Thursday, February 5, 2015

Papertrey Ink 8th Anniversary Celebration - Day 1 Inspiration Challenge


Hi Friends,
It has been way, WAY, way too long since I made a card for a Papertrey Ink challenge!!! Today is the start of their 8th Anniversary Celebration and I decided that even if I only had a few minutes tonight I was going to whip a card together - no matter what!!!!  The Papertrey Family is an endless source of inspiration and design education in my life! Everything I know about design I have absorbed from their blogs and videos and tutorials and inspiration - ENDLESS INSPIRATION!!!!!  I am still learning....always learning....and I will continue to learn by watching these wonderful women....THANKS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR ALL YOU DO!  And Happy 8th Anniversary to an incredible company full of wonderful people!

So here are my choices of inspiration from Nicole's blog post:
 I always struggle to use 5 colors on a card for some reason.....but found a paper that had a lot of these colors in it.
I deviated from the sketch slightly...my circle element is a strawberry and I eliminated the banner because of the sentiment I chose to use.  Here is my very quick card.....


  I needed a "thank you" note and this was my first idea.  I love this Fruit Fusion: Berry Stamp Set that Melissa Bickford designed and I wanted to use something in her honor to say a sweet "Goodbye" and "Thank You" for all of her wonderful designs over the years!

I used a Magnolia Die to create the textured strawberry and then inked it with several colors of ink to color it.  I put a pure poppy strawberry diecut underneath the inked berry slightly offset to add dimension and color.  Sorry about the bad photo....will try to retake in the light tomorrow morning....(new photo added 2-6-15 at 10:03am)

Thanks for taking a look!
Hugs,
Jill



Saturday, January 31, 2015

Paper Sweeties February Inspiration Challenge #28 - 'Sweetheart'

Today I have a card for the February Inspiration Challenge at Paper Sweeties! Here is our inspiration photo:


 Isn't that a "Sweetheart" of a picture!  Love the gingham and bows and pretty colors!

I want to give a special welcome to this month's Guest Designer Sierra Winters!  We are so glad that you are here!

 I decided to create a shaker card with a banner going across the heart-shaped aperture using one of my favorite stamps from a Paper Sweeties set called "Fun Shapes".  Isn't this heart with the "xox" sentiment adorable?!?!  There is also a matching set of Sweet Cuts Dies to go with it!
I added lots of lovely "Robin Egg"  and  "Sweetheart Mix" Sequins from Paper Sweeties as well as some others I had in my crafty stash.  It makes such a lovely sound when you give it a good little shake! 
And here is a peek at the inside of the card.  The sentiment "Sending Warm Hugs and Kisses" is from the "Let it Snow" stamp set.  I think it is the perfect sentiment to go with all of the "xox" hearts on the front of the card!

Have you heard about the Paper Sweeties Design Team Call?


 If you enjoy creating with Debbie's lovely Paper Sweeties stamps and sweet cuts you may be interested in trying out for the design team.  You can find all of the information about the Design Team Call on this post at the Paper Sweeties Blog:  HERE.


We hope that you will join in this month's "Sweetheart" challenge.  There is a lovely prize up for grabs along with a chance to become a guest designer for Paper Sweeties. You can play along using any products or stamps you have in your crafty stash....or you can also use the free digital stamps available on the Paper Sweeties website: HERE. 

Here is a link list to help you navigate today's blog hop.  You should have arrived here from our host Debbie's blog at Paper Sweeties and I will be sending you off to the lovely and talented Jinny Newlin's blog.  Jinny is our special Guest Designer once again and always has something special to share! 

                                                                  Annette Witherspoon
                                          February Guest Designer:  Sierra Winters


Thanks for joining in the fun today! Happy Hopping!
:) Jill


 




Thursday, January 15, 2015

Paper Sweeties January Release Rewind


Hello Paper Sweeties Fans!  Today is the Paper Sweeties Release Rewind for January! Did you treat yourself to some of the lovely new Paper Sweeties products yesterday?  I cannot wait to see what you make with them! Happy Mail is my favorite kind of mail!  LOL!

Today I have some more lovely projects to share with you.  Today is the day that we combine the new stamp sets with some of the existing Paper Sweeties.  First I have some more inspiration using the adorable giraffe stamp....

These have got to be my favorite thing that I created for this release!  They are sweet little cupcake toppers created with the new "Bouncing Baby" stamp set!

 

 I used Debbie's lovely Robin Egg and Cotton Candy paper straws cut into thirds as the holder for each of these giraffe cupcake toppers.  To me it looks like they escaped from our local carousel at the Woodland Park Zoo here in Seattle.  I had a heck of a time keeping these delicious goodies safe from my son's hands so I could get a few pictures....after I finished taking pictures they disappeared rather quickly!  Way too tempting for a growing boy....and for me too! Yummy! 

Then there is this lovely gift bag and matching card.  This could be used for a baby shower or a small child's birthday party. 

The card has the sentiment "A Gift For You" from the "You're Invited" stamp set. 

Now for some creative combining of the new sets with some of the existing stamps and products from Paper Sweeties.....
How about a pink gingham elephant shaker card shown with those sweet giraffe-topped cupcakes?  I created it with some of the pretty Marshmallow and Cotton Candy Sequins that Debbie carries in her shop.  I also added some fun pink seed beads I had in my stash.



 Here is a closer view of the card....I love the sweet Paper Sweeties flower-shaped sequins with the beads! So cute!

The sweet pink gingham elephant is standing up for us and holding a hand-made sign that says "Wish" from the "You're invited" stamp set. I just stamped the word and then cut around it to make a sign shape.  Can you guess what she is standing on?  That is the bottom portion of the cupcake from Paper Sweeties set called "Sending Sweet Thoughts".  I turned it upside down and added a selectively inked star from "Party Time" to create a circus animal stand. I just love finding multiple uses for stamps!

Here is one last shot of everything I made for today's Paper Sweeties Release Rewind:
Over the Christmas holidays I had lots of crafty time and so enjoyed creating all of these fun items!  These new stamp sets are so wonderful!  

Now it is time for me to send you off to the lovely Julie Tucker-Woleck's blog.  Here is a list of the entire team in case you want to start the hop from the beginning:

It has been so fun sharing the January Release with all of you! Thanks for your sweet comments!

Don't forget our January Inspiration challenge that is going on over at the Paper Sweeties Blog: HERE.  You have a chance to win a $20.00 gift certificate to Paper Sweeties and a spot as a guest designer too!  We would love to have you join in the fun!
Thanks and Happy Crafting!
Jill







Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Paper Sweeties January Release Party


Welcome to the January Release Party for Paper Sweeties!  Today is the day that you can purchase all of the new products in the store!  Yay!

I have some wonderful baby boy inspiration for you today similar to the baby girl inspiration I posted the day before yesterday.  Lots of pictures today so let's get started...

 I made a gift bag with a pinwheel decoration, a small 4x4 inch card, and the 3 pinwheels on straws for the center-piece.

I love how just making a pinwheel and adding it to a plain white bag with some hot-glue makes it look so festive!

And of course I had to make a matching card:

 I curved the sentiment stamps on my block before stamping them so that they could follow the curve of the circle mat.  I love this look with the sweet elephant in the middle!

And here is one more picture of the pinwheels. I used some of Debbie's striped "strawberry" paper straws to create them but I was one short so I found a polka dotted one in my stash. :)

I used both of the wonderful new stamp sets to create my projects for today.  Here are links to the new products:

You should have arrived here from Debbie's blog at the Paper Sweeties website.  Your next stop is at the lovely Julie Tucker-Wolek's blog!

Here is the entire Paper Sweeties teamies link list:
Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood  (You are Here)
I hope you will join me here tomorrow for the Paper Sweeties Release Rewind!  I have some more fun items to share with you!
Thanks so much for visiting!  I so enjoy sharing crafty time with you!
:) Jill

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Paper Sweeties January Release Countdown




Yay!  It's countdown time at PAPER SWEETIES!
 Did you hop with us yesterday to see all of the wonderful creations by the design team?  I am loving the new stamps and dies that Debbie has designed!

Today I decided to focus on a simple CAS card for a little baby boy!  I used the "Bundle of Joy" stamp set and Sweet Cuts to create the sweet baby clothes on the line.
I added some wink of stella clear glitter pen to the baby booties to add just a touch of sparkle!
The sentiment "It's a Boy" is from the "Bouncing Baby" set also being released this month.

You should have arrived here from Debbie's blog on the Paper Sweeties Website.  Here is the entire link list:


Your next stop is at the lovely Julie Tucker-Wolek's blog!
See you tomorrow for the release party!
 All of the new products will be for sale!  Yay!




Crafty Hugs!
:) Jill

Monday, January 12, 2015

Paper Sweeties January Sneak Peeks



Hello and welcome to January Sneak Peeks for Paper Sweeties!

I am so excited to be sharing my first release projects for Paper Sweeties!  I am totally in love with the stamps and dies that are coming out this week on January 15th!  They are so versatile and adorable!

This month Debbie is releasing two new stamp sets and one set of Sweet Cuts dies. I used both stamp sets in my creations for today. 

I started by creating a Baby Shower Center-piece featuring 3 pinwheels.  The pinwheels include "Cotton Candy Straws" and  "Cotton Candy Seam Binding" from the Paper Sweeties store.
  Two of the pinwheels feature the sweet elephant and giraffe from the new "Bouncing Baby" stamp set.  The third pinwheel includes one of the sentiments from this same set.  Here is a closer view:


  Next I created a Baby Shower invitation:

The invite used several stamp sets:
Bouncing Baby Stamps  (Available on 1-15-2015)  

Alphas Lower Case Stamps
Alphas Upper Case Stamps
You're Invited Stamps

The last thing I created was a sweet baby card:
 The sentiment was selectively inked using the word "Sweet" from the "You Make me Smile" stamp set and the word "Baby" from the "Let it Snow" stamp set.

I stamped the elephant 3x and then cut out her ear and the heart and popped them up!  I love the dimension it added!  Here is a closer view:

Here is a photo of the pinwheels in full:


And one last photo of everything I made for today's sneak peek's:

Thanks for joining in the fun today!  Your next stop along the hop is at the lovely Julie Tucker-Wolek's blog. Or if you would like to start at the beginning of the hop here is the entire link list:

Enjoy hopping around to see all of the incredible creations the team has put together for today. You are in for some beautiful eye candy for sure!  And join us for the next several days as we continue to showcase the new stamps and dies!  See you tomorrow!
Crafty Hugs!
Jill


Paper Sweeties products used: (NOTE: New Products are not included in this link list)












Sunday, January 11, 2015

A Special Birthday Card....

Hi Friends,
Here to share a very special birthday card for my sister Natalie who will be the big "50" on January 12th.

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!!

We are going to a special birthday dinner for her tonight.  For two whole days she will be 2 years older than me!  I like to tease her about being my "much older" sister for those two days!  Just kidding!  We missed being Irish Twins by just 48 hours!  Growing up everyone thought we were twins anyway which was a lot of fun!
My sister Natalie is one of the most positive people I know.  She has gumption, fortitude, and walks closely with the Lord in good times and bad.  I am so blessed to call her my sister and to have her as my best friend too!  She reminds me so much of my Grandma Joyce who is no longer with us.  So in the shaker part of this card I used some of my Grandma Joyce's sequins and seed pearls that I received after she passed on.  I thought it was appropriate for Natalie's special day!  The "Happy" sentiment is from Paper Sweeties. The tiny tag and numbers are from Papertrey Ink.

Here is a picture that I have shared before of the two of us at my sister Beth's wedding shower last year....

Thanks for taking a look!
Hugs,
Jill

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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:

                                               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









Wednesday, December 3, 2014

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









Monday, December 1, 2014

"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:

  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