Purple Onion Designs

The Sweetest Day!

I mentioned over the weekend that I would start to share a new stamp release with you.  I am so excited to show you this new release!  The collection is from a FABULOUS artist who I have come to know over the past year or so.  I am beyond thrilled that she decided to venture on this journey with me.  Let me introduce to you the uber talented Stacey Yacula.

Stacey's first passion is creating wonderful illustrations.  She also has some serious coloring skills.

Stacey creates wonderful greeting cards with her illustrations and more recently with photos of her adorable art dolls.

Stacey's illustrations are perfect artwork for a child's room.

Her art dolls are simply irresistible.

They have even been published a couple of times!

Stacey is a girl after my own heart...presentation is key!  Look at her wonderful packaging.

Stacey also dabbles in creating some beautiful home furnishings.

You can see more of Stacey's work by visiting her blog Stacey Yacula Studio.  She also sells many of her creations in her Etsy shop.

Now take a peek at some of the images in Stacey's first stamp collection "The Sweetest Day!"

I have so many wonderful projects featuring Stacey's stamps that I will start sharing with you on Friday.  I even have a few guest designers joining us.  If that wasn't enough, I believe some of the DT members will have giveaways for you all!

Everyone working with Stacey's stamps has been so excited.  We all agree her images are like nothing else out there right now.  We hope you will love them as much as the rest of us!

 

Macaron Share...

I did make macarons on Saturday to bring to Easter dinner.  I only snapped a couple of photos on my phone to send to my sister.  They are not great but here they are...

This is one tray of the cookies as they were cooling. 

This is a filled cookie I set aside in a plastic container for a friend.

I basically followed this recipe.  There was a lot of info, photos, video and a whole FAQ page on making them.  I did consult a few other blogs.  I filled mine with raspberry and dark chocolate.  I would of preferred something a bit lighter but I was trying to cater to the crowd.  Overall, they came out great.  I had a few cookies with hollows but they all looked good.

Off to go work on some peeks of the new stamps. 

 

 

 

How Very Eggciting!

Wishing everyone a happy weekend!  Happy Easter and a Happy Passover.  I am about to make my first attempt at making macarons to bring to a friend's for dessert tomorrow. Since I am not hosting Easter dinner, I thought I could try something that has been on my list.  This will also be the first year that there will be no dyed eggs, Easter baskets and an egg hunt in our house.  So, I really have the time to try something a bit challenging.  I figured some pretty vibrant pink macarons would look pretty for dessert.

Speaking of vibrant...

stamps used:  Cracked Egg - Chick and Egg Sentiments 

I love the coloring that Alice did on this card.  It is almost hard to believe that she did this with markers.  Now the sentiment on the card might not be totally appropriate for wishing someone a Happy Easter.  However, it is appropriate for a new stamp release that we will start to show you next week!  Make sure you pop back next week and see all the wonderful cards the girls have created with these stamps.   

 

Hot Chick

It is quite obvious that the Cracked Egg Chick is the most popular out of the group.  I have to say that I am pretty partial to that one too.

Jennifer Holmes

stamps used:  Cracked Egg - Chick

 

Courtney Kelley

stamps used:  Cracked Egg - Chick, Post Office

 

Julie Dudley

stamps used:  Cracked Egg Chick and Egg Sentiments

 

Hippity Hoppity...

Easter is on it's way!  I have a few Easter cards to share with you over the next few days. Today is a mix of styles.  Cherry brings us soft shabby spring colors, Courtney's card is clean and simple and Jennifer H. adds a bit of humor.

Cherry Nelson

stamps used:  Cracked Egg - Chick

 

Courtney Kelley

stamps used:  Easter Logo and Happy Mail

 

Jennifer Holmes

stamps used:  Bear Framed Doodle, Cracked Egg - Bunny, Hoppy Easter

DIY Journal Cards

There is a great special on a stamp grab bag right now.  It is perfect for creating your own journal cards.  The grab bag contains thirteen stamp/stamp sets and is on sale for $15.00.  The grab bag contains over $40.00 worth of stamps.  You can see the assortment here. 

Several members of the design team have been using the stamps to create journal cards for Project Life inserts.  I thought you might like to see them for some ideas.

Julie created a series of journal cards/inserts using some coordinating patterned papers.  I love the look of her cards with the patterns.  It is a little different then the simple and plain backgrounds found on most cards.

This is how the cards look inserted into the pages.

 

 

We Have Some Winners!

I have some winners to announce for the new Paislee Press stamps!

The winner of the Happy Mail & Envies set is:

The winner of a Paislee Press stamp of your choice is:

I have sent an email to both winners.  Congratulations!

Here are a few more projects using the new Paislee Press stamps:

Jennifer Holmes

stamps used:  Happy Mail & Doodle Flower Sentiment Set

 

Donna Mikasa

stamps used:  Instant Film Frame, Home Sweet Home,  The Bird House & Beach Chair Set

Jennifer Roach

stamps used:  Happy Mail

 

Cherry Nelson

stamps used:  Be Setaed & Happy Mail

 

Joy Taylor 

stamps used:  Happy Mail & Envies

 

 

New Stamps: Instant Film Frame, Be Seated & Book Stack

Here are the last 3 stamps from the Paislee Press March release. The Instant Film Frame is Liz's take on a Polaroid or Instax type photograph. This stamp is so much fun to use to frame stamped images or a photograph.

Donna created this adorable card with the Instant Film Frame and several stamps from Stephanie Ackerman.

stamps used: Instant Film Frame, A Little Bird Told Me, Home Sweet Home, The Birdcage, The Birdhouse, & Damask Background.

 

Jennifer Roach also used the frame to create this next card. I love how the frame makes the images pop.

stamps used: Instant Film Frame, Olive & Sam and Post Office

Liz Tamanaha of Paislee Press used the frame and a photograph to create a journal card for her Project Life album. Isn't it cute?

stamps used: 3 Cameras & Instant Film Frame

 

Liz also used the Book Stack to create a journal card.

stamps used: Instant Film Frame, Book Stack, Happy Mail

 

The final stamp from Paislee Press is Be Seated. Jenn Biederman created this wonderful card with the set. The chairs can be used in a row or individually.

stamps used: Be Seated & thank you

 

I believe I promised you all another giveaway today. It is another simple one...leave a comment telling me which is your favorite Paislee Press stamp from the new release shown the past two days. A winner will be randomly chosen and will receive the stamp they chose. You have till Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 11:59 to leave a comment.

Don't forget to take a look at the "Specials" page on the website for some great deals.

 

New Stamps: Happy Mail & Envies

I've got a new release to show you today (and a giveaway)!  The majority of the designs are from Liz Tamanaha of Paislee Press.  We love Liz's designs around here and this release is long overdue.  I have been sitting on some of these images for probably a year now.  The good thing is the waiting allowed for the addition of a great set.  Liz's stamps are so versatile.  They are designed with the scrapbooker in mind but translate perfectly for cardmaking.  Just wait till you see how to incorporate them into your Project Life pages. 

All the new stamps are up on the website and can be found here.  The stamps I am showcasing today are Happy Mail and Envies.

Jennifer Holmes created two very different cards using the Happy Mail set.  The first card shows the classic use of the set to create mail art.  The second card uses one of the sentiment markers to create a fun card.  I love the CAS style of this card with the bright colors against the white background.

stamps used:  Happy Mail, Vintage Postmark & Be Mine Logo

 

stamps used:  Happy Mail, Flower Framed Doodle

Courtney created some cute little paper piecing cards with the next set.  Envies is a collection of mini envelopes.  The smaller row of envelopes can be left in a row or cut apart.

stamps used:  Envies and Post Office

 

stamps used:  Envies and thinking of you

 

Jenn B. mixed it up and combined both sets to create some fun journal cards.  Look how adorable the open envelope is that she created by altering the original.

stamps used:  Happy Mail, Envies & Doodle Heart Set

stamps used:  Happy Mail, Envies & Doodle Heart Set

stamps used:  Happy Mail & Envies

 

Take a look at the journal cards Liz has created with the stamps and a glimpse of how she incorporates them into her Project Life pages.  Her clean and minimalist style has such a great look.  Make sure you pop by her blog to see more details of her journal cards.  Oh, and another giveaway over there too!

stamps used:  Happy Mail, Envies, Instant Film Frame, Book Stack, 3 Cameras & Photographer

 

I have one more thing for you before I get to the details of the giveaway.  If you have caught the Project Life bug I have a great deal for you!  I have put together a selection of stamps to create a journal grab bag.  The grab bag is on sale for $17.00 with a value of over $40.00 worth of stamps!  The selection is made up of stamps I am currently overstocked in.  Once the inventory levels get down the grab bag will no longer be available.  It is a fabulous deal which you will find on the Specials page of the website along with a few other deal. 

Here is a little more inspiration for creating your own journal cards with Liz's new stamps and stamps from the journal grab bag.

Jennifer Roach

 

Joy Taylor

Ready for the giveaway details?  Simple...leave a comment on today's post telling me what Happy Mail means to you.  You have until Friday, March 23, 2012 at 11:59 pm to enter the giveaway.  One name will be randomly chosen to receive both the Happy Mail and Envies stamp sets.  Remember to stop by the Paislee Press blog for another chance to win.

I'll be back tomorrow to showcase the other new stamps and of course there will be another giveaway!

Feel free to order your stamps now.  If your name is chosen in the giveaway, I will gladly issue a refund for the stamps won.

 
 

 

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Card courtesy of Kelly Courtney

stamps used:  St. Patrick's Day Logo