Spring has sprung!

Spring is undoubtedly my favorite season of the year.  I love it when the grass turns green, the azealeas bloom and everything becomes lush and beautiful again.   One of my favorite things about spring is the abundance of beautiful flowers available.   Ranunculus make me happy – how could these gorgeous arrangements (and photographs) make you feel anything else?

Melyssa Connolly created some cards to welcome spring.   Like the flowers, she used bright and bold colors in this one.   She stamped from PSA Topiary - the gardening hose, the watering can and the flowers are all PSA stamps.  

In this softer card, Melyssa used the bee from PSA Topiary.   I love this stamp!  You wouldn’t think you’d use a bee so often, but I do. 

Happy Spring! 

PSA Essentials Touch Twin Blog Hop

Welcome to the PSA Essentials & Touch Twin Markers blog hop! Whether you are just starting out or this is your last stop, be sure to explore all the blogs for great inspiration for paper crafting.    Be sure to enter our giveaway at the end of the post, too!   One lucky winner will receive 6 Touch Twin Markers and a PSA Stamper, 2 Peel & Stick packs and ink color of their choice.  

Are you familiar with PSA Essentials?  For those new us, we manufacture self-inking, personalized stamps.    These days a lot of our blogging and crafty friends are getting their names and blog address on a personalized stamp so they can stamp the backs of their handmade cards. 

There are a lot of uses for our personalized stamps. 

We have patent-pending Peel & Stick technology which allows you to switch out your personal stamp with thousands of stamps, from summery designs, Halloween, Christmas, Holiday, Valentine’s Day, baby, bridal, sentiments, Hello Kitty, Peanuts, Rudolph & more here:  http://www.psaessentials.com/peelandstick.htm .

That’s why our PSA Essentials stamps are perfect for creating cards, scrapbook layouts, party favors, home décor, artwork, DIY projects, and so much more!  You can use them with the PSA Stamper to get crisp and clean impressions or with an acrylic block – they work just like any other clear stamp!   Watch this video to learn more about how they work.   

We realize that stamps look a whole lot better when they are brought to life with markers.  We just love the Touch Twin markers that we received.   There are so many great shades.  Haven't our designers done a great job today? 

If you are interested in buying PSA Essentials, head on over to Cyber Savvy Shop where they have an exclusive deal right now 30% off all Peel & Stick stamps and a custom stamp (normally $40) is on-sale for $26.50.  Totally worth it!  Head to Cyber Savvy Shop

Now hop along to all the other blogs and before you go, enter our giveaway!  Here's the entire lineup. 

·         Touch Twin Marker Blog with Lydia Fiedler’s project- http://touchtwin.blogspot.com/

·         Regina Mangum: http://thestampinbean.blogspot.com/

·         Vera Yates: http://lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/

·         Bev Gerard - http://savorthejourney.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

·         Jamie Cripps: http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/

·         Dina Kowal - http://mamadinis.blogspot.com/

·         Kim Schofield: http://paperiepetals.blogspot.com/

·         Jennifer Holmes: http://www.simpleflourishes.com/

·         Tami Mayberry - http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/

·         Mae Armstrong:  http://maearmstrong.blogspot.com/

·         Jeanne Streiff - http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/category/stamps/psa-essentials/

·         PSA Stamp Camp:  http://www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com

And visit Angie Holden - Country Chic Cottage:  http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Whether you are out partying... 

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Or off decorating 

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Or Eating (that's what I am doing...) 

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We hope you are having a great day! 

Baby 2.0

It’s time to announce the impending arrival of Baby 2.0!   I am 30 weeks pregnant and due May 18^th.   “2.0” [pronounced two-point-oh] was the womb name my friend Ashley came up with -- it’s like a software version or the latest release of product and it though it is funny, the name quickly humanized during doctor’s appointments.  2.0 is healthy and happy in my belly and has been a good little fetus – no real complaints.  I was tempted to post a sonogram picture but decided thousands of people don’t need to see my insides.   Just imagine that 2.0 is really cute. 

Like with my daughter Molly, we are keeping the gender a surprise until delivery day – so I do not know if this little one will be a boy or a girl.   This makes it fun.  It’s a constant guessing game and is a challenge to decorate and prepare.   I am busy nesting with various organizing projects and getting the nursery ready now that Molly has a new big girl room.  The theme of this room is essentially elephants and giraffes and the color palate is pretty neutral – with white, black, grey, khaki and pops of yellow.   I created a piece of artwork to hang proudly on the wall. 

Here’s how I went about doing it.   I used:

• Artist’s Loft Gallery Wrapped Traditional Canvas – 24 x 36
• Artist’s Loft Vine Charcoal – medium
• Grumbacher paint – black and white
• PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps:  Little Bunny (the elephant)
• Acrylic block
• Close to My Heart pigment based ink – off-white
• Elmer’s Wood Glue
• Wood letters
• Recollections Chip board (for additional lettering when wood letters weren’t available at Michael’s)
• Mod Podge Glossy Finish

First, I free-hand sketched the elephant using the PSA stamp as my guide for the design.

 I then glued on the letters.  "See" and "Explore the World"

I painted it one shade of grey several times, then went in a re-outlined the elephant.   Then it was time to stamp.  

The grey was too flat for me, so I spent some time that brought me back to my glory days of art school – shading it and playing with the paint.  

I cut a globe from a magazine, glued then Mod Podged it on, and drew it into a balloon held by the elephant.

I use Mod Podge to seal the charcoal so it wouldn’t run and seal the stamps, too. 

See how it’s just a bit glossy over the elephant now?

And that’s it – I hope 2.0 likes his/her artwork. 

I was so proud of this project, I linked it up to some of my favorite blogs LINKING PARTIES!  Check out these great blogs and come join the party.

http://thirtyhandmadedays.com/

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ 

http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/ 

http://www.the36thavenue.com/

 http://www.tipjunkie.com/category/handmade-projects/

 http://www.bluecricketdesign.net

http://www.domestically-speaking.com/

http://lilluna.com/ 

Memory Game for Kids

Molly is really into puzzles and memory games right now – as you can see.   So I am excited to re-create this idea by Heidi Ferguson.   First she cut paper into equal sized rectangles – approximately 3 x 2.   

She used the outer ring of PSA Little Bunny on her PSA Stamper with various ink colors – grapefruit, then royal, then lime to create a fun pattern for the back of the card.    Then she stamped two images to match – shown here, the Sandcastle from PSA Anchors Aweigh.    She stamped each image twice so that every image has a match.   

This would be a great birthday gift, wouldn’t it?   You could take it a step further by using heavy weight cardstock, color in the stamps, and laminate the cards.  I can’t wait to try this idea out with Molly.    Thanks for sharing this inspiration idea Heidi! 

Sailor Hat Tutorial

In September, our goddaughter had a beach and sailor themed 1^st birthday party at the Sandbox Children’s Museum in Hilton Head.   Our design team member (who happens to be one of my closest friends) Susan DeLano made sailor hats for all the kiddos.  She put together a great tutorial to share with our readers.   

All you need is a broad sheet of paper - about the size of half a newspaper and some tape.

1. Fold the paper in half horizontally
2. Fold the top corners down to form a V and place a piece of tape at the ends. 
3. Fold the bottom flap half way up... and then fold it again to make the brim of the hat. Turn the paper over and do the same on the other side. 
4. Tape the ends of the brim together and voila!
5. Now you can decorate them!

To decorate, Susan stamped the sandcastle (very fitting!) from PSA Anchors Aweigh.  She used her punches and framed in blue cardstock, then topped a red ribbon with the stamp.   You can paint the hats, stamp the paper before you fold them, add feathers, the sky is the limit.  To wear, just fasten the hat to your hair with a bobby pin. 

Ahoy Mateys!  

Alphabet Fridge Letters

Surely you’ll recognize this idea from your childhood – or even from today.   I vividly remember playing with alphabet letters on my fridge when I was a little girl – and as I grew older, I remember creating words and sentences from them.   (And as I grew even older, creating bad words or inappropriate sentences with them...)  Our design team member Heidi Ferguson re-created the idea using PSA Essentials Vanilla Peel & Stick stamps.

These are great to keep kids entertained at the fridge while making dinner. To make this project, you will need:

•          PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps:  Vanilla
•          PSA Stamper (loaded with black ink)
•          Your PSA alignment tool for quick and easy changes
•          Cardstock in various colors
•         Magnets
•          Glue/adhesive
•          Sealer – like Mod Podge

And in 4 easy steps, this can be done. 

1.  Stamp the letters from the alphabet onto cardstock
2. Punch out using your 1/2” inch circle cutter
3. Glue to magnets
4.  Finish with sealer

Now you can have fun creating words and spelling with your kids!