Hi Stampers.  Welcome to the Pals Blog Hop for April 2016.  We are thankful you stopped by to take a look at our new 2016 Blog Hop monthly themes.  This month we are featuring projects that are all about our families. This is a great time of year to think about what to make for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or upcoming graduations. And, family vacations are just around the corner… how would you want to remember those special family moments? We hope to provide you with lots of ideas and that you enjoy our creations.

You may just be starting the Blog Hop or may have come from the previous link from the Line-up on the Pals Blog Hop listing shown below.  The full lineup will help you move along from blog to blog so you may see all the projects.

In February, my husband took me to Reno for my birthday.  We stayed a the Peppermill Resort and he bought me a “birthday” treatment at the spa there (massage, pedicure and a birthday cupcake). It was the best spa I’ve ever been to!!  If you are ever in Reno, NV – make sure you make an appointment to get a massage with Grey at the Spa Toscana, she is AMAZING!

While in Reno, I wanted to check out their Hobby Lobby, since we don’t have one back home.  They had a sale on frames and I purchased several of these great frames.  There is a gap (of about 1/4 inch) between my project and the glass giving me plenty of room to use pearls, rhinestones and Stampin’ dimensionals. I’ve often admired the samplers I’ve seen on Pinterest and wanted to give it a try.  I made an “Easter” one and one that said “Family” that can been seen in my Etsy store and on my Pinterest page.  For this blog hop – I made one  for Mother’s Day.  It’s for sale on Etsy – HERE.

My frame was 11″ x 11″ overall.  I cut the piece of Designer Series Paper 9″ x 9″.  I then decided I wanted 16 squares, so I did a little math and decided on 2″ x 2″ colored squares of card stock (Perfect Plum, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Pink Pirouette) and 1.75″ x 1.75″ Whisper White card stock over that.  I cut the letters out of Melon Mambo card stock on my silhouette cameo – although you could use the Little Letters framelit dies.

I placed the letters in various squares spelling out M O T H E R.  I then got out some stamps and punches and decorated the remaining squares trying to do a little of everything – after all, it is a sampler *wink*. The letters still looked lonely, so I used my bitty flower punch and punched out some flowers and put a pearl in the middle and accented a few letters.  I also added a little sparkle with my clear wink of stella brush.

Stampin’ Tip: I glued the DSP to the cardboard that came in the frame and then arranged the colored card stock and glued the corners first, then the two between the corners on each side, and then the middle.  I adhered the white squares LAST.  I can’t tell you how many times I rearranged them until I liked the look. 

Thanks for visiting. To continue with the hop, please refer to the Blog Hop Line-up below. We hope to see you on next month’s Pals Blog Hop! 

Blog Hop Line-up:  

1. Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty
2. Jackie Diediker at Stampin’ Jackie
3. Michelle Gleeson at StampinMojo
4. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
5. Sherrie Gross at Stampin’ Sunshine
6. Peggy Noe at Prettypapercards
7. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
8. Debra Simonis at Deb’s Stampin’ Grounds
9. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin
10. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
11. Kalyn Shubnell at The Stamping Chronicles
12. Becky Volpp at InkBlossomwithBecky
13. Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti
14. Nancy Gleason at My Stampin Space
15. Pam Dotts at Clearly Southern Stampin’
16. Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog
17. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
18. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
19. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
20. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
21. Denise Hoepfner at The Mountain Magpie
22. Natalie Bradley at NatalieBradley.com
23. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
24. Karen Zaring Browning at Karen Zaring Browning
25. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin’
26. Debbie Crowley at Expressivley Deb

Happy Stamping,