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  

CFC80 - Season's Greetings/Happy Holidays gift tags

Happy Friday to all!  Since the last challenge at CAS-ual Fridays was a two-weeker and I didn't have any other pressing projects, I took a much-needed break and enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving with my family.  I did a 5K "turkey trot" race that morning (with my parents there to cheer me on!), complete with water jumps and hay bale hurdles.  It was a lot of fun!  I hope you all had just as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I!  I'm back with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

And the wonderful sponsor this week is Bossy Joscie!  If you've never checked out her site, I highly recommend that you do.  The girl's got FLAIR!!!

So yeah, this week it's a gift card challenge rather than a card challenge (unless of course you make a card that incorporates a gift tag).  Fun, right?  I really liked this challenge because I was able to use something I've had in my stash for years, and never really had an idea for.  It worked out perfectly with my CAS-ual Fridays Stamps to create these paper yummies:

So, do you see that cute tree-patterned strip?  That's a decorative packing tape I found years ago (Tuesday Morning, maybe?) and have never really had a vision or a plan for.  It worked out so wonderfully on these tags, and made it super easy to make a bunch of 'em!  I just cut a piece of the tape and adhered it across the bottom of a pre-made kraft tag by Ranger.  I trimmed the excess from each side, then stamped the sentiment (from Snowflake Greetings) with Staz-On ink, since half of it would land on the slick surface of the tape.  I finished off the tags with some white dashed lines and baker's twine.  After I took the above picture, I had the idea to add a bit o' Stickles glitter.  Here's a close-up:

I love how these turned out!  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: kraft tags: Ranger;decorative tape: craft supply; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; ink: Tsukineko (Staz-On); white gel pen: Uniball Signo; baker's twine: Divine Twine; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; glitter glue: Ranger

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Let's be merry

Happy Monday!  I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend and a great World Card Making Day!  I know I sure did.  I got to sit down and make a few cards, and even had a friend stop by and make one with me.  I played along with the challenges over at the Paper Smooches Blog.  And speaking of Paper Smooches, let's get to the SPARKS challenge for this week!  Since it's the second week of the month, that means...

...yep - it's a sketch challenge!  And here is the sketch we're working with this week:

And I think I've probably said this about every single other sketch that Kim has given us during this design team term, but this sketch truly challenged me.  I struggled with it for the longest time.  But as soon as my brain stopped seeing a big ol' arrow head, but rather 4 triangles at the bottom of the sketch, I had an idea!  And I paired that idea with the new (adorable) Chilly Chums set to create this paper yummy:

I would have NEVER thought to do something like this on a card, and that's why I love Kim Hughes and her sketches. And her stamps.  I started off by cutting a piece of cardstock down to 2.25" x 4.25".  Since, in the sketch, the square on the right (below the word) looks just slightly wider than the square on the left, I cut the cardstock so that I had two pieces: one a 2.25" x 2.25" square, and the other a 2'"x 2.25" rectangle (the difference is pretty subtle).  Then I cut each of those directly in half, diagonally, to create a total of 4 triangles.  I stamped each triangle with the little hat (also from Chilly Chums), then masked it and stamped the adorable animals over the mask.  I colored them in with Copic markers, then positioned them onto my patterned paper so that there was just a slight gap in between each one.  I stamped a sentiment from the Christmas Sampler set (which I'm really loving!) onto some candy cane striped patterned paper, and rounded the top corners.  I stitched around the edges of all the chums, and between each lil' guy as well.  I added some baker's twine to represent the vertical line in the sketch, and finished off the card with Stickles on the hat trims and Glossy Accents on the eyes and beak.  I LOVE THIS CARD!  I think it's so different, and what's not to love about those cute little faces looking back at you?!?  Here are a couple close-ups of the chums:

EEK!  I love those faces!  I'm super excited to see how other people are inspired by this sketch!  I really hope you'll play along.  You have until next Sunday, October 14th at 11:59 pm EST to do so.  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: card base: The Paper Studio (kraft); cardstock: Copic X-press It Blending Card (white); patterned papers: Lawn Fawn (yellow, green), My Mind's Eye (red); stamps: Paper Smooches (Chilly Chums, Christmas Sampler); ink: Tsukineko; markers: Copic; Stickles glitter glue, Glossy Accents: Ranger; corner rounder, hole punch: We R Memory Keepers; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; stapler/staples: Ranger (Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher); baker's twine: Divine Twine

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

CFC70 - Fangtastic

Happy Friday!  I'm here today with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge for this week.  You guys rocked the embossing challenge last week, and I can't wait to see what you all do with this:

CFC70: Use black, white, and one other color in your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is Neat & Tangled, which is a new stamp company launched by the awesomely talented Danielle Walls!  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $20 gift certificate to spend at Neat & Tangled!

So for this week's challenge, I couldn't help but go in a Halloweeny direction, but I used a somewhat non-traditional color in addition to the black and white.  Now for the paper yummies:

I actually quite like using yellow as a Halloween color, and just love the way it looks on this card!  The chevron paper is from a baby collection by Crate Paper, but I've been dying to use it on something other than a baby project.  I stamped the bats (from Paper Smooches Spookalicious stamp set) onto the patterned paper, then placed my "Polaroid" frame over the top.  

 

The sentiment is also from Spookalicious.  I placed a scalloped border under the yellow paper...

...then finished off the card with some black and white baker's twine:

So what will be your "plus one" this week?  I bet the gallery is just going to be chock full of stunning cards!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to link your's up to this week's challenge.  Thank you so much for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (black), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned paper: Crate Paper; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; punches: McGill (Polaroid), Martha Stewart (scallop), We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder); baker's twine: Divine Twine

CFC64: Sending you sunshine

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

CFC64: Use things you might find in the sky on your clean and simple project

And once again, our fabulous sponsor is Simon Says Stamp. 

They are so generous to sponsor our challenge regularly!  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a gift certificate to spend in their store.  And speaking of this week's challenge, let's get to it!  The timing for this challenge couldn't have been more perfect.  So the theme is "On Cloud 9", but you can use anything you might find in the sky.  While I am on cloud 9 (my first publication is in print this month! YAY!), I chose to bottle up some sunshine in this paper yummy:

                        

I know I've said it before, but the Summer Fresh collection from Simple Stories is the quintessential summer line.  It just screams summer and sunshine-y goodness.  So when I saw this coordinating stamp set from Simple Stories/Unity Stamps, I couldn't resist.  I love that the jar stamp in this set is so big - it's perfect to create a shaped card (about 5 inches tall!).  I stamped it onto white cardstock and also onto some scratch paper.  I cut out the inside of the jar from the scratch paper, and used the negative cut as a mask to stamp all the sunshine inside the jar.  Then I scored and folded the card on the left side of the jar.  I placed some temporary adhesive inside the card to keep the two layers together, then fussy-cut around the outline.  For the sentiment, I used a stamp from the Hero Arts/Studio Calico Heyday Sentiments set.  I masked off the "you are my" above the "sunshine" so that I could hand-write "sending you" instead.  Here is a close-up:

Are you on cloud nine, or could you use a jar full of sunshine?  Either way, I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge.  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  We'd love to have you!

Thanks for looking!


Supplies: cardstock: Stampin' Up! (Whisper White), Bazzill (red); stamps: Simple Stories/Unity Stamps (jar, sunshine); Hero Arts/Studio Calico (sentiment); inks: Tsukineko (Memento London Fog, Versamark), TPC Studio (yellow); embossing powder: American Crafts; white gel pen: Uniball Signo; baker's twine: Divine Twine

CFC63: Thrilled for you

Happy Friday to all!  I'm excited to be back with another CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  This week it is a color challenge, and I really LOVE these colors together:

CFC63: Use lime, aqua, and navy in your CAS project.

And this week's sponsor is Stop and Scrap.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a gift certificate to spend in their store:

This week's card came together pretty easily, I think because I love these challenge colors so much!  And it gave me the opportunity to use some new stamps I picked up recently, and try a technique I'd never tried before.  Ok, now for the paper yummies:

I recently picked up some stamps on clearance at Michael's, and was lucky enough to find both the solid image and the outline of the petal stamps I used on this card.  Originally, my plan was to stamp the solid petals in lime, then stamp the outline in navy.  But then I decided to try the kissing technique, which I had never tried before.  As silly as it is, I've never tried it because I don't like the name.  I think it's dumb.  LOL! But I managed to get over it, and I'm glad I did.  I inked up the solid petals with lime ink, then stamped it onto my Hero Arts Designer Wood Grain stamp.  Then I stamped the wood grain-patterned petals onto white cardstock.  I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the outline stamp over the top of the woodgrain petals:

I tied some baker's twine on the right side of the white cardstock. I used a sentiment from the Paper Smooches Simply Said set, and I stamped it onto a strip of aqua Echo Park patterned paper, which I then adhered over the twine using dimensional adhesive:

I finished off the card with some aqua pearls by Kaisercraft:

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


Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Core'dinations (navy); patterned paper: Echo Park; stamps: Hampton Art (solid petal, outline petal), Hero Arts (wood grain), Paper Smooches (sentiment); inks: Tsukineko (Memento Pear Tart and Paris Dusk); pearls: Kaisercraft; baker's twine: Divine Twine

CFC59 - You're my universe

Happy Friday!  I hope you've all had a fantastic week.  And speaking of fantastic, lets talk about the new challenge at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week, we're all going round and round:

Round and Round: use 2 circles in your design (a circle shaped card can count as one of the circles)

Yep, 2 circles is all you need to play along this week!  And this week's sponsor, The Twinery, has been generous enough to provide each of the Girl Fridays with some of their delicious twine, AND will be awarding the winner of this week's challenge a twine sample pack!  How very sweet of them!

Their twine is super cute, and comes in such great colors.  I used it to create this paper yummy:

 

I decided to go with a round card, 1. Because I rarely do shaped cards, but they're super cute, 2.  Because the card base counts as one of my circles, and 3. Because I found a super cute sketch, featuring a round card.  I couldn't wait to use my brand new, only-seen-by-sneak-peeks-and-monthly-club-members Paper Smooches stamp set, Space Cadet.  I can't even link to it yet, because it's not even available for sale until July 1, but I will definitely link to it then.  This set is so freakin' cute, and worked really well for my round card (I think).  I mean, just look at this cute lil' monocular alien in a space ship. I stamped and clear embossed him, them colored him in with Prismacolor markers.  I added Stickles to the light ports, then added Glossy Accents to his glass "dome":

I used a couple patterned papers from Studio Calico, and curved my sentiment to match the curve of the inner circle.  I added some cute yellow bakers twine from The Twinery, and popped the alien up on dimensional adhesive:

This week's challenge was so much fun, and I hope you play along.  There are so many different possibilities, I just know you all are going to rock this challenge, just like every other!  Just make sure you rock it by next Thursday at noon EST.  Maybe you'll be the lucky winner of that awesome twine sample pack from The Twinery!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned papers: Studio Calico; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; embossing powder: Hampton Art; markers: Prismacolor; cutting dies: Nestabilities; die-cutting machine: Cuttlebug; baker's twine: The Twinery; glitter glue, glossy accents: Ranger; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

CFC58: Thanks

It's Friday!  And you know what that means...another CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  YAY! Here is this week's challenge:

Create as CAS project using pink. 

June 23 is National Pink Day so we're doing pink designs.

And the wonderful sponsor this week is The Ribbon Carousel.  The winner of this week's challenge will win a $20 gift card to spend in their store: 

I love pink, but I had a bit of a hard time with this challenge.  I think it was because I had so many ideas, that it was difficult to narrow it down and decide on just one.  But I'm pretty pleased with this paper yummy:

I used some cute pink polka dot paper from Lily Bee Designs, that I die-cut using a Nestabilities die.  I love that it's distressed looking, with the black "smudges".  I used a chevron stamp from the Paper Smooches Geo-Graphic set, and stamped it using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick.  Then I stamped a sentiment from the Paper Smooches Simply Said set in black ink.  I added a pink button, threaded with pink and white baker's twine:

To continue to distressed look and bring in more black, I drew lines around the card using a black pen, and made it a little thicker in the corners:

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

I'm also playing along here:

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge 138: Pastel Colors

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #126: Polka Dots

Paper Play Challenges '12 - Week 25: Use a die

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: Lily Bee Design; stamps: Paper Smooches (Geo-Graphic and Simply Said); inks: Ranger (pink), Tsukineko (black); cutting die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders;  die cutting machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; baker's twine: Divine Twine; black pen: K & Company; button: craft supply

CFC55: Hope your birthday is outta sight!

Happy Friday!  I can't believe it's already June!  Crazy!!!  And today is my parents' anniversary.  I s'pose I should get on that, card wise... but first, I'm back with a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  And since it's the first challenge of the month, that means it's a Guest Designer Challenge!  And this challenge is open to so many possibilities:

Create a Clean & Simple card using bling - rhinestones, glitter, even stickles.

This challenge is sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp!

I love that eye charts and eyeglasses are popular right now - they're so fun!  I got the Maya Road Eye Chart Sentiments stamp set recently, and couldn't wait to use it!  And I thought it would look great paired with the glasses from the Paper Smooches Get Outta Town set.  I stamped the glasses onto a star die-cut, then blinged them out with red rhinestones.  Okay, are you ready for the paper yummies?  Here ya go:

I scored the edges of my white cardstock with a scoring board, then added a computer-generated sentiment (printed on a chevron patterned paper from the Echo Park Sweet Day 6x6 pad).  Here's a close-up of my blingy specs:

So are you ready to play along with this week's challenge?  You can add as little or as much bling as you want - just keep the card clean and simple.  You have until next Thursday, June 7 at noon EST to link up your card.  We'd love to have you!

I'm also playing along here:

Charisma Cardz Challenge #21: Bling

Lily Pad Cards Star Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (black), Georgia Pacific (white), Core'dinations (yellow); patterned paper: Echo Park; stamps: Maya Road (eye chart), Paper Smooches (glasses); ink: Tsukineko; star die: Spellbinders; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug; scoring board: Martha Stewart; baker's twine: Divine Twine; rhinestones: The Paper Studio