Congrats Grad!

It's that time of year again when we need graduation cards! Even when I don't think I know anyone who is graduating, I'm always surprised by an announcement in the mail. Kids just grow up so fast! Anyway, here is a card I made this year using school colors. I combined three previous Paper Pumpkin kit stamps and supplies to make this card. The "Congrats" is from the Seriously Amazing kit from August 2014, the stars are from the Wish Big kit from July 2014, and the hat and "Grad" stamps are from the March 2016 kit. It could, however, be reproduced with other dies and stamps from your stash.

Finished card size is 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 inches with black mat cut at 5-1/4 x 4 inches. Congrats layer was already die cut in the kit and measures 5 x 3-3/4 inches. Black patterned paper is from It's My Party DSP stack from Stampin' Up. Since the card is for a girl, I added a little bling with some rhinestones on the hats. I also lined the envelope by cutting a piece of the same DSP to 5 x 5-1/2 inches and inserting it into the envelope. Fold down the DSP for the flap, add adhesive, and then fold down the envelope flap on top of it to adhere. There is no need to glue down the entire liner, just flap to flap.

Next week I am starting a birthday card series so I hope you come back to check that out!

Mother's Day Card #2

Black & White Mother's Day Card

I have always been a fan of black and white, and cards are no exception. Lately I've been seeing a lot of gingham papers being introduced by some companies in their spring lineup. While looking through my stash I came across this black and white gingham and this card was born! It's the usual size ( 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches and is top opening). I added a piece of black and white polka dot paper to the righthand corner and a strip of black and white paper between the two designs. The flowers are from the Flower Shop stamp set by Stampin' Up and punched out with the coordinating punch. The "rick-rack" is cut using a Sissix border die set by Stephanie Barnard.  The stamp is from Delightful Dozen, a retired stamp set by Stampin' Up. I added two little black enamel dots to the bottom corner and the card was finished!

Thanks for stopping by! See you again next week!

#Mother's Day Card

The card I'm sharing with you today is not made with patterned paper! It is stenciled using the Papertrey Ink Color Pop Florals, a Make It Market Mini-Kit. I haven't really stenciled much before, but the process is very easy and I enjoyed it a lot, so I just had to share it! The set comes with 3-step stencils plus stamps and dies! You also get some printed flowers to cut out or die cut and card bases to stencil or stamp your flowers on. I chose to work with a blank white card base, mainly because I thought I would just be practicing, but since it turned out so well I used it for my card! I hope you like it. (Sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes by Stampin' Up). Finished card size is 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 inches. Stenciled panel is 4 x 5-1/8 inches which is layered on top of a piece of cardstock cut about 1/16th inch larger on all sides than the stenciled panel.

I was so impressed with this kit that I am sharing the link to Papertrey Ink and also a link to Papertrey's video demonstrating the process. It is a great set and very reasonably priced. They also have a new mini-kit called Color Pop Butterflies coming out soon! I think you'll want to check it out!

Link to video on YouTube
Link to Color Pop Floral Kit
Link to new Color Pop Butterflies Kit

Have a good week!

Lana

DIY Personal Planner

Front View of Planner.

I have been researching planners for a while now and it is a bit overwhelming! There are lots of planners I love and they either come with high price tags or you have to have a special punch to add anything of your own to them. After a lot of going back and forth, I decided I really liked the Heidi Swapp planners, but you have to have the special hole punch! Since I already had an adjustable 3-hole punch, I decided to try my hand at making my own planner and this is what I came up with. 

I bought a mini Avery 3-ring view binder in white, although they come in other colors. I purchased a Heidi Swapp (American Crafts) 12 x 12 48 sheet paper pad and went to work. I went through my pocket cards, clips, file folders and rubber stamps, and had a great time creating this planner for myself! I took apart a small calendar I had already started using for the year, punched holes, and added it to my planner. I will use the Avery version for next year's planner. I also purchased some small Avery page protectors to use for dividers. They are perfect because you can use any patterned papers you want. The notebook has a clear plastic cover so you can insert any decorative papers to design your planner. I did this for the front, back and side panel. 

Front Inside View

For the inside I added patterned paper to the pocket already provided on the left and to the inside cover of the notebook itself, then added some tags and a sticky note pad. I cut a black patterned file folder I already had to 8-3/4 x 6-1/4," decorated it with a cut out flower from the patterned paper, and added some washi tape to make the dashboard. On the other side of the dashboard I added more paper from the stack, a small calendar I already had on hand, and another tag. I made the pockets by folding some black cardstock and adhering it to the dashboard, and added some more washi tape along the punched edge. The calendar I had already been using had the very same pink color so I used those dividers as well in my planner. 

I used a stamp to create this divider page.

I created more pockets for business cards in the address book section.
I have since discovered that Avery makes page protector sheets to hold business cards. 

I also created a section to keep track of birthdays.

I have a section for notes, using the Avery small notebook paper. 

I decided to add a small paper bag for holding receipts, small items, etc. 

Back View of Planner

Since the notebook I purchased didn't come with a pen holder, I added a clip to the back cover and it holds my pen perfectly. There are other Avery notebooks that do have a pen holder attached. 

I think this is a great way to get a very personalized planner. I can still buy the cute accessories for planners and use them in my planner and I'm not limited to any particular brand. I think this will be a very fun ongoing project for the rest of the year! 

Here is a list of the Avery Products I used and a link to these and other items at Amazon

Avery Mini Durable View Binder #17116

Avery Page Protectors #77004

Avery 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 college ruled Filler Paper #14230

You can also get Binder Pockets in a 5 pack #75307

Avery 1 year Calendar Pages (undated) #14825

I was able to purchase my binder, notebook paper and page protectors at my local Walmart, but I had to order the other items. 

Avery Mini-Binder Accessories at Amazon

Alternative Card Using March's Paper Pumpkin Kit

I have a short post this week. I LOVED this month's Paper Pumpkin Kit from Stampin' Up!  I thought the envelope gift card enclosures were pretty enough to be the focal part of a card so I cut the envelope apart, using the largest inside piece for my card, and one of the flaps for an inside piece to decorate my envelope. It kind of looks like a faux lining. The center circles are from a prior Paper Pumpkin Kit. This is one of my favorite color combinations (Bermuda Bay and Cucumber Crush). These cardstocks are not part of the kit, but those are the colors in the patterned paper. The kit comes with white card bases with a soft pattern on them which could be used instead.

I'm no longer a demonstrator, but I'm sure any of them would be happy to help you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin or answer your questions. It's a surprise every month. Link to Paper Pumpkin website

Happy crafting. I'll be back next week with another card or project for you. Have a great weeked!