SEEDS OF TODAY

I'd like to share a lovely quote with you, one that I think keeps well with the theme and intent of my blog, Paper Seedlings.

To help you plant the seeds for your future flowers, I have a way to make it a little more fun: Linda's Stamp-In 50/50 chart.

(I'm sorry the numbered section of the chart is covered up. I tried to take a photo of it without covering it, but it was possible to read personal information on the spaces that have been filled. So, to protect participants' privacy, I covered them up.) 

The boxes are numbered 1-50. When all the spaces are filled, there will be a drawing, and the winner will receive a $50 shopping spree through Stampin' Up! from me! The boxes are almost half filled. So it won't be just too long before someone has a $50 shopping spree to enjoy!

To get your name on one (or more) of the boxes, with every $50 order you place through me (before shipping and tax), you will let me know your preference for box number, and I will enter you in. The other way you can get your name in there is to host a workshop through me. A book party even qualifies.That way, if the party comes to a minimum of $150, you will also enjoy hostess benefits!

So, for every $50+ order placed from Stampin' Up! online, I will contact you to get your choice of numbered spot. Of course, this goes for my local customers also! To order online, look to the right and simply click on one of the catalogs or the box for My Stampin' Up! Website.

Get those seeds planted so you can look forward to pretty flowers!

Smiles.

AUTUMN SPLENDOR EMBOSS RESIST

Using the emboss resist technique in conjunction with leaves makes for a wonderful autumn card.

Unfortunately, the two stamp sets I used in this sample have been retired. But Stampin' Up! has several other leaf and greeting sets that could be substituted if you don't own these particular sets.

To re-create a card similar to this one, following is the supply list:

Autumn Splendor Stamp Set (retired)

Holidays & Wishes Stamp Set (retired)

Not Quite Navy card stock

Cajun Craze card stock

Whisper White card stock

Cajun Craze ink

Not Quite Navy ink

More Mustard ink

VersaMark

Heat Tool

Pewter Embossing Powder

Embossing Buddy

Paper Snips

Stampin' Dimensionals

Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon (retired)

Decorative Label Punch

XL Oval Punch

Sponge Daubers

Instructions:

Rub Embossing Buddy well over 3.75" x 5" piece of Whisper White card stock. With VersaMark, stamp leaves randomly across the paper. (I started with the larger oak leaves and filled in with the smaller leaves.) Sprinkle Pewter Embossing Powder over the leaves, and heat to emboss.

Use Sponge Daubers to fill in the background with Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy, and More Mustard inks. You can make these areas as light or as dark as you desire. But try to have some light and some dark for contrast.

On a scrap of Whisper White, stamp acorns and sentiment in VersaMark. Heat emboss these with the Pewter Embossing Powder. Use the More Mustard Sponge Dauber to color in the acorns. With Paper Snips, carefully cut out the acorns. Punch out the sentiment with the XL Oval Punch. With the Not Quite Navy Sponge Dauber, ink the edges of the oval. From a scrap of Cajun Craze, punch out a Decorative Label, and ink those edges also. Adhere these three pieces together. Set aside momentarily.

Wrap the ribbon around the finished leaf panel, and tie into a bow on the left side. Adhere the sentiment piece over the ribbon with a couple of Stampin' Dimensionals.

Adhere finished leaf panel to a piece of Cajun Craze measuring 5.25" x 4", then to card front, made from a 5.5" x 8.5" piece of Not Quite Navy, folded in half and scored well with the bone folder.

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Smiles

FALL WALK

I had the day off from work today, and it was a gorgeous fall day. So I decided to go for a walk. Of course, I had my camera with me.

In My Digital Studio, I put together a 12" x 12" scrapbook page featuring my favorites of the photos I took today. Using MDS made it quick and easy to preserve an exquisite fall day.

Copyright 2012 Linda Kilsdonk

My autumn gift to you. Enjoy!

Smiles.

COVER ORNAMENT

If you have seen the cover of the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog, you have probably done some major drooling over the luscious ornament featured there. If you haven't seen the catalog, this is what it looks like:

Anyway, I am so excited! Yesterday I actually made one! Here's what mine ended up looking like:

(I should have held mine at the same angle.)

I was lacking two of the essential supplies, so mine isn't as pretty as the cover photo. I didn't have the Stampin' Up! rosette maker or the gorgeous Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper. So I made my not-as-pretty rosette a different way, and from Old Olive card stock. I also didn't use glitter on mine. The finished ornament (or maybe decoration?) is about 6" in diameter. It is such a stunner.

If you're interested in making one of these beauties for yourself (or for everyone on your Christmas list!), following is the supplies list:

Ornament Keepsake Bundle (includes the Holiday Ornaments Framelits and the Ornament Keepsakes Stamp Set) (c: 129950; w: 129949)

Perfect Punches (c: 120516; w: 117022)

Very Vanilla Card Stock (101650)

Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper (126901)

Cherry Cobbler Ink (126966)

Old Olive Ink (126953)

Hot glue gun

Silicone Craft Sheet (127853)

Cherry Cobbler Scalloped Tulle Ribbon (127841)

Bone Folder (102300)

Linen Thread (104199)

Large Pearl Basic Jewels (125577)

Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (127555)

Big Shot (113439)

Designer Rosette Bigz XL Die (125594)

1 3/8" Circle Punch (119860)

1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch (119854)

There are lots of videos on how to create this ornament online, but the one I used, that I found to be very helpful, is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjILOVnGtho&feature=plcp

To order any of the products you need to produce these ornaments, just click on one of the catalog boxes in the right column of my blog. Supplies come from both the big catalog and the Holiday Catalog.

If you do decide to create one of your own (or for lots of others!), I hope you enjoy the process. I did.

Smiles.

COLOR COMBO 1

Gulp. I just accepted my first challenge. On mydigitalstudio.net, they have thrown out a challenge for a specific color combination. Anyone accepting the challenge must use these colors in their My Digital Studio creation: Primrose Petals, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Midnight Muse, and Whisper White.

Not being wild about this color combo, I decided to revisit Stacy's birthday card, and switch it up a bit.

Primrose Petals, Daffodil Delight, and Peach Parfait are perfect for balloon colors. Don't you agree? And adding a few touches of the Midnight Muse contributes a little more contrast and definition to the pastel-looking creation. Since I was not going to be mounting this onto a separate piece of card stock like I did in my previous card, I decided it could use a little bit of a party atmosphere, so I chose a Daffodil Delight and Whisper White Designer Series Paper from Nursery in MDS.

This is not a hybrid card like the Stacy's birthday card. Remember, I had added a three-dimensional look by cutting out two of the balloons and popping (popping balloons???) them up a bit with Stampin' Dimensionals, added glitter to the star and the striped balloon, and then mounted it on another piece of card stock. This one was solely created in My Digital Studio, and could either be printed on my home printer or ordered through the Printing Service provided by MDS. The creations that are printed professionally turn out AWESOME!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the results of my first challenge.

Smiles.

MDS BIRTHDAY BALLOONS

I decided to create a hybrid birthday card for my niece, and headed over to My Digital Studio to get the process rolling. It was simple and fun to come up with a result that pleased me enormously:

I printed it out twice on white card stock, and headed down to my studio, where I cut the image area to 4" x 5 1/4". The perfect layering size for a card front.

From one of the copies of the MDS creation, I cut out the pink and green balloons, and popped them up over their counterparts on the card panel with Stampin' Dimensionals. That was cute enough, but then I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the purple striped balloon and the star above the "i". 

Finally, adhering it onto a Concord Crush (retired, I'm sad to say), card front completed the darling greeting. Happy Birthday, Stacy!

Smiles.

ACCOMPLISHING GREAT THINGS

To accomplish great things . . . Doesn't everyone aspire to succeeding and accomplishment? At least once in awhile?

This quote (created in My Digital Studio) is sort of a continuation of the first quote published on my blog. You know, the one about being on the right track or getting run over?

In other words, it's not enough to have grand plans if you don't do something about them -- acting. Doing what needs to be done. But, first you need the dream. And the belief in yourself that you CAN succeed.

My dream is to be the best Stampin' Up! demonstrator I am capable of becoming. You know -- you do the best with what you've got? The plan: Paper Seedlings.

Through my blog, I hope to instill possibly new, maybe fresh, but always fun, ideas to further your love for papercrafting and all the wonderful feelings being creative can bring to your life. It is such a great accomplishment to create something that will enhance the beauty in your life and possibly someone else's. What greater thing to accomplish?

Have a dream and BELIEVE that you can make it come true! That's what I'm doing.

Smiles.

GREEN AND WHITE CHEVRON CARD

Stampin' Up! has so many wonderful products. Don't you agree? They are very mix- and matchable so as to make the "work" of creating absolutely no work at all. That versatility and workability comes into play in my Green and White Chevron Card, which my workshop attendees created themselves in August.

The chevron is all the rage right now. Its bold visual statement makes it a real wow to encounter in a project.

I decided to make use of the chevron in two ways on this card. First is the obvious way of adding a touch of it in a simple border. But then I decided to mix it up a bit by stamping one of the flowers from Mixed Bunch in Black StazOn onto this paper, which is part of the Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper. After stamping the flower, I thought it needed a little further punch to define the flower more. So I used an Aqua Painter and the Watercolor Crayons in Old Olive to paint in all the petals of the flower. This helped.

Trying three different colors -- white, black and Old Olive -- for the circle surrounding the flower, yielded something of a conundrum because they all looked good in their own ways. I decided to go with the wildest, most contrasty look with a black circle. And the Delicate Doilies die added just the finishing touch it needed.

Following are the supplies needed to create this eye-catching project:

Teeny Tiny Wishes
Mixed Bunch

Whisper White card stock
Old Olive card stock
Basic Black card stock
Daffodil Delight card stock
Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper

Daffodil Delight ink
Old Olive ink
Black StazOn ink

Aqua Painter
Watercolor Wonder Crayon in Old Olive
Paper Piercing Tool
Stampin' Pierce Mat
Big Shot
Framed Tulips Embossing Folder
Circles #2 Die
Delicate Doilies Die
Boho Blossoms Punch
Word Window Punch
Modern Label Punch
Blossom Punch
Stampin' Dimensionals
Black Brad

How to create the card:

Fold the Old Olive card stock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Run the 4" x 5 1/4" rectangle of Whisper White card stock through the Big Shot in the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder. Adhere to card front.

Using the Circles #2 Die in the Big Shot, cut the largest circle out in black.

With the Delicate Doilies Die, cut a doily from Old Olive. Poke out the holes from the doily along the outer edge with the Paper Piercing Tool.

On a piece of the chevron DSP measuring about 3" square, stamp the flower in Black StazOn. In order to give the petals some definition, paint in each petal with an Old Olive Watercolor Wonder Crayon and an Aqua Painter. Punch the dried flower out with the Petals Punch. Insert a strip of black card stock into the Boho Blossoms Punch, and punch out one of the bigger flowers. Do the same with a strip of Daffodil Delight. Stamp the round flower shape willy nilly on the yellow flower in Daffodil Delight ink.

Adhere all the layers together. With the foam mat over the hard mat, use a Paper Piercing Tool to create a hole in the center, and insert a black brad. Attach this to the card front with a couple of Stampin' Dimensionals.

Adhere a 1" x 4" strip of the chevron DSP to the bottom of the card front.

On a scrap of Whisper White card stock, stamp your sentiment of choice in Old Olive, and punch it out with the Word Window Punch. From a scrap of black card stock, punch out a Modern Label. Adhere these two together, and attach to card front with pieces of Stampin' Dimensionals.

Smiles.

THUMPED LEAF CARD

This card features a great technique called "thumping". The French Foliage stamp set is simply ideal for utilizing this technique.

Following are the supplies to create this card:

French Foliage
Whimsical Words (retired)

Crumb Cake Card Stock
Always Artichoke Card Stock
Naturals Ivory Card Stock

Always Artichoke Ink
Crumb Cake Ink
Stampin' Write Markers in:
   More Mustard
   Bravo Burgundy
   Elegant Eggplant
   Old Olive

Your choice of distressing tool
Paper Snips
Linen Thread
Curly Label Punch
Stamping Sponge
Stampin' Dimensionals

To do "thumping": In this case, using the large leaf stamp, ink up the stamp with Crumb Cake ink. Then, using the side of the brush end of the markers, one by one, thump the colors sporadically onto the leaf image, turning the image so all your "thumps" aren't facing in the same direction. Once you are done thumping, huff on the stamp (anytime you are using markers on a stamp, do this to reactivate the ink), and stamp onto a scrap of Naturals Ivory card stock.

With Paper Snips, carefully cut out the leaf, and set aside.

On a 2" x 4.25" rectangle of Naturals Ivory card stock, stamp the dots from the set, STAMPING OFF FIRST, with Crumb Cake ink. Sponge all edges with Always Artichoke ink.

Wrap Linen Thread around left edge of Ivory, securing it in back. On scrap of Naturals Ivory, stamp sentiment in Always Artichoke. Punch out with Curly Label punch. From scrap of Always Artichoke, punch another Curly Label, but snip this one in half. Extending past the edges of the sentiment label, attach the halved label to the back. You will need to trim off little bits that stick out near the center. Sponge remaining edges of Ivory with Always Artichoke ink. Attach sentiment panel with two Stampin' Dimensionals to Ivory rectangle. With PIECES of Stampin' Dimensionals, attach the leaf to the panel. Adhere this completed panel to a 2.25" x 4.25" rectangle of Always Artichoke card stock.

Fold 8.5" x 5.5" piece of Crumb Cake card stock in half, creasing well with bone folder. Stamp leaves randomly -- *STAMP OFF FIRST -- around the edges of the card in Crumb Cake. Add a few of the dots also.

Add panel to card front.

Distress bottom front edge of the card with method desired. (Fingernails, scissors blades, or an actual distressing tool all work for doing this.) Sponge distressed edges lightly with Always Artichoke.

* To Stamp Off means to first stamp lightly on a piece of scratch paper before stamping on your project. This lightens the effect of the stamping. Each time you ink the stamp, you need to stamp off to keep a consistent look throughout.

Smiles.

PERCEPTION

Our dear old friend, Webster, defines the word "perception" as "an awareness of the elements of the environment . . . interpreted in the light of experience". Isn't that enlightening?

Basically we perceive our environment, including personal experiences, individually. No two people observe or experience things the same way. How boring would that be! It's one of the many charms of being human, that we are all individuals and unique. This uniqueness needs to be embraced and cherished. It's what makes us all beautiful and lovable.

The above quote was fashioned in My Digital Studio.

Speaking of My Digital Studio (also fondly known as MDS), it is a truly wonderful creative tool. I had been resisting any notion of MDS since its inception three years ago, hoping that none of my customers would ask me anything about it, because I felt it was completely over my head, and that I would never be able to learn it. Nonsense. My perception of My Digital Studio was wrong, wrong, wrong.

I downloaded the free 30-day trial of the program, played with it for a few days, and knew that I had to have the whole enchilada! So I ordered the complete MDS2, and I know I'll now never look back.

And the downloads are so reasonably priced, you don't have to pay any shipping charges, and as soon as you order them, they are there in your computer, ready to download and be used immediately. As if Stampin' Up! doesn't already have an impressively-complete catalog of goodies to add to your MDS, they release a handful of new downloads every single Tuesday!! Something to get through Monday for!

To check it out further, click on one of several buttons on the right side of my blog. Clicking on the orange square, "My Stampin' Up! Website", takes you to pretty much everything Stampin' Up!, including shopping, ideas, creative projects and videos. Another button merely says "My Digital Studio" and takes you to all the information about MDS you could ever want. The "My Digital Studio Promotion" tells you about a Stampin' Up! promotion in which you can get 31% off 31 MDS downloads. This promotion only runs through September 14.

No matter what your perception of digital creating is, you should really at least give the free
30-day trial of My Digital Studio a shot. I think this would greatly change your perception, and widen your creative world.

Remember: An awareness of the elements of our environment . . . interpreted in the light of experience. An experience you won't regret!

Smiles.

Boo

It's September, and after Labor Day, so time to start thinking fall. Right?

Hmmm. What does "fall" bring to mind? Cooler nights for sleeping. Trees wearing their colorful best. V- formations of geese, and all their honking, heading south. Robins disappearing. Crisp leaves underfoot on a woodland walk. Mosquitoes: GONE! Wearing more clothing. And socks. Putting away the lawnmowers and bringing out the snow throwers. Winterizing the garden. And? And? HALLOWEEN!

I decided to give My Digital Studio a try for a little Halloween spookiness. I had been intending to purchase the stamp of Frightening Feline, big cat fan that I am. However, when I discovered that it was available from My Digital Studio (MDS), and for only $1.95, I decided to go that route.

In playing with my scary little feline, I opted to create a hybrid card. That is, create some portion of it in My Digital Studio, and the rest as a traditional card. Hybrid == a combination of digital and traditional card making.

I actually created the focal point of my card in MDS using the square tag template. I added the kitty in the center. To create my background of Pumpkin Pie, I added a square punch, and resized it to fit the entire tag. I then paper-filled the punch with Pumpkin Pie card stock, moving this layer to the back. Along the edges, I "sewed" a simple row of black stitching, then came back and added black zigzag stitch right on top of the straight stitching. I liked the way the stitching overlapped on each of the corners.

To set off the frightening feline, I added a little "Boo" in the lower right corner. Simple, huh?

I printed it out on white card stock. Then proceeded to my studio downstairs. I trimmed the cat square, leaving just a bit of the white card stock showing on all edges. I then mounted that to a square of black card stock, 3.5" x 3.5". Using the largest of the Apothecary Accents Framelits, I created my black mat. To give the mat a bit more character, I positioned the black frame within the appropriate space from the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, and pierced a nice border all around. To give a little dimension to the black against the black, I mounted the cat square onto the frame with Stampin' Dimensionals.

A Googlies (page 27 of the Holiday Catalog) eyeball graces both the top and bottom points of the black frame.

A little more dimension was added by putting a 4" x 5.25" piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock through the Big Shot inside the Herringbone Embossing Folder, then sponging all the edges softly in black. The black frame was added to the herringbone background with a couple more Stampin' Dimensionals. Finally, the completed panel was adhered to a white card front.

Smiles??

Smiles.

BOOK PAGE FLOWER

Just a quick note: on occasion, I plan on sharing with you photos, supply lists and detailed instructions on projects that I had created for my monthly workshops in the past. Some will be more current, using supplies that can be found in current catalogs. Unfortunately, for some of the other projects, many of the supplies may have retired since the project was born. But, you can always replace retired supplies with current product. Here's a chance to semi-CASE (copy and share everything), and make a project all your own. I think the projects I will be featuring stand on their own merit, and beg to be shared. Hopefully you will agree.

In the supplies list, I will always note whether a product is retired or not. So, here goes my first offering: Book Page Flower Card.

Supplies:
Sahara Sand Card Stock
Baja Breeze Card Stock
Cherry Cobbler Card Stock
More Mustard Card Stock

Soft Suede Classic Ink

Fancy Flower Punch
Gold Brads
Paper Piercing Tool and Mat
Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon
Stamping Sponge
3/16" Corner Punch
Smaller Oval Punch (retired)
Large Oval Punch
Adhesive of choice (my choice will ALWAYS be Multipurpose Liquid Glue)
Bone Folder
Pages from an old book
Big Shot
Square Lattice Embossing Folder
Finial Press Embossing Folder (retired)
Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder
Sanding Block

Instructions:
Fold one half sheet of Sahara Sand card stock in half, creasing well with bone folder.Round all the corners of the card, sponging all edges with Sahara Sand ink.

The Cherry Cobbler card stock measures 2" x 5 1/4"; Baja Breeze is 1 3/4" x 2"; and More Mustard measures 1 3/4" x 3".

At the Big Shot, run the Cherry Cobbler paper through in the Finial Press Embossing Folder, the More Mustard in the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, and the Baja Breeze in the Square Lattice folder.

Sponge all edges with Soft Suede ink. Adhere pieces to card front, leaving even spaces between. Use the 3/16" Corner Punch to round all embossed pieces.

Punch out five flowers from old book pages. Crumple each of the flowers in your hand. Open them up again, sort of flattening them out. Sponge all edges, both front and back, of each flower with Soft Suede ink.

Imperfectly pile the flowers on top of each other. Use the Paper Piercing Tool over the piercing mat to poke a hole in the center of the pile of flowers.  Insert a gold  brad into the hole. Starting with the top flower, pinch the flower petals upwards around the brad. Repeat with all layers. After pinching all layers, gently open the flowers until you are satisfied with the look of your flower.

Use the Multipurpose Liquid Glue to attach the flower to the front of the card.

Make a bow from the Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon. Adhere underneath the flower.

With the larger of the oval punches, punch an oval from leftover book page. Sponge edges.

On scrap of Sahara Sand card stock, stamp "heartfelt wishes" or sentiment of choice, in Soft Suede. Punch out with the smaller of the oval punches. Sponge all edges with Soft Suede ink. Adhere the ovals together, then to the card front.

And that's it! It's a truly lovely card in person. Enjoy!

Smiles.

ON TRACK

I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for some time now. Toying doesn't get anyone just too far.

Being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator since 2005, I have come to love sharing my creativity with others. Since merely holding monthly workshops in my home studio doesn't have a far-enough reach, I decided that a blog would be the natural way to grow.

In trying for many days to come up with a good name for my blog, and discarding lists and lists of possible names, I finally decided on Paper Seedlings. The subtitle, "planting creative paper ideas", tells it all.

By sharing my creative ideas, and, at times, learning together, I hope you will enjoy growing creatively right along with me.

The way I see it, nurturing your natural creativity is a wonderful stress reliever, sanity preserver, relaxer, time-away-from-it-all, with the satisfying end result of achieving a sort of nirvana. Besides that, you create something -- a greeting card for someone who needs a little pick-up, a scrapbook page worthy of framing, a novelty item sure to put a smile on someone's face, a photo book to preserve a special occasion, your own holiday tags -- valuable that will be cherished for a long time, possibly a lifetime.

I'm not positive which ways this blog will grow. But, for now, I promise to share with you assorted projects from my monthly workshops, as well as techniques for special effects to create eye-catching cards. The more I dabble with my newly-acquired My Digital Studio 2, the more I love it, and want to share it with all of you! As I hone my skills in MDS, I will share those projects and tips with you.

Also, I have been collecting quotes for more years than lots of you have been alive. So, on occasion, I will share a favorite quote with you memorialized within a My Digital Studio project.

Which brings me to the title of this post. I give you my mantra:

Smiles.