Going Through the Woods...

Ahh, another Paper Pumpkin kit has arrived.

Manly Moments is this month, May 2018, kit.

It has components to make 10 cards with 10 envelopes.

 It is all set up for a masculine crowd...

but also includes an anniversary sentiment.

All Kinds of Stuff...

The second weekend of April was OnStage,

 which is a gathering of Stampin' Up! demonstrators,

where we get to see the new catalog and try out new product.

We also got to hear about new things first!

The most notable is the Color Revamp that is happening at Stampin' Up!

Tis' the Saving Season...

Unlike most of my posts,

this is going to be more of an informational one

on the upcoming specials and products that Stampin' Up! 

will be doing over the next few months.

I'll start off by showing you the new logo!

In 2018, Stampin' Up! will be celebrating 30 years of business.

Poinsettia Card...

It's World Card Making Day!

So, I'm sharing a Christmas card project with you.

This card was suppose to be posted on Thursday, 

but things just got so hectic that I wasn't able to get it all ready until today!

The inside had a little more process to it than normal too! 

Autumn Pumpkins...

Along with some Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Autumn is a wonderful time of the year...

definitely my favorite time, as I believe it is for many of us!

I love the colors, decorations, cooling weather, and pumpkins!

Today's card showcases the season to me...

 and is great for a fall birthday...

especially for someone that enjoys these things this time of year too!

Along with a Product Spotlight Blog Hop...

More details a little further down in the post...

Ways to use paper pumpkin...

Today, I'm going to do another post about paper pumpkin!

Sign up by September 10th to get paper pumpkin at HALF OFF!

What a great deal!

Just click on the picture to head over to sign-up!

and don't forget to enter the promo code: HALFOFF0917

You can check out the great benefits of Paper Pumpkin in my weekend post, Paper Pumpkin.

So, I did a few more alternative projects with the August 2017 Paper Pumpkin.

Baby Girl Card...

Babies are exciting and so sweet...

It is nice to be able to congratulate the family on the new addition.

And last week I was working on a card for someone to be able to do just that.

I had struggled at first with what kind of card to make,

I think mostly because I don't really do much as far as baby cards go.

In the Box...

It's been a little while since I have been here to share my paper-crafting fun with you,

but this Summer just seemed to require an impromptu break from blogging and video making.

 I've missed my work here and on YouTube,

but in some ways, not really...

The break afforded me a time of less pressure 

on myself to produce projects to share with you,

and that was kind of nice.

I just made things as needed and rested from major surgery.

The thing is, I really like being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator...

Plan It Out Monday - More Set Up...

Welcome to the next installment of the Plan It Out Monday series,

where we are going to look at my set up

of the Love Today Planner and what I have decided to do with it so far.

I don't have much commentary to go with this post, 

so we'll just dive right into the video...

Sweet Strawberry Jam Birthday Card...

Strawberries come into full swing here in the month of June.

Whether you grow your own, go pick them yourself, 

or just stop and pick some up at the local road side stand, 

they are abundant...as well as delishious!

So, I made some Sweet Strawberry Jam...

in the form of a card!

Although, this year my oldest daughter said that she wants us to try to make some jam...

I made some when I was still in school...

Plan It Out - Unboxing and Starting to Set-up...

Welcome to the start of a new week...

and for me a new planner.

Are you all as giddy as I am?

Well, probably not, but you can be...

You can order one now and have it in time to start with it in July!

I realize that that probably doesn't work as well for most,

however, it might help more than you may think at first...

Wood Words with Overlay...

The new catalog is brimming with great products.

The Wood Words stamp set and coordinating dies, Wood Crate,

are just one of the great bundles.

It was one of the available preorders for demonstrators, so I got mine last month,

but it seemed like I didn't get much of a chance to work with it until last week...

Plan It Out - Preview...

Are you a plan things out kind of person?

Or are you more of "I write appointments on a calendar and that's about it" kind of person?

Well, either way, you might like this beautiful planner...

I love office supplies...

And new planners are great!

New Catalog Day...

Good bright Thursday morning!

It's June 1st, so that means 

NEW Catalog Day!

The 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! catalog is now available!

The ordering will go live at 12 p.m. (MT time),

which is 2 p.m. for me here in the Eastern time zone.

Looking forward to getting my order in...

Do you want to look through the new catalog?

Silver Lining...

Do you ever have a project were it is just not turning out the way you wanted it to?

Today's card was one of those kind of projects.

I worked on it, but what was developing wasn't what I wanted.

So, I walked away...

Did other things and then came back to try again.

I don't even think I returned to it the same day.

But the break must have been needed, 

because after I started on it again, it worked into something I liked a whole lot better than where it was going earlier.

So, I made one of the 'good' ones for you...

Silver Lining card stats (in inches):

White card base 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 

scored and folded at 4 1/4.

Night of Navy cardstock cut at 4 x 5 1/4.

Another piece of white cardstock at 3 3/4 x 5.

A piece of Designers Series Paper at 1 1/2 x 3.

A 2 inch circle of

Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.

2 inch circle punch or die or stitched die.

A scrap piece of white cardstock for the cloud.

Stamp set used was the Sprinkles of Life,
along with the coordinating Tree Builder punch.

Thank you for coming to Create with Me today!

"Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; 

and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds."

Psalm 36:5

Amanda

Spring Woods...

Spring is very nice here and it is quiet warm today.

This card is my take on some spring woods...

I really like how the wood background paper turned out with the Woodland Textured embossing folder used over it....then adding the ink to darken the trunks more.

Some of the paper used was not Stampin' Up!, but I'm excited to see that there is some wood inspired paper coming in the new catalog that demonstrators get to start ordering from in May, and customers get to see it in June...

But until then, here is the video to show how I got the effects I did for this card.

I used the Woodland Embossing folder on a piece of wood grained designed cardstock,

running it through the Big Shot twice.

I used the Flourish Dies set to cut out the leaves and flowers. 

The leaves were made using Old Olive cardstock, and a light yellow was used for the flowers....

They would probably look great in Daffodil Delight or So Saffron!

The ink used was the soon retiring Tip Top Taupe.

Any sentiment will work lovely on this card.

Thank you for stopping by to Create with Me today!

"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart,

all ye that hope in the Lord."

Psalm 31:24

Amanda

Daffodil Woods Card...

Daffodils are the first flowers we have around here when it starts warming up,

and I like them!

So, I went with them as my inspiration for a card...

I just love seeing the daffodils in the woods.

This card is a little more involved, but there is a video!

The card details:

White card base is 5 1/2 x 8, scored at 4 1/4 inches.

Piece of Mint Macaron cardstock at 4 x 5 1/4 inches...

then the middle removed at 1 inch in all the way around, 

then done again at 1/2 inch. all the way around.

White background piece at 3 3/4 x 5 inches

Ink colors are

Mint Macaron

Daffodil Delight

Peekaboo Peach

As of this week, the new catalog has been released to demonstrators.

There is some great stuff in the new catalog!

However, with the new catalog, some things must go...

So there is an extensive retiring list...

(you can find the items here)

And the two stamp sets I used for this card

In the Meadow (which I love)and the Oh So Succulent set

are on the list to go...

You can still get these stamp sets until May 31, 2017

or while supplies last.

The In the Meadow clear-mount set is on backorder,

but they do have it in wood-mount!

And the Oh So Succulent stamp set is 25% off!

Of the colors used, Mint Macaron is also a retiring color,

so you will need to hurry to get it if it is a color you need!

Whew! 

I made this card before the retiring list was released,

so, I had no idea so much of one card would be going away.

Thank you for coming to Create with Me today!

"In his hands are the deep places of the earth: 

the strength of the hills is his also."

Psalm 95:4

Amanda

Super Simple Thank You Card...

Today, I wanted to bring a project that was super easy and didn't take too many supplies.

So I came up with these...

They went so fast that I made 4 up before I even got around to making the video.

I think it helped using different colors.

From front to back:

Sweet Sugarplum

Old Olive

Bermuda Bay

Smokey Slate

Then in the video I make the Bermuda Bay one, 

but I also made one with Island Indigo...

I decided to go ahead and stamp on the inside of these cards as well.

The video here will show you how I did the outsides...

The stamp set used was the Flourishing Phrases from the 2016-2017 Annual Catalog.

I hope you enjoyed this simple card project

and thank you for coming to Create with Me today!

"Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks:

for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare."

Psalm 75:1

Amanda

Just Stop Losing Your Happy...

Today I have a Happy Birthday card for the Remarkable Ink Big Blog Hop...

If you are stopping by today for the hop, welcome! 

If you are a regular follower of Home Designs by Amanda, 

Thank You for your continued viewership!

Today is the April Remarkable Ink Big Blog Hop
and the theme is to use the Retiring 2015-2017 In-Colors.

There are a couple of birthdays coming up in the next couple months that I need cards for... 

so I decided to make some cards for them.

I used the Number of Years photopolymer stamp set for these cards.

While I was working on these cards, I was away from my desk, 

and a family member caused an unintentional misplacement of one of the stamps...

specifically the 'happy' stamp.

So, when I discovered that it was gone, we went looking for it,

and found it in the entry way to another room of the house...

But the story doesn't end there...

That night I left everything where it was on my desk because I wasn't feeling well..

and still needed to work on them.

The next morning my youngest daughter (she's 6) was in the room with me, 

and I said,

"I think I lost my 'happy' again."

She was so cute and said, 

"Would you stop losing your 'happy'!" 

as we found it on the floor near my desk.

I think we both saw the underlying meaning to that statement...

because as I was thinking about the application that could have in our lives,

she asks, "Mommy, are you happy?"

I answered with a nonchalant, "I guess so." 

(I'm not a definitive person when it comes to these types of questions...)

and we moved onto getting some breakfast.

The happy was found and now lets see how the card was made...

Number of Years Stamp Set

Large Number Framelts

Again, the stamp set used is the Number of Years stamp set 

and I also used the coordinating die set,
Large Numbers Framelits Dies.

The card base was 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, scored at 4 1/4 inches.
The white background piece is cut at 3 3/4 x 5 inches.
Numbers and 'flag' are cut out of pieces of white and colored cardstock.

The theme of this month's blog hop
was the retiring 2015-2017 In Colors,

so I used the ones I had...

Mint Macaron

and Tip Top Taupe

Do you easily lose your happy?

Recently, I did a Ladies Bible study on Joy 

and this little episode just reminded me

 of how our happiness is based on what happens to you...

Joy is based on what is in your heart.

Although, we may at times seem to lose our 'happy,'

we can have Joy.

The best base for joy in your heart comes from a relationship with Jesus.

If you want more information about this, 

click the TODAY...

 to see how you can have that relationship and find real joy!

Thank you for stopping by to Create with Me today!

And for joining the blog hop...

check out the list of fellow Stampin' Up Demonstrators below
to get more great card and project inspiration using the retiring in colors.

"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."

1 John 1:4

Amanda

Planner Update and Decorating...

Welcome to a new week friends!

This weekend I was watching videos to find out ways that other people

 keep track of their blogging and video making schedules...

to keep from scrambling around on the days needing post to get a video and post ready to go!

With that, I did some layout changes to my planner and decided to show that, 

and the decorating of it today!

I'm still liking the lighthouse - High Tide - stamp set, 

so I went with that for this weeks planner decorations and ended up using 5 ink colors...

I really liked the colors and look that worked out this week :)

Here is the video showing what I did to my layout and how I stamped it...

To review a little on the colors... I ended up using

Tempting Turquoise

Old Olive

Daffodil Delight

Tip Top Taupe

and Bermuda Bay.

Along with the photopolymer stamp set, High Tide.

So, do you decorate your planner for each week?

Thanks for stopping by to Create with Me today!

"Then are they glad because they be quiet; 

so he bringeth them unto their desired haven."

Psalm 107:30

Amanda