Open Challenge . . .

. . . at Top Tip Tuesday this week. My teammate Carol has a wonderful tutorial on making an envelope wallet. She has some great ideas for using one of these once you have completed it too. We also have some great sponsors and there are beautiful samples from my teammates.
I encourage you to stop by and see what everyone has been up to this week and then have a go at making something. With Easter coming up on Sunday you could make a centerpiece for your Easter Supper Table, or alter a tin, notebook or candle. Use your imagination and come up with something fun - you might just win one of our sponsored prizes or be chosen as one of our top 3 for the week. Come back later and see what I get done today too - I do plan on doing something, but have some gardening projects I want to do first. Perhaps I will do that, and then make a digital scrapbook page about my garden! :)
~note~ I had to change my post because I didn't realize that this week at Top Tip Tuesday it is an open challenge - not a non-card challenge. However, with that said, since it IS and OPEN challenge - that means anything goes and I am sure there are lot's of fun items you can make this week to participate.
I did not get a chance to craft today since I got called into work. SO, tomorrow I am going to work in my garden and see what else I can get done.

~Paula~

What do you do . . .

When you have a day off, followed by a day off followed by two evening shifts? You PLAY!! Or rather CRAFT!! And that is JUST what I am going to do over the next several days - well, in addition to other chores that I HAVE to do around the house - but honestly, I have not had time to really craft for quite some time and I surely want to take advantage of it.

Yesterday, I decided to go ahead and purchase the My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! because I wanted to have the exclusive templates and the access to having my projects printed professionally. So, this morning, I finished downloading everything and had a play with one of the sets that is going to be available starting May 1. I layered DSP on top of Pink Pirouette and continued to layer, alternating colors until I got to my image. I added drop shadows along the way to give dimension. then I added the ribbon and bow at the top. I used the Saturday Sketch #199 from the Stamping 411 blog. They have gone to a Stampin' Up! only products - so this 'card' fits right in.

Now, my thoughts are to take this to a printer and get this printed off and then add this to the Pink Pirouette Cardstock and add a real ribbon. If I was going to do that, I would probably remove the ribbon and bow that I have added digitally.

Well, I 'hope' you like my new digital card. If you haven't tried digital, I really encourage you to do that. It is really SO much fun and there are SO MANY elements and embellishments, and papers that you can add to make the creation truly yours. AND, the nice thing is that it travels quite well and the 'mess' is confined into a small space that fits on your lap (that is IF you have a laptop computer!!)

The other nice thing about creating digitally - especially with the Stampin' Up! products is that you can decide if you REALLY need the rubber and paper - and you can create projects digitally and then stamp them out in paper form later on when you have more time.

Enjoy your day - and stop back by later to see what else I am up to.

~Paula~

Playing with Digital

Today I decided to download some of the new digital items coming out in the new Summer Mini and then played with them a bit. I don't have the My Digital Studio program from Stampin' Up! because I already have Photoshop CS4 - however, I can see that there are items that I will want access to that I can't access unless I have MDS, so I will be getting that program eventually. Which is a good thing anyway because then I can get the items I create printed through Stampin' Up! Anyway, on to the 'card' that I created. I started with a transparent 'canvas' and then added pacific point. I then created a matte and filled it with one of the papers in the digital dsp. I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to create this card and what colors I wanted to use, so it just kind of evolved - with layers upon layers. I love the bold colors in this and now I am anxious to order the stamp set that goes along with this and create this same 'card' using ink and paper. I didn't add any other elements because I don't have any to add at this point in time, but I don't think this really needs anything else - those big bold flowers just seem to be 'laughing' at life - and I love it!! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my first Stampin' Up digital design - I am sure there will be MANY more to come as I get more and more of the elements. Now, off to find the CD that came with my last order - that has some of this stuff to play with - or, maybe I will just rest before I have to go into work. Hmm, decisions, decisions. ~Paula~

Having fun and TIME to Craft!!

My schedule at work has changed a little (at least for this week) allowing me a couple of days to craft. So, I took advantage of the time and made a few cards. On Tuesday, I made this card to fit the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge #64. This was such a simple sketch - almost too simple as it took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to actually do this one. You see, I had just gotten some brand new Martha Stewart punches and wanted to try them out. I will actually be getting several more shipments of these punches, but this was from the first shipment. There are 4 punches to this set that I got through HSN. They are the Starburst Punch around the page combo set (which includes two punches), the startburst punch all over the page punch and the aster deep edge punch. I played with the first three and haven't opened up the last one yet. However, I REALLY like the punch all over the page punch. You can literally punch wherever you want on the page. Well, since the sketch was using some kind of design in one corner, I decided to just punch there - but you can really use this punch right smak in the middle if you want. Anyway, I am lacking on birthday cards right now - and with my youngest daughter turning 15 tomorrow, I thought I better make something to give to her. Now, I am not sure this will be the card - this one might just end up in the box to OWH - I really need to get a box sent out to them - and soon - it has been way too long since I have sent anything. Anyway, this was the first card I made.

So, then I played around with a new Spellbinders Die that I purchased through Flowers to Flourish. I get emails nearly daily from them and some of the deals are just too good to pass up. The Spellbinder dies are usually the ones I try to get as I hate paying full price for anything - especially Spellbinders dies - but I DO love them too!! So, I created this card - and it is sort of a sneak peek to a set that will be offered in the new Summer Mini from Stampin' Up! available starting May 1. Now, please don't look to closely at the card as it IS a little crooked -

and it is making me crazy, and I am ready to rip the stamped image off the card and replace it with one that is much straighter, but I can't decide if it is just the image or if it is the entire cut out - in which case, it will remain crooked!! The DSP is another sneak peek of an upcoming item in the NEW Catalog that will be out in July. However, you can order it RIGHT now until the 30th simply by placing an order of $20 or more. There is also a frame set that you can also purchase, but only until the 30th of this month. One of the colors that this package of paper coordinates with is Marina Mist - however, I honestly don't think it matches THAT well - but I did use my new marina mist satin ribbon and my magic bow maker to add the ribbon. another simple card - even if it IS crooked!!

Now if you want REALLY simple - take a look at this next card which highlights a little more of the beauty of this beautiful DSP available only until the 30th with a qualifying order. This has such BEAUTIFUL colors in it, and some of my new favorite ones as well - like Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist. I used River Rock as my base and then just cut a piece of the DSP that had this beautiful paisley flower on it and matted this on a piece of cherry cobbler - but not before adding the cherry cobblier seam binding ribbon. I LOVE this ribbon - it is so easy to work with and makes a wonderful embellishment, whether tied into a bow, or just left to make a statement of it's own. I used the same spellbinder die that I used in the previous card and stamped the sentiment - from the Vintage Labels (a Sale-a-bration set). I added Stampin' Up! teeny tiny pearls under the sentiment block - these are the last of my little tiny pearls, so I am going to have to order more of those. Now THIS is probably the card I am going to give to my lovely daughter.

Once I get on a roll, I can generally make several cards in a session - but often I get side-tracked, or tired of using a particular DSP - though I am trying to use what I have before buying more - yeah, that doesn't seem to be working out too well.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my latest creations from early this week. Now, with time still on my hands for today, before I have to run off to work, I just might make some more cards. I LOVE making cards and working on crafting projects - so, off I go.

Have a wonderful day and come back for a visit to the spa real soon.

~Paula~

Spring is in the air!

I see it in the trees leafing out and the flowers blooming. Soon the seeds I planted in my garden will be popping through the soil. The birds sing to me every morning and it is lovely!! Today on Top Tip Tuesday my teammate has a fabulous tutorial - or rather a 'picture tour' of her crafting space and ideas for organizing all our crafting goodies. I love her 'theme' - but you will have to pop over there to see what I mean. But, before you go, I want to share with you my Spring Themed card. I have used the Saturday sketch #198 from Stamping 411 for my design. The challenge on the Stamping 411 site now is exclusive Stampin' Up! products - so I have chosen Whisper White as my base and then I used Melon Mambo stamped with one of the stamps from Baby Blossoms (#122000) I then took a piece of Daffodil Delight and edge cut with the Scallop Trim Border punch (#118402)I added a piece of white satin ribbon (#114616) and tied a bow with my magic bow maker using Daffodil Delight taffeta ribbon (#119766). My image is from a new stamp set that will be available beginning May 1. I used Daffodil Delight ink and then sponged with Melon Mambo for a mult-colored butterfly. I think butterflies just SCREAM spring. As I planted my garden last week, a HUGE Monarch (at least I think it was a Monarch) butterfly landed in my garden. It's wings were so large and I watched as it 'fed' on something it found in my soil. I didn't want to chance disturbing him in order to run to get my camera - so I lost THAT photo opportunity - but I am sure there will be other opportunities to photograph the wildlife that is abundant in my area. I hope that you have enjoyed your visit here to the spa today - I know that the spa has been slow lately due to my commitment at work and other things - however, I do appreciate your visits and your comments. do come back soon as I attempt to put my crafting back on my calendar of events. ~Paula~

It's My Turn!!

That is right! It is my turn to share my tutorial over on the Top Tip Tuesday blog. I learned the technique many years ago and have had fun getting all inky. Have you tried Polished Stone? Do you even know what this technique is? Well, if you are new to stamping and have never done this technique - or perhaps you have been stamping for many years now, but have pushed this one to the side - well, I want to invite you to pop over to the Top Tip Tuesday blog and check out my tutorial. We have some wonderful sponsors this week and I have also thrown in an extra opportunity to win something. In my sample, I have used a sketch from Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog. I have chosen So Saffron and Elegant Eggplant for my colors. I used my newest tulip embossing folder from Stampin' Up! and a new stamp set from an upcoming mini catalog. I love using my Magic bow maker to make perfect bows. I really like the way the colors blended together making this background something I wanted to display, rather than cover up. Thanks for stopping by today and do play along - it is a very fun technique. Paula

A Recipe for you!

Today I am going to share a recipe with you - and a little fun information along with it. I LOVE the Elizabeth Bell images - so sweet and Whimsical. And I love participating in the monthly challenges. This past month the challenge on the Elizabeth Bell Challenge blog was to make RECIPE cards. So, I set about to find an image that would indicate some kind of food. Well, most of the digitals that she carries didn't quite say 'food' to me, so I went in search of some of her stamps. Now, what can be better than having the actual rubber in your hand? A gift card to purchase the stamps!! I have a friend who lives in the UK who won a gift voucher for Simon Says Stamps. Well, the shipping to her was so incredibly high that it wasn't worth it for her to use it, so she gifted it to me and I was able to find some beautiful Whiff of Joy stamps by Elizabeth Bell that fit the project theme. Thanks Deb!

So, once I got my stamp - JUST in time to complete my project for the month - I set about to decide what I wanted to do. Now, I LOVE chocolate chip cookies - however, not all chocolate chip cookies are alike. My kids call me a chocolate chip cookie snob - so my first part of the project was to create a recipe for CHOOSING a chocolate chip cookie. Of course, I had to use 'Cookie Girl' and my Parisian Breeze (retired) DSP as it has CHOCOLATE CHIP as one of the colors!! I colored my cookie girl with my prisma color pencils and then set about to make a pocket on the front of the card for my 'choosing' recipe. Now just in case you are wondering what that recipe says, I will tell you.

"The cookie must be brown but not burnt. It must be crisp but not crunchy. It must have nuts of some kind, walnuts are best. When warm the chocolate chips must be gooey, not the cookie. the cookie when warm must maintain a bit of crisp, but not be crunchy! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! eat pale looking cookies!! Don't indulge in the soft kind either! ENJOY!!

This is MY criteria for choosing a good chocolate chip cookie - I am sure there is a bit more to it than that, but when I first came up with this 'recipe' I didn't write it down - so, now it is written down and I can't say as it might get tweaked when my memory returns!! lol Now, before I take you inside my card, I wanted to show you a closer look at my bow. First, I LOVE the new seam binding ribbon that Stampin' Up! has in their mini catalogs. There are several colors to choose from right now and they are PERFECT for making beautiful bows. I added a small pearl to the knot on my bow just for added beauty. What I really want to share with you though is the way I made this bow. I have had a gizmo that I got a long time ago at a stamp club meeting I used to attend. It was fairly primitive and I really didn't use it all that much. Then I saw on a website that someone was selling something similar, only much nicer looking. I decided that I would get mine out and work with it - but I still wasn't satisfied, so I broke down and purchased this Magic Bow Maker. I am SO happy that I did. I have to admit, I liked the bows I was seeing from this cardmaker and I really wanted to know what her trick was. With the bow maker I got the directions on how she made the bows, which was similar to what I was already doing. I also got this nifty card holder - so I think the $15 I spent on this bow maker was WELL worth it - and I hope that if you don't already have one of these, you will purchase one from her - her shipping time is awesome too. (Now, just so you know, she isn't paying me to say all this - I am just sharing because I am a happy customer) So, back to the card - now that you have seen the outside, I decided that I might as well give you an actual recipe of a fantastic chocolate chip cookie - the recipe I have used for years. Now, rather than me writing out the recipe for you here - I will send you to a website I found with the recipe. when I was typing out the recipe to put in my card, I noticed that it was from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. Now, I do not remember where I actually got this recipe - I know it wasn't online, as that was before computers and I had never heard of this person - so that mystery remains. However, you will find the recipe here. You will have to scroll past the Toll House recipe that we are all familiar with - and continue reading through the recipe to the end - as you will see that she says something similar about a good chocolate chip cookie!! Honestly, I looked this up online after I finished my card and had NO IDEA there were other Chocolate Chip Cookie snobs out there! So, here's to the BEST chocolate chip cookie and all chocolate chip cookie snobs!! :)

I hope you have enjoyed reading my musings today - I will be posting this to the EB challenge blog and hope that I find some more chocolate chip cookie 'snobs' to join me!!

Have a fantastic rest of your day - wherever you are in the world.

~Paula~

Button, Button, who has the button?

I will tell you - Top Tip Tuesday has the button this week! At least that is what the tutorial is all about. My teammate Samantha has done a fabulous tutorial on altering buttons and using them on your projects.

I don't often use buttons on my cards - I prefer using ribbon and flowers, however for this week, I took up Samantha's challenge and made a card using buttons. I used the sketch from Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #195 for my card layout. I started with a base of Daffodil Delight and then layered with a beautiful DSP from Stampin' Up! I continued to layer with the Daffodil until I got to my main panel and then I matted this with Cherry Cobbler. I added a Cherry Cobbler seam binding bow - which I just LOVE!! This is the first opportunity I have had to use this wonderful ribbon. It is easy to work with and makes such a pretty bow. I played with the sentiment - not knowing exactly what I was going to use, and decided to use a partial sentiment from one of the new Hostess sets from Stampin' Up! called Afterthoughts. I stamped it on the Daffodil Delight with Cherry Cobbler and then cut it with my spellbinders dies. I had Cherry Cobbler buttons from my Christmas package and just recently got these Daffodil Delight buttons. They were the perfect touch for this simple card. I hope you will come over and join in with us this week using buttons on your project. This simple embellishment can be plain, or you can use alcohol inks to color to coordinate with your project, but don't stop there, check out Samantha's tutorial and then post your project for a chance to win something from our wonderful sponsors this week.

Thanks for stopping by - I will have more to share with you later in the day - afterall, it is time to submit for the monthly Elizabeth Bell challenge - just in the knick of time too!!

~Paula~

Wonderful Boxes!

Life just seems to get busier and busier. I am now going to start training to become a shift manager at work. That is a good thing - it means more money - but I am not sure what it will do with my crafting time - which seems to be sketchy at best lately. However, this week at Top Tip Tuesday, my teammate Heike has done a wonderful job with a tutorial on making a box. The tutorial is in English as well as Heike's native language - so you will be able to follow along.
When I read the tutorial, I just had to make one of these wonderful little boxes. I have been really intriqued lately with 3D projects such as these. Awhile back I read a tutorial on how to make your own color coordinated shreds - so I set about to make shreds to put in my box. I cut each sliver of paper with scissors, however, it could be easily done with a guillotine style paper cutter - but I don't have one of those and my paper cutter has a dull blade, so the cardstock wouldn't cut nicely. (I did buy new blades today, so perhaps now it will cut those slivers). It actually took quite a few cuts to get enough to make a nice bedding in my little box. I haven't filled my box with anything quite yet - but I plan to give it to one of my daughters - they love getting these little gifts - especially when I fill it with goodies. I have wanted to use a bright cheery color - perhaps it will bring Spring and warmer weather a little faster. So, I pulled out this retired DSP from Stampin' Up! and the coordinating colors of cardstock - So Saffron and Bashful Blue. I made the box in So Saffron and then pulled out one of my newest Spellbinders dies (label four) and cut the top and bottom for the box. I then added bashful blue taffeta ribbon - this is no longer available from Stampin' Up - but it was perfect for this box. I have the So Saffron grosgrain ribbon - but I really like the satins and taffetas - they just flow so nicely when tied in bows and such. Grosgrain is great for tying knots. Anyway, I then cut the next size down of the label four from bashful blue. I chose another piece of the DSP from the same package and layered that on the blue. I played with images until I finally settled on just adding a word sentiment and some flowers. I stamped a flower and then fussy cut it and added the mini roses from Wild Orchid Craft. These little roses are just wonderful - they add such a fantastic dimension.I then added a leaf cut from a MS punch to finish the spray.
I really enjoyed putting this little box together and need to find the perfect little treat to add to the inside to give as a gift.
Thanks for stopping by today - I sure hope you will join us in making these simple and sweet boxes that can be used for so many different things.
~Paula~

Time for another Top Tip Tutorial

Yesterday was my day off and I had looked forward to creating - however, I had to do other things that were more necessary. Perhaps I will get some time on Saturday - my next day off.
In the meantime - the Top Tip Tuesday blog has a wonderful tutorial today. We are being sponsored this week by: The Crafty Pad and Dew Drop Craftz
The challenges for this week are Your favorite embellishment and/or your favorite technique. I know - it IS difficult to choose just one - but give it a try and post your project for a chance to win. Remember - you can leave a tip in the comment section for another opportunity to win.

So, drop on by and see the tutorial my teammate Eileen has done for us.

~Paula~