dude, you're 16!

I've been having so much fun with Big Birthday Wishes and the By the Numbers dies that I had to make another milestone birthday card.  This spring, my oldest nephew is turning 16.  Where the years have gone, I do not know.  Even though his birthday isn't for a few months, I couldn't resist whipping this up for him.  His mom's birthday is in a few weeks, but somehow I don't think she'd appreciate some big ole die cuts announcing her age for all the world to see!  LOL

The card base was cut from Stampers Select, and covered with a light grey text print from SU's neutrals dsp pack.  The Smokey Shadow mat was run through my Big Shot with the By the Numbers impression plate.  A scallop die cut of Ruby Slipper cardstock (Bazzill) was the perfect mat for a crisp white circle.  The numbers were cut from a black glitter cardstock and popped up on foam dimensionals.  I guess this card is a work in progress, as I just realized that I haven't finished the inside. 

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found a little bit of inspiration here today.   If you've got the time, leave a comment.  I love knowing who's been by for a peek and what you think of my work.  

See you soon!

MIM #3 - Yeah, ME!!

Yes, the infamous battle of me and the glitter strips is over.  And I am victorious.  I've been meaning to try out the Make It Monday challenges, but this is the first one that I've completed.  Mainly because I am a stubborn sort of person.  This challenge was seriously trying my patience but I was bound and determined to come out on top.  But, I'll let you in on a little secret.  After several failed attempts using red sticky tape (curse you sticky tape) and clear glitter, I went on a mad hunt for genuine Scor-Tape.  And that boys & girls is when my luck changed.  See?

So, I'm no fan of glitter after all this, but I'm not horridly opposed to using it.  After finding it EVERYWHERE for the past few days, I'm getting used to it.  LOL

Have a glittery brilliant day, friends!

Supplies:  (All supplies Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted.)

Card stock: Solar White (Neenah), Spring Rain

Patterned Paper: In Blooms collection

Stamps: Up, Up, and Away, sentiment from Communique Curves

Ink: Tuxedo Black, VersaMark (Tsukineko)

Other: Copics, white EP (Stampendous), Scor-Tape, green glitter, Die-namics Perfect Bracket Edge (MFT), balloon dies

Desperately Seeking Spring

Okay, is anyone else tired of winter?  The only thing worse than a long winter is the cold, icy blast you get after a few spring like days.  To hold onto that spring-y feeling, I broke out of my usual neutrals with a touch of colour and experimented with the lighter side of the spectrum.  When I finished, I realized that my card was perfect for our February "favorite things" challenge. Now, let me introduce you to my Top 3 go-to's. 




Favorite Thing #1 - Texture
I started with a linen weave cardstock that is embossed with a leaf pattern, that proved to be virtually impossible to photograph well.  I also love the impressed dots in the Banner Builder border.

Favorite Thing #2 - DIY Embellishments
Felt + Dies + Button = Embelly Heaven.  I love making my own embellishments and the right tools make it SO easy.  I don't think I'll ever buy another flower or butterfly embelly again thanks to PTI.

Favorite Thing #3 - A Bold Splash of Colour & Ribbons
The ruffled seam binding is my absolute favorite thing on this card.  It's shiny, funky, and lime green.  Or any other colour my Copic loving heart decides it should be. 

Thanks for dropping by and spending some time with me.  It's great to know that I'm not blogging just for myself and that people actually take the time to check out what I've been up to in my craft room. 

Have a great one, friends. 

happy 30th

Happy Monday!!  Oh how I LOVE holiday Mondays.  It's Family Day here so I've got a whole, blessed day to stamp, craft, and lounge around in Lululemon.  Gotta love it.  So, now that Valentine's Day is over, on to the March birthdays.  I've got a few, and as the mojo would have it, the card I got done first, happens to be the last card I need for the month.  Figures.  LOL  Anyhow, this is a little something inspired by a square card base covered in that fab Pure Poppy polka dot from the Beautiful Blooms paper pack that has been knocking around my craft bin for months.

The huge white polka dots always make me think of summer, so I used Enchanted Evening as a mat and stamped on Stamper's Select white.  The sentiment was from last month's release, Big Birthday Wishes, which I masked and inked up with Memento inks.  I really wanted the year to stand out, so I die cut the 30 from a springy green dot from Bo Bunny.  Love this paper!! 

The last line from the sentiment was the start of a well finished interior.  I added a present die cut from the Make A Wish die collection, and created a mat to mirror the one on the front that goes off the edge of the page.  So, here it is, a card full of my favorite things, for one of my favorite people.  Now, I just have to order the gift and I'm all set.  Weeks in advance, too!

Not much else other than, thanks for coming by.

Mugs & Kisses

A few weeks ago, I ordered a special stamp to make a Valentine's Day card for my niece.  In keeping with the chocolate overload theme of her gift, I went for a warm & cozy, creamy non-traditional card.   I also was bound and determined to use a very masculine chocolate stripe, to create a soft, feminine card.

Details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper:  Fine Linen, Sweet Symphony print, metallic stripe (from my stash), Solar White (Neenah)
Stamp:  Cocoa Emma (C.C. Designs)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento), Tea Dye Duo
Other:  Medium Scallop die, Labels 14 (Spellbinders), satin ribbon (Offray), Crystal Effects (SU), Copics




I realized while cropping & editing this photo that I forgot to make and add a sentiment tag saying "Mugs & Kisses."  I'm not sure if I even need it.  What do you think?  Maybe, I'll just put it on the inside or on the gift tag.  Decisions, decisions.

Thanks for visiting again and I hope your Valentine's Day is happy. {hugs}

Valentine Gift Sets

After weeks of planning and hours of baking, my Valentine treats were finally done.  Each of the sets were what everyone wants for the big day.  Chocolate.  Sugar.  And a special card telling you just how special you are.  My absolute favorite part of a homemade brownie is the crunchy edges. So, when I found a silicone baking pan that makes 1" square brownies, I did a happy dance. Especially since I was at Michael's and had a 45% off coupon.

Inside each of the gift bags were glassine bags of brownies and heart shaped sugar cookies, cello bags of jelly beans, and packets of white, vanilla bean, and traditional hot chocolate from one of my favorite coffee shops, Second Cup. Like Starbucks, but purely Canadian.  And home of the best white hot chocolate in the world.  Seriously, it's worth every single calorie.

Thanks for coming by for a peek at my handicrafts.  Do drop by tomorrow as I have saved my best and favorite Valentine's Day card for the big day. 

Hope you all had a blessed weekend.   


Details:
Paper:  crumb cake, journal print (SU), solar white (Neenah), coloured cardstock (various)
Stamps:  Love Songs (PTI), Silly Valentine (LawnFawn), Love Monkey (Verve)
Ink:  tuxedo black (Memento)
Other:  Limitless Layers, Double Ended banner, Tag Sale 1 (PTI), Copics, baker's twine

viva la verve

Happy Monday!!  To make up for lost stamping time, I spent most of this weekend working with sketch layouts for the Viva La Verve challenges.  Since I was late getting last week's done, I decided that I would just do weeks 1 & 2 at once.  So, sit back, relax and enjoy!

These were the two sketches I was working with:

 

And here are my takes on the first two sketches for February.



VLVFeb2011 - Week 1



Details: 

Paper:  damask print (SU), aqua mist (PTI), solar white (Neenah)

Stamps:  Kind Words (Verve), Fancy Flourishes (PTI)

Ink:  VersaMark

Other:  white seam binding (Hug Snug), C3 (Copic), silver EP (AC), large circles (Nesties), limitless layers (PTI)

 

VLVFeb2011 - Week 2



Details:

Paper:  rustic cream & enchanted evening (PTI),

dictionary print (SU), cork (unknown)

Stamps:  Upsy Daisy (SU), Butterfly Dreams (PTI)

Ink:  new sprout, rhubarb & london fog (Memento), tea dye duo (PTI)

Other:  book print impression plate, butterfly dreams, & notebook die (PTI), baker's twine

A big thanks to the ladies at Verve for two great sketches.  I can't wait to see what they have in store for week three. 

And an even bigger thanks to you all for dropping by.  I love having company and reading your comments really makes my day.  {{hugs}}

Have a blessed day.

Free ... is good!

The only thing better than PTI stuff, is free PTI stuff, right?  I don't own any of the Papertrey tag stamp sets, but I think that's gonna change soon.  They are so much fun to use on cards.  This card uses the same tag Nichole used on her post today.  I love the way it printed on matte photo paper.  Just enough of a shimmer to make it look really, really good in real life.

Details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)

Cardstock:  white (Neenah), crumb cake & turquoise (SU)

Patterned Paper:  kraft print (BasicGrey)

Stamps:  everyday button bits, friendship jar

Ink:  tuxedo black (Memento)

Dies:  friendship jar, banner borders, & limitless layers dies

Other:  autumn & holiday vintage mix buttons, twine (unknown)

This has been a fantastic crafty weekend for me.  I should forget to bring work home more often.  Be sure to drop by this week as I've got a lot of things to share.  Hope you all had an equally great weekend!

See you soon.

let it snow ...

FINALLY!!  Our school board declared it's first snow day since 1999 yesterday.  And I was thrilled.  Granted, I would've been happier if they'd announced it before I had left for work, but, better late than never.  I took advantage of a found 6 hours to get my craft room a little more organized and to get my fingers a little inkier than usual.  My mom's birthday is next week, so I decided that my stamping task du jour was to finish a card for her.  I know that she saves every card we give her.  I mean.  Every.  Single.  Card.  So, this was definitely more labour intensive that most of my crafty creations.

I have a personal aversion to the colour purple, but in honour of her birthstone, amethyst, I went with a regal theme.  On the way home from work on Monday, I had stopped at Michael's on impulse and found these really cool fleur-de-lys embellishments from Jolee's Boutique on sale which were my inspiration.  I also was dying to try out my new Decorative Doily die and to make some wrinkled ribbons.  

I made a bit of an oops on the inside so I had to do a quick fix which turned out pretty okay, if I do say so myself.  All in all, I am thrilled with the finished product. The ribbon was so easy (I coloured it with a copic) but I need to figure out a better way to make bows and froo-froo thingies with it.  So, now that the card's taken care of , I just need to think of a gift for a mom who always says, "don't get me anything" when you ask her what she wants, or needs.  Any suggestions?

See you all later.   

Details: 

Paper:  purple (Core-dinations), chocolate (Bazzill), Rustic Cream & Happy Spots (PTI), Solar White (Neenah), bronze glitter paper (unknown)

Stamps:  Happy Birthday (PTI), inside sentiment (SU)

Ink:  brown, purples (Memento), tea dye duo (PTI)

Dies:  circles (Spellbinders), decorative doily (MFT), medium scallop border (PTI)

Other:  seam binding (white-Hug Snug), RV12 (Copic), fleur-de-lys (Jolee's)

Friendship Swap

Oh.  My.  Dear.  Was I ever totally spoiled me.  After a bleah day at work and the "worst blizzard of the century's coming your way" reports we've been getting all day, finding my giftie in the mailbox was a treat.  Fortunately, my camera was charged and ready to capture every wonderful thing inside.  So, settle in and prepare to have your jaw drop a little further with each passing pic:

First, I opened a standard USPS mailing box to see this:

Love the heartsy tissue paper. 

Which revealed a treasure trove of all things sweet and pink:

An altered paint tin of Hershey Nuggets. 

 

A cupcake notepad, custom cover, and matching pen.



A cutesy pot-holder (which is truly too cute to use) and ...

A beautiful, handmade card and note inside.

Audrey, thank you so much for everything.  This totally made my day.  I'm humbled by the time, effort, and thought you put into making this gift so special.  Pink.  Cupcakes.  Tiny Treats.  It's got your signature all over it.  I love it!!  You are an amazing crafter & a great online friend.  {{hugs}}

Blessings!