Meet the Paper Sweeties!!

I've got a big announcement for your today!  I've been asked to join the Design Team for a brand new stamp company created by Debbie Marcinkiewicz.   Most of  you will recognize Debbie from her Blog Simple Treasures, or as a Design Team Member of The Shabby Tea Room, My Time Made Easy, The Ribbon Reel, and The Craft Journal.  If you are a girlie girl at heart, and love playing with pretty and sweet little stamps, then you will love the Paper Sweeties!  The set is a series of adorable little dolls with interchangeable outfits, accessories and sentiments.  Some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing with my favorite little paper dolls for hours, cutting out their outfits and dressing them up.  Now I can continue to have fun with the new Paper Sweeties.

Let me introduce you to the very first release of Paper Sweeties. 

I love that you can change their hair color and outfits to look like a real life Paper Sweetie that you might know!  Debbie is launching the Paper Sweeties site today and pre-releasing three sets on each of the first three days of August.  We will show you more previews on August 14, 15, and 16.  The store will have ALL the original releases (including more that have not been released earlier in the month)  visible on August 15.  As a bonus, all orders placed on August 15 & 16 will receive free shipping.  You can catch all the details of he upcoming events on the Paper Sweeties Blog.

You can see more previews by clicking on the links to the other DT members below. 

Debbie Marcinkiewicz - Simple Treasures

Andrea Ewen - Ewen Style

Jinny Newlin - Soaring

Pattie Goldman - Paper Silhouettes

Char Cundy - Expressions of Me

There is also a Paper Sweeties group on Flickr where you will see our creations as well as be able to link your own!

Thanks for having a peek - I hope you like what you see and will welcome the new Paper Sweeties into your crafting world!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Paper Sweeties Emma, Sophie, Abigail, Alphabet Uppercase, Love

Paper:  Pink Stripe is Crate Paper Pretty Party Collection, Blue Plaid is Echo Park A Walk in the Park Collection "Sunshine"

Solid Paper:  Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist, Stampers Select White, Sweet Blush

Markers:  Copic

Dies:  Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circles, Standard Circles

Extras:  Twinery Blossom Twine, 1/8" Pink Satin Robert Stanley Collection (Hobby Lobby), Silver Flower Beads

12 Kits of Christmas - July Edition

Are you ready for another edition of the 12 Kits of Christmas? Just to refresh your memory, this is a group of 12 designers. Each has been assigned a month to provide the Christmas crafting supplies to the other 11 members. We all receive the same supplies and post our creations on the last day of every month. 

This month our hostess  supplying all the goodies is Christina MacLaren.  You might know Christina from her blog Sea Glass & Sentiments or from some of your favorite blog challenges like CASE Study or the new Cloud 9.  She provided lots of pretty paper from  Authentique, die cuts from Memory Box and Papertrey Ink, and yards of ribbon, seam binding, and twine.

This month I came up with 4 cards.  It would have been easy to keep going with all the perfectly coordinated supplies, but I didn't want to get to photo heavy on the post.  I've named each of the cards so you can match up the material list at the bottom of this post.

 Song Bird

Candy Stripe

 Warm Wishes

Merry

Why not check out what the other members of the 12 Kits of Christmas came up with this month.  You can jump to their blog by clicking on their names below (listed by month).

Christina July (Our Hostess this Month)

Kim August

Kara September

Jessica October

Jeanne (That's Me!) November

Sharron December

Renee January

Cathy February

Suzanne March

Marybeth April

Joyce May

Amy June

Thanks for stopping by for a peek!  Have a fantastic day!

Jeanne

Supplies Used
Song Bird  Finished Size:  5" x 7"
Stamps:  Big Pine Bough Hero Arts, Waltzingmouse Vintage Labels 18,   Big Blooms Poinsettias, Papertrey Ink Signature Christmas
Patterned Paper:  Authentique Wonder Collection
Dies:  Memory Box Reed Bird, Twig & Berries, Spellbinders Labels 18
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Stampin Up Riding Hood Red
Button Thread May Arts, Pearls Queen & Co.

Candy Stripe  Finished Size:  4.5" x 6.25"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Big Bloom Poinsettia, WPlus9 Poinsettia Patterns
Patterned Paper:  Authentique Wonder Collection
Dies:  Cheery Lynn Holly Flourish
Extras Gold Beads Recollections

Warm Wishes  Finished Size:  5" x 7"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Big Bloom Poinsettias, WPlus9 Winter Wishes
Patterned Paper:  Authentique Wonder Collection
Dies:  Papertrey Ink Photo Finishers, Cheery Lynn Canadian Kaleidoscope, Holly Flourish
Pearls Queen & Co.

Merry     Finished Size 6" x 6"
Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo Holiday Words Tree, Papertrey Ink Fresh Alphabet
Ink:  Stampin Up Old Olive, Riding Hood Red
Olive Stitched Ribbon AC Moore

OWH Sketch Challenge 131 - Guest Designer

Today I'm honored to be Guest Designer for Operation Write Home Sketch Challenge 131.  Operation Write Home is made up of thousands of card makers who care about our military, and want to support them through creativity and encouragement. Many thousands of crafters of all ages and levels of experience have participated since 2007! Care packages filled with hundreds of handmade cards are sent to troops so they can write home to their loved ones. If you'd like to get involved in mailing some of your own hand crafted beauties you can get more information here.   

To keep postage costs down, OWH asks that you keep cards to a specific size, no glitter,  and layering to a minimum.  All easy things to comply with!  A sketch challenge is posted every Sunday, and there is a Midweek Throwdown Challenge every Wednesday to keep those creative juices flowing.  Here is a link to the challenge blog Stars and Stamps.  I try to make cards in themes that I feel will appeal to younger men and women.  I made this one western for all those cowboys and girls out there!  I kept it mostly flat, but added lots of extra embellishments like the pierced zig zag border, the Kraft doily and a bit of twine. 

I hope you like it and thank you for having a look.  As always if I get a good response I will make 10 more of these to send to OWH - so if you LIKE it - LEAVE A COMMENT! 

Hugs and Thanks!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Back in the Saddle

Paper:  October Afternoon Sasparilla Collection

Papertrey Ink Kraft, Pure Poppy, Fine Linen

Dies:  Cheery Lynn Celtic Fire Rectangle, Spellbinder Standard Circles, Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles, Labels 5 (cut down)

Border Punch:  Martha Stewart Zig Zag

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Satin Red

WMSC #108 - Omamori

Happy Saturday!  We made it through another week!  Time to grab a cup of coffee and have a look at the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge week in review.  Who won Top Mouse last week, and are you up for the challenge this week?    The sketch this week is by talented  DT member Belinda Chang Langner.   

I was in my craft room pondering this sketch when my daughter walked in and asked what I was doing.  Sometimes she and I play a little game together.   I will ask her what color she feels like today or  what she sees in the sketch.  Then I  try to see if I can make the card look like her "vision" of what she thinks it should be.    Well on this particular day my daughter told me that she saw a Omamori pocket.   I looked at her and said "of course you do... why didn't I see that?"  I had no clue what an Omamori was so of course I did a little research.  Omamori are Japanese charms that are given as a gift to another person as a physical form of well-wishing for luck or protection.  Who says American kids aren't multi cultural?

So I turned the tag into a little envelope with my wish for my daughter on the tag inside.  In keeping with the Asian theme I used colorful paper, and embellished with cherry blossoms.  with my daughter's initial on it.

Here is a close up of the tag.  I stamped the tag in teal and then masked off the edges.  I stamped the inside of the tag with Sakura flowers and my good luck sentiment.  I tied hot pink craft thread through the holes in the tag and put beads on one, and a tiny tag with my daughters initial on the other.  I wound the thread through the cherry blossoms to help support the tag so it would lay nice.

I hope you like our combined efforts on this one (her idea and my mad stamping skills :))) and maybe you learned a little something too!   I know I did!  I am looking forward to seeing what you came up with for this one!  Have a great day and see you at the WMSC blog!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 5" x 7"

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Asian Gardens, Vintage Labels 25, Large Doily, Victorian Alphabet

Dies:  Spellbinders Foliage, Standard Circles, Scalloped Circles Large Labels 11, Labels 25, Quickutz Revolution Branch

Paper:  Echo Park For the Record Collection "Apron Strings"

Solid Paper:  Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream, Kraft, Hibiscus Burst, Simply Chartreuse

Extras: Eyelets, Hot Pink Craft Thread, Pink E Beads, twine, cherry blossoms (Ribbon Reel), gems

Ink:  Stampin Up real Red, Momento Teal Zeal, Rose Bud, Angel Pink, Versafine Black Onyx

Serendipity Blog Challenge - Best Dress

Hi and welcome to the Serendipity Blog Hop Challenge!  Today the design team was asked to create a project using heat embossing.  Well with all the hot days we've been having this summer - one dog day after another - I figured this one was no sweat!  Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if I could heat emboss without even turning on my heat gun!   Although tempted to try this just to see if it was possible - my practical side advised me to stay in the cool air conditioning! 

Embossing is a great way to highlight all the beauty in a detailed stamp.  I love this nostalgic image called "Best Dress".   I  stamped on rustic cream paper and embossed it in gold.  I cut out the image with a die, and then fussy cut the solid piece under it to keep the focus on the stamp.

I hope you'll visit the other design team members and see what they've come up with for this challenge.  Just click on their names below (listed in alphabetical order) to jump to their blogs.

Amy Cokley

Sue Eldred (on vacation this week)

Jenny Gropp

Miriam Napier

Thanks for having a peek and STAY COOL!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 5" x 7"

Stamps:  Serendipity Best Dress

Paper:  Pink Paislee Nantucket Collection "Oyster Bar", Papertrey Ink Rustic Cream, Berry Sorbet

Embossing Powder:  Zing! Gold

Mulberry Rose:  The Ribbon Reel

1" Wired Pink Organza, Double Face Pink 7/8" Satin, 1.1/5" Crochet Trim The Ribbon Reel. Pearls and netting accents Hobby Lobby

Dies:  Spellbinders Curved Rectangles

ISSC25 - Fish More

I had a little free time to play today - my son made it down to Bloomington ok - I got to see him for all of an hour!  My husband drove him down and got back late last night.  Early this morning he snuck out with my daughter to go fishing!  I haven't played along with I Spy Sketch Challenge for a while and when I saw the photo I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!  I got these cute lure stamps about a month ago and haven't had time to ink them up so this was perfect.  I got a lot of practice coloring the fish - experimenting with my momento markers and lining up the stamp on the die cut. 

At first I just layed out the lures in the skech photo pattern, but it still seemed to be missing something.  Next I tried scoring the lines between the lures like a checkerboard, but still wasn't happy.  In the end I added some button twine to divide the areas and give it a more finished look.   I think the button thread ties in well with the fishing theme - sort of looks like a net!   How do you like those googlie eyes?   I got the stamp of approval from my husband who suggested I mail this one out to his friend Mike who owns a small boat.  Mike is always happy for some company, and my family is always grateful for the adventure. 

 
Thanks for having a look - I hope you find some time today to play - doing what ever you love to do!
Enjoy!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size:6" x 6"
Stamps:  WPlus9 Fish More
Dies:  WPlus9 Fish More
Ink:  Momento
Paper:  Papertrey Ink  Rustic Cream, Blueberry
Extras:Twine, Googlie Eyes

WMSC107 - Mahalo

Happy Saturday and welcome to my weekly post for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  Today's fun design is by Tosha Leyendekker.  This sketch is a great way to show case your favorite Waltzingmouse image, or stamp a one of a kind background.  I just got a few of the new releases that I ordered and couldn't wait to get some ink kissed on to them. I was originally going to go all blue - all boy on this one but I was inspired by a recent post from Deborah Frings called Surfer Girl.  Her card got me day dreaming about a tropical Paradise complete with fun in the sun and exotic flowers. 

The background paper is blush stamped with angel pink ink. Here is a close up so you can see the soft background.. 

I used burlap material and a cotton lace to add extra texture.  The button thread is from Waltzingmouse.  I was surprised how soft it is compared to other brands I've tried.  It is 100% Jute,  but it felt like lambs wool to me.  I added a tropical flower and a little sterling silver charm I picked out in the jewelry department at department store.   This is my  way of adding a small gift on to a card so the recipient can simply un-tie it and add it to a charm bracelet or a necklace. 

Thanks so much for having a look!  I hope this one got you daydreaming a little too!  Have a great week - I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size:  5" x 7"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse My Island, North Shore
Dies:  Spellbinders Classic Ovals, Big Scalloped Ovals
Ink:  Momento Rose Bud, Angel Pink, Ranger/Distress Spun Sugar
Twinery Blossom, Lace Wild Orchid, Button Twine Waltingmouse, Gardenia Irene's
Burlap, Sterling SIlver Sand Dollar
Solid Paper:  Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream, Blush, Kraft, Raspberry Fizz

Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge - July 2012

Have you been keeping up with your Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge resolution?     All you had to do was make one Christmas card a month!!  So easy right?!!  I know it's easy to put it on the back burner and I will confess that I've been slipping too.   Well the good news is that it's never too late to get caught up!  The half way prize has already been awarded, but the year end prize will be even better - and you can't win if you don't play!  So let me fill you in on the details for this month.....

The challenge for July is to make a card that features the color ORANGE.    Sounds a bit odd... orange for Christmas???   Well all you need is a starting point and then there's  nothing to it.    I began with this pretty paper from Authentique and the rest sort of came together by itself.  It amazed me too!!! Orange looks pretty good!!

Thanks for having a look!  I'm looking forward to seeing what you create for this interesting Christmas challenge!  You can get all the details on the forum here.

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 6" x 6"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Vintage Ornaments, 2011 Holiday Ornaments, Compliments of The Season
Dies:  Cheery Lynn Spring Flower Burst Doily, Spellbinder Petite Ovals, 2011 Heirloom Ornaments
Paper:  Authentique Delightful Collection "Charming"
Papetrey Ink:  Vintage Cream, Ocean Tides
Seam Binding:  Hug Snug Cream, Button PTI, Button Thread Waltzingmouse
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin Up Tangerine Tango, Momento Cantaloupe

Waltzingmouse July Blog Party - Wherever You Go

Hi and welcome to the Waltzingmouse July blog party.   In case you didn't know ... on the 17th of every month Waltzingmouse hosts a Blog Party.  This is a chance for you to grab your  favorite Waltzingmouse stamps and play along.  The theme this month (perfect for July) is... The Great Outdoors.  For me that means camping.  If you know me, then you know my family is crazy into scouting.  My husband is Scoutmaster and I help  wherever I can.  Although I am not big on camping - I always try to preserve the memories of the scouts with mini scrapbooks, and special hand decorated trail mix bags for the journey.  You can always count on me as your "go to" girl for bake sales, chocolate chip cookies, or a last minute run to the store.

If you've been reading my blog you know that my son is at Philmont in New Mexico on a 14 day adventure with (get this..) no telephone, no deodorant, and (oh heck no...) no toilets!!  I haven't heard from him in over a week and I am counting the days until he is back home.  Unfortunately the very same day he arrives home he will be getting back into the car and driving down to Ransburg Scout Reservation in Bloomington, IN so I won't get to spend much time with him.  I made this card just for him.  I will be sneaking it into his bag (that he already has packed for a quick get away) along with a big bag of Skittles so that he knows I'm thinking of him.

I made this one with a combination of SEVERAL Waltzingmouse stamps.  Although they don't have any camping sets yet (HINT HINT CLAIRE & ANYA!!) I knew I could make the scene in my head with what I have on hand.  I took the doily stamp and inked it with red and orange for a beautiful sunrise.  The chevrons are my mountains and water, and the other background stamps I rough cut shapes from.  The stick for the sign is a snipped off bit of wooden skewer and I just had to throw a little twine in there for my bear bag/clothes line. 

This little scene was so much fun to make.  I am glad I got it out of my head and into paper so I can rest my mind!!  LOL!!  Why not check out what everyone else came up with for the Great Outdoors Challenge.  I think it will be a Great Escape!!  You can see all the projects linked up here.  Thanks for stopping by for a peek!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 5" x 7"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse  Way Out West, Dainty Dollies 2, Off Beat Backgrounds, Free Spirit Sentiments, Gingham & Co. , Heirloom Patterns
Paper;  Papertrey Ink:  Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Orange Zest, Vintage Cream, Stone
Ink:  Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw
Momento Tangelo, Lady Bug, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa, Teal Zeal, Summer Sky, Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Bahama Blue, Toffee Crunch
Extras:  Twine, Wooden Skewer, Embossing Folder Houndstooth Cutttlebug

WMSC106 Afternoon Tea

 
Happy Saturday!  Are you ready to play along with the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge?  This week's design is brought to you by Sandie Dunne.  Sandie's style is lots of layers and embellishments so I hope I do her proud with this one!

I made this bright tea party invitation with lots of extras.  The beautiful cotton crochet lace is from Waltzingmouse.  Underneath that I layered some pink grosgrain ribbon to peek through the lace.  I love how all the different Waltzingmouse stamp sets work together so beautifully.  The label from the Florentine Frippery set alongside the Afternoon Tea tag just look like they were meant to be together!  Here's a close up of the little satin bow topped with a fancy button and a little bitty gem.....

Thanks for having a look!  I hope you find some time to play this week.  You might just be the next Top Mouse or even with a free set of stamps!  How awesome would that be?  For me it is a great way to see what all my good bloggie friends are up to!  Hope to see your creations on display there! 

Hugs!
Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 5" x 7"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Florentine Frippery, Afternoon Tea
Dies:  Cheery Lynn Italian Flourish, Spellbinders Labels 25, Scrapyland exclusive Fluted Labels
Paper Anna Griffin, Papertrey Ink Raspberry Fizz, Vintage Cream
Ink:  Stampin Up Mellon Mambo
Cotton Lace:  Waltzingmouse Stamps
1 1/2" Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/4" Pink Satin Ribbon
Mulberry Rose:  The Ribbon Reel
Twine My Mind's Eye Lime Twist (Thanks Cathy!)
Gem
Button Papertrey Ink

Serendipity - Garden Challenge - Butterfly Bush

Hi and welcome to the Serendipity Stamps Blog Challenge!  This week our challenge was "In the Garden".  Well that is an easy challenge using Serendipity Stamps - they have so many gorgeous flowers and garden scenes to choose from!  You can see all the different garden stamps here.  The sale of the week is 20% off all the stamps in the animal category which includes butterflies & insects, wild forest animals, under water creatures, birds, and domestic animals like horses and rabbits.  You can see them all here.  Sale ends on July 16.

For this challenge I decided on a summery Butterfly Bush.    Butterfly bush is aptly named because it's bright color and rich aroma attract a bounty of butterflies!  I have a yard full of flowers and plants and this is one that I have tried to grow so many times to no avail - so I covet it from afar!  So glad I have this stamp I can pull out any time and enjoy!  

I stamped my image and colored it with Copic markers.   I mounted it with pop dots for dimension and then added embellishments like twine, ribbon, flowers and my sentiment!  I hope that you will stop by the other Serendipity Stamps Design Team Members and see what they came up with for this challenge.  You can jump to their blogs by clicking on their names listed here alphabetically.

 Amy Cokley

Sue Eldred (ON VACATION)

Jenny Gropp

Miriam Napier

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Jeanne

Supplies Used:  Finished Size:  5" x 7"

Stamps:  Serendipity Butterfly Bush, Sentiment Oh Happy Day!

Dies:  Spellbinders Labels 6 & 25

Paper:  Basic Grey Kissing Booth Collection "I Do"

Solid Paper:  Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Royal Velvet, Plum Pudding

Twinery Twine Orchid, Button Papertrey Ink, 1/4" Pink Organza Ribbon, Mulberry Flowers The Ribbon Reel,

Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Sweet Plum

Markers: Copic