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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Paper Dolls - Challenge #6

I was in charge of this week's challenge over at the Papertrey Paper Dolls blog. I absolutely love being a part of this group. There's no pressure, and it's a wonderful group of supportive women. 

I based my challenge on Go To Sketches magazine by PaperCrafts, page 90. I thought it would be fun to create a pocket card for a gift card, since we so often buy them for gifts. 

I used the new Beautiful Blooms paper and paired it with Pure Poppy and Smokey Shadow, which I think look great together. I also used a Hawaiian Shores felt flower. I so love the colors on this new paper. Now I need to get me some Simply Chartreuse.

 

Card Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.) 
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages
 Ink: Versamark Black
Paper: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Beautiful Blooms
Other: HS Felt, Pure Poppy Vintage Button, Nesties Labels, Nesties Dahlia, bling (brand unknown), button twine
Size: 4.25" x 5"

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge




Here's the cozy I made for me. Sewing these cozies is so fun. The only issue I'm having is that it seems like the cup has a little curve so I can't quite get the cozy to fit as nicely as I'd like. Plus, my sewing skill is not the greatest, so I guess I'll just have to live with the fit.


For this cozy I used the larger scallop die. I like it. I also used Nesties Dahlia for the flowers. Now I need more felt. Buwahahahaha.

Card Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.) 
Supplies: HS Felt, Raspberry Fizz Felt, True Black Felt, White Vintage Button, White Thread, Nesties Dahlia

Sunday, May 23, 2010

My Custom Cozy

Coffee's probably one of my favorite things in the entire world. And one of my favorite people has a birthday tomorrow. And one of her favorite things is coffee. Another of her favorite things is the environment. She's a vegetarian tree hugger. Lol. She gave me this cup for Christmas, and I love it! When I saw Dawn's tutorial, I knew I had to make her a cozy. 

I had to dust off my sewing machine for this, but it was so fun. I can't believe I remembered how to put in the bobbin and thread the machine. Whew. I was a little worried for a bit, but it worked out and I got it done. It took about 45 minutes from start to finish. It should have been faster, but I was tentative. The next one should be a lot quicker. 

I'm going to put the cozy around a SB cup and give her a pack of handmade cards, which I know she'll appreciate. 

Next up...a cozy for myself. I had to avoid raspberry fizz on my friend's cozy because we are NOT fans of pink, but I gotta admit, now that I'm hooked on PTI, I'm kinda liking the raspberry fizz, even if it is pink.

Project Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.) 
Supplies: HS Felt, True Black Felt, True Black Vintage Button, Small Scallop Die

Saturday, May 15, 2010

PPD Challenge #4



First of all, I love being a part of this wonderful Papertrey PaperDolls group. It's inspiring, yet I don't feel pressure. It's a supportive group, this one, and I am proud to call myself a Papertrey Paper Doll. Enough gushiness...

The challenge this week was...dare I say it...the MOST challenging challenge so far. Argh, my brain hurt. I really, really tried to come up with something very similar in style, but it ended up not working as well as I would have liked. In the end, I realized that I should not have scalloped the edge of the masculine card. I was hoping the patterned paper differences would be strong enough, but in the end, I thought my cards were not masculine and feminine enough. I tried though. :)

Card #1 Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)    
Stamps: Daily Designs, Daily Designs Sentiments 
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU), Fresh Snow 
Paper: Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, Turning a New Leaf 
Other: 1 3/4" circle punch (EK Success) 
Size: 4.25" x 5"

Card #2 Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)    
Stamps: Daily Designs, Delightful Dahlias 
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU), Fresh Snow 
Paper: Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, Turning a New Leaf 
Other: 1 3/4" circle punch (EK Success) 
Size: 4.25" x 5"

A Thank You...

I had a lot of fun making totes the other day using Nichole Heady's tutorial. There's quite a bit of layering in this project, but I think the end result is worth it. I used one of the standard size boxes for this one. In the tote I fit a glassine bag with a 3x3 post it pad with pen. It took about a half hour to put together everything. It'd probably go quicker the next time because I don't think I'd have to spend as much time going back to the tutorial. 

As much as I'm NOT a pink person, I really like raspberry fizz...especially with Hawaiian Shores. :)  

Project Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)    
Stamps: Take Note, Polka Dot Basics II

Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Fresh Snow

Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Black and White Basics
Other: PTI stamp box (recycled), Polka Dot Ribbon (AC, I think), 1 3/4" circle punch (EK Success), 2" scallop punch (EK Success)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Yakudoshi Card

According to Japanese belief, the age of 42 for men and 33 for women are the years of calamity. In order to offset this rough upcoming year, we throw a party for the birthday boy or girl. 

A friend of mine is having a surprise yakudoshi on Thursday. And for those of you from our school who read this blog, I said SURPRISE, so please don't ask him about it. :) Leish reminded me last night by saying, "Hey, what stamp are you using for Pat's card?" Ummmmmm, yeah, totally forgot I had to make a card. You know...I just make cards for nothing...to keep in my basket. Forget actually making cards for occasions that are you know, in like...a couple of days. Gulp. 

Anyway, Mrs. E said she'd be using Fly Away, the set she mistakenly ordered last month. You know how there's drunk calling...well, what do you call it when there's too much excitement on release night and you accidentally click? Anyway, her card, which you'll see posted on her blog soon, I think, came out beautifully. She's so witty, that woman!

I decided to use Enjoy the Ride and ended up thinking that it looked a bit too plain. I ended up putting BB: Woodgrain on the Enchanted Evening, and I love how it turned out. If you look closely, you'll see my mess up on the right...Yeah, I didn't make sure the stamp went all the way to the edge. Too late. Hopefully he won't notice. On the other hand, he's kinda metro, so he totally will. 

Anyway, I added the Woodgrain, colored the car with my handy, dandy Copics, popped the Nestie with the car up, and added the sentiment on the bottom. I normally despise using red, white, and blue together, but with the addition of Kraft, I thought it didn't look too patriotic, which is the look I was avoiding. It did however, look a little nautical (color-wise) which is fine though because he likes Tommy Hilfiger.  

Card Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)    
Stamps: BB: Woodgrain, Enjoy the Ride   
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Fresh Snow, Versamark     
Paper: Kraft, Enchanted Evening, SS White    
Other: White Vintage Button, Copic Markers, Nesties, Labels 1
Size: 4.25" x 5"

I NEED TO CREATE

This weekend's been so busy, and I haven't been able to carve out time to create. That's all changing tonight though, as I'll have a few hours of uninterrupted crafting time. Woot! Hopefully, I can do my Mojo Monday and the "Because I Said So..." contest on the Club Anya blog. I'll be thrilled if I can get both of those accomplished. I had the kids pick out stamps, papers, and embellies last night so I would have it all out for tonight's creative session. I can't wait. It's been a horrendous couple of days at school...

Saturday, May 8, 2010

How Do You Feel When...

I was talking with a crafting friend at school this past week about giving our cards away as gifts, and how people always say, "It's so nice. I don't want to use them." 


And this morning, as I was working on a Mother's Day gift for my kids' stepmom, I texted my ex-husband to ask if she uses the desk set I made for her for Christmas, and he mentioned that it's actually sitting inside the desk. Sniff... At least she's using the bookmarks I made. And before anyone says, "Oh, maybe it's because you're the ex-wife..." you should know that we're quite friendly. This is just one example of giving handmade cards/notebooks/stationery that people don't use.


On the other hand, I gave a set of customizable cards to a good guy friend, who is always giving cards to people, and he immediately started using them. He told me he's out of the "thank you" sentiments already. Well, he didn't use the word "sentiments," but he did say he was out of "thank yous." Lol.


I started wondering...
  • Do they really mean that? Or do they think it's ugly and they don't want people to think that THEY made it?
  • Don't they realize that the whole reason I gave it to them was for them to get some use out of it?
I understand crafty people not using it... That's kind of why I "generally" don't give my stuff away to people who do make cards or scrapbook... I know that they can make their own, and that's the fun.  I also understand NOT using the cards/notebooks you get from swaps. Those are for casing. 


As I was grumbling to the hubs about this, and asking him what he REALLY thinks the truth might be, he says, "Why don't you just give people sets instead of one-of-a-kind cards. That way, they can keep one if they really like it and use the rest." Um, yeah, duh! I've seen so many of you all do that. That's way smarter than what I'm doing now. 


I think I'm going to try that and see what happens.

Mother's Day Gifties for the Special Women in My Life


Made some gifties for the special women in my life. I wanted to give them something small but not too involved. My mom had 3 sisters, and her brother's ex-wife is still very much a part of our lives, thankfully, so I made enough for them and my Grams. I made a special one for my baby sister, who's not a baby...she's 31 already! Basketball is such a huge part of her life. She plays in several leagues: women's, men's, co-ed, and she coaches. I'm sure she'd prefer basketball stamps over butterflies. Lol. 

Post-It Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Butterfly Dreams, Fillable Frames #3, Signature Greetings, Have a Ball 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Fresh Snow, Pumpkin Pie (SU) 
Paper: Kraft, Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Hawaiian Shores 
Other: Fillable Frame #3 die cut, pens Walmart
Modified measurements from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts Tutorial

Friday, May 7, 2010

PPD Challenge #3


This is for the Papertrey Paper Dolls Challenge #3

This card was inspired by two other Papertrey Paper Dolls. Thanks, Jen Carter, for the color inspiration. Thanks, Laurie, for the background paper idea. I loved the color combo Jen used. As I've mentioned numerous times, I'm slowly trying to use more color in my creations. When I saw Jen's card, I knew I had to try pairing Aqua Mist and Hibiscus Burst. I had to include Kraft because, c'mon, it's me. I include Kraft in almost all of my creations. When I saw Laurie's card, I loved the way she used In Bloom to create a background. I pulled out that set and at the last minute decided to try using Delightful Dahlias, since the sentiment came from that set. 

This card will be given to my MIL on Sunday when we take her to brunch. I have to admit, I hate Mother's Day. My own mom passed away from lung cancer in October of 2005, less than two months after being diagnosed. The pain is still very, very fresh. I try to put on a bright face for my own two babies, but suffice it to say I still feel empty on Mother's Day. I haven't found anyone who can hold a candle to my mom or even help fill the void in her absence. I miss her every day.  

Card Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)    
Stamps: Delightful Dahlias  
Ink: Fresh Snow, Chocolate Chip (SU)  
Paper: Aqua Mist, Hibiscus Burst, Kraft    
Other: flowers (MM)
Size: 5" x 5"

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Mojo Monday #137



It feels like I haven't participated in Mojo Monday for a while. It's been at least two weeks, maybe three. But now the school card swap is over, planning is coming to an end, and I feel like I can breathe a little. I had a fun time with this sketch. I always have some difficulty with proportion of the elements/pieces, so what I plan never ends up working. This time though, it feels like the card came together better than I expected. 


I love the way the fresh snow stamps on Summer Sunrise. I like it on Lemon Tart as well, but I thought it was a little too difficult to see in pictures. 


In the end, it's a simple, neutral colored card. I really like Copic colored butterflies, so I think I just might color more of them. :)

 
Card Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)  
Stamps: Butterfly Dreams 
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Fresh Snow
Paper: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, Vintage Cream    
Other: Copic markers, butterfly die cut, circle punch
Size: 4.25" x 5"

Monday, May 3, 2010

School Swap #2

I had no mojo when I started this card, but I ended up liking the final result. The funny thing is...it's a card I can see Leish making. The colors are her. The image is her. And yes, Signature Greetings belongs to her. She even gave me the idea for a woodgrain "stage." 

This is our school's second card swap and the theme was birthday. I also asked that everyone include buttons or ribbon. I'm glad I put on the button because I didn't remember the requirement until AFTER I was done with my card.  

Card Details: (All supplies PTI unless otherwise noted.)    
Stamps: Rockstar Anya (TGF), BB: Woodgrain, Fillable Frames #1, Signature Greetings, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento ), Fresh Snow 
Paper: True Black, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate,     
Other: HS Felt, Hawaiian Shores Vintage Button, Fillable Frame #1 die cut, Rick Rack die, Small Scallop die, Copic Markers, Nesties Labels One
Size: 4.25" x 5"