A Couple Cards

Hi there!

I've got a couple more Paper Smooches cards to share today.

First up, a sweet little creation I made using the Slang Gang stamp set as well as the Wedding Shower and Ovals die sets.

I thought it would make a cute baby shower card...love those Slang Gang sentiments!


Next up a birthday card made with the new Numbers dies.

I cut all the numbers out of the card base with the Numbers dies and then added a panel of vellum behind. I then used the Digits dies to cut a 9 from both black and blue glitter cardstock, and used the 9 from the Numbers dies to cut the black die cut making a window to see the blue glitter through.

I finished it off with an orange vellum panel stamped with one of the sentiments from the Digits stamp set.

As always, you can find lots of great Paper Smooches inspiration on the blog HERE.

Have a fabulous day!
♥ Heidi

Let's do Lunch

Hello!

Just a quick share of another Paper Smooches card today!

This is one I made with the Think Fast set. the "fast" is fast as in fast food so it's a set full of fun food images.

Size: 4.25" x5.5"

The pizza stamp is just a single slice. I repeated it to create the whole pie. Well, almost :)

I made this card with middle son in mind. He's always asking me to come have lunch with him at school. I thought slipping this little card into his lunch bag would be a fun way to let him know that I would be able to come that day.

Have a fabulous weekend!
♥ Heidi

Heidi Sonboul's Signature Series Blog Hop

Hi there!

I am so excited to have been asked to be a part of the Signature Series and GCD Studios Blog hop celebrating the release of my lovely friend Heidi Sonboul's new signature series book! I've had a peek at it and I've got to say, it is sooo good!!

I decided to make a little something featuring one of my favoritest collections of the year, GCD Studios Special Delivery by Heidi Sonboul! I know I've said it before, but I'll be happy to mention again that I just really, REALLY love this collection!

For my card I've used the Calvin's Race, Guido, Spencer and Heidi papers along with a Special Delivery Labels sticker.

I fussy cut the cross stitched heart medallion from the Spencer paper and amped it up with some extra texture by adding real thread to the printed cross stitching. I also added a few sequins in coordinating colors. I love the way these cool toned colors play together and that dramatic pop of black!

There are lots of other places to visit on today's hop...all with great inspiration and some are even offering prizes! Here is the full list:

GCD Studios

Alicia Thelin

Amanda Coleman

Angi Barrs

Audrey Yeager Christina Collins Christine Meyer Grace Tolman Heidi Van Laar -- that's me! Jennifer Chapin Julie Tucker-Wolek Katrina Hunt Kelly Holbrook Lalo IK Megan Klauer Nina Yang Pam Callaghan Rae Barthel Rochelle Spears Sara Zenger Suzanna Lee Teri Anderson Wida Miller
And, don't forget to head on over to Heidi Sonboul's super cute new site for a chance to win the newest tool from Fiskars and her two newest collections, Special Delivery and SunKissed!! www.heidisonboul.com   Click to order your very own copy! 
Good luck and have fun!
♥ Heidi

Special to Me

Hi there!

It's been a really...I mean a REALLY long time since I created something just for the sake of creating, just because I enjoy it, just because it makes me happy. today I have just such a project to share.

I recently ordered the 12x12 Olive Edition Project Life papers designed by one of my favorite fabric designers; Heather Bailey, and I was so inspired when I received it, I just had to make something with it immediately!

Here's what I came up with...

Supplies:
Cardstock: (yellow, teal, lime green) American Crafts, Patterned Paper: (Olive Edition) Project Life, Stamp: Hero Arts, Ink: ColorBox, Dies: (Labels Twenty-Five, Classic Ovals SM) Spellbinders Paper Arts, Embossing Folder: (Garden Lattice) Spellbinders Paper Arts, Ribbon: Offray
Size: 4.5"x6.5"

To me this card represent the comfort food of crafting. There are no revolutionary techniques or super trendy products, just simple tried and true methods that lead to a satisfying result. Some fussy cutting, a bit of die cutting, embossing and a stamped sentiment. I'm happy with it :)

Since the colors remind me of her, I think I'll send this to my grandmother for Mother's Day.

Have a fabulous weekend!
♥ Heidi

Some Random Paper Smooches Projects

Hi there!

I've got a couple more Paper Smooches cards to share today!

First up a card with the brand new Digits number set.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (cream) Bazzill, (ivory, white) WorldWin Colormates, Patterned Paper: (Project Life) Stamps: (Sentiment and number from "Digits" set, Flowers and leaves from"Daisies and Paisleys" set) Paper Smooches, Ink: (Rich Cocoa...stamped off to make it lighter) Memento, Markers: Copic, Glitter: Martha Stewart, Adhesive Pearls Queen & Co., Dies: (Ovals) Paper Smooches
Size: 4.25"x5.5"

I love that there are lots of sentiments that work with the numbers included in this set. Here I used the "Turning..." sentiment to help create a birthday card for one of my nieces.

She's a pretty girly girl, so I couldn't resist throwing in some pink tissue paper ruffles, glitter and a few flowers from the Daisies and Paisleys set...from Paper Smooches, of course :)

Next up, something a little less feminine.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (Gray, Teal) The Paper Co., (white) Georgia-Pacific, Patterned Paper: (Bundle of Joy Dots and Stripes, Dots and Stripes) Echo Park, Stamps: (sailboat from Wicked Nauticool) Paper Smooches, Ink: ColorBox, Adhesive dots: My Mind's Eye, Dies: (Borders 1 Dies, Wicked Nauticool Dies) Paper Smooches
Size: 4"x8"

Here I used the Borders 1 Die set to create the wavy ocean, I also used it to create my banner by lining it up to cut a wavy strip, stamping my sentiment, then dovetailing the ends. The sailboat is from the Wicked Nauticool set and I cut it out with the matching Nauticool die.

That's it for today, but I've got more to share this week, so be sure to stop back by.

Have a beautiful day!
♥ Heidi

PS. I'm sorry, but I had to turn on word verification...I've been getting spammed like crazy!

Paper Smooches Winner Announced

Just popping in to let you all know that Random.org chose #51 to win a super cute new Retail Therapy stamp set from Paper Smooches! #51 is...

*Jennyfer Leung* said...
Sweet purse card!

April 25, 2013 at 12:35 PM

Great big congrats Jennyfer! Please send me your mailing info so we can get those stamps on their way to you.

Thanks so much to everyone who hopped along with us, hope to see you all again next month!
♥ Heidi

Paper Smooches April DT Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches May stamp release with you!  Four NEW stamps and SEVEN new dies will be available to purchase at 12:01am, Eastern time...on May 1st.  You will find them HERE
To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize!  Just leave a comment on any of the eight design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of our new stamp sets!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify)  You have until midnight MT on Friday, April 26th to leave a comment.  Please check all design team blogs on Saturday, April 27th to see if you are one of the lucky winners.
Check out the Paper Smooches blog to see a peek of the new dies

Emily Leiphart  
Heidi Van Laar ---You are here :) 
Kalyn Kepner
Karolyn Loncon
Kim Kesti
Laura Bassen
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)

Today I'm excited to share a new set call Retail Therapy.

Supplies:
Cardstock: American Crafts, Stamps: (purse, flower, sentiment, Striped box from Retail Therapy set) Paper Smooches, Ink: (black, pink, yellow, lt. teal, dk. teal) ColorBox Dies: (Duo Die 2) Paper Smooches, Adhesive dots: My Mind's Eye
Size: 4.25" x5.5"

Retail Therapy is loaded with girly goodness! I used a few of the build-a-purse elements and one of the sentiments from the set to create my focal point. I stamped one of the gift boxes in two different colors to create the background...I was going for a faux weave sort of look. Lastly I stamped the tiny flower and punched it out to create my confetti sprinkles.

Make sure you head on over to see what fabulous thing Kalyn has created next!

Have fun and good luck!
♥ Heidi

(prize drawing is now over)

I'm Back

Hi all, sorry for the two week absence.

My grandfather passed...he was someone truly special to me. Between dealing with my own emotions and flying to southern California for the memorial, I just didn't have it in me to make time for the blog. Now that I'm back though, I think the best thing is for me to just try and jump back into things.

For today I thought I'd play a bit of catch up and share a few Paper Smooches creations.

First up a springy card I created with the Shadows stamp set.

I love trying to come up with ways to use things other than what they were intended. If you were just going to used the Shadows set to create shadows (like I did here) if would be still be an incredibly usefull set, but really you can do so much more with it. I used only the stamps from the Shadows set to create a flower, leaves and even my background pattern. The possibilities with this set and nearly endless...so much fun!

Next up a card created with the First Aid Kit stamp set.

I thought the little band aids in this set were so cute, and I figured out that if I crossed the straight ones and alternated them with the heart ones I would look like XOXO wich worked perfectly with the "Comforting Hugs" sentiment.

Lastly I have the card I created with the Anchor Die.

Everything nautical is so "in" right now, so this Anchor Die was love at first sight for me!

I combined it with the chain and sentiment from the Wicked Nautical to create this card that I (almost) really love. Looking at it now, I wish I had centered that sentiment! Ah well, it's still pretty cute.

Allrighty, I think that this post is long enough :)

Be back soon (I hope)
♥ Heidi

PS. the post got so long I opted to leave off the supply lists I usually include. All stamps are Paper Smooches. If you have any other questions about supplies or techniques I used please feel free to email me.

Love You

Hi there!

OK, so it's official, this is my last post as a member of the GCD Studios DT. At least I get to go out with a bang with a card made with the fabulous Special Delivery collection!

Heidi Sonboul's "Special Delivery" collection from GCD Studios was one I absolutely could not WAIT to get my hands on! So fun, so bold and perfect for so many things including those hard to create masculine cards!

Supplies:
Cardstock: (black, white) The Paper Co., Patterned Paper: (Spencer, Heidi, George, Guidofrom the Special Delivery Collection) GCD Studios, Die: (Classic Zig Zag) Spellbinders
Size: 4.5"x6.5"

This collection is an eclectic mix of all things trendy and I absolutely love it! I chose to focus on using some of the more masculine elements, but it's loaded with all kinds of things...flowers, maps, postal elements, even horses!

I cut those fabulous glasses from the "Spencer" paper added one of my paper bows (I just left off the tails to create a bow tie) created from the "Heidi" paper and finished it up with a typewriter sentiment also cut from the "Spencer" paper.

So do you love this collection as much as I do?  

Have a great day!
♥ Heidi

You're a Lifesaver

Hello again!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Ours was fabulous, mostly because living in the Pacific Northwest, we frequently have very wet Easters, and sometimes even have snowy ones, but this weekend was sunny and 70! Just perfection. The Easter Bunny finally got the opportunity to hide some eggs outside :)

So, today I have another Paper Smooches card to share. This one features one of the brand new stamp sets releasing today...Wicked Nauticool.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (blue, tan, gray) Bazzill, (white) Georgia Pacific, Stamps: (seagull, lifesaver, nautical flags, stripe, sentiment all from the "Wicked Nauticool" set) Paper Smooches, Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento, Markers: Copic, Die: (Borders 1) Paper Smooches, Thread: Coats & Clark
Size: 5.5"x4.25"

I absolutely love this set! I grew up at the beach (literally right across the street) with a dad who was a commercial fisherman, so the images in this set really speak to me.

For my card I chose to recreate a scene familiar to me, having spent so much time on the coast, an old weathered fence decorated with nautical cast offs and, of course, a seagull!

All the stamps used here are from the set. I used the stripe stamp to create my fence, and I used the brand new Borders 1 die to create the bumpy sand below it.

For more inspiration using this and the other new stamps and dies from Paper Smooches , be sure to check out the blog!

Have a mischievous April Fool's!
♥ Heidi