A Spring Wreath

Awhile back, I visited one of my favorite sites - Paper Crafters Library and saw a video on how to create a lovely Spring wreath using designer papers from the recent Sale-A-Bration catalog. Those papers are no longer available - but here is a picture of how the wreath turned out.
 I decided to make another wreath - (I gave away the first one) using the Beau Chateau - which is also retiring and therefore only available until the end of this month. The wreath is not completed yet - but here is a series of pictures that I took of the process I am going through in making it. I started out with a 5" styrofoam ring from a local hobby store. I then added 1" strips of muslin around the ring - it takes about 3 to go all the way around the ring.

Once I had the muslin wrapped all the way around the ring - I added some of the pleated satin ribbon found in the mini catalog. This ribbon is no longer available.

Then I took my Beau Chateau Designer Paper and started punching flowers using the blossom punch. This item was in the occasions mini catalog - and may be carried over to the new catalog that will come out next month. My wreath took 60 flowers - using four different papers using both sides. When I was done punching the flowers, I spritzed them with water and crumpled them up. Now at this point, I decided to open them back up and dry that way - as it was much harder to open up the flowers once they were dry with my first wreath.

I took srtips of muslin tied them in knots and then tied some baja breeze and pretty in pink ribbon around the muslin. I punched 3/4" circles and then used the glimmer brads in the center.

After the flowers were dry, I layered three of them - reversing the paper on the middle flower and then hot glued them together. I then added the brad center with hot glue and my flower was ready to place on my wreath.

The flowers are not all ready to place on my wreath yet - but this is the begining on how it will look when it is done. I am going to finish this up and give it to my mom for Mother's Day. She is coming to visit in a couple weeks - and will arrive just a couple days after Mother's Day, so this will be a fitting and fun gift to give to her.

I hop you have enjoyed seeing one of the few things I have been able to work on lately - work at the Spa where I work has been crazy busy - but it is starting to slow down - which might mean I will have more time to craft. We will see.

Stop by again soon

~Paula~

CONTEST

Do you like learning how to make beautiful items with paper? Well, that IS a silly question - of course you do! Do you search the internet to find ideas for your next papercrafting project? I know that I USED to. A year ago I joined the Paper Crafters Library and have never looked back. I have learned SO much through their online video tutorials and their printable PDF's. Well, now YOU have an opportunity to win a full year subscription. Just follow THIS link to get all the details.

~Paula~

Paper Spa vs Day Spa

Why does it seem like there is more work in a day than play? I would love to spend more time in the PAPER SPA than I do - but since I do LOVE doing massage, I spend more time at the DAY SPA giving health related massages - and my paper spa suffers knots!
Well, anyway - on to my long anticipated post - you WERE anticipating, right? I got an email this morning that OWH is having a Virtual Card Making Party and since most of my cards go to OWH - though I haven't sent them cards in a VERY long time - I decided I would jump in on some of the challenges - well, at least one!! The first challenge was called HOT TROPICS - it was posted last night I believe. You can find the challenge here, but I will tell you a little bit of information to get your mind rolling while you finish reading my post and then head on over there. Use HOT PINK, green and yellow on your card. Any theme and sentiment is fine.
I was working on some cards for a 'class' I hope to do on Thursday night with some friends and while I had the stamps out, decided to change up the color scheme and make an identical card for the challenge. What you can't really see in the picture is that I punched the oval out of an additional image and popped it above the existing one. I also noticed that I forgot to add the pearls just below the ribbon - I will have to do that before I send in my card. Do you want to see the original card I was working on? The original card doesn't have a matte like the new one I created and the ribbon I used on the new one is not scalloped - it is a retired melon mambo dotted grosgrain and the new ribbon is a scallop edged - which I love. I have this ribbon in three colors now - Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler and this Old Olive. It also comes in Melon Mambo - but since I have this retired one, I will use that up first before I order more especially since I need other colors of ribbon - like Elegant Eggplant, Marina Mist, Pretty in Pink and Tangerine Tango - just to name a few of the colors this wonderful ribbon comes in. I love using ribbon on my cards, but never seem to have the right color to coordinate. Of course, by the time I finally get the colors I want, Stampin' Up! comes out with a new catalog and new ribbons and the ones I took forever to finally get, are now obsolete - good thing the colors still coordinate.
so, my friends and I will be making two cards and then a Valentine Coupon book - all of the items I learned how to do at the Regional Event I attended back - oh, some time ago!! There are SO many ideas out there and it always seems like I am one supply short of doing a project - so, even though I just received an order this week - I am ready to place another!! Sigh!
Now, head on over to the OWH Stars and Stamps site and see what other challenges they are putting out there.

~Paula~

I have been crafting - just not lately!!

Looking at my blog - I see it has been a very long time - over two months since I have posted anything. Today I was working on a digital layout for an online class I am doing. Would you like to see it? The class is a year long class titled My Life - Brilliant. The class is through Digital Scrapper. I have been a Premier member for a few years now and have even signed up for a few classes - though have never completed any of them. :) This one I think I will find a bit more doable. The idea is to create a photobook about your life - with the minimum of making a two page spread each month following the theme of the month. This month the theme is about the People I love. Since I adore my children and my husband, I found this would be a great place to start. This is only the first page, and doesn't include a picture of my oldest son since I don't have any recent pictures of him. The adjoining page will be more of a journal page about why I love each of these wonderful, fantastic children and husband of mine! :) This page is sure to be tweaked before the end of the year - and possibly even the end of the month - we will see.
I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season. I didn't send out any greeting cards - but I did have fun making a bunch of gift card holders and even crafted with my youngest daughter and friend Lisa during the middle of December. I sent some card making kits to my mom siince she enjoyed doing some crafting with me during her visit here in October.
My work as a massage therapist has picked up tremendously and I find myself with less time to create in my craft room - however, things will balance out soon, and I hope to find more time to craft - especially since I just got a large Stampin' Up! order of some of the goodies in the new Occasions mini catalog and some of the new Sale-A-Bration items that will be available later this month with a $50 order.
Thanks for keeping up with me and do come back in the days ahead as I do plan on creating some new items soon.
~Paula~

Snowflake Card

Sometimes, creating something simple is the best way to go. I often get caught up in trying to make cards and such just like someone else's that I lose sight of who I am and what my style is. Well, with a little help from the Paper Crafters Library Makeover Monday Challenge I am getting inspired to not only create, but to do it in MY style!! Today, the challenge is to make a snowflake card - you can see the inspiration that Andrea found on the internet and how she made it her own. Here is my version of the card. Now, what you cannot see is the very light stamping on the bottom of the card. I looked through my clear stamps - you know the ones you get in the dollar bins at Michael's or other hobby stores. I have had them for quite some time and seldom use them. But I used several snowflakes on the bottom and stamped them very lightly with bashful blue. The snowflake is from Sweet Stamps. I stamped the snowflake three times with bashful blue and then fussy cut around the outer edge, then cut the two inner snowflakes and then used very thin dimensionals in between the layers to give it a 3-D look. (Though it is hard to see this from the picture) I added the sentiment with marina mist. I used bashful blue taffeta ribbon (retired) on the front of the card placing the snowflake on top of that and then adding the rhinestones (a find at Wal-Mart!) I like the way the rhinestones coordinated with the blues that I chose for my project.
Now, hop on over to the Paper Crafters Library and check out the tutorial. Andrea always has a video tutorial each Monday and the prize if you enter is a GORGEOUS Advent calendar kit. I have actually created a similar advent calendar after watching the tutorial that Andrea created. I will be sharing that with you all once it is completed. I will also have a little extra tidbit, so come back often and watch for that.
Now - back to my crafting!
~Paula~

What are the Trick or Treaters Getting at My House Tonight?

Today it is Halloween - a 'holiday' that I don't get much into in! However, living in a HUGE housing development, there are MANY MANY children that are bound to end up on my doorstep tonight. (I have heard the whole town shows up!!) Since this is our FIRST Halloween in our new home, we will see how it goes. I remember last year at this time, we were awaiting my husband and friend to come rescue us from Gallup, New Mexico when my oldest daughters car broke down. Some of my readers will remember that as they followed us along the trip. ~Smile~
So, back to tonight. I went out and bought LOTS of candy - I wasn't sure if the two filled bowls would be enough, so went out again this afternoon and got some more - I will wait to open the big bag until I need it, right? Who knows - if I don't use it, it could end up in Christmas stockings!! Now, I have another treat for the MOMS!! Want to see what the first 50 or so MOMS will get when they come to my door? I made these little treat bags using the 'It's a Wrap' set from the Holiday Mini to wrap the Hershey nuggets. I put them in the cello bag and added the tag. On the back is my business card adverstising my Stampin' Up! Business. There are about 20 of these little bags. Then I made these adorable little bags. I got the idea for the bag from another Stampin' Up! Demo - Monika Davis (monikastamp.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/birmingham-regional-paper-bags) Monika shared this idea at the Regional event I went to earlier this month and I just HAD to make these little bags and what better way to share what I love to do with card making than putting a little candy bar in the bag with my business card. I have about 30 of these - and could have done many more - but just ran out of time with all the things going on these past couple of weeks.
I have made more of the mug covers - except the ones I made are for an event happening next weekend in California. I sent them off to the coordinator of that event. I have watched more crafting videos and have more ideas swarming my head than I have time to think about. I have ONE client tonight at 5:00 - so will have to run out and do that treatment and then get back here to help pass out candy to the little goblins and princesses that show up at the door.
For all of you in the US that will be out on the streets tonight - be safe.
~Paula~

What's in your Purse?

What can you do with a 6" square of Cardstock or DSP? Make a purse!! I was surfing around Splitcoast Stampers this morning - actually looking for a different tutorial and happened up a tutorial that shows you how to make this adorable little purse from a 6" square of cardstock or DSP. There are actually quite a few tutorials out there on this technique, all just slightly different, but the end result is just as sweet. whenever I find some kind of tutorial like this, I like to make one up and just see how it turns out, so I just grabbed a piece of retired DSP from SU, but the 6" square and set about the score and fold. The tutorial mentioned using the large oval punch for the purse clasp, but I don't have that punch yet, so I used my decorative label punch folded in half. Now, every purse has some sort of hardware on it, right? So, I got out my container of brads to see if I had anything that would work. These little silver brads worked perfectly. I needed some sort of embellishment for the clasp - so I just cut the smallest nestibilities scallop oval and plain oval that I have. A button, or designer/vintage brad would also work nicely. Now my sentiment I created using the decorative label punch. I cut the label, then placed the label back in the punch - using a piece of post it note to hold it in position and punched about a 1/4" of the way in. If you turn it around and do that again, you will get two labels like this. The piece that is left over looks kind of like a table leg - so you could actually use every bit of this punched and punched label! :) Now, I started to used my thin magnets to hold the purse shut - however, since they were not hidden behind carstock, they were not cooperating, so I bought very thin clear velcro strips at Wal-mart and they work perfectly. Now, when you open the purse, guess what you will find? Yep - you guessed it - more nuggets. This time, I just took some of the same paper used to create the purse and wrapped them around the nuggets. You could also put a fun size candy bar in the purse, or lip balm, or some other small item of choice. Now, I was thinking of making up a few of these to give to my daughters and their friends - wouldn't that be just such a fun little gift. How about party favors at a little girls birthday party - or a favor on a table for tea. The possibilities with this one are also endless. Now, think of all those 6" x 6" pads of paper you have - I think you better start making a list of all your BFF's that are going to get one of these!!
Thanks for stopping by the spa today - as you can see, I am having alot of fun playing with paper and relaxing - life doesn't have to be filled with stress when you have paper to play with! I hope you will visit again soon - and see what other fun ideas I come up with (or case from others!!)
~Paula~

Another Treat Bag

I have been having alot of fun making various different treat holders and toppers for little bags filled with wonderful chocolate! I recently got the 'It's a Wrap' set from Stampin' Up! and just HAD to create something. I love the Top Note Die and the versatility in using it. It makes a very quick topper for just about any little treat bag and it can be decorated in so many different ways. Since the Fall weather is upon us - and I LOVE the changing of the colors I decided to do a topper with that in mind. I used More Mustard as my base and then stamped the leaf - from the French Foilage set - in more mustard and then took my pool party marker and touched the edges a bit creating a two toned leaf. I cut that out and then added a dimensional to the back - added a strip of the spice cake DSP and my topper is ready for the treat bag. The little nuggets are covered with very vanilla cardstock stamped in more mustard and old olive. I stamped the wraps before I knew what I was actually going to do with them, otherwise I would have coordinated a bit better with my DSP. You all KNOW how much I like things to coordinate. This would be a fun class to do with a few neighbors and friends - and I might just have to plan one of those sometime soon.
I have one other project that I just HAVE to share with you - however, it deserves it's own individual post!
~Paula~

What's in a Coffee cup?

First, I must say - I don't drink coffee - so, my cup won't be holding any coffee - hot chocolate or tea maybe, but not coffee. However, I found this ADORABLE pattern at the Fabric store the other day - and just HAD to create one of these. Now, I am sure you are asking 'okay, what is this?' Well, it is called a MUG COVER. When I saw it I just had to have it - so much so that I just bought the pattern instead of waiting for a sale. I had bought fabric from Stampin' Up! last Fall when they came out with their new fabric and hadn't done anything with it because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. This fabric set is called Deck the Halls and goes along with their Bells and Boughs Stamp set. Anyway, back to this little project. The mug cover has pockets on the inside and on the outside, so you can really fill this up with all kinds of goodies. I am using it for my stamping tools and let me tell you - it is SO easy to find the items I need right there in front of me rather than digging through another less attractive container. This little project went together SO fast too. Of course, I have been sewing long before I ever knew what a stamp was - so it was a quick little project for me. Just think of the possibilities with this little cover! A cup filled with sewing tools for those that sew, perhaps filled with markers and paint brushes for those that like to do watercoloring with markers. How about one filled with colored pencils and tools for the student? The ideas are quite endless really. I am planning on making several of these for holiday gifts.
I hope you appreciate my diversion from paper to show you my cute little tool holder project. I have created a button where you can order your mug cover - you will find it in the right sidebar. The choices of fabric are limitless as I have a huge stash of fabric, so email me and let me know what your favorite colors are. I have a limited supply of the Stampin' Up! fabrics presently.
~Paula~

What's Been Happening in the Paper Spa?

Wow - I didn't realize just HOW LONG it has been since I lasted posted ANYTHING to my blog! So much has happened since I last posted! I am no longer working in Fast Food - YAY!! I am now working at a spa doing what I love best (besides crafting which I love just as much). I have been a Massage Therapist for nearly 7 years now and when I moved last year, it just took me awhile to find everything I needed to get my license where I live now. So, I finally got it - and am happy to be doing massage again! What a WONDERFUL profession!
Anyway, with the change in jobs, I have been able to find more time to create - and I have been doing a bit of that. My mom came to visit this last week and we had a couple different days where we created together. She is a quilter so doesn't do much in the paper craft area - but she had fun. Would you like to see some of the things we did? I thought so!! But first - I also have to mention that a few days before she got here, I went to a Stampin' Up! Regional event and learned SO much - so some of what we did incorporated what I learned there. One of the WOW sessions that was taught was using shaving cream to create gorgeous backgrounds. I had heard of this technique - for many years now - but had never tried it and when I saw it demonstrated it was just SO cool that I had to try it. Mom and I had fun playing with this - but wow was it ever messy. You don't have to use alot of shaving cream either! I made this card from the scrap pieces and then did an ornament as well - I will show you the ornaments in a bit. Here is a closer look at the design on the card after the shaving cream was applied. I used Pumpkin pie, Cherry cobbler and wild Wasabi (I think) for my colors of re-inkers. I like how the pattern on the paper almost looks like an Iris. What do you think?
We made some ornaments - since I had placed an order and it came a day after mom arrived, so we had fun playing with the new punches. I only have one set that has an ornament stamp in it that coordinates with this punch, however, there are a few more that I intend to get soon. This punch would also make a lovely 3-D image on a card just by punching 4 of the ornaments out, folding three of them and then layering them onto cardstock. I will show a sample of this in the coming days. Another idea that I got from doing swaps at the Regional Event was for a Hershey Nugget holder. I got two different ideas - one for a Santa face and one for a reindeer. I took the idea and jumped off from there creating a fall themed nugget holder. This was SUCH a quick little project to make and you can do these for all the different holidays just by changing up the colors and images that you use. I just used the flower Daisy #2 die and layered the daisies adding a button to the middle. I cut the scallop with my nestibilities since I don't have the scallop punch from Stampin' Up! - YET! To keep the nugget (I know - there wasn't one inside this holder when I took the picture) from sliding around, I just placed a glue dot on the back of the nugget. I can see these little holders being used for a TON of things - Christmas, Valentines, St. Patricks, Birthdays, etc for your friends, family and co-workers.
For several weeks now, I have been participating in the Club 52 over at the Paper Crafters website. Each week there is a new technique that is introduced. A couple of weeks ago, this technique was introduced. It is called Surf and Sand striated background. It was fun to play with this technique while mom was visiting. I couldn't find any stickers or other sun type embellishments in all my tons of stuff - but I found these stickers and thought it would work. I am putting the tags together in a technique 'book' so that later on I can go back and look at them when I am at a loss for something to create.
One of the last things I did with my mom was create a little 'Cake'. I have done this once before - it is a really quick and fun little project. you just take one of those battery operated tea light candles and decorate it to make it look like a cake. I chose to use the new Holly Berry DSP and the quilted Cherry cobbler ribbon for my little cake. I used some diamond stickles for the top adding a bit of sparkle to eash of the scallop edges. I have many more projects that I am in the midst of creating - one is actually a sewing project - I haven't done any SEWING in forever!! Before I fell in love with stamping, I sewed - and still do ocassionally - but usually for my dolls - since they don't change sizes and everything I make them fits when I am done!! :)
Thanks for stopping by the spa - as the holidays approach, I will be sharing more fun projects to get you through the holidays.
~Paula~