Poppy Paper from SEI

Hi Everyone!

Warning! Warning! Warning! This is going to be a long post. Probably the longest one I have ever written. But it comes with pictures so I think you'll enjoy it.

Hope you noticed that a few weeks ago thanks to blogger I was able to add a "search" button to my blog. It’s a very cool resource and I use it often when I am trying to remember if I have already posted something or not. So if you search for "SEI" for example the link to the birthday cards I made with their Happy Day paper will pop up. When I read that posting I realized that I never did post pictures of the cards I made with their Moravia paper. I am hoping that I actually took pictures of them because I’m not sure if I have any of those cards left...but we won’t worry about any of that today. I still have lots of that paper left and will make more cards with it one of these days.

If ink, paper, embellishment, stamp companies, etc. have a newsletter I sign up for it. I usually skim through them when they appear in my mailbox. I learn about products and new techniques. Sometimes I receive coupons or special offers. And sometimes I learn about many people’s favorite 4-letter word....SALE!

Not long ago I got an e-mail from SEI telling about a clearance event and I decided to check it out. As I had anticipated I saw some blocks that I loved. They come in different sizes. Most of the cards I make measure 5.5" x 4.25" or 4.25" x 5.5" so I mostly purchase the small blocks that are 4.5" x 6.5". That’s not to say that I never purchase the 8" x8" or the 12" x 12" blocks because sometimes I do. But sometimes the patterns on the 12" x 12" blocks are larger than those on the smaller blocks and don't look as good on my cards as some of the smaller patterns do.

So I purchased one block each of their Eerie Alley, Chocolat, and Poppy papers. The package arrived yesterday and I LOVE LOVE LOVE (I sound like Toni!) what I bought. I stayed up until 2 AM creating cards. I just couldn’t help myself. Got up this morning and have already made another card.

All of the cards I have made so far have been created with the Poppy paper. I am sort of thinking that I "NEED" to buy another block of it while it’s still available. MaryBeth and I have great jokes about "NEED" versus "want". I might be good. I do have a lot of paper here to work with so I should be good. We’ll see.
Without further babbling...here are the cards.

Used my Fiskars small poppy punch to create the flowers on this card. I used scraps that were leftovers from the other cards when I was punching the flowers. I have saved every scrap and every leftover trimmed piece from the Poppy block in a little clear box because I like the way the colors work with each other and I want to use as much of it as I can. The leaves and stem were created with a clear stamp from PaperTrey Ink's "Turning a New Leaf" set. I use that set probably more often than any other set that I own. "Thinking of you" is from the Hero Arts clear stamp set called "Everyday Sayings". I haven’t had that set for very long. I love the variety of phrases on it and know it will become one of my frequently used sets.

The brads are a good example that sometimes it makes sense to stock up when you see a good deal. A long long time ago one of the chain stores had a great selection of brads in the clearance section and I remember MaryBeth and I bought a ton of them. Like I said it was a good decision because I have LOTS of brads in LOTS of colors so I always seem to have the colors I need to coordinate with whatever paper I happen to love that day!



I love this card. It’s not very busy and it works for me. "Thinking of you" is from that same Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings" clear stamp set. I added some twine to the button before I attached it to the card with a large glue dot.







This card reminds me of kitchen tiles. Not sure why! I like it. A lot. Not sure where the "Happy Birthday" clear stamp came from as I keep all of my Happy birthday stamps in the same cd case. When you click on the card to enlarge it notice the gold flourish that is on the square in the upper left hand corner and on the bottom middle square. Wish I had paid more attention and used a scrap with that gold flourish in the upper right hand corner too...just thought I'd share that thought with you so maybe you will think of it when you are creating your cards.



I love the background paper on this card. Used my plain and scalloped circle Nestabilities to create the circles. See the brads that I told you I had stocked up on. Same deal with the flowers. I pick them up when I see a good deal on them. Gems too. Didn't use any gems this time.





I think I like this card. I want to like it. It’s a little different. "Hello" was created with some Mrs. Grossman stickers that I bought a long time ago. The color works perfectly with this paper collection.





Now this card has a different color scheme than the others, but it is from the same block. Used my one-inch circle punch to create the circles. Notice there are more brads in other colors. Used the same Fiskars punch for the flowers and the same Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings" for "thinking of you."

Now many of you may not have the same papers that I used on today’s cards, but you can still create similar cards. Just substitute papers from your own collection and "copy" the ideas I have shared with you. Or so a little shopping with SEI!

Just got a great newsletter from http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/ in my mailbox. Sign up for it. Their newsletters are always filled with wonderful ideas.

I'd love to know which of today's cards you like best and why. Please post a comment to this blog so that I can share your thoughts with others. Your suggestions may trigger new card ideas for all of us.

Have a great day! I'm off to do some work.
Carol