Paper Sweeties December 2015 Inspiration Challenge

 Welcome Sweeties Fans! We're kicking off December with a new challenge. We're getting into the holiday spirit with this festive inspiration photo:

In addition to the rich colors, I also found some inspiration in the round sign and the wall in the background.

Before die cutting the ornaments, I stamped them with Versamark and heat embossed them in white. I did the same with the sentiment, except I used gold embossing powder. The ornaments are "hanging" from gold twine by Martha Stewart.

To create a wood texture on the white card panel, I ran it through my Cuttlebug with a wood grain embossing folder. Then, I adhered the ornaments, the sentiment and some sequins onto the panel.

Snow Time - Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties	Holly Days - Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties	Holly Days Sweet Cuts Dies - Paper Sweeties	Cookie Dough Sequins--Paper Sweeties	Green Apple Sequins - Paper Sweeties
Peppermint Sequins - Paper Sweeties	Multi Medium Matte Mini	simon says stamp stitched rectangles dies	Martha Stewart Gold Thread

Sometimes I get hung up on how I want to lay out my card. When this happens, I turn to my Pinterest Board devoted to card sketches. Today's card was created using the sketch below, from Studio Calico. I simply rotated it by 180 degrees.

Now it's your turn to create something inspired by this month's color palette, but first, please hop along for further ideas and inspiration.

Angel Johns
Annette Witherspoon  ← ← ←You Are Here

Cheryl Lea

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties

 Emily Frasier
Jeri Thomas

Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Michele Henderson
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

December Guest Designer:  Tracey Kelly

I'm Sharing Handmade Kindness

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it's time I come clean. I am a card maker who rarely sends cards. It's stupid. I know. I invest so much time making the best cards I can possibly make. I put a lot of effort into photographing it in just the right light. Then, I put the card in a box, where it just sits waiting to be given to someone who will appreciate it. Sometimes the cards make it out of the box when I give them to friends or family, but too often, they do not.

Not. Any. More.

Thanks to Jennifer McGuire and her "Share Handmade Kindness" campaign, I am motivated to spread a little encouragement to the world around me. I invite you to join me. Even if you're not a crafter, you can still participate. Bake some cookies and give them to your friends. Pick some flowers or give plant starters to your neighbors. The important thing is to spread kindness. The world needs more kindness.

Today, I went to the post office and mailed out two handmade cards. I intend to send more, including the one in the picture below:

Stamptember Altenew Layered Flowers	Altenew Cool Summer Crisp Dye Ink	Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad	Simon Says Stamp Flowers on My Mind	Interlocking Circles Embossing Folder--Darice
Zig Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Marker	Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Bling Sheets 100 count multi sizes

Paper Sweeties November 2015 Inspiration Challenge

Hello there! It's time for the Paper Sweeties November Inspiration Challenge 37. It's all things fall this month. 

I started my card by stamping the word HAPPY onto some Neenah 110 lb. white card stock. Then, using my new Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, I colored in the flowers using yellow, orange and just a hint of red. Then, I stamped and colored the sign and the word "Autumn," which actually comes from a sentiment in the Wagon Add-On set. The entire sentiment is "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." I only inked up the first word in the set.  Tip: This is a great way to stretch your stamps. Only ink the word or words you need.

After I finished stamping and coloring, I die cut all the pieces and adhered them onto my card with some dimensional foam stickers. I added some twine and a few sequins for a nice, finishing touch.

Here is the inspiration photo for this month's challenge!

Here are the products I used to create my card:

Happy Everything Stamp Set--Paper Sweeties	Beautiful Little Wishes Sweet Cuts Dies - Paper Sweeties	Sweeties Wagon - Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties	Garden Time Sweet Cuts Dies - Paper Sweeties	Garden Time Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties
Tuti Fruiti Sequins - Paper Sweeties	Multi Medium Matte Mini	simon says stamp stitched rectangles dies	Simon Says Stamp Stitched Slopes and Hills Dies	Zig Color Clean Real Brush
Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad	Licorice Bakers Twine - Paper Sweeties

Please visit the rest of the team's blogs for further inspiration. When you're finished, enter the challenge on Debbie's blog for a chance to win a prize!

Angel Johns
Annette Witherspoon– you are here!

Cheryl Lea

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

 Emily Frasier

Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

November Guest Designer:  Michele Henderson

Altenew Layering Class

Hi everyone. Did you know Altenew is hosting a FREE online class called "All About Layering?" They offer 10 lessons, which include two video tutorials per lesson. In addition to the 20 free video tutorials, students can post questions in an online forum, and share pictures of their "homework" in the online gallery.

Here are a couple of cards I made for the class. The first focuses on the Whimsical Flowers stamp set. This set comes with about four large flowers, a couple smaller flowers and some leaves. Instead of stamping with the large flowers, I thought I would try my hand at stamping the smaller flowers. The sentiment is from the Label Love set. All the inks except the light blue are from Altenew as well.

My second card focuses on the Vintage Flowers set. I stamped the flowers in the family of inks called Summer Afternoon, which consists of four inks in shades of yellow. I stamped the leaves in two shades from Green Fields and Carmel Toffee.

Does the background image look familiar? It was also created with Altenew stamps. I took the Thank You stamp from Label Love and stamped it in Warm Sunshine, Cotton Candy Crisp and Forest Glades inks. The main sentiment in the middle is also from Label Love, but I chose Thanks A Bunch to play off all the Thank Yous in the background.

Thanks a bunch for visiting my blog. If you're interested in the Altenew class, click here for more info.

Inspired by Fall

October is my all time favorite month of all! The food is amazing. (Hello apple pie and pumpkin spice lattes!) The leaves are just gorgeous, and the weather is much more comfortable. Oh, yeah, and it's my birthday. Hee hee.

Anyway, I am always inspired by the fall foliage, which peaks in mid October where I live. I love the deep, rich hues. My card below is a tribute to beautiful color palette brought on by autumn in October.

Using the leaves from the Altenew Lacy Scrolls stamp set, I randomly stamped them on Neenah 110 lb. card stock in autumn colors. The sentiment is from the Label Love set also by Altenew. I mounted that onto a piece of cardstock that I ran through my Cuttlbug with a wood grain embossing folder. I like the added texture and I felt the wood went well with the leaves (because, you know, they both come from trees.)

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the inspiration brought on by fall!

Virginia's View Challenge

My friend Virginia Lu hosts an amazing inspiration challenge called Virginia's View. Each month, she chooses a different theme. This month's theme is COLOR!

It's all about using color in your cards. That's not hard for me. I love colors. Virgina loves them, too. Check out this inspiration photo she posted. Do you see all those adult coloring books?

Those books are what me gave the idea for my card. I thought "Hey, why not create my own adult coloring page with stamps?" So that's what I did.

This card wore lots of masks, and despite it being October, I'm not referring to Halloween. Do you see how some flowers are in the forefront while others are in the background? I used the masking techniqe to create that effect.

After all my images were stamped, I removed the masks and started coloring. Using Copic markers, I carefully colored each flower and leaf. I then added some bling to the centers and finished it off with the sentiment.

All stamps are from three different Altenew sets, including Hennah Elements, Striped Florals and the sentiment is from Label Love. All the bling is from Eyelet Outlet.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have a "colorful" day!

Paper Sweeties October 2015 Inspiration Challenge

It's the beginning of the month, which means a new challenge is up for Paper Sweeties. This month brings pumpkins and pretty fall colors just like the inspiration photo.

My inspiration from this photo came from the burlap, wood and lace. I took some kraft card stock and ran it through my wood grain embossing folder. I die cut the burlap flowers using the die from the Pretty Posies Sweet Cuts and adhered them with some pearl brads. I stamped the sentiment from the You Are Fab set. Some lace tape and twine finished it off.

Pretty Posies Sweet Cuts Dies - Paper Sweeties

You Are Fab Stamp Set--Paper Sweeties

Please continue hopping along for more inspiration. Cheryl is your next stop. Then, when you're done, make a card or other project using Paper Sweeties products and enter the challenge!

Angel Johns
Annette Witherspoon<– you are here!

Cheryl Lea

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties

 Emily Frasier

Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

October Guest Designer:  Lisa Bzibziak