Love Today Planner Kit

I just got my new planner in the mail and I am LOVING it!  It has roses (eek!) and gold foil accents.  I like to color coordinate so I looked up which colors are in the planner.  They have all the main colors listed in the catalog underneath the description, BUT THERE IS NO PINK COLOR LISTED?!  There are definitely pink blocks and accents in the stickers and monthly title pages. Which pink color will go with the planner?!  I was on a mission to figure it out.

Real Red is listed as one of the colors.  If you look at the designs you might think, “Whaaa?  I don’t see red anywhere…”  I think I have the answer.  It appears that the center of the roses is actually Real Red and then slowly fade out as they were water colored.  Since Calypso Coral is also a color listed they may have also used shades of that in there as well, it’s hard to tell.

If you look on the monthly title pages (before the month at a glance) there are two distinct “pink” boxes of different shades.  I cut paper strips to see which of our colors match the best.  Flirty Flamingo is way off but I thought I would include it just to put any minds at ease.  The lower box on the monthly title page is definitely Blushing Bride.  The swatch nearly disappears on top.  The upper box is a mystery.  I think it is a lighter shade of Blushing Bride but not quite Powder Pink.  I think you could use either one but as the official matching pink for the planner I would go with Blushing Bride.

I was constantly looking up which colors were the matching ones so I decided to make a cute little bookmark that listed the colors.  I put it in the smaller Pool Party pocket up front in the planner.  Maybe I’ll add some Gold Mini Sequin Trim to the top…that would be cute!

I used the Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker to do some lettering on the monthly title page.  I just looked up some letters on Pinterest and used thin strokes up and thick strokes down.  If you’ve never tried lettering, give it a try!  It was fun!  There are lots of practice pages you can print out if you feel you need more practice.  I just tried it on some printer paper before writing in the planner.  I think it turned out pretty good for never really having done it before!

I also the Journaling Pens for the weekly pages.  I like the .05 better than the .01 so that is what is shown here.  If you like a finer point, go for the .01 pen.  I also used some of the Basics Washi Tape Pack 2 (the green pack) because it has a roll of Lemon Lime Twist.  I also liked that the set came with Daffodil Delight and Old Olive to go with my Daisy Delight paper!

I used some old Paper Pumpkin tiny stamps to show how much water I drank during the day.  You could really use any tiny stamp.  Those Paper Pumpkin stamps are useful; don’t forget about them!  Show them some love.

Are you planning on getting the planner?  Let me know in the comments below!

 

Product List

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

May 2017 Paper Pumpkin Alternate Thankful card

I get so excited when I get the email that my Paper Pumpkin box is in the mail on its way to me.  I get even more excited when I see that orange box in my mailbox.  For those of you that don’t know, Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription crafting kit.  You can purchase single months, prepay for 3, 6 or 12 months or even just pay by the month.  You can even gift a subscription (or a single box) to someone!  They make great gifts.  They are all inclusive, which means there are instructions, all the pre-cut and pre-scored cardstock, ink spot(s), stamps, all the embellishments and adhesives and your first kit comes with a free acrylic block!  They are super portable so you could bring one on vacation or gift one to someone at the hospital.  Bring one along while you wait for your child at dance class or bring one to a family gathering for the kids to try out.  The possibilities are endless!

As I said, each box comes with instructions…but you don’t have to follow the instructions!!  Get creative and think outside the orange box!  Here I have made an alternate project using a few additional products found at the bottom of this post.

Paper Pumpkin kits are always a surprise and you usually are not able to order them after they ship to the subscribers.  So in order to not miss out on anything, subscribe right away.  Link to a 3-month prepaid is below OR you could save 25% if you are a new subscriber to the monthly subscription (pay by the month).  This promo only lasts for a few more short days!!  Sign up by June 10, 2017 to save on your first 3 months by using the promo code STARTHERE.  To sign up for a monthly subscription just go to paperpumpkin.com and click on subscribe up at the top left.  Just make sure to choose your demonstrator on the next page.  I would love to be your demonstrator, if you’ll have me, or if you already have a demonstrator please be loyal to them.  (Note – The list of products below shows the kit used here, but you are not going to be able to order it if you didn’t already by the 10th of the month before.  Sign up by June 10th to get June’s mystery kit!  What will it be?!)

Here is the link to the YouTube tutorial:  Typed instructions are below.

 

Cut a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ Powder Pink cardstock in half and fold to create a landscape card. Cut a 2″ x just under 4″ strip of the included striped brown bag, including the decorative edge. Cut a 4″ piece of burlap ribbon.

Stamp the included tiny flower stamp in Powder Pink ink diagonally across the card front. Take out the dots from It’s a Sara Thing Paper Pumpkin kit. Stamp them in the included Soft Suede ink, stamp off on scrap paper and then stamp diagonally across card front. Stamp Thankful For You sentiment on included white tag in Soft Suede ink.

Adhere a Delicate White Doily to the left of the card using snail adhesive or the included adhesive dots. Adhere the bag strip on top of that so that just a bit of the doily peeks out the left side. Adhere the Burlap Ribbon using Fast Fuse or Tear and Tape. Place included dimensionals on the back of the tag. Place on top of the ribbon.

Tie a bow with the included gold twine. Adhere to card using a Mini Glue Dot. Place a few of the included pearls, sprinkled along the diagonal movement of the background. All done!

Product List

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Wedding Season is Approaching – Are you ready?

Are you ready for wedding season and all the gifts, cards and gift tags you will need on hand?  I like having cards on hand BEFORE we are on our way to a wedding.  Haha!  Who else usually picks up a card on the way?  No more!  Now I will be prepared with a super cute card I had fun making myself; a true gift from the heart.

These notecard sized cards were made using the very versatile Better Together stamp set.  I had fun trying different color combinations.  The first I made is Flirty Flamingo and Pear Pizzazz and the second for the YouTube video is using the new In Colors Fresh Fig and Lemon Lime Twist.  Then I played with Berry Burst and Tranquil Tide.  Comment and let me know which one you like best, or which color combinations you think would look good.  If you case this card I would LOVE to see it.  You can post a picture on my Facebook page:

To see the YouTube Tutorial for this project click here or just read the directions below:

Tutorial:

First choose your color combo using whisper white, a rose color and a leaf color.  Cut out your rose color cardstock using the largest oval in the stitched shapes framelits.  Rub the embossing buddy all over the front of the notecard and the oval.  Stamp sentiment in Versamark ink onto the oval.  Pour white embossing powder all over the wet image and tap off excess.  Return excess to the embossing container.  Stamp rose image using Versamark ink all over the front of the card, rotating to vary where the leaf points.  Pour white embossing powder over this image and tap off again, returning excess to container.  (Wipe off any excess powder that is not where it is supposed to be on both images if needed.)  Using the heat tool on setting 2, heat the embossed images until they set glossy.

Stamp the rose image twice with your rose color and twice with your leaf color onto a scrap of whisper white cardstock.  Color in the roses and leaves on both the scrap and front of your card using a blender pen and the ink in the lid of your ink pads.  Fussy cut out the scrap roses and leaves, leaving half of the rose image on the leaf color images and cutting off the leaf portion on the rose color images.  Use Snail Adhesive on the half-rose portion of the leaf cutouts and then stick the full roses on top, so the leaves are behind the roses.  Use Snail adhesive to adhere roses to the oval.

Place 4 Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back of the oval.  Peel off the backing and twirl Silver Metallic Thread to create a few loops using the dimensionals to help hold them in place.  When you are happy with the loops, adhere oval to the front of the card in the position of your choice.  Stamp the interior sentiment and envelope arrow images with your chosen rose color.  Done!

 

To purchase any of the items used in this project click on any link below:

Product List

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Hello New Day

When I wake up each new day I am optimistic about how much I will accomplish that day.  I feel like this fresh new day has given me a chance to do better than yesterday.  And then each day I am faced with Mount Laundry of Doom, dishes upon dishes (Ok, who spilled this under the table?! And when…?) and the toys seem to breed behind the furniture.  I probably escape too often to Facebook for a break from reality and so I often get less done than I think I can (or should) get done in a day.  Don’t they say procrastinators are optimistics?  So this morning, I told myself I would get something big accomplished; something to advance my stamping business: I will finally create my website!  Hip hip hooray!  Look!  I did it!

I know this website has FAR more tweaking to do, but I can be proud of the steps I have taken today to get me closer to my goal: Sharing the love of paper crafting to reach more and more people!  I will learn more as I go and not be afraid to just step out and jump right in.  Baby steps.

Crafting and creativity have such positive effects on your life.  According to researchers Ebersole & Hess, (1998) here’s a list of things that creative expression may do for you:

  • Create balance and order
  • Give a sense of control over the external world
  • Make something positive out of a loss, bad experience or depression
  • Maintain your sense of integrity
  • Help resolve conflicts, building better relationships
  • Make thought and feeling clear
  • A greater sense of well-being and personal growth

Studies even suggest you may end up living healthier longer with fewer visits to the doctor if you actively engage in creative pursuits!  Don’t feel guilty for taking time for creativity.  So get out there and do something creative today for your own health and well-being.  Even if you just do a baby step.

Cheers to crafting!

Deb Joy Smeak