Paper Maniac ~ 1ST Birthday Celebration Blog Hop

TGIF!! The Paper Maniac is TURNING ONE and we are to celebrate with an awesome blog hop!! You are going to love all the fabulous eye candy and PRIZES waiting for you!

If you arrived here from Amy C's Blog then you are on the right track!

If not, you will want to go to Paper Maniac Store Blog and start at the beginning!!

In honor of this awesome celebration , I decided to make Happy Birthday Banner using the Echo Park Sweet Summertime Kit, Scallop and Circle Nestabilities and a little metallic ribbon!! I just LOVE how this turned out!! The Echo Park papers are AMAZING and I will definitely be ordering more just as soon as I can!!

Here is a quick rundown of all the fabulous PRIZES up for grabs. Be sure and check the Store Blog or Patti Olson's Blog - for COMPLETE details on all the prizes!!

****Big Blog Prize****
One Random Blog Hopper will receive a DELUXE Prize Package - Must leave a comment on each of the participating blogs by Sunday evening.

****Friend Prize****
Sign up as a Friend of Paper Maniac on Facebook and win a package of papers and stamps!!

****Wish List Prize****
Everyday between September 10th and 13th a customer wish list will be randomly selected and wishes will be granted (up to $25.00)

****Free Gift w/Purchase****
All purchases between September 1oth and 15th will have a gift included!!

Now head on over to see what the FABULOUS Dana Grothaus has in store for you!!

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Sweet x2

This week for Paper Maniac, I have a super sweet card made with a bingo stamp, recycled blue jeans and a stitched ribbon flower. I just love this bingo card from the Unity December Store Kit ~ Sweet Affections. I stamped it twice and cut it out to use as my background. The finish touches include using a white pen to faux stitch around the blue jean heart and adding a little circle around the I love you square.

Stamps: Unity

Ink: Memento

Paper: Select White and Pure Poppy CS

Accessories: Stitched Ribbon, Felt Buttons

Remember to mark your calendars for the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Back to School

This week for Paper Maniac, I have kind of an unconventional Back to School card to share with you. It is the first day of school for my kids today. I am going to slip this card in my sons book bag as a little surprise (you can see my daughters card here). When I make cards for my son, I always try and go with a less is more theme so this card is pretty CAS. The sentiment is computer generated and I used the Fiskars notebook punch for the edge of the notebook paper.

Stamps: Unity

Ink: Memento

Paper: Cosmo Cricket ~ Joy Ride

Accessories: Pebbles Candy Dots

Remember to mark your calendars for the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Here is a quick back to school pic of the kiddos!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Butterfly Kisses

**If you are hopping along with The Character Cafe, you'll find my card here**

This week for Paper Maniac, I have an adorable circle card to share with you! I just love the Pink Cat Studio images available in the store! Once you use them, you want to buy them all!! They are amazingly easy to color and so versatile!!

Stamps: Lily Butterfly - Pink Cat Studios
Ink: Memento
Paper: Flutter - Making Memories

Accessories: Scallop and Circle Nesties, Kaisercraft Hot Pink Pearls

It is Week 11 of the Summer Saving Spectacular at Paper Maniac and you will definitely want to check out this weeks sales and grab this weeks free calendar images!!

Every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale and a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Thank You!

This week at Paper Maniac we are saying Thanks!! I just had to pull out the DeLovely Chipboard and DSP from Cosmo Cricket. I used a paper piercer to add a little flourish for the birds "chirp" and the sentiment is from PTI's Signature Greetings. A super cute and easy card for saying thanks to someone special!

It is Week 10 of the Summer Saving Spectacular at Paper Maniac and you will definitely want to check out this weeks sales and grab this weeks free digi images!!

Every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale and a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Friends + Coffee = Perfection!

This week at Paper Maniac we are celebrating Friendship. What goes perfect with friends?? Why coffee of course LOL!! There is nothing better than taking time out of a busy day to sit down with a friend to chat over a great cup of coffee! My image and sentiment are from Fueled by Caffeine by Our Craft Lounge. The dsp is Nutmeg from Cosmo Cricket and I used circle and scallop nesties to make the cuts for my image.

It is Week 9 of the Summer Saving Spectacular at Paper Maniac and you will definitely want to check out this weeks sale....Copic Packaged Sets in Sketch or Ciao and Atyou Spica Sets 15% off, Ribbon and Cosmo Cricket 25% off, Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps 20% off.

Every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale and a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Emboss Resist

I am so excited about this weeks featured technique at Paper Maniac. Using emboss resist creates such an elegant touch to even a simple card. For my card I used clear embossing ink and powder on my flower image from Unity. I created mask with a circle nestability and used blue ink to cover the image and circle. The sentiment is also from Unity and I finished it off with some stitched ribbon and a white button. I created this card after seeing this card by Karen Dunbrook on SCS.

It is Week 8 of the Summer Saving Spectacular at Paper Maniac and you can check out my tutorial for making flowers out of stitched ribbon.

Remember every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale. There will also be a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Love Potion #9

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I am so excited about my card today!! I just love that it kinda looks like a love note you might have doodled and passed in school! When I was looking for something to recycle for this weeks card, I stumbled onto a pile of paperclips and this piece of notebook paper and the rest just kinda fell into place. The dsp is from the Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend line and the stamps are from the October Unity Store Kit.

It is Week 7 of the Summer Saving Spectacular at Paper Maniac. Remember every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale. There will also be a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 9th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Using Paint

Hi all!! For this weeks project at Paper Maniac, I have an altered notebook utilizing acrylic paint to share with you. I also used my favorite Cosmo Cricket line...DeLovely for the dsp and chipboard element. The acrylic paint was used on the spine of the notebook. The sentiment is from Unity. My DD asked me to make her a notebook for her "to do lists" so I hope she likes it!

It is Week 6 of the Summer Saving Spectacular at Paper Maniac. Remember every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale. There will also be a digital download of worde art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 1st! You won't want to miss a thing, so make sure you are registered in the store to sign up for the newsletter.

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations and CWC009 ~ Colors of Summer

Happy Wednesday everyone!! Hope everyone is having a better week than me! It started out awesome but has since gone downhill. My card today is for CAS-tastic Wednesdays and Paper Maniac Inspirations (both of which are late...ugh). My internet has been absolutely wacky since it stormed here on Monday night and I have been unable to upload anything!! It finally seems to be back to normal as of about an hour ago so I am typing this post as fast as possible in case it crashes again!

Anyway, this week at CAS-tastic Wednesdays we have a color challenge...Blue, Yellow and a Neutral and at Paper Maniac we are celebrating Summer!! For my card, I used the Could I Be Any Cuter set from Unity and the dsp is from Cosmo Cricket's Delovely.

It is Week 4 of the BIG Summer event at Paper Maniac. Remember every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale. There will also be a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 1st! You won't want to miss a thing, so make sure you are registered in the store to sign up for the newsletter.

To join in on the fun and be eligible for this weeks fabulous prize at CAS-tastic Wednesdays Challenge Blog head on over and link your creation by 9:30 pm EST Tuesday June 29th.

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Father's Day

Hi all! Today, I want to share a super quick and fun Father's Day card. Masculine cards are definitely my nemesis so I was thrilled when this turned out just as I envisioned!!

I used my nesties to cut a circle out of Basic Grey's Max and Whiskers dsp. I adhered some chipboard letters and used my Scor-Pal to make score lines around the sentiment from Unity's December store kit. I finished it off with some Pebbles Black Candy Dots.

Today is week 3 of Paper Maniac's BIG Summer event. Remember every Tuesday until Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale. There will also be a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to the Big Birthday Bash on September 1st! You won't want to miss a thing, so make sure you are registered in the store to sign up for the newsletter.

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ ConGRADulations!!

This week at Paper Maniac, we are sharing projects for Graduates. I have a super quick and slightly unconventional Graduation set to share with you. I don't have many supplies for Graduations so I really had to think outside the box for this weeks theme!

For my favor bag and card, I used a firework and sentiment stamp from Unity's March Store Kit. I added a little bling to the center star on the card and used Copics to color the rest. The favor bag is filled with Graduation mints from a local craft store. Easy Peasy!!

This is the first week of Paper Maniac's BIG Summer event. Every Tuesday between Memorial Day and Labor Day, there will be a different deep discount sale. There will also be a digital download of word art or an image for your use. The whole event will lead up to our Big Birthday Bash on September 1! You won't want to miss a thing, so make sure you are registered in the store to sign up for the newsletter.

This week you will want to stock up on Graphic 45 and Pink Paislee. Everything in the store from these two companies is an amazing 40% off!! Also, you can download a FREE sheet of Father's Day Sentiments here!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Remembering America's Heroes

This week at Paper Maniac, we are celebrating Memorial Day and I have created a card to not only remember all our Fallen Soldiers but also to thank our Veterans and all the brave men and women currently serving in the Armed Services.

Having served four years in the United States Army myself, this is a very emotional weekend for me and my family. I have many friends and family still in the service and many of them are in Iraq or Afghanistan and I pray daily for their safe and speedy return to their loved ones.

For my card, I used Pure Poppy and Enchanted Evening ink from PTI to repeatedly stamp the star (minus the flourish) from the August Unity Store Kit onto white card stock. I stamped the sentiment from the September Unity Store Kit in Tuxedo Black ink from Memento and finished it off with some Kaisercraft red pearls.

This week at the Paper Maniac store...All Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies are marked down 15%. Plus awesome deals on past Basic Grey collections...Check it out here!

This card was also created for this weeks Red, White and Blue Color Challenge at SSDS. To join in on the fun and be eligible for this weeks fabulous prize package head over to the SSDS blog and link your creation to Mr. Linky by 10:00 pm (EST) Friday evening.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ DeLovely Chipboard

This week at Paper Maniac, we are sharing projects utilizing chipboard. I could not wait to use the new Cosmo Cricket DeLovely line. I am totally loving this new line! The papers and embellishments are so bright and colorful and just perfect for summer.

I used Raspberry Fizz from PTI as my card base and the dsp and chipboard rainbow is the from the new DeLovely line. The sentiment from the PTI's Scattered Showers stamp set.

Paper Maniac LAST MINUTE WEEKEND SALE. Every single stamp in the store is on sale this weekend with the coupon code WEEKEND20. This code will get you 20% off each and every stamp in your shopping cart, including those already marked down. If it is in the stamp section, it is on sale! Limited to stock on hand and ends Monday morning 6:00 AM central. Don't miss it!

This card was also created using this weeks sketch at SSDS. To join in on the fun and be eligible for this weeks fabulous prize package head over to the SSDS blog and link your creation to Mr. Linky by 10:00 pm (EST) Friday evening.

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Alter It

This week at Paper Maniac, we are sharing altered items. We are driving from Ohio to New York on Thursday evening and I am hoping to surprise my kids with these altered tins filled with snacks, games and anything else I can find to keep the boredom at bay.

I covered the tin with an old street map and thought Billy on his bike from Pink Cat Studios was the perfect image for the theme! The chipboard letters are from Scenic Route and I used the "You are Here" rub-on from Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line to finish everything off.

I am planning on using Lily from Pink Cat Studios on the tin for my DD. I thought I had two of these tins but could only find one in my stash so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will find one tomorrow!

Also head over to the store to check out the May Unity store kit. Plus the new collections from Basic Grey and Cosmo Cricket are now in the stock!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Mother's Day

This week at Paper Maniac, we are celebrating Mother's Day. I have an elegant yet super quick Mother's Day card to share with you. I have seen so many cards using layered scallops and just love how they look. It adds so much dimension to your card without adding a lot of bulk.

For my my card I used my Cricut to cut five scallop borders out of Basic Grey's Kioshi. I layered the scallops on the card and added a Plum Pudding saddle stitch ribbon to the top layer. The sentiment is from Flourishes Strawberries Set. I used a rub-on to fill the space above the bow.

Also head over to the store to check out the May Unity store kit. Plus there are a ton of new items and companies in the store!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Krafty Kreations

This week at Paper Maniac, we are showcasing cards and projects using kraft paper! I love to use kraft for making masculine cards. I usually have a really hard time with masculine cards so I was thrilled that this card came out exactly how I wanted it to!

I used a star stamp and sentiment from two different Unity Store Kits. I stamped the stars in enchanted evening and chocolate chip ink onto white cardstock, used the Heidi Swapp edge distressing tool to rough it up a little bit and added a little distress ink. I used a Fiskars star punch on the kraft cardstock and popped it up to add a little dimension. I used a paper piercer to add the row of dots in the upper right corner.

Don't forget about the Paper Maniac online Garage Sale. Dozens of sellers, hundreds of papercrafting items, all in one place and a single shipping charge! It all starts May 19.

Also head over to the store to check out Tim Holtz Idea-ology, all in its own section. Plus Daisy Bucket stamps and Shirley's 2 Girls reduced 20%.

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac ~ Peace * Love * Recycle

This week at Paper Maniac, we are celebrating Earth Day! I was immediately inspired by one my daughters tees to create this card. There isn't much to it but I think it is a great card for Earth Day and I am definitely going to send these to a few friends!!

I used my Cricut and SCAL software to cut the symbols from Basic Grey's Green at Heart dsp. I used pop dots to add a little dimension and the sentiment is computer generated.

A little birdie told me that if there's 150 followers on the Paper Maniac Inspirations Blog by Saturday morning, Patti will draw a random number and the winner will receive a $30 gift certificate!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ Cards in Distress

A few quick updates...

**Starting a new challenge blog for all you CAS lovers called CAS-tastic Wednesday and we are looking for a few DT Members....Check it out here!!

** Team MACCK needs your help to move on to Round 4 of The Greeting Farm Challenge...Please vote for our scrapbook layout here...It is Tu-Tu Cute!!

**If you are hopping along with Bugaboo...my card is here!

Now for the good stuff! This week at Paper Maniac, we are all about distressing and showcasing the wonderful Tim Holtz products now available in the store! I do not normally do a lot of distressing on my cards so this was quite a challenge for me. I decided I would create a CAS card and use the scraps from Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety that were scattered all over my table.

I cut the scraps into small rectangles and after they were all together I used distress ink all along the edges of the dsp and the Martha Stewart garden trellis punch. I also used the distress ink along the edge of the card. I finished it off with a sentiment from the Unity stamp set Could I be Any Cuter?

Make sure and swing by the store and check out all the Tim Holtz products. Also, if you haven't already check out the Garage Sale info here!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Paper Maniac Inspirations ~ CAS Cards

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend and for those that celebrated it a Happy Easter. It was beautiful in Ohio this weekend. It has been a long time since we've had such nice weather on Easter!!

This week at Paper Maniac, we are sharing some Clean and Simple cards with you! I absolutely adore CAS cards and I was thrilled when I saw they were the theme for this week! For my card, I used stamps from the Unity store kit for March and the polka dot dsp is from the Sassafras Lass Sunshine Lollipops wee bundle.

Make sure and swing by the store and check out all the new products. Also, Patti is having a Garage Sale where you can sell some of your extra stuff for either a store voucher or cash!! Get all the details here!!

Thanks for stopping by,