Patterned Papered Dreams

The Reject Blog Hop is back!!!

Hey there! Fabby Dr. Amber is hosting her famous Reject Blog Hop and I'm jumping straight in! Last thursday Paper Crafts Magazine sent the acceptance emails for projects accepted for their March/April 2012 issue. There were 100 spots for 1.300 cards submitted!! That's a record!! I was lucky enough to have a card accepted, but still there are a lot of them that were not, and here's one of them. 

I'm keeping the rest for upcoming calls (yeah, it's ok to resubmit a card at least a couple more times because you never know...). This one was made for the Rainbow/Gradient cathegory of this call and it features Hero Arts stamps. The sentiment typekeys are covered in glossy accents, which looks super yummy in real life, but I don't think the pic has captured it :/

Thanks for stopping by and remember that the most important part of crafting is having fun ;)

Supplies: Cardstock: Canson; Stamps: Hero Arts; Ink: Memento (yellow, orange, green, blue), Versafine (black); Other: Glossy Accents.

Stamp It! Cards Volume 8

Good morning! Today is a very special day for me. I get to share with you one of my three first ever published cards. Getting published was one of my crafting goals for this year and when I got that acceptance email (for 3 cards!!!)... well, that was a scene worth remembering :) And now, some months later, it's real and I have in my hands a brand new, glossy and chocking full of stamped inspiration Stamp It! Cards vol. 8 magazine, a special publication from Paper Crafts Magazine. You can get your copy here, run!!!

This baby card is on page 29. You can also find me with a congrats card in p. 53 and a Christmas one in p. 119.

Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic day! Oh, and remember dreams come true... but you have to pursue them to make it happen :D

Supplies: Cardstock: Canson; Stamps: Papertrey Ink; Ink: Memento, Papertrey Ink, Tsukineko; Other: button, yellow marker, twine, Corner Chomper.

The rejections blog hop

Hi there and happy Sunday! Ok, so Amber had the most brilliant idea: a blog hop to showcase the cards that didn't made it to the recent Paper Crafts Go-to Sketches issue submissions call. I completely agree that these babies deserve their 5 minutes of glory too, lol!! I've been very lucky and will have a couple of cards published in that issue, but since I submitted 30 cards specially created for the ocassion, I just couldn't not participate in this blog hop, lol!! So thanks Amber for the fantastic idea. And as this card has some paper piecing, let's enter it to the Moxie Fab World Paper Piecing challenge! Details here.

So here it is. I've chosen this one because I find it a super fun card. And after all, paper crafting is all about that: having fun. Getting published is truly a dream come true, but we should never forget why we started crafting in the first place. Having a creative outlet like this is a true joy and a blessing, and I'm sure when you create out of fun and not a bit "forced" out of pressure, it shows. So ladies (and guys too), remember to always have fun and enjoy the process. I know I did with my 30 cards :D

Oh! And here are some blog posts with publishing tips from great designers that I found really helpful:

Advice from Tiffany Johnson

Advice from Teri Anderson. And here's another from her too.

Advice from Latisha Yoast

Advice from the Paper Crafts Magazine team. And here.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your weekend!

Supplies: Cardstock: De la Riva; Stamps: Hero Arts, Basic Grey; Ink: Versafine, Memento; Other: White gel pen, stickles, copics.

A dream come true

I GOT 3 CARDS PICKED FOR PAPER CRAFTS STAMP IT SPECIAL ISSUE!!! YAYYYYYYY!!!

Ok, sorry for the caps abuse, but I had to say it very loud, maybe that way I'll know I'm not dreaming... This was my main crafting goal for this year, being published, and it's going to happen!!! So people, if you really have a dream, follow it!!! And submit, submit, submit some more because the efforts give their fruits :) And now, today's card:

See? I told you my blog is going to be all about hearts this day. I entered this card in the current Hero Arts challenge (details here). It features the kissing technique, a bit inky-messy but very fun to try. I love that woodgrain embossed background.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic weekend!

Supplies: Cardstock: De la Riva; Stamps: PTI, Hero Arts; Ink: Versamagic, Distress Ink; Dies and impression plate: PTI; Other: bakers twine, pearls.

Four

Good morning and happy "recycling paper day" ;) How was your Christmas Day? Mine was great! And Santa brought me an iPad! Ok, so first things first: a card (for the current A Passion for Papertrey challenge)

I had a real ball playing with this PTI set and this Hero Arts one. You know paper piecing is my favorite technique. Enough said :D Oh, and that carpet... yeah, felt.

Soooo... why four? Well, that's because I've been tagged by my friend Yuki and I have to share four things about me regarding a few issues. Here we go!

* 4 shows that you watch *

Disclaimer: These are 4 shows I used to watch. For the last 3 years and since my son was born, I mainly see cartoons (love you, Backyardigans!), and when I have the time to see grown up tv I just run to stamp, lol!
Grey's Anatomy, Sex and the city, Supernatural, CSI Las Vegas

* 4 things you are passionate about *


My family, stamping, writing, traveling (errr, well, yes, and shopping too!)

* 4 words/phrases you say a lot *


"Mummy loves you more than anything in the world"; the Spanish equivalent for "Oh, crap!"; "I'm going, I'm going!" (this is a classic when any kind of son or pets related dissaster happens), "Let's see what came in the mail" ;)

* 4 things you have learned from the past *

Better make domestic stuff asap because it doesn't get done magically overnight; no matter how much time you spend with your son, he'll ALWAYS need you when you have just started to play with your stamps; red clothes have to be washed separately; stuff you think you absolutely NEED today won't seem so necessary one week later ;)


* 4 places you'd like to go *

The USA, specially New York and all the East Coast up to Maine; Does CHA count. wherever it is held?; Ireland; New Zealand.

* 4 things you did yesterday *

Opened gifts with my family!; Downloaded my 1st iPad apps; Ate Christmas lunch at my father's house; Laundry and cleaning up everything left from Nochebuena.

* 4 things you are looking forward to *

Playing with my stamps this holidays; Seeing my mum who is coming for New Year's Eve (she lives far from here, in Malaga -South Spain-); My son's face when he wakes up to the Three Wise Men gifts on the morning of Jan 6th; Our trip to the USA next summer if crisis allows it!.

* 4 things you love about winter *

Snow, Christmas, the overall coziness at home while outside is freezing (snuggly blankets, candles, scented oil, hot cocoa...), cute hats.

* tag 4 friends to play along *
I'll be back later to tag them!

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies: Cardstock: De la Riva; Stamps: PTI, Hero Arts; Ink: Memento (brown), Versamagic (green), Copics, Versamark; Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket; Other: White embossing powder, PTI felt, Basic Grey Pearls.

Celebrate Autumn

Good evening! I't been a great week so far! Not only I won this lovely set in the A Passion for Papertrey challenge, but also one of my cards was featured in this Embellish challenge!

Can you say my card for today is a Fall one? :) Perfect for the current A Passion for Papertrey challenge. I used like a ton of Basic Grey Paper from the Indian Summer 6x6 paperpad and this PTI little set. The leaf is from this one.  As many of you PTI followers may know, the Fillable Frames collection includes this cute frames and sentiments, and you can purchase the coordinating die for the frame. I usually get both the die and the stamp set, but in this case I just got the stamps. Why? Because you can get perfect results by trimming the frame yourselves and then using a corner rounder. It doesn't really take longer than running the die through your machine and you can use the money for something else (maybe another die or stamp set).

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies: White cardstock: Stamps: PTI; Ink: PTI Ripe Avocado, Scarlet Jewel; Paper: Basic Grey; Other: Corner Chomper, PTI medium scalloped border die, Uniball Signo white gel pen.

I need more time!

Hi! I definitely need more time to create. I find so many great challenges but have so little time! So I keep hoarding supplies and bever find the time to actually use them. Yes, this is an official rant :)

Ok, so let's move on to today's card. I made it for the Hero Arts challenge, which this month is about mother's day and home. I like the result, it's a very happy card! I'm loving the aqua and pink combo lately.

The flower was colored with copics and popped with dimensional tape for some dimension. The card base is made with a DCVW paper and the Blossom Nestabilities.

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies: Cardstock from stash; Stamps: Hero Arts, PTI (sentiment); Paper: DCWV; Ink: Memento black, PTI Aqua Mist; Other: Nesties (circles, blossom), Copics, white gel pen.

Cards for my boys

Good morning!! Last week's Hero Arts challenge over at their blog was "manweek". That meant creating masculine cards, little boy cards, cards for a teenager... and even bribing getting the men of the family to try and make a card.
To my dissapointment, I couldn't convince my DH to sit and make a card. "Way too busy with my chinese exam next week", he said. No kidding. He finally took his exam two days ago. He got an A+ No kidding either :)
I know my son (two years old last week) would have been more than happy to make a card. More than happy to get his little hands on mommy's tantalizing supplies.
 And we actually gave it a try, but after getting ink even in his diapers, we decided to simply stamp a bit and leave the toddler cardmaking project for some other time.
So all of the four cards submitted for this challenge were mine. Mine for my boys: my brilliant chinese speaking hubs and my beloved inky fingered sweet toddler.
Today I'm posting two of them. Let's keep the other for another post :)
By the way, this week the HA challenge focuses on fall colors. Check it here. And if you feel like joining yet another challenge, you can find an Oriental one at the Simon Says Challenge blog.
And some good mail news too: some of the new Hero Arts rubber cling stamps I ordered a while ago arrived yesterday.

They are bigger than I expected!!! And the design is lovely, but I already knew that ;) I got the antique brocade, snowflakes, cherries and the "cherish the moment" sketched rose. Planning to play a bit with them today!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Supplies for the "Special Love" card: Blue and orange cardstock: Stamps: Hero Arts CL 264, CL265, S5101; Ink: Colorbox Chalk, Versamark; PP: DCVW Citrus collection; Other: Nestabilities Labels 1, white gel pen, white embossing powder, rhinestones, twill, faber castell pencils, baby oil.
Supplies for the "Just a Note" card: orange-brown and kraft cardstock: Stamps: Hero Arts K5175, CL309 (branch), CL182 (bird), CL342 (sentiment); Ink: Colorbox Rich Rustics Pigment Ink Queue, Ranger Archival Coffee; Other: Clear embossing powder, rustic twine, Faber Castell pencils, baby oil, Distress Stickles, Tim Holtz Paper Distresser.

Two cards and two rants

Hi! See? No butterflies today ;) First of all I want to share two cards I made between yesterday and today. And after that I will start ranting about mail and other stuff.

So here's the first card, made for this week's Hero Arts Challenge. The point was creating something inspired in the several sneek peaks they're showing this week from their latest releases. My card was inspired by the use of red, green, pink, white and scallops on this sneak peek. I love that little bug! Actually, the whole set is adorable, with the owl, the bird with the super cool tail... Hubs asked me if the little bug was the influenza virus :P

Supplies: Green and red cardstock (DCWV and Coredinations); Stamps: Hero Arts CL231 Happy Hello; Ink: Colorbox Primary Elements chalk queue, Worn Lipstick Distress Ink; Other: Blender pen, corner rounder, ribbon (unknown source), decorative scissors.

And the second card is my take on Kristina Werner's Finally Friday video. I love those videos and watching them is always in my friday's "to-do" (with pleasure) list. Ok, so from now on the FF videos will be included in the challenge page over at Two Peas, so you can make a card inspired in the weekly video and if you're lucky, win some prices. Today's video is here.

I was inspired by the bright colors, the polka dots, gingham ribbon, use of a scallop, an orange stripe... really lots of things. But as you can see, the card is a bit different from Kristina's. I like both!

Supplies: Kraft, white, pink and orange cardstock (DCVW, unknown); Stamps: Hero Arts CL291 Hello Circles, CL292 Celebrate all Day, S5101 Raindrop Background; PP: DCVW Spring 2009; collection; Ink: Colorbox Primary Elements and Jelly Bean queues; Other: ribbon, bling accent, blender pen, sewing machine, decorative scissors, stapler.

And that's all my card related stuff for today. Now we can move on to the ranting department. Because what's the point of having a blog if you can't use it for ranting purposes?

There we go!

1st big rant: I'm still waiting for my embossing gun which I ordered MORE than 1 month ago. I'm all for free shipping except it that means that you have to wait years for your stuff to arrive. In that case, I'd rather pay for the shipping but get my package sooner.

2nd big rant: Why, why, why does an online retailer allow you to make a whole big order and pay for it, then sends you a mail saying it's alredy shipped and one day later sends a new mail saying that not a single item of those you ordered were in stock?. NOT EVEN ONE. After going through the whole checkout proccess. And the worse part is that I have a tracking number for a parcel that seems to be "in transit". An empty box perhaps? If you want to know, the retailer is Joanne's and I made the purchase through Amazon. Not a happy customer here. Even if they send me a 15% off coupon for my next order. Which won't be placed, I'm afraid. I don't want another empty box "in transit", thank you.
Ok, so if you made it all the way reading to here, thank you very much for your patience. I really needed to rant loud, what can I say.
Oh, yes! And I wish you the loveliest weekend ever.