Stacy's Paper Crafts

It's your day!

Happy Friday everyone!

I'm sitting here looking over my to do list for today. I'm hoping to get some crafting in... especially with Modern Basics! I just can't say it enough how much I love these two stamp sets :)

 

Supplies: Stamps: PTI Modern Basics & Think Big Favorites #2, Paper: PTI white CS & Bazzill Basic Brown CS, Ink: PTI & Palette, Other: Brown ribbon & mini button

I found some teeny tiny buttons in my stash that I paired with the floral image, isn't it cute? I love this sentiment too because it's kind of like an "all occasion" celebration card... you could use it for birthdays, graduations, Mother's Day, ect. 

Have you heard the news??? Two Peas in a Bucket is expanding it's focus on stamping & cardmaking!! They are hosting a month long cardmaking series that begins today. It looks like the website hasn't been updated yet but I'm looking forward to it. TP's was one of the first online forums I joined way back in 2002 when I first began creating cards with my scrapbooking scraps. 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

I heart Modern Basics

I treated myself to some new stamps this month :) I really needed Maile's newest set. I was SOLD on this set after seeing Maile's creations using it, even before seeing the set in it's entirety... which almost never happens! 

You'll be seeing a LOT of cards & layouts using this set, I love it! :) Thanks for looking, have a great weekend! 

A Big Thank You

Hi all!

I am seriously loving PTI's idea to "supersize" some of their popular sentiments. This month's Think Big Favorites #2  is definitely one of my favorites, and it's only $5.00!

I went digging through my patterned paper stash to find a sheet of paper that wasn't Basic Grey to use. Lately I've been reaching for my Basic Grey or Echo Park, so I wanted to use something else. I don't have a huge stash, but because I always reach for my favorites I often forget what else I have tucked away. I found a few sheets of double sided patterned paper from My Mind's Eye Rough & Tough paper collection... actually I found a lot of MME's patterned paper that I forgot that I purchased! PTI's Ripe Avocado ink works so well with it. 

This size sentiment makes it so easy to whip up a bunch of cards in one sitting...

I think my mojo is back, yay! Thanks for looking :)

FTL130

Isn't this a great sketch? I whipped up a bunch of CAS cards using this layout today and made a tiny dent in my patterned paper scrap pile too :)

Have you seen the newest Basic Grey collections? My LSS just got some in but I've been good. I didn't buy any.. YET! LOL I'm going to be scrappin' and stampin' up a storm this next week so I can justify buying more paper :) Thanks for visiting today!

 

Make it Monday: Distressing

Hi all! I'm loving these "back to basics" challenges PTI has been having. This weeks challenge is distressing, which is a fave of mine. Edge distressing & paper tearing are two techniques I used to use a lot for masculine cards but this time I decided to use it on a "girly" birthday card :)

I added some stitching to the focal image and then used my edge distresser on the edges. 

Supplies: PTI Stamps: Life & Butterfly Dreams, Paper: PTI, Basic Grey, & Bazzill, Other: Button & scrappers floss, stitching,PTI & Momento inks. 

Thanks for looking! 

Food intolerances suck!

Last week I was miserable. I'm still feeling kinda crappy but I'm hoping this week will be better. We went out to eat last Saturday. Something we rarely do anymore because I have some food intolerances that cause neurological & gastro problems and we recently found out that my son is allergic to wheat. I don't eat meat and DH & DS love meat so finding a restaurant that can offer something for all of us has been a challenge lately. I heard about a local restaurant that has an awesome gluten free menu with vegetarian & meat entrees & a kitchen staff that understands Celiac Disease & food allergies & intolerances in general so we went to try them out.

The food was really good, the kitchen staff was knowledgeable about cross contamination which I am sooooooo sensitive to. The food was amazing, but half way through my meal I ran out of gluten free soy sauce and asked our server for some extra but she brought me the regular kind :( Uggg!!!!  I knew instantly that it was regular and unfortunately for me one little taste is all it takes to trigger symptoms that last up to 3 to 4 weeks. I was kinda annoyed because the food was kinda expensive too. But on a positive note, we all enjoyed the food. So we might eat there again, it's nice to have someone else do the cooking sometimes. I'll just have to be a little neurotic about asking for what I need. I hate to be that way but it's not worth being sick for a month... and I'm a great tipper to make up for it! :) 

Needless to say I didn't do any crafting last week. The brain fog & migraines are the worst and it makes it hard to think! Luckily it's a little better this morning. The sun is shining which always makes for a good day :)

I have to do some catch up with cleaning & errands this week but I sat down to create something to share with you all. Isn't purple glitter fun :) One of the Make it Monday challenges PTI hosted recently was to use sticky tape to create a glitter strip on a project. I love glitter but don't use it often enough, and I totally forgot how easy it is to use glitter on a project using sticky tape. I added this huge floral embellishment by Prima flowers to use as a focal point. 

Thanks for looking :)

Paper Flowers

 Happy Tuesday! Hope you're having a great day! Today I was browsing some of the cards & layouts I've created recently and realized how much I LOVE red. So I wanted to challenge myself to use some colors I don't use often this week.

I actually really love purple but I don't create with it often... but when I do I always seem to pair it with flowers! I'm not sure what's up with that LOL! Anyway I created these flowers using scalloped circle nestabilities circles. I embossed them using an embossing folder, cut them out using the nesties, and then crumbled them up before layering them. I used a flower punch for the smallest flower. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps:Verve, Purple Onion Designs, Inkadinkado, Ink: Palette & TH's distress ink, Other: Scalloped circle nesties, buttons & scrappers floss.

Happy Friday!

 

Just wanted to pop in to share this card with you all. PTI has had some great challenges this week! I don't have a lot of  sets but the ones I do have I don't use often enough. My crafting budget is very small so I always have a never ending wishlist. I'm hoping that they'll have a month of releases that I'll hate so that I can at least make a tiny dent in my wishlist. So far it hasn't happened! LOL

 
Thanks for looking!

Canvas Stars

A few months ago I won a give-a-way hosted by Jillibean Soup. I won a few packs of canvas star shapes & some sugar picks... super fun stuff that I hadn't had a chance to play with until today.

 

I made this card for my little BIG brother's birthday next month. I call him my little BIG brother because he's a year younger than I am but almost a foot taller than me. Which I think is completely unfair :)

 
Luckily I have some inks that are pretty close matches to the colors on the canvas, I used them with some PTI & TAC background stamps to create the patterned paper. 

Thanks for looking!

No white cardstock

 
Hi all! Insomnia is in full force tonight so I thought I would create something for the contest PTI is having. I actually shocked myself, and created something without using white cardstock :)

 
I'm actually really happy with how this turned out. I used Ripe Avocado ink to stamp the polka dots on the kraft cardstock base. Then I used Spring Rain ink and a flower stamp from the Garden of Life set to create the pattern on the Spring Rain cardstock  and then matted it using Dark Chocolate cardstock. Then I stamped the center of the flowers using Ripe Avocado ink and then applied Glossy Accents overtop. I used the fillable frame #11 stamp & die, a mini button & scrappers floss to create the focal image. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from the Butterfly Dreams set.

This color combo was a bit of a challenge for me considering 99.99% of the time I use white cardstock somewhere on my cards. I'm definitely going to challenge myself to use colored cardstock more often!

Thanks for looking!

Mostly patterned paper

 
It's hump day! Well actually it's almost over, which is fine by me! I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Anyway I whipped up this quick card using CPS sketch #203 It works so well for those patterned paper prints that are either really busy or ones that you just want to be the focus of your project!

 
This patterned paper is from DCWV's Sweet paper stack. I'm slowly working though using up this paper stack... slowly! LOL I don't know what it is about glittery paper, sometimes they are a challenge for me to work with. I kept this one on the masculine side since I never have enough of those, this sketch works really well for them!

Thanks for looking!

DIO Friday: Stickers

 Create a card using sticker(s) as your focal image

It's that time again... DIO Friday Challenge week, and it's RAK Week! What is RAK Week? Every now and then I'll offer up a RAK to DIO Friday Challenge participants. Participants will be randomly selected. To be eligible you must follow the guidelines of the challenge and provide a link to your creation. The linking option will be closed after 10 days so be sure to get your entries in before that time. All other DIO Friday Challenges will not have a time limit, you can participate anytime! There is no rhyme or reason as to how often RAK week will occur or what will be offered, it'll be totally random so you'll have to keep your eyes peeled :)

This weeks lucky winner will receive a...

$10 gift certificate to PaperTrey Ink!

Stickers... I  know you have them... probably collecting dust, from WAY back in your early days of scrapbooking and card making. Before you discovered the joys of rubber stamps! LOL And if you don't have any you can just use some alphabet stickers that you might have laying around to create your focal point.

  

I purchased this sticker from a $1 store a few years ago. I only remember this because I went to the store for some photo mailers and they had a whole isle of scrapbooking supplies that they didn't normally sell. My memory really isn't that good! LOL

I really love this sticker, it almost looks layered and I love the sparkle from the glitter! The patterned paper is from Pink Paislee's 365 Collection. I used a sentiment from PTI's mixed messages set, along with a mini button, scrappers floss, and ribbon to complete this card. 

Thanks for looking, I hope you'll dig out your stickers and play along too! 

Tim’s Birthday Invitation

I have a confession to make…

I have never created invitations or thank you cards for my son's birthday parties. I always buy them (gasp) LOL. In previous years he's had themed parties, Star Wars, SpongeBob, GI Joe, ect so it just made sense to purchase them. This year we didn't have a theme and he only invited a few friends so I thought I'd try to come up with a design that wasn't cutesy and met the standards of a preteen aged boy.

I decided to go with a gate fold style card. I used some TAC stamps for the background & focal image. To create the background I used Versamark ink and stamped the text repeatedly, staggering the lines. This is a technique I use often to create patterned paper. It works well with text and images! The gift image I colored using Copic markers.

I created the invite wording using Microsoft Word. They came together pretty quickly and T was happy with them and had a fun birthday! 

Gate Fold Cards are FUN :)

Happy Monday to you! This weekend there was a "gate fold card" challenge over at Scraps of Color. I know this isn't a new style card, but it's new to me. It's a great way to use up those paper scraps that you might have lying around. It's also a great style to use when making masculine cards, especially if you don't have a great image to work with. Patterned paper & a medium to large size sentiment works wonderfully! 

Thanks for looking!

I stamped! :)

Yes it's been awhile. A long while in fact. But I'm back, my mojo has returned from it's vacation.

Yesterday I had a chance to stamp with some nice ladies I met through a local scrapbook/stamping meet-up group. It was fun and I actually made several cards I'm going to share with you all this week. 

 
(Click image to enlarge)

This card features some lovely patterned paper by Pink Paisley (the blue background paper & red circle) LOVE this collection! It's called 365 degrees. It kinda reminds me of Basic Grey but it's different. You can view the whole collection here...

http://www.pinkpaislee.com/home.php?cat=56

I also used a scrap of Scenic Route patterned paper, a couple of mini brads, & a sentiment from PTI's Say It With Style stamps to complete this card. 

Thanks for looking! 

Hmmmm...

 

Yea... it's been awhile. I'm still here, but I haven't been feeling great lately. Which means I haven't been crafting a whole lot either unfortunately. I've been reading a ton though, mostly about metabolism and the endocrine system. Exciting huh? LOL

Summer vacation officially begins in 12 days. I hope that I'll feel like crafting since we won't have as hectic of a schedule as we usually do. Do you have anything fun planned for the summer? We're going on our first vacation in almost 4yrs. Looking forward to spending some time with my DH & DS. 

Hope you all are doing well! Enjoy the weekend :)

Gingerbread Men need them too!

I'm fascinated by googley eyes. I'm not sure why. I can't explain it. I just am. I like to put them on things... like frogs and monsters.

    

So I decided that gingerbread men should have googley eyes too!

 

Don't worry, these are edible :)

 
I used this gingerbread cookie recipe but modified it by adding  1 tsp. of vanilla extract and 1tsp. of nutmeg. I used this icing recipe but substituted lemon extract for the almond, and ended up using a lot more milk and corn syrup than what the recipe called for. I used about 1 1/2 TBS of corn syrup and added a 1/2 tsp of milk at a time until I got a good consistency. I probably used about 2 1/2 TBS of milk but I'm not exactly sure. Then I used mini M&M's for the buttons and red & black food coloring to create the eyes and cheeks. 

I don't normally make rolled cookies but these were pretty easy to make. I do not have a steady hand so I don't think I'll ever have a career as a cookie decorator but it was fun and I may make this an annual tradition. I think once a year is plenty! LOL

Have a VERY Merry Christmas :)

I hoard Hip Hop...

No, not the music :) ... TAC's patterned paper collection. I still have lot's of paper left over from a paper pack I purchased a long while ago. I'm putting it to use, creating some boyish cards for my stash and catching up on some challenges I missed during PW's Holiday Celebration. 

 

One of our challenges was to create a card using patterned paper that we hoard.

 

The other challenge was to use a stamp set that we just had to have but never used, so I used the star cluster image from TAC's Build-a-Background stamp set for this card. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from a retired GWP stamp set. 

Supplies:
Stamps:    Build-a-background & retired GWP stamp
Paper:      Hip Hop patterned paper collection, blue & white CS
Ink:         Palette Violette & Starry Night
Other:      Mini button & Scrappers floss

Celebrate! a masculine birthday card

Recently I received a request for a set of masculine birthday cards. Handmade versions can be a challenge for many, myself included! But you can whip some up in no time using a sketch, a few great sheets of coordinating patterned papers, a bold sentiment stamp, and a metal embellishment or two.

Basic Grey and Scenic Route are two of my all time favorite manufacturers for masculine prints! I hope this card inspires you to create your own man-ly cards. 

This card is also available for purchase in my ETSY store My inventory is pretty low right now but check back over the next couple of weeks. I'll be adding more Holiday & birthday cards.

CHA Releases

I'm seriously drooling here... have you seen the New Basic Grey sneak peeks?? If you haven't you're missing out! You can check out Kelly's blog to see photos of the new collections. I want them ALL!

My scrapbooking has taken a back seat to cardmaking these last few months and new BG always helps to stir the mojo! 

I'm going to go search for some more CHA sneak peek photos but before I do, I have a card to share with you today. 

(Click image to enlarge)

I of course had to pull out some BG patterned paper :) This one's from the Cupcake collection. 

(Click image to enlarge)

Supplies:

Stamps:    The Angel Company's Little Cupcake & Sweet Thing

Paper:    Basic Grey patterned paper, brown & white cardstock

Other:    Black ink, Copic markers, ribbon, button, white scrappers floss, & rectangle Nesties

Thanks for looking!

A New Background Image...

I was so sad to see TAC retire one of my most favorite sets I used to create patterned paper... Floral Dingbats. Here are a few cards I created using it...

One   Two  Three

I think this will always be a set that I'll reach for but I wanted to purchase a set that hasn't been retired to use in workshops. I was awarded a gift certificate for free stamps for being published in TAC's newest catty so I redeemed it for a few new sets including Aged Ornaments. 

I shared this card with you earlier in the week using one of the images from this set.

(Click image to enlarge)

Here's another card I created using a different image from the same set.

     (Click image to enlarge)

I really like this one,  It won't replace my other fave but it's a nice substitution :) The sentiment is from the "Little Cupcake" stamp set. 

Stamps: Aged Ornaments & Little Cupcake

Paper: Red & Cream Cardstock 

Other: Versamagic Wheat ink pad, Palette L'Amore Red ink pad, & light blue ink

Cream bitty blossom & a button from my stash

July Angel Art: Replinish your stash

Hi all! For this month's Angel Art we'll be showcasing cards that we've created to add to our stash. The summer months are so busy and it's a challenge for some of us to find time to sneak away from the kiddos to create so it's always convenient to have a few cards on hand when you need them. I have to warn you... I used a lot of yellow cardstock :)

These first two cards feature images from TAC's new set called Skinny Birds. Thanks Laurie for the images :)

 

                               ^{(Click the image to enlarge)}

This birdy looks so sad I thought it would make the perfect "I'm sorry" card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stamps: Skinny Birds, Ordinary Greetings

Paper: Yellow, orange, & white 

Color: Palette Noir ink, watercolor crayons, & blender pen

Other: Floral embellie, button, white scrappers floss

 

 

 

                                    (Click the image to enlarge)

 

Stamps: Skinny Birds, Aged Ornaments, & Inspirational Sayings

Paper: Yellow, orange, & white cardstock

Color: Palette Noir & Raw Sienna ink, watercolor crayons, &  blender pen

Other: Bitty Blossom, button, white scrappers floss

 

 

(Click the image to enlarge)

 

_{^{This card features one of my favorite floral images. It's so easy & fun to color! Both the image & sentiment are from TAC's Forever Friends stamp set. I used an image from TAC's Floral Dingbats stamp set to create the background image. I stamped the image repeatedly overlapping the images in some areas. Here's a close up view...}}

 

                         (Click the image to enlarge)

 

Stamps: Forever Friends & Floral Dingbats

Paper: PTI & DCWV cardstock

Color: Palette Noir ink, Versamark ink, & Copic markers

Other: Ribbon & Circle Nesties

 

 

 

(Click the image to enlarge)

 

^{_{For this card I pulled some paper & ribbon scraps from my stash along with snowman images from a TAC retired set that I really love.}} 

 

Stamps: Snowflakes, Warm Hello, & Christmas Blocks

Paper: PTI & TAC US white cardstock

Color: Palette Noir ink, Frabicos's Sky Mist craft Ink,

Prismacolor Colored pencils, & Odorless mineral spirits

Other: Blue ribbon from Mike's, mini brad, & a mini Cuttlebug tag

 

 

(Click the image to enlarge)

 

Stamps: Warm Hello, Snowflakes, & Christmas Blocks

Paper: PTI & TAC's US white cardstocks

Color: Palette Noir ink, Versamagic Pixie Dust ink, & Copic markers

Other: Ribbon & a clear button

 

For more inspiration please visit ...

 

Laurie
Carol
Maria
Rita
Jen
Jamie
Christina
KellyRae
Shirley
Michelle
Diane
Trudy

Birthday Chick

 

(Click the images for a close up view)

Hi all! Can you believe it's Friday already?? Hope that you have something fun planned for the weekend! I just wanted to share another card I created with a neglected stamp set. The image is from TAC's Barn Yard Birthday, I think I may have used the set once. It's such a cute birthday set I need to use it more.

I colored the image using Copic markers and used some patterned paper from my stash (I believe it's DCWV paper). That's my goal this summer, to use what's in my stash with the exception of a few new stamp purchases of course  Thanks for looking, have a great weekend! 

PTI Stamps

I've been neglecting them... shame on me I know! I do use Mixed Messages and Polka Dot Basics all the time but I have a couple more sets that haven't used it much so I'm dusting them off and putting them to work this week :)

These images come from the Green Thumb set. I used some "bling" from my stash for the flower centers and added a mini tag with a sentiment from the original Mixed Messages stamp set.

I then used a little foam tape under the mini tag & flower pot to add a little dimension. 

Only a few more days until the next release! I'm excited to see more of the set that has the arm chair image. To check out the other sneak peeks check out Nichole's Blog.

Not my average card

Hi All! Today I wanted to share a card I created for a client. This is a little different for me. When I create I try to design cards that are beautiful as well as functional. I've see tons of beautiful cards with lot's of ribbon, layers, and embellishments and they make me nervous. Strange, I know! But I always worry about how I can mail them. A card should fit in an envelope KWIM? But It dawned on me that I could always use a padded envelope or a larger envelope! I had a DUH! moment :)

So I created this card with a big bow. It does not fit a standard size A2 paper envelope but I found a clear one that works wonderfully! So my personal challenge is to try designs I wouldn't normally try. While I describe my style and clean & simple, I'll be stepping outside of my comfort zone a little bit. You'll be seeing a little more variety in my designs so stay tuned :)

Says the wise owl...

This is another card for my stash. I combined the owl image from TAC's Artsy Owls with a sentiment from Inkadinkado's Humorous Birthday set. 

This was a quick and easy card that can be created in about 10-15 minutes. I stamped the card base using one of PTI's polka dot background stamps, colored the image using Copic markers, cut out the owl, and then popped him up with foam tape. I used a scalloped punch to create the grass. Thanks for looking :)

A Cupcake... for HIM!

For some reason, when ever I go to color these cupcake images I'm always drawn to pink frosting but not today! My card stash is very low on birthday cards, especially masculine birthday cards so I've been working on a few cards for the guys. This card features Basic Grey patterned paper & a PTI sentiment. I colored the image using Copic markers and used a glitter pen to accent the sprinkles. 

Thanks for looking!

Five creations in one week?!

I'm on a roll this week. I've been in a creativity rut for awhile and I think I may slowly be coming out of it. This card features one of the very first TAC sets I purchased way back in 2004! It also happens to TAC's Vintage set for the month of May.

Supplies:
Paper: My Minds Eye patterned paper, TAC's US white & DCWV cardstock
Stamp: Everyday Mice
Other: Black ink, Copic markers, Nesties circle dies, brown sheer dotted ribbon, & brown button

This one I created last week for another challenge. 

Supplies:
Paper: TAC's Hip Hop patterned paper, TAC's US white, DCWV & Bazzill cardstock
Stamp: Everyday Mice
Other: Ribbon, mini brad, & a staple

Thanks for looking! Happy Memorial Day! Have a great weekend!

A Color Challenge

It seems strange to not have a sentiment on the front of this card LOL I would say about 90% of all the cards I create have one on the front but I was short on time when I created this card. We had a color combo challenge over at PW's, this week's combo is pink, brown, & white. Thanks for looking! 

Supplies:

Paper:    TAC's Catelynne patterned paper & TAC's US white & DCWV cardstocks

Stamp:    Sweet Thing

Other:    Black ink, Copic markers, ribbon, Nesties rectangle dies, & Friskars scallop punch

May Angel Art: Birthday Celebrations!

This month's theme is to create a birthday themed card, project, ect. I hadn't had a chance to use my new cupcake set yet so I created a card using it. The image is from a set called Sweet Thing which was apart of April's Spring into Rewards Promotion. I'm hoping it'll be in the new catty, the cupcakes are just too cute!! 

Supplies:

Stamps:    Sweet Thing & Ordinary Greetings

Paper:    Gentle Beginnings patterned paper, DCWV green & white CS

Other:    Palette Noir ink & Lavendar Satchet, Copic Markers, mini brads, & Ribbon

Don't forget to check out the other Angel Art Creations...

Carol

Seleise

Angela