My Paper Pumpkin Month 2

I love the Stampin' Up! monthly card kit I get in the mail each month. All the supplies (except adhesive) are sent to make 4 cards. I really like the surprise of seeing what is in the box each month.

Just like any kit - there are times when I don't like every part of the kit but with a little bit of creativity I can make the project just how I want it. This months kit is a perfect example. The words in the stamps are not exactly my cup of tea - I would never say I love your guts or kick your booty Maybe I would use the largest word  which is Seriously...but I adore the paper, tags and buttons that came with the kit.

Below you see two cards that I made in "seriously" (oops  now they have me saying it so I may just use that 3rd stamp after all LOL) 10 minutes. It took me the longest amount of time to get the twine to stay where I wanted it on the hey there card - I ended up putting a piece of tape on the back of the panel to hold it in place

This card uses the sentiment from the first My Paper Pumpkin kit. All the rest of the supplies (except the adhesive and not quite navy ink) arrived in the box.

How is this for a fast, easy and great Father's Day card?

 As I have mentioned before - masculine cards are not easy for me. I have a goal to make more of them since I assume that the more I practice - the easier it will be.

I adore the pattern on this card. All I did was stamp the sentiment from teeny tiny wishes in not quite navy ink on the speech bubble sticker...card done...fast

Now that I have had two months and the try me kit - so three Paper Pumpkin kits here is my review of the product.

1.The quality of the supplies is fabulous. The card bases are made out of sturdy cardstock and the inside is white for easy writing of personal messages.

2. The ink spots that come in each kit are fabulous. For those just getting into Stampin'Up or stamping in general its a wonderful way to build your supply of colors. For those of us that have been participating for a while - the little spots are great for traveling and taking your supplies to someone else's house to work  on projects.

3.No kit will ever be perfect and please all of us all the time but I find the parts of the Paper Pumpkin that don't appeal as much to me are the favorite parts for some of my friends. It's easy to work around the few items I didn't like. Honestly I wish I could buy a bunch of card bases in this months pattern. Well...I loved the yellow pattern of last months too so much that I'm hoarding my last piece (yikes did I just publicly admit ON THE INTERNET that I hoard paper supplies...shocking!)

4. Its FUN to get a surprise in the mail each month and to have someone else plan the project. NO matter how hectic the month is I find I can carve out 10 minutes here and there to get my creative fix.

To order My Paper Pumpkin
What are your thoughts on My Paper Pumpkin? Any questions?  If so just comment below.

Stampin' Up! retired list is here!!

 The annual retired stamp and accessory list is up! Stop by the following links to see if there is something you want...then go to my store and order. Remember - the retiring  accessories are only available while supplies last. Retiring stamps will be available until May 31, 2013.

Retired Stamp List

Retired Acessory List

Stampin" Up! retires lots of items each year to make way for new and exciting products. I just ordered my first sneak peek items and can't wait for them to arrive!

Thanks for stopping by Andrea

My first Digital layout!!

So I finally decided to try the Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio software (MDS) that has been sitting on my computer for too long for me to admit.

I had signed up for Heather and Kimberly's MDS 10 day class hoping that would get me motivated...and it DID. Thanks Ladies.

Here is a layout of my dog -using the This and That digital kit. I did not like an element of the background paper for this layout (it said Inventory) so first I make a photo box and filled it with patterned paper to cover it but I didn't like it. Once I moved the Calypso Coral paper block the word Inventory popped back up. So I used the chevron embellishment and grouped 4 of them together to make a border. 

I really enjoyed this process and do plan to make more digital projects BUT I still really love playing with real paper the best.!

Thanks for stopping by! Andrea

Paper Players Challenge #142 - CAS

I've been wanting to get back into doing some of the great card challenges again. This week I decided to play along with the Paper Players. This ended up being more of a "challenge" for me than I intended. This weeks challenge is to do a one layer card. YIKES!!! I am not sure what my "style" is but I can tell you I tend to add lots of layers and embellishements.

Here is my CAS one layer card.....

  

and GASP....I like it!!

I am going to need to send cards internationally to my DD next year - so the bulky blingy cards aren't going to work all the time...maybe this is the start of something new for me???

The base is Sahara Sand. I used Sahara Sand and Raspberry Ripple Ink. The stamp sets are Beyond Plaid from the Spring Catalog  ;Lacey and Lovely from the main catalog for the Miss You and Best of Butterflies, the butterflies trail is from Sent With Love where I put a piece of scotch tape over the airplane so it wouldn't get inked.

Thanks for stopping by!! Till next time....Andrea

Masculine Birthday

I know that I am not alone in having difficulty making masculine cards. One of my current goals is to overcome this. My Father In Laws Birthday was the other day and here is the card I made him.

 Here are the ideas that I kept in mind when making this card.

1.Choose colors that are "masculine" In this case I used the soon to be retired Not Quite Navy, Whisper White and Daffodil Delight Cardstock.

2. My friend and upline Deb does a great job of using pieces of patterned paper on her cards so my second tip is to use a strip of DSP. This is a strip of Parkers Patterns from the Spring Catalog.

3.  Cluster embellishments - I used
       a) argyles of the Beyond Plaid stamp set from the Spring Catalog (I hope this is carried to the new catalog because I LOVE it)
       b) Happy Birthday from Itty Bitty Banners in Cherry Cobbler Ink
       c) The gifts are from a retired SU! set

4.  "White Space"  Lately I've been trying to analyze what I like about a card when I say I like it. Frequently there is a lot of the background of the card that is not covered with designs (paper or stamped images). I call that white space because it is frequently left white when the base of the card is white. I think this lets the eye rest a bit and draws the attention to the focal point of the card.

All in all this card came together relatively easily.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Andrea

A few Cards and an update

Well - I'm back...can't believe its been so long but I'm back into regularly crafting and (hopefully) regularly posting. Lately I've become mostly a card maker - although scrapbooking is still in my plans for the summer. I just took the plunge and did something I've wanted to do for along time - signed up with Stampin Up as a demo. I love their stuff and mostly use it so....

Here are a couple of cards that I've made lately that I love

This card started as a way to use up my stash of buttons. This card uses two of my paper crafting obsessions - clouds and banners. 

I was so pleased with the above card that I decided to try it again. This time I used the SU! owl punch and the clouds are the tops of the SU! cupcake punch. I seem to love dimension on my cards - which makes for difficult mailing. As both my DDs will be away starting this summer I've tried to make more mailable cards. So instead of buttons I layered cardstock circle punches ontop of each other and punched holes to make them look like buttons. Once I had tied the bakers twine I covered with with crystal effects to look shiny like real buttons.

This is an old retired SU rose set. I've used two of my favorites - newsprint DSP and the new SU! hexagon embossing folder

This is not the best picture but I really like the dimension of the flowers created by curling the petals over my stylus. Again an attempt for texture without creating bulk. Hopefully this will be mailable.

Thats all for now. Thanks for anyone who may be visiting. 

PPA108-CAS-Elements of Style-Soften the Edges

Today's card is a result of using up some of the left over product sitting on my desk - if y'all saw my desk you would shake your head - I am one of those messy workers and always running so I never seem to clean up before the NEED to craft hits again. During the early part of this week I made a minialbum/card for DH for our 25th wedding anniversary. It was in blue and brown - hence today's colors.

I also did something else that makes me happy - I went to my little box of stuff I've stamped but rejected for other projects and found this tree from SU! Thoughts and Prayers. Added an owl from the retired forest friends. The card looked tooo plain so I took the little tree from forest friends and w/ versamark made my own patterned paper ....again!  A bit of HL ribbon and retired SU! brads and  I'm done.

c/s - SU! chocolate chip, one of SU! retired blues - not sure which one.

Patterned paper - scraps from the SU! MDS journaling I did for the card - its script in brown but I think my color ink was low so it doesn't match any specific SU! color

I haven't ever made a square card - but this was the size of c/s left over and I just scored down the middle and it was a square......

This morning I found the PPA108-CAS-Elements of Style-Soften the Edges challenge and it motivated me for todays card. Check 'em out - its a fun place.
 I didn't realize till after that the colors were blue and brown as well.
thanks for stopping by! Andrea

PDCC 95 and CFC 16

Playing along with challenges is fun!! I'm playing with two new (to me) challenges. The Play Date Cafe and CAS-ual Fridays

I haven't figured out how to make the picture link back to their website so here is the link
http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/2011/08/play-date-cafe-challenge-pdcc95.html

http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/2011/08/cfc16.html

Take 5 on this post LOL - I so need blogger for dummies (If it exists if not someone needs to write it LOL)

I wanted to make a thank you gift for a sweet woman - Florence who kindly brought and delivered a yummy gourmet dessert from red adzuki beans this weekend.

I let the above challenges guide my design decisions

Color for Play Date Cafe.

 Mine are SU! colors Not Quite Navy, Wild Wasabi, and Regal Rose

Embossing for CAS-ual Fridays

I used the SU! embossing folder dots and versamark and clear embossing powder. Embossing is my favorite technique so I had to play along!

Here is a post it note holder. I haven't made one of these in AGES. I had the blue focal point in a box of do-dads that never made it to other projects - I tried but I can't find the stamp set to see what the name is - I may have borrowed it or used it at a stamp party at one time.

 I made a coordinating mini legal pad. The butterflies are my fav part of it. I attached an extra piece of chipboard (i.e. cereal box) under the mini legal pad to give it extra stability.

Here is the thank you card - yet another center step card :).....They just make such a pretty presentation! 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

More of the Thank You Card Gift Set

Todays post includes more of the note cards I made as a Thank You gift for a family that hosted my DD for a few days. I was really hesitant to sent them - I know this family appreciates hand made items but I don't know - I wasn't sure if it was too forward to send my cards...my insecurity showing I suppose.

I decided to make all the cards in SU! Bashful Blue, Always Artichocke and Crumb Cake. Mainly cuz I had lots of those colors LOL.

I also wanted all the cards to have a common item of crochet ribbon trim that I got from Hobby Lobby.
(which I sadly used up and they changed the pattern when I went back)
The stamps were an assortment from my stash.

This first picture is the box I made for the cards. The denim layer is more of the leg from a pair of cutoff blue jeans. The iris is an old single stamp I had in my stash and I had to carefully stamp it so it was a grouping.

More blue jeans - this is actually the other 1/2 of the denim top note from the card the other day. I water colored the bird which is from the now (sadly) retired SU! Friends 24-7. Good thing I'm NOT a demo cuz this is my favorite ever stamp set and I will use it for ever and ever!

I was hesitant about this one because I wasn't sure they would need a Birthday Card but I really liked the card and included it. The bird is from SU! Nature Walk.

 Some more of the Iris stamp (my fav flower). I sent a few more cards but can't find the pix for them. Ok I've rambled enough - if you've stuck around this long -----THANKS for visiting.

Hope to be back tomorrow with a few challenges - If I FINISH them LOL
Andrea

Paper Players Challenge #59 - a pink notepad

Today I'm back with another challenge - this one in shades of pink.

I had an appointment to take my Dad for a check up - it had the potential to be not so good - BTW it turned out great. So I knew I wanted to take some notes and my mood wasn't the best - nothing cheers me or settles my nerves like stamping. Paper crafting in general but stamping in particular.

 So about a half hour before I had to leave, I grabbed some SU! pink goodness. Note: SU! c/s is a must for this project cuz it's so thick it is sturdy. I took out my favorite versamark, clear embossing powdeer and Vintage Vogue.

I didn't follow a pattern - although I'm sure there are some on the web. I just cut my 8.5 x.11 cardstock to alittle over 8 inches (thats how long the notepad is). I placed the notepad on the cardstock and lightly marked where the score lines should be. As I didn't have alot of time - I kept the decorations CAS.

Sometimes I'm such a computer dummy its ridiculous :)   I can't believe how easy it was to put the above Challenge pix on the blog - in the past challenges I've only put a link cuz I thought I didn't know how ----all I had to do was copy and paste ---man

Thanks for visiting!!

Andrea

PPA 106 and Alacardmonkey 69 Challenges

So far my goal of working on challenges has indeed brought me into my crafting space more!! Life is getting a bit hectic lately and the name of my blog is so true - crafting keeps me sane! Its like a big hug -a trip to the beach - an escape from the world for a bit isn't it?

I decided to use up some of my stash on this card - actually if you look at the second picture you'll see the notecard box I made (from a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers). I decided to slowly make cards to fill up this box and leave it looking pretty on my desk till I need the cards.

This is a gatefold card.

It's for the challenge of  Pals  Paper Arts Dress for Sucess - 1 punch, 1 designer paper and 1 sentiment

http://www.palspaperarts.com/2011/08/ppa106-dress-for-success.html

It doesn't show up on this picture (I took it at night in the rain - not smart I know :)  )but the baja breeze cardstock layer is stamped in versamark with the floral image from Vintage Vogue

This card also meets the requirements of A La Card Monkey for a thinking of you card.

http://alacardmonkey.blogspot.com/

I just found this website - looks like a fun place and I'll definately be back!!

Do you like the big pearl on my card?? My favorite sandals broke and it had these pearls on the straps  - so I cut them off and have them on my table to add to projects.

This is the barebones of the box. I put a ribbon with sparkly things hanging down but haven't figured out how I want to embellish it yet.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

Thank you in Pink and Grey

I had the "guts" of this card sitting on my desk for ever!!! I wanted to play with the colors Pink Pirhouette and Grey from SU! for a while but after I cut the cardstock, rouned the corners and tied the bow -- my mojo or inspiration or whatever you call it - vanished. Boom GONE. So this card to be sat on my desk for a couple of months. Unti today. I needed a thank you card for a sweet lady and decided to give this a go.

It isn't very original in that during SU! Sale-a-bration the Bliss set was often shown with accent pearls - but you know what - it still looks soft and pretty - just what I was going for.

Stampin up Nature Walk

I have had a difficult time with using this set - Nature Walk by SU!. I don't find it easy to do the collage look that is so popular now -

 Here is my attempt - and I actually like it LOL.

I second generation stamped the floral and bird cage images on the ivory cardstock. For the focal point I water colored the floral and butterfly image.

I really love the bit of crochet trim (Hobby Lobby) - too bad I only have about 4 inches left and they didn't have any when I was there yesterday (they had a different pattern and we'll see if it looks good another day)

Thanks for stopping by - leave me a comment so I know you've been by and I'll stop and see you too!

Andrea

Happy 84th DAD - Our creative Corner Challenge

I'm trying to stick to my motivational plan of doing some challenges. Today I decided to do the one at Our Creative Corner

http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-and-aqua-color-challenge_30.html

The challenge was to use turqoise and red.

My Dad's 84th Birthday is tomorrow so I thought I'd give it a try.

Well let me tell you -" the challenge" (read that hard part) wasn't the colors - it is HARD to make a masculine card!!!

Here is the envelope I made out of very old old old SU! dsp from years and years ago - so long ago that it isn't double sided!

I promise to make some other type of card - soon LOL but I thought my DAD would enjoy this fun fold.

Here is the side view - love these cards.

I have lots of pieces I made that didn't make it to this card so sometime soon I'll show you a card with the leftovers!

Thanks for stopping by. Andrea

Happy Birthday SHARON

Do you ever feel like a "bad" friend - or at least not a good one? I was talking to my dear friend (and SU! demo) Sharon and in the midst of talking she mentioned today was her BDAY ----what kinda friend am I that after all these years its not on my calendar???

So after we got off the phone I went to my stash of old old old SU! stuff and made the above card -Sharon loves bright colors so I think this green galore (which is retired) and tempting turqouise (which is still current) and old SU! PP fits the bill.

 
I love this style of card - not sure the name but its super easy. Below is another example I made. If you look at the last photo you can see the dimension and fun fold of the card - only bad thing - it doesn't fit into an A2 envelope..

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

A CAS Thank YOU

This is another card from the gift set I made. Its actually the first CAS card I've made that I liked. It actually motivated me to try some more CAS cards. I posted another one yesterday.

I decided to make the whole gift set from SU! colors Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue and Crumb Cake. I got those colors from the color coach. I found them hard to work with - the blue seemed too bright but I enjoyed the challenge of making it work.

I decided that all the cards in this gift set would have a bit of the lace ribbon.

This card is always artichoke (so not obvious in the picture huh?). I used 1/2 of a crumb cake top note embossed with the SU! dots folder. I had purchased these  retired vanilla hodgepodge hardware from a SU! demo at SB expo.

Thanks for stopping by!!! Andrea

Sometimes it just works out nicely

I made a set of notecards for my DD to give to a family that was hosting her a few days. This is one of them - over the next few days I'll try and show some more.

I just really love this one. I've seen lots of clean and simple designs (CAS) over the last few months and never really liked any of my attempts - does this count as CAS?

I used SU! cardstock Crumb Cake that I run through their lattice embossing folder. My daughter cut a pair of jeans into shorts and I used one of the legs for the SU! top note die - I love the look IRL -The bird is from Nature Walk (also SU!). The ribbon is crochet trim from Hobby Lobby. If you click on the photo and look at the buttons one is ancient from Making Memories, one is a green brad and one is a discontinued SU! corduroy button.

Hope you like this card - thanks for stopping by- till next time!

Andrea

Mini Album

A Blue and River Rock Mini Album

I think my favorite paper crafting item to make is a mini album. So this weekend I looked at the challenges on line and found one for the colors River Rock, Bashful Blue and White - I decided to make a mini album to keep on hand for gift giving. I frequently find I need a gift for a friend and end up rushing to make something the day before - now I'll have one waiting.

Sadly - the challenge ended at 3 today - and I didn't realize it was that early - I was done but didn't sit down to post till 5 so - no entry - but hey it did what its supposed to - go me putting paper together!!

Here is the cover. Hard to see in a photo but the butterflies are popped up with pop dots and have lots of dimension and pearl centers.

Those little blue half circles are actually pull tabs to pull out a page from the pocket. I forgot to snap a pix.

This butterfly was water colored and is so vibrant IRL... I really gotta figure out some software.

I think this close up is my favorite part of the album - The is from the SU! set Nature Walk and the little birdie is from Four Frames

Hmm - I like this one too - the flowers are from Vintage Vogue and are curled up a bit and a little 3D IRL.

Last page -

I wouldn't have put these colors together if I hadn't been working on a challenge - but I like them.

Thanks for stopping by... till next time

Andrea

Happy Colors

I decided to try some of the challenges that are on the web - hoping that will inspire me to create outside my comfort zone.

Today I did a challenge with Create With Connie and Mary.  They are SU! only and the colors were Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Sahara Sand.

 I love - adore  actually Marina Mist so I decided to give this a try.

Sorry for the photo quality - my computer died last month and with it the software I used for editing - I need to investigate and get new software - thinking of splurging for PhotoShop

I've been seeing lots of pinwheels lately and had to give it a try - This is using the Subtles designer paper (its easy to do - just cut a 3 inch square and cut from the corners to close to the center. Put a glue dot in the center and fold everyother corner - put a button or brad in the middle.)

Its difficult to see in this photo but the stem of dsp is actually on a sahara sand stem punched with the scallop trim border punch.

supplies: Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Sahara Sand Cardstock, doily, Lattice embossing folder, scallop trim border punch, button, linen thread, subtles dsp, Bring on the Cake stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope to be more consistent in my crafting - so I hope to see you again soon

Andrea

I really like Kraft Cards! oh and the butterflies too!!

I made this one for my friend Sharon - its an all SU! card. I used not quite navy and kraft cardstock. The butterfly is with the SU! butterfly sizzix die. The circle was embossed with their lattice die. The sentiment is from Friends 24-7 and the branch is from a sympathy set that I'm too lazy to go get the name of but if anyone wants to know - I'll add it later.

Here is another all SU! card. The flourish is from the set Friends 24-7 that was used above. This butterfly is from the Nature Walk set. I colored it with the watercolor technique from not quite navy, daffodil delight and old olive ink.  The ink is Old Olive - the ribbon is retired and the lace is from my stash.

I hope to be posting more often.