A Paper Garden

Visit the new blog cabin!

2009-01-14T16:15:00.006-05:00

I have moved!!

Please visit me in my new home. Maybe we can have cocktails and do a little stamping.

Get there just by clicking HERE!

Please update your links and readers and such - as all the action will be at the new place.

(and thanks ever so much!)

On the Move....

2009-01-06T09:39:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope everyone have a wonderful Holiday. I know I have been a woefully neglectful of the blog and all my blogging buddies.

We did some traveling over the Holidays and I'm trying to pull life back together here (still need to take that tree down....).

Also, I'm making some improvements to the Paper Garden Projects store website and this blog. So this blog is being moved to a new home.

Hopefully I'll have it all spruced up by the end of the week so I can invite everyone over for cocktails (OK... maybe just blog candy...).

About the card: I used the New Home Clear Set by Impression Obsession and Basic Grey Ambrosia papers. Its colored with Copics (of course!).

15 years? Oh my....

2008-12-20T21:35:00.001-05:00

On the 18th, my husband and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. Funny - I don't feel a decade and a half older! (well... OK, some days I do....). A lot has happened in the last 15 years - but they have all been good ones.

This is the card I made for him. It has cute little love birds, but I tried to use manly colors. And the paper has wood grain - wood grain is manly right?

I colored the images with Copic markers and paper pieced the tree top with the reverse side of the stripe paper (Cosmo Cricket Wanted collection I think).

The images are from Odd Bird planet. Kelly's tree is available as part of the Relaxin' in Nature cling set and the love birds are in the Valentine Friends cling set.

I'm still frantically trying to finish Christmas projects. Wish me luck!

Its almost too late to be early!

2008-12-17T16:59:00.001-05:00

I love this image and the saying that goes with it! These stamps are part of the Letter to Santa Cling set (the stamps are from Eat Cake Graphics - love that snowman too!).

I colored the image with Copics. I was having a lot of trouble with my ink migrating outside my ink lines. What's going on?? Then it dawned on me - I grabbed the paper I used from my scrap pile. I have my favorite white cardstock that I use with the Copics (its the cardstock in the store). This was not it and it does not color as well. The paper and ink combo really do make a difference in how easy and enjoyable it is to color with the Copics. My favorite combo is Memento ink with the Wedding White or Announcement Cream cardstock in the store.

Well, I kept going (in spite of smudgy shoes) and cut the images out with my Spellbinders dies. One of my favorite things to do is emboss the dies and then use my duster brush to ink the background edges with the die in place. I really like the white border it leaves.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday season. I'm frantically trying to finish up projects - teacher gifts and other things. I still have some cards to make let alone send out! How is it this Holiday always sneaks up on me?

Holiday Stamp Kits are 40% off

2008-12-17T16:58:00.001-05:00

While they last, the Holiday stamp kits are 40% off. You can check them out here:

Homemade Holiday stamp kit

Gnome for the Holidays Stamp Kit

Paper Garden Projects Shipping Schedule:

All orders placed before midnight Sunday December 21 will be shipped on December 22. Any orders placed after December 22 will not be shipped until January 5.

We will be taking a little Holiday break to spend some time with our families. I think you should too :)

There is still time...

2008-12-12T09:57:00.001-05:00

The holidays are looming, but there is still some time to squeeze in a few more Holiday Projects.

Right now, Holiday Stamp Kits and selected Holiday stamps, papers and stamp sets are on sale at Paper Garden Projects (while supplies last).

You can check out all the specials by clicking HERE. We ship priority mail, so US customers should have their purchases in about 3 days.

For this card, I used the Partridge in a Pear Tree Topiary cling stamp and the new Basic Grey Wassail paper pad.

The image is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored with Copic Sketch Markers. I added some glitter to the Partridge and the stars with the Copic Spica glitter pen - but the photo does not capture the glitter very well.

I created the diamond edge with the Diamond elegance Border Punch and added a thin strip of the green paper from the Wassail pad that I pierced using the Tim Holtz Design Ruler. If you like to paper pierce, this ruler is so great.

Oh.... in case inquiring minds want to know, there are the Copic colors I used for the card. I also added a little R-14 to the bow, and I used colorless blender to create highlights on the bow.

I have a sick little one today (off the the doctors for a strep test). But I hope to work on some of my projects later. And.... I'm putting the finishing touches on the new kit for release mid January. I likey!! Hope you do too.

Decorating a Gnome Home for Christmas

2008-12-11T18:38:00.001-05:00

I decided the Gnome Home from Odd Bird Planet needed a little sprucing up for the Holidays. I was in a bit of a goofy mood and my decorating went a little over the top, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Here is my finished product. I used a bunch of different Odd Bird Planet stamps in my little creation. In case inquiring minds want to know - here's what I did.

First I stamped the Gnome Home in Tuxedo Memento ink. Then I masked it with eclipse paper. I inked around the image with Broken China Distress ink using a duster brush. I did the top "sky" area darker than the bottom "snow" area. (the green on the mask is from the last time I used it - I save them and reuse them so I don't have to cut stuff out again... can you say "l-a-z-y"...)

I colored my Gnome Home with Copic markers. The mushroom cap is pretty big. To avoid marker streaks, you need a well inked marker. The trick is to color slowly enough to saturate the paper, but quickly enough to keep a wet edge on the ink. Sometimes you need to move around a bit when you color to keep all the edges wet. In large areas, I use the wedge tip of the marker because it delivers more ink.

Then I stamped all my "pieces", cut out around them and colored them. The stamps I used were Cathrine's Gnome Home, Cathrine's Sapling, Cathrine's Sapling Branch, Kelly's Stiched Gnome, and Simple Gift. The long garland is just Sapling Branch stamped side by side 3 times.

Generally, I don't try to cut right on the line of something. (Its just too hard for me! LOL there is that l-a-z-y thing again!). I usually leave an edge around it. You can see it on the gnome. Before I cut him out, I outlined around him with W-1 gray so he wouldn't have a stark white border. It makes cutting out so much easier and I think it makes cut out images stand out from the background.

BTW - for the gift, I created the dots by coloring the present green and then holding the tip of my blender pen where I wanted a dot after the green ink dried. The blender fluid will push the green ink out and create a dot.

So then I just assembled. And added those heaps of embellishments.

I added red crystals on the tree and garland. I also added some snow to the windows and ground using the puffy velvet marker. On top of the velvet I added glitter! I know - its a bit extreme - but it was fun!

And yes- we do have those gaudy multicolor lights on our tree - not the elegant white ones. We have a mis-match of homemade and"historical" ornaments. I mostly let the kids decorate it - so there are some branches with 3 ornaments hung on top of each other. Martha Stewart would NOT approve - but it works for us. Sometimes you just need to embrace imperfection.

Thanks for looking! Happy Stamping.

A little Flair for Christmas

2008-12-10T20:00:00.001-05:00

The design Team Members of Odd Bird Planet have been working with Flair Design papers to create some wonderful Holiday Cards. I thought I'd share a few of mine here.

All the stamps used here are available at Odd Bird Planet. There are also a bunch of new stamps to be released soon They are so cute! So keep your eyes peeled!

This card uses Adenville to make a little Holiday village. I've always really liked that sentiment too.

The village is colored with Copic Markers.

For this card, The Flair paper does most of the work. Another great OBP sentiment - I like the tightness of it so I can punch it out or put it in a window. I love the little "1950's retro" Santas from the paper too. This is a super fast card to make.

This card uses Skating Gnome and "Be Merry" -another one of my favorite OBP holiday sayings. I used the Snowflake Border Punch at the bottom. I also put glitter on the skate trail with a quickie glue pen, but its hard to see in the photo.

I guess the Holidays really are upon us huh?

A Little Holiday Thank You

2008-12-10T08:55:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd share a very simple Holiday Thank you Card.

The Stamp is from the Penny Black Christmas Critters clear set- so many cute images!. The saying is from the Impression Obsession Sentiment I clear set. I find this set so handy because I can create whatever sentiments I want.

The images are stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and I colored the kitty with Copic Markers. I used E-50, E053 and E-55 for the cat's fur. I added a little R-02 for the nose and cheeks. The Leaves are YG-03 and YG-63. The Berries are E-04. I added a little shadow with W-1

Something else to share...

My daughter M made this during free art time at her after K program (she is 5). M is a certified "craftaholic". I'm constantly cleaning up her craft shrapnel from all over the house. I think she is very good for her age - she creates all kinds of projects all on her own (although I might be biased LOL). But I thought this was especially cute. She must have had the teacher write the words (she is not quite that neat yet). Notice Baby Jesus has a teddy bear to cuddle.

Maybe you could leave her a nice comment - if you're so inclined.

By the way - if you want to see some awesome projects made with the new Basic Grey Wassail patterned papers - check out Michelle's Blog. She is creating some beautiful stuff!

Garden Party for December 9, 2009

2008-12-09T10:09:00.001-05:00

Its Tuesday - Garden Party Day. If you remember, this was our Christmas inspiration clipping from last week.

And here is my card made from it.

I used the new Basic Grey Wassail paper for the background. If you like vintage Holiday themes, this paper pack is wonderful!

I used Odd Bird Planet images for the card - Charles left and Charles right along with Cathrine's (that's me!) Pine Bough. Charles and Pine Bough are also in the Homemade Holiday stamp kit - which is on sale for 25% off right now.

I stamped the images with Memento Rich Cocoa, colored them with Copic markers and inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a duster brush. The speckled paper was from my stash. It was more absorbent than my regular paper so blending the Copics was a little more challenging.

The fiber and brad are from my stash.

This will be my last Garden Party for this year - I'll still be around but with the business of the season I'd like to take a short break on the challenges. We can start them back up next year.

An Award!

2008-12-09T09:24:00.001-05:00

Catherine was kind enough to give me an award! That is so sweet and I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled whenever anyone reads my little blog - but to get an award? Yay!

I'm supposed to name 10 blogs the I enjoy. Honestly, I've been a very bad blogger lately. Things have been so busy that I've fallen way behind on my Blog Hoppin. There are so many great blogs out there and I can learn something on all of them. Well, here is a list of 10 - but I could list many more.

Johanna From Odd Bird Planet

Gabriela Beautiful photography

You can Make it - I don't "know" this blogger, but I enjoy the blog!

So hop around - if you're so inclined!

One Stamp - 3 ways

2008-12-05T06:50:00.001-05:00

I've been struggling with "being creative" lately. I think I'm just too busy and feeling a wee bit stressed out. So I decided to take a little time to play around with the Manger Circle stamp by Impression Obsession - just trying different stuff to see what happens. So here are 3 cards I came up with.

For this first one, I stamped Manger Circle in Memento Tuxedo ink and colored it with Copic markers. I cut around the image and then mounted it on 2 circular mattes.

(When I cut around images - I usually run a black marker around the side of the cut edge - so no white paper shows if I did not cut perfectly)

I stamped the sentiment and then cut it out using a Spellbinders Ribbon slide die. I love these dies and see myself using them a lot in the future.

I used the Copic Spica Glitter pen to add sparkle to the halos and the star - unfortunately, it does not show up in the photo. The paper is from K&Co.

For this next card, I embossed the Manger image in Black Superfine Embossing powder and colored it with watercolor. The halos and star are painted using the Pearlescent paint set to give them sparkle. This image really needs a fine detail embossing powder.

I cut around the image as above, and then mounted on a straight and scalloped matte. I created the circular card with my circle cutters. Just for something different....

The patterned paper is K&Co, and the gold is a really pretty paper from my stash - I think it came from Marcos Paper.

Last I wanted to try a card that was not colored in (gasp!). I stamped the Manger image in blue, cut it out with a circle die and mounted it on a scalloped circle.

I made it into a tent topper card - where the card base is cut smaller and the circle is adhered to extend over the top to make the whole card 5 1/2" tall. You can make the base any height you wish.

I adhered this great mullberry paper I picked up at a stationary store in Seattle to the front. I used the Ribbon Slide die for the sentiment again.

So those are my little experiments. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

December's Special Deal at Odd Bird Planet

2008-12-03T22:08:00.001-05:00

Ohhh... this month's special deal at Odd Bird Planet is super cute. And it has 2 new release stamps (the gnome and the birdie). When you buy the special deal, you save 25% off the price of the individual stamps. You can see the deal HERE.

Here are a couple samples using the special deal. Odd Bird Planet has so many wonderful gnome images. So fun! I want them all. And I really love the petite little bird in this set.

With this card, I was playing with my "Just My Type" Embossing borders (those are fun too!)

Here is another quick and easy card. The paper used here is from KI Memories (I think?).

I know its not really Fall anymore - but I love these colors.

Last Day for the "Holidays are Here" Sale

2008-12-02T23:06:00.001-05:00

Just a quick reminder that the Holidays are here sale ends midnight Wednesday.

Also, we got a few new goodies in the store:

Basic Gray Wassail 6"x6" pads:

Spellbinder tag dies (in 2 flavors).

Copic Spica Glitter pens (Clear only):

And a bunch of other goodies are now back in stock. Happy stamping!

Garden Party for December 2

2008-12-02T21:13:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe I just wrote "December" Yikes!! I'm not ready yet!!

Anyway - here is this week's Garden party. If you remember, here is the inspiration photo from last week. I cheated last week and snagged a Holiday clipping instead of using the "inspiration shoe box".

I'm thrilled to say Debbie played along again! You can see her challenge card HERE. Just too cute huh? I hope Priscilla does not get her fur stuck on that candy cane! Notice how Debbie colored the ribbon with light and dark shades to make it look like satin. If you want to see some amazing coloring - stroll around her blog (make sure you check her Monday Morning Comics).

So here is my attempt at a card. I've been having serious "mojo" issues lately and am struggling to be "creative". I tried to step out of my usual way of working and created a card with no coloring (GASP!!). OK- just a little coloring of the garland. Its painted with Pearlescent paints.

Ehh..... maybe I should step back in to my usual way of working??

I was trying to recreate the green/red/blue/lime green color scheme. But I don't think I like the blue background on the image - it makes the card look dull. I do love this stamp (Winter Wonderland Tree) and like the sentiment with it. And I'm really liking the self adhesive gems.

The Snow Dots Cuttlebug folder is fast becoming a favorite. The pattern repeats! So if you need to emboss something bigger than the folder, you can line up the pattern and keep going - like I did with this square base.

Well, just for kicks I took another whack at an non-colored card (gasp again). Its the same card with a different color scheme. I colored the garland with Stardust Gelly roll pen - so its really sparkly silver, not gray. I do like this one better.

Well, what can I say - there is always next week...

Speaking of next week, here is the photo for next week - another Holiday clipping. I'm perplexed about why they slanted the "I" and the "E" in the title. I find it distracting, but they must have had a reason.

I think this will be my last garden party till next year (next year?? Yikes again). If you'd like to play along, just post a comment here with a link to your creation and I'll include it in next week's report.

The Holidays are here sale!

2008-11-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

Yep! Time to kick those Holiday preparations into full gear.

So Paper Garden Projects is having a sale to help you get some of those things on your to-do list finished

20% off Copic Sketch markers
20% off select Holiday Stamps
20% off Homemade Holiday Stamp Kit
20% off Gnome for the Holidays Stamp Kit
20% off Distress, Kaleidacolor and Versamagic Inks

On Sale through Wednesday December 3rd - while supplies last!

(this card was made with the Winterberry Branches Cling set - and its on sale!).

Also....

The Winter Wonderland Mini-kit is back in stock!

Along with the kit, we also have more of the coordinating stamps sets. The stamps include the Winter Wonderland Friends Cling set and Winter Neighborhood cling stamp. So many choices of darling images from Eat Cake Graphics.

This clever slider card was made using the Winter Wonderland kit and the Winter Neighborhood cling stamp by Mel of MelStampz. Mel has a wonderful tutorial for this card on her blog.

Happy Thanksgiving USA

2008-11-26T18:42:00.001-05:00

Just a little note to wish everyone a bountiful, peaceful and joyous Thanksgiving.

I have so many things to be grateful for - its really quite astonishing.

I'm thankful for my family - 3 precious little girls (OK, one is maybe not so little anymore) and a DH that is truly the perfect life partner. A generous and loving Mom and Dad, my brother and his family, and a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I'm thankful for my church family, and all my girlfriends of course!

I'm thankful for the amazing plenty in our lives - that we have clean water to drink; plenty of good food to eat; warm, clean clothes to wear; and our snug little peaceful home. My journey this past year has lead me to appreciate much more keenly how many people in the world can't count those simple blessings.

I'm also very grateful for the customers who have supported my little store over the past year. I'm grateful for Tracy and Mel - the design team that has done so much to help me over the past few months. Without all of you, this little dream of mine would have died.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

What I used on this card:

Garden Party for November 25

2008-11-25T07:05:00.001-05:00

Hello!

Its Tuesday - time for this week's Garden Party Challenge where a magazine clipping is used for the basis of a card. Here is the picture posted two weeks ago (opps....).

(OK.... lets pretend its still Tuesday, its almost still Tuesday...)

Here is my card attempt. I'm kind of "meh" about it but I ran out of time to try again.

I used the flower from the Victorian Rose Single cling stamp and the leaves from the Damask Floral Clear Set. I embossed the pieces in gold and painted the images with Pearlescent Paint and cut them out. I could not get the flowers to photo very well. They look nicer in real life. The background is the Distressed Stripes Cuttlebug folder and the corner is made with the Fancy Corner Punch.

The papers are from my stash - including the gold which is very thick and nice (now where did I get it???).

I have to confess that I cheated on next week's photo. I've been tearing out Holiday photos - and pulled this from that pile instead of the regular inspiration shoe box. But I'm trying to get more into the Christmas mood...

I'm just not ready yet.... time is going too fast for me!

I liked the blue and lime green that they added to the traditional red here.

A reminder - and another snowman

2008-11-23T19:19:00.001-05:00

Just a quick reminder that you only have till Friday to enter the drawing for a free Homemade Holiday stamp kit worth $29.99. All you need to do is post some pictures of all those nifty Holiday projects you've been making.

You can see all the contest details HERE.

We got even more snow on Friday - 4 inches total! Amazing, before Thanksgiving even. Unfortunately, I still have not finished raking my leaves. I still have bulbs to plant. Yikes!

So here is another snowman card. I used the Letter from Santa Cling set again and the same paper as the last one, but this one is a gift card holder card. I wanted to get 3 out of each 12"x12" sheet of paper - so I cut them only 4" wide and them mounted it on a 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" piece of cardstock to get them to A2 size. It makes them a little more sturdy too.

I colored the snowman with Copic markers and added some glitter with my Quickie Glue Pen.

The 12"x12" paper is folded to make a pocket to hold the gift card. I added a place to write a message because the inside of the card was so dark.

If you would like to see a tutorial for making these gift card holders, you can click HERE. Just keep in mind that if you want the cardstock backing, you need to cut the paper 4" wide score it at 2 1/2" and at 7 3/4" (instead of 2 1/2" and 8").

We had a great time at our little stamping event this past Friday. It was sad that several people couldn't make it after all - but the ladies that came were wonderful! We had fun, ate some yummy goodies and raised $100 for Lutheran World Relief. All good stuff.

Warm Winter Wishes

2008-11-20T21:41:00.001-05:00

We had some snow flurries today! Just light ones, nothing that stuck around. But its fun to watch the kids get so excited over it. All 3 were in a panic to get their shoes on and get out there before it stopped snowing. One of the twins announced "Well its snowing - so now we have to have hot chocolate". So I thought this card was a good one for today.

I love this little snowman. The image is from the Letter to Santa Cling Set. Little Sophie is too cute too - I hope to play with her this weekend.

What I used:

Letter to Santa Cling Set
Sentiments Collection 1 Clear set
Copic markers in R-20 Blush, R-32 Peach, R-35 Coral, YR-02 Light Orange, YR-07 Cadmium Orange, YG-03 Yellow Green, YG-63 Pea Green, B-000 Pale Porcelain Blue, B-60 Pale Blue Gray, BG-72 Ice Ocean, BG-75 Abyss Green, E- 25 Carbie Cocoa, E-51 Milky White
Quickie Glue Pen
Crystal Glitter
Distress Ink in Broken China
Duster Brush
Snow Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
Nestibilities square and scalloped square cutting dies.
Paper and cardstock from my stash

Welcome "Gnome" Baby

2008-11-19T07:12:00.001-05:00

I made this little baby card using the Welcome Gnome Baby Cling set and some papers from my stash. The stamps in the set are from Odd Bird Planet - I just love all the different Gnomes over there!

The images are stamped in Memento Tuxedo and colored with Copic Markers. I cut the image and mattes out using Nestibility dies. I inked the image background with Tattered Rose Distress Ink using a duster brush with the cutting die still in place.

The border at the bottom was made with a Threading Water Punch.

Was it Tuesday yesterday???

2008-11-19T07:10:00.001-05:00

Oh Man! I missed my own party!

Sorry everyone, things have been so crazy that I missed posting the Garden Party.

Well, Here is the picture again in case you want to give it a try for next week!

Just post a link to your creation on this post.

In other news.........

Yes, the Winter Wonderland Mini kit and Winter Wonderland Friends set sold out again....... but never fear, more are on the way. I hope to have them up by the weekend.

Hey! Us crafty people are now popular!

2008-11-17T11:26:00.001-05:00

Check out this article by the Associated Press: Handmade is Hot.

I don't think I've ever been trendy before! LOL!

Speaking of handmade - don't forget the contest to win the free Homemade Holiday stamp kit. Check THIS POST for details.

Happy Stamping!

Winter Wonderland Mini Kit is in stock

2008-11-16T21:31:00.001-05:00

The Winter Wonderland kit sold out very quickly before some got a chance to purchase it. Unfortunately, some of the elements of that kit are no longer available. So Paper Garden Projects is offering a "mini kit".

The Mini kit contains the awesome project instructions and templates developed by the wonderfully talented Mel of MelStampz. The kit also contains the stamps which are cling mounted, indexed and packaged in a CD case - all ready to use. Also included is a packet of "frosty" embellishments to coordinate with the stamps. You can see the Mini kit HERE.

Along with the mini kit, we have also added a cling stamp set of Winter Wonderland Friends that coordinate with the stamps in the Winter Wonderland kit. A few more playmates for for your fun "snow day" projects. You can see the new set HERE.

And don't forget about the cute Winter Neighborhood stamp. It can be used on its own or as a background for the images in the mini kit. You can see it HERE.

A Note to Canadian Customers

The shopping cart charges $17 for shipments under $60 to Canada. If your order can fit into a flat rate Priority International envelope, $7 of shipping will be refunded when the order is processed. If you would like to know if what you are planning to order will fit in an envelope, just contact us. (This mini-kit does fit by the way....)

Thanksgiving Table Favor

2008-11-15T06:42:00.001-05:00

I made this table favor using the clear cone favor box. The box has two clear flowers at the top where it latches - perfect for a little embellishing.

The Acorn and Sweet Gum stamp set includes both the image and the text. It is a toast that says " Here's to the blessings of the year. Here's to the friends we hold so dear. To peace on earth both far and near." Nice huh? Its a great, detailed fall image. I only used part of it here.

What I used for this project:

Clear cone favor box
Sweet Gum and Acorns stamp set
Copper Embossing Powder
Anti static bag (don't emboss without it!)
Versamark Ink
Ambrosia Paper pad
Distress ink in Dried Marigold
Duster Brush
Fancy Corner Punch
Nestibility circle dies
Ribbon
Cream and Papaya cardstock

I cut out my image circle with the Nestibility dies and embossed the edge. Then I rubbed the paper with the anti static bag, stamped my image with Versamark, removed the die and heat embossed the image in copper. This gave me the cream border around the embossed image. To accent that more, I put the die back in place and inked the image lightly with Dried Marigold ink and a duster brush.

I cut 2 slightly larger circles from the Ambrosia Patterned paper pad and 2 larger scalloped circles from the Papaya cardstock. I matted my image, patterned paper and scalloped circle and adhered it to the front "flower" on the favor box. I adhered just the patterned paper and scalloped circle on the back flower. The box can then be opened and closed.

For the tag, I stamped and embossed the saying, trimmed it and inked the edges with Dried Marigold. I matted it on the Ambrosia patterned paper and then on a long strip of Papaya. I added the fancy corner punched with the corner punch (I love this punch! It has 2 different corners and they can be layered). I trimmed the cardstock around the corner and punched the hole.

The tag is tied to the favor box - and I added some extra ribbon just for pretty.

So there is my project. I put pecans in mine, but you could also fill it with candy. I can't believe the Holidays are so close! Yikes, they always seem to sneak up on me!

If you live in the Philadelphia area....

2008-11-14T19:14:00.001-05:00

Come join us for some stamping fun - and feed the hungry at the same time!

We're have an evening stamping open house with the proceeds going to Lutheran World Relief Food Programs.

So come get those Holiday projects done, have a few snacks, and help people in need all at the same time. Now that is a way to multi-task.

Here are the specifics. If you are interested and need directions, just let me know!

When: Friday, November 21 from 6:30 to 10:00

Where: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Wallingford – Fellowship hall

What: This is an open house, so you are welcome to arrive any time during the event. We will provide you with a well lit table space and fun fellow crafters to hang out with. Maybe even some yummy snacks.

There will also be a tool table with various paper punches, paper cutters, heat guns and a Cuttlebug with embossing folders available for your use. Additional supplies are available for purchase.

Do you have some holiday projects you’d love to get a head start on? Card making, scrapbooking, gifts, even writing out your Christmas cards? Bring those Holiday projects you’ve been meaning to work on and get started!

Or… if you don't want to bring your own supplies...

You can participate in a card class and make 4 holiday cards (your choice of images) for only $8. All supplies included.

Donation: a $10 donation at the door (100% of your donation goes to Lutheran World Relief)

Questions? Contact Cathy St.Clair

Bring some can goods to be donated to Chester Eastside Ministries and be entered into a raffle for free stamping supplies!

A word from our sponsor....

2008-11-13T20:40:00.001-05:00

We want you to be dazzling this Holiday!

So.... we're having a...

Big Bling Bonanza

We're taking 20% off all of the "shiny stuff" in the Paper Garden Projects Store. Just in time for those Holiday Projects.

On sale are:

Gems and Pearls (check out the huge selection)
Dew Droplets
Stickles (including the new Distress Stickles!)
Glitter and flock (I know - flock is not shiny - but its fun!)
Brads (hey, they're kind of shiny!)
Brilliance inks (very sparkly)

All Copic Sketch markers are also 20% off.

Sale ends Sunday November 23.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled stamping.....

Odd Bird Plant Special Deal

2008-11-12T21:46:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to let you know that the November Odd Bird Planet special deal is now available. By purchasing this bundle of stamps together you save 25%! The deal includes:

1256A Charles Cardinal Left
1257A Charles Cardinal Right
853J A Bird's Gotta Do What a Bird's Gotta Do
642H Birdbath
954B Nest with Eggs

You can see the deal HERE.

For both of my samples, I used the new cuttlebug embossing borders, "Just My Type" and "Frills". Those are a really fun and easy way to add an accent to a card.

Another Homemade Holiday Project - sort of...

2008-11-12T08:52:00.001-05:00

Sorry. couldn't resist... This stamp set is just too cute!

Here is a card made from some of the papers and embellishments in the Homemade Holiday kit.

The stamp set is the Winter Windows Cling set. I used all 3 of the stamps in the set, but you could also use just one of the windows if you wanted a smaller card. (this one is 5 1/4" square).

To make the card, I stamped the two windows on white paper with Memento Tuxedo and then masked them both with Eclipse Paper. Then I swept Distress Vintage Photo ink over the white cardstock with a duster brush. Then I pulled the masks off and colored the white images with Copic Markers. I added a little glitter to the snow with a Quickie Glue Pen.

The sentiment is cut out with a Nestibility die and also inked with the brush and Vintage Photo. If you leave the die in place, you can get the nice white border around the saying.

Don't you just wonder what they are thinking about? Maybe they're waiting for Grandma to come over for Christmas Dinner. Or maybe they are watching snow fall and hoping for a "snow day" off of school tomorrow.

Garden Party for November 11

2008-11-11T18:47:00.001-05:00

My! Its been a long time since the last Garden Party. Only 2 weeks actually - but so much has happened. If you remember, this was the inspiration photo from 2 weeks ago.

And here is my card based off of it.

I embossed flowers and leaves from the Damask Floral Clear Set on Prism Dark Papaya cardstock with Copper Embossing powder. Then I matted it on brown and caramel.

I added a strip of patterned paper I had in my stash to the bottom of the brown card base. I didn't have anything stripped - so I went with floral. I punched two 1/8" holes next to each other through the image and the mattes. Then I fed a sheer ribbon through and knotted it. I mounted the image panel on the card base and then secured the ribbon ends behind. The brad is from my stash as well.

Here is the photo for next week. This one came from Debbie - who was kind enough to send me a whole stack of interesting photos to add to my "Inspiration Shoebox". Thanks Debbie!!

If you'd like to play along, just leave a comment on this post with a link to your creation and I'll make a big fuss over you in next week's post :)

Something Nifty.... a fun contest

2008-11-11T09:47:00.001-05:00

I've been posting my little gift ideas all week and I'd love to see yours. So how about a little contest. With a big prize!!

Each person who shares their gift idea will be put into a random drawing to win a Homemade Holiday Stamp Kit. This is a huge kit full of stamps, papers, embellishments and a bunch of different packaging materials to alter and embellish. You can see the details on the kit HERE.

The specifics:

Create a a gift item for the contest. It can be some special packaging, an ornament, stationary set, goodie bag, candle.... anything you would give as a gift or part of a gift.

The item must be something new, not previously posted (no cheating now....). It does not have to use items from the Paper Garden Projects store (although you know we'd love if it did).

The item must include some element of stamping somewhere.

To enter your creation, log into the Paper Craft Planet and join the Paper Garden Projects group. Add a link to your creation to the Homemade Creation Contest discussion thread. Please note that we will be drawing the winner from this thread - not from comments on this blog post. So please make sure you post it there so you don't get missed.

Stampers outside the USA are welcome to participate - but please note that if you win I will have to cut down the 12x12 papers in the kit so I can ship the prize economically.

The winner will be drawn on Friday, Nov. 28.

So please come out and play along! Hey - you were going to make those gifts anyway right?

Homemade Holiday Project 7 (and 8)

2008-11-09T21:17:00.001-05:00

Well, much to everyone's relief this may be my last project from the Homemade Holidays Kit (unless my fiendish little mind dreams something else up - I still have supplies left, so look out).

I decided I wanted to use the chipboard snowflakes included in the kit to make little Christmas Ornaments. I plan to use them in place of bows on a package, so they become part of the gift too.

Holly Ornament

Supplies from Kit:

Holly Sprig Stamp
Chipboard snowflake
Maraschino and Announcement Cream cardstock scraps

Other Supplies:

Copic Markers (or other means to color images)
Paper piercer
Memento Rich Cocoa
Cloud White Versamagic ink
Seafoam White Embossing Powder
Holographic embossing powder
Ruby Slippers Stickles
Adhesive
Thread
Light box or pencil and ruler.

Stamp the holly sprigs in a circle with the stems pointing inward. The way I do this is to lay the line template from the kit on a light box and place the cream cardstock over it. Use the lines on the template to position the stamp evenly. If you have a block with grid lines, you can position the stamp on the grid and match the block grid lines with the lines in the template to keep positions even. If you can tell in the photo, I positioned my Holly Sprig stamp on the block so the tip is right on the intersection of the grid lines and a grid line runs through the center.

Now I know I can position the cross of the grid lines right where I want the tip of the holly. If you do not have a light box, place the template and cardstock on a window and lightly pencil in the lines. Erase the lines after the stamp ink dries. You could also use a stamp positioner - but I'm not always so good with those.

Create 2 stamped images (one for each side) and cut out with a punch, die or circle cutter. When I cut out an image with Nestibility dies, I'll often tape the die in place with painter's tape - just in case I might shift something when cutting. I put the tape on the portion I don't intend to use.

Color the image with Copics. Matte with a circle or scalloped circle. Put Ruby Slippers Stickles on the berries and set aside to dry.

Coat one side of the chipboard snowflake with Cloud White ink and emboss with white embossing powder. Coat it again and emboss it with Holographic powder. This will give it a very white, sparkly finish.

Repeat the inking and embossing on the other side, but hold the snowflake up away from the embossing surface with tweezers (to make sure the first side does not melt and stick).

Use the paper pierce to put a hole in the snowflake for the hanging thread. Adhere the Holly medallion to both sides.

Cardinal Ornament

Supplies from Kit:

Charles Cardinal Stamp
chipboard snowflake
Let it Snow paper
Maraschino, Leapfrog and Announcement Cream cardstock scraps

Other Supplies:

Copic Markers (or other means to color images)
Paper piercer
Memento Rich Cocoa
Versamark Ink
Holographic embossing powder
Adhesive
Thread

Stamp the cardinal twice and color as desired. Cut both out with a punch, die or circle cutter.

Press the colored surface onto the Versamark pad. Coat with Holographic powder and emboss. Matte with a circle or scalloped circle.

Fold a piece of Let It Snow paper in half, right sides in. Trace the snowflake onto the wrong side of the folded paper. Cut it out just inside the traced line. To help keep the papers together while cutting, you can adhere the papers together outside the traced lines.

Adhere the paper to the chipboard and trim or sand off any excess paper if necessary. Repeat on the other side.

Use the paper pierce to put a hole in the snowflake for the hanging thread.

Adhere the cardinal medallions to the center of the snowflake. Make sure the cardinal is upright from the hanging hole you created.

So there are my snowflakes.

I'm plotting a fun contest over here......... With a juicy prize you just might want to win. So stay tuned!

Also - there are a bunch of new blingy things in the store - including

Distress Stickles!

If you want to take a peek at what's new, just click HERE.

Home Made Holidays Project 6 - Gift Card Holder

2008-11-07T15:49:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm still at it. The Homemade Holidays kit is really big - so its easy to make a bunch of projects.

Project number 6 is a Gift Card Holder made with one of the 4 clear pillow boxes included in the kit. This holder makes the gift a little more significant than just placing the gift card inside a greeting card.

The insert in the pillow box holds the gift card on one side and the greeting and to/from information on the other side. The picture mounted on the front of the box hides the gift card until the box is opened.

Supplies from Kit:

Popcorn Tree and Holly Sprig Stamps
Clear pillow box
Holly Jolly Stripe paper
Maraschino, Leapfrog, Harvest and Announcement Cream cardstock
Button
Raffia

Other Supplies:

Copic Markers (or other means to color images)
Paper piercer
White Inkessential pen (or other white gel pen)
Memento Rich Cocoa and Bamboo Inks (or other inks)
Scallop Corner punch (optional)
Tim Holtz Design Ruler (optional)
Adhesive
Vintage Photo Distress ink
Duster Brush
Sentiment Collection I (or other sentiments)
Crystal Lacquer
Foam Tape
Oh So Sticky Tape (1/8”)

Instructions:

Stamp Popcorn Tree in Rich Cocoa on a 2 3/8” by 3 3/8” piece of cream cardstock and color as desired. (See THIS post if you are curious about how I colored Popcorn Tree.) Antique the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink using a duster brush.

Adhere to a green matte (4” by 2 ¾”). Adhere to a red matte (3” x 4 ¼”). Paper Pierce the bottom of the green matte using the Design Ruler and create “stitches” with the Inkessentials white pen. Thread a piece of raffia through a button and adhere to the upper left corner.

Put a drop of crystal effects on each cranberry to make them round and shiny. Set aside to dry.

To make the insert that holds the gift card, cut Harvest 5 ½” by 3 ¼”. Cut green 2 5/8” by 3 7/8”. Center and adhere to the Harvest cardstock.

Adhere two punched or cut corners on the lower left and lower right of the green – putting Oh So Sticky Tape on the bottom and side only. As above, use the design ruler and white pen to create stitching. The gift card fits inside the corners.

On the back side of the box insert, add a greeting and a to/from. Adhere Stripe paper slightly smaller than the insert. Stamp a greeting and to and from using Sentiment Collection I on a 2 ¼” by 3 ¼” piece of Harvest. Stamp and color Holly Sprigs at the base. Matte on Green and adhere to the back of the insert.

Assemble the pillow box and slide the insert inside. Place foam tape on the sides of the tree image. Adhere the image so it hides the gift card in the box.

And that's it! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday. This year the Fall color is just incredible here. Even driving to the grocery store is a treat.

Homemade Holiday Project 5 - Holiday Card Set

2008-11-05T08:11:00.001-05:00

On to the fifth project I made with the Homemade Holiday kit (I still have more, hope your not sick of them by now!).

The kit includes a clear card box for making a gift set of cards. The box easily fits these 4 cards and will hold more. I made my cards with the same layout, just varying the colors.

Supplies from the kit:

Popcorn Tree and Charles Cardinal Stamps
Clear Card Box
Holly Jolly Stripe and Let It Snow paper
Maraschino, Leapfrog, Harvest and Announcement Cream cardstock
Snowflake embellishment

Other Supplies

I stamped and colored Popcorn Tree and Charles Cardinal for each card. For more info on how I colored Popcorn tree, you can go to THIS POST.

Crop around Popcorn Tree and punch out Charles Cardinal. Ink the edges with Peeled Paint Distress ink and a Duster brush. Stamp the "hello" sentiment form Sentiment Collection I. Matte both images with green.

Create and A2 size card from cream cardstock. Punch a 1 1/2" wide, 4 1/4: long strip of green with the snowflake border punch. Adhere to the card base just slightly above the bottom of the card. Adhere a piece of patterned paper (4 1/4" by 4 3/4") over the top.

Adhere the images as shown using foam tape to pop up the cardinal. Adhere the snowflake embellishment.

I added Ruby Slippers Stickles to my cranberries. These new Glitz Stickles are really sparkly!

I created 4 cards for the set (varying the colors). Then I added a band around the card box. The band was made with a 2 1/4" wide strip of cream, then a 2 1/2" strip of red punched on both sides with the snowflake border punch (the strip is 2" wide after punching), then a 1" strip of Stripe paper. I matted Charles Cardinal on a circle and scalloped circle for the center. (He's a little glitzed up with some Stickles there....).

So there is project 5. Thanks so much for stopping by to my little blog.

I've joined Paper Craft Planet and I would *LOVE* to have more friends. So if you are on there or join please add me as a friend. (acckk... I feel like I'm in High School).

There is also a Group over there for Paper Garden Projects. I'm hoping to use it to share ideas, projects and news - so please join - if you're so inclined.

Homemade Holiday Project 4 - Bakery Bag

2008-11-04T07:27:00.001-05:00

The Homemade Holiday kit also contains a plain white bakery bag for you to embellish. The bag has a window to view goodies and is plastic lined to keep food fresh. It has a reusable tin closure at the top.

There are so many ways to decorate this bag. I embellished my bag pretty simply with just some pattern paper strips and a tag - but I'm pleased with how it came out. Here are my instructions.

Supplies from Kit:

Charles Cardinal and Pine Bough Stamps
Let it Snow paper
Leapfrog and Announcement Cream cardstock
Bakery Bag
Raffia
Button

Other Supplies:

Copic Markers (or other means to color images)
1/8” hole punch
Memento Rich Cocoa and Bamboo Inks
Vintage Photo Distress ink
Adhesive
Circle cutter, punch, die cutter
Duster Brush
Sentiment Collection I (or other sentiments)

Instructions:

Cut 2 strips of green 1 ½” by 4 ¾”. Stamp an all over pattern with the Pine Bough stamp and Bamboo ink. Mount ¾” wide strips of Let It Snow paper on top centering them.
Stamp cardinal and sentiment. Color as desired and antique the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink and a Duster Brush. Cut the image out in a circle with die or punch. Matte on a larger circle of Let it Snow paper.
Cut a larger matte in a scalloped circle (or plain circle) in green and stamp an all over pattern with the Pine Bough stamp and Bamboo ink. Mount the matted image in top. Punch a 1/8” hole at the top of your tag.
Feed raffia through two holes of a button. If you have a hard time getting the raffia through, wrap the ends tightly with clear tape and cut at an angle to make a point. Then use this as a "needle" to go through the button holes.
Feed the raffia ends through the hole in the tag so the button is in front. Apply adhesive to one of the strips from step 1. Position the tag as desired with the raffia pointing up. Adhere the strip in place over the raffia to hold the tag in position. Trim the raffia at the top as desired.
Adhere the other strip from step 1 at the bottom of the bag. Fill with treats and you are done!

Note: If you wish to stamp on the bag itself, you need to use solvent based ink (like Stazon) because the bag has a glossy finish. I would not recommend embossing directly on the bag since you can melt the plastic liner inside that keeps the food fresh.

Voting Day in the USA

2008-11-03T19:47:00.001-05:00

Well, what's the point anyway?

The news media is already sure who won the election. Besides, the poling place is going to be a mess. There is always a line - even for ordinary elections. If I have to spend two hours waiting to vote, how am I supposed to get all my errands done?

If you feel that way - I can certainly sympathize.

The news media does have an awful lot to say about who will win, who should win and why. And voting can be a royal pain, especially the endless waiting in line the high school cafeteria - where its 80 degrees and the air has that old stale disinfectant smell. Add 3 small kids to the mix (who, by the way are all off school in my neck of the woods), and the royal pain easily becomes something of a nightmare. It would be so easy to say - oh never mind.

But.... the fact is, the news media does not make this decision - we do. I don't want to let them choose for me, to steal my voice - drown it out with their endless prattling on.

I intend to vote and I hope you do too - even if you think your guy has already lost - or already won.

About the card: (sorry - had to take the pic with a flash - ran out of daylight!) the Stamp is For the Brave cling stamp. It is colored with Copic Markers. Patterned paper is Making Memories from my stash. Cardstock is Prism.

Homemade Holiday Project 2 (and 3!)

2008-11-03T11:56:00.001-05:00

The Homemade Holiday kit is filled with packaging ready to be personalized for special holiday gifts. Today I'm going to share a couple examples.

Supplies From the Kit:

Pillow Box
Square Box
Maraschino, Leapfrog, and Announcement Cream cardstock
Pine Bough and Charles Cardinal stamps
Snowflake embellishment
Red Grosgrain ribbon
Raffia

Other supplies:

The Pillow Box:

The kit includes 4 pillow boxes.

These boxes are a little smaller and a little lighter weight that the pillow boxes listed individually in the store. Because of that, I was able to emboss mine!

I got this clever idea from Michelle over at Inspiration Blooms. You can see her inspirational post HERE.

I used my Wizard and the snowflake cuttlebug folder. My sandwich was: white plate, thin white spacer, pillow (still folded flat) inside the embossing folder, and then the Wizard blue embossing plate. If you want the embossing to be really deep, you can add a cardstock shim. To be honest, I also ran one through my cuttlebug (the normal embossing sandwich). It came out beautifully - but it was a very tight fit so I'm not comfortable recommending it (emboss at your own risk??)

After embossing. I popped my little box open and filled it with yummy chocolate covered raisins.

I created the tag by cutting a rectangle using my Nestibility die. I left the die in place and inked the center with a duster brush using Distress Ink in Peeled Paint. Then I stamped the Pine Bough in Memento Bamboo ink and Charles Cardinal in Memento Rich Cocoa. The "To" and "From" came form the Sentiments I collection (a very useful set!). When you remove the cutting die, you get the nice cream border. Then I colored Charles with Copic markers.

Mount the rectangle on a scalloped rectangle and add the punched circle and little snowflake embellie. Punch a hole at the top tie it to the box with the red ribbon from the kit.

The Square Box:

What I love about these square boxes is that they have a locking bottom. So you don't have to worry about the bottom opening and spilling your stuff! (was anyone else picking up spilled crayons from under the pews at church yesterday?). The top is a regular box top that can be open and closed.

For this project, I did basically the same thing as above to create the tag mounted at the top - only with a square. A added a little bundle of raffia for an embellishment.

Around the base of the box, I added a decorative strip. The box is 12" around, so you need to create the strip in two pieces. Do the side, the front and the other side, then do the back side separate so it meets at the corners. The cream strip is 1/2" wide and stamped all over with Pine Bough and Green Memento ink. The strip is mounted on Maraschino cut 1 1/2" wide and punched across the top with the Snowflake Border Punch.

I filled the box with yummy toffee coated popcorn and almonds.

I think I'll give this along with a small gift card for coffee to my twin's kindergarten bus driver for Christmas. He is so nice and takes such good care of all the kids.

Tomorrow.... How about a bakery bag for special homemade goodies??

Coloring Popcorn Tree

2008-11-01T08:43:00.003-04:00

I think of Popcorn Tree as a "Charlie Brown Tree" - you know, kind of scrawny and overlooked - with just little tufts of needles at the ends. And in desperate need of some loving. So some kind soul decorated it up with a popcorn and cranberry garland for the birds to enjoy. (Didn't know anyone could get all that form a piece of rubber huh?)

I chose to color it brightly to go with the bright colors in the kit papers. But you could also do a more muted watercolor look.

So...........here is what I did.............with Copic markers

I chose my "sun" to be in the upper left. So darker colors and shadows with be on the lower right side of the element.

I added a couple dots of Y-21 at the lower right of each popcorn, then blend up with colorless blender.

I feathered out YG-63 from the center out over all the pine needles.

Then I blended in YG-03 along the stem of the pine needles to brighten the center.

Then I colored in the cranberries. I colored the whole berry in R-14. Then added a couple dots of R-59 in the lower right of each berry, and then blended the R-59 upward a little with the R-27.

Then the tree trunk. I colored the whole thing with E-34, then ran a line of E-37 on the right side Then I blended the edge of the E-37 with a little more E-34.

Last I added shadowing with W-1.

I just edged the tree branches and garland along the bottom and right sides of each element. (because the "sun" is on the upper left). Then I added a shadow at the bottom extending to the right.

Hope everyone is have a great Saturday - try not to eat too much candy!! (Hey - I got my Milk Duds last night! There was only one box - and I scooped 'em right up. )

Homemade Holiday Project 1 - Wine Gift Bag

2008-11-01T07:56:00.001-04:00

I love all the parties and get togethers over the Holiday season. I usually like to bring a little gift to the hostess to express my appreciation for the invitation. This project is a wine bag with a pocket and tag on the front to write a personal note to the hostess. But the bag could also be used for a nice gourmet vinegar or a flavored oil instead.

The wine bag, stamps and other supplies are included in the Homemade Holiday stamp kit. This is a very big kit with a lot of different gift packaging supplies.

Here is what you'll need for this project.

Supplies from Kit:

Popcorn Tree, Pine Bough, and Charles Cardinal Stamps
Wine bag
Holly Jolly Stripe paper
Maraschino, Leapfrog, Harvest and Announcement Cream cardstock
Twill ribbon
2 green brads

Other Supplies:

Copic Markers (or other means to color images)
Paper piercer
White Inkessential pen (or other white gel pen)
Memento Rich Cocoa and Bamboo Inks (or other inks)
Scallop Corner punch (optional)
Tim Holtz Design Ruler (optional)
Adhesive

Instructions:

Decorate the bag:

Stamp the bag front and back with an all-over diagonal pattern using the Pine Bough stamp and green ink. Don’t worry if the stamping over the handles is not perfect – it will be covered.
Cut 2 pieces of Stripe paper 3” wide to fit on the top front and top back of the bag – adhere. Cut ¾” wide strips and adhere to the bottom front and back as shown.

Create the pocket for the front:

Stamp Popcorn Tree in Rich Cocoa on a 2 ¾” by 3 ¾” piece of cream cardstock and color as desired. Adhere to a red matte (3 7/8” by 2 7/8”).
Cut Harvest 3 ¾” x 5 ¼”. Punch scalloped corners with the scalloped corner punch. Adhere the “L’s” to the lower corners of the Harvest piece. Reserve the other corners for the tag. Adhere the matted tree image inside the corners. If you do not have a corner punch, you can just cut corners from a square of cardstock and mount the matted image on top.
Adhere a 5/8” strip of Stripe paper near the top of the pocket. Pierce around the outer edge of the pocket. I used the Tim Holtz Design Ruler. I love that thing! I know - its just a ruler but its so well thought out. Its become a favorite tool. Create “stitches” with the white Inkessentials gel pen.
Adhere the pocket to the bag front on the sides and bottom. Add the two brads through the bag for extra pocket strength.

Create the Tag:

Cut Cream 5 ¾” by 2 ¾”. Stamp the cardinal in the lower right corner and color. Adhere the scalloped corner punches reserved from above on the top corners. Create the “stitching” on the corners as above. Matte it on a 5 7/8” by 2 7/8” piece of Maraschino. Punch a hole between the two corners and add the twill ribbon.

The new kits are here!

2008-10-31T21:43:00.001-04:00

Paper Garden Projects is offering 3 new Limited Edition kits - each with its own little personality!

The Homemade Holiday kit provides all the supplies you need to make and package many wonderful homemade gifts. In addition to stamps, papers and embellishments, the kit includes all kinds of clever packaging for you to embellish. You can see the kit HERE.

If you are like me and like to give homemade gifts to acknowledge friends, teachers, bus drivers, Girl Scout leaders and the like; you may want to check this kit out. It will give you many options for creating gifts. I'll be sharing ideas on how to use the kit in the upcoming week.

Remember the fun and excitement of a "Snow Day" out of school? The Winter Wonderland kit contains whimsical stamps that capture all that fun! Along with glitzy papers, icy embellishments and frosty glitter, you get a puffy velvet pen to make your own snow. You can see the kit HERE.

This kit includes project samples, instructions and templates from the wonderfully talented Mel from Mel Stampz. Keep an eye on her blog to see tutorials of all her amazing projects.

Last but not least is the cute and quirky "Gnome for the Holidays" kit. A beautiful color palette and lots of glitter and glitz make this kit shine. Invite these gentlemen into your home and they'll be thrilled to help you "be merry". You can see the whole kit HERE.

This kit includes project samples and instructions from the amazing Tracy from Durcan Designs. Her crisp clean style just shines with this kit! You can see more of the projects on Tracy's blog.

So there they are - I hope you like 'em. I can't wait to share some of my projects with you. They were so fun to make!

I'm not teasing, I'm just saying...........

2008-10-31T07:14:00.001-04:00

You may want to check out the new Limited Edition Stamping kits being released tomorrow. You may find something you like!

The three kits are:

Winter Wonderland,

Homemade Holiday, and

"Gnome" for the Holidays.

Each one unique with its own "goodies" to play with.

Meanwhile - Happy Halloween everyone! Don't eat too much candy (save me the Milk Duds!).

Claudia from Austria

2008-10-30T18:35:00.001-04:00

In case you read the blog, I have been trying to answer your inquiry. Please check your spam folder.

(Sorry.... back to your regularly scheduled stamping...)

Can someone please pass the self discipline?

2008-10-30T16:42:00.001-04:00

I'll give it back when I'm done using it - promise....

I have a *million* things to do - print instructions and templates, finish packing kits, write blog posts, plan a prep for a class and local sale next week - finish costumes (yikes!), carve pumpkins - not to mention this box of merchandise I need to load into the store.

So what did I do while the kids were in school today? Made cards.... Sigh.............

But I just couldn't help myself! I was overcome by the cuteness. I just got this new Fun Farm Friends set from Pink Cat Studio in the store and I couldn't resist! Its huge - and full of major cuteness!

I was just gonna make one.... with this animal "stack". I even used the Honey Pie Paper Kit to make it quicker and easier.

But then I started eyeing the goose with the cupcake. "Oh look - the cupcake in the sentiment matches"... OK, just one more card.....

But....but....but.... look at the sheep. "Thank Ewe"?? I have to use that. Just one more quick card. I also wanted to play with the puffy velvet marker (that's how I made her wool). I like it! But its in this box of stuff that needs to get put into the store..... hopefully soon.

Then I check out the clock.... WHAT!! Its time to pick up the twins? How did that happen?? Sigh..... carried away again....

OK.... now I really do need to get to work. Hope DH feels like carving pumpkins tonight....

Garden Party for October 28

2008-10-28T15:42:00.001-04:00

Hi all, time for another installment of Garden Party. Here is the inspiration photo posted last week. This was a hard one for me.

But I'm thrilled to say that Laura played along. You can see her wonderful card HERE. I love the menu board! (And check out her cool blog header too. I like it! Makes me want some hot chocolate).

My card is not terribly faithful to the photo. I didn't think this would be so hard when I pulled it out - but for some reason it was. I tried to take the pattern from the pillow on the chair and use that pattern and those colors. I also tried to include the angled line from the stairs. And of course included red from the chairs.

I used the Birthday Circus Cling set from Odd Bird Planet. It features Belle all dressed up as a clown. I'm forever late with actually sending cards, so I badgered poor Johanna to create the sentiment. The set also includes Ellie the elephant - who I adore.

The paper is Basic Grey Romani, the cardstock is Prism (my favorite) and the upper right corner was made with the scalloped corner punch. Sorry - my photo is a little "cattywhampus" there.

Well, next week I'll be sharing projects made with the "Homemade Holiday" kit that will be released Nov. 1.

I have a bunch of projects (hope you like 'em). So I'm going to postpone next weeks garden party till Nov. 11.

So that will give you two weeks to work on the challenge. Here is the photo. Hmmmm.....

OK... I Likey!

2008-10-23T06:46:00.001-04:00

Ever come across something that just catches your fancy? I really like the new Snowflake border punch! It punches so cleanly and easily. Its just delightful!

This is a pretty simple and quick card, but look at the border at the bottom. Isn't it cute?

After I made my card, I discovered these perfect little punched snowflakes! They are like little bonus embellishments. I want to make a shaker card with these little snowflakes inside.

Just thought I'd share my excitement - I know, I'm easily amused!

For this card, in addition to the punch I used the Daisy D Snowflake and Holly collection papers and the Stampendous Mega Thanks stamp set. I love this stamp set - I use it all the time to make quick and easy thank you notes. I've make over a hundred with it and its still going strong! The red card stock is Prism,

Another thing I'm excited about? The Copic Markers are all back in stock! Hurray - they look so neat and tidy without all those "Sold Outs" all over the place. They are still 20% off, so if there are colors you need come and get 'em.

A bunch of new bling-y stuff coming to the store. I'll keep you posted!

My Halloween Rant....

2008-10-22T14:43:00.001-04:00

This is not a stamping post. So if you were hoping for a stamping post please feel free to skip this post (encouraged to, actually). This is just my little Halloween, get-it-off-my-chest rant.

Usually, we make costumes for the girls but I have had an impossible schedule lately so I had to buy one for oldest DD.

So last night I take the kids (5, 5 and 9 years old) to JoAnns - they had nothing so I took them next door to a party supply store advertising costumes.

To get to the costumes, you had to walk through this gauntlet of horror - honestly. Tons of disgusting, bloody, rotting horror. One of the twins actually almost started to cry.

Then I finally get to the costumes and they have a section for girls (keep in mind - we are talking ages 5 to maybe 10 here). What in the world?? Half the costumes were completely "sex pot -ish". I mean, Dorothy from Wizard of Oz costume looked like a bar maid. Bare stomachs, cleavage, short-short skirts, fishnet stockings.

We finally ended up with a pirate costume that was not too bad. And then had to wait in line amongst the gore to pay for it. Geeze - what a horrible experience.

Am I just a prude? Is anyone else horrified at what is happening? Why can't Halloween just be a nice little time where people interact with their neighbors - without the gore, horror and sex. Its for kids for goodness sake!!

Upon reflection, I should have just turned around and walked out. But I was so focused on knocking just one item off my impossibly long "to do" list that I did not do the right thing. I'm a little mad at myself that I gave then $30 of my (non-refundable) dollars.

You know - my oldest DD's elementary school had a "Haunted House" fundraiser last week (we did not attend). Meanwhile - I was told when she was in Kindergarten that I could not read "Are you Grumpy Santa" to her class because that book is "too religious". So its OK to have Freddy Krueger in school but Santa is banned???

Sorry for the rant - but I'm frankly horrified. I've always enjoyed the cute aspects of Halloween and Fall is my favorite season. But I just can't wrap my brain around this. I don't know what I'm going to do next year - but it won't be this.

Whew...........if you made it this far, thanks for listening!

Back to out regular stamping schedule.... I actually do have something cute to show you but I need to get pictures first........

Garden Party for October 21

2008-10-21T13:27:00.001-04:00

Its Tuesday - time for another Garden Party - where a clipping from the inspiration shoe box is used as inspiration for a card. If you remember, this was the picture from last week.

This picture was sent to me by Debbie. And she also participated in the challenge. You have to see her awesome card. Just click HERE. Its ok, I'll wait......................

Beautiful huh?

Well, here is my attempt. It did not come out exactly like the vision in my head though. I embossed Swirl Background on water color paper and did a water color wash with teal at one end and yellow green at the other, blending in the middle.

Then I just added the Expressions clear set sentiment by embossing it with some sparkly EP I had in my stash. I added a ribbon. The oval and scalloped oval are made with Nestibility dies.

I guess this one was all about the colors for me - they are colors I really like. I'm just happy my Tuesday Garden party was actually posed on Tuesday this week!

So here is the picture for next week. Hmmm.... anyone want to play?

Ohhh... This is exciting....

2008-10-20T11:37:00.001-04:00

A few little sneak peeks of 3 new Limited Edition Stamping kits coming out on November 1!

You may be able to see more if you keep an eye on Mel's Blog or Tracy's Blog.....

Mel and Tracy are doing amazing things with the kits - can't wait to share it. I think you'll like 'em....

Remember these?

2008-10-17T15:12:00.001-04:00

The magnetic bookmark card?

They were all the rage a couple years ago - but I have not seen them in a while. I've always liked them because the main part of the card is also a little gift.

In this one, the image is is Fall Leaves by Impression Obsession. I thought the shape really lent itself to a bookmark - so why not.

The image is colored with Copics, trimmed and mounted on a piece of straw colored matte. I left the bottom of the matte a little long so I could punch it with the Diamond Elegance border punch.

Then I mounted this on a strip that was 11" long and 2 1/2" wide, scored in the middle. I also mounted a stamped saying on the back side of the folded bookmark.

Inside the bookmark, I placed two strips of thin sheet magnet. You can buy sheet magnet - or you can just cut up those magnetic business cards you get from all over.

When the bookmark is placed over the card (or a page in a book) the magnets keep it in place.

To make the card, I just matted patterned paper over card stock on the front. Not positive about the competing patterns of the stamp image and the paper, but I was dying to use this patterned paper - so.... I did.

Its not Tuesday anymore........

2008-10-15T19:12:00.001-04:00

I don't know why October is giving me such a hard time, but I just can't seem to keep up with myself!

Anyway - I missed Garden Party yesterday, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it today. If you remember, this is the picture from last week.

I started with the lower right circle and ended up with this.

The color palette is different (although there is orange in both). But I got to use my new Basic Grey Ambrosia paper pad. I really like this Basic Grey collection - I think it is my favorite since Blush.

I also used the cling mounted Winterberry Branches Stamp Set from Odd Bird Planet. I love how elegant Gigi looks. The image is stamped with Memento London Fog and colored with Copics. I added a little giltter pen to Gigi and the berries.

The circles and scalloped circles are made with Nestibility dies. I actually cut the red scalloped circle out of the center of the red outside matte, then covered it with the patterned piece to save paper. (when I really like a collection I tend to hoard it a bit).

So there is my attempt.

And here is next week's picture. I drew it out of the stack that Debbie sent me. Sigh.... makes me want a vacation!

If you'd like to play along, just post a comment here with a link to your creation and I'll highlight it in next week's post.

Silly me...

2008-10-14T06:37:00.001-04:00

I got my due dates confused. The Fall-a-days sale ends on Wednesday (the 15th). So... you still have 2 more days.

Check out the super cute new winter cling stamp sets........

Sorry, I'm going to go over here in the corner and drink coffee for a while now.........

Sale Ends Today.........

2008-10-13T16:02:00.001-04:00

We Have a Blog Candy Winner.......

2008-10-13T15:40:00.001-04:00

I used Random.org to pick the winning comment number, and the winner is:

Artfelt Expressions said...

My favorite cardstock is bazzill bling. Probably because I'm voted most likely to be distracted by a shiny object (or paper in this case :) ).

Hey, I resemble that remark!

I sent you an E-mail so you can claim your prize.

Thanks everyone for playing along and sharing your opinions on card stock. Its so nice to know people's preferences when planning kits and tutorials and stuff. I appreciate the input.

Stay tuned - tomorrow is Garden Party day.

Only 3 weeks left

2008-10-10T08:59:00.001-04:00

to get the October Special Deal over at Odd Bird Planet.

Its a cute bundle of stamps that you get for 25% off. The stamps include:

Submarine 989P
Little Cloud 237B
Five Petal Flower 31AA
Grass 1403BB
Owl-Bert Big 1015BB

You can check it out HERE, if you are so inclined.

"We all live in a yellow submarine.............."

Most Definitely Fall

2008-10-10T06:34:00.004-04:00

The leaves are changing all over the place here. We live near Swarthmore Collage and it has a beautiful arboretum on campus. The trees are just starting to turn now, but in a week or so parts of it will be just breathtaking.

So here is a fall card I made - I was just playing around with my Copic markers. The wreath stamp is from the Large Autumn Wreath cling set from Serendipity Stamps. It is large - but so fun to color!

I used my Nestibility dies to cut the circle and scalloped circle. And I used the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder. What's nice about Swiss dots it that you can line it up to repeat the pattern if the paper is wider than the folder.

The paper is Prism - dark papaya and dark suede brown.

I asked about favorite card stock in my Blog Candy post. It has been great to hear people's opinions! Many of you are SU! fans, and I have to agree. They do have excellent card stock. Many are Bazzill fans - you gotta love their color and texture choices.

But so far no one has mentioned Prism. I *think* it just might be my favorite (its so hard to choose!). The colors are wonderful and its stiff without being bulky. It has a smooth side and a pebbly textured side (like watercolor paper). It cuts and scores well - and works great in a Cuttlebug (love my bug!).

Well - still time for more opinions - post a card stock comment HERE for a chance at the blog candy.

Home Made Applesauce

2008-10-09T08:23:00.001-04:00

There are some things that frankly I just can't make as well as store bought. Like dill pickles. I have made some completely inedible dill pickles in my day. And it only took me about 18 hours of labor plus weeks of "brining" in the basement. And then I couldn't even compost this failed experiment (I feared for my garden!).

But applesauce - now that is a totally different story. There is nothing like home canned applesauce. I can't even eat store bought any more. We cook ours down for hours until its ever so slightly chunky. Add just a little cinnamon. Pure apple bliss that fills the whole house with that wonderful apple smell.

Here is one of our jars decorated for a little gift. I used the Harvest Hello Cling set to make the tag and the band around the jar. This set is from Odd Bird Planet. The stamps are trimmed, mounted on cling foam, indexed on the back and packaged in a CD case. Right now its included in our Fall-a-Days sale.

I stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with my beloved Copic Markers. The tag is made with Nestibility dies.

Yes! Finally there is some Odd Bird Planet in the store! We've added 7 new Odd Bird Planet cling sets! I'm so excited to finally have the stamp line it the store!

So stay tuned for more samples.

Don't forget the Blog Candy. Just leave a comment on This Post.

And our Fall sale....

I know - I missed it.........

2008-10-08T07:10:00.001-04:00

I was chaperoning 10 third grade Brownie Scouts with flaming marshmallow sticks on World Card Making Day.....

But better late than never I always say.......... So Paper Garden Projects will just have its own little celebration! How about a sale and some blog candy?

First, the sale - From the 8th through the 15th save

20% off all Copic Sketch Markers and
15% off all fall, winter and holiday stamp sets!

And the blog candy? How about a little Halloween "treat"?

In order to win, you need to leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite brand of colored cardstock and which size of colored cardstock you prefer, 81/2" x 11" or 12"x12".

So what do you win?

How about a few Halloween goodies and a store coupon?

You'll get :

a coupon code for $10 off a $35 purchase in the Paper Garden Projects Store
3 sheets of Creamsicle cardstock
3 sheets of Raven cardstock
12 6"x6" pieces of Halloween pattern papers
2 of my favorite Odd Bird Planet Halloween stamps - witches shoes and ghost bird - mounted on cling foam.
A package on Halloween glitter brads

I'll randomly draw the winner Monday Oct 13 (Oct 13 just seemed like the right day for Halloween goodies).

So leave those comments and tell me what you think about cardstock....

Garden Party for October 7

2008-10-07T11:01:00.001-04:00

Its Tuesday - time for a magazine clipping from the "Inspiration Shoe Box" to become the basis for a card. If you remember, this was the picture from last week.

I pulled this picture from the stack of clipping Debbie sent me. I like the crisp red and white color scheme - and the cute round pillows on the bed.

So here is my card:

I was going to stamp a red and white background - but then I found some red snowflake paper - so I went with a winter theme.

The snowflake is from the Impression Obsession Snowflake clear set. I embossed it in this red embossing powder that has a gold sheen when you tilt it. I got it ages ago at a stamping convention and never used it till now! I cut the circle mattes and scalloped circle with Nestibility dies - just layered them up. The bottom strip is a white strip punched both sides with the Threading Water punch, layered on cardstock with grosgrain ribbon on top.

The cardstock is Prism Dark Blush Red - I love that color!

So there is my attempt.........

And here is the picture for next week. What do you think?

I was just going to choose one of the pattern sets, but than I thought what the heck - more is better right? So just pick anything that strikes your fancy.

If you want to play along, just post a comment here and I'll link to your creation next week.

Happy stamping everyone - and stay tuned tomorrow.......... rumor has it there might be blog candy.

Happy World Card Making Day!

2008-10-04T08:11:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday.

Since I'm taking a Girl Scout Troop camping this weekend, Paper Garden Projects will be celebrating on Wednesday - so please come on back!

Better late than never...........

In the meantime, if you want to have a little card making fun check out the challenges from Odd Bird Planet. (complete with prizes!).

You can read more about it HERE. Looks like some fun stuff!

Ooohhhh... That is scary.......

2008-10-03T09:48:00.001-04:00

No, this is not a Halloween post - its actually something much scarier........you ready......... only 83 more day till Christmas! Yikes!

Has anyone started getting ready yet?

I like to give my girl's teachers a little gift. We have always had really wonderful, dedicated professionals and I like them to know that they are appreciated. Talking to friends who are teachers, it seems like the favorite gift is a gift card. It allows them to choose things they really need and sometimes even off sets some of the personal money they spend for extras in their classroom.

I thought I'd share a little tutorial for a gift card holder card. There are many of these out there and I'm sure mine is not unique - but here goes anyway.

For this card you need a strip of card stock that is 4 1/4" wide by 12" long. For mine I used a double sided patterned paper by Heidi Grace. Score it at 2 1/2" and at 8".

You need an image, cropped and colored as desired. Here I used the Christmas Tree Mouse Clear set from Impression Obsession. I colored all the images with Copic Markers. I used a Nestibility die to crop my rectangle and then cut a scalloped rectangle for the matte.

You need a decorative strip for the bottom edge of the top flap. I cut a 3/4" strip of white and stamped other images from the stamp set. Then I cut a 1 1/2" strip of green cardstock and scalloped the edge with my Threading Water Border punch. After you punch, the border is only 1 1/4" wide.

Finally, you need a white square and matte for the inside. My white is 3 1/2" by 3 1/4" and the green matte is 3 3/4" by 3 1/2". I decorated the panel with more of the stamps from the set.

To assemble the card, fold the section you scored at 2" up to make the pocket to hold the gift card. Adhere the side edges. I like to use Oh So Sticky tape to make sure the pocket is very strong.

Matte the inside panel and adhere it to the card, centering it in the upper scored section. Matte the decorative strip on the scalloped matte and matte the colored main image.

Fold the top flap down at the score and adhere the matted image with foam tape. Adhere the decorative strip to the front of the flap to finish the card.

I actually decided to make a gift set of 4 cards using the Christmas Tree Mouse and the From Our Home to Yours stamps sets. I also alternated the two sides of the patterned paper so I came up with 4 combinations for my gift set.

I love to package sets in the Clear Card boxes. They look so professional! Here I used the 1/2" thick clear box and the 4 cards each with one layer of foam tape fit very comfortably.

When I package these, I put three cards facing front, then the envelopes, and one facing the back. If someone looks at the package - its more interesting to have a card showing on the front and back rather than just the envelopes in the back.

Well, happy stamping everyone!

Oh - and if you were waiting on them, the clear pillow boxes are now back in stock.

Garden Party for September 30

2008-09-30T15:54:00.001-04:00

Tuesday - Garden Party Day once again. If you remember, last week's inspiration photo snatched from the "Inspiration Shoe Box" was this one (with the funky clear chairs).

I used this photo as an excuse to make my first ever "clear" card. You know - those "floaty " cards made from transparencies or clear acetate.

Well, I tried anyway. After I created the design in my head and made all the elements - I reached into my drawer to pull out my acetate - and then realized that my acetate was only 5"x9". So instead of the 5 1/4" square card I envisioned, I have this wimpy 4 1/2" square card that does not have enough acetate around it to float at all. Oh well...

So here it is. I used Flora Ginormous from Odd Bird Planet to make the hot pink flower. Its colored with Copic Markers. The scalloped square is made with the threading water border punch. A little tricky, but not bad.

I can't stand to have adhesive showing - so the scalloped panel is on the front of the acetate, and the green is on the inside (to cover the adhesive). The same on the inside of the card- white square for writing and green on the back.

See what I mean? It really needs more "float". Although - to be honest I'm not sure I'm too fond of the acetate cards. Its a novelty - but not something I'd make often.

So.... for next week. Guess what? Debbie came to the rescue and sent me a bunch of magazine pictures to restock the "Inspiration Shoe box". Thanks Debbie!! So here is one that she sent.

If you'd like to play along, just post a comment with a link to your creation and I'll highlight you in next week's post.

Odd Bird Planet Trick or Treat

2008-09-29T18:18:00.001-04:00

A couple little treat bags using Odd Bird Planet images and Flair Design papers. I got the idea for these treat holders from my friend Frances who used to make them with heart cut outs for Valentine's Day.

The folder for the candy is very easy to make. It is a piece of cardstock 4" wide and 11" long. Score at 4 1/2", 5 1/2", and 10". Then it is just folded up like a triangle with the last 1" flap folding over the first. Here is a side view.

Put your candy in a bag (I use the Wilton candy bags) and adhere it to the back panel. Fold up the cardstock around the candy and punch 2 holes through all 4 cardstock layers at the top. Feed a ribbon from the back through the hole then through the other hole to the back. Feed both of the ribbon tails through their opposite hole and pull to the front. Trim and hold flat with a bit of adhesive.

You can leave the front blank or cut a window before you assemble it like I did. When I use Nestibilities to cut windows (or to cut around images I've already colored), I hold the die in place with a bit of painter's tape. I stick the tape on the part I intend to discard.

For the first one, I cut a circle, but left some of the image sticking up in front of the window.

For the second, I was playing around with embellishing the window itself - so I embossed a spider web and Teresa's Spider on acetate and adhered it behind the window. I really love Ranger embossing powers. I used superfine black embossing powder here.

All the stamps (plus more) are available in the "Boo to You" cling mounted Odd Bird Planet stamp set available at the Paper Garden Projects store.

Thanks for stopping by.....

Acckk! I did it again!

2008-09-27T09:41:00.001-04:00

Its an addiction I tell ya!

I just placed another order for MORE Copic markers. I just can't help myself - I see all those pretty colors and lose my head!

So... back on sale they go.....

Copic Sketch Markers are now 20% off in the Paper Garden Projects store!

Garden Party for Sept. 23

2008-09-22T21:23:00.001-04:00

Its Tuesday, Garden Party Day - time for another inspiration challenge using a magazine clipping plucked from the inspiration shoe box. If you remember, This was the inspiration photo from last week.

I'm thrilled to say not one but two people played along! How exciting!

First there is Beth from Sun Flowers and Dragonflies. You can see her simply adorable card HERE. Is it not too cute for words?

Then there is Debbie from Welcome To The Shoe Closet with her beautiful card HERE. Such amazing coloring!

Thanks so much ladies for playing!

And here is my entry. I've had this stamp for a while and it really need to see some ink. Its called Birdhouses. I really love this artist's work and I have a lot of her stamps in the store. She has a wonderful stylized look.

The image is colored with my Copics - and it was mighty fun to color too! It seems more summer than fall to me though!

Here is the photo for next week - its a challenge. Interesting chairs huh? Although I don't know if they would look quite the same in my house. How do you get peanut butter and poster paint off clear acrylic anyway?...

If you would like to play along, just comment on this post with link to your creation and I'll highlight your entry next week.

The First Day of Autumn

2008-09-22T21:02:00.001-04:00

That's what my calendar says anyway. I really love Fall. I always thought New Years should be in fall. Its my favorite time to take stock of where I am and set new goals.

And I have a bunch of them (LOL!). One of them is to slow down and appreciate what I have more. An important goal I think - unfortunately, it seems to conflict with my 49 other goals (hey - a girl can dream can't she?).

About the card...

I usually stick to pretty standard card sizes, but I had these long envelopes in my stash - so... (the card is 4"x9").

I stamped the image and saying from the Acorns and Sweet Gum cling set in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored the main image with my Copic markers. I also randomly stamped the main image with Versamark on the orange background piece. I used the Diamond Elegance Border punch on the bottom of the orange piece and the coordinating corner punch on the matte for the main image. I like this border for fall - it reminds me of baskets.

The brad I had was not quite the right orange, so I just dabbed my YR-14 Copic on it to darken it up.

The envelope is stamped with Memento Potters Clay.

Here are the Copic colors I used in case inquiring minds want to know...

Yummy new stuff

2008-09-18T20:49:00.001-04:00

I just got a few new goodies in the store. Honestly, I don't think there are many things I like better than new stamps! Fresh out of the package - full of promise and possibility. I have three here I'm still dying to play with.

This card was made with the Impression Obsession Damask Floral Clear set. The set contains floral "pieces" that you can arrange however you like. For this card I arranged the floral image on my acrylic block. I stamped in rust ink, cleaned the stamp and then stamped again in Brilliance Galaxy Gold - moving the image just slightly to the side of the first stamping to get a side by side effect. The clear stamps make this easy.

The Swirl Background (also by IO) is one of my all time favorites. Its stamped on the rust paper in Gold Brilliance also. I love how Brilliance inks show up so well on darker papers.

And.... guess what is back in stock? Cupcakes! Yay!

Here are a few more yummy things to look at....

Sigh... sometimes things just don't go as planned

2008-09-18T08:49:00.003-04:00

Apparently there were some issues with PayPal yesterday and some customers could not complete their orders while the ad on Splitcoast was running.

Never fear, the coupon code (SCSDeal) is good through Sunday and the system seems to be working fine now.

I'm hoping to finish a project today - but I have a sick little one (hey, no fair! Its only the third week of school!). So we'll see how I do.

I really want to play with some of this! --->

We're celebrating....

2008-09-17T07:10:00.001-04:00

I was quite tickled to see that Paper Garden Projects has its very own company gallery on the awesome Splitcoast Stampers rubberstamping site.

It just makes me feel all grown up! If you want to peek, you can see it HERE.

So to celebrate, we are offering 10% off your entire order (including sale and clearance merchandise) to all out Splitcoast friends.

Of course, I'd never want to leave out any blogging friends - so.....

Just enter SCSDeal in the coupon code box when you check out to save your 10%. Free shipping still applies for orders in the US over $60!

Garden Party for September 16

2008-09-16T21:43:00.002-04:00

Is it still Tuesday???

Tuesday is Garden Party day - where a clipping snatched out of my (getting kinda empty) inspiration shoebox is used as a basis for a card.

Here was the photo from last week.

And here is my attempt. I tried to capture the color scheme including the little splash of yellow. I was also trying to make my card look a little "fabric-y".

The image is from the HOTP Botanicals clear set. I stamped it with Broken China Distress ink on watercolor paper and then dabbed it with a waterbrush to blur the image a little (I was trying to make a vintage fabric look).

Distress inks are very wet and sometimes they bead up on solid stamps. To get around this, I ink my stamp with Versamark first, then ink with the Distress. It seems to help keep the ink smooth.

For the background cardstock, I inked one side of my Cuttlebug Embossing folder with Cloud White Versamagic ink, then I ran it through my Cuttlebug as usual. The white ink transferred to the depressed areas and gave them a white chalk finish. The folder rinses clean easily.

The white strip was made by punching both sides of a cardstock strip with my Threading Water punch and then using the one of the borders in the Just My Type Cuttlebug Embossing Border set in the center. I am really loving the embossing borders. They are so easy to use and add so much to a card.

So that was my attempt. And here is the photo for next week.

If you'd like to play along, just leave a comment with link to your creation and I'll highlight it in next week's Garden Party post.

Happy Stamping everyone!

Check this out!

2008-09-16T12:11:00.001-04:00

Check out Debbie's Monday Morning Comics HERE. Hee Hee - a great use of Copics too. The woman's only had them a couple days!

A non-stamping post

2008-09-13T18:35:00.001-04:00

Just sharing a picture of a flower from my Franklinia Tree.

Why you ask?

Well, I'm rather fond of my (still) little tree. The Franklinia's have a history. The trees were discovered by John Bartram in the south. He named it the Franklinia after his friend Benjamin Franklin. He brought seeds back to Philadelphia and propagated them.

So what?

Well, meanwhile all the Franklinias in the wild disappeared - extinct except for the ones in Bartram's gardens. Today - every single Franklinia in the world was propagated from the ones in Bartram's gardens. So I have my own little piece of living history growing in my front yard.

They are notoriously hard to grow - but so far so good. My guy started out about 10 inches and he's about 4 feet now (he would be taller but the deer ate part of him last year - grrr....). They bloom in late summer and get great red fall color.

Keep your fingers crossed for my little guy.

By the way - I'm also testing Live Writer, to see if I can format the blog better....

But it is a picture of my tree!

It's official... I'm a Copic-aholic!

2008-09-13T09:42:00.002-04:00

I just added another 16 colors to the Paper Garden Projects Store!

Including a few more skin tones, because a girl has to have choices you know!

Check out those two luscious blues - and a rich dark orange for all those fall pumpkins. Sigh........ I NEED to go color something today!

You can check out the Copics HERE. But the 20% off sale ends Sunday (thank goodness, I'm tired of walking around with this sticky note on my forehead).

In other news:

The Best Witches Halloween Kit has sold out! But there are still a few (and I mean a few) of the Happy Halloweenie kits left. Once they are gone, they're gone I'm afraid. I don't have enough supplies to make more.

But never fear - I have 2 more kits in the works coming in November - and I'm very pleased with how they are coming out!

About yesterday's clear pillow boxes:

I had a question on how the box is adhered shut. I actually did not need to adhere it at all. Its a double flap, one folds down from the top and one folds up from the bottom and they sort of snap in place. I shook the box around and it stayed shut fine without any adhesive.

Another "Halloweenie" project

2008-09-12T09:07:00.004-04:00

Here is a super quick and easy Halloween treat.

It uses a clear pillow box to do most of the work!

The supplies and stamps for the decorative sleeve are from the Happy Halloweenie Stamp kit.

Supplies from the kit include:

Wicked Whimsy Paper - 3" wide and 9 inches long
Raven cardstock for mattes
Peter Pumpkin and Happy Halloweenie stamps.

You will also need:

Black ink and means to color your image
Circle cutter, punch or die cutter
Adhesive and foam tape
A clear pillow box

To make the sleeve:

Score the Wicked Whimsy paper at 3" and again at 7" and fold and to make the sleeve. Pop up the pillow box and wrap the sleeve around, adhering the overlap in the back.

You can make the sleeve as wide as you wish, but a 3" wide sleeve will allow you to get 5 sleeves from each 12"x12" sheet of patterned paper. 4 vertical and one horizontal (cut the horizontal one first!).

Stamp and color Peter Pumpkin and cut or punch him out in a circle. The circle in the sample is about 2" in diameter and was cut with a nestibility die. Add a scalloped circle matte in Raven if desired. Adhere the circle to the sleeve with foam tape at the top and bottom.

Stamp, cut out and matte the Happy Halloweenie sentiment. Adhere it below the circle.

Done!

These clear boxes are a generous size (about 5" long and 1" thick at the center). They can easily hold a collection of little treats also.

Happy Halloweenie!

Sigh... when you're right, you're right.....

2008-09-12T08:57:00.002-04:00

Hmmmm..... seems I forgot to update the store home page sale information when the Copic Marker sale ended Wednesday.

So I'm extending the 20% off sale through the weekend..... Fair is fair.

Now to go put a sticky note on my forehead so I remember to update everything come Monday!

No Tricks, Just a Treat (holder)

2008-09-09T20:38:00.008-04:00

I really love the papers that come with the Halloween Kits in the Paper Garden Projects Store. The colors are so nice and mellow, yet still fun!

I thought I'd share another treat holder idea. I love pocket cards for little treats, but sometimes if my treat is thick (like the baggie of M&M's I'll be using here), either I can't get it into the pocket, or it strains the adhesive on the pocket edges so much that sometimes it starts to pull apart.

For this card, an envelope is used to create a gusseted pocket inside the card to hold the treat. The card is held closed by wrapping embroidery thread around two buttons.

For the card, all the supplies needed are included in the Best Witches card kit, except for embroidery floss, an envelope and adhesive.

You need:

Pixie Sticks Paper, 12”x4 ¼”
Stamped Don’t Drink and Fly Witch, colored as you desire and cropped to 3 ¾”high by 3 ¼” wide.
3 ½” by 4 ½” matte of Honeycomb for image.
3 ¾” by 4 ¾” Raven Matte for image.
Stamped Halloween Tip sentiment cut out and mounted on Honeycomb and then Raven paper.
3 ½” square piece of cream for inside
3 ¾” square matte of Raven for inside.
Two buttons
Embroidery floss
An A2 envelope
Adhesive

Seal the envelope shut and cut off 2” parallel to the short side. You should have a little pocket 4 ½” wide by 2” high. Fold the sides of the envelope in to create a gusseted pocket. Don't worry if it is not perfectly neat, it will be hidden.

Mount the image on the Honeycomb and Raven Mattes as shown. Attach a button to the bottom center of the Honeycomb matte with embroidery thread.

Score the strip of Pixie Stick paper at 2 ¼” and 7 ¾”. Fold the short area up and the longer area down to make the pocket and card top. Attach the second button just above the bottom fold – through one layer of the paper only.

Adhere the white square and the Raven matte to the inside of the card. This will give you a place to write a message.

Adhere one side of this envelope pocket you made in the first step to the card base just above the score line. Adhere the other side to the cardstock flap. Your envelope pocket should now form what looks like a mini accordian file in the bottom part of the card.

Tie a length of embroidery thread to the button under the image. You can hold the card closed by wrapping the tread around both buttons – just like the old envelope closures.

I hope this project is not too "scary". If you make one please let me know, I'd love to see it!

Garden Party for September 9

2008-09-09T05:00:00.000-04:00

Its Tuesday - Garden Party day where a clipping from the "Inspiration Shoebox" is used for card inspiration.

Well, I wanted to toss this one aside and pick something else - but I was told that would be cheating.

So I attempted it. This one was a real stumper for me. My first card was yuck - big time. I thought maybe a beautiful stamp image might save me from myself.
So here is my attempt. I don't know about the card in total - but I ended up having fun with elements of it.

First - I got to use some Black Magic cardstock and one of the new Cuttlebug Embossing Border sets. Now these are fun! Oh My - you can place them anywhere on the card. They are so cool.

I used the embossing border on the Black Magic cardstock and sanded the raised area to expose the color.

This stamp is Victorian Rose from Impression Obsession. I love the swirly goodness. (the greens match better in real life).

The corner on the top was made with the scalloped corner punch and then embossed with the embossing border to match the strip. I gotta tell ya, I could play with this cardstock and the cuttlebug folders for a long time.

So here is the picture for next week. If you decide to play along, just leave a comment here with a link to your creation and I'll highlight your card in next weeks post.

Happy stamping everyone!

Best Witches!

2008-09-08T08:38:00.003-04:00

Check out the awesome projects that Tracy made using the Best Witches card kit.

Isn't the layout of this card she made beautiful?

You can see more of her work on her Blog Durcan Designs.

Ohhh... I love good Halloween fun!

Happy Halloweenie!

2008-09-08T08:31:00.003-04:00

Check out this awesome project that Mel created!

Its a puppet theater card! What a wonderful "treat" - and its really not very "tricky" to make!

She shares all the details to create one yourself on Her blog: Mel Stampz.

Check it out!

Super Exciting News to share!

2008-09-08T05:00:00.000-04:00

Anyone wondering about that (somewhat painful) sneak peak ?

I have exciting news.

I want to announce that two wonderfully talented ladies have graciously agreed to help me with some design work for the Paper Garden Projects store.

These two talented artists are:

Melissa from over at MelStampz. I found out about Mel through the Stamp'in, Blogg'in Sisters group. Her posts just blew me away, every time I stopped by I would discover something new. She creates these amazing posts full of tutorials and links. She pushes the limit of supplies and tools and is always coming up with clever new uses for things. Her work is beautiful and so creative. I was absolutely thrilled when she agreed to do some designing for little'ole me. If you have never been to her site, you really need to. But be prepared to spend some time - lots of amazing stuff over there.

The second designer is Tracy from over at Durcan Designs. I first met Tracy through the Odd Bird Planet Design Team. Tracy's work always has a fresh clean look. She balances elements on a card perfectly and is a master at using "white space" to her advantage. Many others must have admired Tracy's work too - she designs for Kitchen Sink Stamps in addition to Odd Bird Planet and has a publication resume a mile long. I was excited to see what Tracy would create with a kit from Paper Garden Projects - and I was not disappointed!

Sooo..... What did they make??

They will be posting all the amazing goodies on their blogs, and I'll be sure to link you up. They have been working with these two new Halloween kits.

Happy Halloweenie

Best Witches

The kits are full of yummy-ness: Eat Cake Graphics cling mounted stamps, Hallowimsy Patterned paper and tons of embellishments. And - each kit will include pictures of sample cards and written project instructions.

I'm so excited about what they have created! Check it out, you will not be disappointed!

Ohh.... That Hurts........

2008-09-05T14:34:00.003-04:00

A little sneak peek for you there..............

Come back Monday to see what we're up to....

That crash might hurt, but this doesn't.....

The Copic Marker Sale in the Paper Garden Projects Store has been extended through Wednesday the 10th. Save 20% on single sketch markers.

I was feeling bad because so many of the colors sold out and it took a while to restock - but we were able to restock almost all the colors. So I thought it was only fair to extend the sale for a few more days.

We have more goodies coming next week, so stay tuned.

An Odd Bird Lands in the Paper Garden

2008-09-04T13:00:00.012-04:00

Odd Bird Planet is arriving at the Paper Garden Projects store! I'm so excited to finally start offering some of the great Odd Bird Planet images.

The first offering is a set of my favorite Odd Bird Planet Halloween images. The set is cling mounted with the images indexed on the cling so you can see where you are stamping. The set includes Witch Shoes, Ghost Bird, Thersa's Spider, Kelly's Web and Boo To You, all packaged in a CD case for storage. You can see the set HERE.

I thought I'd share a couple projects I made with this super cute set. I created a template for the box. Its like a tiny doughnut box. You can download a PDF for the template at Splitcoast Stampers in this thread HERE.

After you cut and score the template as marked, fold all the score lines in towards the center. Then adhere the smaller tabs to the box sides.

Fold down the top flaps and adhere to finish the box.

You can then decorate your box however you desire.

The box holds 3 fun sized Snickers across the bottom. (Snickers are a very important part of Halloween. That and Milk Duds- love those things. But no one ever gives Milk Duds anymore - maybe they got banned by the American Dental Association for pulling out filings....)

Of course Candy Corn is good too... and the box holds plenty.

I made this little box using Ghost Bird (too cute! - love the little birdie feet). The image is mounted on a tab and can be used as a handle to open the box.
For the outside, you need your box, your images, and mattes for your images. You will also need a tab and a back for your tabbed handle piece. I cut my circles and ovals with Nestibility dies, but you could use any shape.

I also added a 12" strip of patterned paper around the sides of the box. 12" will not be quite long enough to go all the way around the box, but the gap will be hidden by the sentiment on the front.

To create the tab to mount the image on, cut a 1/2" strip 2" long and fold as shown. Put adhesive on the top of the two side "wings". Cut a slit in the lid of the box and feed the folded piece through, adhering the "wings" to the underside of the lid.

You can then adhere your mattes to both sides of the tab (I used gray scalloped circles in mine).

I wanted to add more color to my images, so I gave them all a dusting of Dried Marigold ink with a duster brush. I masked ghost bird first with a piece of Eclipse Paper so he would not be orange too! I also left my Nestibility dies in place so I could keep a white border in the images.

I wanted to cover the tab "wings" on my inside lid, so I created a 2 1/4" square Ghost Bird trio. Since I was just inking the very edges with the Duster Brush - I didn't bother masking.

Then - I just assembled my box. Here is a picture of the box open.

I colored all my ghost birds by doing a fade to white with C-1 Cool Gray 1 Copic Marker and added shadows at their feet with YG-91 Putty. You can read more about doing a fade to white with the measuring cup in this post HERE.
Here is box number two. You have to love those shoes! HeeHee.

For this box, instead of the handle being an image tab, I created a felt ribbon tab and then mounted the image over it on foam tape to hide the ribbon tails. I actually stapled the ribbon in place so it would be very secure.

Before I assembled the box, I randomly stamped Kelly's Spiderweb and Thersa's Spider in Brilliance Platinum Planet ink. Look how well is shows up on black - its one of my favorite Brilliance inks.

I also stamped some on the inside bottom and lid of the box.

Then I assembled the box.

I added an image on the inside to finish it off and hide my staple. I love that little spider, especially his eyes.

I added a Happy Halloween Sentiment from Odd Bird Planet to the front.

Hmmm.... is that an EXTRA Snickers sitting over there..........

Thanks so much for stopping by! (but I'm not sharing the Snickers....)

Garden Party for September 2

2008-09-02T20:26:00.003-04:00

Its Garden Party time again - where a clipping snatched out of the "Inspiration Shoebox" is used for the basis of a card. Here is the inspiration photo from last week.

I'm thrilled to say that I had TWO players this week - you guys must like fall!

First is Tiffany from IHeartArt with her wonderful floral card. I love the colors and all the layers of flowers. You can see her card HERE.

Next is Debbie from 1of2Shoes with her awesome nature card - it goes so well with the inspiration pieces and the coloring is amazing. You can see her card HERE.
Here is my attempt. I used the tree as inspiration for my branch. The stamp set is Branches of a Tree from Impression Obsession. I used Memento inks (I love them!) for this card. The stem is stamped in Rich Cocoa. I inked the leave clusters first with Tangelo, and then rolled the edges in Lady Bug before I stamped.

To be truer to the picture, my swirl background probably should have been green, but I love the creamsicle color. I cuttlebugged it and then dusted over the embossing with Tangelo ink on a duster brush - just to highlight it a bit more.

So here is the inspiration photo for next week (sorry about the glare - ran out of daylight).

Hmmm.... not quite sure how this got in there. Maybe the black and green color scheme? Or the funky frame over the mantel? I have no idea what I'm going to do with this one.

Should I draw a new one? Or is that cheating?

Copic Color Picking 2

2008-08-28T11:39:00.009-04:00

This is a mighty long post.... sorry...

I've gotten a few questions on how to pick Copic marker colors when starting out. It's a good question - the markers are tools that will last a lifetime and you don't want to waste your money on colors you won't use.

But, everyone is an individual so its pretty hard for me to tell you what you will like. I decided to share with you my favorite 30 (ugghh... that was hard - I love them all really. Turns out I had to add another optional 6).

Please take my choices with a big grain of salt (maybe the whole shaker!). It is very important for you to look at what you color and what you like. I'm going to review my top 30 and why I chose them - then you can decide if what I'm saying makes sense for you or not.

A couple bits of info that might help with color choice. The Copic numbering system is actually very helpful. The letter is the color family - so all markers with the same letter have a similar base. The first number is what I think of as the "brightness" of the color. Lower numbers will be very bright and clear and higher numbers will be more muted and have more gray in them (compare BG-02 and BG-72 in the chart below). The last number is the color intensity or darkness. Low numbers are very light and high numbers are dark. (Compare YR-02 and YR-07 in the chart below)

If you look at the trees on the two images to the right, the top tree was colored with markers in the green (G) family. The lower tree was colored with Markers from the yellow-green (YG) family. I tend to be partial to the YG's - but you may like G's better.

I put together a chart of my top 30 below (plus another 6.... couldn't resist). I selected these based on what I reach for most often and what I would have a hard time being without. I included a color swatch of all 30 (36) in the chart below - but you know that computers do not always render colors perfectly.

I strongly believe in buying color pairs or groups. You will enjoy your markers much more if you can start blending right from the beginning. If you want more information on color pairs, you can read THIS POST. So I have arranged my "top 30" in groups that blend and work together.

My 30 include colorless blender - for fading to white, fixing "goofs" and doing effects.

I like B-60 for many of my shadows.

I use the color group of E-00 and E02 for most of my skin. Of course if you need different tones, you'll want to choose different markers. I have had success with E-25 and and E-27 for dark skin tones.

My green group includes YG-03 and YG-63, they blend easily together for fresh new foliage green. I also use G-21 with either of them to get more green , less yellow. And I often use G-40 as a base for my greens or for a blender. I added G-17 to my optional choices to get darker true green. I also really like YG-95 to get olive tones. It can be blended with any of the other YG's. (I told ya - hard to pick 30 - I love my greens!)

BG-000 is great for snow, glass and water. I use it with BG-02 and BG-72 for blue green blends. I like BG-72 for distant or shaded water (plus I just love the color).

My favorite brown grouping is E-31, E-34 and E-25. I find I can create a lot of different shades with just these 3. (I have quite a few browns and love them all. If you need more browns, consider E-44 (a slightly grayed brown) and E-27 for a darker shade).

For reds, I mainly use R-14, R-27 and R-59. R-59 is a pretty dark color but is great for darker shadowing on red objects. I can get pretty much the range of reds I need with just these 3 markers. I added R-20 to my additional 6 because it is a nice warm pink and I've used it often. If you love red - consider adding R-29 too.

B-21 and B-24 - a nice set of clear medium blues that do not have green in them. I added B-97 in my optional group in case you want a dark navy. I don't use it often, but there really is no other substitute if you need it.

I settled on RV-21, RV-23 and RV-34 as my pink group, (although I really wanted to include RV-11 too). All 3 blend together and give a range of pinks.

I use mainly YR-02 and YR-07 for my orange grouping. I use the YR-02 for the base and for blending in the darker YR-07.

Another yellow-red grouping is YR-21 and YR-24. I use YR-21 a lot and often blend it with the Y group. It is also useful for blending to white to make a cream/off white.

For yellow, I like Y-11 and Y-15. With the yellows, you need more distance between the numbers to get enough color variation for shading to show (IMHO....). In my optional group I added Y-21. I love this color and use it often, but I can get close to it by using YR-21 and doing a fade to white with the blender.

Last, I like C-1 and C-3. I can blend them for gray, use them for shadows, and they are great for coloring metal. They can also be blended with brighter colors to tone them down.

Lastly, I added 2 BV colors to my "extra" list. My "top 30" did not have any purples (I'm just not a purple person) so I added a 2 color blend to the extras. Of course - if you ARE a purple person, then my top 30 list won't work very well for you.

If you notice, few of my picks have a last number above 4. I find the lighter colors much more versatile. The create better blends and don't obscure the lines of the stamped image. Of course, there are exceptions but I would recommend starting mainly with lighter colors. And don't waste you money on black. If you want "black" you are better off getting a dark gray (last number of 7 or 8) so you can still shade and blend.

So these are my picks based on my experiences and what I like to color. Hopefully, you can use some of this info to help make your choices.

A couple other thoughts....

You can get more mileage out of some colors by doing fades to white. The two houses at the right use a fade to white for the icing. The first is a fade of YR-21 (Cream), the second is a fade of BG-000 (Pale Aqua).

To do a fade, you edge the area in the color and then use the colorless blender in small circles from the colored area toward the center. I find that my fades come out better if I use a very light shade - like the BG-000. For darker shades (like and end number of 1), I do better if I pre-wet the area with the blender pen, then put the color line around the edge, then blend towards the center with little circles. I did not do the pre-wetting on the first house (with the Y-21) and you can see the edge is a little harsh (haste makes waste....).

Well, if your still with me you deserve a prize! (but I don't have one)

The Copics in the Paper Garden Projects store are still 20% off through Sept. 5. I realize some of the colors are sold out - but never fear more are on the way! They shipped today and should be in the store by Monday.

Whew - I think I'll go color something.....

Garden Party for August 26

2008-08-26T10:56:00.004-04:00

I'm getting back in the swing of things (I think!).

Its Tuesday - Garden Party day, where a magazine clipping snatched from the "inspiration shoe box" is used to create a card. Here is the photo from last time.

And I might just have to hang up my gardening gloves and turn the challenge over to Debbie. You really must check out the amazing card she created. You can see it on her blog by clicking HERE.

Is that too cool or what? All I can say is Wow!

Well, here is my attempt. I've wanted to use this Floral Rooster stamp forever. I just love it and finally got my chance.

The card ended up a little more blue than the inspiration piece, but it sure was fun to color. I used my Copic markers. The sentiment and matte are cut out with Nestibility dies.

The edges of all the white pieces are inked with Memento Cantaloupe ink and a duster brush. You might not be able to tell in the photo, but I really like the way inking the edges mellows out the bright white paper.

So here is the inspiration photo for next week. You know its coming.... fall is right around the corner, so we might as well get ready!

If you would like to play along, just add a comment here with a link to your creation. I'll highlight it in my post next week.

Happy stamping everyone!

91 Cupcakes Later..........

2008-08-26T08:37:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone!

I'm back from my little break - we had a great week visiting family, swimming and playing with cousins. I hope everyone else had a great week too.

All of the orders from the Paper Garden Project store were processed yesterday - so expect your stuff any day now. Thank so much for your support!

I thought I'd share an invitation I did (actually 13 of them!) before I left. Once a year, our church has a special service and a lunch afterward for church members who normally can't make it to church due to age or illness. The church members provide transportation and any special help needed.

They asked if I could make some invitations and this is what I came up with. I wanted them to look happy - and thought everyone loves cupcakes. So here it is.

The stamp is from the Impression Obsession Cupcake clear set. It also has some individual cupcakes that I stamped on the envelopes. You can see the set by clicking HERE.

I colored it with my beloved Copic markers - but I was in a rush to finish before vacation so I forgot to note the colors I used.

The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Blush collection and the cardstock is Bazzill and Prism.

Speaking of cardstock - I have a question (if you don't mind answering)....

What is your favorite brand of cardstock? And, if you have a choice, do you prefer 8.5" x 11" or 12" x 12"?

I've always bought 8.5" x 11" because I can fit it in my file cabinet. But now that I'm doing more things that are not the size of standard cards, I'm using more 12"x12".

If Paper Garden Projects was to carry a line of cardstock, what would you like to see?

Next up is the Garden Party challenge - and wait till you see what Debbie made!

Oh My! An award!

2008-08-14T14:11:00.005-04:00

Danni over at Danni's Dreams gave me this super cute blog award. Thanks so much Danni!

Now I'm supposed to nominate 7 other blogs and they can put the logo on their blog too. Hmmm... only 7, I'll stick with ones I have not mentioned before.

Have you seen Mel over at Mel Stampz? I'll tell you, I'd like to nominate the girl for an honorary PHD in "crafty science". She is always coming up with new ways to use things.

Tracy over at Durcan Designs. I've long admired her crisp clean style. She places all the elements of her cards perfectly and does great things with color.

Debbie at 1of2Shoes - you have got to check out her Monday Morning Comics. Hee Hee. And here color pencil work is amazing.

Beth over at Sunflowers and Dragonflies - she has wonderful style and is so generous in sharing what she knows through all her tutorials.

Becca from Amazing Paper Grace - I don't know Becca, but I stumbled across her blog and was blown away by what she can do with a Cuttlebug. Wow...

Which leads me to Susanna over at Card of the Week, which is how I discovered Amazing Paper Grace. She does this absolutely amazing job of scouring the Internet and finding all kinds of nifty projects and tutorials. I could spend hours just looking at the things she gathers. I don't know how she does it.

Michelle over at Inspiration Blooms. She creates beautiful projects and I love the photos of her garden flowers too.

So... there are 7, but I could list so many more!

Edited to add:

Patti at Pat Creates gave me this award too! "They like me, they really like me" (from Sally Field when she won an Oscar - am I dating myself??). Thanks so much Patti! I really appreciate it.

Yikes! Its August 14!

2008-08-14T13:37:00.003-04:00

And I never mentioned the August Special Deal at Odd Bird Planet. Bad, bad, blogger...

You can order the special deal bundle of 5 stamps together and save 25% off all of them. That owl is a cutie! You can see the special deal HERE.

Here are some samples I made with the special deal. I used the Putting on the Glitz paper kit from the Paper Garden Projects Store for all these. You can see the paper kit HERE.

I cut the first card round with my circle cutter and added scalloped and plain circle mattes from my Nestibility dies. The kit has glitter paper and some Bazzill Bling cardstock, so I thought I should add self adhesive gems to the flower centers.

The second uses different papers that are also in the kit, plus two of the stamps from the special deal.

I added some glitter using my Quickie glue pen (although the glitter looks a little wonky in the photo). The ribbon is from the kit - May Arts sheer Swiss dot, one of my favorites.
And one last sample - using papers from the kit and stamps from the special deal.

The scalloped borders were made with the Threading Water punch (now back in stock!).

Thanks for taking a peak at my samples!

Happy Stamping everyone!

A little housekeeping.....

2008-08-13T07:21:00.002-04:00

OK... honestly, does this happen to anyone else? --->

Sheesh, this desk was clean when I started. Am I just the messiest crafter in the world? One of the things I like best about my ATG gun is that it is big and red - much easier to find.

Anyway....

I'm taking a little summer break next week and the family is not allowing me to work on the store (although... maybe I can sneak in when they are not looking........... hmmm........ I need a plan). They just don't quite understand my rubber obsession! Sigh - I guess I'll just have to go do "fun stuff" with them instead.

Really - I'm just kidding, we will have fun. But it means I will not be shipping orders next week.

Any orders placed at the Paper Garden Projects Store before noon on Thursday August 14 will be shipped on Friday, August 15. Any orders placed after noon on the 14th will be shipped on the 25th.

Stay tuned - I have some great new goodies coming! I'm really excited about some of the additions. Want a hint? It has something to do with Odd Birds (OK - I stink at secrets....)

Garden Party for August 12

2008-08-13T06:39:00.004-04:00

Can we just pretend its Tuesday the 12 and not Wednesday the 13th?

When does school start?!! While its nice to have time with the kids, and I like not have to scramble to get everyone out the door in the morning - a big part of me is ready for a regular schedule again!

Anyway - it is Garden Party time, and this is the inspiration photo from last week.

And, I'm excited to say that Tiffany played along with not one but two cards! You can see her card based on the umbrella HERE. Check out all the stitching - I love it. I could never get it so straight and perfect.

And you can see her card based on the little girl HERE. I think she captured the garden feel of the little girl's outfit wonderfully.

Thanks Tiffany for playing along!

Well, here is my attempt. I was going to just use the umbrella for my inspiration, but then I thought about one of the little girl stamps in the Kids at Play kit and I just had to use her. I love all those vintage little kids.

I guess in my mind she matches the shape of the little girl and the card matched the colors of the umbrella?

And I tried to use some of the Prima's in my stash. I'm never very comfortable with the Primas - don't know why....

I pierced the strip at the bottom with my new Tim Holtz Design ruler. I love that thing! I know its silly to love a ruler - but I do! (maybe because its still bright and shiny?)

So, here is the picture for next time. This card won't be posted till August 26.

I'm taking a little summer vacation blog break next week. Well, I'll try to - we'll see if I can't resist sneaking in a post or two....

So you have plenty of time to play along if you want to. Just post a comment here with a link to your card.

Watercoloring with dye ink

2008-08-08T13:20:00.006-04:00

This is a simple tutorial on using dye based inks to create a watercolor effect.

For this set of cards, I used the Art Impressions Watercolor Garden stamp set, available in the Paper Garden Projects store. This is a clear set that has all these stamps plus more. There are more flowers shapes and a gate in case you would rather create a garden.

These stamps are specifically designed for this technique, but you can apply the technique to other stamps as well.

In addition to your dye based inks, you will need a waterbrush (or paintbrush and water) and some watercolor paper. This technique really works better on watercolor paper as opposed to cardstock.

First, stamp your container. I like to use the Distress inks for the container because the juiciness helps in the next step.

Use your waterbrush to pull color from the stamped lines towards the center, keeping the middle lighter than the edges. Its OK if the stamped lines get a little blurry, it adds to the watercolor effect.

Give the pot a few seconds to dry and mask it with Eclipse Tape (or a post it note).

Then stamp your foliage using any of the foliage stamps in the set. As you stamp each set of foliage, dab the ink with water, then move on and repeat with the next stamp and color. The water will cause the ink to bleed slightly and soften the stamped edges and creating a more watercolor effect.

Remember to rotate the stamps to keep the look varied. You can also use just portions of the stamps.

You can add flowers using any of the flower stamps in the set. Try stamping once and then stamping again without re-inking to get two ink shades. Remember to dab with water before moving on to the next color.

Keep adding foliage and flowers, dabbing with water after each color to soften the look.

If you are using Memento inks like I am here, you don't need to worry about too much water. If you use Distress inks for everything, you need to go light on the water so they do not bleed too much.

The last step is to remove your mask and add some grass at the bottom to ground the image. Here I blended the grass and also added a little green ink by wiping my water brush across the the ink pad and painting it on.

The set also contains a watering can that can be used in a similar way.

You can create any arrangement and color combination.

This is a very fun stamp set to play with. My daughters love it because its so easy for them to create arrangements.

But this same technique could be used with other stamps. The idea is to blur the stamp lines slightly to give color variation and soften the stamped image.

Happy stamping everyone!

Its crazy 8 day!

2008-08-08T07:50:00.002-04:00

Today is 8-8-08...............

I think that merits a sale at the Paper Garden Projects store.......... (I know, I'm easily amused)

Now through Sunday you can take 8% off your entire order (regular and sale items). Just enter the coupon code Crazy8 when you check out.

Check out the clearance section for some great deals.

Is it still summer?

2008-08-07T07:46:00.002-04:00

Actually, the weather has been wonderful the last few days. Not our usual sticky, oppressive August.

Hope everyone has a fun summer weekend planned. The kiddos are going camping so I'm hoping to find some time to play in my craft room.

About the card:

I made it with the Kids at Play stamp kit from the store.

Its colored with Copic markers. I made the sky by masking the image and dusting the background with a duster brush and Distress Ink in Broken China.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Gnome-body knows the trouble I've seen....

2008-08-06T11:05:00.004-04:00

There are a BUNCH of new images available at Odd Bird Planet.

And I'm so in love with the gnomes! I mean seriously - I want every one. Check out the little gnome babies - Oh My! Just look under new rubber stamps to see all the new images.

I liked them so much that I drew some Gnome-accessories - and Johanna generously turned them into stamps!

In this card - the Gnome was drawn by Kelly (adorable), but I did the clothesline (yay!). (I can't draw anything that moves - so I only draw "stuff").

And I made the saying on my computer - but I bet if we all log into the Odd Bird Planet Wiki and make a sentiment suggestion HERE, Johanna will create a stamp!

The image is colored with Copics - here are the colors. The ribbon is just threaded through an S spiral clip. The paper is from BoBunny.

In other news...

I need space!! I've been ordering tons of new stuff for the Paper Garden Projects store and I need to make room before it all gets here.

So click HERE for my new Clearance section - everything is 30% off. While supplies last.

The new Cuttlebug embossing folders are in stock - you can see them HERE.

And Copic Skech Markers are still 20% off - click HERE to see them (more colors arriving soon).

Have a great day everyone!

Garden Party for August 5

2008-08-05T09:35:00.002-04:00

Its Garden Party time - where a magazine clipping plucked from the "Inspiration Shoe Box" is used as inspiration for a card.

Here is the picture from last week. And I'm very excited to say two people played along this week.

Tiffany used the Odd Bird Planet stamp "Short House" to create a lovely card. You can see it HERE. All that paper piecing is amazing.

Tanya created a lovely Christmas card (Christmas?? Ackkk.... its coming....). You can see her wonderful card HERE (scroll down). And stop by and tell her congratulations. She just got a project published!

Well - here is my attempt at a card. Oh my - its bright. The paper is from my stash. The green is Bazzill, not sure where the hot pink came from.

I used the Inkadinkado Little Critters stamp set for my dragonfly. I really like all the patterns on these bugs. Cute set.

The Matte is cut with my Spellbinders Nestibilities. And the scalloped top and bottom is made with the Threading Water Boarder punch.

I created the dotted background paper with two new pencil erasers and my lightbox and grid technique. You can read more about using the grid HERE.

The inks are Memento Pear Tart and Rose bud. I LOVE those new inks.

So here is next week's photo.

I think I tore it out originally because of the umbrella, but here is the whole thing in case the little girl inspires you.

If you would like to play along, just post a comment here with a link to your creation - and I'll link you up next week.

Clear Card Boxes

2008-08-03T21:12:00.003-04:00

I've gotten some questions on where to purchase the clear card boxes that I could not answer directly - so I thought I'd post here.

You can purchase them from Paper Garden Projects. You can just click HERE.

Each box holds 4-6 A2 size cards and envelopes, depending on how thick your embellishment is. I love these for making gift sets.

A little too much midnight oil lately, so I'm going to turn in a little early..... Have a great night everyone!

Copic Blog Candy Winner!

2008-08-02T13:53:00.003-04:00

We have a winner for the Copic marker, stamp set and store coupon. Danni - who's favorite marker color is Tender Pink. I e-mailed you Danni.

So ... the story behind this card?

I was working on a Odd Bird Planet design assignment. The assignment included some lovely, swirly K&Co paper, Flower Garland Narrow, Bernard (a lovely flying bird) .....and..... Space Owls. Space Owls?? While cute and all, I couldn't quite get how Space Owls fit in with the elegant theme.

But I'm game to try.... So here is my card.

Turns out, the Space Owls were not part of the assignment - they were an extra little gift to the design team. Sigh.... one of these days I'm gonna be organized and on top of things.

So thanks for the Space Owls Johanna! They are cute!

Ummm... just one more thing??

2008-07-30T21:50:00.002-04:00

Then I'll go back to posting cards and stuff... promise.

I just wanted to share this little tip about border punches. Something that probably everyone else in the universe knows - but just in case.....

When I first started using my Lacy Days border punch, we were not quite getting along. I kept ending up with edges that were not perfectly straight. It would kind of go "uphill". They were just off by a little but it was driving me nuts.

Turns out it was operator error (namely me).

When you punch, you need to concentrate on keeping the cardstock flush with the top edge (see the arrow). It is not flush in this picture.

This seems obvious, but if you push the cardstock in tight where the punch is, the cardstock can tilt slightly (its exaggerated in the photo). By the time you finish punching a whole strip, you can end up uneven. Before you push down the punch, take a second to check that the cardstock is flush with the top.

The hardest bit is the last, where you don't have any cardstock left to be flush. You can match up the images on the punch, but also make sure the cardstock is square to the grid on the base.

Just hoping this saves some other poor soul a little frustration....

Now, a word form our sponsor....

2008-07-30T21:05:00.005-04:00

Yes, a little commercial message...

A lot is happening at Paper Garden Projects - a bunch of new products and I've added new project samples to the site also. Just in case you want to know - here is the low-down on some of it....

We've already talked about the Copics (still 20% off by the way). I'm working an a new tutorial and eyeing some additional colors.

All of the Penny Black clear sets are back in stock. And I added this super cute alphabet. I'm going to use it to make name frames for the girls' rooms! And don't you think it would be a cute B-day card if you spelled out someones name?

The Basic Grey Euphoria paper pads are in and I added some of the coordinating brads too.

Can't wait to play with this! Its the Co'dinations Black Magic paper pack. Its black coated and colored core. When you sand it or tear it the color shows. I want to play with this and my cuttlebug folders - too cool. Perfect for Halloween.

One last thing - have you seen this? It is awesome, I'm in love with mine already.

I know - its just a ruler.

But what a ruler! Its crystal clear and has grid markings every 1/8 inch. It has a center zero side and one edge is metal for using with craft knives. Best of all, there is a line of piercing holes! Now I can have perfectly spaced, perfectly straight piercing holes. Yay!

OK... back to our regularly scheduled program..............

Blog Candy Reminder...

2008-07-30T20:58:00.002-04:00

Just a quick reminder about my little give away....

All you need to do is post your favorite Copic Marker color in a comment on THIS POST and I'll enter you to win.

You get a B-60 Pale Blue Gray Copic Sketch marker (great for shadows), a set of Stampendous clear stamps, and $5 off any purchase in the Paper Garden Projects store.

I'll be drawing the name Saturday morning.

Garden Party for August 29

2008-07-29T13:01:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone!

Its Tuesday - Garden Party Day, where a magazine clipping from the "Inspiration Shoebox" is used as inspiration for a card.

Here is the inspiration photo from last week:

And I'm thrilled to say Laura played along! And she teamed up with her daughter to make the card - how fun is that? You can see Laura's awesome card HERE. Her daughter colored the images. Great job huh?

So here is mine. I tried to give mine some "quilt" texture using Fiskars embossing plates in my Wizard. The images are all from Odd Bird Planet (yes, the planet includes critters other than birds - bunches of them in fact!).

Here are the Copic Markers I used. I know - I need to focus. And not just with picture taking either.

So here is next week's photo.... My! How.... ummmm.... colorful??

If you would like to play along, just post a comment with a link to your card and I'll highlight you in the summary next week.

Thanks for stopping by!