stuff i ♥ - Impress & Fresh Ink

Let's talk stuff I am obsessed with: whimsical papercrafts, making cards, and writing this blog.  Additionally, I am absolutely in love with the store Impress.  It is mostly a stamp store (you can find physical stores in Tukwila, University Village and Bellevue Square and online at www.impressrubberstamps.com). 

It is so much more than your average stamp store though.  At their store in Tukwila, they offer thousands of stamps, a ton of lovely dies, inks and punches and ribbons galore.  Not to mention their stock of twine and brads.
Not only do they offer the most amazing wood mounted rubber stamps, their stores are chock full of inspiration and ideas.  The card above is from their website.   Their designers come up with the most darling designs for stamps, cards and decor.  If you look closely, that card is simply two stamps (the flower and the sentiment).  As simple as it seems, it is also perfectly elegant and divine in its simplicity.  Inspiration like this is all over their store. It is hard not to try and buy every new stamp I come across. 

I am always so inspired whenever I shop there.  Besides their stamps, the one item from Impress
I am most impressed with (ha!) is their Fresh Ink ink pads. I have always love stamping, and stamping and card making really go hand in hand. Once I tried Fresh Inks it was if I had never really stamped before. It was really a revelation in my stamping.

The pigments are so saturated and the colors really pop on paper. The ink coats stamps beautifully and images always come out super crisp and clean. I don't have to worry with large stamps that the color will be faded in some spots, the ink covers images perfectly every time.
Have I mentioned that they come in a myriad of colors. I believe they come in 44 different colors at this time.

I own at least ten of these ink pads and am always adding to my collection.  My absolute favorite color combination is the Pink Lemonade and Navy.  I am also very fond of the Mango and Grass together as well.

The Fresh Ink pad last a ridiculously long time as well, but if you find the need to re-ink your pads, Impress also sells the inks to do so.

If you live close, I encourage you to visit one of their stores in person.  If you live far away, definitely check out their website for unique stamps, Fresh Ink pads and loads of fun ideas to try at home.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

Door Hanger Organizer

i ♥ hello blog fans, I did not mean to ignore you this fine Monday.  In fact, I have all sorts of things I want to write about and share, but somehow my birthday weekend got in the way and there was no post on Friday.  Well I do have a project to post today, hooray!  I originally saw this idea for a great organizer that you can hang on your front door knob on the http://www.paperboutiquewithlinda.com/. 
Here is the link to her original project Door Organizer How-To Video .  I just think this is the perfect thing to hang on your front door. I used the Basic Grey "What's Up" line to make the organizer. I made a small notebook (2"x3") to include as well.  The notebook is ideal for to-do lists, grocery lists, etc.  The organizer has three pockets so you slip envelopes that you need to mail, bills, cards and whatever else you might need to remember to take with you before you head out the door.

A winner, a holiday weekend and a baby shower

So I am pretty excited that I have more followers now.  You all help to keep me accountable to people other than myself.  Now for the winner of the i ♥ cards birthday cards: Clay!  I'll get in touch with you to get these cards to you as soon as possible.
My March craft goals are finished and I have one gift left to deliver and one gift left to mail.  Once these have made it to the their recipients I will reveal them on the blog.
The holiday weekend got the best of me and I managed to miss two blog posts (what happened here?  Honestly I am not sure).  I promise to not let this happen again.  But I did do some crafty things over the long holiday weekend.
I went to one of my favorite stores, Impress (http://www.impressrubberstamps.com) in University Village this weekend and purchased stuff for my sister in law's baby shower.  I adore this store I am super excited to make the invitations and decorations.  In addition to the invitations, I plan on making a banner and perhaps a diaper cake.  Here is a diaper cake I helped make a few years ago:



I am probably going to make something similar to this for her shower, but add accents in mint green as well.  I love how the butterflies seem to be flying every which way on the "cake".  I think the hardest part about this cake was rolling the diapers (and someone else did that) so I will be searching the internet for how to fold diapers soon. All this "cake" required was a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, some patterns paper, ribbon and floral wire.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the invitations and decorations I make for this upcoming shower as well.   Thanks for reading :)

Stuff i ♥ - washi tape

Let me take a moment to talk about my obsession with washi tape.  I ♥ the stuff.  I use it on nearly every project I make.  This photo showcases just a portion of my washi tape collection.  When I bought the We R Memory Keepers Washi Tape dispenser, I really should have purchased a second (or maybe even a third).  The patterns, colors and widths of washi tape available make it so that I almost always am buying a new roll when I am out purchasing supplies. 
There are so many crafty uses for the stuff.  I love that washi tape isn't so tacky that mistakes are un-fixable.  In fact, washi tape is forgiving you can reposition it on your projects with ease. 
You can make quick cards with just a plain piece of cardstock and a few rolls of washi tape.  It is easily cut into banner shapes and pennants. I like to use it to add texture and contrast to the bottom edge of my cards.  ou can use it to do so many things. 
In fact another blogger posted 100 projects with washi tape.  Next time you are at the craft store, pick up some washi tape and give it a try.  Hopefully you will ♥ it as much as I do! 

i ♥ cards : three easy cards

I want to make this a weekly feature where I showcase how to make cards.  This week, I made three happy birthday cards with just a few supplies and less than an hour:

- (3) A2 sized cards (these are from the Pebbles card pack)
-  scrap strips of paper
-  happy birthday stamp
-  pink ink pad
-  washi tape
-  brads
-  twine
-  adhesive tape gun and foam tape
-  extra small hole punch
 Card ♥ #1 - Banner Card
Instructions
- Cut strips of paper in varying widths and lengths.
- Make the banner shape by cutting a small triangle from one end of the strip.
- Layer the banners against the left edge of the card overlapping some.
- Add stamped "happy birthday".
- Add brads and twine.
                                                                                                  

Card ♥ #2 - Pennant Card

Instructions
- Cut small triangles from patterned paper.(I used Dear Lizzy Neopalitan collection from American Crafts) and mat triangles with a coordinating paper.
- Attach pennants to card base using foam tape for dimension.
- Add washi tape to the bottom edge of the card.
-  Stamp happy birthday and attach to a strip of paper cut into a banner.
- Tie twine and add a brad.
  

Card ♥ #3 - Pinwheel Card
Instructions
- Stamp "happy birthday" and attach to a paper strip cut in a banner shape.
- Add washi tape to the bottom edge of the card.
- Tie twine to the top of the card.
- Add pinwheels to card using foam tape.

 

 

Making Pinwheels

 



- Cut (2) 2"x2" squares for the pinwheels.
Make sure to use double sided paper for the pinwheels. Both sides of the paper will show.

- Cut from the corners towards the center (be careful not to cut all the way through and leave enough space to make a hole punch).

- Using an extra small hole punch, punch a hole on the same side of each triangle you have created and a hole in the center.

- Fold down the corners to match the hole in the center.

- Add a brad through the holes and you have an easy peasy pinwheel.

You can win this birthday card set (it includes matching envelopes) by becoming a follower of ihearthello or by simply commenting on this post.  Thanks for reading and I hope this inspires you to make some cards this weekend.

Handmade Gifts

My good friends the Dixons in cross stitch form. 

The best gifts are handmade ones (at least I hope so).  Now this post is a departure from the papercrafts I normally make but this is such a cute idea I wanted to share it and inspire others to try it.  I should first admit, I ♥ Pinterest.  One of the people I follow on Pinterest posted the following link to making a cross-stitch family portrait and I had to try it. 
Cross Stitch Family Portrait
I immediately thought, what a perfect Mother's day gift for my friend Melissa.  I can honestly say, this was a pretty easy project even for a novice cross stitcher like myself.  The link above provides a guide with templates you can easily customize to make your own family in cross stitch form.  The possibilities are endless.  This took me a few hours to complete and the hardest part was deciding colors for the outfits and stitching the letters.  I was so excited to finish this project that I had to share it immediately with my friend so I could also share it on the blog.  I plan to iron it and frame it before presenting it to her.  The finished project will easily fit in a 5x7 picture frame. I encourage everyone to give it a try. 

Keepin' it fresh and interesting

So I read a lot of blogs to get inspiration (there are so many talented people out there).  What I noticed about the blogs I most like to read is that there is consistency to them.  Their authors post on a schedule, have specific topics they post on regularly and there is a certain format to their blogs.  To improve i♥hello I plan to implement some improvements:

Posting at least twice a week on Mondays and Fridays
I realized all my favorite and most helpful blogs posted weekly on set days.  I think this makes it easy for followers to remember when new content is available. It also makes me more accountable to updating frequently.
New weekly feature: i ♥ cards
At the heart of my crafting I am a card maker and I think I should showcase that more on this blog. My first feature next week will highlight using the same supplies to make three cards with different looks.
Tutorials and Step by Step photos
I noticed write about a lot of projects, but haven't done a good job at showing how to make these projects.  I am going to try to do more specific technique how to blog posts and step by step photos. Also including measurements and dimensions so you can re-create the projects at home.

I also want to encourage more people to follow my blog so maybe I will start with a giveaway.
Right now, I have two followers (yay! thanks you two!!) and I think a number of people who read my blog but aren't necessarily followers.  I will come up with an awesome prize package and post it on Monday and see if I can't drum up some more people to follow this blog.  People like giveaways right?

One last thing, for national craft month I made a promise to make gifts for people and so far I only have one more gift to mail out and two more presents to present in person to fulfill my promise.  Working full time and crafting is hard work my friends, but totally worth it :)