Peonies and Paper Chains

Berry Baskets for Pals Paper Arts!

You may have caught a glimpse of my project for the new Pals Paper Arts color challenge on Instagram earlier this week. My Instagram account is the go to spot for peeks at my projects...and a little of everyday life around here.

I loved used this week's color to put together today's design team project. I find the PPA 246  color combo to be quite spring like and dreamy:

I knew instantly that I wanted to make a couple little baskets using the Berry Baskets Bigz L die. They are so quick and easy to make and so very adorable! 

 

The basket bases were made using the 12 x 12 Kraft paper and embossed with the Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. This combo of paper and embossing creates a very natural looking basket. The edges done in Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding provide for a pretty contrast against the Kraft paper.

 

 

The embellishing of my Berry Baskets was kept clean and simple --

• initials stamped using the Larger Than Life Alphabet & Numbers stamp set and cut out with my 2-1/2" circle punch
• names added using the Alphabet Rotary stamp
• little paper ribbons/flags
• wooden clothespins to hold everything in place

As you may have noticed in the image above, Brooklyn's name was popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals and the edge of piece of card stock colored in Crumb Cake -- these details take just moments to do!

 

 

Hope that you are feeling inspired to pull out your Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, and Kraft! To see the inspiration from all of the design team members, click here!

And, please be sure to play along with us at Pals Paper Arts this week! The challenge closes at noon on Tuesday! 

 
Get inspiration in your inbox  |  Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

 

P.S. I was out of Pistachio Pudding card stock to use for this project. However, thanks to my Pistachio Pudding ink pad,  my brayer, and a strip Naturals White card stock, my dilemma was solved! 

 

Stamp Review Crew: Mixed Bunch

Hello Mixed Bunch! The Stamp Review Crew is at it again this week and we are thrilled to share ideas for the Mixed Bunch stamp set! You may be starting here or perhaps you've just come over from visiting Heidi Baks...she always has delightful work to share!

The Mixex Bunch stamp set that can be used for either traditional paper crafting or for digital and hybrid projects...I am sharing the latter!

The Mixed Bunch stamp set is part of Designer Kit that includes some premade templates. Much as it would have been easy to just tweak an exisiting item, I decided to create something brand new. When I sat down to do so, my daughter Brooklyn was right nearby and she was very interested in what I was doing so I decided to create something for her.

What you are seeing is a printable that is intended to be a door sign for Brooklyn's room. It would also make a wonderful binder cover or a memory keeping page. The large emblem at the top is from the Mixed Bunch stamp set. 

The first step was using the coloring tool to change the colors for the flower. After doing so, I mounted a circle punch (that I elected to change black) behind the flower image.

The colors used on the flower were echoed in Brooklyn's name...this ties the project together beautifull.

Knowing that Brooklyn loves to send notes to her little friends, I thought that some note cards were in order! Creating these was a breeze! To do so, I:

Exported the original printable as a PNG file (a JPEG would also work).

Created an 8-1/2" x 11" document and inserted the PNG file.

After guestimating the best size, I copied and pasted the image a few times...I created one file that was "4-up" and one that was "6-up".

Once I got the placement down, I printed the sheets, cut apart the pieces and then made cards in no time flat! 

I've saved the extra pieces for Brooklyn to use herself. I'm excited to see what she chooses to create!

Frankly, I love this little design so much, that I am thinking I may design some cards in MDS with it and have them printed professionally using the Stampin' Up! print vendor! 

Be sure to hop along and see what else everyone has created! I always love the diversity of projects and I am sure you will too! Next up is Ann Schach and her project is sure to "wow" you!

You can use the next and previous buttons below to navigate the hop!

Happy hopping!

     

 

 
Get inspiration in your inbox  |  Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies 

Stamp Review Crew: Truly Grateful Edition

The Stamp Review Crew is at it again! This time we are sharing ideas for using the Truly Grateful stamp set! This set was initially available for purchase in Fall 2013 and then went away in January 2014 with end of the holiday catalog. I was thrilled to see this set make its way into the 2014-2015 annual catalog as it is one of my favorites.

Stampin' Up!, I'm...

that this set is back!

And, to my fellow Stamp Review Crew friends, I'm so grateful we decided to feature this fabulous set! 

For the hop, I've created a home decor piece to share:

While the photo above was taken with the piece on the floor, it is now hanging on the wall in my crafting space!

The combo of Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral and Early Espresso ink, Crisp Cantaloupe paper,  and Hello Honey card stock works together so well! To create a vintage feel, I rolled Soft Suede ink onto the background pieces with my brayer.

Today's project is a hybrid -- all the "stamping" you see is 100% digital using MDS and the project was assembled using tradition paper crafting techniques.

I'm considering adding a photo printed in sepia tone onto the Crisp Cantaloupe sheet...what do you think?

Please be sure to hop along for all of the other creations from the Stamp Review Crew! Today's line-up is:

1. Kerry Willard Bray   --  You are here!
2. Mike Funke    
3. Holly Krautkremer   
4. Beth Beard   
5. Shana Gaff   
6. Tanya Boser    
7. Wendy Weixler
8. Yapha Mason  
9. Cindy Beach   
10. Dawn Tidd    
11. Heidi Baks   
12. Debra Burgin  

 

   

Get inspiration in your inbox  |  Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

  

P.S. My friend Dawn Tidd tapped me for the the Creative Crew Hop and, given the Stamp Review Crew hop today, I'll be sharing my Creative Crew post next Monday!

Stamp Review Crew: Daydream Medallions Edition

Welcome to the brand new Daydream Medallions blog hop from the Stamp Review Crew! You may have just popped over from Paula Wright's Paula Stamps blog or perhaps you are starting here...whichever is the case, you are sure to leave the hop with lots of new ideas! Today I'm sharing hybrid projects with you that combine a little digi-design and traditional papercrafting too!

It is always handy to have thank you cards on hand -- both to use and to give as gifts. I decided to make set to give away. I used used the Daydream Medallions card template in MDS and changed the original background color to Sahara Sand to make it my own. I exported the first page as a picture file so that I could print it later.

I then re-saved as a new document and changed the background paper color to Rich Razzleberry. And, again, I exported the first page of the card file as a picture file.

After exporting the two images, I inserted them onto a single 8-1/2" x 11" blank page so that I could print 4 card front pieces at once. After printing, I trimmed down and mounted to Very Vanilla card bases. What a quick and easy way to make a set of cards!  

Next I went back to my card file and I edited the document to change its type to an 8-1/2" x 11" page. I removed the thank you sentiment and changed the background paper color to be Very Vanilla. After that I printed the full sheet.

I trimmed down the printed sheet to measure approximately 5-1/4" x 10.5" and I mounted that on a piece of Night of Navy Card stock that measured approximately 5-3/4" x 11". This was then folded around the stack of cards and envelopes to form a wrap. 

The little "thank you" tag was created from a piece of the scrap printing and mounted on some Lost Lagoon cardstock.  The stamped thank you on the tag (done traditionally with paper and ink) comes from the Regarding Dahlias stamp set. The tag was hung on bit of linen thread and tied to the stack of cards with some Burlap Ribbon. 

I adore how the tag matches so perfectly to the wrap around the cards. It is pure coincidence that I lined up the medallions such that the shapes echo one another.

If you scroll back up, you'll notice that the scale of the medallions is entirely different on the card fronts than the wrap itself. This stems from converting from teh small card size to the large 8-1/2" x 11" page. If I wanted the scale to the be same, I would have needed to start designing from scratch on the 8-1/2" x 11" page, however I took full advantage of the incredible work done by Stampin' Up! in creating the card template and like the variance in scale!

Next up is Shana Graf at Stress Free Stamping -- be sure to check out Shana's creations and hop along from there!

                       

 

 

Get inspiration in your inbox  |  Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

 

P.S. TAKE A TEST DRIVE FOR FREE If you are not yet using MDS, give it a try absolutely free for 30 days! Contact your demonstrator or access the free trial here!

 

A Splash of Mambo

 

Happy Friday, friends! You know what that means...time for a new Five on Friday color combo! Today's combo evolved out of the brand new Pixel Maven's DigiChallenge combo (PMDC-051):

The "or" for this challenge highlights one of the benefits of using MDS -- colors don't retire in MDS! So, while you cannot purchase Primrose Petals paper, ink, and accessories these days, you can use them when you design in MDS.

For my combo, I went with the Melon Mambo and added in two neutrals:

And, once that step of adding in a couple colors was done, I pulled my project together.

This week I'm going strictly digital and I opted to do a little memory keeping: 

Are you feeling a little confused about the colors?

If you are, I'm not surprised at all!

The colors are far more muted than the color palette!

I'll let you in on a little secret...the colors you see are precisely the ones in the color palette with the opacity bumped for the Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay. As I recall, they are both hovering around 75%. This is another benefit of using MDS and I liken this to "stamping off" when you do traditional paper crafting and keep stampin an image to get lighter and lighter.

Here's what the page looks like at full opacity:

It takes on a completely different look, right?

There's one other difference that you may not have detected at first glance...the little square in the top left was re-colored in my first project to Melon Mambo so you see strictly shades of pink rather than the multi-color design.

That sweet little polka dot design and the two sentiments come from the MDS version of the #PLxSU Every Day Advenure collection. A little translation for you... #PLxSU = Project Life by Stampin' Up! and I, for one, am truly enamored with the Every Day Adventure collection!

   

So tell me...which project do you like best? The muted version or the bright version? Please take a moment to leave a comment and let me know! I've got my favorite and I'll let you in on that over the weekend.

Be sure to visit the Pixel Maven's DigiChallenge to see the creations from Nicole and Kris. We'd love to see what you create with this combo so please join in the fun and play along with us! You can create your project using traditional stamps, ink, and paper or using the digi versions!

 TAKE A TEST DRIVE If you are not yet using MDS, give it a try absolutely free for 30 days -- access the free trial here! 

 

Get inspiration in your inbox  |  Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

  

Stamp Review Crew: Lovely as a Tree Edition

 

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew: Lovely as a Tree Edition! You may be starting with my blog or perhaps you just came over from Nancy Smith's blog -- whicvhever is the case, you are in for a treat with this blog hop! 

Lovely as a Tree is the most long-standing stamp set in the Stampin' Up! catalog...it has been around for years and years. Despite its longevity, I have never purchased this set until now. And by purchasing it, I mean I bought the MDS stamp brush set.

Here's what I put together with this set:

A brand new, completely custom Facebook timeline cover photo! It mixes the Dutch Elm stamp image, an ink splatter, and one of my favorite quotes from the Daring Adventure digital stamp brush set. Daring Adventure is retired as a "traditional" stamp set, however, you can still purchase it for MDS.

Don't believe that this is the Lovely as a Tree digital stamp set? Here's the proof:

My goal on Peonies and Paper Chains is to share ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Has today's project inspired you to try something completely new and unexpected in your crafting? I sure hope so!

Did you know you can test drive MDS free for 30 days? Contact your demonstrator for details or download it here and make your own custom Facebook cover, cards, photobooks and more!

I'm excited to use the Lovely as a Tree stamp set some more! Perhaps I will even decide I need the "real deal" and have to buy the wood mount set!

Be sure to hop over to see what Jill Coleman has created and I'm happy to say that I had a chance to meet Jill at the Stampin' Up! Inspire. Create. Share. 2014 event!

 

                   
Wishing you a creative day!

 

Get inspiration in your inbox  |  Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

 

Best New MDS Feature!

Happy Monday, friends! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Ours flew by so quickly and included some fun family time (there was housework too, so not all fun). One fo the things I did this weekend was to pull together an MDS creation using the Pixel Maven Retreat's DigiChallenge for inspiration and I am sharing it with you along with what I think is the best new MDS feature...

Can you take a guess what this is?

It is my soon to be posted 4th of July Facebook cover image!

In my book, the best new MDS feature is a pre-sized template for creating custom Facebook cover images! Super cool and means there is no longer a need to Google what size to use for these! 

A few times a year (especially around holidays), I design an image in MDS to use as my cover image rather than a photo itself. This is an image that is verstalitle enough to use for all the patriotic holidays during the year. Here it is again:

 

Love the layering of the stars that was called for in the PMDC-048 sketch:

As we gear up to celebrate Independence Day here in the US, I'd like to extend my thanks to Nicole Watt, the Pixel Maven herself, for her service to our country and to her husband Brian who is about to retire from the military. Thank you, Nicole and Brian! And, thank you to all your fellow service women and men! 

TEST DRIVE MDS FREE FOR 30 DAYS! Have yet to try digital? No need to hesitate...you can download a free 30-day trial version! This is a great way to give digi-design a try! As much as I love traditional papercrafting, there are times when MDS/digi-design is just the right medium to use.

Wishing you a creative day!

 

Get inspiration in your inbox 

Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

 

Stampin' Up! Retiring Products SALE!

 

Starting today, select Stampin' Up! retiring products are on sale for up to 50% off! Be sure to visit my online store to SAVE BIG! All items are while supplies last!

Today is also the start of a brand new Pals Paper Arts challenge -- PPA205. You'll definitely want to see what the design team members have created using the sketch! The sketch is this:

 And here is a little piece of framed decor that I put together to display over the summer months:

My creation is a true hybrid project -- the printed background comes from the Pride Framable template for MDS and is enhanced with some cuts of silver glimmer paper, a little rosette made from Designer Series Paper, and the star garland from a Paper Pumpkin Kit last fall. And, as I often do, I let the sketch serve as inspiration and did not translate it literally onto the project. So as not to cover up too much of the Pride Framable text, I opted for small horizontal strips of glimmer paper rather than large ones. The beauty of a sketch is the ability to interpret in your unique style!

Do you love creating using paper? Would you love to get your Stampin' Up! products at a discount? Select up to $125 in Stampin' Up! products and purchase it all for just $99 plus local tax when you buy a starter kit. Perfect for the hobby crafter! Get the details here!

Wishing you a creative day!

 

Get inspiration in your inbox 

Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

 

 

Creating for Kids

 

Have you ever been half way to a celebration (and by half way I mean an hour or so into a 3-1/2 hour drive) and realized that while you were so busy making a cute set of note cards and a really fun gift bag (and documenting the whole thing for your blog) that you somehow managed not to make a card to go with the gift? 

Has it happened to you? It did to me. Guess this means I need to make a really fabulous card when the baby arrives since I completely missed the boat for the shower! 

When I showed you the little note card holder yesterday and the gift bag, I also showed you a "picture" that Brooklyn colored for the baby. Did you miss it? Here you go:

I mentioned that I made a set of coloring pages and I thought I would share the rest with you today:

These should give you a good sense for the scale -- all the sheets you see are standard 8-1/2" x 11" pieces of copier paper that I printed out here at home. MDS makes it so easy to create coloring pages like this and you can make them with any digital stamp brush set that has an outline. They are quick to make up and you can keep the little ones happy with coloring!

Next time you have a gathering that will include litttle ones, consider making up a batch of coloring sheets and setting them out with a nice fresh box of crayons! The coloring pages are certainly for more than just special occassions, they are perfect for a rainy day activity or even just a little quiet time.

Wishing you a creative day!

 

 

Get inspiration in your inbox 

Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

P.S. Click here to view all retiring products. If you see something you like, don't delay in ordering...all items are while supplies last. 

 

Coordinating DIY Gift Packaging!

Yesterday I shared with you some sweet and simple thank you cards that I made to give at a baby shower. Today I want to share both the packaging that I created for the thank you notes and also for the store bought gifts. One of the things I love about Stampin' Up! is the ability to easily make coordinating items and that does not mean just paper based ones!

There are 12 thank you note cards tucked into this Tag a Bag packet:

To create the belly band, I brayered a strip (1.5" x 11") of Whisper White card stock and carefully folded it around the packet. It was not quite long enough to go all the way around so I made created the little "tag" to hold it all together. The "tag" is securely hold the belly band together thanks to a bit of Sticky Strip. I liked the idea of the "tag" being a little wider and that is what I did and I also wanted a little contrast and chose to use Coastal Cabana card stock. I debated if I would add any sort of sentiment and ultimately decided to echo what was used on the cards.

The main gift that we are giving at the shower is a set of Aden + Anais swaddling blankets. We used these with Britt and they are truly incredible! Perfect for swaddling, covering loosely over a stroller or car seat when dashing into a store in the sun, covering a changing table, and more. Though Britt has not been swaddled in ages (she's nearly 3), we still have ours. These days the girls use them as fun capes, togas, picnic blankets and all sorts of other things that they think up!

Anyway, we needed something to put these in and I had a nice crisp white cotton tote bag. I realized that Baby We've Grown is available as an MDS download so I purchased that so we could decorate the tote bag. Here is the bag all set to go:

A little ribbon tied by the handle adds a pretty little detail to the tote and I also used the "sweet girl" sentiment from one of the stamps in Baby We've Grown. I simply cropped this out so that the shoes would not be seen. Not sure just what I am referring to? See the shoe "stamp" here:

When working on the tote bag image, Brooklyn asked me to make some coloring pages. It is so easy to do with MDS and this was one that I created. I increased the size of the stamp images significantly and printed the pages on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Brooklyn colored in this page, I laminated it, and then tucked in the tote bag too!

I'll be off at the shower with the girls this afternoon and won't be creating anything. How about you? Will you be making soemthing today?

Wishing you a creative day!

 

 

Get inspiration in your inbox 

Shop on-line 24/7 for paper crafting supplies

P.S. Click here to view all retiring products. If you see something you like, don't delay in ordering...all items are while supplies last.