3-in-1

This card fills the requirements for THREE - yes, I said THREE challenges.  I'm very excited about that.  Here are the challenges and their links:
1.  The Play Date Cafe - Color Splash Challenge - click here for details.
2.  The CAS-tastic Wednesday Challenge - use bling - click here for details.
3.  Moxie Fab's Clean and Graphic Challenge - click here for details.

Here's my card:

If you have been following my story for a bit, you know that I need plenty of Thank You cards these days!  I know that there are flowers on here, but it may just go to a male recipient anyway.  I have about 5 men to which I need to write notes.

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Take 3: Summer

Cardstock:  Stampers Select, True Black

Ink: True Black, New Leaf

Ribbon: New Leaf

Other:  green rhinestones

Fun & Cute Challenge

This card is for the Fun and Cute Challenge over on the Moxie Fab World Blog!  The deadline is on Monday, so I'm barely getting it in!!  I have decided that if I am going create something "fun and cute," I have to have cute stamps.  Others may not need this, but I do. 

I recently bought these Hero Arts Playful Animals stamps on Amazon. (Who loves a good gift certificate?!) I thought they would make for a good encouragment card.  I'm a teacher, so I probably should make a lot of these for my fellow teachers this year!  It would be fun to stick them in someone's mailbox when you know that person needs a little lift.  It's either that or a Starbucks coffee - and that could get expensive!

You know what the hardest part about this card was?  Curling the monkey's tail around the ribbon "vine!"

Thanks for looking!  Come play along!

OH!  Have you seen Betsey Veldman's post, "I Challenge You to a Challenge?"  Look into it!

Supplies:

Stamps: Playful Animals, and the grass from Stamp Garden (both Hero Arts)

Cardstock:  Spring Rain, New Leaf (PTI), Kraft

Ink: New Leaf, Dark Chocolate

Ribbon: New Leaf

Other:  rhinestones, Sakura Stardust pen

Make Me Smile

This is for this week's Paper Dolls Challenge given to us by Cecila.  She challenged us to use a color we hardly ever use and a technique we haven't used in a while.  I used one of the Paper Crafts Connection's Go-To Sketches by Betsey Veldman for this card.  I love using sketches - it's one of my favorite starting points when making a card or a layout.  I hardly ever use the Raspberry Fizz color, and I don't really know why. It's bright and beautiful!  I need to look into it more.  Two techniques I haven't used in awhile are on here - first, cutting a circle card and second, using scor-tape and glitter.  (Hope those count as 'techniques.')

The butterfly is from my drawer of embellishments, and I think my friend, Tanna, gave it to me.  The final size of the circle is 5" and I figure I can write a note on the back of this!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Turning a New Leaf,  Handwritten Notes

Cardstock:  Raspberry Fizz

Patterned Paper: 2008 Bitty Dot Basics (Lemon Tart)

Ink: Hibiscus Burst 

Buttons: Spring Rain, New Leaf, Whate

Ribbon: Rustic Cream Button Twine

Tools: 1/4-inch scor tape

Other:  Butterfly, Versamark, glitter

Good Season!

I'm beginning to shift gears in my mind and coming to the realization that I will be returning to school in 2-1/2 weeks.  They'll drag me in kicking and screaming, but I'll be there.  I suppose that it will be good to get back into a routine, and I know my son is excited about starting Kindergarten.  Lots of fun and exciting things await us.

I began these sports cards the day after I received the mini-stamp set "Have A Ball" from PTI.  I knew I wanted to do something for our coaches for their Fall sports, so this set was perfect.  I wanted to girly up the volleyball coaches' cards, so I chose all pink! 

I knew that I'd never be able to line up all the letters if I used the same alphabet stamps, so I chose the Hero Arts Small Variety Alphabet and mixed up the fonts. 

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Have A Ball, Polka Dot Basics 2

Cardstock:  Hibiscus Burst, Stampers Select

Ink: Hibiscus Burst, Dark Chocolate

Other:  Spellbinders, Hero Arts Small Variety Alphabet, Kraft, green cardstock, Versamark, white embossing powder

I'm back!

I'm sorry for the hiatus from the blog. My father's health took a turn for the worse and he is in a better place now - free from illness.

I'm back now and thought I'd share a card I made for Hero Arts a couple of weeks ago.  I'll get back in the swing of things soon, hopefully, and post some new work.  I've missed a couple of contest deadlines and left unfinished cards on my desk for those contests.  But, I'll finish them, because I'll need them!  I have many, many people to which I owe my thanks!

Here's my card:

And here's the inside:

Supplies:

Stamps: Cute Letters, Oceans of Joy, Circular Designs (All Hero Arts)

Cardstock:  Hawaiian Shores, Stampers Select, Summer Sunrise (PTI), Kraft

Ink: Versamark, Hawaiian Shores, Orangerie, New Leaf , Summer Sunrise, Fresh Snow(PTI)

Tool:  Small Rick Rack Die (PTI)

Other:  Rhinestones

Happily Ever Challenged

Ted has given us a timely challenge this month on his blog, Happily Ever Crafter.  In honor of the 4th of July, he challenged us to use colors from Old Glory on a project.  You can play along and see all the submissions if you click here.

Well, it's July 13th, so it's a little late to play along with the 4th of July theme, so I used the colors on a Thank You card.

The inside has a white panel, inked on the edges in blue and a thank you sentiment from Inside and Out: Thank You.

Thanks for looking!  Come play along with us!


Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, BB: Retro

Cardstock:  Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Stampers Select

Ink: Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Smokey Shadow

Tool:  Eyelet Lace Die

Buttons: Enchanted Evening

Other:  Spellbinders

CPS Sketch #175

I love sketches, so I thought I'd play along this week with the CPS sketch #175.  You can see all the details here to play along!






I have a lot of Hero Arts goodies on this card! 

There is a long story that goes with my acquiring the Hero Arts Clear Design Cupcakes stamps.  My quest was cursed, and when I finally did get them, the first thing I did was spill embossing powder all over them - on the stamping side.  It's still there, but the stamps still stamp just perfectly, so I suppose I can live with it. 

I stamped one of the cupcakes on a piece of kraft and another on the Vintage Cream.  Then I used my aquacolors and blender pen for the icing and paper-pieced the kraft and candle portions.  Stickles were added and I let them dry overnight.  Then I stamped the lines from Background Basics: Retro (PTI) on another kraft portion and adhered them together. 

The background is another Hero Arts stamp - the Cupcakes Cling stamp.  Yummy!  I also stamped the inside with a sentiment and another cupcake from the Sparkle Clear Cupcakes set.  (Yes, I have all 3 and want more.) 

I added some sparkle to the candle and little pink rhinestones on the tops of the smaller cupcakes, but I'm not sure the picture picked it up.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:

Stamps: Clear Design Cupcakes, Cling Cupcakes (Hero Arts), BB: Retro (PTI)

Cardstock:  Vintage Cream & Hibiscus Burst (PTI), Kraft

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Other:  Aquacolors, Dove Blender, Rhinestones, Stickles, Sakura Stardust pen

My Sister's Purse

Before I get to the card I made for this post, I should probably give you a little background.  I'm the youngest of 3 girls and grew up in a house where hand-me-downs were the norm.  Of course, as a bratty little girl this really bothered me.  As an adult, not so much.  I still get hand-me-downs from my 2 older sisters and I LOVE it!  Purses, shoes, clothes, wallets, household items, and even shampoo they decided they didn't like all come my way.  Which is fine with me...less money spent on clothes = more money spent on stamps!

My oldest sister is addicted to purses.  She loves them, and I have many, many, many of her old ones.  A few years ago I was with her when she put down a good chunk of change on a purse, and I automatically "called" it when she was finished.  She told me that it would never come to my hands because it was such a nice purse.  Being out of my bratty little sister mode,  I was okay with that.  And to my surprise she carried that purse for a long time - much longer than any of the other ones she has purchased.  Here's a picture of it:

Well, last weekend, she handed me the purse.  See, she had recently upgraded to another one and felt guilty that this one was just sitting in the top of her closet not doing anything.  (There was also a new Bon Jovi CD tucked inside for me, but that is another story!)

So, I wanted to write her a thank you note for giving up a purse that she loved.  I'm still unclear as to whether or not this is "my" purse or if it is just on loan.  I probably should clarify that.   Here's my card:

I hope she likes it and thinks about her my purse when she sees it!

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Inside and Outside: Thank You

Cardstock:  Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream and every other little square

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Ribbon:  Dark Chocolate Twill

Other:  Spellbinders, sewing machine, thread

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

This is my first time to play in the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger.  I love all the images Cath has for us and this one really stood out to me.  I love all the different colors splashes on the black & white background.  You can see the details and other submissions if you click here.

Here's the trigger she gave us:













And here is my card:

 Thanks for looking today!

 Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts Circular Designs, PTI Signature Greetings

Cardstock:  True Black, Stampers Select (PTI)

Patterned Paper: 2008 Bitty Dot Basics(PTI)

Ink: Versa Mark

Other:  Clear & White Embossing Powders, pop dots

Paper Dolls Challenge #12

Lisa (mimig) came up with a GREAT challenge for us this week.  She showed us a picture of her daughter's art and wanted us to use it as inspiration for a card.  Here's her daughter's piece:

Precious - isn't it?  Can't you see little fingers digging into the clay to make the flower petals?












I knew that I had to use Flower Garden for this one.  I know...I know...Flower Garden again?  YES!!

Here's my card.  I must admit, I wasn't sure about it when I finished, but now that it has sat for awhile, I think I'm OK with it.

I loved this challenge, and I'm thinking about taking a tour of my own house and seeing what inspiration is hiding from me.  You can see the details of Lisa's challenge and play along with us on our blog here. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Flower Garden, Handwritten Notes

Cardstock:  Spring Rain, Lemon Tart, New Leaf, Stampers Select

Patterned Paper: 2008 Bitty Dot Basics (Berry Sorbet)

Ink: True Black

Other:  Sizzix Big Leaf Die

P.S.  For the record - see my coffee?  That's the next PTI color I really, really, REALLY want!

Jenn's Packaging Challenge

Jenn Ellefson had a great packaging photo on her blog last week and she created a wonderful card based on that picture.  Then she challenged the rest of us to create something as well.  You can see all of the details here. 

Here's her image:

Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Here's my take on the challenge:

I don't have the woodgrain stamps or impression plate, so I made due with what I had.  My friend Tanna is on vacation all summer long and left me a lot of PTI stuff to "babysit".  Quite the chore, huh?  All the stamps you see here are hers!

Thanks for looking! Go play along with Jenn on this challenge!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: BB-Retro, Handwritten Notes, Giga Guidelines

Paper:  Dark Chocolate, Terracotta Tile

Ink: Dark Chocolate, Fresh Snow

A Week with Wishing You - Day 7

Here it is!  My final day of celebrating Wishing You, one of my first and favorite stamp sets from Papertrey Ink designed by Melissa Bickford. If you haven't put this in your cart yet, then perhaps you should go on over to Melissa's blog here and scroll down a bit to see some projects she did when the set was released. Also, Nichole did a fabulous job introducing the set in her countdown post  here.  Both of those links are so inspiring.

My only wish for Wishing You is that Melissa comes out with an additions to it, perhaps with outlines of the tulips so that we can color them in or paper piece them.  That would add even more versatility to this set.  I would also love to see a few of the sentiments enlarged.  {sigh} Love them.

Here's my card I made for today.  Then I'll show you a few others I've made in the past.

I tried to go girly-vintage on this one, which is way out of my comfort zone!  It was fun, but it made me a little nervous.  Perhaps experimenting with this style would do me some good.

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You

Paper:  Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush, 2008 Bitty Dot Basics

Ink:Tea Dye Duo

Buttons:  Sweet Blush, White/Cream mix

Other Supplies: Hero Arts Soft Blossom Ink, random pink ribbon, pink thread

Here are the seven cards together!

My goal for this Week of Wishing You and the previous Week of Flower Garden was to use only that stamp set and not combine it with other sets.  I wanted to highlight how wonderful each set was on its own.  (With the exception of Day 3 of Wishing You, I managed to do this.)  This set, however, is so versatile it will play along with other sets as well.  Here are two cards that I have made recently combining a few PTI sets.

With Background Basics-Tin Type.  Details here.

With the sun from Scattered Showers Additions. Details here.

And here is the first card I ever made with this set.  In fact, I made a large set of these for a friend, and the design was CASEd from Lisa Johnson.  Details here. 

Thanks so much for sticking with me this week and leaving so many nice, positive comments!  I'm thinking about Scattered Showers or Every Day Button Bits next.  So maybe I'll get busy on that - AFTER I clean my poor, neglected house!

A Week with Wishing You - Day 6

As promised, Pure Poppy is center stage again today.  I combined the two larger tulip images from Wishing You on this card today.  They fit perfectly into the Spellbinders Labels 1 die. 

I've seen a lot of you use your ribbon in such creative ways, that I thought I would give it a try.  This is the saddle stitch ribbon pulled together to make it ruffle a bit.  I'll have to go back to some of the blog posts I've bookmarked to find other ways to use the ribbon.  This was fun.

I have one more day to share my love for this set designed by Melissa Bickford!  Hope you can come back!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You

Paper:  Stampers Select White, Pure Poppy

Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, True Black

Ribbon:  Pure Poppy Saddle Stitch

Other Supplies: Yellow Rhinestones, Spellbinders

A Week with Wishing You - Day 5

How about Clean and Simple today?  Sometimes these cards are the hardest for me to do.  I admit, I'm not very successful at adding a lot of embellishments like Melissa Phillips or Betsey Veldman, but sometimes the CAS cards just look a little undone.  I worked past that for this card today. 

Enchanted Evening is right up there with Pure Poppy in my favorite PTI colors.  Wow! Do you have this color?  I used one of the medallion shaped images on this one as the focal point.  There is a second one in the set that is just as pretty as this one.  Melissa Bickford really thought through the sentiments and packed Wishing You with all occasion messages!  I don't know anyone that is getting married anytime soon, but I'll have a card for the wedding when it does happen!  I could have easily used the "Wishing You Comfort" sentiment and created a sympathy card, but I needed a happy moment!

I'll be back tomorrow with more Pure Poppy!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You

Paper:  Stampers Select White, Enchanted Evening

Ink: Enchanted Evening

Ribbon:  Enchanted Evening Twill Tape

Other Supplies: Versamark, Zing White Embossing Powder, Spellbinders

A Week with Wishing You - Day 4

Kraft - I love kraft.  And I love just about any color stamped on kraft, especially white.  Today's card is focusing on the medium sized tulip and stem images from Wishing You, a Papertrey Ink set designed by Melissa Bickford.  I carried white tulips in my wedding, so I had to make at least one card with that in mind!

Notice that the center of this tulip is a little bit different than the larger one from two days ago.  This one has a strip of square blocks on it instead of the polka dots.  The bottom white strip is covered with Scor Tape and sprinkled with prisma glitter.  I'm not sure you can see that in this picture.  Again, Melissa has so many versatile sentiments in this set.  She thought of everything!

See you tomorrow!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You

Paper:  Stampers Select White, New Leaf

Ink: New Leaf, Fresh Snow, Summer Sunrise

Ribbon: New Leaf Satin

Tools:  Scor Tape

Other Supplies: Kraft, Spellbinders dies, Hero Arts Prisma Glitter

A Week with Wishing You - Day 3

Happy 4th of July!  I hope you are having a day filled with family, celebration, ice cream, hot dogs and fireworks!  I'll be having all of those things today!

Today's card is all about Pure Poppy.  I love, love, LOVE it!  And you can't make a card using Wishing You without using pure poppy!  In fact, there will be another card later this week using pure poppy again!

Here is today's:

I used a sentiment as a background builder, stamped in True Black.  I added a Fillable Frame to surround the focal point this time.  Don't you just love that "Wish" sentiment.  Melissa Bickford was very clever with that one!  It may have been the image that sold me on the whole set when she released it. 

I'll be back with more tomorrow - kraft - in fact.  I can't stay away from it!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You, Fillable Frame #1

Paper:  Pure Poppy, Stampers Select White

Ink: True Black, Pure Poppy, New Leaf

Tools:  Fillable Frame #1 Die

Ribbon:  Pure Poppy Saddle Stitch

Other Supplies: Kaiser Rhinestones

A Week with Wishing You - Day 2

I'm having so much fun working with one of my first and favorite stamps sets from Papertrey Ink!  Today I am focusing on the large tulip and stem images from Wishing You, designed by Melissa Bickford.

I did something a little different this time and designed a card that was 4"x8".  This is for the Paper Dolls challenge that Annika issued for us.  You can get all the details here. 

I inked the edges at the top with Hawaiian Shores and the bottoms with New Leaf  to resemble the sky and grass.  The tulips are super easy to cut out, and I gave them some dimension by securing them with pop dots!  Tomorrow is Day 3!  Come back and see me!


Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You

Paper:  Vintage Cream, Hawaiian Shores, Hibiscus Burst

Ink: New Leaf, Hawaiian Shores, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Orangerie

Tools:  Eyelet Lace Border Die

Other Supplies: Sakura Stardust Pen, Kaiser rhinestones

A Week with Wishing You - Day 1

Wishing You - the stamp set that started my crazy addiction/obsession/loyalty to Papertrey Ink.  Designed by Melissa Bickford, this set is full of beautiful images and sentiments for just about every occasion.  It was released in March of 2009, just after I first discovered PTI and I couldn't wait to get it!  It was the first set from PTI that I put in my cart, and I haven't looked back since!  I get very excited any time that I see Melissa has a new set coming out - it pretty much means that I'm a goner for the month.

Several different sizes of tulips are available in this set, along with 2 oval shaped images, stems with leaves, a dragonfly and  clusters of tulips.  You can see Melissa's highlights of this set when it was released if you click here and scroll down a bit.  And here you can see Nichole's countdown post when the set was highlighted on her blog.

On this first card of my Week with Wishing You I'm highlighting the cluster of tulips, along with two of the small "free" tulips.

As you can see, this set works well to build your own background if you want.  You can also use the images as a focal point, as I'll do tomorrow.  Come back then!

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You

Paper:  Stampers Select, Summer Sunrise, New Leaf, Orange Zest

Ink: Summer Sunrise, New Leaf, Orange Zest, Hibiscus Burst

Tools:  Rick Rack Die

Other Supplies: Sakura Stardust Pen

Paper Dolls Challenge #10

Wow!  I can't believe over ten weeks have passed since I joined an amazing group of talented women from the Papertrey Ink forum. We call ourselves the Paper Dolls; you can check out our blog here.

Last week Amy challenged us with a very versatile sketch to use.  You can see her example and all the details if you click here!  Come play along!

Here's my card for the sketch:

Papertrey Ink Supplies:

Stamps: Round and Round (3rd Anniversary set), Turning a New Leaf

Paper:  Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Green Tea Leaves

Ink: Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Tea Dye Duo

Tools:  Medium Scallop Die

Other Supplies: Sakura Stardust Pen, EK Success 1.75" punch (Thanks, TANNA!)