a lesson in paying attention to deadlines!

I had been wanting to play along with Verve's January Diva Dare this month, ever since the DT posts started! The dare was to "make a card, project, layout, or whatever fits your stamping style using this month's theme - Baby Love!" PERFECT, especially since I just got some of the new January release stamps, which include some sweet baby and love themed images! I just could not wait to play with the sweet little Emory Plain Jane, which I paired with a sentiment from To The Moon.

The only problem is, it turns out that the deadline to post and enter was LAST NIGHT at midnight, not TONIGHT! WAAHHH!! And the real kick in the pants is that I had this card finished yesterday, but just got around to taking pics today - thinking that I had until tonight to enter. Ah well... lesson learned! But here is my card anyway!

I originally was looking forward to coloring Emery with Copics, but when I sat down to pick out colors, it turns out (hard as it is to believe, HAH!) that I didn't have the right combination of Copics for Emery's sweet, soft and delicate look. I need to get some more lighter shades (00's and 000's) for the really soft blending that Emery deserves! :) So instead, I stamped the cutie-patootie several times on some pretty gingham October Afternoon paper, cut them out and popped up his arms and head for a cool 3D effect. I really love how it turned out (but yeah, I still need some more Copics, dontcha think?? ;)

The colors are PTI Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist and Harvest Gold.  I die-cut the teeny little heart with the PTI Love Lives Here butterfly die (tip: add double-sided tape to the back of the paper before you cut, for easy adhering!).  I colored the 3 rhinestones with my Copics to match the color scheme, and I also used the January Week 4 Viva La Verve sketch!

Thanks for looking! (And I will try to be more timely next time!!)

Papertrey Ink January Blog Hop!

It's been a couple of months since I actually got a project finished, to take part in the PTI Blog Hop!  YAY, ME!  :)  Here is the challenge for this month's hop: "This month's blog hop challenge involves you challenging yourself to use a Papertrey stamp set that has yet to see ink or even one that might be collecting a little dust! Go through your stash and see what little used treasure it might hold."  What a great challenge, Nichole!  I definitely have some sets that have not seen the love that they deserve!  So here is my card:

I have had Out on a Limb in my stash for MONTHS, but had yet to ink it up!  What a great, versatile set.  I'm sure to reach for it more often now!  And Wise Owl was one of the first PTI sets that I purchased!  I have used it before, but not in a while - so it was definitely in the "collecting dust" category.  :)  So unfair, as that little owl is just THE CUTEST, isn't he?  I stamped and colored him separately and cut him out, then popped him up on the card base.

Also used here the Polka Dot impression plate (love it!!) and the Banner Builder set.  Also loooooving my new Lacey Circles nesties that I got for Christmas!  ♥  PTI colors are Blueberry Sky, Summer Sunrise (love that color, and even it is underused from my stash!!) and Simply Chartruese.

Click the Blog Hop logo below to go to the link page on Nichole's blog, for an AMAZING amount of PTI inspiration! You can link up your own creation for the hop up until 11:00pm tonight, January 25, for a chance to win your choice of a PTI stamp set!

 

Thanks for looking, and enjoy the hop!

a colorful happy birthday card

Just a quick post... I wanted to share this bright and cheery (I hope!) birthday card! I used PTI's Take Three die, which I really want to try to utilize more. I've seen some awesome cards, using the die to create a "window" effect, which is obviously not what I did here, lol.

But, I'm still happy with how this came out. I also used one of the Banner Border dies - these are such a fun and easy accent for a card!  The stamps are YOF: Lily of the Valley, colored with Copics in colors to match the Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst, and Spring Rain cardstock; and the Sheet Music Background stamp.  The sentiment is a combination of PTI ("happy birthday") and Verve.

Thanks for looking!

catching up with the Posse + CPS201

Since I am sooooo late posting these cards that I actually finished (yay me!) for the Papertrey Posse's January challenges, I am going to get them both posted at once!  Also, the 2nd card below is for the CPS #201 challenge - be sure to check it out, what a great sketch!

First, for the January Petite Posse challenge, Sarah challenged us to make a one-layer card. Now I should day, I am terribly intimidated by one-layer cards! I see some on other blogs that I LOVE, but I never seem to know what to do with only one layer to work with! ACK! So here is my attempt:

I used PTI's Fillable Frame #4, and after stamping it I die-cut it from a post-it note to use as a mask, and then stamped my background with Turning a New Leaf.  The lower part of the panel is a grid background stamp that I recently got from Market Street Stamps. I finished things off with a bit of ribbon, Creative Charm gems, a button and some twine.

Next, for the main January challenge, Sarah challenged us to use a black base or background for our card.  I paired my true black background panel (embossed with the Sunshine Impression Plate) with Simply Chartruese and Harvest Gold.  Since I have had the YOF: Gladiolus for quite a while but haven't used them much, I tried to do a tone-on-tone effect for the main image/sentiment panel, just shading the inner parts of the flowers with a Copic marker.  The black gemstones are from Creative Charms.

I also used the CPS #201 sketch for this card! What a fun and inspiring sketch, I think I might have ot use it again.

Thanks for looking, and a BIG thanks to Sarah for the great challenges!

just a quick little card

I find it hard, it seems, to do a card without feeling like the whole canvas of the card has to be "loaded up".  I find myself thinking "I need a pattern there" or "I should add some texture here".  So this card was my attempt to KISS (keep it simple, stupid! ;) and let the card have a little of white space, and a more basic design:

I used PTI's Sheet Music Background, Polka Dot Basics 2, Beautiful Blooms dies, and the leaves are from the YOF: Rose set.  The sentiment is a Verve stamp.  Thanks for looking!  :)

Mojo Monday 173

Just a quickie post to share my take on the latest Mojo Monday sketch. I used a wonderful Verve sentiment that fit perfectly inside the PTI Fillable Frame #10, which is then popped up on the card front. The 3 butterflies are punched (Martha Stewart punch) from Orange Zest and Enchanted Evening PTI cardstock. 

Thanks for looking!

CPS 200 - sympathy card

The CPS sketch this week is really nice, very versatile.  I was glad to have it to help me with this sympathy card, which will unfortunately be getting used right away for a family friend whose father passed away a couple of days ago. 

I used PTI YOF: Lily of the Valley, Turning a New Leaf, and Round and Round, along with the "thinking of you" sentiment from Verve.  I dusted off my heat tool and heat-embossed the leaf image on the background, something I rarely do.  I love how it turned out though. Also used the eyelet border die and the woodgrain impression plate.

Here is the original sketch, and thanks for looking!

a non-traditional Christmas look

Just a really quick post to share a bookmark and gift holder that I made for a little girl who is a family friend, for Christmas. The gift card was to Borders bookstore, so I thought it definitely needed a bookmark to go with it! I made the bookmark first, and I liked the colors so much that I stuck with the same theme for the gift card holder, even though the colors were not typical for Christmas.

Of course, it's pretty much all PTI. :) Colored the little Tiny Treats image with Copics, and used All Booked Up for the bookmark. Thanks for looking!

Happy 10th Birthday to my big boy!

I now have a child in double-digits! Ryan turns TEN today! It's so hard to believe.  Of course, I had to make a special card for him... boyish, not TOO juvenile, but still fun and cute!  YES, he is NOT too old for CUTE!  Hmmph!  :)  So I inked up PTI's Fly Away (which I've had for a while, but had yet to use!) and combined it with Up Up and Away (still totally a favorite set, between the clouds, the balloons and the rainbow, there are soooooo many uses for it!) to come up with this cutie for my cutie:

The plane and the balloons are colored with Copics, and I popped up two of the clouds and one of the balloons for added dimension and depth. I also ran the clouds through the Sunshine impression plate for that added bit of pizazz.

Thanks for looking!

sympathy card with Flutterby Friend

Just a quick post to share a sympathy card.

I used Flutterby Friend, coloring the butterflies with Copics and paper piecing them.  The outside sentiment is from Everyday Blessings, and fit perfectly in Fillable Frames #10. I finished the inside with two sentiments from Through the Trees, and one more subtle little butterfly.

Thanks for looking!

another Mojo Monday 172!

Well, like I said in my last post (where you can also see the sketch), I had some more ideas for the latest Mojo Monday challenge!  This card took me way longer than I had planned, mostly because I struggled with getting the little flower-in-the-circle just right (started off with a whole different flower stamp, in fact!).  But I'm happy with the end result.

The flower is Verve - Many Blessings, which I colored with Copics and paper pieced and popped up the inner row of petals, and also added a bit of Glossy Accents to the center.  The butterfly is from PTI's Love Lives Here, both the stamp and the coordinating die on the smaller one, and the larger one is the Signature Series butterfly die.  The leaves are Turning a New Leaf, which I stamped and then hand-cut.  Sentiment is Make a Wish, and I added an inside sentiment from the same set.

Thanks for looking!

Mojo Monday 172 with Verve & PTI!

I actually got a chance to play along with the Mojo Monday challenge this week, yay!  What a fun sketch, and I just got an order of new Verve stamps a few days ago, so I combined a beautiful verse with some PTI elements from Up, Up and Away (still one of my favorite sets, and I got the cloud dies for Christmas!).  I'm happy with the result!

PTI colors are Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse and Harvest Gold.  I'm not sure if I'm finished with this sketch yet!  I have at least two other ideas swirling in my head!  :)

Thanks for looking!  Here is the original sketch:

little bitty bird sends birthday wishes

Here is my first card with PTI's new Little Bitty Bird set. I love this set, those little birds are so cute! And with the matching dies, so easy to pull the card together.  The sentiment is from Round and Round, and I also used the banner border die, and the grass from Love Lives Here (another awesome new set, I really need to ink up the rest of it! :)

I colored the tree leaves with Copics, and the patterned paper is October Afternoon. Thanks for looking!

CPS 199 with PTI Make a Wish

I really liked the sketch for the CPS challenge this week - you can find it here (or see sketch below). For my take on it, I modified from a square card to an A2 size card, and inked up my new Papertrey Ink Make a Wish and Additions sets.

I also used the Make a Wish dies, and did the text panel with the "happy birthday" line from Around and About Sentiments.  The middle gift is popped up with a foam dimensional adhesive.  The background panel is embossed with the Sunshine impression plate.  PTI colors are Orange Zest, Spring Rain, Simply Chartreuse, and Harvest Gold.

Here is the original sketch:

Thanks for looking!

some school Christmas gifts and tags

I wanted to share the things I made for the boys' school Christmas parties. First of all, Ryan's 4th grade class room moms had a BRILLIANT idea this year! Instead of sending in 24 goodie bags for everyone in the class, they organized a Secret Santa exchange among the kids. Ryan was SS to Sarah, and we put together a little bag with a few treats and some lip gloss, and I made this tag for the bag:

There was a $5 limit on the gift, but I figure handmade stuff doesn't count, right? ;) So I added this little bookmark for Sarah. I had been wanting to use All Booked Up for a while anyway!

Then, for both of the boys' teachers, I had Panera's gift cards, but I wanted to make a snazzy little gift card holder for them. After some searches on the PTI forum, I found Stephanie's adorable design for a gift card holder here, which she originally found on Sue Ann's blog here. There is soooo much talent on the PTI forum, I swear I never have to go anywhere else for inspiration! So anyway, here are the holders I came up with... the colors look a bit "off" in the photos.

When you untie the little ribbon, the gift card is found inside snuggly tucked into the pocket created by die-cutting the Nestabilities shape right on the score line, and then taping the back edge of the inner panels together. So easy, and the front can be decorated for any occasion! How cute are THESE!?!

Thanks for looking! I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and Happy New Year!