Just Add Ink #581 | legs

What a cracker of a theme we have for you this week at Just Add Ink. It’s so brilliant, I can’t believe we haven’t done it before – Just Add … “legs”! Thanks Lou for the great inspiration! There’s so many options – lots of legs (like on a spider), regular legs on an animal, people legs or maybe table legs!

I must admit, I’ve been a little (well, quite a lot) slow going this year for Christmas cards, so I felt it was time to let the inspiration motivate some festive creativity.

Reindeer are my favourite Christmas motif, which work out well as there is always a fun reindeer option in the July-December catalogue.

The Deer Builder Punch punches out the sweetest prancing reindeers – and if you are as good at collecting (… hoarding) paper as I am, you may also have the gorgeous Peaceful Prints DSP from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue that ran in conjunction with the mini catty earlier in the year.

The punch can be used to cut out the reindeer facing right, but it only cuts one way, so the reindeer facing other way needs to be cut by hand. Sometimes you can see through the DSP when you hold it up to the light and cut that way, but these deer are backed by a very solid red & black checkered print. So.. I used the negative to line up where the outline would be, tacked it in place with removable tape and the fussy cut around the reindeer, using the negative punched image as a guide. It worked so well that I’m not sure I’d be able to tell which one was punched and which was was cut!

We’d love for you to join us for this challenge with us and share your ‘leggy’ projects in the gallery. Visit the Just Add Ink blog to up load your creation.

Happy crafting!

Just Add Ink #573 | sketch

Hello! It’s been a wonderful break but I’m excited to be back to sharing on my blog and Instagram again. I’m going to continue to do most of my sharing via Insta – so jump over there to follow for all the cards I share!

It’s fitting that my first blog post back after my break is a Just Add Ink challenge – they are my favourite inspiration! Today it’s a sketch – a great weekend crafty adventure!

I made my first Christmas card of the season using my favourite suite – Whimsy & Wonder.

How cute are those trees! “‘Tis the season” is from the Christmas to Remember stamp set.

If you make a project using our sketch as the inspiration, share it with us on the Just Add Ink gallery – click here to visit the blog.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Christmas Cheers!

It’s Christmas!!!

Sending a very Merry Christmas to you and your favourite people.

Just a quick share today….

Using some retired favourites and some products soon to join them on the retirement list, this card coordinated well with some gifts I made for family & friends this year.

Warm Hugs stamp set – used here for the heart and Christmas tree – is already sold out. If there’s anything from the Aug-Dec 2020 Mini Catalogue on your wishlist that you haven’t yet added to your shopping cart, it might be time for a little Christmas retail therapy today!

Sending lots of positive Christmas vibes your way today for a day that is filled with amazing company, great food and cold drinks!

Cheers to a wonderful Christmas – with love from Papercraft HQ xxx

Twas the Day Before Christmas | Merry & Bright

Happy Christmas Eve! We made it to the day before!!!

If Paper Pumpkin won Christmas for me this year, the Peace & Joy bundle stole my heart!

From the layering stamps and dies to those amazing teeny tiny little block words, this stamp set was the perfect sentiment option for the bright & bold this Christmas!

It also had accessory stamps such as the cute holly I’ve used to dress up this card.

If you need cards in a hurry today, this banner layout using stripes of 1″, 1-1/2″ and 2″ DSP (I used Heartwarming Hugs) and the Triple Banner Punch. Add your favourite – or closest to hand – Christmas stamps and you’ll have a set of cards ready to share in no time at all!

If you celebrate Christmas tonight, I hope your celebrations are wonderful. If you have toys to construct, presents to wrap, food to cook or a house to clean, I wish you patience and hope there’s some frivolity & joy in your preparations.

One more sleep (hopefully a full night of it!!!)

Twas the Week Before Christmas | most wonderful time of the year

If you’ve seen my other Christmas posts, you’ll see that my Christmas style is varied and although there’s some red & green in there, my favourite Christmas creations are usually of the non-traditional colour combination kind.

Here’s some of the colourful fun of Christmas 2020….

Today I’m adding this sweet card with pastel tones to the collection.

It uses a combination of products you’ll find in the Aug-Dec 2020 Mini Catalogue including

• Tree Angle stamp set
• Wrapped in Christmas stamp set
• Wrapped in Texture Embossing Folders

You’ll also find some Annual Catalgoue items

• Stitched Triangles Dies
• Stitched Stars Dies
• Layering Circles Dies
• Classic Label Punch
• Whisper White Cardstock
• Gold Foil
• Vellum
• Coloured cardstock: Highland Heather, Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride
• Inks: Highland Heather, Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride, Night of Navy

This design could be changed up and made in Christmas traditionals – or any of your favourite colours! You could also swap out the stamps and use whatever you have in your collection to create your trees and a favourite Christmas sentiment.

You are most welcome to copy any of my designs in their exact form. Or, start with this and see where the creative journey takes you!

Two more sleeps! Are you still making Christmas cards & gifts or are you all done? My Christmas crafting has been never ending cycle of thinking I’m done and then having another idea for something I “have to make”!

Twas the Week Before Christmas | Social Stamping

We were lucky to run Social Stamping for a large part of 2020 – with a break in the middle while we responded to the pandemic situation. 2020 saw Mandy Depiazzi and Narelle Simm share the hosting duties, which meant we were able to run more regular sessions at the Taste of Dalyellup.

We loved hanging out at Taste of Dalyellup this year. If you need a last minute Christmas idea (in the Bunbury area), then a gift card for this amazing cafe is perfect! With a choice of $15 or $50, it comes in a handcrafted gift card holder – another one of my projects this year!

The other project I’m sharing with you today is a card we made at Social Stamping, but I haven’t yet shared. The cards in these classes are a great balance of simple enough for any level of crafter, but interesting enough for any level of crafter!

This card uses the Curvy Christmas stamp set and Curvy Dies. The Curvy Dies will continue to be available in the upcoming Jan-June 2021 Mini Catalogue, but the limited edition Christmas stamp set is only available until 4th Jan 2021 (or until stocks run out!). If you’d like this set for your Christmas crafting in years to come, then you’ll want to order it soon! Click here to see it in my online store – add the host code XN43CDU4 to receive a little extra something from me after Christmas.

The curve of the stamps in this set coordinate with the dies to create a pretty Christmas scene. Even the sentiments follow the curvy pattern!

We can’t wait to stamp with you again next year. We post all the details on Facebook, so if you want to make sure you don’t miss the details, then follow me over there. Click here to jump over to FB.

See you tomorrow on the blog for another Christmas card to inspire your last minute stamping creations!

Twas the Week Before Christmas | Paper Pumpkin

The Paper Pumpkin Kit absolutely stole the show for me this Christmas. This box of gorgeousness is just $37 and included the most amazing stamp set, materials to make 8 cards (including envelopes) and an ink spot to keep in your collection.

That teeny tiny photo of the stamp set at the bottom there doesn’t do justice to just how pretty it stamps! I haven’t actually made any of the cards from the kit, but I did cut up the card bases and made lots of this variation…

This style of card is from the Double Wonder layout I shared earlier in the year. See the post here. It’s a great way to add a bit of fancy to a card without doing too much to it. The Cherry Cobbler DSP is from another out of catalogue limited edition product – Classic Christmas DSP as part of the Curvy Celebrations release.

The centrepiece for this card uses the beautiful stamps from the set. I’ve also used them in the middle of the card. The fonts and the styling are so pretty! This could go in the middle of all your Christmas cards!

The Classic Christmas DSP also has Shaded Spruce version of each pattern, so I made a green version too!

The strips of DSP and Paper Pumpkin card base are 1″ wide with the card base scored at 1-1/8″ and folded over. One card base will get you 4 alternates in this design – simply add Crumb Cake card bases, Whisper White, coordinating cardstock and DSP and you can turn one Paper Pumpkin card into 4!

If you order this kit today, you won’t receive it in time to make this year’s Christmas cards, but it will give you plenty of time to make for Christmas 2021 and be ahead of the silly season!!!

Click here to see the kit in my online store. Use the host code XN43CDU4 to receive a Christmas bonus from me in the mail in January.

4 more sleeps til Christmas! Good luck with your Monday to-do list!!!

Twas the Week Before Christmas | Team Gifts

Hello! It’s been a very quiet blogging month for me. Behind the scenes I’ve been spending almost every night crafting up a storm, which has left very little time to share those projects with you. Blogging is a delicate balance – too much time spent photographing, editing, watermarking, uploading and writing posts means too little time spent making!!!

The balance is important here at Papercraft HQ. My time is always a juggle between mummy duties, paid work (I’m a paediatric Speech Pathologist) and having a social life of my own! I don’t think I always got it right in 2020, but on reflection, its been a year full of lots of amazing, so I can’t complain!

To catch up on what I’ve been up to, I’m aiming to share a project a day with you for the rest of 2020. The week it’s all about Christmas. If you’re a deadline crafter like me, then you may still have some cards to make in the lead up to Christmas. If you’re all done and dusted on Christmas crafting for 2020, then make sure to save your favourites to Pinterest for next year’s creative endeavours!

Today’s project to share is my team gifts for 2020. This year our team celebrated twice – a lunch in Mandurah (the half way point between our Perth & Bunbury teamies) and a lunch and team class in Bunbury.

The concept for the jars started as a ‘motivation pot’. I wanted the team to have something on their desk that they could dip into when they were feeling a little low on crafty mojo. What better way to inspire creativity than a little sugar?

I also stamped and added some positive sayings from a beautiful Uniquely Creative set I was gifted by a friend. If sugar doesn’t do the trick, then hopefully some words of affirmation help to get those creative juices flowing again!

The jars for the project were from Kmart. The rainbow was the inspiration for the accompanying tag – and has become my motif for this Christmas. It was drawn freehand with the brush end of Stampin’ Blends, which means I can create it in any colour and match it to the project or wrapping. The stamps are from the Gnome for the Holidays stamp set (a little christmas wish), Ridiculously Awesome stamp set (heart) and my name is from a personalised stamp I own. I’ve been using Night of Navy and other dark inks lots this festive season an an alternative to black. They stamp so nice and bold!

The saying on the top resonated with me and I hope with the team too. I’m a big believer in the philosophy of our actions and reactions being a choice. I choose kind as my action and positive as my reaction and outlook. I’m looking forward to reading a book recommended by Stampin’ Up! CEO Sara Douglass called Adversity is the Way by Ryan Holiday (some good “holiday” reading – pun intended!!!).

Lucky for me our team is wonderful and so supportive of each other in both our creative endeavours and everyday life.

There’s always room for more on our Paper Adventures team, so if you love stamping, we’d love to have you join us and craft the live you love. Click here to purchase your Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit and join us!

Have a great week! Christmas countdown is on!!!

Stamp Review Crew | Gnome for the Holidays

Hello! This is my last Stamp Review Crew hop for 2020. There’s another hop in a couple of weeks, but it’s not a stamp set I added to my collection in time.

Today we’re sharing projects made using the Gnome for the Holidays stamp set – found in the Aug-Dec 2020 Mini Catalogue. You can see the main blog post for this hop by clicking here.

This stamp set was love at first sight when I saw it in the catalogue! It’s been fun to add those sweet little gnomes to holiday cards. The sentiments from this set work well with other stamp sets too, making it a versatile option for all your Christmas crafting needs.

My card today is a Vellum Panel card. You can see Jennifer McGuire’s tutorial video here. I love vellum and use it often to soften up a busy DSP, but I’ve never used it as the card base!

Vellum on its own isn’t strong enough as a card base, so this design uses Heartwarming Hugs DSP on the back layer and part of a piece of cardstock on the front, so a cute peek-a-boo effect.

The Gnome for the Holidays stamp set is great for creating a scene. I stamped the treehouse and then cut it out using a die from the Hippo & Friends Dies. The gnomes were stamped on Whisper White and fussy cut. All of the pretty pictures were brought to life with Stampin’ Blends. How vibrant are those colours!!!

The embossing for this card is Tasteful Textures 3D embossing folder cut at an angle.

Is this a card style that you’ve tried? Feel like it might work for some of your festive crafting?

This stamp set has so much to offer and so many different styles you can use. One of my favourite cards this year was made using this set –

Originally shared for Just Add Ink #530

There’s plenty more inspiration on this hop. Next up is Mike Funke in the US with a great gnomey project….

Have a great week!

ESAD Blog Hop | Goodbye Aug-Dec 2020 Mini

Hello! Welcome to a hop with my ESAD friends. ESAD is an online community of Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators who live in Australia & New Zealand. It’s a pleasure to hang out with them online today!

The theme for today’s hop is “Goodbye Mini Catalogue”. The holiday catalogue started in August will run through until 4th January (or until stocks last). If there’s anything on your list that you haven’t yet ordered, you’ll want to contact your demonstrator ASAP to get it done, or you may not get the chance!

Now, let us add a few more things to your list that you didn’t know you needed!

I’m sharing a couple of projects I’ve made using Festive Felt. You might have overlooked this on page 29 of the catalogue, hiding in the top corner but let me show you how awesome it is! Thin enough to cut with dies but durable enough to create a cute embellishment for your projects, this is a great way to add texture.

The felt comes in 4 colours – Early Espresso, Just Jade, Real Red & Whisper White.

For the first card, I used the felt to make circles that are slightly larger than 1″ using a die from the Layering Circles Dies set. I arranged these on a Crumb Cake mat, layered with Whisper White cardstock and then on a Crumb Cake base.

The felt is so amazing to use. It cuts through dies beautifully – including the intricate reindeer die from the Snow Globe Scenes Dies set. I’ve left this card sentiment free to let the felt be the focus!

The second card uses the felt and the Stitched Stars Dies.

The styling of this card is very similar to the first one but has a sentiment from the Wrapped in Christmas stamp set – another gorgeous find in the mini catalogue. I stamped and then embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder.

The felt retained the pieces from the detailed die which made for a pretty effect! You can also see the stitching on the red & white dies. The final touch is some Basic Pearl Jewels.

If you can cut it with a die, then you can make your own felt embellishments! The felt doesn’t work with punches, but you can cut with scissors or a guillotine style trimmer.

Ready for more projects? Keep hopping and visit another WA demo – the lovely Odette Kermode…

Thanks for joining us! The full list of participants is below – make sure to visit as many as you can!

Participant List

1. Nicole Wilson
2. Denise Buetler
3. Cheryl Algie
4. Narelle Fasulo
5. Lou Kitzelman
6. Libby Dyson
7. Melissa Gifford
8. Leonie Schroder
9. Sue Vine
10. Monique Fielder
11. Shannon Kissane
12. Maree McIntosh
13. Kelly Kent
14. Odette Kermode