Project Life Gets Paper Pumpkin Organized!

Yesterday, I was "Pinteresting" . . . and came across this brilliant organizational idea by Connie Stewart of Simply Simple Stamping (simply click on her blog name and that will take you to see her post, though you may want to finish reading here first! ;)  ).  Connie took her Paper Pumpkin photopolymer stamps and organized them beautifully into a 6 x 8" Project Life Album!!!   

Well, I just happened to have one of those and some pages for it sitting on my desk, and so, I had to give Connie's idea a try!!  I gathered my stamps, most of which were tucked into a Wood Mount Stamp case (a great way to store them, too, except that my stamp case was getting a bit overcrowded, and it turned out that  a fewof my stamps were still hiding in their Paper Pumpkin boxes, some of which were hidden under other papers and projects -- gasp!  I know I need to do some serious craft room cleaning and organization, so this was a great start toward getting that going!)  

I also happened to have a print out listing each kit's name, month, and coordinating colors for the original project, which just needed a little updating, and then I was able to make a nice reference slip to go in the pocket with each stamp.  

Here are the photos so you can see how my Paper Pumpkin organizer turned out:

The ribbon on the front cover is a sneak peek from the Holiday Catalog -- that's from the 1/8" Real Red and Garden Green 1/8" Striped Ribbon Pack.  

Extremely happy with this!!!  Just holding the binder and turning the pages makes me smile!  Thanks so much for the great idea, Connie!!!

If you'd like to order supplies to create your own organizer, please let me know or follow the links below to my online store.  (I'll even send you a "Paper Pumpkin" label for the spine of your binder as well as the slips so you can label your stamps as a thank you!)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!!!

- Michelle

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Screen Divider Cards for Baby

Happy Tuesday!  Today's cards were created for some newly arrived bundles of joy!  This style of card is called a Screen Divider card, and they are super-fun to create and decorate.  

My cards were inspired by this fabulous card by Liz Marcucci, which I'd received in a swap:

(Liz actually created the striped paper in the background on her panels as well!!!  She gave her Stampin' Write Markers quite a workout in doing so, but I think it was totally worth it!  I love this technique and am looking forward to trying it.)  Thanks for the inspiration, Liz!

And, thank you for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

P.S.  Don't forget to check out the new weekly deals posted today!  You can see them by clicking here.

And here is the supply list for my cards:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Convention Gifts: Double Treat Bag and Goody Box for Marlene

Hello!  My boys are back to school today, and I'm back to blogging!   Here are some more projects from Convention.  Specifically, this is a treat bag I created for my friend Marlene, using the Mini Treat Bag Framelits.  This treat bag is special because it is a double bag!  I'm hoping to have some time soon to make a video to show you exactly how I made this, but in the meantime here are some photos of it:

I also finished the insides of the swap cards I gave to Marlene, and here's how those turned out:

(You can see the front of this card in this post)

(And, the card front for this one is in this post).

I wanted to create a special box for the swaps and goodies I had for Marlene, and it turned out that a Paper Pumpkin box was just the right size!  I turned the box inside out, then used some English Garden Designer Series Paper to line the inside.

I closed it and tied some of the Mint Macaron Lace Trim around the outside, but alas, I don't seem to have remembered to take a photo of that part!  Sorry about that!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Supplies used on Treat Bag and to alter the Paper Pumpkin box:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

July Paper Pumpkin: Thanks a Latte!

Hi Everyone!  I'm getting settled back in after our family vacation to Washington, D.C.  We had so much fun visiting the sites in the Capitol with the boys.  Hard to say what was the favorite place we visited, since everything was impressive, but I think the boys favorite museum was definitely the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  The exhibit with the Hope Diamond and other rocks is so amazing and fabulous, and the boys enjoyed seeing the animal and fossil exhibits there as well.  

I did manage to get some posts scheduled and up while I was away, but this is the first chance I've had to pop in since we've been back.  Thought I'd share with you my creations from the July Paper Pumpkin kit:  Thanks a Latte.  I didn't deviate too much from the kit's instructions in making my cards:

I had so much fun making these and have been seeing so many fun alternative ideas on Pinterest (you can check out my Pinterest board for this kit by clicking here, if you'd like).  I actually ordered a couple of the refill kits so I can make some more of these and possibly have a class with this kit.

If you'd like to join in on the Paper Pumpkin fun, be sure to click here to learn more or sign up!   Subscribers can purchase past kits -- you can see what's currently available here (some are retiring soon, so be sure to get your favorites before it's too late!).

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

Convention Gifts: Flower Earrings

Here are more gifts that I made to give to friends at Inspire.Create.Share 2015 (Stampin' Up!'s Convention).  These are earrings created from the new In Color Blossom Accents (I glued posts to the back and pearls into the centers), and there is one set of earrings made with the Something Borrowed embellishments (from the Occasions Catalog this spring):

Here's a close up of one of the sets:

And, I decorated the back, too:

The earring holders are made using card stock cut with the Lots of Labels dies.  After die cutting, I made two score lines, each about a 1/4" from the center of the die cut and folded on those lines.  I punched holes through each end and tied with some gold ribbon.

I stamped the holders with images from Butterfly Basics and Wild About Flowers (don't you like how the Blossom Accents fit perfectly on the stems from that?!).

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Convention Gifts -- Sweet Treat Gift Bag

In addition to cards to swap, I created some special gifts to give out to friends at Convention.  This stamped bag was inspired by a sample I'd seen in our demonstrator magazine, Stampin' Success.  I happened to have some of the Mini Muslin Bags around, and they were so fun to stamp!  I inked up the Definitely Dahlia in Blackberry Bliss and added the dots from Watercolor Wings in Mossy Meadow:

On the other side, I stamped the dots again, plus some butterfly images from the Watercolor Wings set (those are in Watermelon Wonder and Blackberry Bliss):

I decided the bag needed a cute little tag to go with it, too:

I layered pieces of Very Vanilla and Blackberry Bliss that were die cut with the new Lots of Labels Framelits.  I stamped the Dahlia in the background (Blackberry Bliss, stamped off once), and the greeting is from the You're So Sweet set.  The little flower is punched with the flower from the Itty Bitty Accents pack and has a pearl jewel in the center.  The tag is tied to the bag using the new Blackberry Bliss 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon.

The bags were filled with some chocolates (Ghirardelli minis -- a favorite in my house right now!)  

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

Supplies for this project (you can click through to order any items you'd like from my online store)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sneak Peek: Jingle All the Way and More!

Not too long after returning home from Convention, I received this box of sneak peek goodies from the upcoming Holiday Catalog that I'd been able to order while there (what a fun perk for Convention attendees!).  

If you look closely, you might also notice a few things in there from the Annual Catalog, like Metal Rimmed Pearls, that I'd run out of while preparing swaps and wanted to make sure I'd have on hand . . . .

Anyway, here is my first creation with these new goodies:

There are actually four sneak peek items on this card!  The die cut images were created with the new Sleigh Ride Edgelits.  The greeting is from the coordinating Jingle All the Way stamp set (available in a bundle with the Sleigh Ride Edgelits -- yay!)   The snowy background is the new Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  And, the beautiful embellishment near the greeting is one of the new Iced Rhinestone Embellishments.

I used Whisper White and Night of Navy card stock for this card, and Night of Navy ink.

Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Sneak Peek: Tag made with Happy Scenes and Curvy Corner Trio Punch

When I was at Convention, I was able to try out the cool new Curvy Corner Trio Punch.  Here's a piece that I'd punched with it:

This piece shows off one of the two corner styles you can create with the punch.  The ribbon slot at the top can be lengthened by repeated punching, so that is a neat feature, too.  I look forward to trying that out when I can get my hands on a punch of my own!  

After returning home, I decided to finish up my tag, and here's how that turned out:

The trees and snowflakes are images from the new Happy Scenes stamp set, stamped with the new Basic Black Archival Stamp Pad (good stuff!).  I added Dazzling Details after stamping, though probably should've waited until after sponging on the color for the sunset and snow since the ink dyed the Dazzling Details a bit.  (I used So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party inks for that).  So, if I make more, I'll know better!

I added a bit of Whisper White Cotton Ribbon at the top:

Wouldn't this be a fun Christmas tag?  Or, perhaps a focal point for a card?  Hmm . . . lots of possibilities!

Hope you like the sneak peek!  Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Sneak Peek: Convention Make and Takes

I still can't believe Convention has come and gone!  So much fun and excitement preparing for and enjoying it!!!  So, hope you'll indulge me as I continue to share about it!  Today, I thought I'd show you the make and takes we created while we were there.  

The first two are cards made with the Your Presents stamp set, which all Convention attendees received, and which will be available to order when the Holiday Catalog goes live on September 1st!  (If you are here in the U.S., don't already have a demonstrator, and would like me to send you a catalog, please let me know either by leaving a comment on this post or emailing me using the link in the sidebar.)  Anyway, the Your Presents set is so versatile.  We used it first to make a holiday card:

And, then, to create this birthday card:

If you look carefully, you can find that the "kissing" technique was used on the present on the joy card (to add the stripes to the package image) and on both the Watermelon Wonder plaid present (stamping stripes first in one direction, then reinking and rotating the image to get stripes in the other direction on the solid square image, then stamping that -- hmmm, hard to describe in words, this is one of those times when a video would be much better -- will have to work on that!) and the Mint Macaron present has an image with arrows/trees kissed on it.  We were able to play with some fun new ribbons and a new type of glue when we made these, and I can't wait to get my hands on that glue!  I know you'll love it, too . . . it's perfect for attaching sequins, thin strips, and other detailed pieces!

The other make and take we created using products from the Home for Christmas suite:

I just adore the Santa on the designer series paper in this Suite!  It was so exciting to get a package as an all attendee giveaway (thanks, Stampin' Up!  Whoo hoo!!!):

Convention attendees were able to do a special preorder of some items from the Holiday Catalog, and you can bet that the Cozy Christmas stamp set used on the Santa tag, the beautiful Very Vanilla 1-1/4" Subtle Stripes Satin Ribbon, and Home for Christmas Designer Buttons (Real Red Poinsettia button on the tag) made it onto my order (along with some other fun new stuff!!!)

Can't wait to show you more!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle