PTI Anniversary Celebration

It's February and that means it's PTI anniversary time. Nothing gets me blogging quite like amazing contests with fabulous prizes. Mercenary? Yeah, just a bit.

My first card is from Day 2, when the stamp designers all provide a free upload. I chose Heather Nichols' cool image. I paired it with the PTI Sunshine Impression Plate and some Studio Calico wood veneers to make a quick card for my cousin.

 

 The next card is from Day 1, when the Design Team chose some of their favorite projects in an inspiration challenge. I chose the fabulous Trendy Tree Tops card by the even more fabulous Maile Belles. Nothing quite brings home how not Maile Belles awesome you are like trying to be Maile Belles awesome. For example, I had to add ribbon because there was a harsh line from the edge of the impression plate across the card. I buffed out some of it with my scoring tool, but it was still noticeable. Still, I'm happy with this card and it's for a dear friend's baby shower so thank you Maile for all the amazing inspiration!

Thank you for looking!

Supplies:
Happy Birthday - Free Image Download
Paper - PTI Stampers Select White, SU Baja Breeze
Other - PTI Sunshine Impression Plate, Studio Calico Tiny Stars Wood Veneers, Glossy Accents, Stardust Stickles

Showers of Blessings -
Stamps - PTI Scattered Showers, Scattered Showers Additions
Ink - Memento London Fog, Grey Flannel, A Muse Studio Pebble, SU Pink Pirouette
Paper - PTI kraft, Stamper's Select White
Other - PTI Sunshine Impression Plate, Notebook die, A Muse Studio Shell ribbon, pop dots

Thinking of You

Obviously, I need a little push to blog. ;) A group of online friends felt the same way and came up with a monthly challenge. The theme this month is Thinking of You cards. I had high hopes of getting several done. There are several kinds of thinking of you cards, after all. January is highly saturated with birthdays, though, and one is all I managed. Today. Yep, that's right. Laaaast minute.

Like I said, there is more than one kind of Thinking of You. Some are almost Sympathy cards, others are more like Hello. I think this one could go either way. If I just wanted to pop one in the mail to say hey, I'd probably add a few rhinestones. If it's for a death, illness, or other trauma I'd probably leave it be. I've seen some beautiful and tasteful sympathy cards with rhinestones, but I always feel awkward when I add them.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Stamps - (These are from a muse studio. I'm not certain of the sets because they were given to me individually, but I love them!)
Ink - a muse studio Fern, Versafine Onyx
Paper - PTI Stamper's Select White
Other - PTI Woodgrain impression plate, pop dots

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

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. :)

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

Thank You Veterans!

Thank you to all the veterans and active duty military (and families!) protecting freedom and democracy for the rest of us! Happy Veteran's Day! (And thanks to my awesome friend -and Air Force wife! - Jen for loaning me this great set!)



Supplies: Stamps - Greeting Farm Hero Ian, Papertrey Ink Let Freedom Ring
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Versamark Dazzle Diamond
Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White
Other - Copics (It's been a while so I'm not sure which ones, sorry!), pop dots

Chirp, Chirp, Tweet, Tweet

If you recognize that then you spend way too much watching Nick Jr. just like me. ;) Today, I have a triple challenge card! I picked this sweet Crafty Secrets bird image (thanks Jaala!) for the SCS Hope You Can Cling To Cancer is for the Birds challenge. I've loved this set for a while so I'm excited to finally be playing with it! The sketch is from CPS. It's super cute! I was also inspired by this week's Tuesday Trigger, Sweater Weather.


I was inspired by the colors, the texture, and the overall cozy feeling.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Crafty Secrets Bird Notes

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo

Paper - Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart, kraft, Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla

Other -Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, yellow rhinestones, American Elements ribbon, sponge, Copics (Y00, Y11, Y15, YG93, YG95, B000), pop dots

Card Patterns Sketch 87

Woo hoo! I was very excited to find out this morning that my butterfly card was picked as one of the Moxie Fab Trigger Targets! So awesome!!! And, what made it even better, was my friend Tessa (Kraf*T*y Mama) was a Trigger Target, too! Yay!

Today's card uses Card Patterns Sketch 87. This is such a pretty sketch! I had a few ideas pop in my head for it, none of which are on this card. ;) It just sort of happened. I like how it turned out and it came together pretty quickly. Love when that happens! The sentiment is from an older Unity Kit of the Month. This was the only circle I had that would fit it so I inked the edges to give it some definition. The colors are Stampin' Up! Old Olive and retired In Color Soft Sky. I wish they'd bring Soft Sky back! The felt flower qualifies this for the Splitcoast Hope You Can Cling To Flower Power challenge. Off to MD Anderson at the end of the month. :) I tied the bow, but decided it was a little plain. Slipped the seam binding off and stamped the background with PTI Text Style in Antique Linen Distress Ink and that did the trick.

There's plenty of time for you to make a card with this week's sketch! Check it out at Card Patterns! Thanks for visiting!

Supplies: Stamps - Unity November 2008 Kit of the Month, Papertrey Ink Text Style

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Walnut Stain and Antique Linen

Paper - Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Soft Stone

Other - Martha Stewart seam binding, Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream felt, Beautiful Blooms 2 Dies #1, Sweet Blush button, Marvy Giga circle punch

Tuesday Trigger

I got to play this week's Tuesday Trigger challenge! Isn't this a great inspiration piece! I love the vignetting in the photograph and the monochromatic feel.

I don't have any spooky stamps, but I think it works on a birthday card. Yeah, I guess I do have a slightly dark sense of humor to make a birthday card inspired by a graveyard. :)

The vines were made with a Tim Holtz mask that I bought (under $3) after seeing a card Melanie Muenchinger made with it on her blog. That was over 6 months ago and this is my first time to use it. (Yes, I'm lame like that.) Love the effect! You just stick it down and sponge over it. (I use an art sponge cut in quarters on things like this and save the sponge daubers for cards that need smoother results.) The butterfly from GinaK Hope Is Faith is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics then sprayed with Vanilla Smooch Spray for a subtle shimmer.

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Hope Is Faith, Sew Pretty (sentiment)

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Soot Black

Paper - Papertrey Ink Soft Stone, True Black, Georgia-Pacific White (for coloring)

Other - Copics (B000, C0, C1, C3, N5, C7), Cutterbee scissors, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Tim Holtz mask, sponge

Unity Tuesday Trigger

A super quick post for the Tuesday Trigger. I loved this week's trigger picture! It's so happy and peaceful and fun. (And inexplicably at the bottom of this post instead of the top.)It reminded me of the super cute bird and tree fabric I bought recently so I decided to use it. I really need to bust out my sewing machine for cards more often. My sewing on cards skills need improvement! The sentiment is Unity and also qualifies this for the Unity WCMD stitching challenge. TFL!

Supplies: Stamps - Unity (It came in a grab bag I won from them)

Ink - Palette Burnt Umber

Paper - Stampin' Up! Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo, Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate

Other - JoAnn's fabric, sewing machine, Nestabilities Ribbon Slider die, brown ribbon

Heart to heart Card Drive and Happy October!

Happy October everyone! It's my birthday today! Lunch with all my guys, free mocha toffee frap, and lots of birthday messages and calls makes for a very nice day. I'm hoping to get a little crafting in tonight, too! We'll see, though. I kind of miss sleep. ;)

Speaking of crafting, you need to make a card for Carolyn King's Heart to Heart card drive. Carolyn lost her grandmother to Alzheimer's a few years ago and has a card drive to honor Alzheimer's caregivers. They need appreciation and recognition! It is exhausting caring for someone with Alzheimer's. There is a huge prize as well.

My grandmother passed away from Alzheimer's this year. Her care progressed from her just needing to be driven places, to having my brother live with her to be sure she took her medicine and didn't fall, to full time supervision. It took a lot of energy from a lot of people to take care of her. I miss her. A lot. Her birthday is coming up and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than by thanking the people who are helping patients and family members walk this road. I've made three cards so far and I'm hoping to make several more. I'll take them to the nursing home where Grandmommy was living, but Carolyn provides an address and even a sample note if you don't know where to send a card or what to say.

My card details are very simple. The first card uses the Clean and Simple challenge sketch from Splitcoaststampers this week. The fabulous pumpkin is from a set that Carolyn designed in honor of her grandmother and she donates her proceeds to the Alzheimer's Association. (She rocks. And she's super fun, too. I know, I got to meet her once.)
The second card I made from old mail. The flower is torn from the base of a card my kids destroyed and the the leaf is torn from the cover of a jewelry catalog. I inked the edges, glued the layers together, and added some stickles and dew drops. Dawn McVey has an awesome tutorial on making flowers like this (much better than this).

Go make a card for Carolyn's card drive and head to her blog. You might win an amazingly huge prize and you will definitely make someone happy. Complete win.

Pumpkin Card Supplies:
Stamps - GinaK Designs Whimsical Autumn, Thanks a Million
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Tuxedo Black
Paper - Papertrey Ink kraft, Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Georgia-Pacific white
Other - Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Orange Zest button, twine, Nestabilities Scalloped Rectangle, Copics

Flower Card Supplies:
Stamps - GinaK Designs Inside and Out
Ink - Palette Burnt Umber, Stampin' Up! Tangerine Tango, Old Olive
Paper - Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue, Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, orange and green scraps
Other - Dew drops, Stickles, Papertrey Ink Large Scallop Border, green grosgrain

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

It's Papertrey Blog Hop time again! And in true fashion, I'm squeaking in at the last second! Good times! The challenge this time is to use a tip or technique we've learned from another stamper. Wow. There are so many amazing artists who have taught me so much! Someday I would love to do cards for all of them. This particular card uses a couple of things I've gleaned from Nichole Heady herself combined with all the fabulous colorists out there who have taught me so much about Copics: Debbie Olson, Theresa Momber, Sharon Harnist, and, of course, Colleen Schaan to name a few. Nichole rocks the white on white so much and I never would have thought to use the square punch to make the notch on the sentiment if she hadn't shown it on her blog. Now, I can't stop doing it! I really cannot say enough about the tips and tutorials and inspiration I have gotten from these crafters, but did I mention it's the last second?

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink In Bloom, Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Palette Noir
Paper - Papertrey Stamper's Select White, Lemon Tart
Other - Copics (Y00, Y11, Y15, Y17, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG03), Basic Grey half pearls, square punch, Papertrey Woodgrain Impression Plate, lots of foam tape!, Cutterbee scissors

The Unpublishable!

It's coming right for you! Run, run for your lives! It's...the Unpublishable! Cue B horror movie music. Yes, I do amuse myself. Thanks for noticing. ;) I just had a card published and it was super exciting! And it was on my first try even! Since then, however, I've been submitting and not having any success. But that's ok! I love the cards I've been making (well, mostly) and I learn something everytime I go through the submission process. And I'm really excited to share these rejected cards because I think they're pretty cute. And I bet you've made some pretty cute cards that haven't turned out to be contest winners, or published in magazines, or maybe haven't even gotten many comments. So let's all stop being mean to ourselves and saying things like "Oh, I'm not very good."It's just not true.

This sweet little reject was made for the Cards: All Occasions call. I was trying to come up with an unusual color combo. I like these colors together. SU's Basic Gray and Old Olive, PTI Hawaiian Shores, and some incredibly heavy base weight GinaK Ivory. The butterfly was stamped on PTI white and colored with Copics then trimmed out. I ran a black marker around the edges at the suggestion of a friend, but I don't think I will do it often. I totally get why you should do it, but I don't have a very steady hand for that kind of thing and it just seems fraught with peril. The grey (or gray, I guess, since that's how they spell it) is scored with a Scor-Pal. I love doing this! GinaK has a great tutorial on StampTV. Basically, you place the cardstock on your scoreboard with two corner points on the same line and score at 1/2 inch intervals across the cardstock. Flip it so the opposite two corner points are on the same line and score again creating the diamonds. I matted the gray with the Hawaiian Shores. The olive border is the SU open scallop border punch. I stamped 'thank you' on a strip of olive and cut out the notch with a square punch. I only adhered the straight side so it looks a little bit more like a flag banner. I thought about sewing it but was too lazy/nervous. I've had great success sewing on paper and horrible failures and since I was stamping this the night of the deadline I didn't want to risk it. The butterfly is popped up on pop dots. I'm almost out of those things. Must get more.

Anyway, there you have it! Look for more rejected cards coming soon! :)

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Hope is Faith, Inside and Out
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - GinaK Pure Luxury base weight Ivory, Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Basic Gray, Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White (for coloring)
Other - Copics (BG10, BG45, BG48), Stampin' Up! Border Punch, Scor-Pal, Square Punch, pop dots

Clean and Simple Coffee

Say what? Two posts from me in one day? The insanity! ;) But I really wanted to make another card for the design team challenge at GinaK this time. And I know it's simple, but I love this card.

So the challenge is a favorite fall memory. This one is from October 2005, post-Hurricane Rita. We lived in Beaumont at the time and were very blessed. We evacuated with family, had places to stay, and, while we suffered some damage, our house was pretty much intact. Two houses down the whole place was crushed. Our yard and patio were wrecked, but that was just fine considering! Jeff did get to leave with us, but had to come back to the tv station the day after the storm hit. It was two weeks before I made it home and that's still the longest we've been apart. (A big thank you to all the military families and other families that deal with long absences for their jobs. I know two weeks is nothing to some of you and I hate that.) It was a very hot October and of course no one had power but I was so ready to be back! A cold front came through that night and we sat on the porch the next morning eating chocolate croissants and some self-heating mochas I had brought back with me so thankful to see each other, have a home, and feel an autumn breeze. Who cares if there are so many tree branches in your driveway you can't see the car parked there when you're eating pastries with the love of your life. ;) Guess who's getting this card? :)

There's not much 'splaining to do for this. I stamped the mug from Warm Winter Wishes, die cut it, left it in the die and sponged it with the blue. Then I stamped the mug again on a cardstock scrap, colored it with copics, cut it out, and glued it on. I am obsessed with cutting out the white in the handle for some reason so I just make a quick x-acto cut on the straight side and then use fine tip scissors to finish it. I grabbed a large green scrap and impressed it with my PTI woodgrain impression plate. I stamped the sentiment after impressing it and glued it all down.

Please look at all the wonderful entries on Gina's blog! Thanks for looking! (Oh, and you can still comment on my blog candy through Tuesday!)

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Warm Winter Wishes, Thanks a Million

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Tempting Turquoise

Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Stampin' Up! Kiwi Kiss, Georgia-Pacific White (die cut and mug)

Other - Nestabilities Labels One, Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Copics (YR02, YR04, YR07, R22, R24, R29, E35)

Pumpkins, Apples, and Cheese

Do you ever have a crazy idea that no matter all the better ideas you come up with you absolutely must choose the crazy one? It's Design Team challenge time at GinaK and this month's challenge is to make a card of a favorite fall memory. I LOVE fall! I love sweaters, I love cider, I love back to school (which comes in summer now, but still feels like fall). My birthday is in fall, Renaissance Festival is in fall, Thanksgiving, the High Holy Days, all in fall! I've been to Israel twice in the fall and Disneyworld twice. Then there's the kids. My son just turned 1. He's technically a very end of summer baby. But much like back to school, it feels like a fall event. And the feeling is what's important with memory anyway, right? Choosing the birth of my second child as my favorite fall memory is not crazy. Using my handwriting and a cheesetastic pun is. :)

I love a good pun. I really do. And I think it's genetic because my mother does, too. I'm not at all sure this qualifies as a good pun, but I could not shake it! And when inspiration strikes after midnight I try not to argue too much. ;) The sweet onesie is, of course, from Wee Tees. I cannot tell you how much I love that set. I'm ready for a companion set, Melanie. Just when you have time. :) I colored it with green and red Copics. The apple is from Whimsical Autumn. Thank you, Cammie for making a single apple! I colored the apple on scratch paper and cut it out. That way I don't have to be careful when coloring the onesie. It's the lazy way. I'm all about that, hehe. The pumpkins are from the Signs of Autumn set. Love them. They made me buy this set. Everything else is in it is fabulous too, but the pumpkins sang the siren song. The handwriting is, sigh, mine. I bought a craft book once called Love Your Handwriting, but it apparently only works if you practice, which if I'm going to keep doing I need more than one decent pen. But I do love my goofy, cheesy little card. Not nearly as much as my little fall fellow, though. ;)

Do yourself a favor and check out all the entries in this challenge. There is some gorgeous stuff! You can see everything on Gina's blog. I might even have a chance to make a card for one of those other memories. :) Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Whimsical Autumn, Signs of Autumn, Wee Tees

Paper - Papertrey Ink Kraft, Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Georgia-Pacific White (for coloring)

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie

Other - Copics (YG03, YG06, YG09, R22, R24, R29), Copic Multiliner 0.5 mm

Huzzah!

I won GinaK again! Yay! There's something about finding out you won free stamps that just brightens your day. :) Last week there was a challenge on StampTV to make a winter - Christmas - Holiday card using just your scraps. Perfect. I'm trying to use up the huge vortex of scraps that I have anyway. (I just told my neighbor if she ever needs ribbon to come to my house before she goes to Hobby Lobby.) Anyway, this is the card I made and it was randomly chosen to win! Happy day!

Love this lady. She reminds me of my grandmother when I was little for some reason. Spunky. With a funny apron. I have no idea what possessed me to color her hair auburn when my card is red or what possessed me to color her sweater red. Red is only behind black in the hardest for me to color race. But oh well. I used Copics, of course.

The leaves were already on my table from a project I did a month or so ago. Yeah, I clean my table on a bi-monthly schedule or when everything starts jumping off. I think pompoms are grandma fabulous. So are pipe cleaners. They needed some stickles. My stickles have been getting a lot more love since I started my stamp spending freeze. (I'm on 25/50 cards plus 3 altered items! yay!) The felt leaves are held in place with scor-tape. LOVE scor-tape. I'm buying 2 or 3 rolls of it next time! Pompoms are on a glue dot. I colored the rhinestones olive green with copics. Very clean and simple, totally from scraps, making it got me a new stamp set. SCORE.

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Sew Pretty, Warm Winter Wishes

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Old Olive

Paper: Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red, kraft (now Crumb Cake), Georgia Pacific White Cardstock

Accessories: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Stampin' Up! Modern Label Punch, rhinestones, Copics (I don't remember which ones, sorry!), hand cut felt leaves, red pompoms, Stardust Stickles, Scor-tape, Glue Dots, Pop dots

Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge

Fun stuff! This is my first time to participate in the PTI Blog Hops and I am so excited! (Thanks for the nudge, Alyssa!) The challenge is to alter a paper lunch sack to something wonderful and crafty. I happen to have a bunch of lunch sacks and my kids happened to be napping at the same time. Serendipity.

Knowing that this mystical sleeping simultaneously thing could not last long, I opted for a card. (Got an idea for a planner, but that will have to wait for another day.) My lunch bags are kinda tall so I trimmed the open edge with the small rickrack die. I have a cuttlebug so I had to fold the end I didn't want to cut over the top of the B plate. (Sandwich: A plate, C plate, die, lunch sack side I want to cut, B plate, folded side of lunch sack.) Folding it left a large crease that I could not iron out so I covered it with ribbon and it helped me choose layout. :) I love PTI ribbon. Love it. This Lemon Tart satin ribbon is one of the prettiest things I have in my craft room and there's a lot of stuff in there! The Mat Stack 3 die and All Booked up stamp provides a nice focal point and I got to use the anniversary set Round and Round for the circle! I love that All Booked Up and Round and Round coordinate so well together, the sentiments even fit! It's hard to tell in this picture but the rhinestones on the flowers are colored yellow with a Bic Mark It to match the ribbon. I added regular rhinestones along the rickrack edge and finished up just as the baby woke up! Talk about perfect timing! I think I will save this for when I want to give someone a little thank you gift card and slip it in the bag opening.

You can see all the entries on Nichole's blog. I doubt I will ever look at lunch sacks the same again!

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Ink All Booked Up, Round and Round

Ink: Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Palette Burnt Umber

Paper: Papertrey Ink Rustic White

Accessories: Papertrey Ink Rick Rack die, Mat Stack 3 die, Lemon Tart satin ribbon, rhinestones, Bic Mark It (yellow), pop dots, lunch sack

Summer Sunshine

We are having a great time here. We went on a little vacation with the kids last week. (Although, I so owe my parents a big thank you. I had NO idea how much work it was to take children on a trip and have more than meltdowns to remember. Mission accomplished, but wow.) And my sweet husband took off this week so we've just been kicking back with occasional small bursts of productivity. :)

I'm still on my stamping spending freeze. I didn't even look at the Hobby Lobby ad this week! But I'm still finding ways to spend money. I bought some fabric on our trip. Someone recommended The Stitch Lab in Austin to me and I'm so glad I went! They had fabulous cotton prints and a great selection of felt! I also picked up some pillowcases at the Crate and Barrell outlet for the fabric. I cut out a tank top already so maybe I'll make something before the Mayan Doomsday. (No, I do not believe the world is going to end Dec 21, 2012, but I love specifics, so a scheduled apocalypse cracks me up.)

Here's a simple card I've been wanting to make. It didn't come out exactly like I thought, but what does? The sun was made by cutting small strips of Summer Sunrise ribbon and notching the ends and then sewing an Orange Zest button over the the middle. Thanks for the idea, Alyssa! I love this Papertrey impression plate. So many fun possibilities. The sparkles are stickles. I have soooo many bottles of stickles and they've just been sitting there so I'm having fun using them again. This card is 15/50 on my freeze. :)

In other news, the baby just popped his 3rd tooth and he has two more on the way. He hasn't taken any steps yet, but he's climbing into the bathtub, into chairs, and onto book displays at Barnes and Noble so it's only a matter of time. He also figured out how to use a straw so, if you visit, hang onto your drink!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers
Ink - Memento Canteloupe
Paper - GinaK Pure Luxury White, Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue
Accessories - Papertrey Ink Summer Sunrise stitched ribbon, Stardust Stickles, Papertrey Ink Orange Zest button, Papertrey Ink Cloud Dies, Papertrey Ink Sunshine Impression Plate

Stripey Sunshine

You know how sometimes you have plenty of time to stamp, but no ideas and other times you have lots of ideas and no time to stamp? Yeah. I started sketching out ideas and stuff as soon as the Paper Crafts submission call went out two weeks ago. I got several cards started during naptime, but, in the end, only had time to submit two. How could this happen? Well, short naps, late nights, broken air conditioner, sister's recital, Dad got robbed, Jeff working weekends do not a lot of stamping time make. Add to that that I am a sllloooowww crafter and there ya go.

So here's a card that didn't get submitted. ;) I saw a super cute children's dress online with yellow, white, and navy diagonal stripes that inspired this design. I've had the navy and yellow plaid fabric for, um, ever. At least 10 years! There are fabric flowers and rosettes showing up everywhere lately and I really wanted to try it. I just cut a ragged strip of fabric and rolled it loosely in my hand, pinching the bottom a little. When it looked something like a flower, I stitched it in place with a few quick stitches. I thought it needed something in the center for contrast so I added a PTI lemon tart button. Same thing for the little buds, just smaller strips of fabric and no buttons. My technique definitely needs some honing, but I was pleased at how easy it was for decent results. Now, I want to try making a headband or embellishing a top or something!


Supplies: Stamps - Scattered Showers and Distressed Stripes, Papertrey Ink
Paper - Lemon Tart and Stamper's Select White by Papertrey Ink, Night of Navy by Stampin' Up!
Ink - Dandelion by Memento, Night of Navy by Stampin' Up!
Accents - navy and yellow plaid fabric, Lemon Tart button by Papertrey Ink, square punch, needle and thread