Heather in Florida

This is the first of a series of cards that use the same stamp. When I was in Kansas City, I got to go to Archivers -- my first time stepping foot in the store. I've heard so much about it, but they don't have them where I live. That's probably a good thing for my wallet, lol! So anyway, I am a sucker for stamps (big surprise), and they have a line of Hero Arts stamps that are exclusive to Archivers. So I couldn't pass them up. :-) And since I was there for a birthday celebration (just prior to my real birthday), I had several thank you notes to make and write.

I also wanted to try my hand at the embossing resist technique I've seen so much lately. I'm not 100% pleased with the results, but it was fun to try, and I love this stamp.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by! I'll reveal the other variations over the next few days.

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Kraft, True Black, and Pure Poppy cardstock; Papertrey Ink Beyond Basic Borders (sentiment) and Text Style (you can't see it in the photo, but it's on the white); Hero Arts Birds & Branches; Papertrey Ink white and Pure Poppy inks; Versamark; clear embossing powder; Opalite ink; K&Company rhinestones; Fiskars border punch; Michaels black ribbon

I have a weakness in that all of my cards have to be different. I view it as a weakness because sometimes I just don't have that many (or any!) ideas or sometimes I'm under a time crunch. These two cards were the result of such a time crunch. I wanted to make cards for a couple of my online friends, but as I said before, February got totally crazy for me, so they both ended up being late. Gah! And when I sat down to do them, I had enough pieces/parts to make two, but as I said... all cards must be different!

Sooo, I have two very similar cards to show you. I just changed up the orientation and the flower layers. The first is for Denise C, the second Kim B... both from my Cricutlovers Yahoo group. And how bad am I... Denise's birthday is before mine and I got her card out after my birthday! February was a rough month for free time. :-(

Anyhoo... I hope the recipients liked them (I've heard from one already, and she did). And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Paper Company green and pink cardstock; Stamper's Select white from Papertrey Ink; Striped, polka dot, and pink flowers DP from Making Memories; Papertrey Ink Around and About Sentiments; Papertrey Ink white ink; EK Success flower and corner rounder punches; Colorbok brads; Recollections pearls; Fiskars border punch; Martha Stewart butterflies punch

A friend of mine recently had a baby. She was due February 17, but had the baby February 2, so I was completely unprepared (card-wise) for the arrival, lol. And then, the insane new mom came back to work after three weeks. YES... THREE WEEKS! And I was still completely unprepared. Sigh. I thought I had three more weeks, lol! (Not really, I knew I needed to get it done, but sheesh... who comes back to work after three weeks?) Anyhoo... I finally got down to business and made a nice card for the baby's arrival.

Good thing is, my friend loved it. She particularly loved the bling, and I apparently chose a good color scheme. Brown and pink are the colors of the baby's room. How's that for coordinated? She even mentioned maybe putting it in a shadow box to hang in the baby's room. Awwww!

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies: Papertrey Stamper's Select white cardstock; unknown pink houndstooth DP; Background Basics: Hearts and Bitty Baby Blessings stamps from Papertrey Ink; Waltzingmouse Very Vintage Labels No 4; Floradoodles glittery flowers; Papertrey Ink button; Dark Chocolate, Sweet Blush, Vintage Cream and Tea Dye duo Papertrey Ink ink; Want2Scrap bling; unknown Its a Girl tag and butterfly; Michaels cream ribbon; Stampin Up! scallop trim border punch

OK, so I'm not doing so well keeping this thing updated. :-) I am crafting... sometimes I take pictures... sometimes I'm late getting them done and it's all I can do to get them out the door on time! And then there's the whole "life" thing that gets in the way. Somehow, February turned into a very busy month for me, and it just seemed like I didn't have time for much. I have Papertrey stamps that I received several days ago that are still in the boxes! I normally have them out of the box, labels attached, and played with them by now -- usually the first night! I even got some stuff at Joann last weekend and it's still in the bag!! So really, I just haven't had much time for anything lately.

But I have been making more of an effort to at least get the picture before it leaves the house. So I'll be posting over the next week or two with stuff I've done over the past month. And hopefully by the time I'm catching up, I'll have more to show!

Today, I'm showing the card I made for my husband's birthday. It's mostly Papertrey. I think it's a nice, masculine card, and I think he liked it.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise specified): Turning a New Leaf, Background Basics: Diamonds, and Through the Trees (sentiment) stamp sets; Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Vintage Cream cardstock; Dark Chocolate buttons; Vintage Cream and Enhanted Evening ink; Versamark; Filigree white embossing powder; Martha Stewart border punch; EK Success corner rounder; generic twine.

This is the birthday card for my grandmother. I had more fun with my Punch Bunch punches in creating the flower. I also received my very first ever Stampin Up! stamps this week. And punches. A girl on one of my Yahoo groups had a virtual party and I had a weak moment, lol. That, combined with the fact that they're selling clear-mount stamps now was a dangerous combination!

So, on this card, I used the Well Scripted set for the sentiment, the Scallop Trim border punch, and the Bird on a Branch punch for the leaves. But I'm most proud of the flower, which I made with the Large Dahlia Petals Punch Bunch punch from Core'dinations cardstock. I have the two flower art books, and I thought the Dahlia punch would be used to make a dahlia flower, but the instructions say something else. So this design is sort of made up based on the basic mechanics of making flowers with their punches.

I'm mailing it in a CD mailer so it doesn't get smooshed. Doing that also allowed me to make it square. I don't make square cards often because I'm usually already paying a bit more for postage due to the bulk/weight, but the CD mailer will cost more anyway. I hope she appreciates the card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Bazzill blue and Core'dinations orange cardstock; green from Stemma Citrus Bleu paper stack; unknown white/blue and orange DP; Well Scripted Stampin Up! stamp; Papertrey Ink Snow White pigment ink; A La Mode clear embossing powder; Large Dahlia Petals Punch Bunch punch; Scallop Trim Stampin Up! border punch; Bird on a Branch Stampin Up! punch;

I was very productive this weekend -- FINALLY. I had about five cards I needed to get done, and I got them all done! Yay me! :-) I'll reveal them over the next few days rather than all at once.

This card is for my nephew who turns ten this year. It's so hard for me to do masculine cards, especially for boys who aren't kids really anymore. :-) Can't make it too babyish, can't make it too serious, don't want it to be too dorky. I'm not sure why it matters...I'm pretty sure they don't appreciate a hand-made card, but I do it all the same. But I thought Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line would be manly enough but playful.

I also finally added a counter to my blog. I've only had my blog a year. It's about time, huh? Maybe in the future I can use it to do giveaways and such. Of course, I suppose that means I need to be more consistent with updating my blog so there are new things for people to see, right? And maybe letting people know it's updated? Perhaps? ;-) My template is growing old, too. I think I want a change, so you might notice things changing soon, hopefully for the better.

Anyhoo...thanks for taking a peek today.

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream cardstock and Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend DP; Cornish Heritage Farms sentiment from Mona Lisa Moments Birthday Centers; Colorbox Chalk orange and Papertrey Enchanted Evening inks; white Basic Basic ribbon colored with a Copic; EK Success border punch; EK Success corner rounder punch

It's almost happy new year for everyone! So long, 2009....hello 2010!

Today's card is for my mother-in-law's birthday, just after the first of the year. For Christmas, she gave me some of the punches I requested to make paper flowers. This is my first attempt with them. I thought it fitting that since she gave them to me, she should be the first recipient of something I made from them.

The first one was hard, but once I understood the mechanics, the second one was easier, and I'm proud of the result. Hopefully she'll appreciate this! :-) Now, to figure out how to get it to her without it getting destroyed in the mail.

Supplies: Vintage Cream and Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, Core'dinations cardstock for the flowers; Papertrey Ink Fancy Flourishes stamp; Cornish Heritage Farms Birthday Centers stamp; Adirondack Dye Ink in Lettuce; Martha Stewart border punch and butterfly punch; The Punch Bunch ovoid and sakura punches; Carl Craft sakura punch; Want2scrap.com pearls.

I don't know why, but I haven't been making cards for my close friends at work. I recently decided to start, and this is one of the first. I did a 40th birthday card for a friend earlier this year, but that was a special occasion. This is a non-milestone birthday. :-)

This friend at work likes birds and bird-watching, so I thought Papertrey Ink's Bird Watching set would be perfect. I colored the birdhouses with my Copic markers and then cut them out with my Nesties. I also got to use my brand-spanking new MS "around the page" border punch, but I didn't go around the page, lol. I'll try that at a later date, because I bought the corner one, too. Anyhoo...I hope she likes it. She's one of the ones who sees all of my cards at work before they're sent to the recipients, and she seems to enjoy them, so hopefully she'll enjoy one of her very own.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Kraft and Stamper's Select White cardstockfrom Papertrey ink; Pink textured paper from a Momenta Tranquil 5 x 7 cardstock pad; MS patterened paper; Bird Watching stamps from Papertrey Ink; MS border punch; Nestabilities: Circles, Labels 3, Ribbon Tag Trio; Copic markers; Offray and Basic/Basic ribbons; Memento black and Versamark inks; Kaisercraft rhinestones

My friend Vicki at work just got married. I made this card for all of us to sign. She really appreciated the effort, and my co-workers thought it was pretty, too. :-)

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White and Smokey Shadow cardstock; American Crafts Wedding, Papertrey Ink Fancy Flourishes and Polka Dots 2 stamps; Versafine black ink; Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow ink; Perfect Medium; Kaleidoscope Stamp n Stuff embossing powder; Quickutz Retro Diamons embossing folder; Basic-Basic silver ribbon; Holiday Trim-It-Up silver cord; unknown buttons; Rectangle Nestabilities; EK Success embossed scallop border punch.

This one is for another nephew. Still feel for the same sister -- this nephew is EIGHTEEN! She's neck deep in college applications and planning at this point, lol. He's a talented performer, so I went with "rock star" on this one. This one was pretty quick, but hopefully still appreciated.

Thanks again for looking!

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White cardstock base and Star Prints stamp set; Colorbok Deluxe Textured Cardstock (aqua); Versafine black ink; Fiskars extra large star punch; unknown DP (pack from Target); Martha Stewart border punch; Versamark and A La Mode clear embossing powder (click the photo and you can hopefully see the stars in the background).

This card is for one of my nephews. He turns sixteen -- SIXTEEN! -- this year. :-) My poor sister, lol. Nothing super-special about this card, so thanks for looking!

Supplies: Kraft cardstock, white Rustic Twine, Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo (for distressed edges) and Scarlet Jewel buttons from Papertrey Ink; Inkadinkado Birthday Fun stamp; Versamark Chalk Ink; Martha Stewart border punch; EK Success corner rounder; My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy 2 Enchanting "You and Me" So Cloase/Red Hot Paper.

This card is for my friend's daughter's birthday. I (impulse) bought a couple of things at Michaels, plus I got some "blingy" paper from HSN (Three Birds on clearance). I wanted to use the blingy paper and it just so happened to go with the Deja Views Clear Cut Shapes -- I mean PERFECTLY! And they both went well with my Raspberry Fizz cardstock and ribbon from Papertrey Ink. I thought it came out cute...I hope she liked it!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Raspberry Fizz cardstock and grosgrain ribbon from Papertrey Ink; "Be Happy" and butterfly from Deja Views Clear Cut Shapes "Garden" set; EK Success border punch; DP from Three Birds Bling Extreme kit; Kaiser rhinestones

Continuing the wedding theme from the previous post, my friend also asked me to make thank you notes for her to give to her attendants. She mentioned that I was going to do this to her fiancee, and he asked if I could make his thank you notes for his groomsmen, and I agreed. I tried to keep them somewhat tied to the invitation. The wedding colors are technically pink and black, but I thought white and silver fit in as well. And it gave me more to work with, lol!

For the bridesmaids cards, I used a scrap of the pink patterned paper left over from the invitations. I also used some Canson Effects paper for the silver, and punched it with the Fiskars Apron Lace punch. I used the new Papertrey Ink Vintage Labels set, which coordinate with the Nestabilities Labels One set. I also "borrowed" Nichole Heady's idea of masking off the center, and stamped it with Background Basics Text Style using Versamark and clear embossed it. Then I used Papertrey's Beautiful Blooms set to stamp the flower and its center. The flower center is silver embossed. The Gratitude sentiment, from a Hot Off the Press Expressions set, is also silver embossed. The greenery behind the flower is a Sizzlet. Lastly, the background was stamped in Silver from the Papertrey Ink Fancy Flourishes set and the edges were swiped with silver ink.

For the groomsmen, I used PTI's Tags for Spring for the leaf background stamp and the sentiment. It's layered on a teensy bit of pink and then on silver. To tie the two thank you's together, I used Fancy Flourishes on the black panel in Versamark. The pinstripe paper is aptly named Simple Pinstripe from Simply Luxe and was punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The damask and silver are from GCD studios' Cosette Collection -- the silver is the back of the print.

Thanks for looking!

A while back, a friend on one of my Yahoo groups surprised me with a birthday card. It was such a nice surprise, I decided to "steal" her idea and send cards to my "friends" when their birthdays came up. Hopefully she has received her card by now because I sent it ages ago! And hopefully she was surprised, too.

I used my Papertrey Ink Sign Language set for this one. I even used my Spica pen to add a little glittery flame. :-) It's an Ocean Tides card base with clear embossed Polka Dots dots. The DP is My Mind's Eye, Just Dreamy 2, Enchanting "You and Me" So Close/Red Hot Paper. I used Memento inks for this one (Black and Rhubarb Stalk), plus Papertrey's Chamomile cube. The ribbon is Stampin Up. Border punch by EK Success.

I posted a card just a few weeks ago for my mom's anniversary, and this one is for my dad's anniversary. I recently received Papertrey Ink's Sign Language stamp set, and decided to use it on this card. The designs are so freaking cute, but alas, it didn't come with an anniversary sentiment. Probably too long to fit the sign, lol. Anyhoo...

It's also the first time I inked up my Polka Dots II set, and the first time I used my full-sized Vintage Cream ink pad. I was really tired of trying to get everything covered with the little cube, so I broke and bought the full size.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Papertrey Ink cardstock in Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides; Papertrey Ink ink in Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate; Copic Spica (flower centers are glittery); generic rhinestones; Scor-Pal; Fiskars Apron Lace border punch; Papertrey Ink stamps: Sign Language, Damask Designs, Polka Dot Basics II; square and square scalloped Nestabilities

It's not often that I get to do little girl cards. I have two young boys, so we tend to go to boy birthday parties and HAVE boy birthday parties and such. Our new neighbors (received the bird box way back when) have a daughter who just turned six, so I got to make a girly, blingy card! Yay! ;-)

The cupcake is from The Paper Company's Cupcakes collection. First I stamped it in Memento black and colored with Copics (just a teensy bit shaded). Then I covered it with 3D Crystal Lacquer and dusted some glitter on top. Then I stamped the cupcake again in Versamark and heat embossed in silver. Once the lacquer was dry, I cut out the cupcake part as well as the solid silver hear from the silver version, and stacked it all together. Added a rhinestone and had a cute, girly cupcake! I also used my Copics to airbrush the Labels 4 diecut. You can barely see a bit of yellow and pink behind the cupcake and sentiment (from Hero Arts). Nana's Kids papers, a Papertrey card base, and American Crafts ribbon finished it off.

It's my understanding from her mom that she really liked this card and she wants to scrapbook it. :-) Her mom is allergic to cats (I have four), so I'll be bringing my goodies next door sometime soon to help them with their scrapbook. I don't scrapbook, but there's no reason my schtuff can't be used for someone else's scrapbook, right?

Thanks for looking!

My mom and step-dad's anniversary is coming up in almost two weeks. The Everyday Button Bits set from Papertrey Ink has a cute sentiment, "all things grow with love", so I decided to use that with the flower stem stamp in that set for their anniversary card.

I'm still playing a bit with my Floral Fusion exclusive Papertrey Ink set I got at the CHA Craft Supershow last weekend. :-) Well, technically, I'm playing with all my PTI acquisitions.

I'm a little late posting this, but I finished it up last minute and didn't get a picture of it until just a few days ago. :-) This is the card I made my son for his seventh birthday. He actually asked me to make his card this year. Isn't that sweet? He's a boy, and I really didn't think he cared, but he asked me to, so of course I'm going to!

So...the little robot guy is from a Sandylion Boys acrylic stamp set. Actually all of the picture stamps are. I colored in the little guy with Copics. The "happy birthday" sentiment is from Hot off the Press Expressions. The sentiment inside was made (I should have taken more time!) with my Just Rite rectangular stamper and my Brayton font.

I used Inkscape to create the planet terrain, including the craters. I actually cut that separately with my Cricut and SCAL and used it as a mask to ink onto the planet. I poked holes around the edge and used my white gel pen to simulate stitching. The white stamps on the front are embossed with clear. And the borders inside are both from EK Success.

I think he really liked that I took the time to make it for him!

Here are the cards for my grandmothers for Mother's Day. I'm fortunate to have one still living, and my husband has one still living.

The first one is for my husband's grandmother. I cut the label and it's shadow using my Cricut and SCAL. The shape is from a file offered a long time ago by Dan. He's a talented artist, and he was graciously offering freebie cutting files every week on his blog. He still sells them separately.

The butterfly is from an Inkadinkado set. First I heat-embossed it in black, then I cut it out and colored it with watercolor pencils. A slightly wet paintbrush gave it a slightly watercolor look. The sentiment is also from Inkadinkado and was cut/masked with my oval Nestabilities. I ran the background through my Cuttlebug with the Distressed Stripes embossing folder, added a few purple rhinestones and some purple organza ribbon, and it was done!

The card for my grandmother sort of evolved from other stuff I was playing with. I mentioned a while back that I needed more practice with Papertrey Ink's Guide Lines set, so I was playing around with that. Once I was done, I cut a piece that would go on an A2 sized card and added some rhinestones. Later I stamped and cut out the butterfly. Then I needed a Mother's Day card, and both items were sitting on my desk. An idea was born! :-) I pulled out my Papertrey cardstock, an EK Success border punch, and my Women of Life stamp set. I added a FloraDoodles white daisy, some purple gingham ribbon, and a Papertrey Ink button with a rhinestone on the front, and it was done!

If anyone's interested in the supplies I used, let me know. There were just too many to mention for both cards in this one post. :-)