CardMaker Magazine Blog- Celebrate and Decorate

Hello friends, 

I am on the CardMaker blog sharing a trio of Spring Animal Gift bags featuring Paper Smooches dies. 

I hope you will pop by and check out my post for more details! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

A Trio of Critter Card Puns {Paper Smooches}

Hello friends, 

I love a good pun, so the Critter Card Puns stamp set from Paper Smooches is right up my alley.  I was able to combine this punny set with some of my favorite products from Paper Smooches March Release- the adorable Animal Card dies. Using this stamp set and dies, I created a trio of punny critter cards. 

There are three Animal die sets available: Bunny, Cat/Dog and Bear/Frog.  I mixed and matched the die sets to create the kitty, puppy and panda cards.

Using the same basic layout and pink card stock to accent the animals helps tie the cards together to work as a set.

Supplies: 

Critter Card Puns

Bear Frog Card Dies 

Cat Dog Card Dies

Bunny Card Dies

That's all for me today- thanks so much for stopping by!

Katie

Paper Smooches Blog Hop!

Hello friends, 

I am honored to be helping showcase Paper Smooches March Release while the amazing Alice Wertz is away on vacation.  

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the NEW Paper Smooches MARCH 2017 release with you!  THREE new stamp sets and FIVE new dies will be available to purchase at 8:00pm PT on February 28th.  You will find our new products HERE once they go live.  

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! 

The prize - a $25. gift code to choose what you like at the PS online store.

Here are the details:

• FOUR winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and the PS Blog to win the $25. prize.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed below or the PS blog for your chance to win!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your chances) 
• Deadline: You have until midnight PT on Sunday, February 26th to leave a comment. 
• Please check the Paper Smooches blog on Monday, February 27th to see if you are one of the FOUR lucky winners.  

Here is a handy list and links to the Paper Smooched Design Team participating in today's hop. 

Jill Hawkins

Kalyn Kepner

Katie Gehring - that's me :)

Laurie Schmidlin

Michele Boyer

Savannah O' Gwynn

Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

• Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
• Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
• Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

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

My project today features the new Bunny Card Die.  I squealed when I saw the design for these card dies that are releasing this month.  They are so clever and each set offers so many creative possibilities- you are in for a real treat! 

I decided to make a sweet bunny bag by combining the Bunny Card Die with a few other older Paper Smooches dies including: 

Fringe Die

Hearts Die

Easter Egg Dies

Pocket Dies

I measured my gift bag and trimmed a piece of card stock to be the same width as the bag, but much taller to accommodate the bunny ears.  I die cut the card stock using the Bunny Card die and then created the bunny's face using the elements included in the set.  I did swap out the nose with a heart from the Hearts Die set and the bunny's paws are actually from the Dog Pig Fox Card die also releasing in March. 

I further decorated the bunny by adding the egg and bow using the Easter Egg dies.  The flowers were made using the Pocket dies and I embellished the centers with yellow enamel dots.  The fringe die created grass along the bottom of the bag. 

As a finishing touch, I couldn't resist gluing a white puff ball to the back side of the gift bag as the bunny's tail. :) I am looking forward to whipping up a whole brigade of bunny bags to give to my girls and my niece and nephews this Easter.  They are truly as much fun to make as to receive! 

Well you've got some (bunny) hopping to do, so I won't keep you any longer!  Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Katie

Thanks and a Farewell {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Good morning friends,

It's time for another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!  Since this month has 5 Sundays, it's a bonus Anything Goes challenge and here's my card:

This card is all about die-cutting.  I built a background using the Hexalong dies and die cut a pretty thanks from gold cardstock. I adhered the sentiment to a circle to help set it apart a bit from the background.  The Paper Smooches products I used are as follows: 

• Hexalongs Dies
• Thanks Word 2 Die

This post is also my farewell to the Paper Smooches SPARKS team.  I am stepping down due to increasing demands on my time at work and home. This was such a hard decision to make because I just LOVE Paper Smooches and my SPARKS gals.  It's been a true joy serving on the team for the past year and a half, and I am so grateful to Kim and Sav for allowing me the opportunity. I also hope to continue to pop in and play along with challenges as a player as time allows. You can read the official announcement here and meet the new members of the team.  (Welcome Karin and Audrey!  Woot woot!!) 

Ready to play?  Just link up your creation to the Paper Smooches blog by 11:59 Pacific Time on Saturday, June 6th.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store. 

The following SPARKS team members are playing along with this week's challenge: 

Audrey

Lisa

Erin

Jenny

Katie

Larissa

Lori

Lynn

Savannah

Thanks for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Tooth Fairy Smile Card {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello friends, 

Today starts another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week, it's a Designer Drafts or sketch challenge, and here's my take: 

My youngest daughter, Sophie, is at that age where is seems like she has a wiggly tooth every other week.  I thought it might be fun for the Tooth Fairy to leave her tooth payment in a cute card. 

I stamped the starry pattern at the bottom of a pink notecard before adding some white pigment ink to give it a dreamy look.  The tooth fairy's wings are made from vellum which I die cut with the Hearts dies.   All Paper Smooches supplies are linked below. 

Stamps: 

• Spring Fling
• Royal Cuteness
• Scripty Sayings

Dies:

• Hearts dies
• Tooth Fairy die

And here's a look at this week's inspiration sketch: 

Ready to play?  You know the routine!   You have until 11:59 PT on Saturday, May 30, 2015 to link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store.  

Be sure to check out the amazing inspiration from the other members of the SPARKS design team playing along with this week's challenge: 

Larissa Heskett
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Savannah O'Gwynn

I can't wait to see what you create!  

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Simple Happy Birthday Card {SPARKS Challenge}

Hello friends, 

It's time for another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!  This week it's ANYTHING GOES and here's my take: 

You can never have too many birthday cards on hand, especially those that can work for both gals and guys.  I had picked up the Incognito stamp set a few months ago and it was just waiting for the perfect card to make it's debut.  I stamped the glasses and added a triangle from the Design Motifs stamp set as a party hat.  Before stamping the triangle on the card, I pressed the diagonal line stamp block from Kissables 2 stamp set against it to create the fun pattern.  The sentiment is from one of my favorites and most used Paper Smooches stamp sets- Sentiment Sampler. 

Lest the card be too plain and simple, I dressed up the edges by die cutting a dashed line on either side of the stamped panel using the Dots and Dashes dies and I filled in the lens of the glasses with Glossy Accents. 

Ready to play?  You know the routine!   You have until 11:59 PT on Saturday, May 9, 2015 to link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store.  

Be sure to check out the amazing inspiration from the other members of the SPARKS design team playing along with this week's challenge: 

Larissa Heskett
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Savannah O'Gwynn

I can't wait to see what you create!  

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Chalkboard Easel Teacher Appreciation Card {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello friends, 

It's time for another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!  This week it's ANYTHING GOES and here's my take: 

I have Teacher Appreciation on the mind because that's where my Anything went.  From a kraft card base, I used the Quote tags dies to make an easel.  I embossed the sentiment from the Uplifters stamp set onto black card stock and made a ledge from a brown card stock rectangle.  I added an apple using the School Icons dies and rolled up a scrap piece of white card stock to serve as chalk.

Ready to play?  You know the routine!   You have until 11:59 PT on Saturday, April 25 to link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store.  

Be sure to check out the amazing inspiration from the other members of the SPARKS design team playing along with this week's challenge: 

Larissa Heskett
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Savannah O'Gwynn

I can't wait to see what you create!  

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Watercolor Rose Birthday Card {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello friends, 

It's time for another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!  This week we are inspired by a beautiful photo featuring floral pom-poms and soft gray stripes and here's my take: 

 I die cut the Roses Die and a pair of leaves from white card stock and roughly sketched where I was planning to place them on a panel of watercolor paper.  I removed the die cuts and added color to the panel with Distress Inks.

Once dry, I adhered the rose and leaves to the watercolor panel.  The sentiment is from Lovely Thoughts and I added a few sequins.  I attached the finished panel to a card base with foam tape, trimming it down slightly before adhering so a fun strip of washi tape would peek through.  

Here's this week's inspiration photo: 

source

Ready to play?  You know the routine!   You have until 11:59 PT on Saturday, April 18 to link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog for a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store.  

Be sure to check out the amazing inspiration from the other members of the SPARKS design team playing along with this week's challenge: 

Larissa Heskett
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Savannah O'Gwynn

I can't wait to see what you create!  

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Live like it's Spring {Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge}

Hello friends!

It's time for another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week is a Designer Draft challenge and here's my take. 

In place of the long banner on the sketch, I used the rainbow clouds from the Luminous Spring stamp set.  I used a stamp positioner (thank you Misti) to lengthen the rainbow to the height of my panel.  

I colored the rainbow with Copic markers- except the purple stripe.  Apparently I don't own any purple Copic markers- so I had to improvise with a Distress Marker.  And needless to say, I will need to add a purple Copic marker or two to my crafty purchase list. ;) 

After all the marker drama, I decided to stamp the sentiment in black and keep the rest of the card pretty simple.  Here's a look at the inspiration sketch: 

So, now it's your turn!  Make a card inspired by this week's sketch and link up your creation to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by Saturday, March 28 at 11:59 PST.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches shop!  Yay!!! 

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other Paper Smooches SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Sorry I forgot your birthday {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello friends,

I hope you are having a great weekend!  I am popping in this morning with a card I created for the latest Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week ANYTHING GOES and here's what I made...

Do you ever have trouble getting birthday cards to their intended recipients in a timely manner?  I sure do and that's just one of the reasons that I just adore the sentiments included in the Happy Birthday stamp set.   I stamped a pair of the sentiments on a journaling card and added the Party Hamster using the Party Posse stamp set and Posse Icon Dies.  I stamped the aqua card stock with the Dippy Dots background stamp for a fun party backdrop. 

So, now it's your turn!  Make anything you like using Paper Smooches Stamps and link up your creation to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by Saturday, March 7 at 11:59 PST.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches shop!  Yay!!! 

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other Paper Smooches SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Sweet Valentine Treats {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello friends!  

Today starts another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week is an ANYTHING GOES challenge, so albeit a day late, I thought I would share the Valentine's Day treats that my girls handed out to their classmates on Friday.  

Valentine's Day is like the winter equivalent of Halloween whereby sugar and all things sweet seem to rule the day- at least for the classroom set.  The girls LOVE Pixy Stix and begged me to figure out a way to make these sticks of sugar into a Valentine.  We ended up fashioning them into arrows complete with feathers and heart arrowheads. 

We die-cut hearts using the Hearts Dies and glued a heart to the end of each stick.  Colorful card stock cut with the Feathers Dies adorn the other end of the arrow.  I wrapped the base of the feathers with a bit of washi tape to help keep them in place.

It's just not Valentine's Day without a punny sentiment, so the Love Struck stamp set came to our rescue with the fitting "Quill You Be My Valentine" sentiment.  We stamped the sentiment onto a circle punched from white cardstock and mounted the circle to pink card stock cut with the Pinked Circles die before glueing it to the Pixy Stix. 

Once dry, the girls could write the to and from information on the back of the circle.   From what I was told, most of these arrows didn't make it out of the classroom parties and were consumed on the spot.  So now, a moment of silence for the 2015 Gehring Valentine's... we barely knew thee, and are grateful for your contribution in making this Valentine's Day just a bit sweeter.  

So, now it's your turn!  Make anything you like using Paper Smooches Stamps and link up your creation to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by Saturday, February 21 at 11:59 PST.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches shop!  Yay!!! 

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other Paper Smooches SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Floral Birthday Wishes Card {Paper Smooches Sparks}

Hello friends,

Today starts another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge and this week, we are making cards inspired by the most gorgeous inspiration photo EVER.  Seriously, it's soooo pretty.  I will show it to you in a moment, but first, here's my card:

I have really been loving the plus sign patterns I have been seeing in fashion and home decor and decided to create one in black and gold using the Squared dies. 

I left some spaces in the pattern for visual interest and to accommodate other design elements, like the sentiment from the Lovely Thoughts stamp set. 

For the flowers, I die cut the Roses dies from chipboard and topped the die cuts with white card stock.  Next I did a wash of distress ink on watercolor paper traced the die cut, cut it out (slightly inside the line) and adhered the die cuts over top. 

So are you ready to see gorgeous inspiration photo? Here you go!

{via}

So pretty, right?  I bet you are super inspired, so go, run to your craft space and make a beautiful card.  Then link it up to the Paper Smooches blog by 11:59 p.m. PST on Saturday, February 14th.  The winner of the challenge will get a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store!  Yay!!!!  

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie

Hey Sweets {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hey Sweets! :)

Just popping in this morning to share a card that I made for the latest Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  This week is a sketch challenge and here's my take:

I sort of flipped the sketch a bit and instead of using a scalloped frame, I used the scalloped frosting edge from the Cupcakes die.  Before adhering the cupcake to my card, I added a bit of interest by stamping the frosting with the polka dots from the Geo-Graphic stamp set and the wrapper with the diagonal stripes from the Kissables 2 stamps set. 

The sentiment if from the Ghoulfriends stamp set and I topped the cupcake with a heart from the Hearts Dies set.  The white sprinkles are enamel dots. 

Here's a look at this week's inspiration sketch: 

Ready to play?  You know the routine!  Link up your take on this week's challenge to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog by 11:59 p.m. PST on Saturday, January 31.  The winner of the challenge will get a $30.00 gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store!  Yay!!!!  

Be sure to check out the inspiration from the other SPARKS team members playing along with this week's challenge: 

Lynn Mangan

Lori Tecler
Larissa Heskett

Savannah O'Gwynn

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Katie