You & Me

Hi everyone! Any big plans for the weekend? With my husband out of town, my in-laws helped out with some yard work yesterday. My kids discovered yesterday that they like to do weeding. I'm really excited about that! LOL!

I wanted to share a final card from the Scraptastic Club May release:

I started by watercoloring the background to match the top journaling card. I then used the stamps in the May 2014 This Life Noted Stamp Set to stamp the days of the week. The layers are three journaling cards from the May This Life Noted kit, along with the silver tab, Cut-Aparts, and one of the kit labels.

I finished the card with some sequins from the same kit (LOVE their sequins!). Here's a close-up:

The May kit is sold out, but here are some peeks of the June kits:

Awesome right? They have so much product--it's a fabulous deal! If you would like to buy one of these kits, they will go on sale at midnight ET on June 1st. You can find them HERE (after June 1).

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) PTI; (Distress Watercolor) Ranger
Patterned papers: (May 2014 This Life Noted Kit) Scraptastic Club
Stamps: (May 2014 This Life Noted Stamp Set) Scraptastic Club
Inks: (Provincial Grey) Fresh Ink
Mists: (Letterman's Jacket Mister Huey's) Studio Calico; (Lemon Zest) Tattered Angels; (Georgia Peach) Heidi Swapp

Chin Up, Beautiful

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week. My husband left for a trip this morning, and I'm going to be doing the single-parent thing through the weekend. My poor daughter was up until about 1am this morning--I think she was anxious about my husband leaving. My son didn't even get up to say goodbye. I think that pretty much sums up their personalities. ha ha

It's One Buck Wednesday over at Snap Click Supply, and today, the Glitz Design Vintage Blue Elements and Paper Pack on sale. The Digital Team is sharing projects using this collection on the Glitz blog today. You can check that out HERE.

I made a card using the Vintage Blue collection:

Most of the time, I'm pretty meh about my cards. You know how it goes about being your own worst critic. For some reason, this card came together easily, and I really like how it turned out. I think it's the happy yellow. :)

I started with the fab sentiment from the Carpe Diem Element Pack 2. I cropped the sentiment and simply printed it on the main panel.

I re-sized and lightened several of the papers from the Vintage Blue paper pack. I die-cut the rosette on my Cameo, although I thought the edges of the rosette needed something else. I die-cut the edge of the rosette with the Paper Smooches Borders 2 die. I layered a circle of wood veneer and more papers from Vintage Blue. The heart was die-cut using the Paper Smooches Hearts die. Here's a close-up:

For the layers, I hand-cut loose banners and strips from the Vintage Blue and Sunshine in My Soul collections. I used half of a Freckled Fawn doily at the top (they have the whitest doilies--yeah!).

Here's another close-up:

If you want to try digital, the One Buck Wednesday is a great way to pick up some papers and elements for very little money. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super day!

Supplies

Cardstock: (yellow) Avery Elle; (wood veneer) Impress

Digital elements: (blue and white zigzag, yellow scallop from Sunshine in My Soul; light blue banner from Vintage Blue Element Pack; all other papers from Vintage Blue Paper Pack; sentiment from Carpe Diem Element Pack 2) Glitz Design

Dies: (Borders 2, Hearts Dies) Paper Smooches; (rosette) Silhouette America

Ink: (Taxi, Opaque White Mister Huey's) Studio Calico

Great Love

Hi everyone!

It's the end of May and the end of my guest spot at i {heart} papers. :(  I wanted to share one last card using supplies from the store.

I wanted to use this awesome sentiment from My Favorite Things:

I stamped the Be Your Best Self sentiment and colored it with Copics. It took a steady hand for some of those tiny areas. ;) The color inspiration came from the new My Mind's Eye Asbury Heights papers.

Here's a close-up of the sentiment:

The tiny heart comes from the Red and Goldie dies. I layered some of the Asbury Heights papers and a layer of tissue, and I added some mist on top.

In the other corner, I stitched a mix of sequins at the top. I messed up on the stitching, which was pretty frustrating. But, rather than remaking the card, I added an enamel dot and just decided to go with the wonky sequins. ;)

Here's a close-up:

I wanted to give a big thanks to Kate and Tracy at IHP for having me as a guest these past two months!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) PTI
Patterned paper: (Asbury Heights) My Mind's Eye
Stamps: (Be Your Best Self) My Favorite Things
Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko; (Dewey, Opaque White Mr. Huey's) Studio Calico
Copics
Embellishments: (blush, mint sequins) Studio Calico; (coral sequin) craft supply; (clear sequin) Neat and Tangled
Die: (heart from Red and Goldie) Avery Elle

I Dig You + a Tutorial

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great weekend (and long weekend if you have one).

I'm sharing my Paper Smooches card that Kim shared on the Paper Smooches blog. I used the new Desert Icons dies. Since I went to Saguaro High School, I really like the Saguaro icon. :)

Here's my card:

I was originally going to make a clear shaker tag, and ended up attaching it to the card. To make the tag, I wanted to be able to see all the way through and still have extra room for the sequins to shake.

Here's how I made the see-through shaker tag:

1. Die-cut the Paper Smooches Stitched Tag. Die-cut the Desert Icons cactus in the tag.

2. Die-cut the tag out of acetate twice.

3. Die-cut two tags out of Craft-a-Board (or a coaster). Die-cut a rectangle or larger-than-the-cactus shape out of the center of the craft board tags. This area will allow the sequins to move.

4. Optional: Die-cut the tag out of cardstock or patterned paper. I used the Craft-a-Board and a coaster, but it's nice to have a finished layer under the acetate. 

5. Glue the layers--cactus tag, acetate, Craft-a-Board (two layers), cardstock/patterned paper, and acetate. 

Here's what the finished tag looks like from underneath:

I attached the tag to the card, but I like how the tag would work well alone on a gift. I layered some Teresa Collins papers. The papers just arrived at i {heart} papers (along with the Paper Smooches dies). 

Here's a close-up:

Since I used a layer of Cosmo Cricket gold vellum and some gold sequins, I embossed the sentiment from Woofers and Tweeters in gold. I die-cut a Scallop Tag for the sentiment and cut off the top of the tag. 

Here's the top:

I finished off the card with a couple of tiny Flowers die-cuts, a Studio Calico gold enamel dot, and some yellow twine. 

You can find these products at IHP. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fantastic day!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white, acetate) PTI

Patterned paper: (Something Wonderful) Teresa Collins; (gold glitter vellum from Vellumptuous) Cosmo Cricket

Stamps: (sentiment from Woofers and Tweeters) Paper Smooches

Ink: (Versamark)

Embossing powder: (Extra Fine Gold) Ranger

Dies: (Desert Icons, Stitched Tag, Scallop Tag, Flowers) Paper Smooches

Fibers: (yellow twine) Hemptique

Sequins: (craft supply)

Celebrate

Hi everyone! Happy Thursday. :)

I wanted to share a card I made using the Scraptastic Club Daylight kit:

I die-cut the paper and vellum layers on my Cameo. All of the papers are from the May 2014 Daylight Kit and Add-On. The sequins are from the This Life Noted kit. To enclose the shaker, I die-cut two layers of Ellen Hutson Craft-a-Board...it was easy to adhere the layers. 

For the sentiment, I used some new Little B Block Out dies. The pictures look like the dies are strips, but they aren't...I was pleasantly surprised! Here is a close-up:

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white, Linen Vellum) PTI; (Craft-A-Board) Ellen Hutson

Patterned paper: (from the May 2014 Daylight Kit and Add-on) Scraptastic Club

Dies: (Block Out) Little B; (Circle STAX) My Favorite Things

Sequins: (May 2014 This Life Noted kit) Scraptastic Club

Silhouette Cameo

Hello Card Set

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week! :)

Stephanie and I are on the Glitz blog today. We're using projects with the Bits and Pieces (journaling cards).

I went round-and-round about what to make, but I settled on a card set.

I used the "hello" digital journaling cards from the Carpe Diem collection. In the original journaling card, the "hello" is in black and the triangle is a slightly lighter shade of pink. I adjusted the colors and lightened the "hello" so it wouldn't appear through the stitching. I'll be giving a tutorial on this process soon for something coming up. :)

Once I printed the cards, I used the word as a stitching template. Here's one of the cards:

For the layered papers, I enlarged another one of the Bits and Pieces from the Raven collection for the woodgrain background. I layered other papers from the Cashmere Dame and All Dolled Up. I love how they all coordinate nicely. The "awesome" and the tab are both from the Carpe Diem element packs.

Here's a close-up:gli

At the bottom of each panel, I added some of the new Silver Glitter and Mint Chain washi tapes from Glitz.

To wrap up the card set, I simply put them in a glassine bag. I added a couple of vellum hearts, Baker's twine, and more of the Silver Glitter washi tape. The cards are pretty busy, so I thought it worked to keep the packaging simple. Yep, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;)

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) Avery Elle
Digital elements: (woodgrain, stripe from Raven Element Pack 2; pink bow from All Dolled Up Paper Pack; yellow from Cashmere Dame Paper Pack; hello journaling card from Carpe Diem Element Pack 2; "awesome" from Carpe Diem Element Pack 1; file tab from Carpe Diem Element Pack 3)
Dies: (Postage Stamp) My Favorite Things
Fibers: (twine) May Arts
Embellishments: (Mint Chain, Silver Glitter washi tape) Glitz Design; (enamel dots) My Mind's Eye

Yee Haw

Hi everyone! We finished school yesterday--woo hoo! Of course, I still have work, but I'm looking forward to the slower pace (and warmer weather!) of summer.

I'm on the Paper Smooches blog again today with Ashley. I'm sharing a project with the Southwestern Charm set.

I went a little wacky with this card, but I thought it would work for a congratulations card:

I think picking out the different papers was the hardest part! I stamped the cactus from the Southwestern Charm set on Lemon Lush paper. I had to add the rosy cheeks--hee hee. The "Let's fiesta" is also from the Southwestern Charm set. The "Yee haw" is from the Buckaroo set. I stamped it on a Word Bubbles die-cut and stamped the He Said, She Said around the Word Bubbles border.

For some reason, I thought of having the cactus drinking a margarita. I'm a traditional, on-the-rocks-with-salt margarita fan, but the light green didn't work with the cactus. I decided he would be drinking a frozen strawberry margarita. You know, the decisions we make as crafters. ;) I stamped the drink from Free Spirits and fussy cut around the drink. Here's a close-up:

I did have to add a little "salt" glitter around the edge of the glass. LOL! I layered some Studio Calico Copper Mountain journaling cards and Wanderlust papers.

If you get a chance, check out the post on the Paper Smooches blog.

Have a great weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) PTI
Clear stamps: (Southwestern Charm, Buckaroo, He Said, She Said, Free Spirits) Paper Smooches
Ink: (Strawberry) Fresh Ink; (Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko
Papers: (arrows from Wanderlust; polka dot and green dot from Lemon Lush; woodgrain and stripe from Copper Mountain Project Life kit) Studio Calico
Dies: (Word Bubbles dies) Paper Smooches
Embellishments: (clip from Copper Mountain PL kit) Studio Calico; (coarse glitter) Martha Stewart

Yes, Awesome!

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a good Monday. It's our last week of school--it's hard to believe the school year is over (especially since it's only about 40 degrees right now).

I'm guesting with i {heart} papers for the month of May! Woo hoo!

I made a card with supplies from IHP:

I started with stenciling White Embossing Paste on the background of the card. I wanted the circles to look like bubbles…I’m not sure that they do. LOL! They do add cool texture, though. J I hand-cut and layered papers from the awesome #Summer paper pack. I've really been into cutting papers by hand lately...it gives them such a scrappy look. I added a layer of linen vellum over the papers to lighten the papers.

On the bike journaling card in the #Summer paper pack, I stamped the Technique Tuesday Classic Ali Edwards sentiment. Here’s a close-up:

I added a few details to the card, like the Essentials Enamel Dots, the Hello Sunshine Mixed Sequins, and some stitching and misting. The stitching through the sequins was definitely inspired by Maggie Holmes--I love how she does that! I also added a little file tab from Paper Smooches.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white) Avery Elle

Patterned papers: (papers and journaling card from #Summer) American Crafts

Stamps: (sentiment from Classic Ali Edwards) Technique Tuesday

Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko; (Taxi, Opaque White Mister Huey's) Studio Calico

Dies: (file tab from Toppers) Paper Smooches

Embossing paste: Wendy Vecchi

Stencil: (Confetti) Heidi Swapp

Embellishments: (sequins from Hello Sunshine Mixed Sequins) Lawn Fawn; (Essential Enamel Dots) Studio Calico

Retro Arrow Shaker

Hi everyone! Are you ready for the weekend? We have the Cinco de Mayo festival in town this weekend--I'm hoping for warm weather.

Kim is sharing my card on the Paper Smooches blog today (that still feels weird to say). Ashley and I are sharing projects today, and I'm using the Retro Arrow Die.

I'm guesting with i {heart} papers this month, and they just got in the new Paper Smooches!

My husband's cousin's wife just had twins (a boy and a girl), and I wanted to send them a baby card:

I was making a different type of card with this die, but I watched Emily Leiphart's awesome shaker card video. It inspired me to try and make a traditional shaker card again. :) If you haven't watched the video, she has some very helpful tips!

To make this shaker, I die-cut the Retro Arrow die six times. I used a craft knife to cut out the centers of five of the arrow panels. I glued each layer together, trimmed an acetate sheet down, and adhered the full panel on top. Once I added the sequins, I sealed the panel against a paper from Carta Bella's Baby Mine collection. 

Here's the side view to see the layers:

On top, I wanted to use the new Paper Smooches Congratulations die. I trimmed down papers from Baby Mine and Hello Sunshine and then and then hand-cut them to keep the look a little "looser." 

I think I overshook the card when showing my son, because there was some serious static cling for these photos. LOL!

Even though the sentiment is a die, it's handwritten. I'm entering the card into the Moxie Fab World Hip on Handwriting Challenge. The challenge ends on the 15th, so you have a few more days to play along. :)

Be sure to check out the Paper Smooches blog to see more inspiration. :) 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white, acetate) PTI

Patterned papers: (polka dot, "baby," solid blue from Baby Mine) Carta Bella; (yellow from Hello Sunshine) Pink Paislee

Dies: (Retro Arrow Die, Congratulations) Paper Smooches

Sequins: (Flat Marshmallow) Neat & Tangled; (yellow, blue) Avery Elle

Twine: (yellow cord) Hemptique

Let's Chat

Hi everyone!

I'm up on the Scraptastic Club blog again today. :) Lea and I are hosting a challenge to use telephone images (stamps, die-cuts, stickers, patterned paper, etc.). You can check out the post and the challenge HERE.

I made a card for the challenge:

I was inspired by Wida's card, which I actually have the card on my piano. I see the card often, and I'm always inspired by the strips of paper. 

For my card, I started by stamping the cute telephone, receiver, and sentiment from The Story I Heard Stamp Set. I also stamped the little heart from the set to add some dimension. This stamp set is so cute! I love the different sentiments in it.

On the side, I trimmed down one of the PL cards from the May This Life Noted kit. I thought the strips needed something to break them up, so I fussy cut one part of another PL card (the "1") and stamped the dial from the same stamp set. I added the super cute clip from the This Life Noted kit. Here's a close-up:

I think the different sentiments work with the telephone theme. :)

If you would like to enter the challenge, you can check out the Scraptastic blog. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white) Avery Elle

Papers: (PL cards from the May This Life Noted Kit) Scraptastic Club

Stamps: (telephone, dial, heart, sentiment from The Story I Heard Stamp Set) Scraptastic Club

Ink: (Pool, Mango) Fresh Ink; (Smokey Grey Versafine) Tsukineko; (Taxi, Opaque White Mister Huey's) Studio Calico

Embellishments: (sequins, clip from the May This Life Noted Kit) Scraptastic Club

I Believe in You

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a good week. We're getting down to the wire--8 more days of school. Woo hoo!

I'm blogging on the Scraptastic Club blog today with a card and a tutorial. On the post, I've shared 11 different ways to alter wood veneers. You can check it out HERE.

Here's a card I made based on the tutorial:

I used the Scraptastic Club's May Daylight Kit and Daylight Kit Add-On for this card. I punched circles from the papers, two different types of vellum, and used one of the pre-made circle die-cuts. On top, I layered the altered stars.

Here's a close-up:

For the green star, I inked it, painted on Multi Matte Medium, and sprinkled glitter on top. For the yellow star, I painted it and added Glossy Accents. I also added one of the Studio Calico stars, enamel dots, and Simple Stories sticker that came in the kit.

I stamped on the last star with one of the stamps in the Scraptastic Club's The Story I Heard set. Their stamps are super cute! For the sentiment, I used a stamp from the SSS You Can Do Anything set. 

Here's another close-up:

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white) Avery Elle; (vellum, linen vellum) PTI

Patterned papers: (Daylight Kit and Daylight Add-On) Scraptastic Club

Stamps: (flower from The Story I Heard) Scraptastic Club; (sentiment from You Can Do Anything) Simon Says Stamp

Ink: (Grass, Pool) Fresh Ink; (Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Dies: (Circle STAX) My Favorite Things

Embellishments: (enamel dot, sticker die-cut, chipboard, wood veneer from Daylight Kit and Add-On) Scraptastic Club

National Scrapbooking Day Sale

To see my Paper Smooches DT May Blog Hop post, please click HERE. 

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post to let you know about a sale going on at i {heart} papers this weekend:

The sale at IHP starts today and lasts until 5/4. There are many new items in the shop!

Do you have any plans for National Scrapbooking Day? Have a great weekend. :)

Paper Smooches May DT Blog Hop

**For my Scraptastic Club May release post, please click HERE. 

Hi everyone! Eek! It was exciting to type that "DT" post title! :)

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the NEW Paper Smooches May/June release with you!  FOUR new stamps and EIGHT new dies are now available to purchase. You will find our new releases HERE

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! 

Since Paper Smooches is working along side of Xyron adhesives this week, they have a special prize to offer one random winner as well.  The prize is worth $100. To see a photo of the prize, please visit the PS blog.  You can visit the Xyron blog  to see what their fabulous team has created with our PS products.  While you are there, you will have a chance to win a $20. gift code to win some PS products!  

• FOUR winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and the PS Blog
• The prize - a $25. gift code to choose what you like at the PS online store.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed below or the PS blog for your chance to win!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your changes) 
• You have until midnight MT on Sunday, May 4th to leave a comment. 
• Please check the Paper Smooches blog on Monday, May 5th to see if you are one of the FIVE lucky winners.  (four PS winners and one Xyron winner)

Ashley Marcu

Betsy Veldman

Emily Leiphart

Erin Lincoln

JJ Bolton

Jocelyn Olson <--You are here

Kalyn Kepner

Kim Kesti

Laura Bassen

Laurie Schmidlin

Michele Boyer

Mou Saha 

Pamela Ho 

Summer Fullerton

Teri Anderson

Wendy Sue Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

• Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
• Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
• Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to three extra chances to win on each blog)

Here's my card using the Kitschy Kitchen stamps and Kitchen Icons dies:

The rolling pin, jar, and sentiment are from the new Kitschy Kitchen stamps, and I used the Kitchen Icons dies for the rolling pin and jar. I added the "F" from the Mini Monograms set to make the jar look like a flour canister. I did want to point out that the bottom of the jar is solid, but I trimmed a piece of paper to cover the black area.

For the paper piecing and layered papers, I used digital papers from Sahlin Studio and Paislee Press (yep, it's a hybrid card).  I added a few hearts from the Paper Smooches Hearts dies. Here's a close-up:

I used the Xyron Adhesive Dots to attach the flour jar and paper layers. These dots are super strong! They reminded me of the old Super Glue commercial with the guy in the hard hat hanging from the i-beam (anyone remember that commercial??). Those die-cuts are staying put even through the mail--love that. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Next on the hop is my talented and sweet friend Kalyn.


Supplies
Clear stamps: (rolling pin, jar, sentiment from Kitschy Kitchen); ("f" from Mini Monograms) Paper Smooches
Cardstock: (white, Linen Vellum) PTI; (white woodgrain) Simon Says Stamp
Patterned papers: (floral, yellow, gingham, red with flowers from Pure Happiness) Sahlin Studio; (pink stripe from About Us) Paislee Press
Dies: (rolling pin, jar from Kitchen Icons dies), (Hearts Dies) from Paper Smooches; (circles and large heart) Silhouette America
Other: (enamel dot) My Mind's Eye; (doily) Wilton

Scraptastic May Release

**For my Paper Smooches May DT  Blog Hop post, please click HERE. 

Hi everyone!

It's time for the May release of the Scraptastic Club kits! The This Life Noted kit is already sold out (subscribers get first dibs), but if you like the PL-type kits, you can subscribe for next month. ;)

Here are the May kits. Click on them if you want to see the photos larger. :)

The May This Life Noted Kit:

The Daylight Main Kit:

The Daylight Kit Add-On:

The Story I Heard Main Kit:

The Story I Heard Add-On Kit:

The two stamp sets are The Story I Heard and Daylight:

           

If you want to try a month, you can buy a single kit. I am always shocked at how much product comes in the kits--seriously, they are a great deal in my opinion. :)


I'm sharing a card I made using two of the April Scraptastic Club kits:

I covered one of the patterned papers with an acetate overlay from the Let Me Go Kit and Let Me Go Add-On. I love how different the background looks with the overlay. :) I trimmed down one of the journaling cards and added some layers from the Let Me Go Kits and one of the Cut-Aparts. 

For the banner, I trimmed triangles from one of the patterned papers and another one of the Cut-Aparts. Here's a close-up:

If you want to see more of the Scraptastic Club Galleries or products go HERE. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Supplies

Cardstock: (white) PTI

Kit: (Let Me Go Main Kit and Let Me Go Add-On) Scraptastic Club

Mist: (Dewey, Opaque White Mister Huey's) Studio Calico

Sequins: (Avery Elle)