Celebrating 500 Followers with a Paper Smooches Giveaway + Video Tutorial!

A short time ago, this blog reached another milestone. I still remember when I started blogging three and a half years ago, had zero comments and only a handful of followers. Watching those numbers go up on my sidebar makes me really happy and appreciative of all your support. I am truly grateful for all of you and it makes me feel good that the work I do has paid off. To celebrate, I made a special video on how I get ideas and inspiration from my Paper Smooches stamps and, to help me celebrate, Kim is generously donating three $10 gift certificates to the Paper Smooches Store! All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post to let me know what you thought of the video and name your favourite Paper Smooches stamp set. Since this is a Follower giveaway, you must also be a follower of my blog to be eligible.

As explained in the video, I used a couple of different ways to draw inspiration from each stamp set. I used Smarty Pants as the focus of this video because of my adoration for the professor who is extremely versatile. You can use him as he is, as a teacher, but many different types of teachers like a phys-ed teacher or a music teacher. You can also turn him into a Dad, Grandpa or husband for masculine or romantic cards. He's a chameleon! After watching this video, I hope you will be able to see your stamps in many different ways and even be able to mix-and-match all your stamp sets to get the most out of them.

Here are a few stills of the two cards I put together using ideas gathered from this video. The first one is a Get Well card using the professor holding an apple. His arm is in the out and down position after cutting away the polymer between the stick and his hair. Apples are typical gifts for teachers but they're also part of the famous saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," so here the professor is a doctor or a sensible Dad or friend! LOL The sentiment is from Chit Chat and the speech bubble is from He Said, She Said.

My second card features the professor as a conductor, musician, rocker or just someone who appreciates music. This time, his arm is in its original position but his foot is up after cutting away the polymer around his leg. The platform is the top of the rectangular speech bubble from He Said, She Said, the music notes and post holding the disco ball are from My Peeps, the disco ball itself is from Whirligigs and the sentiment is from Sentiment Sampler. I used the rock-and-roll technique on the disco ball.

You can see the other card I mentioned in the video HERE. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST on March 23, 2012 to comment for a chance to win. Simply let me know what you thought of the video and name your favourite Paper Smooches stamp set. You must also be a follower of this blog. I will announce the winner on my Paper Smooches post on March 27, 2012. Thank you so much for celebrating with me and Paper Smooches!!

Sources for Feel Better Soon: SU Real Red & Pumpkin Pie cardstock; Bazzill Basics textured black cardstock; October Afternoon Boarding Pass; Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Smarty Pants, He Said, She Said & Chit Chat; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Copic markers; foam tape

Sources for You Rock: Gina K Designs pure luxury white cardstock; Paper Smooches Smarty Pants, He Said, She Said, Whirligigs, My Peeps & Sentiment Sampler; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; SU Summer Sun & More Mustard inks; Tim Holtz for Ranger Dusty Concord & Milled Lavender distress inks; Copic markers; Ranger Yellow Stickles