Really Cute Spoons

Did you know my blog name has a double meaning? Sure, everyone knows the Mary Poppins song, but there is a more significant meaning to me. My first name begins with an A and the last half of my last name is Spoon. In fact, our family is known as the "Spoons". When we go to a restaurant and they ask for a name, we often say "Spoon" because it's much easier to say than Witherspoon.

So when Lisa at Pretty Cute Stamps recently released a new set called Let's Spoon, I knew I had to grab it! The set contains two different fork and spoon images, a dish, arms, legs and little faces you can add to them. There are some adorable sentiments, too. This set is totally me!

I created the background with the larger outline spoon stamped in grey to keep it subtle. The set has coordinating SVGs. I cut out two large spoons and stamped them with a black ink. I had to add some embellishments to give them a little personality. I stuck a mustache brad on the "male" spoon and a bow on the "female" spoon. I finished it off with some cute heart stamps also included in the set, and the Let's Spoon sentiment heat embossed on black and cut into a banner.

I plan to give this to my husband just for fun.

Paper Sweeties January Release Rewind!

It's rewind day, which is the day after the new releases when we show you how you can use the new products with existing Paper Sweeties goodies.

I have a daughter who's six and a son who's nine. I often need children's birthday cards for my kids to give to their friends. I like to keep a few on hand. I made a card that a boy or a girl would enjoy. If I need a quick card, I can grab it from my collection.

I used a stamps from a few sets, including:
Elephant from Bouncing Baby
Balloon from Party Time
Sentiment from ConGRADulations
Stars and Heart from Be Happy

I invite you to see the other creative ways you can use the new releases with existing products by visiting the design team's blogs below:

Annette Witherspoon - That's Me
Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer 
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

Paper Sweeties January Release Party!

It's release day, which means all the cute stamps and dies we've been sneaking are now available for purchase. Here's today's card:

I'm using Bouncing Baby stamps. I just stamped two elephants and two giraffes, colored them and then cut them into little rectangles. This card can be used for a boy or a girl.

Want more ideas on how to use the new sets? Check out these blogs:

Annette Witherspoon
Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer 
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

Paper Sweeties January Release Countdown!

The countdown continues. Tomorrow we will be "showering" you with the new baby-themed releases!

Today's card uses stamps and dies from a set called Bundle of Joy. I stamped the clothes on the line image twice onto a white card panel. Then I stamped and die cut the shirt and onesie onto patterned paper and die cut them. The little heart and flower also come with the set. I colored them in with Prismacolor Pencils and popped them up with a small foam dot. To add a little extra shine, I coated them in clear Wink of Stella. You can see a little bit of sparkle in the photo.

More inspiration awaits. Please visit the rest of the design team's blogs.

Annette Witherspoon
Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer 
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

Paper Sweeties January Release Sneak Peeks!

Two days and counting until the  new Paper Sweeties releases will be available. This month, it's all about the sweet, little babies. Today, I'm sneaking an adorable set with a couple sweet animal images.

Those elephants were created with one stamp. How was I able to stamp the elephant facing in two different directions, you ask? It's a technique called reverse image stamping. As soon as I figure out a good way to set up my video camera, I will do a tutorial. (LOL. Still working on that.) Reverse image stamping is a great way to get more out of your stamps and it's pretty easy to do.

The buttons are also in the set. I stamped several in multiple colors, die cut them and adhered them with foam dots for added dimension.

Wanna see more? Please visit the rest of the team's blogs for added inspiration!

Annette Witherspoon - That's me
Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer 
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

Entering the MFT Challenge with a Blinged Up Card!

Hello all! I'm going to enter the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge, headed by Susan Opel. I only own one product from MFT (although that's about to change). I managed to work it into the card and (loosely) follow the sketch.

I blinged this baby up pretty good. First, I created a watercolor background and sprayed Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist all over it for a nice, sparkly sheen.

While the panel was drying. I worked on the clear zipper pouch. I die cut the Zipper from MFT and adhered it onto the acetate, cut away the part where the zipper was opened, and then sewed the acetate onto the card to create my zipper pouch.

I stamped the jewels in Distress Ink, watercolored them, and fussy cut them. Using my new awesome tweezers from EK Success I carefully inserted the sequins and jewels into the pouch and made them look like there were spilling out onto the card. I stamped the sentiment and die cut a tag around it.

I encourage you to check out the challenge here and enter for a chance to win a gift card to My Favorite Things.

Knock. Knock. Who's there? A New Post!!

There's a reason the title of my post is a knock-knock joke. It's because I made a Valentine's Day card using the new WPlus9 Knock Knock Valentine set. I have been wanting to make a knock-knock joke card for a loooong time. I tried doing it with alphabet stamps and speech bubbles, but it was way too tedious and time consuming. This set makes it a breeze.

Before I started stamping, I needed to choose a color palette. I have a Pinterest board specifically with color combinations that I like. Here is the  palette I chose:

First, I stamped the solid speech bubble using the colors in the palette. Then, I stamped the knock-knock jokes with black pigment ink (Hero Arts), and fussy cut them. I applied them to the stamped panel with clear foam tape for dimension. I adhered banners to the bottom of the panel and then affixed it to the card base using foam dots for even more dimension.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but I coated the colored speech bubbles with clear Wink of Stella to give them some extra shimmer. It looks really pretty in real life.

Thanks for visiting. Have a craft-tastic day!

Paper Sweeties January Inspiration Challenge #27 - 'Winter Wishes'

Happy New Year! I'm ringing it in Paper Sweeties style with a new monthly challenge. The theme is Winter Wishes and we have a really elegant color palette and inspiration photo as your inspiration piece.

I was inspired by the coffee mugs and snowflakes. I created the coffee mug with the Homemade with Love stamp and die. I stamped the banner with the snowflake from the Holly Days set. The heart is also a Paper Sweeties die from the Be Happy set. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from Let It Snow. I finished it off with some silver enamel dots and pearl gems from Eyelet Outlet.

More inspiration awaits you. Visit these blogs for additional great ideas and then visit the Paper Sweeties blog to enter your own creation! One winner will be selected for a gift card to the Paper Sweeties store.

Annette Witherspoon

  Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz
Jill Norwood
Julie Tucker-Wolek 

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen
Nancy Penir 

January Guest Designer:  Beth Johnson