A {Welcome Fall} Card...

Welcome Fall!!!  I'm so glad fall is finally here, I even made some pumpkin muffins the other day to go with my pumpkin flavored coffee.  It's pretty safe to say that I love fall!

For my card today I pulled out an older Papertrey Ink set, Wreath For All Seasons.  It was one of those sets that I just had to have then didn't use it nearly as much as I thought I would.  One thing to note on this card is that the yellow bow looks a lot brighter in the photos than it does in person.  

I started off by stamping the wreath in the center of the card using a dark brown ink, then stamped the wreath again in a light brown ink all over the card's background.  I the stamped berries onto the wreath using red, yellow, and orange ink.

I used pieces of glue dots to hold the tails of the bow in place as well as the bow itself.  I like how they look like they are blowing in the wind.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope there is something pumpkin-y in your future!!!

Have a great day!

{Welcome Fall}

Stamps: Wreath For All Seasons (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: Say Yellow to All Your Fans, Dish All the Dirt Brown, Dare to Be a Diva Red, Orange You Fabulous, Brown Leather Satchel (CSS)

Accessories: Gold Embroidery Floss, Glue Dots

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A {Get Well Soon} Card...

Another day, another PTI challenge.  I was so happy to see that today was a sketch challenge.  Today I used yellows and kraft, which I think is a widely underutilized color combo.  The light yellow is PTI's Lemon Tart and the darker yellow is CSS's Say Yellow to All Your Fans.  I love how they look together.

I decided to use an image stamp in the center of the card instead of just the sentiment like the sketch suggests.  I don't know about you, but it really doesn't bother me that the colors I use for the wreath/berries are those that wouldn't be found in nature.  Maybe a lemon tree?  Anyway, as long as it goes with the card, I'm cool with it.

The rhinestones were originally clear and I colored them with an orange-y yellow copic marker.  I love that trick!  


Well, it just started snowing here which is really exciting since we haven't really gotten any snow this year.  It's actually supposed to stick this time.  The kids usually have at least 5 snow days by now and we've only had one due to ice.  I'm making a big pot of chili tonight (bean chili that is) and I can't wait to have a cozy night at home.  At lease at home after my kids' Valentine's Day dance if it doesn't get cancelled due to bad weather.

My son's teacher asked me to organize this year's Valentine's Day party and I've been having so much fun finding activities.  I'm making a word search using all the names of the students in his class which my little guy is really excited about.  I also printed off some Valentine Bingo Cards and I'm going to punch a ton of hearts from card stock to use as covers.  It's going to be fun!

Have a great weekend!

{Get Well Soon}

Stamps: Wreath for all Seasons, Text Style, Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Say Yellow to All Your Fans (CSS), Lemon Tart (PTI)

Ink: Glamazon Green, Espresso Your Style (CSS)

Accessories: Clear Rhinestones, Buttons, Floss

Copic Marker: Y38 

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A {Thank You} Card...

This was such a simple card to make.  I discovered that these two dies (top note and labels 9) really fit together well.  I just had to use them on a card.

My wreath is stamped using two colors of green for the berries.  Green berries don't really make sense on a wreath, but papercrafting doesn't have to make sense, right?  I think the buttons really make this card, it gives it a finished look.


Well, that all for me today folks!  Today's going to be a catch-up day.  I'm way behind on quite a few things.  


Have a great day!

{Thank You}

Stamps: Wreath for all Seasons, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: A Clean Slate, A Blanc Check, Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: Glamazon Green, A Clean Slate, Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

Accessories: Top Note Die (SU), Labels 9 Die (Spellbinders). Buttons, Floss

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A {Welcome Summer} Card Re-do...

Hey guys!  I'm almost embarrassed showing my face today.  I can't believe it's been 6 days since I've posted anything.  It was a totally unscheduled break.  For some reason, the last few weeks of the school year are always crazy busy and this year wasn't any different.  When I had time to be creative, I was exhausted.  I know you guys understand.

So, I was getting some cards ready on Monday (63 to be exact) to submit to CARDS Magazine (hopefully at least one will be accepted) and I was looking at some of my really old cards, ones that I would be too embarrassed to give away.  Do you have a stack of those?  Anyway I was thinking it would be fun to re-do some of those cards and see how much better my skill set is now.  Well, the first card I picked was one I made before I began blogging.  It was a Christmas card I made about 60 of and sent out to all of our friends and family.  I really liked the layout, so that's pretty much all I kept the same.

Original Card

Card Re-do

I really do still like the original card.  I love those lightbulbs and how they look like glass (they were covered with glossy accents).  It would be fun if I still had those stamps to make use them, but that was all the way back in 2007.  So, my new card uses 4 stamp sets.  I didn't have that luxury back in the day.  If you are having a hard time reading the sentiment, it says "Welcome Summer", which we finally are doing.  


The major differences are the stamps used and the overall feel of the card.   I replaced the brads with buttons, used some edge distressing, added a little interest around the sentiment (they are little cream leaves).  I left the ribbon off completely   

Original Card

Card Re-do

I also added some dimension to this card by using foam dimensional adhesive behind the leaf squares.  


I hope you thought today's post was fun.  Hopefully I make-over a few other cards.  It's fun to see how we've all evolved in this little crafty world.  

Have a great day!

{Welcome Summer}

Stamps: Icons I, Happy Fall (Clear & Simple Stamps)Wreath for All Seasons, Text Style (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Glamazon Green, A Blanc Check (CSS)

Ink: Green With Envy (CSS), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Accessories: Buttons (PTI), Edge Distresser, Foam Dimensionals, 

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A {Welcome Home} Card...

*This is my second post for today, make sure you scroll down to see both... 

Hello!  Today is the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and the theme is FLOWERS.  I saw this card on Maile Belles blog yesterday and I knew I wanted to CASE it.  I changed a lot on my card, but the idea came from her card.

The colors I chose came from the patterned paper.  It may be hard to see, but you can click on the pictures to see the wreath close up.

The middle of each flower is filled using white acrylic accents.  The dots flattened out when they dried, I was hoping they would keep their "pearl" look.  




Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you enjoy the hop.  Have a great day!

{Welcome Home}

Stamps: Wreath For All Seasons (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: I'm a Princess Pink, Simply Blue-tiful (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Gertie (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful, Creamsicle Cardigan, Paint the Town Pink (CSS), Moss Green (ColorBox)

Accessories: Labels 9 Nesties (Spellbinders), Stamping Sponge, White Acrylic Accents (Ranger), Foam Dimensionals, Edge Distresser

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Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - January 2011

Hello blog hoppers!  It seems like a while since I've been able to participate in the PTI blog hop.  I'm so glad that Papertrey made their hops all day long so people like me that forgot still have time to participate.  This month the challenge is to use a PTI stamp set that you've bought and not used yet (none of those here!) or to use a set that you haven't used in a while.

So, for my card I chose to use the sentiment from A Wreath For All Seasons.  I bought the set to make Christmas cards, which I did, and then they haven't seen any ink since. I also used Text Style to create a block background type of effect.  I thought I would use this set all the time, but I haven't used it in a while either.  

Thanks so much for stopping by for the hop.  Have a great day!!!

{Happy Birthday}

Stamps: A Wreath For All Seasons, Text Style (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: A Clean Slate (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Accessories: Digital Cut Flowers (Silhouette), Foam Dimensionals, Button, Floss

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Our Creative Corner - Inspiration Challenge

Hello!  I'm here bright and early with an inspiration challenge from Our Creative Corner.  I said I'd have something to share using stamping today, and I didn't disappoint.  I used a whopping three stamps sets on my card!  


The picture we are drawing inspiration from is on the left.  I took inspiration from the color scheme, the cranberries, and the bird.  I used some gray, warm red, kraft, and black.  I thought that my card was sort of soothing, so I decided to make it a sympathy card.  


I feel a little weird about making my bird black.  It looks like a crow and I have a feeling that that is somehow bad luck.  Hmm.  Not sure.  

I cut the wreath out free hand.  It was originally a circle and when I went to stamp the wreath, it was off-center.  Bummer, but I think it turned out okay in the end. 


Make sure you check out the talented group of ladies at Our Creative Corner.  They have some great samples to show you using the inspiration piece.  It's so interesting to how different each card is, even though we used the same inspiration.  


Have a wonderful weekend!!!

{With Sympathy}

Stamps: Wreath for all Seasons, Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink), Enjoy (American Crafts)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, You're Such a Gray-cious Host, On the Catwalk Cream, Perfect Little Black Dress (Clear & Simple Stamps) 

Ink: Creamy Brown, Warm Red (Colorbox)

Accessories: Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Foam Dimensionals, White Gel Pen (Sakura), Black Floss (DMC), Edge Distresser

 

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My Official 2010 Christmas Card...

Hello, hello!  I mailed out our Christmas cards on Friday, so I thought it would be safe to share them with you here today.  I tried to pick a very simple design, but nothing is ever simple enough when you are making 75 cards!  My cards used 5 different stamps (wreath, sentiment, text background, trio of berries, single berry).  What was I thinking?  I spent two Girls Craft Nights, a Sunday in front of the tv watching the Bengals lose, and an evening home alone to make these cards.   


So, here it is. Our official 2010 Christmas card:

Sorry it's a little bit dark, I took about 40 photos and I couldn't get it any better than this.  Here's another view of the sentiment and text background:

And here's the inside:

And here's my name stamped on the back:

And here's what my kitchen table looked like as I was getting ready to adhere the inside panel, stuff them in envelopes and apply the mailing labels.  

I mailed 60 of these.  My extended family is rather large!  The remaining 15 will be delivered in person to neighbors and teachers accompanying some homemade goodies.


Whew, I feel so much better now that these are finished!  If you are interested, here are my 2009 and 2008 Christmas cards.


The kids had their first snow day today.  We're getting ready to head out and play in the snow.  Have a great day!

{Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year}

Stamps: Signature Christmas, Wreath for all Seasons, Text Style (Papertrey Ink) 

Card Stock: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Moss Green, Warm Red (Colorbox), Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Spiral Notebook Die (Papertrey Ink), Foam Dimensionals, Red Floss (DMC)

 

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Aaaack! Let's try this again... A "Happy Holidays" Card...

Okay, for some reason my post on Friday didn't have the photos loaded correctly and none of you could see the card.  So, I reloaded it and created an entirely new post.  Sorry for the confusion, Enjoy!

Well hello there!  So glad you stopped by today.  I'm so glad it's Friday.  I've been looking forward to this day for about a month now.  Tonight is my craft night with a bunch of girlfriends and most of us will be working on holiday cards.   So, to get into the holiday mood (since it's still around 70* here), I thought I would make a holiday card.  I decided to challenge myself by creating a one layer card.  I thought this was going to be easy, boy was I wrong.  This card took about as much time as any other card I've made.  Plus, there's no where to hide your mistakes.

I started with a Vintage Cream card base.  I took a piece of printer paper and die cut an oval using my largest oval nestabilities die.  I placed the oval where I wanted it on my card and then stamped the text in red covering the entire front of the card (remove the printer paper and you will see a nice oval shape).  Since I used text, the border of the oval wasn't really defined, so I kept the oval printer paper in place and lightly sponged brown around it.  This is how you should do it.  This is not how I did it.  I finished the card and it didn't look right, so I had to sponge the oval with the rhinestones already on hoping it would work and not ruin my entire card.

The rest is easy peasy.  Stamp the wreath, stamp the berries, stamp the sentiment, and then apply rhinestones.    This card really would have been quick if I had chosen a larger background stamp instead of one that needed to be stamped repeatedly and realigned every time.  Oh well, live and learn.  At least it turned out okay in the end.

Have a great day!

{Happy Holidays}

Stamps: Wreath for All Seasons, Text Style, Signature Christmas (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Chestnut Roan, Lipstick Red (Color Box), Real Red (SU)

Accessories: Red Rhinestones, Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Stampin' Sponge (SU)

  

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A One Layer "Happy Holidays" Card...

Well hello there!  So glad you stopped by today.  I'm so glad it's Friday.  I've been looking forward to this day for about a month now.  Tonight is my craft night with a bunch of girlfriends and most of us will be working on holiday cards.   So, to get into the holiday mood (since it's still around 70* here), I thought I would make a holiday card.  I decided to challenge myself by creating a one layer card.  I thought this was going to be easy, boy was I wrong.  This card took about as much time as any other card I've made.  Plus, there's no where to hide your mistakes.

I started with a Vintage Cream card base.  I took a piece of printer paper and die cut an oval using my largest oval nestabilities die.  I placed the oval where I wanted it on my card and then stamped the text in red covering the entire front of the card (remove the printer paper and you will see a nice oval shape).  Since I used text, the border of the oval wasn't really defined, so I kept the oval printer paper in place and lightly sponged brown around it.  This is how you should do it.  This is not how I did it.  I finished the card and it didn't look right, so I had to sponge the oval with the rhinestones already on hoping it would work and not ruin my entire card.

The rest is easy peasy.  Stamp the wreath, stamp the berries, stamp the sentiment, and then apply rhinestones.    This card really would have been quick if I had chosen a larger background stamp instead of one that needed to be stamped repeatedly and realigned every time.  Oh well, live and learn.  At least it turned out okay in the end.

Have a great day!

{Happy Holidays}

Stamps: Wreath for All Seasons, Text Style, Signature Christmas (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Chestnut Roan, Lipstick Red (Color Box), Real Red (SU)

Accessories: Red Rhinestones, Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Stampin' Sponge (SU)

 

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A "Happy Fall" Card...

Hello!  I couldn't stand it any longer.  I just had to open the new stamp set, Wreath for all Seasons from Papertrey Ink.  It's been sitting here for almost two weeks.  I'm actually surprised I made it this long. I specifically ordered the set for this year's Christmas cards.  

My card is ultra clean and simple.  I started with a kraft card base, scoring at every half inch to add some interest and texture.  I stamped the wreath on some cream card stock and filled in the "berries" with orange rhinestones.  

I used a small hole punch to create notches for the floss.  Not only does this look cool, but it keeps the floss in place as well.  The edges are all inked too, for that rustic effect.

Have a great day!

{Happy Fall}

Stamps: Wreath For All Seasons (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Chestnut Roan, Dark Brown (Colorbox)

Accessories: Orange Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Embroidery Floss (DMC), Hole Punch, Foam Dimensionals, Scoring Blade

 

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