good news...

our guest designer Anni FINALLY received her package to Germany...yay!!  I am so happy there are 5 Wednesday's this month.  I am going to share more of her cards on my Friday posts to give her a chance to show off her cards using our last release.  Our stamps are in great hands!

Anni used All Yule Need in such a folk-whimsical way - VERY COOL card!!!  The little touches are what makes me keep taking it all in :)

 

and um....awwwwww, how adorable is this Chilly Chums card???  I have never seen that walrus and seal look so darn cute!  Anni was a dream guest.  I think she is amazing and I feel lucky to know her.  I look forward to showing off more of her projects next month.

 

And here is the final sneak of our NEW November set called CYBER CAFE.  Teri used the images and sentiment in such a clever way.  The stacked paper pieced cups ROCK!!   Stamping one of the sentiment words in white and cutting around it (and other accents) really ties in the design - awesome!

CONGRATULATIONS to our girl Emily!  She was chosen as one of the World Card Making Day winners by Paper Crafts magazine.  You can read about the announcement HERE.  We think Emily is fabulous and we are thrilled to know that Paper Crafts thinks so too!

Today is not only Halloween, it's my Great-nephew's Birthday...and ALSO release night - woooooohoo!  What a FUN day!!

Have a good one :)
smooches!
Kim

Sooo...

is it cold where you are?  Thinking of the cold always reminds me of my roots up in NY and today I think of my friends and family who were affected by hurricane Sandy.  I hope you are all safe and warm.  My thoughts and prayers go out to all you.

I happen to have some Freezy Fellas to share with you today.  Laurie and Emily rocked this set!

This new set includes FIVE snow-people.  You can use them alone or create a little family like Emily did.  Don't you love this color combo?  That bold black really makes the colors stand out!  And rolling patterned hills?...what's not to love!

Laurie's gift card is such a great idea!  I love that she chose olive green as one of her colors, it really helps the money to coordinate with this flirty little card.  I am a bit freakish about matching, so this color combo makes me so happy.

 

I wanted to have fun with Halloween and offer a giveaway but it looks like I dropped the ball since I assume that you already have Halloween stamps for this year.  I should have done this a couple of weeks ago...(smacks head)  I will do better next year. 

So...what would make more sense is a prize that includes WINTER stamps!  Here's what you have to do...share a THANK YOU card and link to this post.  I will randomly choose ONE winner from the linked thank you cards to receive this fun prize package:

You have until Midnight MT on Nov 1st to play along and I will post the winner on Friday's post

...and YES, you do see our newest winter stamp set - FREEZY FELLAS!  I also threw in some wintery-ribbon and two new products that we will carry in the store.  Two different PINK acrylic blocks.  Aren't they cool?  One is a 2.5" round block and the other is 3 x 4 (both have grids) and they release on Nov 1.

I hope your day is as wonderful as you are
HUGS,
Kim

hey there

so sorry for the delayed post.  I went to bed at 9 last night because I wasn't feeling great and this morning we took one of our dogs to the vet to have some surgery. 

I have two fabulous KNICK KNACKS cards to share and also a winner to announce :)

Thank you for joining us on our blog hop.  I am thrilled that you are enjoying the peeks to our newest release!  Thank you also for the VERY sweet comments about our new education blog.  You have definitely encouraged me to make more videos.

Kalyn's adorable card is perfect for welcoming a new baby.  I imagine just about any sentiment would work for this card as well.  I love the button accents...they really add to the cute-factor :)

Heidi's card is also dang-cute!  I love how both girls added rosy cheeks to Raggedy Ann.  The accents and polka dots really adds to her whimsical card.  SO sweet!

...and the winner of Knick Knacks is:

Diana Evensen 

October 27, 2012 7:22 PM

I loved your videos - even nervous, you did a great job showing us how to do things. Both the rocking horse and the "two-step" stamping flower card were great. Thanks!

CONGRATS Diana!  Please send an e-mail to info@papersmoochesstamps(dot)com to let me know your address :)

Have a great week friends

hugs,

Kim

Something NEW!

I am beyond excited to present a NEW BLOG.  This will be a special place for education.  It's important to me that you learn how truly versatile our stamps are.  It will be a work in progress because I am busier than normal at the moment.  It might be fun to watch how it grows :)

Here are the two cards that I created using techniques that I share in the new video.  If you watch the video, you will see the entire Knick Knacks stamp set.

If you watch the video...and come back here to tell me that you did...you will be entered to win a Knick Knacks stamp set.  I will announce the winner on Monday's post.

Thanks for stopping by friends
xx
Kim

October DT Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches November stamp release with you!  The three NEW clear stamp sets will be available to purchase at 12:01am, Eastern time...on November 1st.  You will find them HERE.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize!  Just leave a comment on any of the five design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of the three new stamp sets!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify)  You have until midnight MT on Friday, October 26th to leave a comment.  Please check all five blogs on Saturday, October 27th to see if you are one of the five lucky winners.

Emily Leiphart
Heidi Van Laar
Kalyn Kepner
Laurie Schmidlin
Teri Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:
1. Leave a comment on this blog post
2. Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
3. Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
4. Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop
(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

I used a stamp set called KNICK KNACKS.  It's a unique take on vintage toys and games and I had a ball putting it together.  All images shown are from this new set.  Just a fyi - Raggedy Ann DOES have a body and feet - I cut them off!  I had to because I colored the feet black and they seemed to eat up the whole image - I digress...but you get the gist, right?  In case you can't tell from my photo, the doll and sentiment are stamped onto a focal panel and I stamped the three accents above...as if they are sitting on a shelf.

...and I admit that I missed the mark on my game piece.  I wasn't paying attention and I stamped it too high (oopse)...so I colored the bottom with a black pen to make it look like it's sitting on the shelf with the others.

I made a video for tomorrow.  I used the same stamp set.  I hope you will come take a peek!
Thansk so much for hopping around with us today.  We LOVE having you here!
smooches!
Kim

Happy Half-way day!

All Yule Need includes the tree, dotted line, star and sentiment and the snowman is from Swanky Snowdudes.  Teri rocked these stamps!  I just adore this sweet little card :)  More snowmen are in our future...just sayin'.

ohhhh and sweet Anni.  *sigh* her new stamps haven't arrived yet.  BUT if/when they finally arrive, we will feature new cards from her using the new release.  I called the USPS yesterday and found out that Germany had a strike that involved their flights...I am sure this could be the cause of the delay.  BUT, I also found out that the small Priority boxes don't need to be tracked once they leave the US - and they don't have to honor the 6-10 delivery time...ugh!  I also sent her an envelope...so probability is good that at least one of the two packages will arrive.  Frustrating.  I am thrilled that Anni has our stamps and was willing to create new cards for us.  Isn't her card just WOW?!?  LOVE the vellum backdrop and the pop of rich red really makes this card stand out!

Tomorrow is our blog hop and Friday I should have a video tutorial for you. (grin)

Hope to see you soon
xx
Kim

a bitter sweet post

bitter because it's the last post with our guest Betsy Veldman this month and sweet because her card is fabulous (and so is she)!  It was so nice to get to "work" with her again.  Knowing Betsy is a treat and I am sure that you can agree that she is one mega-talented gal!  I loved seeing her work her magic with our PS stamps.

She combined Christmas Sampler with stamps from Reflections and He Said, She Said.  LOVE her line up!  Seriously awesome card!!

Laurie will join us again...starting with our next blog hop on Thursday.  Boy I missed her.

Emily combined Christmas Sampler with Warm Hearts and Chilly Chums.  I am diggin' the green snowflakes...it adds that element of surprise :)  LOVE the rolling hills...it adds to this perfect design.

ok friends...that's all for me for now.  I hope you have a very nice day
BIG hugs,
Kim

gettin chilly?

well, here is Arizona, is definitely not chilly but at least the temp has dropped.  It makes me laugh when the radio says that it will "cool down".  I am from upstate NY and I know what cold feels like LOL.

Dunno about you, but these cards gave me a warm smile

 Ack!  I want to squeeze this little guy!  i LOVE that he is holding a sign!  Major cuteness going on here :)

 

All together now...awwwwwww.

Isn't this little seal darling?  This is another way to use the bow on the set.  I am thrilled that Kalyn used it on her girl.  I wish I could see this card in person...it looks so sparkly and pretty!

 

A NEW SPARKS challenge will begin today.
I hope your week is even better than the last one :)
Thank you sooooo much for stopping by!
xx
Kim

THE NEW PS SPARKS TEAM

I am excited to announce our new SPARKS DT.  Their term begins on November first and runs through the end of April.  I look forward to seeing what they create with our unique challenges.  I am sure they will inspire you...I think these gals are amazing :)

Here they are - our next group of talented SPARKS designers:

Ashley Marcu

Jessica Bavier 

Jessica Davis

Lisa Arana

Lori Tecler

Lynn Mangan

Savannah O’Gwynn - DT Coordinator

Nina Yang

Vera Wirianta Yates 

TGIF

I am so excited.  I am going to an all-day crop tomorrow.  About 12 hours of paper crafting bliss - can't wait!!  Ohhh, how I miss stamping!  I made a card to share today that is NOT Christmas related - yay!  I admit that I am getting excited for Christmas, but I am definitely not ready to think about shopping yet.  I always love looking at Christmas cards though..it's pure eye candy.

I am amazed at how I look at my cards when I post them and think...now why didn't I add something special to my card?  I am now thinking that this card needs some stars.  I imagine that a subtle blue background would have given this card a little boost.  The white is nice though - it makes it look clean.  I colored the aliens with Copics to match their planet.
(Circle of Honor, Little Fella, Space Cadet)

Our next SPARKS team will be announced sometime today.  I will update this post with the announcement.
Have a fantastic day!!
loves,
Kim

Our November Guest Designer is...

Pamela Ho

CONGRATS Pamela!  Her card is amazing in every way - but it's her design style that really appeals to me.  I imagine that her blog will inspire you.  I can't wait to see her creations next month!

Our December guest designer search begins on November 1st.  Please, please give us another try.  It gets harder and harder to choose every month - you are all amazing!!

Our NEW SPARKS design team will be announced tomorrow.  Mannn, the applicants are fabulous!!

Our DT Blog hop is next Thursday :)

xx
kim 

Pure cuteness...

This post is oozing with it :)

Anni is back with us again today with this darling set!  Wouldn't this make an amazing gift for a Birthday or Christmas?  Just pop them in a fun decorated gift bag and you are all set!  Serious love here!

Teri's used my favorite chum from our Chilly Chums set.  We flew through this set and I am literally down to two!  More are arriving tomorrow though, yay!  Isn't this little wintery scene the cutest ever???  LOVE the snowballs!

The deadline for our current guest designer search ends in about 17 hours.  HERE are the details if you haven't put your name in the hat yet.

happy half-way day!
xoxo
Kim

Hola!

Not too much going on here today...just some drawing (so of course that makes me happy).  I am getting excited to share my November stamps with you.  The first can't come soon enough!!

Today I have some cards to share using our ALL Yule Need stamp set.

Ummm, swwwoooon!  I just adore Emily's folk-primitive card.  LOVE how the red pops on kraft...and her design is perfect!  Did you notice the tiny pearls on the elf stocking?

I am really enjoying Betsy's cards this month.  Her color choices are refreshing and she always has a way of taking her projects to the next level.  LOVE the paper pieced bent tree and her sentiment treatment.  Perfection!

Well friends, that's all for me today.  I NEED to go get some coffee.   My eyes are glossed over LOL
xx
Kim

TGIM

...so glad it's Monday!
I am so excited that you like Warm Hearts.  I had a ball designing it. (huge grin)

I have a winner.  This person will receive a Warm Hearts stamp set.

Esther 

October 13, 2012 8:51 AM

So adorable!!! Love that egg shaped snowman!

CONGRATS Esther!  Please send an e-mail to info(at)papersmoochesstamps(dot)com to let me know your address  :)

...and here are two fabulous Christmas Sampler cards:

Kalyn's card is just so soft and pretty!  I love her ribbon accent!  She popped up the snowman in the center of her card - perfect touch!  (the snowman is from Swanky Snowdudes)

Heidi crated this darling tag-trio.  I love the pop of teal!!  Aren't her tag toppers to die for?

There is still time to send in your SPARKS DT application.  HERE are the details...the deadline is October 18th at midnight (pacific time)

Enjoy your day friends
xx
Kim

Something special to share - and a giveaway

We are releasing our newest stamp set called Warm Hearts on Monday, October 15th and I am here today with a couple of very talented ladies to promote this fun set!  You will find the new stamp set HERE on release day.

 


I heat embossed the houndstooth pattern on top of my blue base paper with white powder.   The snowman is paper pieced, the nose is colored and the heart is glittered.

I have one Warm Hearts stamp set to give away to one lucky person!  You have until midnight on October 14th to leave a comment.  I will post the winner here on Monday, October 15th. 

For TWO  more chances to win...please visit my talented friends:
Ashley Harris 
Val Stangle

We are a guest at the Creating Keepsakes blog today.  I hope you will take a peek at my Halloween card.  We are offering a giveaway over there as well. 
 
Thank you so much for stopping by.
xx
Kim 

It's a PS Patrol day

woohooo, LOVE this day if the month!  We found some beauties to share with you today - be prepared to be inspired  :)

Next month we will look for projects to showcase that we find at the Splitcoast stampers gallery.  HERE is the direct link to our gallery.  To make sure that your work lands in the Paper Smooches gallery at Splitcoast stampers, please tag your entries with keywords:  paper_smooches *or* papersmooches (all one word) 

Hilde
This is just the cutest little scene.  I love the sweet simplicity of her design.  A smile says it all.
(Spring Groves, Teen Routine, Sugar Rush)

Jen McDermott
GREAT color combo!  I love her custom paper, the pearl accents and the popped up sentiment - well done!
(Squeaky Clean)

Jennifer McGuire
I am loving the bold colors that Jennifer used on her Christmas card!  Her ornament rocks and the sentiment is the perfect finishing touch.
(Joyful Greetings)

Jessica Bavier
k, so first I fell for the googly eyes, then I read her description to read that she created the branch from the clothes line from Pip Squeaks - brilliant!!  LOVE this darling card!!
(Chubby Chums, Reflections, Pip Squeaks)

Vicky Papaioannou
OhEmGeeee, this is absolutely aDOORable in every way, just sayin'.  cute, cute, CUTE!
(Space Cadet, Sentiment Sampler)

You all create the most amazing cards with our stamps.  I am AMAZED by the creativity that I see.  THANK YOU for sharing a piece of you with us.

we LOVE you!!
Kim

Happy Half-way Day!

I went to see the Pitch Perfect movie last night - LOVED it!  I am a sucker for Glee, so it was a treat!  My poor husband dozed off a few times (he's NOT a Gleek-guy) but even he enjoyed it.  I recommend :)

Let's get to the inspiration for today, shall we?

Teri used Christmas Sampler in such a fabulous way!  That's the beautiful thing about a theme sentiment set - everything works together beautifully.  I love the colored pearls...they add such a cute touch!  I love that Santa is peeking in from the side - adorable!!

Anni, our October Guest designer is still waiting on her package to arrive.  I wish Germany was better about getting packages out of customs quicker.  It's so frustrating.  She was so sweet to create a card using the PS stamps that she has in her stash.  I pray that her box will arrive before next week's post.

Ummmm, her card ROCKS!!!  It's simply amazing in EVERY way - I am blown away, nuff said (huge grin)

Thanks so much for stopping by friends.  Tomorrow I have some wonderful cards to share.  The PS Patrol was out on Monday and found some gems!

xx
Kim

is it chilly...

where you are?  The 100's are slowly moving out from Arizona (phew).  The mornings sure feel amazing though!

Check out these "Chilly Chums" works of art :)

Betsy crafted a mini braidedscarf that accents this card beautifully.  The hat really looks like I could be blowing in the wind!  The flourishes that she stamped to look like wind is from our Reflections stamp set.  What an amazing card this is.

Emily's card gives me a huge happy sigh.  I LOVE the fun patterns and colors.  I am a sucker for this combo and topping it off with scallops...ahhhhhh.  I absolutely ADORE every inch of this little card!!

This weeks SPARKS Challenge is a sketch!  Check it out

And while you are there...check out the details for our SPARKS DT search....it's on now and won't be back for another six months.  

Thank you so much for including us in your day - I love that!!
xx
Kim

WOW!

It looks like you had a blast on WCD!!

I have two lovely ALL YULE NEED cards to share today.  Both designers chose to create with the holly leaves and they rocked them!

I love the blue polka dot background.   It really helps the green and pink stand out.  Seriously awesome design Heidi!

Kalyn's card has such an elegant look - and it's totally swoon-worthy!  That bold ribbon gives a modern touch to a traditional card.

I had a heck of a time choosing winners this morning.  You are all so amazing!!

Winner 1 - Wins four PS stamps sets of their choice
7. Annette Allen 

Winner 2 - Wins a stamp kit of their choice
65. Poorvi  

Winner 3 - Wins a spot to promote the next Kismet set
84. Jessica Davis 

Winner 4 - Wins two PS stamps sets of their choice

Kelly Braund October 7, 2012 12:02 PM

I'm playing with my PS stamps right now making cards for your challenes! I've done 1 so far and plan on saving it for when the occassion comes up!

Winner 5 - Wins two PS stamps sets of their choice

Kathryn October 7, 2012 8:06 PM

I'm one of your newest followers!

Winners - please send an e-mail to info(at)papersmoochesstamps(dot)com to let me know your prize choices.

...and btw...you are ALL winners!  GREAT job on our challenges.  I am inspired by you :)
THANK YOU all for playing along :)

Happy Monday
hugs,
Kim

Happy WCD

Yup, it's official - it's World Card Making Day - how exciting!

I am celebrating with our friends over at OWH (Operation Write Home)

You can visit THIS LINK to see who is playing along today.

I used the sketch that I posted earlier to create my card.  We have some really fun challenges going on in honor of WCD...see the details on the previous post.

Happy World Card Making Day friends!!
Thanks for making us a part of your special day 
xx
Kim

The fun begins...

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day!  One of my most favorite days of the year :)

My name is Kim Hughes and I am a card maker.  I dream of color and design.  I gasp with excitement every time I open a paper crafting magazine.  I get downright giddy in scrapbook stores....yes, it's true - I am an addict.  I can't think of anything better to be addicted to.  Are you with me?  Color, pattern and stamps - oh my! 

Let the festivities begin.  I hope you will all create at least ONE card tomorrow.  And if you do, please consider sending it to a military person through Operation Write Home.  No matter who receives your art....they will surely LOVE and cherish it!

I created a card that I will show later tonight.

How does some blog candy sound???

I have some challenges for you should you choose to play along.

1. Create a card that has pink on it...anywhere on it.  No, it does not need to be all pink or even mostly pink to qualify.  Why pink?  Well because it's Breast Cancer month.  We donate 50% of sales from our HOPE stamp set to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  This is a cause that is dear to my heart and I am guessing it's something that has affected many of you in some way as well.

2. Create a ONE LAYER card.  No bulk people.  Have fun with your stamps, ok?

3. Use this sketch to create a card:

I am sure there are a bagilllion fun things going on for WCD, so I wanted to make our challenges easy and super fun!  You have until midnight on Sunday, Oct. 7th to create one or more cards to qualify for our prizes.  Winners will be announced on Monday, Oct. 8th.

• You can enter in one or more categories.
• You can combine challenges
• You can submit as many times as you like
• All skill levels welcome
• All countries welcome

Winner ONE - this designer is chosen based on the all around awesomeness of his or her card - this person will win FOUR Paper Smooches stamp sets of their choice

Winner TWO - this designer is chosen randomly and will win a STAMP KIT of their choice

Winner THREE is chosen based on cleverness.  Wow us and you will get to work with our November Kismet set and be one of two designers to help promote our newest stamp set.

Winner FOUR is chosen randomly from the comments section of this post...tell us that you created at least one NEW card between now and the deadline and tell us what you are doing with your card.  Is there a special someone who will receive it...will it be submitted to a publication maybe?  Will it be used towards a design team assignment...or are you saving it for later maybe?  A simple "not sure" will work for me too (grin).  This person will receive TWO Paper Smooches stamp sets of their choice.

Winner FIVE is chosen randomly between those of you who refer a friend to LIKE our Facebook page or "Join our site".  Both links are to the right.  Tell us that you referred someone in the comments section.  I'd love to see those numbers rise....you can also comment to say that YOU clicked one or both of those pages. This person will win ONE stamp set of their choice.

Sounds like fun?

World Card Making Day is on Saturday, October 6th, but you can get started right away if you like.  Call some friends and get some crop time in.  Whip out those stamps and get to work :)

Have a fabulous weekend friends
xx
Kim

Be Our Guest

Our November designer search begins today.  Woohooo!

Guest Designers will receive 2 NEW stamp sets, get a blog badge and will have their name and projects featured here on the PS blog for 4-5 weeks (depending on how many weeks there are in the month).

You will have approx. two weeks to show us your talent!  You can submit as many projects as you like and past submissions are welcome.  Guest designers are not chosen randomly.  We will be looking for designers who stand out in one (or more) of the following categories:

• great use of color
• outstanding design
• mad coloring skills
• fun paper piecing
• pure cleverness

You will need to use a Paper Smooches stamp or any of our FREE digi stamps.  You can submit to our call with "old and new" projects...and projects that you create for our SPARKS Challenge are perfectly acceptable..
 
The deadline is Wednesday, October 17th.  

Our November guest designer will be announced on Thursday, October 18th
 
If you have tried out in the past..I hope you reapply - We LOVE looking at your beautiful creations.

Thank you soooo much for sharing your talent with us   :)
xx
Kim

Happy Half-way Day!

Anika Lerche joins us today for her first week as our guest designer.  I am so excited to create with her this month!   Anni lives in Germany and although I paid extra to have her package ship Priority mail, her stamps haven't arrived in time for today's post.  So she created something new for us using her stash.  Let's hope her package arrives before next week. 

I literally swooned when I saw this card.  I am a SUCKER for these colors.  How freaking cute is this???  I seriously LOVE everything about this sweet card :)  The aliens are from Healthy Vibes and the rest of the stamps are from Space Cadet.

Teri created this fabulous All Yule Need card!  LOVE that she based this card in blue...it really makes the ornaments POP!  The washi tape at the bottom look so cool :)

Tomorrow our guest designer search begins.
I have something REALLY fun planned for you on Friday...

Hope you all have a GREAT day friends
xx
Kim

A DT Call

Hello friends.
We are searching for our next SPARKS team.  Are you interested in applying?  It's a super-easy, low stress team with a six month term...I am sure you will have a fun time  HERE are the details.

I have two "Subway Art" Christmas Sampler cards to share today.  I love it when designers are on the same page :)  (if you are unfamiliar with the term...it's basically multiple words that are aligned in a square)

Emily's card is AMAZING!  She stamped that entire background - WOW!  I LOVE how everything came together so beautifully.

Betsy's card is fabulous as well.  She chose ink colors that she pulled from her patterned papers.  Or she stamped her sentiments and found some really great papers to coordinate.  The holly leaves are colored and the berries and candy cane are glittered.  I love the added special touches.

Thanks for stopping by
Happy Tuesday!
xx
Kim