Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Sending Love!


I realized that I'd better get cracking on my Valentine designs! It's one of the biggest card giving events of the year, but it seems like it gets such a short season. Christmas goes for months, but Valentine's get squeezed in in a month and a half. And Stampin' Up! has such cute product suites for Valentine cards this year in the 2017 Occasions Catalogue, which you will be able to order from starting on Jan. 4.

The one I want to show you today is called the Sending Love Suite and it includes the Sealed with Love stamp set** and the Love Notes Framelits Dies** along with the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack**.

**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.

Let me just say, I love the "over-the-top-ness" of Valentine cards, the fancier the better, the more dramatic, the better, so I have only begun to plumb the depths of this Product Suite's possibilities, but I had fun with this one. Let's take a closer look:


  • It's been awhile since I've made a rosette (lolly, medallion,..) and it was fun! I took three 1 1/2" strips from the 6" long Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack** paper, which is all Real Red and White, and scored each one every 1/4" using the Simply Scored. I joined them all together at the ends and then joined the front and the end to make a cylinder.  Remember the old Jumbo Sticky Rounds Stampin' Up! used to sell? Well, I kept some of them, so I used one for this task. I peeled back one of the films and flattened the cylinder to make the rosette shape right on the sticky round, which held it in place right away. If you don't have any of these, a hot glue gun works well too. Use your Silicon Craft Sheet and make a blob of hot glue in the middle, then flatten the medallion so that the center is in the blob of glue on the underside.
  • You need a stabilizing cover for the center front, so I stamped this sentiment from the Sealed with Love stamp set ** on some Whisper White and die cut it with a Stitched Shape Framelit, which will be available again on January 16. I used Fast Fuse, or more hot glue will work, to glue it on top of the medallion.
  • I stamped the lips image on Whisper White and fussy cut it, adding it to the center circle with a Stampin' Dimensional.
  • The background paper is another design from the Sending Love DSP stack**. I stamped the sentiment from the Sealed with Love stamp set** right on it.
  • The adorable little envelopes and notes inside are made with dies from the Love Notes Framelits Dies**. The notepaper inside is made from Sending Love Glassine Sheets.**
**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.



 Only 6 Days Left in this Sale! It's your last chance to get some of the retiring products from the Holiday Catalogue before they're gone for good! Check out what's still left in my OnLine Store  and order online yourself or email me with your order! Don't leave it too long!



Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.


Product List



Sealed with Love stamp set**, Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack**, Love Notes Framelits Dies**, Mini Paper Clips Combo Pack**

**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.

Monday, December 26, 2016

Nailed It on Boxing Day


Good morning! And how was your Christmas? Was Santa good to you? Today is Boxing Day, a holiday celebrated in Canada and in other parts of the Commonwealth. It's origins go back to the days when those in service to the aristocracy, would get a day off after having to serve their masters on Christmas day. They would be allowed to go home to their families and would be given a "box" of gifts - gratuities, clothes, food, etc. to take with them. It evolved into a day to give to the less fortunate - giving "boxes" to charity, but has now, unfortunately, lost all nobler meaning and become a day of after-Christmas sales and corporate glee!

I refuse to shop on Boxing Day, and instead, I took it as it's original meaning. Having served my family the whole holiday season, I refused to move a muscle, took the whole day off and let the hordes fend for themselves! Nowadays, I pass that secret on to my daughters, so they can continue the tradition!!

I have a new product suite to debut for you today! It's from the new Occasions Catalogue that goes live January 4th and it's called Urban Underground. The products I used to make this card are the Nailed It stamp set**, Build It Framelit Dies**, Urban Underground Specialty Designer Series Paper**, Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder** and the Urban Underground Embellishments**.

**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.



  • It just so happens that this card is the subject of a photo tutorial that all those who are signed up to receive my monthly newsletter will receive for free in the January 2017 issue. The photo tutorial contains step-by-step instructions with detailed photos along with a list of all products used and measurements. This card will teach you the basics of Paper Piecing as well as how to use the Dynamic Embossing Folders.
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  • I want you to notice the Designer Series Paper under the hammer and the ruler. It has been embossed using the newest Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder called Hexagons**. This works just the way the Cable Knit Embossing Folder did from the Holiday Catalogue. Learn how to get the deepest impression in my tutorial.
  • Don't you love those manly embellishments? And the dies for the tools? We've been needing these for a long time. These products are going to be your 'go to' ones for all the masculine cards you have to make this spring!
Alright, Ladies! Get out there and enjoy your Boxing Day! Put your feet up! Get your craft supplies out! Do exactly what you want to do today! You've earned it!

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Friday, December 23, 2016

Merry Christmas from Playing with Papercrafting!


Well, the big day is almost here! You've decorated, baked, shopped, wrapped, cleaned, partied, crafted, mailed and spent countless hours getting ready to celebrate! Hopefully, now you'll be able to relax a little and enjoy the fruits of your labours, but experience tells me that you probably won't really get to put your feet up until Christmas dinner is done. I learned to enjoy Christmas amongst the busyness and noise of the season. There have been a couple of years where it was all too quiet and I really didn't enjoy that at all, so appreciate it while you can!

Since this is my last regular post before Christmas, I want to take this opportunity to wish all my readers and customers a very Merry Christmas and to thank you for continuing to be my readers and customers over the years! I hope you all have the chance to celebrate together in peace and love this weekend!

For those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, let me wish you Happy Holidays and extend the same wish for peace and love for you and yours this season!

Let's all try to reach out to someone this season and make it brighter for them. I have a feeling that this next year may be very difficult and we're going to need to stick together and help each other rather than turn against each other. Let's start that right now in the spirit of Christmas!

Here's an illuminated easel card that I made just for this occasion using the Hearth & Home Framelits:


  • I tried to come up with some wainscoting for the wall, by using the Simply Scored tool to score some Whisper White cardstock to make bead-board, but in the end, die cutting the fireplace in the middle took out most of the scored lines and also flattened them a little so it doesn't look half as cool as it did at first. However, I did rescore the lines after die-cutting, the camera just doesn't pick them up very well. This side shot will show you, though:
  • I cut the flames for the fireplace freehand from scraps of Gold, Red and Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper. I used Fast Fuse to adhere them together and then onto the Vellum cardstock that backs the card front.
  • The Hang Your Stocking Bundle has larger stockings, but I noticed that there was one stamp and one framelit of a smaller size that was just the right proportion for the Hearth & Home Thinlits. I stamped one and die cut it and then just die cut another out of cardstock and added some of the decorations from the bundle to it.
  • The mantle decorations consist of evergreen branches made with my old Martha Stewart leaf punch, various holly leaves and poinsettias and trees from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set, which all have coordination dies and 1/2" Circle punched pieces of Gold and Real Red Glimmer Paper.
  • The sentiments are both from the Oh What Fun stamp set in the Annual Catalogue. To see how to make an illuminated easel card, check out this tutorial!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.


Product List