More DT Announcements....

Wednesday you met the new faces of our design team, now meet the rest of them.   This is one talented team!  I'll start unveiling their work next week - I can't wait to show you what they have come up with.   Without further delay, I am pleased to introduce:

JAMIE GREEN

Jamie Greene is the designer and author of http://jamie-thegreenefamily.blogspot.com/ and lives in Bossier City, LA.    She’s been a guest designer for Peachy Keen Stamps blog (Oct 2011) and her work was published in Paper Crafts Sept/Oct 2012 issue.  She’s been in several special issues from Paper Crafts magazine in 2011 as well as Practical Solutions for Paper Crafters this year.  She’s also been in Cricut Magazine and has additional work that will be published later this fall/winter.   She’s a proud mom of 3 amazing kids and married to her best friend!  Here are two cute paper crafts she’s done recently. 

GINA LUKER

Gina’s blog called the Shabby Creek Cottage (http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/) journals one remodeling project after another, and lots of DIY projects, tutorials and before and after photos.  Her work has appeared in Mom Blogging for Dummies, Brides Magazine, Casa Romantica, Romantic Homes, Nashville Bride, Somerset HOME and Better Homes and Gardens.    Her blog attracts thousands upon thousands of readers, she has a loyal and large following.  She also has great tutorials for your home project!   Check out her project gallery here:  http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/p/project-gallery.html

JESSICA HILL

Jessica Hill is the author of the very popular Mad In Crafts Blog which features DIY projects for the home.   She used to spend her days teaching Shakespeare and Longfellow to high school students, trying desperately to make the classics modern for her students… or at least to keep them awake for the 45 minute class period.  Now, she teaches readers how to combine classic style with modern trends in decorating, DIY, cooking, writing, and more!  She’s the host of a popular link party that attracts thousands of viewers each week.   Head over to http://www.madincrafts.com/  and see a few samples here. 

Welcome to the new Design Team - 2012 - 2013

With over 125 applications received and an incredible talent pool, deciding upon the 2012-2013 Design Team for PSA Essentials was difficult.   We narrowed applications down to the top 30 and then to a final 9.  We have a mix of mom bloggers, party planners, DIY home décor enthusiasts, seamstresses, and card makers this term.    The eclectic mix of talent is sure to make for interesting reading here at PSA Stamp Camp.  I am pleased to announce the 9 new design team members for the 2012-2013 term over the next two days.   Our talented Jennifer Holmes, Mae Armstrong, Kim Moreno, Regina Mangum and Jamie Cripps are fortunately staying on with us, now meet the new faces of our team.   I cannot wait to see what these talented ladies come up with using PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps.   And now introducing….

TAYLOR URBAN

Taylor Urban is author and designer for Its Taylor Made  www.itstaylormade.com, a DIY a craft blog with an emphasis on home, family and art.   She graduated with a degree in Costume Design and studied studio art and sewing in college.  Her creativity is impressive – she touches on recipes, sewing projects, and shares ideas for family.   She is a contributor for Honest to Nod Blog and Pellon Artist and she was recently published in Real Simple Blog, Apartment Therapy and Ohdeedoh.   If that’s not an impressive crafting and blogging resume, I am not sure what is!   She also opened a retail boutique (a lifelong dream) called Ampersand (http://www.ampersandshop.com/index2.php#!/HOME) .   I’ve included a few snippets of her projects on her blog… take a peek here but also head to her blog to see!

KRISSY SHERMAN BONNING 

Krissy Sherman Bonning is author of B-Inspired Mama:  http://binspiredmama.blogspot.com  and from Pine City, NY.    Her fast growing blog has monthly page views more than quadrupling from March 2012 to July 2012. Her focus is on kids crafts and she has been featured on popular sites like, The Crafty Crow, Craft Gossip, Childhood 101, and Pottery Barn Kids!  She is a full time mama to 3: ages 7 months, 3 years, and 5 years and manages to come up with crafty ideas for her readers to do with your kids.  Go check out my favorite project of hers that I have seen, it’s a Kids Emotion Game.  http://binspiredmama.blogspot.com/2012/07/kids-emotion-matching-game-with-free.html.  She has tons of great ideas for kids and since so many of our readers are moms, I just can’t wait to see what she does with PSA stamps for kids projects.

JENNIFER INGLE

Jennifer Ingle is a card maker whose clean and simple style is just up my alley.  She’s not afraid of white space but she has a real knack for design and color.   Jennifer currently serves on several design teams including Gourmet Rubber Stamps, Eyelet Outlet, Retro Cafe Art Gallery, Stampendous!, Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog, and May Arts.   She has been published several times in Paper Crafts magazine as well as their special issues and is an active crafter and blogger.  Jennifer enjoys various mixed media projects and dabbles in Art Doll making!  Check out her blog and work at http://justjingle.blogspot.com/.  She’s spunky and fun, you’re going to love her work as much as I do. 

GINGER BOWIE

Ginger Bowie is author and designer of Ginger Snap Crafts, www.gingersnapcrafts.com  and lives in Pea Ridge, Arkansas.  Her work has been featured on Tatertots & Jello, Skip to Lou, Someday Crafts, Craft Gossip and Tip Junkie – some of the biggest blogs out there!   She’s been married to her hubby for 18 years and is a mom to 5 wild & crazy kiddos… three boys & two girls.  She absolutely loves being a wife & mother, and it shows in her projects.   She loves to create fun, simple & easy crafts.    Her photography is gorgeous and she’s got all sorts of Back to School stuff on her blog right now… check out some images of her latest posts.

ASHLEY RENE’ THURMAN

Ashley Rene’ Thurman is author of Cherished Bliss, a DIY crafts, sewing and home décor blog that gets a lot of attention, including from the Huffington Post (http://www.stylelist.com/2012/06/11/craft-of-the-day-comic-book-letters_n_1579056.html).   Ashley is a stay at home mom with two little kids and started Cherished Bliss to document the things she does to make her house a home.   Check out her project gallery here:  http://cherishedbliss.com/project-gallery.  She does GREAT tutorials – really good step by step projects.  Here’s a great example of a toddler tote bag she made, and a dessert favor box.

Read all about this tote bag here:  http://cherishedbliss.com/2012/07/toddler-tote-tutorial-lifestyle-crafts.html.  And check out this dessert box here: http://cherishedbliss.com/2012/05/pink-lemonade-favor-boxes-lifestyle.html. 

SHELLY KURTH:

Shelly is a cardmaker and author of a blog called Shelly’s Sweet Greetings:  http://www.shelly-sweetgreetings.blogspot.com/.   She’s been published in Paper Crafts Magazine and has a clean and simple style.   She is the mother of four kids and lives in Melbourne, FL. and with three kids in school, has lots of mommy and crafting time.   We’re excited to see what she comes up with using PSA Essentials stamps!  Here are some of her cards I adore.   They’re romantic yet CAS style!

See you Friday to meet the rest of the team! 

Birthday Card

With my daughter's 3rd birthday nearing closer (just two more days away), I have birthday on the brain.  I am busy crafting for her "ART Party" themed party this Saturday being held at Artist Uncorked here in Bluffton, SC.  We have 13 kids coming ready to paint and craft!   I am making garlands, party hats, cupcake toppers, and favors with my PSA Essentials custom stamp and various Peel & Stick designs.   I'll share next week on the blog!

Today I have a quick birthday card - perfect for any girl celebrating a birthday.   I say girl because of the color scheme, scalloped flower paper and gems.   Kim Moreno has stamped from PSA Whimsy Cakes in various inks using her acrylic blocks.    She's also stamped from PSA Vanilla "hbd2u."    I love that she's rounded the corners of this card.

Tomorrow I am announcing the new design team!  Have a great Tuesday.

Disney Birthday Celebration

My daughter Molly turns 3 on Thursday of this week so my husband and I decided to indulge "the little princess" in some princesses.  We live about 4.5 hours from Orlando so we packed up the car and headed to Disney World to make some dreams come true for the weekend.  Disney World isn't my style - it's crowded, hot, noisy and you have to wait a lot.   The truth of the matter is: a 3 year old doesn't really appreciate it as much as you'd like her to.   But the look on her face when she had dinner with the princesses was truly quite priceless and riding on "Dumbo" with her was something I don't think I will ever forget.  Mike and I had some time to actually sit and talk to eachother (trust me - this is rare) when Connor and Molly were asleep, we sat on the porch and had a glass of wine.  It was our first vacation as a family of four and as we walked out of the Animal Kingdom Lodge on Sunday to head home, I had tears in my eyes.  It was so special to be together and the memories really will last a lifetime.  Today I am sharing some pictures of our adventure and two birthday cards by Vera Yates.  Enjoy!

Vera created these two birthday cards using PSA Skellanimals in different inks and characters.  Have you seen our Skellanimals collection?  Check them out here:  http://psaessentials.com/skelanimals.htm.  They're great for birthday cards for kids!  Vera did a great job on these colorful and whimsical ones, don't you think?

We are back to school this week and I am buckling down to PSA business!  What are you up to this week? Have a great one! 

Back to School Week - Day 4

Today’s our last day of Back to School Week and I’ve been sharing a few organizational household things you can do to get ready for the craziness when school is back in session.  Today’s idea will get you organized with all of your kid’s school papers and everything they bring home.  Start by getting a basket,  8.5 x 11” folders in varying colors, and then get stamping with your PSA Essentials stamps.    Get creative with our stamps – use the Funky Numbers as Jamie Cripps did for different “periods” at school, the A+ stamp from Super Star to save work that you are really proud of, and another precious folder “Keep” from “Keep it up” on Super Star.    You can even create folders for yourself from “Mom’s Calendar” and “Date Night” for your own files. 

This makes organizing all those papers a little bit more fun, doesn’t it? 

Back to School Week - Day 3

As I mentioned earlier in the week, going “back to school” is synonomous with household organization.   It’s almost like the words “back to school” send a message to the brain:  “NEST! NEST! NEST! Get your house organized and nest!”  So that’s what we’re doing this week at the O’Regans.  I’ve discarded outdated coupons, organized our gift card pile, cleaned out Molly’s closet and am working on donating a pile of clothes.   Phew.

Today’s organizational tip is one from Stephanie Jones last year.  She created a chore chart that’s perfect for any family and one that you can really get creative with.   She used PSA Essentials Funky Numbers on clothes pins, then wrote the chore on a piece of paper.  You can do some variations on this by assigning chores to specific people, too!  (No reason they should all go to you, right??!?)

Hope you are getting ready for back to school around your house, too and enjoying it! 

Back to School Week - Day 2

You may need a little encouragement for your little one as they go back to school – why not leave a handmade card with a note in their lunch box?  I love this idea by Kelley Eubanks.  These stamps all come from PSA Super Star and are the perfect stamps for back to school.    Give it a whirl!   

This card can be made quickly and easily with the following steps.   Stamp the sentiments from PSA Super Star consecutively along the right side of 3 x 5” paper.   . Use your acrylic blocks and different shades of blue inks.  Stamp the A+ on white paper, use your round punch to cut out.   Frame both white pieces against darker blue cardstock and you are done!  Time to do back to school shopping!  Are you ready yet? 

Back to School Week - Day 1

When I was growing up, school started after Labor Day in Massachusetts and I remember almost instantly the weather turning cooler, leaves changing, and shopping at the mall for my new back to school duds and supplies with my mom.   Thinking back to those times makes me happy – I remember the excitement of starting a new school year with my friends, new teachers, new subjects – the air was filled with such promise!   Much the same way but now as a mother, I am thrilled for a new school year to be starting.  Molly starts her second year at May River Montessori.   Having graduated the toddler program, Molly joins the primary classroom in the 3-6 year old class.  I am as giddy as a school girl.  For her!

Since school starts next week for us, I am sharing fun ideas for back to school this week on PSA Stamp Camp.   We have projects for getting organized around the house (back to school is synomomus with getting organized, isn’t it?), projects you can do with your kids, and projects that will inspire your kids at school.    Today’s project comes to us from Jamie Cripps.   She’s created a weekly calendar to organize her household.   And it’s not just any boring calendar.   I fully admit that this project requires a lot of stamping but it makes being organized extra fun and could be worth your time!   Check it out:

She’s stamped the day using PSA Funky Numbers, then each activity comes from PSA Mom’s Calendar or PSA Date Night.  These are two great Peel & Stick packs to get you organized!

Check out a weekly menu plan that will help you also get super organized when it comes to planning meals!  Thanks for creating and sharing this Jamie.    Since I started menu planning and shopping according to my menu, I have saved a ton of money and I am not scratching my head in front of the pantry of what to make for dinner.  

See you tomorrow for more back to school! 

Stamp Organization

A few months ago when I was preparing the nest for Connor, I was organizing a bunch of my crafting supplies.  I wrote a post proudly declaring victory on all my clutter – particularly when it came to paper, punches, stickers, embellishments… you get the drift.  I also bragged about my stamp organization.   I have nothing on Jamie Cripps.   In fact, my post just looks silly now.   Proof:

There’s a color system to this filing system!  She’s stamped each stamp onto the folder for super easy reference.   She’s filed each set into it’s own folder – then into one nice bin.  She can find stamps quickly and easily by name.  I am so jealous.

How do you store your stamps?  I seriously applaud this organization! 

Monogrammed Apron

Mae Armstrong’s friend has a daughter who is turning two and knowing that the mother-daughter pair are into baking projects lately (especially cupcake ones!) Mae thought that a semi-homemade apron would be a great 2^nd birthday gift.   Good thinking Mae, it turned out great! The project was inspired by May Arts Ribbon and PSA Essentials Monogram stamps.

Mae purchased a white apron from Michael's and dressed it up with ruffled laced ribbon from May Arts. She added layers upon layers of pretty pink ribbon.

After sewing the ribbon and reaching the desired height, Mae added a cute chevron band for the apron tie. She folded and sewed the band across the waist.

After finishing the apron design, Mae added a monogram stamp from PSA Essentials and used it as her embroidery pattern.  She picked pink and black threads. 

She did a simple satin stitch and covered the entire letter.

She also used a back stitch for the outer circle.  She added light blue beads to cover the black dots from the stamp.

It’s the cutest little apron I have ever seen!

Mae picked out several items to complete the gift basket (as if the homemade apron wasn’t enough!)  She got some cute pigs and a set of colorful mixing bowls.   The whole ensemble looks great.

This can be done for a birthday or bridal shower gift, too!  Purchase the grown up aprons from Michael's and create away.  Love this from our creative Mae!