Everything Is Rosy in May



Hello friends. 


Today I am sharing a new Stampin' Up kit called Everything is Rosy. This is a limited time kit that only just became available. 


The Everything is Rosy Medley will be available for purchase until May 31, 2019 - or while supplies last. In other words, when they are gone - they are gone!


The Everything Is Rosy Product Medley includes these exclusive products:

Everything Is Rosy Photopolymer Stamp Set—18 stamps;
Everything Is Rosy Dies—10 dies;
6" x 6" Designer Series Paper Stack—48 sheets; 8 each of 6 double-sided designs
6" x 6" rose gold foil paper—8 sheets
Printed die cuts—2 sheets
Rose gold die cuts—4 sheets; 2 each of 2 designs
Rose gold adhesive backed mirror embellishments—60 embellishments; 
Melon Mambo 1/4" (6.4 mm) Ruched Ribbon—10 yards
Night of Navy/Rose Gold 3/8" (1 cm) Metallic –Edge Ribbon—10 yards
Rose Gold Shimmer Paint—1/2 oz. (15 ml)


The cards and scrapbook layout featured above were made with this kit. Below you can see the elements included in the medley.



While I have you here, let's talk about Paper Pumpkin for a moment. Paper pumpkin is our monthly subscription kit, with the worst name, but the most amazing content.

The May kit is so darling, I cannot wait to receive it. I have seen sneak peeks of the kit and it is so cute. If you are not already a Paper Pumpkin subcriber, you must be sign up before May 10 to receive this box.

If you have considered trying the Paper Pumpkin subcription, this is the perfect month to start. You can order a single month to try out the kits. Or you can get discounts with a 3 month, 6 month, or 12 month subscriptions. I started with a three month subscription because I had no idea how much I would love this product! Would you like to know more about Paper Pumpkin, Click HERE for for more information.



I know this has been a bit wordy. Thank you if you are still reading! LOL. I will be back next week with new card and layout projects. 


Dandelion Wishes Scrapbook Layout


Hello friends. Yesterday I shared about my conversion to Stampin' Up! I shared cards made with the cute, cute, cute Dandelion Wishes stamp set. I also mentioned that this stamp set is also perfect for scrapbook layouts.

The layout above was created very quickly late last night and is not representative of my best scrapbooking. It does, however, illustrate how nicely this stamp set works on a scrapbook layout.

I downloaded three photos from Google Images (I call this child part of my fake family). After printing the photos to a standard 4"x6" size, I used my paper trimmer and cut the photos down to 4"x3.75". I matted the photos onto a 4.75" by 11 piece of white cardstock. I then matted the white cardstock onto a 6.5" x 12" piece of print cardstock. I cut 1/2" x 6" strips of designer series cardstock and affixed the strips as trim on the page.

I used my circle die set and cut out a stamped image of the dandelions and using the same designer paper, I cut a scalloped circle mat.

I used Memento black into to stamp my images and Pool Party Ink to color the dandelions.

This layout was so easy and quick, but it is still cute. With a little personalized journaling, this page would be book ready!


Products Used:

Dandelion Wishes 146747
dandelion wish stamps



Pool Party Ink Pad 147107

pale blue ink pad


Pool Party Ink Pad 101406

black ink pad


Layering Circle Framelets Dies 141705

layering circle dies


Whisper White 12 x 12 Cardstock 124302

soft white paper


Garden Impression 6 x 6 Designer Series Paper 146289

colorful floral paper


Sponge Daubers 133773

sponge dauber

Dandelion Wishes with Stampin' Up


Hello friends. Today I am going to tell you about my conversation to a Stampin' Up Demonstrator. Those of you who have followed my blog for years know that I was a CTMH consultant for six years. While I liked their products, I lost my consultant status last summer. I chose not to renew.

I have an amazingly talented friend (okay, several amazingly talented friends) who are Stampin' Up Demonstrators. I was encouraged and inspired, and decided to open my own Stampin' Up business. I love the stamps, the papers, the dies (!), and the embellishments. I also adore many of their tools. Hence, my new status. 


I made the two cards above for a Stampin Up training event card swap. I am pleased to tell you that I entered the top card into the swap and it won! I do love this stamp set, Dandelion Wishes. It is perfect for both card making and scrapbooking. 

What I love about these cards, other than the colors, is the versatility. They would make wonderful birthday cards, sympathy cards, and thank you cards - to name a few. So many uses for these cards and this stamp set!

Shop with me at Stampin Up!

*Anyone who purchased this stamp set and at least one other item through my Stampin' Up! on-line store will receive instructions from me via email on how to create these two cards.*

Products Used:

Dandelion Wishes 146747
dandelion wish stamps



Petal Pink Ink Pad 147108

pink stamp pad


Pool Party Ink Pad 147107

pale blue ink pad


Pool Party Ink Pad 101406

black ink pad


Subtles 6 x6 Designer Series Paper (40 sheets - 10 Colors) 146966

multi-pattern paper


Petal Pink 8.5 x 11 Cardstock 146985

light petal pink paper


Pool Party 8.5 x 11 Cardstock 122924

light blue paper


Layering Circle Framelets Dies 141705

layering circle dies


Powder Pink 3/8" Mini Ruffle Ribbon 146949

pink 3/8" ruffled ribbon


Metallic Sequin Assortment 144214

assorted metallic sequins


Share What You Love Artisan Pearls 146927

colorful artisan pearls


Whisper White 8.5 x 11 Cardstock 100730

white paper


Sponge Daubers 133773

sponge dauber


Shop with me at Stampin' Up! 

Returning From A LONG Hiatus


Greetings friends. I have been missing from the blogosphere for 9 months and in that time I have experienced a whirlwind of life. While I did need a break from blogging and the Design Team, I never intended to stay away this long.  

Back in July when I took a break, I was enjoying dollhouse building and was taking a break from papercrafting. All of that has reversed. I am back to papercrafting and loving it every bit as much as ever.


As most of my readers know, my mother lived with us for nearly five years as she struggled through Alzheimer's disease. Around Halloween last year mom fell and broke her hip. She did very well with the surgery and the rehab. However, after she was home, she had a stroke in December. We called in hospice at New Years. Mom passed away peacefully at home with my uncle and I by her side on February 13. 

Since mom's passing I have been slowly reclaiming my house and my life. One of the issues with paper crafting while mom was with us, especially in the last couple of years, was that my scraproom is located off of the back hallway and I could not keep an eye on her and scrapbook. I took over the dining room, but that too had limitations. Since her passing I have redone redone her room, purchased new furniture, etc. I have cleaned all signs of craft life from the dining room. And I have made great headway on reorganizing my scrap room.


I removed my old L-shaped glass topped desk from the space and replaced it with this set up. I purchased the cube set with the attachable desk piece, then I added another 4 x 1 cube set to the top. I finally - literally years later - purchased legs from my scrapbox easy view desktop.

  
As you can, I have made a lot of headway in organizing. However, I still have some untouched areas (bottom row of the cubes, under the desk, etc). 
  

I do not want for this post to be too long and filled with too much information, so I will close for now. I do have SO MUCH MORE to share, including my latest paper crafting creations and adventure. 

The Completed Willowcrest Estate


Hello friends! Guess what? I finally finished the Willowcrest dollhouse I have been building. I have been doing a happy dance for a couple of days now.

The last time I posted I promised to share the inside of the dollhouse.  I am doing that today as well as sharing the newly completed landscaping.

Below is a photo of the entire house interior. There are six rooms, an entryway, and a second floor landing.  Unlike my last dollhouse, this one actually has stairs! I did not leave them out.  Ha.  I did, however, rearrange the floor plan.


As I said, above is my version of the dollhouse interior. Below is a Pinterest photo of how the dollhouse was designed to look.  

(Note: Not my photograph)

As you can see, I took several redesign liberties with the interior. Beginning with the first floor, I removed the wall dividing the original kitchen from the entryway.  My thoughts were WHY put so much effort into the winding stairway and entry if it cannot be seen. I also removed the door between the kitchen and living room.  The middle wall on the bottom is designed to have an angled wall beyond the door.  I hated that angled wall. Not only did it make no sense, it was designed to have a fireplace on the backside, which really is not visible. So I not only removed the door, I built a completely new STRAIGHT-ish wall to divide the kitchen and living room.

In my new design it made no sense to have the entryway lead into the kitchen so I switched the living and kitchen areas, and built a partial wall to add a dining room behind the kitchen. Come in and check it out.



More of my living room and entryway.


The open stairway.


My blue and yellow kitchen and the pink dining room beyond.


In the photo below the stove, oven hood, and shelf are on the newly built almost straight wall. You can also see the divider wall I added to create the dining room.


The photograph below was taken from outside looking through the kitchen bay window.


The dining room.

All of the first floor windows feature decorative toppers on the molding.  I made the decorative elements myself using clay and molds.  


A view of the dining room arched opening leading to the entryway.


I made structural changes on the second floor as well.  If you look at the photo of the house as designed (second floor image below) you will see a large visual impairment near the middle-left side of the second floor. I did not like that little wall at all. I felt like it closed the view of the house.


By removing the little wall I took out the linen closet and the stairs to the third floor.  I almost rebuilt the stairs, using a square design similar to the first floor, limiting them to the left front corner. Instead, I omitted the stairs. 


Above is my version of the master bedroom. The cranberry micro print wallpaper coordinates with the cherub mural on the ceiling.


By deleting the stairs and the linen closet, my bathroom is larger than originally designed. I like it much better. I had to build a new wall to divide the bathroom from the landing. I moved the bathroom door further to the right to create more usable space on the bathroom wall.


Above - a view though the bedroom window to the second floor landing.

Below is the third floor of the house as originally designed. Again, I did not like it. I hated the chimney running up the middle of the room, eating up floor space, as well as the stairs opening and railings being in a awkward place. It left very little usable space in that large area.

Not only did I ditch the chimney and stairs, I made three additions. I added three window seats. The third floor windows each had a small alcove, again that I thought of as wasted space.  By building window seats the areas became more useful.


My version of the third floor.  At first I visualized this as the billiards room. And while that is still possible, it will be a decision made by the eventual owner.  I did, after all, build this house to sell. My version of the room leaves a large open space that can have many uses.


I am sure that as you looked at the rooms you noticed the ceilings. Each of the ceilings in the house is embellished on some way.  I like the interest this adds to the interiors.


I hope you liked the interior tour, including the descriptions of the changes I made to the house. Now let's move on to the landscaping.


I mounted the house on a 19" x 23.5" board. I painted the board gray to match the house trim. Once the house was positioned, I added grass around the front foundation to create a small lawn.  I also added a flowerbed to the front foundation. The right side of the house has ivy growing up the bay area.

Each front windows has flowers, as does the balcony. I added two planters to the front porch and affixed flower arrangements in them. A small cart rests at the end of the porch. 


I added a few battery operated light fixtures to the house. The carriage lanterns flanking the front doors match the style of the house. The lights, like all but one on the inside, attach to the house via magnets. In the living room the sconces attach to magnets behind the wallpaper. The magnets were affixed to the walls and ceilings, making the lights removable for moving the house.


Thanks for checking out my Willowcrest Estate dollhouse. If it does not sell before, I will be offering it for sale the first week of December at a Christmas craft show.  I hope to have four houses and many Christmas miniatures to offer.

Before you ask, yes, I do already have my next house planned. It will have a completely different look than anything I have done before. More on this later...