Don't Faint - I'm actually posting the Papertrey Princesses Challenge

Hi Everyone!  Have you totally given up on me?  I wouldn't blame you.  What can I say other than Life happens and that darn work thing just gets in the way of all my fun :(

That Diane in our Papertrey Princesses group keeps us on our toes.  Diane, You Rock!  She sent me a very sweet reminder that it was my turn to post a challenge.  So sorry, I haven't been around much to participate, but hopefully I will be able to a bit more.

On to the challenge...Today's Challenge is to do a 3D box of your choosing.  The one I've posted today is off of the Cosmo Cricket blog and was really easy to make.  1 sheet of 12x12 and a few folds and you're done.  Here is the link to the tutorial on their blog. http://cosmocricket.typepad.com/cosmo_cricket/2010/10/how-to-fold-a-treat-bag-video-tutorial.html

Here is my version of the bag using the Papertrey Ink's "Homemade" stamp set as well as several other little Halloween sets in my stash.  I also used Papertrey Ink's "Background Basics - Tin Type" for the roof.

Hope you get a chance to play and thanks for taking a peek.

Special Blog Hop Post

This card is posted as a special suprise for a special stamp company owner.  As a huge fan (an buyer) of Papertrey Ink stamps, I was asked to participate in this Special Blog Hop, to show my support of this very talented owner.  Nicole Heady never fails to inspire and share her amazing gift.  To thank this amazing woman, I'm posting my card to her.  Thank you Nicole.

New House Card

A few weeks ago a friend of mine moved into a new house so I thought I'd make her a card.  I found this new stamp by Stampendous and fell in love with it.  It would be perfect for a 'New House' card.

The cardstock, ink, twine and sentiment stamp all come from Papertrey Ink.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey.  I colored the stamp with Copic Markers.  I also used the medium scalloped die from Papertrey Ink as well.

Thanks for taking a peek and letting know what you think.

Apron Template Invitation for the Holiday Weekend.

With the Memorial Day weekend coming up, I wanted to make some invitations.  As many of you know, we have a cabin in Northern Michigan.  On the holiday weekends we usually have a crowd for a weekend of boating, campfires with S'mores, cookouts and family and friends. 

I was at a stamp show this past weekend and saw a template for an apron design.  It was pretty expensive for such a simple template, so I thought I'd try my hand at designing my own.  I am pretty happy how it turned out and I have lots of other ideas for the apron to make it more feminine.  Lace and Flowers maybe? 

Anyway, this has lots of Papertrey Ink stamps, paper and ink on this one.  Faux Ribbon, Fillable Frames #1, Let Them Eat Cake, and Star Prints.  The ink colors are Enchanted Evening and Poppy Red.  The ribbon is from my stash.

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

Mother's Day Cards - 4 of them

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day.  I sure did!

For the very first time ever, I actually sold some cards.  I put out a note here at work (I work with mostly guys) if they would like to purchase some Mother's Day cards from me.  Wahoo, I actually sold 4 cards.  So I thought I'd post them for you to see.  I hope you like them.

This first one was made for one of the guys that just had a baby girl for his wife's first Mother's Day.  He requested the card to be a baby style card from his daughter.  All the products used on this card are from Papertrey Ink except the ribbon, which is from my stash.

This card uses a butterfly stamp from Technique Tuesday.  The Patterned Paper is from Basic Grey.  Notice that I used Papertrey Inks, Boarders and Corners - Circle stamp as it fits perfectly on the Mat Stack Die.

Here is another card using all items from Papertrey Ink.

This card uses lots of Papertrey Ink and well.  Notice that I used the Boarders and Corners - Circle again on the Mat Die.  I also used the new FREE Anniversay gift stamp set from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for taking a peek and I'd love to hear what you think

Papertrey Princesses Challenge #7

This time it is Diane's turn to post the challenge.  Her challenge was to use spring clothing colors to inspire us or to use her colors of Pink, Black and White as inspiration.  Pink, Black and White just happens to be one of my favorite color combos so it was the perfect challenge for me.

For this card I used the new Mat Stack die from Papertrey Ink as well as the flower stamp from the Baby Button Bits set.  This was a super easy card to make.  Hope you like it. 

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

Go-To-Gal Designer Challenge #1

I am a huge fan of Betsy Veldman's http://scrapbookgirl.typepad.com/paper_scissors_and_superh/ work.  She is my "Designer Hero" and I want to be her when I grow up (although I'm way older than her).  In the stamping world, she is probably my favorite.  She is a member of the Go To Gals for Paper Crafts Magazine and posted a challenge on her blog.  Well, I thought I'd play along.  Here is the sketch she posted.

When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of twins.  Well it just so happens, one of the guys I work with is about to become a Grandfather to identical twin girls in a few weeks. That was my inspiration for my 

card.

Thank you for taking a peek at my card and I'd love to hear what you think.

New Stamps

I received some new stamps in the mail earlier in the week.  Two of the sets I ordered were "A Little Argyle" and "Enjoy the Ride" both from Papertrey Ink.  Enjoy the Ride also had a die available that cuts the little car out perfectly.  This has be one of the best ideas in stamping in years.  Stamps and dies that match/coordinate.  Just brilliant!  I was playing around and thought I'd make this little card to see how it all worked.  The cardstock is Kraft, Chocolate and Terra Cotta Tile all from Papertrey Ink.  The ink is Terra Cotta Tile and Chocolate and the ribbon is also Terra Cotta Tile.  I can see using this little car for many cute cards to come.

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

Papertrey Princess Challenge - Think Spring

This time it was BethieJ's turn to post the challenge.  Here is what she posted "Think Spring..Think New..it can be anything you want it to be..a new color combo..a new technique you haave wanted to try, NEW supplies..ANYTHING.." 

Well right after I read the challenge I was trying to think of something to make.  I went outside a little while later and was greeted with these lovely flowers as a sign of spring.  Inspiration Struck!

I have been wanting to use this color combination for some time and thought that it was NEW to me.  I had also purchased the stamp set "Wishing You..." by Papertrey Ink a while ago as well.  But, it was still NEW and in the package.  What better set to use for this challenge!  Here is my take on this challenge. 

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

Baby Shower Gift Card Holder

One of the girls I work with is having a baby at the end of the month.  Last week we had a little baby shower, pot luck luncheon for her.  In addition to a little sleeper, I gave her a gift card to Target.  Gotta love Target for baby and kid stuff.

I made the gift card holder using one of my favorite templates from My Timeless Templates from Papertrey Ink.  The tag was made using stamps from Daily Designs from Papertrey Ink.  I love this set as it is so versitile.  It's great for building and layering and it can be used for almost any occasion.

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

Papertrey Princesses Challenge - Neutrals Only!

It is my turn to present the challenge this time.  For this challenge you are to use Neutrals only.  You may use Kraft, Cream, White and Black.  Or any combination of those.  No colors this time around.  The other day I was playing around with stamping on an envelope and just stamped with some black ink on a kraft envelope.  I really liked the way it looked so this challenge was born.

Here are two views of the card I made.  I used the Year in Flowers Violet stamp by Papertrey Ink.    I was unsure about this stamp when I bought it, thinking I have enough flower sets.  However, it has quickly become a favorite. The sentiment is from the Wishing You set.  Since my sister's birthday is this month, I knew I would be needing a card so I decided to make it a birthday card.  But I think this could make a nice thank you card or even a sympathy card.

I hope you like this challenge and I can't wait to see what you make.  Thanks for taking a peek and let me know what you think.

Papertrey Princess Challenge - CASE IT!

This time it was Cheryl's turn to give us this very creative challenge.  We were each assigned a person in the group to create a card based on one of their cards.  I was give the assignment to create a card based on the amazing Anya's work.  Her cards are beautiful and I was quite itimidated in trying to emulate Anya's work.  Well here goes...  This is the card I chose from Anya's blog.

Here is my version of her card.  For mine I used the Year in Flowers - Violet set from Papertrey Ink.  The sentiment is from the Studio Style set.  The patterened paper from Nook & Pantry by Cosmo Cricket. 

Thanks for taking a peek and I'd love to hear what you think.

St. Patrick's Day Card

I was part of a St. Patrick's Day card swap on the Papertrey Ink boards.  I was lucky enough to receive a card from the amazing Hanneke from the Netherlands.  It was so fun to find this fabulous card in my mailbox on Tuesday when I came home from work.  This is the first time I've ever received mail from that part of the world.  Thank you Hanneke for the beautiful card.  I am honored to receive it.

Gone Cruisin'

K.I.S.A. (knight in shining armour) and I are crusin' the Caribbean for a little vacation.  See you in a few days.

Papertrey Princesses Challenge. Scoring

This time it was Pam's turn to post the Challenge.  Her challenge was about scoring.  Well, I'm not quite sure if there is a real big difference between Scoring and Embossing.  If there is, does that mean that the lines must be straight for scoring?  I took a bit of creative license with this challenge and decided to make my Score Lines a scalloped shape. 

I am loving the new scalloped dies by Papertrey Ink and wanted to try this.  I took the scalloped die and then used my stylus to go around the scallops on a piece of the nice thick Papertrey Paper.  I really like how it turned out and may try it again with some of the other new dies. 

The Stamp Set used on this card is the Men of Life set for the sailboat and the sentiment is from Daily Design Sentiments.  I also sponged a bit of Fresh Snow ink for the clouds and to highlight the waves.  A yellow button sunshine was added and called it good.

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

A Baby Card - Template

A few months back, many of you know that I won the Guest Star Stamper contest on Papertrey Ink.  The catagory I won, was for using their templates.  My prize was a free set of the next months template release.  (I heart templates).  However, when the new templates were released, I wasn't sure I would like the new "In Shape" template sets.  I don't own a Cricut (yet) and wondered how these shapes would work by cutting by hand.  The set I won is called "Rock-A-Bye Baby" and comes with 4 very cute designs.

Fast forward to last week...One of my son's friends just had a baby boy and thought it was the perfect time to try one of the baby templates.  I am so thrilled at how this turned out.  It is one of the cutest cards I've ever made and was suprisingly easy to cut out.  I printed out the template on Vintage Cream Cardstock then stamped it with the Polka Dot Basics set.  I used the template to trace the ear on Bitty Dots Patterned Paper in Ocean Tides.  Then I traced around the feet in some Chocolate Brown scraps and used my Stampin Up scalloped punch to make the feet.  I then cut everything out and assembled it.  I then used one of the Googlie Eyes I had in my craft stash and a little bow on the tail.  I hope you like it.

Thanks for taking a peek and letting me know what you think.

Papertrey Princesses Challenge #3

This time it was Michelle's turn to post the challenge.  Her challenge was for us to color on our project.  This birthday card was made using a stamp by Stamping Bella.  I love using their stamps for coloring.  The patterned paper is Basic Grey - Nook and Pantry.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's, Piece of Cake set.  I used Copic Markers to do the coloring.  The ribbon is from my stash.  For the scallop border, I used the newly released scalloped dies from Papertrey Ink.  This is the medium scallop. 

Thanks for taking a peek, I'd love to hear what you think.

Wanted - Lost Mojo!

If you see my Mojo, will you please send it back to me.  I really have been bad lately with working on any projects.  However, I did take a class at Archiver's last week on making Shabby Chic cards.  The class used Hero Arts stamps and Ranger Paint daubers. (Which I give a big Thumbs Up).  I really liked using them, the consistency of the paint was wonderful and the colors are scrumtious!  We also used the Distress Stickles which I like much better than regular stickles.  They seem to be toned down a bit, the colors are not quite so bright.  Here are the cards I made. Everyone in the class made the same cards.  It was fun using paint with stamps instead of ink and will use this technique again very soon.

Thanks for taking a peek and I'd love to hear what you think.

Papertrey Princesses Challenge #2

Ok, I'm way behind in my blogging.  Sorry about that, but life/work keeps getting in the way of my fun time.  I know this is a bit late for Valentine's Day, but I incorporated it into my project.  This time it was Lee's turn to issue the challenge.  It was to create a 3D project.  All of the products used on this are from Papertrey Ink.  Thanks for taking a peek and I'd love to hear what you think.

Papertrey Ink 3rd Anniversary Celebration - Challenge

Today is day 2 of the big Birthday Bash over at the Papertrey Ink website and Nichole's blog.  There were several free downloads offered today.  The Challenge for today was to use the downloards on a card or several cards.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to do more than one card.  Here is the card I did using the free cupcake download.  I did use Maile Belles http://mailebelles.blogspot.com/ card as inspiration for this layout.   The sets I used for this card are Polka Dot Basics, Jounaling Lines and the sentiment is from the Let's Celebrate set.

Thanks for taking a peek and I'd love to here what you think.

My Time Made Easy Template - Shutt-erfly

As many of you know Lauren Meader decided to open her own online shop with her amazing templates http://www.mytimemadeeasy.com/.  I love doing the templates.  They are fun to put together and they open an whole new area of design and decorating possibilities.  This is one I did last month from her first release.  It's called Shutt-erfly.  The top is designed to look like Butterfly Wings, hence the name of the packaging.  I made this one and filled it with a bag of chocolate covered peanuts.  I did change this up a bit by cutting out an oval in the middle of the box and covering with clear cardstock so you can see the goodies inside.  Lauren has also designed Digital paper.  This is something I thought I'd never do and I ended up loving it.  There are several other patterns to coordinate with this plaid as well and will be using those on some future projects. 

Thanks for taking a peek today and I'd love to hear what you think.

Papertrey Princesses Inspiration Challenge

Yes, I know I've been a bad blogger of late.  I think there are a few reasons for this.  First, after having two wonderful weeks off at the holidays, I just couldn't get myself motivated and back into a routine. Second, I think my Mojo went on holiday as well.  Third, 'Life' just got in the way.

I think the 'renewal' of The Papertrey Princess challenges are just what I needed to get my motivation back. (or at least some of it).

Our first challenge of the year is from the amazingly talented Anya. (a link to her blog is in the sidebar on the left).  Anya chose an inspiration challenge.  Here is the picture of the inspiration piece.  I love the colors, textures and elements in the sewing basket.

Here is my card.  I think the stripes, the colors, the sewing, the pinked edges and the pins are all represented in the card.  I'm pretty happy how it turned out.  Thanks Anya for your inspiration piece.

The stamp sets used are all from Papertrey Ink.  The stripes are from the Faux Ribbon set and the stamped circle image are from the Daily Designs and Daily Design sentiments sets.

Thanks for taking a peek and I'd love to hear what you think.

Thank You card.

Here is a card I made with the intentions of sending in to Paper Crafts last publication call for Thank You cards.  I have never sent in anything for pub calls and basically got cold feet with this card as well.  So here is a basic Thank You card using Papertrey Ink supplies.  The Stamp set is Fancy Flourishes, the sentiment is from Giga Guidelines.  The cardstock is Spring Moss and Chocolate Brown.  The Patterned Paper is from The Turning a New Leaf set.  One tip I used making this card, is to use Copic Markers to change the color of your embellishments.  For example the button was a totally different color brown and did not match at all.  I simply colored the button with a dark brown Copic Marker and it matched perfectly.  I did the same for the little metal accent dots under the sentiment.  They started off life as bright lime green.  A little dabbing of dark brown Copic and they also match.  Thanks for taking a peek and let me know what you think.

On a personal note, I just want to Thank You all so much for your kind comments to my GSS win and project.  Thank you for letting me gush a bit.  You are all so sweet.

A Dream Come True!

I won the Guest Star Stamper contest for December on Papertrey Ink!  This month I was asked to be the January "Guest Designer" as part of my prize package.  I cannot begin to tell you how honored I am to be acknowledged by the best in the business.  This truely is a "Dream Come True".  My complete sample design, directions, supply list as well as full photos will be included with the purchase of the template through http://www.papertreyink.com/ on January 15th. And, it's only $5.

I would like to add a big "Thank You" to those of you that visit my blog and leave such sweet comments.  I can't tell you how much you encouraging words mean to me.  Another big "Thank You" to my "real life" friends as well as my "cyber friends"  who are always so generous with taking the time to let me know you are reading.

I hope you like my sample and can't wait to hear what you think.

It's My Baby's Birthday Today!

Of course my baby is 27 years old today, so he's a big baby. :)  Here is a picture of him that one of the guys at work took.  He was actually at a trade show in Las Vegas working, when they decided to rent bikes for the day and go for a cruise.  (see I told you he was a big baby)

Here is the card I made for him.  He loves his IPOD and listens to it all the time.  When I saw this stamp from Stamping Bella, I knew it would be perfect for him.  I used Copic Markers to color the image and Cosmo Cricket - Boyfriend patterned paper.  Thanks for taking a peek at let me know what you think.

PS.  I'm so excited!  My gift card holder that I posted on December 16th won the Guest Star Stamper contest for Decmeber over at Papertrey Ink.  I know those of you that are familiar with this contest understand my excitement.  Thanks for letting me share.

Happy New Year and another GSS submission

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.  I sure have enjoyed being off work for 2 weeks, I really wish I could stay home all the time.  Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket? 

We spent the last few days up at our cabin (in Northern Michigan) doing some snowmobiling.  There was lots of snow up there and the trails were in great shape.  We got home late last night, but not before stopping for a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner.

Now for my project.  This was entered in the December Guest Star Stamper contest at Papertrey Ink. 

I posted a couple weeks ago that my boss recently got married.  I wanted to get them a little keepsake to remember the occasion.  Since they had a December wedding, I thought a Christmas ornament engraved with their wedding date would be a nice gift.  I decided to make the packaging to show it off a bit more.  I made the Fold and Go template from Papertrey Ink using transparancy.  I then stamped it with the Snowflake Serenade stamp set with White Stazon. (It's my favorite holiday set - so versitile). I added a bit of bling on the snowflake centers.  Thanks for taking a peek and let me know what you think.