Challenges Everywhere!!!

Do you find yourself going from Challenge Blog to Challenge blog gathering all the mojo that is displayed there? How could we EVER run out of steam when there are so many talented people in blogland sharing their creations!! Today I had time to make ONE card!! Oh, I could have made more, but you see - my best time to create is in the morning and this morning, rather than creating, I was doing laundry, cleaning the downstairs area - including my crafting area - so I didn't get to my card until late this afternoon and now I am going to be going out for dinner with my husband and friends.
But on to my card - I made this one for the Magnolia Down Under challenge #61 which was to follow a recipe - 3 patterned papers, 2 buttons, 1 ribbon and of course a Magnolia image (of course!!) So, I chose this cutie that was sent to me from another Magnolia stamper. Isn't she just adorable? The image was stamped on watercolor paper, but I just used my Prisma Color Pencils along with sansodor for blending. I used the beautiful 'Deck the Halls' DSP from Stampin' Up! that will be available for purchase starting tomorrow. I actually used three different pieces, just layered them on top of each other to create a 'perch' for my Tilda to 'sit' on. I had the sentiment stamped already from my project yesterday, so I just trimmed it up a bit and matted it on the Cherry Cobbler cardstock. I also had this bow that I had fiddled with yesterday and got so frustrated I started over - so this morning, I put my frustrations to rest and was able to tie this bow up nicely. The buttons were a bit of a challenge, as I wanted to use these buttons (they coordinate), but they are SO large. It took me awhile to decide on the layout of this card and where I was going to put those buttons - but I finealy glued it all down and am satisfied with the results.

Thanks for stopping by the paper spa today - I hope you have enjoyed our visit. Do come back soon as I have a whole list of blog challenges I am trying to get done this week.

~Paula~

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Have you stopped by the Stamping 411 Challenge Blog lately? Oh, you should this week to see the sketch - it is quite an easy one and I took the opportunity to use my new favortie nestibilities die. I cut the larger matting out of Cherry Cobbler - OH, HOW I LOVE THIS COLOR!! I think this will be my new favorite Christmas color. I stamped the image on Very Vanilla and edged it with Always Artichoke. Then, the hardest part, deciding how to use the new DSP - this paper is GORGEOUS and will be available for purchase starting on Wednesday. You have GOT to get some of that paper. Anyway, I didn't want to destroy the whole sheet that this piece comes from - it has wonderful evergreen and poinsettia images on it. I then punched the border with a MS border punch and layered my sentiment image - popped - off this. I added the bow which is the Early Espresso satin ribbon. I really like the look of the satin ribbon - especially around the holidays. My final touch was the pearls. Another I LOVE THESE!! I like the variety of sizes I get. I made this card in maybe 15 minutes this morning before I had to go out to the dentist. I like how it turned out and can see several more of these in similar fashion.

Thanks for stopping by the paper spa. Now on to new projects.

~Paula~

What is a Mingle Card?

Before I show you the gorgeous card I got, I want to tell you first what a Mingle Card is!! I have signed up on several forums on Yahoo and on one of them, a Magnolia Stamps forum, they have a Mingle every month - which means that you sign up if you want to 'mingle' and then a list is posted as to who you send a card to. Someone else sends a card to you - so, the idea of everyone mingling together. :) Most often, from what I read - in addition to the Card those participating also send stamped images, which is an added bonus for those of us that don't have many Magnolia stamps to start with. So, this is the card I got from my Mingle partner this month. Isn't it Gorgeous? The Magnolia is Tilda with a wreath from the 2007 Christmas/Winter Collection and the background is from The Stampin' Place. You can find the exact image at this link I can see another order going out soon!! Sigh! But it is a good sigh!!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. I have another card that I will be posting soon and then I will have to get busy in the paper spa as I have alot of challenge cards to make. :)

~Paula~

Do you like Blog Candy?

I sure do and this morning while surfing through looking at blogs I found one at the Crafty Card blog What a wonderful selection of products. I am especially interested in the hAngler and sTangler stamps as those are very hard to come by.
The chance to win this blog candy ends real soon, so hop on over to the Crafty Card for your chance to win.

Thanks for stopping by this morning - I will be at the Spa all day, so no time to play in the Paper Spa today.

~Paula~

August Birthday's

Today is my husbands birthday! I started to make a card for him, but then I had to go into work, so I had to finish it when I got home, which is not easy to make a card when he is sitting in the same room with you! :) One of my Magnolia friends sent me this adorable image and I really think it needs a sentiment that says: 'Just dropping by to say . . .' - but since I don't have that one, I just added this simple birthday sentiment. Since I didn't have alot of time to make the card without him knowing, I made it a simple one. I chose the Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze to fit the Challenge over at the Magnolia Stamp Lovers blog Challenge to use turquoise and brown on a card. I really like these colors together and have loved this Parisian Breeze DP from Stampin' Up - it is a retired DSP now, but I do love it. They always have such wonderful papers and I always think that I won't find one as beautiful as this - and then I do!
Well, I must get this posted and get the rest of dinner going for my sweetie. We are having Tri Tips, Corn on the Cob and a nice green salad - perhaps you would like to stop by? :)

I do appreciate you coming by and checking on my blog - if I have made any typos, I will have to correct them later - my sweetie is sitting RIGHT next to me! So, I can't preview!

~Paula~

Christmas with Sugar Nellies

I LOVE the Christmas season and I could make Christmas cards ALL YEAR long - how about you? What is YOUR favorite holiday?
Today, I decided to make a card for the Sugar Bowl Challenge which was just posted this week. There is quite a wonderful prize sponsored by Funky Kits. I DO LOVE Sugar Nellies!! So, I chose one of my newest ones that I hadn't colored yet. When I saw these cuties I just HAD to have it.
It SO reminds me of my dear husband - who is a real cuddler! I chose Early Espresso (one of the new Stampin' Up Colors for my base and then added the NEW Holiday Designer Paper that will be out Sept 1st. I decided to color my Sugar Nellies with colors that would coordinate with the designer paper. The colors that coordinate with this paper are Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresson, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Soft Suede. So, starting from there I colored my image and matted it on Always Artichoke. I then added the very vanilla satin ribbon and for the extra challenge, added some of the new pearls. On the inside I added another piece of the DP.
This designer paper pack has some beautiful papers that it is hard to cut them apart. However, I found this one that worked perfectly for what I wanted to do and the rest of the paper is still very usable on another project. I added the sentiment from the Bells and Boughs Stamp set - another set that will be available on Sept 1. I decided at the last minute to add one more pearl and it finished off the card just right. It is a simple - very quick to do card - but just right for the holidays.

I hope you have enjoyed my little project for today - will be working in the paper spa most of the day (hopefully) making birthday cards for special people in my life.

~Paula~

Another DT Call - Will I make it??

I heard about a Design Team call just recently and the call closes very soon. The call is for a spot on the Southern Girls Challenge Blog So, I am entering this wonderful Sugar Nellie Snowman that I got recently.
I colored this one with my Prisma Color pencils, of course!!! I just LOVE snowmen. My sweet husband and I go in search of snowmen in the stores during the holidays and always manage to get one or two more to add to our collection. When I saw this one amongst the Sugar Nellies, I knew I just had to have it. After stamping and coloring, I decided that I wanted to add snowflakes. So, I masked him off and used my Northern flurries die cut for the snowflakes, then used them to sponge over to get the snowflakes in the background behind my snowman. I added a few of the snowflakes to finish off and placed a rhinestone in the centers. Very simple card - but so ready for the holidays.
Today, I am working on gathering all the items for the Magnolia Calendars I am doing for a swap - alot of work - cutting, glueing, etc. The next time I do a calendar swap, I am going to pick MAY!! December has WAY too many letters - June is a little better - but still alot of cricut/die cuts to spell out the name of the month. When I get the pages done I will be sure to post here for you all to see.

Thanks for stopping by the spa - I hope your visit was a wonderful one.

~Paula~

Last Week!!

Yep - that is right - this is the last week to order any item from the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini catalog. So, if you want to get your hands on The Water Color Trio Set, or the Travel paper, or anything else that entices you - click on the Mini Catalog on the right sidebar. Thanks!

~Paula~

Stamp! Stamp! Stamp!

That is what I got to do last week when I was on my vacation!! My best friend lives in Las Vegas and she was celebrating 30 years of marriage - so I went up (along with two of my kids and husband) to celebrate with her and her family. It was WONDERFUL even if it was TERRIBLY warm!! Actually, no - it was HOT! My family stayed with me until Monday when they headed back home, leaving me to finish preparations for my FIRST Stampin' Up! workshop that I held on Monday evening - and then the rest of the week was stamping bliss!!!
For the workshop, I was hi-lighting one of the stamp sets in the Summer Mini which is only available for another week. Here is the card we made at the workshop:
It was quite a simple card to make and had many different components so that those that attended the workshop were able to play with some of the new tools that I brought along. After the workshop was over, a few of the ladies stayed and watched as I showed my hostess how to color with her prismacolor pencils and gamsol (I use sansodor) I have NO IDEA why I chose to use GREEN - I seldom ever use that color! But I showed her how to color - using green and blue - and on Tuesday I finished making a card with the image I had colored.
I didn't think the image turned out too bad, although I would have colored it quite differently if it hadn't been so late - but it was just supposed to be an example anyway and this was the first image I grabbed. When I put the card together - I REALLY liked the way the flower/ribbon embellishment came together.
I may have to try this again one of these days. I added a few pearls around the flower bouquet and then decided I liked using them so much that I added them to her shoes.




All in all I think the card turned out well and I am looking forward to coloring her again - in DIFFERENT colors! This image is one that I received from a member of one of the Magnolia Yahoo groups that I am on. Such wonderful stampers that are willing to share images of their stamps for those of us that don't have but still want to play. It also helps me decide if I want to order that particular image now or later. Either way - the images will eventually become a part of my collection - it is just a matter of when!!

I have several other cards to share from my week away - but I think this is it for right now.
Thanks for stopping by the spa - I do appreciate your visit and your comments.

~Paula~

A new Blog with Candy!!

Today, I discovered a new blog with CANDY - and the best thing is that the candy is Magnolia Stamps!! Yeahhhh. The Blog is called Top Tip Tuesday and you can find it here These are the images that are being offered - and all you have to do is visit the blog and become a follower, add the information about the candy on YOUR blog and add you name to the Mr. Linkz.

I especially like the farewell Tilda - isn't she just adorable? Would LOVE to have this image to ink up and color with my prismacolor pencils.

Thanks for stopping by tonight - come by later - or tomorrow - I might just have some cards to show you - the result of my few days away on vacation. I stamped to my hearts content on Tuesday - I mean ALL DAY and into the evening Tuesday and came up with quite a few cards. Then Wednesday morning I worked on coloring images and have a new Magnolia Card to show you as well as a new Sugar Nellie (or two)!!

~Paula~

I recently (okay - TODAY) discovered this blog from another blogger.It is the Color Throwdown Challenge Blog And they throw out a color challenge it looks like every Wednesday - so here is the challenge for this week:



So, the colors are dark - but I have each one of them - so I am going to get busy and see what I can come up with for this challenge - check back later.

~Paula~

Blog Candy

I am LOVING the Magnolia's - however, I started loving them a little too late to order the Summer Kit - available through Magnolia Sweden. However, Jodi over at Inked Inspirations is giving away not just one but TWO of the summer kits. Wouldn't you love to win one of those sets? I sure would!! I have been blessed to have a couple Magnolia friends that have stamped me some of the images in the kit and they are ADORABLE!! I surely won't miss out on the next kit! Anyway - you can click on the picture in the sidebar to find out how you can win that wonderful kit.

~Paula~

A peek at what's Coming!!

Have you seen the Stamping 411 Blog? They have a wonderfully simple sketch that was posted on Saturday. I have created my card here using that sketch.

Now, the title of their blog really intrigues me - as I wonder if they are Operators in real life?? I used to be one many years ago - so that is why I am so curious. Either way, the 'Operators' (DT) members have wonderful tidbits about cutting your layers - for those of you that seem to be challenged in this area. I am not sure if I got the measurements right on my card, since I didn't measure according to the dimensions they noted on the blog - and I took liberties by adding the snowflake in the upper corner. But it was a very simple sketch and one that I will probably come back to again. If you are looking for a quick card - try the sketch.

Thanks for visiting the spa - as you can see, I have been busy with lots of fun things!!

~Paula~

More Challenges!!

I have been discovering Challenge blogs all over the internet lately!! Of course, it does make me happy to create cards - and submit to these challenges - whether for a prize or not - it is just FUN to play with images. The card I made this morning started out just for the Magnolia Stamp Lovers Challenge which was to use an Edwin from the Magnolia line. Edwin gets SO neglected - perhaps because there are so few images of him. I was DELIGHTED to be gifted this image from my friend Lynn - I don't personally have this stamp, so she stamped up a few of the images from the Summer Kit and they are quite adorable.

I looked through my massive stamp collection to see if I had a sentiment that might fit. I was thinking something like - 'just hanging around' or 'I'm hung up over you' - something quirky like that - and was even willing to create the sentiment myself on my computer and print it out - because I KNEW I didn't have anything like that - so when I came across this sentiment from Sweetstamps - I thought it was rather appropriate. I am sure Edwin gets in alot of binds and has to have Tilda help him out - and this is one that he really did well. I colored my Edwin with my Prisma Color Pencils - just LOVE coloring with them. You can't really see (because I covered it up) but there is a piece of black taffeta ribbon behind him and some patterned paper of water. I added a bit of 'cloud' using my scallop images to mask and then penned in some birds in the background. I decided to do this shaped card because I also discovered another challenge on the Totally Tilda Challenge Blog That challenge this week was to make a shaped card - well, when I looked at the Tickled Pink Stamps Monthly Challenges Blog and saw the sketch for the challenge - well - it just fit perfectly together.
So, there you have it - my Edwin for three different challenges.
I have work today - but will create until I have to go in - so back to the Paper Spa -
Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your look around and come back soon.

~Paula~

Crafting ALL DAY!! (Well, sort of)

Today was a very productive day in my Paper Spa. In between doctor appointments - I was able to finish up some cards for a Stampin' Up Swap. The cards turned out wonderful and I will be posting them on my Stampin' Up website soon. When those were all done, I got to work on making another card for a few challenges. I got some new Sugar Nellies in the mail today, so once they were mounted, I stamped out one of the images. She is one of the new ones and when I saw her, I knew I just HAD to have her - and that was easy because I was the one picked through the random.org a couple weeks ago on the Sugar Nellie Challenge forum at Paper Craft Planet. This is the second time I have been chosen and I love it because I can add to my collection of these beautiful stamps. Taking a look at the new Sugar Nellie challenge that was posted earlier today - it was an easy one - use embossing. It could be heat emboss or dry emboss. I don't do heat embossing much anymore, but love to dry emboss with folders. However, today I used one of my new texture plates from Stampin' Up.I then added a piece of Blueberry Crisp DSP over which I placed a piece of this gorgeous guipure lace. When I chose the flowers, I decided to twist the wires together and then 'curl' the wire to add a bit more dimension. My Sweet Sugar Nellie is colored with prisma color pencils. I started out to do pink and then decided I wanted to do blue. Notice her pearl necklace and matching pearl ring! These teeny tiny pearls are a new item I just got from Stampin' Up and I LOVE these tiny little half pearls. I thought they would add such a fun dimension to this card.
This card meets the Sketch challenge for the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps sketch challenge #29. I am also entering it in this weeks Sugar Nellie challenge and also the Wild Orchid Challenge which was to make a card that screams - 'one for the girls' - I think this is a very feminine card and it was fun to put her together.
I hope you have enjoyed visiting the Spa today - I love comments - so if you would like to leave a comment - that would make my day.

~Paula~

Pink Polka Dot Princess

There is a new challenge blog out here in Blog World!! The 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog For their very first challenge - they chose PINK and DOTS. The other stipulation is to use an image that they sell in their store. Well, I just happen to have some Magnolia Images - which they sell in their store - so I was excited to be able to enter their very first challenge. This cute Magnolia came to me by way of an internet friend that I 'met' on one of the Magnolia Forums I recently joined. Isn't she adorable? This is one of those images that I will eventually own for my own. I started with a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 pink pirouette card base and added designer paper from Stampin' Up! (Shades of Spring and Tea Party) I also added a bit of Pretty in Pink to highlight the design paper which was cut with a Martha Stewart Border punch. I added a piece of this gorgeous Guipure Lace that I got from Wild Orchid Crafts. My Maggie is colored with Prisma Color Pencils and cut with Labels 8 Nestibilities Die. I cut a size larger of the label 8 from the Tea Party DP to frame her. She is popped off the page and surrounded by these beautiful mulberry roses, also purchased from Wild Orchid Crafts. I added a bit of greenery using another Martha Stewart branch punch. I didn't add a sentiment, however, I may add a 'Happy Birthday' Sentiment to the inside of the card before I send it on to the troops overseas through Operation Write Home.

Thanks for stopping by the Paper Spa today and I hope you have found inspiration for your projects. Stop by again real soon.

~Paula~

Summer Sketch

It has been a very busy week, and unfortunately, I haven't been able to play in my paper spa. Today, I decded I wanted to complete a couple challenges before the deadline - fastly approaching!! I haven't played with my Sugar Nellie stamps for awhile either, so decided to color one up. My Sweet Sugar Nellie has dumped her flower basket at your feet - aren't these GORGEOUS blossoms? I love these flowers that I recently got from Wild Orchid Craft. This was my first chance to open them up and use them - and what better way than to use them in a 365 Card Challenge. This card satisfies the challenge for Day 159 All of this past week on the 365 Card Blog they have been challenging us to use a recipe supplied - and they have added to it or changed the original recipe in some way. I LOVE using Card recipes - it is nearly a no-brainer for me. But today was a bit of a challenge. The recipe started out with a 5X5 card (I would rather use 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 just because there is less 'waste' - but I did a 5x5). Then we were to use TWO 3x3 pieces of patterned paper - well, had to go through my stash of DSP to see if I had anything that would fit the color scheme I had already chosen. We were to use one sentiment - where oh WHERE was I going to fit that on there? One Image - that was already a done deal - I love this little Sugar Nellie. TWO buttons - this was a MAJOR challenge for me and 4 blossoms - I could have used more of those. But trying to figure out where those buttons would fit into my scheme - and the fact that I wanted to use these particular buttons because they are colored clear and from Basic Grey's Marakesh line from how long ago? And I only had one of each color. I laid it all out first and when I got it the way I thought was decent, I went back and glued it all down. I like the way it turned out - but thinking I am more of a blossom girl than a button girl!! This card was also for the Week 17 Sugar Nellie Challenge over at Paper Craft Planet.

More to come - stay tuned!!

~Paula~