I am ALMOST caught up

On the 365 card challenges for this month. Of course, it only takes a weekend to set me behind again!! Yesterday was Day 135 and I was able to get the challenge done in fairly short order. The challenge was to create a card with a window using some see-through material. Mine is plain and simple - but I used my nesties oval dies and cut the window in the card. Then I used transperency and cut another oval out of that and placed it behind my cutout to create the window. I was playing with different colors, so had the lighter pink shape cut out and decided I would use it for my sentiment. This piece is attached inside the card, but is hard to see that from the photograph. I was going to use patterned paper and ribbon, but just couldn't make it all come together the way I wanted, so I opted for this less than perfect flower!!
Thanks for stopping by, now I have to get back to my crafting so I can REALLY catch up on all the challenges and complete another project that I NEED to get done as well. I may even post some of my digital LO's later on today or tomorrow.
*~*Paula*~*

Picture This

A birthday cake!! Specifically THIS birthday cake - well, at least for inspiration! On Day 132 this was the image we were to use to inspire creativity in making a card. When I saw the challenge, I knew just exactly what stamp I was going to use - I just had to FIND it!! If you have seen my crafting area, you know that it is a task to search for my stamps. Yes, I need to categorize, but I am working on creating a new system. Anyway, back to my creation. I found the stamp and it was quick to put together this fun card. I think of a birthday card for a child when I look at the whimsical cake and the softly dotted background.
Thanks for taking a peek. Stop by later for more inspiration!!
*~*Paula*~*

What inspires you . . .

. . . to create? Is it a magazine that you pick up? An internet site? Perhaps it is a combination of many different sources. For me, I often find inspiration (and challenges) from the 365 card blog. On Day 131 we were given this ad for inspiration: There were so many elements to this ad, but the first thing that jumped out at me was all the white space. Then the stripes and polka dots and finally the 'dr. suess' - oh, just thinking of dr. suess can bring all KINDS of images!! Did you have a favorite dr. suess book growing up? Tell me about it in the comment section.
Now, onto my card that was inspired by this ad - You see lots of white space, and the polka dotted ribbon as well as the stripe ribbon. I also threw in that little rug - using my nesties dies and then CB'd the blue circle and attempted to use chalks - which didn't work real well!! I couldn't find a font that exactly matched the sentiment, but this one was close enough.
Thanks for stopping by today - I will have more projects posted as the day goes on as I am once again playing catch up with all the challenges.
*~*Paula*~*

All Dressed up in Purple!

I have a secret sis and her birthday is coming up soon - and she loves purple - so when I saw the Day 125 challenge I decided to make a card to send to her. The challenge was to make a card with some kind of closure. It could be a ribbon (which I used), twine/brad combo, snap or magnet. Now what I really wanted to use was one of those mini Basic Grey magnets - however, I have not been able to find them locally - and the LSS that I ordered them from who knows how long ago has never called to tell me they came in - so I will probably have to order them online. In the meantime, I wanted to complete this card as it was the only one from last week that I hadn't completed yet and I am trying to stay fairly caught up with the card challenges. I used a new Bazzil Basics Dotted Swiss paper that I picked up at Michael's - I couldn't resist - I have this thing for Dotted Swiss. I used my Martha Stewart edge punch and my SU horizontal slot punch. Inside the card I stamped a 'recipe for a special birthday'. Now I need to get it ready to send to her.

Thanks for stopping by the spa today - I have so many projects that I need to be working on and today I have to go into work.

*~*Paula*~*

Silly Stamping!

I don't usually do silly cards - for one thing, I don't have alot of silly stamps - probably because I am not real crazy about silliness - however, when I saw this stamp, I just HAD to have it! And when the post for Day 130 was put up on the 365 card blog, I KNEW I would use this stamp. First, I LOVE snowmen - and second - this is SO true - when the sun comes out, snowmen melt!! I don't really like the way the card turned out. I CB the BG with the snowflakes then added a bit of color and stickles to the snowman. I decided that I would place the sun up in the corner - just because 'he' is incognito!!
Hope you like my card and get a chuckle out it - I know that most of the snow around the country is probably all melted away by now - but perhaps in other parts of the world, you can relate.
Have a wonderful day,
*~*Paula*~*

Announcing the Winner of the Blog Hop

Over the Weekend, SNR Card Universe had a 4th of July Blog Hop in which I participated. I am happy to announce the winner of my RAK from that event:

Carolyn McAvoy

Carolyn please contact me so that I can get your goodies sent off to you!

Now, onto my card from Day 128 from the 365 card blog. The challenge was a recipe one - I LOVE these kinds of challenges - here were the ingredients: 1-5x5 card; 1 rub on image; 2 buttons; 1 piece of patterened paper; 1 piece of ribbon (no bows) and 1 sentiment - inside the card. Well, that seemed easy enough - I have a nice package of rub ons from SU, so I pulled those out. I decided I wanted brown and blue for my colors, so I again turned to my stash of SU designer paper and found a nice piece that fit well. The ribbon I had in my stash - I believe it is also SU and the buttons are from Basic Grey from the Marakech line. The sentiment is also a rub on from the same set. I don't use rub-ons all that often, though I do have a few packages around, so this was a little bit of a challenge for me.
I really enjoy doing the card challenges as it really gets me thinking outside of the box and I am usually happy with what I create.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit to the spa today.
*~*Paula*~*

Catching up from a busy Weekend!

I am catching up from the weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful one and enjoyed your 4th of July celebration. For those of you that did the 'Oh Say can you See Blog Hop' I will be posting the recipient of my RAK tomorrow - promise!!
In the meantime, I am still on a patriotic creative burst, so for the 365 card blog -Day 127 which was Sunday I did a patriotic card. Sunday's are Sketch Days, so we were to use this sketch for creating our card. I had FULL intentions of following the rules - HONEST - however, I decided to use my NEW Cricut cartridge for the sentiment and it just didn't fit (nor look right) with the card opening from the side, so I just turned it so the card opens from the bottom. Since I did that, I also had to move the line (of whatever is supposed to be there) and placed it under my sentiment. I KNOW, I am a rule breaker - but only SOMETIMES!! Either way, hope you like what I have created.
I hope to find MORE time to play in the spa, now that all my kids are back from their adventures over the last few days.
Come back again and see what I am creating.
*~*Paula*~*

Happy 4th of July!!

Welcome to the Paper Spa - if you are participating in the SNR Card Universe 'Oh Say can you see 4th of July Blog Hop' and this is your first time to the 'Spa' I want to welcome you and invite you to come in and rest awhile. If you have come from Melissa's Moments then you are right on track, however if you have not and would like to start at the beginning of the hop you can go here - you will eventually come back to the spa where you can relax a little longer. If you have never participated in a blog hop before - it is really quite fun and there are little surprises along the way, so you really don't want to miss one single site.
In honor of America celebrating our Independence today, I have created a special card. Do any of you have a Cricut? And if you do, how much do you use it? I use mine once in a while, but while thinking about the project I wanted to make for the hop, I realized I didn't really have any 'star' stamps (well I discovered I do have a couple) - but I don't have star punches and since I was short on time, I turned to my cricut to cut out the stars. I also discovered this really fun star with a tail in the cartridge that I was using - 'Home Decor' - Once I added the white dots and the metallic star to the middle of the cutouts, I was ready to assemble my card. I used a bg stamp that has the words to "America the Beautiful' a very fitting image for today. I then layered my cutouts, popping the big star and then added the sentiment. Inside is another cutout (perhaps I will show a photo of this a little later).
Now, not to create another diversion for you, but I discovered that this card also fits the challenge for Day 126 on the 365 card blog however, you will want to hop on over to Treasured Dreams to see what Karen has created - her card is absolutely gorgeous and she has a little surprise for visiting.
And speaking of surprises - I will be putting together a RAK package for one lucky poster - I will choose Monday so leave a comment with your email so that I can contact you.
Happy 4th of July - and have fun hopping -
Oh, and thanks for visiting the Spa - do come back when you can really relax and spend some time rejuvenating.
*~*Paula*~*

Computer Generated Card Challenge

Why not? We use our computers for so many other things, why not use it to create lovely cards? Well, for one thing, I don't think my computer has THAT much crativity and I only have a B&W laser printer, so the cards would eventually just get SO boring and I NEED color in my life. However, When Day 124 was posted early this morning and I saw this challenge - I turned to my publisher program to see what clip art I could find. I had considered just creating a word art and using one of my stamps - but wanting to make it easy - I found this very cool image - you would think it was a stamp - but honestly, it is not. I did add the word art, so it is two images merged together and printed. I like it just as it is - without any other fuss. I hope you like it too and turn to your computer when you need a quick card and the mojo is just gone or the time is short!
Thanks for visiting the spa today - tomorrow I will be posting information about an event taking place on Saturday, and you don't want to miss it!!
*~*Paula*~*

Half the Year is over!!

Yes, it is July 1 and half of 2009 is gone! Has it been a productive one for you so far? I think it has been for me. Have you learned anything new? I know I have - and if you have as well, then it has been a good year - regardless of the end result, right? I know one of the things I have done this year is make lots more cards - thanks to the 365 card blog. Today is Day 123 and the challenge for today is an awesome one. It is another 'white space' challenge. The challenge was to leave the white space blank - nothing in that space at all - which of course limited the area in which to create. You REALLY need to go check out Kristie's card on the blog. It is an awesome Patriotic Card. I had considered card-lifting it, however, I don't have any star stamps! I might just have to go get some though and do a similar card for this Weekends' 'Oh Say Can You See Blog Hop on SNR Card Universe'. However, since I did NOT lift it, I decided to make a Fall card instead. I know - it is Full On Summer, but I can dream, right? I love Fall - I think I mentioned that in my post yesterday, so I got out my old SU set 'Festive Fall' and created my card. It is difficult to see, but I did use my CB on the white space (I don't know if that is 'cheating' or not!) I used Handsome Hunter, and three of the new In Colors from SU - Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, and Crushed Curry for the leaves and little acorn. I layered it all on a past In Color - True Thyme - the Soft Suede is SO close in color to this retired color. I used a sentiment from Sweet Impressions since the sentiment that came with this set is too large for the space I was trying to stay within.
In addition to my card this morning, I worked on creating my two-page digital LO for week 4 of the 92 days of summer challenge. I still have a little to do on that one before I feel that it is 'done', but it is close.
Thanks for visiting in the spa today - I hope you have a wonderful sunny day!
*~*Paula*~*