Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks Blog Hop

*** Scroll down to the post below or click HERE to see my card for this week's Color Throwdown challenge! ** 

Welcome to the next stop on the Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks Blog Hop!  I'm joining a group of talented paper crafters and paper crafting companies to say a big thank you to the team at Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking as the publication wraps up its fabulous run. You should have arrived here from Jamie Greene's blog. 

I was honored to have one of my projects (a non-card one!) selected to be featured on the cover of a special issue.  What a thrill it was to walk in to craft stores, book stores, and even my neighborhood Target and see a project of mine on a magazine cover!  But, while having my projects appear on the pages of the magazine, whether in print or in digital form, the best thing was the opportunity to be part of a warm and talented community of other like-minded paper crafters.  I looked forward to opening up my copy of the magazine (and the special issues, too) and ooh-ing and aah-ing over the amazing creations that were featured.  It was just as exciting to see my friends' projects in print as it was to see mine!

Today I'm sharing a cheery floral card I whipped up using stamps from Avery Elle.  In a nod to the always on trend Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking magazine, I used a piece of ombre patterned paper as the background behind the floral cluster.  The spring-like colors make me think of new beginnings and good times ahead!

Thank you again to all of the editors and staff at Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine for your dedication, support, encouragement, and inspiration.  I wish you all the best in the future!  Your next stop on the hop is Susie Wittwer.  Enjoy!

Materials Used:
from i {heart} papers:  Avery Elle Fabulous Florals stamp set, Fabulous Florals dies, Lemon Grass, Pixie, and Orchid pigment inks; Tsukineko Memento Luxe Rose Bud ink; Pink Paislee Hello Sunshine 6x6 paper pad; Hemptique Spring Bloom 2 twine; Sticky Thumb dimensional dots

other:  Lake House ink (WPlus9); Simply Chartreuse cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Fishtail Flag Stax die (My Favorite Things)

Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop

I'm joining in on today's Moxie Fab Thanks blog hop with lots of other stampers to say thank you to Cath Edvaldson, the creator of Moxie Fab World.  You should have arrived here from Cindy Lawrence.  If not, head over to Moxie Fab World to start the hop at the top--there are hundreds (yes, hundreds) of super talented crafters taking part in this hop and you don't want to miss a thing!

I put together a fun floral thank you card using
the Fresh Cut Florals stamp set and dies from WPlus9 and Memento Luxe inks.  A few pink sequins and a white paper doily are a perfect match for the feminine flowers and add a little texture and sparkle to the design, too.

Cath, thank you for all of your encouragement and inspiration through the community you created at Moxie Fab World!  Your eye for trendy and fabulous design, and above all, your kind words and caring nature, will be greatly missed.

Your next stop on the hop is Penny Ward.  You can find a full list of links to the hop participants at the bottom of this post.  Enjoy!

Materials Used:
from i {heart} papers:  WPlus9 Fresh Cut Florals stamp set and Fresh Cut Florals and Timeless Tags 2 dies, Tsukineko Memento Luxe Pistachio, Love Letter, Rose Bud, Gray Flannel, and Wedding Dress inks, May Arts light blue striped twill, Sticky Thumb dimensional dots

other:  Sea Glass cardstock, sequins (Avery Elle); Melon Mambo and Whisper White cardstock (Stampin' Up!); white paper doily

350 Cards and Gifts Blog Hop

Welcome! I’m super excited to be participating in today’s designer blog hop for the new Paper Crafts special issue, 350 Cards and Gifts, Vol. 2.  This special issue is full of creative gift and packaging ideas for all occasions. For today’s hop, each designer is sharing a brand new birthday themed creation.

I made a gift box and matching tag using the Taglines: Critters stamp set from Clear and Simple Stamps. Both pieces feature the set’s bee image and the “happy bee-day” sentiment.

The box was die cut from light blue cardstock using CSS’s Party Favor 1 die. Before assembling it, I cut a circular opening from the box’s front panel. I filled in the open space with a kraft panel stamped with a hexagon pattern, then used foam tape to add the bee image on top. The bee’s flight trail is made from a clear crystal flourish—love the sparkle! I stamped the “happy bee-day” sentiment on a cheery yellow tag and tied it to the box’s handle with some yellow twine. I’m thinking this would be fun to give filled with some honey-themed or scented products.

The tag is cut from the same light blue cardstock using CSS’s Tags 1 die. I used the same hexagon pattern to make a background, this time stamping it directly on the tag. I added the bee on top with foam tape, then stamped the sentiment on a Favor Flag strip that extends out from underneath the bee.

Here are the rest of the designers participating in the hop.  Be sure to check out their creations, too. And, be sure to leave a comment here--and on all of the other participating blogs, too--by Tuesday, May 14 at midnight for a chance to win your very own copy of 350 Cards and Gifts, courtesy of Paper Crafts. 

Chan Vuong
Heather Campbell 
Kimberly Crawford 
Amanda Coleman
Kelly Griglione 
Nina Yang
Alice Wertz 
Emily Branch 
Jocelyn Olson 
Kalyn Kepner
Lori Tecler -- you're here!
Meghan McMillan 
Piali Biswas 
Vanessa Menhorn 
Paper Crafts Connection

Materials Used:
Taglines:  Critters and Background Basics 1 stamp sets, A Blanc Check, and Perfect Little Black Dress inks, Trendsetter Blue, Say Yellow to All Your Fans, Kraft Like a Rockstar, and A Blanc Chec cardstock, Copic markers (Y11, Y13, Y15, Y18, B0000), Party Favor 1, Tags 1, Shapes:  Circles, and Favor Flags dies (Clear and Simple Stamps); yellow twine (The Twinery); Dazzling Diamonds (Stampin' Up!); yellow satin ribbon, clear crystal flourish (Michaels); foam tape

I'm a Cover Girl!

I'm a cover girl!  One of my projects is featured on the cover of the recently released Handmade Home Decor, a special issue from Paper Crafts magazine.  My project's the twine wrapped candle holder you can see at the bottom of the cover.  I'm honored to have a project selected to be on the cover.  It's been so exciting to see a magazine cover with one of my projects on display in craft stores and regular bookstores!

It's a super simple project that dresses up a plain glass vase/candle holder with twine.  To give it a spring look, I added a pair of felt flowers made with a die from The Cat's Pajamas.  A little lace adds a girly touch that is a nice contrast to the rough texture of the twine. The pictures in the magazine are much nicer than my at home, amateur photographer ones, I promise.  This issue is full of great ideas for things you can make for your home using the paper crafting supplies already in your stash--be sure to check it out!

Cut it Out

This week’s blogger challenge theme is “cut it out.” I realized I hadn’t shared the fun die cut project I had featured in the recent Paper Crafts magazine special issue, Die Cutting for Paper Crafters, so I thought I’d share it today for the challenge.

I used several different dies from Clear and Simple Stamps to create the elements in this sweet shadow box that's the perfect decoration for a little girl's room. I started off by die cutting some green dotted patterned paper strips with a grass die, then layering the die cut strips at the bottom of a blue panel. I made a clothesline above the grass, using a piece of hemp twine and some mini clothespins. A different patterned die cut dress hangs from each pair of clothespins. The dresses were cut with a die from the Tiny Fashions set and then stamped with the matching outline image. I added a little embellishment to each dress, too. The final die cut element is die cut letters spelling out the recipient’s name. Once the pieces were in place, I set the finished panel inside a simple white shadowbox frame.

If you’re looking for inspiration using die cut elements, this special issue is a great place to start. I’m not sure if it’s still out on newsstands or not, but if it isn’t you can get it here.

Materials Used:
Tiny Fashions stamp set, Tiny Fashions, Grass, and Lowercase Alphabet dies, Trendsetter Blue, I’m a Princess Pink, and A Blanc Check cardstock, Paint the Town Pink buttons (Clear and Simple Stamps); Victoria Park-Grass designer paper (Lily Bee Design); Miss Caroline-Dolled Up and On the Bright Side-One 6x6 paper pads (My Mind’s Eye); twine (Hemptique); mini clothespins; foam tape

Blogger Challenge: Week 286

This week’s blogger challenge theme is holiday gifts. Since we’re still celebrating Hanukkah, I thought I’d share a little gift idea I created that was published in this year’s Paper Crafts magazine Holiday Cards and More issue.

I used a small drawstring muslin bag to create a gift bag for Hanukkah gelt. The bag is stamped with a dreidel from the Hanukkah set from Clear and Simple Stamps. I combined the “happy” from the Icon Extras set and the “Hanukkah” from the same Hanukkah set to get the sentiment. One of the line images from the Create-a-Plaid set stamped above and below the sentiment and image adds a little definition to the design.

To keep the ink from seeping through the front of the bag to the back, I put a piece of scrap cardstock inside of the bag before stamping. Once I’d finished stamping, I took out the scrap paper, then filled the bag with gelt (foil wrapped chocolate coins) and a small dreidel for a perfect little Hanukkah gift!

I made a coordinating card to go with the bag, too. The square card has the dreidel image from the Taglines stamp set as the focal image. It’s stamped in dark blue ink on a lighter blue cardstock, then cut out and adhered to the cardfront with foam tape. I stamped the dotted trail image from the Taglines: Critters set in silver ink next to the dreidel to suggest that it had been spinning around.  The "happy Hanukkah" sentiment is stamped underneath the dreidel.  A strip of blue cardstock, accented with silver brads and a narrow silver cardstock border, finishes the simple design.  The dreidels and the blue line elements tie the bag and card together nicely.

For more holiday gift ideas, check out the link list below. And, feel free to create your own new holiday gift project and add it to the list.

Materials Used (Hanukkah gelt gift bag):
Hanukkah, Icon Extras, and Create-a-Plaid stamp sets, True Blue Fan ink (Clear and Simple Stamps); drawstring muslin bag

Materials Used (Happy Hanukkah card):
Hanukkah, Icon Extras, Taglines, Taglines: Critters stamp sets, True Blue Fan ink, True Blue Fan, Trendsetter Blue, and A Blanc Check cardstock (Clear and Simple Stamps); silver paper, silver brads (Recollections-Michaels); Encore silver ink (Tsukineko); foam tape

Jolly Holiday in July

It's July 1 today and we're halfway through 2012.  The second half of the year has started with lots of excitement.  I escaped the worst of the big storms that swept through the DC area on Friday night--my house is fine and my power's on and given how many people sustained damage to their homes and are without electricity, I'm considering myself to be lucky right now.  With summer here in full force on the east coast, I thought it would be a good time to show off a card with a decidedly more wintery feel. 

This one can be found in the new Stamp It! Cards magazine, just released by the crew at Paper Crafts.  It's a simple holiday card in a traditional Christmas color scheme using the J*lly H*liday stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas. 

I used the set's "'tis the season to be jolly" sentiment as the focal image.  It's stamped in black ink along the bottom of a fancy label die cut.  I filled in the "o" in "jolly" with the set's ornament image, colored with Copic markers.  Some red baker's twine is used to hang the ornament from the top of the card.  I added a little red twine bow at the top of the ornament for a whimsical touch.  Seeing this reminds me of how I always say that I'm going to get an early start on my holiday cards--and that I never do!  Maybe I can change that this year . . .

Materials Used: 
J*lly H*liday stamp set (The Cat's Pajamas); Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko); markers (Copic); Very Vanilla, Real Red, and Old Olive cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Holiday Style-Snow and Mistletoe (October Afternoon); Labels 18 die (Spellbinders); red baker's twine (Divine Twine); foam tape