I'm still around!

Hey y'all! Sorry that I've been so neglectful of my little blog lately.  I've been working on a lot of things ... unfortunately, mostly work things, but I do have several things to share with you tonight.  :-)

First up ... a birthday card that will be headed to my niece once her gift gets here.  I decided to go a little crazy with the patterned paper and not be so matchy-matchy.  It's all Betsy's fault.  She makes be.a.u.tiful things and I love her use of patterned paper.  This card seems a little off-balance, but I doubt my little recipient will notice! :)

I also squeezed out one more "hello" card with those great Studio Calico papers.  (See the others here.)  My mister thinks they are kind of silly since they just say "hello" but whatever.  Sometimes that's all you need.  :)

I do really love that paper and color combo.  Must try making those embellies myself.

I've also been busy sewing some hexagons.  Lovely, no?

Check out my tutorial here. :)

I promise not to go 2 more weeks without another post around here ... Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Happy Heart Day!

Hey y'all!  Just wanted to stop in to share some Valentine's Day cards I made with my February Studio Calico kit.  I made three similar cards and love the aqua blue mixed in with them.

Here's the first ....

And the second ...

And one more ...

What do you think?  Hope you are all having a sweet day! :)

Hello x 3

Happy Friday!  :-)  I was so glad to have this week behind me ... how about you?!

I wanted to stop in and share a few cards that I made a bit ago using some goodies from a recent Studio Calico kit.  I love these flowers from Sassafras ... I really should try to make some myself!  But, I went with papers that coordinated with the colors in the flowers and I must say I love the aqua/teal/orange combo ... not one I'd normally have as a go-to combo, but I love how these turned out.

Here's the first of the trio...

  And the second ...

 And the third ... 

Which one is your favorite?  I had to laugh when I showed them to the mister, who just said "hello" in a mocking voice.  Whatever!  Sometimes you need a card just to say hello. :-)

So, "hello" to you all!  Hope you all have a lovely weekend! :)

Fun with Vintage Ads

Happy Monday!  I am thrilled to have an extra day in the weekend before heading back to the "same old, same old" tomorrow. :-)  Yesterday, I mentioned that I had made some cards with some "vintage ads" ... so here they are ...

This first one is for a bridal shower event.  I thought it the picture was funny as well as the text.  I mean, who wouldn't love to get some dinnerware with "phenomenal break-resistance?!"  :-)

\

The next one I just had to make for a friend of mine who recently had a baby.  Now, I don't have kids and certainly don't mean to spark a debate with this statement ... but apparently, breast feeding can be pretty difficult.  I thought this might at least give her a good laugh.

The inside has a funny sentiment ... 

Both of these ads came from October Afternoon's Homemaker line and all the papers were included in the January Studio Calico kit, which I will definitely be playing around with more! :-)

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Sew Nice

Hi again! Just dropping in to share a cute little sewing theme card I whipped up the other day. I took a well-deserved daycation from my sewing machine on Veterans Day ... and made some cards ... about sewing! Go figure.(Note: please excuse the poor photo ... took this late at night.)
Anyway, I made four of these really quickly using an assembly-line style production. Die cut all the labels, stamped the machines, stamped the sentiments, cut the background paper, glued it all together and added some ribbon. That paper is "sew fun" and I made 2 with this color way and two with the papers flip flopped.

I am finding that I really enjoy the 3.5 x 5 cards lately ... they are just cute ... and I think my design layout looked better on this size than a larger 4.25 x 5.5 card for this one. A few of our Sew Lux customers may just get one of these in with their order ;-)

That's all for now! Thanks "sew much" for stopping by! :-)

Shabby & Vintage & Inspired

Hi and Happy Monday y'all! I am checking in today to share a card I made for the Paper Crafts Inspired Style Challenge (create a project inspired by a vintage typewriter) and I am combining it with the Moxie Fab Shabby & Vintage challenge. Here's what I came up with ... What do ya think? I think she turned out pretty! :-) I stamped the typewriter and sentiment gray ink and then used some collage-y type paper from The Girls Paperie. Its like a cheater quilt fabric, but paper and the colors in it are so lovely. I did a lot of ink distressing on the edges and then added some ribbon, a button, and some pearls for good measure.

I am off to a get ready for a meeting this evening ... hope you are having a wonderful start to your week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Typeset (Studio Calico); FYI (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Going Gray (Stampin' Up!); Chai, Chamomile (PTI)
Paper: Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up!); Vintage Cream, Hibiscus Burst (PTI); patterned paper "Vintage Patchwork" from Paper Girl collection (The Girls' Paperie)
Other: Sweet Blush satin ribbon, New Leaf vintage button, twine (PTI); adhesive pearls (e. by Prima); foam tape

Wishing You Sunshine

Hi! Happy Monday y'all! I am getting back into the swing of things here and taking care of some projects and chores that needed to be completed. I thought I'd share another scrap card that I made a few weeks ago. I used some leftover paper from the pregnancy journal I made for my friend. I stamped the sentiment and then masked it so I could stamp the sun shape around it. The little flower border was from the edge of the paper - where it tells the manufacturer, etc. I just couldn't throw it out! :-) A pretty simple and quick-to-make card.

Well, I better run and take care of a few more things so I can get to what I really want to do ... play around with fabric and paper! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Scattered Showers (PTI), sun shape stamp (Studio Calico)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); Chai (PTI)
Paper: Kraft (PTI), Cherry Hill Avenue -Abode Collection (American Crafts)
Other: ribbon, twine, button (PTI)

The Big Project Part 4

Hello again! Today's I am sharing the last of the pregnancy journal album ... the final "trimester" and welcome baby page ...

7 Months Page ... 8 Months page ...
9 Months page ... (lovin' this color combo)
And finally ... the "welcome" page ... I thought this would be a good place to include a first family photo and the basics of the wee one.And just in case you hadn't had your fill on baby projects from me this week ... I will show you another "quilt-in-a-evening" gift I made last week. So cute ... see you soon! :-)

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
7 Months Page
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride "Are We There Yet", October Afternoon Fly A Kite "Fireflies", PTI Kraft, White, American Crafts Rocky Road
Accessories: PTI Dark Chocolate grosgrain; Making Memories Oliver chipboard number

8 Months Page
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride "Are We There Yet", Peebles Tree House "Sunset", PTI Kraft, White, SU! Really Rust
Accessories: PTI Ocean Tides grosgrain; Cosmo Cricket High Noon chipboard number sticker

9 Months Page
Paper: American Crafts Abode "Cherry Hill Avenue", My Mind's Eye Lush "Brown Houndstooth", PTI White, Kraft; SU! Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: PTI Simply Chartreuse grosgrain; American Crafts Nutmeg number sticker

Welcome Page
Paper: Pebbles Tree House "Sunset", My Mind's Eye Lush "Brown Houndstooth", PTI White, Kraft; American Crafts Rocky Road
Accessories: PTI Dark Chocolate grosgrain; Basic Grey "Green at Heart" chipboard sticker letters, Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie rubons ("precious one")

All Pages:
PTI Faux Ribbon stamp set; Distress Antique Linen Ink; SU! Curly Label Punch; sewing machine

The Big Project: Part 3

Hi everyone! Back again today to share a few more pages from the album I created.

Here's "4 months" ...
Love that numbered paper from Cosmo Cricket's Joy Ride line and all the fun colors in it.

Here's the "5 months" page ...
And here's the "6 months" page ...
I will be back tomorrow with the final three pages and then I will have some fun cards to share! See ya then!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
4 Months Page
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride "Are We There Yet", Pebbles Tree House "Sunset", PTI Kraft, White, SU! Really Rust
Accessories: PTI Simply Ocean Tides grosgrain; Cosmo Cricket High Noon chipboard number sticker

5 Months Page
Paper: October Afternoon Fly a Kite "Fireflies", My Mind's Eye Lush "Brown Houndstooth", PTI Kraft, White, Bazzill "Lagoon"
Accessories: PTI Chartreuse grosgrain; Making Memories Oliver chipboard number

6 Months Page
Paper: American Crafts Abode "Cherry Hill Avenue", My Minds Eye Lush "Brown Houndstooth", Bazzill "Lagoon", PTI White, Kraft
Accessories: PTI Dark Chocolate grosgrain; American Crafts Nutmeg number sticker

All Pages:
PTI Faux Ribbon stamp set; Distress Antique Linen Ink; SU! Curly Label Punch; sewing machine

The Big Project Part 2

Happy Tuesday! Back today to share the "first trimester" of the baby story journal I made. Each page has a rectangle of patterned paper to mount a photo on and then a spot to journal a little something. It also has a little piece of white card stock sewn along an edge to record a date.

1 Month page ...
2 Months page ... I really love this color combo!3 Months page ...Back tomorrow with more! :-)

Supplies Used:
1 Month Page
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride "Are We There Yet", Pebbles Tree House "Sunset", PTI Kraft, White, American Crafts Rocky Road
Accessories: PTI Simply Chartreuse grosgrain; American Crafts Regards chip board letter sticker

2 Months Page
Paper: October Afternoon Fly a Kite "Fireflies", My Mind's Eye Lush "Brown Houndstooth", Pebbles Tree House "Sunset" (reverse is that pretty jade!), PTI Kraft, White, Bazzill "Lagoon"
Accessories: PTI Ocean Tides grosgrain; Cosmo Cricket High Noon chipboard number sticker

3 Months Page
Paper: American Crafts Abode "Cherry Hill Avenue", American Crafts "Rocky Road", PTI White, Kraft
Accessories: PTI Dark Chocolate grosgrain; American Crafts Nutmeg number sticker

All Pages:
PTI Faux Ribbon stamp set; Distress Antique Linen Ink; SU! Curly Label Punch; sewing machine

The Big Project

Hey y'all! (That makes me feel like Paula Dean to start off with "Hey y'all! LOL) Anyway ... I am finally checking in to post some pictures of the big project I worked on a week or so ago. I was really excited about this one and while I am still excited about how it turned out, I wish I had had more forethought about what to include ... because ... well, (1) I am not pregnant and haven't had a baby yet and (2) I just haven't scrapped a lot! So while I would do it a bit different now, I am excited to share my first big mini album project with you all ... a pregnancy journal mini album for my BFF!

This is the little cover I made for the album. My BFF is preggers (not me ... my BFF! haha) and she loves her some owls right now. And she's having a boy. Have I ever mentioned that I like pink?! What's up with everyone having a boy - I don't collect boy paper and fabric! LOL Anyway ... I used some cutie owl fabric and lined it with dots and used the dots as little ties ... all a pattern off the fly.
Here's the front of the book ... I will share a couple of pages a day so I can tell you more about what I used on each page, etc. But I started with some notepad backer paper and cut them in half to make 8.5 x 5.5 sheets. I used a few different papers thoughout the book ... some of which are on the front here. I hand wrote the couple's name and the year on the front. (She's due in October.) And then on the back of the album, I stamped my "handmade by" schtuff and then added a little extra love. You can see here that I have an envelope on the back of each page to stuff little notes, prayers and extra photos in. (Note: its likely that all these pages will get mounted on a scrap page ... because as you'll see tomorrow I didn't anticipate that my self-proclaimed noncrafty friend would want to go to town journaling. That is not to say she doesn't like the album, because she loved it ... but I will start asking what my friends might want in the future instead of going for a total surprise element!) But anyway ... I thought it was a great idea in theory!
Well, I am off to bed ... you'll have to come back tomorrow to see the first couple of pages!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Notepad backer chipboard sheets (Thecraftypc.com)
Paper: Lush Brown Houndstooth (reverse side used - My Minds Eye), Fly A Kite Fireflies (reverse side (green dots) - October Afternoon), Lagoon textured (Bazzill)
Ink: Distress Antique Linen
Sticker Letters: Holly Doodle (Pink Paislee),
Ribbon: Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides grosgrain

You're a Classic

Hi all! Just stopping in to share the card I made for my dad for Father's Day. This was really simple and quick to make and green! :-)
Studio Calico sends really cool advertisements for upcoming promotions with their kits and I have been saving many of them. I saved one advertising a kit pool and cut out the car from it for this card. Pretty neat, huh? I made the road with some black card stock and a white pen and used some letter stickers for the sentiment. I did stamp a "dad" sentiment from a Unity kit on the inside, but forgot to take a photo.

Off to visit with some family ... talk to you tomorrow! :-)

Supplies Used:
Ink: Ranger Distress Antique Linen
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, True Black; Car from Studio Calico ad
Accessories: October Afternoon Mini Market Ledger letter stickers; foam tape, white gel pen

2 Sketches 4 You #54

Hiya! I had big plans to craft most of the day and that is just what I did. One of the cards I made was for the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge this week. I hope to do a lot more sketches this summer. :-)

You can see the original sketch here. I did turn it on its side to accommodate the sentiment. Here's my card...I am loving this paper ... pretty much all of the Ooh La La paper line from My Mind's Eye is super fab. I started with the green dotted paper and layered the opposite side with the big, bright damask. The little pink strips are from another paper in the line.

I stamped the "happy" and "summer" sentiments from the Studio Calico set and mounted them on some more of the pink paper. Then a little Hawaiian Shores ribbon and some rhinestones. Love it!

Well that is all for now ... off to watch some of my favorite guilty pleasure shows on MTV! See ya tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Studio Calico "Sentiments"
Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores
Paper: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Vintage Cream; My Mind's Eye Ooh La La - Just Lovely & All Dressed Up
Accessories: PTI Hawaiian Shores ribbon; Kaisercraft Rhinestones

CPS 166

Hey yall! I can see Friday from here and am so glad! School is *almost* over ... just 11 more class days until my students start exams and then its all downhill from there! Woot! Woot! Summertime here I come. :-)

Well, its been a busy few weeks and I haven't done a sketch in like ... um ... forever. But I decided today to just craft for fun when I got home from work for a bit. And I cranked out some pretty sweet cards. Here's my take on sketch 166 from the CPS blog.So, this card is 4 x 6 and I used Kiwi Kiss for the base. Love this color. Its vintage or modern depending on what you pair it with and I love it. The rest is all stuff from various Studio Calico kits. The text paper is by October Afternoon and I think that any of the papers in their Thrift Shop line are just too die for. I want them all in fabric! :-) The bird paper is from American Crafts and kind of worked with the color scheme. This sketch was pretty easy which made things pretty quick and easy once I got my thoughts together. :-)

I tried out this button row technique ... something that I see Betsy do all the time (and love). And I'm so glad I did. Looking forward to giving it a go again. Another new thing ... no stamps! Nope. Not a one used on this card!

Ok, that's all for now! I will be back tomorrow with a cute baby card. See ya then!

Supplies Used:
Card stock: SU! Kiwi Kiss
Patterned Paper: October Afternoon "Great Find" from Thrift Shop line; American Crafts "Wanda" from Botanique line
Other: PTI Enchanted Evening grosgrain, Pure Poppy buttons, twine; October Afternoon Mini Market Ledger letter stickers

Dear Friend

Hiya! I made several cards over the past weekend and today I am sharing one of the favorites that I made ... I *really* love this wrinkled seam binding ribbon that I made. It started white and I dyed it this really nice plum color. I can't wait to dye some more of this soon. It's really prettier in real life. I have a few other colors in mind to try dying too. :-) Speaking of dying things ... I also colored the pearls on the butterfly bodies with a Copic marker since I didn't have any brown ones in my stash.

I had been wanting a butterfly stamp for awhile and I picked this one up from Studio Calico. I colored them to go with the ribbon I made and I added a sentiment from the Delightful Dahlia set. I think it turned out really pretty and can't wait to send it to my bestie. But I may just stare at it for awhile first! LOL

Anywho ... lots to do this week! Getting ready to attend a national DECA conference with one of my students so there's packing, orders to finish for my letter shirt business, and of course 4 days of lesson plans and copies to make. Ugh. But hopefully it will all be well worth it.

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Butterfly - Studio Calico; Delightful Dahlia (sentiment) - PTI
Ink: Rich Cocoa - Memento; Chai - PTI; Copics
Paper: Vintage Cream - PTI; Just the Edge border strips - Bazzil; patterned paper - K & Company
Other: Pearls - KaiserCraft; foam tape; Hand dyed seam binding (by me! :-)

Hello Friend

Hi all! Just stopping in with a card I made using some fab Jenni Bowlin paper from my March Studio Calico kit. I just love this tile-like pattern on the paper. The color palette was a little different than my usual thing, so I had to really work at it, but I like how it all turned out. I I started with the patterned paper, which has that cool scallop on the bottom. I distressed it and the card base and then created a tag from a rectangle that was trimmed with a corner rounder. That red pinwheely paper is the reverse side of the tiled paper, so it coordinated really nicely. I used a little strip of Enchanted Evening along with the ribbon and ink to match to add a little more blue to the card. Here's a closer view of the details ...
You can see here that I added some brown ink to the flower and button to soften them up a bit. Such a fun card with all these details.

Thanks for checking in today! Hope you have a wonderful day! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI Friends til the End
Ink: PTI Chai, Enchanted Evening
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Enchanted Evening; Jenni Bowlin patterned paper
Accessories: PTI Enchanted Evening grosgrain; jute thread (May Arts); button (PTI); foam tape; corner rounder punch

Dear Lizzy ... feel better soon

Hiya! TGIF yall! This week has been long for most everyone I know ... so glad its over! Anywho, I wanted to share a quick card I made using some new fab paper. My bff mentioned she wasn't feeling well, so I decided to make a quick cheery card to drop in the mail. Apologies for the terrible photo - it was late and dark in my craft room. But, this Dear Lizzy paper from my March Studio Calico kit is so cute. Love its vintage but modern feel. Very simple card here ... some patterned paper, a distressed strip of the reverse of the paper, ribbon and a sentiment strip. So easy. I did add some blue and tea-colored ink to the sentiment and adhered it with some foam tape. Cuter in real life, I swear! :-)

In other news ... saw the Green Zone tonight. Great movie. But anythin with Matt Damon turns out to be great. (Love the Bourne movies.) Also, was very excited this morning to notice the tulip leaves are coming up! Can't wait to see my tulips again!

That's all for now folks ... I can barely hold my eyes open. :-) Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI On my Couch
Ink: PTI New Leaf, Spring Rain, Chamomile
Paper: PTI White, New Leaf card stock; patterned paper - Spring Flowering Fields (Dear Lizzy for American Crafts)
Other: PTI Berry Sorbet grosgrain; foam tape

Lucky ...

Happy Wednesday y'all! Seems like its been a busy week so far ... fortunately we're now more than half way there! :-)

Just wanted to pop in to share another card I made recently. This one uses the Luck of the Irish set. Very simple, but I love the colors here!
The Basic Grey patterned paper and that scalloped ribbon came with my Feb Studio Calico kit. So fun! This card is really simple, but I just love it. So spring!

Well, its back to work for me! And have you seen all the Papertrey sneaks! Holy cannoli! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI Luck of the Irish
Ink: SU! Cameo Coral; PTI New Leaf, Chamomile
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart, White; Basic Grey Nook & Pantry patterned paper
Other: PTI Lemon Tart grosgrain; American Crafts pink scalloped ribbon

Just Because

Hiya! Happy Wednesday! We had a nice 2-hour delay at school today so that definitely made the middle of the week just a tad bit nicer! :-)

Been really busy this week getting ready to take some students to a state DECA competition this weekend. Hopefully, all will go well and my students will have a great time and maybe bring home some awards!

Here's one of the cards I made this past weekend. Very simple layout and the only stamping is the sentiment. I really {heart} that brown doily paper from Basic Grey, which came with my February Studio Calico kit. Well, that's all I have for you right now. Back to getting ready for my trip! Have a great rest of the week y'all! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI Giga Guidelines
Ink: SU! Dark Chocolate
Paper: PTI Kraft; Basic Grey Nook and Pantry patterned paper line
Other: PTI Dark Chocolate grosgrain; Kaiser pearls; apron lace border bunch

Dear Pom Poms, I heart You

Dear Pom Poms, I {heart} you.

Ok, admittedly, when I got this pom pom trim, I didn't know what to do with it. But determined to use some supplies that had been staring at me, I decided to give them a go. Love the way this card turned out and amazed that I only stamped the sentiment. (If you've been reading long, I don't often used patterned paper but rather stamp my own.)
This card may not go anywhere. I may just leave it on the bookshelf in my craft room for awhile. Even though it's little pleat and pom pom skirt makes it seem like its all dressed up with nowhere to go! LOL

I started with my February Studio Calico kit. The Crate paper (pink, avocado and floral paper) is so pretty and has a great, thick texture and feel to it. Love these colors, too. Started with a basic 4 x 5.25 mat of the floral paper and added a strip of its backside - the pink - across it. I attached that cute little pom pom along the bottom before adhering it to the mat. I made a pleated section of the avocado polka dot paper using Scor-Tape to hold it in place. Some brown grosgrain and a sentiment on foam tape and that was it. Took longer to make than explain here, but isn't that how it always goes? I was even *kinda* working off a sketch too.

Well, off to get some things done around here before Monday rolls around. Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI Giga Guidelines
Ink: PTI Chai; SU! Chocolate Chip
Paper: PTI Kraft; Crate patterned paper (Bouquet, Fireflies)
Accessories: Maya Road pom pom fringe; PTI Dark Chocolate grosgrain
Other: corner rounder punch; foam tape