Please let me hear from you!

This blog is for sharing a love of paper crafting. I love paper crafting -
and Stampin' Up! products in particular -
so much so, that I became an independent Stampin' Up!®™ demonstrator earlier this year!
Full disclosure: I get a small commission on purchases made using Stampin' Up! links from this website - but this in no way affects your price. It just serves to help support my blogs. Thank you in advance for that support!

As of January 21, 2026, most of my Stampin' Up! makes are moving to
https://cheringloveofpaper.blogspot.com/.
Most of my makes will be using Stampin' Up! products and be on that blog,
but any makes from other materials will still be posted here.
Enjoy browsing my blogs, and I'd love to hear from you.
It is what helps make the time I put into these blogs feel worthwhile, and always brightens my day.

NOTE: All Stampin' Up! Images © 1990–2026 Stampin’ Up!®

Monday, October 3, 2011

Stitched Anniversary Card

This focal started out as a Christmas Outline Sticker designed with stitching in mind.  I decided to do it in non-traditional colors and use it as a wedding bell instead!  I placed the sticker on a pearlized paper, stitched it with metallic silver, turquoise, and green threads, cut out around it, and finished it off with jewel stickers and a bow.  I used turquoise alcohol ink to color a silver greeting sticker, put it all on a metallic gold that was matted on turquoise before gluing it to my card.

When it comes to stitching focals like this, there are two main things to think about. 
  1. First, punch holes for the needle to go through before stitching.  While you CAN use the needle to punch through the paper as you do the stitching, you are also more likely to tear it this way.  
  2. Second, decide how you want to do your stitching. Most of the time for something like this it works best to leave a set number of holes between where you bring the needle up and where you take it back down again.  Skipping this same number of holes between each set of holes creates your pattern.  There is no right or wrong way to stitch a pattern.  Keep in mind that the decorations on the bell have different amounts of space in the center depending on how many holes there are and on how many holes were skipped for the pattern.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Title Tips Part 14 - Printed with Crystal Lacquer













These pages take the last title tip one farther.  The title is printed on the background photos. Then Crystal Lacquer is applied to the letters in the title.  It is a great technique for a layout about a glass-bottomed boat.  (The background papers are actually photos I printed with my wide-body printer.)

Saturday, October 1, 2011

PW BLOG HOP & Birthday Card with Home-Made Stamp


Welcome to the PaperWishes BLOG HOP -   we are so glad you are here to help us celebrate World Card Making Day!

Some card making day trivia for you:
  • Today, card making is a worldwide hobby, especially popular in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • 1 in 6 U.S. households participates in making cards
  • 86% of scrapbookers also create handmade cards
  • 92% of paper crafters create cards more than any other type of project
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And here is a project I made using Paper Wishes Supplies:

 
This card was made from leftovers/extra art from the Clearly Collage card-making kit (from the card "Find your Birthday Bliss" to be exact). I added the dotted green paper and the rose paper (rose paper was from Little Prints and Patterns Pack - not sure about the dotted paper). I used sparkle gel pens to highlight the flowers & vine (and draw a vine across the dotted stripe) and to write the name.

The inside of this card makes use of a stamp I made with the Stampmaker I got from Paper Wishes. The recipient loves cats so I made this cat stamp from a ding-bat font I had. I stamped it twice - once on the background and once on white paper. I colored the second with gel pens & chalks, cut around it and popped it on top of the first with pop-dots. Here's what it looks like:

Though the picture is a little fuzzy, in real life the image is nice and crisp.  Love that stampmaker!  I'm going to use it to make some name stamps next so I don't have to hand-letter the name like I did for the front of this card.
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Be sure to check out all the blogs in this blog hop, as well as visit the PaperWishes message board as there are tons of things going on there today, all sponsored by Paper Wishes, with loads and loads of great prize packages!  You don’t want to miss a chance to win! This blog hop gives you TWO ways to win!!!

FIRST – leave a comment on ALL THE BLOGS and a random drawing will be done to choose the winner, who will get a prize package from Paper Wishes.

SECOND – play H.O.T.P. (Hot Off The Press) bingo with us. 
  • Visit each blogger on the blog hop to find their bingo square.  (Make a note of the blog name for each square too!)    
  • Click on this link to find the official BINGO CARD. (If you aren’t a member of the Paper Wishes message board yet, you are not only missing loads of fun but you may need to register to access the bingo card!)   
  • To win, you will need to make a bingo (4 squares in a row, horizontal, vertical or diagonal) by doing what it shows in each square.  There are some free squares; there are some where you just have to post something specific on the message board, and there are some that tell you to use something.  Where it tells you to USE something, that means to make a project (any kind of papercrafting project – a card, an ATC, a bookmark, a tag, etc.) with the item listed in that square.   
  • When you have your BINGO ready, follow these directions: 
o        Go to the Paper Wishes Message Board and click on “post reply” on THIS THREAD.
o        In your reply tell us the four squares you are using for your bingo. 
o        Tell us the square number AND the name of the blog for any squares you are using that were mentioned on a blog.
o        Post the items for each square in your reply, including a picture of the project you made for any square with directions to USE something.
  •  We will randomly select a winner from all the correct bingo entries!  Be sure that we have either your blog address or your email so that we know how to contact you if you are a winner!!!  
  • Your bingo must be posted to the Paper Wishes message board no later than midnight U.S. eastern time on Sunday, October 2 to be eligible for the prize drawing!
The BINGO SQUARE FOR THIS BLOG IS: O7

Here are all the participating blogs for this blog hop:


So on with the fun – it doesn’t matter where you start the blog hop, just see where you are on the list above and make sure you visit them all and leave some sweetness behind!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Nothing Tricky













There's nothing tricky about the focal on this two-page spread.  It's size and fancy mat alongside the title border (title cut with my Silhouette) draw the eye without any extra fuss.  But I liked the way they turned out so thought I'd show them to you.  On the second page, I liked the idea of using different backgrounds - stripes for the men and flowers for the ladies.  Love those white gel pens that allow me to write on dark paper!