Paper Sweeties January Inspiration Challenge #27 - "Winter Wishes"

Hello Friends,
Happy New Year 2015!  I hope you have all enjoyed a very wonderful Holiday with those you love most! Tim and I enjoyed a wonderful time with Family and were blessed to have my newly-wed sister Beth and Brother-in-law Jimmy staying with us!  It made the days so much fun!  And we were also thrilled that my oldest brother Anthony proposed to his beloved Gillian on Christmas Day!  We are so excited to be welcoming new family members once again!  What a wonderful blessing!

If that wonderful news wasn't enough already I have also been holding onto some exciting news for a couple of months now.  I am so excited and thrilled to announce that I have been asked to join the lovely Paper Sweeties Design Team for 2015.  Today is my very first official post as a Design Team Member.  I have enjoyed many guest designer spots with Debbie's lovely company over the past two years but now I am an official design team member joining a wonderfully talented group of creative women!  I am so excited and I hope you will follow along this year as I enjoy designing with all of Debbie's wonderful products!

On that lovely note....
Welcome to the Paper Sweeties January Inspiration Challenge #27.  This month's theme is "Winter Wishes" and here is the wonderful inspiration photo:

Here is the card I created for today using these lovely neutral colors:

I started my card by die-cutting and coloring the lovely "Emma".  The angel costume that Emma is wearing is from the "Christmas Blessings" stamp set.  I cut two pair of wings so that I could pop up one set so that they look like they are fluttering.  And I rounded her mouth so that it looks like she could be singing the sentiment "Hark the Herald Angels Sing Glory to the Newborn King" which is from the "Make the Season Bright" stamp set.  I also cut two halos and pieced them together to form a complete circle with two flowers.  I love this look!  So sweet and matches up well with the two flowers on her robe tie. 

This picture shows the dimension of her wings a bit better.  I also embossed the card itself with music notes and added a layer of vellum over it as well as some additional layers for her to stand on edged in some glitter so that she looks like she is standing on clouds while singing!

Thanks for visting and taking a look at my card!  Wait until you see all of the wonderful inspiration cooked up for you this month!  I know you will enjoy seeing all of the lovely cards created by our team!  They are all gorgeous!

                                        Our  MONTHLY CHALLENGE TEAM blog hop list:

Annette Witherspoon

  Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz
Jill Norwood   (you are here)
Julie Tucker-Wolek 

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen
Nancy Penir 

                                               January Guest Designer:  Beth Johnson


Your next stop is the lovely Julie Tucker-Wolek!  I hope you will join in the fun at Paper Sweeties this month using this wonderful "Winter Wishes" inspiration!  There is a lovely prize up for grabs!   You can find all of the information on the Paper Sweeties Blog!


:) Jill

Make the Season Bright Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties

"Emma" - Paper Sweeties

Christmas Blessings Stamp set - Paper Sweeties

Emma Sweet Cuts Dies - Paper Sweeties

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks! Blog Hop

Today I am joining with many other friends to say FAREWELL to our beloved "Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine" as part of a very Special Thanks Blog Hop!


It is so very difficult to believe that this beloved magazine brought to us all by so many incredible and talented individuals will be no more.  This magazine helped make me a card-maker.  It inspired me, it taught me - Thanks GO-TO Gals! -  and it made me part of an incredible group of individuals who love to create!  It is this wonderful and inspiring and hope-filled community that I love so much that I know will continue to thrive long after the last issue of this magazine is put to bed.

How we will miss the tremendous inspiration, spirit of friendship and love of card and paper artistry that was shared here in a wonderful gathering space!! I want to thank everyone that has been a part of bringing this wonderful magazine and all of its parts (printed, blog, and digital) to all of us!  What a true blessing you have been in our creative lives!  

It is snowy and freezing cold out here in Seattle so I thought for my special thank you card a snow-woman would be appropriate!   I used the lovely "Snow Friends" stamp and sweet cuts dies from Paper Sweeties.   I had to add some glossy accents to her wonderful top hat that she is wearing to wish everyone a fond farewell and she is holding lots of love in her arms for all of you that have been such a huge blessing in this lovely PCS community we are all a part of! 

There are so many wonderful and talented designers and companies joining in this hop so I won't keep you.

A special heartfelt wish for each one of you as you finish your last days at the magazine.....

As this door closes I wish for you a beautiful window opening wide....with lovely curtains billowing a welcome as the sun shines in and you begin new adventures!  God Bless You ALL!  And thank you from the bottom of my heart for the many years of inspiration!!!!!

Blog hop info:
If these links are working....
You should have come here from:  Meredith McRitchie's blog
You will be headed to:  Kelly Latevola's


If you get lost along the way you can go to the start of the hop at Jennifer McGuire's website here:  http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/?p=16417

I want to also say a special thank you to Taheerah who organized this special blog hop! And to Bethany who created a tribute video you can see here.




Thanks so much! Big Hugs to all!


 Jill

Snow-friends bundle - Sweet cuts and stamps

"House of Cards" Designer Blog Hop

Hello Friends,
Here today with Paper Sweeties to celebrate the "House of Cards" end-of-term Designer Blog Hop.  House of Cards is a wonderful card challenge site hosted by our dear friend Mynn!  She invited the Paper Sweeties designers to join her creative team for a BIG collective blog hop – so much FUN!   Here is the inspiration:

And here is the card I created:

Yes....I did take the picture in the snow!  We had a rare sighting of the white stuff here in Seattle the day after Thanksgiving!  My son was OVERJOYED!!!!!  For this card I used my new FAVORITE Paper Sweeties stamp set called "Homemade with Love".  Isn't that cup of cocoa yummy looking!  I love the matching dies too!  So easy to whip up a card or tag in minutes!

I clear embossed the mug stamp and love the texture and shine it added to the cup!  I also added some glossy accents to my peppermint stick! Then there is the glittery snowflake marshmallows!  Gotta have those marshmallows and lots of them in your cup of cocoa!  Or so my son says!

Here is a list of all the Paper Sweeties designers that are participating in the hop:

Char Cundy
Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Jinny Newlin 
Larissa Heskett
Mackie Robertson
Maria Patrick
Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen (HOC owner)
Nancy Penir
Jill Norwood 
Annette Witherspoon

  If you get lost check in at the Paper Sweeties blog. Or at the link I shared above for the House of Cards challenge site.

Thanks for joining me today!  

:) Jill