Paper Smooches Sneak Peeks

Happy Friday!  For this week's CAS-ual Fridays post, click here or scroll down.

If you're here for a Paper Smooches sneak peek, you've found the right place!  Thanks so much for hopping over!  I am over the moon excited that Kim invited me to help sneak peek her new product release!!!  Here are the deets:

Paper Smooches is showing off their CHA release during the entire month of January.  37 designers are participating along with the PS DT, so there will be a ton for projects to inspire you this month.  Paper Smooches is known for their fun and whimsical hand-drawn stamps.  They decided that it was time to broaden their product line to include DIES and wood mount stamps!  

I have a project to share using NEW PS product that releases on February 1, 2013 at www.papersmoochesstamps.com along with many retail stores around the globe.

You will find a new blog link (or two) to follow every day in January at the PS Blog. 

Paper Smooches is giving away $500 worth of product!  Hidden on FIVE of the participating blogs is a prize package worth $100 each. The prize includes a variety of stamp sets, wood mounts and dies.  Comment on as many blogs as you can to increase your chances to be one of the five winners.

Deadline is January 30^th – winners will be announced on the PS Blog on January 31^st.

The product I'm giving you a sneaky peek of is one of Kim's new dies, Prickly Bloom.  I've used it to create these paper yummies:

The large flower shape is the Prickly Bloom die.  I cut it from some fun polka-dot paper, then added some stamped stitching from the Santa Paws stamp set. For the stem, I used the clothesline from the Pip Squeaks set (which is also where the little heart is from), and the leaves are from Daisies & Paisleys.  The sentiment is from Flap Happy.  I stitched around the edges of a Ranger kraft tag, then added the stamping and die cut.  Here are some other views:

I also made a second card using the Prickly Bloom die:

On this card, I wanted to use the die cut as a stand-alone focal point, without the stem and leaves.  Again, I die-cut it from some patterned paper, but then used Copic markers to add some shading.  Then I scored each "petal" from the tip to the center and folded them upward.  I stamped and fussy-cut a butterfly from the Flap Happy stamp set for the center of the Prickly Bloom.  I created the sentiment using the We Connect set, and stamped it in white ink.  I also created the stamped scalloped edge using a solid circle stamp from Hullabaloo.  Here are some other views of this sweet card:

Thanks SO MUCH for looking!  I am honored to be a part of this sneak peek blog hop.  Have a great day!

Card 1
Supplies: card base: Recollections; patterned papers: Basic Grey; tag: Ranger; stamps, die: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black); sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; seam binding: Hug Snug; baker's twine: Divine Twine

Card 2
Supplies: card base, rhinestones: The Paper Studio; card stock: The Paper Studio (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: Basic Grey; stamps, die: Paper Smooches; ink: Joann Craft Essentials (white), TPC Studio (blue); markers: Copic; seam binding: Hug Snug  

CFC85 - Awesome (you did it!)

Happy Friday to all!  I hope everybody had a great week.  Today I'm going riking with a friend of mine.  Don't know what that is?  Oh, that's probably because it's a word I made up.  It's hiking, but we run when we can.  Last time we went, we did a 14.5 mile trail.  Today, we were going to do a 21.5 miler, but a cold snap is coming through (which is supposed to be the longest one we've had since 1971!!), so we've decided to do a 7.5 miler instead.  Hope we don't freeze to death!!! Anyway, today I'm also bringing you this week's challenge from CAS-ual Fridays! Woo hoo!

CFC85: Round of applause

Create a clean and simple card that celebrates an accomplishment and features at least one circle

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  The winner of this challenge will receive a $20 store credit!  And guess what else?  There is a new release coming out on January 18th! Check out the stamp blog for sneak peeks January 14-17!

So, on this card, I gave you a little pre-sneak peek of a new stamp set that's coming out.  Can you spot the new stamp on this paper yummy?:

I used some Spellbinders Nestabilities dies on this card (the circle and the star).  I stamped the sentiment onto the circle, then embossed that cool dotted chevron border (Cuttlebug "Charles") above it.  I adhered the circle to the front of the card.  I temporarily adhered the star in place to use as a guide.  Then, using the same "you did it!" stamp that I used on the circle (from the Woot Woot set), I stamped repeatedly around the circle by curving the stamp on my acrylic block to match the curve of the circle.

To create the star, I cut a bunch of 1/8" strips of white cardstock.  I wanted to make sure the rainbow colors on the star matched the inks I was going to be using in the sentiment, so I colored each strip of cardstock using a direct ink-to-paper approach.  Then I place my star die on a separate piece of cardstock and traced around it.  I covered the area inside the tracing with double-sided adhesive, then adhered the colored strips diagonally until the traced outline of the star was completely covered.  Then I die cut that area using the same star die.  I applied some diamond Stickles around the edges of the star, and adhered it using dimensional adhesive.  Here's another view of the sentiment, embossing, and glittery rainbow star:

I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Copic X-Press Blending card stock; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; inks: Tsukineko (black), TPC Studios (all colors); embossing folder: Cuttlebug by Provocraft "Charles" border; dies: Nestabilities by Spellbinder; die cutting machine: Sizzix; glitter glue: Stickles by Ranger; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

8 Happy Nights - Night 6

If you've been following along at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog, you've had a chance to see all the wonderful Hanukkah cards the other Girl Fridays have made.  Well tonight it's my turn to share a card made with the 8 Happy Nights stamp set!  Now for the paper yummies:

I started off by cutting my stamp (I know...EEK!  Even though I know it's okay, it still causes just a little bit of angst when I first start cutting a stamp apart!).  Since I was going to be stamping the 8 repeatedly, it just made more sense to cut the 8 away from the adjoining words than to mask the words every single time.  I used a white pigment ink to stamp the 8s on my kraft card base.  By a happy accident, I ended up with just enough room at the bottom of my card to fit the perfect sentiment (rather than a sentiment banner going across the 8s, as was my original plan).  I randomly stamped some blue Stars of David right on top of the white 8s, then added some Diamond Stickles to the stars.  I finished off the card with a seam binding bow.  If you don't mind the repeated stamping, this card would be super easy to reproduce, as it's basically a single layer card (plus ribbon).  And, the recipient of this card said it was the prettiest Hanukkah card she's ever received.  YAY!  Here's a close-up of the sentiment and glitter:

I hope all of you who celebrate Hanukkah are indeed having 8 happy nights!  If you haven't seen all the other creations, check them out here.  You can see the entire stamp set below, and you can buy it here:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Recollections; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; inks: Joann (white), TPC Studio (blue); glitter glue: Ranger; seam binding: Hug Snug; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

CFC82 - Sorry!

Happy Friday to all!  I'm back with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC82: Use creative scoring on your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this challenge is none other than Scor-Pal!  The winner of this week's challenge will receive her very own Scor-Buddy!  Yayness!

I love the look of decorative/creative scoring on cards, I just wish I could remember to use it more often!  For this challenge, I racked my brain trying to think of clever ways to incorporate scoring, but nothing was clicking.  Then I decided to put to paper a card idea I've been mulling over in my head, and it hit me!  And now for the paper yummy:

So, this card was inspired by the little game piece stamp from the Paper Smooches Knick Knacks set.  It looks just like the game piece from the board game "Sorry!".  So I stamped it in each of the four colors from the game, then created the word "Sorry!" using the Alphadot stamp set.  Then I used my Scor-Pal to create a grid pattern around the edges of the card, to simulate a game board.  I added some Glossy Accents to the game pieces to finish off the card:

How will you even the score?  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along with this week's challenge, and I hope you do!  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Stampin' Up! (white), Recollections (black); stamps: Paper Smooches; inks: TPC Studio (red, blue, yellow, green), Tsukineko (black); Glossy Accents: Ranger; scoring board: Scor-Pal

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Season's greetings

Hello, and happy Monday.  Well, it's actually a bittersweet Monday for me, as this is my last post as part of the Paper Smooches SPARKS design team.  Our six month term is up, and the team for the next term has been selected.  I'm excited to see what they come up with, since there are some seriously talented girls on the next team.  But I will really miss being part of the DT.  It has been such a pleasure designing with Kim's stamps and working alongside such creative ladies.  But I'll definitely be playing along with the challenges, and starting up some of my own challenges on the Paper Smooches Flickr fan page (more details to come soon!).  But first, on to this week's challenge!  Being that it's the fourth week of the month...

...that means it's a photo inspiration challenge.  And here is the photo:

I was drawn to the white-matted gray background and the three white utensils with yellow birds on top.  And being that Christmas is coming up, I created this paper yummy:

I used three snowmen and a bird from the Swanky Snowdudes stamp set, and the other two birds are from Chilly Chums and Santa Paws.  The sentiment is from Christmas Sampler, and I double-stamped it in black and red for a different look.  Here are some other views:

I'm super excited to see how other people are inspired by this photo!  I really hope you'll play along.  You have until Sunday, November 4th at 11:59 pm EST to do so (it's a 2-weeker!).  You can play along with the challenge here.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Copic X-Press Blending card (white), Recollections (gray); stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko (black), TPC Studio (red); markers, black pen: Copic; white pen: Uniball Signo; glitter glue: Stickles by Ranger

CFC75...and a HUGE party!!!

Happy Friday!  Today is especially happy because the extra special, super top-secret secret we've been keeping at CAS-ual Fridays is finally being revealed today!  You're gonna LOVE it!  If you didn't arrive here from the blog, you'll have to go there to find out exactly who this "little sister" we've been talking about is.  But first, here's this week's challenge:

To see the sponsor for this week's challenge, you'll have to pop over to the blog.  But I assure you, it's a fantastic sponsor and a wonderful prize!  In fact, there will be a week-long party with awesome prizes and a ton of special guests.  I mean, we're talking some of the most talented ladies in the biz!  Ok, onto the challenge.  I only used stamps from this week's sponsor to create this paper yummy:

Since the challenge is to have an element that extends past the edge of the card, I went with this long circle stamp.  It worked perfectly on an A2 card so that I had just a little bit hanging off both sides.  Cool, huh?!?  Ya' wanna know what else is cool about this card (at least to me)?  IT'S A SINGLE-LAYER CARD!  I really struggle with single-layer cards, so I try to challenge myself to do them every once in awhile.  I love the way this one turned out.  First I folded a full sheet (8.5 x 11) of white cardstock in half, just to get an idea of the height of my card.  Then I stamped the long circle stamp toward the left side of the paper:

I used a centering ruler and made pencil marks showing where I needed to cut the cardstock in order to make my card 4.25" wide, with equal parts of the stamp hanging off each side:

I used my paper trimmer to cut up to the stamp, then fussy cut around it with scissors:

I stamped the repeating background, then stamped the two flowers.  I colored them in with Copic markers, then added Stickles to the center.  Aren't they cool?!?

I added the funky red circles to the insides of the open circles, then stamped the sentiment above them:

I love this card!  It's kinda different from my usual style, and I love that!  Will you go over the edge with us?  We hope so!  And after you meet the "new little sister", I'm certain you'll want to play along!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to link up your project, but don't forget to check in at CAS-ual Fridays all this next week for the big party!!!  YAY!

Thanks for looking!

CFC72 - miss you

Happy Friday!  I hope everybody has had a wonderful week!  I'm back with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge for this week, and it's a fun one:

 CFC72: Create a clean and simple project inspired by your own blog banner

This week's challenge is sponsored by A Muse Studio.  They have some seriously cute stuff, and the winner of this challenge will win a prize valued at over $35!  How awesome is that?!?

So you can see my blog banner above, and when I chose it, it was because I was drawn to the color combination.  I used the same inspiration to create this paper yummy:

I stamped the Hero Arts Graph Background in gray ink, then cut a frame from blue patterned paper using a Nestabilities die.  The yellow circles are from the Paper Smooches Potpourri set, and the sentiment flag is a stamp by Pebbles Inc.  I added some yellow baker's twine to a cute little blue button, and adhered it onto the sentiment flag.  Here's a close-up:

So will you toot your own horn?  I can't wait to see the entries this week!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along.  We'd love to have you!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: Making Memories; stamps: Hero Arts (graph), Paper Smooches (rings), Pebbles Inc. (sentiment flag); inks: Tsukineko (gray), TPC Studio (yellow, red); cutting die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; die-cutting machine: Sizzix; button: Buttons Galore & More; baker's twine: Divine Twine; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - School is cool

Happy Monday to all!  I just got off work this morning, and have the next six days off!  Yay!  I have the best schedule ever!  I plan to do a TON of crafting and get caught up on several projects.  But first, I'm comin' at ya' with the new Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!  Since it's the second week of the month, that means...

...it's a sketch challenge!  As I've said many times, these have been some of my favorite challenges since joining the SPARKS design team.  And this week's sketch is no exception, it's another great one that got me thinking.  Here is the sketch:

And here are the paper yummies:

As the sketch lends itself to a CAS style, I decided to stay true to that.  I thought the vertical element in the sketch looked like a giant pencil, so I used the sketch for a back to school card.  To create the pencil, I cut a piece of yellow cardstock to the size I wanted, then scored two vertical lines to mimic the barrel of a wooden pencil.  Then I repeatedly stamped the awesome chevron from Geo-Graphic in a yellow ink.  I cut a piece of pink patterned paper, and rounded the bottom corners for the eraser.  For the "metal" part, I cut down a scrap of kraft cardstock, but any color would work.  I covered it with Versamark ink, then embossed it with metallic pewter embossing powder.  Once I had the metal look I wanted, I ran the piece through my paper crimper.  I created the sentiment using the Alphadot set:

For the circular element in the sketch, I punched a hole in my ledger background paper to make it look like it was notebook paper.  I used a little ribbon scrap and a tiny staple to finish off the card.  It doesn't really translate in the photo, but I used a strip of foam tape down only the middle of the pencil, and adhered the left and right sides down flat.  Here's a close-up of the "metal" crimping:

 

How are you inspired by this week's challenge?  I'm really excited to see how other people interpret this sketch!  You can play along with the challenge here. You have until Sunday, September 16th at 11:59 PM EST to play along.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking! 

 

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (kraft, yellow); patterned papers: Echo Park (dot, ledger); stamps: Paper Smooches (Alphadot, Geo-Graphic); inks: TPC Studio (turquoise, yellow), Tsukineko (Versamark); embossing powder: American Crafts; punches: We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder), Hampton Art (circle); ribbon: The Ribbon Boutique; stapler: Ranger

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - You're groovy!

Happy Monday to all!  I hope everybody had a great weekend.  I'm back today with the new Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge for this week!  YAY!!  Since it's the fourth week of the month, you know what that means:

Yep, it's a photo inspiration challenge.  And here is the very cool inspiration photo for this week:

Isn't that just the funkiest sofa ever?  It really threw me for a loop as to how to translate it into a card.  I definitely stepped outside my comfort zone to create this paper yummy:

So I'm not sure that I really channeled the sofa in my card, but I think it's pretty darn funky too.  I used the rounded rectangles stamp from the Spiffy Scooters set and stamped it multiple times to create the background.  Then I colored them all in with Copics, trying to simulate the general location of the colors in the sofa.  I created the sentiment using the Graffiti set, and finished it off with a flower from Qwick Qwips and a lil' rhinestone.  Here are some more views:

How are you inspired by this week's challenge?  I'm really excited to see how other people interpret this photo!  You can play along with the challenge here. You have until Sunday, September 2nd at 11:59 PM EST to play along.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking! 

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (black, kraft), Copic (white); stamps: Paper Smooches; inks: Tsukineko (black), TPC Studio (red); markers: Copic; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; rhinestone: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer

CFC66: You float my boat

Hello, and happy Friday to all!  I hope everybody has enjoyed their summer.  Even though it is still August, I am glad that summer is winding down.  Even though it is still ridiculously hot here in Arizona, the early mornings have become much more bearable when I go jogging.  I am excited to start all my fall and Halloween crafts.  But before I do that, I have one more summery card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge!

CFC66: Splish Splash  -  Include something you might find in the water (ocean, lake, pool, etc.) in your clean and simple project

And the fabulous Stop and Scrap has generously agreed to be our sponsor again.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $20 gift certificate to spend in their store!

Okay, on to the challenge.  When I thought of "something you might find in the water", my mind went straight to the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air collection.  This line is so stinkin' cute!  I love the colors and the vintage kitschy feel it has.  So I perused my collection pack, and found a cute border strip that was perfect for this paper yummy:

I thought the people in the little boat were so cute and funny.  I paired them with a sticker strip from the same collection, then added a sentiment, twine, and a button.  Easy peasy!  Here's another view:

So what floats your boat?  Share it with us in this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along.  We'd love to have you!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock, patterned paper, sticker strip: Cosmo Cricket; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: TPC Studio; button: craft supply; twine: Offray; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers