Paper Crafts

Jennifer McGuire Hello! It’s Jennifer here and I am so very sad to say this my last post as a Go-To Gal. I have enjoyed my time with Paper Crafts so much! What I liked most about my two years as a Go-To Gal is the wonderful people I got to work with. The Paper Crafts team has such wonderful ladies! And although I am now taking time to focus on my family here at home, I will always consider the PC girls as part of my crafty family. Every single one of them has a place in my heart and I will never stop thinking of them! So I decided to create a happy “thinking of you” card filled with color, sunshine and love. I created the cloud using the Neat and Tangled Just Thinking of You stamp set and Hero Arts Inks. And the sun? I actually created that with the same cloud stamp! I just stamped it in yellow ink on yellow paper and cut out one “bump” for the center of the sun. I then cut out the negative space of the folds of the cloud and adhered them to peek out the center of the sun to act as rays. And those colorful papers? They are from the Simple Stories Vintage Bliss 6×6 paper pad. Such happy colors! I also used the Simon Says Stamp Mini Hearts Die to add some pink hearts, and then coated them with Glossy Accents for shine. How would you like to create a card like this? Leave a comment here by Friday, June 21st by 5 pm MDT for your chance to win the Neat and Tangled Just Thinking of You stamp set I used above. Good luck! And thank you again to the Paper Crafts team for your support, understanding, and kindness for the last couple years. I sure do appreciate it. The world needs more people like you! Inky hugs, Jennifer McGuire, Paper Crafts Go-to Gal

Hello, peeps! Today, I wanted to share a video and make sure you guys are in the know about something. I received a question from a loyal follower yesterday asking about inspiration on what to do with her favorite two cartridges, Art Philosophy and Artiste. Well, it just so happens I have made MANY projects using both of these cartridges. Ninety-Nine on this blog alone (and these cartridge are so good, I might just have another ninety-nine more to make.)! If you have missed one or more of these projects, no worries. I have a link for each cartridge that has the entire compilation. Check it out below by clicking on the name of the cartridge you need inspiration for! ART PHILOSOPHY ARTISTE Don't forget this week's prize is the Wild Card 2 cartridge. To win: 1) Follow this blog or subscribe via email. 2) Leave a comment under one or all posts this week for maximum chances. See HERE if you don't know how to leave a comment. June Specials Show your support of troops and country with new patriotic stamp sets — available only from June 1 to July 31, 2013! As a show of our support, Close To My Heart will donate $3 from each B-size My Acrylix® Courage stamp set and $5 from each D-size My Acrylix® Home of the Brave stamp set to the USO, the leading, most recognized military-support and services organization in the United States, or $3 from each B-size My Acrylix® Courage stamp set and $5 from each D-size My Acrylix® Strong and Free stamp set to the Canadian Hero Fund, which supports spouses and children of fallen Canadian military troops by providing post-secondary education in Canada. Show your support today—stamp style! The June stamp of the Month is called A Flowering Bunch (s1306A) and coordinates with the Artiste cartridge. You can get this stamp set (valued at $17.95) for only $5 if you place an order of $50 or more. To order click here ==> Melanie's Close To My Heart website Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday! Subscribe to Courtney Lane Designs by Email

A quick post for you today, friends, as I got back from my long weekend away with my husband yesterday afternoon and am busy getting things back in order. I did, however, want to share a few recent Pins with you, in the hopes that they will inspire you just as much as they have inspired me. Check it:I am adoring this little number for its trendy nautical look:...and relishing the fact that mint green is still going as strong as ever. Remember the Minty Fresh Challenge we did nearly a year ago? The romance in this white lace is breathtaking:I don't know if you know this about me, but the moon is a very important part of my daily life. Since I was a small child, I have always been aware of its phases, and I make an effort to look at it each night if it is within view. I have a board entitled Au Claire de la Lune where I pin moon images, and when I came across this tantalizing project by Tugboat Printshop via Colossal (it is a hand-carved relief print), I simply couldn't believe my eyes:I may have mentioned this before, but one of my favorite boards to pin to is my board entitled Chair-ish. Apparently I have a "thing" for unique chairs, and as someone who fills her home with Arts & Crafts era furnishings and decor, this stunning chair by Claude Lalanne and its ginkgo leaf motif is simply divine:I pinned this gorgeous image to my Mixy-Matchy Style board for last week's challenge of the same name, but I didn't have room for it in the blog post. The patterns and colors are so subtle and dreamy, proving that mixy-matchy style doesn't have to be in-your-face crazy, which may be a fact that is quite comforting for many of us to realize:I moxie love these Kate Spade shoes, though I would never wear them, and I certainly couldn't afford them (or perhaps more to the point, I would not choose to afford them):I'm still in the process of decorating my office (I am unbelievably picky about these things and want to get everything just right), and this rug from Urban Outfitters is just the thing. Though I am struggling with justifying the price tag (er, that is, my husband and I are discussing it):From my Lovely Lights board, this rustic beach lantern for its call to return sometime soon:I love blueberries and I love mint, and it goes without saying that I love rum. This Blueberry Mojito looks oh-so-light-and-refreshing, doesn't it? And it's pretty, too, with its stripey paper straws! I'll drink to that!As I mentioned earlier this year, I'm going to be turning 50 (in December, actually) and have wanted to try and live my life a little more deliberately. I've been eating healthy, nutritious foods (including spinach-berry-banana-almond milk-ground flaxseed-protein shakes every morning), I'm getting a ton more exercise, and I'm working really hard to change my internal voice, as in, not beating myself up quite so much about every little thing. This quote that was hand-lettered by Ali Edwards really speaks to me right now.:We have all had difficult things to deal with in our lives over the years, but we don't have to become them. We can choose to set them apart from who we are and become whomever it is we truly want to be. And perhaps I've been striving for that my whole life, but right now, I am actually living it.Here's to the inspiration that is all around us, but in this case, the inspiration that can be found particularly on Pinterest. (This post didn't turn out to be nearly as quick as I had intended, but you know me--I just get carried away!)Happy Wednesday,~Cath

Sweet Birthday Wishes Small Vase... Good Morning Crafty Friends! Welcome back for another episode of My Creative Time's 3-D Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a beautiful and fun Summer so far! I am enjoying my days in my Garden and seeing all of my beautiful roses and plants bloom. That is where my inspiration for today's project came from... My Garden. This flower vase was decorated for My Boss and Lady I care and work for. Besides a store bought gift, I wanted to create something pretty.The burlap ribbon (2") was bought at Hobby Lobby when their ribbon was on special at 50% off. I wrapped it around and made a big bow in the center. Along Die cutting all of the cuts I also used some fluid chalk to distress and highlight the edges of the cuts. Also, Adhered rhinestones to the jean pocket for a bit of bling and shine. With black Ranger ink, I stamped the sentiment to the banner. I adhered them with foam dots for dimension and used hot glue to adhere to the center of the bow.I also made a coordinating card with the same steps I did for the center of the small vase. I used lots of foam dots too for dimension on the Card.?Inside of the Card Most of the die cuts were made from leftover Scraps.? My Creative Time Supplies Used: Stitched Daisy Die Stitched Leaves Dies Fun Pockets Stamp SetVintage Sentiments Stamp SetCelebrate Good Times Stamp and Dies SetStitched Doily DieVintage Stitched Label DiesThank you so much for joining me today! Be sure to stop by My Creative Time to view the rest of the projects the Design Team has created for 3-D Wednesday. Have a fabulous rest of the week!

Megan Hoeppner, creative editor Today’s update is twice as nice. You see, we’re getting a peek at both Fern & Forest Girl and Fern & Forest Boy by Little Yellow Bicycle. In addition to that fun, I’ll be announcing winners for two of our previous Late & Great Update posts. Yes, twice as nice indeed. To start this party for two, let’s enjoy some of the whimsical patterns available in the Fern & Forest paper lines. On to the amazing embellishments, and the Fern & Forest collections are full of ‘em. Here’s just a small sampling of what it has to offer. Win, Win Want to win a chicken bucket full of products from both the boy and the girl Fern & Forest collections? Entering is easy. Simply leave a comment on this post anytime between now and Monday, June 24 for your chance. We’ll select a winner randomly from the comments received to take these finger lickin’ good elements home. Good luck! Congratulations! To conclude today’s fun, I’m delighted to congratulate not one, but two winners. The Heidi Swapp prize pack is on its way to Angel S., and the My Mind’s Eye bundle is happy to make its home with allimci. Thanks to all who entered. Congratulations to our winners! Cheers! Megan Hoeppner, creative editor

I just love these poppies from MFT!When I saw the Freshly Made Sketch #90 last week I knew this open space would be wonderful for them!Since my time has been really limited lately I combined it with the Dynamic Duos Challenge #57 of Pear Pizzazz and Black.In all honesty, I had no idea if black poppies existed so I had to research ;)Really though, does it matter? LOL! In the end, I think the card came out very nice. It's striking, isn't it? Those colours and bold flowers. Dramatic.Stamps: Pretty PoppiesPaper: White, Black, Pear PizzazzInk: Black, Pear PizzazzAccessories: Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, MFT fishtail banner dies, dimensionals, Stickles

June Preview Day #3 is here! There's so much fun going on at The Crafts Meow! They are releasing FIVE new stamp sets. Be sure to stop by my blog from now until June 21st to see all of the new products coming out. We're kicking off today with the stamp set called "Sweet Memories". Fun fact: I'm so slow when I make mini albums. I only complete a couple of pages a day. I always try to do something fun with the pages. I'm over thinking right? (smile) I actually won this Amy Tangerine Day Book from Carina's blog during the American Crafts blog hop last month. I decided to decorate this page with a "dressed up" tag using the Sweet Memories stamp set. I love adding texture to my projects. The felt heart was actually from a Valentine's Day placemat that I got from Michael's Craft Store. I carefully cut out one of the hearts and added it to the page. Now I've gotta figure out what I want to do with the rest of the pages. This make take a while..... Wanna win this set? Be sure to leave some love on the TCM Blog, by 8 p.m. PST, for your chance to win today's stamp set. Stop back by tomorrow for another reveal and giveaway!

Every 1,000 new friends on our Facebook page... we choose a random community member to create a tutorial for the blog as a guest Spellblogger! It's been such a fun experience and a wonderful way to meet the people that love our product. In this tutorial... we'll meet Allie Gower. Allie is an acomplished blogger and crafter. We're tickled pink that her number came up on the random number generator! So... without further ado... Tonight is the last night of Spring, so let’s officially declare it 5 O’Clock somewhere with a Media Mixagé Summertime Clock. You can create this fun ...

I was so excited when I got my Pazzles and that excitement went away quickly when I tried cutting some things and a few times I almost cut through the dang mat! One of the reasons I wanted the Pazzles instead of the Cameo was because of the power, not realizing the very reason I wanted the machine was going to be a like a toothache when ya don't have to a bit of Novocain around!With that said I would like to say I am LOVING the Pazzles now! It took me some getting use to because there is a very large range in the pressure, a 0-50 range to be exact, in the Make The Cut software cutting options. I finally started figuring out some of the settings and then I would forget them so I decided I needed to keep them recorded.After just writing on scraps I decided to use my Stampin Up Tag punch, the large one to be more specific, and writing the settings on those. I do try to write the company name if I know it, such as Stampin Up, DCWV etc. The one that says "designer" would be papers like Basic Grey, Bo Bunny, etc. When I get more ambitious I am going to punch holes in the tags and add the tags to a ring or something so I can just flip through them. For now, they just stay stacked up on my crafting table where I can grab them easily.Oh and thank you Tuki for asking me to post this! She wanted to "pin it" for future reference.

I found these ready coloured Mo Manning printed images that I bought in a die cut sheet from a craft fair, time to use them. I found some paper that is printed with boat outlines, and even though only a tiny bit of the pattern shows on this card, I think it really works. The figure 4 was cut from the George cartridge on the Cricut, and I added a bit of stitching.... Since the little boy card seemed to work so well, I decided to reproduce it with one of the little girl images. Same layout, but what a difference, I really don't think the second card works at all, it just shows how the right colours/papers can make (or break) a design.....