PCS April ~ The Potting Shed

Springtime and the flowering season is upon us.  It's time for getting down in the dirt to weed the gardens and plant fresh petaled pretties.  What a great time to beautify your home indoors and out.

This month the Paper Crafters Sampler celebrates the flowering season with 'The Potting Shed".   In this issue you'll find beautiful paper floral creations.

The template of the month is a Garden Trowel, with a triptych design.  Embellish the inside and outside, securing the closure of the flaps with the trowel handle. 

$12.99

Here's a few sneak peeks:

February ~ Starburst Melange

There are just a few more weeks of winter.  How about a few rays of faux sun beams to get you thinking of the warmer weather ahead?

Our February issue, Starburst Mélange, contains projects with beams radiating from a central point, similar to the sun.  The design team found this theme to be especially challenging, and yet each has come through with such varying designs.  Their projects will open your eyes to the possibilities of designing with starburst.

$12.99

 

Paper Watering Can Video Tutorial

Well, here's the video turoial I promised to create of the Paper Watering Can posted earlier.  Use this as a guide for creating the basis of the can

If you'd like to adjust the height of the can, simply use a circle punch to create a higher hole before attaching your spout base.  You can cover the gap beneath the spout and the base of the can with the strips that are included on the Basket and Blooms die. 

I hope this idea encourages the additional use of your Baskets and Blooms die.

Easter Cross Box ~ Floral

Another variation of the Easter Cross Box.

Shabby Rose Video Tutorial

Here's the video tutorial for creating the Shabby Roses from yesterday's post.

Shabby Rose Wood Cart

Ms. Heather Klump designed the most ADORABLE wooden cart for the February issue of the Paper Crafters Sampler.  

The sampler has been out for a month now and I'm just getting around to playing with it.  While Heather's cart was designed with an Easter theme, it has multiple uses.  Here I've stuffed it with some shabby paper roses. 

I'll have a rose tutorial soon.  They're not difficult to make, in fact, it's the same technique for creating ribbon roses.  Enough jibber-jabber, here's my Shabby Rose wood cart.

Of course, you can simply use it as a candy cart. 

Bloom'n Forget-me-nots

Having fun with watercolor paper and wax watercolor crayons.

Check out the swirls behind the egg on the green cardstock.  That's the "&" sign from the SU! Together Forever set.  That particular piece of cardstock needed a sudtule image since the main background was so busy.  It worked out great.

The egg was cut from 140lb watercolor paper.  Afterwards I applied various green and blues washes with my wax crayons.

HAD to pull out my faithful old Linen background stamp.  I think besides for the Cheescloth background, the Linen is my all-time favorite.  Here it was stamped in Basic Brown ink on both of the Celery cardstock.

Tour de Freaks ~ Spring.......

It's time for another Tour de Freaks blog hop.  Our theme this month is Spring!  If you've already been touring, then you've probably just left Lisa Martz's page.

I have really been in the mood for crafting, as I'm sure many have been now that the warm weather is arriving.  What better way to kick it all off with some great gardening projects.  Take a look at what I've created this month for you.

THIS is my favorite.  What a delightful way to present a gift of Spring bulbs to a friend.  I used some scrim to bundle up some bulbs.  Scrim is a lightweight fabric, very similar to cheesecloth.  During Fall I spotted the bolt at the fabric store.  The delicate, almost fragile threads were beckoning so I HAD to buy a few yards.  This is the first I used it but I have many more crafting ideas for incorporating it in my crafts. 

What makes this appealing (to me) is being able to see through the fabric catching a glimpse of what's inside. 

This project is SO easy.  I would love getting this as a gift.  The satin ribbon and the simple daffodil tag is the only thing needed to dress it up.

I'm not quite finished with my gardening ideas.  Take a look at this bulb box, yet another great way to deliver some spring cheer to a gardening friend.  The box was made with the Bag with Scallop Bigz die.  Yep!  Just turn it on the side and put the base in.  Walla!

Here's a close-up.  Look at the veining on that bulb.  Isn't it beautiful?

I hope you enjoyed my projects this month.  Now it's time to move on to the next featured stamper, Ms. LeeAnn Greff.  Select the image below and you'll be transported to her blog.  Thanks again for checking out my projects. 

Le Jardin

Le Jardin (The Garden)

Old man winter seems to be taken his sweet time moving out. We've had some of the coldest weather here in the South, nothing compared to those record breaking snow-storms the NE has had. Brrrrrrr.

Now that March has arrived, it's almost time for the next issue of the Paper Crafters Sampler. We've created the prefect theme for this month. Le Jardin, (The Garden).  What better way to get your mind off the frigid weather than to think of the day you can sit outside without 27,000 blankets covering you (a random number I assure you). 

The video below shares images of projects offered in this month's issue, ideas for all gardening lovers (including the birds).

For more details about the sampler, be sure to check out the PCS website.




I'd like to thank all of those who posted a comment to the Adorning Aprons blog hop.  As mentioned, one lucky person will be receiving a free copy to the March Paper Crafters Sampler.

.....and, the winner is:

Stampindragon ~ Cynthia Ferenz

Congratulations Cynthia!!!

Tour de Freaks ~ February

It's time for another fabulous Tour de Freaks blog hop.  All projects this month are created with products from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini catalog.

I'm posting my creations early as I'm heading out for a workshop.  Remember, the blog will officially begin the 20th of the month, so make sure you come back Saturday in the morning to see the entire hop.

More than likely you have just come from the oh very talented Gretchen Barron's blog.  She does a fantastic job with all her projects.

This month, I've created something to focus on the awesome designer papers in the mini catalog.  My first project is an Easter dress using the Shades of Spring paper.  The large flowers in this paper series are so beautiful, to cover them up is not an option so I try to use them in a way that will best showcase their beauty.

Start by cutting a dress template from the paper, focusing on where you want your flowers on the dress.  Additional flowers were cut, jazzed up with glitter and applied to the dress with a dimensional.  

THANKS to everyone who enjoyed my Easter dress.  I've had multiple request for the pattern.  You can download your Free copy at Craftside.typepad.com. 

Here's the back of the dress.  I ran it through a texturz plate for a little added detail and sponged Saffron ink around the edges along with some Sahara Sand.

What do you think of my satin ribbon flower?  I took an interest in ribbon flowers during the holidays.  With a quick trip to the library, I checked out as many books as I could on the subject "Ribbon Art".  This rose worked perfect for the back of the dress as you can not see it when looking at the front of the dress.   

For the ruffle, (on the base), I used the new Scallop trim punch from the SAB catty and crimped it.  Then there's a layer of pink tissue under that I just HAD to add.  Maybe it's a Southern thing, LOL!  It made it so much more girlie!

Hard to see here, but all those white circle surronding the yellow flower have crystal effects added to them.

Next up I have an Easter card.  Again, the paper here is from the new Occasions Mini catalog (Sweet Pea Designer Paper).  The top of the card uses the new Perfect Polka dot embossing folder.   The ribbon is one of the several new Satin ribbons available in the catalog also. 

If you're wondering about the ivory and grey swirls on my images, they were created with My Digital Studio.  Just having some fun with the cool software.

I hope you've enjoyed my samples this month.  Next on the hop is LeeAnn Greff.  She's got some beautiful creations waiting for you.  Hop on over to LeeAnn's blog by selecting the button just below.

PCS Easter Bonnet Hop

Welcome to the Paper Crafters Sampler Easter Bonnet hop.  I hope you have been enjoying the hop.  You might have just arrived after viewing Virginia's beautiful bonnet sample.  I really like how creatively she used the punch on the edges of her flower.  If you're just starting the hop at my blog, make sure you select the button at the bottom of each post, as that will allow you to come full circle.

The Easter Bonnet hop came about when the PCS design team was given a little challenge for using the Easter Bonnet template offered is this months Paper Crafter Sampler.  The February sampler showcases "Baskets, Bunnies and Bonnets" for our Easter edition. 

The sampler is released the 10th of the month.  If you haven't signed up yet that's OK, just head on over before the 10th so you'll have a chance to win a $15.00 sampler buck reward.  Only those who subscribe or have purchased the current edition are eligible for the drawing on February 11th.

Let's move on to my bonnet.  The base of the hat usesere Sending Love DSP from SU! and the small leaf embosslit.

The white flower beneath the button is from the Birds and Blooms embosslits.  Tell me, what do you think of this handsome couple?

Below is a front view of the bonnet.  I think my model loves it, look at that smile on her face.

There you have it.  I'd like to take the time to thank Mr. and Mrs. Hare for being such good sports and not dashing off before I completed the photos.

Now, hop on over to Ms.  Lisa Hensley's blog to view her ADORABLE hats!  Just select the link below.

Shades of Easter

Today I've decided to participate in the Mojo Monday sketch challenge.  Yes, it's Saturday, but I've been preparing for this month's Paper Sampler and took a break to fit a Mojo Challenge in.  

For this challenge, I focused on using Easter colors, and what says Easter more than pastels?

Here I've paired Banana, Pretty in Pink and Sahara Sand.  I have had trouble using Sahara Sand in the past, but today discovered it pairs so nicely with pastels, especially these two.

Here's the sketch.....

Here's what I've come up with......

The main image is a cut-out from the Shades of Spring DSP from SU!  Aren't the colors pretty?  I like the white dots around the outer edge of the petals.  Great detail.

Barely Banana cardstock was covered with the Very Vintage wheel (in Saffron ink) to give it a bit more interest.  The scallop edge is simply the Eyelet border punch run through my paper crimper.

The Sahara Sand card stock just behind the flower is the Extra Large Fancy Flower punch wheeled with the Very Vintage image.  It was also distressed a bit to add more texture.

Add a dot of Crystal Effects in the center of each flower and you're done!