Craft Dash #15

 

Back with another installment and another video for the 10 Minute Craft Dash! So as you'll see in the video I popped up the frame and THEN decided that I wanted my sentiment on the frame...don't do this at home! The sentiment did not come out. I did go in after the challenge and just outline those letters that didn't come out in a pen which I would have done if I had it handy during the dash. Anyway, it took me the full 10 minutes to create the card, as usual. I was quite calm at first thinking this would be an easy card...I was wrong on that one! Here are the colors that we were given:

 

 

I used Paper Smooches new "Wicked Nauticool," Duo Die #2, PTI cardstock, and the chevron embossing folder is SU sizzix. And without further ado, here is our video, me, Jen and Jennifer. Although we had no wigs this week, we still had fun! Enjoy :)

 

 

Paper Smooches Sparks Designer Drafts March 2013

 

My sister's birthday is tomorrow, and the last time that she visited, we had fun going out to get "gourmet coffee" every afternoon. So I thought it would be fun to get her a Starbucks gift card and make a fun card to go along with it. I used these Paper Smooches sets: "Helping Hands," "Hot Concoctions," "Birthday Sampler," "Graffiti." I wanted to make the sentiment coffee themed and birthday at the same time, so I used the birthday sentiment, and made the go venti with the graffiti letter stamps. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye, the cardstock from SU and PTI. The pearls are from Recollections. I used this week's Designer Drafts sketch from the Sparks challenge blog.

 



Paper Smooches Sparks Cool Shades Feb. 2013

 

Notice any new dies?? Oh yeah, I got my Paper Smooches die order! I used three different dies on this card for the PSS Cool shades challenge :)  The Hot Spots Small Set 1 is the cool star die on the left side, the clipboards is the clipboard binder on top, and isn't the scallop notebook die adorable? I used the "I Heart Art" set because I knew I wanted to incorporate the colors into the paint splats :) The heart and arrow are both from SU punches. The patterned paper is PTI, and so is the cardstock. Here is the color story we were given for this month:

 

 



 

You have a whole week to play along for an awesome prize. Check it out here. Now I know you want to see what the other DT gals created, right? Check out their creations here:

 

Ashley Marcu - www.cherryhilldesign.blogspot.com

Lori Tecler - http://inkingaloud.blogspot.com/

Nina Yang - http://waffleflower.com/

Savannah O’Gwynn - http://www.savannahland2.blogspot.com/

Paper Smooches Sparks Cool Shades January 2013

 

Its my favorite day of the week...my DT Sparks post! The colors were fun to use this time :) I used "Nine Lives" for this card. I also used the large scallop die from PTI, denim ribbon from SU, cardstock from PTI and Bazzill, and pearls from Q&Co.

 

Here's a look at the fun colors this week:

 

 

Okay, now I'm looking forward to checking out what the other DT members have to share! Check them out here:

 

Ashley Marcu - www.cherryhilldesign.blogspot.com

Lori Tecler - http://inkingaloud.blogspot.com/

Nina Yang - http://waffleflower.com/

Savannah O’Gwynn - http://www.savannahland2.blogspot.com/

 

So what are waiting for?? Come and play along with us this week here!

Cloud 9 Blog Hop January 2013

Talk about cutting it close...I actually had to just make a post with a picture so I could get my card in the Linksys before it closed, then come back and do the post! Ahhhh! But I made it :) So the above card is for the January CloudwPlus9 Blog hop.

 

Here is the picture we were given for inspiration:

 

I immediately wanted to use Scrabble tiles, and kraft. My Scrabble tiles are from a Fresh Squeezed Stamps set. I used PTI sheet music background, wPlus9 A Pocketfull and Valentine's fillers. The star is an SU punch which I used silver Encore ink to edge. I wanted to make silver stars, but I didn't have any silver paper, so I used kraft silver edged stars instead ;) The silver ribbon is from the dollar bin at Michaels, and the cardstock is all PTI. I'll use this as one of my Valentine's Day cards...I like that it is not the traditional pink and red. Now I would say make sure you join in on this challenge, but there's no more time! Maybe next month I won't be down to the wire ;)

Happy Halloween!

 

I hope you all had a "spook-tacular" day! I borrowed Suzanne's cow costume for work. I made a sign like the Chick fil A cows that said "Eat Mor Chikin." It was fun :) I also had the local kindergarten kids come and have a costume parade and corn shucking contest with the residents. They all loved it :)  Then tonight Jen came over to stamp. I got my first trick or treater ever...and I was expecting Jen, so I answered the door all funny. At first I thought it was Jen in a wolf mask.... well it wasn't! It was pretty funny.

 

Oh and I started this post out with a card, didn't I? ;) All the stamps are from Paper Smooches, the paper from My Mind's Eye, the ribbon, cardstock, and large scallop border die are from PTI, the button from SU, and the twine from the Twinery.

 

SAP1-Halloween Take #2

 

I'm here with another take on the Fresh Squeezed Stamps challenge. I used "Subway Series Holidays" 3 times to stamp the background. I used Paper Smooches "He Says, She Says" to stamp the word bubble around part of the background. The witch is from Paper Smooches "Halloweenies." The spider paper is from My Mind's Eye. The ink is SU and the witch was colored with Copics.

 

 

Thankfully last year after the freak Halloween snowstorm we cut down the huge tree in our backyard (after a huge branch fell on our brand new camper :( So this year we didn't have any damage! We still have power, too. Some of my friends don't, and neither does the local grocery store. But I'm safe and sound! Just for a heads up, though, as a group we decided to postpone our 12 Kits of Christmas post until Nov. 2nd in case any of us East Coast girls lost power due to the storm. It's a Paper Smooches kit this month (from me!) so I can't wait to see what everyone makes :)

 

CAS(E) this Sketch #3

 

I'm loving the new CAS(E) this sketch blog. I've had a lot of fun playing along each week :) So I made this card for Phillip for Halloween....a mad scientist with a Halloween love potion ;) Here is the sketch we were given this week:

 

 

The "eternal love" sentiment is from "Spookalicious" and the "potion" I made using "Alphadot." The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye. The label punch is from SU.

 

I hope you are all keeping safe even with "Frankenstorm" upon us! With my job a weather emergency always means we have to be there even more, but I'm hoping that at least traffic won't be bad because most people won't be on the road. For those of you on the East coast that are staying home, I hope you keep power so you can craft all day!

 

 

Incredibly Exciting News!

Well, all that hard work paid off....I made it onto the Paper Smooches Sparks Design Team!! Its like a dream come true for me :) Thank you all so much for all the encouragement along the way, it meant so much. I just can't tell you how thrilled I am to be a part of my favorite stamp company and design with these adorable stamps :) And to be on the team with such talented ladies! I was thrilled to see that my friend, Lynn, is on the team as well! I've been checking out the other very talented DT members' blogs and have been smiling from ear to ear at their creativity and talent! My term starts November 1st, so be looking for lots of Paper Smooches starting then (as if you didn't see enough here already ;) Here's my badge that I will display proudly!

So of course I couldn't just write without a card, so above is a fun little Halloween card I made a few weeks ago at one my Wednesday crafting nights with Suzanne and Jen. I used my SU Sizzix chevron folder, paper from My Mind's Eye, bat from "Spookalicious," monster from "Halloweenies," twine from the Twinery, cardstock from PTI, and pearls from Q&Co. I waved goodbye to my sister and niece today after a wonderful visit. It went by way too quickly! I will be sharing some pics soon, but we're headed out to a Halloween party tonight!

Paper Smooches Sparks

Hi all, I'm going back through all the old PS Sparks challenges to enter into the Sparks DT search, and I came across this one from Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012 that I never played with:

All the colors were fun to work with. I took the colors of the words and put them into the peacock's feathers. Then also into the word "colors" at the bottom of the card. I used "Alphadot" to create the sentiment which I thought went well because it is a bird card! The peacock is from "My Peeps." The cool peacock embossing folder I got on sale at my local stamp store, the ribbon is from Amuse (did you notice the tie has multiple color ribbons in it?) and the double ended banner die and cardstock are from PTI. The inks are from SU. I can't tell you all how much I would love to be a part of the PSS DT, I'm going to keep trying, and I've got my fingers crossed that I make it!

Retro Sketches #32

Time for my weekly entry to the Retro Sketches challenge! You still have time to link up, so you should play along, too. I always love their sketches! Also, my friend Suzanne, is a headliner there this month! You should definitely go see her work, and the great work of the other DT members, too :) So here is the sketch we were given to work with this week:

I used stamps from Paper Smooches "Spookalicious" and "Halloweenies." The paper is from Making Memories and My Mind's Eye. The cardstock from PTI, the button from SU, and the twine from the Twinery. I'm slowly building up my collection of Halloween cards to send out this year...how about you?

Paper Smooches Sparks Trend Watch: Oct. 2012

Last post tonight, I promise! This card is for this week's Sparks challenge. The theme was woodland creatures and this neat inspiration photo:

So obviously I kinda liked the tree and wanted to recreate it ;) I used "Autumn Grooves" for the base of the tree and "Reflections for all the neat flourishes and leaves. The sentiment is also from "Autumn Grooves" and the little fox (my woodland creature) is from "Smoocheroos." I really think that the tree turned out pretty neat! The ribbon is from SU and Michaels. 

Okay, its been a long weekend, now I'm really going to bed ;)

Paper Smooches World Card Making Day Challenge #3

Challenge #3, use this sketch:

Here I used "All Yule Need," and "Christmas Sampler." The clothespins are from "Pipsqueaks." The snowflake is a SU punch, the button and cardstock are from PTI, the twine from the Twinery, and the patterned paper is My Mind's Eye.

Well, I had a blast making all these cards! Thanks so much for all the fun challenges, Kim :)

*Sorry about so many posts, everyone, I tried to put them all in one, but then I couldn't upload them to the Paper Smooches blog to enter the challenges*

Paper Smooches World Card Making Day Challenge #2

The second challenge was to create a one layer card. I have to say that I love this card! All the fall colors (my new SU inks) all the fun foliage (from "Reflections" and "Autumn Grooves") and then the fact that its all with a woodgrain impression! That's from my new SU folder I ordered with my inks..I love it :) The sentiment is from "Pretty Phrases" again, and the dots under the sentiment are from "All Yule Need."

Retro Sketches #31

When I was at Absolutely Everything for the bag lady sale this weekend, I bought this super fun October Afternoon paper, and these Paper Smooches "Boob Tube" stamps. This card is definitely busy looking compared to what I've been making lately, but it makes me smile :) It will make Phillip smile, too, I'm sure ;) Here's the sketch I used from this week's Retro Sketches challenge:

The other supplies used on this project are PTI cardstock, the PTI Christmas label die (cut in half for the sentiment), twine from the Twinery, and a library clip from SU. I just got all the rest of my new SU inks yesterday! I used the Tempting Turquoise for the sentiment. I don't think I ended up telling you on my blog, but at the stamp yardsale I had a table at last month I did amazingly well! Way better than I ever anticipated...enough to buy ALL the inks I wanted, more PS, and then some!

Paper Smooches Sparks: Picture Perfect Sept. 2012

Notice anything new...like brand new Paper Smooches stamps that haven't even been revealed on the blog yet?! Oh yes! These adorable little guys are from a brand new set coming out in October called "Chilly Chums". I get to receive it early because I'm in the Paper Smooches Club..whoo hoo! (oh by the way, Kim gave the go ahead to showcase them on the blog!) I'm using these adorable stamps for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. We were given this photo to work with:

So I took the colors of the photo and the frame from the mirror into the most consideration for my card. My "mirror" is actually the frame from PTI's Simply Jane. The neat patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye. The ribbon is from Amuse, the cardstock is PTI, and the label punch is from SU.

Freshly Made Sketches #53

Well, its been awhile since I've been able to play along with Freshly Made Sketches, but I had some time today, so I decided to give it a go. Here is the fun sketch provided this week:

I pulled out more of my Target washi tape to use for the strips in the background. The adorable witch, sentiment, and spider are from the Paper Smooches set "Halloweenies" that my mom surprised me with as an October surprise (a week early ;) Thanks so much mom, I love it! The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye, the cardstock from PTI, and the twine from the Twinery. Both circle punches and the label punch are from SU.

You all know how much I like Paper Smooches, well now I like them even more! Their customer service is amazing. I went to stamp the vampire image from "Spookalicious" for the first time tonight. But it didn't all come out...I looked at the stamp and realized that part of the image lines were missing in the acrylic. Well, I took some pictures and wrote Kim to let her know. Well, she responded in less than an hour! And this is on a SUNDAY!! She apologized and let me know that she already had a new vampire in an envelope ready to send me tomorrow! Now THAT is what I call customer service! Just reaffirms why Paper Smooches is my favorite company :) If you don't have any of their stamps, I highly recommend them!

Paper Smooches Sparks Cool Shades: September 2012

My second favorite challenge of the week...Paper Smooches Sparks! Here are the colors we were given for this week's challenge:

The adorable Mytroska is from the Paper Smooches "FOLKalpoints" set, the sentiment is from the "Sugar Rush" set. It all started with me wanting to use that "Sweetie Pie" patterned paper (I think it was from October Afternoon, or Crate Paper, but unfortunately I cut off the little tag on the end that told where it was from awhile ago and lost it!). The big scallop border is from PTI, the washi tape from Target, the twine from the Twinery, the pearls from Recollections, the cardstock and yellow striped paper are from PTI, and the punch was from SU. Because I've been making a lot of CAS cards lately, this one seems kind of busy....haha maybe I'm starting to like CAS more than I thought ;)

Young Crafters Unite #13

I've had Young Crafters Unite in my menu bar for quite some time now, but I've never gotten around to playing. When I saw that I still had some time left for this challenge, I decided to make a quick card to link up before the close. This month's challenge was hot trends, so I used washi tape.

This card was inspired by a card that Nichole Heady made during this month's PTI release. She used patterned paper in different colors for the strips. When I saw it, I knew right away I wanted to try it with all the target washi tape I have. So the above is what I came up with. The die is the PTI Christmas Label die, the bird and sentiment are both from Paper Smooches. The mini library clip is from Stampin' Up. Sorry for two posts in one day, but I want to get this card up before the inlinkz closes :)

Retro Sketches #28

This past Saturday we went apple picking with a couple of our friends. We spent hours there, this place was huge! We took a hayride to 3 different orchards. I picked all Honey Crisp since they're my favorite, though :) Then on Sunday I spent all day in the kitchen canning. I made apple salsa, apple butter, and then apple pie (not canned). I've tried it all now, and the only thing was that the salsa was not liquidy enough. Anyway, I wanted to give them a little thank you note to let them know we had a great time. I used this week's Retro Sketches sketch:

I used Paper Smooches "Autumn Grooves" to create the little tree. I used the Amuse woodgrain paper for the trunk, and in a different color for the card base. The gingham paper is from Lilly Bee Designs, and the ribbon from SU. 

On another note, I'm still learning a lot about photos. Last night I think I figured out how to do the white balance, and I definitely think it made a difference. I also think I figured out how to keep the pictures larger rather than the one yesterday I was having a problem with. Hope you're having a great week so far!