Peonies and Paper Chains

Stamp Review Crew: Four Feathers Edition

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew: Four Feathers Edition blog hop! We are excited to be sharing ideas featuring the Four Feathers stamp set. We've got a great line-up for the hop and you may have just come over from Mike Funke at Stampin' Style or perhaps you are starting here...whichever is the case, I hope you will hop on through all the participant blogs for oodles of ideas!

 

As we approach the end of the school year I am gearing up for teacher thank you gifts. In my book one of the best gives we can give includes a set of hand stamped thank you cards! Using the Stampin' Up! Note Card and Envelope set, these are a breeze and very cost effective... 

As you can see the thank you cards that I have made are very quick and easy to make -- in my book that is essential when making a whole bunch of cards at once!

What I did:

• The backgrounds were applied using my brayer -- just roll on some color
• Stamped on the feathers from the Four Feathers stamp set and whether alone or in repetition, they are pretty.
• Added the "thank you" sentiment comes from the Lots of Thanks stamp set.
• In about 20 minutes I created 5 each of the 4 designs shown above...that's just a minute each!

In addition to the thank you notes, I made a coordinating thank you card for one of the teachers. It is a more intricate in design -- fitting for a teacher who give so much to ensure students have a wonderful year! 

As much as I thought you would enjoy seeing the thank you notes and card altogether, it just wasn't happening...

Apparently I did not actually snap an image of the dog walking in front of the cards. Trust me though he did cruise on by my photo staging zone! Let's face it though, I really can's complain to have such wonderful distractions!

Head over to see what Bronwyn Eastley at AddINKtive Designs has put together for you!

Happy hopping, friends!

                                        

 
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Stamp Review Crew: Zoo Babies Edition

 

 

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew: Zoo Babies blog hop! So excited to be sharing ideas for the Zoo Babies stamp set...it is such a sweet little collection of animals that you can find at many zoos! Whether you've just come over from Dawn Tidd's Tiddbits by Dawn blog or are just starting here, I hope you'll take the time to hop on through to see all of the creations!

Today's hop gave me a fabulous opportunity to put together idea's for Britt's upcoming birthday! It is in May and she'll be celebrating with her preschool friends. I decided to use Zoo Babies to create a set of party pieces -- cupcake toppers, festive napkins, and juice box embellishments -- for a fun, festive celebration! 

Thankfully the girls and I baked some cupcakes one night this past week that I could use for a little staging!

For the cupcake toppers you need card stock circles (1-3/8" and 1-3/4"), toothpicks, Sticky Strip, and Stampin' Dimensionals. The stamped Zoo Babies images make these adorable without a whole lot of fuss!

A little stamping is all you need to for the napkins! I stamped 5 each of 4 different Zoo Babies images -- giraffe, alligator, rhinoceros, and elephant. However, the more I think about it, I definitely should stamp some more for the pre-school set!

The rhino with the bit of white twine is a juice box embellishment. Initially I planned to tie these onto some paper straws, however, I realized that juice boxes were likely a better choice than open cup beverages.

This image gives a better look at the juice box. This is simply a band of card stock in Coastal Cabana that has been attached to the box with Sticky Strip. I did use a bone folder to loosen up to the fibers of the card stock before adhering -- definitely an important step! For the final products I will actually be cutting wider strips of card stock to better cover the full height of the box sides.

Had to include this image of Brooklyn holding the cupcake topper! She has asked that we make some of these for her doll and make sure that we celebrate her doll's birthday on the same day that we celebrate her sister's birthday!

Hope you that you are feeling inspired to pull out this set and to get creating! I had lots of fun creating these party pieces and can't wait to get production underway for Britt's big day! 

Be sure to hop along to visit Betty Traciak and the other Stamp Review Crew members for more Zoo Babies ideas!

                                        

 
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Stamp Review Crew Line Up for the Zoo Babies Hop: 

1.  Ann Schach  
2. Shana Gaff  
3. Debra Burgin  
4. Bronwyn Eastley   
5. Yapha Mason  
6. Dawn Tidd   
   
7. Kerry Willard Bray  -- YOU ARE HERE! 
8. Betty Traciak 
9. Tanya Boser    
10. Rochelle Blok  
11. Heidi Baks  
12. Linda Callahan  
13. Martha Inchley  
14. Wendy Weixler

Stamp Review Crew: #PLxSU Point & Click Edition

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew #PLxSU Point & Click Edition blog hop! These hops are always a fabulous way to get a slew of ideas for a single stamp set!  

You may have just arrived from visiting the talented Bronwyn Eastley at AddINKtive Designs or perhaps you are starting here. Whatever is the case, you'll want to be sure to head on through our hop to get loads of ideas for the #PLxSU Point & Click stamp set!

If you are wondering what #PLxSU means, it is the hashtag for Project Life by Stampin' Up!. #PLxSU is an exclusive line of stamps, papers, and accessories for memory keeping...and other paper crafting, too!

Let's get to my project, shall we?

Getting to create something always makes my day!

For today's project I paired together the #PLxSU Point & Click stamp set with "Best. Day. Ever." stamp set (a Sale-a-bration exclusive), and with my latest Five on Friday color combo:

These colors work so well with the stamps! As do Mini Treat Bag Thinlits (I think I am seriously growing an addiction to these...love, love, love to make these bags).

Here are few tips for rocking this project:

Using my brayer and Night of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad, I added a layer of color to the inside of the treat bag...I adore the contrast! After I adhere the two pieces of the bag together, I flip over and apply the ink along to jagged edge. And, only after doing so, I fold over the bag pieces and adhere in place.

I also used my brayer to apply the Pistachio Pudding ink to some Whisper White card stock for the banner --- I did not have so much as a single scrap of Pistachio Pudding card stock to use!

Two layers of ribbon adds double interest (and texture) to any project!

The "you made my day" sentiment looked nice on its own within the 1-3/4" circle, however, I decided to dress it up by using the floral stamp from "Best. Day. Ever." and I stamped it off once on scrap paper to achieve the faded Pistachio Pudding color. 

To get the dark edges on the circle, I carefully rolled the circle on top of my Night of Navy ink pad.

You can never go wrong with Stampin' Dimensionals! They are by far my favorite adhesive. The Pistachio Pudding banner (with the ribbon stapled to it) was popped onto the belly band and then I used a couple more dimensionals to place the sentiment on the banner. 

For those who are curious, I stamped up my Lost Lagoon card stock with the #PLxSU Point & Click stamps before I used the Thinlits to cut out the Mini Treat Bag pieces. 

Head on over Martha Inchley at Inch of Creativity for more paper crafting inspiration!

Happy hopping and hope that you enjoy a little creativity today!

                       

 
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Stamp Review Crew: Wondrous Wreath Edition

 

Hello and welcome to the latest Stamp Review Crew Hop! We're sharing our ideas for the Wondrous Wreath stamp set today and you may starting here or you may have just come over from Ann Schach at The Stampin' Schach -- her designs are always a delight!  Whichever is the case, I hope you'll take a few minutes to hop on through and get inspired to pull out your Wondrous Wreath stamps and get creating today!

With Valentine's over, I decided to turn my attention to St. Patrick's day and I worked on two crisp clean cards for giving!

This first card uses the wreath in a most traditional way and is adorned with golden foliage -- my choice to be reminiscent of a pot of gold. And, of course, the card is done up in the colors of Ireland.

 This second card has a less conventional twist given that I used a circle punch to cut out the wreath image and then covered up the wreath's opening. 

For both cards, I used Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow and Tangelo Twist cardstock with ready made card bases in Crumb Cake. The inks are Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow -- for the Hello Honey, I stamped it off for the main layer of the wreath. 

My sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and I used the Decorative Dots embossing folder and the Label Bracket punch to add the finishing touches to the cards. Here they are together:

Be sure to hop along and see what my friend Mike Funke has created! He always puts such a fresh, fun spin on his projects! 

 

                       

Have a creative day!

 
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Stamp Review Crew: Celebrate Today

Happy February! Today the Stamp Review Crew is ringing in the new month with our Celebrate Today blog hop! This new set from Stampin' Up! is so fun, so festive, and so versatile! You are in for a real treat with our hop! You may be starting here or you may have just come over from Linda Callahan at Stampin' Seasons (I always adore her creations)... wherever you are staring, be sure to enjoy the full hop!

There are two fun projects that I put together for you! Up first is a birthday tag:

There's a whole lot of detail and I had a blast putting it together:

Brayering, stamping, embossing, cutting (with the Balloons Framelits), pom poms, and sequins...it all adds up to a sweet and festive birthday tag! Even the back of this tag is all dressed up:

One of Brooklyn's friends celebrated her birthday this past weekend and she was the recipient of this gift tag. The two attended the same pre-school for two years but go to different kindergartens now and don't see each other as often. It was lots fun celebrating her big day!

The second project I have in store is a little birthday wishes book:

photo embellished using the Rhonna Designs app

This is the perfect little gift for everyone at birthday celebration to sign! It would also be great for a group of colleagues to sign rather than a card, especially for a co-worker who is having a very special milestone birthday!

If you look real close at the image above, you'll see that the balloon is actually popped up on the journal. Originally I made a cut-out in the journal of the balloon and I lined the inside of the journal cover with some Pool Party card stock. While it looked sweet, I thought a little something more was needed and I decided to add the stamped and embossed balloon right over the cut-out with some Stampin' Dimensionals!

Hope you've enjoyed these projects as much as I did when creating them!  As the image says "let your imagination run wild...be creative" -- hope the hop gets you inspire to pull out the Celebrate Today stamp set and get creating!

Up next is Rochelle Blok at The Stamping Blok -- she does beautiful work and I know this hop will be no exception! Use the buttons below to navigate and happy hopping! 

     

 
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Stamp Review Crew: Valentine Free for All

It's time for another Stamp Review Crew Hop and we have something really special in store for you! It is a first for us...a free for all! Crew members are sharing any stamp set of their choice for Valentine's projects! It was lots of fun creating my project together and I am so very excited to see what everyone else has made!

Whether you just stopped over from Cindy Beach at Stamps, Paper, and Ink or are starting here, I do hope you'll hop on through and see all the creations today!

Let's get going! My stamp set is:

Work of Art!

I received this set last spring when I attended the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog Premiere. I loved having a chance to gather with fellow demonstrators close to home and see the new catty before it went live.

The stamp set is fabulous -- it is incredibly versatile!

For those who have the wood mount version, it can also be incredibly frustrating to fit all those stamps back in the case! If you've been challenged to solve this puzzle, print out my photo and pop it into your wood mount case as a guide! Consider this my Valentine's gift to you!

Now let's get to the Valentine's project, shall we?!

This close-up is my favorite picture of this project...

• the shimmery glimmer paper
• the zig zag stamp pattern showing so crisply on the hearts
• the stripes in Coastal Cabana
• the gente sway of the linen thread bow that is tied to the button
• the sweet "love you" sentiment that is perfect for Valentine's day...

All the little details that make this project special!

While this design could certainly be used on a card, what I created to share with you is a piece of home decor:

Here's one more close-up for you:

This project is crisp, clean, and very CASE-able! The supply list is lengthy, though you could easily make substitutions such as using a heart punch (believe it or not, I do not own one) or snipping flag ends on your own rather than using Framelits to cut yours. Here is what I used: 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

Be sure to hop along to see what the Stamp Review Crew members have created for you! Next stop is Wendy Wiexler at Wickedly Wonderful Creations and you'll find the full hop line-up below my signature.

       

Enjoy a lil' creativity today!

 
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Stamp Review Crew Valentine's Free for All Blog Hop Roll:

1. Heidi Baks  
2. Ann Schach  
3. Adriana Benitez  
4. Rochelle Blok  
5. Yapha Mason  
6. Nancy Smith  
7. Debra Burgin  
8. Tanya Boser  
9. Lisa Young  
10. Dawn Tidd   
    
11. Shana Gaff  
12. Beth Beard  
13. Martha Inchley  
14. Holly Krautkremer  
15. Bronwyn Eastley 
16. Linda Callahan  
17. Cindy Beach  
18. Kerry Willard Bray   -- YOU ARE HERE
    
19. Wendy Wiexler  

 

Stamp Review Crew: Perfect Pennants Edition

It's 2015 and the Stamp Review Crew is kicking off the New Year by sharing ideas for the Stampin' Up! Perfect Pennants stamp set! So many possibilities for this set and you may have just popped over from Heidi Baks blog or perhaps you are starting here. Whichever is the case, you are sure to get loads of inspiration by going on through our hop!

I've got four projects for you today...yes, you read that right, I did say 4 projects! Figured I'd kick off the year with a bang! Let's get right to the projects:

Lassoed up a wish! This card features three stamps from perfect pennants -- the star, the dots, and the make a wish sentiment. And, of course, I used the coordinating Banners Framelits. The lasso is just a little bit of Linen Thread looped around a couple fingers and attached to the back of the pennant.

Here's the next one:

 

Same background, same lasso effect (just doubled up), and a whole new sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set. This time I set-off the sentiment by framing it with some Old Olive cardstock.

One more with this same starry background element:

This time, there is only a tiny slice of the starry backdrop and plus the sweet little "hello" pennant on this one. The Lost Lagoon focal point at the back is simply a matter of the pressing the inkpad onto the card base...can't get much easier than that for creating a background!

Creating the Starry Background 

1. Take a piece of Whisper White cardstock and apply So Saffron ink to it directly by pressing down your ink pad -- apply at random angles and allow for some overlap to add "texture" and dimension.

2. Ink up your star from the Perfect Pennants stamp set with Hello Honey and stamp many times varying your spacing and angles.

To create all the cards you saw above, I inked up 1/2 of a sheet of Whisper White (5.5 x 8.5) -- this gave me plenty to work with to create the 3 cards.

Now if you'll recall, I said there were 4 projects today -- the last one is a bit different from the others:

This is a sweet, simple and very CASE-able gift tag. Can't believe how well the colors coordinate with my dragonfly vase! I based my color choices off the Five on Friday color combo I shared the other day, but it sure appears that the choices could have come straight from the vase!

Hop on along and see what Debra Currier has created! You can use the buttons below to navigate or the full blog hop line-up below my signature! Happy hopping and Happy 2015

  

 

 
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Stamp Review Crew Perfect Pennants Line-Up:

1. Wendy Weixler  
2. Dawn Tidd  
3. Lisa Young  
4. Debra Burgin  
5. Heidi Baks  
6. Kerry Willard Bray  - YOU ARE HERE!
7. Debra Currier  
8. Ann Schach  
9. Beth Beard  
10. Mike Funke  
11. Rochelle Blok  
12. Nancy Smith  
13. Yapha Mason  
14. Tanya Boser  
15. Cindy Beach    
16. Shana Gaff  
17. Holly Krautkremer  

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!

     

 

 
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Stamp Review Crew: Amazing Birthday Edition

Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by Peonies and Paper Chains! The Stamp Review Crew is bringing a brand new hop to you and this time we are featuring the Stampin' Up! set, Amazing Birthday! It is a fabulous set for creating birthday cards and more! You'll finish the hop with lots of fresh and fun ideas!

The other day I made some gratitude journals for my girls using card stock in Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, and Tangerine Tango. You may be asking what that has to do with the the Amazing Birthday stamp set...well, the tie in is that the scraps were still out on my desk. I had a choice to make -- I could put them away in with my other card stock or I could use them for this hop. I opted for the latter and I exclusively the scraps that were on my desk and to cook up the Amazing Birthday projects for you:

Can't get much more fun that a little 3 x 3" mini card -- it is one of my favorite sizes! A little stamping, a little paper snipping, and then a little assembly and voila, I had a sweret little mini card in minutes! Some Stampin' Dimensionals were used to pop up the sentiment -- these are most definitely my favorite adhesive.

Since I still had additional scraps to go, I made another layered card and this next one measures 4-1/4" square:

While the many layers, the stamping, and the embossing provide lots of interests, this card was quick and easy to make! All elements on this card had a cheery feel to them and that includes the pennant stamped images from the Amazing Birthday stamp set. It is different a fun twist to stamp them upside down!

If you have scraps lying around, I hope these projects encourage you to pull them out and get creating!

Be sure to hop on along for all of today's fabulous creations! The full blog line-up is below my signature or you can use the buttons below to navigate. 

                                

Enjoy the hop and a little creativity today!

 

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Amazing Birthday Edition Line-Up:

1. Mike Funke  
2. Dawn Tidd  
3. Yapha Mason  
4. Cindy Beach   
5. Shana Gaff   
6. Kerry Willard Bray   -- You are here!
7. Tanya Boser  
8. Adriana Benitez  
9. Wendy Weixler   
10. Ann Schach  

  

Stamp Review Crew: Serene Silhouettes Edition

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew's Serene Silhouettes blog hop! Also known for me as the "desperate times call for desperate measures" hop...more about that in a mintute!

The crew is sharing ideas for using the Stampin' Up! Serene Silhouettes stamp set in both its traditional and digital forms. It is always such fun to go through the hops to see the incredible creativity of the group! This is a very sophisticated stamp set and I'm confident we'll be seeing several very elegant projects.

No back to the whole "desperate times call for desperate measures" scenario...for this hop, I had to go digital as I do not own the physical stamp set. I've had a projects planned out in my mind for days and days. Today I went to implement the idea and had trouble downloading the MDS stamp brush set, however I was able to solve the technical glitch and get things going. So then I designed my project and went to print it. And I got nothing. Nothing at all. For some reason my computer and the printer are not communicating. And, I have no idea why.

So, I got thinking about my most favorite phone case and I decided to design a custom phone case using an image created in MDS:

Isn't it sweet?

Here's what I did...

• Designed a file in MDS that features this Wildflower silhouette from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set and a background of Calypso Coral
• Exported the design as a JPEG 
• Went to Shutterfly
• Uploaded the photo
• Added my name
  
• And previewed my case (the preview is what you see above)

I'm really loving it and just may have to add this case to my holiday wish list! Or perhaps order one for a friend!

Using a similar procedure to what I described above, I also designed a sleek iPad case with the tree and bird silhouette:

MDS gives you so many possibilities! I've used it the past couple years for holiday cards and printed those directly through the Stampin' Up! print services vendor. While the vendor changed over the summer and I have yet to print, I am confident that the quality will be wonderful. 

While this is not a sponsored post at all, I will say that I have used Shutterfly in the past for mugs and a a phone case and was very pleased with the results! And, again, it was Shutterfly that I used to bring these creations to life!

For those who are curious, the font on the cases is Carolyna Pro Black. I am loving the font...how about you?

Be sure to hop along and see what the Crew has created for you!

                   

Enjoy a little creativity today!

 

 

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Stamp Review Crew Serene Silhouettes Blog Full Hop Line-Up: 

1. Kerry Willard Bray  - YOU ARE HERE
2. Heidi Baks  
3. Yapha Mason  
4. Mike Funke   
5. Wendy Weixler  
6. Adriana Benitez  
7. Nancy Smith  
8. Tanya Boser