A Few Cards

Yep, two posts in one day.  Go figure.

I have all sorts of new scrappy things to play with: paper, stamps, embellishments, markers... the list goes on and on and on.  So since it's raining and kind of yucky this afternoon, I decided to to to my office/studio and play.

First up,  a card for this week's 2 Sketches 4 You challenge.  This is for Laura's sketch 50:

After rotating the sketch, I made this sweet hybrid card using BasicGrey's Green at Heart line, combined with Papertrey Ink's new Dotti Biscotti paper.  (Editorial note:  Even if you didn't like the paper [which I do], how can you resist that name!)  These papers worked perfectly with the butterflies in Amy Wolff's Weekly Gazette pack; I just added a bit of bling for their bodies.  The butterfly wings float over the surface of the card.

Hi:  Supplies:  paper: BasicGrey, Papertrey Ink,textured cardstock: Core'dinations, 

border and letter stickers: BasicGrey, gems: Brenda Walton for K&Co., ink: Clearsnap, tool: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), die: Spellbinders, adhesive: Scotch, Therm O Web.Digital supplies: , Butterflies: The Weekly Gazette by Amy Wolff Designs, 

software: Photoshop Elements 8.0 (Adobe).

Next I did two cards for Cammie's challenge at the Papertrey Peeps blog.  For the first time, I finally used (and won't admit how long it's been gathering dust) my Medallion stamp from Stampin' Up!  It pairs beautifully with gems.  I did one sympathy card and one thanks card, using different gem placement each time.  The bottom one was embossed with Ranger's Distressed Embossing Powder, and has a really rough texture that nicely plays off the shine of the pearls.

Many Thanks and Deepest Sympathy. Supplies: Kraft paper: Stampin' Up!, 

Stamps: Stampin' Up!, My Sentiments Exactly, Gems: American Crafts, 

Ink: Vivid (Clearsnap), Versamark (Tsukineko), Embossing Powder: Ranger, 

Tool: heat gun.

And finally, I used a sketch from the May/June issue of Paper Crafts magazine; in particular, I was inspired by Monika Davis' card using some magic mesh.  That's a product that's been collecting dust in a drawer for too long.  The Father's Day card follows the sketch pretty well, and I love the tree transparency.

Happy Father's Day.  Supplies:  paper: K & Company, other, 
stamps: Papertrey Ink (Borders and Corners Oval, Daily Designs Sentiments), transparency: Deja Views,mesh: Magic Mesh, brads: American Crafts, 
ink: Stampin' Up!, Fluid Chalk (Colorbox), tools: Crop-a-dile (We R Memory Keepers), oval punch (Marvy Uchida), adhesive: Scotch.

The Key card deviated away from the sketch, but had its origins there. It's actually a see-through card, with the brown frame highlighting the heart and key that are adhered to the inside back of the card.

Key to My Heart.  Supplies: paper: BasicGrey, transparency: Deja Views, 

mesh: Magic Mesh, tools: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), dies: Spellbinders, adhesive: Scotch.

Being Satisfied With Doing Less

Many of you know I started back to work with a number of steady contracts in mid-December.  I've spent that time enjoying working again - I truly love medical writing and getting into the data.  But trying to re-balance my other household and child duties meant that my craft time suffered.  I'm finally feeling a bit more balanced again, have learned to streamline some chores, and am getting more time for crafting.

The March 2010 edition of ScrapStreet.com Magazine highlighted BasicGrey's Origins paper line.  Here are my projects:

Happy Birthday.  Supplies:  Paper: BasicGrey (Origins),Stamps: Papertrey Ink, 

Twill: Stampin' Up!, Flower: Prima, Tools: scallop punch (Fiskars), acrylic block, 

Specialty ink: Tattered Angels, Ink: Ranger, Other: leaves.

Friend.  Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, Rub-ons: BasicGrey, Stampin' Up!, 

Pen: Copic, Specialty ink: Tattered Angels, Ink: Clearsnap, Ranger, 

Twine: Stampin' Up!, Dies: Spellbinders, Sizzix, 

Tools: circle punches (Marvy), Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), rub-on tool (BasicGrey), 

Adhesive: ThermOWeb, Scotch.

Welcome, Little One (a layout of my sister's Christening).  Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, 

Stamps: HamptonArt, Papertrey Ink, Ribbon: Making Memories, other,

Twine: Papertrey Ink, Tools: scallop punch (Fiskars), corner rounder (Creative Memories), 

fingertip knife (Fiskars), glass cutting mat (EK Success), acrylic block, sewing machine, 

Markers: Copic, Zig, Ink: Clearsnap, Ranger, Other: thread, button.

So my recent scrappy obsessions (when time permits) include Papertrey Ink products, Copic markers (and coloring pretty images with them), and hybrid projects.  I have had this wonderful photo (ca. 1973) of my grandparents feeding the calves on their farm in a frame in my house for years.  But a long time in the sun has taken its toll, and it's time to put the photo into an album or risk it fading to nothing.  This Webster's paper, with its old-world feel, combined with some of Katie Pertiet's digital stamps (the cow one in particular), made for a fun layout.

 La Vie Est Bonne.  Supplies: Paper: Webster's Pages, Bling: Prima, Ink: Ranger,

Specialty ink: Smooch (Clearsnap), Pen: atyou Spica (Copic), Tools: finger tip knife (Fiskars), 

glass mat (EK Success), minimister (Ranger), Adhesive: Scotch, EK Success, Digital supplies:  Brushes: Countryside Clusters and My Family Genealogy Definitions by Katie Pertiet.

 A few of the Street sisters and I entered a digital card-making contest.  Alas, we didn't make it too far. My challenge was to do an easel-style card.  Digital stamps of Alice and the mushrooms, paired with some Fancy Pants rub-ons and Cosmo Cricket papers, made a fun card to send to my niece.

Spring Wishes. Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Paper: Cosmo Cricket, 

Kraft paper: Stampin' Up!, Die cuts: Fancy Pants, Markers: Copic, Ink: Clearsnap, Ranger, 

Twill: Stampin' Up!, Tools: acrylic block, Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), Die: Spellbinders, 

Adhesive: Scotch, Therm O Web, EK Success, Glue Dots,  

Digital Supplies: Stamps: The Greeting Farm.

Earlier this week, I decided to try out the Copics on some highly detailed digital stamps. I selected and sized them using Photoshop Elements, then printed them out and colored them in the evenings while watching TV. I really love how this card came out. 

Spring Bird.  Supplies: Paper: Webster's Pages, Cardstock, stamp: Papertrey Ink, 

Markers: Copic, Ink: Ranger, Bling: Walmart, Cloud 9,   

Digital supplies: Paper: Classic Cardstock: Cleansing by Katie Pertiet, 

Brushes: Birdwatcher Silhouettes No. 2 by Katie Pertiet, Birdwatcher Clusters by Katie Pertiet, Software: Photoshop Elements 8.0 (Adobe).

And finally, I'm trying out a new venture.  I've begun to make some digital templates and quick pages, under the name 4Two2 Frameworks. Grab the freebies on the ScrapStreet blog:  Framework No. 1 and Castle Cutie Quick Pages.

I made the layout below with one of my quickframes: Jeremy's hands holding a frog.  Can you tell I'm a mom to boys?

Buttons Everywhere

This card was made to meet two challenges:  ScrapStreet's weekly challenge and the first Papertrey Peeps challenge.  For both of them, the challenge was to use buttons. Can you tell from the colors how happy I am that it's spring again?

Materials: Paper: Archiver's/We R Memory Keepers, Miss Elizabeth's, Pink Paislee, Bazzill Basics Paper, Stamps: MSE, Papertrey In, Ink: Ranger, Tsukineko, Clearsnap, Markers: Copic, Ribbon: Wright's, Fancy Pants, American Crafts, Buttons: Papertrey Ink, Tools: punch (Fiskars), Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), Dies: Spellbinders, Adhesive: Scotch, EK Success, Therm O Web.

Papertrey Peeps - Challenge #4

This challenge was to CASE (that's copy and stamp exactly) Nichole, the owner of Papertrey Ink, with a few extra rules:  you had to CASE one of her projects from the February or March release, and you had to use different stamp set(s).

I chose to CASE this adorable card (Capture the Moment blog by Nichole Heady):

Instead of a dog, I used a rabbit, and made an Easter card:

Materials:  Paper: Stampin' Up!, scrap patterned paper, Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Through the Trees), Stampin' Up! (Wildlife Reserve, All Year Cheer I), Markers: Copic, Ink: Fluid Chalk, Ranger, Stampin' Up!, Tool: Copic Airbrush System.

Aren't my daffodils beautiful?  Spring has just exploded here in the last week.  We went from cold, raw weather, bare trees, and shoots barely coming up from spring bulbs, to low 70s, sunshine, and daffodils and phlox in bloom.  The Bradford pear trees have gone from bare to fully bloomed - quite literally - in the last 2 days.

And on the down side, pollen season has begun.  The boys have been sniffling for 3 days now, and have started their annual Zyrtec dosing.  In another day or so, once the pine buds begin to swell, we'll have to keep the doors and windows closed against the green pine pollen explosion.

PTI Goodness... and Some Stitching Badness

My PTI prize package arrived yesterday - it was like Christmas came again!  The gals at ScrapStreet have a "swap meet" challenge going.  I was inspired by this image that KT posted:

I love the combination of kraft, cream, dark brown accents and pastels.  And you *know* I had to play with my new PTI goodies, so I created these baby announcement cards using PTI's Pretty Pastels paper and the Baby Button Bits stamp set.  I have a friend who's due in February, so the timing was perfect.

Each bear and button is color-coordinated with the strip of paper at the top of the card.  The materials were:  paper, stamps, buttons: Papertrey Ink; kraft: Stampin' Up!;cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, The Paper Company; ink: Ranger; tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft); dies: Spellbinders; adhesive: Scotch, Glue Dots.

On Friday night/Saturday we got 5" of snow and sleet.  The kids had a ball playing outside yesterday.  Until they started playing with sticks.  Matthew ended up accidentally hitting Jeremy with one, slicing his cheek open.  The cut was deep and had jagged edges, so I took him to the ER for stitches.  Luckily, the roads were better than they usually are in NC when it snows, and I was able to get there and home just fine.  It was not fun to have to mummify him to keep him still during the stitching.  Three of us were needed to hold him down, in addition to the wrapping.  Once he realized that the anesthetic was working, he finally relaxed and we were able to leave very shortly thereafter.  He won't let me take a picture of it yet, but I will.  The stitches won't come out until Thursday.

Both he and Matthew had already had endless lectures about swinging sticks around.  Hopefully this will finally have taught them a lesson.

Poppy thanks and small changes

Over the weekend I got a little time in my craft room.  I pulled out the scrap paper files and decided to make a bunch of thank you cards using only scraps.  I had this great poppy paper, with 2" squares of poppies (buds, full flowers, leaves only) printed on it.  I cut them all out, inked the edges and adhered them directly to the cream-colored card base.  (I had enough to make 9 cards.) Then I stamped "thank you" on them using a sentiment from PTI's Vintage Picnic set.  It still looked a little plain, and I wanted to make it a bit more elegant but still keep it simple.  So I added two scored lines above and below the row of poppy squares.  I really like the way they came out.

We all know that January is all about resolutions and fresh starts.  I generally don't make resolutions, as I've found that if I decide to make big sweeping changes to my life that I fail.  Usually miserably.  Especially if the resolution had to do with weight loss. But in March of last year, I decided to make small changes, one at a time, and try to incorporate it into my routine, and see what would happen.  When I felt comfortable with it, I'd add a new one.

So last March, I changed my breakfast to a protein-fruit smoothie (usually 2 fruits [whatever was on hand], milk and protein powder).  And felt fuller in the mornings and found that the hungry horrors that hit me in the late morning largely disappeared.

In October I gave up diet Coke.  May not seem like a big deal to most of you, but I was drinking a solid 2L (or more) a day.  It went way better than I had expected, with very few headaches.  And haven't had any diet Coke in the house since then.

By mid-year, I decided that I really need to incorporate some form of exercise into my life.  Yup, there it is - the dreaded "e" word.  Going to the gym was out - I know I'd never go.  I waffled for months over whether to get a treadmill or not.  (You know - would I actually use it or would it just become a glorified place to hang clothes.)  By the end of the year, I'd lost 15 pounds - despite not having begun to exercise.

After Christmas I decided to get that treadmill.  Ryan and I looked online for a used one and found it on Craig's list.  He and a neighbor picked it up last night and wrestled it up the stairs to the guest room. I did a 25-minute walk on it today.  A friend pointed me to a site that gave me some info on working into running.  We'll see how it works into my routine.  But it's a start.

Congratulations and Thanks!

My friend, Stacey Michaud, found out recently that she made the Pink Paislee design team.  If you follow Stacey's work, or take a look at her blog (linked above), you'll see that she does amazing, intricately layered layouts with an emphasis on journaling.  She also does a lot of intricate hand cutting.  Her work is always inspiring to me.  And a little bit discouraging as well, because I often have the exact same papers and goodies that she has and yet my pages with it, while not horrible, just don't have that flair that I've come to expect from Stacey.

To celebrate, the gals at ScrapStreet issued the "Stacey Challenge", with the idea to go make something with Pink Paislee products to help Stacey celebrate her new DT role.

So I pulled out my Pink Paislee, and my Everyday Button Bits stamp set from Papertrey Ink, and made this cute, spring-like card.  It's being mailed tomorrow to thank my mother-in-law and father-in-law not only for all the gifts they gave this Christmas, but also for the time they spent here, sharing themselves with us and the boys.  Since we live so far from our families, it is wonderful to have them visit often enough that they and the boys know each other well enough to tease and play and giggle together. 

First Day of School!

And the boys are so excited! The were each the teacher's helper today (one benefit of having B as the first letter of your last name) and are excited to go back to school tomorrow. The little monkeys were quite unwilling to give me a "nice" picture this morning, and much preferred to be total goofballs. But I did get this one semi-decent one of their smug little smiling faces!

Since today was Jeremy's first day of Kindergarten, I made him a decorated Kindergarten box, filled with goodies like new crayons, pencils, a glue stick, tissues, etc. He was delighted with his new gift. (Matthew and my niece Tori got them too, when they started K, and my nephew Dylan will get one next year.)

And what did I do with my morning of freedom? I had 2 hours to myself. (They have early release all week and won't start on the normal schedule until next week.) I did some laundry and made 10 cards for the Cards for Heroes drive. I love these cute little chickadees from the Every Day Button Bits stamp set from Paper Trey Ink. I just added buttons and some paper and they are good to go!

Cards for Heroes Mini Blog Hop

I am participating in a mini blog hop with other talented crafters in honor of the Cards for Heros program. This amazing organization has sent over 170,000 cards to our military men and women in service to our country.

In the scrapping community, there are lots of military wives and military kids. I've learned so much about what they and their military spouses/parents go through to provide our protection and freedom. I am truly honored and humbled by their efforts. I love that CFH provides comfort to both the servicemen and -women overseas by giving them cards to send to their families, and also comfort to the families waiting back home when they receive that card.

I made this card using some scrap paper, a stamp, some ink, and a slide mount. To dress up the slide mount, I doodled a few holly leaves and berries with a Martha Stewart Crafts opaque pen, then put in the details with an American Crafts slick writer.


If you get a chance today, make a small Christmas card and send it in to CFH so that a solider can let his/her family know how much they mean to them from so far away. If you want, you can participate in our CFH Card Drive at ScrapStreet.com too, and not only get the chance to win some great prizes but truly make Christmas special for the "waiting families" at home. The deadline for getting Christmas Cards to CFH is November 1st and right around the corner! Make sure you get those holiday cards in soon!