Butterfly and Snowflakes with Paper Sweeties

I love the idea that snowflakes are winter's butterflies!  Even now (as old as I am) when big, pretty snowflakes fall, I want to run out and catch them on my tongue.  Since it's about 100 degrees right now, those snowflakes are just a fond memory.  And something to look forward to!  

It's time for a new Paper Sweeties Sketch Challenge.  Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

The sentiment is from the Friendship Warms the Heart stamp set.  Check the Paper Sweeties Blog for all the Challenge details.  Hope you join us!  

Supplies

snowflake die    |    butterfly die    |    snowflake punch

chevron die    |    medallion embossing plate

Mixed Media Card

Hi, there!  We just had a fun couple of days with our daughter, Lauren, in Wichita.   Lauren and her husband are in the process of buying their first house, so they are excited and scared at the same time!  It's a cute 1929 Tudor in the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood.  They'll have fun restoring and painting over some questionable wall colors!

This is the mixed media card that was in the summer issue of Paper Haus Magazine.   She is the very first thing I've drawn all on my own!  Kind of like buying a new house (although not so major a thing), it was scary and exciting at the same time!  One fun note is that her dress is made from a cupcake liner.  If you missed seeing her companion (my second drawing) or would like the link to the summer issue (which includes all the supplies), you can check out THIS post. 

How about a pretty flower pic?  We (and by that I mean Dennis) planted Hibiscus in our urns this year.  We had an amazing rain fall the other day, especially for Oklahoma in July, and this picture was taken in the evening after the rain stopped.

The flowers almost seem too big for the bush they grow on!  So pretty!

Wishing you a wonderful week...

Linking up at Make It Monday.

Spooktacular Image from Nicecrane Designs

No, this little girl is certainly not a Halloween image.  However, I wanted her to be one!  I was first attracted to this image because of the black cats - I have a black kitty of my own.  So, through stamp magic (in this case, stars and a bat) I turned her into a little girl getting ready for Halloween.  Works for me!  She is one of the Incredible Agnes Richardson set from Nicecrane Designs.

I also had some fun with a new stencil and paint.  I took advantage of her pink dress and used pink and orange acrylic paint to create the paper behind her.  

The pumpkins were created by stamping and die cutting the pumpkins.  The leaves and swirlies are actually cut from a different die cut.  (Links below).

Here's a look at the complete Incredible Agnes Richardson set (ALL the images are adorable):

So fun to be making a Halloween card - I LOVE Halloween!  So glad you stopped by...

Supplies

star and bat stamps   |    sentiment stamp    |    pumpkins stamps and dies

stencil     |    orange cardstock   

Vintage Christmas with Nicecrane Designs

Oh, so sweet...Love this vintage Christmas village image from Nicecrane Designs.  Wouldn't you love to celebrate Christmas in a little village this cute?

Nicecrane Designs images are wonderful to create with and it's wonderful to get a few Christmas cards created early!

Here is a look at the set this image is from: 

Are you getting an early start on Christmas?  If  you've already got your presents bought and stashed away - I'm jealous!!

Linking up at Make It Monday

Supplies

Patterned Paper from LillyBimble    |    Christmas Stamps    |    snowflake die

Zing Embossing Powder Blush and Brown Sugar 

10 Minute Craft Dash

Ten minutes?  What???  Okay, I'll give it a try...

Paper Sweeties is sponsoring the 10 Minute Craft Challenge today.   I made a simple little journal from a vintage bingo card using the challenge colors.  And YES!!!  All in 10 minutes.  Actually 9 minutes and 54 seconds - cutting it close, right?

I cut the inside paper all at once to save time and then quickly sewed down the spine.  Printed the darling circle from Digital Paper.   All the embellishments are attached to the image, so that it can be removed to easily write in the journal.  The sentiment is from Paper Sweeties stamp set Happy Summer.

Join us for the 10 Minute Craft Dash - go ahead, give it a try!

Wildflower Seed Paper with Paper Sweeties

Do you know about seed paper?   It's so very cool and I had no idea it existed.  My daughter was visiting a couple of weekends ago and was telling me about this cool wrapper that came around a thank you card from a company from which she had purchased clothes.  She said it was called seed paper, and that you could PLANT IT, and it would GROW!  

I immediately got online to see it for myself.  Sure enough, it is available in all kinds of colors and all kinds of seeds:  wildflower and herbs.  I got mine at Botanical Paperworks.  Then I thought of Paper Sweeties and that the stamp set Live Love Grow has a perfect sentiment:  Thank You From the Bottom of my Flowerbed.  So I decided to build a project around that and the wildflower seed paper.

I punched the seed paper into a couple of different heart shapes and dropped them in  a glassine bag.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the paper is full of little seeds.  You can also see in the paper I purchased that it also includes wildflower petals.

The glassine bag has been stamped with images from the new Paper Sweeties July stamp set Home Tweet Home and then heat embossed.  The sweet doll is Emma and her clothes (just like the sentiment) are from Live Love Grow.  It's all wrapped up in a seed packet (a cut file from The Cutting Cafe).

The directions for planting are stapled to the back of the seed packet.

Visit the Paper Sweeties Blog for more ideas using the new stamp release. 

 Had you heard of seed paper before?  What are your ideas to use it?   I think I can come up with a few more ideas.  Stay tuned!  

Additional Supplies

Zing! embossing powder Blush and Brown Sugar    |    glassine bag

Clothespin Doll for Paper Sweeties

Okay, I've wanted to do it for a long time.  I've had all the materials.  So, FINALLY I did it.  I made a clothespin doll!  I was a little scared, but the funny thing is that the things I thought would be hard to do were actually easy and the things I thought would be easy were kind of hard!  And only hard, because I have NO IDEA what I'm doing.  She, let's call her Abbie, is definitely a guinea pig!

Paper Sweeties July theme is Summer and I thought a clothespin doll with a pinwheel would work.  Abbie's pinwheel (made from crepe paper) is sporting a darling bird from Happy Summer and the sentiment is from (you guessed it) the Summer Fun stamp set.

Her little head was way easier to do than I thought it would be.   I was stressing over her hair and face, but I'm pretty happy with it.  Her bow includes a sweet flower stamp from Home Tweet Home stamp set.    

Okay, I have to say oh, how Abbie's clothes gave me fits!  And I thought that would be easy!  I just wasn't sure how to fit them to her, but finally it all worked out.  The base is a stamp from the Happy Summer set.  It fit her wood stand perfectly.

Abbie was so much fun to make - I will definitely be making more clothespin dolls.  I'll try to do a tutorial from what I've learned.   

Check out the Paper Sweeties Blog for inspiration and the Paper Sweeties store for the new July release.   So glad you stopped by to see Abbie!

Linking up at Make It Monday.

Supplies

clothespin doll pieces

Matchbook Gift Card Holder with Paper Sweeties

My good friend (and my daughter's mother-in-law), Linda,  just moved to a new home.  Well, new to her - we tend to like old houses...ours is 104 years old and hers is only about 30 years younger.  Linda also happens to collect birdhouses, so when I saw the new Paper Sweeties release had a darling birdhouse stamp I decided it would be perfect to make her a gift card holder.   A little something to celebrate her new-to-her place.

I posted a Christmas matchbook gift card holder last week.  If you would like, you can get the dimensions and how-to from that post.  I just oriented the front of this one vertically instead of horizontally.

All the new Paper Sweeties images will be available tomorrow, July 15th.  You can get some more sneak peeks at the Paper Sweeties Blog.  And come back tomorrow, I'm going to post my first ever clothespin doll, which also sports a few of the new Paper Sweeties stamps.  'Til tomorrow...

Additional Supplies

paper from Jenny AllSorts    |    cloud die

Happy Summer with Paper Sweeties

This month Paper Sweeties is celebrating summer.  For me, summer means the return of flip flops (which also means painted toe nails)!

I figure that flip flop wearing deserves a treat, so that's where the idea for a flip flop treat holder was born...  

The tags for the front and back were stamped with new images from Summer Fun, Home Tweet Home, and Happy Summer.  All new releases for July at Paper Sweeties.

The flip flop cut file is from The Cutting Cafe.  Here's what I did for the front:

For the back:

Check out the Paper Sweeties Blog for inspiration and all the info on this month's new stamp release.  So glad ;you stopped by...Do you have your flip flops on?

Additional Supplies

cute paper from Jenny Allsorts    |    candy from Michaels

Matchbook Gift Card Holder

What a fun idea!  And easy, too...  A matchbook gift card holder - perfect for making a Christmas gift card special.  I actually really like giving (and getting) gift cards.  When I give them, I do like making sure they are in something pretty cute. 

This one certainly fits the bill with that CUTE kitty from Nicecrane Designs on the front.  The scalloped end is stamped with the edge of a frame stamp.  

Here's the details:

This cute kitty can be found in  the Kittens and Puppies Christmas Pack.

So glad you stopped by!

Supplies

christmas stamps    |    rustic cream cardstock

Vintage Images with Nicecrane Designs

Okay, I did tell you I would probably be using all the images from the Incredible Agnes Richardson set from Nicecrane Designs.  So here's the second one... I just LOVE them.  This one makes me want to cuddle up Kitty (even though he's a cat, not a puppy).

And do you see that cool embossing under the sweet girl?  I picked up a new Cuttlebug embossing folder at Michaels, not realizing that it included a really thin embossing folder as well.  It's perfect as a border and a little gesso with a dry brush really brings the pattern out.

Here's a look at all the darling images in the Incredible Agnes Richardson set:

You can find it at Nicecrane Designs.  That's not all you'll find - there is an amazing number of images in the store. And if you want to see the first card I created with this set, you can see it here.   Have a wonderful week!

I'll be linking this at Make It Monday tomorrow.

Happy 4th of July!

It's that time - family gatherings, barbeque and homemade ice cream.  Dennis got a White Mountain ice cream maker for his birthday a couple of years ago and I don't think we get it out enough!  Our favorite flavors are banana and cookies and cream.  YUMMY!

We're kind of in limbo this year for the 4th.  Lauren and Paul were just here, so we may be by ourselves.  Is it crazy to make homemade ice cream for yourself?  I bet I could talk my mom and dad into sharing some with us...

Wooden spools work really well for 4th of July lollipop treats.  The sticks fit right down inside the spools.  Really easy!

I happened upon a set of Kewpie 1976 Bicentennial postcards on etsy.  I  think they are darling and I just couldn't resist!  Of course, these were not done by Kewpie creator Rose O'Neil.  But, I really do think that the artist, Florence Jackson, did an awesome job.

These Kewpies just couldn't be cuter!  

I had to turn them into a banner.  I added some covered clothespins and  pinwheels for decoration.

What are you going to be doing July 4th (if you're in the USA, that is)?  Will you be making homemade ice cream?  Whatever you're doing - have a wonderful July 4th!

Supplies

4th of July girl    |    4th of July paper    |    airmail twine    |  die used for bottom of postcards