This Week's Stampin'Up! Weekly Deals {Mar 3}

Hi all! Happy Tuesday.  Hope you all are having a great week! Are you ready for this week's weekly deals?  Well, St. Patrick's Day and Easter are right around the corner, and this week, there are some great deals for crafting something cute for these upcoming holidays! Take a look...

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Lots of packaging options are on sale! I'm especially eyeing the Filter Paper and the Sweet Treat cups, myself!  I saw the cutest little egg favors on Pinterest using the treat cups.  You can check them out here on Paper Ecstasy's blog. They are the cutest little eggs that I think you'll want to make them, too!

Thanks for coming by today. Have a great one! Bye for now.

This Week's Stampin'Up! Weekly Deals for {Feb 24} + NEW Sale-a-bration items!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Hi blog friends! It's Tuesday, so I wanted to share this week's Weekly Deals that are available from Feb 24-Mar 2.  So many cute things for spring!

I also wanted to share that there are NEW items that will be available to earn for Sale-a-bration starting March 1!

Aren't these so cute?!  If you're interested in hosting a party at your home, or if you want to be the hostess of a virtual stamp party, send me an email and I'll be happy to schedule something for you! As always, you can check out my online store at any time. Just visit here!

Have a great day!

Birthday Bonanza!

Happy Saturday!  How are you all?  Hope you're enjoying your weekend so far.  Birthday season is starting in our family, so I've got a couple birthday cards to share!  I think I'll need to build up my stash, so get ready for more bday cards coming soon :) I can't quite tell you who I created these for since the cards are still in transit, but nonetheless, aren't they so fun and festive? I had a great time playing with the Celebrate Today stamp set and the Balloon Framelit dies that coordinate so perfectly.  I dressed up the envies with the Balloon Bash stamp set. I also love that both the stamp sets I used are photopolymer, too!  Here's a closer look.

The balloon framelits come with the cutest little accent dies, like the banner, bow and tassles that I die cut in the silver glitter paper.

I'm also loving the embossing folders, which add such a nice texture to the cards!

Here's a list of all the products I used!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Thanks for popping by today and enjoy your weekend!

Hearts and butterflies birthday card

Hi there, blog friends. I have finally gotten some time to stamp and play a bit more with my new Occasions and Sale-a-bration goodies!  Though, I have a confession to make. I was going through a bit of creativity block trying to come up with a card design. Do you ever get that feeling of having so many ideas in your mind that you don't know where to begin?  Top that off with being a little rusty from not crafting as frequently as I'd like to and that's exactly how I felt. I had a lot of stops and starts before I was finally able to design a card that I was excited about!

This is not a typical color palette for me, but one of my influences for this navy and reddish-pink {Night of Navy and Rose Red, to be exact} combo was because I've had France on the brain. I wanted to pay respects to the French in my own little way for the recent tragedies they experienced. So, this is where the inspiration came for the card, and I'm really pleased with how it came out.

The Butterflies Thinlits dies are so pretty, that I had lots of fun die cutting a bunch out of different colored cardstock to see how they looked!  (This diversion definitely helped in getting my creative juices flowing!) Despite their very intricate appearance of the die, these thinlits are really easy to work with.  The main tip here about die cutting with this amount of image detail is to use a layer of wax paper between the cardstock and the die and the die will easily peel right off! Now, let's take a look at the background, shall we? I love the look of those dots. I basically double stamped the dots to get the lighter shading of Rose Red.

Here's a closer look:

I love that one of the symbolic meanings of the butterfly is that it represents "new life." It makes me happy to create cards keeping that in mind :)  I'll defnitely get a lot of use for these thinlits!

Here's a list of the supplies I used for your reference.  Note that the items shown as $0.00 are Sale-a-bration items, which means that you can earn the item for free with a $50 purchase. Not bad, huh?  You can take a peek and shop at my online store if you'd like. You can also click on any of the items below to get to the store, too  :)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Thanks for popping by today. Have a great weekend!

It's World Cardmaking Day 2014!

Hi there blog friends! Today is World Card Making Day, so I wanted to share a few cards with you to get you inspired for Halloween, which is coming soon! I created these cards using the stamps and embellishments from the September Paper Pumpkin kit and supplementing with additional cardstock.   Don't you just love these stamps?  The Paper Pumpkin kit actually came with 6 cute burlap bags, embellishments, tags, a Tangelo Twist stamping spot, and a cute selection of Halloween images and sentiments.  Super adorable kit!  Now how about a closer look at these projects?

 

I created 2 quick and simple Halloween cards and this cute pouch!  I love the embossing folders - they totally dress up the cards with minimal effort. I also like how just a little bit of sequins goes a long way!

 

Here's a look at the burlap pouch.  Who wouldn't want to get this cute treat?  The Paper Pumpkin kit came with 3 of these polka dotted pouches and 3 striped ones so you can make 6 of these adorable treats and embellish with sequins, black twine, clothespins and assorted tags.  I love the surprise I get each month with the Paper Pumpkin kits.  The projects are always adorable and timely! If you'd like to get a surprise kit each month, you can find out more and subscribe here.You can also check out more projects on Pinterest and get some awesome inspiration using the September kit here.

For this card, I used the tags and stamps from the Paper Pumkpin kit and then used a Tangelo Twist card base.  Then, I embossed Basic Black cardstock with the Lucky Stars embossing folder from the Stampin'Up! Holiday Catalog. The pretty orange sequins from the Paper Pumpkin kit adds just a touch of bling yet keeps the card clean and simple.

This card is even simpler! No layers needed - just emboss with the Large Polka Dot embossing folder, add the sentiment and tags with just a smidge of sequin and viola! You get a fun little Halloween card ready to send!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you get inspired to create a card for World Card Making Day!

Stamp, stock and SAVE!

Hi all!  Hope you had a great week! I just wanted to pop in to let you know that from now until October 6th, you can save 15% on select paper, inks, adhesives and envelopes and 20% on selected stamp sets!  So, how about getting ready for the upcoming holidays and taking advantage of this awesome sale!

Now that I'm back from vacation, I'm excited to get back into my craft room and creating.  Not to mention that tomorrow is World Card Making Day! That means I'll be back to share my card...so be sure to visit :)

Have a fantastic weekend and hope to see you back here soon!  Bye for now!

Woot woot! Join Stampin'Up! for $50!

Hi all!  Happy hump day! I had to pop in to share Stampin'Up!'s special offer!  If you love paper crafting and LOVE Stampin'Up!'s products, now is a great time to join as a demonstrator in the US for only $50! 

When you join Stampin’ Up! during this limited-time offer, you’ll receive:

• $55 worth of products
• A 30 percent discount on your first order*
• A 20 percent discount on all your orders
• Free Paper Pumpkin Kit
• Free entrance to our annual Convention* (must be registered by the 20th of June)
• Before June 2, 2014, you may also choose preorder items from the new annual catalog.
• This offer is only good until June 30, so take advantage while you can!

How cool is that, right?  I think this is a great way to take your crafting and/or entrepreneurial spirit to the next level by taking advantage of what Stampin'Up! has to offer.  If you'd like to find out more, feel free to email me and I'd be happy to chat with you more about this opportunity.  With the new catalog right around the corner, it's an exciting time to get involved with such an awesome company!

Not to mention, I would love for you to become part of my team! :)

*Certain restrictions apply. Contact me for details

Oh hi there!

Hey there, blog friends!  Sorry for the radio silence again…I'm still here, although it's just been a super crazy busy month on all fronts!  And, here we are already at the end of March.  Wow. All I can say is, I'm glad it's the weekend and I'm finally able to take a breath! So, here I am  popping in with a quick, yet big {HELLO} to YOU! Today I wanted to share some pics of 2 of the projects we created at Michelle Halleen's Demonstrator Event earlier this month.  It was an amazing day of crafting inspiration - lots of stamping, demonstrations, paper crafting samples and speakers.

First up...how about this adorable little Card-in-a-box card for Easter?  This Easter card was designed by Michelle and it's just so much cuter in person, too!  And, if you'd like instructions for this fab card technique, you can check out Brianna Thompson's video tutorial here.  I, myself, can't wait to design one of these cute cards {when I get my next free moment!}.

For this card, we used Watercolor Wonder DSP, Wild Wasabi and Tangerine Tango card stock, Oval Framelits, Oval punches, Small heart punch and Circle from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch pack.

Another project we created was a sweet 3x3 card and mini gift bag.

I love the Retro Fresh DSP!  Here, Michelle paired it with the Pansy Punch and complementary Flower Shop stamp set.  Doesn't this make such a great little gift?  I love it with the Brown Sugar Ruffled Stretch Trim ribbon.  So cute.

Hope you guys have a great rest of your weekend!  I promise it won't be so long til my next post. Thanks for visiting! Ciao for now.

Sweet Sorbet Birthday

Hey there! I've got a quick share today - it's a birthday card I created for my dear mother-in-law for her bday. I got to use some fun goodies from the Sale-a-bration catalog and I also used the fancy sequins ribbon from the Occasions catalog, which I just LOVE!  Here's a look at the full card..

I'm pretty much digging the Decorative Dots embossing folder too - love those bubbles!  And of course, the banner framelits are a must have!  Here's the recipe for you:

{Sweet Sorbet Birthday}
Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White
Inks: Early Espresso
Stamp Set: Something to Celebrate {retired hostess set}
Accessories: Banner framelits, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Basic Pearls, Gold Sequin Trim

Thanks for stopping in!  Bye for now.

{Tech Tip Tuesday}: #5 - Stamped Banner Window Card!

Hi blog friends!  Welcome to {Tech Tip Tuesday}!  This week, I'm sharing the technique of stamping on a window sheet using StazOn ink. I started off with a trifold card base, which I created from a 12x12 sheet of Core'dinations paper.  I also got to use my Perfect Pennants Clear Mount Bundle (which includes the Banner Framelits and the Perfect Pennants clear mount stamp set - an excellent combo!). Are you ready to check it out?  Let's get started, shall we?

1. Cut out a 5 1/2" x12" piece of card stock and score the 12" side at 3 1/2" and 7 3/4".

2. Use the Big Shot to die cut the 2nd largest banner framelit on the 4 1/4"x5 1/2" panel of your trifold card.

3.  Cut a 3" x 5" piece of window sheet and adhere on the inside of the card using glue dots along the edges.

4. Stamp the "Make a wish" sentiment {from the Perfect Pennants stamp set} to the front of the card using white StazOn ink.

5.  Die cut the largest banner framelit using a sheet from the Sweet Sorbet DSP.  Next, die cut the 3rd largest banner framelit using a scrap of Pool Party Core'dinations paper.  Then lastly, die cut the 2nd smallest Labels framelit in Basic Black card stock.  Assemble these layers on the 3 1/2"x 5 1/2" panel of your trifold.  Tip: line up the Sweet Sorbet DSP banner piece along the inner edge of the card panel. This will make all the banners align with your front banner window.

6.  Embellish the front of the card. I used the Banner punch from the Sale-a-bration catalog and the Itty Bitty Shapes flower. I added the Pearl Basics to the flower centers to give my flowers that fun dimension.  Viola - you're done!

Here's a couple more views of the card for you.

Here's the card recipe:

{Make a Wish Banner Window Card}
Stamp Set: Perfect Pennants
Cardstock: Crisp Cantaloupe and Pool Party Core'dinations card stock, Sweet Sorbet DSP, Basic Black
Inks: White StazOn ink
Accessories: Banner and Labels Collection Framelits, Banner Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punches, Window Sheets, Glue Dots

Product Recommendations for this project - click on the images to check them out on my online store!:

Now, it's your turn to give this technique a whirl! I'd love to see your creations. Thanks for stopping in today.  Have a great one!

{Tech Tip Tuesday}: #4 - Heart flowers!

Hi all!  How are you?  I can't believe we're already into February!  With Valentine's Day around the corner, I thought I'd incorporate some hearts in this week's {Tech Tip Tuesday}.  These fun heart flowers are super simple yet have such a pretty way of fancying up a card! It's not a new technique, but it's definitely a goody to revisit.  Ready to check it out?

1.  Punch or die cut 5 hearts. For this card project, I used the smallest heart from Hearts Collection framelits for the big flower and also used the Small Heart punch for the 2 small flowers.

2.  Fold the hearts in half. Doesn't get much easier than that!

3.  Once you have the hearts folded, position them into a five petal flower onto your card and adhere one side of the heart with a glue dot.  Repeat the steps as necessary until you have all the flowers you want on your card.

4.  I finished off my card by adding the sweet sentiment "you make me Happy" from the Happy Watercolor stamp set in the Occasions catalog.

Here's a bigger look of the full card for you:

Don't you love the card base?  It looks like I watercolored those pretty chevrons, doesn't it?  Well, it's actually one of the designs from the Watercolor Wonder Designer Note Card set.  Isn't that so pretty?  I love all the designs in this card set as well as the texture of the paper.  It's a handy stash to have at the ready - all you need to do is embellish the front of the card, or even just stamp a sentiment and you're done! Here's the recipe for this card.

{Happy heart flowers}
Stamp Set: Happy Watercolor
Cardstock: Watercolor Wonder Designer Note Cards & Envelopes, Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Polka Dot Parade DSP
Inks: Calypso Coral
Accessories: Hearts Collection Framelits, Small Heart punch, glue dots

Product Recommendations for this project:

Thanks for coming by today.  Now, I encourage you to give this fun technique a try.  It's so easy peasy and looks so cute on a card!  Would love to hear what you think about this technique.

Hope you have a fab Tuesday! Bye for now :)  

Sale-A-Bration 2014 is HERE!

Hi there blog friends!  Sale-A-Bration 2014 is HERE!  It's Stampin'Up!'s annual promotion where you can earn Free product with every $50 order.

To kick off this promotion, I'm excited to host my very first Virtual Workshop!  Now, you're probably wondering, what's a virtual workshop?  Well, it's where you all can participate and submit online orders by entering this special code in the promotions section at checkout: EMS7CAYP.  
This workshop will run until Friday, Jan 31st and any orders submitted for $50 or more will be entered into a raffle to win the Banner Blast punch from the Sale-a-bration catalog!  I'll announce the winner on Sat, Feb 1st!

Here's a peek at one of the adorable card kits you can earn for free with a $50 order - the Go for Gold card kit:

This super cute kit comes with all the supplies to create 8 cards - complete with envelopes and embellishments!  Here's a closer look:

If you happen to be local to the South Bay/Los Angeles in Southern CA, I am also having a LIVE workshop this Saturday, Feb 1st!  If you're interested, please email me here and I'll be sure to send you all the deets!

{Tech Tip Tuesday}: Week 2 - Fabulous watercolor background

Hi all!  Happy Tuesday.  Hope your week is off to a great start.  We're having some nice warm weather here in Southern California, so I stamped this week's Tech Tip outside on MLK day {it was SOO nice to have the day off from my day job!}. It got to the high 70s in the afternoon, which is a pretty warm January for us.

For this week's Tech Tip Tuesday, I'm sharing a watercoloring technique that we got a peek at during leadership.  For my card, I used the Making a Point hostess set, which I just LOVE.  It's quite a clever and sassy little set - the sentiments crack me up. Take a look for yourself:

Doesn't the lipstick one make you chuckle? Anyway, I digress.  Back to the technique.  Watercoloring elements are so trendy right now that it's a great style to work into your every day stamping and paper crafting.  This technique in particular is such an easy and fun way of using the Stampin'Write markers and an acrylic block.  So, let's get started, shall we?

1.  You'll need an acrylic block, markers, and a water spritzer.  For my project, I used Primrose Petals and Summer Starfruit Stampin'Write markers and Stampin'Up!'s size C acrylic block.

2.  On a clean acrylic block, use your markers to color directly onto the block.  I colored the Primrose Petal on about two-thirds of the block and Summer Starfruit on the bottom third.

3.  I used the Stampin'Up! Spritzer filled with water and squirted 2 sprays onto the block until the water on the block was evenly "beaded."

4.  Next, take the block and stamp it directly onto your card stock.  I used Whisper White card stock for my project.  As you press the block down onto the card stock, you'll see that the moisture from the inks and water will mix and swirl with the colors and as you pull the block off, it will create some fun variations of color and depth.

5.  Set the card stock aside to dry for a few minutes.

6.  Once the watercolor block is dry, stamp your image onto the card stock using StazOn ink.  This ensures that the image will not bleed.  Viola!  You have your stamped image on a pretty watercolor background!

I finished off my card by mounting my stamped Whisper White card stock onto Crumb Cake.  To give my card a little texture, I added a few sequins onto the card. Just a teenie amount of bling.  I've been on a simple and clean kick lately. Adhesive tip: the Two-way Glue pen is great for sticking sequins or baker's twine on cards! 

Here's another look at my finished card.  Super quick and easy! Hope you like it. :)

And last but not least, here's the recipe for you:

{you're fabulous, watercolor}
Cardstock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Inks: Primrose Petal and Summer Starfruit Stampin'Write markers, Black StazOn permanent ink
Stamps: Making a Point {Stampin'Up! Occasions catalog - hostess set}
Accessories: Acrylic Block {size C}, Gold sequins {Stampin'Up! Occasions catalog}

Thank's for the visit. I would love to hear what you think about the card or technique…let me know!  Bye for now. Hope your day is fabulous.

Paper Pumpkin Challenge

Hey there, blog friends! I just wanted to pop in real quick and share the card I had created for the My Paper Pumpkin Challenge at leadership.  The challenge was to create a card using past Paper Pumpkin stamps and current products from the Occasions catalog. I had lots of fun playing with the new Occasions products.  You can see I used the Fringe Scissors and Scallop Tag Topper punch again. :)

Don't forget there's a special Paper Pumpkin promotion going on until February 10th, so if you want to take advantage, it's not too late.  Check out my post here for more info!

Cute little Zoo Babies

Happy weekend!  Hope you're enjoying your day, wherever you are. I'm excited that I got a chance to play in my craft room this morning.  Ever since Leadership, I've wanted to play more with the Fringe Scissors and the Scallop Tag Topper punch.  Plus, I got the Zoo Babies set that I haven't gotten to use, so I thought these cute little animals would be perfect for some fun and quick tags.  What do you think?  Here's a closer look at each one.

The giraffe is the longest tag of the three. I started with a 4" x 2" piece of Whisper White and then punched out the top.  Then, I stamped the giraffe in Pumpkin Pie.  To create the fringe for all the cards, I started with a 2"x 12" piece of the Polka Dot Parade DSP in Daffodil Delight.  Then I used the fringe scissors to cut about an inch into the paper and did that for the length of the 2"x12 strip.  That way, it was just faster to cut each piece down to 2" wide and put it at the bottom of my tags.

For the elephant tag, I started out with a 3 1/2" x 2" piece of Whisper White.  The elephant is stamped in Smokey Slate. I had fun doing the ribbons for each of these tags.  While the striped basic gray grosgrain I used for the elephant tag is retired, the other ribbons I used are in the current catalog - Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain ribbon, Marina Mist Chevron ribbon, and the Natural Chevron ribbon (from the Occasions catalog)

The lion tag is the shortest tag, with my starting piece at 3" x 2."  I stamped the lion in Daffodil Delight and the sentiment in Marina Mist.  I used the Regals Designer buttons on all the cards and secured them with the Linen Thread. These tags were really fun to put together and super easy, too! 

I have to say that the Fringe Scissors and the Scallop Tag Topper punch are 2 of my faves from the Occasions catalog.  I'm not gonna lie though, I have LOTS of faves from the Occasions catalog. It's definitely worth checking out!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Introducing {Tech Tip Tuesday}: Week 1 - Simply Pressed Clay

Hi there, blog friends! I'm excited to announce that I'll be doing a weekly {Tech Tip Tuesday} post starting today.  So now, you're probably wondering "What the heck is Tech Tip Tuesday?"  Well, what that means is, I'll be posting either a paper crafting technique tip or a digital/online technology tip for you WEEKLY.  Yes.  Weekly!  I've neglected my blog for far too long and I'm gonna revamp it with some fresh new posts and ideas to share with you all.  I promised at the beginning of 2014 that I'd commit to posting 3 times a week, so now you know at least one post will be on {Tech Tip Tuesday}. :)

So, let's start with today, shall we?  I'm thrilled to finally share that I got to play with the Simply Pressed Clay today for the very first time.  I've been intimidated by the packaging and just even trying to make the flowers or buttons in the Simply Pressed Mold.  I finally decided to take the time to search for instructions or videos and mustered up the courage (and of course, carved out the time) to try.  In the picture above, I'm pleased to say…Success!

Here are the steps for you, broken down to make it easy-peasy.

1.  What you'll need are the following: Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed Mold, Re-inker (I chose Pink Pirouette), and Simply Pressed Clay.  The re-inker is really just an option, but this is what I chose for this example.  There are a number of ways you can add color to your clay - with Stampin'Write markers, ink pads, etc.  With the re-inker, I added 6 drops of the Pink Pirouette and kneaded it into the clay.

2.  Pinch off a tiny piece of clay and roll it into a ball.  

3.  Press the clay into the mold and be sure to fill the mold completely.  If you have too much, pinch off the excess and form the clay into the mold till you're satisfied that you've filled the area. If you have too little, add a bit of clay until you can fill the mold.

4.  Now, here's the tricky part.  Depending on the humidity in your area and the moisture of the clay, the mold may stick.  After trial and error, I saw that it's best to rub the silicon molds with an embossing buddy first, since this will help "pop out" your mold.  Think of it like baking a cake.  You add flour to the pan to help it not stick.  Same principle. :)  Since I was sans embossing buddy today, I also learned that a few minutes in the freezer does the trick equally well.  I'd say 5-10 minutes is sufficient.

5.  When you take your mold out of the freezer, just gently bend back the mold and pop out your flower.  Viola!

Here's a look at the flowers again - I love the delicate look they have.  What's fun is that the clay doesn't  get hard even when it's dry. It's semi soft and bendable!  Pretty cool.  Here's another look at my first batch of flowers.

And lastly, here's a look at the full card I made, using the Language of Love stamp set from the Occasions catalog, Polka Dot Parade DSP, heart punch, and linen thread on Crumb Cake card stock.  It also happens to be my first Valentine card of the year, too.

Hope you like it!  Thanks for visiting me on my first {Tech Tip Tuesday}.  I'd love to hear your feedback.  Especially if you have any specific techniques or technologies you'd like me to cover.  Have a great day!