paper is love

Waving Hello Card

Hey there! I hope your week (and month!) got kicked off to a good start yesterday. I'm so excited that April is finally here and hoping that warm temperatures are soon to follow. I think my yearning for spring is starting to show up in my paper crafts. :) Check out this card I made for Paper Smooches using the new Wicked Nauticool stamp set:

The waves, sentiment, birdie and wheel are all from the set. I just adore this one. It can go so many ways. I also used one of the Hot Spots dies to create a little star border (perfect for nautical cards, don't ya think?). I wanted to create a beachy/summery look with the colors I chose and I think I achieved that.

Do you find yourself gravitating toward certain color schemes depending on the time of year? Or do you have your favorites year-round? Just curious. :)

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the new April releases from Paper Smooches!

Paper Smooches March Blog Hop Winner

Hey there! Happy Easter! I'm popping in (like the Easter bunny, I suppose!) to announce the winner of the Paper Smooches Blog Hop!

I used Random.org to choose a winner:

Congratulations to Mary Rose! She'll win the First Aid Kit stamp set!

Thanks to everyone who participated and thanks for all of your sweet comments! 

Paper Smooches March DT Blog Hop

Hey there! It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches April stamp release with you!  Six NEW stamps and SIX new dies will be available to purchase at 12:01am, Eastern time...on April 1st.  You will find them HERE

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize!  Just leave a comment on any of the eight design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of our new dies!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify)  You have until midnight MT on Friday, March 29th to leave a comment.  Please check all design team blogs on Saturday, March 30th to see if you are one of the lucky winners.

Check out the Paper Smooches blog to see a peek of the new dies

Emily Leiphart

Heidi Van Laar

Kalyn Kepner

Karolyn Loncon

Kim Kesti

Laura Bassen

Laurie Schmidlin

Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post

2. Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop

3. Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop

4. Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

 Today, I'm sharing a card using the new First Aid Kit set. This is just so cute and is perfect for a sick friend or relative. And knowing how many sick people I encountered this past flu season, I think we should all be stocking up on this set for next year. Doctor recommended. :)

I stamped a fun background with two of the bandage stamps and then used a decorative frame die to make a focal point. I stampd the sentiment in the middle and added a cluster of stamps and embellishments. Below that, I added a piece of washi tape and trimmed part of a brand new die from Paper Smooches that you'll see released this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by and joining in the hop with us! Good luck in winning a set!

March Dies from Paper Smooches

Hey there!  Just thought I'd pop in to share two of my March projects using the newest dies from Paper Smooches.

I absolutely adore Kim's word dies in her handwriting. This is definitely a trend I'm seeing in the paper crafting world and I think her script is just the perfect addition. This "get well" card uses the bandage stamp from the Healthy Vibes set (one of my favorites).

Then who doesn't love dies to coordinate with stamps? It saves so much time that would have been spent fussy-cutting and gives them that crisp white edge that makes every image look clean and flawless. For this dino card, I wanted to create a pattern and a texture, so I glued down all of my dinos and popped the focal one up with foam tape. On Kim's blog, she said this would make a good baby card and I totally agree. Just switch out the sentiment and voila!

That's it for today! Stay tuned for a ton of new fun stuff coming from Paper Smooches - you're going to love the next release of goodies, I promise. :)

Card Creations 11 Winner

Hey there! Hope you're having a fantastic week! I'm popping in today to share the winner of the Card Creations Blog Hop! I used Random.org to choose a winner:

And the winner is...

Congrats, Denise! I'll be e-mailing you shortly. Thank so much to everyone who participated and of course a big thanks to Paper Crafts magazine for including me on this hop!

Have an awesome, crafty weekend!

Paper Crafts magazine Presents: Card Creations Vol. 11 Blog Hop

Hey there and Happy Friday! I'm pretty darn excited that the weekend's here and even more excited that I'm posting today as part of the Card Creations 11 Blog Hop! Card Creations is my favorite annual issue from Paper Crafts magazine and I just know this year's will be no exception. Check out the fun cover:

Makes you just want to dive right in, doesn't it? Loving the bright colors and graphic treatments on those cover cards. High fives to the 3 talented designers who grace the cover!

For this hop, each designer chose one of the downloadable sentiments from the issue and created a project with it. You can find the free, downloadable sentiments on the Paper Crafts website. 

Here's what I created with the "hello" telephone sentiment:

 

 

I printed the sentiment/design twice; once on white cardstock and once on the gray patterned paper. Then I trimmed the telephone from the white cardstock and separated it from the "hello" piece. I had so much fun creating this funky card. I dove into my Studio Calico card kits from the last 6 months and really just had a ball. Sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and just play, right? Too many patterns? Nope. Too many doo-dads? No such thing. Just go with it. 

I cannot wait to see what the other designers on this hop came up with, so let's get going, shall we? But before you leave, don't forget to leave me a comment for your chance to win your own free copy of Card Creations Vol. 11! You have until Tuesday, March 12th at midnight to leave a comment. I'll post the winner the next day.

Now you're off to visit Alice Wertz! And if you get lost along the way, here's the list of all the designers:

Angeline Yong Jeet Leen

Jocelyn Olson

Kalyn Kepner (you are here!)

Alice Wertz

Jaclyn Miller

Kimberly Crawford

Cristina Kowalczyk

Emily Leiphart

Karolyn Loncon

Rachel Izakowicz

Rae Barthel

Sarah J. Moerman

Happy hopping and thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to check out Card Creations 11 on newsstands, at your local bookstore, craft store or online right HERE. Have an awesome, crafty weekend!

Paper Smooches February Blog Hop Winner

Hey there! I've got another Paper Smooches Blog Hop winner! This winner will win the adorable sailboat die set! I used Randon.org to choose a winner:

And lucky number 60 is...

 

Congratulations, Lisa! Be sure to e-mail me (paperislove@gmail.com) with your mailing address so that I can pass it along to Kim and she can get your dies out to you as soon as possible! 

Thank you all so much for playing along and for you super sweet comments! They made my weekend! 

Teri and Friends Blog Hop Winner

Hey there! I've got a winner from the Teri & Friends Blog Hop! I had so much fun playing with Teri's stamps from Technique Tuesday and I'm pretty excited to share a set with you! I used Random.org to choose a winner:

 

And lucky number 21 is...

Congrats, Linda! I'll be e-mailing you to get your mailing address so you can receive your new set! 

Thanks for everyone who hopped along and for your sweet, sweet comments! They made my day!

Paper Smooches February DT Blog Hop

Hey there! What a week for blog hops, right? I have to say they're definitely my favorite posts to read and write. I love seeing how multiple designers tackle a similar product in such different ways. So, on with the hop! 

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches March die release with you!  Six NEW dies will be available to purchase at 12:01am, Eastern time...on March 1st.  You will find them HERE

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize!  Just leave a comment on any of the eight design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of our new dies!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify)  You have until midnight MT on Friday, March 1st to leave a comment.  Please check all design team blogs on Saturday, March 2nd to see if you are one of the lucky winners.

Check out the Paper Smooches blog to see a peek of two die sets that coordinate with the Cuteasaurus stamp set!

Emily Leiphart

Heidi Van Laar

Kalyn Kepner

Karolyn Loncon

Kim Kesti

Laura Bassen

Laurie Schmidlin

Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post

2. Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop

3. Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop

4. Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

On this card, I showcased the sailboat die. All of the die cut pieces you see on this card come in the set (and one other piece that I didn't show!). The sentiment is from the Get Outta Town set (one of my all-time faves). 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Keep hopping along for a ton of fantastic projects from the other DT gals! 

Teri and Friends Technique Tuesday Blog Hop

Hey there! Hope your week got off to a good start yesterday. My Monday was pretty darn good besides the whole left-my-cell-phone-at-home thing on the day that the world decided to call and text me. I had my charger with me though. So...good thing I didn't leave that behind. :)  So now with my trusty phone by my side, I'm starting the week anew and really excited to share in this fun blog hop! 

Blog hops are always fun for me, but today's might just be a bit extra special as it's celebrating the release of new stamps designed by the one and only Teri Anderson. Teri is not only an uber-talented Go to Gal and crafter extraordinaire (some have even called her a stamping "genius" and that someone was me and I'm a very credible source, thank you very much), but she's also one of the most genuine and sweet people you'll ever meet. I had the pleasure of finally meeting her in person at this past Winter CHA show and it was kind of like being around a long-time friend. She's just so easy to get along with and a joy to be around. I'd love her stamps even if she wasn't an awesome gal, but heck, she just is.

So let's check out the project I made using her Totally My Type stamp set. Be sure to check out this set and her other 2013 releases on the Technique Tuesday site HERE. You can also find them at the major online stores like 2Peas, Simon Says Stamp and Ellen Hutson!

I stamped the typewriter in a light green color to make a subtle background then stamped it again in a bright turquoise and popped it up as my focal point. I was testing out the heart stamp on scrap paper when I realized how cute it looks stamped a second time without re-inking. So I created a little heart cluster by stamping hearts twice without re-inking to give them more depth. Then I topped off the card with one of the adorable sentiments and I was done! 

Now to continue on with the hop! You should have arrived here from Joy Taylor's blog. And now you're off to Donna Bowman's blog! If you get lost along the way, check back at Teri's blog to find your way.

And what would a blog hop be without prizes? Still fun, but not AS fun. That's for sure. :) I'll be giving away the Big Thanks set which you can check out HERE. It's definitely one of my faves. To win, just leave me a comment on this post by Friday, March 1st and I'll choose a random winner! 

Thanks for much for stopping by and joining in the hop today!