The Paper Crafters Sampler design team is hosting a blog hop on May 1st. Be sure to check back on May 1st to see what I came up with and what the other design team members created. I promise that you won't be disappointed!
Here is a little sneak peek of my creation. Spring is here, things are starting to grow and I am ready for the return of hummingbirds and blooms! Enjoy the warm weather and see you next week.
I have some exciting news to share with you all! I have been asked to join the Paper Crafters Sampler Design team. This online publication deals exclusively with Stampin' UP! products and is published on a monthly basis.
Each issue includes beautiful photographs and step-by-step instructions for 8 projects. The projects are created by a super talented design team and they follow a monthly theme. The design team is comprised of some of the industries most talented stampers and I am honoured to be included among them:
Melanie Schulenberg - Pockets of Inspiration
Tiffany Bauer - My Crafty World
Lisa Hensley - The Shabby Stamper
Cherie Franklin - Stamp Crave
Virginia Killmore - Virginia's Website
Riley Fitzgerald - Stampin' With Riley
Andrea Buckland - Creating Cards with Andrea
Each issue showcases a variety of unique products - ranging from cards, to scrapbooking pages and 3D items. Please visit the Paper Crafters Sampler blog to purchase your own copies of the monthly publications. I can't wait to show you some sneak peeks of what I have been working on!
Here is a video of the April publication - Winged Things.
PCS ~ April promo from Melanie Schulenberg on Vimeo.
Okay, I am up waaaayyyy too late. I was sleepy and ready for bed a few hours ago but once I saw Holly's technique challenge post for Monday I knew I just had to play along.
This side step fold is so cool. You can find directions for it, here, compliments of Julie Davison. I also can't take credit for the adorable little heart carrying kangaroo. You can find instructions for him here, on Dawn Olchefske's blog.
I was so excited to be using the Sending Love Specialty dp again. I added some dazzling diamonds to the flowers on the dp panel, behind the kangaroo because he tends to cover up most of the pre-existing glittery elements on the mat. The kangaroo was created from various punches and he is carrying a trio of hearts in his pouch. I tied a length of the new pretty in pink 5/8" satin ribbon around the upper step. I added three punched hearts of varying sizes to the middle step and the bottom step displays the "love you" sentiment, stamped in real red ink on whisper white cardstock. I punched this sentiment out with the modern label punch and matted it with a pretty in pink mover and shaper diecut. I added two tiny pink rhinestones and a punched heart to the layered sentiment.
Well, I better get to bed. I will only get a few hours of sleep in before the morning comes. Have a great Monday!
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Stamps: Short & Sweet
Ink: Real red
CS: Chocolate chip, pretty in pink, whisper white, real red, sending love specialty
Accessories: Bone folder, fiskars cutter, modern label punch, big shot, movers and shapers dies, 5/8" pretty in pink satin ribbon, full heart punch, 1" circle punch, wide and large oval punches, 5-petal flower punch, crop-a-dile, dimensionals, window word punch, basic black marker, 2-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds
Today is an official snow day and that means some "me" time to stamp!!! Today's featured stamp is Karen Barber. She has such an amazing style and I was so happy to CASE and modify one of her cards. I ended up picking this beauty and changed some aspects of it.
I can't believe I didn't use a stamp or any ink. I don't know if I have ever done that before! LOL I have been admiring the 3-D punched creations that I have been seeing all over Splitcoast and I decided to make a 3-D heart using the new Sending Love Speciality dp. Have you seen this dp IRL yet? If you haven't ordered it, you simply must. I absolutely love it. I am a glitter girl so this dp is right up my alley. I promise you won't be disappointed if you purchase this wonderful dp.
I added some piercing around the border of the large dp mat but the picture doesn't pick it up really well. I also added some piercing accents around the small real red mat. The whisper white organza ribbon has a red fire rhinestone brad in the center of knot. I love the glittery effect it adds to my card.
I will be sharing my January scrapbooking pages with you sometime in the next few days. Make sure you check back. Have a wonderful Sunday!!!
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Stamps: None
Ink: None
CS: Whisper white, real red, sending love speciality dp
Accessories: Crafter's tool kit, whisper white organza ribbon, fire rhinestone brad, full heart punch, dimensionals
I have been trying to find some time to do some SCS challenges this week and I finally got to do one - the featured stamper's challenge. Today's featured stamper is Anne (jdmommy). Anne is a phenomenal stamper and is a regular in the challenges. I was so happy that she was chosen today.
This is the cute card of Anne's that I decided to CASE and modify. I ended up changing the colors, omitting some mats, adding some mats, changing the punch elements and the stamped images. I also altered the layout slightly and changed up the ribbon.
I used one of my new cling stamp sets, blocks, embossing folder and embosslit, and a couple of the new punches from SU! and I have to say I am pretty pleased with them. I think I am really going to appreciate the room that the design of these new items are going to save. I know my stamping girls are quite excited about them and when we use them for next month's technique groups I am sure they will love them too.
I better get back to creating my January scrapbooking examples. I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday!
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Stamps: I {heart} Hearts, Crazy for Cupcakes
Ink: Real red
CS: Whisper white, real red
Accessories: Big shot, small heart punch, full heart punch, scalloped heart of hearts embosslit die, pinking heart border punch, perfect polka dots ef, real red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
Happy New Year everyone! I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone good health and abundant prosperity for the upcoming year.
My big plan for this year is to become more organized and efficient. These are two things that I struggle with and sadly it has reflected the most in my blog. Since I began working full-time and still running my 11 stamping and scrapbooking classes every month I am having trouble finding time to stamp for enjoyment. For example, I finished making and mailed out my last batch of Christmas cards on New Years Eve day - yes, they went out after Christmas but it couldn't be helped. There was simply not enough time to get them done before. But at least they are done and gone and off my to-do list. In a quest to become more organized I have resolved to make 10 Christmas cards every month this year, so I am not scrabbling before Christmas to get them done. I am planning to get my January batch started (and finished) as soon as I finish this post.
Enough rambling...onto the the scrapbookin pages. I started two scrapbooking groups in October. I know I still haven't posted the past few months of pages but I will do that in the next while. Anyhow, I decided to expand my classes into the scrapbooking field because some of my girls needed a change since many have been stamping with me since 2006 and I also haven't done any scrapbooking since 2006! When I started my technique groups I had plans to keep up with my scrapbooking but unfortunately it fell to the way side but now I am back on track.
For the December scrapbooking groups I decided to use the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit. I have to admit that I had never used one of these kits before - I have many of the packs but never had the time to use them. Well, I was so shocked at how easy and simple they are to use. I can't wait to use more for my classes. I added some diecut numbers, some punched paper pieced elements and some red rhinestone brads to the pages to add a bit of variety to the kit. The holly leaves were created from a circle punch and old olive cardstock. The three red berries have crystal effects mixed with red glitter painted on them to create a glittery effect. I can't wait to add my pictures to the pages. They are all cropped and ready for printing!
Now I am off to make those Christmas cards and start prepping for my January groups. Take care and thanks for stopping by!
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Stamps: None
Ink: Old olive
CS: Very vanilla, real red, old olive, chocolate chip, Christmas Jingle dp
Accessories: Big shot, timeless type alphabet, fire rhinestone brads, crystal effects, fine galaxy glitter, 1" circle punch, sponge dauber, dimensionals, sticky strip, 5/8" old olive grosgrain ribbon
I found this adorable little punched mouse on Kim Score's blog. Kim has an amazing talent for creating the most adorable punched creatures.
I won't bother boring you with step-by-step instructions on how to make this little fellow because Kim provides a great tutorial on her blog.
I kept the design of the card very simple because I wanted the mouse to be the focal point of the card. He is sitting on a glittery tuff of snow with a black skyline behind him. I matted this on a going grey mat and a real red cardbase. Simple but sweet!
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Stamps: Warm words
Ink: Basic black , white craft pad
CS: Whisper white, basic black, real red, going grey, basic grey, pretty in pink
Accessories: 1 1/4", 3/4", and 1/2" circle punches, ornament punch, butterfly punch, large oval and scallop oval punches, boho blossoms punch, curly label punch, three flower punch, modern label punch, heart to heart punch, big shot, mover and shaper die, dazzling diamonds, 2-way glue pen, sponge dauber
Even though this is a CASE'd card I had to share it with you. I CASE'd this card from Dawn Griffith's blog. I absolutely love the elegance of the design and decided to change the colors from shades of blue to pale plum and rich razzleberry.
I added some small snowflakes from the Serene Snowflake set, stamped in white craft ink, on the large rich razzleberry circle. I heat set the large snowflake with white embossing powder on a small white circle. I masked off the edges of the circle with a small circle nestie die and sponged rich razzleberry ink over the snowflake. I love the look of an embossed resist image and the rich razzleberry really makes the snowflake image pop.
I layered the small stamped circle on larger pale plum and rich razzleberry mats and added a small clear rhinestone brad to the center of the snowflake. These mats were popped up a whisper white scallop circle cardbase and a length of white organza ribbon was added to the top of the card.
Hope you are all staying nice and warm on this cold weekend. We hit -50 degrees last night! BRRRR!
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Stamps: Serene Snowflakes
Ink: Versamark, white craft ink
CS: Whisper white, rich razzleberry, pale plum
Accessories: Big shot, scallop circle die, circle nestabilties, white organza ribbon, clear rhinestone brads, white organza ribbon
Wait, what's that? The sound of crickets? Dust bunnies gathering? Yep, my poor blog has gone unused for quite sometime now. Sorry for the hiatus. Until last week I had been subbing fulltime and between my technique and scrapbooking classes, working and the kids activities, well, that left little time to post on my blog or have my own creative time.
I was having a bit of a hard time adjusting to working fulltime but I think I have it somewhat under control now. By the looks of my messy house you wouldn't think so but that is a very minor point in the big picture.
I am now employed fulltime and I have readjusted my priorities to make sure I get in some "me" time. We all need some time to ourselves and I was starting feel a little out of sorts because I wasn't fulfilling my creativity needs. At the beginning of this month I slotted in sometime to really just sit down and let the creative juices flow and I just love how this card turned out. I had been eyeing up those vintage ornament stencils since the new decor element book came out and I decided to pair one with the Serene Snowflake set and some platinum shimmer paint. If you haven't had a chance to play with the shimmer paint, you simply must! I absolutely love the beautiful effect it adds to a card.
I utilized a pretty basic layout for my card. I wanted the design to showcase the decorated ornament. A simple "Season's Greetings" was added to the bottom right corner of the whisper white mat and a window punched brushed silver cap tops off the ornament. I used some silver cord, tied in a bow, to add a little something extra to the ornament. The corners of the brushed silver mat are punched with the ticket corner punch.
I am in love with this color combo of rich razzleberry, whisper white and brushed silver. I can also see the potential of pairing the rich razzleberry with kraft and very vanilla. Ideas for more Christmas cards are rolling around in my head!
Thanks so much for continuing to check in on my blog, I really appreciate it!
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Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Four the Holidays
Ink: Rich razzleberry
CS: Whisper white, rich razzleberry, brushed silver
Accessories: Vintage Ornaments II stencils, sponge, sponge dauber, platinum shimmer paint, ticket corner punch, silver cord, window word punch, piercing tool, foam mat, DOTTO
I needed to make a hostess gift set for my workshop last night and while I was surfing SCS I found this stunning card by justbehappy. I decided to CASE it and modify is slightly and also use it for inspiration for the top note treat box I made to accompany my card.
I used the color combination of rich razzleberry, old olive and certainly celery for the card. I added a pierced border to the rich razzleberry dp mat that was adhered to a certainly celery mat. Two square panels of old olive cardstock and certainly celery dp were added to the left side of the cardfront and a length of white organza ribbon was tied around that side of the card. I popped the layered mats off the old olive cardbase with dimesionals.
The sentiment "My Dear Kind and Wonderful Friend"was inked with old olive and rich razzleberry markers and stamped on a nestability oval shape. It was layered on a certainly celery oval and scallop oval circle and popped up on dimensionals. I added a rich razzleberry stamped butterfly and a layered rich razzleberry flower from the For All You Do set to finish off the cardfront. A circle ice brad was added to the center of the layered flower.
I always like to give a matching gift box to my hostesses so I decided to make another top note treat box to match my card. The base of my box is made of certainly celery cardstock. I added a white organza ribbon around the box to finish it off. The layered top note consists of certainly celery cardstock and rich razzleberry dp. The sentiment "My Dear Kind and Wonderful Friend" was inked with rich razzleberry and old olive markers and stamped in the center of a whisper white nestability oval diecut. It was matted with a slightly larger certainly celery oval and old olive scallop oval. I added a rich razzleberry butterfly and a rich razzleberry layered flower to the box top. A small circle ice brad finishes off the center of the layered flowers.
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Stamps: All Holidays, For All You Do
Ink: Old olive, rich razzleberry
CS: Whisper white, old olive, certainly celery, rich razzleberry dp, certainly celery dp
Accessories: Big shot, nestabilities, top note die, white organza ribbon, dimensionals, circle ice brads, crafter's tool kit, sticky strip