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!

altered printer tray

I've been so excited to share this, but had to wait until I was sure that my brother and his wife had opened their Christmas gifts! I am so happy with how this turned out. They had their first baby in September, my sweet little niece Jessica.  I wanted to make them a gift that represented how their "family story" has taken shape over the past year.

I got the tray from Altered Angel, and was inspired by this similar project from my very talented friend Chris Hertel. I wish I could take credit for the awesome photos, but with the exception of the two wedding pictures in the top row (which I took), the rest of the pictures were taken by my sister-in-law's sister Linda Hoang, a truly gifted photographer!  Big thanks to Linda for allowing me to use them!

Here are a couple of close-ups.

Supplies are listed below... hopefully I didn't forget anything, but I probably did.  :)  Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Papertrey Ink:  
- Dies: Mat Stack 1, Mat Stack 3, Limitless Layers, Butterfly, Signature Series Butterfly.
- Impression Plates: Woodgrain, Diamond, Canvas/Linen. Stamps: Background Basics Text Style 2, Tiny Treats Christmas.
- Misc. buttons.
Other:  Printer Tray (7 Gypsies); Gems (Creative Charms); Bingo Card (Jenni Bowlin); Patterned Paper (Pink Paislee, Echo Park); Bookplate (Tim Holtz); Chipboard word, house stamp (Maya Road); Border punch (Fiskers).

my Top Ten Cards of 2010!

A number of stamping bloggers have been posting their own favorites - their Top Ten Cards of 2010!  I thought this would be fun, even though I really only got into stamping and cardmaking last spring, so I figured I'd join in.  A couple of these are very recent, but it was fun to look back over my blog for the past year and find some of my favorites to re-share!  :)  So, in no particular order, here they are.  Each title links to the original post with that card.  Thanks for looking!

peace within

a special wedding card

 

on your birthday

welcome little one

you're a super dad 

merry little christmas card

many thanks

congratulations 

happy birthday to you 

happy birthday

a very special wedding card

Today I wanted to share this wedding card that I made for some friends of ours who married last week:

This was such a special wedding, and one that I was so happy to be a part of! What made it so special is that this couple were previously married, have a son, and divorced several years ago. But God lead them back to each other! How wonderful - in this day when so many families fall apart - to see one be put back together. Especially during the Christmas season, an extra dose of joy!

I used PTI's YOF: Roses and hand-colored with Copics.  Cardstock colors are Pure Poppy and Kraft.  The gems on the sentiment panel are from Creative Charms.

Thanks for looking! 

musical notes

I was so happy that my December PTI order came so quickly! I was able to use the new Background Basics: Sheet Music set to put together this set of 6 notecards for Ryan's piano teacher.

The colors are Simply Chartreuse, Pure Poppy and Blueberry Sky, with half on a Kraft base and the other half on a Vintage Cream base.  I used a few of the Fillable Frames, and the sentiment is from Take Three: Fall. The single music note is from the Waltzingmouse Stamps Musical Backgrounds set.

I also re-purposed one of my PTI clear stamp boxes for make a little holder for the whole set!

Thanks for looking!

congratulations card

Recently, we had the pleasure of attending an Eagle Scout Honor Court.  I made this card, letting the Boy Scout color scheme dictate my colors - PTI's Kraft (khaki), Pure Poppy, and Ripe Avacado.  I used the Mat Stack 1 Collection and die, a Limitless Layers die, sentiments from Star Prints and Take Three: Summer. The background Pure Poppy panel is embossed with the Diamonds Impression Plate, and then I swiped Versamark across it to bring out the texture.

I wanted to create a pocket inside for a gift card, so I used Mat Stack 3 and All About You, adding the "you" with Fresh Alphabet.

Thanks for looking!