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

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

Been Awhile

Hey there! Long time no see. We've been busy. Lots of coming and going and trips to the park and not sleeping at night and planting flowers and learning to crawl busy! :) I'm going to work on updating more often!

Here's a card I made for the inspiration challenge this week on StampTV. (If you haven't joined, do it now! It's free!) This card uses the super cute Tech Talk set by Melanie Muenchinger that I got from my super awesome mom who gives me GinaK stamps at the holidays! Thanks Mom! Add in some lemon tart cardstock, probably one of my favorite colors ever, from Papertrey, cardstock rickrack, and some My Minds Eye paper I've had forever and it's a card!

I hear someone fussing so I should go. I'll try not to be a stranger. :)

Supplies -
Stamps: GinaK Tech Talk
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Papertrey Lemon Tart, Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red, Georgia-Pacific White, My Minds Eye paper Wild Asparagus stack
Accessories: Papertrey rickrack die, copics, pop dots