UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Just in case you ever lose sight of reality, and think you should have smooth sailing:

So, keep on plugging. You'll get there!

Smiles,
Linda

TOMORROW ONLY

Tomorrow only, Stampin' Up! is holding a phenomenal event. They have named it Sell-a-Stamp Spooktacular. On Monday, October 29, ONLY, you can purchase virtually ALL of the current stamps and stamp sets they have at an unheard of 15% off their regular price! Unprecedented,
I know.

The only "stamps" that aren't being included in this special sale are the hostess stamps, bundled stamp sets, and digital stamp brush sets. All others are FAIR GAME! So, that means you can save 15% on even these stamps: background stamps, personalized name stamps, cookie press stamps, and the new single image stamps!

The goal is for Stampin' Up! to sell more stamps in a single day than ever before. Let's help them accomplish this doable goal!

This 15% off event will take place from 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time, and end at 11:50 p.m. Mountain Time, Monday, October 29.

To take advantage of this incredible deal, click on either or both of the catalog links below, do your shopping, and name me as your demonstrator.

REMEMBER: Your order must be in no later than 11:50 p.m. Mountain Time in order to receive the 15% discount!

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/Default.aspx

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryid=216

Of course, other products can also be added to your order, but it will be only the stamps that will reflect the 15% off.

Have fun!

Smiles.

BIRD IN MAPLE LEAF

Two of the most recent additions to the Stampin' Up! product line thrilled me from the moment I "met" them! They are the stamp, Tweet Leaves, and the newest Bigz die, Autumn Accents. Sigh. Both can be found in the Holiday Catalog.

So, I decided to combine the two into one beautiful fall card, and this is what I came up with:

To recreate this card, here is how to do it:

Supplies:

Tweet Leaves stamp 

Itty Bitty Banners stamp set

Whisper White card stock

Early Espresso card stock

More Mustard card stock

Early Espresso ink

More Mustard ink

Regals Brads

Stamping Sponge

Big Shot

Autumn Accents Bigz Die

Paper Piercing Tool

Piercing Mat

Houndstooth Embossing Folder

Bitty Banner Framelits

Directions:

Fold 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of More Mustard card stock in half, creasing well with bone folder.

Run a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Early Espresso card stock through the Big Shot inside the Houndstooth Embossing Folder. Adhere this to the card front.

Stamp the bird image in the center of a 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of Whisper White card stock in Early Espresso ink. Let this dry momentarily so the brown ink doesn't smear too much. 

Use the Autumn Accents Bigz Die to cut a "stencil" of the maple leaf from a scrap of card stock. Lay the stencil of the leaf over the bird image, and secure in place with removable tape. Sponge More Mustard ink through the stencil in a circular motion until you are happy with the darkness of the ink. Carefully remove the taped stencil and set aside.

Sponge the edges of the finished white piece with More Mustard ink. Adhere this to a 3 1/2" x 

3 1/2" piece of More Mustard card stock, then to card front.

On a scrap of Whisper White, stamp Thank You in Early Espresso ink. At the Big Shot, place the appropriate Bitty Banner Framelits die over the sentiment, holding it in place with a piece of sticky note, and run through the Big Shot.

Sponge the edges of the banner in More Mustard ink. Adhere the banner to a 3/4" X 2" piece of Early Espresso card stock. With the piercing tool over the piercing mat, create two holes in the brown, and insert a More Mustard Brad into each hole. Adhere this to the card front.

As always, I would love for you to order your Stampin' Up! supplies naming me as your Demonstrator. 

Smiles.

TRICK OR TREAT GIRL

My only grandchild, Stella, will turn five right after Christmas. I wanted to make her a really special Halloween card this year, so this is what I came up with:

I don't know if you can tell from the photo that it is a tent topper card. The fold of the card only comes to just above the two points on the sides of the girl frame. 

In this card, I used one of my very favorite techniques: paper piecing. Not everyone loves doing this like I do because of the teeny tiny pieces you are dealing with in cutting. 

Anyway, I actually stamped the Trick or Treat Girl from the Greeting Card Kids stamp set five times. The first time, of course, was on the Whisper White card stock, which served as the image base. I then stamped it four more times, on four different Designer Series Papers. The pumpkin was stamped on the orange and white stripe that matches the frame around her. The dress was on another Halloween-y DSP from a few years back. (The dots on the bottom of the card were punched from the dress paper also.) I stamped the cape on the small orange check that holds the sentiment on the bottom of the card. And her hat was stamped on a piece of woodgrain DSP from last year's holiday season. 

Once they are all stamped, you set to cutting out these tiny pieces, and gluing them over their counterpart areas on the white stamped image. 

You can see all the piecing in this closeup of the girl. Do you notice that tiny piece of the cape that is just to the right of the broom handle? Do you have any concept of just how eentsy-weentsy that piece was to work with at actual size? 

I had been planning on making two of these cards so I could keep one for myself. Nope. I was almost blind by the time I finished with Stella's card. That's it. No more of this cute little girl. At least, not paper pieced. So, Stella, I hope you enjoy it! 

Here's another view of the card:

If you have any questions about paper piecing, please let me know. I'd love to help you!

Trick or Treat!

Smiles.

RAINBOW

This quote helps to put things in perspective, especially on your darkest days.

It is something that I constantly need to remind myself of. As the true pessimist I am, I also realize that bright days, as is the rainbow, are fleeting, rare, and to be cherished when they
 do occur.

This card, created in My Digital Studio, features a rainbow I spotted in the sky over our land 

the other day. And, yes, the sky was very weird, forming that whitish line across the bottom 

of the rainbow and the leafless tree. I usually cannot capture the beauty of a rainbow with a camera, but this time, I am pleased. The rainbow was only the brief strip as pictured, not a 

whole rainbow arch. 

Lovely to see, no matter how complete it is. Doesn't spotting a rainbow put a brief thrill into 

your day? It does to mine.

Smiles.

IMPRESSED STAMPS

I am excited to announce that I now have five items listed in my Etsy shop, Paper Seedlings. The newest addition is a TUTORIAL!

The seven-page tutorial includes a complete supplies list, ten photographs of the process, as well concise directions on how to create the card. The completed card is not part of the listing. It is only there for pictorial purposes. The creation of the card is UP TO YOU!!

Anyway, here is what the finished card looks like:

Now, wouldn't you love to create a bunch of these cards for your own use? Hop on over to my shop at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/112592797/pdf-tutorial-to-create-impressed-stamps. You're on your way!

Smiles.

SCALLOPED OWL

My scalloped owl card was great fun to create! And so easy.

Basically all you need are several different sized circle punches and the Big Shot with a couple of cool dies. And a few more things. Here we go:

Supplies:

Soft Suede card stock

Early Espresso card stock

Daffodil Delight card stock

Pumpkin Pie card stock

Basic Black card stock

Whisper White card stock

Big Shot

Tasteful Trim Die

Star Punch (retired)

1 3/4" Circle Punch

1 1/4" Circle Punch

1" Circle Punch

3/4" Circle Punch

1/2" Circle Punch

Handheld 1/4" Punch

Scallop Square Die

Stampin' Dimensionals

Directions:

Fold 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Soft Suede card stock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Using the Big Shot, cut five of the scalloped strips from Early Espresso card stock using the Tasteful Trim die. 

Cut a square from Early Espresso card stock with the Scallop Square Die in the Big Shot. Cut the scallop square in "half", and use the smaller of the "halves" for your owl.  

OK. Back to the scallop strips. Starting with the one closest to the bottom of the card front, adhere it to the card with the scallops meeting the bottom edge of the card front. Attach the second one just so the card front doesn't show through between the scallops. Continue until you have all five rows of scalloped feathers attached. Trim off the edges to the sides of the card front.

Adhere the triangular ruffle to the top of the card so the full scalloped corner hangs down the center to form part of the bird's beak.

Punch two black circles with the 1 3/4" Circle Punch. 

Punch two white circles with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch.

Punch two black circles with the 1" Circle Punch.

Punch two orange circles with the 3/4" Circle Punch.

Punch two yellow circles using the 1/2" Circle Punch.

Finally punch two black dots with the handheld 1/4" punch.

Put your eyes together as desired. Attach them to the card front with a Stampin' Dimensional in the center of each one. 

Create a beak by punching off one "arm" of the star punch in orange, and adhere beak to face.

There. Now that you have all that punching out of the way, you should be completely relieved of stress. 

Have fun!

Smiles.

COLOR-CHALLENGED THANKSGIVING

Yesterday, while perusing some of the blogs I follow, I came across a challenge put out there by the Paper Players. The colors in this challenge completely intrigued me: Cajun Craze, Bravo Burgundy, Night of Navy, and Very Vanilla. A color palette I can really relate to! I decided to take them up on their challenge, and headed downstairs to see what I could come up with.

Although I actually didn't know what it would turn out to look like, I did know that I wanted to do an emboss resist, and then, of course, the colors. Hmmm. With those few parameters, it just seemed to flow and come together. Here is the result:

If you happen to be in the area on Monday, November 10, this will be one of the cards we will be creating at my monthly workshop in my home. I always tell my workshop attendees that I will never have them create a card or project that I've designed that I don't absolutely LOVE. And this one, I am proud to say, I do love. I hope you do too.

Smiles.

USE YOUR TALENTS

I have discovered a wonderful quote on my friend, Tuula's blog, The Thrifty Rebel,  attributed to Henry Van Dyke, that we can all relate to:

Created in My Digital Studio, this is one that I will  truly treasure in my Book of Quotes. Hope
you do too!

Speaking of using our talents, I have finally opened my Etsy Shop, Paper Seedlings. In this shop,
I will have for sale cards that I have created, tutorials for special projects featuring cool papercrafting techniques, and other non-card projects I have handcrafted.

So far, I only have two things listed. They are these two cards:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/111982913/handcrafted-polished-stone-all-occasion

https://www.etsy.com/listing/111980189/handcrafted-embellished-birthday-card?ref=v1_other_1

As I list new items in my shop, I will post them here. In the meantime, you can always check out my Etsy store by clicking on the link at the right.

Hope your week has a great beginning!

Smiles.

CRACKED GLASS OWL IN TREE CARD

Here is a Halloween card that is chillingly fun to create! And I do mean chilling.

So, grab your broom stick, I mean stamps and ink and freezer, and let's create some chilling fun!

Supplies needed to recreate the Cracked Glass Owl in Tree card:

House of Haunts stamp set (unfortunately retired)

Sahara Sand card stock

Pumpkin Pie card stock

Basic Black card stock

Black StazOn Ink

VersaMark Ink

Big Shot

I used the Texture Plates #4, but any spooky-looking embossing folder would work

Glassy Glaze Enamel

Heat Tool

A freezer

1 1/4" Circle Punch

Dotto Adhesive (or any temporary adhesive)

Stampin' Dimensionals

Snail Adhesive

Sanding Block

Instructions:

DO THIS FIRST! On a 2 3/8" x 3 1/4" piece of Sahara Sand card stock, stamp the tree in Black StazOn. Om a scrap of Pumpkin Pie card stock, repeat, although you only need the owl portion on his branch. Punch out the owl with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch.

Make yourself comfortable near the Heat Tool. You'll be there awhile. With Dotto Adhesive, adhere the owl circle temporarily to the end of a long strip of scrap paper to protect your fingers.

Place both the tree and the owl circle face up on scrap paper and cover both the stamped tree and the owl circle with VersaMark. Immediately dump Glassy Glaze Enamel over them both, tapping excess back into the jar. CAREFULLY use the Heat Tool on the images until the crystals melt. Repeat this same procedure three more times so you have a total of four coats of Glassy Glaze Enamel on both pieces. 

After four layers, your pieces should be fairly smooth and thick. Put both of the pieces into the freezer. Yes! In the freezer. It should remain in there for about ten minutes.

During that ten minutes, work on the rest of the card: 

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Sahara Sand card stock in half, creasing well with a bone folder. Run a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black card stock through the Big Shot, using whichever spooky embossed folder you have chosen. Adhere the embossed black card stock to the card front. Tear all edges of a 3 1/4" x 4" piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock, as well as those of a 3" x 3 3/4" piece of Basic Black card stock.

Ten minutes should be up, so take your two pieces from the freezer, and immediately start bending and cracking the shiny surface. If you stop getting cracks before you're satisfied with the spooky look, put them back in the freezer another 5-10 minutes. Keep repeating this until you have just the look you want.

The end result is fairly shiny, and in my eyes, not all that scary. So I used a Sanding Block on them until I liked how it looked.

Adhere the tree piece onto the torn black paper. Put the owly moon right where he belongs on the tree branch with a Stampin' Dimensional. Adhere the torn black to the torn orange piece, then to the front of the card.

Here is a closeup of the cracked parts:

And here it is once again in all its glory. Hoo hoo.

Smiles.

                     

LEAVES

Our beautiful autumn leaves are quickly leaving us for another year. I love watching the yellow leaves drifting down in a chorus of golden snow. No sound. Just peace. Serenity.

The above quote, so apropos for this time of the year, was nestled into a My Digital Studio creation. (Hint: What I am planning to do personally with all these quotes I have been creating and posting is to print them, cut them out -- they print to 4 1/2" x 2" -- and make a book of them!)

Here is a card I created in MDS utilizing one of the photos I had take two weeks ago on my fall walk. See here: http://www.paperseedlings.com/2012/09/fall-walk.html. It was a glorious fall day.

And, speaking of My Digital Studio, are you aware that Stampin' Up! releases a handful of new digital downloads every. single. Tuesday? Check out the great downloads released today: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryid=892. There are two for Halloween and two Christmas ones. 

Cherish these gorgeous fall days before they disappear for another year!

Smiles.

HAPPY WORLD CARD MAKING DAY -- A DAY LATE

I was sad that I didn't have anything going on or an event to attend to commemorate World Card Making Day, yesterday, October 6. I couldn't just let the day pass without doing something special -- I mean, MAKING A CARD!

So, I present to you my card that I created for no other reason than because it was World Card Making Day:

I used old sheet music and the Button Buddies stamp set. Plus the Designer Frames Folders in my Big Shot to serve as an elegant platform for the central flower. Although it's not apparent in the photo, that central flower is completely layered. I stamped the flower in Rich Razzleberry three times. First, I cut out the entire flower. Then I cut the second row of petals (leaving off the outer row); and finally I snipped off the outer two rows, leaving only the inner circle of petals. I adhered the layers together with Stampin' Dimensionals, and finished it off with a button with the shank removed. Three antiquey buttons lined up complete the vintage look.

I'm really happy with the result and think it's a fitting way to commemorate such an important day! What do you think?

Smiles.

LIFE

Precisely.

Smiles.

GOOGLY GHOUL BOOOO

For my workshop in September, I had soooo much fun designing this spooky little Halloween card.

Stampin' Up! introduced a new Halloween stamp set in their Holiday Catalog called Googly Ghouls. They even offer a bundle in which you get not only the Googly Ghouls set, but also the Ghoulish Googlies Designer Printed Kit, for a savings of 15% when you buy the bundle instead of buying them individually. 

Anyway, I completely fell in love with these adorable ghouls. And their googly eyes are the PERFECT finishing touch to their adorableness. 

I am something of a fiend when it comes to not throwing away my paper scraps. Seriously. One thing that I save a lot of is strips of paper from when I am trimming larger sheets for creations and/or my workshops. Just cannot throw them away. They might be useful for something someday. 

Well, I finally found a great use for the purples, oranges, and greens I had accumulated. 

If you'd like to recreate my little ghoulish mummy, here are the supplies you will need:

Googly Ghouls stamp set

Happy Halloween stamp (retired)

Whisper White card stock

Basic Black card stock

Assorted width strips card stock in purples/greens/oranges

Elegant Eggplant Stampin' Write Marker

Basic Black ink

Paper Piercing Tool

Piercing Mat

Stampin' Dimensionals

Googlies (eyes on page 27 of the Holiday Catalog)

Big Shot

Apothecary Accents Framelits

Bitty Banners Framelits

Essentials Paper Piercing Pack

INSTRUCTIONS:

Select several of the green/purple/orange strips of paper, and glue haphazardly onto a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of  black card stock.

With the paper piercing tool over the piercing mat, pierce random rows of holes along some of the strips.

Fold 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock in half, creasing well with bone folder. Adhere finished panel to card front.

On scrap of Whisper White card stock, stamp the mummy in Basic Black Ink.  Run the mummy through the Big Shot (ouch!!) with the appropriate Apothecary Accents Framelits die. Add a single googly eye to your ghoul.

Use the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack to pierce holes around the mummy. Create a stitching look with the thin end of the Elegant Eggplant Stampin' Write Marker by connecting the pierced holes. Adhere to card front with two Stampin' Dimensionals.

On scrap of Whisper White card stock, stamp Boooo in Basic Black ink. Use the Bitty Banners Framelits in the Big Shot to cut it out. Adhere to card front.

Inside card, stamp "Happy Halloween" or sentiment of choice in Basic Black.

Boooo!!

Smiles.

THE SINGLE LIFE OF STAMPS

Stampin' Up! has launched a brand new pilot program. Starting October 1 and running through January 2, you can purchase (order) single stamps from three of their popular stamp sets, Seasonal Sayings, Word Play and Perfectly Penned.

Each of these individual stamps will come for clear mount use only, no wood blocks.

Check out the following links to see the single stamps you can add to your collection:

http://204.228.150.61/docs/singlestamps/SSF_Word_Play.pdf.
http://204.228.150.61/docs/singlestamps/SSF_Seasonal_Sayings.pdf
http://204.228.150.61/docs/singlestamps/SSF_Perfectly_Penned.pdf

• The stamp item numbers can be found on the flyers in the above links..
• This offer will not be promoted on the Customer site, but the single stamps can be ordered in the online store through my website, lindakilsdonk.stampinup.net.
• These individual stamps will be packaged in cello bags. If you'd like a case for your stamp(s), Clear-Mount Stamp Cases are available in packs of four (item 119105).
• The recommended Clear Mount Block sizes can be found on the flyers. 
• Remember that this is a pilot program, so grab them while they're still available.

The following are a few examples from the Word Play set, that can be purchased individually:

Here's your (limited time) chance to check out the SINGLE LIFE OF STAMPS!

Smiles.

ONCE YELLOW FLOWERS

I have a few more autumn photos to share with you today. These flowers, now past their prime, possess a beauty that I feel is even more apparent than when they actually were in their prime. For one thing, they have far more character in this state of decomposition.

The layout, created in My Digital Studio, showcases the flamboyance of flowers now in the process of decaying. And . . . harking back to yesterday's quote: producing seeds for tomorrow's flowers!

Isn't autumn wonderful?

Smiles.