PaperFections

CHA People

I was fortunate enough to spend time with some of my favorite people: (Above) Saturday night was SplitcoastStampers.com Cupcake Reception and the chance to meet up with several of my Dirty Dozen Design Team Alumni friends. From left: Debbie Olson (my roomate this trip!), Jenn Balcer, Taylor VanBruggen, Lori Craig, Jami Sibley and me. These were most of the girls that came to visit me in November. Sunday, the first day of the show -- Jenn Balcer, Daven & Lori Craig from SplitcoastStampers.com got a hands-on tutorial at FLOWER SOFT -- a really neat product that I can't wait to try out! Debbie Olson demonstrating and teaching a make-and-take at the JustRite Stampers booth. She had the morning shift and I had afternoons. My sweet friends Joy (left) and Cami (right), together with their partner Kimberly at their absolutely adorable Our Craft Lounge booth. Sunday night dinner with the SplitcoastStampers.com Dirty Dozen Design Team (current & alumni) -- good times! Monday night dinner was provided so graciously by my friends Daisy & Joy from Eclectic Paperie. They had invited TIM HOLTZ (along with his entourage) sat at the table behind me! Me & Beth Silaika -- such a sweetheart. It... Read more →

Faux Carte Postale

A vintage postcard is the first thing I thought of when I saw this beautiful Webster's Pages paper. I say paper, but it's actually a very heavy printed cardstock. My sweet friend, Cindy, carries the Webster's Pages line in her store, StarLitStudio. The floral bee pattern was cut from the lower portion of this striped piece of Reflections of Nature 12-inch paper and repositioned on the top part of the paper, to make my 4.50" x 7" card. I know that's an odd size, but I wanted to use all of this pretty pattern! (If you click on the red hyperlinked text above, you can see the whole piece of paper and that might explain things better!). The card base is a very deep purple/eggplant (WorldWin's Deep Groovy Grape). I cut the card's mat using the new Inverted Scalloped Square Nestabilities from WorldWin's Medium Groovy Grape and pieced them together so I would have enough to go all the way around the border of the card. The faux postage was created with an Inchie Arts White Inchie Square. I stamped Lockhart Stamp Company's Itty Bitty Lavender on it by inking the top of the lavender with Memento Grape Jelly Dew... Read more →

CHA Winter Product Releases

Some new products I was intrigued with from Winter CHA: RANGER -- new fillable/refillable markers for their alcohol inks: I got to watch Tim Holtz demonstrating these up close but was so enamored, I forgot to take a photo! I guess after my buddy, Lisa Strahl, filled an empty Copic marker with Alcohol Ink last summer, Ranger figured they should make their own markers! The markers are sold empty, so you can fill them with whatever Alcohol Inks you may already own. You can also custom mix your own colors or fill one with clear blender solution, for some really neat effects. If you like TIM HOLTZ Grungeboard, you'll love his new Grunge PAPER: Gives a LOT more possibilities, I think -- I can't wait to try this! ART INSTITUTE GLITTER -- For a girl who loves sparkles, I was in heaven here! This gorgeous tree had exquisite butterflies made from their Fantasy Film and glitters (you may be able to see all the sparkle better if you click on the photo for a larger view): A gorgeous heart made of their Fantasy Film: I wasn't aware they also carry beads and fabulous vintage glass glitters ! I also got... Read more →

CHA Winter Paper Releases

Here were a few of my favorite paper lines at CHA: WEBSTER'S PAGES had two beautiful new releases for Winter CHA, designed by company co-owner Brandin O'Neill: Magical Wishes (above, left -- fabulous for babies, little girls or Spring) & A Sweet Life (above, right -- will be wonderful for boys or Summer) -- gorgeous as always! Both new collections will integrate nicely with their existing line, as well, since a lot of the papers use some of these same colors in them. (Above): Also new are die cut cardstock stickers and alphabets, VELLUM (that someone was so kindly pointing to!), and more new 12" calendar pages. A fabulous new Spring Whimsy trim collection (or available by the roll): Below, left: Vellum Journaling Cards (new), 2008 mid-season releases Hello Beautiful & Old World Journaling Cards, along with Mini Calendar Journaling & Original Journaling Cards (lower shelf) -- I love these petite sizes of their wonderful patterns, packaged in clear CD cases! In fact, I have some and hopefully will have a new project with them soon to share with you. Webster's Magnetic Expressions are not a new product, but after being able to see them in person, I was better... Read more →

Stamp Giveaway Winner!

Hello from CHA & southern California! I let Random.org choose the winner of the Rummage Bin stamp set, Winter Signage, and it chose: Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 156 Timestamp: 2009-01-26 15:40:01 UTC And that was: 156. I love those stamps! Congrats on your Anniversary, your blog is wonderful. Posted by: Karen M | January 24, 2009 at 03:43 PM Congratulations, Karen -- please email me your mailing address and I'll get your stamp set sent out to you as soon as I return home! I hope to have some CHA sneak peeks for you, but I forgot to bring my camera cord so we'll see what I can work out about that! Thanks again to you all who visit here and have over the past 2 years -- your wonderful comments always mean so much to me! --Sharon Read more →

Blog 2-Year Anniversary Giveaway!

Are you ready for one more blogging anniversary giveaway? How about some more rubber! Do you think some warm wooly mittens and peppermint candycanes to stir your hot chocolate, will help to keep you warm on your Winter sleigh ride? LOL! If not, perhaps you can make something with this great stamp set (Winter Vintage Signage) by the Rummage Bin for Cornish Heritage Farms, courtesy once again of Ellen Hutson LLC! For your chance to win this stamp set, please leave a comment below; one per person, please. You can enter up until Monday, January 26, when I'll let Random.org choose one lucky winner. Thanks so much for visiting with me over the past 2 years -- I greatly appreciate it! Best of luck! Read more →

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge Anniversary!

Today Taylor is celebrating the one year anniversary of her Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge! Each of the ladies on the Weekly Cupcake Crew has designed their own sketch for the celebration. I'm featuring Jackie Pedro's sketch challenge. You can check out the sketch on her blog, see her sample, and find out about the prize you can win by participating! Please be sure to visit these ladies who are also sampling this sketch: Denise Marzec, Jenn Diercks and Tammy Hershberger. For my card, I decided I wanted plain cupcakes (not a kissing couple), so I inked just the cupcake outlines (from the Love is Sweet stamp set) with Memento Tuxedo Black and stamped onto Choice Buttercream cardstock: They were colored with these Copic markers: R20, R29, E25, E27, BG10. Star Dust Stickles covers the cupcake icing and heart. I die cut the cupcakes with Classic Oval Nestabilities and the large circle with Classic Circle Nestabilities. The papers, brads & ribbon I used are all from Taylored Expressions' Valentine Key Ingredients kit. That cute sentiment is also from the Love is Sweet stamp set and I swear the ribbon matches the paper in real life -- it's just super glittery and... Read more →

JustRite CHA Sneak Peek

By now, you've probably seen a few sneak peeks of some new products JustRite Stampers will be introducing at the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show beginning this Sunday, January25th. If not, you can head over to the JustRite blog and take a look at the announcements they've been making this week (and more to come!). I'd like to show you one of my favorites, and long awaited -- the new LOWER CASE Times New Roman font! Just like the upper case fonts, the new lower case font comes in 25, 50, and 95 point font sets, to easily combine with your current upper case fonts. Edited: I used the "medium" 50-pt font on my project. Also debuting is a Vertical Wood Stamper. I used the two together and intermingled the words I wanted to stamp on my project. The letters and words were easy to line up. This new stamper is 1.50" wide and 5.50" tall -- the perfect size for a card front or brag/scrapbook page. My project could easily be translated into a scrapbook page, since it is an 8"x8" frame. I found this great wood frame with the heart cut-out at Michael's for $1 . .... Read more →

Get Well Set

First of all, if you are reading in a reader, I hope you'll come take a look at how I dressed my blog for Valentine's and let me know how you like it! With flu season upon us, I thought this get well set might come in handy to cheer someone up or help make their sick time a little easier to endure! This set came together fairly quickly, with the help of coordinating notecards from My Mind's Eye. The card uses Karen Lockhart's Robe (#4002), which I stamped onto a coordinating notecard, added a little orange Copic marker, cut out and adhered to an oval cut with Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities. The "...get comfy, rest and feel better..." sentiment is also by Lockhart Stamp Company. The scalloped border was created with Long Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities. Machine zig-zag stitching on the far right sentiment strip gives a little added interest: The envelope on the top right holds a packet of instant soup. The envelope was created by simply machine stitching thesides and bottom of the notecard together, leaving the top open to slip the soup in. A tab was created for the top of the soup packet with a tag... Read more →

Project Preview & Giveaway Winner

First of all, I have a project to share with you, using one of Karen Lockhart's new stamp releases, Violet Cupcake: I used CPS #99 (turned horizontal) for the layout. I hope you'll join me over at the CLASSroom, to see some paper piercing tricks I used on this card, and to get the full details on how I created it. On to my giveaway winner . . . I hope you all will forgive me, but after reading through all of your comments on the entry for this giveaway, one in particular stood out to me. So I decided to forego letting Random.org choose the winner and I chose this one . . . I think (and hope!) you'll understand and agree with me, after reading her entry. Paula wrote this in her comment: ============================ 29. Happy 2nd Anniversary! Love those sentiments. I had collected loads of stamps, bought tons of paper and envelopes, visited wonderful blogs like yours, had just about gotten my courage up to try my hand at the craft and then lost in all in Hurricane Ike. Hubby is trying to get me to try again as we dwell in one room until our home... Read more →

Another Blog Anniversary Stamp Set Giveaway!

I feel the need for another blogging 2nd-year anniversary month giveaway this weekend -- how about you?!! This fabulous unmounted Birthday Centers stamp set by Mona Lisa Moments for Cornish Heritage Farms is what you can win, compliments of Ellen Hutson LLC. All you need to do is leave me any kind of comment on this post (by clicking on the green "comments" word in the footer below this post). One comment per person, please. The contest will remain open until Monday, January 19, at 8am CST. I'll let Random.org choose the winner and announce it later on Monday morning. Thanks for helping me to celebrate my 2nd year of blogging -- I really appreciate all who visit here! Edited: Comments for this giveaway are now closed; the winner will be announced shortly. Read more →

Origami Box Tutorial-Teacher Gift Set

This week's Try a New Technique Challenge over at SplitcoastStampers.com was an origami box that I thought I'd try out since it looked fun. If you click on the hyper-linked green text above, that will take you to where you can download the template you'll need in order to fold & make this box. The thing the instructions don't tell you is that you need to make ALL of your folds, after the first two, go to the center of the paper. Here's a link to an online video that may make the instructions a little easier to understand. Starting with a 12" piece of cardstock or paper will yield a 5" square box, 2" tall. I decided I wanted to use this box as a Post-It note holder for a teacher gift so after many tries, I figured out the formula to downsize this box to 3.50" square that will hold a 3" square stack of notes (math is NOT my strong point!): Start with a 9.75" square piece of cardstock or paper. It will be a little under 1.75" tall. Here's the box, open, so you an see the construction a little bit better: That first link above... Read more →

Shady Chocolate Iris Sneak Peek

I know that title sounds a little strange, but Shady Tree Studio is a brand new line of stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms that will be released this Thursday and Ellen Hutson will have them in her store on January 15. I've shown you how I applied the White Colored Pencil technique to these images over at the CLASSroom -- I hope you'll join me there! You'll also find gorgeous creations with the Shady Tree Studio stamps there by Debbie & Ellen already and a few more on the way this week! Note: I'm having trouble receiving my RSS feeds from the CLASSroom. I don't know if it's just me, but if you also rely on RSS feeds for your blog updates, you may want to check the CLASSroom for any posts you may have missed. Ellen is checking to see if the trouble may be on that end. Thank you all so much for your very kind comments on my Spellbinders new die reveal projects. You still have until midnight tonight, January 13, to enter for the chance to win the die I showed you plus the other 7 previously-revealed dies from Spellbinders! Please see the details in THE... Read more →

Spellbinders Blog Frenzy: Day 8

Hello and welcome to the 8th day of Spellbinders Paper Arts' Winter release of die template previews. You are half way through the frenzy, are you enjoying the previews? Today I am excited to share one of my favorite die templates from this release! If you are new to my blog, I invite you to browse through all of my other projects that use Spellbinders dies by clicking on "Spellbinders" over in the right sidebar of my blog under "Categories" or "Photo Albums". Spellbinders is celebrating their 5th anniversary with 16 days of sneak peeks and drawings for each of the die sets that is introduced. At the end of the day tomorrow, there will be a drawing for the die I am showing you today AND ALL the previously revealed dies during the Spellbinders 5-Year Anniversary celebration. That's right, you have the chance to win the die I'm previewing today, along with the SEVEN previously-revealed dies and you have until 11:59pm CST tomorrow, January 13, to enter for this giveaway! NOTE: Commenting on this post is certainly welcome but does not enter you into the contest. This contest is sponsored directly by Spellbinders Paper Arts. Please look for the... Read more →

Floral Stamp Giveaway Announcement

I apologize for some of you not being able to leave a comment for this giveaway. Typepad is having some known issues with commenting and is working to correct the problem. If you emailed your entry, I factored those entries into the other numbered comments when counting to Random.org's selected number/winner. The winner for the Cornish Heritage Farms Victorian Floral backgrounder stamp, courtesy of Ellen Hutson LLC is: Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 54 Timestamp: 2009-01-12 04:57:51 UTC And that is Nicole, who said: ============================================= 54. I really love yellow and pink roses, but I used to live somewhere else that had these viciously vibrant fragranted white roses, and I loved smelling those all the time, they were wonderful! Thanks for the opportunity to win! Nicole Posted by: Nicole | January 10, 2009 at 10:20 PM ============================================== Congratulations, Nicole, I also love pink & white roses! I've sent you an email -- if you don't see that, please email me through the link at the top of my page under my photo. I'll will tally all your votes sometime soon and let you know your top favorites! In the meantime, this is what your favorite flower says... Read more →