paper crafting Archives - Page 2 of 3

Easy Paper Pumpkin Storage Solution

Posted on May 17, 2020 by debjoysmeak

Paper Pumpkin kits are so much fun to get in the mail. But if you find yourself not getting around to making and sending the whole kit every month (or even if you do), you might be susceptible to “red box pile up.” I found a storage method that not only saves space, but makes my stamps easier to access so I end up using them more. Win win!

I use the Avery 23011 5.5″ x 8.5″ binders with an extra storage pouch inside. I found mine on clearance at a local store, but they are still sold on Amazon. And the sheet protectors are Avery 77004 found on Amazon here. I do have to trim down my Paper Pumpkin instruction sheet to fit the sleeves: a quarter of an inch off each side and half an inch off the bottom. If I lose any words from the instructions (rare) I just trim them out of the scrap I cut off and tape them back inside my instruction sheet. I put the instruction sheet in a page protector sleeve and put the matching stamp set in the back of the sleeve. I only keep the instructions and stamps in the binders so they are easy to page through. I find that each binder holds a year’s worth of Paper Pumpkin quite nicely. If I’m wondering what colors coordinate with a kit, what ink spot came with what kit or where an embellishment came from, it’s easy to see with a glance at the back of each sleeve. And since March kits have featured an additional free stamp set for the past two years (whoop whoop!), I put those in the front pouch.

I store all the paper and embellishments in our 6″ x 8″ cellophane bags and label it with my label maker. I use little craft bags I found at Walmart to store little punch outs and embellishments. You can find them at your local Walmart store in the craft section near the beads. (Each bag size is sold as 100 bags for $1-$2 so they are really economical and handy to have for other craft ideas as well.) I can store a year’s worth of the labeled Paper Pumkpin bags in a Walmart shoebox size clear tote bin, even with twine and other bulky items. These are only a $1 at Walmart and I use them to bring stamping supplies with me on vacation, stamp parties and events. I probably have about 20 or more in the house for various uses.

**Side note: I can fit 2 of the Walmart clear shoebox totes with lids on inside a Thirty One Zip-Top Organizing Utility Tote style 4451. I find these bags are very durable and work great for toting my supplies to and from craft fairs, especially that big Deluxe Utility Tote style 4441. It holds 6 of the Walmart shoebox clear tote bins! I don’t sell Thirty One bags, but you can buy through your local Thirty One rep or use my friend Amy Masi from these links.**

I hope this helps you get organized with your Paper Pumpkin kits and gets you using the awesome stamp sets more often. They really are a great value and you should keep on using them. Tune in to my Facebook page for live Paper Pumpkin videos and a video walk through of this organization idea. If you would like to sign up for Paper Pumpkin for yourself or as a gift you can sign up for a code here. Thanks for stopping by! #spreadthejoy

If you have an organization tip for your Paper Pumpkin kits or other crafts, please let us know by leaving a comment below.

Birthday Stamp Sale

Posted on October 22, 2018 by debjoysmeak

Put on your party hats and get ready to save. It’s time for Stampin’ Up!’s Birthday Stamp Sale! For 24 HOURS ONLY, you can save 15% on select stamp sets. This sale will be gone in a flash so celebrate with us on Tuesday, October 23, 2018.

I’ll be providing a link to shop when the sale starts on Tuesday on my Facebook page, Delight of my Art, but in the meantime, check out the list to see if there are any sets that were already on your wish list. I am definitely getting the Friendly Expressions set. I’ve seen so many nice things made with those nice bigger sentiments. I already have Apron of Love and Labels to Love and I really enjoy them both very much. A Little Wild is on sale too! Such cute little animals for babies, kids or animal lovers of all ages. I may buckle and get that one too. Bubbles and Bubbly is another fun one if you love to give spa type gifts like lotions, bath salts, candles, soaps etc. Let me know which sets are your favorites in the comments below!

Happy shopping!

Teacher Thank You Gift Card Pocket Card

Posted on June 6, 2018 by debjoysmeak

I can’t believe another school year went by already! My oldest will be in MIDDLE SCHOOL next year! My son will be in third and the twins will be going to first grade. So crazy! Time sure is flying by. We’ve been super busy this spring and life doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Life is about the journey, not the destination though, right?

I really like how this teacher thank you card came out. I am in love with the Daisy Delight stamp set and punch. They always turn out beautifully. And I love the idea of the hidden pocket inside for a gift card. Let me tell you how I put this together.

First I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and cut it halfway down the long side, so the piece is 4 1/4″ x 11″. Score this in the middle at 5 1/2″ and also 2 7/8″. This will fold in to form the pocket on the inside of the front. I decorated this with a piece of Designer Series Paper in Lemon Lime Twist and then the flap with a solid piece of Lemon Lime Twist stamped with Lemon Lime Twist. Can you tell I like this color? Ha! Actually I think the pocket is a bit over-decorated so I think I may just do the lemon lime twist on the white fold-over pocket on the next one. I do have to make 4 of these for the kids’ teachers. I also punched with the Every Day Label Punch on the edge of the pocket before I glued down the edges with Tear and Tape.

The ink colors I used are Basic Black Archival (retired), Lemon Lime Twist, Call Me Clover, Sweet Sugarplum (retired), and Blackberry Bliss. (I guess I could have used Rich Razzleberry stamped off, but this was easier since I had it. I’ll link to Rich Razzleberry below.) It is all stamped right on the card base except for the front Daisy, which is punched out with the daisy punch. I stamped the daisy in Sweet Sugar Plum and then used a sponge dauber right on the stamp in the center in Blackberry Bliss. After punching the flowers out I sponged lightly again in Blackberry Bliss in the center. I punched out a 1/2″ circle in Lemon Lime Twist for the center of the flower and put the largest Faceted Gems in clear on top. So pretty! I really like the gradient in the leaves. I got the idea from Pinterest from Artisan Paula Dobson. The leaf fill stamp is stamped in solid Lemon Lime Twist and then I sponged on Call Me Clover on half of the image before stamping it over the outline I had already stamped on the front.

I also stamped the cute little bee from the Touches of Texture stamp set and colored in the body with Crushed Curry and a Blender Pen. I also colored the wings with Wink of Stella. Love the subtle sparkles! I think the teachers will like these. I left the inside blank so I could write a really detailed note about how much we appreciate them. I’m going to have the kids include thankful notes to fold inside as well. Teachers love to hear how the kids loved being in their class.

Have you made any teacher gifts this year? I’d love to see what you’ve made! You can add a picture to our Facebook group .

Happy stamping!

tams# 23225

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Magical Day – Dragon Cave

Posted on April 13, 2018 by debjoysmeak

My son just turned 8 and he wanted me to make him a birthday card with a blue dragon that was also a shaker card. Challenge accepted! This was a lot of fun to create, but it did take a while! It actually has quite a bit of painting involved, using my aquapainter. I think it turned out pretty fantastic, don’t you think?!

This Magical Day stamp set is amazing and I’m so surprised that it is on the retiring list. Get it now, while you still can! It’s so cute with the mermaid, unicorn, dragon, knight and wizard along with the nice sentiments and sparkle stamps. I’m getting a lot of use out of it. My son made thank you notes to his friends in his birthday goodie bags with the tiny sparkle elements in this set. I let him pick out exactly what stamps and ink colors he wanted to use. They turned out really cute! And he did them all himself. He chose Dapper Denim, Crushed Curry and Lemon Lime Twist.

Ok, back to the birthday card! I used Thick Whisper White as the base of my card. The top layer is Shimmery White because I knew I’d be water coloring on it. The middle layer is Basic Black. First I cut a circle out of the center of my shimmery white top layer, which I think was the second biggest in the layering circles framelits dies.

Then I laid that over the black panel to see where to stamp my sentiment. I wiped my embossing buddy on the black cardstock to reduce static, stamped my sentiment in versamark ink and sprinkled with white embossing powder. I tapped off the excess and heat set that with my heat tool. So far so good!

I stamped the dragon in Memento ink on Whisper White cardstock, cut him out with the matching framelit and colored him in with the Night of Navy Stampin’ Blends. I love those things! When they are back in stock, make sure you snag as many as you can. And there are new colors coming with the new catalog!!! (Can you tell, I’m so excited?!)

I used my aqua painter and ink pads to paint on the shimmery white piece. I made horizontal black stripes around the cave with Basic Black archival ink. Then I made a light wash with Smoky Slate underneath the cave and around the cave again after the black dried. Then I added a little bit of Crumb Cake all around for depth of color. I stamped a scrap piece of white multiple times with Smoky Slate using the heart from the Sure Do Love You stamp set (another one that’s retiring!). Then I used the larger cloud die from the Up & Away Thinlits to create the rocks. They looked kind of blah, so I added shadows with Basic black, and also some jagged lines to break up the circular cloud shape and then the crumb cake on top of that really finished those off nicely. I added some fire tendrils using Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Real Red up top, but it looked strange the rocks were on fire, so I added some mossy tufts to be on fire with Garden Green and Lemon Lime Twist. Whew!

For the shaker part, I turned over the shimmery white piece and adhered a window sheet square to match over the opening. Then I put the foam adhesive strips right around the hole and also a bit along all four sides for support. I poured in a generous amount of gold glitter flakes before I took the backing off the adhesive strips. This is the point of truth! Carefully taking all the backing off so as not to spill the glitter I also had to carefully align the black middle layer with the sentiment side down (so it would show through the cutout) so that the sides were even. Ahhh! Nerve wracking! I got it fairly straight but not perfect. Usually I don’t have a sentiment inside and just put a scrap down for the backing before turning it over and applying it to my card. This was a bit harder but I managed it in the end. I just had to adhere the dragon and my rocks and the card is finished! It took probably 2 hours of planning and execution, way longer than I anticipated, but my dear son is worth it. Let me know what you think! Please leave a comment below and join my mailing list to be updated on future posts.

I’m running a special this month, April 2018!! I will send you a gift in the mail for any order of $30 or more as a special thank you for helping me promote this month to the next level demonstrator! I’m super close, less than $150. Please help me reach my goal and let me spoil you! 😀

Use Hostess Code: R2YGTKCV at checkout before the end of the month. If your order is $150 or more, do not use the hostess code, claim your Stampin’ Rewards and I’ll still send you a gift in the mail.

To place an order, you can click on any of the products listed below and it will take you to my store. Have a wonderful day and happy stamping!

tams# 21967

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Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Flower Basket of Encouragement

Posted on March 5, 2018 by debjoysmeak

I recently earned this new Sale-a-bration Blossoming Basket Bundle and I love it! The butterfly is so dainty and cute, the font is gorgeous and the basket of flowers is so versatile. But the Basket Weave Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF) is sooo coooool! It looks fabulous as a white on white textured background, like here, but I’ve seen so many other uses for it. I will definitely be playing around with this more and posting about it. I’m so glad it will be carrying over into the next annual catalog. And I got it for free!

I also used the Calypso Coral shimmer SAB ribbon here. I love Calypso Coral (can you tell?) and this card does a good job of showing it off. I used the *Blends to color the basket and butterfly, which I then fussy cut out. I cut inside the handle part too just by poking a hole with my scissor tip and then cutting around the inside. The text is embossed in white. I decorated the envelope with the mini butterflies on the front left side and the back flap.

Do you have this stamp set? It’s only around until March 31 so don’t miss out! It is free with a qualifying order of $100 or more. Let me know what you’ve created with this set and if you CASE this card I’d love to see it! You can email me at deb.smeak@gmail.com or post it in our Facebook group here.

*Certain Blends are on back order until June as they’ve been incredibly popular. They are definitely worth getting. If you want the entire collection make sure you order the minute they’re back in stock! If you’d like to be added to a contact list for when they are back in stock please email me your email address and/or phone number so I can email or text you as soon as I know when they’re available. I predict they’ll be on back order again soon after they’re back in stock.

If you would like to purchase any of the materials used here please use the easy links below. I would truly appreciate any orders from you and would love to be your demonstrator. Happy crafting!

tams# 20788

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Paper Pumpkin – February 2018 alternatives

Posted on February 24, 2018February 24, 2018 by debjoysmeak

I recently did my first Facebook live video to unwrap my February 2018 Paper Pumpkin. I was thrilled with the beautiful flowers in the kit. They were photographic flower stickers! So beautiful. So I made sure to sit down and do some alternatives with the stamps and embellishments in the kit. As I was looking at the kit it dawned on me that there are SO MANY letter stickers. What can we spell with these?! I looked it up online and there were over 1000 words with just one of each of the words! Whoa. I glanced through the list and wrote down the ones that I feel were the most usable for cards. I’ll attach this list below. Then I picked a few of those words to play around on a few alternative cards. I tried to pick words that would also pair with the other stamps from this kit. This is what I came up with!

For the blue card I used the Pool Party and Night of Navy Blends on the ‘rock’ letters and colored the guitars from Epic Celebrations from Sale-a-bration with Night of Navy, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Ivory and Crumb Cake Blends. All images are stamped in Night of Navy and I used a few of the berry vellum twigs and the natural twine from the kit as accents.

For the yellow card I used the Daffodil Delight Blends on the ‘honey’ letters, stamped in Daffodil Delight on a Sahara Sand banner cut from cardstock, although you could use a bit off one of the card bases from the kit. I so wish I had a bee stamp to go on the bottom of the flower panel going toward the flower on the bottom right! There are two great bee stamps in the catalog that would go wonderfully with this: Touches of Texture (page 152 annual) and Dragonfly Dreams (page 138 annual). I think the Touches of Texture one would work best, since it is a smaller bee. I really want that set…it’s going on my list! I also used the Hexagons embossing folder on Daffodil Delight cardstock and added embellishments from the kit. I love how it turned out!

For the green card I used Crumb Cake Blends on the ‘beautiful’ letters and stamped ‘friend’ in Crumb Cake on Sahara Sand cardstock. The Old Olive DSP is from the Petal Garden DSP Paper Stack. I also used light Old Olive Blends on the leaf sticker’s background so it would blend into the background more. I like how the flower stickers look like they’re in a bunch behind the panel, overflowing onto the card.

I think my favorite is the pink one. We can always use great teacher cards! I was ecstatic to see that the letters could spell ‘teacher.’ I wanted to play with pink so I chose the back of the mini hearts from the Painted With Love Specialty DSP Paper. To get the shape I traced the hole from the flower sheet on the green card onto the back of the pink piece I wanted to use. Then I fussy cut it out. This would work for the other thicker shape too if you don’t already have the Lots of Labels Framelits (another thing that is on my list…my long list). I outlined the letters using the Melon Mambo Stampin’ Write Marker. You can either get it from the Brights collection or the whole marker set Many Marvelous Markers. I used Melon Mambo for all the stamping and put the ‘teacher’ banner up on dimensionals, like the other cards. This one uses a Melon Mambo base with one of the provided card front pieces. We do want to celebrate the awesomeness of our teachers!

So I hope you like these alternative options to this kit. Here is the word list that I thought was helpful. Notice ‘unicorn’ is on there!! Somebody better do something cool with that one and send it to me! 😀 If you would like to order any of the extra materials I used you may click on the picture at the bottom of this post. Have a great day guys!

tams# 20484

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Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Watercolor Stocking Christmas

Posted on December 12, 2017December 12, 2017 by debjoysmeak

I love how this card turned out. I’m choosing this one to send out to family and friends this year with the exception of one special card I’m making for my grandma. I love watercolor washes and this is a great way to add a splash of color on shimmery white paper and a textured snowy background.

You can follow along how I made this card on YouTube here.

The items I used in this card are listed at the bottom of this post and also in the video.

The variation I did for my grandma is using the Quilted Christmas DSP to look like a quilt on a watercolor background. She has made dozens of quilts over the years and this piece reminds me of a square quilt she might make to hang on the wall. I used two different paper patterns from the same DSP stack. The red star background fit perfectly behind the 3″ x 3″ quilted piece to look like a border! I was thrilled about that.

I’m really thrilled with how these two cards turned out. I’m excited to see the variations that come from doing multiple cards because watercolor is never the same twice.

The shimmery white cardstock is a dream to watercolor on. I love how it has that wonderful subtle shimmer! I used all the colors from the DSP: Garden Green, Real Red, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party and Blushing Bride.

Please share with me the cards you are making for your family this year! I would love to see them. You can post on my new Facebook group here.

Merry Christmas!

tams# 18351

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Hang Your Stocking Photopolymer Stamp Set

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Quilted Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Snowy Season’s Greetings

Posted on November 27, 2017 by debjoysmeak

I love the texture in the Cable Knit embossing folder! It adds so much depth to cards. This card features stamps from Snowflake Sentiments. This is a really easy and pretty card. I used Whisper White, Pool Party and Dapper Denim along with a splash of silver from last year’s Sale-a-bration sale. (Next one is coming up soon in January!)

I did not shoot a video for this one, but it’s fairly easy to explain so I’ll just give the measurements here:

Whisper White base – 5.5″ x 8.5″, folded to 5.5″ x 4.25″

Whisper White Stitched Shape oval – largest oval

Dapper Denim layer – 5.25″ x 4″

Pool Party layer – 5″ x 3.75″

1 Whisper White medium envelope

Directions:

Stamp the 3 different sizes of snowflakes in Dapper Denim onto the Pool Party layer. I found it easier to cut my 3 small snowflakes into 1 and 2. They line up nicely if placed together on the block and then I can use a single one when needed. After it is all stamped, emboss the Pool Party layer with the Cable Knit embossing folder with the ribs going up and down.

Stamp the greeting in Dapper Denim in the middle of the Stitched Shape oval. Stamp the single small snowflake in Pool Party in random places around the sentiment. Run a line of Fast Fuse on the back of the oval and attach a silver ribbon. Trim the ends on an angle. Place Stampin’ Dimensionals above and below the ribbon on the backside of the oval. Since the oval is so big, I recommend 4-6 dimensionals.

Attach the layers using Fast Fuse, since the Pool Party layer is so textured.

On the inside I stamped a retired greeting from Jar of Cheer in Dapper Denim and a few scattered small snowflakes in Pool Party. I also stamped the envelope front with a big snowflake in Dapper Denim and the triple line of small snowflakes along the back flap (not shown).

Shop with me here and click Shop Now or click on products below.

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Check out my tutorial videos on YouTube.

Please support small businesses and families. Have a fantastic day!

tams# 17996

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Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Greenery in the Snow

Posted on November 14, 2017 by debjoysmeak

It’s time to start preparing for Christmas! Be ready to send out lovely Christmas cards to your family and friends this year by starting early and not being in a rush for once. (Tell me it’s not just me!) I recently got these Pretty Pines thinlits and I LOVE them. They are so versatile and lovely. They make great accents on cards, tags and gifts. Love love love!

For this card I used the Softly Falling embossing folder on the background and the Everyday Label Punch along with the Pretty Pines thinlits. I put Wink of Stella on the Real Red twig shape things because Wink of Stella is freaking awesome and it dazzles up everything. Wink of Stella would also make a great stocking stuffer…just saying. 😉

The card also features the stamp set Snowflake Sentiments. This stamp set has AMAZING greetings. I really hope this one sticks around for a long time. (And if it retires I’m still going to use it!) I did use the pine branch from the now retired set Merry Patterns, which you could have earned for free in October 2017. You can easily use another stamp as an accent on the envelope such as a single or triple small snowflakes or one of the larger ones from the Snowflake Sentiments. You can see all the included stamps in the links at the bottom of the blog post.

You can check out my YouTube tutorial about how I put this card together. And if you’d like to purchase any of these amazing materials to make your own fun Christmas cards you can buy them directly by clicking on the picture links below.

We are celebrating my family Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving so I really have to get a scoot on! We usually get together in a big gym and enjoy snacks. The boys run around and play ball games and the girls and I get together and do paper crafts. Then we have a big dinner (including fondue) and finish up with stockings. We recently started a new tradition of having a paper tearing competition. It sounds so weird but it’s totally fun! We have dozens of strips of newspaper about 6″ wide by the height of normal newspaper. We have double elimination rounds and go two by two against each other tearing from top to bottom without going off the edge.

What are some of your fun family traditions? Share with us in the comments.

tams# 17500

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Stampin’ Blends Coral Yellow Rose

Posted on October 25, 2017 by debjoysmeak

I love roses and especially coral and yellow rose blends so when I saw these new artist quality alcohol blending markers from Stampin’ Up! I knew what I was going to do. These blend so nicely and are very easy to work with. You don’t have to be an artist to end up with gorgeous results. You can layer each color on top of others or themselves, creating layers of color. (They do bleed, so make sure to use scrap paper underneath.)

I only started with a few colors, namely the three I used here which are the light and dark version of Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Old Olive. I also picked up the Ivory, Bronze and Color Lifter, which acts like an eraser to add highlights to projects or as a nice way to erase an oops outside the lines. I love that the price point is the same for a single marker and the entire collection. I don’t feel bad at all collecting these as I am able. Essentially they are allowing us the single markers at the bundle price, which was really cool of Stampin’ Up!

For the card above I colored in the yellows first and then gradually going from light to dark coral. In the YouTube video I did it backwards to see if there was any difference. I think I blended in the video even more than the card above and it resulted in a more blended version of the picture. I really like both and they were both simple so it’s really a win win.

They can also be used to color in Perfect White Accents, Pearls, Rhinestones and ribbon! What a perfect way for us to continue our matching tradition and make even more options of embellishments for us to use on our projects. Thank you Stampin’ Up!

I hope you consider picking up a few for yourself or for your friends for Christmas or really splurge and get the whole set for yourself. Please visit my online store here after November 1, 2017 for these to be available for purchase. You won’t regret it. There is also a kit and special limited time stamp set available for use with the markers as well, which will also be posted November 1st.

For anyone wary about these compared to their older Blendabilities markers which were recalled, you know Stampin’ Up! stands behind their products and have extensively researched and perfected these markers to be high quality and perform well under scrutiny. Being a new demonstrator I did not have the pleasure of using the old ones but I understand there was an issue with *some caps having small holes so the markers would dry out too quickly. I know they offered complete refund for all those old markers for a few months and gave everyone an option to keep them or sell them back for credit. Stampin’ Up! truly cares about their customers, the quality of their product and providing excellent customer care service. I know they have worked extra hard to provide an exceptional product here and I have not been disappointed at all.

Cheers to a relaxing time coloring and stamping!

*Note – the link to the Stampin’ Blends markers below will not work until they are available for purchase on November 1, 2017.

tams# 17216

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