Paper, Scissors and Superheroes

Newsy news...

Happy Monday! ..... oh, wait.  Where did Monday go?  I guess it's actually Tuesday...and for those of you that read my blog through email subscription, you're probably reading this on Wednesday.  I meant to have a blog post scheduled for early this morning, but my Monday ended up being a bit of a mess.  Just one of those days.  :-) 

So, anyway!  I'm glad you stopped by, but I'm going to be sending you off all over the web today.  First off, a fun announcement on the Paper Crafts Connection blog.  I finally get to share with you that I'll be continuing on as a Go-to Gal for the 2014-15 term.  I just couldn't imagine not working with the folks over at Paper Crafts magazine and I'm excited that they're allowing me to stay on for another term.  I'm also excited to have two of my best paper crafting friends staying on -- Teri and Kimmers, you know I love you girls!

On the other hand, I am so sad to see Jennifer, Windy, and Julie move on.  We worked so well together the past two years and I just love these girls!  They are so talented -- I know each of them has big things in store!

But every cloud has a silver lining, right?  Mine is that I will get to meet and work with three brand new Go-to Gals.  Making new friends (especially crafty friends) is always a good thing.  Be sure to visit the Paper Crafts Connection blog tomorrow (Wednesday) as the new girls will be having their big reveal.  So excited for these talented ladies!  I can't wait to see what they have up their creative sleeves for the next two years.  

Now, a few more places to send you off to.  First, it was my turn to post over on the Pink Paislee blog yesterday.  I created a birthday ensemble based on this month's sketch.  Click HERE to see the sketch and my projects...here's a peek.  

And last, but not least, I'm hosting this week's Make it Monday challenge for Papertrey Ink.  Click HERE to see the video where I show you the water color + heat embossing technique I've used here on my blog a few times in the last month or so.  Here's the project I'm showing you.  I'd love it if you'd play along and link up your creations.  All of the details are on Nichole's blog HERE.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  My kids are on spring break for the next week, so it's going to be busy around here.  Wish me luck.  :-)  See you back here soon.  

Creating Focal Point Sentiments with Stamps & Dies...

Happy Monday!  It's my turn to host this week's Make it Monday for Papertrey Ink.  This week's challenge is about taking a smaller sentiment and turning it into a focal point sentiment by masking off one word and filling in that word with alphabet dies, stickers or stamps.  

Here is a sneak of the card I created for the video.  Click HERE to see the post on Nichole's blog, watch the video, and enter your own card into the challenge link list.  

Here is another card I created with this same technique.  I took the "sending warm thoughts" sentiment from Warm Happiness Too, masked off the word "warm" and filled in with letters which were diecut using the Block Alphabet and Smokey Shadow felt.

I love the look of the Wonderful Words sets that Papertrey has released and this technique lets me get that look from pretty much any sentiment in my collection.  Kind of a fun way to breathe new life into your sentiment stamps.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can find some time to play along this week!

 

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Reflected Sentiments...

Happy Monday!  I'm up for hosting the Make it Monday video this week.  I'm showing a technique for creating mirrored or reflected sentiments.  Word art is hot and I love playing around with my sentiment stamps and coming up with different ways to use them.  You can visit Nichole's blog HERE to watch the video.  

Here's the card I'm showing in the video...

It's an easy technique that just uses a sentiment stamp, ink and a scrap of acetate.  Here's another card that uses this technique...

I hope you have time to play along this week!

P.S.  The winner of the Holiday Cards & More giveaway was Noreen -- I've sent you an email!

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Make it Monday + a New Christmas Card Kit...

I hope your week is off to a great start.  It's my turn to host the Make it Monday video over on Nichole's blog.  I'm showing you how to make clay embellishments using your stamps and dies.  I've used them a few times on my blog...HERE and HERE.  It's pretty simple to do and you really don't need any special tools...just a bit of clay along with your favorites dies and stamps.  

Here's a peek at the card I'm showing in the video...

And here's another card I created using a butterfly I made using the Butterfly Dreams stamp set and coordinating die.  

I inked my butterfly stamp with some Fresh Snow ink before pressing it into the clay, which brings out the impressed detail even more.  

Kind of fun!  I hope you can find some time to play along this week and give it a try!

In other news, I have a new card kit available from The Scrappy Gourmet called The Magic of Christmas. It's a holiday card kit that includes all of the products needed to complete 12 cards, plus detailed instructions for each.  

Click HERE to see and purchase the whole kit.  I will leave you with a few sneak peek images.  Have a great rest of the week if I don't see you back here!

 

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Homemade Embellishments...

Challenge, Challenge time!!  (For a full list of the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire events and challenges, click HERE)

We've got a whole selection of handmade embellishment how-to's for you!  

I created these pinwheels using some of the Papertrey Ink doily dies and I have a video to show you how!

Click below to watch the video.  You'll also want to stop by Nichole's blog for all of the other Homemade Embellishments projects and videos as well as all of the info for entering a project of your own into the Homemade Embellishment Challenge!

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Camp Card Set Challenge...

 

It's time for another Stamp-a-Faire challenge!  (For a full list of the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire events and challenges, click HERE)

The team is ready to show you lots of different ideas for card sets and coordinating packaging!

I have a video ready to go for you, taking you step-by-step through creating this card set and matching wrap, which was created using a brown paper lunch bag and one of the Edgers dies!  

Very quick and easy AND inexpensive.  Gotta love that.  

Click on the video to see how I created this set and wrap.  Also, be sure to check out Nichole's blog to see all of the other Card Set projects as well as all of the details for entering a project of your own into the Card Set Challenge!

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Ribbon Techniques Challenge...

 

Hello and welcome to the 2012 Papertrey Ink Stamp-A-Faire event!  Last year the event was held in Cincinnati, but this year the event is all online so everyone can play!  And it's completely free!  The team has tons of videos, projects and inspiration for you all day long!  For a full list of events and challenges, click HERE.  I will have a total of 6 posts going up today, many of which include video tutorials for the projects shown.

 

The first challenge of the day is the Ribbon Techniques Challenge.  Nichole challenged 6 team members to create a project featuring one of the ribbon styles available from Papertrey Ink.  I chose to work with the Bitty Dot ribbon to create some cute little flowers.  

I used bits of ribbon and a candle flame to create these little cuties!

Click on the video to see how I made the flowers.  You can visit Nichole's blog to see the other team member's ribbon techniques.  She'll also explain all of the challenge details and there is an Inlinkz list where you can upload your take on one or more of the ribbon challenges and be entered to win a fantastic prize!

 

 

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New Make it Monday Video

Good Monday afternoon to you!  It's my turn for Papertrey's Make it Monday over on Nichole's blog.  This week we are playing around with using sentiments to create subtle, layered backgrounds.  Here's a peek of the project in this week's video.

I just thought I'd pop in and share another card using this same technique.  It's something I've really been enjoying adding to my projects lately and it's really a very simple idea for using some of your stamps in a slightly different way.  I always love that, I don't know about you.

For this card, I used some of the larger script sentiments from Big & Bold Holiday Wishes, along with the "peace" sentiment from Peace Be Still to create the subtle background.  I used the same inking technique around my edges that I showed in the video.  The words in the background were stamped with Grass ink from A Muse Studio, stamped off once, sometimes twice.  The snowflakes are stamped with Currant (also from A Muse) and stamped full power, or stamped off once.  I also included some flourishes from Fancy Flourishes, stamped in the corners using Latte ink.  The main focal sentiment is from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday.

 

I hope you'll join me and play around with this week's technique!  

 Finished size = 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

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 Supplies for card featured in video -- Finished size = 6 x 4 1/4"

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October Papertrey: Star of Wonder + Make it Monday

Happy Monday!

I'm still working on sharing all of those October Papertrey projects!  Today I have a project to share with you using Dawn's new Star of Wonder stamp set.  As usual, all supplies used in today's project are linked in the thumbnails at the bottom of this post.

To create the focal image, I stamped the Bethlehem cityscape tag onto white cardstock with Versamark, then embossed with black embossing powder.  I then watercolored the sky portion with several different colors of Twinkling H2Os.  The effect is very pretty and shimmery in real life.  

The background of the card was created using the same technique that's featured in today's Papertrey Ink Make it Monday video over on Nichole's blog.  It's a simple technique that uses a brayer to appy ink over cardstock that's been embossed with a Papertrey Impression Plate.  For the cards above, I used Papertrey's Gold Shimmer cardstock along with Hawaiian Shores ink and the Giga Guidelines Impression Plate.  Since the PTI plates give more of a debossed impression, rather than a raised embossed design, using a brayer over them gives them a really neat negative look.  

Here is a peek at the cards I created for the Make it Monday Video using this technique.  You can learn more about these cards and watch the video by visiting Nichole's blog HERE.

 

I'm still working on doing some cleaning and clearing out in my craft room.  I've listed another round of items in my Etsy shop.  There will be lots more to come as time allows!  Thanks for taking a peek!

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I'll be back soon!  I hope your week is off to a great (and crafty!) start!  

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Up, Up & Away!

It's Papertrey Ink countdown time again!  I'm so excited about the set I get to help preview today!  This set is packed with FUN images and I love every bit of it!  Clouds, kites, hotair balloons, rainbows...what's not to love?  This set will be available to purchase from Papertrey Ink on the 15th of May.  I've got some fun projects to share, and even a video, so let's get started....

First off is a fun card using paper-pieced kites, a brand new Impression Plate, and the new cloud dies!

I love the way the impression plate almost looks like wind behind the kites.  I also curved the sentiment a bit and added a flourish from Fancy Flourishes...it really gives the feeling of motion and wind.

Those adorable kites are a "breeze" to paper-piece.  And see the cute little twine detail on the tails?  I even made a little video for you, showing you a quick way to make your own colored button twine!

Up next is a card using the balloon images.  Remember these dimensional ornaments I made using Papertrey's Vintage Ornaments set?  Well, I used the same principle here, except Nichole made my life a whole lot easier by creating a die for those balloons!  Yipppeee!  No more fussy cutting!

See the fun banner?  That was made using the kite images!  I just trimmed off the tops and strung them on a piece of button twine.  To make this really easy, I just ran them through my Xyron sticker maker to make them sticky on the back so I could lay them on the twine and they stayed put. 

And lastly, just a fun and colorful card using the kite images in a totally different way.  I combined six of them into a unique flower shape.  I topped it off with a diecut felt flower and button.  And check out the borders...see anything new???? 

Be sure to hop around to see all of the other DT gals that have posts up with sneaks of the new stuff! 

Dawn, Alli, Melissa, Beth, Heather, and Lisa all have projects using their new sets! 

 

The Sky is the Limit
Stamps:  Up, Up & Away, Fancy Flourishes, Background Basics: Geometrics
Ink:  Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, VersaMark, Palette Noir
Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist
Dies/Impression plates:  Sunshine Impression Plate, Cloud Dies, Balloon Die
Other:  Summer Sunrise Twill, Vintage Cream button twine, white embossing powder, October Afternoon patterned paper

Sending Smiles
Stamps:  Up, Up & Away, Up, Up & Away Sentiments
Ink:  Enchanted Evening, Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, Lemon Tart
Cardstock:  Vintage Cream
Dies:  Hotair Balloons
Other:  Enchanted Evening button, Rustic Cream button twine, Girls' Paperie patterned paper, corner rounder

Birthday Wishes
Stamps:  Up, Up & Away,Blooming Button Bits (leaf)
Ink:  Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Hibiscus Burst
Cardstock:  Stamper's Select White,Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist
Dies:  Rick-rack Border, Eyelet Lace Border, Beautiful Blooms #3
Other:  Rustic Cream button twine,Hawaiian Shores felt, button, Beautiful Blooms patterned paper