Rhythm & Soul

Some people have babies.  Others have fur-babies.  Well, my dear friend's first baby was her baby grand.  Which makes complete sense considering she's a music teacher.  I put together a little hostess gift as a thank you for having us at her cottage last week using Rhythm & Soul and included this mini set.

Non-PTI Supplies:  Patterned papers (from Stampin' UP! and American Crafts  Dear Lizzy collection),

Ink (Colorbox & Memento), Happy Birthday sentiment (Verve), and satin ribbon (Offray).

I love the texture from the impression plates over the Copic pianos.  For the masculine cards, I used the woodgrain IP and the In Bloom IP for the pink cards (which isn't as crisp an impression as I would've hoped for).  I realized that I did forgot to take a pic of the card I gave as the actual thank you card, but it also used Rhythm & Soul, and the same colour palette from the gifts.  Minus the red.  :)

Thanks for taking a look today at what I've been cooking up in my craft room. 
Have a blessed day, friends. 

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

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!

Book Plates Gift Set

As promised, I've got a sneak peek at one of my Christmas gifties.  My nephew has recently discovered the Wimpy Kid series of books and has been collecting them.  I was absolutely thrilled.  Until I saw how he was putting his name in them.  YIKES!!!  But, have no fear All Booked Up is here.  I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of this set and the matching dies, but I am now hooked.  Aren't these pretty?

The bookplates were die cut from whole sheet adhesive labels from Avery using the Mat Stack 3.  This is actually the second set I did.  I tried stamping the centre image in a contrasting colour and also in black, but wasn't happy with the look.  On a whim, I tried using the same colour for both the mat and the image and struck gold.  I really like the monochromatic look on each one.  Before wrapping them up, I will write his name in to give them a more polished look. 

The bookmark was made from scraps leftover from my October Blog Hop Hanukkah card.  To make it a little more durable, I used a textured, glossy cardstock which I stuck to a piece of patterned paper before running through my Big Shot.  A simple monogram set in the Limitless Layers die cuts and my set is complete. 

Hope you like it and I hope it inspires all you PTI fanatics who bought All Booked Up to whip up a few sets as well.  And if you do, be sure to share.  We can all use a little inspiration.

Have a great one & be sure to make time to get inky!

Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - ripe avocado, white (Neenah), blue (Bazzill), patterned paper (unknown)
Stamps - all booked up, alphabet (Heidi Swapp)
Ink - VersaMark, Memento Dew Drops
Other - Mat Stack 3, Bookmark, and Limitless Layers dies, Ribbon (unknown)

Don't Worry ... Bee Happy

As promised, I inked up an older PTI set, Happy Bees, to create a sweet and summery set of cards. These little notecards are 4 x 4 so they fit into standard A2 envies. I thought about making my own 4.5" square envelopes, but that's so not gonna happen any time soon.



I wanted to keep these cards as close to one layer as possible. This was such a challenge as I am in LOVE with ribbons & buttons & bows. And really, if one layer is good, why not three?



With a little self-discipline, I relied on a variety of inks and repetition of simple images to create variety and depth. A little faux stitching around the circles pulled the whole look together and appeased my need to mat everything. I used a simple punched sentiment and added faux-brads with a gel pen.



And here is the complete set. Aren't they sweet?



Thanks for visiting. Enjoy your weekend.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Terracotta Tile, Ballet Blue (SU)
Stamps - Bee Happy
Ink - black (Staz-On), Dandelion, Tangelo, Lilac Posies, Pear Tart, New Sprout, Rose Bud (all Memento)
Other - white gel pen (Sakura), Slice (MM), modern label punch (SU)