a sweet baby girl minibook for a sweet baby girl!

Apologies in advance for this looong post... hehe!  I have had soooo much fun working on this minibook project, and now I can share it since my brother and his wife have received it.  My original plan was to leave places for them to add the photos themselves, but I quickly decided that just wasn't going to work very well.  It's so much easier to put the page together when the photos are there to inspire the page design!  So I had them email me some of their favorite pictures, without telling them why (though I suspect that they were probably onto me, at least a little bit, lol ;).

With two boys of my own, it was such fun to get to work with this completely adorable line, Snuggle Bug Girl from My Little Yellow Bicycle.  It's such a cute line, and had everything I needed - paper, chipboard, rub-ons, cardstock stickers.  I used 7 Gypsies Book Boards as the base of my pages, and finally got to use my Zutter Bind-it-all for the first time!  I also used several Papertrey Ink stamps and dies throughout.

Here is the front cover (remember you can click on any image to see it larger).  The chipboard frame made a perfect focal point for the title.  I used the PTI eyelet lace border die to dress up the strip of patterned paper, and also stamped the paper behind the title with Fancy Flourishes.

The first pages are all about sweet baby Jessica's arrival!  My brother and his wife will fill in the journaling card (which is only adhered with temporary adhesive, so that they can remove it to fill it in).  I used more of the rub-ons here, that cute chipboard buggy-heart, and epoxy stickers.  Also PTI Sweet Blush ribbon and button.

Special time with Mommy and Daddy!  I cut the letters for "cuddle time" and "mommy" with my Pazzles.  Recognize some more PTI dies?  I used the new Limitless Layers eyelet circle (oh my gosh, I'm soooo glad I got those dies!) for a fun border on the "with daddy" title.  And Fillable Frames #5 and #7 really dressed up the "hugs & kisses" sticker to mat the other title - along with Polka Dot Basics 2 (just fyi - tricky to stamp in Versamark, lol, but I think it worked out!) and Fresh Alpha for the word "from".

Did you notice a few of those little bitty rub-ons, incorporated into the circles on the patterned paper on these pages?

Bathtime!  How cute is that little ducky?  That's a Creative Charms item, as are all of the little sparkly gems that you see here and there on these pages.  Also used the newest Fillable Frames die for the title tag, and the fun circle die again, layered with the MLYB circle, for the duck embellie.

 And the last page is just sort of a catch-all page, for some additional sweet, sweet pictures of that sweet little baby girl!  (reaching through my computer monitor now to HUG HER! :)  More rub-ons, stickers and chipboard from the line here.

The back cover, and some tied-on ribbons (mostly PTI), and the book is finished!

Enjoy it, sweet baby Jessica (oh, and her mommy and daddy too, hehe).  Aunt Debbie LOVES YOU! ♥

new baby card and fun gift card holder

I made this sweet little card for my brother and his wife, who just had their first baby - a beautiful little girl!  I love that flower border from PTI's All About You Additions, and I think the little butterfly from Baby Button Bits pairs with it so nicely.  I used the XL ric-rac border die to cut the "grass" from a scrap of WRMK (I think?) patterned paper.

With the card, I sent them a gift card in this fun little holder.  The papers are Bella Blvd., and all stamps are PTI (of course :).  The sentiment is from All About You, and the tag uses Fancy Flourishes to dress up the background, and is cut with Fillable Frames #4 Die.

It was fun to "engineer" how the holder would open/close.  I sewed the Sweet Blush button and the scallops (cut from Beautiful Blooms dies) directly to the white cardstock, which I punched with a circle punch to create the "notch" that fit perfectly under the button attachment.

Open it up, and there is a pocket attached to the inside with the gift card.  So cute!  I'll definitely be using this design again!

happy fall

Just a quick post to share a cute "happy fall" card I made for a fall themed card swap on the PTI forum recently.

I used the new PTI Fine Linen cardstock for the panel, and the Terracotta Tile felt with the Fillable Frames #5 die to mat the sentiment block.  I really love this adorable set, Falling Leaves. It's so easy to stamp a pretty little fall tree, and the quote was perfect to add a little pizazz to the inside of the card:

Creative Charms Deal of the Month... and I'M AN AUNT!

When I found out that the Creative Charms September Deal of the Month would have a boy option or a girl option, I just knew I wanted to make a gift for my brother and his wife, who were expecting their first baby, a little girl!  I decided on this altered photo frame.  (The photo in the frame is NOT my brand new niece, who just arrived on Saturday!  For purposes of photographing the project, I put a photo of my oldest son into the frame, for "display purposes" only, lol!)

There is so much fun stuff in this Deal of the Month!  I used some of the fun felt shapes from the "It's a Girl" felt pack, and I just love the fun brads that are also included.  I layered two of the brads along with buttons, die-cut paper and felt, to make these flower centers:

Along with the fun baby goodies in the Deal of the Month, I also used Pink Gradient Gems, a sparkled flower (which I replaced the center of with a pink gem), the fun polka dot ribbon, and the Gradient Pearls.

I also made a card to go with the gift, using another of the It's a Girl brads, more ribbon and a few more gradient gems. The bear from PTI's Baby Button Bits is colored with Copics.  The sentiment is from All About You.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects... thanks for taking a peek!

just the ticket birthday card

Just a quickie post - long overdue! - to share the birthday card I made for my brother with some new PTI goodies. OK, so the Just the Ticket set and die are actually from the July release, but this was my first project with them!  Also used A Little Argyle and Star Prints, and the Mat Stack 2 die.  I used the little star in Star Prints and the larger star from Around and About Sentiments to make the star design on the alternating tickets... I think it ties in nicely to the stars-in-oval design from the ticket set.

Thanks for peeking!

a big THANKS to Nichole Heady and the PTI team!

I'm so happy to be part of a "top secret" Blog Hop that was arranged by a couple of the ladies from the PTI forum (yay, Susan and Cathy)! We all wanted to show are heartfelt appreciation for Nichole and all that she, and the whole PTI team, do to give us such wonderful products and amazing inspiration every month! THANK YOU, NICHOLE! PTI rocks, and you all do a wonderful job!

Here is my card, using some of my newest PTI goodies:

It's a little hard to see, but I stamped a Text Style 2 background on the center circle:

The flowers are die-cut from some of my brand new PTI felt. Color combo is Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, and Hibiscus Burst, although the pink flower is Raspberry Fizz felt.

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to look in the PTI forum for the thread that contains links to all the other cards expressing our appreciation!

Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: PTI All About You; Fillable Frames 7; Polka Dot Basics II; Text Style II.
Ink: Fresh Snow, Hibiscus Burst; Memento Black; Versamagic Turquoise Gem
Cardstock: White, Hibiscus Burst, Harvest Gold
Misc: Bitty Dot 2009 patterned paper; Felt (Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz); Beautiful Blooms 2 dies; Hawaiian Shores button; Creative Charms gems; embroidery floss

4-card gift set and holder

Today I've put together a pretty little gift set of 4 cards.  I used a similar design on all four to tie the set together, but created them sort of in two pairs, incorporating some different elements in the focal point images.

I love this large flower stamp from Papertrey Ink's All About You, and it is just perfect for a Creative Charms gradient gem brad center!  I also added the fun fancy polka dot ribbon to give a finished look to the front panel (I really think I need this ribbon in every available color!) and added a little more bling to the sentiment with the gradient gem stickers.  I used Background Basics: Text Style II for the background of the focal point, and the background stamp from the Round & Round anniversary set for the panel.

The other pair of cards features the pretty flower grouping made up of vintage flower brads.  Again I added that adorable ribbon, this time in green, and the gradient gem stickers.  I used PTI Turning a New Leaf for the background panel, and also for the flower stem (by masking off the top and bottom of the stamp).

Finally a pretty little gift set needs some pretty packaging to give it in, don't you think?  So I re-purposed a plastic case that a PTI stamp set came in (perfect for this!) and added some embellishments to coordinate with the card set.  The die and stamp for the "just for you" tag are both from PTI's brand new release!

I love that the cards are visible through the packaging, and I think that pretty little vintage butterfly brad is just the right finishing touch!

I hope you've enjoyed this project and been inspired!  Have a wonderful, crafty and creative day!

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI All About You; Round & Round; Turning a New Leaf; All Booked Up; Text Style II.
Ink: Memento Brown; PTI Fresh Snow, Enchanted Evening, Spring Rain, Simply Chartreuse; Versamark
Cardstock: PTI White, Kraft, Spring Rain, Simply Chartreuse
Misc: Creative Charms gems,  brads,  ribbon; EK Success Border Punch; PTI Mat Stack 3 Die; Spellbinders Nestabilities Dies

a Papertrey Posse Triple Play!

Well, I've been a bit "awol" from the blog here, as life has really gotten in the way of my creative pursuits lately!  So, in order to make the most of the little crafting time I'm able to muster up, I decided to combine three - yes, three - Papertrey Posse challenges on one card!  I must say, I'm pretty darn proud of myself!  :)

The final Petite Challenge that Jessica posted in June was Fabulous Folds - create a card, layout or altered project using unique folding methods.  I even just recently picked up the Martha Stewart Scoring Board, so I was eager to try it out!  I kept it simple though and just did a simple gatefold card this time.

Our main July challenge presented by Amy is a color challenge, using PTI Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Melon Berry, and Dark Chocolate, or equivalents.  Here is the color scheme:

Finally, Amy's first Petite Challenge for this month is Back to the Beginning - tell us how you discovered PTI, what was your first stamp set, and then dust it off and put it to good use.  Well, I only discovered PTI in early May... and I think I actually stumbled across it purely by chance, when it popped up as a "suggested blog" shortly after I started using Google Reader!  The stamp set I used, from my very first ever PTI order, is Through the Trees.

OK, with all of the preliminaries and explanations out of the way, let's get to the card!

I added some patterned paper to the inside panels as well, to cover up the back of the stitching:

This is not my favorite card ever, but I'm happy with it and so glad that I was able to complete some of the great challenges posted by the Posse girls!  Thanks for the great inspiration, ladies!

And, a brief update note to my last post, albeit long overdue!  I'm so proud to share that my card for Mercy's MTSC80 was chosen by her as one of her five favorite - or a Magnificent Musing!  She does such great sketches, and I hope to get to participate in more of them in the future!

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!

new PTI and Mercy's sketch challenge!

Lookie lookie lookie! I finished a challenge AND took the photograph AND posted it on my blog before the challenge deadline! LOL! This is Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #80 (MTSC80). I modified the sketch (see below) to create a landscape orientation for the card.

My 9 year old saw me coloring in that new PTI rose image with Copics and said "ooohhh, that looks good Mom... it looks like something on Google images!" LOL! I think that's a compliment, or at least, I'm going to take it as one!  I used a stamp from the new Library Ledger set vertically with Versamark for the stripes on the background panel.  I love how the Creative Charms gems add some fun sparkle to this card!

Here is the sketch:

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI YOF: Rose; Library Ledger; Text Style; Birthday Basics
Ink: Memento Brown; PTI Hibiscus Burst; Versamark
Cardstock: PTI White, Kraft, Spring Rain, Simply Chartreuse
Misc: Creative Charms gems & brad; Fiskars Border Punch; PTI Butterfly Die; PTI Spring Rain ribbon; Copics

Check out Creative Charms July Deal of the Month!

Another great Deal of the Month is available over at Creative Charms!  It is full of beachy, summery fun. Bright oranges and greens with touches of blue will make you believe you are at the beach with the sand between your toes. These great embellisments are perfect for time at the pool, running through the sprinklers and of course the beach.

This great deal would normally sell for $23, but for this month only it is $6.99. That is a 70% discount. Go to http://www.creativecharms.com/ to get yours now. Here is what is included:

• Green & White Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon (18")
• Green Pure Blossoms (9 pcs)
• Green Gradient Gem Stickers (76 pcs)
• Orange Spring Medley (20 pcs)
• Orange Sunburst Daisy (5 pcs)
• Orange Groovy Petals (4 pcs)
• Amber & Green Gem Brads (12 pcs)
• Summer Medley (21 pcs)
• Assorted Beach & Summer Brads (19 pcs)

 Don't miss out! :)

wonderful friend

Just a quickie post today, with another Lily of the Valley card. I think I was following a sketch with this one, but for the life of me, I can't find it now (I've searched and searched through my Google Reader!). If anyone recognizes the design from a recent sketch somewhere, please let me know, LOL!

UPDATED TO ADD: the sketch I used was MTSC79 from Mercy Kerin!  Great sketch, and wonderful inspiration on the Lord Have Mercy blog!  Big thanks to Suzanne for figuring it out for me, LOL!

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI YOF: Lily of the Valley, Take 3: Summer
Ink: Memento Black
Cardstock: PTI White, Summer Sunrise
Patterned Paper: Prima
Misc: buttons; embroidery floss; Copics

happy birthday from a bizzy little bee!

I've been eager to share this card! It's my first one with the new All About You and All About You Additions set from the PTI June release. Ahhhhh, I love this set! I can tell you right now that it will see a lot of ink.

Flowers are colored with Copic, and cardstock is Summer Sunrise and Orange Zest.  I stamped the scalloped border with the grid design from Background Basics: Geometrics.  The sweet little bee is paper pieced and I bent his wings up just a smidge to add some dimension.  The "Happy Birthday to" is stamped between the lines from the new Library Ledger set.  I was so proud of myself for noticing how the words would fit there, and thought I had made a brilliant discovery.  Then I found a card in the DT gallery where one of them had done the same thing, lol... so I might have seen it and then just forgotten about it!  ;)

I hope you enjoy!  Have a wonderful and creative day!

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI All About You & Additions, Library Ledger
Ink: Memento Black, PTI Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest
Cardstock: PTI White, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest
Misc: Creative Charms Gradient Gems; Copics

my FIRST PTI blog hop!!

Woohoo! I'm excited - this is my first time to participate in the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! The June Blog Hop challenge is to work with a favorite Papertrey Ink color combination. I came up with a lot of different fun color combos - in fact, the birthday card for my dad that was in my last post was originally a potential blog hop project. ;) Soooo, here is the color combo that I will highlight tonight:

I love the richness of the brown and orange, and the simply chartreuse is just the perfect green to work with them!  So, here is my card:

I used my new Outlines Alphabet and colored the letters with Copics from the Terracotta Tile and Simply Chartreuse trios.  I also tried a tip from Nichole's blog and colored some white ribbon with Copics, but then I ended up almost completely covering it up, LOL!  I found some brads in my stash that also coordinated well with this color combo, and thought they made a nice addition.

By the way, just to share it - here is the color combo from Dad's birthday card, in my last post:

I'm off to hop to some blogs!!  Be sure to check out everyone's great projects that will be linked up on Nichole's Blog tonight, starting at 8:00pm Eastern!

Happy Birthday to my daddy!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday, and now that I know he has seen his card I can share it! :)  I've been inking up A Little Argyle from PTI and am starting to feel a little bit more comfortable with it.  Also used Polka Dot Basics 2 on this one, and one of my new faves, Outline Alphabet, which I colored with Copics.

The sentiment is from Birthday Basics, but I cut it apart to align it the way I wanted it. The sentiment circle is popped up with foam adhesive.

Added a few brads, and good to go!  I LOVE YOU DADDY!  Happy Birthday!  ♥


Supplies:
Stamps: PTI A Little Argyle, Polka Dot Basics 2, Birthday Basics, Outline Alphabet
Ink: Memento Tangelo, PTI Fresh Snow, Enchanted Evening, Orange Zest
Cardstock: PTI Simply Chartreuse, white, Orange Zest, Enchanted Evening
Misc: Stampin Up border punch; Fiskars border punch; brads; Copics

still lovin' Lily of the Valley

I can't wait to get my hands on PTI's newest set in the Year of Flowers series, but until my June release order arrives, I'm still having plenty of fun with Lily of the Valley!  I just loving coloring this image in with Copics.  Here is a card I made a few days ago:

The base cardstock is orange, not quite as "coral" as it looks in this photo (it's a Bazzill smoothie).  Cutting the focal point so that the image would extend past the edges was inspired by something I saw on someone's blog, but I'm sorry to say that I can't remember where I saw it!  Once the image was colored in, this card came together very quickly.  And of course, the little Creative Charms Gradient Gems are always a perfect finishing touch!

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI YOF: Lily of the Valley, Background Basics Geometrics
Ink: Memento Black, PTI Fresh Snow
Cardstock: PTI Simply Chartreuse, white; Bazzill orange
Misc: Creative Charms gems, Copics, ribbon, button,  embroidery floss