Another Sketch

This is another sketch from Operation Write Home. This is sketch #79 and it was posted LAST Sunday - I know, a little late in getting it posted as there will be a new one tomorrow - but here you go. Now I did mess with the colors just a little in Photoshop so that the green would not be all washed out, but it is a little darker than the Wild Wasabi that I used for the base. I really liked the simplicity of this card and using the reverse side of the DSP was fun too. I took my strips and matted them on whisper white cardstock - it is easier to handle the design when you do this. I decided to double stamp my sentiment - so no - you are not going crazy. You know that yellow colors do not show up well, so I stamped with the yellow and then overstamped, moving my stamp just a tad so you get a shadow affect. I matted this on the daffodil delight and added the ribbon. Nice touch, simple card - elegant look! :)
Thanks for stopping by again - as you can see, I have been busy in the spa lately - I have more cards that I have done, but I will save those to post on a day (or week) that is too crazy for me to craft. Have a beautiful day wherever you are in the world.
~Paula~

Back to the many!!

In my last post, I mentioned using one sketch to produce many cards - well, in reality I did use a few different sketches, but I still did at least 3 cards for each sketch - but I only showed you all one card! What's up with that!! So, I am going to show you a few more of the many cards that I did the other day - then I will need to get back to the spa where I intend on creating a bit more.< Remember the first card I showed you (or scroll down to the previous post) I used a bright cheery color - well these next two cards are a bit more subdued. I used Wild Wasabi - though it is hard to tell the card is GREEN in this photo - I really need to learn how to adjust the settings on my camera better - or take the photos closer to the window so I don't have to use flash - which often distorts the color and washes things out. Anyway, I used the same stamp set - Fabulous Florals in pacific point this time. I used moer of that gorgeous paper from Beyond the Garden and added a bit of whisper white satin ribbon. Very easy - very simple but SO much fun!! This next card really IS washed out and is SO much prettier in real life - honestly. I used one of my favorite cuttlebug folders - the swiss dots - which I have not used in such a long time.<I then added another of that gorgeous beyond the garden DSP and then my image panel. I colored the flowers in with my prisma color pencils and added the sentiment in pacific point. I had these buttons that coordinated, so decided to use them for the final touch to this fun card. If I can get some better pictures taken, I will show you what this gorgeous card really does look like. Perhaps I will scan it - that always seems to work out nicely - so you might want to come back ihere in a little while and see if I have replaced the photo. You will notice that I have a watermark on my photos now - that was SO easy to create.
Thanks for stopping by the spa today - I hope that you have found inspiration for your projects. I will be adding more photos of my work as I get them uploaded.
~Paula~

One Sketch, Many Cards

It has been a few days since I have posted, but I have been busy enjoying the couple days off this week by making cards. Many of you know how much I LOVE sketches, and they are such a jumping off place for creativity. I truly believe that if you are stuck in a rut, grab a sketch and the creativity will begin to flow - honestly. I save sketches in a folder and when I am in a rut, I open it up and just choose one. (Sometimes that can be tough!) So, the other day, I chose a sketch (actually I used several - I get bored easily) and created several cards. My sketch is from Operation Write Home but my card is for the SUO Challenge for this week which was to create a Get Well CardI thought, that should be easy - especially with the sketch in hand - (I used sketch #62 and modified it just a tad) I had just gotten the Textured Impressions Flower Garden folder and hadn't had a chance to use it - it is lovely!! I stamped my image in Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango - I love these block stamps because you can really get a feel of depth to your stamping with them. Anyway, then I went in search of a Stampin' Up! 'Get Well' sentiment. Hmmm - I don't have ANY from Stampin' Up!! I have ALOT of stamp sets too - and I looked through retired as well as the new ones and could not find ANY that said that. So, I thought this stamp from one of the new hostess sets - Perfect Words would convey the message. If it doesn't perhaps the bright cheery colors will!! :)
I hope you like my take on the challenge. Come back to see more of my cards from my crafting this week - and I have today off too - so more crafting to do! Yay!!
~Paula~

Good Morning Friends - today is MY DAY to post a tutorial on the Top Tip Tuesday challenge blog. I want to encourage you to hop on over there - when you are done here - and see what I am showing you how to do. It is a VERY fun project - but it does take a bit of time, so hopefully you will be able to find the time in the next few days to try this project.
In the meantime - I want to let you know that we have some awesome sponsors (as always) this week.
For our Top Tipper prize - all you have to do is leave a helpful tip and if you are chosen you will win a book of your choice from Stash Books. Stash Books is a new line of how-to books celebrating fabric arts for a handmade lifestyle.
Our Random.org prize - just create a card using the challenge theme and link it to the blog - is a $10 package of goodies from Pizzazz Aplenty.
We have fabulous samples from our creative design team - check out Bettina's Sugar Nellie card - SO beautiful. Of course that is only ONE of the beautiful cards from the design team - they are an awesome team filled with such inspiration.
So, now - head on over to view my tutorial and see how you can join in our challenge this week.
Come back later as I might be adding more to my blog this week - I have time to just play after work this week and plan to do lot's.
~Paula~

Shaped Invitations

Remember earlier this week I mentioned that Top Tip Tuesday had a shaped card challenge? Well, it is not too late to get your card craeted and get it over there for a chance to win some fabulous prizes. It wasn't my teams week to make samples for the challenge, but I decided I would show you what I have done with this challenge. My middle daughter is going to be 18 next month and we have planned out a Hawaiian themed party to celebrate. I told her that I would make the invitations to send to the few friends she is inviting and she thought that was fabulous. I told her I had JUST the colors and set to make it all coordinate. So, guess what? I got out my new DSP from Stampin' Up! - yeah, this one is still available and will be for at least the next year!! I know, I am getting all current on you - and you may see some more cards made from this DSP in the next week - and then I will revert back to my old ways of trying to use up ancient stuff! ~giggle~ Anyway, here are the samples I made. I started with my nestibilites Classic Scallop Circles and the matching classic circles. I knew that I wanted to do shaped invitations that simulated the flowers in Hawaii. Since this was the closest I could come to the shape - this is what I chose to use. I needed it to be simple, so I started each card with the solid base. I used Tangerine Tango (111349) here, placing the nesties die just outside the fold so that I could create a folded invitation. I used Whisper White (100730) to stamp my sentiment. The sentiment is from Sweet Stamps (#966C). I matted this with Daffodil Delight (119683). I did not take a picture of the inside of the invitation, but it basically is stamp #905H from Sweet Stamps which is an invitation stamp that gives all the details of the party. I created another invitation using Daffodil Delight as the base and matting with Wild Wasabi (108641) I added butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die (122342) to each of the invitations. Other colors I have used for my invitations are: Pacific Point (111350) and Melon Mambo (115320) and of course, the DSP that I used to create these fun cards is Beyond the Garden DSP (122342) This is such a fun Designer Paper with such vibrant colors. I also indulged in the stamp set (123027) that goes along with this paper. If that wasn't enough, I ordered the Digital sets (124110) and (124109) and will be getting the flower Garden texture plate (123113) that coordinates with this set as well this coming week. Here is a picture of all the invitations that I have made so far with this paper. What do you think? Do they scream Hawaiian? My sweet daughter is not at home right now she is away for another week and a half, so when she returns home, I am sure that she will be thrilled with the invitations.
Well, that is about it for now. I do have some time to create in my paper spa this weekend, and I plan on doing something - I am just not sure what yet.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit and have found inspiration to go and create something vibrant and happy.
~Paula~

I Have more cards to show you

I didn't post these from the other day when I was busy in my craft room. Just using up bits and pieces from that gorgeous DSP - Tea Party. All of these are just simple cards - and convey simple messages. This first one I used my Oval deckle nestibilities dies and a bit of pretty in pink taffeta ribbon. I added a couple butterflies from the beautiful wings embosslits die (118138) and used my scallop trim border punch (118402) for the edge of my certainly celery cardstock. I stamped the sentiment (retired) with wisteria wonder. My final touch on this one was a rhinestone (119246). This next card is more of a monochromatic of sorts. I started with my certainly celery base adding the two matted DSP - one on so saffron and the other on pretty in pink. I didn't feel it was quite complete, so I added the bit of so saffron taffeta ribbon (122982) and the rhinestones (119246) in the corner. I stamped the sentiment (hard to read here) in certainly celery - it says 'Birthday Wishes'.
Next up is this sweet Butterfly card. I used pretty in pink for my base adding the new lace ribbon border punch (122362) in certainly celery. I had already cut these nesties circles out intending them for another project and didn't use them, so I added the sentiment - off center - and then added the butterfly layers. I used the Beautiful Butterflies (114507) die and layered it with butterflies from the Beautiful Wings (118138) embosslits. these two dies work so wonderfully together to add dimension to your cards. The card still looked too plain to me, so I added the buttons. These particular buttons are no longer available, but there are similar ones that you can order.
My last card is a design that I did several years ago - casing it from Splitcoast Stampers (I think) - it has been so long that I do not honestly remember. As I was looking at my pieces of DSP I remembered doing this design and thought it perfect for the pieces that I had laying on my table. I would have done it a little different the next time, layering the DSP on one piece of cardstock and then adding the dimensions - instead of doing them each individually. I added the certainly celery satin ribbon (117288) and again the rhinestones - I am about out of those and will need to order more soon - I forgot to add them to my order that I placed earlier this week. So, there you have it - cards that I did last week - has it really been a week since I made those cards?? I have not used all this DSP up yet - but boredom has set in - is that even possible with such gorgeous paper? I am moving on with a new DSP - it is a current one, but you will have to stick around for the next post to see what I have done.
Thanks for stopping by the spa today - I will be spending alot of time here in the next couple of weeks since my sweetie is gone.
Have a fantastic day - as the thunder rumbles outside my window and the lightning flashes all around!
~Paula~

Shaping Up!

That is what the Top Tip Tuesday challenge is for the week - making a shaped card - not a square one - so let your creativity run wild with this one. I will be adding my shaped card in a little while - but while you are reading this - I am at work making biscuits!! (They are GOOD too!!) We have some awesome sponsors this week and a couple EXTRA ones as well.
Pink Cat Studio - 5 digis of your choice
WS Designs - One of their catalogues and 3 amazing templates
Arty Farty - is offering the Roni Highchair template and everything needed to make it.
The Emerald Faerie Garden - 2 Digi Faeries
Stamp and Create - a $25 gift certificate

So, as you can see - you have several opportunities to win via random.org and what fabulous prizes too. So head on over to Top Tip Tuesday and see what the Blue Team has created and join in for your chance at some fabulous prizes.

Now, back to the biscuits and I will catch up with all of you later this afternoon, or at least by Wednesday - much going on this afternoon - so not sure if I will get back to the Paper Spa.

~Paula~

Just sketching away!!

That is what I did yesterday afternoon for a little bit and then this morning. I created cards using sketches - and using up some more of that BEAUTIFUL Tea Party DSP. I am just disappointed that I didn't get some of the almost amethyst cardstock before it was retired. this DSP would be SO pretty with that light pale color. The wisteria wonder works okay, but I think the lighter lavendar would have just been brilliant. Anyway, these first two cards - yeah, I had to do two since I couldn't make just one of this sketch) is for the Stamping411 Sketch challenge for this week. I REALLY like this sketch. I am also JUST in time to enter this challenge and I am submitting both cards. For this first one, I started with a base of so saffron and matted my beautiful DSP with pink pirouette (no, this is not a coordinating color - but it does coordinate!), I matted the other piece with certainly celery. I used pretty in pink taffeta ribbon for my bow and matted my sentiment with so saffron. I used 'Elegant Thank You' (114484) stamped in wisteria wonder. These paler colors are harder to see when I stamp the colors to coordinate, so I have used some darker colors so that the sentiment can be seen better. I mounted the sentiment with dimensionals. I liked this one so much that I went on to do another.
On this next one I started with a base of pretty in pink. I used my new lace ribbon border punch (122362) in certainly celery in place of the ribbon. I added pearls (119247) to each end to give just an added dimension. My DSP is matted with wisteria wonder and so saffron. I used whisper white for my sentiment and stamped this with pretty in pink. I sponged the edges with pretty in pink. This sentiment is from a VERY old stamp set called 'I'd Pick You'. The date on it says 1996!! I am not sure what I paid for this set when it was available (it is only a 4 stamp set) - but I do remember buying it as unmounted. I have it mounted on wood that I cut myself and stamped the top of it, however I do have the stickers that came with it to put on top of the mounts. I think this was one of the first Stampin' Up! sets I ever bought. It is a cute little set with flowers in a pot, some in a watering can and some in a basket.

I will post more of the cards I have made today a little later.

~Paula~

Do You Love Sketches?

If you do, Top Tip Tuesday has not one but TWO sketches that you can use for making a card. There are some great sponsors too - so hop on over and take a look at the sketches and then make a card to fit one - but remember, don't mix and match your sketches - use one or both.
I haven't had much time in the last few days to make anything, but I have tomorrow off from work and I don't plan on going anywhere, so will find some time to play in the paper spa. come back and see what I have done with some sketches.

~Paula~

Card Crafting Day

Oh, I would LOVE to have a few friends come and make cards with me on one of my days off - wouldn't that just be lovely? I am not sure how much card making we would get done though - as I am sure we would spend much time talking. But it sure would be fun to have someone to craft with every chance I had. Well, that is not the case, but I did have fun making a few cards today. I have already posted some of the ones I did this morning - they are not the quick and simple kind today - they are the more elaborate onesusing my prisma color pencils. This next one that I want to show uses the new sketch challenge on the Just Magnolia site. Oh, did I tell you - I won their giveaway from last week. I just posted the card a day or two ago, and I won!! I seldom win anything, but this time it is a wonderful voucher from Simon Says Stamp for $25!! I am going to have fun shopping for the stamps on that one.
Well, I colored this little cutie last night and knew that I would find a sketch that I could use her in within my sketch file, however, the one I was going to use just wasn't working out, so when the new one popped up on the Just Magnolia site, I knew it would be perfect. I used the Tea Party (retired) DSP from Stampin' Up! coordinating the colors in this BEAUTIFUL paper with the cardstock. The flowers and lace are from Wild Orchid Craft. I used a bit of diamond stickles on the flowers to give them a bit of sparkle and even added a bit to her eyes to make them sparkle. the finishing touch are the pearls from Stampin' Up! I have enjoyed using the pearls and rhinestones on my projects however, I am running low on them, so will have to be ordering some more of those soon. Out of the cards Ihave done the past few days, I think I like this one the best. I like the soft colors and the DSP is just one of my all time favorites. I don't think Stampin' Up! has come up with one as beautiful as this one in awhile (my opinion). However, I continue to buy DSP, so they are obviously doing something I like! :) I am also finding out that I don't have NEAR enough colors or style of the flowers from Wild Orchid Craft so I can see an order to them in the very near future. I really like the little tiny closed roses, but I only have them in the one color and I am running low on them.
Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed visiting the spa this afternoon and looking at my latest card. Oh, by the way - inside I have put a couple pieces of the green DSP in a couple corners and then stamped 'Happy Birthday' - this was a very fun design to do - and I am going to enter this into the Just Magnolia challenge #114

~Paula~

It's FRIDAY!!

For me, that means the day off and playing in the Paper Spa for awhile. :) Remember this card front that I did earlier this week? Well, I got my shipment yesterday from Stampin' Up! So, as soon as I got home from work last night, I put away all my goodies - which really wasn't that much, but I did get the cardstock I was waiting for to finish this card. So, this morning, I got up and got right to work playing with the new cardstock and new toys!! I decided to do an easel card - they are really SO fun to do. So, I cut the card base and scored it where I needed and then added my card front to it. I didn't have any more of the buttons in those colors, so I decided to add another piece of the baja breeze seam binding ribbon and then added the DSP punched with the BRAN. D NEW Lace Ribbon Border punch (122362)I think I will be using this border punch - ALOT!! It is SO fun and cuts so nicely - though with cardstock you do have to have a very sturdy surface and stand up when you punch it, but it cuts cleanly.
So, with that card finished, I pulled out my sketch folder and decided to get work on my Elizabeth Bell Challenge. I missed it last month - and it was one of my favorite techniques too - an easel card. I thought about combining the sketch with an easel card for this months challenge, but when I got done with the card decided that I would leave it. I am not real crazy about the card - but I do think the coloring turned out nicely. I am just not an 'orange' kind of person and have a hard time using this color - other than in fall themed cards. I chose to use this Whiff of Joy image created by Elizabeth Bell called 'Willow with Hot Chocolate'. My FAVORITE drink is hot chocolate - I also like hot tea, but since I really like chocolate, I would say I drink hot chocolate more than hot tea. Even on some of our cooler summer mornings I have a cup of hot chocolate. Of course, this image could work for coffee too, if you like coffee, but I don't! Anyway, I got this image from Simon Says Stamps. The thing that makes this such a special stamp is that my friend in the UK (Debs) gifted me a certificate that she won and could not use - so I put it to good use and got myself some more Elzabeth Bell stamps. Now, I will have that opportunity once again as I just found out that I won another gift certificate to this lovely store. So, I will be looking for more of those wonderful Elizabeth Bell Stamps. It seems that since I moved my craft studio upstairs, I get washed out photos of my work - this one really isn't as fair as it looks. I used some bold colors on this one - Pacific Point for my base card and some DSP from the retired pack Blueberry Crisp. I used a bit of bashful Blue to matt my image frame and then added a the new ribbon border punch in pumpkin pie to the matt. I wanted to pull the orange color in her sweater out. I thought the sentiment fit - at least for me because drinking hot chocolate is just pure bliss. :) I added a touch of white satin ribbon and the flower spray to finish off this card.
There you have it - my card for the Elizabeth Bell Challenge for June/July. Next month I might have some new images to play with - and I already have my cling mount ready and waiting for new images to arrive. I love getting new items to play with - so stick around, or come back and see what else I have to show you - maybe some new ribbon?? Or maybe some more creative ideas for that new punch. You just never know what you will find here in the paper spa.

~Paula~

I LOVE Sketches

So, today, when I have had some time, I have been playing with a few of the sketches I have seen on some blogs I like to visit. But before I show you my sketches for today, I want to show you something I 'thought' was ingenious! I like ribbon - and I have a fair amount, though I can ALWAYS use more. :) so, I have been trying to figure out an easy way to store my ribbon, where it was also easily accessible. Well, I found this hangar - it is for hanging pants, and I thought, hmmm - I bet the holes in my ribbon spools will fit on those rods. Well, they do - and it is a wonderful way to store the ribbon - I also punched holes in the baggies that hold my flowers and slipped those on there as well. There are only a couple of drawbacks - #1 it hangs in the closet rather than on a wall in my crafting area, so I can't look up and see the beautiful colors. #2 when I want to use a color, I have to take the spool off the rod and it is usually the one furthest from the beginning of the rod. I could just pull a length and cut it and never have to remove it - but I don't like to waste ribbon. As you can see - I am in dire need of MANY more spools of ribbon. these are all Stampin' Up. the ones on the top rod are the current ones and the ones on the bottom have retired. I know what I will be ordering next time! :)
So, now on to the sketches that I have done today. This first one I found on my friend Lori's blog this morning. She calls herself the Frugal Scrapper Extraodinaire. I met Lori when I lived in San Diego. I attended a scrapbook club once a month where she was the leader. We became friends and had a couple chances to scrap and make cards together outside of the monthly meetings. She took some classes in photoshop and In Design and was playing with her In Design program and created this fantastic sketch which can be used for both cards and scrapbook pages. I used the same package of DSP that I have been using this week to make this card. It is not complete - I only did the card front because I am waiting until my Stampin' Up! order comes later this week so that I can make the base of my card not quite navy. I may even make the card an easel card - I think those are SO cool! The two different patterns that you see on the card are the same DSP, just opposite sides. I used the set Always Elegant (120477).
My next sketch is from The Sugar Bowl I have not played in a Sugar Bowl challenge in a very long time. I recently purchased a couple more digital sugar Nellies from Funky Kits This one is called Melissa and she retails for $6.03 USD. When I bought her, I also bought another digital one that you will be seeing on a card sometime this week. (Hopefully). In addition to not having played in the Sugar Bowl, I haven't even played with my prisma color pencils in awhile either. I chose a different DSP (also retired) but lovely with the new Wisteria Wonder card stock from Stampin' Up! This light lavendar is one of the new In Colors - isn't it lovely? I decided to stay monochromatic for this card and I really like the way it turned out. I used the following colors on my little girl: PC942; PC914 (hair colors); PC1080; PC927 (my standard skin colors); PC1007; PC916 (flower); PC996; PC1008; PC1026 (clothes). My flower spray I created with flowers from Wild Orchid Craft - LOVE those flowers. I added a touch of Very Vanilla datin ribbon and added my sentiment from the Sale-a-Bration set Whimsical Words. It was fun to play with some different elements today - a different paper package and some new images and my colored pencils. Oh, and don't forget the flowers either! :) I might just have to switch up and play with this paper pack for awhile. It is called Tea Party and every paper in this pack is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is no longer available from Stampin' Up! I love the pastel shades in the pack though and think that they will pair nicely with the some of the new In Colors as well as the In colors from 2010.
Well, I have more sketches awaiting me - so come back soon and visit the spa and see what else I create this week.
~Paula~

I am still wondering . . .

Although it has been a few days since I have had any time in the paper spa - I have managed to make a few cards using the 'one sheet wonder' technique - Paper Spa style! :) I am still working with the same package of DSP, however, this time I am using the blues and I really like the print. Now, couple that with an AMAZING tutorial over on the Top Tip Tuesday challenge blog - and you end up with a beautiful (well, I think so anyway) anniversary card. The challenge this week is to make an anniversary, or wedding card. So, I started with this DSP - the larger piece is cut off a little and I can't find the other picture that I took, but I promised you all that I would remember to take a picture of the papers BEFORE I cut it all up, so there you go. So, far, I have made 5 cards from these pieces - along with Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, River Rock and Baja Breeze solid cardstock. I created this card for my DT submission. I used River Rock as my base, and layered the always artichoke on top of that finishing up with the layer of baja breeze. I then used my scallop trim border punch (118402) to punch the edges of the very vanilla cardstock, then I layered the DSP on top of this. I had some double stitched River Rock ribbon that I added on top of this. This ribbon was from a few years ago (2008) when River Rock was an In Color - now it is one of the colors in the neutral collection. The ribbon is no longer available though. Anyway, I used the retired set 'congrats' for my sentiment. This was the first time that I had used this sentiment set and it is a very cool set. The main word is Congratulations - and then you have 6 other stamps that you can choose from to complete the sentiment - from weddings, to babies. I stamped the sentiment in Not Quite Navy. I don't have that color of cardstock - YET - it will arrive here sometime on Thursday, while I am at work undoubtedly - however, I will be off on Friday and will have the whole day (at least I hope I do) to play with the new goodies that are coming on Thursday, I have ordered a new border punch, and I continue to order COLOR - I am ALMOST there, with all the colors that Stampin' Up! carries. I am not sure that I ordered any new stamp sets this time, but it will be fun to play with the new punch and some colors I have been out of for awhile. You will just have to stop by later in the week and see what else I have been able to get done in the spa.
I am also entering my card in the SU Only Challenge which is creating an anniversary card.
Thanks for stopping by the spa today to take a peek at ONE of my 'wonder' cards. Be sure to stop by tomorrow or Wednesday, as I am off on those two days and I intend on doing some card making.
~Paula~