Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Paper Sweeties Challenge - February 2017 "Anything Goes"



Hello and Happy February!  It's a brand new month and that means it is time for a new monthly challenge at Paper Sweeties:

The theme is "Anything Goes"!  And remember that if you do not have a blog you can play along by posting to our Facebook page "Paper Sweeties Inspiration".  Just go to the photo tab and find the album for the February Challenge.  Add your photo and you are entered!  And the prize is a lovely $25.00 Gift Certificate to the Paper Sweeties store!  Plus a chance to Guest Design with us too.  We love it when you play along and we get to see what you are creating!

For my card I decided to play with:
 Abigail Stamp Set

 Let it Snow Stamp Set:


I just love paper piecing this sweet coat and boots (or skates) from the "Let it Snow" stamp set!  I thought this would make a lovely card to send out for Valentine's Day which will be here before we know it!  I selectively inked the "Sending Warm Hugs and Kisses" sentiment to just show "Hugs and Kisses" and help it fit on my die cut heart.  The heart die cut is from the "Stitched Tags #1" sweet cuts set. I added some lovely oatmeal seam binding around my gingham background panel and tied a lovely bow.  Some sweet strawberry sequins and  a heart bling finish my card off nicely.


Here are links to all of the wonderful designers that are part of today's Challenge Blog Hop:


Debbie Marcinkiewicz - Paper Sweeties
February Guest Designer:  Kristina Song

A special welcome to Lori Turner who is Paper Sweeties newest Design Team Member! We are so happy she has joined the team!  Welcome Lori! And a big welcome to Kristina Song who is our February Guest Designer too! 

Thanks for joining me today!  And thanks to everyone that takes time to leave me such sweet comments!  I read and appreciate each and every one of them!  

Hope you will join us again for the February Release starting on February 13th with the Planner Blog Hop and continuing on the 14th, 15th, and 16th with all of the wonderful release festivities!
Hugs!
Jill








Sunday, January 15, 2017

Paper Sweeties January 2017 New Release Rewind



 
Hello and welcome to our Paper Sweeties Release Rewind Day! 

 What did you think of the lovely new stamps and sweet cuts that were released yesterday?  So sweet, right!?!

Here are links to the BRAND NEW sets at Paper Sweeties: 






 For this sweet card I heat embossed the NEW "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" house sweet cut and added some diamond stickles to create a snowy rooftop!  
I added the lovely stitched tree sweet cuts from the "Stitched Tags #2" set as a background for my house.  I used a stitched cloud as well as a cloud from the NEW sweet cuts set to hold my "Thank You" sentiment which is from the "You are Tu-tu Sweet" stamp set.  


I embellished the card by adding a sweet crochet thread bow and a heart pin to the clouds. Some gorgeous "Sugar Sprinkles" sequins finish it off perfectly with one acting as a window on the door! 

I also made a proto-type for a sweet little felt house ornament using the house die cut.  This was my first attempt and I played around with hand cutting different doors and windows. I will do some things a little bit differently on my next one but I thought I would give you a quick peek anyway.  It is not perfectly sewn by any means but you can at least see how cute these would be! I think they would be so sweet as Christmas ornaments next year!
 

Now I get to send you along to see more of this wonderful Release Rewind hop:


Thanks so much for joining us for the January Release!
We also hope you join us for the January Challenge over on the Paper Sweeties Inspiration page on Facebook!
The challenge is "Anything Goes" and there is a lovely gift certificate and Guest Design Team spot for the winner!  Hope to see you there!



Happy Creating!
:) Jill 






Saturday, January 14, 2017

Paper Sweeties January 2017 New Release Party!

 
Happy Release Day!  Today all of the NEW PRODUCTS are available at PAPER SWEETIES:


New Products & Links:

Somewhere over the Rainbow
                                                 Somewhere over the Rainbow Sweet Cuts



These new stamps and sweet cuts have definitely stolen a piece of my home-loving heart!  They are so sweet!


Onto my cards for today:
This card is so true for me!  Home is definitely where my heart lives!  I made it using the NEW sweet cuts "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" House die to create a lovely corrugated house.  I used the heart sweet cut from the Beautiful Little Wishes set to create the heart-shaped aperture in my house.  I then backed it with a red house die cut and stamped the word "Home" in the center.  I used the stamp "Homerun" from the MVP stamp set and just selectively inked it.  The "is where my heart lives" sentiment is from the "At the Beach" stamp set.  

 To add some texture to my card I sewed embroidery floss around my scalloped rectangle die cut and added a bow.  To create the smoke coming out of the chimney I used the steam sweet cut from the "Homemade with Love" set and added some Copic coloring and a bit of glitter glue. 


My next card starts with a lovely heart background and some gingham paper in a bright turquoise color:  (NOTE:  I used this same background and layout and explain how I make it on this Coffee Lover's Blog Hop card: HERE)
 I used the "Somewhere over the Rainbow: stamps and sweet cuts to create my sweet scene.  I embossed the house stamp in white on an aqua mist house die cut and then colored with some Copic markers and added some glitter glue. The rest of the scene was created with the stamps in the new set!

I love that sunshine with the happy smile! And this wonderful sentiment! I added a bit of red copic coloring to the sentiment to help it POP!



I hope you are enjoying today's New Release Blog Hop.  Here are all of the links to our fabulous team of designers:
 Join us again tomorrow for our Release Rewind!  There will be lots more to see then!


And we hope you will post a card to our Anything Goes Challenge for January!

 You do not even need to have a blog to participate! Just upload your photo on FACEBOOK to our Paper Sweeties Inspiration page January Photo Album:  HERE

:) Jill 










Friday, January 13, 2017

Paper Sweeties January 2017 New Release Sneak Peeks





Hello Friends and welcome to Sneak Peeks of the January 2017 New Release for Paper Sweeties!


You are going to absolutely LOVE the wonderful stamps and sweet cuts that are being released this month! I have not stopped playing with them since I received them!  They are just so sweet and versatile and fun!

Several people have recently asked how and where I get my ideas for my projects and cards so I thought I would share a little of my creative process with you this release.  I started the card I am sharing today by browsing some "patchwork house" pins on Pinterest. I love quilting and "prim" or old-fashioned inspiration and draw many of my card ideas from these areas of creativity.  There were so many beautiful patchwork house quilts and other types of artwork that I drew inspiration from while on Pinterest. Here are two pictures (and their sources) of the many that I was inspired by:


Source:  HERE 
                                      SOURCE:  https://www.pinterest.com/source/lolenya.gallery.ru


After viewing inspiration on Pinterest I usually have a half dozen or more ideas in my head with more to come.  I keep a notebook and a pen near me during the day to jot ideas.  I also keep it on my nightstand because often times the best ideas come when I am relaxing before going to sleep.  This time I had two sketch pages full of ideas for creating cards and projects.  Here is a picture of one of my "sketching" pages. Keep in mind I am just scribbling the idea down so I don't forget it.  I have found that if I don't jot a quick sketch or note to myself I will often forget my ideas before I have time to begin creating.  LOL!



When I finally have time in my studio to create I grab my notebook and start making projects. For this card I used the idea of creating a patchwork house in the lower right hand corner of the page.  This is not a new technique by any means but it is a fun one and I thought it went perfect with this month's "home" themed release.

I started by paper-piecing the BRAND NEW house sweet cut using 4 different patterned papers.  I die cut the house 4 times - once from each type of paper.  Then I held the 4 die cuts together and cut them in 4 pieces.  I glued the pieces onto 4 more house die cuts cut from white card stock to create 4 sweet paper-pieced houses.  I used one of the 4 houses to create this card: 

 I embossed 1/2 of a dark brown A2 card base with a tiny hearts embossing folder and added a nice beige patterned paper to the other half.  I then tied some lovely Paper Sweeties Mint Seam Binding around the card base into a bow at the top of the card.  A vellum and patterned paper die cut panel along with some corrugated cardboard trimmed with my pinking sheers creates a sweet backdrop for this adorable paper pieced house!

   The heart-shaped tag is from the Beautiful Little Wishes Sweet Cuts while the sentiment is pieced together from two different stamps.  The word "home" is from the sentiment "Home Tweet Home" in the "Home Tweet Home" stamp set.  And the word "sweet" is from the "Sweetie Pie" stamp set.  I often cut apart stamps to create the sentiments that I want on my cards.  From this set I used the "tis the sweetest season" sentiment stamp to get just the tiny word "sweet" but you could also selectively ink the needed word for your sentiment rather than cutting up the stamp.  It is up to you.  To finish my sweet little home I added the NEW hearts stamp colored with some RV32 Copic Marker to create smoke coming out of the chimney. And lastly a sweet little cherry blossom flower to draw the eye to the sentiment. 


My next project incorporates crochet and is a gift for a friend.  I have been crocheting since I was 8 years old so it is very easy for me to whip up a project like this.  If you are new to crochet and want to try this there are many videos on YouTube to assist with learning.  There is also a tutorial for this type of project on Ruth L's channel:  HERE.

I started by gathering my needed supplies as per the video linked above. Many of them were purchased at my local Hobby Lobby and I have linked to them below.  The stitch I used to edge my frame is different then the scalloped edge in the video.  I just did two rows of single crochet scallops for a more "lacey" look and to create an area to thread a ribbon. I once again used one of the houses that I had paper-pieced in the patchwork style.  I then added a heart tag from the Beautiful Little Wishes Sweet Cuts with the same sentiment used on my card above.

I embellished the frame with some mint seam binding strung through the openings I crocheted and some small velvet leaves.  The pearl cluster embellishment is an old button I had in my stash. I used one on the leaves and one to embellish the bow at the top of the frame.  I used hot glue to attach them.


The back of the crocheted frame is finished with a felt and foam circle die cut.  I purchased some adhesive backed foam and die cut a circle then added the felt circle to the adhesive side.   I then hot glued the finished circle to the back of my frame to make it look nice.  I then added a metal charm that says "Families are Forever with a tiny little house on it.  So sweet!  And a tag that says "A Gift for You" which is from the "Snow Time" stamp set. 

Thanks so very much for visiting me today.  Sorry it is kind of a long post!  It is now time for me to send you along on this wonderful Sneak Peek blog hop!  Here is a list of all of the links to help you on your way:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood (you are HERE)
Karen Letchworth  (Welcome to Karen our newest Design Team Member!)


    And don't forget to return tomorrow for Release Day FUN!  The entire Design Team will all have lots more to share with you then!  I cannot wait to hop around myself and see what all of the Sweeties Teamies have made with these wonderful new products!  Happy Hopping!