Konnichiwa, friends!  It's time to share Paper Made Bakery's newest Fresh Baked Kit called Cherry Blossom.  This kit is filled with fun, cheerful... happy stuff to make you smile and get your creative juices bubbling!  We really enjoyed putting this together for you -- from the gorgeous paper line by Basic Grey called Konnichiwa, which means Hello or Good Afternoon in Japanese, to the Sweet Stamp Shop clear stamps created especially with our Fresh Baked Kit in mind.  The stamp set is exclusive to Paper Made Bakery this month, available only in our Cherry Blossom kit!  We haven't forgotten to add plenty of unique embellishments either!

Everyone's so excited to show you their projects using Cherry Blossom -- ah, the springtime beauty of it all!  Hop along with us and gather inspiration to create your own pretty cards!  Here's the hop line-up:

Paper Made Bakery

Stephanie

Savannah

Ryann

Michelle

Lisa

Ashley

And no Release Day Blog Hop is complete without a fun giveaway!  A sumo-sized Basic Grey prize package will go to one lucky Paper Made Bakery pal and we're using another Rafflecopter widget to give you loads of chances to win!  Be sure and leave some love on each DT's post, plus enter on the Rafflecopter widget below.

Giveaway ends on June 3, 2012

To enter this giveaway, use the widget below and click on the "Do It" button:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Manly Challenge

Here's a note from my friends over at CutCardStock.com

CutCardStock Blog Challenge: Masculine Card

It’s time for another challenge on the CutCardStock Blog and we hope you’ll join us! 

For this challenge, the rules are simple…. create a masculine card.  This may not sound like a difficult challenge, but sometimes it’s easy to be inspired to create something fancy and feminine, but with upcoming events in June, we can be inspired by what others are creating for the men in our lives!

Beyond following the theme, there are no rules - just be creative!  You can make a Father’s Day card, graduation or birthday card…. a just because card…. it’s up to you.

How to enter:  Simply post an image and some details about your challenge creation on your blog, your online gallery, Facebook, etc.  Then add your link through the CutCardStock Blog Challenge post.   

The dates of the challenge are June 1-15, so enter before the challenge closes. The Linky party will be open from 6:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) June 1^st until 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time) June 15^th.

On Sunday, June 17^th, we will announce the winners.  Prizes will be awarded for 1^st Place, 2^nd Place and Viewer’s Choice.  First and second place winners will be chosen by a panel of CutCardStock Team members and the Viewer’s Choice will be the entry with the highest number of “likes”, so you can vote for your favorite.   

Prize values are as follows:  

• Viewer’s Choice - $30 Gift Certificate to CutCardStock.com, 
• 2^nd Place - $30 Gift Certificate to CutCardStock.com and 
• 1^st Place- $40 Gift Certificate to CutCardStock.com.

In addition to winning the gift certificates, the chosen entries will be featured on the CutCardStock blog and one winner will be asked to be a guest blog contributor! 

We hope you are as excited about this challenge as we are; help spread the word!  We can’t wait to see your creations and award those great prizes!

Stamped Quilt Card

The Reveal
Hello, PMB friends, this is Michelle here today with my last Portobello Road project for this month. I made six items with my kit thus far and I still have plenty of ideas and supplies left. I loved all the colors, patterns and cute embellishments in this month's kit, so it will be hard to say goodbye. I hope you ordered your kit while supplies last.

Stamped Quilt Card

Using Stamps in Unexpected Ways

I was looking at this month's London Market stamp set and was wondering if any of the stamps could be used beyond their literal interpretation. If so, then it is like getting more than the 20 stamps included in the set. The one stamp that caught my eye was the row of three stamps. 

Pink Paislee's London Market Stamps

Instead of using them as stamps on a letter, I was thinking it might be fun to break them up into different colors, like squares on a patchwork quilt. I cut them apart and stamped them in different colors to match my background paper. If you don't want to cut your stamp, then just ink really carefully or mask the stamp. I chose the quicker route.

The thing to note after cutting apart the stamps is that each individual stamp has a different border pattern. So for my quilt, I had to make sure to use the correct stamp with a left border, no border or right border to correspond with its position on the quilt.

Individual Stamps or Quilt Blocks

I arranged 9 blocks to make a patchwork design and adhered them on a piece of cardstock. I then machine stitched around the edges to give it more of a quilted look. I found a quilt related quote which I printed and made into a flag using the long stick pin as the pole. I added a few more embellishments and finished it off with a big gingham bow.

I hope you liked my country quilt card. Have fun and play with your stamps and you never know what you might come up with. Come back again for Friday's new reveal and blog hop. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Shabby Smile Card

Hi friends!  It's Ashley from Heart Hugs Designs here to share one last card from the Portobello Road Kit.  I've had such fun working with this kit in May!  It's been nice to indulge in a little vintage and shabby chic goodness!  :)  There are a couple kits left, so hurry and grab yours!

Here's my card for today.  I had a slightly genius moment with the crepe paper.  I folded it in half and then fringe cut it with my regular scissors.  Then I smooshed (that's a technical term) the fringe to give it some dimension.  I added lots of layers and even a little tearing to add to the shabby feel of this card.  All elements are from the kit, I just added ink and adhesive.  

Have a wonderful day, friends!  

Yoo-hoo!  Have you checked out Moxie Fab World today?  Our very own Ryann Salamon is their Moxie Fabber of the Week -- SOOO coool!  Rubbin' shoulders with the crafty and famous, eh?!  Check out the interview...  Congrats, Ryann!


Enjoy Memorial Day everyone!  

Beautiful Life

Happy Monday!!! It's Stephanie here I hope everyone is having a nice long weekend!!!

I am back with one last card using Potobello Road this was such a gorgeous kit to work with so many great elements in the kit!!! I made the butterfly by cutting several pieces of the crepe paper using my butterfly die adding several layers just another fun way to use the crepe paper to finish the card I added one of my favorite embellishment buttons!!!

Enjoy you day!!!!

A Re-Purposed Spool

Happy Sunday, friends!  I hope you're enjoying your Memorial Day weekend thus far! I have a different kind of project for you today.  It's not a card but just a simple project.  I took a wooden spool and gave it a facelift!  I used the contents of my Portobello Road kit to decorate a wooden spool in the shabby chic style.  It was a great way to use up all the different embellishments in the kit!

There are only so many left, so be sure to hop on it before it's too late!!  Enjoy the rest of your three day weekend!!  :)