Using up the Old, Quick and Easy and Flat(?)

I realized recently that I didn't have many birthday cards in my stash.  I have made some lovely ones, but they were very bulky and would have cost quite a bit to mail and required a special envelope, etc, etc.  So I made a goal for myself: Use up some old product and make "mailable" birthday cards!  Over the next few posts, I'll share the cards I made with you.  Here are the first ones:

These first two use the retired Miracle paper, Stickese, and Kraft borders.  I've also added some Sparkles and some embellishment with a Pearl Pen.

These two are made with Mischief paper, Felt Shapes, Mayberry paper and Stickese, and some more Sparkles.

This last one is from a promotion way back in my first year as a consultant, I think, called Seredipity.  I added a couple Sparkles as well.

It's fun to add lots of dimension to our cards, with all kinds of layers and rolled flowers and all sorts of other goodies, but sometimes you need to simplify.  I'm quite pleased with how these turned out and they went together very quickly.

Stay tuned for more "mailable" cards.  Happy Creating!

Cross Canada Hop: Home Decor

Welcome to another Cross Canada Blog Hop!  We're excited to show you some fun home decor this month.  If you arrived from Arlene's blog, you're on the right track.  Remember that this is a cyclical hop, so just keep hopping until you get back to where you started.  If you would like to literally "hop across Canada" you can click here to start at Michelle's blog.  She also has a complete list of hoppers in case you get lost along the way.

Using papercrafting as a way to add to your home's decor is super popular right now.  If you follow my blog, you've seen quite a few of these types of projects lately!  I just love it.  My love of paper, stamps and embellishments is creeping out of my scrapbooks and off my cards into my home and it makes me smile every time I look at them.

The project I chose to showcase today isn't a new one.  If you've been in my basement studio, you've probably seen it.  I created it about a year ago, but realized I never posted about it on my blog.  So, it seemed like the perfect choice for this hop.  Here it is:

I've made three of these topiaries now, all different styles.  You can see my first one here.  It takes a lot of time, but the finished project is well worth the effort.  The rolled flowers are all cut on the Cricut, with the Art Philosophy cartridge (Font function, shift, Tag5 key) at 4".  I used only Wonderland paper and Moonstruck cardstock (both retired).  Here's a close up:

I used Liquid Glass on the rolled flowers, but have since started using a hot glue gun.  It goes a lot quicker.  After they were dry I pinned them with regular pearl-topped pins right into a styrofoam ball.  The wooden dowel was stuck in after all the flowers were added. I didn't even add hot glue to keep it in place.  This way I can take this project to other places by just popping the top off!  The dowel is stuck into some green floral foam in the bucket, which I bought at Michaels.  I added some hot glue in the bucket before covering the whole thing with rocks from Dollarama.  To finish it off, I used some ribbon from the Blue Designer Ribbon collection (also retired) to tie a bow.

This now sits proudly on my shelf in my studio.  Want to make one of these, but don't have a Cricut?  The post with my first topiary includes instructions on cutting these flowers by hand.

Now it's time to hop on over to Sheri's blog and check out what she's created.  Happy Creating!

CTMH: Join the Excitement!

Have you heard the news?  Now is a perfect time to join the Simply Creating team!

When you join our team during the month of April, you will get the Stamps-of-the-Month from April all the way to July for FREE!  Not only are free stamp sets an awesome deal, but it'll give you a great heads up on preparing beautiful projects for your new business or just for the fun of it.  

Not sure?  Think about what an extra several hundred dollars a month would mean for your family.  What would you get to do?  What would you get to do with or for your family?  What would you buy?  Would you pay off some debt?  Would you splurge on your favourite products?  Would you get that vacation you've been saving for sooner?  What difference would it make?  If you think you might be interested in learning more, email me. (You'll find my address by clicking on view my complete profile.)  We'll set up a time to chat or meet and I can answer your questions and help get you started.

Ready to start now?  Click here to sign up, and then email me to share your excitement!!

Paper Rose and Burlap Wreath

Wow, did I ever love making this wreath!  As I said on daytime Durham, I'm really starting to enjoy making Home Decor with my paper supplies.  If you've been following my blog for a while, you also know that I adore burlap, so when I saw some burlap wreaths on Pinterest I knew I just had to make one.

Here it is, hanging on my door.  (I finally took down my Christmas one!)

I used a wreath form and a roll of burlap from Michaels.  I love the smell of the burlap!  The roses are all cut from the Artiste cartridge, Key F, Accent 2.  The two biggest flowers are cut at the largest possible size.  Love rolling BIG flowers.  The smaller ones are cut from Chantilly paper, at various sizes.  I also used Blush, Buttercup and Cotton Candy cardstock.  For this time, I glued the flowers together using a hot glue gun so it went pretty quick.  Here's a close up of the flowers:

Inside the big flowers I added some pearl opaques as well as pearl badge buttons.

After the flowers were hot glued on, I wrapped some Sweet Leaf Grosgrain ribbon around the top a couple times, tied a bow and added some more hot glue.  My glue gun is getting a workout!

I hope this project gets you in a springy mood.  It's definitely beginning to look and feel like spring here and that makes me happy.

Happy Creating!