Fresh Squeezed Stamps: Winter Wonderland

I was so honored when Ryann Salamon, one of the creators of Fresh Squeezed Stamps, asked me to be a guest designer for the month of December. It is always nice to be asked instead of having to apply for a position. Of course I jumped at the chance since I use her stamps all the time and in fact have the entire collection! So I can wholeheartedly endorse the product. If you don't believe me, just check out all the eye candy on their blog. 

The Stamps

Today I'm working with the totally cute winter themed collection entitled, "Winter Wonderland." I always start by using the stamp the jumps out at me the most when I first look at a set. I really liked the rounded shape of the larger tree so that became my starting point. 

The Reveal

I liked the tree so much I stamped it 5 times on three different patterned papers. I also stamped the tree trunk on a darker patterned paper and pieced the tree together. As the focus feature on my card, I added brads to the middle tree to look like ornaments and to draw the eye to the center of the card. 

I adhered a star shaped jewel to the tops of each tree and layered them at different heights using different thicknesses of foam adhesive. 

Since I used more of an outdoorsy winter color scheme instead of a traditional Christmas color scheme, I used the small snowflake stamp in the set to create a snowfall background.

The Fun and Games

Fresh Squeezed Stamps is hosting fun games and contests with free stamps as prizes all month long. This week's game called "Say What?" is to write a caption to a photo they've posted here. This game ends at midnight tonight. But don't worry, there is a new game each Monday on their blog. If you want to keep up with the latest news, check out their Facebook page or Twitter feed. If you are interested in being on their design team, check out their design team call that is going on now. 

I'll be back every Thursday for some new reveals.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Happy Birthday!

Greetings scrappy friends! As I was perusing my embellishments in this month's Fresh Baked Kit, I noticed one of the bingo chips had a 28 on it. Since my sister's 28th birthday occurred this week, the opportunity was too good to pass up. 

I quickly made a card for her to replace the card I already had ready. I picked the bold colors and patterns that I thought she'd like. 

To see the whole project and her reaction, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Popcorn Gift Card Holder with Free Cut File

***For Paper Made Bakery's December blog hop, please go here.***

The Reveal

I was asked to be a guest designer for CutCardstock's 12 Days of Christmas series. Since I love their cardstock and card kits, I readily agreed. As part of the series, there is a cute Christmas gift or gift wrapping idea each day. Today is Day 4 in the series and this is my contribution. Hop on over to CutCardstock's blog to see the entire series. 

The Details

I wanted to design something practical that I could make in bulk to give out. One thing I like to give are movie tickets or theater gift cards. What better way to package it than in a cute popcorn gift card holder? If you have another present (like a DVD), you can also add an eyelet to the top, tie some twine and turn it into the accompanying gift tag. 

I drew the image on my iPad and imported it into Silhouette Design Studio. The gift card holder is one piece and the popcorn and banner can be popped on with foam adhesive for dimension or adhered flat. All the pieces fit perfectly on one sheet of 8.5 x 11" Basic White 80lb cardstock. As my gift to you, you can download this Studio file for your personal use. It will only open if you have the corresponding software. 

Silhouette Studio Downloadable file: Popcorn Gift Card Holder

This is a print and cut file, meaning you'd print out the image on your printer first before running it through your Cameo. It will be perforated on the fold lines, so most of the work has been done, and there is no coloring involved. The download will look like the following image. 

After you assemble the pieces, you can add your own finishing touches. I mounted the banner on some Basic Black 80lb cardstock to give it a more distinct outline. I added some jewels and stars on the banner to give it a marquee feel. I added some Liquid Appliqué on the popcorn kernels to give it that fluffy popcorn texture. 

This is a great way to add a personal touch when giving out something impersonal like a gift card. Have fun creating your own handmade cards and gifts. I wish you all the best this Christmas season. 

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: December Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

The Hop:

Welcome to Paper Made Bakery's new December release blog hop. If you've just arrived from Wida's site, then you've come to the right place. If you would like to start from the beginning, please hop on over to Paper Made Bakery's blog. If you are lost, this the blog hop order:

Paper Made Bakery

Wida Miller

Michelle McClure (←you are here)

Lisa Arana (←go here next)

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Amy Tsuruta

The Kit:

December's Fresh Baked Kit entitled Soda in Soho, features colorful, graphic designs from the Soho Garden collection by American Crafts with a matching stamp set called "Soda-lighted" by Fresh Squeezed Stamps. Be sure to grab at kit before they sell out. 

The Reveal:

I was in New Orleans during Thanksgiving week this year and took numerous photos. A few of the photos were taken at night so I grouped those together because of the lighting. Within the photos, there were a lot of glass elements so I thought these would be a good fit with the soda bottle stamp. 

The Details:

When I saw this month's stamp set, I really liked the shape of the soda bottle. I wanted to use it on a layout even though I wasn't utilizing a soda theme. I chose a solid background paper with some distressing (Oxford collection by Basic Grey). I picked a stamp pad with a similar color found in the distressing for a tone on tone effect. 

I stamped the bottle in a rows, leaving space for another bottle in between. This turned a plain, solid sheet into a patterned background paper that subtly matched my photos. 

Since I took some photos in front of a pharmacy museum which had a beautiful display of apothecary bottles, I had to pull out the gumball jar stamp from last month's Christmas Treats set. I stamped it with a permanent ink onto acetate and then colored them in with different markers. It turned out kind of streaky so I just cut out the plain jars and abandoned the markers. 

I then stamped the jar onto a spritzed card that was a rejected draft of my ornament card. I cut out just the central portion of the jar. 

I paper pieced them together to get a filled clear glass look. Whoever said two wrongs don't make a right wasn't a scrapper. 

The die cuts in the embellishment pack are so easy to use and add a pop of color to a page. The journaling card had a tab on the top already so I repeated that shape on each row of my photos as a label. 

There are so many fun components in the kit and stamp set to play with this month. I really enjoyed putting this layout together. I hope you'll have a great time experimenting with your kit.

The Giveaway:

As a way to say thank you for participating in today's blog hop, Paper Made Bakery is giving away a great prize. You can enter by midnight on Wednesday, December 5th by using the Rafflecopter widget below. 

Good luck to all! Your next stop is Lisa's blog. Remember there are daily inspiration projects and tutorials on PMB's blog all month long. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for hoppin' by,