PPA86 - Embossing

This week's Pals Paper Arts challenge is embossing.  I finally ordered the square lattice embossing folder and it arrived on Friday - perfect timing!  Last night after I spent the day cutting paper and putting kits together for my upcoming classes, workshops, & scrapbook club I sat down and stamped just for me.  While I spend lots of time in my craftroom I don't always have the luxury of just stamping "for the fun of it".  I had been using the Sweet Summer sale-a-bration stamp set early in the day to create super cute mini Easter baskets (pictures to come).  That's when the idea for this card popped into my head.  I love how "happy" the card turned out.  I have the perfect someone in mind to be the recipient of this card and I can't wait to give it to her. 

Butterfly Bliss

Here are two of the three cards we made at a "mom's night out" class last night.  It was great fun! Stamps, wine, good food and great conversation - a good time was had by all!  I love the new Springtime Vintage DSP and it pairs perfectly the Bliss butterfly.  The layout is simple enough for a beginner but has enough "little" details to please any paper crafter.

Page of the Month "Lucky You" & Stampin' Celebration Challenge #43

Every month I do a simply layout out for my scrapbook club.  I knew I wanted March's pages to be green but I didn't want them to be overly St. Patty's Day feeling - I loved the combination of green and brown on the Stampin' Celebration challenge and used it for my color inspiration.  Using the Woodland Walk DSP, card stock in Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake along with my Big Shot I was able to create a super simple page.  I added the four leaf clover stamp from the Sale-A-Bration set "So Happy for You" along with a little Color Spritz effect to add a little depth.  I used a Gold Glitter Brad as the center of the flower - my own pot-o-gold inspiration.  I love the subtle nod to St. Patty's Day without being over the top. 

PPA84 - Spring

I'm hoping that Spring will be here soon. (Actually I'd be more than happy if we could just skip straight to summer.)  For the last week or so it's been raining - not something us eastern Washingtonians are used too - so the snow is mostly gone and all of our hibernating lawns are being exposed.  I think that's where my inspiration for my card came from.  When putting together my "Spring" card I was drawn to multiple shades of green but it didn't feel quite right until I popped a little blushing bride in with it.  This card feels so much like Spring to me - a little dirty & messy, with a hint of color showing through.   

PPA 83 - Color Challenge

This week's Pals Paper Arts challenge is a color challenge and it's colors I love using so I am excited!  Baja Breeze is one of my newest favorites, Crumb Cake is a classic neutral and Soft Suede is the perfect accent color and the ink color I use most.  I have been creating a lot of distressed or rustic looking projects lately and this one is no different.  I just love this paper from the Springtime Vintage DSP collection and couldn't resist using it as my inspiration for this card.  As I was working on my layout for this card I glanced over at my open Occasions Mini and saw a layout on pg. 14 that caught my eye and decided to use it as a rough template for this card.  This is one of the things I love about all of Stampin' Up's catalogs - not only are they full of wonderful products but they are packed full of fabulous projects! 

Handmade Gift Wrap

A few weeks ago I was visiting my family who live on the other side of the state (Seattle) and had a belated birthday celebration for me.  My nephews (3yrs & 18 months) made the above wrapping paper for my gift.  What a clever idea - nice work sis!  It made the gift extra special.  Since it's crafty and handmade I had to post it!