PTI Blog Hop and a New Arrival

I cannot believe I'm actually doing the PTI blog hop! It's been months since I've managed to hop! I loved, loved, loved the pumpkin picture with all the fun patterns and was all set to do something like that.

And then, totally didn't. I noticed the acorns and thought, "hey, I have a rockin' acorn set from PTI that hasn't seen enough ink." And then, "hey, I need to make a baby card for my friend who might come visit tomorrow." So I made this instead. :)

I used the onesie die, the canvas and linen impression plate, and the Autumn Acorns set and acorn die. The felt is not pti and I promise the dark one is green not black! I don't know what's up with that, but it's a very pretty dark olive green that I got at Joann's for an abandoned project a few months ago. Super simple, but I don't have much time to stamp lately.

Our own new arrival showed up earlier this month and I'm pretty nuts about her, too. Her brothers are over the moon and her dad is already in abject terror of her dating. She's pretty and sweet and took a nice little snooze so I could make this card tonight. Thanks for looking!

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI Autumn Acorns

Ink - A Muse French Roast

Paper - PTI Orange Zest, GinaK Ivory, Stampin' Up! Close to Cocoa

Other - PTI Autumn Acorns die, PTI Onesie die, A Muse light green felt, dark green felt from JoAnn's, PTI Canvas and Linen impression plate, scor-tape

Apples!

It's finally fall! Hooray! It's still 90 degrees here, but we'll just ignore that for the moment. I made a few fall apple crafts to celebrate the demise of summer. I promise to work on my blog photography skills in the coming months, but for now these will have to do.

Apple specimen art using the Martha Stewart apple punch and a ton of paper scraps. I do want to frame it but haven't found an 8x10 cheap enough yet.

These were extremely fun! I saw this awesome Everything Etsy link on pinterest (one of my favorite hangouts lately) which takes you to The Purl Bee's Apple Coaster tutorial. I love projects that you can do while watching tv with your family in the living room. And the only thing I had to buy for the coasters was some green embroidery floss. I love that, too. :) There are three more plain apple coasters in yellow, green, and red, but my horrible photo skills didn't let them all be in the shot. So hooray fall, hooray felt, hooray scraps, hooray apples!

Dino Birthday

Well, I am just not keeping up with things! It's been a month since my last post. I didn't think it had been that long. Baby girl will be here in three weeks and that's the excuse I'm going with. ;)

A very sweet little boy belonging to a very dear and sweet friend is having a birthday tomorrow. We are going to do everything we can to get to his birthday party this weekend since we'll be staying close to home once Little Miss gets here. It's dino themed. I love this retired My Favorite Things dinosaur set (that another dear friend sent me) and pulled it out for his card. FYI: I did make *my* sweet little boy a birthday card and might actually blog it some decade soon. Also, I used the MFT sketch challenge sketch for this but didn't realize the upload deadline was today at noon. Oops! It's a really cute sketch so don't be thinking it was my idea or anything. ;)

I colored the dino body with copics - um, green ones - and then dotted all over it with the colorless blender to give it some texture/not have to blend so much. The paper is Basic Grey Life of the Party that I got half off at Hobby Lobby today because they have finally started carrying some 6x6 pads! Whoohoo!

Supplies: Stamps - My Favorite Things dino set

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Peeled Paint

Paper - PTI white, SU certainly celery, Basic Grey Life of the Party 6x6 pad

Other - sponge, copics, pop dots

Nuts About You

I haven't done a Tuesday Trigger in forever. Ages and ages forever. I got new PTI stamps for my birthday this week and I was itching to try them out so I checked out this week's challenge. (My birthday's not until October, but my mom and my friend Alyssa decided to gift me early so I could get a little craft time in before baby girl arrives. :) Thanks!)

Here's the trigger picture. The yellow chairs reminded me of mushrooms. I don't have any cute mushroom stamps, but I did just get Maile Belles' adorable Autumn Acorns set and acorns are kind of like mushrooms, right?

So I came up with this. I stamped the acorns in Memento Dandelion and Angel Pink inks and added a little sparkle with a clear spica pen, which is apparently afraid of my camera because I have yet to take a picture where you can see it. Stamped the sentiment and that darlin little acorn on a circle punch out, added some black mats, and c'est tout. A nice, nutty CAS Tuesday Trigger. Thanks for looking!

Supplies & Dimensions: 4.5"x4.5"

Stamps - PTI Autumn Acorns

Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Angel Pink, Dandelion

Papers - Stampin' Up Very Vanilla and Pink Pirouette, unknown black

Other - Paper Shapers 1.75" circle punch, Marvy Super? (the blue one) scalloped circle punch, clear spica pen, pop dots

Baby Season Preview

I have been reading crafty tutorials all morning long. Theoretically, I am getting a "break" this weekend. This may or may not happen since we have two birthday parties tomorrow and it's actually raining (YAY!) and wet today. Theoretically, if I get a break, I am going to be super productive and make lots of things. This may or may not happen as I am notoriously well intentioned but not overly motivated in general, I am about 26.5 weeks pregnant, and, well, do I need any other reason? Yes? Well, I bought oreos yesterday (because they're was a coupon stack at Target and it's morally wrong to not buy oreos when you are getting a good deal on them unless you are allergic to chocolate, sugar, or fun) and I have some pretty decent hot chocolate and it's a grey, rainy, and shockingly quiet day even though everyone is home. So not looking too good at the moment. I think my best shot is to have so many oreos and mugs of cocoa that I give myself a sugar high and that gives me the energy to craft. Sounds like a plan. (And, yes, I know it's July. I eat ice cream in February, too, so it's all good.)

If I should happen to get something done, baby gifts are high on the list. Two dear friends just had babies and I know 12 other preggos not counting myself. Baby season is at a trickle right now, but it picks up speed in August and breaks wide open in October and goes strong through January. Alyssa started things off with her sweet little chubby-cheeked man and I got a few things made for him. Just a week before he made his appearance, Alyssa had given me a cute little $1 stamp set of mustaches. I decided it would be fun to use that for his card and present so I did mustache onesie card and a custom mustache onesie. Since then, I've seen mustache pacifiers on Pinterest so that would have been fun to include too.

The other thing I made was this adorable rainbow sunshine plushie from Chez Beeper Bebe. It's a free pattern and even though I am really not a seamstress and have never embroidered it came together very quickly. I think next time I will either use thicker ribbon or more ribbon because it seems a bit sparse in places, but I still think it's pretty cute.

So a handmade with love baby gift that comes together in a day. Nice. And, since I had the onesie already and everything else was from my fabric and ribbon stash, this portion of the gift was free, which left more money to buy all those little baby things that add up crazy fast.

Now, to see what we can make today. :)

Summer Bucket List

Figured I better do a post with my summer bucket list (ya know, since June is almost over). I keep forgetting what all we were gonna do so this is really more for me than anyone else. ;)

A Summer Bucket List, if you don't know, is just a list of fun things you intend to do over the summer. A lot of families write things out and let the kids choose a slip from, oh say, a bucket, but this year I'm picking off the list or just giving them a couple of options. Items in italics we've done at least once.

Make ice cream
Make popsicles - These or these are nice :)
Make playdough
Make slime
Have glow in the dark drinks
Learn new songs
Make crayons from old crayons
Make melted wax art
Go to the lake
Paint Mommy's belly
Play with cars and finger paint
Get sno-cones
Family water gun fight
Make big bubble wands
Let the boys make their own pb sandwiches
Crazy hair with hair gel
Dye hair with koolaid
Pick our grapes
Build a fort in the living room
Wash the car
Make and decorate sugar cookies
Water color
Make smores
Go for a picnic
Go to the zoo
Make fizzing sidewalk paint
Dress up play day
Make short videos for the baby
Make and play with pinwheels
Mail someone a surprise
Discover the wonderful world of gluesticks
Discover the wonderful world of paper punches
Handprint art
Paint with rolling pins
Make placemats with old books

Will we get to all this? Who knows. Will we add other stuff to it? Maybe. Is it better than watching tv all summer? Oh yes!

Someone Special

We had a very nice Father's Day. Low-key, lots of good food, and it's wasn't too hot. We went for a walk just a little while ago and the youngest had fallen behind distracted by a mailbox. We all called for him to come on and then Jeff dropped to one knee and held his arms out wide and both boys took off running for him and fell into his arms hugging him. **melt** He's such an awesome dad. I can't wait to see him with another baby. I am so blessed.





I used this week's Make It Monday technique for his card. Trees always seem very Father's Dayish to me. I'll probably use one on my dad's card, too. (Yes, I'm bad. I haven't made Dad's card yet.) Anyway, I used 4 different greens on the leaves and I like how it turned out. I wish I had done it a little more evenly, but oh well. The frame is a piece of cork that is probably too thick for my cuttlebug but nothing broke so I guess it's okay. The button is either a PTI button that someone sent me because I cannot for the life of me find them on the site or it's a button off one of Jeff's Hawaiian shirts that is no longer with us. No worries, folks. He has plenty more.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day (or just a great Sunday). I'm gonna sneak a cupcake now. ;)

Supplies - Stamps: PTI Father Knows Best
Ink - Pear Tart, New Sprout, Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa, Desert Sand
Paper - GP white, SU Bashful Blue, PTI kraft
Other - PTI button twine, wood button of unknown origin, cork, staples, PTI Sunshine impression plate

What I'm Up To

Just thought I'd update anyone reading this on what I've been up to. Pirate Party VSN (Virtual Stamp Night) is this weekend and I get to hostess a challenge! You have until Monday evening to play so head over to SCS and check it out! I made this card for one of last night's challenges. (And no, your cards do not need to be pirate themed.) You have 45 minutes to make your card so it's great for slow, indecisive stampers like me to just make a card and not change my mind 400 times.




The cute pirate Ollie image is from the huge stack of images I collected from Wish Rak and Pay it Forward on Splitcoast. I think this card took about 30 minutes. Coloring took the longest and then finding something the right size to trace for that red circle mat. One of these days I will get the full set of circle nestabilities, but today is not that day. ;)

But mostly, we're up to this:

We are almost 19 weeks along and will find out in two weeks if we're having boy #3 or girl #1. Exciting! And exhausting. I have almost no energy for crafting and don't even ask what state the house is in. I don't know if it's because it's the 3rd pregnancy in 4.5 years or because I'm over 30 now, but I am tired ALL the time. Happily, everyone is very understanding and the only thing suffering is my to-do list. ;)

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Supplies:
Stamps - Ollie pirate image from Stampendous, Yo Ho Ho sentiment from Odd Bird Planet
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - Papertrey White, SU Real Red and Brilliant Blue
Other - almost every brown and grey Copic I have plus some red and blues, circle punch, scissors, Divine Swirls cuttlebug embossing folder, square punch to make the banner notch

Holiday Rejects

Hello! It's rejection time again. :) And I really don't mind. Several friends got good news and I have a headstart on the holidays. Of course, I'm blathering on about another Reject Blog Hop that Amber at Damask Love is kind enough to put on for all the lovely cards that will not be gracing the pages of Paper Crafts magazine. My rejects are from Holiday Cards and More. I could have resubmitted them for the December call, but I decided eh, I'll try again next time. ;)

This is a double reject. It was originally for Go To Sketches, but I thought it was cute enough to give it another try. Apparently not, lol! Still, it was loads of fun to actually use some of the glitter colors I've had forever and was, all things considered, surprisingly not messy. Stamped the frame from Waltzingmouse Stamps in Fresh Snow ink and cut 8 strips of 1/4 tacky tape the same size (an inch, I think) and 1 strip slightly longer. Attach em, peel the liner off and glitter one at a time just giving the card a few taps before you move on to the next color. Easy peasy. I handcut the flames and stuck them on with small gluedots. Found the Celebrate sentiment in Scattered Showers. I submitted this one in the No Holiday Products category for Holiday Cards and More, but maybe it's *too* no holiday? Perhaps a Happy Hanukkah sentiment would have been better? Maybe having the frame on another layer from the base giving the card some dimension? Most likely there were just some really rockstar cards that got submitted and glitterati here had to stay home. ;)

This one is very straightforward. The menorah is stamped repeatedly in alternating silver and gold encore inks - word of warning, they take FOR-EVER to dry if you don't heat set them. These are from a cute stamp set from There She Goes that Alyssa gave me. (Thanks again!) Stamped the sentiment in black and matted it with some gorgeous GinaK metallic silver cardstock and tied a fabulous gold ribbon from PTI. Seriously, who wants real metals when you have these beauties around. I could eat them up! (The supplies, not the cards.)

Anyway, these are my rejects! Check out all the fabulousness at the blog hop on Damask Love.

Celebrate Supplies:

Stamps - Frame It by Waltzingmouse Stamps, Scattered Showers by Papertrey Ink

Ink - Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow

Paper - Papertrey Ink Enchanted Evening, Stampin Up Daffodil Delight

Other - 1/4 Terrifically Tacky Tape, Martha Stewart Glitters - fire opal, peridot, turquoise, garnet, tourmaline, golden beryl, crystal fine, kunzite, charoite

Menorah Supplies:

Stamps - Home Sweet Home Hanukkah Additions by There She Goes Stamps

Ink - Silver and Gold Encore inks, Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - Papertrey Stamper's Select White, GinaK Silver

Other - Papertrey gold ribbon, pop dots, craft knife (for the mat)

Surprise! It's a Birthday Blog Hop!

Woohoo!!! It's a very special someone's birthday. One of the LuvLee-est people you could hope to encounter in the wide world or the world wide web! ;) And some of her friends decided we should celebrate with a blog hop and I am tickled pink to be included!


Happy Birthday Lee!!!!


Lee is just as sweet and fun in person as she is on the computer. Not to mention a truly righteous stamper. But in all seriousness, ;) she has some real addictions. I mean, the amount of bling she uses is practically unreal. You know how some people want a coffee IV? Lee's would be full of glitter. But I'm not here to judge. Especially on her birthday. So here's my very blingy, very pink, using a small smackerel of Basic Grey, and a fun Gina K image colored with copics birthday card for one of the very nicest people I know!

(There are, count 'em, 3 sizes of rhinestones and pink Stickles!) Awesome retro lady is from GinaK Designs Sew Pretty set and, yes, I know it includes a Happy Birthday stamp but Lee is too punny and hot to not use this one.



Check out all the birthday fun on all the blogs!


Alison


Carole


Christi


Crafty Math Chick


Joanne


Lori


Lydia


Misti


Nancy


Have the best 21st birthday ever, Lee!!!! Love ya!

Here's her blog so you stop by and wish her happy birthday in person.


Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Sew Pretty
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Stampin' Up! Pink Pirouette, Papertrey Ink Raspberry Fizz, Georgia Pacific white, Basic Grey hmm, Bittersweet? Sugared? (bet Lee knows!)
Other: Copics (YR04, E09, E00, RV21, RV23, 0, E30, E31, E33), Paper Studio Gemstones, Pink Stickles, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Papertrey Sunshine Impression Plate, Paper Shapers square punch (for the banner notch)

Family Cards

I'm trying to be better blogger, which is proving difficult since my wireless network card is on the fritz, so I thought I'd share a couple of family occasion cards. First, my cousin is living in New York looking for a job in the fashion industry. She ended up in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago. She has friends there, of course, but no family remotely close by and was feeling a little lonesome. She loves her coffee so I thought a card and some free Starbucks would cheer her up. The colors are from the (small) gift card I sent her. Super quick and easy. Took me longer to clean up my area to take a picture than it did to make the card.

Next up, my uncle got married this past weekend. It was a very pretty wedding in my aunt's (not the same couple, my mom is the oldest of 7 kids) backyard. I have to confess that I actually made this card for a Paper Crafts call, although now I can't quite remember what the specifics were. I liked it and thought it would be great for an outdoor wedding.

There ya go. Some random cards from me. :) Today is my little sister's birthday so maybe there'll be something new here tomorrow! :) I hope so, anyway! Not really sure what I'm gonna make her just yet. Also random, I am totally trying these Mocha Cream Cheese Phyllo Triangles sometime this week. Anyone wanna visit?

Perk Up card: Stamps - Waltzingmouse Stamps Frame It, GinaK My Cuppa Joe, Crafty Secrets Coffee and Tea

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - PTI Aqua Mist and Stamper's Select White, Basic Grey Urban Prairie, Nook and Pantry, and Origins 6x6 collections

Growing in Unity card: Stamps - Unity Growing in Unity, Eco Chic

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, Ranger Distress Ink Vintage Photo

Paper - PTI Rustic White, Stamper's Select White, Dark Chocolate

Other - Copics (been too long for me to know which ones, sorry!), scissors, PTI woodgrain impression plate, PTI small scallop border, Martha Stewart blush seam binding, Marvy Mega circle punch, sponge, PTI Ripe Avocado button, SU linen thread, pop dots

Make It Monday - Wish Big

Oh dear. It's been almost a month since I've blogged. Sorry about that. I have a good reason! I'm 11ish weeks along with baby #3 and I'm pretty much 24/7 exhausted. Hope, hope, hoping that once I'm past the first trimester I get a little energy back!

Love this week's Make It Monday video at PTI. (Loved last week's, too. Made a card, never blogged it. Doh!) I have decided that I am definitely investing either in the Ranger blending tool with multiple pads like Betsy Veldman uses in the video or giant sponge daubers - one per ink color - like Theresa Momber at Crafting the Web uses. The little daubers are just not that awesome at blending. Still, it was lots of fun. I wasn't too sure about this card while I was making it but I think I'm happy with how it turned out. My sweet sister-in-law's birthday was, ahem, a couple of weeks ago so I will be putting this in the mail pronto with her birthday check.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Star Prints

Ink: Memento Angel Pink, Grape Jelly, Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Lulu Lavender, Tuxedo Black

Paper: Stamper's Select White, True Black

Other: sponge daubers, rhinestones, pop dots

Rejects! It's the New Cool

Oh my, oh my! It was Paper Crafts submission time for Go To Sketches Vol 2 last week. I am shocked and thrilled to say I got a happy email. But today isn't about that. Today is about the rejects. Dr. Amber at Damask Love is hosting a reject blog hop for all the lovely cards that won't be in the magazine. There is some fabulous stuff and I just have to join in! Now, the two cards I'm showing I'm not surpised they made it to the reject pile. Don't get me wrong, I like them and I'm glad I made them, but they're not ones that leave you scratching your head wondering what the editors were thinking. ;)

This card is for sketch 57. It's very plain, but a smiley face is the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the sketch. I wanted it to be bright and cheery while still keeping it simple. I stamped the letters on white, colored them, cut them out, and then sanded the snot out of the middles so there wouldn't be much white showing. There's a great tip to run a black marker around the edge for things like that, but I don't have a steady enough hand and always end up making a bigger mess.

This one is based on sketch 63. The idea of using real bandaids seemed fun to me. I wanted to use "Feel better friend" from the same set, but it wasn't long enough to be balanced. I do like this general idea and will probably use it again with kid bandaids if I ever need a kid's get well card.

Thanks for looking and you should check out all the fabulous rejects from everyone over on Amber's blog. And definitely pick up a copy of Go To Sketches Vol 2 when it hits the stands in August! It's gonna be fabulous! Thanks for looking!

Supplies:

Happy card: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Paper Tray and Outlines Alphabet Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black Paper - Papertrey Stamper's Select White, Stampin' Up! Dandelion Delight (is that what's it's called? Can't remember now) and Peach Parfait Other - Papertrey Ink Sunshine Impression Plate, Copics (RV00, RV02, RV04), Cutterbee scissors, Basic Grey sanding kit

Under the Weather: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers Additions Ink - Vivid Raspberry Paper - Stampin' Up! Pink Pirouette, Papertrey Ink Raspberry Fizz Other - Stampin' Up! Two-Step Owl Punch, bandaids

VSN and Make It Monday

VSN is still going strong! One of the challenges is to make a card based on your first love, no, not your kindergarten crush, even before that. Whatever toy or lovey you carted around everywhere or what your kids are carting around now. Only problem is I don't recall having one special toy and my kids are equal opportunity carters at the moment. I've also been wanting to participate in the new PTI weekly challenge, Make It Monday. This week is to use double sided tape to make glitter strips. On top of that, I needed a birthday card for the twin girls down the street and they were having a bee themed party. Then I thought of the Fisher-Price bee pull toy that my mom gave me when I was pregnant with my first, which just happened to be the first toy she bought when she was pregnant with me. Everything clicked into place. :)

You can watch the great video Dawn McVey made showing how to make the glitter strips here.

I only have 1/8" scor-tape right now so I used red tacky tape. It worked the same, scor-tape is just a bit more user-friendly. My mom got me one of the Martha Stewart glitter sampler packs a few years ago and I love having tons of colors. The actual bee image is from the Unity Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety set. 'Happy' and 'day' are from PTI's Paper Tray set and the 'Bee' is from Honey Bee Sentiments. I feel weird using a non-PTI stamp for one of their challenges, but I don't have any of their bee images and I really do love this little guy. You can check out all the VSN challenges here and all the Make It Monday entries here. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Unity & Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety; Papertrey Honey Bee Sentiments, Paper Tray

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - Papertrey White, Hibiscus Burst

Other - Terrifically Tacky Tape; Martha Stewart Onyx Glitter, Yellow Barite Glitter; Papertrey Limitless Layers Die, Copics (Y11, Y15, Y17, BG000, C0), clear Spica pen; foam tape

CPS, TGF, and VSN!

Was that enough acronyms for ya? :) It's Virtual Stamp Night weekend at Splitcoast! Lots of fun challenges to get your creative juices flowing! I used this week's CPS sketch for Michelle's challenge to make a card featuring a red dress. I love Flirty Anya from The Greeting Farm and have been itching to ink her up! Perfect opportunity!

I tried to make her hair streaky and, well, I'll keep on trying! lol. She's still super cute even with her funky hair. I'm always thrilled to use up some old patterned paper from my stash, too. Come check out all the fun VSN challenges over at SCS! Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - The Greeting Farm Flirty Anya

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - PTI Stamper's Select White, Stampin' Up! Summer Picnic DSP, Real Red

Other - PTI Pure Poppy and Blueberry Skies buttons, PTI Jute Button Twine, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Copics (E13, E15, E25, E47, E49, R24, R27, R29, E00, E30, R20, B32, B34)

BIG Birthday

I've completely lost track of which PTI anniversary day it is because we've been sick. (So sick I left PTI in my mailbox overnight! Gasp!) But we're mostly feeling better today and I had to make a card anyway because it's my grandmother's 80th birthday party tonight! The PTI challenge is to use something big on your card and 80's a pretty big birthday so they seemed to go together nicely. :) My big things are a tag and numbers.

The 80 is Basic Grey chipboard my mom found at Big Lots once upon a time. I would have used the PTI Number dies but I haven't caught them in stock yet. Sadness. My glittering skills could use some work, although the sparkles I couldn't get rid of look fairly festive on my face. My husband even thought they were on purpose. :) If you're wondering about these colors, they are the colors in her oh so 1950s bathroom, which has always cracked me up. :) Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Trajan Alphabet, Fresh Alphabet, Outline Alphabet

Ink - Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel

Paper - Papertrey Ink Rustic White, Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue, Basic Grey Pink (Bittersweet?)

Other - Papertrey Ink In Bloom impression plate, Scarlet Jewel button, thread, shipping tag, Stampin' Up! Bravo Burgundy marker (to touch up the letters), Martha Stewart Glittering Glue, White Gold glitter, ribbon from my stash, pop dots

PTI Color Contest: Belated Birthday

Here's my second card for the fabulous PTI Anniversary color challenge contest! This time I used Heather Nichols' colors - Kraft (of course!), Spring Rain, Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado.

This one's very CAS. I pulled out Pond Life, which has not gotten enough love, and stamped the cutie pie turtle in green and brown. The Spring Rain panel got run through the Woodgrain impression plate and sponged with walnut ink. (I stamped the sentiment poorly so I took Maile Belles advice bia PTI Radio and flipped my cardstock around to cover it up.) Thanks for that! My brain is kinda fried right now and I might not have thought of it on my own. ;) Sad, but true. Loved that radio show. Might listen to it again tomorrow! :) Anywho, the card is Kraft with beautifully rounded corners thanks to the Corner Chomper. I finished it off with some linen thread and buttons that came off one of my husband's Hawaiian shirts. Thanks for looking!

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Ink Pond Life and Additions

Ink - Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Palette Burnt Umber, Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink

Paper - Papertrey Ink Kraft, Spring Rain, Stamper's Select White

Other - Marvy Mega Circle Punch, Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Stampin' Up! Linen Thread, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, sponge, buttons, pop dots

PTI Color Challenge: Birthday Wishes

It's Day 4 of the PTI anniversary contests and today's prize is a huge stack of ribbon, felt, and cardstock. Yes, please! You can enter one card per color combo and there are 10 combos! I did two. Would love to think I'm going to stay up and do a few more, but that's not going to happen. It's day 3 of the stomach bug/diaper rash plague here and I am just about whined out. As soon as my poor guy goes back to sleep I'm hitting the hay.

So, back to the fun stuff, I chose Betsy Veldman's color choices - Scarlet Jewel, Hibiscus Burst, Harvest Gold, and Rustic Cream. I don't think I've ever used In Bloom without coloring the flowers before. - Truth be told, I've only stamped In Bloom a handful of times because I had trouble getting a clear impression. I sanded the stamps with an eraser, stamped on a mousepad, used light pressure, used heavy pressure, everything I could think of and always had a blank spot on my image. Today, I used a tip I saw somewhere on the PTI forum to stamp in Versamark before stamping in your real ink. Whoever suggested that, thank you so much!!! It stamped perfectly! - I stamped the big flower on Hibiscus Burst and the smaller flowers on SU So Saffron since I don't have Harvest Gold cardstock yet and cut them out. The base is Vintage Cream, no Rustic Cream either, and the mat is vintage cream impressed with the In Bloom Impression Plate. The sentiment is from Daily Designs Sentiments also in Scarlet Jewel. It should be a bit more to the left, but oh well. Next time. I added Harvest Gold satin ribbon and a Hibiscus Burst button. It was a little stark so I inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The whole panel is popped up and the pink flower is popped up again. Thanks for looking! Check out everyone's entries here.

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Ink In Bloom, Daily Designs Sentiments

Ink - Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink

Paper - Stampin' Up! So Saffron, Papertrey Ink Pink Hibiscus, Vintage Cream

Other - Papertrey Ink Pink Hibiscus button, Harvest Gold satin ribbon, In Bloom Impression plate, sponge, pop dots

PTI Contest Day 2: Rainbow Note

Whew! I did get another card made! I'm really liking these little tags. Methinks a tag set is getting bumped to the top of my PTI wish list! I went with Melissa Bickford's tag this time. Such a cute little rainbow. This card came together pretty fast, which is great because, otherwise, it wouldn't have gotten made. :)

I colored the rainbow with Copics and the dots in the cloud with a clear spica pen. Die cut the black with the Limitless Layers scallop. I don't own the notebook page die (I know, sadness) but my fab friend Alyssa cut several for me. This is the first one I've gotten to use, mostly because I keep forgetting where I put them. I used the Sunshine impression plate for the yellow background and stuck it on a black card base. It needed something, but I didn't want to use baker's twine on every card I made today ;) so settled on the rhinestones. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - PTI Tag Download

Paper - PTI Lemon Tart, Georgia-Pacific white, unknown black, notebook paper

Other - Copics (R29, YR16, Y15, YG09, B24, B000), Spica Pen clear, 1.75" circle punch, PTI Limitless Layers scallop die, Notebook Page die, Sunshine Impression plate, red rhinestones, pop dots

PTI Contest Day 2: Just For You

It is day 2 of PTI's anniversary contests. Today's prize is just as sweet as yesterday's and takes up a lot less room! You get to co-design a stamp set! I KNOW! How freakin' awesome is that?! And they gave us these adorable printable tags! I'm not a huge fan of digistamps, but these are really uber-cute and I like that I can just print, punch, and color. No formatting or resizing or anything. Sweet.

I chose Lisa Johnson's tag. It's so stinkin' cute! Colored it with Copics and popped it up on the Mat Stack 3 stamped with the frame from All Booked Up and "Just For You" from Daily Designs Sentiments. I actually chose my markers to match my paper for once so the blues are a pretty close match! I'm not sure which Basic Grey collection the paper is from, Urban Prairie maybe? Added some black and white baker's twine and a few rhinestones and it's a cute and easy card.

There are 8 more tags and you can enter once per tag so I'm hoping to be back later with another card. There is a little matter of the Super Bowl and the 77 party favors I still need to make for Nana's 80th birthday party next weekend so we shall see. You can check out all the tag awesomeness here. Happy Sunday!

Supplies: Stamps - PTI Tag Download, All Booked Up, Daily Designs Sentiments

Ink - Memento Angel Pink, Rose Bud

Paper - Basic Grey paper, PTI Stamper's Select White

Other - Divine Twine Baker's Twine, rhinestones, Copics (RV21, RV23, RV25, BG10, BG13, BG15, RV14), pop dots

PTI Favorites Contest

Oh. My. Word. Have you seen the prize offered on Nichole's blog today??? It's AMAZING! I would hyperventilate with happiness if I won. Seriously. I'm getting a little short of breath now just thinking about the possibility! :) To enter you can comment and/or post your favorite PTI creation of last year for a total of two chances. GO DO IT. NOW. (Or not, and leave me a tiny sliver of hope, haha.) Anyway, this leaves me with a quandary. I am not good at choosing favorites. At all. So I'm just picking one I like a whole, whole lot, that I haven't posted on my blog yet, that is mostly PTI and saving myself the trauma of picking my absolute favorite ever. ;) And here it is.

I made this card for the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoast last summer. I had just gotten All Booked Up and was so ecxited to use it! Mixing patterned paper is not my forte even if it's all from the same collection and this is a lot brighter than my typical card but that's what made it fun. :) Thanks for looking and check out all the amazing entries in this contest here!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink All Booked Up

Ink - Memento Dandelion, Stampin' Up! Real Red and Old Olive

Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, 2008 Bitty Dot Basics, Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety

Other - Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, rhinestones, Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 3 die, yellow gingham ribbon, pop dots

Tuesday Trigger: Sweet Treats

Hello! Wow, how did it get to be February? It'll be March before I even turn around. We avoided the Snow-pocalypse and just got some cold temps here. Southeast Texas, finding ways not to snow since forever. Onto brighter, or, at least, more shimmery subjects. Cath at Moxie Fab World had another fabulous Tuesday Trigger inspiration picture for us.

Isn't that fudge yummy?! Only problem is I was completely stumped. I don't make Valentines, this is a bit pink for my husband, and I just didn't have any awesome ideas. Now, not saying this is awesome, but I did finally come up with something I like. :)

I found this card very difficult to get a decent picture of. (Truly sorry if ending a sentence with a preposition offends you. It's my favorite grammar rule to break.) I'm including the natural light pic and the Ott light pic just because.

I really liked the pattern on the box lid and that inspired the vine mask and the fairytale paper on the heart. Smooch spritz is just cool. The sentiment is from PTI's Damask Designs and is a set I don't use often enough. I even broke open a new giant bottle of mod podge just for this card. ;)

My kids are destroying a bag of popcorn so I best go. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Damask Designs
Ink - Palette Burnt Umber
Paper - Papertrey Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, DCWV Fairytale Mat Stack
Other - Smooch Spritz in gold and vanilla, wooden heart, sheer pink ribbon of unknown origin, Divine Twine baker's twine, Tim Holtz vine mask, scor-tape, matte Mod Podge.

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge

It's Papertrey Blog Hop time again! I had to miss November and December because of holidays so I'm glad the kids let me play along today. The theme this month is to use your uninked PTI or sets that are gathering dust. I don't have any sets that have never seen ink but plenty that haven't seen it lately.

This is not my typical card. And I feel like it's missing something. Even if I knew what it was that it needs, my toddler's up and he is a mini-Godzilla in the craft room so this is it for now, lol. I fit three under-used sets on this card. The tree is from Father Knows Best, the hills are dotted with Polka Dot Basics 2, and the sun is made from one of the decorative tabs in Mini Scrapbook Series: Tabs. The sentiment is from Daily Designs Sentiments, which sees lots of ink. ;) The hills and handcut and sponged around the edges. The sun was begrudgingly handcut, too. The cloud is, of course, one of the adorable PTI cloud dies. The tree trunk I letterpressed with the woodgrain plate. That's all folks! I can't wait to see the awesomeness everyone else made! Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Father Knows Best, Mini Scrapbook Series: Tabs, Polka Dot Basics 2, Daily Designs Sentiments

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Marigold Morning, Close to Cocoa

Paper - Papertrey Ink Spring Rain, Kraft, Lemon Tart; Stampin' Up! Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive

Other - Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Cloud Die, pop dots, sponge, scissors

Moxie Fab: I'm So Pretty

Gotta make this SUPER quick since it's for the Tuesday Trigger and is due in, oh, 17 minutes. I loved this week's trigger! And I happened to have made a flower that looked similar recently so I had to play even though we just finished hosting a 3rd birthday party with 13 kids. ;)

I stamped this ridiculously fast. I think the gray is SU Going Gray, but I'm not certain. Whatever it is, I love it. I tried to do the faux suede technique, but then messed up the stamping so the brown is the flip side. It's thinner than cardstock now, almost like old parchment, and feels pretty cool. It needed some texture so I stamped PTI Text Style background in Versamark. The flower is from scrap fabric and the sentiment is from Star Prints. TFL!

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Ink Star Prints, Background Basics: Text Style

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Paper: Stampin' Up! Going Grey, Soft Suede

Other: Scor-tape, fabric flower

Card Patterns and Candy Winner

It's been a challenge-filled week and since they've been stamping challenges it's all good! There have been sick family challenges, too, but we won't talk about that. ;) I was able to do Card Patterns Sketch 97 and combine it with one of the GinaK release challenges to use turquoise, brown, and kraft. The blues match better in real life, I promise! The paper is some ooollld Basic Grey Blush and the mug is from Carolyn King's adorable Warm Winter Wishes set. You can't really see it, but I embossed the brown layer with the Swiss Dots folder so it has a little texture. The ribbon is off a package or something and exploding out of my ribbon box. It's much happier now on a card with some breathing room. ;)

Now for candy! Mr. Almost Three and Therefore Knows Everything pulled Patricia's name out of the hat! Patricia I'll get you your stuff asap! Thanks for commenting everyone!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Warm Winter Wishes
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Paper - Papertrey Ink Kraft, GinaK Chocolate Kiss, Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Basic Grey Blush
Other - Copics (BG000, BG02, E15, E31, E30), ribbon, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

Tuesday Trigger: Winter White

Moxie Fab World has another fabulous Tuesday Trigger and I had a chance to play! Yay! (I was so sad to miss the striped mittens last week. Too fun for words.) Anyway, this week's challenge is a beautiful cake from Martha Stewart Living.

It's gorgeous! Look at all that yummy texture! Well, it's lace, so not yummy, I guess. But undeniably beautiful! :) Super classy in white on white.

I went playful. And white on very pale grey. ;) A white sky just seemed....weird. Now, I love this sentiment. I love this whole set, but especially this sentiment. The Billie Holiday version of Come Rain or Come Shine was our wedding dance. I embossed or impressed all the clouds with different folders and impression plates. Added some ribbon and stamped the sentiment. Done. A fun little clean and simple card my husband will love. Thanks Moxie Fab.

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers

Ink: Memento Desert Sand

Paper: Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White, Soft Stone

Other: Cuttlebug Embossing Folders - Floral Screen, Swiss Dots, Tiny Bubbles; Papertrey Ink Impression Plates - Sunshine, Woodgrain, In Bloom; QuicKutz Plants Embossing Folder; Stampin' Up! Satin Trim Ribbon; Papertrey Ink cloud dies; pop dots

CPS, GinaK, and Old Paper

I actually did a CPS sketch before the deadline! Yay! I combined it with the Emboss Resist technique challenge on StampTV. Yay! :) This is for CPS Sketch:199.

It's a cute sketch. I didn't round the corners because I was afraid with the big scallops on the blossom die that it would be too many curves, but now I think I should have. I don't heat emboss much anymore because I have issues with it warping my cardstock. Pretty sure this is user error. You can't emboss resist without it, though, so I pulled out my SU Irridescent Ice, Versamark, and the butterfly from GinaK's Take Flight. No warping, but I think I still managed to overheat it because the right side of the butterfly wasn't very sparkly. I die cut it with the largest die in the Nestabilities Blossom set. After sponging it with Memento Grape Jelly and Lulu Lavender I added a smidge of stickles to balance the shimmer back out.

Now, I'm not a super purple person. I like it. I like to wear it. I just don't create with it because I have a hard time finding colors that look good with it. I pulled out severals papers from my mountain o'papers and decided on this one from the Basic Grey Lily Kate collection (making it older than my first child). Very springy, but I hope not easter eggish. The sentiment is from My Cuppa Joe. Stamped it in Grape Jelly on a kraft strip and punched the ends with a square punch to make notches and glued everything down with the pink ATG gun my mom gave me. That's pretty much it. :)

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Take Flight, My Cuppa Joe

Ink: Versamark, Memento Grape Jelly, Lulu Lavender

Paper: PTI kraft cardstock, Georgia-Pacific white cardstock, Basic Grey Lily Kate paper

Other: Stampin' Up! Irridescent Ice embossing powder, Spellbinders Blossom Nestabilities die, Stardust Stickles, sponge daubers, craft knife, square punch

Oops! and Blogaversary Candy

Wow, um, sorry! It's been over a month since I've posted! We've been sick a few times (there's a sick boy in my lap right now) and busy with holidays and family. And I have started posts but not finished them. My bad! I definitely will start posting more often! Once a week at least and I hope more than that!

And, what do you know, it's my blogaversary today! I would have missed it if my friend Cheri hadn't pointed it out to me. I've really enjoyed sharing projects and joining blog hops and I hope to get back in the swing of things very soon. How about a little candy? Included is a Cuttlebug Paisley embossing folder, Spare Parts crochet trim, Memento Tuxedo Black Dew Drop, Making Memories Flower Shop flower assortment, Inkadinkado Inchies Butterflies and Birds stamp set, Papertrey button assortment, Pink Hedgehog Sea Rain Drops, American Craft Elements ribbon, and a fabric rosette headband - one of the many projects I've not blogged in the last month. To win just leave me a comment telling me a project you want to try this year. I'll leave this up until January 10. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you!

Thank you to anyone who has ever wandered over here! Happy New Year!