so blissed!

... yes, i am in a state of bliss ... lately i have just been so very lucky in submitting my cards to Stampington and having them accepted for publication.  I'm so excited it's like walking around with wings on my feet ... all giddy and joy!

Check out the Autumn 2013 edition of the Stamplers sampler take ten issue!

 I adore this publication, it is one of my favourites ... the premise is cards that have some stamping on them and can be made in approximately 10 minutes ... this issue is filled with fabulous "challenge" results.  The challenge was to use a "flag" template ... the results are beautiful, lots of eye candy in this edition.

 This blew my wee little mind ... i sent in three cards i made using some vintage tags that my friend Izzy had given to me ... I was experimenting with inks when the idea came to make cards using the tags.  great fun, and the photography of my cards is stellar ... and two pages ... yikes ... i am just flabergasted!

A very simple interpretation of the flag challenge... i used MME papers and a fabulous Stampin up! stamp.

Nope, this card is not upside down  .... but i can't give away all of it's secrets!!!  It is my favourite card!

Another submission, this time using more romantic colours and making one of the flags slightly different than called for.  I also have 2 other cards published in this issue!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit and listening to me babble on ... I am so blissed out.

Peace love and paper!!!

jo

Dontcha just love .....

Bunting .... or as they are sometimes know as those cute little flags that hang in the for parties and the circus and the used car lot ....

I have whipped up a few cards using bunting ... well okay, my interpretation of bunting as of this minute ... after all, I am bound to change my interpretation on a whim!

 These are very very easy cards to make ... and very inexpensive as well.  I have stuck to a basic design, and used paper scraps to make the little flags.  I then topped off each card with a bit of ribbon and stamped a sentiment.

See those little yellow ink splatters?  those are no accident.  I used the stamp that comes with the very first Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin Up.  This is a fabulous and totally versatile stamp ... i would say it is one of my faves ... i know i said that about the Pleasant Poppies stamp last week, but this one is just totally useful and fun ... so it is a fave!!!

Haven't heard about Paper Pumpkin???  It is SU's monthly kit designed for someone who is starting paper crafting or who has limited time ... check it out here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Peace Love and Paper!!!

Dear Prudence ...

Remember that song?   ...  here .... let me remind you ...

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play

Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day

The sun is up, the sky is blue

It's beautiful and so are you

Dear Prudence won't you come out to play...

So this is my Dear Prudence inspired layout ...

an ancient picture of my dear girl
Most of the SU supplies used were from the Spring Catalogue, which you can find on my site (just look for the button on the side bar)

This layout took no time at all, just die cut the bunting from scraps of paper, added a couple of doilies as an extra mat around the photos and attached a few bird clips (love those!!!)

Stamped the title on the new coffee filter paper ... slightly transparent and very light!  great for stamping and dyeing ....

Thanks so much for stopping by, your comments mean the world to me!

Peace, love and paper!!!

oh .... and crank that music up and get  your sunny skies on with Dear Prudence ...

With one stamp ... final!

Well, this is the 4th and final instalment on my little love affair with the Pleasant Poppies stamp. (well at least for this week)!

This time around, I made a little "folio" album ... or at least that's my name for it!  Just a tiny bit of an album. This we album was cased from pinterest.  This gave me a chance to use the full height and width of the Pleasant Poppies stamp.  I stamped with versamark and then heat embossed with SU white embossing powder.  I die cut a label, and again heat embossed the flowers.  I then coloured the flowers in using Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.  I left space to put in a greeting or title.

 When the folio is opened, we see this ...

 two pages, both with little shallow envelopes.  One has a blank tag inserted and another is empty.

 You can then open those two pages, and you have a two more little "envelopes" and plenty of room for photos.  I imagine someone giving this to Grandma as a gift ... filled with a couple of pictures from the grandslittles, maybe a gift card or two ... the kids can make art on the backs of the tags or colour them in ... wouldn't that be sweet!!!!

 Or how about a gift to your bestie ... pictures of the last time you went out, maybe the ticket stubs, and a gift card for a pedi .... of a teacher, at the end of the year, filled with class photos !!!

 I have made 3 tags to go with this little folio, but you can make more .... or less ... depending on how you want to use it ...

 If you use this for a mini album... the little tags are perfect for journalling and attaching tiny mementos.

I hope you have enjoyed these last 4 segments on  using this fabulous stamp.  Everything that I have used is available in the Stampin' Up! catalogue and through my online shop.  Just click on the Stampin' Up! products button on the sidebar to enter my online shop, or local gals, feel free to contact me for a folio or card class!

Peace love and paper!

this segment was brought to you buy:
Crumb Cake Cardstock 120953
Crumb Cake Ink 126975
Versamark Ink 102283
White Embossing Powder 109132
Crumb Cake Seam Binding 122332
Natural Ribbon 129287
Fancy Fan embossing folder 127751

With 1 stamp ... part 2

Hi there!

Back again with another couple of cards from using the Pleasant Poppies stamp ... and yes, i do love this stamp to bits!!!

Here's what I did today ...

Today, i am using most of the stamp ... i simply moved the stamp over and intentionally left about 1/3rd of my white space unstamped.  I just kind of love the unused space as a balance of a stamped image, especially when i am not matting the stamped image.  I used the same colour palette as yesterday, which is whisper white, crumb cake, calypso coral and tempting turquoise.  I used a bit of the old olive to paint the stems.

 I didn't paint the stems all of the way down, or the centres of the flowers ... i liked the whitespace there as well.  And yup, I am using the seam binding again ... this is truly my favourite ribbon from Stampin Up ... and it comes in several great colours ...

I hope you all get some time to dig into your stash of papers and inks and stamps and get a chance to play today ... its the perfect day to play ... just because!!!

peace, love and paper!

With 1 stamp ... part 1

That's right ...1 stamp! (okay, maybe 2) ...
I am absolutely mad about the Pleasant Poppies stamp from Stampin Up!  It is gorgeous, it is large and you can do so many different projects with it!  So everyday this week I am going to bring you a new project featuring this stamp ... I hope you enjoy this stamp as much as I do.

Todays Projects ....

This is a standard sized card ... I used the Pleasant Poppies stamp as my foreground ... stamping directly over First Edition Specialty paper.  I then used a water pen and "painted" the flowers with my ink pads.  So much fun and easy to do!  I then stacked a bit of ribbon, topped it with a pearl and added it to the card for a bit of texture.

This card is a little 4 x 4 card.  this time I used the stamp as a background stamp.  I inked the stamp then picked up ink from the stamp by randomly daubing it with paper towel to absorb some of the ink.  I took most of the ink off on the centre of the image and left more ink on the upper flowers.  I topped it off with a little double bow made of SU seam binding ribbon.

so ... background and foreground ... two uses for this one amazing stamp.  I will be back tomorrow with another example!

Peace, love and paper!

Something Simple ...

I do love simple cards ... well i love making just about any card, but sometimes clean and simple is just best.  

Sometimes when i sit down to create I get a little overwhelmed with my stash ... so here's my secret ... I pick two pieces of paper that work together, one accent colour and then i sit myself down to create.

In this case i choose Early Espresso and Crumb Cake card stock.  I also knew that my accent colour would be some form of blue.  This trio of colours always works ... so it's my favourite "go to" colour palette.

For each card, i ran the card front through the honey comb embossing die.  I then place a doily on each card front and worked from there.

I stamped a couple of hummingbirds on this doily as well as a sentiment. I wrapped the card front in bakers twine, tied on a bow and a fabulous clock charm ... and done!  Two cards in very little time, and i did it without hauling out my entire stash ...

So give it a try, limit yourself to three colours and see what you can come up with in 20 minutes or less.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

peace, love & paper
Jo

and now for something completely new ...

Well, my dear friend finally convinced me to join the Stampin Up! family as a demonstrator ... and I have absolutely no regrets!!!  Stampin Up! is a fabulous company that creates some beautiful paper crafting products ... and every thing coordinates!!!

Right now I am smitten with creating cards that have that "chalkboard" feel ... so I have done a whole series of them ... these are so easy to make, and so much fun!  They really dont require too much embellishment as they are supposed to resemble chalkboard art!

Here's what I came up with.

 "your amazing" was stamped with versamark.  I covered the lower portion of the word amazing with pool party embossing powder and the the rest was covered with white embossing powder.  The edges were inked with white craft ink ... such fun and so easy!  Stamp set used:  You're Amazing

"thank you" and the rest of the cards all use the same technique as above ... just stamp, heat emboss and ink edges.  on this card i added a little bottle cap that was flattened out with the my "bigshot" and i put a tiny fish in the center!  Stamp sets used:  By the Tide and You're Amazing.

"celebrate" ... so easy .... and i ran the blue background through and embossing plate.

"oh hello" ... i actually smudged off some of the embossing powder before I heated it.  I also inked a bit of the centre of the card ... just to make it extra smudgy! Stamp sets used: Oh Hello, Feel Goods and Established Elegance.

Thanks so much for joining me here!  If you have any questions about Stampin Up! or want to check out the catalogues, just click on the button on the right side bar.