Cloud Card and Template

Hello again!

Today I thought I'd share a shaped card I came up with :)

I love making shaped cards, they're such a fun departure from right angles and they always get a fun reaction from the recipient. Plus, since I usually come up with my own patterns, it lets me stretch my creative muscles a bit.

OK, so here is the card.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (cream) The Paper Co., (yellow) Bazzill, Patterned Papers: (Farmhouse 8x8 pad) October Afternoon, Stamps: (sentiment from"Eco Friendly") Paper Smooches, Ink: (gray) ColorBox, Flower: Jennie Bowlin, Button: October Afternoon, Twine: The Twinery, Dies: (Classic Inverted Scallop Circle Sm, Classic Circle Sm Nestabilities) Spellbinders
5 3/4"x4"

and here is the pattern:

(click to open, right click to save)

I do all of my cutting on an electronic cutting machine, but I realize not everyone has one of those so here are some directions on how to use the pattern without one.

• Start with a folded card base that will fit the size of your pattern.

• Print and cut the pattern out to use as a template.

• Trace the pattern onto your card base with enough of the top edge hanging over the fold to keep the fold in tact when the shape is cut. Cut along traced lines.

• Use the pattern to cut more shapes from patterned paper to cover the front of the card. (I used gray gingham for the front of my card and also used blue polka dot as a sort of shadow, you don't have to do both if you don't want to, I just liked the effect.)

• Cover your shaped card with the patterned paper you've cut. ( For this card, I adhered the blue dot paper slightly up and to the right of the card base and then matted the gray gingham on some cream cardstock and adhered it lined up perfectly with the card base. I also added a sun that I created with two Spellbinder's dies sandwiched in between the two layers)

To finish mine off I added a flower, button and stamped sentiment.

If you decide to use this template, I'd love to hear from you and see what you've done with it!

Have a maaah-velous weekend!
♥Heidi

Merci

Hello out there!

Just a quick share of a card that appeared on the Paper Smooches blog last week.

This is one that features one of my favorite sets from the special CHA releases from Paper Smooches. It's called Reflections.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (blue, white) The Paper Co., Stamps: (florals and leaves from the "Reflections" set, Houndstooth Background) Paper Smooches, Ink: (green, orange, white, blue) ColorBox, Dies: (Labels 21, Circles Nestabilities) Spellbinders, Pearls: Kaisercraft
Size: 5.5"x4.25"

The silhouette flowers and leaves are all from the reflections set. I love that Kim made a set like this, the solid images are so beautiful! I've paired them with the Houndstooth background (also a CHA release) because I love the way the soft florals mix with the more geometric pattern.

See, just a quick post :)

Have a beautiful day everyone!
♥Heidi

Love and Gratitude

Those are the subjects of today's cards anyway :)

Hi again!

I have not one, but two Paper Smooches cards to share today.

First up a little something I made with the "Good Gab" sentiment set.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (white, gray, kraft) The Paper Co., Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye, Stamp: ("Love" from the "Good Gab" set) Paper Smooches, Ink: (black) Memento, (Chestnut) ColorBox, Markers: Copic, Glitter: Martha Stewart, Twine: Divine Twine, Die: Cuttlebug, Foam Tape: Scotch
Size: 5.5"x4.25"

The Love sentiment from this set reminded me of a stamp because of it's square layout, so I took that idea and ran with it. I colored and cut out the letters in the sentiment, added a little glitter to the heart and placed them on top a stamped shaped die cut. to finish off the look I added it to a stack of kraft rectangles that I inked, stacked a little askew and tied up with some airmail baker's twine.

Next up, something I made with the March release "Smarty Pants" set.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (white) Georgia-Pacific, Cork Sheet: (sorry, I really don't know, it's been in my stash for a while) Stamps: (Pencil, Sentiment, Tack, "Smarty Pants" set) Paper Smooches, Ink: (black) Memento, (red) ColorBox, Colored Pencil: Prismacolor, Markers: Copic, Boder Punck: EK Success, Printer that prints notebook paper: HP Photosmart Plus
Size: 5"x5"

This set is full of all kinds of fun little office and school supplies and is perfect for making all your teacher and grad cards.

Have a beautiful day everyone! We seem to be experiencing some kinder, gentler weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Hopefully that means spring isn't too far off. I am soooo ready :)

♥Heidi

Paper Smooches Winner Announced!

And the Winner of a super cute "Zoo Crew" stamp set from Paper Smooches is...#143.

Marissa said...

He is Zoo-per cute! tee hee ;)

Great big congrats Marissa! Please contact me with your mailing info and your stamps will be on their way to you!

Thanks to everyone who hopped with us, hope to see you again next month!

Have a great day!

♥Heidi

February Paper Smooches DT Blog Hop

Today is the first day of Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches March stamp release with you! The three NEW clear stamp sets will be available to purchase on March 1st. You will find them HERE. Follow the Paper Smooches blog for more sneak peeks.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! Just leave a comment on any of the five design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of the three new March stamp sets! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify) You have until midnight MT on Friday, February 24th to leave a comment. Please check all five blogs on Saturday, February 25th to see if you are one of the five lucky winners.

Emily Leiphart

Heidi Van Laar --that's me :)

Kryssi Ng

Laurie Schmidlin

Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post

2. Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop

3. Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop

4. Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

I used the cuuuutest alligator stamp ever from the new "Zoo Crew" set to create my card.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (blue, white) The Paper Co, Patterned Paper: (This & That) Echo Park, Stamps: ("Zoo Crew" set) Paper Smooches, Ink: (brown) Memento, (blue) Colorbox, Markers: Copic, Twine: My Mind's Eye
Size: 4.25"x5.5"

Told you! The cutest, right? I love him :) and the sentiment is so fun!

I just want to remind everyone to be SURE to check back on Saturday to see if you are a winner. I've had a few hops go by where my winner never contacted me to receive her prize and these stamps are too good to miss out on!

And with that said, good luck and have fun!
♥Heidi

The Lucky 8

Hey there!

OK, so I'm going to be honest. I have had 0 time to create any new exciting things for my blog, so I am going to resort to sharing some (hopefully) interesting creations that I came up with before CHA to feature the Lucky 8 Punch from We R Memory Keepers.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (pink, white) The Paper Co., Patterned Paper: (Love Struck collection) We R Memory Keepers, Embellishments: (brads, floss) We R Memory Keepers, Tools: (Classic Wreath Lucky 8 Punch, Corner Chomper) We R Memory Keepers
Size: 5.5"x4.25"

The Lucky 8 is rather large, but by just using a portion of the punched design it can work beautifully on cards.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (blue, white) Bazzill, Patterned Paper: (Love Struck collection) We R Memory Keepers, Embellishments: (brads, floss, chipboard sticker) We R Memory Keepers, Tools: (Classic Wreath Lucky 8 Punch, Corner Chomper, Sew Easy) We R Memory Keepers, Other: Unfinished Mirror
Size: 11.5"x11.5"

First off I apologize for the picture...not the best. So this was a mirror I picked up from the craft store for just a couple bucks. I covered it with white cardstock and added the punched cardstock layer, cutting the center out for the mirror. I finished it up by embellishing with stitching, fussy cut paper, brads and chipboard stickers. I thought the chipboard sticker had such a sweet saying, it would be perfect for a mirror hanging in a little girl's room.

That's it for today, maybe I'll have something fresh to share Friday :)

Have a great day!
♥Heidi

PS. I also used the Lucky 8 to create the first card in THIS post.

Easter Tag

Hey there, sorry for the lame lack of posts lately. No real excuse, just life, you know :)

I do have a Paper Smooches share today though, and instead o f a card I decided to make a tag.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (green, blue, pink) Bazzill, (white) Georgia-Pacific, Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Stamps: (egg, sentiment, tulip from "Spring Fling") Paper Smooches, Ink: (grey) Memento, (pink) Fresh Ink, Markers: Copic, Die cut doily: Martha Stewart, Ribbon: Offray
Size: 2.5"x4"

The sentiment, eggs and tulips are from the Spring fling set. I had fun adding clear chunky glitter to my patterned paper eggs, but my favorite thing was creating my own stick pins out of the tulip images! Will definitely be doing that again.

Have a great Monday everyone!
♥Heidi

Thinking of You

Hi there!

So to celebrate the news I shared earlier this week :-) I thought I make a card.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (white) Georgia-Pacific, Watercolor Paper: Daler-Rowney, Watercolor Paints, Stamp: Hero Arts, Ink: ColorBox, Die: (Fanciful Flights set) Spellbinders, Foam Tape: 3M
Size: 5"x5"

I used the the butterfly from The Fanciful Flights Die set, but instead of using the positive shape, I used the negative. I started by creating a background by blending shades of blue and purple watercolor paints, then I added the square of white cardstock I die cut the butterfly from. Adding in all the little negative shapes in the wing and popping each one with foam tape was pretty time consuming, but I think it takes a simple design to the next level.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!!
♥Heidi

Happy Valentines Day!!

Hi all just a quick share to celebrate love and say Happy Valentine's Day...oh and I have some news too :)

This is one of those projects I created just for fun! I piled on more stuff than I usually do, but I was having so much fun cutting, punching and layering that I just couldn't stop myself! Sure, you'd need a box to send it, but I still kinda like it.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (aqua) Bazzill, (white) Georgia-Pacific, Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Stickers: (Thickers) American Crafts, Spray: (glimmer Mist) Tattered Angels, Punches: (heart) Provocraft, (butterflies, leaves) Martha Stewart, (flowers) EK Success, (hole, border) Fiskars, Corner Chomper: We R Memory Keepers, Twine: The Twinery
Size: 5.5"x4.25"

OK, now for my news (tee hee, I'm so excited) Check THIS out :-D

Have a L♥VE-ly day everyone!
♥Heidi

Spring Blessings

Hey there!

I have a Paper Smooches share today :) another card created with the Eco Friendly set.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (white) Georgia Pacific, (blue) can't remember, bought at a stationary store, Stamps: (raindrop, clouds, dotted line, sentiment from Eco Friendly set) Paper Smooches, Ink: ColorBox, Die: (label Nestabilities) Spellbinders, Foam Tape: Scotch
Size: 4.25"x5.5"

The dotted line, solid raindrop, cloud and sentiment are all from this set. I stamped the raindrops, the dotted line to represent their trails and the sentiment directly on the card base, then die cut a window with one of my Nestabilities in the blue cardstock and popped it with some foam tape. For the top layer I fussy cut the stamped clouds. Pretty simple.

Couldn't resist the rainbow look...I love me a rainbow :-D

Have a beautiful day!
♥Heidi