Finally! Something New!

I got some new stamp sets for Christmas. My mommy gives the best gifts! One of the sets was PTI's Friends Til the End. I have coveted this set since it debuted but I have never been able to move it off the wish list. Now its mine! Coloring these flowers is so fun and relaxing. Its also time consuming. The cutting out part I could totally do without! But aside from that this set is AMAZING! Great sentiments too. The background uses another set I got for Christmas, PTI's Retro backgrounds. I stamped it on craft in Aquamist, some perly purple and deep aqua (dew drop brand). The cardbase is Aquamist. The flowers are stamped on Stampers select white and colored with Copic markers. The leaves are stamped in ripe avocado on spring moss cardstock. Thanks for stopping by! Have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my internet friends. I love that you all stop by my blog and share ideas with me. Stamping and blogging has led to so many happy things in my life. Much love from my house to yours.

Teacher Gifts

Edited to Add:  I am entering those little pizza boxes in Ted's boxing day challenge.  A fun little challenge with a great prize.  Go here for all the deets.

I started off with three mini composition books.  I saw them first on Poppy Paperie (link in side bar).  The actual book was sent to me by a sweet PTI Forum member, Sueann.  I covered them in PTI bitty box paper in spring rain and sweet blush.  I stamped them with the notes stamp from PTI Take Note and the little snowflake from Holiday Treats.  I made the snowman using PTI's Made of Snow.  Its stamped on white and cut out and glued to the cover.  I ran twill through the notebook to hold the pen.

Next they all got nugget filled pizza boxes.  This particular box was made with spring rain and sweet blush card.  I stamped the interior and exterior with Polka Dot Basics.  The labels were done with Holiday Treats.  The only non PTI stamp is the lovely label frame from Waltzingmouse stamps.
If I am not back on before Christmas I wish you a happy one!  Thanks for stopping by!

Card Set (Aqua and Chocolate Returns!)

This is part of a set that I made as a Christmas present. Its a four card set. The other two cards were shown in the first aqua and chocolate installment. Todays cards use aqua mist, vanilla, and dark chocolate. Images here are from turning a new leaf, polka dot basics, vintage lables, and mixed messages. All PTI.
This card used Polka dot basics, Tea for Two, Everyday Classics and Waltizingmouse Stamps, Off Beat Backgrounds (plaid). Its in front of the Timeless Template that I am packaging it in.

The timeless template (Keeping Tabs). I used WM Off Beat Backgrounds and PTI Vintage labels. I have cleaned off my craft table and will hopefully be back with something else in the next day or two. Thanks for stopping by!

Long Time, No Write

Wow I have just been swamped this season, how about you? I spent most of yesterday baking cookies... always fun but very time consuming. We made six different kinds. I spent Friday night overindulging and Saturday paying the price, LOL. I should know better. I spent some time last night crafting but it was too late and too dark to take pictures. As soon as I have light I plan on some photographs. My kids still have school until Wednesday so I am volunteering in their classes today. Tomorrow I have a movie day with some girlfriends from work. Wednesday I will probably be going crazy, LOL! I hope to be back later today or tomorrow with some new crafty stuff. Thanks for your patience!

Sick

So its been quiet here on the old blog. I am sick. Not a in bed, can't move illness- actually that might be preferable because at least I would stay down and get better. No I have one of those sap all your energy, keep you coughing all night, sore throat, feel icky colds. So I stop and rest and then at the first sign of energy I jump up and try to do all that needs doing and then find myself back at square one or slightly less than square one. I am trying to take it easy but its December for crying out loud, there are a million things that need doing. sigh. So the blog probably won't have any new goodness until the weekend. Sorry. :(

Wise Owl Hangin in New Leaf

Oh I just love PTI's Wise Owl, one of the cutest sets ever! Here is birthday card featuring wise owl and Turning a New Leaf. I used a kraft base, the leaves are all ripe avocado. The sentiment is from Giga Guidelines. I stamped the owl on a scrap piece of cream, colored and cut him out. I have a little piece of twill tied around the base. Thats it!
I hope your Monday is starting off a little better than mine. I am so grouchy, most likely because I can't have breakfast. I am a breakfast eater. I cant have breakfast because I have a blood draw this morning and it needs to be a fasting blood draw. I have to do this every three months since I have diabetes (type 1). The information helps them see how I am doing with managing the disease and how my pump is working, etc. Its been ten years but I can not get used to these blood draws. My arm veins wont even cooperate anymore, they take it out of my hand now. And it HURTS! Ok I am done whining now! Thanks for stopping by

Peace, Love, and Ornaments

I had to post this one because after I made it, I didn't like it. I almost tossed it. The set is PTI's tree trimming trio. Anyway I put it aside and then a few days ago a coworker asked to buy a couple of Christmas cards for her mom. She didnt know what she wanted so I told her I would bring in a couple and let her pick. This one was stuck in with the others and she LOVED it. I could not believe it. LOL. So anyway this little card is on its way to my coworker's mother's place. At least it will get some love.

More Turning a New Leaf

I apologize for the washed out pic, not sure what was going on... too lazy and tired to retake it. All goodies are PTI except for the pp which is from Cosmo Cricket. The ribbon is Terracotta Tile. The leaf image is stamped in terracotta tile as well. The bird is from Birds of a Feather and is stamped in terracotta and aqua mist. The sentiment is also from Birds of a Feather. Fun and easy card.
*** Hey I just gotta ask, what do you think of all this Tiger Woods nonsense? I kind of think he deserved what he got from his wife, but then I am hard on cheaters. I am kind of wondering about the media fascination? Why is this story getting so much attention?

Leaf Card

A very simple card made with PTI's Turning a New Leaf set. I made the base with ocean tides. The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket Earth Love. The leaf is stamped in PTI terracotta tile. Terracotta tile twill with ocean tides and terracotta buttons. The sentiment is from Giga Guidelines.

A Card and Randomness

Hi! We are finally back from our tour of the magic kingdom. I love Disneyland! My kids had a lot of fun, as did I. Not sure about the hubs? LOL, I am sure he had fun too. We stayed right in the park at the Grand Californian. I am spoiled now, only the best for me! We had Thanksgiving dinner at Hook's Pointe. It was kind of weird. I think that was my first restaurant Thanksgiving. It was strange but it was still fun. The pic above is us riding the tea cups at night. Hubs hates that ride. Not the best picture but we look happy. Ok, enough randomness onto the crafty goodness:
Made this with Claire's label set and some PTI. I embossed the new leaf card with my nesties, I cut another label out of white. I stamped it with WM label one stamp and an image from PTI's 2008 holiday tags. I added some ribbon, buttons, and stickles and called it good. Hopefully I will have some new stuff for you tomorrow. My Hubby is out with my camera right now so I can't take pics.

Oh one last bit of randomness... I saw New Moon!!! So good!! It followed the book really well and was really well done. Much better than the first one, imo. I liked the first one ok, but the second one rocked. I liked it so much I saw it twice... shhhhh don't tell, its a secret!

Homemade Christmas House

I got it done!!! YAY! I was suppose to spend the day preparing for our vacation but I am obsessed with this little house, LOL. Its done now. I used PTI's Homemade and Home for the Holidays. The house is from a template by Lauren Meader sold through PTI.All the little Christmas elements are from PTI's Home for the Holidays. They were originally meant to coordinate with Boards and Beams. The house base is lemon tart. All the elements are stamped on cream, colored with with copics and then applied to the base. The roof is pure poppy.
I took the time to shade the roof tiles this time. It took forever! Not sure I would do it again. LOL
I masked the little holly swags and then colored them with copic markers. The glow in the windows are copic marker and blender pen.
What do ya think? I hope you all have a fab Thanksgiving! I will see ya in a week!

Homemade House

Have you been to PTI lately? Perhaps you saw the cute little house template from Lauren Meader? And the gorgeous companion set illustrated by Nichole Heady? Of course I bought both! And here is the cute little house that I made. What do you think?I used cream cardstock for the base and ripe avocado for the roof tops. I stamped in ripe avocado, pure poppy, and dark chocolate. There is also a bit of lemon tart. The glow in the windows is copic marker and blender pen.
I am not sure if its done yet but we are leaving for vacation and I wanted to get some pictures up before we leave. I am contemplating some avocado brick work in the front of the house. Maybe some copic shading on the roof.... that probably would have been easier before I put it together! LOL.
Speaking of putting it together, it went together very easily. I didnt need the written directions. The hardest part is adhereing everything. I used score tape. All the design elements are stamped separately and then cut out and adhered. It takes 5 sheets of cardstock to make this little house, so you dont want to mess it up with a miss stamp! Its hard to part with 5 sheets of cardstock! LOL
Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear your comments.

Christmas and Randomness

Hello!  I still have a few more simple Christmas cards for you.  I posed them in front of my daughter's little tree.  It was a kit we bought at Joann's.  My dd and her brother had such fun putting them together.   Definitely worth the five dollars.   Anyway on to the card.  I have new leaft cardstock from PTI, it was embossed with my label one spellbinder die.  Next I punched another label one out of white.  I stamped it in palette viridian leaf with Waltzingmouse stamp's label one set.  I added the wreath from PTI's 2008 tag set.  I colored the berries red with red stickles.  I added the peace sentiment which also came from PTI's 2008 tag set.  I thought the bottom needed something so I added a piece of sticky tape and coated it in glitter.  It looks so sparkly!  This was a quick and fun little card to make.
In the random news, we had an awesome time on our field trip! So much stuff to see, the university was so welcoming, the kids really enjoyed themselves. We filled every minute of the day! I was in such a good mood that I decided to make breakfast for our entire staff this morning. I prepared homemade cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, sausages, eggs, juice, coffee, hot cocoa, fruit salad.... it was a feast! And everyone was so surprised. I just love surprises like that. So much fun. Of course, now I am exhausted!! Thank goodness only one more day in the work week. Happy Friday y'all! (Or Thursday night if your reading it as I post ;) )

Some More Christmas Goodness

Good morning! Happy Wednesday to you! Today I have another simple Christmas card. This one is made with both Waltzingmouse and PTI stamps. The layout is similar to the previous day's cards. I stamped WM label border on some PTI white. Then I stamped the dove stamp from PTI's 2008 Christmas tags. I added a PTI sentiment in white and flanked it with some cute little scrolls from WM stamps. Simple, fast, and easy!

Today I am off to UOP. It's a gorgeous private college in Stockton. We are taking the 4th graders at our school on a field trip there, hoping to plant the seeds of college in their young minds. I work in a school that is in a very poor area, most of the kids are on free lunch, etc. So helping them see college is attainable, fun, and a worthwhile goal is really important. I can't wait to go on this trip today. Its going to be so fun. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Three

I have for you more simple cards featuring PTI, Waltzingmouse, and Hero Arts. The fancy border is by Waltzingmouse Stamps (link over in the side bar). Its part of Label One set. The sentiment and stockings are from PTI. The little holly sprig is from Hero Arts. I love that sprig because you can easily color the berries. The ornament on the first card is from PTI's Take a Bough. Everything stamped on PTI white cardstock.

Christmas, yet again

I love the simplicity of this card, I have a few more that are really similar. Once I got started I couldnt stop making them. First I embossed my PTI white cs with my label one nestie. Next I stamped a coordinating border from Waltzingmouse stamps Label one stamp set. I added a Hero arts holly sprig and a sentiment from PTI's stocking prints. I can not tell you enough about WM's label sets, they are wonderful. The designs on them are so fresh. Claire really outdid herself. Not only that but these things show up in my mailbox lightening fast and they are coming all the way from Ireland. My hat is definitely off to Claire. If you haven't ordered from her you should. She is the best.
This second card is very similar, except instead of holly I used a stocking from PTI's stocking prints. I cut it out and popped it up on some dimensionals. This is another great set, I can see using this one for many Christmases.
Have a happy Monday. I am taking my kids to the zoo today with a friend. Hopefully it will warm up a bit, I don't like to freeze. However its a small zoo so it only takes an hour or two. Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cards

I have been making a ton of them this weekend... I even took pictures, so things are going to be Christmasy around here for the next few days. I used stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps, Papertrey ink, and Hero Arts.   First off I have to gush about WM stamps gorgeous Label 1 die set!  OMG it is to die for.  That gorgeous little border you see here, thats from the Label one set.  The polka dot background is also from WM.  The little noel is from PTI's 2008 tag set.  The cardstock and ink is all PTI.  The little bird is from Hero Arts.  I bought it last year, don't know the name.  Those cute little hearts I scored at Big Lots, super cheap.  They are from Heidi Grace.  I don't believe they are being made any longer, but I did just buy mine last week so if you have a Big Lots you may be in luck. 
This card is identical to the first one except that I swapped the hearts for buttons.  Love those PTI buttons, but hate mailing them.  LOL.

Birthday Wishes- Giga Style

I have to say this one of my most favorite cards.  The picture does not do it justice.  I started with a dark chocolate base and stamped a pattern using giga guidelines in chocolate and cream.  In real life you can see it peeking through the vellum.  Next I stamped the giga on piece of vellum thats slightly smaller than the base.  I added a strip of cream that a stamped with the big sentiment and some matching small tiles from guidelines 2.  Chocolate bow finishes the whole thing off.  Everything is PTI.

Speaking of PTI, last night was release night.  A whole bevy of yummy new stamps just waiting to be bought.  Of course I had to order.  I got this great new set of leaves and an architectural set called Homemade.  Hoping it will arrive before we go to Disneyland.  Did you order?  What did you get?

Another Notebook

Can you stand another notebook? And more Giga Guidelines? I made this patterned paper the other day and so far have used it on two cards and two notebooks. Totally fun! This notebook has a plum pudding base. I also have some aquamist along the edge, I punched it with the threading water punch. I have some cute button accents in both aqua mist and plum pudding. There is some spring moss twill running down the side. The circle is stamped with the things to do stamp from PTI's Take Note. The faux stitching was done with one of my copic markers. Hope you like!

Happy Veteran's Day tomorrow. Remember to thank a military veteran for his or her service. We just got done donating to a huge collection at work for some very hard working marines stationed in Afghanistan. One of them is the son of the PE teacher at school. I have known him since he was a scrawny 4th grader. Now he is a buffed out hero. I am proud to know him.

How About Some Guidelines?

How about some Guidelines? I have been loving PTI's new Giga Guidelines. So much fun to play with and so easy to use. I also like mixing them up with original guidelines and Guidelines 2. So much you can do with these little guys. On this card I started with a piece of rustic cream cardstock. I drew one inch gridlines in with a pencil because I wanted the pattern to be straight. I stamped the dark chocolate stamp first and then went back with the same stamp (but smaller version) and stamped the spring moss design. I love the way it came out. I added a few rhinestones in the centers. I adhered my pp to my spring moss base and lined the edge with cream twill. Next I used Waltzingmouse's No. 4 labels stamp to stamp my dark chocolate which I then cut out with my spellbinder nestie. I stamped the sentiment from Giga in Cream and added a prima flower with a spring moss button. Thats it! All done. I still have a good half sheet of this paper left so you will probably see it again. I also have a few more Giga projects for you provided I find some blogging time over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by and big thanks to those who leave me comments. Seriously, I am not lying when I say they make my day!

The Last of the Aqua and Chocolate

Well at least for now....  anyway I made this in my aqua chocolate frenzy a few weeks ago.  The base dark chocolate stamped in versamark with a stamp from PTIs vintage labels.  The little strip of pp is made from more PTI stamps... I think from Vintage labels?  The sentiment is from Vintage Picnic.  The frame on the nesties and the little design under it is from waltzingmouse stamps.  I added on some cute aquamist buttons and called it good.

This and That Notebook

I made this for Dawn McVey's color challenge then never photographed and entered it. That seems to be a recurring theme in my life lately... do something, never quite finish, never quite get it there on time. It means I have too much on my plate or I need to make better use of my time. I think its probably a little of both. I have been putting in some long hours at work and then I have all my home responsibilities too. I also have an unhealthy addiction to facebook, LOL! Anyhow on to the notebook. I used leaf green cardstock from PTI. I stamped it in dark chocolate using the grid stamp from Off Beat Backgrounds from Waltzingmouse stamps. Next I stamped a cream panel with roses from PTI's flower garden. I stamped twice, once to get the dark image, then again for the softer image. If you enlarge the image you can see the softer image better. Because I didnt read the color challenge (I just looked at the pic) I thought the pink was suppose to be hibiscus, which is what I used (it was suppose to be raspberry fizz). I mounted the cream panel onto a thin dark chocolate layer. I put some hibiscus twill onto the green portion then mounted on my panel. I covered the roses in crystal stickles. I added a punched kraft border to one side. I punched out a scalloped cream circle and a plain dark chocolate circle and paired them. The cream circle is stamped in leaf green with a stamp from Take Note. The hibiscus border is also from Take Note. The last thing was the addition of hibiscus buttons tied with cream twine. Thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome Friday!

Holiday Notebook

For this notebook I pulled out Rustic Snowflake. Michelle Wooderson had just done a whole post on red and cream so I thought I would give that a try. The base is PTI vintage cream, its stamped with pure poppy. The red panels are Pure Poppy stamped with vintage cream. Pure poppy grosgrain and cream twill are tied on, as well as some cream buttons tied with jute twine. I also added a few red rhinestones to the centers of the snowflakes. On the inside is a PTI notebook in cream and chocolate. The other stamps are all from the Take Note set. Thanks so much for coming by! I hope you have a great Thursday! I can't wait for the weekend, myself. I haven't had a chance to craft all week.

Notebooks!

The first in quite a few notebooks that I have made with PTI's new Take a Note set and cute little notepads. Those notepads are a good deal, only 60 cents each and such a perfect size. I also love the dark chocolate lines. For the base of this notebook I used melonberry cardstock. I stamped it with the plaid stamp from Waltzingmouse stamps in dark chocolate and melonberry ink. Next I cut a piece of dark chocolate cs and adhered it to the front. After that I stamped the pencil image and box image on some PTI kraft. I cut it out and adhered it to the dark chocolate panel. I punched a kraft circle and stamped it with the circle image and the sentiment. I added a piece of melonberry bitty dot ribbon and a melonberry button tied with jute twine. Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous Wednesday.

Guidelines Thank you

Another Guidelines card. I stamped the base of this one the day I got the new Giga Guidelines and then promptly lost it in the pile of mess I had made. Does that ever happen to you? My husband assures me I am the messiest woman he has ever known. Its probably true. Anyway I stamped the top panel with Giga Guidelines in Aquamist on cream cardstock. I then used a stamp from original Guidelines and stamped in plum pudding. The sentiment is from Giga and is in plum pudding as well. The little strip of purple is plum pudding cs punched with my threading water fiskars punch. I added some tiny purple rhinestones and called it done. Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Guidelines!

Well finally I got around to taking some pictures!  I have been really busy with school and with my kids but I have been crafting. Unfortunately I hadn't taken a picture of a darn thing lately!  I have enough pics taken now to get the blog moving for at least this week and part of next week.  I even found a notebook I had made for Dawn's color challenge, which is now long over!  Oh well!  For this card I pulled out a couple of PTI's sets:  Giga guidelines, Guidelines 1, and Guidelines 2.  These are some of my most favorite sets.  Sometimes I just like to sit and build backgrounds on a blank piece of paper.  For this background I used the gridlines cardstock from PTI.  It makes building the background even easier.  Everything is easier to line up.  If you use a gridlined block its even better!  I started with big Giga stamp in Spring Moss (original formula).  Next I added in a tile from guidelines 2 in aqua mist (new formula).  Finally I went back with a stamp from guidelines 1 in plum pudding.  Next I stamped the sentiment from Giga Guidelines on some plum pudding cardstock that I had scalloped with my corner rounder.  I added a layer of aqua mist bitty dots and some satin aqua mist ribbon.  I added to that a plum pudding button tied on with cream twine.  Everything is mounted to a Ripe Avocado base.  It is so pretty IRL.  I think it might be one of the ones I hoard!  LOL!  

I hope you all had a good Monday.  I spent the day with my kiddies (they go to year round school and are off track right now) at the zoo.  We looked at animals and played at the park.  It was a really nice morning.  Tomorrow we are back to the work grind!  Thanks for coming by!

Happy Halloween!

Thats my hubby's head. He likes to dress it up! Happy Halloween from our family to yours!