Paper Pumpkin "May Good Things Grow"

Hello!  These past few weeks, I had a chance to sit down and play with the "May Good Things Grow" Paper Pumpkin kit.  And it was sure fun!  I made the middle card per the kit's directions, but made the first and last cards using my own design from the supplies in the kit.  Even though you can't buy this kit anymore, I'm hoping that this will inspire those of you who have the kit to use it.  It is gorgeous.  And if you haven't tried Paper Pumpkin, but like this project, you may like future months.  I invite you to give it a try - just reach out to me!

Here is the YouTube video showing how the make the kit the intended way, in case want to compare.  Happy stamping!

DOstamper STARS Sketch Challenge DSC#195

Lately, I’ve been trying to finish up some of the projects I’ve left lying around half-finished for a while.  One of those projects was finishing up an old Paper Pumpkin kit (Blissful Bouquet) that I had started and never finished.  Once I got those done, I decided to try to use the stamp set from that kit to create a card using this week’s sketch challenge.  

Even though my part of the world has seemingly moved into “autumn mode” I decided to resist the lure of deep, rich fall colors and, instead, chose the cheery colors of Delightful Daffodil and Pool Party.  I think the yellow/white/blue combination is classically cheerful & always had such a clean feeling.  I love it.  This card was unusual for me in that I didn’t add a single embellishment….but I quite like the simplicity of it for a change. The long skinny sentiments from the Floral Phases stamp set were perfect for this sketch.

After finishing the card for the challenge, I decided to make a similar card with some variances, which you can see below.  Which do you like better? 

Be sure to check out how my friends used this sketch to create their cards this week by clicking on the links below:

• Sharon Bennett
• Connie Plaumann
• Dawn Olchefske
• Joan Weidling 
• Angela O'Neill 
• Michelle Harrington
• Miriam Bollinger
• Dawn Thomas  
• Judy Strickling
• Robyn Rasset

DOstamper STARS Challenge: Home Sweet Home DSC #185

Welcome to this week's challenge!  The third week of our challenge rotation is always called "Home Sweet Home" because we are asked to use a specific piece of home decor as our inspiration point.  We can use any or all aspects of the image provided...color scheme, theme, shapes, textures, images, whatever speaks to us.  This week's home decor item is in the image below and I zoned in on some of the colors and the butterflies & botanicals. 

One style of art work I have always admired but have never felt successful at doing is the layered, vintage look.  But, challenges are all about breaking out of your comfort zone, right? So I decided to give it a shot, and I'm pretty please. The images from the Butterfly Basics set made this card so, so easy!  If you are reluctant like me, give it a try - it's so much more fun and easy than you would ever think possible.

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryid=12400&dbwsdemoid=2055485

I started with a rectangular Very Vanilla cardstock panel.  I used Early Espresso ink on a sponge to age the edges.  Next, I used Crumb Cake ink and a retired French script background stamp to create the background.  After that, I used more Crumb Cake ink and another sponge to apply some more aging to the whole panel in small circular motions.  After that I just started layering on the various images from the Butterfly Basics stamp set working from lightest to darkest.  The colors of ink I used were Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  Next came the sentiment stamped in Early Espresso (you can use any sentiment, mine is from the bonus set I received a few months ago as a My Paper Pumpkin subscriber).  Once I was done stamping the panel, I matted it on Early Espresso cardstock, and an Old Olive card that I had aged with my sponge and Early Espresso ink.  Finally, I stamped the butterfly image on Very Vanilla using Crushed Curry, cut the image out by hand, adhered it with some Dimensionals and topped it off with some pearls, which I thought fit the vintage theme a bit better than diamond rhinestones, which I had considered.

As you may know, these Thursday challenges are sponsored by my upline, and anyone in her group of demonstrators is invited participate.  This week, we are lucky to have so many talented ladies share their interpretation of this image....go check them out by clicking on their names below:

• Connie Plaumann
• Sharon Bennett
• Jan Carlson
• Cathy Peck
• Joan Weidling
• Dawn Olchefske 
• Judy Strickling 
• Debbie Sollinger   
• Michelle Harrington- you are here
• Angela O'Neill 

Mother's Day cards

Now that we're past Mother's Day, I can share the cards I made for my mom and mother-in-law.  I made a few extras, changing the sentiments, so that I could send them for other occasions when the need arose. This stamp set is one of my new favorites, and it was the freebie bonus set that came with the April My Paper Pumpkin kits. The sequins are from my stash (non-SU!).  I chose to use Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder and Marina Mist for my colors and I just love how they turned out.  And shhhh!  Don't tell, but these are really easy to make!

April 2016 My Paper Pumpkin

My Paper Pumpkin is a monthly kit offered by Stampin' Up! demonstrators and it gets mailed straight to you.  Each month's kit includes a set of stamps, ink spot(s), and everything you need to complete a kit, all for under $20.  Can't beat that, can you?  Want to sign up? I'd love to have you join...just let me know and I'll help you get going!

My April kit arrived last Saturday (after two days of checking the mailbox) and I went straight inside and assembled it - soooo cute!  This month's kit is a pretty little paper wreath that kind of reminds me of boxwood, which is oh-so-popular right now in home decor and landscaping. 

I don't want to ruin the surprise for those of you haven't seen yours yet, so only scroll down if you're ready to see the finished product.  

All the bits and pieces:

Assembly:

THE FINAL PRODUCT!!!:

I'm so happy with how this turned out.  Even assembled it fits back into the box it came in, so I turned right around and mailed it to someone special as fun surprise to celebrate spring.

This kit came with a bonus stamp set to commemorate that the MILLIONTH My Paper Pumpkin kit was sent this month, so be checking back to see projects I've made with that.

Happy stamping!

June My Paper Pumpkin

Recently, I posted a few cards I made with my June "My Paper Pumpkin" kit, which you can see HERE.  As I mentioned, I only had time to make half the kit that day.  Since then, I was able to make the rest, so now I'm sharing with you the other half.

The muted greens, blues and taupe made me think of traditional baby boy and I have a few friends who are expecting, so I decided to make a few of them into baby cards, but it also never hurts to have birthday cards laying around.  Thus, I used the "it's your day" sentiment that came with the kit on the outside of two of the cards & then used a "happy birthday" stamp from my stash on the inside of those two cards. For the other two cards (the baby cards) I used two stamps from the Petite Pairs stamp set ("welcome baby" and "glad you're here").  If you haven't seen that set yet, go check it out...it's very versatile and unique in our lineup because it allows you to have stamped sentiment on both the inside and outside of the card.

They still haven't made this kit available for purchase, but my hope is that they will so keep an eye on my blog or store for details.

Happy stamping!

STARS Challenge - Sketch Pad DSC #145

Awhile back, my upline and teammates completed a sketch challenge.  I wasn't able to do the sketch at that time, but I loved it so much, I filed it away for "someday".  Someday is today! :)  I interpreted it pretty literally this time, right down the flower accent!

I chose to use the Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper to keep it happy and playful.  The fun thing about this paper is that there are some specific themes (like cherries, cupcakes, and ice cream) which are fun, but limiting.  However, there are also plenty of other papers that don't really feel thematic that you can use for projects like this Thank You note.

I decided to use the posy stamp from June's My Paper Pumpkin to create the floral embellishment.  I think that flower stamp is just so cute, and also fit my lighthearted, happy theme.  Accented with a Bermuda Bay button and white baker's twine, it's an easy but oh-so-cute addition to this card.  While I chose to make it a thank you note, you eliminate the sentiment entirely, or you could use any number of other sentiments because this card is somewhat neutral.  I think this would also be a great layout to use for birthdays, Christmas, valentine's....well, you get the idea! 

For more inspiration, check out the work my teammates did using this sketch:

Connie Plaumann: Halloween Treat card

Sharon Bennett: Garden in Bloom cards

Miriam Bollinger: Flowering Flourishes card

Robyn Rasset: Chalk it up to Love card

Judy Strickling: A Ray of Sunshine card

Ashley Simmons: Celebrate Today card

Dawn Olchefske: Acorny Thank You

As luck would have it, around the time I was working with the DoSTAMPers sketch, I noticed a similar sketch floating around the internet.  So for even more inspiration, go check out these interpretations!



If you'd like to purchase this card, please visit my Etsy shop.

Come back tomorrow to see the new Stars challenge...and until then, happy stamping!

June 2015 My Paper Pumpkin Kit

The My Paper Pumpkin kits just keep getting cuter and cuter!  Even though my kit parts are used up now (except some twine), I can’t wait to play with this stamp set even more.  I have so many ideas swimming in my head – check back to see if any of them make it on to paper!  This kit took me a little longer to assemble than they normally do, but it was so worth the extra time.  This kit is from June, 2015, and so far refills or duplicate kits have not been made available, but it’s always a possibility, so keep your eyes peeled.  Even if you don’t have the kit, though, there are definitely plenty of points of inspiration here!  The twine and faceted buttons are part of our regular lineup and can be purchased on my website (Vintage Faceted Buttons and Linen Thread) the color combination of whites, browns, corals, greens and turquoises is oh-so-yummy and the layout could be mimicked pretty easily.  Not to mention the good reminder to create your own background by stamping images repeatedly.  There were four other cards that came in this kit, but I ran out of time so I’ll have to post them when I get them done!  Hope you’re having a great week.  Until next time, happy stamping!

My Paper Pumpkin - July 2015 - Thanks a Latte

Yesterday, I shared with you the cards I made with July's My Paper Pumpkin kit, "Thanks a Latte".  In making them, I followed the directions pretty closely.  Today, I decided to use the set of stamps to create a card of my own.  That's another bonus to these kits - when the original contents are gone, you still have the stamps and ink to play with.

I decided to hunt through my paper to see if I could find delicate, feminine patterns that reminded me of delicate china teacups.  I didn't have to search too long, our new Pretty Petals DSP was the perfect fit.  The patterns here are only a small representation of the patterns in this stack of pretty paper - each of them is striking!

I went ahead and stamped the image six times, once on each piece of patterned paper, using the Early Espresso ink included in the My Paper Pumpkin kit. Maybe I'm too picky, but because these looked like delicate tea cups, I felt weird putting "Thanks a Latte" on them (lattes make me think of giant chunky mugs).  So I picked a small "thank you sentiment" from a stamp set in my stash.  But you could use any sentiment you have, including the ones from the kit.  Then I hand cut them using my paper snips.  I adhered them onto some Very Vanilla cardstock and then on some Old Olive Cardstock.  Next I assembled my card base using Calypso Coral, and then layered it with Old Olive and a piece of patterned paper from the Pretty Petals DSP stack.  I grabbed some retired Old Olive ribbon from my stash as well as a retired Early Espresso button, and then tied it all together with some (also retired) Early Espresso baker's twine.  Voila!  I pretty little card using the stamp set from this month's My Paper Pumpkin.

Happy stamping!

My Paper Pumpkin - July 2015 - Thanks a Latte

I have been subscribing to My Paper Pumpkin almost from the beginning, but it's only been in the past few months where I've started doing them almost immediately...I just can't resist them!  They have really stepped up their game and deliver some fun, quick projects for only about $20 a month.

This month's kit, Thanks a Latte, features the supplies to make 8 cards (everything you see on this card - the base cards, the patterned paper, the "notebook" paper, the accent stickers, the ribbon-tied paper clips and even the dimensional adhesive). The kit even includes the fun coordinating envelopes that remind me of the retro-style air post envelopes.  It also includes  mini ink pads (Early Espresso and one of our new colors, Cucumber Crush) and a versatile stamp set that features one tea cup, two plant outlines and two plant "fill-ins", a tea bag, and three greetings ("get well", "a cup of cheer", and "thanks a latte').

If you wish you had this one, keep your eyes peeled on my blog because I will share if they make these kits available to subscribers.  And if you've been on the fence about subscribing to My Paper Pumpkin, now is the time!  We are offering 50% off your first two months (new subscribers only).  Read more about the promotion HERE!  If you feel like now is the time to sign up, I'd be delighted if you chose me as your demonstrator.  You can do that by signing up for My Paper Pumpkin HERE!

A lot of times I do my kits while watching television with my husband.  I love doing that instead of cards from scratch because everything is one place and I don't have to keep getting up and down and ruining the shows for us.  I've also used them on vacations and road trips, and sometimes carry them in the tote bag I take everywhere so that if I'm stuck waiting somewhere, I can just pop it out and do a few things.  I have friends who are considering gathering a group over their lunch hour to assemble them.  They are perfect for all of these situations because they include almost everything you need.  You'll need to provide a stamp block, and some months, a pair of paper snips.  I usually just toss those in as soon as I open the kit.  I usually toss in my favorite adhesive as well, just in case!

Happy stamping!!!

PS - come back tomorrow to see another card I made using the stamp set from this kit!

My Paper Pumpkin - Glittered Greetings

Have you heard about My Paper Pumpkin?  It's a monthly kit, mailed automatically to subscribers around the middle of the month.  The kit includes at least one mini ink pad (sometimes more than one), and a project...all you need is a pair of scissors, an acrylic block and your favorite adhesive.

This kit (Glittered Greetings) is about to retire, so get it while you can.  It contains:

• 8 sturdy, pre-printed & pre-scored cards
• 2 clear stamps (the chevron designs you see stamped above)
• 8 gold foil envelope liners
• 8 white envelopes
• 8 wooden words (4 "congrats" and 4 "thank yous")
• 2 ink pads 
• 40 gold glittered, self-adhesive dots  

Besides this kit, you'll need your favorite adhesive and an acrylic block.

I sat down and made 8 cards - 4 congrats card & 4 thank you cards - in less than an hour. Not to mention that it's on trend with its coral, aqua and gold elements and chevron stamps.  It even came with shiny gold liners for the envelopes.

This particular kit and its refills are going away soon, so get them while you can!  Contact me for help with ordering...and happy stamping!  To see all the past kits and refills that are available, click here!

My Paper Pumpkin's Repurposed Bicycle Stamp

Good morning!  At the start of the catalog year (last summer) I participated in a product share, in which I received 1/6th of each sheet of patterned paper from the catalog.  My goal was to use the smaller pieces in projects and order more of the papers with which I fell in love.  Now that the catalog year is coming to a close, I've decided to challenge myself to use up those pieces of paper, and order any of the "must have" patterns before the end of June, when they retire. Typically, I wait until after the product has retired, and then I'm disappointed when I fall in love with it and can't get anymore.

The first DSP (designer series paper) I tackled was the Birthday Basics line (#130145).  This line features 12 delightful patterns showcasing the colors Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla and Raspberry Ripple.  My first instinct in looking at it was "oh, that's perfect for birthday cards and birthday-themed scrapbook pages."  And it is!  But the more I looked at it, I realized that other than the birthday hats, candles and the balloons, none of the patterns were birthday- or party-specific, and in fact, it's quite a versatile series, so be sure to check back in the coming weeks to see the other ways I've used this great paper.

In the meantime, enjoy this fun creation!  Once I spied the bicycle paper in the package, I realized I had the bicycle stamp from a past My Paper Pumpkin project. I wanted to get two cards out of the small pieces of paper that I had, so I cut it into two pieces on the diagonal and mounted it on some cardstock.  I then covered up the seam with a diagonal stripe made with solid-colored, coordinating cardstock strips, which created a retro feel.  From there, I die cut scraps of Whisper White and Raspberry Ripple using the Deco Labels Collection (#130102), mounted the white on the raspberry, stamped the image in Bermuda Bay, and then mounted the whole thing on my project.  Inside the card, I stamped "hey there friend" from another past My Paper Pumpkin.

If you would like any of these items, please come shop at my ONLINE STORE!