Scrappin' Story

Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop

2012-01-07T08:14:00.000-05:00

Today is the release day for the January digi stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps! Be sure to check out the company blog to see what all the Design Team members have created for you. There is also a challenge on the blog and the winner will get a $20 voucher which can be used in the PMS store. Be sure to check out the store to see all the new digi stamps for sale!

With a toddler it sometimes is nice to do a simple card that just looks elegant since you never know how long they will let you sit at your craft desk. This is one of those cards and I love how it turned out.

The ribbon was actually off of a Christmas Basket and I still have more left so I may do a few of these cards. The background paper is actually just a plain notecard that was ready to be decorated. I used a spellbinders die to cut out the sentiment after printing it out. Then I used distress ink so it wouldn't be quite as bright white compared to the background paper.

Check out the Paper Makeup Artists!

Paper Makeup Stamps Digi Release

2012-01-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

January is already here and Paper Makeup Stamps is giving you a sneak peak of the digi stamps being released this month on the 7th. I used a little bit of something old and something new. The Jane Fairy stamp is new, but everything else is from my stash. I didn't have any matching ribbon, so I colored it with a W5 copic to make it match the gray colors.

I also decorated the inside of the card with extra circles. The outside pieces were so small I made it easy on myself by running them through a xyron sticker maker.

Be sure to check out the Paper Makeup Stamps' Company blog for more sneeks from the paper makeup artists! And check back again tomorrow for the company blog hop for release day.

Challenges:

Cute Card Thursday #198 - What's new - I used the new stamp being released.
CC356 - Island basics Colors - Island indigo, lucky limeade, basic gray, neutrals (white). Dessert option was to use something new, so it is the new stamp being released. .
SC366 - Sketch Challenge - based card on the sketch

Reindeer Munch

2011-12-12T07:00:00.033-05:00

Every Halloween I make Monster Munch and it is one of my favorite treats. I got to thinking about what I could do to make it Christmassy and well, I came up with Reindeer Munch. But what would this great treat be like if it wasn't packaged cute? I made these for several friends and family and made tags using Paper Makeup Stamps Winter Tags Set's Snowman. Of course, I cut everything out with my Silhouette SD to make it an easy task. The background tags are actually one of the Silhouette store cuts. Oh, and the paper is Echo Park's Merry Christmas set whcih I added to my Silhouette library as a pattern to fill the tags.

A close up of the tags is below:

It looks pretty yummy huh? Well, here is the basic recipe I followed. I say the "basic" recipe because I added more as I mixed it up.

1 package Almond Bark (1 lb) - this just melts better than white chocolate chips
12 cups popped popcorn
1.5 cups Christmas candy corn (it is green, white, and red)
1 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts
3/4 cup Christmas M&Ms
1 cup small marshmallows
3/4 cup stick pretzels broken in half
Chocolate Bark (as needed)

Mix all the candy together in a very large bowl. Then melt the almond bark over low heat. I put a little water in a pot and heat it and then put the almond bark in another pot that fits on top in order to melt. I find it works better than the microwave. Pour enough of the melted almond bark over the candy to cover it and mix. Then add the popcorn and add the rest of the melted almond bark and mix gently until fully covered. Lay the popcorn mixture out over parchment paper in a thin layer. Let it harden a bit. Next, melt the chocolate bark. Once it is melted, use a fork to drizzle the chocolate lightly over the popcorn. Let the chocolate harden and then break up the reindeer munch and enjoy.

A Few Baby Gifts

2011-12-10T07:00:00.002-05:00

So, I think I have offically confiscated my mom's embroidery machine for good. I've also finally realized it isn't just good at sewing lines and sewing on cards. So, I made a few baby gifts and thought I'd share. I made the pacifier holder in the hoop on the machine and then made the burp cloths by embroidering and adding some ribbon. I ended up making some for my son as well and they are the only ones I use now :)

A friend on the Paper Makeup Design Team recently had a daughter, so I finally got around to making one for her as well.

Christmas Cards Continued with ippity

2011-12-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

I showed the cards I made yesterday with Paper Makeup Stamps, so here is a quick post just to show the ones I did with ippity stamps. All of the ippity stamps are from the Season of Joy Set. I used the same base card template as I did yesterday. I mixed and matched the sentiments with the frames for the front of the cards. I also did a little bit on the insides of the cards with sentiments and snowflakes. I faded the snowflakes a bit by stamping them onto a scrap piece of paper first.

Christmas Cards

2011-12-07T07:00:00.007-05:00

It's already time for the December Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop! I can't believe I actually finished the handmade portion of my Christmas cards before December! I also have all my Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped, and all of the indoor decorations complete... Not sure I have ever had that much done. Although, I am not itching to put some Christmas vinyl on the wall and have already set that up in my Silhouette software. We'll see if I get around to that though.

I am going to do two blog post installments of the Christmas cards I completed since I used two different companies. Of course, I'm starting with the ones I did with Paper Makeup Stamps.

I used Echo Park's Wintertime paper pack, some bazzil paper, and some leftover white paper from another project. I cut all of the pieces out and inked the edges before getting to work on the images to be used on the front and insides of the cards. Next, I used up all of my extra snowmen from the Color It Winter Tag Set that I had my silhouette cut out for all of my Christmas tags. On a few I added Santa Hats that I hand cut to fit on the snowman's head.

I also used the ornaments from last year's Christmas Cheer Set and colored portions of them in with my US ArtQuest metallic watercolor paints. Not sure you can see it in the picture, but they really do look like metal when they are all painted up. I was wishing I had the digi version when cutting these out...

I also used the Wise Men Still Seek Him word art on the inside of the cards.

Be sure to visit all of the other Design Tea Members on today's hop. Don't forget about the discounted prices on rubber stamps at the Paper Makeup Stamps online store. This is your last chance to get these stamps in rubber since the company is switching over to only digi stamps. And they make great stocking stuffers as well!

Christmas Tags

2011-11-30T07:47:00.000-05:00

As you may have heard, Paper Makeup Stamps announced that it is no longer going to be selling rubber stamps. They are starting with 45% off out rubber stamps! You need to enter the code CLOSEOUT45 into your shopping cart. You will still get your favorite Paper Makeup Stamps in digi form from their online store even after all of the rubber is gone.

I was very excited about the November release since it included the Winter Tags set. I made coordinating tags for ALL of my packages.

I made our traditional family bows and added them to the packages as well and here is the final result.

I love the way they turned out and they look super cute under the tree.

I used the digi version of the set and put it into my Silhouette software and created tags using the auto trace feature. Note that the auto trace does work better if you make a copy of the image and fill the image in with all black and then import it. I do an auto trace and then remove the all black version and put the cut lines over the actual stamp image. Makes it easy to cut out a lot of things at one time. I laid out the snowman individually as well and stacked him on some of the cards. For the background I just made the tag lines larger using the offset function and cut them out on colored paper. I had way more snomen than I needed, so I found a use for them on Christmas cards which I will show in a separate post. To give you an idea of what the finished page looks like in the Silhouette software for the print and cut tags, here is what my final version was that I used.

Let it Snow!

2011-11-07T07:00:00.004-05:00

It is finally release day for all of the new stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps so be sure to visit the online store today! I was so excited to get to use another new Color Kid: Snowflake. I knew I wanted to have her cut out on the front of a card and knew I'd probably be making multiple cards to use at Christmas, so I set my Silhouette to work cutting several of the images out digitally to save myself the trouble. Love how easy that is and how crisp the cuts are!

I popped up the snowflake and glittered it up since I liked it so much like that when I saw another Design Team member do it earlier this week. I also popped up the image on the card for more dimension. It is kind of hard to see in the first image, so here is another view.

I also used my silhouette to cut out a pop up border for the inside to hold the sentiment that comes with the stamp. I merged several of the snowflakes together to make the border to be cut out. Then I used the rubber stamp version to stamp the sentiment on a separate piece of paper. Several folds later and I have a pop up sentiment for the card.

Don't forget to join us tonight in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forums for the Release Party, starting at 9 pm EST. Be sure to visit both of Paper Makeup Stamps Design Teams to see more craftiness for the new release.

1. Paper Makeup Stamps Company Blog
2. Lisa Kind
3. Ginger Schwerin (ME!)
4. Randee Elsing
5. Jenn Cochran
6. Tangii Crain
7. Michelle Van Patten
8. Andrea Vernagus

9. Lisa McKinney
10. Janette Garcia
11. Kristie Wilson
12. Katie Cotton
13. Anita Hovey
14. Tina Hale
15. Jackie Rakoski
16. Dawn Mercedes

17. Jami Bova
18. Anne Temple
19. Britt Bass
20. Danni Bindel
21. Ivette Aviles
22. Jenn Scull
23. Melissa Shultz
24. Velta Wesson

A few details: All of the patterned paper is from Echo Park (2010 Wintertime Collection). Image was colored with copic markers. I used memento and chalk inks around the edges of the papers on the card.

This card is for the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #189 - Baby You're a Firework. I thought the snowflakes kind of looked like little starburst fireworks and red, white, and blue make me think of the 4th of July fireworks.
Bugaboo Anything Goes Challenge 11/5
Crimbo Crackers #1 - Anything Goes Christmas related
The Paper Shelter #38 - Christmas Fun
Crafter's Companion #18 - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peaks Continue

2011-11-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

It is the last day of the Paper Makeup Stamps sneak peaks, so be sure to go to the Forums tomorrow to join in on the Release Party. The Release Party will be on the 7th and starts at 9:00pm EST. Today we are giving you a sneak peak of the Handmade Set that will be available for purchase tomorrow at the Paper Makeup Online Store. I used the digi version of the set and paired it with the Color It Winter Tag Set that was shown yesterday on the Blog.

It is perfect for all of the items that you alter for gifts. I made an altered handbag for Thanksgiving and added this tag to it as the gift card. This was one of my first projects done with the Yudu and I set it up using the Silhouette Studio.

Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created for today's sneak peaks.

Wrapped with Love

2011-11-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

I can't believe November is already here! It is time for another Paper Makeup Stamps Release! So, I'm sure you are wanting a few sneak peaks right? Well, today is the first day to see just a little of what Paper Makeup Stamps is offering this month.The new stamps will be in the store on the 7th. I'm super excited to see more Color Kids. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite groups of stamps that Paper Makeup Stamps offers. So, today I have Color Kid: Gift Wrapper to share with you.

She comes with the sentiment, which is perfect for gift cards to use for packages. I am attending a birthday party for a boy this weekend, so I colored her all up in some more boyish colors and got as close as I could to matching the wrapping I was using on the package... I should have turned on my Ottlight... Seriously, this matched exactly under my other light. Always surprised to see the difference lighting makes with colors. I also enjoyed making the bow with the antique Sasheen ribbon. I always think of Christmas when making these bows. Have quite a few to make this year!

Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has to share for this release. Also, the Release party will be on the 7th and starts at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT.

Boo to You!

2011-10-23T11:13:00.000-04:00

Halloween is almost here and we have just completed our annual pumpkin party (I am still stuffed from all of the goodies!). So, I thought I would post one of my new decorations this year today and maybe later this week I'll post the rest of the decorations :)

I have been wanting to make the wooden block sayings that I see all over the place that are super cute, but seriously, they want too much money for a piece of wood at the store that I may or may not decorate well and like... So... I found these cute coffin boxes on sale for $2. They were plain paper mache boxes, so I decided they would be great for boo boxes for Halloween.

The papers are all from Echo Park and are actually the digi version of them available on Jessica Sprague. I loaded the papers as patterns into my Silhouette software and added the letters to each and had my silhouette print them. I could have set up a cut file as well for it, but just decided to hand cut them and then paint the edges for a bit of a more grungy look.

I used the Mummy Stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps to add an extra element to the boxes. I colored him with the Warm Gray Copics before adding him to the boxes using foam dots.

Happy Halloween!

Let's do the hop! The MONSTER HOP

2011-10-07T07:00:00.007-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps is doing a Monster Blog Hop using some of the Design Team's favorite monsters. You can see a full listing of all of the monsters, aliens, and such that Paper Makeup Stamps offers at this link. There is a sale of 15% off all monsters for a week using the code MONSTERHOP.

Although monsters are generally for Halloween, especially in October... I had already finished all of my Halloweeny type cards, so, I figured they are great for Christmas too!

Front of Card

Inside of Card

I used Monster of a Gift and paired it with the sentiment from the Oo, La, La for Santa Set. The papers are from Echo Park (Wintertime 2010) and the kraft is Neenah cardstock. Image colored with copics.

Be sure to visit the rest of the gals on the Design Team to see their Monster Creations!

A little birdy told me

2011-10-03T07:18:00.000-04:00

October seems to have a lot of birthdays in it for my family, so it is time to start getting some birthday cards done... whether I remember to mail any of them is another story! Today's card is based on the Card Patterns Sketch 135. Oh, and Paper Makeup Stamps is this week's sponsor!

The stamps are from the Tweet Things Set from Paper Makeup Stamps. I did some stitching and filled in the vertical line of paper with some brads and pearls. I actually had flowers on the brads at first, but it was just a bit too much! I colored the image with copics and cut it out and hung it using metal embellishments that I have had for years! I need to use those more I think. I also decorated the inside of the card to match (I know, don't faint, it is a rare day I do that, but the sentiment didn't fit on the front!).

The sentiment is also from the Tweet Things Set. That's all for today! I hope you have a great week, and be sure to check out the Paper Makeup Stamps blog on the 7th for our October blog hop!

A Little Moody

2011-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

This is probably my favorite fall card I've done so far, but it is because it is one of my favorite stamps. The image I actually already had colored with copics and just waiting to go on a card. It is Moody in the Pumpkin Patch from Paper Makeup Stamps.

The paper is from Little Yellow Bicycle and the ribbon is actually some antique Sasheen ribbon that I normally use for bows for packages.

This card is also for the Corrosive Challenge this week to use punches or dies. The Moody image was punched out using a nestie and I used my corner rounder 1/4" and 1/2" on the edges of the papers.

Another witchy invite

2011-09-22T12:26:00.000-04:00

A quick post for you for today. This is a simple invite card using a sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps. The image stamp is witchybella from Stamping Bella. Sadly, I've had the bella stamp since last year and this is the first time I've used it... and actually, I already had it all colored and cut out and just hadn't put it on a card!

I colored the Bella with copics. The papers are once again from Echo Park's Happy Halloween (2010). They were a part ofthe Paper Makeup Stamps October 2010 kit as were the spider web die cut and purple brads.

Witchy Fairy's Happy Halloween

2011-09-15T07:00:00.048-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps has so many great halloween stamps! So, you'll probably be seeing a few of these as I get ready to gear up for our annual pumpkin carving party. The card below uses Witchy Fairy with her Happy Halloween stamp. Seriously... I love that font.

The card is based on the Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge # 72. So, the good news! If you like this stamp you can get it and the sentiment for just $4! Paper Makeup Stamps has a few left over from last year's Halloween kit, so pick them up before they are all gone!

They also have the full kit available with a digital stamp or rubber stamp! I loved these papers so much I actually held back some and saved them to use again this year.

Paper Makeup Stamps 2010 October Kit

Papers: Echo Park Happy Halloween (PMS Kit October 2010); Ink: Copics & Memento Tuxedo Black; Die Cuts: Spellbinders Nestie; Sketch: Sunday Sketch & Stamp #72; Stamps: Witchy Fairy & Sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps (available in digital or rubber) - Note, the full kit is still available as well with digital stamp or rubber stamp

Witchy Wendy's Invitation

2011-09-14T10:13:00.000-04:00

A quick halloween card for you today with Witchy Wendy from Paper Makeup Stamps (on sale for only $2.60!). Love using her for scrapbooking and for cards! The sentiment is also from Paper Makeup Stamps. The sketch is from Sweet Sunday #134. The patterned papers are from Echo Park. You'll be seeing a lot of this paper during this season from me ;)

Oh, and if you are curious about the pumpkins... They were from my in-laws :) They have an online shop, so I'll have to find that and post it as well. I always have these out as soon as Fall comes out. I love pumpkins and am already looking forward to going to find the perfect one to carve.

High Five for a Paper Makeup Release!

2011-09-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today is the Paper Makeup Stamps release day! So, you should have started at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog and arrived here from Katie's blog. Paper Makeup Stamps has a new line! How adorable is this High Five gal? Love her!

The sketch is from the Deconstructed Sketch (#17). The sentiment is from the newly released Thankful Essentials set. Both of the stamps I used were digi, so I was able to size the High Five gal and sentiment to fit the card perfectly.

I cut out pieces of the patterned paper and also added them to the inside just for a little bit of color.

Other challenges that I used for the card are:

Card Mad Fairy's Digi Days Challenge: Challenge #16 - Use a digi stamp and flowers
Card Makin' Mamas - Challenge #28 - Use a digi image
Clearly i Stamp - Challenge #35 - Patterned Paper

I am the last in the blog hop line today, so, be sure to join us for the party tonight at 9:00pm EST (8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT) in the Paper Makeup Stamps forum. And before you go... the last letter you need for the secret code is E!

Colored with Copics on Neenah Paper. Paper is from Colorbok - Earth tone florals. Stamps are Paper Makeup Stamps: High Five & Thankful Essentials. Pink ribbon from stash.

A Sneak Peek & Late Congrats

2011-09-06T07:00:00.002-04:00

It is the last day of sneak peaks for Paper Makeup Stamps. I got to use this "adorable" sentiment today and thought it would also make a great congrats card for one of our Design Team members (Stephanie Zito) that just had a baby :)

Visit the Paper Makeup Stamps Blog to see the other sneak peeks for the day. Don't forget to join us on the 7th for the Release Party starting at 9 pm EST in the forums! If you bring a friend, then you will be entered to win extra prizes!!!

Happy Fall Y'all

2011-09-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it's almost Fall anyways ;) At least my tree seems to think it is fall with all of the yellow leaves. It is another sneak peak day from Paper Makeup Stamps! I was pretty excited to get a head start on some Autumny projects using the brand new Autumn Set. I used the digi version of the Color it Autumn Set and made these lil gift bags.

I first made sure the stamps had a transparent background, but a white fill. Then I imported them into the Silhouette Software and layered them. I grouped them and then traced the outside of the group. I did have to go in and manually edit the points after, but still, so much quicker than cutting it all out by hand since I will eventually have about 20 of these to make (but with a bit better goodies inside!).

The Silhouette did the hard part cutting and I just had to color them in with my copics and glue them to my treat bags. This set has so many stamps in it for Fall and I can't wait to also make some cards with it. Speaking of, be sure to visit the other designers today and see what cards they have made!

Don't forget to join us on the 7th for the Release Party starting at 9 pm EST in the forums! If you bring a friend, then you will be entered to win extra prizes!!!

Trick or Treat?

2011-08-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

I just love the way that Trick or Treat Ted doesn't look so sure about what is going on. Since it is getting close to October it seemed about time to start Halloweeny type cards and some fall cards.

The card is based on the Mojo 125 sketch. The papers and ribbon used are all Echo Park and they were a part of last year's October Makeup Kit. The plain orange paper is from PTI, but it was a bit too bright so I sponged it with a little black ink. Ted is of course colored with copics and if you look closely you can see that he has small lil googly eyes (Can't believe I actually found them in my stash and they fit perfect!).

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps Trick or Treat Ted & Little Moment Sentiment Set; Picture Background Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle Trick or Treat Harlequin (Back); Card Paper & Ribbon: Paper Makeup Stamps October 2010 Kit (Echo Park); PTI (orange)

Blog Hoparooni!

2011-08-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

So today the Paper Makeup Stamps Design team is having a little fun using some of our favorite stamps from year's past! You really should start at the beginning at the Paper Makeup Stamps' Blog to see all of the amazing creations by the Design Team! If you've been hopping along with us, you should have come from Dawn's blog.

One of my favorite Paper Makeup Stamps and one of my first ones I ever bought was the Boo Boo Monster. My son has recently decided to be a dare devil and try to crawl into and on top of everything. He is also pulling up on just about anything he can reach and so, we are starting to have a few bumps and bruises. I figured it was the perfect time to make a boo boo box to store all the bandaids and first aid stuff.

I started with a Xyron refill box and then crackle painted it (which in the humidity didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but still pretty cute). I then cut out band aids and a title with the Silhouette and added them to the box. After coloring the boo boo monster, I attached him to a corrugated band of paper, which I lightly inked to match the box. I also decided to decorate the back of the box in case it was turned around in the cabinet.

All in all, pretty darn cute for a boo boo box :) Be sure to head on over to Jackie's next to see what she has made!!!

Just in case you missed any of the blogs, here is the lineup:

Paper Makeup Stamps Blog
Andrea
Anita
Dawn
Ginger (that's me!)
Jackie
Jami
Janette
Jenn
Katie
Lisa K
Lisa M
Michelle
Randee
Shana
Stephanie
Tangii
Tina

A Fun Card Set

2011-08-06T11:59:00.000-04:00

Vacation is over and I'm back in the craft room! I used my silhouette today with my Paper Makeup Stamps to make a quick card set.

I used a Silhouette card cut and filled it with digital paper. Then I used the print and cut feature to have the Silhouette cut out all of my cards. Next, I measured my stamps and cut out a bunch of frames for the sentiments to go on front. I have them all in a box with the pieces for more cards for future use so I can just make a quick card that I need.

I then stamped the frames with some Paper Makeup Stamps. I stamped corresponding images on the inside of the cards as well.

More Details:

stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps: Home Matters, Mon Cheri, Nature's Song
paper: E-Paper Kit - Thankful 2 by Jeanine Baechtold available for free at computerscrapbook.com
silhouette: 'gate fold' card, antique doily, other frames created with circles and rounded rectangles
ink: unity burnt umber

Paper Makeup Review

2011-07-11T07:00:00.003-04:00

Today is the second day of Paper Makeup Stamps July Release Review! I am totally in love with the silhouette fairies. I was supposed to just review the Madelyn Silhouette, but couldn't help myself and also made the same card using the Emma Silhouette.

My cards are based on the Sketch Saturday #163 Challenge (shown to the right). Papers used are from Cosmo Cricut's Half Way Cafe Line. I designed the card layout in a graphics program and then separated the layers to fit on one piece of 8.5 x 11 without overlapping. Then I saved it as a jpg and opened in Silhouette Studio. I had the program trace the lines and cut everything out for me. It was soooo nice not to waste any paper by putting it together and then deciding I wanted to use something else.

Paper Makeup July Release!

2011-07-07T07:00:00.005-04:00

Today is the day! Paper Makeup Stamps is releasing all of the July stamps today. You should have come here from Janette's blog. So be sure to start the blog hop from the Paper Makeup Stamps blog so you can see all the great stamps that are available for you to own! Be sure to join us tonight in the Forums for the release party at 9 pm EST. And be sure to join in on the release challenges!

I get to show you the newest addition to the Build a Sentiment Set. I chose two of the stamps from the set:

I also paired it with the previously released Gus, the Birthday Monster. I cut the gift card holder using my silhouette and then made a background for the inside using PTI paper and flourishes from the Dream Big Set from Paper Makeup Stamps.
I suppose you want to know what letter I have for you? My letter for you today is I. If you collect all the letters from the Design Team Member's blog today, then you will have a code for 15% off the entire release. So, be sure to continue hopping along by making your next stop at Randee's blog.

Paper Makeup Sneaky Peak - Psalm 62:7

2011-07-04T07:00:00.008-04:00

It is another release month for Paper Makeup Stamps and the sneaky peaks started yesterday, so be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamp Blog to see all of the sneak peaks from yesterday and today. And don't forget to continue following the company blog for even more sneak peaks before the stamps are released on July 7th!

I am so excited to get to sneak peak the Be Still sentiment set. I was really wanting some more scripture stamps and this set has several great scriptures that are perfect for cards! The verse on my card is Psalm 62:7.

Card Front

Inside of Card

I used papers from October Afternoon and PTI. The flower and leaves are from the Springtime Solids Stamp Set from Paper Makeup Stamps. The sketch is based on Mojo Monday's sketch #197. My card is also for the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge #110, Free and Easy July where we could do anything we wanted :)
Oldie but a goodie challenge #22: Anything goes
My Mums Craft Shop Challenge #12: Something Old, Something New. The something old is the flower stamp and papers and the something new is the sentiment.
Hooked on Craft Challenges #2: Show us your flowers (paper and stamp on card)
Ooh La La Creations # 83: Summer Flowers
Deep Ocean Challenge #2: Flowers!!

Don't forget to join us in the Paper Makeup Stamps forum on July 7th at 9 pm EST for the Release Party!

Happy Birthday Katie!!!!

2011-06-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

So, today is a GREAT day. It is Katie's Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy birthday Katie! I hope your day isn't as hectic as your Saturdays... I mean shouldn't weekends be for relaxing silly? :P Anyways, I hope you take some time to yourself today and sit back and relax with cheesecake bites and a big bowl of butter pecan ice cream. Oh, and I'll drop by with a lil treat sometime this week as well ;)
Since it is Katie's birthday, several of us have made birthday cards for her. I only brought a few crafty things to the beach with me, so I made a fairly simply card, but of course used Paper Makeup Stamps!

The sketch is from Mojo Monday 196. I used the friendly flowers stamp to add a few flourish flowers to the background kraft paper. I also used Natalie's Cake Digi stamp. I didn't take a picture of the inside, but I used the friendly flowers stamps and the Happy Birthday Sentiment on the inside. The patterned papers are from Echo Park.

Be sure to keep hopping along to see all of the birthday wishes and cards for Katie from these other fabulous ladies!

If friends were flowers...

2011-06-25T10:06:00.000-04:00

I made today's card for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge CFC8 to keep it edgy. I tore some edges and used a nestie to cut out the entire card. I also cut the canvas into a square and pulled some strings off the edges to make a fun edge.

I created the background flower paper using the Springtime Solids stamp set from Paper Makeup Stamps. The flower is from the Faith, Hope, and Love set. I embossed the flower on plain canvas in white embossing powder. I then inked over it in blue and then brown ink and wiped it off the white embossed flower. The sentiment is from the Friendly Flowers set.

A Summery Friendship June Card

2011-06-18T07:00:00.004-04:00

I have several images that I have colored, but never made a card with. So, I figured while on vacation that they would make it easier to make a card without all of my crafty stuff. I used Paper Makeup Stamps Francesca the Cat.

The card I made meets the requirements for several challenges, which explains my post title:

The F4A69 Challenge is "a CASE of Friendship". The challenge was to go to a friend's splitcoast gallery, pick a card, and CASE it. I CASED this card by Katie. I moved the dots to the bottom and made them into flowers. I also used different shapes rather than the rectangle, but kept the same basic layout.
I also used some pretty papers I have been really wanting to use for the Stamp Something Challenge. The challenge was to literally use pretty papers. These papers are My Mind's Eye Madison Avenue.
Cute Card Thursday's Challenge #169 is to use a birthstone color. Since it is June I looked up moonstone (which is one of the modern June birthstones) and found out it can be pink. So, I chose pink papers and copics for this card.
Aud Sentiments Challenge #30 was to make a card with a Summertime Theme. I think her cute dress is very summery, along with the flower in her hair. I added more of a summer flair to it with the flowers. The drink in her hand also reminds me of summer since it is the perfect time of year to sit back on the deck and enjoy a relaxing drink in the warm evenings.

Summer Tote Paper Makeup Style

2011-06-07T07:00:00.078-04:00

Today is a Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop and you should have come here from Michelle's blog! So, if you didn't start at the beginning, be sure to go to the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. You can also see the complete list of participants at the end of this post. Be sure to join us tonight at 9 pm EST in the Forums for some crafty chatting!

Today's theme is summer! When I think of summer, I think of cute totes and purses and accessories. This is probably due to looking at all the different beach bags when going to the beach. So, I figured I would make a tote bag to match the coin holder I made last week. This is my second attempt at the FA467 challenge to make anything but a card. I embroidered the initials on a separate piece of canvas, pulled the threads on the edge to fray it and did some messy sewing for a more shabby look. Well, ok, to be honest the messy sweing is simply because if you saw me try to sew in a straight line you'd laugh. Here is the completed project using the Dandy Wishes from Paper Makeup Stamps.

So, I know there are better inks for stamping on fabric (like Versacraft), but I don't want to have to invest in more ink pads... but I REALLY want to stamp more on fabric and be sure it will last. So, before I made a tote bag that I knew would have to be washed, I decided to test all the different types of inks that I have. I stamped the Paper Makeup Stamps Color It Summer and Springtime Solids with the different inks. I also colored in one of the stamps using a range of copics. Then I heat set the images by ironing them. Here is the sample prior to washing.

Here is the sample after washing.

I also tested what would happen if water or alcohol happened to get on the images. Staz on bled slightly and copics bled a lot. I may have to break down and buy some ink... However, the unity cube did very well and the fading of the memento fade resistant is actually kind of nice looking on the fabric. I probably would have used the Unity ink, but the burnt umber is the only color I have. However, while looking for Versacraft at all 3 craft stores and not finding it... I did find TPC Studio cubes which said they were permanent on fabric. A quick test (which I forgot to get pictures of) showed that it would be colorfast and not fade at all! So, yay!

Other tips I learned in the process (well... not before I did the fabric test haha):

Wash the fabric prior to stamping on it to remove any sizing.
When drying the fabric after the prewash, be sure not to use a fabric softener sheet.
You generally have to heat set the stamped image. This can be done by ironing it on the highest setting allowed for the ink for about 30 seconds. Most suggest to do this from both sides of the fabric. Or, you can throw it in the dryer.
After you have heat set the ink, it is best to wait 72 hours before washing the fabric.

Be sure to keep hopping onto Shaela's blog and join us tonight in the forums for the party! The full blog hop list is below in case you missed any of the Design Team's projects.

Blog Hop List

Ginger (ME!)

Change is Dandy

2011-06-04T07:00:00.004-04:00

I was making pacifier holders tonight, and then realized how cute they would be as little change purses. So, I made one for my niece and my confession is that now I'm going to have to make one for myself. I looked through my fabric and realized I didn't have any for a girl. So, what option did I have but to find an excuse to use Paper Makeup Stamps Dandy Wishes stamp set to make my own fabric? I will show you the finished version first and then show what I went through to make this cute lil change purse.

I of course am using the embroidery machine I confiscated from my mom. The pattern is from Embroidery Projects AND it is completely in the hoop. By the way, I had no idea what that meant before I started making these... My mom had this loaded on her machine and taught me how to use it and it is soooo easy! So, the first thing I did was find a piece of blank canvas fabric. I cut out all the pieces I needed and then stamped it. I colored one of the panels in using copic markers (the R80 family in case you were curious). The colored panel was used for the back of the change holder.

Next, I ironed the panels to set the ink so it wouldn't wash out. I used a water soluable stabilizer and placed it in my hoop. Then I just followed the instructions. At first, everything was going fine using my 90 needle.

Then, my needle gave in when I double stitched the ribbon down. It did however do fine when I double stitched the quilting.

However, it all turned out okay after I replaced the needle. Here is the back of the change holder.

So, I think I better get busy making one of these for myself. Soooo much fun! And Dandy Wishes really makes bland fabric beautiful!

Challenges:

Splitcoast stampers Free 4 All F4A67 - make anything but a card

Fridays are for FREEBIES!

2011-05-27T07:00:00.003-04:00

I am so excited that Paper Makeup Stamps has decided to bring back FREEBIE FRIDAYS. Most Fridays unless there is some other fun stuff going on, there will be a Freebie Digi Stamp available for download on the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. This card also works for todays F4A66 - Free for All Challenge on splitcoast. The challenge is to use something you got for free, like this digi sentiment! So, see you have no excuse not to play in that challenge this week! Here is the card I made with this week's freebie.

I cut the shape using a grand nestie. The flower and the sentiment frame were both cut by my silhouette. I then just used copics to color the flower layers. I really enjoyed making the flower, so I may have to try the others I have now too.

Flat Stanley Unibind Project

2011-05-23T11:34:00.000-04:00

So, my super cute niece sent me a Flat Elizabeth as part of her classroom Flat Stanley project. If you don't know what Flat Stanley is, it is a story of a boy flattened by a bulletin board. His family took advantage of his flattened condition and sent him in an envelope to family and friends so that he could travel around the world.

Here is Flat Elizabeth. What you should notice is that the flowers are stacked and the books open up. Why are the flowers stacked? Because I scrapbooked with my niece and she learned how to do that and she knew she would be sending it to me :) I think I love being an aunt :).

So, Flat Elizabeth went on some fun adventures with us, and I used my Unibind to make a special book for her. Oh, did I mention I was one of the lucky Facebook winners of a Unibind? THANK YOU UNIBIND! And do I ever mean lucky! I can now make all my own books and decorate them any way I'd like and have them bound :) Really loving it.

I was able to even add pockets to the inside to hold Flat Elizabeth so she'd have a safe trip back.

I used a pocket in the back to hold baseball tickets for a Greenville Drive game that we went to and for the Mice on Main that we visited.

I hadn't tried the software that came with the Unibind yet, but thanks to some helpful people at the company I got it working and had the chance to try it. The software made the book even quicker to make. I just dropped my photos in and added captions, etc. I did add pictures of what I wanted to be behind my text though. For instance, I wanted a white background, so I made a blank white picture to use as a caption background.

The software also allows you to use pictures across pages.

So, if you don't have a Unibind yet... I really suggest you look into it. It is faster and easier than the books you have to send off to have made and if you make a mistake you can heat the binding back up and then add or remove pages.

Free is always better

2011-05-20T07:00:00.007-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps has brought back FRIDAY FREEBIES!!!! Most Fridays, unless something else is going on, Paper Makeup Stamps will have a FREE digi stamp. Be sure to download this week's freebie by visiting the Paper Makeup Stamps Blog.

I created all of the paper (except for the red paper) on the computer using the Dandy Wishes digi set. The butterfly is from the Color it Summer digi set. I then inked up the edges of the paper. Digital stamps offer so much versatility, are fun to use, don't take up as much space as regular stamps, and they can be resized! Love how easy they are to play with.

The card is also for the Thru the Craftroom Door challenge that Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring this week. My winged thing is the butterfly.

Life is a Daring Adventure

2011-05-19T09:11:00.001-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps is having a Design Team Call! Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps Blog for all of the details. The Design Team Call ends on June 4th so be sure to send your submissions to pmsdtcall@yahoo.com before then!

Also, Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring the Fab 'n' Funky Challenge this week. You can submit your card with "blooms" and have a chance to win some stamps! Here is my card with blooms. I used Paper Makeup Stamps' Moody for Hiking. This stamp is on sale for 60% off right now too! Can't beat that! This probably is still one of my favorite Paper Makeup Stamps that I have and I always enjoy coloring her.

The sentiment is also from Paper Makeup Stamps and is available in digi or rubber. I love the size of this stamp since it can fill such a large space on a card. The solid papers are both from PTI. I made the flowers using Die-namics Rolled Flower. I colored white paper with the same BG70 copics I used to color the hiker and then sprayed the finished flowers with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. I colored the inside of the finished flower with a darker copic. I also colored the pearls on the top right to match the rest of the card (they were originally white). Here is a close up of the blooms I created for my card.

The card is based on the Mojo Monday 191 sketch for this week. I changed up a few of the details after I tried putting several things together and them not coming out right. Apparently I am out of mojo for the week!

I'm so glad!

2011-05-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps just had its May release. Have you checked out all of the new stamps yet? Check out the blog for some more creations today!

One of my favorites from th release is the Build a Sentiment Set. It includes all kinds of sentiments that can be put together. I used 2 of the stamps for the inside of my card being sent to my son's grandmothers. I used his feet on the front of the card and cut out his handprint for the inside. Then I stamped the stamps "I'm so glad that youre my" and "Grandma". There are many different family members included in the set, such as sisterm mother, father, friend, husband, dad, nephew, in-law, etc. There are also several other sentiments that you can build using stamps like "on your" and then adding another stamp such as "anniversary", "birthday", or "graduation".

Be sure to check out not just the build a sentiment set, but all of the May releases. The fairy silhouettes are also great for quick cards since there is no coloring needed!

Oh, so some more details about this card. I just grabbed the first ink pad I had near me before we gave the lil one a bath... I should have made sure I had paper to match. So, my quick fix, I sponged all the paper with the same ink to make the colors appear a bit more similar than they actually are. I used one of the grand nestabilities for the footprints since my son's feet have gotten so big! (happens waaaay to fast!).

Paper Makeup Stamps May Release

2011-05-07T07:00:00.044-04:00

Yay! So today the newest Paper Makeup Stamps will be released. There are so many fun stamps for you this month, so be sure to start today's hop at the start at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. And join us tonight in the forums for the Release Party that starts at 9:00pm EST.

I am excited to get to show you what Paper Makeup Stamps has done with some of its fairies. Both Kirsten and Sprout are now available as silhouettes. You no longer have to color them in to make a solid image.

I've been oohing and aahing over so many brayer creations lately that I got mine out, dusted it off, and then realized which ink pads needed to be reinked haha. After finding some that still had ink, I created a sunset and then colored a hill underneath Kirsten.

The Make a Wish sentiment is also part of this release. The grass is from the Faith, Hope, Love set and the small dandies are part of the Dandy Wishes Set that was previously released. I used the small dandies to add a little decoration around the edge of the white paper.

Continue the hop by jumping on over to Stephanie's blog. Oh, and I suppose you need a letter? My letter for you is F. Start the blog from the beginning in order to collect all of the letters to receive this month's discount code!

Challenges:

Cupcake Craft Challenges: The challenge was to include something beginning with c. My c thing on the card is chocolate, as in the color or chocolate. I used all brown inks for the grass, hill, fairy, and dandies. I also used chocolate covered cardstock and ribbon. Hmmm... what other c things might there be? A Cool sunset, Cardstock, Child fairy... okay, maybe that is stretching it a bit ;)
Cute Card Thursday # 163: I like chocolate a lot! The challenge was to use chocolate. As I mentioned for the previous challenge, I used a chocolate color for the inks, ribbon, and cardstock. The flat backed pearls are also a chocolate color.

A Sweet Sneak Peak

2011-05-06T07:00:00.021-04:00

Today is the last day of the sneak peaks for the May release for Paper Makeup Stamps. So, you know what that means! Party time tomorrow for the release!
I get to show you Natalie, the birthday fairy. You may have seen her before as a digi when she was initially released for Paper Makeup Stamps' birthday this year. Well, now... she is in rubber as well! Oh, and even more good news, her cake is also available as a rubber stamp! These two stamps coordinate super well for cards. Oh, and the Happy Birthday sentiment (you can see it stamped on the ribbon on the card), it is from the Celebrate Set being released this month as well! Just wait until you see all of the fun stamps in that set!

I was in a red velvet cake kind of mood, and decided it would be fun to have one of those with red icing, and well, I may have gone a little overboard on red, but the cake just looks so yummy like that that I kept it the same for the inside of the card as well.

I based the card on the CPS216 sketch for this week (shown to the right). The color combination is from a Split Coast Stampers 5/3/11 challenge: CC321 Black Cherry Crumb (Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Ivory/white)

Copic colors used:

Skin: E21, E00
Hair: E99, E57, E39
Wings: R000, 0, Clear Spica
Dress/Cake: R35, R37, R39 (dots on cake done with 0)
Belt: C7, C9

Other items:

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Neenah paper (white for stamping on)
Black: spare piece from scrap stash
Patterned: Echo Park Christmastime
Spellbinders Nestabilities Lacey Circles

Stop by the Paper Makeup Stamps blog today to see all of the sneaks from the other designers, and you may want to catch up on the sneaks from the past few days while there. You should be sure to leave a comment there as well since you could win some stamps just by commenting.

Oh! Don't forget that all the stamps will be available in the Paper Makeup Stamps online store tomorrow (May 7). And you should also visit us tomorrow night (May 7) at 9 pm EST for the release party in the Paper Makeup Stamps forum. You might even win something just for having fun with the Design Team and chatting it up!

Beach Baby

2011-04-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

I was requestsed to make a card using Mo's Digital Pencil's Kai in the Sand. I loved the image so much that I made 2 cards using the image! It has been a while since I've colored one of Mo's images and I think I may have to use more of them, just soooo much fun to color and play with. I liked it so much that I actually made two cards so I could have one as well.

I also took the chance to use my Silhouette since I knew they had some great beach and wave cuts. I drew a rectangle and then added the scroll waves border cut to it to make the frame for the card. I then inked up my Cover A Card Scratches stamp to add some lighter green (CTMH) to the blue paper (PTI). I love these stamps because they can add a great background and fix a lot of ugly paper... I then took the shell border cut and ungrouped it to get just the small shells. This is what you see on the corners of the frame. The buttons are all from my stash so I have no idea where those were from originally. And of course, everything was colored with copics.

The sketch for the card is from Card Positioning Systems (CPS215).

A Little Sympathy on Your Birthday

2011-04-29T04:36:00.000-04:00

So, I finally got my stamps back in order today and have found my happy birthday stamps, so you may start seeing some birthday cards that actually say happy birthday on them (haha). But, not today. I figure once you hit a certain age you deserve a little sympathy when you get older. So, for today's card I used Gus the Birrthday Monster with a sentiment from the Little Moments set. Both stamps are from Paper Makeup Stamps.

Happy Birthday Lisa!

2011-04-16T07:00:00.002-04:00

Today is Lisa Kind's Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!

So, the ladies over at My Time Made Easy are having a birthday blog hop for her, so several of the Paper Makeup Design Team have joined in the fun. I made a card for her based on the Sketch Saturday Challenge, which Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring today. Of course, my card will, as usual arrive a bit late, but I should have it in the mail today Lisa!

The main image is Moody for Dragonflies, which is on sale right now! The dragonfly is Danny's Dragonfly. The small one is from the actual fairy image, while the large one is the additional dragonfly that you can get with him as well. The sentiment is a simple sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps. I figure to get another year older is QUITE an ACCOMPLISHMENT teehee. :)

Oh, if you join in the challenge for Sketch Saturday this week, you could win a gift certificate for Paper Makeup Stamps! Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog today and wish her a Happy Birthday!

Splashin' into Spring

2011-04-07T07:00:00.006-04:00

Today is the Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop. There isn't a release this month, but we are reviewing past releases and our theme is SPRING! When I think of Spring, I think of warm rain showers that leave puddles that I used to love to jump in as a child. Which, makes me of course think of Leigh.

I used PTI Kraft for the base of the card, and Echo Park for the patterned paper. I have limited supplies with me since I'm still at the beach so I did some messy stitching and made a fabric flower. I was kind of playing around with the flowers. I helped a friend make some of these for her wedding the other day (they turned out super cute when she put all the finishing touches on them. I just used what I had on hand, but was still fun to burn the edges of the fabric to watch it cup in like rose petals, so pretty. Can't wait to try this with all my stuff at home!

Oh! Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamp store. There is an inventory reduction sale starting TODAY! And you won't want to miss what the other Makeup Artists have in store for you today. Visit their blogs by clicking on the links below. Happy Spring Y'all!

Spring Fling

2011-03-31T11:50:00.003-04:00

So, I am at the beach this week and brought just a few things to craft with, but I wanted to make a card while I was here. This is probably not a card you could do in a hurry, but it was actually fun and relaxing to make. I kind of followed the quilt card tutorial on splitcoast stampers to make the background for my card. The first image is before I finished the card without the colored image. I was playing around with making ribbon flowers, so the flower on this card was one of my first attempts...yet another fun crafty thing I am quickly falling in love with doing.

I stuck all the little quilt pieces on simply by using my tape runner and laying down lines of tape where the pieces would be. The paper is all Echo Park paper and I distressed it a bit using old paper tim holtz ink. The kraft quilt base and the pink card base are both PTI.

The stamp is A Couple of Moodies from Paper Makeup Stamps. I actually have had this one for a while and I am not sure I have ever colored it. I really now love this stamp so you may be seeing a few more cards with this stamp in the future. The sentiment is also from Paper Makeup Stamps Tweet Things Set.

I may try to get a few more posts up this week, but be sure to also check back on the 7th for the Paper Makeup Stamps blog hop!

A Little Mojo for the day

2011-03-20T07:00:00.001-04:00

So, I really liked the Mojo Monday sketch this week. I liked it so much I created 2 more cards using it. I used the Romans 8:28 stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps for the first card and of course had fun with the sewing machine.

I used the the Believe Scripture stamp set from Paper Makeup Stamps for the second card.

Paper Makeup Sponsors JUGS Color Challenge

2011-03-19T21:18:00.001-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring this weeks JUGS Color Challenge #76. I used the Mojo Monday 182 Sketch and created this card using the sketch and colors using the Believe Scripture Set.

I don't have the exact colors so I used the closest colors I had. In case you can't see the pink pirouette color very well, it is in the paper flower and thread on the button. All of the papers are from Echo Park except for the Kraft base layer, which is PTI. I finally got a chance to use my airbrush again and airbrushed around the sentiment (which of course then didn't show up well in the picture). That and the smaller strip on the right arewhat I used for my soft sky color. I used the darker blue background as my baja breeze. The yellow pearls and button are what I used for the so saffron color.

Be sure to play along with the JUGS challenge this week and you could win a $20 gift certificate for Paper Makeup Stamps.

A Little Ippity

2011-03-13T20:31:00.000-04:00

So, I am finally getting a chance to use some of my ippity stamps. I just finished the card below for a wedding shower gift and based it on the Mojo Monday 181 Sketch. Each of the sets used on the card and more details and pictures are available on my ippity sales blog. Be sure to visit!

The card uses the ippity sets shown below, all of which are available on my ippity sales blog.

Quotes A'la HAPPY

Now & Always

So This is Love

Little bunny foo foo...

2011-03-11T07:00:00.004-05:00

We have been reviewing the March release for Paper Makeup Stamps the past couple of days. If you missed any of the peaks, hop, or review, be sure to go to the company blog to catch up. Today I am reviewing Foo, a cute, quirky, little rabbit. I love the expression on his face! Foo comes with the sentiment, "Just one of those days".

The card is based on the Mojo Monday 180 sketch. I made this card for my friend's son and I wanted to show how the freebie, "You're Invited" sentiment could be used with previous sentiments from Paper Makeup Stamps, such as "Treat Yourself". I made a pocket on the inside of the card and there is a hole beneath it to actually allow cards or money to be pushed beneath the pocket. The picture shows the pocket with a gift card, but I put money in it for my friend's son who was turning 5. The fish on the main image works great to carry over the image to the inside of the card and I have loved how others have used it to look like it is a part of a sentiment.

Chocolate Makes Everything Better

2011-03-07T07:00:00.014-05:00

I am soooo excited to be the first on the list for today's Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop. We have so much to show you today and we can't wait to chat about it even more tonight at the Release Party in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forms. The Release Party starts tonight at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT. The new release stamps for March are available TODAY in the Paper Makeup Stamps Store.

I get to show you the newest addition to the Raindrops and Rainbows set. A previous version of the set is available, but this is a perfect addition to it with a much larger rainbow and a beautiful sentiment. Oh, and that rainbow, the clouds on it are large enough to even allow you to use one of the Little Moments Mini Sentiment Stamps in it as well! Oh, and the clouds from the original set, they are great stamped over the newest shadow clouds in the Springtime Solids set, which is also being released today. So, I guess you are wondering what I made, well, I made Bon Bon holders. I figure we talk so much about food at the release party that I should go ahead and start the conversation with a little chocolate. I figure with all of the rain, it would be nice to have something to cheer people up, and rainbows and chocolate just seemed to be perfect since both things make me smile. You can click on the image below to see a larger view.

The rainbow and the clouds both make great tags to use on any kind of gift you may have. I simply cut them out and punched a hole in the box and the tag. Then I attached the tag to the box using ribbon. I found the jpeg for the bon bon boxes online (I regret to say I can't remember where, but it was free and they turned out super cute!). I used SCAL and cut the boxes from 12x12 paper at maximum size, which allows them to hold 12-14 bon bons when stacked.

I used part of the newest sentiment on one of the cards for the inside and used the sentiments from the original Raindrops and Rainbows set on the others. The newest sentiment is "I see your true colors shining through... and that's why I love you" split into two stamps to make it perfect to use on the front and inside of a card. To make the cards I used Neenah Kraft cardstock and a stamped the solid clouds using watermark ink by Versamark. I then stamped the sentiments, embossed them, and cut them out with some Spellbinders Nesties on PTI cardstock. The flowers are from the Color It Summer Set. I am seriously falling back in love with this set after not using it enough during the winter months. It's one of those stamp sets that makes me smile each time I ink it up.

Once I had all of the boxes put together, I put the cards in the bottom of the boxes and then cut a piece of parchment paper to fit over the card so I could put the bon bons on top of the cards without messing them up (although... can you really mess anything up by getting chocolate on it....seriously, chocolate makes everything better).

Be sure to visit all of the Design Team member's blogs in order to find all of the letters that spell out the discount code. Speaking of the discount code, my letter for you today is L. Be sure to visit Tina's blog to see the new Aurora stamp and to pick up your next letter.

A Tisket, A Tasket, Lovely Flowers in a Basket

2011-03-05T07:00:00.004-05:00

Yay! So today is the second day of the Paper Makeup Stamps March Sneak Peaks! Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see all of the creations from the Design Team today. I get to share Chelsea Fairy with you today. She is a perfect fairy to get you in the mood for Spring with her basket of flowers. Chelsea will be available on the Paper Makeup Stamps online store on March 7th. Be sure to join us for the Release party which starts at 9:00pm EST on March 7 in the Paper Makeup Stamps forum.

I based the card on a Card Maps sketch and then thought this would also be perfect for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge #154, which was to make a card inspired by Signs of Spring.

The Kraft paper is PTI and the patterened paper is all Echo Park (I think from Life is good, but I used scraps so I'm not positive). I love Chelsea's springtime dress. I've seen several dresses lately that have the same look with the poofy skirts. I colored the layers with my lightest violet and blue copics to have more of a sheer look to it.

I also decorated the inside of the card using the same Echo Park Paper and one of the flowers from the Color It Summer Set. The flower reminded me of the one Chelsea has in her hand. The You're Invited sentiment is the freebie sentiment for the month that you will receive with any order of the new stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps. I am going to save this card to use to invite a friend over for a cookout or just to hang out once the weather is warm. Love how this sentiment can be used with pretty much any image.

The Card Sketch I used was from the March Card Maps at Page Maps.

A Little Sympathy

2011-03-04T09:35:00.001-05:00

The March Sneak Peaks start today for Paper Makeup Stamps! I don't have a sneak peak for you until tomorrow, but I do have a little eye candy for you today with some Paper Makeup Stamps. Recently someone needed some sympathy cards and I realized I only had a few that could be considered sympathy cards, so, I decided to make a few. I always seem to struggle with these types of cards, but I decided they didn't have to look all serious and somber, so this is what I came up with:

I used the Paper Makeup Stamps When there is nothing left to say sentiment set. There are so many sentiments in this set that can be used for pretty much any type of sympathy card you can think of. The flowers and butterflies are from the Color It Summer Set. I haven't used that set in a while, and I now don't want to put it away. It is probably going to see a lot of use now that Spring is getting close!

The kraft paper is from PTI and the flowers and butterflies were colored on Neenah solar white. The rest of the paper is digital paper that I have shown you before that I created. I had some scraps laying around and am pushing myself to use up what I have before I buy or make more. I really love the way it turned out though. I layered the two butterflies on the sides to make them look a bit more like they were flying. A better view of that is below.

I also quickly decorated the inside of the smaller card

Also, Paper Makeup Stamps is the sponsor for this week's Cardabilities Sketch Challenge. The larger card I made was based on this week's sketch. Be sure to visit their site and try the challenge for yourself! The deadline isn't until March 13th and you could win a gift certificate to use for Paper Makeup Stamps, which is perfect timing with the new release! You won't want to miss seeing what we have in store for you this month!

Valentines ... a lil late

2011-02-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

I totally forgot to post the valentines cards I helped my 7 year old niece make! She did a great job working on them and I wanted to show what she worked so hard on. We had a great time when she spent the night at our house and we stayed up late crafting.

A lot of the valentines were made with Paper Makeup Stamps using the Sending You Love Set. We cut the card pieces out using my Silhouette SD and then my niece decorated them using stamps and a white gel pen. The lips are in this set as well, but the lips used on the inside of the card were the larger version from the Kiss and Makeup Set.

I think she did a great job learning how to stamp and I think she fell in love with my stash of Paper Makeup Stamps. An overview of some of the other cards she made with me are below.

Have your cake...

2011-02-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

Paper Makeup Stamps recently had a birthday and released a fantastic digital stamp, Natalie, to celebrate. The Natalie birthday fairy is carrying a super cute birthday cake. Since it was digital, I decided to use just the cake to make a birthday card.

Click to see full size image

I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch and printed three of the birthday cakes to color. I added a little dimension by printing two extra cakes and popping up the cake and the candle on the middle cake. I flipped the candle for the middle image just to make it look like the flame was moving once I popped it up. I used a wide doulbe needle and did some quick stitching on the ribbon and the back of the card. I used scissors to distress the edges of a lot of the paper

A note... so... when you are making a card late at night and get distracted by a baby, be sure to color your cakes using the same highlights. I didn't even realize that I had used the wrong cake to pop up on the middle until after I had my post done just now, so um, ignore the highlighting on that one, or maybe I just did it to add some um, interest to that middle cake... that sounds good, I'll go with that!

A few of the details:

Stamp: Natalie from Paper Makeup Stamps (digi)
Paper: PTI and Echo Park
Ink: Epson R1800 printer ink for the digi stamp, copics (R81, R85, BV02, BV00, YR12, BG13, BG23, BG10, BG11); also one of my pink SU inks on the edges (can't remember which one now)

Love is in the mail

2011-02-11T07:00:00.004-05:00

So, I enjoyed the rubber version of the Paper Makeup Stamps Sending You Love set that I just had to try it in digital. I flipped the mailbox image horizontally in Photoshop and then had to fix the xoxo in the heart for it to look the same by separating it from the image and rotating it a bit. The hearts are actually from the postmark. The first one is the actual size, then I pasted it again inside of itself and resized to 65%. I then copied that one and then did another heart at 65% of that size and so on to get the hearts doubled in each other and sized smaller gradually on the card.

Click the image to see it full size

The best part about the digital stamps... I can use my Silhouette to cut all the card pieces out for me so that all I have to do is piece it together and color it in. I simply created all the pieces in Photoshop and then imported the psd file into my Silhouette library. This allowed me to quickly make 8 cards. I've included links to my studio cut files for the silhouette in case anyone wants to download them. Please note that the studio files do NOT include the digital stamp image. You can however purchase that from Paper Makeup Stamps.

Print cut studio file (small white rectangles and sentiment cut)
Red paper studio file (background and red rectangles)
White cut studio file (larger white rectangles)

Once I had all the pieces cut out, I simply had to put it together. I ran the red paper through the cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder and then inked the top and sides lightly with a white inkpad. Then I took the biggest white rectangles and glued them to the red background. Next, I colored in all of the images and then used my corner rounder to give a 1/2 inch roundness to the smaller white rectangles because I decided I wanted a bit more red to show. I then glued these to the red rectangles and adhered those on top of the larger white rectangles using foam dots. The bakers twine (thanks Jami!) I simply knotted and then placed the sentiment on top of it with more foam dots and put the flat backed red pearls on top. Easy peasy fast and simple cards :)

Click the image to see it full size

Copics used:

0, G21, G24E37, E35, R89, R35, R24, R27, R29, G28, R32

Contests:

Happy Birthday Paper Makeup - Things We Love Hop

2011-02-07T07:00:00.006-05:00

Paper Makeup Stamps turned 2 this past week! Today we are celebrating with a VIP blog hop about things we love. Each of the design team invited special crafting friends to play along. You won't want to miss any of their creations so be sure fo visit the Paper Makeup Stamps company blog. The full list of participants is on the company blog and you should also be sure to enter yourself to win a super fabulous prize! I love Valentines Day and sending and receiving letters, so, this is my card for you today.

Click on the picture to see the full size image

My card was inspired by the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch from Monday January 17. Sadly it was one of the last sketches from the 2S4Y blog since they are no longer actively sharing sketch challenges.

I used several of the stamps released in January for my card. The Valentines Mailbox is part of the Sending You Love Set, which is also available as a digital download, which means you still have time to order it for all of your Valentines cards. The Happy Heart Day is the freebie stamp that was sent with any new orders this past month. I stamped the sentiment out on a separate sheet of paper and cut out the hearts and colored the back of the cut out with R85 and then added a lil glitter.

I also used some of the paper that was included.in the Mon Cheri Card Kit. I am in love with the paper included from Echo Park. I am tempted to order another kit to have all the papers, ribbons, and embellishments to match.

I really let the paper get wet when I was coloring the mailbox. I wanted it to look a bit weathered and I like the way it turned out. I overlaid C3 on the inside of the mailbox to make it a bit darker. I also added a clear copic spica glitter pen to all the hearts in the mailbox image as well as the sentiment.

Be sure to visit the rest of the participants listed below.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and happy early Valentines Day!

Challenges:

2 Sketches 4 You sketch from Monday January 17
Card Makin Mamas 14 - Valentines
Raise the Bar 52- Hearts

A bit of a geek...

2011-02-06T07:00:00.004-05:00

So, I am a bit of a geek, and this card fits me pretty well. This is one of my favorite cards and I have actually been waiting for an excuse to use the stamp. I have a friend I need to send a card to and we actually met on the computer, so this seemed like the perfect stamp and sentiment to use for it.

Click the picture to see it full size

I based the card on Sketch #140 from the Friday Sketchers Blog. I had the sketch in front of me and ended up switchign the rectangles and circles. I used a corner punch instead of the hearts and I added a spot for a sentiment. I carried the sketch over to the inside of the card as well, which is rare for me to actually do anything on the inside of a card, but I had to have somewhere to add the rest of the sentiment and I just liked the card too much to not complete it on the inside.

I used a smocking stitch around the edge of the yellow paper and it may now be my favorite stitch. I of course colored the image using copics and cut out the image and sentiment using Spellbinders dies. The stamp is of course a Moody from Paper Makeup Stamps called Moody for Computers. The sentiment is the Computer Sentiment Set also from Paper Makeup Stamps.

Click the picture to see it full size

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Paper Makeup Stamps blog hop! It is definately one you won't want to miss!

Papers:

Bazzill (red)
October Afternoon (patterned)
PTI (brown)

Challenges:

Friday Sketchers #140 Sketch

Happy Early Valentines

2011-02-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

I am so excited. I had time to stamp last night since my sweet husband offered to watch the baby to give me some uninterrupted time in my craft room! I even like the cards I had the chance to make (ha ha). I am actually a bit ahead of my Valentines this year. I helped my niece make 30 Valentines and I'll post a few of those later this week.

I loved the Mojo Monday sketch this week and love how the card it inspired turned out. Paper Makeup Stamps released the best Valentines set called Sending You Love this past month and I have used it probably more than I have used any other stamp set. You can click on the image below to see the card full size.

The red background paper is Bazzill. The white is Neenah. I used a spellbinders die to cut the shapes and then used an exacto knife for the white to cut out a similar shape as the sketch. I then added the pink Echo Park paper to the bottom and stamped the sentiment. I stamped a lot of the envelopes and then made the middle border with them and placed them on pop dots for some dimension. I cut out extra hearts from the envelope stamp and placed them on dimensionals as well. This can be seen a little better in the side shot below.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check back for the next couple of days and especially on Monday since there is a special Paper Makeup Stamps blog hop!

Challenges:

Mojo Monday 176 - Sketch
Raise the Bar 52 - Hearts
Paper Sundaes 54 - Valentines
Card Makin Mamas 14 - Valentines

A Sweet Paper Sundae with Love Bunnies

2011-01-22T14:34:00.000-05:00

I have tried all week to make a card for the Paper Sundaes Challenge this week and have FINALLY had time this morning to do it. This is their first birthday, so the challenge was to choose any of the previous challenges from the past year. So, I chose Challenge #32, a sketch challenge.

I made the card using October Afternoon patterned paper and did the stitching using a sewing machine. I used a double needle to sew the double lines with two different colored threads. I colored the Paper Makeup Stamps Billy and Bianca Love Bunnies on Neenah Kraft paper using copic markers.

You can click on the card image to see the full size image of the card for more detail. I've also included a close up below as well. The bunnies are part of the Retro Cutie line and are part of January's release from Paper Makeup Stamps.

The Paper Sundaes sketch I used is shown to the right. The flower embellishment is from some previous Paper Makeup Stamp's makeup kits. I love how a lot of the kit embellishments can be used together. I didn't put a sentiment on the card because I figured I could use this for a Valentines or an Easter card, so when I finally decide which card I need I will place the sentiment on the inside.

Skating into the newest release

2011-01-10T07:00:00.017-05:00

Today I'm skating into the new release with Sasha, the Skating Fairy. I also wanted to showcase a bit of the Mon Cheri kit from Paper Makeup Stamps.

I haven't done any monochromatic colorings in a while, so I wanted to try it with Sasha. This went perfect for the Moxie Fab World Challenge to use gray in a unique way. I also wanted to add a splash of color to match the papers so her wings are slightly pink and her cheeks nad trim on her skating outfit also have a hint of color. All of the papers except for the black are from the Mon Cheri kit. The flower is from Arelia's World of Make Believe Kit.

Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see what the other Design Team members have for you today. And then go to the Paper Makeup Stamps store to stock up on the latest stamps that were released this past weekend.

I also used these other challenges for inspiration for the card:

Paper Sundaes Challenge #51 - Circles: I used a die-namics die to emboss the gray cardstock and chose the polka dot paper from the Mon Cheri kit
Unscripted Sketches #88: I used the sketch for the card layout
EDIT: I totally forgot to add the Flutter By Challenge! It is an open week and I had even commented when I saw Michelle's card that I was going to participate this week haha. Oh and you should check out the bleaching technique she used on her card! So, I knew when I posted yesterday that I had forgotten something. I woke up this morning and remembered that I hadn't added the Flutter By Challenge. I used a fairy for this week's open challenge :)

Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop

2011-01-07T07:00:00.014-05:00

The release is finally here! You should have started today's hop at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. If you came here from Christi's blog then you are on the right track. I was sooo excited to receive my Paper Makeup Stamps this month. I couldn't help but get the entire release AND the Kit. If you are getting ready to do your Valentines cards, then you will want to be sure to check out the Paper Makeup Stamps Online store and order before any of the stamps are out of stock. All of the new releases will be available at 9PM tonight when the release party starts in the forums. The best part about the stamps being released... they aren't just for Valentines Day, but could also be used the rest of the year as well. My card for you today features one of the newest Retro Cutie Critters, Fiora the Ferret.

Since I have never owned a ferret, I had to look to see how they are normally colored and I have to admit, the pictures I found of the ferrets were cute, but I still think I will stick to just the rubber stamp kind ;) Fiora is subtely Valentinesy with a small heart on her hand muff. I love that I can use this stamp for just about any kind of card. I also used the freebie stamp on the inside that you get with any order of the new release.

I based the card on the Splitcoast Stampers SC314 Sketch Challenge that was issued on 1/5/11. The sketch is seen to the right. I just flipped the sketch to work better with the image. I also used the Cute Card Thursday Challenge #146 - "Out with the Old" to help me decide what papers to use. The challenge was to create a new card but to use up your old stash. Everything but the stamps I used were part of my stash. See the details below to see just how old some of it was!

Be sure to start hopping from the Paper Makeup Stamps blog in order to find the code for 15% off the entire release! My letter I have for you is:

Continue hopping along to Dawn's blog to see the rest of what the design team has in store for you. And be sure to join us tonight at 9:00pm EST in the PMS forum for the release party to join in on all the fun talk and challenges (8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT).

The Details:

Paper Makeup Stamps Retro Cutie Critter Fiora the Ferret rubber stamp
Paper Makeup Stamps Freebie Sentiment "Happy <3 Day"
Papertrey Ink 2009 Dark Chocolate & Ripe Avocado cardstock
Cosmo Cricket 2008 Mr. Campy: Happy Campers DP
The Ribbon Boutiqe Chocolate Ribbon (Item # 582569)
Circle Nestabilities
Copics: 0, YR23, YR12, YG93, YG95, YG97, E30, E21, E33, E37, E39, R89, R20
Quickutz Embossing folder

Happy New Year and a PMS Sneaky Peaky!

2011-01-05T07:00:00.020-05:00

I have been on a bit of a break from crafting, but am back and you will start seeing more posts again. And what better way is there to start back to blogging than with a sneak peak from Paper Makeup Stamps? Today we are doing Moody sneaks of Moody for France and Moody for Reading. I love to color the Moody girl stamps and they are one of the reasons I fell in love with Paper Makeup Stamps. They are so detailed and so much fun to color.

If you want more details on the rest of the items I used on this card you'll have to wait to see that when it is sneak peaked tomorrow on the PMS blog!

Be sure to continue to watch the PMS blog for more sneak peaks. All of the stamps will be released on Friday, January 7th and we'll celebrate it in Paper Makeup Stamp style with a Blog Hop that will start on the PMS Blog at 7 am EST. The Release Party will begin in the PMS Forum at 9 pm EST and will last until 11 pm EST. You won't want to miss it!

Details:

Sketch Challenge: Mojo Monday 172
Paper Sundaes Challenge #50: Use something new - everything I used except for the thread and the ribbon was new to me this week! Yay for new stuff!
Copics Used: (Hair) E33, E35, E37; (Scarf) C3, C5, R81, R85; (Shirt/Hat) R81, R85, C5, C9, Spica Clear Glitter; (Wine) C0, C1, C3, R81; (Cheese) Y21, Yr12, YR15, YR23; (Bread) E31, E35, E33; (Eyes) C9, white gel pen; (Skin) E00, E21
Paper:
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Circle and Wonky Squares Nestabilities

A lesson learned from the Grinch

2010-11-10T07:00:00.005-05:00

Did you see the news?! There is going to be a Paper Makeup Stamps Fan Club blog hop on December 7th. The theme will be Christmas and winter. Be sure to watch the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see when to sign up as details will be posted soon. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with as I LOVE getting ideas from others for holiday cards. Speaking of holiday cards, here is a card using one of the word arts from the new release.

I was so excited to see this stamp was part of this month's release. I can't think of a year when I haven't watched Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This is probalby my favorite quote from the movie and I love the reminder that Christmas isn't really about the presents at all. Since the word art is a little hard to read in the image above, I've included a close up view below:

I have apparently been hoarding Christmas papers, so this is from my large stack of papers that are not labeled. I actually had enough to do about 10 of these cards. I have all the pieces ready to run through my Grand Calibur.

The little presents are actually Quickutz. I even pulled out my hand tool just because it was faster than running it through the Big Kick. I used distress inks on the presents as well as on the background red paper to give the card a bit more of an aged look (it just looked tooooo clean before that).

Santa Baby ~ Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop!

2010-11-07T07:00:00.041-05:00

Yay!!! It is finally the day for the Paper Makeup Stamps November Release!!! I probably say this pretty often, but this is one of my favorite releases. I LOVE Christmas. It is one of my favorite holidays and wow do we have a lot of fantastic Christmas stamps for you! You should have come here from Anita's blog. If you didn't start at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog, then you may want to go back and start there from the beginning in order to see all the projects from the Design Team.

I am really excited about my card I have to show you today. I used all new stuf on it and I just love to be able to use new things. The card is based on the SCE Sketch Challenge SC305. I used the corset stamp and sentiment from the Ooo La La for Santa Set. This set is being released today and will be up on the Paper Makeup Store to purchase.

I colored the corset with Copics R24, R27, R29, 100. I colored the white parts and did the dots on the top using USArtQuest Metallic Paints which adds a bit of a shimmer, although it doesn't really show in the photograph. I applied it using the fine liner. Santa Baby is stamped using Tim Holtz Aged Mahogony Distress Ink. The patterned papers are from Echo Park's Wintertime Collection. The solid red is Bazzill Basics Pomegranate Here is a close up of the colored image.

I am really excited about the Santa Baby sentiment. My husband will probably really love this card for Christmas. Right before we were engaged, this song was on the radio a lot. I used to always sing the part about the ring "and I don't mean on the phone" a bit louder than the rest. This may be the reason that it is one of my favorite Christmas songs.

Be sure to go through the entire hop today. Each of the Design Team members has a letter for you. At the end of the hop you will have a code to receive 15% off any of the new release stamps! My letter for you is:

Don't forget to join us tonight in the Paper Makeup Stamps forum for the Release Party which starts at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT. Your next stop on the hop is Stephanie's blog.

A Silhouette of a Nursery

2010-11-05T07:00:00.036-04:00

I LOVE using my Silhouette SD to cut vinyl. I struggle sometimes with getting paper to cut well, but vinyl cuts amazingly! (I haven't used the heat transfer vinyl yet, but now REALLY wish I had some of that to try, ooh or maybe the rhinestone starter kit!)And maybe after I get a new blade this weekend I'll be able to cut cardstock again :)

I used to put the vinyl on the mat and then cut, but got brave this time around because I wanted larger letters and longer words, etc. So, I cut it directly from the roll. Oh, and did you see?!?!? I was featured on the Silhouette Blog yesterday!! So, I figured I should go ahead and show how I did it all.

I used the free font Whackadoo for the wording and scrunched and stretched a bit to make it the actual size I wanted. Then I split the phrasing and words apart to lay them out in the Silhouette Studio so it would fit the vinyl to cut. It is nearly 50 inches wide I believe.

The circles I made by using offset feature in the studio to make sure they'd all be the same thickness. One of the sets was just a large circle with circles cut inside of it. The other set of cuts was done by using the subtract feature in the software and some of the other tools such as weld. Oh, and in the picture below (ignore the missing lightbulb that has since been replaced...) the blanket was made my mom. Isn't it amazing?! We'll add some window treatments later, but I thought I'd show the overall room.

The canvases were done to match the fabric I am going to use in the room. I used the elephant to make a cut and had the silhouette cut out vinyl in different sizes. I then crackle painted the canvases and used it on the canvas as well as as a mask while painting.

In case you wondered what the cuts looked like that I used to make this room, here is what my final studio file looked like for the circles.

I was having so much fun that I also played with the flourishes from the online store and added to my craft room wall. I'm going to piece together a large flourish to go down the middle. It is so much easier to do now that they allow you to slice images and weld to make new ones. I LOVE this feature. If you haven't upgraded your software yet, I highly recommend it. So I guess I should show you a bit of what I have started in my craft room.

Oh, and another great reason to use vinyl to decorate your walls is that it can be easily removed. My sweet husband was nice enough to make me magnet bars to put all my spellbinders on.Well, they didn't fit where I had a vinyl saying on the wall. So, I took off the bottom of the saying and saved a few portions of it and moved it to another wall. How wonderful are my new magnet boards though?!

What I used:

Baby Blue Adhesive Vinyl (all vinyl can be purchased at your local scrapbook store, Hobby Lobby, or the Silhouette site)
Tan Adhesive Vinyl
Brown Adhesive Vinyl
Transfer Tape (oh, and if you are using the old clear transfer tape be sure to treat it first by destickying it first... If you are using the newer masking tape looking stuff it won't need any treatment to get it ready)
Silhouette Scraper (can also use one of those handy dandy pan scrapers)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-11-04T07:00:00.002-04:00

It is already time for the Paper Makeup Stamps November release!!! I am so excited about all of the Christmas fairies, moodies, word art and more! It is time to start your Christmas cards, so be sure to follow everyday to see the new stamps! I love the new nutcracker image! He can be used in soooo many colors and he was so much fun to color.

I colored the nutcracker with copics and then used distress ink around the image. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder on the green paper and used a nestie to cut the red top for the image to stamp the Season's Greeting on. I am so excited for all of the Christmas stamps in this release. Just wait until you see them all!

The card is based upon the Mojo Monday Sketch 163 (shown on the right)

Oh, and the Season's Greeting stamp, it's the freebie stamp of the month with ANY order! The entire November release will be live for purchase on November 7th at 9 pm EST in the Paper Makeup Stamps store. Don't forget about the Release Party on November 7th in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forum at 9:00 pm EST.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T22:23:00.000-04:00

Well, we had NO trick-or-treaters. Not even one this year! So, I have 2 yummy bags of Milky Ways left in my kitchen as well as some bags all made up. Hoping I get to use it all tomorrow when the kids trick-or-treat at the office. I LOVE it when they come to the office at the end of the day and trick-or-treat by going to all our offices. Soooo cute!

Since it is Halloween, I figured it was only fitting to show a Halloween card. I was so excited to use my new stamps, papers, and embellies from Paper Makeup Stamps' October Kit. The kit even had liquid pearls to match, was loving how those turned out!

The card came together so easy since I had all the papers to match and had the Grand Dies to make the card base with. To do that and still have it fold, I folded the paper and then cut it but made sure to leave a little space so that it wouldn't cut all the way through the top. Love this card base now! Can't wait to use it with scrapbooking!

Challenges:
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #56 - Halloween

Details:
Spellbinders Grand Calibur (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee it finally came in!)
Grand Labels Die One
Circles Die
Paper Makeup Stamps October Kit
Sewing Machine
Cats Eye White Chalk Ink

Baby Card for USCWCMD11/17

2010-10-24T07:00:00.003-04:00

This was the card I did for Unity's USCWCMD11 and 17 Challenges. The challenge was to use stitching and no patterned paper. I used PTI paper and then stamped Alphabetically Adorable to make my background. I had a little math time to figure out the size of the squares I'd be able to make... I'll admit I did it wrong at first, but that's why it's great that you can just turn paper upside down! (haha) I used a lot of my Stampin' Up inks to stamp these in and used the less girly colors since I wanted it to be more of a boy card. I used faux stitching to make the boxes. Then I stamped the sentiment from The Simple Things Set and cut it out with a nestie and faux stitched around that as well. I popped it up a bit on the card by attaching it with some pop dots. Super cute, easy card!

Sets Used

The Simple Things

Alphabetically Adorable

Both sets are available from my {ippity} sales blog.

Paper Makeup Stamps Project

2010-10-23T07:00:00.003-04:00

I finally found the pictures of the canvas I made for our secret sister exchange for the Paper Makeup Design Team. I hadn't done a canvas before so I had SEVERAL learning experiences.

Vinyl doesn't like to stick to airbrushed canvases
ModgePodge is messy, but fixes problem #1
When having your silhouette cut vinyl, make sure you don't have too many pieces to clean out of the image
To fix problem #3 test on cheap paper once you take a digi stamp over to be cut on your silhouette...
Krylon will melt vinyl (finally had gotten it right and had it on the canvas and sprayed it and came back to a melted project... again, ModgePodge to the rescue.)

So, I made the sun in the airbrushed image by cutting a circle in a piece of paper and then airbrushing inside it with a yellow copic on the canvas. To make the sun shine a bit I then lightly went around the circle I had made after I removed the circle template that I had been using. Then I just airbrushed sky colors and some grassy color.

Then, I took one of the digital stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps Dandy Wishes Set and edited it a bit to remove some of the tinier holes in the image to make it easier to cut the vinyl. Next, I just took it into the Silhouette software and did a trace and set it to cut. I placed the vinyl on the canvas and then modgepodged to make it stay on and to protect the canvas.

This is now a much easier project after all of the initial trial and error. So, I hope you can learn from my experiences and do this for youself a bit easier!

Warmest Wishes

2010-10-22T09:57:00.001-04:00

This was one of my favorite cards I did for the World Card Making Day Unity / ippity challenges. This challenge for USCWCMD16 was to use a tag on a card. The tag is actually one I made a long time ago and then didn't have a use for so I pulled it out of my scrap bag. The frame is the inside of a frame I used on a scrapbooking page. I dusted the edges of it with some white chalk ink. The brads were perfect for a fall card and I've been holding onto them forever trying to find a good use for them. I think they turned out super cute. The background paper I made simply by stamping one of my ippity stamps from the Now & Always Set on some Kraft PTI paper. The Warmest Wishes sentiment is from the Season of Joy Set, which isn't just for Christmas cards ;).

This really was a super quick card that was fast and easy and I think it may be obvious by now that the Now & Always Set is becoming one of my go to stamp sets since it is so versatile.

ippity Now & Always

ippity Season of Joy Set

Each of these sets is available from my {ippity} Sales blog!

Buggy for Ribbon

2010-10-18T22:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I really tried to play along with all of the ippity challenges that were due this past Saturday, but I didn't quite finish them all due to a bit of extra work during the past week. So, keep an eye out this week as I have a lot of ippity cards to share!

This is the card I did for the challenge - USCWCMD09. The challenge was to use an excessive amount of ribbon, so I figured why not use it to make a hill of grass?

I paper pieced the catepillar since he just looked so much cuter in multiple colors. I first stamped him in black, but then had wished I had colored him with different colors prior to stamping. After paper piecing him, it turns out the added dimension with pop dots was super cute.

I also did a little extra on the inside as well using the same fabric tape and one of the stamps from the Quotes a'la Happy set.

The things I found in my scrap room:

Fabric Tape Ribbon by e2 Daily
October Afternoon Paper Scraps

ippity A Little Buggy

ippity Quotes a'la Happy

Weight Loss Journal

2010-10-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

I was soooo excited to see all of the food and diet sentiments and images that were released for Paper Makeup Stamps. It was the PERFECT opportunity to use them ALL on one project by making a weight loss journal.

I think Jenny is a perfect stamp for this journal. And the sentiment is fantastic not only for this, but also for cards. I stamped her with Memento ink and colored her with copics. I cut her out using a nestie and then did the dots around the image with USArtQuest Metallic Paints in my fine liner. I accidentally hit it a little before it fully dried... But I covered the worst of that mistake with the rolled flower.

I used my Bind It All to put the book together. I'm convinced one day I'll make a book that is measured perfectly haha. On each of the pages I have a food journal and an image or a sentiment. Every 7 days I also added a weigh in like the one below with Hershey, the chocolate monster.

The sentiment above, that is from the Just Weighing In Sentiment Set. But these are not the only diet or sweet stamps released. Be sure to see the rest of the images and sentiments released this month and start your own weight loss journal!

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Day!!!! - Let them eat cake!

2010-10-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

So, it is finally here! The October release for Paper Makeup Stamps. There are sooo many fun new stamps this month and since I'm such a chocoholic I am loving all the images of chocolates and sweets, which of course means I'll soon need to use the diet set! You should have started at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog today. If you came here from Lisa's blog then you are on the right track.

My card today is based on the Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge 301 (SC301 ).

I used several images from the So Sweet Set on the card. In addition to the super cute cake image, I also used the cake sentiment and then used the cupcakes on the kraft paper to add a very subtle background. Although, photographing it makes me think maybe I should have used a bit darker of an ink so it would show up better. My favorite cake is red velvet with my mom's Crisco icing. It turns out that the USArtQuest Pastelle paints have a perfect white for this. In person it looks like icing because I didn't water it down a lot so it made a thicker paint. Oh, and my mom's red velvet cake, is that red or even deeper red. We actually wear gloves when we make it!

I used the same cupcakes as the bottom border for the inside of the card and colored one of the sets of cupcakes in. The cake sentiment was used as a border along the top of the card. Oh, and the Treat Yourself sentiment is the FREE sentiment this month with your orders!

So I'm assuming you are reading ALL the way to the bottom of this post to see what letter I have for you. In case you haven't heard yet, you can get 15% off the entire release just by visiting each of the design team member's blogs and collecting letters to spell out the coupon code! My letter for you is: A. Oh, and don't forget! The release party is tonight in the Paper Makeup Stamp forums and starts at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT.

Be sure to keep on hopping and head on over to Christi's blog!

Ippity Challenges - USCWCMD04

2010-10-06T13:58:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to challenge myself to enter all of {ippity}'s World Card Making Day Challenges (listed here). Really, who couldn't resist a chance at the KOTM free for the year??? Not me, soooo hopefully I can sneak some crafty time in. So far I've done 2 cards (both this past weekend). So you'll see some more posts later!

I am really loving the USArtQuest stuff my mom purchased for me at the Heirloom show for my birthday (Thanks mom and dad!!!). One of my new resolutions is that if I get something new I must try to use it within 2 weeks. So, here was my first try at their lacing technique with foils.

Although it doesn't photograph great, it is probably one of my favorite new fall cards. the colors came from the inspiration photo (shown to the right) from the USCWCMD04 challenge. It also made me think of flowers and leaves so I stamped the leaves using the USArtquest Metallic paints. They actually are shimmery!! The background was done using USArtQuest Great Tape and foils as well as some purple powder. The line around the sentiment cutout was created by putting USArtQuest Duo in the fineliner, letting it dry, and then foiling it as well.

The sentiment was stamped using the Tim Holtz Embossing ink (which oddly smells like cinnamon and makes me hungry) and then embossed with fine detail white embossing powder).

The stamps used are ALL {ippity} and I have the IN STOCK! The leaves are from the Spring Fall For You Set. The sentiment is from the Summer So This is Love Set.

Fall For You

So This Is Love

A Monstrous Sneak Peak

2010-10-05T07:00:00.002-04:00

So, I LOVE fall. I also love the new Leif monster! This monster just makes me giggle. I look at it and remember how I used to rake as many leaves as I could in our yard when I was a kid and then I'd run and jump in it. I think this monster is great because it could be used for scrapbooking in the fall and it really works for cards because it comes with a fantastic sentiment of "I haven't seen you around lately".

I tried some new things out on this card. I used copics to airbrush the background and colored the monster with them. However, I did one of my first tries at using USArtQuest Metallic paints to color it as well. It is kind of hard to get a picture of, but the colors on the leaves really show on the card and are actually shiny.

Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog today to see more sneak peaks. And be sure to join us in the forum on the 7th for the release party! Release party will start at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT on October 7th.

A Hoot of a Christmas Card

2010-10-02T09:11:00.000-04:00

I love the Paper Makeup Stamps Retro Cutie Critters and this lil guy has to be one of my favorites. This is Webster the Owl. This past week in copic class we practiced with some browns and colored on kraft colored cardstock instead of white. I may now have to try coloring the other retro cuties on kraft! Since it was close to Christmas I figured I'd make a CAS Christmas card using this lil guy, so I went to Splitcoast Stampers and found a simple sketch challenge CAS86.

I am so not good at doing just a simple card adn I still want to put more on this one, but trying to challenge myself to try some different styles lately. I also took the chance to try out Viva Decor Pearl Pens. I have to admit, I may be addicted to those now, which is probably obvious in looking at how much I used them on this card!

{Ippity} Carriage

2010-09-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

I wanted to make a baby gift for my cousin who is due in December. So, I made two onesies with {ippity} stamps as well as a baby carriage to hold them in from My Time Made Easy (MTME). This was the first one I have made, sooooo I had a little learning experience or two and thought I'd share so you can make one without making my mistakes. Oh, and by the way, I won this template! Well, actually I won a $50 gift certificate to MTME from Lauren who did a comment giveaway at their last release. If you haven't checked out her site, you must!

First mistake, I didn't realize the border would be covered up or I might have cut and taped to the hood instead. Bummer that I didn't have a ribbon to match the border, but all in all still pretty darn cute. The paper, well, that is PTI, but I used the flourish from the {ippity} set Now & Always to create my own background paper. Before I put the hood on, it was such a cute flower box!!!

Second thing I learned, don't get in too much of a hurry doing the top and make sure to score your lines well or you might end up looking a teensy bit crooked, even so, pretty cute. I found I was apparently not making sure to glue the sides down super flat. So I have started another one and it looks to be pretty straight on my second attempt. Maybe I'll finish that one and post it later this week.

Oh and my third lesson, well rather a tip. If you are going to use it to hold things in, the wheels need to be sturdy. To make this work, I cut the wheels from chipboard and then covered them with the paper I really wanted to use for the wheels. The other learning lesson from that... be sure to cover both sides or you'll see the chipboard from one side.

The onesies I made where pretty cute though. Although, these were softer onesies than I used before, soooo, the ink tended to really try to blead outside the lines. I had to really try to just leave a bit of extra white on the edges and wait for it to finish bleeding. This seems to be especially true with reds.

I made these using the {ippity} stamps Because of You (the flower) and Now & Always (the butterfly).

{ippity} Stamp Sets used in this project

If you are interested in purchasing either of these sets, they are available from my sales blog: Just Gotta {ippity}

Because of You

Now & Always

A Quixotic Paperie & PMS Blog Hop!

2010-09-20T07:00:00.006-04:00

The Quixotic Paperie Design Team and the Paper Makeup Stamps Design Team have teamed up to do a blog hop! Quixotic Paperie is the UK online retailer for Paper Makeup Stamps. A full list of the participants is at the end of this post. Be sure to visit each one to see all of the fun cards that were created!

I made a quick card using the Paper Makeup Stamps Whimsy Tree. The stamp is available for purchase at the Paper Makeup Stamp store or at the Quixotic Paperie store. I actually used the digital version of the Whimsy Tree for this card. This is a great stamp because you can use it for whatever season you would like. I actually bought it before I joined the PMS team due to one of the other team members showing the tree in all seasons. I never can resist a stamp that can be used for pretty much any occassion card!

I made the card using several scraps that I had from other cards, so I don't know all of the details of what I used. I love using scraps to make new cards, which is probably why I have a huge amount of scraps that I've saved. There really almost is no scrap too small not to save (haha).

Blog Hop List

Ginger Schwerin (me!)

Makeup for The Weekend Challenge

2010-09-17T07:00:00.008-04:00

I am soooo excited! Today is the first Makeup for the Weekend that I'm hosting for Paper Makeup Stamps! So, my challenge for you is to make a card or a scrapbook page following these sketches that I created.

Scrapbook Sketch

Card Sketch

Oh, and even better news? If you participate this week you have the chance to win a Paper Makeup Stamp! You must use a Paper Makeup Stamp in your creation to be eligible though. I decided I'd make both a card and a scrapbook page this week. Here is my digi scrapbook page based upon the sketch. It is from when we went to Shining Rock Wilderness on a day hike just to pick blueberries. They are so good and literally grow in bunches like grapes.

I created the background paper using the Dandy Wishes set from Paper Makeup Stamps. I also used the wish in one of the pictures. The dandy's looked so much like the flowers we saw during our day hike for blueberries that I couldn't help but use that set for this page. I also used the Echo Park Life is Good and A Walk in the Park Papers and embellishments. I created the digi layout in Adobe Photoshop.

I also made a card using the newest Paper Makeup Stamps kit: Arelia's World of Make Believe. This kit is beyond cute. This card is perfect for anyone with a little girl, or even for the little girl themselves. I think this will probably go to my niece as I just think of her when I see this stamp. How cute is the bundle of wrinkled dress hanging from Arelia? (I wrote this and then realized I covered that part up with the sentiment, but you can always see it at the Paper Makeup Stamps online store!) Oh, and of course one purse would never do, it's a must to have TWO purses haha. This kit is awesome though, not only does it have these stamps, but it also has ribbon, and brads, and even FABRIC paper. If you look closely at the image (you can click on it to make it larger) you will see that I just cut a small slit in the fabric paper and then ripped it to make a frayed edge. I'm in love with this stuff!

Fall {ippity} Hop

2010-09-13T08:10:00.000-04:00

Last week's {ippity} challenge IHHC40 was to make a Fall themed card. I used the "That's Creepy" stamp from the Summer 2010 Release. The pumpkin is great because you could just leave it bare inside and put a sentiment in it. Or, you can color it in. I used YR15 and YR12 to color it. I drew in the lines in the middle to look more like a pumpkin using the YR15 first and then shaded. Be sure to visit the {ippity} blog today to see what everyone else has created for today's hop.

I airbrushed using YG95 around the pumpkin. The patterned paper is from October Afternoon and the solid papers are PTI's Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the bottom border and all paper edges were sponged with {ippity}'s burnt umber ink.

{ippity} That's Creepy is available from Just Gotta {ippity}.
There is a special right now that if you order 2 sets you will receive a free sample paper pack from Echo Park.

Paper Makeup Review - Kat the Pinwheel Fairy

2010-09-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

For today's review I get the chance to show you one of my all time favorite Paper Makeup Stamps Fairies, Kat the Pinwheel Fairy. She is super fun to color and looks great on cards. I colored her with my copics and then paper pieced her dress. I used the R80 family of copics to do some highlights and shading to the dress. All of the patterned papers used are from Echo Park. The bluish copics used were all from the BG70 family.

I wanted Kat to look like she was sitting on the lacy circle, so I cut her out and popped her up with some dimensional dots. This shows up better in the image below. I also wanted to try something different with the wings, so I stamped the image in vellum and then cut the wings and glued them back to her in the vellum. I love this look and may now use it more often. It is hard to see but I used a really light copic (I think B00) on the underside of the vellum to give a soft color highlight to the wings.

Kat also has a coordinating pinwheel that is large enough to be used alone on a card. I decided to stamp it on the inside of the card and colored it the same as I did on the Kat image. I didn't get a great picture of it though, but I did want to show off the image since it is super cute.

Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see what the other Design Team Members have created. Also be sure to check out the release challenges! Oh and be sure to participate in the Makeup for the Weekend Challenge this week! If you use a Paper Makeup Stamp on your card, you could win the stamp of your choice!!!

Makeup for the Weekend - A Bit of Autumn

2010-09-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

The Paper Makeup Stamps Makeup For the Weekend Challenge is to be inspired by a poem. Be sure to join in the fun and play along with the challenge as well! The poem you need to use for inspiration is below:

Autumn Fairy

The Autumn fairy weaves her spell

Spreads out her cloth of gold

Adorns the fields and woodlands both

With the riches of days so old

She makes the plants and flowers bloom

Displaying Nature's glory

For soon cold Winter's dismal gloom

Will tell a different story

-Author Unknown

So, I probably should have used a fairy, but it mentioned Autumn and the first Paper Makeup Stamp I think of when I think Autumn is Moody in the Pumpkin Patch. I also used a sentiment from the newly release Little Moments sentiment set.

So here is how I was inspired:

Autumn: The Moody in the Pumpkin Patch and orange always remind me of Autumn. This may be partially due to the Pumpkin Party we have every year in October. This card is actually an invitation. I haven't typed up the back for it yet, but it will be sent to those invited. So I have several more to make! Oh, and Autumn = Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks! I crave these all year long and rejoice when it is September!
Plants and Flowers bloom and Nature's glory: Pumpkins. Pumpkins have always fascinated me. They are such a weird vegetable, but they are soooo pretty when all together in a patch and sooo fun to carve.
Winter's Dismal Gloom: I used a lot of black to bring in the dismal gloom to be brought by winter.

Details:

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps Moody in the Pumpkin Patch and Little Moments
Copics: YG93, 95, 97; C0, 1,3,5,7,9; Y21; YR12, 15; E33, 35, 37, 39, 00, 21; R20; 0 (Blender); 100 (Black)
Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle, PTI Orange Zest,
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper Makeup Stamps Design Team Secret Admirer

2010-09-08T08:58:00.002-04:00

So we decided it would be fun if the Paper Makeup Stamps Design Team had a Secret Admirer swap. It was a great way to get to know a bit more about each other and son much fun to receive our packages with all kinds of amazing goodies. I can't even tell you how much fun I had opening this package. It was like a never ending package. Just Look at what the fabulous Tangii sent me!!! Every time I pulled something out of the box there was something else fun still waiting in the box. There was so much that I has to take several pictures!

My favorite item? This scrapbook! I saw this on her blog and I was secretly jealous of the friend she had made it for. I was so excited to see that I was the friend she had made it for!

She even gave me all of the ribbons, buttons, and felt letters to continue creating this book once I our lil man arrives!

There was even a 7 gypsies wax seal set that was a baby theme. I am pretty sure these will be used on the baby announcements can't wait to try those out!

Other items you may not be able to see in the entire gift picture? Well, there were a ton of pearls (I LOVE boing and had nearly run out of these) , a Martha Stewart border punch that I have wanted for months, a blue gel pen, 3 cards, and even HOMEMADE strawberry raspberry blackberry jam (was so hard not to eat before I took the picture of all my goodies...I am so having some at lunch today!).

Here are the close up pictures of the cards. One had a really great note written to me in it. The other two came with envelopes so I could send them to others, but I don't think I will be able to part with them so they are currently sitting on my desk for me to enjoy.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow when I will post what I sent to my Secret Admirer, Tina.

It's Here, It's Here!!! Paper Makeup Release Day & Blog Hop!

2010-09-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

It is FINALLY the release day for Paper Makeup Stamps!!! I am so excited for this release. I would tell you what my favorite stamp is, but I honestly can't decide. There are two sentiment sets, fairies, retro cuties, and more.

Since this is a hop, you should have started at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. If you came from Maria's blog, then you are in the right place. Oh, and would you like 15% off the entire release? Or, would you like to win the ENTIRE release? Then be sure to read the rest of this post to learn how. I didn't make a card for you today, but instead I made a little project that is perfect for a nursery. I also have a tutorial on how you can do this yourself.

The first step I took was to color the Retro Cutie Drummer Bear (part of the new release!).

I then cut it out with Spellbinders Lacey Circles. I used the largest one for my project. I then masked the bear and airbrushed on the inside while leaving the die in place. I then took a coordinating piece of paper s well as some scrap paper and cut more lacey circles. I layered 2 of the scrap paper circles along with the image circle in order to make it sturdy. You can use your favorite adhesive for this. I then made the bottom circle with 2 more scrap pieces and the coordinating paper circle.

Next, I made the sentiment strip that is in the middle. The sentiment is from the Little Moment Set also being released today. The strip is 11 inches long, which won't be long enough to go all the way around the drum, but we will cover that later. I used a border punch on both sides and then airbrushed it using the same copic marker I used to airbrush around the Drummer. Then I used my stamp positioner to stamp a straight row of the sentiment. To do this I placed the stamp on the block and then stamped on a scrap paper to see where the image would stamp. I then lined the border and the stamp positioner up with the lines on my mat to make sure I had both straight.

Next, I made the main part of the drum from a larger piece of paper that was 12 inches in width. After I cut it to the height of the drum that I wanted, I scored both edges at about 1/4 inch. Then I cut slits along the edge up to the score line. I did this for both sides. Be sure to bend along the score line prior to cutting as it will be much easier prior to cutting. The cut lines will help to roll the paper into a drum without any creases.

I also made a larger border strip in blue and airbrushed the edges as well to soften it. I punched the edges using a Fiskars border punch to make scalloped edges. This strip was just large enough to place behind the yellow congrats strip to make it stand out a bit more. I then placed the yellow border on the blue border. Once these were together, I put the border strip in the center of the drum paper.

I used double sided adhesive tape on the top of the circle for the bottom and lined just inside of the lacey part of the circle. Once I had the tape on the circle I pulled the tape off. I then slowly wrapped the large drum paper with the slits on it and pressed the tabs onto the tape while trying to maintain the circle. Once I wrapped it all the way around I used the same adhesive tape to seal the edge of the drum. Next, I folded all f the tabs on the top down so they were pointing to the center of the drum.

This is now what you should have. Next, I put the adhesive tape on the bottom of the Drummer Bear circle and placed it on top of the drum while trying to make sure it stayed centered (which was a bit trickier than I thought it would be...). Then I turned the drum upside down and pressed down to make sure the top was sticking to the tabs that we made go to the center of the drum.

After this, all I had left to do was to add a sentiment to cover the inch that did not have a border strip on it. The sentiments are from two different sets being released this month: 'Little Moments' and 'Nothing Left To Say'. And, I also threaded string from the top to the bottom circle. I threaded it through every other hole except for in front of the sentiment.

In case you didn't get a good look at the Retro Cutie Drummer, here is a picture of the top of the drum. He is super cute!

Be sure to join us tonight for the Release Party in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forum. The party starts at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT. I'm sure you will find prizes and fun if you do join us! Can't wait to see you there!!!

Oh, and I mentioned you could get 15% off the entire release. Each of the Design Team has a letter for you. If you follow the hop, then the letters will spell out a code that can be used on the Paper Makeup Stamp store to get 15% off your new release order. While you are hopping, be sure to leave a comment on each blog! One lucky commenter will win the entire release! So be sure to visit us all! My letter for you today is:

Now you should check out Tangii's blog and see what she has done with the super cute Chatty Cathy!

Flutterby with a Birthday Wish

2010-09-06T23:15:00.000-04:00

Flutterby Wednesdays is having a pretty large giveaway, which means I couldn't resist playing along. I've played along with this challenge before, but it has been a while. I really enjoyed the sketch for this week though and made the card below based on it.

I followed the sketch pretty closely, but I did move the butterfly up a little bit because it didn't really look as good on the side.
I used Kaisercraft Hey Birdie Collection paper as well as PTI Kraft paper. The birthday sentiment is from PTI's Everyday Button Bits and the Moody for Hiking and butterfly are from Paper Makeup Stamps. Making this card reminded me I really need to get the Happy Birthday sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps! I actually had this image colored already and just waiting to go on a card, so it was a pretty fast card. i stamped the butterfly in Versamark watermark ink to makethe butterfly background paper. A white gel pen was used to make the stitching marks along the edges of the card.

A Simply Fabulous Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peek

2010-09-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today is the last day of the Sneak Peeks for the September Release before the big release party on the 7th. The release party will be held in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forum on Tuesday, September 7th, starting at 9:00pm EST, 8:00pm CST, 7:00pm MT, and 6:00pm PT. The party is ALWAYS fun and Katie is usually very generous with giveaways and fun contests. So be sure to join us there!

Also, be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog today to see more sneek peaks from the other talented Design Team Members! Oh, and have you heard? There is a $20 stamp certificate to be won! Be sure to visit the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to grab the Release party button and leave a comment on Sunday's post in order to be able to win!

I used 2 of the sentiments from the Little Moments Set, "Simply Fabulous" and "Celebrate You". This set is so "Fabulous" because the sentiments can be used by themselves, used together, or even used to create borders.

I paired the sentiments with a previously released Retail Therapy Set. I stamped the sentiments in SU Not Quite Navy. It doesn't show up, but I used Turquoise, Lilac, and Clear Spica pens on the packages to add a little sparkle. I colored the packages with my copics of course (R81, R85, R89, BG72, BG75, BG78, BV00, BV02, BV00, BV0000). I used a double needle to do the stitching, which came to an end when I tried to go through too many layers of paper... The flower, that is from the new kit from Paper Makeup Stamps this month. It is also being released on the 7th. If you missed the sneak peek for that be sure to see it on the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. The paper is Echo Park Life is Good set.

Paper Makeup Stamps Little Moments Sentiment Set

The sketch for my card was from Just Us Girls Sketch Challenge #49.

Raise the Bar Blog Style

2010-09-03T06:13:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago my card was selected as one of the winners of the Raise the Bar challenge. So this week I get to be one of the guest bar tenders for a challenge. This may possibly be one of my favorite challenges ever. The challenge is U R Looking good and I had to make a card based upon my blog. Since I redid my blog last month this challenge was perfect.

I used digital paper I created for my blog and printed it out. At first I had the pink in the middle but I decided for a card it would look better with the brown paper in he middle. I sewed the dark chocolate ribbon from PTI onto the paper. The sentiment on the card is an {ippity} stamp from the Delightful Little Things set. I stamped it with CTMH ink and then cut it out with a nestie. I left the die in place and then airbrushed the inside using a copic r85 i was going to use my r81 until I realized it has run dry. Apparently it is one of my go to colors. The butterfly is from the Now and Always set.

An {ippity} kind of day

2010-09-02T13:51:00.000-04:00

I made this onesie a couple of weeks ago, but just realized I hadn't posted since Monday and thought this would be a fun post. I was practicing with being able to actually shade on fabric, and onesies are great practice! I used the Because of You set from {ippity} which I have in stock and it's available for purchase from my {ippity} blog.

I used the Copic B90, E30, and YG90 families. It is a little different blending on fabric. I was doing best when I started with the darkest color and went to the lightest. I also didn't go right to the edge of where I stamped since it would bleed to the edge and this kept it from going outside the lines of the image. I would feather the ink onto the fabric with the darkest colors first. Once I had done that, I dotted the lightest color on it. In case you would like to see what it looked like prior to coloring. Even this is cute if you don't feel comfortable coloring on fabric. This would take less than 5 minutes to do since all you need to do is stamp it on the fabric. I stamped these in Memento Inks.

Tip! Remember when coloring to have something underneath the fabric to keep it from getting on any other portions of the garment. Also, throw it in the dryer for 5 minutes to set the ink prior to doing a first wash. I actually did that and ironed these to make sure the ink was set well.

Because of You {ippity} Set
See my {ippity} sales blog: Just Gotta Ippity

2 Sketches 4 You & Paper Makeup Stamps

2010-08-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge today so the Design Team decided it would be a lot of fun to play along. Be sure to check out their site and see what their design team has done with Paper Makeup Stamps! Following the sketch, this is the card I made.

I used several new to me techniques. I used plain canvas fabric and stamped the large and small kisses from the Kiss & Makeup set. I used versamark watermark ink to stamp te kisses on the fabric. I realized pretty fast that I could not tell where I had stamped so I just tried not to overlap too much. Then I embossed the stamped images using clear embossing powder. I then used SU Rose Red ink to sponge onto the canvas. In order to make the lips show up a bit more I used a scrap piece of canvas and rubbed it all over the inked up canvas to remove the extra ink.I tore the edges of the canvas to fringe it by making a small cut on the edge and then tearing it. I then laid this fabric over another piece of canvas that I burnt the edges on and sewed the two pieces together. The burnt edges can be seen in the close up image below.

The sentiment is also from the same set and it was stamped directly on the canvas using Staz on ink. For the bottom of the card I stamped the small lip image as a border using the SU Rose Red ink. The scallopped border was made with a Fiskars border punch.

Details:

Challenge: 2 Sketches 4 You
Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps Kiss & Makeup Set
Paper: Paper Trey Ink (PTI) Kraft and Dark Chocolate
Ink: SU Rose Red, Versamark Watermark, Staz On
Embellishments: Queen & Co. pearls, button and ribbon from stash

Mojo Wishes & IC247

2010-08-28T11:43:00.001-04:00

Dandy Wishes (Paper Makeup Stamps) is probably the most versatile stamp set I own. I love all of the different stamps that are in it and they are all different sizes. It makes gorgeous background paper too! So, I figured it would be perfect for this week's Mojo Monday (#153) sketch! This is also for the IC247 ModCloth Inspiration challenge. I was inspired by the dress at this link. The flowers and the colors were what I was intending on using for my inspiration at first. I was going to use blue on the background at first, just like the dress, but then switched it to just using a blue square. The little fluffs of dandy's I used since there were some small flowers in between the clumps of flowers on the dress.

I cut out squares for each of the blocks. then I used a 1/2" corner rounder on three of the edges. I then stamped the images and inked up the edges to make them stand up a bit more. On all but the wish block, I sewed around the inside of the kraft paper. I alos stitched the outside of the Green Coredinations paper. I love the texture of that paper. You can even see it pretty well in the picture. I think I will go get more of that paper for some hiking scrapbook pages.

I stamped all of the images in SU Groovy Guava, then I colored some of the hearts in with Copic B95. I put my squares together and then placed them on the card to where the straight corners all faced each other. It kind of looked like a flower at that point so I put a flower button in the middle and then put a Queen & Company pearl. I also used these same pearls at the bottom of the card.

On the inside of the card I used the largest stamp from the Dandy Wishes set. I love how large this stamp is, and how great it finishes off the inside of the card. I took the picture before I stamped the sentiment since the sentiment I used is part of September's new release. I'll give you a hint, it works GREAT with the Dandy Wishes set ;)

Stamps: Dandy Wishes by Paper Makeup Stamps
Paper: Coredinations Core Color, PTI Sweet Blush & Ocean Tides, Brown from my scrap stash (Background paper behind card is from Echo Park Life is Good)
Ribbon: PTI Sweet Blush & Ocean Tides
Buttons: From my mom's sewing room stash
Pearls: White not sure of company), Queen & Company Grass Green

An {ippity} thank you & Sale

2010-08-25T10:17:00.001-04:00

I made a super quick and easy thank you card using Bitty Pixie Paisley and Life is the Journey, both from the Summer Release. The Paisleys may become one of my favorite sets since it allows you to quickly make a card in just a few minutes. I also love how so many of the {ippity} sets can be used together. The sentiment from the Paisley set fits perfectly in the circle frame stamp from Life is a Journey!

I used PTI Kraft and Aqua Mist Papers. The patterned paper is Echo Park and I used a Fiskars Scalloped edge punch on each side of the paper. I then stitched down both sides. The ink is Stamping Up. I would tell you the colors, but I put them back before I wrote it down and now have no idea which ones I used! I also added some flat backed pearls for a little pop to the card since I have such a hard time making CAS cards!

One other added bonus to the Life is a Journey set... my logo stamp fits in the frame perfectly!!! I may always use this now on the back of my cards! I couldn't have asked for it to be sized better if I had requested it from them myself!

Challenges:

I made the card after being inspired by the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Light and Bright. It reminded me of the beach so I used the Kraft paper. The patterned paper reminded me of the blues in the picture and the ocean color. The flowers on the table in the picture reminded me of the frame since for some reason that frame reminds me of a flower, the way it is cut out I guess. I also put the flowers from the Bitty Pixie Paisley on the inside of the card, but I totally forgot to get a picture of that and the card is already in the mail! The room in the picture looks very open so I left a lot of open space on the card, which is sooo hard for me to do!

Sets Used:

Life is the Journey & Bitty Pixie Paisley (Summer 2010 Collection)

Free paper!

While supplies last, I am offering a free 6x6 paper pack of the Summer Release paper from Echo Park's Life is Good with every order from my {ippity} sales blog! A minimum of 2 items must be ordered in order to be eligible to receive your free paper. Please note that the paper will not show up on the order, but I will still include it when I package the order.

SALE!!!!!!
If you are interested in purchasing entire collection, I have them on sale on my {ippity} sales blog! Any order of an entire release includes Free Shipping & Handling (for the US only).

Summer 2010 Collection: This includes 9 kits and 3 singles of the latest release. Purchase them from me for $145.00! (MSRP on the complete collection is $168)
Spring 2010 Collection: This includes 9 kits and 2 singles of the Spring 2010 release. Purchase them from me for $150! (MSRP on the complete collection is $174)

Anniversary Card - Aye, Aye, Cap'n!

2010-08-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

As of today, my husband and I have been married for 8 years. So, I needed to make an anniversary card for him. I always seem to like to use the Kraftin' Kimmie Piratey stamps for his cards for some reason. I think it may be because of the flirty look they have. I used Cutthroat Lizzie and papers from Sandylion's Pirate Ships line.This was also one of the first stamp companies I got excited about after getting back into stamping last year. So, I was a bit excited to meet Kimmie at CHA :)

The stickers (aye, aye, cap'n) are from Sandylion as well and were part of the Pirate Ships set I bought a while back. I colored Lizzie with my copics of course, but I did forget to write them down. I inked around the edges with Memento Tuxedo Black. I stitched around most of the papers. Other items used were a Fiskars border punch, Wonky Squares Spellbinders, and the stars are from Sizzix dies that I have since sold. Oh, and the texture on the wonky squares is a Die-namics texture plate from My Favorite Things.

This card was made for 2 challenges:

Kraftin' Kimmie You're a Star Baby: Use stars
Cute Card Thursday Sketch Challenge (shown on the left))

Another h{ippity} hop!!!

2010-08-23T09:12:00.005-04:00

It is another h{ippity} hop kind of day. Be sure to visit the ippity blog for a full list of all the participants! I finally got a chance to use the Quotes a'la HAPPY set and I absolutely love it. This set is available to purchase from my {ippity} sales blog and is in stock. I also took the chance to color on something other than white by using paper from PTI. The other paper is from Echo Park and I can't get enough of it!I used the Limelight paper craft sketch 54 for the front of the card.

I stitched around the edges with a new pattern I found on the machine. It isn't perfect because for some reason the thread was having troubles coming off the spool. Oh well:). I still love how it turned out. Here is a close up.

I also put a pinwheel on the card. I learned how to make these at the Unity booth make and take at CHA. Who knew they were soooooo easy! The ippity challenge (IHHC37) for the week was to use string or twine so I used a lil of both.

I used another sentiment from the same set on the inside of the card. I left it pretty simple but I am actually happy with the simplicity of it. Normally I tend to try to keep adding more and cannot handle empty space. It may be I like it so much because the stamps are so stinkin' CUTE!!!

If you like the Quotes a'la HAPPY set, it is in stock on my {ippity} sales blog! It is one of the many great sets from the Summer Release.

Other Challenges:
Totally Stampalicious: Use at least 2 different textures: I used sewing and then the ribbon and twine to add texture to my card. I also added the pop up pinwheel.

A Quick Sketch Challenge

2010-08-21T23:30:00.000-04:00

Since the camping trip only lasted one night due to thunderstorms, I decided to make a quick card when we got home. My card for you today is for the 2 Sketches 4 You Challenge. The stamp, Danni Fairy, is from Paper Makeup Stamps.

Since I'm a bit tired, I'll just put all the details of the card below for you. Have a great weekend!

Details:

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps Danni Fairy
Papers: These were scraps, but I think these are Little Yellow Bicycles
Martha Stewart Punch
Spellbinders Wonky Squares
Copic: V12, V15, V17, YR31, Y21, YR23, E00, E21, R20, B0000, Blender, B91, B93, B95, E35, E37

Dreamy Challenges

2010-08-20T09:04:00.005-04:00

I was up a bit late last night but wanted to get some challenges done and was getting ready for our beach camping trip this weekend (a surprise anniversary gift from my husband). The card I have for you today is for the Makeup for the Weekend challenge (M4TW) as well as the Raise the Bar sketch challenge. The M4TW challenge was to use 4 of the same embellishment and that your main image has to be a circle. What a great chance to use my new lacy circles nestie that I just got last night!!!

The image is Moody for Dreams and the sentiment is from the Dream Big set. Both are from Paper Makeup stamps. The paper is from the Paper Loft's Dude collection. Of course, I colored her using Copics. This is actually an image we colored in Copic Class last night with Katie at Scrapnesia. I'm loving coloring blonde hair now... of course, now I need a couple more copics...

My new embellishment addiction is the rolled paper flowers which are super quick with the Die-namics die from My Favorite Things. There is a secret I learned to using this die for any who have tried it and it didn't work for them. After much blog reading and You Tube watching I learned you either need to spritz the paper with water or scrunch it up in your hand after cutting it out. This will break down he fibers in the paper and allow it to roll easier. I also pull out on some of the paper as I am rolling so it isn't so perfect and I have a new habit of pressing down on them with the palm of my hand after I have finished the flower for even more of a distressed look. The flowers go with the Fab n Funky Flower Power Challenge.

H{ippity} Hop

2010-08-16T08:00:00.003-04:00

Yay for {ippity}! This is my first time joining in on the hop and I'm super excited. So, I thought I'd try a new to me technique. The technique I used was to use bleach on my card. So, here is what I made with the "So this is Love" set from the Summer 2010 collection (available for purchase on my sales blog). This is the second card I did for the Dog Days of Summer {ippity} challenge. Be sure to see my post from yesterday for the card made with the Authentic Man set.

So, if you haven't used this technique, it's super easy, and is great if you can't figure out what ink to use (haha). I put folded paper towels on a plate and poured bleach on it to make an inking pad. Then, I just put my stamp on it like a regular pad and then stamped it on the paper. It was super fun to watch it change colors. Here is a closer look.

I am using this as an entry to the IHHC36 Dog Days of Summer challenge. Trees are so summer to me. I love the stamp in the set because when stamped multiple times it reminds me of how the trees look when we go hiking.

This is also for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge 125 - Tree-mendous! challenge.

Papers: kraft paper scrap, PTI Ripe Avocado
Ink: bleach and CTMH cocoa
Stamps: So this is Love by {ippity} available for purchase on my sales blog