Conquering Paper Mountain - My Project for 2016

Happy New Year and welcome to Paper Mountain.

Paper Mountain is a pile of all my 8 x 8 and 6 x 6 patterned paper pads ( not including any A4 or 12 x 12 - those are another story!)  and the mountain reaches:

13 inches (33 cm) high!

In my defence, I will say that the majority of these pads were actually free gifts with magazines. Many are untouched, complete pads, others are partly used. 

My project for 2016 is to reduce this pile as much as possible. To do this I will either:

Discard - there are actually some patterns in there that I do not like and will never use. Why am I hanging onto them? I will either pass them on or recycle them. 

Use - here is the challenge! I already use patterned paper on cards but for most it doesn't use much. I expect to make mini- books etc and any ideas are welcome. 

Although the main aim is to reduce the pile as much as possible, I feel I need some goal to aim for. Working on the basis of using one pad a month, I took away the top 12 pads and measured again. The mountain now measured 10.5 inches (27cm) . So that is the maximum my mountain should measure at the end of the year. Wish me luck!

(If you'd like to see my annual projects for previous years:

2015 - Empty Box Project here  and here  where I emptied a box of unused stamps.

2014- Festive 48 here and here   where I made a Christmas card every week.) 

Make My Monday - New Year or Calendar

Our challenge at Make My Monday is New Year or Calendar.

For my DT card I cut the London skyline using X-cut manual dies, and cut 2016 on my Silhouette electronic cutter.  I tried to create the effect of a firework display using a Sizzix embossing folder and gold mirror card.

I hope you'll come over and see what the rest of the DT have made, and join in the challenge. Happy New Year!

I'd like to enter:
Crazy Challenge  celebrate
Friday Mash up  new year
Use your Stuff  metallics

Empty Box Project #34 - The Last Stamp

The fish stamp I've used here was the last stamp left in my Empty Box Project box (although there are some stamps I've used that I haven't blogged yet).

To be honest, I nearly cheated and just put the stamp back in my ordinary stamp storage. It's a nice stamp and I felt sure I would find a use for it eventually...but hold on - that was exactly why I set myself the challenge - I've had it for years and never used it!

I found a scrap of watercolour card on my desk - I'd put it through my die-cutting machine earlier to try out an embossing folder and thought the pattern might work as seaweed.  I stamped the fish in Versamark  ( as I couldn't really see where I was stamping, it's a bit more random than expected) and embossed in white pearl. Then I watercoloured it in Distress Inks - it wasn't really working  until I used the darker Chipped Sapphire colour, then the fishes popped out.

In the end, I quite liked the effect - it reminds me of batik.

On New Year's Day 2015 I blogged about my big box of unused stamps. I have used many of them, binned some of them (for failure to stamp well enough, mostly) and filled a bag for my colleague's little girl...and now, almost a year later,  my box is empty!

I'd like to enter:
Stamp Ink Paper thanks
Shopping Our Stash My precious
Less is More  not sure if it's CAS enough , but hope so, as I feel the batik effect fits the 'homespun ' theme.
That's Crafty  anything goes

First One for Christmas 2016

glitter shot

I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. I like to do a bit of Christmassy crafting actually AT Christmas, so here's my first card for next Christmas. 

I used a pre-coloured image from Debbi Moore Santa Claus CD and cropped most of it away to leave just the lower leg and feet. Then I cut the hohoho on the Silhouette cutter. I added glitter to the fur, a scrap of patterned paper, embossed the card base and added a brad. 

I'd like to enter:

CD Sunday  cool yule

Merry Monday  boots

Eureka  Santa 

Christmas at Sweet Stampin  Father Christmas 

The Male Room  Christmas

Happy Birthday Caz

Yes, it's Christmas Day but some people will still insist on having babies! ( My daughter is a midwife and will be working tonight.) 

We have a Christmas baby on the Make My Monday design team, so I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my lovely teammie Caz.  This is the card that I sent to her and hopefully she has already received. (It's less blurred in real life!). 

I used Clearly Besotted stamps (not sure where the sentiment is from) and one sheet of patterned paper, which I paper-pieced with. I layered a torn piece of embossed vellum behind the image. 

Have a great Christmas and a great Birthday Caz! 

Cash Gifts

Here are some Christmas presents that I know my 18-year-old twin nieces will appreciate! To make the money gift more special , I cut holders on my Silhouette, using a free cutting file from Daniela Dobson.  I used double-side Cosmo Cricket paper and decorated with diecuts I had hanging around.

I'd like to enter:
Silhouette Challenges  anything goes
My Time to Craft  last minute Christmas makes

Empty Box Project # 33 - New Home Card

Did I mention my daughter likes to 'challenge' me to make cards at short notice?  This time she needed 'a new home card for my friend who's moved into a cottage in a village' . 'When do you need it for?' 'Five weeks ago'.

The cottage and cat stamps were just about to be discarded from my Empty Box Project box  They are part of a 'build a country scene' set that was free with a magazine and I didn't think I would use them. The challenge was to make a card suitable for a 21st c young woman.

Enter my old friend - paper-piecing- with bright, colourful scrapbook paper, a sentiment from Little Clare, some scribbly colouring using markers, a glittery banner ( cut from the scrapbook paper and stickled), and a flower with a embellishment saying 'new' (very old from my stash).

I'd like to enter:
Creatalicious - old papers and embellishments , new home theme and stamps are not used before 
Cute as a Button  new beginnings
Creative Card Crew anything goes
Love to Scrap  anything goes

Happy Birthday Shauna

I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to my wonderful Inkspirational team-mate, Shauna.   This is another card that I hope has beaten the Christmas post and made it across the Atlantic in time.

As well as being a fabulous crafter, Shauna loves to read, so I chose this Gorjuss stamp of a girl on some books. In order to not look like any of the Christmas cards she's received, I made it light and very colourful. The background is a Hero Arts text stamp.

I hope you have a great day Shauna!

I'd like to enter:
Seize the Birthday  no topping
ABC Challenge  xtreme
Allsorts anything but Christmas

Inkspirational Challenge - Bah Humbug!

Our new challenge is Inkspirational is 'Bah Humbug -  anything except Christmas' .

This baby card is nothing like Christmas is it?  All the stamps I used here are by Inky Doodles and the paper was a magazine freebie.

Please visit us at Inkspirational  and see the work of our DT and wonderful Guest Designer Shirley - and join in with your own creation.

I'd like to enter:
Penny Black and More anything goes with a stamp
Country View Challenges  create a scene
Cute as a Button  new beginnings
Mod Squad anything but Christmas

Happy Birthday Carol

Today I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my dear Inkspirational team-mate Carol.  I really hope this card has beaten the Christmas post and made it across the Atlantic on time.

At this time of year I like to make birthday cards that could not be mistaken for Christmas cards! I used a squirrel stamp (new!!) from Clearly Besotted and a CB sentiment from another set. I used scraps of Cosmo Cricket paper and used just a tiny bit for some paper-piecing on the tail.

Have a great day Carol!

I'd like to enter:
Penny Black at Allsorts  anything goes with a stamp
SSS Monday just a pinch (of paper-piecing)
Creatalicious something old (paper) , something new (squirrel stamp)
Mod Squad  anything but a Christmas card