Night all!
I've been running for days now (at least that what it feels like) but I desperately wanted to get something done for the Just Us Girls Challenge this week. It is a template challenge, hosted by Mona.  It also fits for the newest Play Date Cafe Challenge (colors also chosen by Mona :)).  The template I chose was created by Lauren Meader and is called All Boxed Up.

I just received the new Papertrey Ink anniversary set and couldn't wait to ink it up. This was a FAST project but I like the way it turned out. I plan on making a gift card set to put in there as a gift for a friend.
Tomorrow is Friday! I'm so excited for the weekend. No specific plans - just relaxing :) Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated):
Stamps: PTI 2010 Anniversary Set,
Ink: Aqua mist, spring rain
Paper:white, aqua mist, spring rain
Other: ric rac die, for the graduate die, corner roundr, aqua mist ribbon

Quick post for tonight - I'm entering my first Papertrey Blog Hop! Not sure just why it has taken me quite this long... just forgetful I guess :) Note to self - write things down....
Anywho, the colors are for the most recent Play Date Cafe challenge. I used the faux silk technique demonstrated by Nichole on her blog back at the beginning of April. I couldn't get it to turn out quite as well as hers but I'll definitely try it again :) I use the tissue paper that comes with my Papertrey orders - gotta love recycling :)



Hope everyone is having a wonderful night! Enjoy the blog hop! Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

TTFN,
 
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Delightful Dahlia
Ink: Terra Cotta Tile, Aqua Mist, Colorbox Light brown
Paper: Terra Cotta Tile, Kraft, Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist
Other: Aqua mist buttons, Sewing machine, tissue paper, glue stick

Howdy folks!
Quick card to share for the Just Us Girls Challenge. 

Aren't all those buttons so yummy? Love the spring colors chosen by Maria for the JUGs challenge. So happy and fresh :) There was a twist on this week's challenge - make it a Birthday card in honor of Lisa's birthday - Happy Birthday Lisa! I did make it a birthday card (while it may not seem so on first glance) - on the inside is a verse from Birthday Basics; I just wanted a slightly different sentiment on the outside than the traditional "happy birthday".
Have a great evening and, as always, thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Blooming Button Bits (sentiment), Birthday Basics
Ink: Spring moss, plum pudding
Paper: White, plum pudding, sweet blush
Other: Spring moss ribbon, buttons (sweet blush, plum pudding, lemon tart)

When I first saw the challenge, I thought of a Monarch butterfly and I was inspired by Kelly's card as well. I stamped the butterfly (from Martha Stewart), colored it with copics, cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals.

This card seemed more fun to me and the sentiment from PTI's signature greetings went along well with it. I love the Dot Spot stamp set from PTI - it's simple and stunning all at the same time. I stamped the dot spots onto vellum which is then layered on the black card stock. The orange is so amazing in there. I think before the challenge, I would have assumed Halloween with this color combo - how narrow sighted of me! The little pop of color here and there is fantastic - I bet it would work well with raspberry fizz too, hummmmm.....

Anyway, off to bed :) Gotta busy day tomorrow...
Thanks so much for stopping by!



TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Life card-
Stamps: Life,  Fancy flourishes, Butterflies from Martha Stewart
Ink: Staz on Jet Black, Orange zest, memento tuxedo black
Paper: True black, white
Other: Orange rhinestones, copics


Girly, your rock card -
Stamps: Dot Spot, Signature Greetings
Ink: Staz on Jet Black, Orange Zest, Memento tuxedo black
Paper: True black, white, vellum
Other: Orange zest ribbon, nesties

Tonight I've got a colorful card that (hopefully :)) works for a number of challenges. I was inspired by Arielle's card and this card by Maile Belles. I loved Maile's card so much that I'm definitely going to CASE it later - it is CAS and fabulous :)

And fits with the latest Compose a Card with Becky Oehlers!
The color inspiration was provided by the latest Colour Q challenge.... well, I cheated a little and used kraft to fit with another challenge; so I didn't actually submit the card for the challenge itself.


I cut 9 blossoms from a piece of kraft cardstock. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but I used the PTI polka dot impression plate on a piece of white cardstock behind the kraft cardstock mat. The embossed polka dots don't show up as well as they do IRL. The card looked like it needed something else but I resisted the urge as I didn't want to push things over the edge :)
Anyway, short post - I have a few things to do before bed, including fix mt meals for tomorrow. I've got to focus on my diet more; recent bloodwork has revealed I have high cholesterol and trigylcerides - YIKES! Just another sign I'm not as young as I used to be - as much as I love food, I'm gonna have to curb my eating habits. Of course I'll find time to tune into the Papertrey release party :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated):
Stamps: Birthday Basics (sentiment), Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Hibiscus burst, colorbox white pigment ink
Paper: White, kraft, orange zest
Other: buttons (hibiscus burst, orange zest, pure poppy, hawaiian shores), blossoms nesties, sewing machine, rustic twine, dimensionals

Howdy fellow bloggers!

Tonight I've got a card using the Play Date Cafe's challenge colors chosen by the super talented Mona . Aren't those colors fabulous?!?! Admittedly, mine are a bit "off" the inspiration colors but I didn't have that particular plum color handy. I also incorporated this week's Pile It On Challenge, "Say It With Words". The sentiment should take center stage and no main focal images. Fun, right? The lovely Piali is the sponsor for this week's challenge so head on over and play along! Pile It On is part of a blog hop this week too so really, head on over, check it out :)
So in the spirit of piling it on, the other challenges this card qualifies for are;
Pile it On - Say it with Words
Play Date Cafe - Color challenge
Poly Craft Monday challenge - Anything goes
MelJens Designs - Girly colors
CRAFT challenge - buttons
Your Next Stamp - purple
I took a saddle stitch ribbon and pulled one of the white strings to scrunch the ribbon and encircle the sentiment oval (pardon the weak description - I'm so tired :)). This was so easy and really fun!

Hope y'all have a good night! Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,
 
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Big and bold wishes, daily designs (leaf), Background basics: tin types
Ink: Plum pudding, versamark, colorbox lavender pigment ink
Paper: Plum pudding, vintage cream, lavender moon
Other: Plum pudding ribbon, oval nesties, plum pudding buttons, perfect pearls (white)

Happy weekend all :)
It was GORGEOUS here today - sunny and in the low 70's - just perfect (at least for my eastern Canadian blood :)).  After Tracy (the hubs) finished up work, we went to our local home improvement store to pick up a few plants and supplies for hanging baskets. Our front porch is a bit shady (who am I kidding - it's shady the entire day) so we went with Impatiens. They're hardy enough to withstand the shade and...well, me. I'm a definite gardening newbie - as green as they get; no really, I know NOTHING. But I can do research (I love Google) and go from there - too bad my parents don't live closer. My Mom is amazing with plants; too bad that's not genetic :) I love lilacs so I also picked up a small lilac bush (or tree??? Not sure which is correct - perhaps someone with more gardening experience could fill me in?) and I'm really excited! Love the colors and that A-MAZING scent!
Anywho, onto my card. I got to take part in another Compose a Card Challenge by Becky Oehlers. Yay me!

So Becky gave us a few awesome color schemes based on photos of her daughter's dresses - LOVE the polka dots :) My first inclination would have been to go with the brown and avocado colors but I decided to go with a lesser used color combo (at least by me) - the black and new leaf. And I loved these two together. To set off the sentiment, I wanted to use glitter - I took a glue pen and drew around the inside of the frame - too bad my hand wasn't steady :) It's a bit squiggly - but I kept it as I figured it sort of went with the rough, torn edges of the new leaf paper. Yeah, that's what I'm going with... :)
Well, off to bed :)
Thanks so very much for stopping by the ol' blog-o!

TTFN,
 
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Fillable frames 1, Polka dot basics II
Ink: New leaf, Memento tuxedo black, colorbox white, vellum
Paper: new leaf, true black, white
Other: offray black ribbon, PTI polka dot impression plate, new leaf button, Peridot Martha Stewart glitter, glue pen, Fiskars flower punch

The weather has been so beautiful here in east TN the past week - until today. It's been raining and a bit cooler - but I won't complain. Who knows what the rest of the summer will be like in terms of rainfall so bring it on. I love this time of year - the cherry blossoms, pear blossoms, daffodils, etc- just FAN-TABULOUS!

The dogs were super excited to spend more time outside running around - actually Freya was supposed to be in the picture above but she was running so much I couldn't get a good picture :) Remember yellow dog in the movie "Funny Farm"? That's our Freya :)

Managed to swing some extra time in the craft room this week (SW-EET!), so I have a few cards to share today.
The first card is for the most recent Colour Q challenge.

It also qualifies for Crazy 4 Challenges - use kraft (I think it stipulated to use it as the base but oh well). I was going for a gradient effect - which I think may have been more effective if I'd angled it. Note to self, for next time. Aren't those some fun colors?!

The next card uses the most recent Annabelle Stamps Sketch and colors for this week's Color Throwdown (my first time participating in this challenge too). The colors said baby girl to me so that's what I went with.


I colored the outline alphabet and the base of the cupcake with my new Spica glitter pens! I was so excited to finally get them - the delay in purchase was one of my few brief moments of self-restraint :)
Loving them!!! The paper I used as equivalents includes - Hibiscus burst (pink), soft stone (grey) and spring moss (soft olive); all from PTI.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I really appreciate the visits and comments!

TTFN,
 
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
SENDING YOU CARD
Stamps: Big and Bold Wishes, Background Basics: Tin Types
Ink: Enchanted evening, Hawaiian shores, orange zest, colorbox white pigment ink
Paper: Enchanted evening, kraft, orange zest, white
Other: Hawaiian shores ribbon, nesties, brads, EK Success border punch


CUTIE PIE CARD

Evening folks!
I'm a day late and a dollar short (well, maybe not a dollar short but definitely a day late). I had planned to submit today's card for the most recent Play Date Cafe challenge but, alas, I didn't quite get it finished in time. It is in time for the Just Us Girls sketch challenge though, so I'm not completely behind :) It's the little victories that keep me going... :)

That sketch was so much fun and definitely one I'll use again.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Year of Violets, Blooming Button Bits (sentiment)
Ink: Enchanted evening, colorbox white pigment ink
Paper: Enchanted evening, spring rain, vintage cream
Other: copics, plaid impression plate, nesties, EK success scalloped border punch, spring rain buttons, white gel pen, offray sheer white ribbon

Finally! I've been able to check out the Compose a Card challenges on Becky Oehlers site for a while now (6 times, to be exact :)) but I haven't been able to participate. Until today... yay!
I love her designs and the Compose a Card inspirations! Clean lines, great color combos and a stunning simplicity - right up my alley! So here's my take on her challenge;


Silly me - I took the picture against a white background and the card base is vintage cream. Note to self, "must work on photography skills"... he, he :) Anyway, it was a really fun card to make. I'll be back for the next one fo' sho' :)
Have a great evening! Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Background Basics: Tin Types, Turning a New Leaf, Blooming Button Bits (sentiment)
Ink: Versamark, memento tuxedo black, spring rain
Paper: Lemon tart, Spring rain, Vintage cream
Other: Perfect pearls (white), clear embossing powder, black ribbon (Offray), black felt, blue felt (Hobby Lobby), spring rain button, yellow embossing thread, treading water border punch (Fiskars)

Hi ya!
I'm sharing a card for Pile It On Challenge #13 - make an easel card. Not only are easels fun to make but the awesome layout is sure to impress any recipient :) The sponsor of this week's challenge is...

So be sure to swing on by and play along with us at Pile It On!
On that note, here's my sample;
Isn't the image so darn cute?!?! It's a digi from Soft Pencil and I colored it with the following copic markers (click on the image to enlarge if you're having any trouble seeing the numbers);

The card applies for the following challenges;

• Pile It On: easel card
• Mojo Monday - sketch
• ColourQ - color challenge 
• Crafty Creations: anything goes 
• Simple Doodles: layers 
• Charisma Cardz: animals 
• Cooking it up with Katie: recipe
• The Pink Elephant: pastels
• Digital Tuesday: Scrap it
• Papertake Weekly: open theme

I really adore the color combo - it's so different but fantastic. However, in putting it all together, there was a disconnect between my idea and reality- it just didn't come together as I'd like. Boo! I played with it for hours and am still disappointed... Ah well. Sometimes things just don't work! I do love making easel cards though :)
Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Soft pencil digi, daily designs sentiments, guide lines two
Ink: Hawaiian shores, versamark, colorbox purple
Paper: white, Hawaiian shores, lavender moon
Other: Copics, CB embossing folders, plum pudding buttons, spring moss ribbon