Greenwood Girl Cards: February 2016

March Guest Designer: Jennifer Scull

Thanks for your visit! Hope to see you back here for the March Release countdown!
Jill

Monday, February 15, 2016

Paper Sweeties February 2016 Release Rewind

Hello Friends! Welcome to the Paper Sweeties Release Rewind! Today is the day that we post projects using the wonderful new stamps and sweet cuts mixed in with some of the existing Paper Sweeties products.

I was inspired today by a blogging friend named Kathy Racoosin that many of you may know. Kathy's website is "The Daily Marker" and she runs wonderful "30 Day Coloring Challenges" with video tutorials and incredible techniques and projects! She is currently running her 4th one during the month of February and you can link up to be a part of it at her website or on Instagram using the hashtag #30daycoloringchallenge!

I love to color but to be honest I do not stamp and color images as often as I wish nor is it my...shall we say.... "strong suit" when it comes to card making. This is why I so enjoy Kathy's challenges. They invite me to play! Play with coloring, play with stamping, play with doodling and seeing where I end up! I am in awe of the incredible coloring as well as use of color and mixed media techniques done by so many of my crafty friends! I am challenging myself this year to use stamping and ink more often and to color more just for FUN! Fun and relaxation too!

So this is my first attempt for the 4th coloring challenge. For this card panel I tried to stamp without any masking and to really just play and have fun. The swirly lines in white and leaf green are doodles! Yes DOODLES! That was a big stretch for me! And then I decided to play with my white and black gel pens and that is where I think I went WAY overboard unlike my talented Paper Sweeties teamie Michelle Bala who has coloring down to an art form! (Love, love, LOVE your coloring Michelle!!!!!!)

And I even combined florals from FOUR Paper Sweeties stamp sets which is what our Release Rewind Posts are all about:

Thinking of You

Pretty Posies
Sending Sweet Thoughts

Garden Time

The sentiment "Thanks Sweet Friend" is from the Garden Time stamp set. This card is going off to a friend who sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers to me this weekend! Thanks for taking a look at my card. Time to send you off to my very talented Paper Sweeties Teamies for more inspiration:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jeri Thomas
Jill Norwood

Thanks so much for joining the Paper Sweeties Team for the February Release! Don't forget about the February Challenge that runs through the end of this month! Here is the inspiration photo:

I hope you find some time to color and play this week!
Hugs,
Jill

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Paper Sweeties February 2016 Release Party!

Happy Release Day with PAPER SWEETIES!
Today is the day that the new February Release products are available in the store!

Here are the new sets:

"Thinking of You" stamp set:

"Thinking of You" Sweet Cuts:

"Celebrate" Planner Stamp Set:

Note: If you would like to see Design Team Posts using these lovely planner stamps you can find a link list on this Paper Sweeties Blog post: HERE.

For RELEASE DAY I am sharing a few more cards that I made using the "Thinking of You" stamp set:

These cards are very simple and use that wonderful "Thinking of You" sentiment from the new set!
A circle die cut window filled with gingham patterned paper provides the focal point for these cards and for some wood veneer hearts and a twine bow. Simple and sweet!

Next I wanted to make a card using the stamped flowers that come in the "Thinking of You" stamp set.

I stamped a row of the flowers on some white card stock that I had blended with some "cracked pistaschio" distress ink (Love this color green! ). Then I colored them in with some Copic markers in shades of pinks and lavender. Unfortunately I ended up dropping a marker onto my completed stamped and colored panel so I cut into the panel with a circle die and used that as my focal point.

To create interest and balance with the flowers I stamped the sentiment repeating down the circle die. I added a straight line of Copic coloring to divide the flowers and the sentiment and then added three paper twine bows and a gingham banner piece behind the circle die cut to finish the card. Again - fairly simple and sweet.

There is lots more to see from the wonderful Paper Sweeties Design team:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jeri Thomas
Jill Norwood (You Are Here)

And I hope you will join us for our Release Rewind Day tomorrow when we mix and match the new products with some of the existing Paper Sweeties items!

Until then.... :) Jill

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Paper Sweeties February 2016 Release Countdown

Welcome back to the Paper Sweeties February Release Countdown! Did you see all of the wonderful sneak peek projects on the Design Team's blogs yesterday? Lots of wonderful ideas using this month's new releases!!! I so admire the women on our design team and their artistic talents! So many fun styles to choose from!

Today I am sharing some sweet round 3 1/2 inch cards offering "Blessings and Prayers"! I love how these turned out! They are perfect to add to a get well gift for someone who is under the weather or has had surgery or just to lend some prayers of support to someone who needs it! These are the cards that I use most often and I love that Debbie has created a stamp set with these wonderful sentiments!

On this card I added a flower that I created with the flower and leaf dies that coordinate with this wonderful "Thinking of You" stamp set. I die cut both flower dies from some corrugated card stock and the leaf die from some mint felt. Then I poked holes through the center of 3 of the flowers and sewed them together adding a "Cotton Candy" sequin for the flower center. I even sewed the leaves to the back of the flower. It created the sweetest little flower embellishment for this petite card. You will see more of these flowers throughout my post today. I had fun creating a bunch of them in front of the television one night in late January. I like having my hands busy when I am relaxing....lol!

I love how these small cards come together so easily - especially these round ones! I already gave some of the ones I made with the flowers to my Mom. I forgot to photograph them before I gave them to her. Oops! On three of these cards I used my small butterfly punches and some pearls to create the embellishment. These cards fit perfectly in some little 4x4 envelopes that I always have on hand. I cannot wait to use the rest of these myself. They are so sweet!

Next I am going to share some other cards that I created with this same stamp/die combo that have some sewn felt flowers:

This card has three flowers made out of felt, thread and a sequin center using the same "Thinking of You" Sweet Cuts Dies. I sewed a star pattern over the sequin to create the flower centers. I created the look of a garden window box or it could be a garden bed by sewing some pinked edged cream felt to a piece of corrugated cardboard by hand.

A circle die cut embossed with cross-stitched hearts helps to complete this sweet scene. The sentiment is again from the new "Thinking of You" stamp set.

One last card with felt flowers....

This card has another window box of flowers but in a bright red and aqua color scheme for Valentine's Day!
I hope you all have a wonderful day surrounded by those you love!

Well that is it for me for now....time to send you off to all of our wonderful Paper Sweeties Teamies:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jeri Thomas
Jill Norwood (You Are Here)

All of the products we are showcasing will be available on February 15th in the Paper Sweeties store!

I hope you will join us for tomorrow's RELEASE PARTY! There will be lots more inspiration to share with all of you from all of us!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jill

New stamps and sweet cuts sets will be added to the link list below on or after the release on February 15th:

Friday, February 12, 2016

Paper Sweeties February 2016 Release Sneak Peeks

Hello Friends and Welcome to the February 2016 Release Sneak Peeks for Paper Sweeties! I hope you will join us over the next few days as we count down to the new releases this month. It is always an exciting time!

This months release includes a wonderful new planner stamp set called "Celebrate", the 4th set in our planner series of stamps coming out in 2016. Please visit Debbie's post on the Paper Sweeties blog HERE to see and link up to the team's planner inspiration posts from yesterday!

Debbie is also releasing stamps and sweet cuts called "Thinking of You" this month. The new "Thinking of You" products are perfect for all of those occasions when we want to provide comfort to others...sympathy, prayers, blessings, etc or even just to let them know we are thinking of them. This stamp and die set is what I will be showcasing for you over the next few days. It is my new favorite!

This sweet "Thinking of You" card uses the banner as a backdrop for the sentiment which gives the stamp set its name:

I used some lovely polka dot and floral papers and added in some of my beloved gingham to create my background and focal point.

The dark gray cardstock die cut that creates a shadow behind the banner is just the banner die cut piece cut in half length wise and glued to the back of the floral piece. The thinking of you sentiment strip covers up the open edges. Three "sugar sprinkle" sequins finish the card up nicely with a wee bit of sparkle! A simple and sweet card that can be used for many reasons.

Next up a sympathy card:

This new "Thinking of You" stamp set has so many wonderful mix and match sentiments and "With Heartfelt Sympathy" is one of them. The "Thinking of You" sweet cuts include the banner shaped die which I stamped with the coordinating stamp in black ink. The stamps and sweet cuts also include two small flowers and a leaf.

I used the flower and leaf dies to make my felt flower embellishments. Here is a close-up:

I sewed the thread up and through the sequin in a star pattern and then once the flower was completed I added a tiny pearl to the center of the "Marshmallow" sequin to finish it off. I will have more flowers to share on my cards for tomorrow's post. But for now there is lots more to see along the Paper Sweeties Sneak Peek Hop today:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jeri Thomas
Jill Norwood (You Are HERE)