gobble up these little favor boxes!

I'm so excited to share these fun little Thanksgiving-themed favor boxes that I made!  Some friend invited us over for a day-after-Thanksgiving dinner, so I put these together for each person.

I used Papertrey Ink's Gobble, Gobble stamp set and coordinating dies for the turkeys and the sentiment.  Also used the new Mat Stack 1 collection set and Mat Stack 1 die for the focal point panel, and I used different impression plates to texture each of the panels (woodgrain, diamond, canvas/linen).  The cardstock colors are Kraft, Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate and Orange zest, and I used a variety of bits of patterned papers to cut the tailfeathers.  Each box if filled with a baggie that has some Andes Mints and Hershey Kisses in it, and tied with PTI ribbon.

I created the favor box itself by designing a cutting file for my Pazzles!  It's designed to cut from one 8.5"x11" piece of cardstock, but could certainly be resized.  The wpc cutting file for the box can be downloaded here.  (Edited to add: there was a problem with the download link, and I've concluded that it was because I was trying to host the file on Google Docs, which apparently only allows certain file types.  I've moved the file to Mediafire, and am hopeful that it will work now!)  Here are close-ups of a few of the boxes:

And here is the back of the box, just to show the shape of the cutting file:

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop!

The challenge for Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop Challenge is "Tag Time: Design a holiday tag or two using all of your favorite goodies and share it with all of us!  We will all have plenty of inspiration to create a large stash and try to get ahead of the hustle and bustle of the season!"  PERFECT!  I was already enjoying making some pretty holiday tags to really dress up the gifts this year.  Here are the ones I created just for the hop:

I used Tiny Treats: Christmas (oh, how I ADORE these little images, and coloring them with Copics!), Background Basic: Christmas (the Christmas text background is SO SWEET!), the postmark from 2010 Holiday Tags, and of course Tag Sale 1 & 2 dies and Limitless Layers.  Colors included are Pure Poppy, Pinefeather, Kraft and Blueberry Sky, and ribbons are also PTI.  I can't wait to make some more of these!

Thanks for looking!

a Merry Little Christmas card!

I finally got a chance to ink up PTI's Merry Little Christmas set, and made my first Christmas card!  Once I stamped the tree, I pondered for a bit about what image I wanted to hang from the branch - and then I pulled out Holiday Spirit Sentiments and had the stroke of pure genius (lol) to hang the "merry" letters, like little blocks!  I love how it turned out.

The background paper is from the Echo Park Merry Christmas line (ooooh, how love this line!), and the "to you" are from the Verve Merry Wishes set.  I used the canvas/linen impression plate on the Vintage Cream focal point panel (linen) and also on the Kraft mat panel (canvas). I decided not to be lazy on this one and finished the inside too, with a sentiment from Verve Richly Blessed:

Thanks for looking!

it's beginning to look a lot like........

I have been having some fun with my new goodies from Papertrey Ink's October Release! I spent a good couple of afternoons making these super-fun and pretty Christmas tags, but I think if I make some more it will go much more quickly (now that I have a "feel" for them!). I just love how they turned out, and it will be fun to use them to pretty up some gifts this year!

I started by using Tiny Treats: Christmas (be still my heart!) to stamp a few of the sweet little images and colored them with Copics, and also did a few images from 2010 Holiday Tags. I cut a bunch of tags with with Tag Sale 1 & 2 dies from PTI cardstock (kraft, Blueberry Sky, Pure Poppy and Pinefeather), then a bunch of mats with the Limitless Layers dies, some border strips with punches - all from the same group of colors.  Then I started to assemble the tags, using a variety of background stamps (can you tell how much I LOVE that text background in Background Basics: Christmas??) and added some patterned paper from a Bo Bunny Christmas line (wish I had more of it - the colors match beautifully with the PTI colors!).  Added ribbons, and a "to/from" stamp on the back of the tag, and here they are!

Oh my gosh, how STINKIN' CUTE are those Tiny Treats images?? I want to go color some more RIGHT NOW! :) Thanks for looking! :)

may the Lord bless you

Just a quick post to share a card that I did a while back, but hasn't made it to the blog yet!  I used PTI Up, Up and Away, Everyday Blessings for the sentiment, and for the sun I used a flower center from All About You, just for a fun and different look from the stamp that comes in Up, Up and Away.  The "grass" is cut with a border punch and stamped with Background Basics: Geometrics, then the front layer (as well as the clouds) are popped up with foam adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

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! :)