Perfect Feathers & Creative Blog Hop

To those of you who are here because of The Creative Blog Hop, thank you for visiting! Susan Best asked me to participate. It sounded unique and fun, so I gladly accepted the offer. Of course, because this hop is so unique, I had to do some research. I wanted to know who originally started it, and how long has it been going on? Well, I spent an hour on Google, and came up with nothing. Some of the earliest posts that I found are from June 2014 and relate to knitting. However, The Creative Blog Hop has traveled thought the creative world from Knitting, Quilting, Creative Writing, and now it has landed here in the paper crafters world! The Creative Blog Hop requires that you answer 4 questions, post on a Monday,  and then nominate 2-3 people to continue the following Monday. Before I get to the questions, I'd like to share this card I made using the Four Feathers Bundle. For instructions on how to recreate the card Click Here. I've also provided a list of products used to create the card at the bottom of this post.

Now for the Creative Blog Hop Questions:

What are you working on?  I've gotten a little carried away with swaps on Swap-Bot. I'm signed up for a couple of ATC (artist trading cards), tags, and card swaps. I've also started hosting a few swaps. In addition to that I have a couple (okay, more than a couple) of UFP (unfinished projects) that I need to finish up. One is a Vintage Camera, and the other is a Treasure Trunk. Both are made out of Chipboard & Paper and have mini albums hidden inside them. (I'll post pictures when they are complete. That is if I ever complete them.)

How does your work differ from others in your genre? I don't think my work differs from others. I have started dabbling in Mixed Media, but even then my "stuff" is still similar to others. 

Why do you create what you do? I find that creating is a major stress reliever for me. Plus it makes me feel good and happy to create something out of nothing. 

How does your creative process work? I usually start with a particular stamp set and/or colors and go where ever my creative juiced take me. However, I'm not always a create from scratch kind of gal. I get my creative juices flowing by watching YouTube videos and Pinterest! I see a technique being used, and think to myself, "I have the perfect stamp for that"; "I can do this better"; and "WOW, I wanna try that". I also participate in some Sketch Challenges, too. 

Now, I have a question for you: What 3 crafting tools can you NOT do without? Please answer in the comments below. On February 18th, I will chose a comment at random. Whoever wrote the comment will win some blog candy!!! 

To keep this Hop going I’ve nominated three people…

You might recognize Amanda. She is a fellow Stampin' Up demonstrator that helps me organize the Jacksonville STARZ Blog hop every month.Crystal and Racquel are old friends from all the way back to Junior/Senior High School. All three of these ladies are super talented and very creative. Make sure you check out their Creative Blog Post next Monday, February 16th.

Also, don't forget to back and check out Susan's Creative Blog Post as well!!!

Product List

Perfect Pennants Clear Stamp Set [133230] $21.95	Four Feathers Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135053] $10.95	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set [133035] $13.95	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] $5.95
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] $5.95	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $6.95	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $8.50	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686] $6.95
Gold Foil Sheets [132622] $3.95	Circles Collection Framelits Die [130911] $26.95	Feathers Framelits Dies [135852] $12.95	Neutrals Candy Dots [130934] $5.95

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Grateful for Jacksonville STARZ

Welcome to another rendition of the Jacksonville Starz Blog Hop! This month is a sketch challenge. here is the Sketch:

And, here is my design:

I must say that I found this to be a challenge for me because of all that empty space!!! As you can see I had to add some hearts, after all Valentine's Day is next Saturday! Here are the supplies I used:

Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack [137779] $6.95	Crisp Cantaloupe 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131298] $6.95	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983] $5.95	Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker [131902] $3.50
Decorative Label Punch [120907] $16.95	Large Oval Punch [119855] $15.95	Chalk Talk Clear-Mount Stamp Set [130634] $18.95	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787] $16.95
Vintage Faceted Buttons [127555] $5.95	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246] $4.95

Next up on the Hop is Lee Conrey! I love her work. I've never seen a project of her's that I didn't love!!!

In case you missed any of the other Jacksonville STARZ hop, here is a list of all the other creative STARZ: Amanda , Maria, Monique, Rose Ann, Sheila, and Susan.

Stacked with Love

I am participating in a Valentine's Card Swap, and thought I'd share the card I made. I really wanted to emboss the hearts or the red strip, but I could not find my multipurpose platform anywhere. It is probably hiding somewhere in my disaster strewn craft room! 

I used the dryer sheet method to cut out the love.  I took one dryer sheet and folded into 3 layers. Then set up my sandwich as follows: magnetic platform, cutting pad, dryer sheet, paper, "love" Thinlit, cutting pad. Then run it through. The "love" stuck to the dryer sheet, while everything else peeled away easily. Then I just peeled off the love. I didn't have to fiddle with wax paper, poking the holes out, etc. I don't know who developed this method, but it is amazing.

These are the supplies I used to make this:

Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910] $7.95	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482] $6.95	Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack [137779] $6.95	Expressions Thinlits Dies [132171] $24.95
Full Heart Punch [119883] $16.95	Silver Glimmer Paper [135314] $4.95	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246] $4.95	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $3.95

Valentine Shaker Tag

Did you know that 141 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion? This is according to www. history.com. They also report that most of those cards are purchased 6 days prior to Valentine's Day. So this month the Jacksonville STARZ wanted to help you create a more personal Valentine with time to spare. 

For the hop, I made this cute little tag to put on a gift. You could also add this to a card face!

I recycled quite a bit for this project. For the base of the card I used some of the chipboard that comes in the DSP packages to prevent the paper from bending. I just glued a piece of the Stacked with Love DSP to cover up the ugly cardboard looking stuff. I cut off the the corners by eye-balling it. I placed the Project Life Card (the heart is already cut out for you) about where I wanted it and then glued two black hearts right about where I wanted the confetti to be. Be sure to glue these hearts down really good. You don't want the confetti to get stuck under them. 

Next I used redline tape to adhere a piece of scrap acetate to the back of the Project Life Card. Then I used the scrap ends of my dimensionals to make the shaker part. It is important to make a complete box around the heart, so that the confetti cannot escape. Oh and make sure your dimensional strips are adhered really well.  I used the Confetti Start Punch to make the Confetti, as I don't have the new Confetti Heart Punch yet. I poured the confetti onto the black hearts and then adhered the Project Life Card over the top of it. 

As an after thought I added the ribbon with the Rhinestones, which was kind of hard to do since the card was adhered to the tag, but I made due. I also added some Real Read Hearts on the front.

Here's a close up picture of the tag.

Here are the products I used to make this cute little tag:

Everyday Adventure Project Life Accessory Pack [135301] $9.95	Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack [137779] $6.95	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246] $4.95	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon [134563] $5.95
Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787] $16.95	Confetti Stars Punch [135861] $21.95	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper [135315] $4.95	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482] $6.95

I hope you enjoyed this little valentine tag. Please remember to leave a comment before you head on over to Sheilah's blog.

Here is the blog roll just in case you missed any of the other Jacksonville STARZ posts: 

Sheilah, Lee, Maria, Monique, Susan, & Amanda

My first ATC ever!

I know it is past Christmas, but I just wanted to share this ATC (Artist's Trading Card) I made for a swap I participated in through Swap-Bot. The challenge was to make a Holiday ATC using a page from a book. I used a page out of an old New World Dictionary. I tore it to the right size and crumpled it up. Then I distressed it with some Soft Sued ink & Early Espresso, and misted it very lightly with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold Mist. 

I cut the snowflakes out of Baked Brown Sugar and Whisper White Card stock using the Snowflakes from the Snowflake Card Thinlits die. I also sprayed the card base and snowflakes with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold Mist. I offset the snowflakes as I layered them into one and added a rhinestone to the center.  The ribbon is long retired, as I've had it for a reeeaaalllly long time. Oh and I almost forgot, I the base of the card is Early Espresso cardstock.

I was very happy with the result and ended up making two of these ATC's. The second one was for a Snowflake swap, so I used the page from the dictionary that had Snowflake on it.

Paper Pumpkin for the Holidays

Welcome to this month's installment of the Jacksonville Starz Blog Hop. This month we are doing our first Sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch...                          ...and here is my interpretation.

The majority of my card is created out of various pieces from the November 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit. The only parts that are NOT from the kit are the Large Oval Punch, Lost Lagoon and Whisper White cardstock, and the Playful Polka Dots embossing folder. Everything else is from the kit!

To create this card, I randomly stamped the snowflake with Lost Lagoon along the top of a Whisper White card base. The Lost Lagoon cardstock is embossed with the Playful Polka Dots embossing folder. I took one of the Snowflake cards and cut one of the snowflakes off. I also stamped the Happy Holidays greeting on the scraped card and punched it out with the Large Oval Punch. I attached one of the lost lagoon snowflakes to the big blue snowflake and cut off the excess. Then I used the little circles (scraps) from the foil reinforcements to further embellish the snowflake.

Product List

• Simply Snowflake Refill Kit
• Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad
• Large Oval Punch
• Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

The November 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit came with so many pieces:

Simply Snowflake Refill Kit

• Photopolymer stamp set
• Lost Lagoon Stampin’ Spot (mini ink pad)
• 8 Blue die-cut snowflake cards
• 8 White snowflake cut-outs 
• 30 Die-cut snowflakes (15 blue, 15 silver foil)
• 24 Die-cut tags (12 blue, 12 white)
• 8 White squares (2" x 2")
• 24 Silver foil tag reinforcers
• 8 White envelopes
• Silver Metallic Baker’s Twine (10 yds) 
• 50 Adhesive-backed rhinestones
• 3/8" Silver Metallic Washi Tape (3 yds) 
• 100 Adhesive dots 

This video shows how to put the cards and tags together as they were originally designed to be. However, I see so many possibilities with this kit! 

If you are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, you can order the refill kit for only $7.95. If you are not a subscriber, there is no better time to sign up. Sign up by December 10th in order to get this month's kit. Simply click the Paper Pumpkin Tab at the top of the page in order to sign up. You can even order 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, or 12 month pre-paid subscriptions through my online store. You can find these listed under kits. These prepaid subscriptions would make an awesome gift for your crafty friends and family!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my card. Please leave a comment and follow my blog. I have big plans for 2015. Now hop on over to "All Kinds of Crafting with Amy". 

Blog Roll: Maria Willis, Rose Ann Marr, Monique Zimmer, Amanda Sevall, Cari Verschueren (you are here), Amy Unick, Sheilah Stamper, Susan Best, Lee Conrey