PaperFections

2016 Peace, Joy, and Love!

I have one last project to share with you this year . . . A fun 8" x 10" custom canvas: I used some of my favorite colors, along with glittery gold and silver accents and some fun new products! Here are the easy steps (all bold products are linked below in the supply section): 1. I started with a blank 8" x 10" white canvas and started planning my layout, using Essentials by Ellen Brushstroke Peace, Joy, and Love dies, along with a Heidi Swapp 6x6 stencil: 2. Next, I airbrushed over the stencil with Copic RV55 for the rose and YG25 for the leaves: I added some shading to the rose with deeper RV66 and YG17 to the leaves. 3. Next, I die cut the Brushstroke Peace, Joy and Love words from Tim Holtz Deco Sheets (gold and silver glitter paper), which are adhesive-backed, so I didn't have to worry about how to adhere them to the canvas! 4. Now for the fun ribbon accents -- I used Imagination International's new Hot Ribbon in Silver (which is glittery metallic!) and Honey (which is a pretty bright golden satin!). This ribbon has a heat-activated adhesive on the back that... Read more →

Hello January!

A new year always reminds us of closing old and opening new chapters in our lives. I had gotten away from making my monthly calendars this past year (which had been my tradition since 2007!), but with Taylored Expressions’ introduction of these sweet new Calendar Critters last month, I thought it was time for some more calendars! Here’s January: You can find all the details about this calendar over on the Taylored Expressions blog today . . . I hope you'll join me there! Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Read more →

Curlicue Heart Art Square

With the holidays almost over and Valentine’s Day / Spring weddings on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking ahead! So today I have a sweet love-themed card to share with you. This is Pink Ink’s generously-sized beautiful Curlicue Heart stamp. It measures approximately 2.75” wide x 2.50” tall. I gold heat embossed it onto a white Inchie Arts 3-inch Art Square and watercolored the image with Peerless Watercolors. This sweet detailed image was so much fun to color! To give the image a homespun quilted look, I used Taylored Expressions Stitched Square die to emboss stitch lines into the Art Square, then layered it onto a pinked-edge square dark pink die cut. I love that the Art Square stands up to heat embossing, watercolor, AND dry embossing, all on one project! The image was then layered onto a white card base embossed with Taylored Expressions Swiss Hearts embossing folder. Gold thread was wrapped up and placed behind the image, to resemble a bird’s nest. :) Wishing you all much love in 2016! Pink Ink Wood Mount Stamp, Curlicue Heart Taylored Expressions Dies, Stitched Square Stacklets Taylored Expressions Embossing Folders, Swiss Hearts Inchie Arts Art Squares, 3" White VersaMark Ink... Read more →

Announcement & Year End Deal!

As the year winds down this week, I will have a few last projects of the year to share with you this week. While I'm still working on those, there's an announcement over on the Taylored Expressions blog today that I'm excited about: I'll be returning to the Taylored Expressions Blog Design Team in 2016! You can find the full announcement here, which includes two new additions to the team! I have SO enjoyed the last eight months on the team and am looking forward to 2016! And just in case you may be cleaning out and reorganizing your crafting space over the holidays (like me!), this sale just may help! These are the awesome ink pad/reinker/marker holders and Marker Nook I use in my studio, so I can personally attest to how well all of these holders are constructed out of wood, the quality and sturdiness. The sale runs until Monday, January 4 at midnight and includes 10% off all Stamp-n-Storage products (excluding the Roll-Top Desk). If you don't know where to begin with reorganizing your space, you may be interested in their Starter Kits. If you happen to already have their fantastic paper holders, you may be interested... Read more →

Peace, Joy and Love

Wishing you all Peace, Joy and Love this Christmas Day! Today I'm over in The CLASSroom with this last Christmas card of the season ... I hope to see you there! Merry Christmas! Read more →

Roly Poly Christmas & Giveaway Winner!

Hi, Friends! With school being out soon for the holidays, I wanted to share a fun project that can be created with/by kiddos that I’m sure they will enjoy making (and keep them busy!). These coasters would make great teacher or hostess gifts, too! So get out your adorable Taylored Expressions Roly Poly dies and fabulous 100% Wool Felt and head over to the Taylored Expressions blog today for all the details and instructions on how to make them! AND, there's a giveaway there, so be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win! Also, here's the announcement for the winner of my Ellen Hutson LLC giveaway from this blog post: Random.org chose this winning comment number: Congratulations to #22 Karen Ladd, who said: 22 karenladd said... I love a lot of the same products as on your list, especially my Big Shot and Taylored Expressions products! My wish list includes the Misti, since I've been seeing so many wonderful video tutorials, and I always want new dies! I'd love to try out the Misti, too! ;-) I've sent you an email, Karen -- If you will respond with your mailing address, the warehouse will get your awesome... Read more →

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015

It's that time again ... my favorite post and project of the year! Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom I'm sharing this holiday tag I made for my chosen theme of The Night Before Christmas for our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist! The twist this year is that you get to see inspiration from a guest designer as well, and joining me today is the incredibly talented Jean Manis! Please be sure to head over to our post on the CLASSroom and leave a comment there for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to EllenHustonLLC.com! AND if you try your hand at making your own tag with any of the 12 chosen themes, link it up by Dec 16 and you'll be entered to win a $250 shopping spree! (Full details can be found here). Be sure to head over to the CLASSroom to get the full details on how I created my tag AND to see Jean's beautiful version! Read more →

Things We Love 2015 plus DISCOUNT code and GIVEAWAY!

Hello and welcome to a new feature this year ... “Things we LOVE 2015” with Ellen Hutson LLC! I am so happy to be here sharing some of my favorite papercrafting supplies! Over the next few weeks the Ellen Hutson CLASSroom designers are all sharing the things we love most and just for my readers, I have compiled a list of loves AND I have a special discount code to Ellen Hutson LLC for you to use! DISCOUNT CODE: I am thrilled to share my exclusive discount code for you to enter in the coupon code area of your shopping cart at check-out: “thinkgswelovesharon” will save you 10% on EVERY in-stock product through December 14 over at Ellen Hutson LLC! The discount is NOT limited to just the things I love, but ANYTHING you love, too, as long as it is in stock! (So shop early for the best selection)! HEADS UP: If you have any of the Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies on your wish list, they are currently on SALE, so apply my additional 10% discount code on top of the sale price, for an even bigger savings . . . Happy Holidays to YOU!! :) I... Read more →

Merry & Very Bright!

Taylored Expressions has some fantastic new 3”x4” Watercolor Panel packs, which are pre-printed with 12 different designs, ready for you to quickly color and add to any kind of papercrafting project! These fabulous panels combine two current hot trends: watercolor and adult coloring books! You can use any kind of coloring medium you’d like on these heavyweight textured watercolor paper panels, and I combined two different inks – Copic markers and Distress Ink! I hope you'll join me today over on the Taylored Expressions blog for all the details on how I created this Merry & Bright card, using one of these fun new watercolor panels! Read more →