Things of Nature

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Hello Friends! A quick post here to share my latest creation. I'm pretty excited about this one because I made it using my brand new Kutrimmer 1071 paper trimmer! I've wanted one ever since I used one at a bookbinding bookcamp in Athens, but the cost was prohibitive. But, I found a brand new one on Ebay last week for a great price and the seller just happened to be within driving distance, so I was able to pick it up and get started using it right away! 
I made all the flowers on this project, and all but the two tiny pink ones are made from the same stamp and die set. The flowers were all stamped onto patterned papers, die cut, inked along the edges, then shaped. There is a close up of the flowers at the bottom of the post.
I've always liked making boxes, but with my new paper cutter, that can cut right through book board, I like it even more. Cutting the parts for the box only takes a few minutes now, and requires very little effort, unlike cutting it by hand with a blade.
Here's a look at the inside. Actually, it has a set of cards inside it now, but they are all cards I've posted before, so nothing new to see there.
The spine of the box is covered in bookcloth with a strip of patterned paper added over that.

Here's a close-up of the larger flowers. You can see the centers much better here. I love how the dark pink one turned out! I used micro beads in the center of that one. The yellow and pink flowers have Stickles centers, and the purple one has a large rhinestone.
These are the smaller flowers. The yellow flower is filled with beads and glitter, and the purple flower has Stickles on the edges of all the petals. The butterfly die cut was covered in Ice Blue Inka Gold, then I heat embossed it with UTEE.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this. You'll probably be seeing a lot more handmade boxes (and books) in the future now! ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Tiddly Inks Challenge #166: Don't Be Square
613 Avenue Create Challenge #143 : Anything Goes
Penny Black and More September Challenge: Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #265: Sparkle & Shine
Craft Your Passion Challenge #281: Always Anything Goes

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties September Release Rewind!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

It's the final day of Release Week at Paper Sweeties, and that's when we do a little rewind, pairing the new releases with older stamps and dies. It's actually really easy to do because all of the sets go together so well. Today, I have used the new Homegrown stamp and die sets with Abigail and several other previous sets, to create a sweet scene for a birthday card.
I used Copics to color Abigail's skin, hair, and shoes, and paper pieced her outfit (all the patterned papers on this card came from scraps). I gave her little wagon some oversized wheels so it could handle that really big strawberry, which I stamped onto patterned paper and die cut. The large orange scalloped circle behind Abigail was originally white. I colored it with Gelatos, then, because the color was so intense, I toned it down and added some shine, by giving it a thin coating of Champagne Inka Gold. The "Wish" text is from the Wish Sweet Cuts die set, and the "big" double-stamped text is from the Wish stamp set. For the dot over the "i," I used a pink Watermelon sequin, and filled it with Lime Green Stickles. Three Cookie Dough sequins, filled with Diamond Stickles embellish the right side of the text section.
On the inside I sewed a skewed white panel to the checked patterned paper, then added a few flags and circles in the other papers. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Hello Friend stamp set. I made this as though I was going to mail a cash gift to someone receiving the card. Since mailing money through the mail can be risky, rather than just putting a bill inside the card, I left the left side of the white panel unattached. The money can be folded and slipped behind there. It's not impossible to figure out, but if someone just glanced inside the card, they would never know that there is money inside.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Paper Sweeties Design Team, too. I get so much inspiration from their beautiful creations!

For a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge

papersweeties-inspiration#35  

Thanks for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed all the Paper Sweeties September New Release projects!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve September 2015 Week 1 Sketch Challenge (I flipped the sketch upside down)
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Love This Technique (paper piecing)
Simon Says Wednesday: Stamptember Use a Stamp Challenge
Pile It On Challenge #86: Birthday
Tuesday Throwdown #262: For a Child

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties September Release Party!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Today is Paper Sweeties' Release Party, and the newest stamps and dies that we've been featuring for three days are in the shop right now! Don't you just love that sweet little mason jar image? 

If you saw my post from yesterday, you know that it was not an entire project. I have Part 2, today, which finishes out the bookmark set, and I also created a cute holder for them.
After making the bookmarks, I knew I'd need a place to keep them together when I wasn't using them, and I found the perfect way to store and display them in an easel stand design from the Silhouette store. After making the stand, I heat embossed the Mason Jar image on watercolor paper, die cut it with the matching die, watercolored it, then created a rub-on of the "Fruit of the Spirit" text (in Word) for the jar label. I went over the label with a Spica pen which gives the letters just a little bit of sparkle. Now, I can just pull a "fruit" right out of the jar when I need to mark my place in a book! But, I still haven't shown you the rest of the bookmarks...

I made these the same way I made the earlier bookmarks, with heat embossing and watercolors. For the text on these, I used a Paper Sweeties die cut and stamp (Love), an old alpha stamp set from the dollar bin (Self-control), an IO alpha die (Goodness), and a retired Sizzix alpha die set (Faithful). I like every one of the bookmarks in the set, but my favorite is "Self-control." I was super pleased with how the watercoloring turned out on the apples, and it's the only one that I paired specific text with specific fruit. Do you get it??? If Adam and Eve had used more self-control when they were looking at that yummy fruit, well.... ;~)  (I know the fruit may not have been apples, but it's what most people think of when they think of that fateful day, so I went with it.)
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If you'd like to see any of these better, you can click on these, individually, for a larger photo.
And, here's what the easel holder looks like when it's empty. 

I thought you might like to see the entire set all together, too. (If you zoom in on this photo, don't look too close. I had a seriously hard time editing the photo, and it is nowhere near perfect.) 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project. Now, to see more new release goodies, visit my Paper Sweeties Teamies' blogs. You will LOVE what they have for you today!


And, don't forget, for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge

papersweeties-inspiration#35  

Thanks for stopping by. I'll have one more project for this new release tomorrow. Hope to see you then!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Love this Technique (heat embossing & watercolor)

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties September Release Countdown!

Monday, September 14, 2015

As promised, I've got a fun project to share with you today, featuring another Paper Sweeties New Release stamp set. Homegrown is a set of four fruit stamps, which pairs nicely with the Mason Jar stamps and dies I used yesterday, and with their distinct lines and large open areas, they are perfect for simple watercoloring, which I've been enjoying lately!

Since the Homegrown set is all about fruit, I had fruit on the brain, so to speak, and was reminded of Galatians 5:22-23 and the Fruit of the Spirit:
"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Gal. 5:22-23 NLT
Now, I wasn't up for making an individual card for each of the nine attributes, but I really wanted to make a set of something. Then, I noticed the huge stack of books in my family room that I'm trying to read through, and immediately started die cutting bookmarks out of heavy watercolor paper. I can use them to keep my place in books, and to remind me to keep these attributes in my life.

On each bookmark, I heat embossed the fruit images with gold embossing powder, then got out my Koi watercolors and Color Bursts to add lots of color. For the text, I used Fancy Monograms (Patience), die cut (Joy), Silhouette cut (Kindness), hand lettering with a Spica pen (Gentleness), and hand lettering with a Versamark pen and gold embossing (Peace). I tried to make each bookmark unique with the word and image placement and fonts, and I am very pleased with how they turned out. I added Paper Sweeties Seam Binding, in various colors, to the top of each bookmark, and tied each one with a Licorice twine bow. I've included photos of each of the bookmarks individually, below. (The color looks a little different in the group versus the individual pics. The group photo is closer to how the colors look in person.)   

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I wish you could see the beautiful gold embossing on the images. It's just so darn hard to get that in photos! Tomorrow, I'll share more bookmarks, as well as decorative storage for them--Fruit of the Spirit, Part II. ;~)

There's always yummy goodness to be had when you visit the Paper Sweeties Design Team! You don't want to miss even one!


Tomorrow is Paper Sweeties' Release Party, when all the newest stamps and dies will be released! And, for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge

papersweeties-inspiration#35  

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties September Release Sneak Peeks!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Ready for a peek at one of Paper Sweeties upcoming New Release stamp and die sets? I used the brand new Mason Jar stamp and matching Mason Jar Sweet Cuts die sets on this card.
I heat embossed the jar, with clear embossing powder, onto watercolor paper, did some loose watercoloring using Koi watercolors and Color Burst powder, and die cut it with the Mason Jar die. Then, I put the colored image between two pieces of copy paper and ironed it to remove the embossing. The Mason Jar set comes with lots of sentiment stamps, and I chose the simple "Sweet" sentiment to make this an any occasion card, and surrounded the label area with yellow gel Pearl Pen dots. Besides the jar die, this Sweet Cuts set also comes with a cute little fishtail flag die, which I used to cut the flags under the button. After zigzagging around the edge of the main layer, I added a few Paper Sweeties' sequins in Cookie Dough, Robin Egg, and Peppermint, filling the centers with Diamond Stickles.

More inspiration is just a click away on each of my teamies' blogs!


We'd love for you to play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge. Debbie also has another challenge blog, The Shabby Tea Room, with a monthly challenge, too!


papersweeties-inspiration#35  


Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll come back again tomorrow. I'll have a super fun project featuring the second New Release set, that I will share over the next two days!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Sugar Pea Designs SugarSketch 29
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Stamp and Punch/Die Cut
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Stamptember Use a Stamp Challenge
My Favorite Things Color Challenge 29
613 Avenue Create Challenge 141: Anything Goes
TCP Tuesday Challenge 298: Anything Goes
Pink & Main Challenge #1: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

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Mean Green Flying Machine

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

(For my Paper Sweeties September Inspiration Challenge post, scroll to the next post, or click here.)

My very favorite color ever is green, or to be more precise, Pear--hex #d1e231. Seriously, it is that specific. But, I love all shades of green. At Christmas every year, I decorate with pear green and dark brown, most of the interior of my house is sage green, and much of my wardrobe, including my bowling shoes, is green. It is nature's neutral--everywhere, and beautiful in any setting. Shoot, if God has a favorite color, I wouldn't be surprised one bit, if it was green! So, in honor of my favorite color, I decided to make a green card today.
I colored the balloon and cloud images with Copics, adding some white Sharpie and gel pen highlights. The Green Apple straw originally was green and white. After flattening it in my Vagabond, I used Champagne Inka Gold, to turn the white stripes yellow, then I sprinkled Watermelon mix, Sugar Sprinkles, and Gold sequins around the card. The centers of the sequins and random pearl dots are made with a gold Pearl pen. The distressed sentiment layer was stamped with a Crackle Background, and the sentiment is a retired Taylored Expressions stamp.
On the inside, I used the same Crackle Background stamp for the sentiment panel, and cut a patterned strip out of scrap from the front of the card. 

So, what about you? Are you a fan of green? What's your favorite color palette? 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a colorful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve August 2015 Week 4 Sketch Challenge (Turned sideways)
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Trio of Colors (Green/Brown/Yellow Copics)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #139: Anything Goes
Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards Challenge #98: Use a Sentiment
Pink and Main Challenge #1: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties September 2015 Inspiration Challenge #35

This summer just flew by! While summer is my favorite season, fall takes a close second place, if for no other reason than I love the colors! Even though I live in North Georgia, and am privileged to see the leaves change color every year, just by looking out my window, the beauty of it still blows me away.

For Paper Sweeties' September Inspiration Challenge, I used warmer versions of the red, yellow, and green color palette to give me my first autumn card of the year.
I used a Viva la Verve sketch for the card design, and these Paper Sweeties stamps and Sweet Cuts die sets:


The beautiful sparkly gold flower-shaped sequins are from Paper Sweeties, too!
I edge-punched scraps for the inside of the card, and colored the cute heart divider stamp with Copics.


I just love the inspiration photo for this challenge! And, my teamies have some seriously cute cards to inspire you:


Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve August 2015 Week 2 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #139: Anything w/ Optional Twist CYOC--A2/Birthday/Sequins
Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards Challenge #98: Use a Sentiment
RRR Challenge #124: Autumn Colors with Ribbon or Trim

~Hugs,

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