Leftovers Again???!!!

When my kids were still at home, I would often try to use left-overs from roasts and chickens and pasta meals for subsequent meals, but I could only get away with it on a limited basis before the cry would arise, "Leftovers again??!!!" followed by a groan of gargantuan proportions! But it was a real money saver to be thrifty with our food, and well worth the effort and the complaints!

Right now, you may have bits and pieces of left-over DSP and cardstock and they just sit there and never get used and the pile just builds. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, if you purposefully look at using them up you can create all kinds of useful and beautiful things.

I always have a need for Thank You cards, as I try to include one with every order I deliver. I used to create 3 x 3 cards, but have since started using our Note Cards & Envelopes for the job, and that is what I've used as the card base here:

• I dug out what was left of the retiring In Colours, so these are colours you can't buy any more, but perhaps you have some leftovers, too! In this case, I used Crisp Cantaloupe and Coastal Cabana as the background panel.
• I had only a small amount of the Something Borrowed left over from the Occasions Catalogue. Again it is retired and you can't order it anymore, but I'll bet you have some of it in your craft room, and if you have small pieces, this is the ideal project for them.  You can copy this design with any colour cardstock and matching DSP you want, really.
• I used one new item and that is the Triple Banner Punch to make the flagged ends in the banners.  I tried out the two biggest widths on the punch 2" and 1 1/2" for these banners.

• Finally, I used up some old embellishments, the Rosette Trim from the Artisan Embellishment kit in the Occasions Catalogue and the Something Borrowed Embellishments. You can no longer order these either, but this is a good way to use up your leftovers!
• I stamped the greeting from the Petite Pairs Stamp Set in Sahara Sand ink.

Here's a piece of good news! If you join my team in June you will get your choice of two free stamp sets in your Starter Kit! That's on top of the already great deal you get when you join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator! Normally, you get $155 worth of any current product you want for only $125, but with this promotion, you can add on up to $120 depending which stamp sets you chose. (A few stamp sets in the Annual Catalogue are worth $60 or more!) 

"Why would I want to join Stampin' Up!?" you ask.

And my reply is, "Why would you NOT want to join Stampin' Up!?"

If you had planned to spend over $100 on all the new and awesome products in the new Annual Catalogue, then you should sign up. You have nothing to lose and lots to gain. You can get your products at a minimum 20% discount! You can join a network of wonderful people who love to do what you love to do! You can have early access to new products! You can earn stamp sets and MONEY! If you don't want to sell and you don't make your minimum for the quarter, you simply drop. You can sign up again at any time with the same up line, and if you are a dropped demonstrator, we welcome you back! In fact this is a pretty great deal to get back in!

If you want to give this a try, go to the top menu and click on Join My Team and follow the prompts, or do the same here:

Join My Team

Or you can contact me with your phone number, and I'll help you through the process. Will you be the next member of my Papercraft Cat team and earn two free stamp sets?? I hope so!

Back from Zihuatanejo with February's Paper Pumpkin and Alternatives

Well, I am back home again after a wonderful vacation in Zihuatanejo, Mexico! It was probably one of my all time most relaxing weeks ever and I have come back really refreshed and looking forward to sharing more papercrafting projects with you, including today's projects brought to you by February's Paper Pumpkin.  Thanks for sticking with me after a quiet couple of weeks.  

Here are some photos of my wonderful week in Mexico:

Downtown Zihuatanejo

Our Club Intrawest Resort

Me and the hubby on the beach

Looking down on the pool area.

Another view of downtown Zihua!

Here's what awaited me on my return home:

So I decided that my project to share with you would be February's Paper Pumpkin and my variations on it.

This is the project as Stampin' Up! intended, and it was easy to complete using the handy directions in the box:

The kit comes with the kraft envelopes that you assemble yourself!

I decided to try and do a different theme besides "Thank You", so I chose birthdays:

• For this design, I added Retro Fresh washi tape for a bottom border and got out the Sale-A-Bration Stamp set called Big Day for the birthday images and sentiments.  I used the same colour scheme of Daffodil Delight, Pool Party and Tangerine Tango.
• By the way, the H is for Happy Birthday and the I is for ice cream.  I made the I from one the the Ts by cutting off the edges. I was pushing it, I know.  I was trying to come up with birthday words using the felted letters from the kit, which are all the letters in the word 'THANKS'. I was drawing blanks, big time!  What words can you come up with using those letters? I decided I would just used single letters that would have some significance, however slight, hence the H and I.

Here's the final design I came up with last night:
                                                                                 

This one is a wedding card design, with the additions of Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper, the Something Borrowed Embellishments, and Your Perfect Day stamp set. I used Sahara Sand and Pool Party for the simple colour palette.

Here is the envelope I designed for this card:

This uses the paper doilies and Pearls from the Artisan Embellishments Kits, and some Sahara Sand Lace Trim.

Now, I want to let you know that buying a 3 month prepaid subscription to Paper Pumpkin, which is 

on sale right now for $68.85, will not only get you the delight of creating some great papercrafting projects for the next 3 months, it will be enough to earn you a Sale-A-Bration reward as well. You can order this through me.

                        

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 Stampin' Up! products used to make this card today!

Product List

Big Day Clear Stamp Set [139112]	Big Day Wood Stamp Set [139109]	Retro Fresh This And That Washi Tape [133001]	Your Perfect Day Clear Stamp Set [138853]	Your Perfect Day Wood Stamp Set [138850]
Your Perfect Day Photopolymer Stamp Set [137160]	Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper [137785]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [126944]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982]
Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad [126946]	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [126976]	Something Borrowed Embellishments [137855]	Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim [137866]	Glue Dots [103683]

Painted Petals for As You See It Challenges

Happy Friday, everyone!  It's time for As You See It Challenge #072 and this time around it's a colour challenge and one for which I've chosen to use our new watercolour stamp set, Painted Petals! Here's the lovely colour choices thanks to Desirée, one of our designers!

Just before we take a closer look at my design, I just want to say how disappointed I am not to be in Orlando at the Stampin' Up! Leadership conference this year and I want to say hi to all my fellow demonstrators who are attending.  I'm watching the live streaming from home but it is just not the same. The reason I'm not attending is because I just became a Grandma again and I wanted to be home for my daughter when she gave birth so I could help look after her three year old, so I think that more than makes up for not going to Leadership, but I'm definitely planning to go to Convention in June and I want some of you to come with me! It's such an amazing time! More on that later!  Let's take another look at that card:

• I wasn't entirely sold on the Painted Petals stamp set when I first saw it, but after playing with it a bit, and after seeing some of Shelli Gardner's Leadership projects using this set, I am glad I ordered it. Here I've stamped two different designs of flowers, one in Calypso Coral, and stamped again without reinking, and one in Crushed Curry. I added a couple of leaves in Pear Pizzazz.  
• I really love the sentiments in this set, though. What a true statement this is, particularly if you have really close friends.  Sometimes they are closer than family.
• The background DSP is a favourite of mine and comes from the Sale-A-Bration reward, Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper.  You can earn this package of 12 sheets of 12 x 12 designer paper for just spending $60 in one order during Sale-A-Bration (Jan. 6 - Mar. 31, 2015).
• The small doilies in the Artisan Embellishment Kit fit this card perfectly and I used Chevron ribbon in both the Challenge colours, along with ribbon from the Best Year Ever Accessories kit (another Sale-A-Bration reward) to make the flags.

I'm looking for up to 5 people to join my team and become demonstrators during Sale-A-Bration! The benefits are almost too numerous to mention and, at the very least, you can get 5 months of 20% discounts on the Stampin' Up! products you love. If you join during Sale-A-Bration, you get to choose either a free Simply Created kit from the Occasions catalogue or 2 free Sale-A-Bration rewards. You get to have an early look from the new Annual Catalogue in June and the chance to pre-order before anyone else, and you will still be eligible to go to Convention in Salt Lake City in July! All for just $125.00!

I'm planning on taking a minimum of 4 other people with me when I attend and I want YOU to be one of them!  We would have a blast!  What have you got to lose? To join my team, simply click on this link and follow the prompts, or email me your contact info and I will guide you through it.

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

Painted Petals Clear Stamp Set [138822]	Painted Petals Wood Stamp Set [138819]	Painted Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set [137146]	Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper [138633]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131199]	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983]	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173]	Pear Pizzaz Classic Stampin' Pad [131180]	Calypso Coral 3/4" Chevron Ribbon [130018]
Crushed Curry 3/4" Chevron Ribbon [130019]	Best Year Ever Accessory Pack [138634]	Artisan Embellishment Kit [137909]	Punch Corner Project Life [135346]	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246]