Ink Up: SSS Monday

November Guest Designer: Michele Henderson

Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Throwback (I chose the July 2015 We're Going Dotty challenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
The Shabby Tea Room #262: Colors and Patterns
613 Avenue Create #148: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs SPD21: Anything Goes
The Corrosive Challenge #236: Autumn Splendor
Oddball Art Stamps Challenge: Halloween (or Harvest)
TCP Tuesday 302 (TCPTUES302): Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks 4CC #270: Anything Goes (Crazy Egg Challenge)

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties September Release Rewind!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

It's the final day of Release Week at Paper Sweeties, and that's when we do a little rewind, pairing the new releases with older stamps and dies. It's actually really easy to do because all of the sets go together so well. Today, I have used the new Homegrown stamp and die sets with Abigail and several other previous sets, to create a sweet scene for a birthday card.

I used Copics to color Abigail's skin, hair, and shoes, and paper pieced her outfit (all the patterned papers on this card came from scraps). I gave her little wagon some oversized wheels so it could handle that really big strawberry, which I stamped onto patterned paper and die cut. The large orange scalloped circle behind Abigail was originally white. I colored it with Gelatos, then, because the color was so intense, I toned it down and added some shine, by giving it a thin coating of Champagne Inka Gold. The "Wish" text is from the Wish Sweet Cuts die set, and the "big" double-stamped text is from the Wish stamp set. For the dot over the "i," I used a pink Watermelon sequin, and filled it with Lime Green Stickles. Three Cookie Dough sequins, filled with Diamond Stickles embellish the right side of the text section.

On the inside I sewed a skewed white panel to the checked patterned paper, then added a few flags and circles in the other papers. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Hello Friend stamp set. I made this as though I was going to mail a cash gift to someone receiving the card. Since mailing money through the mail can be risky, rather than just putting a bill inside the card, I left the left side of the white panel unattached. The money can be folded and slipped behind there. It's not impossible to figure out, but if someone just glanced inside the card, they would never know that there is money inside.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Paper Sweeties Design Team, too. I get so much inspiration from their beautiful creations!

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood

For a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed all the Paper Sweeties September New Release projects!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve September 2015 Week 1 Sketch Challenge (I flipped the sketch upside down)
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Love This Technique (paper piecing)
Simon Says Wednesday: Stamptember Use a Stamp Challenge
Pile It On Challenge #86: Birthday
Tuesday Throwdown #262: For a Child

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties September Release Party!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Today is Paper Sweeties' Release Party, and the newest stamps and dies that we've been featuring for three days are in the shop right now! Don't you just love that sweet little mason jar image?

If you saw my post from yesterday, you know that it was not an entire project. I have Part 2, today, which finishes out the bookmark set, and I also created a cute holder for them.

After making the bookmarks, I knew I'd need a place to keep them together when I wasn't using them, and I found the perfect way to store and display them in an easel stand design from the Silhouette store. After making the stand, I heat embossed the Mason Jar image on watercolor paper, die cut it with the matching die, watercolored it, then created a rub-on of the "Fruit of the Spirit" text (in Word) for the jar label. I went over the label with a Spica pen which gives the letters just a little bit of sparkle. Now, I can just pull a "fruit" right out of the jar when I need to mark my place in a book! But, I still haven't shown you the rest of the bookmarks...

I made these the same way I made the earlier bookmarks, with heat embossing and watercolors. For the text on these, I used a Paper Sweeties die cut and stamp (Love), an old alpha stamp set from the dollar bin (Self-control), an IO alpha die (Goodness), and a retired Sizzix alpha die set (Faithful). I like every one of the bookmarks in the set, but my favorite is "Self-control." I was super pleased with how the watercoloring turned out on the apples, and it's the only one that I paired specific text with specific fruit. Do you get it??? If Adam and Eve had used more self-control when they were looking at that yummy fruit, well.... ;~) (I know the fruit may not have been apples, but it's what most people think of when they think of that fateful day, so I went with it.)

If you'd like to see any of these better, you can click on these, individually, for a larger photo.

And, here's what the easel holder looks like when it's empty.

I thought you might like to see the entire set all together, too. (If you zoom in on this photo, don't look too close. I had a seriously hard time editing the photo, and it is nowhere near perfect.)

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project. Now, to see more new release goodies, visit my Paper Sweeties Teamies' blogs. You will LOVE what they have for you today!

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood

Simon Says Wednesday: Stamptember

And, don't forget, for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll have one more project for this new release tomorrow. Hope to see you then!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday: Love this Technique (heat embossing & watercolor)

613 Avenue Create Challenge #141: Anything Goes

Pink & Main Challenge #1: Anything Goes

Paper Issues: How 'bout Them Apples With Paper Issues-Round #1

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties September Release Countdown!

Monday, September 14, 2015

As promised, I've got a fun project to share with you today, featuring another Paper Sweeties New Release stamp set. Homegrown is a set of four fruit stamps, which pairs nicely with the Mason Jar stamps and dies I used yesterday, and with their distinct lines and large open areas, they are perfect for simple watercoloring, which I've been enjoying lately!

Since the Homegrown set is all about fruit, I had fruit on the brain, so to speak, and was reminded of Galatians 5:22-23 and the Fruit of the Spirit:

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Gal. 5:22-23 NLT

Now, I wasn't up for making an individual card for each of the nine attributes, but I really wanted to make a set of something. Then, I noticed the huge stack of books in my family room that I'm trying to read through, and immediately started die cutting bookmarks out of heavy watercolor paper. I can use them to keep my place in books, and to remind me to keep these attributes in my life.

On each bookmark, I heat embossed the fruit images with gold embossing powder, then got out my Koi watercolors and Color Bursts to add lots of color. For the text, I used Fancy Monograms (Patience), die cut (Joy), Silhouette cut (Kindness), hand lettering with a Spica pen (Gentleness), and hand lettering with a Versamark pen and gold embossing (Peace). I tried to make each bookmark unique with the word and image placement and fonts, and I am very pleased with how they turned out. I added Paper Sweeties Seam Binding, in various colors, to the top of each bookmark, and tied each one with a Licorice twine bow. I've included photos of each of the bookmarks individually, below. (The color looks a little different in the group versus the individual pics. The group photo is closer to how the colors look in person.)

I wish you could see the beautiful gold embossing on the images. It's just so darn hard to get that in photos! Tomorrow, I'll share more bookmarks, as well as decorative storage for them--Fruit of the Spirit, Part II. ;~)

There's always yummy goodness to be had when you visit the Paper Sweeties Design Team! You don't want to miss even one!

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood

Simon Says Stamp Monday: Stamp and Punch/Die Cut

Tomorrow is Paper Sweeties' Release Party, when all the newest stamps and dies will be released! And, for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday: Stamptember

613 Avenue Create Challenge #141: Anything Goes

TCP Tuesday #298: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties September Release Sneak Peeks!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Ready for a peek at one of Paper Sweeties upcoming New Release stamp and die sets? I used the brand new Mason Jar stamp and matching Mason Jar Sweet Cuts die sets on this card.

I heat embossed the jar, with clear embossing powder, onto watercolor paper, did some loose watercoloring using Koi watercolors and Color Burst powder, and die cut it with the Mason Jar die. Then, I put the colored image between two pieces of copy paper and ironed it to remove the embossing. The Mason Jar set comes with lots of sentiment stamps, and I chose the simple "Sweet" sentiment to make this an any occasion card, and surrounded the label area with yellow gel Pearl Pen dots. Besides the jar die, this Sweet Cuts set also comes with a cute little fishtail flag die, which I used to cut the flags under the button. After zigzagging around the edge of the main layer, I added a few Paper Sweeties' sequins in Cookie Dough, Robin Egg, and Peppermint, filling the centers with Diamond Stickles.

More inspiration is just a click away on each of my teamies' blogs!

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood

We'd love for you to play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge. Debbie also has another challenge blog, The Shabby Tea Room, with a monthly challenge, too!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll come back again tomorrow. I'll have a super fun project featuring the second New Release set, that I will share over the next two days!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Sugar Pea Designs SugarSketch 29
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Stamp and Punch/Die Cut
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Stamptember Use a Stamp Challenge
My Favorite Things Color Challenge 29
613 Avenue Create Challenge 141: Anything Goes
TCP Tuesday Challenge 298: Anything Goes
Pink & Main Challenge #1: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Mean Green Flying Machine

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

(For my Paper Sweeties September Inspiration Challenge post, scroll to the next post, or click here.)

My very favorite color ever is green, or to be more precise, Pear--hex #d1e231. Seriously, it is that specific. But, I love all shades of green. At Christmas every year, I decorate with pear green and dark brown, most of the interior of my house is sage green, and much of my wardrobe, including my bowling shoes, is green. It is nature's neutral--everywhere, and beautiful in any setting. Shoot, if God has a favorite color, I wouldn't be surprised one bit, if it was green! So, in honor of my favorite color, I decided to make a green card today.

I colored the balloon and cloud images with Copics, adding some white Sharpie and gel pen highlights. The Green Apple straw originally was green and white. After flattening it in my Vagabond, I used Champagne Inka Gold, to turn the white stripes yellow, then I sprinkled Watermelon mix, Sugar Sprinkles, and Gold sequins around the card. The centers of the sequins and random pearl dots are made with a gold Pearl pen. The distressed sentiment layer was stamped with a Crackle Background, and the sentiment is a retired Taylored Expressions stamp.

On the inside, I used the same Crackle Background stamp for the sentiment panel, and cut a patterned strip out of scrap from the front of the card.

So, what about you? Are you a fan of green? What's your favorite color palette?

Thanks for stopping by, and have a colorful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve August 2015 Week 4 Sketch Challenge (Turned sideways)
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Trio of Colors (Green/Brown/Yellow Copics)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #139: Anything Goes
Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards Challenge #98: Use a Sentiment
Pink and Main Challenge #1: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties July Release Rewind!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

I had such fun making this card for our Release Rewind at Paper Sweeties! Vintage, shabby, distress, layers, dark colors--kind of my thing, ya know! I incorporated all that into a card that features the new Bee Happy stamp set and Bee Happy Sweet Cuts die set, along with the older Hello Friend stamp set and three other older Sweet Cut dies (links below).

After die cutting the butterfly, I glued the body of it to a scalloped circle tag, then bent the wings up. To keep them there, I used a little 3D glue under each wing. The diagonal striped strip under that is actually a Paper Sweeties Mint Straw. I flattened it by running it through my Vagabond, gave each end a fishtail trim, then colored the white stripes with a brown Inktense pencil, spritzing water to give it a distressed look. Then, even though I adore grungy cards, I also like a little bit of glitz. So, I added some Gold Sequins with a drop of Diamond Stickles to the center of each.

The inside is very plain. Just a die cut, cut in half and glued to the corners, with plenty of Distress Ink to match the front of the card.

The rest of the DT has cards you don't want to miss:

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Anything Goes

The Scrapbook Expo will be in Duluth, Georgia this coming weekend. Paper Sweeties will be there! Hope to see you there, too!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday #369 with Simon Says Stamp (turned the sketch upside down)

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties July Release Party!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

It's New Release Day at Paper Sweeties! The new Wish and Bee Happy stamp sets, as well as the coordinating Sweet Cuts die sets are available for purchase now! I used the sweet little bee image from the Bee Happy set for my card today.

I'm still trying to figure out the whole watercolor trend and decided to give it a try on this card, and what the heck, I thought I'd try to turn it into a CAS card at the same time. CAS is definitely not my strong suit! I followed the June Week 1 Viva la Verve sketch, which I turned upside down, but instead of a lot of layers, I just watercolored loose color blocks, then painted black lines between them. The white splatters are acrylic paint. I stamped the bee onto another piece of watercolored paper, added Stickles to the wings, and colored over the stripes with a Black Spica pen. After stamping the Bee Happy sentiment, I made a bow from three strands of Licorice Twine, stuck a couple of leaf pins in, and glued three Cotton Candy sequins to the center of the bow. I sprinkled some Marshmallow sequins over the rest of the card.

I used the same watercolors on the inside of the card, just watered down more, then stamped the leafy stem from the Bee Happy set onto paper that I had watercolored in green, then die cut it with the matching Sweet Cuts die.

Check out the cards the rest of the team made, then head over to Paper Sweeties to get your own Wish and Bee Happy stamps and dies!

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood

Viva la Verve July 2015 Week 1 Sketch Challenge

Have you played along in this month's Red, White, & Blue inspiration challenge yet? You've still got time to join us, and you just might win a Paper Sweeties Gift Certificate!

Paper Sweeties Inspiration #33 – ‘Red, White & Blue’

And, last, but not least, here's a head's up for what's coming in August. PARTY!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again tomorrow!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #132: Create Your Own Challenge (A2/Encouragement/Watercolor)

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties July Release Countdown!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

I'm back with another card made using the new release stamps and Sweet Cuts dies from Paper Sweeties. Yesterday, I made a card using the Wish die. The Love die on today's card is from the same "Wish" Sweet Cuts die set. It, along with the rest of the new releases, will be available for purchase tomorrow!!!

I started this card by cutting the "Love" die 3 times out of black cardstock, and once out of a grayish-blue, then layered them to give the word more dimension. I layered the black pieces directly on top of each other, but offset the top blue layer just a little bit to allow the black to show and define the edges of the letters. To add an ivory frame around the floral die cut, I cut the Labels 18 die two times more out of ivory cardstock, cut one in half lengthwise and the other in half from top to bottom, then attached them to the back of the floral die cut. You can see that there is more than one layer in the corners, but I like that look. The "you to pieces" stamp is from the "Wish" stamp set. I heat embossed it in white. After tying a Blueberry Seam Binding bow, I threaded gold Memory Thread through a red button, curled the ends, and attached it to the center of the bow. A few Silver Sequins with Red Pearl Pen centers are sprinkled around for a bit of shine.

To spice up the inside, I added a red heart cut with a die from the Pretty Posies Sweet Cuts die set. I love that little flare at the bottom of it.

I'll be back tomorrow with a card using the new Bee Happy stamp set--Adorable! I even attempted a little watercolor wash. I'm going to get the watercolor thing down eventually. ;)

Be sure to check out my Teamies' creations using the new releases:

Angel Johns
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier
Jill Norwood