Monday Inspiration Challenge: Expressionery.com/Giveaway

The Expressionery Spring catalog drops this week and it's chalk full of great products. I had the opportunity of previewing it a few weeks ago, and being the paper lover that I am – I poured over all the great spring invitations, thank-you notes and even announcements & bridal (though I have nothing to announce and have been married for 3 years this May.) They had a great idea using PSA Essentials stamps and we want to see what you can do inspired by this project.

Below is a very easy project that you can do with your kids, or do by yourself! It could be a great gift for mother's day. (Hope you aren't reading, Mom!) It's a great way to transform a white matte into something more interesting and personal.

For this week's inspiration challenge, let's see how you can transform a matte into something personal, interesting and more fun! Send your photos of your project to libby@psaessentials.com by no later than Sunday, 3/13/11 at 5 pm EST and your work may be featured here on our blog, or on Expressionery.com Facebook page! Remember you don't have to use PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps to participate in our challenges (though we love it when you do). This should be a fun one, so I hope you participate.

Beginning March 16^th (two days from now) through March 30^th, you can enter the PSA Essentials giveaway on Expressionery.com. They are giving away $388 worth of PSA Essentials goodies. The winner will receive:

Peel & Stick Sets:

• Peanuts Joe Cool
• UBU At the Beach
• Hello Kitty Garden
• Spring Time
• Whimsical Cakes
• Hello Kitty Sunny Summer
• UBU Dress Up
• UBU All Stars

Stampables

• Orange & Pink Tile Notes
• Black & White Floral Notes
• Blue & Green Deco Notes
• Pink Swiss Dots Notes
• Black & White Chain Calling Cards (2 sets)
• Black & White Swirls Luggage Tags
• Purple Lily Pad Notes

Ink Refills

• Black & Grapefruit
• Poppy
• Espresso & Turquoise

Good luck to everyone! And while I am at it, let me remind you of the 30% off sale. Enter code "HOME3" to receive 30% off your custom stamp.   Order here: http://www.expressionery.com/line.aspx?lineid=340  Big savings!

Have a great day!

Shout out PSA Stamp Camp & Win Big!

We are so happy to have reached 500 followers here at PSA Stamp Camp, but know there are a slew of craft lovers that haven't been introduced to us yet. So we need your help in reaching them. Why help? You can win free PSA Essentials swag! The winner will receive 1 custom stamp, 3 Peel & Stick packs of your choice, 2 inks, 2 note card sets & 1 alignment tool – a retail value of $150.

Here's how to help & win:

• Post to your personal blog, Facebook, or Tweet our PSA Stamp Camp link (http://www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com/). Ask your friends, family and followers to visit us and become a follower!
• Leave a comment here with a link to your shout out about us
• We will choose one random person who's helped spread the word to win!

Here's a great card by Carly Robertson. "Many Thanks" for helping us shout out PSA Stamp Camp!

Children’s Birthday Cards

Look for a great birthday card for an adult and there are generally a bevy of choices.  But if you've ever searched for a birthday card for KIDS, you may agree that the choices are more limited.  And why are they not as tasteful as adult cards?  It seems as if there's always a princess or a giant cartoon dog splattered on them.  I think we can step it up a little. Parents are really the ones that are reading them anyway!

Design team member Kelley Eubanks created three cards, perfect to send to children.  No cartoon dogs or princesses here, they are very tasteful.  The first one uses the rocket stamp from PSA Rocket Peel & Stick stamps.  I love the star patterned paper and the star embellishment next to the sentiment, "happy birthday."  There's Kelley with her twine again, too! (She wasn't kidding that she's into it. Looks great, doesn't it?)

Up next she created this, "You're One Great Kid" card, which I think is very Kate Spade.  In fact, I am quite sure that this is just the type of card Kate Spade would add to her collection of papers.  She's stamped the alligator from PSA Rocket.  You could send for a birthday, or include in your child's lunch box on a big day at school.  I can't wait until I can slip things into Molly's lunch box!

The next one isn't specific to children's birthday, and probably isn't specific to children either. But the crab is so cute, I thought of sending to a little boy or girl.  The red, black and white is a great color combination, and the black and white polka dots play nicely against the red and white.  The crab is also from PSA Rocket.  Great collection, don't you think?

Leave a comment today and let us know if you create children's birthday cards, or if you buy them – where have you found some good ones?

Supply Spotlight:
1) Stamps - Rocket by PSA Essentials, (sentiment) A Little Happy by Unity Stamp Co. Paper - Real Red by Stampin' Up, White and True Black Bitty Dot Basics by Papertrey. Ink - Real Red by Stampin' Up, Jenni Bowlin Fountain Pen by Ranger. Other - Classic Square Nesties, Big Shot, Stampin' Up Dimensionals and corner rounder. Kaiser Silver rhinestones

2) Stamps - Rocket by PSA Essentials, (sentiment) Birthday Basics by Papertrey. Paper- Kraft and Vintage Cream by Papertrey, More Mustard by Stampin' Up, True Blue 'Shining' paper from the Fine and Dandy collection by My Minds Eye. Ink - Jenni Bowlin Brown Sugar by Ranger, Wild Honey Distress by Ranger.  Other - May Arts Natural String, EK Success and Marvy Circle punches, Stampin' Up Dimensionals, Embossed Curve punch by EK Success, Zots glue dot, Mark Richards Metal Star, Tombow mono adhesive

 3) Rocket by PSA Essentials, Paper Stampin' Up,  PapertreyOther - Classic Square Nesties, Big Shot, Stampin' Up Dimensionals and corner rounder. Kaiser Silver rhinestones

3 cards everyone needs

There are 3 cards that everyone needs in their arsenal – to store and be ready to send at any time. All the St. Patrick's Day, Singles Awareness Day, and even Halloween and Easter can be tossed aside until you have made (or purchased – your choice, no judgment here) these three cards. They are:

1) Happy Birthday. These cards are essential to send to close friends and family. Everyone deserves to get spoiled with presents, be taken to a nice dinner, enjoy a little cake and some R & R at least once a year. It's your day, no matter your age. I love Facebook birthday reminders. Last year, I had over a hundred HB wishes on my wall. The best though is a card in the mailbox. Cluttered these days with coupons (though I appreciate them) and bills (seriously hate them), a birthday card in the mail is so sweet. 1 card in the mail is better than 100 Facebook wishes – it means they took the time to think about you in advance, AND they didn't need a reminder from the Book. Here's an idea for you today by Jeanne Streiff.

2) Thank-you cards are essential. Probably THE MOST essential. If someone does something nice for you, you should thank them for it. And taking the time to write a note and send it in the USPS is special. Taking the time to create a thank-you card is extra special. Here's another idea by Jeanne.

3) Thinking of you cards are great because you can be thinking of people for many reasons. Thinking of them because they are going through a hard time in life – they just got some unexpected bad news, they lost a family member, got let go from their job. All obvious and good reasons to send a card. Or you could be thinking of them because they just got a promotion, or had a baby, or for no reason at all but that they are your friend. Thinking of you is probably the most versatile of all the cards you can have in your arsenal. Good thing we have the sentiment in our PSA Dare to Dream Peel & Stick pack! Another idea by Jeanne:

Time to get creating, or get purchasing! I think I will do both. What about you?

Supply Spotlight:  Stamps:  PSA Essentials Cupcake, Vanilla, and Dare to Dream.  For more supplies, check back soon!

My favorite project yet…

I am boldly stating that today's project is my favorite received to date from our design team.  With all the amazing work that we receive, it's has to be pretty good – right?  See for yourself.  This gift tag set is by Jennifer Holmes.  These are the reasons it earns the spot as my favorite project to date:

• Great use of PSA Rosetta stamps. The repetition shows how versatile they can be in creating patterns and textures. Adding a pink gem to the center is a fun touch
• Beautiful use of die cutting. It frames the stamps perfectly and creates more visual interest that a 2" round punch
• Use of fonts. I love the way she's italicized certain words for emphasis
• Who doesn't love fuchsia and grey? The pink stamps are JUMPING off the page with the contrast.
• It's well-executed. Though stamping with PSA Stamper IS easy, to achieve that kind of precision and to line up the Rosettas so well DOES take effort. This wasn't done carelessly or quickly.
• I love a series of work!

Love them so much, they all deserve to shine.

Supply Spotlight:  Stamps:  PSA Essentials - Frenchie Peel & Stick,  Rosettas Peel & Stick.  Sentiments & Border frame: PaperTrey Ink   Paper:  PaperTrey Ink.  Embellishments: Rhinestones from Michael's

Monday Inspiration Challenge - 3/7: Whimsy Cakes

Last week, our inspiration image was some cupcakes! Yum. 

Today's a good opportunity to tell you that -  back in December, we launched new original PSA Peel & Stick packs. "Whimsy cakes" is one of them and it's perfect for all things birthday and cupcakes!  Design team member Jennifer Holmes created this bright and whimsical birthday planner. Each month has a devoted page where you can write in your friends and families birthday.

Attach or store this near your folder of cards so you know when to send out and to whom. It's adorable!

One of the things I like best about Whimsy Cakes is all the possibilities to color them in. Make the stamp a red velvet cupcake, a chocolate cupcake, a yellow cupcake, create various colors of frosting, different sprinkles and types of cherries – there's a lot of room for creativity! Our design team member Julia Aston created this card and demonstrates here how fun it is to color the stamp up. The color and glitter add something special to the stamp. Isn't it interesting how she has tied the bow? It doesn't go the whole way around. Very unique!

Hope you are having a great day! For supply lists, check back soon!

Repurposed and Recycled Material Crafts

Guessing you have heard the term "going green." Well it's not just about recycling your tin cans and composting your kitchen. You can also go green with your crafts! Who better to show us how than our design team member (and resident hippy), Jennifer Witmer! Her work will certainly beg your question: "are you sure that's recycled?" The answer is: YES!


Let's start out with her double-green project. She's taken a used soup can (properly cleaned out, I am sure) and planted oregano. She's stamped using the PSA Country Home Peel & Stick stamp set. She chose the garden watering can and bee. She's also the stamped the letters "OREGANO." How cute, right? Looks great in my kitchen – thanks Jen! It's double green because now I can take a sprig here and there for cooking. No need to go to the store for expensive herbs with lots of packaging.

Up next, she's created a magazine holder using a cereal box, some recycled magazines and contact paper. When she was telling me about her crafts for this project, she was saying how she kept telling her husband to save various pieces of trash. He thought she was nuts but the projects turned out great. She's stamped here using PSA Little Bunny. Adorable! I will be returning soon so Elliott can store some books in his room.

Lastly, she created this spectacular card out of magazines. She says she's not a card maker by choice but I think she could reconsider. With a background in graphic design, you can see how well she lays out a card. She's stamped using PSA Rosettas and colored it up.

Tell us about any recycled crafts that you've done! We'd like to hear your stories today.

Supply Spotlight:

Tin Can Pot:    PSA Country Home Stamps, Espresso ink.  Other:  Soup can-nail holes in bottom for draining, rocks, herb & soil, Paper bag,  raffia

Craft Box:  PSA Little Bunny Stamps, Espresso Ink.    Other:  Cereal box, Spray paint, Contact paper, ribbon.   

Valentine Card:  PSA Rosetta Stamps, Black ink.  Assorted paper scraps, ribbon, Magazine images