September Giveaway: Package of handmade teapot cards

I've been making cards like crazy lately, and after I recently gave a package to a friend who said she loved them, I decided to give away a package as this month's giveaway. So if you're someone who sends a lot of notecards to tea friends, I hope you'll want to enter!

I've packaged up a set of four cards, all featuring a cute teapot design from Stampin' Up's Tea Together Cling Stamp Set.

The two blue cards open horizontally …

And the two pink ones open vertically. All of them have a pearl embellishment in the center.

I've learned that I love embossing plain old card stock by running it through my Cricut Cuttlebug die-cutting and embossing machine. I used the Country Floral 3D Embossing Folder (also from Stampin' Up), and I just love the pretty floral design, which makes a great background.

So if you'd like to win this set of notecards, just leave an "Enter Me" to this post between now and 7 a.m. EST on Friday, September 13, and you'll be entered to win. US only, please. Good luck!

A bit of weekend creativi-tea

Every month or so this year, I've had the pleasure of going over to my friend Kathy's house for a morning or afternoon and playing with "all the things," as she calls them, in her craft studio. She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and has every paper crafting gadget, machine, tool, and toy imaginable, and I've been inspired to pull out my paper crafting supplies once again. This weekend, I decided to consult my Pinterest boards and experiment with the Stampin' Up Tea Together stamp set Kathy gave me last Christmas. I'm usually quite critical of my own cards because they're not as perfect and precise as hers, but I actually liked this one, perhaps because it was so simple!

First, I stamped a bunch of teapots and teacups so that I'd have plenty in case I messed up.

On a side note, I bought this retired color of Stampin' Up ink on eBay a while back because I liked the name and shade of this particular green.

I had some embossed pink paper I used as the background, and then I just added the die-cut teapot and flowers, attached with those little raised adhesive dots that give it a dimensional look. Coloring is one of my favorite parts of card making, and I used some Chameleon Pens that I thought went well with the pink of this paper. (No idea what color the paper is, but I'm pretty sure I got it at Michaels or Joann.) And Kathy had also given me some cute pearl adhesive dots (another Stampin' Up goodie), and I thought they made the perfect finishing touch for this card.

I've been slap out of tea-themed cards, as we say down South, so my goal is to make a batch of them and have them on hand at all times. If you're interested in getting this stamp set (and the matching dies) yourself, you can visit Kathy's  Stampin' Up page here. (No affiliation, just a grateful friend.) And for my paper crafting friends who already have this set, or who just like to see some pretty eye candy, I have been adding to this Pinterest board filled with cards that other people have made with this set. Have any of you been crafting in any form lately? (Warning: I just rediscovered an old watercolor paint kit. We'll see where this leads!)