Make it Monday, #43

I am playing along again with this week's Make-it-Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink. Dawn McVey gave us a great tutorial on ribbon pleating. I have always wanted to try this technique, so I was excited to give it a try.

I broke out my Create a Critter cartridge and die cut the adorable turtle and glittered up her shell. I added my ribbon pleating with Raspberry Fizz saddle stitch and finished it off with a Hawaiian Shores flower button. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I don't think I could ever get tired of embossing with white. It really stands out and gives my little sentiment a bit of boldness. Thanks for looking!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #29, part 2

Today's card is another CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. I am playing along again with last week's sketch challenge. I really love the simplicity of this sketch and I know that I will use it again and again.

I inked up PTI's Botanical Silhouettes with Pure Poppy and Spring Moss and the sentiment in True Black. I love how the Pure Poppy really makes a statement on a simple card. Love these CAS challenges. Thanks for looking!

Blog header gift bags

There have been a few questions about my blog header and I have finally gotten around to posting about it. Actually, it took a trip to my sister's house over the Thanksgiving holiday to take pictures of these gift bags. I never did snap a photo of them myself, so the only photo I had of them was the one my sister snapped while they were sitting pretty on the ledge. I realize that I could've recreated these babies with my supplies at home, but I really do try to create with a purpose and really didn't want to have two gift bags hanging around my craft room.

I had created 7 of them for my daughter's cousins and friends that attended her 4th birthday party: pink for the girls and blue for the boys. To start, I scored the tops of all of the bags so I could figure out how long my solid cardstock needed to be to cover the raw edge in the back. Then I used my PTI edgers #1 die on the Raspberry Fizz and Hawaiian Shores cardstock. I scored it to cover the raw edge in the back while having enough to fold over the top for the front. I filled the bags with party favors and then stapled it closed using my Tim Holtz tiny attacher. Then I applied adhesive on the edges of the back of my die cut cardstock using my ATG to hold it firmly in place. (The two bags in the photos were aleady opened by my niece and nephew.)

The last step was applying my tag to the front using foam adhesive. There were a few subtle differences with the bag toppers.  I cut Spring Moss cardstock with my Tag Sale #3 die for the girls while I used Simply Chartruese for the boys. I also used my Martha Stewart 2 way glue pen on the Tag-its #2 stamped image and sprinkled it with Martha Stewart coarse glitter for the girls as well. The ribbon tag toppers were created using this technique by Mailes Belles. Ever since I came across this tutorial, I have been hooked! I used Raspberry Fizz Swiss Dots for the girls and Hawaiian Shores Saddle Stitch for the boys. I hope this answers some of your questions. Thanks for looking!

PTI November Blog Hop

It is that time of the month again over at Paperytrey Ink. This month's inspirational photo shouts Christmas and the holidays. I think many fellow stampers will be participating. I love the toile, gingham, ribbon and snowflakes. I was pretty much inspired by the entire photo. I focused on the colors of red, green and cream and the beautiful bows.

I created a CAS card using only Fillable Frames #10, Signature Christmas and Fancy Flourishes. I used my Linen impression plate on Spring Moss cardstock, matted with Pure Poppy. Finished it off with a Pure Poppy swiss dots bow. Thanks for looking and enjoy the hop!



Happy Thanksgiving and Make-it-Monday #42

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for, so today's card that I am sharing is a simple Thank you card.

I am playing along again with this week's Make it Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink. The talented Besty Veldman created a layered background using sentiment stamps. I was hoping to use another MIM challenge to create more Christmas cards, but this technique seemed to lend itself to a distressed look. I am sure I could come up with a more CAS card if I tried.

I broke out my Tim Holtz edge distresser and used my Antique Linen dye ink with blending tool to distress and soften the edges. I chose some thank you sentiments to stamp randomly in the background and I used Antique Linen and my old pigment ink in Spring Moss. I had used it so much that it has just the right amount of ink left in it to create some subtle stamping. Perfect for this look. The flower image is from the 2010 PTI Anniversary set Botanical Silhouettes stamped in the new Aqua Mist and Spring Moss dye inks. This is the first card that I created with this set and there will be many more to come. I love it! I finished it off with a bow of wrinkle ribbon and a button.

Play Date Cafe Challenge #108

This is my first time playing along with the Play Date Cafe Challenge. I wouldn't normally gravitate towards these colors since I have a tendency towards pink, blue and green (couldn't tell by my blog header, could ya?). But I thought these colors were a perfect opportunity to create a masculine card.

Maroon...Copper...Tumeric

I CASED this card (scroll down towards the bottom) from Nichole. There are some differences, but what I loved about her card is that the colors lean towards a masculine card. I already know who will be the recepient of this card and their birthday is still quite a few months away. Thank you, Play Date Cafe!



Make-it-Monday, #41

This week's Make it Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink is Tips on using your essential glue pad. I have wanted a glue pad for some time now to be able to glitter up my stamped images. The first time I attempted this technique was with versamark a while back as a new stamper. That was when I realized that I needed a glue pad to do this. Well, now I have finally purchased one and put it to use today.

I used Martha Stewart fine glitter tourmaline and stamped an image from Heart Prints. It was the closest match to Raspberry Fizz. There was another Make it Monday technique challenge back in February using Scor tape to create glitter strips. I added that above and below my strip of cardstock. I finished it off with a sentiment from the same stamp set.

Pages with Papertrey Challenge 11/1/11 and sketch

This month the challenge for Pages with Papertrey over at the PTI forums it to embellish a sticker with PTI goodness. A rather simple task, unless you are working on something more masculine (in my opinion).

Here is the mid month sketch challenge that Leigh put out for us. She does a fabulous job with these sketches. I rotated mine and did a mirror image. I ended up combining theses two challenges onto one layout.

I am using the Becky Higgins Sweet Baby kit for my son's baby album. I am rather thrilled that I have even started it since he is only 4 months old. Almost a month ago, we finalized his adoption, so I figured I would start with these pages of the kit.  The "baby" sticker from the kit I attached to the metal page clip, also from the kit. I die cut Simply Chartruese felt with my circle nestie and layered it behind it. I know that there is not a lot of embellishment going on with my sticker, but you can't really add flowers and tulle to this page.

I did blur out my son's last name where you see the space between his name and finalization date.

Here is the first part of the two page layout.

I did try to put my sticker embellishment on this page, but it just didn't work out. Please don't be too hard on me about not having my journaling card filled out yet. I will get to the journaling, I promise.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #29

I am playing along again with this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. This week is a sketch challenge.

I inked up Background Basics: Sheet Music for the first time. It is perfect for the holidays. I attached it to the card base with foam adhesive. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. I love how it looks against the enchanted evening cardstock. It is so pretty.

Lunch box thank-you

My son received a special little gift from one of his teachers at his daycare. So I decided to send her a little thank you card using my Lunchbox die from Papertrey Ink. It is perfect for these occassions. I inked up my Anniversary set 2010 for the first time. I know, I know, why did I even wait this long for it to see ink? It is such a beautiful set that you will definitely see again.

The spring moss cardstock was cut with my limitless layers "victorian die" and made a lazy stamper accordian medallion using this technique from Nichole's blog. I attached it using a thick piece of foam tape between the circle and the medallion as well as the medallion and the lunchbox die. Thanks for looking!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #28, part 2

I have another tag to share with you for the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge. As I mentioned before, I am attempting to get ready for Christmas as soon as possible to avoid the stress that  accompanies the holidays. This tag I created with Tag Sale #3 die from Papertrey Ink and the raindeer image from the Create a Critter cartridge. This cartridge is really perfect for creating cards and tags for children like this one. This tag will adorn the gifts that I purchase for my nieces and nephew.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #28

I am playing along again with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

This week's challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays is to create a tag or a project with a tag. This was right up my alley since I am still making Christmas tags for presents.  I fell in love with Papertrey Ink's Make-it-Monday technique of creating thick chipboard accents. So this little tag has a chipboard snowflake die that was heat embossed with red glitter embossing powder. Love that stuff for Christmas and Valentine's Day. I also added some of my red glittery powder to my circle for more sparkle.

Stay tuned. If time permits, there may be one or two more tags to follow.



Make it Monday #40, part 2

Today I have another Make-it-Monday card to share with you. This time I was trying to be brave and use red thread for my machine stitiching for the reverse applique technique. Try not to look too closely, it proved much harder than stitching around a circle. I still have quite a bit of patterned paper from Holiday Vintage Prints which is what I placed behind my cut out frame from Fillable Frames #4. I added a snowflake die that was heat embossed with my red glitter embossing powder. The sentiment is also heat embossed with white powder. I really love how it stands out. I also popped up the white card front with foam adhesive.

Make it Monday, #40

Today's card showcases this week's Make-it-Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink: Reverse applique. I wanted to create a simple card, but it had quite a few steps to get to the end result. I wanted to keep my stitching simple and chose to sew around a punched circle. It's not as easy as it looks to sew a perfect circle, but I am happy with the results. I heat embossed my sentiment and attached the banner strip to the card front. Then I carefully punched it out again. I applied my scrap patterned paper from Holiday Vintage Prints. I finished off the "applique" with a heat embossed die cut snowflake attached with foam adhesive.

This is my first Christmas card for this year. I still have many more to make. For those family members that read my blog, you may see this card again when Christmas arrives.

You're too kind

Today I thought I would share a card that I made a long time ago. Actually, it was over a year ago. When I finally had my daughter's first hair cut at the age of 3, I gave my stylist a thank-you card. Since I had my supplies out, I made the same card twice. This one sits displayed on one of my Expedit shelves in my craftroom. I CASED it from this card made by Debby over at limedoodle. She is a fabulous crafter and full of inspiration. I love her style!

Fall banner

Now that November has sneaked up on us, I have finally put together my Fall banner. I purchased Boxy Banner dies with the intention to make Birthday banners for my kiddos as well as the holidays. So, although Halloween came and went without a banner, I have created a banner that can hang for the entire autumn season.

I used Dark Chocolate cardstock for the base and the patterned paper is from Pretty Pastels. I die cut Summer Sunrise carstock with the Banner Borders die and used my Cricut to die cut the letters from my Alphalicious cartridge. I had a few attempts at adding some leaves from my Turning a New Leaf die, but I just wasn't liking it. As it turns out, my leaf garland that I picked up at Joanns for 70% would've hidden them any way.

This picture ledge hangs on the wall between our foyer and living room. Our son, who will be 4 months old very soon, will eventually have his photos up along side his sister's. Just in case your are wondering, her ages from left to right: 7 months, 17 months, 3 years and the cut off photo 2 years.

Team Gina

Tonight's post is nothing crafty... but I wanted to share something personal. Rather, my twin sister who entered the blog world way before me has shared this story for me, first here and here and most recently here. I simply ask for your thoughts and prayers for my dear friend, Gina and her family.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #27

So, after visiting some of my favorite blogs this morning, I decided that I would participate in my first CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

I used the sentiment panel that I didn't end up using from this card. I wrapped the card front with Pure Poppy Baker's twine and finished the sentiment panel with a rhinestone for a little bling. TFL!

Make it Monday, #39

I was able to participate in another Make it Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink. This time we were challenged to use multiple stamps to create our own custom background that could be mistaken for designer paper. The more I thought about the challenge and the stamps I own, I kept falling back to similar ones that Nichole used for her card.

Since I am loving my new PTI premium dye inks, I chose to stamp Turning a New Leaf with Aqua Mist. I have been wanting to pair up Aqua Mist with Pure Poppy for so long, so I chose one of the flowers from Beautiful Blooms II for a splash of pop. The sentiment and frame are from Fillable Frames #10 popped up with foam adhesive. I stamped the same smaller bloom in Aqua Mist and topped it off with a black brad. The ribbon knot is saddle stitch in Pure Poppy. Boy, do I love this ribbon!!! It was all attached to a Pure Poppy card base.