Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

She just didn't say how frequently those days would show up! *wink* Or *sigh*? Let's go with *wink* (Which, by the way, I cannot do in real life. It's like I'm trying to squish a bug with my eyelid.) So yeah. It's been quite the day. I've never had to get tic tacs out of, not one, but two noses before. Add in a trip to Target with multiple treks to the bathroom and I'm ready for the weekend!

I fell in love with these Unity stamps and am so happy to have them! :) Perfect thing to send along to a friend having a rough day or just the glorious sleep deprivation that comes with small children (or just tape to my wall). Used my chevron mask, some yellow Mister Huey, and some really old SU patterned paper. The black button is vintage. I bought a large ziplock of them at an antique store in Iowa for $4!

I made this card after reading some of the Paper Crafts Card Design Handbook Week posts. I'm entering it in the Gallon/Quart/Pint challenge on Moxie Fab World with yellow as my gallon, red as my quart, and black as my pint. (Yes, I know there's almost the same amount of black and red, but to me that's the order.) Now I have the magazine and am studying it. So interesting and I have lots to learn!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Unity March 2011 Kit of the Month
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - PTI white, SU Riding Hood Red graph paper, Recollections black
Other - Studio Calico chevron mask, Mister Huey Sunshine spray, oval die cut, PTI Pure Poppy button, vintage black button

Pin Cushion Tuesday Trigger

I'm so excited to get to do the Tuesday Trigger challenge! Love them, but I just haven't been able to keep up in a long time. I'm also super stoked about how this card turned. It's actually similar to what I envisioned, which is a rare thing for me.

Here's the trigger picture.

And here's mine.

Okay, so it looks nothing like the sweet pin cushion in the photo, but I was dying to try to turn the PTI pumpkin die into a tomato so I went with it. You can be inspired by function over aesthetic, right? This card is mostly die cuts. The tomato body is the pumpkin shape up die, the leaves are trimmed from the Autumn Acorn leaf die, and the strawberry is the Fruit Fusion berry die. I even used the pumpkin section die as a guide to poke holes for my stitching. Traditionally, I'm not much of a die girl (except for clouds!) so this out of the box for me. The sentiment is from GinaK's Sew Pretty set, which is awesome. The pins are stuck between the layers so there aren't any sharp edges. I'll probably include an 'open with care' note when I send it, just to be safe. :)

See all the beautiful entries at Moxie Fab World. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Sew Pretty
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - SU Poppy Parade, unknown green
Other - PTI Pumpkin Shape Up die, Autumn Acorn leaf die, Fruit Fusion Strawberry die; green DMC embroidery floss, needle, paper piercer, vintage buttons, pins, mini glue dots, circle punch

August Papertrey Blog Hop

Yeah, it's been forever...again. But there's a breeze in the air that says fall is on the way and nothing makes me feel crafty like fall! Everything's better in fall, really. Just a few more days until Starbucks kicks over to fall beverages and I will be drinking salted caramel and pretending it's cool outside and all will be right with the world. PTI's August release was the perfect kickstart for fall crafting. I could not resist those pumpkins. I mean, really, so cute.

The very first of fall is all about apples here, though, not pumpkins. I trimmed the pumpkin cut into more of an apple shape and ran it through the houndstooth embossing folder then sponged it to give it some depth. The stem is impressed with the woodgrain plate and I used the Sending You leaf die with some A Muse green felt. The only thing I don't like about this die right now is there isn't a lot of room on the back to attach the stem. I used mini glue dots, but it still feels tight. The new Think Big label pairs well with this Rosh haShanah greeting from Mazel Tov. The label is impressed with the linen side of the Linen and Canvas impression plate. I used my fingernail to distress all the edges. And now I am ahead one holiday card!;) I didn't really follow the blog hop photo so much as the idea of fall textures and textiles.

Check out all the other blog hop cards on Nichole's blog. Thanks for looking!

Supplies - Stamps: PTI Think Big 19, Mazel Tov
Ink: A Muse Espresso; SU Riding Hood Red; Ranger Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Worn Lipstick
Paper: SU Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Other: PTI Shape Up Pumpkin die, Marvy Mega Circle punch, Cuttlebug Houndstooth embossing folder, PTI Woodgrain and Linen & Canvas impression plates, A Muse Studio green felt, PTI Sending You die, mini glue dots, pop dots

Summer Bucket List

Wow! Two months since my last post. Time flies when you're chasing kids! The littlest one is 8 months today and crawling everywhere, eating things her brothers dropped on the floor as she goes. My husband was recently diagnosed with diabetes so I'm trying to figure out how to cook for all this. I gotta say, we're eating a lot more vegetables now!

Without further ado, and, mostly so it's not on a scrap of paper for me to lose, our summer bucket list:
Swim lessons
Go to the beach
Go to the lake
Go to the spray park
Play in the sprinkler
Make water bombs and play
Family water gun fight
Go to the zoo
Go to the science museum (brand new dinosaurs! which sounds historically and biologically impossible)
Tie dye
Make a glow lantern
Make chalk paint
Play with puffy paint
Crazy hair with chalkhttp://pinterest.com/pin/74027987594442912/
Condensed milk painting
Make dinosaur feet from kleenex boxes
Make glow-in-the dark something - slime, play-dough, etc
Make play dough
Make moon dough
Paper plate crafts
Handprint crafts
Paper sack crafts
Yard bowling
Build a fort, campout in living room?
Make puppets
Paint faces
Pick grapes
Make ice cream
Make popsicles
Play in the rain (ya know, if it rains this summer)
Have a picnic at the park
Find fireflies
Have a nature scavenger hunt
Mail Morgan a get well package
Buy hoola hoops, let hilarity ensue
Have a red, white, and blue breakfast

This is off the top of my head, totally not organized, and in no way comprehensive. I'll be back to rearrange and add to it later, but it's a start! :)

Cheater Sketch

Happy spring holidays, people! Or just happy spring. Take your pick. It's a busy time for cards. Lots of birthdays in March and April. Not sure if you've picked up on this, but I'm not really that great at managing my time. Or remembering things. (Which is annoying because I used to remember not quite everything but darn close.) So it's good to have a few cheater card sketches.


Cheater cards are tried and true. Change your colors and elements and you have a card. No is-this-going-to-work or maybe-if-I-added-this. Excellent for when you need to make a card quick. Such as when you are behind 3 birthdays and your grandmother hurts her back.

Today's cheater card is brought to you by the letters WMS and the number 3. Stamp this frame from the Waltzingmouse Frame It set and put three images in the middle. Add a sentiment and, bam, card made.

Using up pattern paper scraps makes the card more festive and makes me feel frugal. I love to feel frugal. Just be sure the paper isn't too dark or you won't be able to read the sentiment. You can read the sentiment on the card, just not in the picture. It says "great big hugs". The butterflies are a Martha Stewart puch and a random 6x6 sheet of Basic Grey. It needed a little more texture so I clear embossed PTI Text Style on the butterflies before adding the rhinestones. I pinched the wings up and glued down the middle.

For my sister's, I colored the cupcakes, cut them out, and popped them up. (Here's my cheater coloring trick. I like to color on cardstock and then cut out the image. I can color quickly and don't have to be careful about going outside the lines. If you hate cutting it's probably a bad idea. I kind of like fussy cutting. My coloring nemesis is overblending so going fast helps me getter better contrast. Too careful = too much ink for me.) The inside says "Please enjoy these Kosher for Passover cupcakes". Yep, she has a Passover birthday.

PS - if you are observing Passover and like cookies, oh my goodness, the Martha Stewart chocolate chip cookie recipe is amazing. So yummy!!

Thanks for coming by!

Supplies Butterfly card:
Stamps - Waltzingmouse Frame It, PTI Text Style
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Versamark
Paper - My Mind's Eye floral paper, Basic Grey blue paper, PTI kraft cs
Other - Stuart Superior clear embossing powder, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, rhinestones

Cupcake card:
Stamps - Waltzingmouse Frame It
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - Basic Grey Life of the Party, Georgia-Pacific white cs, SU So Saffron cs
Other - Copics (R000, RV00, RV11, Y21, Y32, E30, E23, E31), pop dots, sponge

Happy Birthday!

It's my mom's birthday! Mom is awesome. She is fun, frugal, well-read, smart, and pretty. A wonderful grandma, too. And she's probably on her way over here so I better get a move on!

Here's a picture of us 32ish years ago. Shockingly, we both have our eyes open! Not sure where my nose is, though. Yeah, I should probably scan more of my childhood pictures. Mom is beautiful here, though, and that's what matters today. I can look cute in old pictures on my birthday. *wink*

I used this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch and I love how it turned out. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey 6x6 Life of the Party pad. L0ve them! So festive. :) Okay, I have a guest room to clean up. Thanks for looking!


Supplies: Stamps - Waltzingmouse Frame It
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Tangelo (sponged the orange layer a little for definition)
Paper - Basic Grey Life of the Party 6x6, SU Peach Parfait, PTI kraft, Rustic White
Other - PTI Woodgrain Impression Plate, Twinery bakers twine, Copics (R00, R20, G00, G02, Go5, YG06, E21, E23)

CASEing Lee

Hey! We went on a roadtrip! Two days in the car one way with three kids and we all survived! Not much crafting going on although I am learning to knit. But. The StampTv challenge was to CASE Lee Murphy. Lee is awesome. I have met Lee in real life twice. Must make card. Apparently, also must learn to write challenge deadlines on calendar because I strolled over to stamptv at 8:45 to see that the deadline was 8. Doh!

Lee's beautiful card is here. Her's is fancier than mine. This will be a sympathy card and I like to keep them fairly simple. I did intend to dry emboss it, but didn't realize until just now that I hadn't. The boys were in and out of my craft room the whole time I worked on it and it's a wonder it got finished at all!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK flower I won in a grab bag!

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa

Paper - PTI Rustic White, kraft, SU Chocolate Chip

Other - Kasiercraft pearls, E25 copic (colored the pearls), A Muse medium scallop die, unknown ribbon

WMSC86

Not much crafting this week. But I did squeeze in a card for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge last night. Hooray! :) And, again, I only have one WMS set so far so if I keep doing this challenge just expect to see a lot of this cupcake. ;)

I don't love this card. I love all the elements, just not how they combined. It needs something else. Maybe a glittery button? Three tiny ones? Plain ribbon going one way and ruffled the other? Not sure. I did love making it and playing around. Just had to stop before I figured it all out. It's a process, right? :) You can see all the pretty cards on the challenge blog. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Waltzingmouse Stamps Frame It

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - SU Barely Banana, PTI Dark Chocolate

Other - Copics E43, E31, E35, Y21, BV00, BV02, BV04, V15, C0; Star Dust Stickles; PTI Limitless Layers dies, Birthday Cuttlebug folder, PTI Lavender Moon satin ribbon; 1/4 in scor-tape

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge 85

This is my first Waltzingmouse sketch challenge and I'm so excited to participate! I only have one Waltzingmouse set, but I love it! It's Frame It and it's so adorable. I love when you get lots of different things from a set. This one has 3 main features. The frames go with EVERYTHING. Then, there are the super cute sentiments and, on top of that, some really cute images. Wow.

Now, first I need to apologize for my bad picture. I'm not very good at card photography to start with, my homemade light box area is currently covered by a mound of fabric, and it's difficult to take pictures while holding a squirmy baby. Just sayin'.

The cupcakes are paper pieced with DCWV Sweet Shoppe paper (pre-glittered!) for the cuppies and Basic Grey Bittersweet for the liners. The lace at the top is fussy cut from the same paper as the frosting. Those rhinestones are pink although it doesn't really show here. Thanks for looking! Check out all the sketch challenge entries at the blog!

Supplies: Stamps - Waltzingmouse Frame It

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - PTI Spring Moss, DCWV Sweet Shoppe, Basic Grey Bittersweet

Other - Paper Studio pink gemstones, Stampin' Up! punch (I totally blanked on the name), pop dots

Butterfly and Mister Huey

I can't seem to type a coherent sentence today so I'm going to stop trying to be chatty and just get to the card.

The butterfly is from GinaK's Hope is Faith set. I colored it with YR02, YR04, and YR07 Copics for the wings and C1 and B39 for the highlights on the body. (Kinda going for blue black, but I'm not sure it worked.) I used the PTI Book Prints impression plate for the kraft panel. I love that thing, but can never get it straight. The white is Studio Calico Mister Huey! I'm so excited to have gotten it! Dawn McVey has been making me want it for ages but it wasn't in stock anywhere! I tried the DIY tutorials but never could get it right. This is misted. I'm going to try to get paint droplets next time. Anyway, I opted to leave off a sentiment so I can use it for anything. I entered this in the StampTV facebook fan challenge to use a butterfly. Feels good to be making cards and doing challenges again! Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Hope is Faith

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - Georgia Pacific White, PTI Kraft, Orange Zest, Recollections Black

Other - cutterbee scissors, scor-tape, Studio Calico Mister Huey White, PTI Book Prints impression plate

PTI Anniversary Pinterest Challenge

Hello again! I had to sit out yesterday's challenge but I'm back for today's. The deal today is to pick a pinterest pin and use it as inspiration for a card. Took me a little while to pick one since I have a ton of pins. Finally settled on this one. I love the colors and how ethereal it is.

Father Knows Best doesn't see enough ink lately so I was excited to get to use it here. The leaves are colored with Copics. The trunk, too, actually. It just wasn't dark enough. Dawn McVey has been inspiring/tormenting me with her Mr Huey sprays so I decided to use my Vanilla Smooch Spritz, which is the closest thing I have. The bottle gave me some trouble - spray bottles and I don't get along for some reason - but I won out. The In the Meadow die and the eyelet border cutout both came from my friend Alyssa. Thanks girl!

Okay, it's almost tomorrow so I'm going to bed! Thanks for looking!

Supplies - Stamps: PTI Father Knows Best, Simply Jane

Ink - PTI Aqua Mist; Memento Rich Cocoa; Palette Burnt Umber
Paper - PTI Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist, White, kraft

Other - PTI In the Meadow die, Eyelet Border die cut; Ranger blending tool; 1/8 scor-tape, Copics R000, RV00, R02; Vanilla Smooch Spritz; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Hello - PTI Anniversary Day 2

Two posts again! If nothing else, I'm getting some cards made. :) This time I used Maile's pretty 'hello' image. There were 3 buttons near the tiny space left on my table for me to work. They looked good together so that's how I picked the colors and embellishments for this one. Very quick, very CAS.

Supplies: Paper - PTI white

Other - PTI Woodgrain Impression Plate, Pure Poppy button, Hawaiian Shores button, random white button; Copics R39, BG15; thread

Retro - Designing with Papertrey

It's PTI AnniversaryDay 2! Today they introduced all the fabulous stamp designers and I'm totally stoked for this year. They have a fabulous free download of images created by the designers to use for today's contest. My younger brother is turning 30 in a couple of weeks and Erin Lincoln's cassette tape seemed perfect for his card.


This would have been a super quick and easy card if my kids had been asleep, but they weren't so it took all day. You can't see in this picture but I ran the grey strip through the woodgrain impression plate so it has some manly texture. So happy to have his card out of the way!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - PTI Simple Alphabet
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - PTI white, New Leaf, Smokey Shadow
Other - Free download, Sunshine Impression Plate, Woodgrain Impression plate, pop dots, Copics - C1, YG23, YG06

PTI Anniversary Day 1 Part Deux

Like I said, might even be two posts. ;) Squeezed in a second card tonight, this one inspired by Ashley Cannon Newell's project. I'm so excited she's on the design team! Her work is amazing!

I used an unusal color combo for me: Soft Stone, Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist, and Smoky Shadow (except it's really SU Basic Gray ribbon and Memento London Fog ink because I haven't bought the grey collections from PTI yet. But I will. That Smoky Shadow satin has me swooning.) I used several sets for this one, which is nice. Makes me feel all mix and matchy. Background Basics: Hearts, Text Style, and Polka Dot Basics 2 and the new Simply Jane. I cut a felt rose from the closest thing I have to Lemon Tart. No idea who makes this felt. I picked it up in Austin at The Stitch Lab. Great store. You should go if you're in Austin and like sewing. I digress.

I saw another poster made a top 5 PTI products list of her own and loved it so I'm stealing it. I'm hideously bad at this kind of thing but here goes.

1. Woodgrain Impression Plate. - I. Love. It.
2. Cloud Dies - Because they make every card cuter. Except this one. Well, maybe this one, too, I didn't try it.
3. Simple Alphabet - Used it a bazillion times.
4. Cardstock - Especially white, kraft, Soft Stone, and Lemon Tart.
5. Buttons - I love digging through the bag and looking at every single one. Oh, and using them. That's fun, too.

Thanks for looking! See all the awesomeness here. Can't wait to see what Nichole's got in store tomorrow!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Simply Jane, Background Basics: Hearts, Background Basics: Polka Dot Basics 2, Background Basics: Text Style
Ink - Papertrey Aqua Mist; Memento Dandelion, London Fog
Paper - Papertrey Soft Stone, Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart
Other - Papertrey Simply Jane dies; yellow felt; Stampin' Up! Basic Gray taffeta

PTI Anniversary Contests!

So, yeah, big surprise, I posted about posting more often and then let a whole month go by. Distracted is in the title of the blog for a reason, folks! About the time I start to recover from the madness that is December, I remember I have a birthday party to plan for my oldest! Panic ensues. Etc. The party was super cute so I will try to post about it after the madness that is early February, Papertrey anniversary time. 'Cause nothing gets me posting like ginormous prizes. There might even be two posts in one day. Ya never know.

Today's contest is to choose one of the Design Team's favorite projects as inspiration. I chose Melissa Phillips fantastically gorgeous baby card. I absolutely love Melissa's vintage style although it is nothing like mine. Melissa makes masterpieces and she makes them with love. Every piece is a treasure.

I don't have the sweet little stork set (but I'm thinking of getting it now - these designers make me buy things I never even glanced at before all the time!) so I poked around my table, where apparently I'm storing everything I own, and found the Fruit Fusion: Apple set. I paired it with the sweet baby sentiment from Mixed Messages. Ran the onesie through the Linen and Canvas impression plate to give it a little texture. I faked a Peter Pan collar with the ric-rac and trimmed the arm and legs with it, too. Mine is sort of the poor country cousin to Melissa's card, but it is very much made with love and going to an adorable new baby.

Thanks PTI for the inspiration, the kick in the pants to post, and for stealing all my money! I kid, I kid. Sort of. Happy anniversary!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Fruit Fusion: Apple, Mixed Messages

Ink - Memento Bamboo Leaves, Ladybug; Tim Holtz Distress Ink Old Paper

Paper - Papertrey Soft Stone

Other - white ric-rac; Scor-tape; sponge; Papertrey Pure Poppy button, Linen and Canvas Impression Plate, Onesie die

Present

Oh hello. It's been a while, hasn't it?

It's a whole new year. A new calendar. Lots of lists of things we did and things we hope to do. Introspection. And there was a three day weekend. All things I love.

I've decided to participate in One Little Word this year and my word is "present". As in, be present, be in the present, present a good example (yes, technically that's a different word entirely, but it's spelled the same so there), each day is a present (and I like presents!), all the things in my life that are presents from above, and I'm sure tons of things I haven't thought of yet. I will try to be present more here, as well. I missed my own blogaversary for Pete's sake.

So let's catch up.

Our new baby is almost 3 months old and has a stack of outgrown clothes! The oldest is almost 4 and, by "almost", I mean that I have 2-3 weeks to throw together a birthday party (top theme contenders are an art party or a Mario Bros party). Yes, I will be spending copious amounts of time on Pinterest. And, lest I have leave out the other boy thereby fostering his inevitable middle child syndrome, he has a huge vocabulary for a 2 year old, recognizes several letters, counts, sings songs, and adores his little sister.

We had a great holiday season if you ignore the stomach bug, the ER trip for the busted gum (no stitches needed!), the crazy melt-down I had trying to get everything ready for extended family Christmas Eve morning, and that the suitable for 5 yr+ transformer I bought the boy took my extremely handy husband 30 minutes to turn from a robot to a car. But it really was nice. There was a lot of good family time and that's what it's really about, isn't it?


I have been crafting and cooking so I should have a post with pictures next time. I'm going to try my hand at Project Life this year and take Ali Edwards One Little Word class. Through the magic of Pinterest I've discovered embroidery. This baby season is just about over (waiting on 2 last babies) but the next cycle has begun! So I won't just gab next time, but if I wait until I get pictures to get started it might be February or 2013! So best to just get this awkward first post back out of the way. And there's no time like the present.