Birdhouses

Oh I am so happy with this purchase.  PTI's Bird Watching is so cute!  The only thing I would change is I would have made a few outline birds as well.  PTI CS in vanilla and dark chocolate.  Dark chocolate ink, dew drops chalk ink (sahara sand, java) copic markers, and pure poppy ribbon.

The Story of Inches

I am going to put the cards aside for today and tell you story about my two kids.  Sometimes, in this day and age, we forget about the process of letting children explore.  When I think of my own childhood, I remember long stretches of time where I was allowed to wander throughout the neighborhood, play in the backyard with my friends, and explore.  Explore without any interference from adults.  No one was choosing my exploring activities.  No one was guiding me along.  I did what wanted, explored what I found interesting.  Children are so curious and it really doesnt take much to get them going.  

A few afternoons ago my kids were out in the backyard.  I could see them through the sliding glass door.  They were both squatting on their haunches looking at something underneath the ledge by the door.  I saw my daughter motion to my son to go after something.  My son got up and ran over to the tree and picked up a stick.  He  came back and gave it to my daughter who began poking at something under the door.  I wondered if I should go out there.  But then the phone rang and thank goodness it did.   

I kept one eye on the scene outside while I talked with my sister in law.  The kids were in the same position intent on poking the stick at something.  I saw my daughter tell my son something.  He jumped up and ran in the house, grabbed a pair of scissors and went back outside.  Now most parents (myself included) know scissors can lead to very bad things, especially when there is no paper insight.   Alas my sister in law was intent on telling me about the wedding plans, so I kept one eye on the door and continued talking.

Now my son had the stick.  There was something that looked like a big cobweb on the end.  My daughter had the scissors and was trying to cut it open.  They worked and worked and worked, always intent on what they were doing.  After about 10 minutes I hung up with my sister in law. I walked to the back door to see what was going on.  My daughter and son looked at me with faces full of concern.  " We are saving a caterpillar, but its too late," said my daughter.   The moved to the side and showed me the caterpillar on the ground.   He was wriggling but still encased in a fine blanket of webbing.  "We cut off as much as we could," she said.  "Webbing is very tough," said my son.  "I think he will die," said my daughter.   She scooped him up and brought him to me.  He was wrapped in a few layers of spider web.  It was tight around his body.  He could not crawl.  "Help him Mama!" said my son.   We got the tweezers out of my son's pocket knife and began performing a spider web extraction.  It was difficult. Spider webbing is tough!  My husband came over and we worked together to free the caterpillar.  My kids cheered when the last of web came off.  The declared his name was Inches.  We tried to set him free but he was so tired he could barely move.

My daughter put him into a jar with holes and a few leaves.  Inches was to be a pet.  In the end it was clear Inches did not wish to be a pet and my two children debated what to do.  They ended up letting him go in the grass.  Did he live?  I have no idea.   But I do know my kids learned so many lessons that day:

• Kindness
• Spider webbing is tough stuff
• Spiders eat more than flies
• Not all caterpillars adjust well to captivity
• A job can sometimes be done if two people work together
• Persistence can pay off
• Talking about options can make hard decisions easier
  

And they learned it all because I had a phone call and I didn't walk out and say,  "Eww get out of the spider webs!  Go play!"  We have to remember sometimes keeping our mouths shut is the best guidance of all.

Cheers to You!

Another card featuring the drinks from PTI's Day on the Beach.  Oh how I love these little margaritas.  I could sure use one right now!!!  Happy Wednesday!

Blog Hop!

Hi and welcome to Papertrey Ink's Monthly blog hop! This month's challenge was to use yellow. Yellow just screams sunshine and summer doesn't it? For my card I used PTI's summer sunrise and lemon tart. The stamp set is Day at the Beach. Aren't those flip flops the cutest? I made the rhinestones orange with a little help from my copic markers. The card is finished off with summer sunrise grosgrain and lemon tart twill. Thanks for stopping by and have fun hopping!

Bottoms Up! It's a PTI Princess Challenge

I have been waiting for a drinks stamp for so long!  I could only find regular rubber ones, and I am addicted to clear so I had to wait.  Finally PTI came out with two really cute ones, I wish there were more!  These are part of a Beach set called, Day at the Beach.  Many cute images and sentiments but I would have loved more drinks!  All images here are from Day at the Beach with the exception of the dots... those are from Wishing You.  This card also fits in with the fabulous challenge from the super talented Papertrey Princess Leah.  She wanted us all to make a one layer card.  That was so hard for me, I almost always have at least two layers.  I do love how this turned out though.  Happy Sunday!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Do you have big plans this weekend?  I have a weekend of nothing planned.  There will of course be the usual things, like housework, grocery shopping, and a trips to the gym.  Tonite my daughter is having a friend sleepover.   It drives me batty.   To much energy in the house... but I do it for her.  My husband is working all weekend.  I normally have Mondays off so a holiday on Monday isn't huge for me.  I do like that there are only three weeks left in the school year.  I love summer time!  Single best perk of a teaching career.   I am nervous this year because I was laid off.  I don't know if I will be back in the fall... but I am trying to just chill and deal because there is nothing I can do to make it go one way or the other.  So all my fingers and toes are crossed and if in the end I need to go to plan B then so be it.   Well I hope you all have some fabulous or at least relaxing plans this weekend.  I leave you with this little birthday card I whipped up last week.  
Ingredients:  All supplies PTI:  smokey cardstock, hibiscus cardstock, hibiscus ink, Everyday Classics, Polka Dot Basics, Borders and Corners Circles, and birthday basics stamps, hibiscus twill.

Wishing You

Finally got around to uploading some pictures.  We have been busy at work, as its the end of the year.  Open House last night and I am trying to finish the school yearbook, just lots of stuff going on!  Anyway today's offering is a birthday card that I made with PTI's Wishing You.  Love this set.  I stamped in spring moss, melon berry, ripe avocado, and lemon tart.  I used PTI's polka dot basics and fresh snow ink for the polka dots.  Have a happy Thursday!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

It's time once again for Dawn McVey's color challenge.  She picked some awesome colors this time around.  I just love berry sorbet and aqua mist.  I decided it would be a great time to break out and oldie but goodie- PTI's It's a Celebration.  Love that set!  I had lots of fun putting this card together.
The Deets:  PTI's It's a celebration.  Ink and CS:  aqua mist, berry sorbet, dark chocolate
Can you see the little score lines on my card?  I made a little grid with my score pal.  It looks so cool IRL.  I took several pics, but sadly I am not a photographer!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pulling Out Some Older Sets

I dusted off my PTI Out of the Box set to make the focal point on this card.  I had a lot of trouble previously with the solid images.   I think part of the problem is the palette hybrid ink.  Here I switched to some chalk ink and both my polka dots and my square flower image came out great.  I think the ink is by MME...  It came in a container of about 9 pads, in a circle.  I got it from Bev at Precious Scraps.  The ink does not list a color name and of course I ripped the over wrap off long ago.  The base is Kraft, the scalloped square is ripe avocado.  The ribbon is from American Crafts and I got it for a steal at Big Lots.  I love when I hit Big Lots on just the right day.  Some cute little dew drops finish it off.  I got those at Ellen Hutson's store.  She has every dew drop you could ever want.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous Monday!

My GSS submission

I finally found some time to enter PTI's GSS contest this month. I have no idea who won, the winners still arent posted. I am really pleased with my entry this time around. I love how this turned out... the pics don't do it justice.I used Lauren's Timeless Templates.  I traced it out onto PTI's vellum.  I made all the score marks and cuts and then I stamped it with the flourish from With Sympathy in ripe avocado.  I added flowers in berry sorbet and some crystal stickers too.  
See how pretty it looks as a votive holder?  Of course you shouldnt be putting flames in here!  Battery operated only!
I modified the template to make that little lid in spring moss.  That was the most challenging part.  Getting the lid just big enough, but not too big.   I tied on some pretty berry sorbet ribbon.  I love how it turned out.  Its kicking around my craft table right now but I think I really need to give it to someone.

Baby Shower Card

I made this for a colleague who is expecting a baby girl in just a few short weeks.  I love how it turned out!  I used birds of a feather (this is my favorite image from that set) paired with Birds of a Feather sentiment.  The celebrate is from Its a Celebration.  I used polka dot basics on the hibiscus burst strip on the bottom and the small single polka dot to go around the side.  Some hibiscus burst swiss dot and a little bit of stickles complete the card.  

Guess what?  Tonight is PTI's release night.  Now you all know I don't need anything... but they have so many great sets coming out tonight!  OMG I have no idea how I am going to narrow it down.  I can't buy too much though because I am going to run out of room soon!  YIKES!   I need to make a list.  Stop by the release party in PTI's forum tonite.  Its always so much fun.  Hope to "see" you there.

Aqua Mist Cupcakes! YUM!

I made this for a friend's birthday last week.  The card base is aquamist stamped with some aqua chalk ink (not PTI some other brand, I think MME- I got it from Bev at Precious Scraps).  I used PTI's polka dot basics.  Next I cut out some white with my nesties.  I stamped on these fab little cupcakes from MFT.  Then I stickled the tops with waterfall stickles.  The sentiment is from PTI's everyday classics.  Ribbon is aquamist grosgrain with a lovely aquamist vintage button.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a good one!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

Well heck, I missed the deadline!  *Edit*  Thanks to Bethie I realized I hadn't missed the deadline!  Yay!  I already had the project done and photographed though, so I thought I would share it with you anyways.  I love the colors Dawn picked out.  It was easy for me to use these.  I made a card and another little teabox, from the same sketch I posted yesterday.
The colors are smokey shadow, raspberry fizz, hibiscus, and white.  I used polka dot basics and fresh snow ink for the background.  I used Tea for two and the cup and bag from everyday classics.  Love how they turned out!  The ribbon is raspberry fizz and the buttons are from the hibiscus collection.

*** Did you moms have a nice mother's day?  Mine was the best!  Guess what the hubs got me??  An iphone!!  I am in heaven.  I am an internet junkie and this is just another great tool to feed my addiction, LOL!  My kids gave me some awesome homemade gifts... they both stamped me pictures, so cute!   Happy Monday!

Tea Box Template

I have a had a few requests for the tea box design, so I drew up a little diagram.   Its not to scale so you cant just print it out, if I knew how to do that I would have!  Sorry.   Anyway its just a little sketch of how I planned it out for myself.  Hope this helps you!  If you have any questions feel free to contact me through the comments or by email.  You can click the picture to enlarge.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.   Mom is the hardest job I have ever had... but also the best.  Being a mom is something I always wanted, from the time I was a little girl.   I wont lie and say I have enjoyed every minute... but for the most part its been a wonderful experience.  Those two kids have made me into a much better human being.  Of course I had a great teacher, my own mom, whom I adore.   Thats my mom in picture above, with my son and daughter and my teenage niece.  

Challenge Time- Papertrey Princesses!

I belong to this lovely little group of talented ladies who love PTI.  Its such a wonderful treat to hop over to their blogs each week (day...whatever) and see all the lovely PTI goodness.  This week its my turn to host the challenge... I am so excited.  I have never ever hosted a challenge before.  I wanted it to be something we could all do... so thinking it over my challenge to you is to create a card with a PTI stamp set you bought, and then sadly neglected.   Blow the dust off and get it out... bonus points if you create it using a monochromatic color scheme.  If you are not a PTI princess but still want to play... please join us, I would love to see your creation.  PTI princesses, I am looking forward to seeing your work and I will have a RAK at the end for one lucky participant.

I chose my background basics: stars set.  I never use this set.  I really liked it when I saw all the things the design team did with it... but I havent been so successful.  The majority of the stamps have never seen ink.  So I remedied that today.   I used a monochromatic color scheme with hibiscus burst and sweet blush.  I also used Everyday Classics for the sentiment.  Its my friend Tara's bday today, so this one is for her.  Have fun with the challenge and let me know if you played.

A Bit More Tea...

Another little tea bag box.  I dedicate this one to PeggySue... who is blaming me for her most recent PTI acquisition, Tea for Two.  Sorry PeggySue.... well I am kind of sorry, ok not really, you are going to LOVE it!  I made this box with some aqua mist card stock that I stamped with polka dot basics.  The ink is a chalk ink that came in a big set from My Mind's Eye (I think...) I got it from Beverly at Precious Scraps.  It is amazing ink, great coverage and a perfect match for aqua mist.  The focal point is from Tea for Two.  A few aqua mist buttons, some ribbon, and matching dp and we are good to go.  The picture below shows the backside.  The little cup is from the PTI anniversary set, Everyday Classics.

More Tea

I made this card and box for my friend Louise.  One of those wonderful coworkers I was talking about in my grateful list.  The box is quite small (around 3x3) and it holds 3 tea bags perfectly.  The card is 4x4 square.  I used plum pudding and lavendar moon cs and dp.  The stamp set is Tea for Two, Everyday Classics, and Polka dot basics.  I really enjoyed making this one.  I love that little tea cup it goes perfectly with that polka dot tea pot.  I added some crystal stickles to make everything sparkly.  Thanks for stopping by.

Time for Tea Box

I made this little box with the idea of putting some tea bags in it and giving it as a little pick me up gift.  I think the box is 4.5 x 4.5 or something close to that.  The lid comes completely off.  All PTI used here with the exception of a couple of copic markers.  The colors are summer sunrise and lemon tart.  Stamp set are tea for two and polka dot basics.  I really like the tea set, I was on the fence about getting it... I am a huge tea drinker but I wasnt sure what I would do with it.  I am so glad I went ahead and bought it.

Thanks so much to everyone who left me a comment on my grateful post.  I loved reading them.  Sometimes I just feel the need to put that stuff out there, your responses made it so worth while.  Blogging is something I started doing without ever really having a good reason... I think initially I just wanted to comment on other blogs.  Now I have this great place where I can be a big nerd and show off my creations to people who "get" the whole making stuff out of paper.  And also a place where great conversations can happen.  So thanks again for taking the time to comment... it really did make my day.   Have an excellent week... I have a bunch more pictures saved up so hopefully I will be back with another post tomorrow.

Top Ten Things I am Grateful For

10 Things I am Really Grateful for:

1.  My kids.  They rock.  They are the best thing I have ever done and they make me smile everyday.  (Yeah sometimes they make me scream too... but really the good really outweighs the bad.)

2.  My husband.  He is a rockstar.  He cooks. He cleans.  He watches the kids and does not think of it as babysitting (um, yeah you really can't baby sit your own kids).  He loves me even when I am a giant PITA.  I adore him.

3.  My job.   I am so lucky to work in a place where I truly love what I do and who I am with.  My coworkers are friends.  I get to teach what I love.  I have an amazing classroom. I get to interact with all the kids at school and watch them progress year to year.  I have been there 13 years and I still enjoy going there.

4.  A roof over my head.  That I can afford.  It may not be my dream home but its a nice place and it doesnt break the bank.

5.  My mom.  I lucked out.  I got the best mom ever.

6.  Artistic talent.   I love to draw, paint, scribble, color, cut, glue, stamp, and glitterafy (what? thats a word!)  I am good at it, I enjoy it, and I have a hubby that looks the other way while I drop wads of cash on art supplies.

7. My friends.  I have awesome friends, some I met right here on the internet.  My dh used to call them my imaginary friends.  No longer, they are awesome.  I have been blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

8. Chocolate.  Really I don't think I could live without chocolate.

9. Science.  I would be dead if it weren't for science.  I thank God everyday for all the scientists, doctors, and researchers who made it possible for me to carry on a normal life.  With my insulin pump I am almost normal (well anyone who knows me knows normal might not be the best word to describe me... but that aside...).

10.  Cats.  Love my cats.  Even when I want to kill them (ruined furniture, pee on the carpet, shredded window screens) I still love them.  They are the best stress relievers in the world.

Well thats my top ten.  There are a million other things I am grateful for as well... lots are popping into my mind right now (books...computers... lol) but I don't want to bore you to death.  I make myself these lists when I am feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and stressed out.  Try to balance out my view and see the big picture.   I will be back with more pretty pictures tomorrow.  I am still loving that new PTI tea set... so lots more with that one.  Have a wonderful week!

Spots and Dots Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day card, speaking of which I ended up selling them all so I need to make 2 more for my mom and stepmom.  This one uses PTI's spots and Dots along with Heart Prints and Women of Life.  The ink is aqua mist and spring moss.  CS is white and aqua mist.  Spring moss grosgrain.  

In other news I am fully recovered.  Whatever I had is long gone, thank goodness!  I still can't believe I missed two days of work, never happens I tell you.  No I just need to catch up on a huge amount of chores and stuff around the house.  I also have a lot of school work, both grading and lesson plans for this summer course I am teaching.   So I really need to quit wasting time and get to it.  I also only hit the gym twice this week so that means double time for next week, starting tomorrow.  Hope you all are having a great weekend.  Catch you on the flipside.