Create Your Own Artwork

Each card you make, layout you create, tag or bag you do is certainly a work of art. But today's post is about artwork. Real, frameable, put it on your wall artwork. Our designer Amber Zimmerman created something truly worthy of the frame. She used PSA Peel & Stick™ Rosettas, markers and a good ole fashioned #2 pencil. Check out her creation!

She created some dimension with the flowers by stamping on paper and then cutting out the flower. I think this adds something extra. It creates real visual interest by lifting the flower off the page. The pure white background, pure white matte and empty space my scare some, but for me it's clean and refreshing. This is one uncluttered masterpiece that I would be happy to have on my wall at home.

See a close up of these beautiful flowers using PSA Rosettas here!

What artwork would you create using Rosettas?  We've linked up to Serenity Now

Serenity Now 

Eat Cake

While I regroup from HSN & get some things together to share with you, I thought I'd share this sweetness today.  I will be sure to announce the winner of the Easter blog candy today, as well.  Stay tuned!

Be the hostess with the mostess with this all-out idea from our design team member, Jeanne Streiff. Next time you are throwing a party, make these delicious and easy cupcakes. The super easy recipe is find here. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/classic-yellow-cupcakes-with-milk-chocolate-frosting-recipe/index.html)

To really go all out, send your guests home with the recipe so they have both a party favor and a way to duplicate the yummy recipe. Jeanne designed this amazing cutout card. She stamped the cupcake from PSA Cupcake and the flower is from PSA Rosettas. I am loving her style, here.

The card opens up and you can display the recipe inside.

To truly elevate this card and party favor, stamp the back with your personalized "From the Kitchen of" stamp. This will drive home the "WOW" factor and you'll have people talking!

Tell us what you think today!

There's no place like...

Tune in Tuesday, 4/26/11 at 6 am & 11 am for the Cricut 5th Birthday Party & scrapbooking hours.  PSA Essentials & LibbyO will be on at approximately 6:50 am and 11.35 am.   We are selling an amazing PSA Essentials starter set, complete with a stamper, black ink, 2-color ink, alignment tool and your choice of 10-Peel & Stick stamps for an incredible price!  Back stage recap to follow Thursday, 4/28 & we will be back with amazing projects later in the week.   See you then!

Happy Easter & Blog Candy

If you aren't sick of Easter quite yet, here are some beautiful cards by our designer, Anthonette Chavez. These are truly works of art! You will see the incredible detail and amount of work she's put into these pieces. Leave a comment and let us know what you like best about these Easter cards. I'll choose one at random to win a free PSA Peel & Stick™ Topiary pack as a Happy Easter gift! Must comment by Sunday, 4/24 at 11:59 EST. Help us spread the word and re-post, tweet or Facebook this, linking it on your comment as a second entry to win!

Up first, is this orange number. The swirls in the paper match the swirls in the easter eggs. The bows above the eggs are mirrored in the orange ribbon tied perfectly in a bow. Also Anthonette has stamped "Happy Easter" from PSA Topiary several times, which creates a pattern. Love this card!

Here's a bright and cheery card. I've included instructions on how she's achieved stamped egg effect at the bottom of this post. She's stamped the eggs onto the heart. She's using PSA Topiary again here.

Here's an Easter basket card. How cute!

Because you may want to make it, here are the Heart Card Instructions!  A lot of TLC goes into this one.

1. Make card from cardstock and round corners.
2. Use a digital cutter to cut fancy label shape. Tie some ribbon around the front of the card and attach the fancy label.
3. Stamp egg image repeatedly on white cardstock and color with various Copic markers. Cut out egg designs.
4. Punch large heart shape 4 times and glue layers together to create your own chipboard.
5. Glue the eggs to the heart by overlapping to cover the chipboard. Trim off the excess.
6. Pour Diamond Glaze onto the surface of the chipboard heart and allow to dry overnight.
7. Stamp sentiment on card and attach heart.

Calligraphy Attempt & A Thank-you

My very good friend Susan asked me to address her wedding invitations. I did her save-the-dates and felt very little pressure. For some reason though, doing her actual invitation to the wedding was a daunting task. I messed up a few times. I had trouble finding the right pen, one pen blew up on me and there was ink everywhere! I mixed up things once or twice, too. Had Susan not proofed them, Roscoe Sandlin would have been wondering who Ronald Sandlin was…

In the end, they did turn out beautiful. Here's a peak at my calligraphy attempt. What a true art form, all you real calligraphers!

There are some letters that are easier than others using a calligraphy pen. I liked the way this one turned out.

I was happy to do something to help Susan out and wasn't expecting payment or anything in return, but Susan gave me the coolest thank-you gift! It's free babysitting, taxi service & a gift card to Corks Wine Bar & Restaurant! This way, Mike and I can have a date night. We have a babysitter, a safe ride and wine and a meal! Wow.

Susan was a member of our design team last term, and created something to present this to me. She stamped the letter stamp from PSA Mr. & Mrs. and adorned it with a pearl. How cute? It is the perfect stamp for this occasion.

If I had to put a retail value on this evening, I'd say it's easily $150. It was incredibly generous and creative of her to thank me in this way. I am so excited for the wedding this May!

A Purse Obsession

Handbags, purses, clutches, totes, messengers, and even fanny packs. I once had a sick obsession with them all. In college, I amassed dozens of handbags on eBay from sellers getting rid of vintage Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Patricia Fields. Now that I am more sensible, wiser and more mature (just saying that makes me feel so…) I think very carefully about a purchase on a bag. Johnson & Johnson told me in their commercial: "Having a baby changes everything!"

Three designers on our team came up with beautiful purse cards – a possible substitution for my obsession. The first is by Stephanie Jones, she stamped the purse from PSA Cupcake over and over again using lime ink on lime paper. Have you tried this effect? It creates a background pattern, the stamp doesn't overwhelm you and blends into the background.  It's sort of like a Gucci purse. Okay, not like a Gucci purse, but a great card!

This one is by Jennifer Holmes and is just about the cutest thing I ever did see. It really is a purse! She stamped the butterfly from PSA Cupcake and "Glamtastic" from Smirk Fashionista. I love the purple, yellow and ribbon.

Here's another one by Jeanne Streiff.



Do you have a purse obsession? These great cards are easing mine a bit.

A little Country Western for y’all

Howdy!

One of our favorite publications (Paper Creations) was holding a call for submissions for Country Western themed projects a few months ago. You will see Julia Aston's work in there this summer. Today I have the opportunity to share Erika Taylor's creations with you. They are beyond adorable.

The best parts about her take on Country Western are that it's girlie and cute. And it is completely usable. Up first, she created a "Horses forever" card. She stamped Hello Kitty on her horse several times in the background of the tan paper. Stamping the same image multiple times is a really great way to make patterned paper make paper more interesting. I love the paisley, pink, the roses, and the twine!

 What about this card? How much do you love that she has broken away from the traditional mold of a 4 x 6 card? And she has even added a buckle to the boot strap. So cute! No stamping here but you could really get creative with this pattern.



Hope you have a great day!

Photo Recap: Easter Egg Hunt 4/17

Molly’s Easter Egg Hunt: Menu & Cupcake Toppers

Using Martha Stewart's ideas can be a dangerous. For one, there's so much inspiration in the latest April issue of MS Living that it's easy to over-do it. For two, things start adding up and get pretty expensive. For three, you start feeling like…. well, you just aren't Martha Stewart. I have to keep reminding myself that I am NOT Martha Stewart – I'm Libby O and need not go overboard! The Easter egg hunt is coming up this weekend. Time to talk food & how I will showcase it.

Since the party is from 2-5 pm, etiquette would dictate no food is necessary. But what fun is that? I'm thinking a few finger sandwiches for the adults wouldn't hurt. Found this Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwich at – where else? Martha Stewart online. (See recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/313682/smoked-salmon-and-caper-tea-sandwich). Refreshing cucumber tea sandwiches are also planned. I am not a stuffy person, I just really love a good tea sandwich!

Also planned on the menu: cupcakes! These cupcake topper were my inspiration.

I created some cupcake toppers that I will show next week in my recap of the event! Now one thing I am surely glad Martha shared with us this issue: springtime cocktail recipes! No worries about letting her down here. I will be making one of the Spring Spritzers… Will it be Honey Vanila or Green Tea- Cranberry? Not sure yet!

Have a great weekend. Be sure to check back Monday for photos of the event & oodles of pictures of the kiddos at the Egg Hunt!

Molly’s Easter Egg Hunt: Baskets!

The final piece of the Easter Egg hunt is finished! What Easter would be complete without a basket from the Easter Bunny? I decided to give one to each of Molly's guests as take-home favors. I managed to create these cute baskets on a super budget as I bought all the contents at the Dollar Store or Target in the $1 section. The rabbit ears came from Target, and they are headbands! The baskets themselves came from Michael's at their half-off sale a few weeks ago. Check out how these turned out.

Here are Alexander, Ella and Elliott's. Ella is my goddaughter and I included a bunch of Disney princess for her. She loves Tinker Bell!

Here are four more. These are for Jessi, Genevieve, Owsley (our other goddaughter), and Lauren.

Mia's basket turned out fun, too! She's got some tattoos, Miracle Bubbles (which my friend Jen says are named so because it's a "miracle" you can get one bubble blown from the tiny wand…) and PLAY-DOH! Just love Play-Doh. Molly loves it too, but I have to keep a close watch that she doesn't eat it.

Tell me what you are planning for Easter baskets – are you making any? If you've blogged about it, be sure to leave your link here today so I can check it out!