New Look to the Blog and My First Ever Facebook Party

Hey everyone! Don't touch that mouse! Yes, you are in the right place! I just rejuvenated my blog over the weekend, with a new look and a new banner! I still have some tidy up work to do, but I'm really happy with my new banner. It was actually water-coloured by my daughter, Jaimie, and features my new logo - the Papercraft Cat!

 For longtime readers of my blog, you'll know that my cat, Pickle, is a papercrafter. Every night she will go down to my craft room and pounce on her prey, usually a stray piece of cardstock or a random sheet of Dimensionals, and bring them up to deposit them outside my bedroom door, announcing her victory with a loud meow, the cry of her people! Pickle is the reason my team is called the Papercraft Cats, and my Customer Loyalty Reward Points are called Papercraft Cat Reward points - or Pickle Points for short!! Pickle often likes to take part in my classes, by visiting each class member, jumping on their chairs the minute they get up to go to the Big Shot, and generally wanting in and out the door all night! Well, not quite that bad, but she can really be a brat sometimes!

Anyway, please let me know what you think of the change, and if it will be successful becoming my new brand!

My First Ever Facebook Party

Tonight I will be hosting my first ever Facebook Party! I hope you will tune in at 8 pm PDT and party along with us.  Just click on this link to find the event on Facebook. There will be demonstration videos, lots of great games, prizes and I will post a video showing you how to make this card:

Please invite your friends, because the participant who invites the most people who actually participate, will get the Host Rewards from all the orders placed. This is great timing, as I'm sure you all have Wish Lists as long as your arms from the new 2016-17 Annual Catalogue! To be eligible, you must place an order yourself, and be identified by the guests you invite as the one who invited them.

Here are some of the prizes:

Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper, Desk Calendar/Post It Note Holder, Gold Metallic Baker's Twine, and Sahara Sand Lace Trim.

May 2016 Paper Pumpkin Kit

A $50.00 Gift Certificate is the Grand Prize!

Hope to see you tonight at 8 pm PDT!

As You See It Pastels

It's Friday morning over here at As You See It Challenges, and time for Challenge #011.  This week, Amanda has given us a pastel colour challenge and here it is:

What a gorgeous combination!  But I always think spring when I see pastel colours, which is a nice break from all the Christmas and winter cards I've been doing lately.  Here's my sample:

• I just got a new stamp set, Gifts of Kindness and I thought it would work well with this challenge.  
• I love that the flowers are polka-dotted, don't you?  Blushing Bride worked well for those.  I tried adding some embellishments to the flowers, like buttons, candy dots and pearls, but nothing really worked so I left them plain.
• I did add a little snippet of Pistachio Pudding Ruffle Stretch trim, so it wouldn't be too plain.

• I really like some of the sentiments in this stamp set, but my favourite one is "My shoulder is yours...". It says it all.
• Some Pistachio Pudding Fancy Fan DSP from the In Colour Designer Series Paper Stacks creates a great flag in the back ground.
• The So Saffron cardstock has been embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.
• You can see a White Tea Lace Doily peeking out from beneath the sentiment and notice the Pistachio Pudding In Colour Boutique Detail highlighting the sentiment as well.

I can hardly wait to see what you do with this colour challenge!

Stamps:  Gifts of Kindness (w130441; c130444)

Paper:  In Colour 2013/15 Designer Series Paper Stacks (130136); Pistachio Pudding (131294), Blushing Bride (131198), So Saffron (105118) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Blushing Bride (131172) and Pistachio Pudding (131177)

Accessories:  Tea Lace Paper Doilies (129399); In Colour Boutique Details (130938); 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim in Pistachio Pudding (130020)

Tools:  Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (117335)

 2013-2015 In Colour Designer Series Paper Stacks

Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Gifts of Kindness Stamp Set

In Colour Boutique Details

Aurora Borealis

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)?  For the first part of my life, I had always wanted to see them but was never lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.  After we moved to the Okanagan Valley,  we have occasionally been witnesses to this eerily beautiful natural light display.

It's as spectacular as these photos make it out to be.  I can imagine that the ancients had some interesting tales and  myths surrounding this phenomena.






When we were at the Creative Escape Retreat three weeks ago, I learned how to do the Northern Lights Technique from my up-line, Desiree Spenst, and I immediately had to try it out.

• Although not really authentically Northern Lights shapes, it still give a beautiful effect.
• You begin by sponging a random assortment of colours on Whisper White cardstock, die cut with the second-largest Deco Label Framelit.  You cover up the paper, starting with the lightest colours (here I used Daffodil Delight) and ending with a darker colour such as Rich Razzleberry.  I used Pear Pizzazz and Tempting Turquoise as well.  
• Then you take a really dark colour like Midnight Muse and begin to cover up the other colours, leaving little bits of them showing, trying to achieve that curtain effect.  
• You continue the process with Basic Black and sponge the bottom in more darkly for the ground.  To be honest, it didn't look like much at this point.

• Using the Lovely As A Tree Stamp Set, I inked up the images in StazOn Jet Black and stamped them as silhouettes on the background.  I varied the level where the images started to create depth.
• It still was kind of ho-hum, but what really brought it alive was using the White Stampin' Chalk Marker to create little pin points of light that could be stars or falling snow.  It's important to keep the dots randomly spaced, not an even array.  If you have the dots in the foreground, it looks like snowflakes.  If you keep them in the background, between the images, they look more like stars.
• Add a matte cut from Basic Black cardstock with the largest Deco Label Framelit and mount it on Rich Razzleberry for a "rich" contrast.  
• I used a little strip of Modern Medley DSP and a bit of Soft Sky 1/2" Seam Binding ribbon to give a backing for the sentiment, which is from More Merry Messages stamp set.
• The shape for the sentiment was created using an Oval Framelit and trimming the top and the bottom to give straight lines.

You'll have to give this a try yourself.  Let me know if you'd like a video tutorial.

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree (w128655; c127793); More Merry Messages (w126400; c126402)
Paper:  Modern Medley DSP (126926); Whisper White (100730), Rich Razzleberry (115316) and Basic Black (121045) cardstock
Ink:  StazOn Jet Black (101406); White Stampin' Chalk Marker (132133); Classic Stampin' Pads in Daffodil Delight (126944), Pear Pizzazz (131180), Tempting Turquoise (126952), Rich Razzleberry (126950), Midnight Muse (126860) and Basic Black (126980) 
Accessories:  1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon in Soft Sky (131210)
Tools:  Deco Labels Framelits (130102); Ovals Collection Framelits (129381); Stamping Sponges (101610)

Deco Label Framelits

Lovely As A Tree Stamp Set

More Merry Messages

Ovals Collection Framelits

Stamping Sponges

StazOn Jet Black

Chalk Marker

Modern Medley DSP

Illuminate the Holidays

Just a very quick blog post today, as I am preparing to leave tomorrow for my Rising Star trip.  I wanted to update you on some family happenings.  First, I finally completed a crib quilt and crib skirt for my youngest grandson, Wyatt.  Poor little guy has been in his crib for a while now without any special bedding for it, so I was so relieved to have it finished and sent away to him.  Here's how it looks:

Second bit of news is that I'm going to be a Grandma again, twice over and both within 3 days of each other in May 2014!  I know my girls like to do things together, but this is a bit much!  I mean, where do I go? Who do I help?  I guess we'll have to play it by ear. Here are their creative birth announcements:

How cute are those?

I wanted to share with you my last swap card for the Rising Star trip.  It is a version of this card, so you can watch the video tutorial for advice on how to make it.  It is an illuminated easel card that features a vellum window through which you can see a flickering battery-powered votive candle! (Don't use a real one! lol)

• This card features the new Endless Wishes Photopolymer stamp set which I absolutely LOVE!!  It was so easy to use and get perfect placement of all the images.  
• I used gobs of silver embossing powder on this one!
• I like the combination of Midnight Muse and Coastal Cabana.

• There's a little closer look at the "stop" that keeps the easel in place.  I used a verse from the stamp set, Christmas Messages, found in the Holiday Mini catalogue.

• Here you can see that it folds flat for mailing.  But how you're going to fit that battery-powered votive in the envelope, I don't know!

Well, I've got lots more to do before I go so I'll post again from Salt Lake City!  Thanks for dropping by.

As You See It Rustic Christmas

Can you believe that over at As You See It Challenges, we've done 10 challenges so far!  It's been so much fun and this week's challenge is a great one:

I decided to choose colours and techniques to make a rustic Christmas card:

• I seriously love the combination of Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede, with Very Vanilla as a buffer and a little Old Olive for accent.
• My favourite DSP of the season is used here:  Season of Style
• The tree image from Special Season was inked in Old Olive and I tried tap-dancing with my Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write marker on the stamp before stamping it on the paper, to add some depth and extra colour.

• Everything is sponged in Soft Suede to add to that rustic look, and the Antique Brad also lends a rustic air.
• The sentiment is from More Merry Messages, which is still available to order even though it is not in the catalogues.
• Our Pearl Basic Jewels are white.  The red is added by colouring the pearls using a red sharpie marker. 

And that's all there is to it!  Great sketch, Amanda!

Stamps:  Special Season (w131766; c131769);  More Merry Messages (w126400; c126402)

Paper:  Season of Style DSP (132340); Soft Suede (115318) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Soft Suede (126978) and Old Olive (126953); Stampin' Write Marker in Cherry Cobbler (119681)

Accessories:  Pearl Basic Jewels (119247); red Sharpie marker; Antique Brad (117273)

Tools:  Stamping Sponges (101610);  paper snips (103579)

More Merry Messages Stamp Set

Pearl Basic Jewels

Season of Style Designer Series Paper

Antique Brads

Special Season Stamp Set

Stamping Sponges

More Victorian Cones

Cones were often seen on Victorian era Christmas trees, full of glittery decor items or filled with candy and toys for children.


Here's a quick and easy project for you that will give you a creative edge in your holiday decorating: another cone design, this one using Soho Subway DSP:

• This was another project completed at the Creative Escapes retreat a couple of weeks ago.
•  It features a rolled flower made with the pattern on the flip side of the print DSP.  I punched out a large scallop circle and cut it in a spiral shape until I reached the center.
• I rolled it up starting at the outside edge and rolling until I reached the center.  A quilling tool makes this super easy.
• A few glue dots on the last of the spiral creates a base to adhere the rolled flower to.  An alternative to this is a Jumbo Sticky Round, cut to the right diameter.

• I added a smaller scallop circle underneath the rolled flower.

• Some sponging and some Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon complete this easy project.  

•  Here's a link to get the template for the cone. It's easy to roll into the right shape and Sticky Strip keeps it in place!

There you are!  Easy Peasy!  Go crazy!!

Paper:  Soho Subway Design Series Paper (130140) 
Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Soft Suede (126978)
Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler 3/4" Chevron Ribbon (130012); Jumbo Sticky Rounds (127852); Sticky Strip (104294)
Tools:  Stamping Sponges (101610); 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch (118874); 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch (119854)

3/4" Chevron Ribbon in Cherry Cobbler

Jumbo Sticky Rounds

1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch

Soho Subway DSP