featuring "The Gift"

Jami Bova on our design team will be designing some of the exclusive stamps carried by 2 Red Bananas. Today we are featuring her design called "The Gift". This is just a sneak peek of what the set has in it. This card displays the cross, bunnies and Easter sentiment from the set. Be sure to check out the other DT member sites to see if they used some of the different elements from the set.

Papers: Santa's Beard (Carolee's Creations), Kraft and purple cardstock

Ink(s): Brown and black inks

Other: Images colored using Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, pop dots under the bunnies

If you are participating in the blog hop, my question is: What is your favorite type of "bling"? Please answer by posting a message to this post and be sure to continue on to the other DT sites to see their creations and answer their questions. To get full instructions on the blog hop, see previous post explaining the blog hop.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Week of Peeks and Blog Hop Starts Monday the 26th!

This is going to be a busy and exciting week! Tomorrow kicks off our "Week of Peeks" for the new exclusive 2 Red Bananas stamp sets. Each day (Monday, January 26th - Sunday, February 1st) we will be showing a project made using one of the new sets. All stamp sets will be available to purchase on the 2RedBananas site Monday, February 2nd!

Beginning Monday the 2 Red Bananas Design Team will be hosting a Blog Hop with blog candy as a prize! To participate, you will start at the 2 Red Bananas Blog Monday morning. From there you will see "Meet the Bananas" which is the Design Team. Go to each blog alphabetically and view her project featuring "The Gift" stamp set. In her post she will have a question that you will need to answer by posting a comment to her project. Visit each DT member's blog, answer each question but be sure to end on Jami Bova's blog to be entered for the blog candy drawing. The order of blogs to visit will be 2RedBananas, Jeanette, Maraya, Theresa, Wendy and then Jami! Be sure to visit the blogs each day to check out the daily featured stamp set! We hope you enjoy them!

Save These Dates...

Important Date #1: February 2nd - all the new stamps sets and there are EIGHT of them will be available in the 2RedBananas store.

Important Date #2: January 26th - February 1st - The other Design Team members and I will be doing a "Week of Peeks" starting January 26th and will show peeks of a different set each day until the release. You can check out everyone's creations on the 2RedBananas Design Team blogs listed on the left of my page.

2 Red Bananas Ribbon Challenge!

Today is the last chance to participate in the 2 Red Bananas Ribbon Challenge. All you have to do is make a project using ribbon creatively and post it as a comment here by midnight tonight!

For my card, I started with a kraft cardstock and inked the edges with VersaMagic Cloud White ink and Brilliance Rocket Red ink. Then I cut a heart shape out of red cardstock,inked the edge in the Cloud White and tied ribbon all around the edge. To add a little shimmer I used the Sakura Stardust Pen to add some sparkly polka dots on the red heart. I used the new With All My Heart from the House Mouse 2009 February Stamp of the Month Collection and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.

Lovin' Mousefull

This is my first Valentine's card this year. This is an early start for me! This card is 6X6 made with lavender Bazzil cardstock base, scrap patterned papers and the Lovin' Mousefull House Mouse stamped image. I used the Angel Wings Shimmerz along the edges of the purple cardstock base to add some shine as well as on the candy dish. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. This was my first time to use those and I really liked them! I accented the card with Prima flowers, decorative brads, a ribbon and heart charm. Now I have to figure out which Valentine to give this to...

SciPort Layout

I recently received my October Afternoon papers from 2RedBananas and put together a 2-page 12X12 layout using papers from the Night Light Collection. All the papers are double-sided so each side coordinates. This layout is of my daughter at the SciPort Museum in Shreveport, LA.

I used Henry, Charles and Jack papers from the Night Light Collection and some of the Daydream and Night Light Cardstock Stickers for the title on Raven Bazzil cardstock. The white dots around the arrow were made with a Signo white pen and the journaling card is from the Making Memories Mocha Paperie Journaling Book. I made the paper airplane using a scrap of the Charles paper. Gotta love the double-sided papers!

House Mouse Challenge #19 - Embossing

Did you know that there is a House Mouse Challenge Blog that hosts weekly challenges? The challenge this week is embossing. You can create whatever project you would like using a House Mouse or Friends image along with any type of embossing (dry, heat, pre-embossed papers, etc.). So to meet the challenge requirements I made this Friendship Warms My Heart Card.

The card starts with Bazzill Lagoon cardstock as the base (5.75" X 5.75"). I heat embossed a stamped image using VersaMark and white embossing powder on the left edge of the card. I stitched around a square piece of Pink Paislee Lunch Hour paper and added my colored image of Warmth for Winter and the sentiment with a piece of brown wrinkled ribbon between them. The image was colored with watercolor pencils and a little Angel Wings Shimmerz was added to the yarn in the image for some sparke. I inked with Color Box pink pastel chalk ink around the edges of the card, stamped image and sentiment.

The challenge goes until January 5th so join in!

Bloomin' Beauty Layout

A few years ago, I sat with my grandparents, got old stories and scanned some of their photos. My intentions were to make a heritage 8X8 album with all the photos. I've done a few layouts but haven't worked on it in a long time since I seem to stay behind on current layouts. When I received the Bloomin' Beauty and the Orange You Beautiful papers from Webster's Pages, I knew it would be great for a heritage layout. So I pulled out the photos that I've tucked away and got another one done for the heritage album. Yay!

I used the Bloomin' Beauty as the background and cut out the pieces on Orange You Beautiful to accent the layout. The journaling box was cut out of the Orange you Beautiful as well. I did add a Maya Road Chipboard "love" accent with some green ink and ribbon on it. The blue flower has a dew drop in the center.