Cottage Paper: 2014

Sunday, November 23, 2014

BIG Holiday Sale!!

If you love deals, you're going to love this great sale starting Monday, November 24th, and going through December 2nd! There are going to be doorbusters available only on the first day of the sale, Monday,November 24th, and Monday, December 1st!

In addition, during Online Extravaganza, a few of the past Paper Pumpkin refill kits will be 20% off and available to ALL customers. (Please note that refill kits do not include stamps or ink.) On Monday, two new kits will be added to the existing Paper Pumpkin past kits offering (available to current subscribers only).

You can download the sale PDF here. (Note that the page numbers of the items are listed in the last column so you can easily find an item to see a picture. Also the Annual Catalog and the Holiday Catalog can be downloaded by clicking on the image of each on the right column of this blog.) Or you can go directly to the store and see each of the items.

Let me tell you about a couple of my favorites. First today only, Monday November 24, one of the door-busters is the Gift Box Punch Board for 30% off! What a deal! Here are a few boxes that I have made with the board. You can make virtually any size box between 2"X2" and 4"X4".

Check out this Stampin' Up! Video showing It in action.

Since I already have the Box Board the one item that went to the top of my list was the Chalkboard Banner Kit at 50% off (that's $9.95!!). I had really not noticed that kit until I was checking out all the items on the sale flyer. I don't know how I missed it! I mentioned in an earlier post that sometime in the early part of the new year we are moving to a new cottage and I will have a new project room! I am doing a little planning on how I want to decorate it and I think this Chalkboard Banner spelling out "Cottage Paper" will be perfect!! In addition I have a couple of granddaughters who love chalkboard and teal/turquoise and I think they will be really excited about the pom-poms that come in the kit. I am still trying to decide how many kits I will order! Here is a video showing you all that comes in the Banner Kit.

Some of my other particular favorites which all happen to be 50% off are:

Sweetheart punch - this is a nice sized heart and if you don't have a heart punch remember once Christmas is over Valentines Day will be close behind!

Natural 7/8" Cotton Ribbon - I love this ribbon. It has a wonderful feel and is perfect for using on packages any time of year.

Washi tape - I love washi tape and there are three different collections on sale. If you don't have any Washi tape you need to get some and if you do have some you need to get some more! :-)

Plus Yet Another Outstanding Deal

In addition to all the great deals in the sale, if you join Stampin' Up! between November 24th and December 2nd you get the starter kit for 25% off the normally $99 price. The starter kit consists of $125 of Stampin' Up! products of your own choosing. This means that you are getting the product you choose at 40% off of the retail price. Plus if you join Stampin' Up! from November 24th through December 5th, you can get 5% cash back on all your orders in December 2014! There is absolutely NO obligation if you decide to join. Wow!

Please email me if you want to take advantage of any of these specials or if you have any questions.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Holiday Home Gift Bag

Welcome to the November InKing Royalty Blog Hop. We're excited to share projects that showcase fun gift wrap and packaging ideas for the holidays.

You may have started the Blog Hop here or may have hopped over from Amy Whelan at Amy's Inklings. After you read my post, I hope you'll hop over to the next. If you get off track at any point during the blog hop, there's a complete list of participants at the end of this post.

The Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog is packed with gift wrapping and packaging ideas and I love it all!! There is wrapping paper; tag kits, stamps and punches; gift boxes and bags. If you have not seen it you can view it by clicking on its image on the right hand side of this blog. You really need to check it out!

Even with all the wonderful options I wanted to point out another one. Lots of you are familiar with My Paper Pumpkin but maybe have not looked at it closely. Many of the past kits or refills are available to current My Paper Pumpkin subscribers or they can be purchased directly from a demonstrator. One of my favorite kits was the In the Bag Kit from last spring. At 5.5"X8.5" the bags are not large but they will hold many small items. I used some to hold paperback books that I added to Easter Baskets for my granddaughters. This kit is still available as the original kit or as a refill with all the components except the stamps and ink spot. The kit or the refill includes 5 very cute heavy weight Kraft bags that you can then decorate with all the included components. The refill kit is only $7.95 plus tax and shipping. This comes out to less than $2.00 a bag! I used just the bags from the kit and added images and my own ribbon for a fun holiday gift bag. Here is the bag I created.

I love the Holiday Homes stamp set but after some thought I decided to order the MDS digital version. That is what I used to create this bag. I also love the First Edition Designer Series Paper which retired several years ago. It looks like newsprint or book pages. In addition to the paper I also bought the MDS version. I wanted to "stamp" the houses on it but after some experimentation I decided the newspaper images needed to be fainter so I lowered the opacity (making it more transparent) and then "stamped" the houses on top of the DSP with Basic Gray digital "ink". If you have the stamps you can stamp with Basic Gray ink on Whisper White or Very Vanilla. I frequently use Basic Gray rather than black because I find black too harsh. I then colored the images with Stampin' Up! markers. I also "stamped" the Santa with Basic Gray on Ivory Naturals cardstock. I created the tree by stacking three trees punched with the Tree Punch from a Trim the Tree DSP to make a taller tree and then attached three of these trees to each other make a 3D tree. I then added Brushed Gold stars. For the ribbon I used one of my favorite ribbons - 7/8" Cotton Ribbon. It has a wonderful look and feel! I had some leftover from a previous project that I had stamped with the Dictionary stamp - more of the newsprint/book look!

I also made another quick bag using some of the elements that come in the kit and refill. I used the letters to spell "merry" and backed them with a Real Red scallop circle. I attached them to the twine with the clothes pins that are part of the kit or refill. You could even add another circle layer around the Real Red - maybe using some Glimmer Paper! Hmm, wish I had thought of that sooner.

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Holiday Home (135095, MDS 138116); Dictionary (130351)
Cardstock and DSP: Soft Suede (115318); Naturals Ivory (101849); Trim the Tree (135824); Brushed Gold (102935)
Ink: Many Marvelous Markers (131264); Basic Gray
Accessories: 7/8" Cotton Ribbon (127844); In the Bag Kit (135505, Refill (135504)
Tools: Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (133787)

To order click on the ordering tab above just under the header. You can email me privately with any of your papercrafting questions or ask them in a comment below!

I ♥ comments and would love to hear what you think!! Leave your thoughts below!

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you'll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop (and the blog of my fantastic Upline!), Brian King at Stamp with Brian. You certainly won't want to miss any of these projects.

Lynn Kolcun at Avery's Owlery
Angie Coleman at Coastal Stamping
Candy Ford at StampCandy
Kelly DeTommaso at Kelly's Creative Corner
Amy Whelan at Amy's Inklings
Katie Ferguson at Cottage Paper
Brian King at Stamp with Brian
Becky Volpp at Ink Blossom with Becky
Pam Morris at Tap Tap Stamp

Holiday Home Set

Dictionary Clear Stamp Set

$13.95

Natural 7/8" Cotton Ribbon

$7.95

In The Bag Refill Kit

$7.95

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

$16.95

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Creative Blog Hop

Last week my friend Lynn Kolcun (www.averysowlery.com) tagged me for the Creative Blog Hop. As part of this Hop a participant provides information related to his or her creative process by discussing the following four items.

1. What projects am I currently working on.
While I am always working on cards I also do various other papercrafting projects. Sometime after the first of the year we hope to move into a new cottage and that means a new bigger and better craftroom! I would like to have a wreath for my craftroom door and to be consistent with the rest of the house I wanted it to have a vintage look. I bought a round 14" styrofoam wreath and covered it with 1 1/4" burlap ribbon. I decided I would put some vintage looking flowers on it and I made a few out of Typeset Designer Series Paper and some out of filter paper. I then sponged the edges of both kinds with Crumb Cake ink. Flowers are very easy to make and I have posted about them in the past. All you need is a punch or die that is basically a circle shape or you can cut them out By hand. It can be a plain circle, a scallop circle, a flower shape or a starburst but uneven edges are the best. You stack layers of your shapes, staple them together and then separate and scrunch the individual layers, and spread them back out. In my experience they all result in fairly similar flowers. The basic difference in the final flower is the size of the "circle" and the number of layers. The larger the "circle" the more layers are needed for the same result. I have not yet decided how many flowers I will use on my wreath but here are the ones I am starting with. I also plan to add some other items. I have various buttons that I think I will consider using and I am still thinking about other additions.

2. How is my work different from other papercrafters.
Well of course we are all different and have different styles. I like vintage designs like the wreath I am working on but I also like simple & classy and clean & simple though I frequently have to restrain myself. At times I have to resist adding so many details so that I no longer have clean or simple!

3. Why do I create the projects that I do.
I like the creative process and while enjoy the final products produced, many times I just enjoy the process and challenge of creating an item. I also like being able to share projects with others either through my blog or through classes.

4. How my creative process works.
It works in a number of ways. I sometimes look at papercrafting challenges, especially color challenges, even if I am not officially part of the challenge. At times I have certain supplies that I want to use and I challenge myself to use them in a project. Other times I see a specific technique I want to try. My projects involve lots of trial and error and they will go through many variations before completion. I always think about my projects overnight and sometimes over several nights. I almost always come up with changes. I will be thinking about my wreath for at least the next several days.

As part of this hop bloggers choose another blogger to "tag" and that blogger will then participate with a blog post the next week. When I was asked to participate I knew immediately whose blog I wanted to share with you! I discovered Kim Jolley's blog when she was introduced to a Facebook group of fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators and along with her name her city and state were listed. I immediately realized she lived in the city where I was born and raised! That connection prompted me to check out her blog and I was very impressed! I have been watching her ever since. She is clearly not just a crafter but a true artist!

Here is what Kim says about herself.

I have been dabbling in rubber stamping and mixed media for 15 years and have been a Stampin' Up! customer the entire time. I taught rubber stamping and mixed media classes for several years in Springfield, MO at a local store until the owner retired. I have been published in Somerset Studio, Stampers Sampler and Vamp Stamp News and have had the immense honor of being a guest artist at Red Lead in St. Louis with Mary Jo McGraw and P.J. Dutton. A mixed media piece I created was a top 10 finisher in the 2007 Kirkland's Home search for the Next Great American Artist out of over 1700 entries. (to date, my most exciting art related achievement) I am an insurance agent for my day job and in the past have ran several marathons and half marathons. In my "spare time", I keep busy with my husband of almost 33 years and several wonderful grandchildren. I've been dreaming of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for over 10 years and am so happy that I finally took the leap!

Please check out Kim's blog http://stampinartfully.blogspot.com/ and see for yourself. Then check out her post next Monday to see her discussion of how she works.

To order click on the ordering tab above just under the header. You can email me privately with any of your papercrafting questions or ask them in a comment below!

I ♥ comments and would love to hear what you think!! Leave your thoughts below!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

"Kissed" Feathers

This weekend I am in Atlanta with a group of wonderful Stampin' Up! demonstrators attending a World Card Making event organized by my fantastic Upline Brian King. As part of the event there is a card swap. I knew about the swap when the current Holiday Catalog came out and I decided I wanted to use a stamp set from that catalog for my swap. After looking at all the great sets in the catalog I decided that the Four Feathers set and matching Framelits would be perfect for my swap! Here is my card.

I thought the feathers could be used to create an elegant look and I played around with different neutral shades of cardstock and ink colors. I also experimented with using the four feather stamps in different ways but I was having trouble getting the exact look I wanted. Then during the night an idea came to me. (I always have to think about my cards overnight and that is usually when I get some of my best ideas!) The idea was to use the solid feather stamp and put a different texture on it using the kissing technique. In the kissing technique you need a solid stamp and another stamp that has a design that you like. You ink up the stamp that contains the design and then stamp the solid stamp on it as if it was the ink pad. The design is then transferred to the solid stamp which you can then stamp onto your cardstock. After looking at my stamps I decided to try the Dictionary stamp as the design stamp. I really liked the look I got. I wanted to add a touch of gold and settled on using the gold metallic thread that is part of the gold baker's twine and a gold sequin. I thought the Very Vanilla needed a little added texture so I used the splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge set and Versamark ink.

What a fun time we are having and I received some wonderful swaps from the other demonstrators at the event. I will show a few of them along with more details about the event in a future post.

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Gorgeous Grunge (130517); Dictionary (130351); Four Feathers (135053); Work of Art (134114)

Cardstock: Very Vanilla (101650), Baked Brown Sugar (131296)

Ink: Versamark (102283); Baked Brown (131174)

Accessories: Gold Sequin Trim (132983); Gold Baker's Twine (132976); Pearls (119247)

Tools: Feathers Framelits (135852)

To order click on the ordering tab above just under the header. You can email me privately with any of your papercrafting questions or ask them in a comment below!

I ♥ comments and would love to hear what you think!! Leave your thoughts below!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Leaves for PPA 219

For today's card I am using the colors from this week's Pals Paper Arts color challenge. Here are the challenge colors.

While these colors clearly say Fall I really wanted to go in a different direction but in the end I could't do it! I was having too much fun making these leaves! I think I am going to make a bunch to use decorating my house this Fall.

Here is my card.

The look of this card is similar to cards made with the Triple Stamping technique, in which three layers are stamped at the same time, but my card only has two layers and the two pieces were stamped separately. Then the smaller piece was trimmed so the woodgrain lined up.

The leaves were cut out of Crushed Curry using the Autumn Accents die. Veins were added on the back of the leaf with the Simply Scored Stylus. Then they were sponged, first with Crumb Cake, then Always Artichoke, and finally with Cajun Crazy. I then lightly spritzed them with water on both sides and crunched them up and then flattened them back out. The acorn pieces were also cut using the Autumn Accents die. The top of the acorn was cut from Soft Suede which was then debossed (the reverse of embossing - the bumps are on the back!) with the Polka Dots Embossing folder and sponged with Crumb Cake.

You might notice that there is not a sentiment on the front. It is not always necessary for a cards to have a sentiment on the front. I thought a sentiment would only detract from the rest of the card so I didn't add one!

Supplies used:

Stamp Set: Hardwood (133032 wood, 133035 clear

Cardstock: Very vanilla (101650), Always Artichoke (105119), Cajun Craze (119684), Crushed Curry (131199), Soft Suede (115318), Champagne Glimmer (127885), Champagne Glimmer (127885).

Ink: Always Artichoke (126972), Cajun Craze (126965), Crushed Curry (131173), Crumb Cake (126975)

Tools: Autumn Accents Bigz Die (127812).

Hardwood Stamp

Champagne Glimmer Paper

$4.95

Autumn Accents Bigz Die

$21.95

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Hello Fall!

Welcome to the September Pals Blog Hop. This month we are showing off our favorite new products from the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog. We hope you enjoy our projects!

You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations on the Pals Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all of the amazing creations.

There really are soooo many wonderful products in the new Holiday catalog and I have been playing with many of them. For today's post I decided to pull out the For All Things set which I had not yet had a chance to use. I really like all the images in this set but I also like its versatility. While the images certainly look like Fall and Thanksgiving, they can also be used for all kinds of hellos and thank yous at other times of the year. Here is my card.

I experimented with several ways to ink the banner - using the Old Olive ink pad or the marker - stamping off once or even twice. The exact formula depends on the look you want and how juicy your pad is. In the end I had a very juicy pad and I stamped off twice. Then I stamped the "Hello Fall" sentiment in Soft Suede on top of the banner. I inked the leaves with Crumb Cake and then "thumped" on them with Calypso Coral and Old Olive markers before stamping them. I added a piece of Soft Suede Baker's Twine I had from my Hey, Man Paper Pumpkin Kit (those kits come in handy in lots of ways!) but Early Espresso would work as well and Calypso Coral might be even better. The wood looking piece below the leaves was created by inking one side of the Woodgrain embossing folder with Versamark ink, inserting the cardstock piece and rolling a brayer across the folder several times. I LOVE that technique! I had planned to add three Calypso Coral Candy Dots sitting on gold sequins along the bottom but after I placed the middle one I decided I loved the look of just one and stopped there! The strips down each side are cut from a piece of Park Lane DSP. I really like the look of the geometric design and thought it went well with the Fall theme. The paper in that collection has a Whisper White background which was a little too bright to use here so I sponged the surface with Crumb Cake ink. I thought it turned out well!

The next stop is Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog on the Pals Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you next month.

Supplies I Used:

Stamp Set: For All Things (135155 Clear) (135152 Wood)

Cardstock and DSP: Soft Suede (115318); Crushed Curry (131199); Calypso Coral (122925); Very Vanilla (101650); Park Lane (133694)

Ink: Old Olive (126953); Soft Suede (126978); Crumb Cake (126975); Versamark (102283); Brights Markers (131259); Subtles Markers (131263)

Accessories: Subtles Candy Dots (130933); Gold Sequin Trim (132983); Soft Suede Baker's Twine (135878 MPP Kit) (135879 MPP Refill)

Tools: Woodgrain Embossing Folder (127821)

For All Things Stamp Set

Woodgrain Embossing Folder

$7.95

Friday, September 5, 2014

Oh, Happy Day for PPA218

For today's post I decided to make a card with the colors from this week's Pals Paper Arts color challenge. Here are the colors for this challenge.

Two of these colors, Hello Honey and Blackberry Bliss, are from the new InColors introduced this year. First I really love Blackberry Bliss. In particular the cardstock has a really wonderful rich look that just can't be conveyed on a computer screen! You really must see it in person to totally appreciate it. The color looks wonderful with Hello Honey! Here is the card I made with the challenge colors.

I love the Starburst Sayings stamp set, especially when combined with the Starburst Framelits. The pointed edges of the cutout images give the pieces a modern trendiness and the Oh, Happy Day is perfect for so many different occasions. It is such a nice solid image that is great to heat emboss and in this case I wanted to do the embossing in the rich Blackberry color. I also heat embossed the small circles and added a tiny Honey circle made with the Owl Punch. Using the Finishing Touches Edgelit I repeated the edges on the top and bottom of the DSP layer and on the envelope and liner.

Supplies I Used:

Stamp Set: Starburst Sayings (133185 clear) (133182 wood)

Cardstock and DSP: Blackberry Bliss (133675); Hello Honey (133678); Crumb Cake (120953); Moonlight DSP Stack (133701); 2014-2016 In Color Paper Stack (133705)

Ink: Blackberry Bliss (133642); Versamark (102283)

Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (109130)

Tools: Starburst Framelits (132967); Finishing Touches Edgelit (127010); 1 1/4" Circle Punch (119861); Builder Owl Punch (118074)

2014-16 In Color DSP Stack

$21.95

Clear Emboss Powder

$4.95

Finishing Touches Edgelits

$9.95

Builder Owl Punch

$16.95

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Happy Haunting

Welcome to the very first InKing Royalty Blog Hop. For our very first hop, we're excited to share projects that showcase the fun of the holidays - from Halloween through Christmas, this certainly is the season to be jolly!

You may have started the Blog Hop here or may have hopped over from Lisa Pretto at DIY Royalty. After you read my post, I hope you'll hop over to the next. If you get off track at any point during the blog hop, there's a complete list of participants at the end of this post.

When I first considered the fun of the holidays I thought that the Fall holiday that contained the most pure fun was Halloween and the new Holiday Catalog has lots of fun Halloween products. (Click on the Holiday Catalog image along the right hand side to see all the wonderful goodies! Lots of fun!!) I love the Fall Fest Photopolymer stamp set and the coordinating Fun Fall Framelits! A number of years ago Stampin' Up! had a stamp set with several shapes of pumpkins and separate stamps with Jack-o-lantern faces that could be applied to the pumpkins. Of course the set didn't have Framelits to match but it has been one of my all-time favorite Halloween sets. I felt it was a classic and was sad when it was retired. I was very excited to see the idea return in the Fall Fest set! There are so many fun ways to use it. Even though I was excited about the pumpkins and Jack-o-lantern faces I wanted to do something a little different for today's Hop so I decided to use the ghost. I then thought it would be even more fun to make him out of vellum. Here is my card.

It seemed to me a vellum ghost needed an evening scene. A tree seemed like a good start but Stampin' Up! does not have a large tree stamp that would work here so I went where I always go when I need a "stamp" I do not have - My Digital Studio! There was a perfect tree in the Spooky Bingo Bits digital set. This set consists of 24 Halloween images that can be arranged in various order on Bingo Cards (available in MDS) and also great Halloween fun. As a result these are small images but one of the glories of MDS is that they can be made any size. After I had the tree the correct size I needed some leaves and found them in the Sweetly Nested Framable Template. They were placed on and around the tree and the whole thing was printed out on Smoky Slate cardstock with Basic Gray color "ink". Both of these digital items are included in the free content that comes with an MDS software purchase. (Here is a list of all content that comes with the MDS software.)

After the ghost Framelit was used to cut out the ghost shape from the Smoky Slate layer it was used to cut it out a shape in the same place on the DSP layer and the Tangerine Tango cardbase layer. The Framelits are not designed to cut through more than one layer of cardstock although some people report using them to cut through two layers of cardstock. In this case we have two layers of cardstock plus a DSP layer so I did it in two steps cutting the DSP layer and the Tangerine layer together. All three layers were placed in position and then a vellum ghost that I had previously cut out was placed in the correct position on the Slate layer. While holding him in place I removed the Smoky Slate layer. That left me with the vellum cutout in the correct position on the DSP layer. He was adhered to the DSP layer with repositionable tape (waaaay better than Post-it Notes!) and used to align the Framelit. As the Framelit was placed in position I could "feel" the cutting edge of the Framelit bump against the ghost. This allowed me to know exactly where to place the Framelit. Once in place I taped the Framelit down. With the precision needed for this I decided to skip the Magnetic base and use repositionable tape. I then added a pumpkin stamped with Versamark on Cajun Craze cardstock and cut out with the coordinating Framelit. A Crumb Cake maker was used to darken the stem and Dimensionals gave it some dimension. Not having a greeting I felt was appropriate I printed one in MDS and attached it to a DSP layer.

I then attached a rectangle of vellum between the Smoky Slate and DSP layers and adhered all this to the Tangerine layer. Eyes were added using my Simply Scored Stylus and the Stampin' Pierce Mat. A 3/4" circle was cut from Whisper White cardstock and sponged with So Saffron to create the moon. Many times I attach a Whisper White or Very Vanilla layer inside my cards that is useful for writing my message but with a vellum ghost where one can see all the way through the card it is very important that such a piece is used. I frequently add something to this inner layer and here I used gray striped washi tape. Another piece of the gray washi tape will also be used to seal the envelope. In this way it will be easy to open while remaining intact.

Supplies Used:

Stamp Sets: Fall Fest (135194); Spooky Bingo Bits MDS Brush Set (127616); Sweetly Nested Framable MDS Template (129005)

Cardstock and DSP: Tangerine Tango (111349); Smokey Slate (131202); Vellum (101856); Whisper White (100730); Cajun Craze (119684); Flower Pot DSP (133698)

Ink: Basic Gray MDS (121044); Veramark (102283); So Saffron (126957); Crumb Cake Marker (120967);

Accessories: Epic Day Washi Tape (131269)

Tools: Fun Fall Framelits (135856); 3/4" Circle Punch (119873); Sponge Daubers (133773); Simply Scored Stylus (125624); Stampin' Pierce Mat (126199); MDS Software (130646)

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you'll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Brian King at Stamp with Brian. You certainly won't want to miss any of these projects.

Brian King at Stamp with Brian
Deb Cozzone at Deb Cozzone's Stamping Zone
Candy Ford at StampCandy
Pam Morris at Tap Tap Stamp
Lynn Kolcun at Avery's Owlery
Bonnie Garrett at Stampin' Bon
Kelly DeTommaso at Kelly's Creative Corner
September Gray at SeptemberGray.com
Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
Angie Coleman at Coastal Stamping
Alison Bilohlavek at Ribbon and Brad
Lisa Pretto at DIY Royalty
Katie Ferguson at Cottage Paper

Fall Fest Stamp Set

$15.95

Fun Fall Framelits Dies

Epic Day Designer Washi Tape

$4.95

Mds Download - Digital Download

$19.95

Flower Pot Designer Series Paper

$10.95