VSN Feb 2011

I made TWELVE cards for this past weekends VSN over on Splitcoaststampers. I kept joking that my eyes were bleeding. In all seriousness, I like participating in VSN (virtual stamp night) because there are so many challenges/sketches/ideas, etc. It's a great way to get out of your comfort zone.

For me, I spend an eternity on ONE card!! So, to really get down to it and spend 45 minutes per card?!?! Wow. That's hard work. You have no clue how hard that is. The challenges aren't that tough it's getting the planning and everything else just "so", you-know-what-I-mean? But, I did get the twelve cards made, and even though some I like better than others (and one I kinda hate), I really enjoyed VSN.

My favorite part, though? I got to spend a few hours doing a virtual stamp-chat with one of my VERY favorite people, Leslie aka The Crooked Stamper. We made a few cards online together before it got too late for her and she wasn't feeling too wonderful to begin with. I really had fun, Leslie, thank you. xo

Now. My cards!















THERE!! That's ALL twelve. Hey, it could've been seventeen!! Consider yourselves lucky. :D If you want to see the supplies that I used, please click the link to my Splitcoast gallery over on the left hand side. Then you can see each card individually. :)


All my best,

Jingle Belles Gets Sketchy!

Wow...I am sooooo late getting to this challenge. Cutting it so close and I definitely didn't want to miss out on the chance to play along with Sketchy Thursdays!

Check out this sketch:




How could I NOT play? And because of the lovely Sketchy Thursday ladies we get a little extra time to Jingle Belle this week so please play if you can. Submissions close tomorrow night at 10 PM EST. So get busy!! (Don't be a slacker, like me!)

Here's what I did this week:



I think I'm making up for last weeks "No red.." with a TON of red!! :D But, even if I do say so myself...I kinda love this card. Love the colors and I love the little felty roses. I would totally go overboard adding more "fussiness" to it, but I had to show restraint.

Hope ya'll can dig it.

Now off ya go...get sketchy with your bad selves.

{Supplies:
Paper: Cardstock (SU), DP (Basic Grey) (My Minds' Eye)
Ink: Distress Ink
Stamps: Daily Designs Sentiments (PTI)
Die-Cutting/Embossing: Rolled Flower & Crochet DieNamics (MFT), Petite Circle & Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Die-cutting/Embossing Machine - Cuttlebug (Provocraft)
Accessories: Adhesive pearls & satin ribbon (SU), Pearl stickpins (Jenni Bowlin)}

All my best,

My Altered Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!!

So, today in lieu of just making a cute, sweet, or fun card for my sweetie I decided to make him something really unusual and something that is a bit more reflective of how I feel.

ALTERED ART!!!

I don't do this nearly as often as I should. I really love delving into getting seriously messy.

So here is what I made him (EVERYTHING is Tim Holtz, aside from the dew drops, the canvas & the Multi Matte Medium which is Claudine Hellmuth).



I'm hoping he loves it as much as *I* loved making it for him! :)

Wishing you all lots of love...today & always.

All my best,

"No Red, She Said" - Jingle Belles, Week 7

Wheeeee! I am so honored and excited to be a Guest Designer for the lovely ladies over at Jingle Belles this week! WOW!! Seriously, I am over the moon with joy and happiness. If you hear any unexplained laughing and giggling from somewhere...it's probably me.

So, the idea that I presented to Lauren & Stef (as you probably already know) was "No Red, She Said". It's soooo easy to get all caught up in the traditional "colors of Christmas". But, what if you challenge yourself to make a really un-traditional Christmas card? Using absolutely NO red...at all? Or, heck, what about no green while you're at it? And use colors that you typically wouldn't associate with Christmas...like BLACK? Shocking idea? Or insanely brilliant? MWUAHAHHAHHAH!!! Hmmm...maybe you shouldn't answer that.

I really wanted to break out of the Christmas color mold, make a really yummy card and still make it look VERY Christmas-y. Hope you think I succeeded!



I had to show a close up view because (once again) you just can't see all the shimmery goodness of the card from my lack of photography skillz. It is just so super pretty!

There's lots of technique-y stuff going on, but the chipboard letters are painted with black acrylic paint (let dry...duh!) then coated with glossy accents (let dry again!) then just certain parts are glossied again to add the glitter. Pretty! To do the background of the tag: stamp with black archival ink first, then work all your different distress inks in your coordinating colors. Then spritz the whole thing with Perfect Pearls mist (or mist of your choice. You can also mist first and let it set before stamping/inking). (I know that I was inspired by a tag that Tim Holtz did, but I totally did mine in a different way.)

I hope that you'll all play along this week...and ALL the weeks!! HAHHA!! It has been SUCH a joy for me to play along and be challenged by this wonderful group of FAB-U-LOUS-LY gifted gals. Click on the Jingle Belles banner at the top of this post or on my left side bar to be taken to their home page. *mwah*

{Supplies:
Paper: Cardstock (SU), Manila Tag (freebie - not sure where it came from)
Ink: Archival Black, Distress Inks (Ranger)
Stamps: Music Background (Hero Arts)
Paint: Black Acrylic Paint (Adirondack - Ranger)
Color Medium: Perfect Pearls, Heirloom Gold (Ranger)
Gloss Medium: Glossy Accents (Ranger)
Accessories: Chipboard Letters, Button, Bell (Tim Holtz - Ideaology), Pearls & Rhinestones, Twine (SU), Crinkled/Hand-died Seam binding (Nicole Maki)}

All my best,

Jingle Belles Week 6 - Baby it's Cold Outside

JoWeek 6 of the Jingle Belles! Yippee!! And I'm a teensy bit late to the party. I think I may just be squeaking in under the deadline. ACK!! But, I love playing along, so I had to gather up some stuff to play this week, it's just so fun. :)

The prompt was "Baby It's Cold Outside" - "make cards or tags that include ... scarves, mittens, hats, ear muffs ... or some fuzzy warm felt (or perhaps all of the above if you are so inclined)".

Would you believe I don't have a single stamp with a scarf, mitten, ear muff, or a winter-type hat on it?!?! HOW IS THAT HUMANLY POSSIBLE?! *rolls eyes* I went out and BOUGHT some cheap-o felt today, just so I could play this week. I kid you not. I am really lacking in the winter-y supplies I have come to realize. Please don't judge me when you see Christmas cards with the Easter bunny on it, m'kay? ;)

Anyhoo...back to my card! I found some really cute Doodlebug Designs paper a few weeks ago at some little scrapbook store I happened upon, so (of course) I bought it. It's bright, & very, very UN-me. :) Also it's very, very shimmery. It kinda made me happy. I like that in a paper. I used that paper as my main focal point, if you will, then threw a bunch of other stuff together. Used a felt snowflake, and a couple of felt scalloped pieces on the sides. Ohhh! And I found an awesome sticker sentiment and the little snowman, too! He's wearing a tie. Close enough. ;)



I stink at getting all the details in a photo so here's a close-up of all the prettiness in the card:



COOL, right? :) The green scalloped piece and the white sparkly scalloped piece are both felt, as well as the snowflake. Not a ton of felt, but it's some. I could wrap it in felt, if anyone wants it. Heehee.

So, that's my card! Hope y'all like it. I promise to hit everyone's blogs & comment soon! :)

{Supplies:
Paper: Cardstock (SU), DSP - Winter Wonderland & Goody Goody Gumdrops (Doodlebug Designs Inc.)
Stickers: Sentiment, snowman & bells (Little Yellow Bicycle)
Felt: All felt (including snowflake) Creatology
Die-cutting/Embossing: Simply Scallops Die-Namics (MFT Stamps), Petite Circle Nestability (Spellbinders), Die-cutting/Embossing Machine - Cuttlebug (Provocraft)
Accessories: Rhinestone (Recollections), Baker's Twine (from Tim Holtz event)}


All my best,

Tweet, tweet! A Valentine's Card That's "Just My Type"

I love Twitter. This is no surprise to anyone who reads my blog or knows me. I really, really LOVE Twitter. It is a source of conversation, of finding like-minded souls, a place to vent, and to express my creativity. Thank you, Biz Stone.

So what is my post today all about? It's how Twitter brought someone to me who needed a card. Someone who wanted ME to create something special for someone they love. How cool is THAT? I mean seriously, that is an honor. To be entrusted by someone else to convey their expression of love? Wow.

My Twitter friend, Mari, is a writer. She and I e-mailed a few times and we had something agreed upon, but...THEN I remembered I had "Just My Type" by Lawn Fawn and I KNEW that I had to use that set for her card. It's just so perfect. After getting her okay I went ahead with the design. I love how it turned out. (I did some paper-piecing so some of the sweet swirls of the type-writer legs, well, I cut off. Sorry.)



Pretty tweet, I mean, sweet, right? ;)

It's absolutely, outrageously, GORGEOUS here in the Bay Area (in the mid 70's!!!), so Eddy and I are going to Napa tomorrow. Yay! Who cares about the Super Bowl? Pfft. Heehee! Wishing you all a really wonderful weekend. :)

{Supplies:
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Naturals White, Blush (SU!), Irresistible... Bouquet, Candy Stripe; Flowers For You (My Minds' Eye), Red Glitter Paper (Best Creations Inc.)
Ink: Black (Memento)
Stamps: Just My Type; Just My Type, Too (Lawn Fawn)
Die-cutting/Embossing: Petite Scalloped Circles; Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles, Small (Spellbinders), Paper die-cut (My Minds' Eye), Die-Cutting/Embossing Machine - Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft)
Accessories: Linen Thread (PTI)}


All my best,

Winner Winner! And a HUGE Thank you!

You all are sooooo awesome!! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!! You made me so incredibly happy on my birthday. :)

I know you really wanted the twine (I'm not dumb!), but it was nice to read the really great birthday wishes that I bribed you over here with, too. :D Thanks so much for supporting me and my little 'ol blog, for following on Facebook, for tweeting, and for sharing. You are all the BEST!!

Now, I did have the task of picking one winner. Only one. Wish I would've had more sampler packs. Maybe another time. :)

But this time the winner is:



And comment #56 belongs to....



CONGRATS LAUREL!!!

Don't use all that twine in one place, ya hear? E-mail me over there on the right with all of your details!

Hope everyone has a really wonderful weekend. :)

All my best,

Yay! Birthday Giveaway!! :)

COMMENTING CLOSED!! - Thank you to all who entered!

I just love to give stuff away on my birthday!! And what could possibly be more FUN than....

A COMPLETE SAMPLER'S PACK FROM THE TWINERY!!!

Incluuuuuuding the 3 brand-spankin-new colors of Honeydew, Blossom, and Charcoal!




Aren't these colors delicious?! And can't you see yourself just wanting to use them for EVERYTHING under the sun?! I KNOW!!!

So here's the scoop on what you, my lovely blog readers, Facebook followers, Twitter friends CAN do to enter for a chance to win, okay? (Each item is an additional entry):

1. Leave a comment here (how easy is THAT?!)

2. Leave a comment on your own blog, OR Facebook ...with a link back here (so I can see...either one or the other, not both, please.)

3. Become a blog Follower. I know it's a little tough to see, but at the VERY top of this page there IS an option to "Follow" it's on the left, above the header. Let me know if you did that. I do know who my current blog followers are through Blogger. If you choose to follow through Reader, please let me know that as well, as that is also highly encouraged. Heehee! ;)

4. Retweet the following on Twitter : Fun birthday giveaway from @papergrace_dsgn . Go here to enter http://www.papergrace.blogspot.com/ . (I ♥ Twitter!)

That's it! FOUR FABULOUS CHANCES TO WIN! For this...my 44TH birthday. Gads. I'm old. HAHHAH!! Oh, well. ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Oh! And the giveaway? Will close in... FOUR DAYS! :) So at midnight on February 4th. (If I can stay up that long. If not, the 5th. Ha!)

**edit: Some of you have been saying you've posted a link on Facebook, but have not left links! Please, please, please leave a link back here. I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!! :)


All my best,