Paper Blessings

Turned Mistake into Vintage Valentine

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:01:00 +0000

I wanted to cut a scalloped card into an A2 size but made an error and cut it half the size...er, hate when this happens! lol.

Didn't want to waste it so I decorated it with a vintage image.

Since the small scalloped card opened up, I stamped a music note background on an A2 size cardstock.... making this a flat card by the time I was finished with it..

and ready to send out my Vintage Valentine to someone!

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River City Gift Shoppe - "Paper Blessings" CLASSES

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:15:00 +0000

Hello artists! I wanted to share one of the CLASS display boards at River City Gift Shoppe that highlight some of the fun projects scheduled this month. We have weekly day and evening Rubber Stamping and Paper Crafting classes. Come join us when you are in the area....would love to meet you!

If you haven't been to River City, you are in for a wonderful treat....about 70 artisans' artwork, Hershey's ice cream shop, antiques, women's consignment shop, cheese and wine shop next door, etc.. Take a moment and visit River City and check out their shop here where you can see "up close" the weekly Stamping and Paper Crafting Class Display Boards like this one:

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Thanks for visiting. May you have a most delightful day!

Photo Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:24:00 +0000

Hello friends! I wanted to share some photos on items I've been working on...a little bit of everything....stamping, vinyl art, mini books, sewing, domino art, etc:

Thanks for dropping by and visiting me. God's richest blessings to you!!

Faux White Resin Embellishments

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:30:00 +0000

Hello paper artists! In one of my classes we made these faux White Resin embellishments. Inspired by those costly ones they sell at the scrapbooking stores, we decided to make our own! What do you think?

Thanks for visiting today!

Spooktacular Goodies!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Hello all! Sorry for my absence....lots of living life to take care of.

I wanted to share some of the things I've been working on for Fall shows. I'm not really into Halloween....the most I use is pumpkins, cats and spiders! But I know we always have to incorporate goodies for the kiddos at these shows, right?

Also wanted to let you know I will be selling these on my Etsy shop and also locally at River City Shoppes in Copley. I'll tell you more about that later. I wanted to share some of what I've been working on:

Candy-filled pails

Gift-ready pencils

"Boo to you" Banner for decorating

Vintage-inspired Welcome Sign

Hope you enjoyed these....will be posting more as I get my camera to cooperate with me!! Thanks for dropping by. Have a most delightful and blessed day!

Snow in July?

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:51:00 +0000

From 4th of July to snow? I know, I know, it's crazy! But I wanted to share a card I made with my Penny Black stampset called Mimi's christmas:

Tip: for the snow, I punched out white circles with an 1/8" hole punch and adhered them with one of those blue Zig glue pen. This adds quick texture and dimension around the Mimi image. Used copic markers to color in. And used Papertrey stamp for the "love" tag at the bottom.

Sorry the photos aren't that great...night time is NOT the time to take pictures, right?

Talk to you later!

Blessed is the nation

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:37:00 +0000

Hello everyone! The new living bible translation says in Psalms 33:12 "What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance." Is that not an awesome promise to claim? May you have a wonderful 4th of July being blessed by God's great goodness on our lives, THE ones HE has chosen! Let's enjoy all our freedoms today and always! Thanks for visiting~

4th of July Party Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 15:14:00 +0000

Hello Everyone! I've been so inspired to papercraft all things AMERICANA lately. I guess because as Independence Day is just around the corner, I get even more thankful & blessed to live here in our wonderful USA!! Here are more of the patriotic papercrafting items that I've been having a blast making. These are all geared toward dressing up your party table for the 4th of July! Hope you like them. You can find them at my Paper Blessings Etsy Shop.

It was wonderful having you visit. Thank you!

God Bless America card

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:31:00 +0000

Welcome back! You will see that I'm in the patriotic projects mode. In my last class we made some patriotic scenes and from that project I've been so inspired to make other patriotic papercrating.

I wanted to use a different shade of blue instead of the regular navy blue so I used this marine blue from Core'dinations to make this card:

Here's how I made this:
-fold 4-1/4x11" marine blue cs in half. This card will open from bottom up.
-on 4x5-1/4" white cs I stamped the row of stars on top and bottom. Then I stamped the statue of liberty image & the God bless America with fired red Distress Inkpad.
-to finish, stamped the splattered ink image with Tumbled Glass inkpad all over the stamped white cs.
-with my Mother's Day Cricut cartridge I cut the banner: key 44, 1-1/4". Isn't it cute?
-with my Graphically Speaking Cricut I cut the stars: key 16, shift, icon blackout.
-adhere stars to banner. Adhere thread to banner then pop dot it at an angle to right the side of card.
-inside the card you will adhere 3-1/4 x 5" white cs panel and
stamp a red star to bottom as per photo.

Tomorrow I will show you some different patriotic banners and other goodies that I've been working on.

May you be inspired to make your own red, white and blue goodness. I'd like to see what you came up with. Thanks for dropping by and God bless America!!

Patriotic Table Tent Card

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:42:00 +0000

My friend Meighen over at Scrappin' 3rdeeschick asked me to be her guest designer on her blog and the Table Tent Card below is what I shared. Drop over to her blog and say hello! She has a Beach Blog Hop going on right now you'll enjoy.

Here's how I made it:
-Fold 8-1/2" x 11" red cs in half, lengthwise. Set aside.
-Cut your white cs at 3-1/2" x 10". You'll stamp on this.
-Stamp your background image "We the people" with red inkpad.
I had to stamp it 3 times to fill up the white cs. See close up
  on photo#2.
-Ink all the edges of white cs with sand beige inkpad.
-With Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge, cut "freedom"on
  navy blue cs: key 16, type, 1-1/2".
-With A Child's Year Cricut cartridge, cut "kids/flag" on navy
  blue cs: key 18, shift, 3".
-With pop dots, adhere the "kids" to left side of cs as per photo.
-With tape runner, adhere the words "freedom" to the right side
of the kids.
-Now we will adhere the stamped white cs to the red cs.
-With red inkpad, stamp the "star" image on a metal-rimmed tag.
Thread twine thru hole and adhere just under the letter "M".
See photo #3.

Photo #2

Photo #3

Here's what I used to make this:

Stamps: Various patriotic stamps. Email me if you want to know

the company name on any of these.

Ink: Memento paris blue; Distress Inks - fired brick and old

paper; Versacolor Sand Beige

Cricut Cartridges: Graphically Speaking; A Child's Year

BACK SIDE Patriotic Table Tent Card:

This side is just as easy and fun to make!

Here's how I made this:

-With Old Paper brown ink, stamp "We the people" image at an
angle to fill the 3-1/2 x 10" white cs. See close-up photo #2.

-On top of this you will stamp with blue inkpad the flag, the bell,
the eagle, statue of liberty and fireworks as per photo.
-With sand beige inkpad, ink all the edges of the white cs.

-With Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge, cut the 3 red "stars":
key 16, icon blackout, 1-1/2" .
-Pop-dot stars and place on white cs as per photo.
-With same Cricut cartridge, cut "usa" : key 16, 1-1/4".
-Pop-dot usa and place it in betweenthe bell and statue of liberty.-Adhere completed stamped white cs to red cardfront.

-Wrap twine around the card a few times to the top of card and tie small bow.

Photo # 2

Photo #3

Here's what I used to make this:

Stamps: Various patriotic stamps. Email me if you want to know

the company name on any of these.

Ink: Memento paris blue; Distress Inks - fired brick; old

paper; Versacolor sand beige.

Cricut Cartridge: Graphically Speaking

That's it! Your two-sided Patriotic Table Tent card is now ready to be used. If you wanted to dress it up more, you could add stars to the top of the tent card similar to these that are on this altered paint can:

Well, thanks for your time. I am believing you enjoyed this post. Any questions, email me. You can find other patriotic things at my Paper Blessings Etsy shop. I will be posting some other patriotic fun projects later this week.
Thanks again. Remember to enjoy every single minute of your day!

4x4 Flower and Music Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:13:00 +0000

As I promised in the post below, here is the second 4x4 card I made with my Penny Black stamps.

Here's how I made this one:
-Stamp music note image on white cs with brown inkpad.
-Ink the edge of white cs with light brown ink.
-Adhere this to your brown cardfront (4"x 8" folded in half).

-Stamp flower image on brown cs with emobssing ink using white embossing powder.
-Cut out flower and adhere with pop cots to center of white cs.
-With Cricut, I cut two sets of leaves and adhered to back of flower as per photo. Cricut recipe below.

Here's what I used:
Stamps: Penny Black - To You; Clearly in Love
Ink: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Ranger - embossing
Cricut: Storybook - key 27 (fern), shift, 1-1/2"

Again,I found this website that has great pricing for PB stamps! Look here for their info and you'll find that the owners are the best in accomodating your needs! Very friendly.

Thanks for joining me in making these quick 4x4 cards! Would love to see what kind of 4x4 cards you've made. Bye for now. Enjoy every minute of your day!

4x4 Enjoy Your Day Card

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Hello friends! I love square cards but it's hard to find the envelopes to match. Because I mostly make A2 cards and I can find those envelopes ALL the time, I thought why not make 4x4 cards? ...they will fit in the A2 envelopes! So I wanted to share some fun 4x4 cards I made with Penny Black stamps.

Here's how I made this one:

-Stamp image on white cs and color it in. I used copic markers.

-Stamp image again but only color the balloons...set aside for now.

-Cut pink frame using Cricut Accent Essentials, key 47 (scallop frame).

TIP: I used the Shadow feature so that I would have a more substantial area to dry emboss.

-With my Cuttlebug I embossed the pink frame using a squared circle embossing folder.

-Adhere the stamped image to back of pink frame.

-Ahdere the pink frame to front of your patterned paper cardfront.

-Cut out the balloons, use pop dots to adhere to top front of pink frame.

-Stamp sentiment and adhere to lower right corner of pink frame.

That's it!

TIP: To get rid of those white areas around the balloon where I scissor-cut them, see picture below, use a black marker to edge around the balloons. It will look more tidy & professional looking. I forgot to do that as you can well see. oops!

Here's what I used:

Stamps: Penny Black - Betsy Bluebell

Ink: Memento Black

Copic Markers: E00, E02, RV11, RV23, B00, G00, Y23,Y35

Embossing Folder: Darice squared circles

Cricut: Accent Essentials

I found this website that has value pricing for the PB stamps! Look here for their info and you'll find that the owners are the best in accomodating your needs! Very friendly.

Hope you enjoyed this. I will do the other 4x4 card on my next post. Thanks for looking.

Digi Papers - Etsy Greetings Team June Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:13:00 +0000

As a member of Etsy GreetingsTeam (a team devoted to the promotion of handmade greeting cards), we have challenges thoughout the year within the group. We decided to use digi papers for this current June challenge. I have to say this is truly a challenge for ME as I am just getting used to digi papers. I found though that the papers are amazing! And they are so convenient as you can get the designs you like WHEN you want them in 8.5x11 or 12x12---6 designs for $3! Here's the link to the digital paper we used by Katies Wish.

TIP: I found that to save on printer ink (I still am getting used to that aspect of digi papers) instead of printing a whole page, I just print out 4x6 size paper at a time since most of my cards are A2 (4-1/4" x 5-1/2"). If I have a larger project, say scrapbooking, I can then print the full page.

Here is my submission for our June digi paper challenge:

Here is another card I made with this paper set:

You can read about our team on our blog here.
Want to join us, read here.
See my cards here Paper Blessings Etsy Shop here.

Any questions, drop me a note. Thanks for dropping by and have a super blessed day!

Terrific Trades Slide Show

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Hello friends! I wanted to share some of the wonderful trades I had privilege to swap last week at Rita's stamping weekend. For newbies on what a "trade" or "swap" is: we each made 30 of one 3x4 cardfront and then we swapped with the other stampers so we each get 30 stamped trades back... later we can then use them as inspiration or use them on our personal projects. I will post examples of what I did with my trades (mine is up above). For now I made a Slideshow of all the trades for you to enjoy:

"Dainty Details" Stitched Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:19:00 +0000

Hello! I wanted to see what you thought of these "Dainty Details" Stitched Tags...I will be displaying them on my Etsy shop soon:

Walk in Truth

You Are What You Believe

Thanks again for the visit!

Stamp/Scrap Class: Shrink Art, Canvas Art, Cricut Layered Labels

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:48:00 +0000

Hi friends! I wanted to share some pictures of our last February Stamp/Scrap class. We had so much fun designing and learning about shrink plastic art....we made some earrings, embellishments, jewelry pins, etc. With alcohol inks we made a mini canvas piece of art and we had fun with all-occasion Cricut layered labels. We have plenty of inspiration to fill our 2-1/2 hour classes! I've included some of the students' work here too. Our next class is scheduled for March 12th. If you're local, or will be in the area, we would love to have you join us!! On the left hand side of blog is where you will find the class schedule. Thanks for dropping in. Believing these pictures will inspire you!

You are what you believe

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:56:00 +0000

Think Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:25:00 +0000

Hi! Here are a few quick cards I made using up extra labels/frames die cuts and border punches. I believe they were from the Lacy Label cartridge and EK punches. Any questions on how they were made, let me know.

Hi Nate! I just spoke with my son in college....that always blesses me!....I was telling him about this post. And off I go looking for some pictures he requested.

So here are my cards. Thanks for dropping by!

Love Mini Book

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:21:00 +0000

I'm working on another mini book similar to this one that's in my Etsy Shop.....the theme is LOVE....will post it once I've completed it.

Vellum Sentiment Strip challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:13:00 +0000

Hello paper artists!

I hadn't participated in a challenge in oh so long that I thought I'd give it a try. Here's a card I made for Make it Monday #2 - Vellum Sentiment Strip challenge at Paper Trey Ink:

Here are a few tips to consider:

-for the vellum sentiment frame (strip), I used the Scor-Pal to score my lines. I scored 3 horizontal lines on top of and below the sentiment. Then I scored 3 vertical lines on the left and right hand side of the sentiment. Notice how the scored lines criss-cross at the corners giving it a more substantial frame look.

-for the 3 hands, after cutting them out from the die, I stamped the hand image just slightly off to the left to leave a little white space and giving it a natural layered look (since I didn't want to cut brown paper to layer behind the hands and then cut around it to give it dimension...we're always looking for the easy way out, huh?)

-for the brown-dotted corners, I simply stamped two of the hand images and cut a rectangle shape from the fingers area. I then cut that rectangle in half....and there you have two card corners.

Hope you enjoyed this. Thanks much for visiting !

Stamp/Scrap Class: Valentine Bag & Tag Set, Paper Doll Easel Card, All Occasions 3x3 Note Cards Set, New Year's SB Layout

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:06:00 +0000

Hello again, friends! I keep forgetting to post pictures of our last Stamp/Scrap Class so you all can see what FUN papercrafting projects we make!

If you're in the local area and are interested in classes, we meet the second Saturday of the month at 10am at my place. There is a $20 class fee. We complete 4-5 projects. All materials are included. Class kits with instructions and all papers used are available as well. We have tons of fun!! If you want to join us, the schedule is at the left hand side. Email or phone me for further info.
Here's what we did in our last month's class:

"Can You Come Out and Play?" Paper Doll Easel Card:

Valenine's Heart Bag, Tag & Envelope Set:

All-Occasion Note Cards Set included 7 notecards in a decorated clamshell:

We made one of each of the following themes: birthday, kids, thinking of you, thanks, sympathy, inspirational and newborn.

Here they are individually:

New Year's Scrapbook Page:
This page is missing at the time. I think it's in my husband's office. Gotta go check.

Thanks for spending some time visiting. Have a tremendously peaceful day!

You Make February Fabulous!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:47:00 +0000

Welcome papercrafting artists! Just wanted to give you a heads up on our TAC stamp sets SPECIAL! Starting February 1 through February 28th visit our Angel Company's Savvy Projects Blog and see what Mischelle and the guest contributors are up to with featured stamps sets. All HEART stamps and FEATURED stamp sets will be 25% off with a $20 purchase!! Whohoo!

Read all the details below and then you may EMAIL me to take advantage of this fabulous special:

http://www.theangelcompany.net/Promos_YouMakeFebFab.html

Thanks for dropping in and have a blessed day!

Honeysuckle Pink - The New Hue for 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:56:00 +0000

According to the Pantone color wizards, Honeysuckle Pink is the new color for 2011.... I forgot to mention this in my post below. You can read all about it in the Wall Street Journal. I thought is was a fascinating article, as you know, I love ALL colors. This color of pink below is sweet, don't you think?

Love is Handmade

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:38:00 +0000

Happy Hearts Day is just right around the corner and our Etsy Greetings Team (which I am very proud to be a member of) is launching a "Love is Handmade" event beginning tomorrow Monday, January 17th! Visit our Etsy Greetings Blog where you can see posts every half hour with beautiful cards from the participating shops. You will also be able to see the different specials available! All the shops are listed on the right hand side of our blog. Drop in and take advantage of all the specials each shop is offering!!

Visit me at my Paper Blessings Etsy store, and take advantage of free shipping from January 17 thru February 21st on all Valentine/Love/Heart cards like the ones posted above and below!

Thanks again for spending some time with me. Bless ya!

Tutorial: Pink Dots Background Paper

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Leeson) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 15:53:00 +0000

Greetings and Happy New Year to my friends!

I was looking through my scraps but I couldn't find any pink dotted paper. So I do what we papercrafters do when we can't find the right background or color of paper....make our own! With this "pink dots" paper, I made these cute tiny valentines and matching envelopes:

I thought I would share with you how this all happened. I started by stamping pink dots as the background with a light pink inkpad so I could then stamp on top of it.

Next I stamped the owl and frog images, colored them in and punched them out with a 1" circle punch. Notice that I inked the edge of the circle. I pop-dotted the circle and layered it onto the "pink dots" scalloped background and then layered that onto red cardstock:

I stamped the "pink dots" background on the envelope as well & then stamped over that with the words to/from and the heart on top. To add more interest, I stamped the owl and/or frog at the bottom of the envelope in an up and down motion, only coloring in the heart:

The finished product, so to speak, two sets of cute valentines to give out:

Thanks for joining me today. Believing this quick and easy tutorial blessed ya!