InKollage

Irish Striped Owl

 

Apologies to Dave and his subscribers - my striped owl post appeared on his blog yesterday!  Let's try this again...

The Tufted Owl, from the new Woodland Springtime release, and the Poppyfinch 6x6 Set are great for paper-piecing.  His beady, intelligent stare works with  a mix of vintage patterns and contemporary stripes.  A few Grass Green Jewel Stickers create shamrocks on the background.

It's an easy card to stamp, cut and piece.  And - with a quick change of greetings  and a random pattern of Jewel Stickers - would work for just about any occasion

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Shamrock Day

The new Woodland Bunny isn't just for Easter.  His horticultural skills are evident here - a little seedling is emerging as a shamrock, thanks to Grass Green Jewel Stickers.  The Poppyfinch 6x6 Set is great for spring cards - and you can win a package of it by entering Laura's contest - get the details on her Color Whimsy blog.

I'll be announcing another contest soon too.  Here's a hint...go green!

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Breaking News

New stamps -  Owlette, Eclipse Tree and "owl" be the first to tell you  -  from the Woodland Springtime collection seem to be made for each other.  Add the curvy Vine Branch and a few Jewel Stickers for a fun card in a spectrum of woodsy browns and greens.

The images here appear more elongated than they are on the actual stamps.  Don't worry - Owlette is rounder and the treetop is a perfect circle on the stamps.  We are having a few issues with my scanner, but I'm working on it.

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Newsflash!

Congratulations to  DEBBIE PEYSEN - the winner of our Spring Bling Contest!  Thank you to everyone for participating in our contest.  

Debbie - please contact Dave here so he can send you your set of Memory Box Jewel Stickers.  Your great ideas will definitely add an extra-special touch to all of your projects.

I love  everyone's creative, out-of-the-box suggestions for adding instant bling to your cards, pages and projects.  Hope you'll be inspired by the great ideas posted - and discover a few more as you continue to stamp, scrap,  papercraft and bling your way through the year.

Laura and I will be announcing another contest soon.  My next theme will be "A Walk in the Woods," featuring the new Woodland Springtime stamps.  Our website lists the retailers who have ordered this new release - be sure your favorite store is on the list.

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Wedding Wishes

As we wrap up what turned out to be "easy card week" - here's another quick wedding card.

Bare Oak, stamped on an Endive Notecard, is filled with tiny hearts from the Heart Sprinkles stamp.

Just add a greeting (yes, it's from our holiday collection!), a Brandywine 6x6 Collection background and daub the edges with Sweet Plum.  Add some Petal Jewel Stickers for extra sparkle.  How easy is that?

Don't forget to enter our Spring Bling Contest.  You could win the entire set of Jewel Stickers - a total of 1,650 jewels - 165 each of ten beautiful colors.  Contest details are on my February 20 post.  We'd love to hear how you'd use each of the ten colors. 

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Spring Bling Contest

Would you like to win a complete set of the new Memory Box Jewel Stickers?

Imagine what you could do with the 10 sparkly colors  -   Pistachio Green, Grass Green, Sparkling Diamond, Deep Lagoon, Sky Blue, Juicy Plum, Azalea Pink, Cherry Red, Petal Pink and Canary Yellow. They're perfect for spring and Easter cards - lots of cards, because the winner of the Spring Bling Contest will receive a total of 1,650 individual Jewels - 165 each of the 10 colors!

I have a few ideas for using them on my cards  - especially with the new Woodland Springtime stamps that are just starting to ship to many retailers.  Tell us  how YOU would use them.  

Just leave a comment on this post, listing how you'd use each color.  For example...Petal Pink for a bunny nose, Canary Yellow for chandelier lights, Juicy Plum as a cluster of tiny flowers,etc.

I'll pick a winner at 8:00 PM (Pacific Time) on Monday, February 23rd.  The winner's email address will be used to request a shipping address for the prize.

View the 10 Jewel Sticker colors in the Trimmings section of our website.

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Love is in the Air

Instead of putting your heart stamps and punches away after Valentine's Day - keep them out and use them throughout the year for wedding, anniversary, baby and birthday cards.  We're just using a punch here - but we'll continue using the heart stamps for weddings and other romantic celebrations 

Here's an idea for a wedding card using the prints from the Sweetbay collection.  The colors are perfect for a spring or summer wedding - and the softly-chalked Bird Collage works for just about any occasion.

Taking a few extra seconds to daub Oasis Green VersaMagic along the edges of the pieces coordinates everything - and defines the patterns.  Mint Pearl Stickers add dimension and call attention to the heart.

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Spring Romance

Here's another super-easy wedding card - in soft spring colors.  The Poppyfinch 6x6 Collection is a rainbow of pretty pastels - teals, lavenders, grays and greens.  The stamped Spring Blossoms Collage, attached with foam dots, adds dimension and the tiny flowers are a nice contrast to the larger blossoms in the background.  Petal Jewel Stickers highlight the flowers with a touch of sparkle.

We used several colors of the Jewel  and Pearl Stickers in classes at Impress over the weekend.  One of the tips I shared with the class sounds a little silly - but it'll save you a lot of time if your worktop tends to attract piles of paper and other supplies.  Rather than placing the sticker sheets back into the polybags after removing a few stickers for a project - staple one end of the clear backing sheet to a slightly larger strip of white cardstock and write the color on the other end of the strip.  This makes the strip more visible  - it's less likely to get lost - and keeps the clear backing sheet from clinging to something and going astray.  You can then slip everything back into the polybag and store them in a little pail or jar.

When you want to see how Jewel or Pearl Stickers would look,  or to check for color matches  - rather than peeling them off and holding them over a section of your project, hold the cardstock strip aside and place the stickers (still on the backing) over your project to how it looks.  This keeps the stickers from accidentally setting themselves down (quite permanently!) in a spot where you may not want them to be.

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Garden Wedding

Many of the new 6x6 and 12x12 prints are perfect for cards just the way they are.  They'd also be great matted and framed for quick, inexpensive wall decor.  The flower border print from the Fernbrae Collection works either way!

It doesn't get any easier than this card - you can make a  bunch of the basic cards in just a few minutes, to have handy when you need a card in a hurry - just add a special greeting and that's it.  I've chosen the classic congratulations-scrip stamp for this card - it'll be nice for a garden wedding.

Laura and I will be announcing spring card contests soon.  We're finalizing the details with Dave - and will get the info out to you as soon as we're done.  We're looking for fresh, new ideas using our stamps, papers, Jewel Stickers and Pearl Stickers.  The latest release - Woodland Springtime - will be arriving at stores soon.  Be sure your favorite retailer has ordered it!

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On the Wings of Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

Celebrate love with a pair of delicate butterflies on a shimmery Lagoon Notecard from the Soiree Collection.  Four patterned papers from the Sweet Bay and Poppyfinch 6x6 Sets create a soft collage of teal, gray, black, green and violet.  The pretty Lagoon card is the perfect backdrop for the Mint Pearl Stickers.  Here's  a card that would work for engagements, weddings or anniversaries, for couples young or young-at-heart.

The Pearl Stickers - in eight colors - add a soft glow of color.  They're great when you need an accent, but glitter is too bright and brads are too heavy.  Use a pair of fine-tipped scissors to snip through the line of adhesive that links them together on the clear backing sheet - then apply them with tweezers (or, when your craft table is covered with "stuff" and you can't find the tweezers, use your fingers - 

they're always easy to find).

Here's a close-up of the butterflies - using just two of the many, many new papers that would be perfect for butterflies.

                                                                     

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