Thursday, December 10, 2015

2016 Occasions & SAB SNEAK PEEK!!!

Oh my goodness!!!! This is one of the reasons I LOVE being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator! Not only do we get to see new products coming out, we get to buy them before they're available AND we can even get them free!!! More than half of the products shown in this post I got for free! (But of course, I want it all, so I had to buy more! HAHA!) You want in on the free stuff and fun? Click here.
Now, on to the goodies.
So, I'm still figuring out the video thing, and I realize now I should have zoomed in closer to the product. I'll do better next time I promise. The good news is I'll post pictures here so you can stare at them/drool over them/print them out to hang on your fridge as a not so subtle hint to your favorite gift giver. (You're welcome.)
Remember, unless you're a demonstrator, these products are available starting January 5th. Contact me to place your order! (Or if you happen upon this post after January 5th, just click here.) Also, check back often to see samples made with these products!







Thursday, December 3, 2015

Paper Pumpkin November 2015: Mistletoe & Holly

Thank goodness it's finally December!!! For the last few weeks I have not wanted to TOUCH my Christmas card-making supplies! (It's not as bad as it sounds actually... it's because I've been completely GIDDY over the upcoming Occasions catalog and, of course, Sale-a-Bration!!!) (The most wonderful time of the stampin' year!)  Well, pre-order for demos started TODAY and you better believe my order was placed by 4AM thanks to a little mosquito. It sounds weird, but I'm serious. An actual mosquito was buzzing in my ear. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought I'd make the best of it!) Stay tuned for a fun little box opening video next week! I'm so excited!!!
While I'm off topic, I might as well mention that if you're NOT a demo yet, there IS a way to see (and better yet ORDER, and best yet GET FOR FREE) products from the upcoming catalogs! Starting today, when you buy the starter kit you can choose items from these catalogs! Oh yeah, TOTALLY worth it! Click here for more info on that.
Anyway, so with new products finally making their way to my hands, my Christmas card making has once again taken priority. Luckily, I made a BUNCH of Christmas cards throughout the year (including 18 shaker cards from the To You & Yours Kit) so I'm not too far behind. AND luckily, last month's Paper Pumpkin has all kinds of Christmas cuteness inside, INCLUDING a NOEL stamp!!!! It was love at first sight for sure.
As usual, the cards made following the included instructions are super cute! I might even finish the box up as designed so I can get my cards mailed out in the next week! But, it WAS super fun to play with other Christmas supplies.
Like the Snow Place set:
and the stars confetti punch:

Ooooh and a tip on these block images! I love the white ink, but it was a little....juicy. So I inked up the stamp and then used a push pin to quickly wipe out the excess ink of each letter so they were readable. You'll also notice a little scrap of fun Christmas paper from the Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper. Love that stuff! It's scattered all over my desk with other fun Christmas goodies.  Speaking of goodies, here's a little treat to make life a little easier: your monthly printable case insert. Don't forget to subscribe by email (top right) to get notified at the exact time I post next month's insert! That will ALSO make your life a little easier. We take what we can get, right?
As always, make sure to right click and save as a photo, that will make your printing process so much easier. I can't tell you the specifics of your printer, but you'll just print it as you would a regular full page photo.

Feel free to share with your Paper Pumpkin subscribing friends by referring them back to my website as the source for the printable case insert. Thank you! (And if by some strange reason you yourself have not yet subscribed to Paper Pumpkin, subscribe here!) Thanks again for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the magic of December!

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Beautiful Fall Color Inspiration

Nothing like a little color challenge to get the creativity flowing! Today's inspiration comes from my friend Olivia. Follow her here on Instagram: https://instagram.com/carre_sucre/ She's an amazing person. One of the nicest, sweetest people I know, and so talented!!! Go look at her pictures and be amazed! I saw this picture of hers and was seriously blown away. BEAUTIFUL colors and so unusual for fall!!! I LOVE IT!!!
Photo by carre_sucre on Instagram
Surprising colors for fall leaves right? Do you SEE that Watermelon Wonder in there??? Have you noticed how amazing Watermelon Wonder is yet??? It goes with SO many other colors! You just have to play around with it and try some unusual combos. I promise you will be amazed! It's surprisingly versatile! Here is a card I made using these beautiful colors and fall theme AND last month's Paper Pumpkin! Still dying over the beauty of those sentiment stamps, while I'm impatiently waiting for this month's box of wonder! (Today might be the day! Fingers crossed!)


I totally, on ACCIDENT, switched the Elegant Eggplant to Blackberry Bliss. Shhhh. I bet the card would have been even better with the Eggplant though. It's just a tad brighter, which is what I was blown away with in the inspiration photo! (I know! I feel like I just cheated on my Blackberry Bliss!!! Don't tell!!!) Now go try this unusual Fall combo and let me see what you come up with! I loved the combo so much I immediately stamped it in my planner. Ohhhhhh don't even get me started on stamping in my planner!!! TOTALLY ADDICTED. (I'll have to post more later, but just know that I use the Project Life Stamps ALL. THE. TIME. in my planner! (And yes, I realize that punctuation didn't make any sense, but we do what we can to get the point across. Am I right?)


Here are all the products I used to make this card (except for the fact that the Blissful Bouquet Refill Kit does NOT include the stamps, I just wanted to show you which kit I used! That's the thing with Paper Pumpkin! You can buy refills or sometimes the whole kit you missed out on if you're a subscriber, but it's no guarantee which ones will be available or for how long!) (You should probably just sign up right now so you don't miss out! Just sayin'!)

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Paper Pumpkin October 2015: Blissful Bouquet

I will openly admit I'm not so much a "flower" person as I am a typography or "object" kind-of person (especially if that word or object has anything to do with French, France, or Europe in general). But the watercolor style flower that's in right now? LOVE IT! So when I opened my bright pink box last night and saw this month's Paper Pumpkin stamp set I about died. Not really. But my heart rate certainly went up. In a good way. Watercolor flower images AND pretty words?!? Say whaaaat??? Ok, enough talk. I gotta get stampin'.
Here's the printable insert. (Just remember to save it, then print it just as you would any picture. I just save it as a jpeg and then print it as a full page photo. Sorry I'm not more technical about it, but everyone's computers and printers are so different. Feel free to comment with questions, tips or advice for others.  Also, check out my facebook group. It's a little more interactive. https://www.facebook.com/groups/855463004494076/)


The possibilities with this set are swirling in my head. Here's one card I made REALLY quick with an upcoming wedding in mind. The bride has a thing for peacocks, and these are their colors. The Perfect Peacock set was made for this. Beautiful Perfect Peacock Bouquet... or something like that. I should have done the Watercolor Wash background stamp lighter, but it's still pretty. I softened it a little by adding the flower image from the Paper Pumpkin set in Whisper White as a watermark in the background and then repeated it attached to that beautiful sentiment!

So so so pretty!!! This was also my first attempt with the aqua painters. I love how the silver embossed peacock outlines the watercolored image. Beautiful. Anyway, here are the supplies I used for this card in addition to this months BEAUTIFUL Paper Pumpkin set! I hope you enjoy the card and the free case insert! I should also mention I added a place on the right side for you to subscribe by email! Get new posts delivered right to your mailbox! Thanks again for stopping by and have fun creating with this month's beautiful stamps!

Friday, October 16, 2015

Craft Room Tour (Don't get too comfortable!)

Ah the lovely coveted craft room. Do you drool over all those beautiful, charming, perfectly neat and organized spaces on Pinterest like I do? I love seeing a beautiful space. And I HAVE a beautiful space. An upstairs guest room all to myself. Full of fun tools and supplies, and a fabulous desk space, and lots of shelf space... and you know what? I never use it! Never say never, but it's a rare day when I really AM able to use the space without being interrupted. So, I'm giving it up.
This.

Beautiful.
Space.



It's a beautiful functional space, but it doesn't function so well for me. Occasionally, I can hide-away in my office undisturbed, but most of the time I have a family that needs me. And every once in awhile we DO need a guest room... so, I decided it was time to relocate my office to a main area of the house where I can get my craft on while
still being awesome-multi-tasker-mom.  The man of the house wasn't too excited about all the above being moved into the front room of the house. (I believe my reaction here sounded a little like "you dare doubt my abilities?") I then came up with two presentations. 1- We could spend thousands of dollars and turn it into a dining room/hidden office or 2- I could buy this amazing desk for $100 off Craigslist and it could be more "cozy library" feel. (Either way would have been fine with me.)
We decided on the desk.

(Can you believe this beauty was only $100??? NO I am NOT going to paint it! It's so beautiful!!! I can't wait to organize my toys in all those little cubbies!)

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Paper Pumpkin September 2015: Wickedly Sweet

Ok, first of all, I think I'm always the LAST person on the planet to get my monthly Paper Pumpkin! I see so many of you checking my site for the case insert and I haven't even received it yet! I just got this one 2 days ago, but we ALSO got the flu that day, so pardon the delay.
Anyway, these little treat bags are SO adorable!!! My first thought was it needed a caramel apple inside there, but it would have to be a pretty small apple, and besides, the best part of a caramel apple is the caramel, so candy it is!!!

Usually I try to change things up a bit with the kit, but this month's is all about the treat bag. The stamp set however, is going to make some fun little fall cards! My favorite part is that tiny little acorn! PERFECT to coordinate with that cute acorn punch and set in the Holiday catalog! There are lots of little pieces to the stamp set and I highly recommend playing with different colors of ink to create something unique and fun!


Speaking of unique and fun, my kit was 1 bag short, so I had an extra fringe piece. I'm thinking of turning it into a grass skirt on a card for my sister that lives in Hawaii. Aloha!
Since we're all about gifts with this months kit, here's YOUR gift! A free printable case insert! Just right click and save before in order to print it full size. You can find all the inserts by clicking on "Paper Pumpkin" or "case insert" at the bottom of this post or to the right of the site. Thanks for stopping by!


Monday, August 24, 2015

First Day of School!

We've entered a new phase of life at the Roberts house today. Our oldest started Kindergarten! This day has been looming in the background all summer and in the words of his lil' sis, "Today's the day! Today's the day! It's a big day!" Yes, yes it is.
There will be no more sleeping past 7:00am (boo). No more accompanying Dad on his business trips during the school year. There is one less voice in our house and it is QUIET! and a little lonely. But there will also be one less person piling toys into the grocery cart (uh, it's not all bad!). We're looking forward to a great year, new friends, and I really can't believe my baby is old enough to go to ALL DAY Kindergarten!!!
Luckily, we live pretty close.
(We share a fence with the school playground. Can't get any closer than that!)
(And by luckily, I mean I may or may not have been spying on him during recess. I will not post pictures, but that doesn't mean I didn't take any.)
To show my little guy how proud I am of him, and how excited I am for his new adventure, I made him this card, that we also made at this month's card class. It would also be a great teacher card. I used a lot of green paper for the banner (it's his favorite color), but you could add brighter colors to make it a little more exciting too. Oh my goodness and I haven't ordered any of the schoolhouse DSP yet but it would be PERFECT! That's on my next order for sure.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Paper Pumpkin August 2015: Chalk it Up To Love

Oh. My. Word. These kits just keep getting cuter and cuter!!! Do you agree??? What GORGEOUS paper in this one!!! And those gift boxes!!! Oh the gifting possibilities. Washi tape, Macarons, homemade chocolates, the list is endless. I'm curious what you plan on gifting in your boxes? And those cards.... so shiny and pretty! I hesitate to use this cardstock up, but there's always the refills! Definitely stocking up on this one!
Enough dreaming, I promised you a case insert today, and I haven't had time to play with all that shiny goodness yet. Instead I spent the entire day with my kids. The LAST time before one of them heads off to school! *sniff* Soon I'll have lots and lots of time to create while I miss my little buddy. The kid is going to be showered in paper gifts & cards when he gets home everyday! Not to mention his teacher... (who we met yesterday and is wonderful!!!) She may be the first to receive one of these beautiful boxes...full of macarons...if they make it through my emotional eating...maybe we'll stick to school supplies...really. Anything would look beautiful in there!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Paper Pumpkin July 2015: Thanks a Latte

Oh my goodness these kits are CUTE! I just made a little time today to play with them amidst the back to school craziness! I LOVE the mug from the Thanks a Latte set. I'm not a coffee or tea drinker, but I do love me some hot cocoa! The cards are adorable as is of course, but how festive is that cup of cheer!!! Love it!


Ok so here's the deal with the case inserts... I'm pretty sure the stamp set on the front of the case is not exactly the same size as the stamps. I do apologize for that. Between stamping and scanning and digital tweaking, it's just complicated. If this bothers you, you can stamp a direct image from your stamps onto an index card and adhere it to the front of your cover. I don't mind it because the stamps themselves are clear. I just wanted to give you a heads up so you don't rely on it as far as size goes. Also, since you were SO patient while I enjoyed my summer vacation, I will have this months Paper Pumpkin post ready to go tomorrow! Two in a week! Woohoo!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Garden in Bloom & Natural Elements

I have always loved the Fall season. The warm colors, the cool crisp weather, the hot caramel apple cider, the excitement of the upcoming Holidays. When I was newly married, we were adventurous and moved halfway across the country to a place that knows no Fall. It's all about Summer here...and a little Spring.  (I'm exaggerating a LITTLE.) While I still celebrate much the same way (in lighter weight clothing), things have naturally evolved a little. Lately, I've been REALLY into the black & white & gold trend (LOVING IT!) and wanted to create an end of summer/beginning of fall thank you card. Rather than the traditional brick red, golds & oranges, I went with PINK & golds. That's what having a little princess does to me! And that little princess that loves dragons, dinosaurs and Lightning McQueen inspires me to think outside the box!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I love this day to celebrate the great country I live in and all those people who fight for freedom (wherever they live!) There are so many cute ways to make a holiday memorable. My style is quick and easy. I want to be able to actually ENJOY the day! Last year's 4th of July was FANTASTIC! Patriotic waffle bar for breakfast is a new tradition at our house! The June 2014 kit "Pinwheel Party" made it SUPER easy to make breakfast a little more fun (and festive!)
One of the many perks of being a Paper Pumpkin Subscriber is being able to purchase past kits. This kit was one of my FAVORITES! Even if you don't live in the good ol' USA , this kit is great for a summer party! (Perfect for a Bastille Day party too, n'est-ce pas?)

Here's our FUN & FESTIVE breakfast bar!




 There were enough pieces included that I also made fun little treat bags to bring to watch the fireworks! I had enough pieces left over that we're doing it all again this year!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

No Bones About It!

Does everyone have that stamp set they wish they would have bought but can't get anymore or is it just me? Well, since the new catalog came out, it's NOT me anymore! Anyone remember the old "Prehistoric Pals" set? It was cute. Simple dinosaur outlines, a couple palm trees, cute. It was the set that got away. Lucky for ME (and you!) there's a new set called No Bones About It. It's similar to the old dinosaur set, but BETTER!!! It has dinosaur bones!!! It's seriously adorable. It was the first set on my wishlist this time. I ordered it the very day it became available. That's how much I love it. It will most likely be my most used set of all time. Here are a few samples...
I started off with a catalog case. There are SO many great ideas in the catalog! I took the sample they show and simplified it to one layer for a card class.
The next card was my 5 year old son's idea. He was explaining his idea and this is what I saw. When it was finished, it wasn't what he was thinking at all, so we'll have another go at it tomorrow. I was really happy with this one though. Who doesn't love an interactive card???

 Those leaves are from the Kinda Eclectic set. It's fun to mix completely different sets!
 Fun inside!
Peek-a-boo windows

The last one for today is a gate fold card. I love the idea of combining "rock star" with the dinosaurs. If you stamp and emboss the dino bones in white, when you stamp the dino body you can rub the ink off the bones and make a nice smudge around the edges. I love it. It makes it look like they're really in rock. I'm going to play around with that technique some more.



So what is your favorite stamp set? Or one that you wish would make a come back???

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Paper Pumpkin June 2015: Happy Thoughts

Happy Thoughts indeed! This kit is CUTE! The cards are cute by themselves, but the minute I saw what came in the kit, I couldn't help but think of my favorite time of year... The colors, the banner shaped card bases, stars... you know where I'm going with this, don't you? All I needed to add was some silver glimmer paper. AND after a year of collecting dust I was brave enough to pull out my Silhouette Cameo and put it to use! Long story with that one...I cut things out of vinyl fine, it was cutting cardstock that scared me off. The cutting mat was like fly paper! Little did I know, I should have just started out with the glimmer paper! I placed it glimmer side down on the cutting mat, and ended up adding a little tape to the sides to keep it in place! I'm going to play some more today to see if it's ready for regular cardstock! Oh the things I have planned...
Anyway, back to this month's kit. Some may think it's too early in the year to start thinking about Christmas, but June/July is a GREAT time to start planning so you can enjoy the magic of it all! Plan now, don't stress later! In fact, I usually start my shopping with the after Christmas sales! Little by little I like to knock out my holiday plans. So even though we have a long list ahead of us, Christmas banner? Check!



 (I took these at night and it was IMPOSSIBLE to get good lighting!!!)

Are you ready for your close-up?


To give you an idea of how big it is, here's a full shot of my not-so-festive fireplace. It's only June, I've got time! (Actually, the banner will be hanging on my picture ledges in the front room. That's the room I decorate in traditional red & green. It's all about peacocks and turquoise in this room!)

There are also PLENTY of pieces left over in the kit so I’ll still be able to make lots of cards! I’ll update this post when I get that done. For now, I just want to get this posted because I know y’all are waiting for this month’s case insert! Here you go! Print & organize those shelves!


Friday, June 19, 2015

Adhesive

Let me start by telling you a little story... the first original card I ever made and sent was a disaster. The card itself turned out GREAT, but it didn't arrive safely. All the little pieces that covered the front of the card fell off. I'd like to blame the Houston heat, but let's be honest... it was the adhesive! (Or lack thereof.) Way back then we didn't have fast fuse, and I had used my snail adhesive very sparingly. LUCKILY, this will never happen again, A. because we now have FAST FUSE adhesive (my favorite!!!) and B. I'm a little bit more liberal with my adhesive because of this sad story.

Honestly, I rarely use my snail adhesive anymore. I do bring it out for my monthly card classes, workshops and whenever I'm stamping with a friend, but it's for them, not me. I want everyone to experience the awesomeness that is Fast Fuse! It's quick and easy like snail, but STRONG like sticky strip! So if you haven't fallen in love with this adhesive yet, watch this video for some tips and tricks! You'll never go back.


Monday, June 15, 2015

Paper Pumpkin May 2015: Birthday Bundle

Sorry for the delay,
we were on vacation...and got sick...and then I had an awesome Catalog Kickoff Event... I've been busy. I did manage to put one of these cards together and send it to my sister in Hawaii. (Lucky! I hope she meets Shelli!)
I LOVE this Paper Pumpkin kit!!! (I know, I say that EVERY month, but REALLY. LOVE IT.) It's so bright and fun! Who doesn't need more birthday cards? and BAGS!!! So cute. Ooooh I got so giddy about the stamps this month! I'm a font person. Paper Pumpkin has been full of sentiment stamps, which is awesome, but I have been wanting to see some better fonts. Oh boy did they deliver this month! Love them all! Even the little "to: from:" stamp has some curly Q's on the o's! CUTE! This one's a keeper! So now what you need to do is print out your clear case insert and make room for it on your shelf!

The correct printed size is 5 1/2 inches across the colored banner on top. Click on the image to make it larger and then save it. It should be the right size, but you may have to print a couple testers to get it just right for YOUR printer. (Make note of your settings so you are ready to go next month!) I hope you enjoy this stamp set as much as I do! This is one I will use with lots of different colors and papers and embellishments! It just might be my new favorite birthday sentiment set. :)

I love the gift bags in the kit, but I really wanted to use all the pieces ON the card, so this is how I compromised. Use the pieces, then attach the card to the bag! That way the card won't get lost, and you have the cutest bag EVER!

You can't really tell by the photo, but the tissue paper on this first card was snipped with the fringe scissors and then attached and twisted to look like a streamer. It's pretty awesome in real life. And yes, that is a to/from tag on the card.

 Here is another "card bag". Turning the tissue paper into fun fringe might just be the funnest part of making these cards, and don't worry! There's still PLENTY to wrap your gift with!

Keep watching my Paper Pumpkin Pinterest board for more ideas with this kit. Not even kidding. This is my new favorite!!!