Paper Pumpkin - August 2014 Kit

Are you a Paper Pumpkin subscriber? If not, it's so much fun and I encourage you to join! I love the kits, but always challenge myself to design more with it. I'm a bit behind, but today I wanted to share with you the August 2014 kit. Here's a video of what you got and what you were suppose to make. :)

These are the only cards I made that were similar to the featured projects:

The trick for creating many more projects with a kit is to be willing to cut up any pieces you get - I cut up card bases and envelopes to be able to accomplish what you'll see below. In this particular kit, you received four striped card bases... just cutting those in half and mounting on plain card stock would give you eight cards.

These cards use other stamp sets and punches, but I used the "garbage" pieces from the circle punch outs that people would normally throw away. I utilized them as part of my design!

I used two card bases from the kit, cut them in half and strategically used some Framelits to cut pieces for three different card designs, making four of each of these cards:

This one also uses a "garbage" piece - the piece that was left behind from the banners included in the kit. I cut it into quarters, covered the first three banner punch-outs and used the fourth as part of my design. :)

The majority of the circles (that were meant for all the envelope closures), I used to make flowers.

I cut this laser-cut "congrats" down a bit, backed it with part of a pink envelope, added a small scallop border to the bottom and then fussy cut a heart that was meant to be a small note card (you can see that heart in the card following this one).

The kit included eight shaped mini cut out pieces (i.e. the heart below) and four mini card bases. Like the larger card bases, I cut them in half and used them in various ways.

When my husband saw this card, he said "why would you make a card that says "hell". But you can see that the flower is an 'o', right?! I brayered the white piece with the laser-cut "hello" in it and then die-cut it with my Ovals Framelits (the negative was used on the inside).

All in all, I've made 36 full cards (so far)! 

Yes I know, I used other tools, stamps & card stock, but I really made these pieces from the kit go far! Plus, look at all the pieces I still have to work with. I'm thinking I can get another eight cards made with these leftovers. :)

Hope you've enjoyed the inspiration! I always love reading the comments.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Create a Gift Bag from a Magazine!

I've been toying with many ideas for bags I can use to package my products in after a sale. I've always used paper bags, both for the environment and to promote/coincide with my paper goods. When I could avoid to do so, I reused bags instead of purchasing them and have used everything from spiced-up brown lunch bags to kraft bags to my DSP bags found here. This is a new venture for me - bags created from old magazines… and what better magazine than the oh-so-inspirational catalogues from Stampin' Up! ?! :)

This is certainly not a new idea, but this bag design is all me. It uses two catalogue pages and I don't even want to admit how many pages I went through before I finally designed something that worked and that I liked!

Three important factors I needed in my design - that it folded flat (for transporting & storage), it was sturdy enough to hold a good amount of product & that it was still 100% recyclable if the recipient didn't want to hang on to it (no staples!).

I'm just so thrilled with my what I came up with. I'm excited that I don't have to just throw all my old magazines into the recycling bin and that I can both advertise my Stampin' Up! business and my love for paper good products with this packaging.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Blendabilities for Sunday Stamps

Welcome to another challenge at Sunday Stamps! This time around we've got a great sketch for you and I think you'll agree it'll be one you'll use again and again!

A long time ago, I did a series on using up scraps and had made up a bunch of card fronts using strips of DSP to create a herringbone design. There were a few where I only used half a card front and did this sketch scream for me to use those pieces or what?!

For the other half, I embossed a piece of Naturals Ivory CS with the Honeycomb TIEF. Once those pieces were glued to the front, I popped up my flower that I colored using some of the skin tone assortment of Blendabilities.

I actually stamped the middle part of the flower separately and popped that up as well. Behind the flower I added a few leaves from a retired Sizzlet and then finished things off with a bitty butterfly and some jewels coloured with the same blendas. :)

Hope I've inspired you to play along with us this week! Check out what the other DT members have done and then link up your design by October 17th.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Various DSP
Ink: Memento Black Ink
Stamps: Blended Bloom
Tools: Bitty Butterfly Punch, Skin Tone Blendabilities, Little Leaves Sizzlet, Big Shot
Accessories: Jewels
Challenge: Sunday Stamps

DSP Butterflies

Today is a very simple card and a quick post - one that has been sitting in my "drafts" for months now. :)

Using scraps of DSP (Designer Series Paper), I punched using the two butterfly punches from Stampin' Up!. I wasn't concerned about which patterns to use, I just punched and glued two different patterns together. There really wasn't a match that didn't work.

After embossing my card layer with the Honeycomb TIEF, I adhered my butterflies and added some pearls for extra texture and interest.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Naturals, Very Vanilla, Various DSP Scraps
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF, Butterfly Punches
Accessories: Pearls

It's All About Gold at Sunday Stamps!

Welcome to another challenge over at Sunday Stamps... and another post from me after about two weeks. :) What can I say, life has been busy! This time around we've got a colour challenge - Blackberry Bliss (so yummy!), Rich Razzleberry, Garden Green & Gold.

I needed some wedding cards, so I thought this colour combo would be perfect. The picture doesn't do this card justice. The gold foil really looks like a gold bar in real life and as if the gold foil wasn't glam enough, I used gold for the card base and sentiment, lots of embossing, gold-threaded ribbon & gold-wrapped baker's twine. :) Since I didn't want to add too much green, I only used a hint of it to peek out from behind the sentiment.

Hope you'll be able to play along with us. You have until Friday, October 3rd. We love to see your creations and don't forget to check out the other DT member blogs to see what they came up with!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Gold Specialty, Gold Foil, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Garden Green
Ink: Gold
Stamps: Label Love
Tools: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper TIEF (retired), Decorative Dots TIEF, Snowburst TIEF (retired), Perfect Polka Dots TIEF, Artisan Label Punch, Fun Flowers Bigz Die (retired)
Accessories: Gold Baker's Twine, Gold Ribbon
Challenge: Sunday Stamps

SAVE BIG!!

It's true. Today is my birthday and rather than showing you a card I created, I wanted to celebrate with you and offer you a discount on cards and handcrafted items I've made - all found in my online store! This offer is only available today, so make sure you take advantage!

If you're still looking for a little crafty inspiration, I created this flyer in My Digital Studio (MDS) in less than five minutes. MDS is so easy to use and you can quickly and easily create flyers, posters, scrapbooks & more with text, images, stamps, punches & embellishments. :) I'd be happy to chat more with you... contact me anytime to learn more!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Tag Topper Card for Sunday Stamps

Welcome to another week at Sunday Stamps! So excited to have you join us, and to welcome our new DT member Leena! For the next two weeks, we've got a sketch for ya, and here's what I came up with.

I stuck very closely to the sketch, as you can see. I used some specialty paper from the retired Candlelight Christmas DSP as my focal point. I loved the felting on acetate. From there, I stuck with the reds & used some card stock & glimmer paper along with some Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon (retired).

The tags I punched using the Scallop Tag Topper Punch but instead of using paper that was 2" wide, I cut it down to 1-1/2" and it fit nicely between the scallops at the top.

On the inside, I added some more ribbon, anchoring my sentiment. I really love how this turned out!

I hope that you'll be inspired by this sketch and play along. You have until Friday, September 19th at 6 p.m. to link up and don't forget to check out what the other DT members have created to inspire you!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Ink: Early Espresso, Real Red
Stamps: Seasonal Sayings
Tools: 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper TIEF (retired)
Accessories: Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)
Challenge: Sunday Stamps

Hummingbird Collage

Here's a card I did (before the summer, even!) featuring one of the Best of 25 year stamp sets. This one is Best of Shelli and features a good assortment of random images - perfect for collages!

I don't usually use so many bright colours together, but this card makes me happy. I had created several punched embellishments from scraps, so I picked two colours and built from there. Using (seven) different colours on a card is also new for me. ha. It works though because I let the collage be the focal point.

Collage stamping is fun and turns out different every time. I think I'll have to look through my other sets now and see what other creations I can come up with. With the right set, projects can come together really quickly. Great for when you need a card in a hurry!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pistacio Pudding, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo
Ink: Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay
Tools: Big Shot, Decorative Dots TIEF, Flower & Butterfly Punches
Accessories: Sequin Trim, Organdy Ribbon (retired)