Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Paper Sweeties Challenge - March 2017 Anything Goes!

Hello Friends!  It's the 1st of March and time for a new challenge at Paper Sweeties!

(10-26-2017 -   Edited:    INSPIRATION PHOTO REMOVED AT REQUEST OF CREATOR )

I love the inspiration graphic this month and was inspired by the pink tulips, the pretty basket and the chalkboard sign too!  I love this palette and may make more cards using it but remember that the challenge is always "Anything Goes" !  We just love to see what you are making! 


You may notice that the coffee mug on my card is NEW!  So is that wonderful sentiment: "Happiness is a cup of coffee shared with a friend"!   That is because I am sharing some "Sneak Peeks" at some of our NEW MARCH RELEASE products!  There are FOUR brand new sets coming your way in March all with a HOT beverage theme!  So exciting!  You will learn more about these sets during our Paper Sweeties March Release Countdown Activities:

March 13th:  Planner Blog Hop
March 14th:  March Release Sneak Peeks Blog Hop
March 15th:  March Release Party Blog Hop
March 16th:  March Release Rewind

Now onto today's card:


I decided to use the lovely NEW sentiment as the "steam" coming up from my hot cup of coffee.  I added some white ink at the base of my cup so that it looks like the cup is sitting on a tablecloth. A very simple and clean card with just a touch of sparkle added with 3 adorable flower shaped "frosting" sequins from the Paper Sweeties store!

 Thanks so much for visiting me today.  Here are links to all of the designers participating in today's Paper Sweeties Challenge Blog Hop:


Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
March Guest Designer:  Jinny Newlin


We are blessed to have the wonderful Jinny Newlin guest designing with us this month!  Welcome back Jinny!  Always so fun to have you join us!

Happy Creating Everyone!  I cannot wait to share more cards using all of the wonderful new products coming your way in March!
Hugs,
Jill

NOTE:  New Products shown above will be available on March 15th at Paper Sweeties: HERE



Make it Monday #276: Kraft and Colored Pencils with a piece of cake.....



Hello....here to share a quick card today that I colored up for this week's Make it Monday hosted by the sweet Melissa Phillips.  I pulled out my Kraft card stock and the "What the doodle: a piece of cake" stamp set from Papertrey Ink and created this birthday card:


This is a wonderful image for coloring. I used my Prima colored pencil sets to color up this sweet birthday cake slice, the cherry, and the plate and fork.  I also used both sentiments that come with this set.  I used the "Let's eat cake & celebrate" sentiment as a border down the right side of my tag die cut (Poppy Stamps) stamped in peony ink.  The "Happy Birthday" was embossed in the same white embossing powder as all of the images.  I used a doily to decorate the tag and added three "frosting" flower sequins from Paper Sweeties for a little shine!

Thanks for taking a look at my card!  I ended up embossing and coloring several images from Papertrey today so I may get to put together a few more cards this week.  Thanks for the wonderful inspiration video Melissa!  I enjoyed this fun technique!
:) Jill

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Papertrey Ink February 2017 Blog Hop: Kindness has a beautiful way....


Hello Friends!  I am so excited to be participating in Papertrey Ink's February Blog Hop:


I have so many incredible Papertrey Ink stamp sets that do not get used enough so my goal for this year is to try and use them more often and to participate in blog hops and MIM's as I can.  Today I was inspired by the gold embossing on the black and the color grey as well as the pinks and purples of this beautiful photo!


 I started by embossing Heather's beautiful "Rustic Wreath" image stamp onto a black card stock square using Stampendous Jewel Gold Embossing Powder.

 I then embossed this wonderful Kindness sentiment and sunshine image from one of my very favorite sentiment sets "Choose Joy" in the center of the wreath image.

I chose a lovely grey floral paper from a "Tilda" paper pad to create the background on my true black card base.  I then wrapped the square wreath piece around to the back of the card so that part of the wreath decorates and adds interest to it. I wanted to keep the focus of the card on this wonderful sentiment but still  felt that the wreath needed something textural added to it so I then took a pink watercolor pencil and colored in every other leaf image around the wreath.  I think this added the perfect finishing touch to this simple but beautiful card. I also rounded the lower right corners of the image panel and card panels to add more interest.

 I have to say that I love these images together and may have to make several more of these cards to have on hand and share.  I truly feel that kindness is universally the most important language we all share each day!  And it is one of my "Mom-isms" that is said to my son as he gets out of the car each morning at school:  "Remember to smile and be kind!  They are your biggest gifts to the world each day!". 

Thanks for taking a look at my card!  I am so happy I got one made!  Yay for Mid-Winter break!  Off to see what everyone else created!
 
Hugs,
Jill

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Bunny Hugs and Kisses....Simon Says: Fantastic Florals


Hello Friends,
I made a card last night after viewing all of the wonderful inspiration from the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Fantastic Florals!  I do not own a single Altenew stamp set.  What?!!!!!!  I know - shocking isn't it?  So...I decided to use my "Popping In" stamp set from Waffle Flower for my challenge card.  The little bunnies and chick make me think of SPRING! 


My flowers on my card are the vase of flowers as well as the pretty floral background paper which is acting like a wallpaper on my card.  This floral paper is digital from Iralamija's Shop on ETSY.  I also added some strips of a light pink gingham and a striped patterned paper from my scraps.

 The sentiment is from a stamp set called "Bunny Hugs and Kisses" from Paper Sweeties.  I thought it went well with the sweet bunny rabbits popping out of the drawer! I used a micron pen to add the words "Love", "Kindness" and "Joy" as titles to the book bindings!  So cute!

Thanks for taking a look at my card!  Today is Thursday and I am looking forward to Friday and the beginning of Mid-Winter Break and a little vacation.  Hope you enjoy your weekend too!
Jill





Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Paper Sweeties February 2017 Release Rewind


Hello again!  We are back today to share more inspiration for the February Paper Sweeties Release!  Today is the day that we mix the new releases with some of the wonderful existing Paper Sweeties products.

In case you missed the release yesterday here are links to the new sets that came out:


New Products & Links:

Planner Series: Wedding

Basket Add-on: Hoppy Easter
Basket Add-on: Hoppy Easter Sweet Cuts

 I decided to add the sweet new bunny from the "Basket Add-on: Hoppy Easter" sets to one of our lovely coffee and tea themed stamps/sweet cuts sets called "Eat Cake":



  

On this card I created a girl bunny and placed her so that just one of her little paws is sticking out of the tea cup.
 Some black and white grosgrain ribbon cut into some banner shapes along with a green button tied with pink embroidery floss finish this card off.



And on this card I made a boy bunny and placed him straight across the teacup.

A few more pieces of grosgrain ribbon this time in turquoise are again cut into banner shapes for finishing touches.  Then I added a few flowers to finish this card off.

I am adding these sweet cards to the "Word Art Wednesday" Challenge that my new design team member Karen Letchworth told me about. 

You can check it out at Word Art Wednesday.blogspot.com.

The lovely scripture for this week is:



Now it is time to visit the rest of our wonderful designers:


I cannot wait to take a look at everyone's projects myself!  It is always so fun to see what everyone creates!

Thanks for joining us for the February Release at Paper Sweeties !  We are so happy that you did!  And thank you to everyone that visited my blog and to those who left such sweet comments!  I read each and every one!!!!

  I hope that you will join in the current February Challenge too!  The theme is ANYTHING GOES!!!!
 You can link up at the Paper Sweeties Blog or on our Paper Sweeties Inspiration page on Facebook!  As always there is a Gift Certificate and a guest deisgn spot in a future Challenge for the winner! 


Happy Crafting!
Jill



Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Celebrating the Past, Present, and Future with PTI



Hello Friends:
Are you following along with the wonderful celebration at Papertrey Ink for their 10th Anniversary?
I have a special place in my heart for Nichole and the entire Papertrey Family. The very first set of stamps I ever purchased online was from Papertrey Ink after seeing a card made with their products in a stamping magazine when I first started getting interested in card making.  Nichole's posts on her blog, along with those of all of the design team members over the years literally taught me how to stamp and design cards.  I have come a long way from my early days of card making but am still learning and growing with each card I make. What a blessing it is to have all of these wonderful designers to learn from!
 
Tonight I stole a little time to create and made a quick birthday card for my sister using inspiration from the "Celebrating the Past, Present, and Future: 2010" post at Nichole's blog "Capture the Moment".

I call this a "scrap" card in that I did not cut any die cuts or papers to create it.  I only used existing "scraps" that were laying on my desk.  I always have a TON of leftover cuts after working on designs for the latest Paper Sweeties release that I just finished creating for.  I will eventually sort them into a die-cut file I keep on my desk but I thought it would be fun to make some cards first tonight before my big CLEAN-UP which follows all of my deadlines each month.  My desk always looks like a cyclone hit it by the time I finish! LOL!

Here are the products that I used to create my card:
I love the "Wreath for All Seasons" stamp set and have made many cards with it over the years.  I love its versatility! My favorite stamp in the set is that teeny tiny flower!!!! I added an entire row of them to the base of the card to ground it and two more to draw your eye through the card to the sentiment.  I used my Autumn Rose ink pad on the scalloped die cut to create a kind of rustic inked look by using the edge of the pad and sort of brushing it against the cardstock at an angle.  I like the texture it added to the card. :)

And before I go.....just for fun.... here is a set of cards that I made for the September 2013 Blog Hop:

 Thanks for taking a look!
Happy Crafting!
Jill

Paper Sweeties February 2017 New Release Party!

 Hello Freinds!  It's PARTY TIME at Paper SWEETIES



Today all of the new products we have been showcasing the past few days are available to purchase:


New Products & Links:

Planner Series: Wedding



Basket Add-on: Hoppy Easter



Basket Add-on: Hoppy Easter Sweet Cuts

I made several cards to share with you so let's get started:

First up I made three identical notecards with different colored gingham backgrounds:

The first one is Pink Gingham:
 Each of the cards features the lamb and bird from the "Hippity Hoppity Easter Wishes" stamps and sweet cuts sets as well as the adorable bunny from the newly released "Basket Add-On: Hoppy Easter" stamp set.  I had fun paper piecing parts of the images and coloring them with Copic Markers.
I added a teeny tiny paper-pieced flower to the lamb from the New "Basket Add-on: Hoppy Easter" stamps/sweet cuts.  This is the same tiny flower die that I used yesterday to make the felt flowers under my sequins on my circle card set.  I love it!!!!

I paper pieced the bunny's bow and clothing.

 And I added a paper-pieced wing to each of the birds at an angle to the first wing which I colored with Copic marker!  It's all about the little details don't you think?  They make me smile!

Here are pictures of the other two cards:

Turquoise Gingham:
Here I used a sweet floral patterned paper for my paper piecing. 

And light green gingham:
And here a sweet green and pink striped patterned paper.  I love how they all turned out!!!!! And I decided to not add a sentiment to them YET!  That way I can use them for all sorts of Spring Occasions from Birthday's to Easter!

I have one last card to share today:

This one features the main elements from the "Basket Add-On: Hoppy Easter" ensemble.  
The basket is stamped in sweet blush ink.  To it I added the adorable Easter eggs which I paper pieced from a variety of papers.  Then the adorable bunny was added just above the sentiment which is from the "Jelly Bean Time" stamp set.  I tied a piece of torn pink fabric for a bow at the top of the basket but there is also an adorable bow you can stamp to add to the basket too.  I finished off the card with three of the teeny tiny felt flowers and some pretty watermelon sequins.

And the background is an embossed panel of cherry blossoms that I colored with Copic markers.  It is layered onto a piece of green cardstock and then I added to strips of patterned paper to the bottom of the card to ground the basket.

Whoo!  Are you still with me?  Sorry that was kind of a long post!!!!  I now get to send you off to the lovely Karen Letchworth's blog:  My Cup Runneth Over! 
And here are all of today's blog hop links in case you want to start at the beginning or as I like to do at the end and work my way back:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood (You Are Here)
Karen Letchworth  (Go Here Next!)
Nancy Salkeld 

Come join us all again tomorrow for the Release Rewind!  We will be mixing these new sets with some of our existing sets to show you lots of inspiring possibilities!
Happy Crafting!
Jill