Color Blocked Thank Yous

Hi there blog friends!  I was blog surfing today when I came across this post by Maile Belles.  It shows how to color block with dies and I just had to try it out!
My first card here features the Christmas tree die from Papertrey ink. I need some Christmas present thank yous and I thought this would work nicely.  I have the Christmas motif with fun non traditional colors.  I used some bling I had laying around and some extra strips to fancy it up.  The sentiment is from Inside and Out Thank you.

This second card also uses the Christmas tree. A slightly different layout to change things up.  What do you think?  I think I like the first one best.  Anyway I am off to sign them and get them in the mail.  Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Thank Yous

Hey there blog friends! Have you given me up for dead? Sorry for the long absences between posts- I have been busy and I haven't made a darn thing recently. Well haven't made anything except for these cute little baby thank you cards. Clean and simple. I used my newest acquisition- a mini T-Square to make the border frame. If you dont have one of these, you need one. Trust me on this.  It makes those straight lines so easy to do!  Also on this card is the baby from PTI's Bundle of Love.  So cute.  My mom got it for me for Christmas.  The thank you is from one of the Fillable Frames sets.  Not sure which as I keep them all bundled into one or two CD cases.
Some details for you:  Cardstock is Plum Pudding.  The white panel is 3.75 x 5.0.  I added the black border all around with my Micron pen and a mini T-Square.  Its a quarter of an inch all the way around.  I stamped the baby and the thank you in Memento Tuxedo black.  I added the coordinating bundle stamp in the original Plum Pudding Ink.  I colored the other pieces with my copic marker (V06 and V0000)  The baby is done with E00.  I made up some coordinating envies with the same stamp.  These will be going to my SIL who is going to be giving birth to my new little niece or nephew in March.

Teacher Gifts

Well hello blog friends! Its been awhile. Nothing major, just the usual December madness. I have a couple of paint cans that I decorated for my kids' teachers last week. The kiddos are now on vacation but the school district I work for has us working up until December 23rd!!!! No wonder I feel tired.  Anyway these little cans are from Target.  They were in the dollar spot.  I picked up four (they only had six and two were a little dinged).  I used some old Basic Grey patterned paper and some stamps from WMS and PTI to fancy them up.  It only took about 15 minutes to make both.

More Christmas

Hello there! Are you all busy with the holidays too? It seems I spend every free moment wrapping or decorating or shopping. No time for anything like my little blog! LOL! However I did find time to post this card that I made a few weeks ago. I really like the red and pink snowflakes. A little different then my normal style. Thanks for stopping in today! (All materials from PTI)

Christmas Cards

Hello Blog Friends!  I have a couple of cards for you today from my Christmas card frenzy a few weeks ago.

This card features the Tree Trimming Trio die cut from PTI.  I stamped it with the light string from Holiday Lights in silver ink.  I added some bling for lights.  I layered some MME patterned paper strips and some Pure Poppy Ribbon as a base and then stamped on the sentiment in Pure Poppy.

My second card features the same tree die cut this time stamped with stamps from the Tree Trimming Trio set.  More of the MME patterned paper and some Pure Poppy Twill.  The sentiment is stamped in Pure Poppy.  Nice and flat and easy to mail.  Thanks for stopping in today.

Stocking Tag

Hi there blog friends! I have a cute little Christmas tag for you today. I used some patterned paper by American Crafts.  I think it is called Merry Mint.  The stocking is from Stocking Prints (PTI) and the sentiment is from Holiday Lights.  Everything was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed.  The tag shape is from PTI, as is the bow and button.  Thanks for stopping in today!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hi there friends! Its the papertrey ink blog hop today. You can check out all the details here. My card uses some yummy My Mind's Eye papers with the Papertrey Ink tree die cut and sentiment from Tree Trimming Trio.  The light string is from another PTI set, Holiday Lights.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Friends! I wish I had a nice fall card for you, but just like the stores, I have already moved on to Christmas! Everything I have made recently is in the Christmas theme.
Today's card features the Papertrey Ink set, Tree Trimming Trio.  I bought it when it first came out, so I have had it for a few years.  Today I paired it up with the matching die.  The paper is New Leaf.  I stamped with versamark and embossed with sparkle embossing powder.  The ornaments are punched from Scarlet Jewel and embossed as well.  The sentiment is in Scarlet Jewel.  The card base is Fine Linen.  The patterned paper is Merry Mint by American Crafts.  I think this may be a line from last year.  I am a hoarder, I admit it.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow.  May your bellies be full and your troubles be few.  Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Tags and a Christmas Cat

Hello blog friends! I am back from my whirlwind trip to Oregon for one last goodbye to my grandfather. I have some more tags for you today. Like I said before, I was a tag making machine a few weekends ago.

This first tag uses stamps from hero arts and a whole lot of paper piecing. Its way to fussy to mass produce. I made exactly one. The tag die is from PTI.

Tag 2 uses an older set from PTI- Take a Bough. Love that set. Can not sell it, even though I think I should sometimes because I have so many Christmas sets. I am a sucker, what can I say.
Finally I give you my cat Tiger, Santa Cat. He is sitting with my daughter. I don't think he is too pleased at the turn of events. But he was a good sport.

More Tags

Hello friends! I am going to be in and out of town all week. We just got back from my Father in Law's place and in a few days I am off to my grandfather's memorial service. In between, I will be working. So if the posts are a bit sporadic, that's why. Its going to be mostly tags this week, although I am starting another project that I am pretty excited about, my SIL's baby shower invites! I am sure the first 5 will be fun (and the next 35 a chore! LOL).

And a little bigger....

This tag uses PTI Tiny Treats Christmas and a Waltzingmouse Christmas set (I am not sure which off the top of my head, sorry!)  The paper is from My Mind's Eye.  The ribbon and buttons are from PTI, as is the cardstock and die I used to cut the tag.  The twine is from Crate and Barrel.

Christmas Tags

Hello Friends!  Well I think I am finally over this stupid cold.  It had me down for a week, which for me, is really unusual.  Anyway, last night I was finally feeling well enough to get some crafting done.  I decided to break out the Christmas stamps and make some tags.  I made soooo many! So its gonna be all tags on the blog for the next week or so.  LOL!
This tag features stamps from Papertrey Ink.  The sentiment is from Holiday Lights and the little penguin is from Tiny Treats:  Christmas.  I am using 6x6 Christmas paper from My Mind's Eye.  I love this collection!  The ribbons, cardstock, and buttons are from PTI.

Same tag, different colors! The twine is from this massive spool from Crate and Barrel. I bought it last year and I dont think I will ever be able to use it all up!
Thanks for stopping by today! I should be back on Monday with more tags.

Friendship

Katie Renz died yesterday and it hit me even harder than I thought it would.  You see, Katie and I have never actually met IRL.  I have never spoken to her on the phone.  Yet, I considered her a friend.  I met Katie online on the Papertrey Ink Forum, way back when it first opened.  Katie was one of my first online crafting friends.  She visited my blog.  She left me sweet comments.  We chatted through email and later through facebook.  I visited her blog at least weekly.  We talked about silly things, like when the latest stamp goodies would be coming or if my husband was ever going to finish the club house he was building the kids, or what sugar cookie recipes were the best.  I remember going to her blog last year and reading that she had been diagnosed with cancer.  I cried.  Life is so very unfair.  No one can ever explain to me why good people have those kinds of things happen to them and rotten people run around enjoying good health.  Life. is. not. fair.  So I sit here thinking about Katie, hoping her little family is doing ok- though I know they are probably not doing ok, and wondering just what is it that makes a friend.  It seems there are no real "rules" for that.  Friendship can blossom anywhere. It can spring up in the most unlikely places.  Where ever you are now Katie, I hope you are happy and peaceful.  I hope that you know how many people you touched with your life.  I hope you know that you will be missed in lots of little ways, by lots of people who barely knew you.  I hope you know that many people, like me, counted you as a friend.

Random!

Hello there blog friends!  Its been a week.  I've done nothing crafty, so I have no crafty pictures.  The past three days I have been sick.  I am not a good patient.  I whine, a lot.  I want my mom.  Mom knows how to make a sick person feel good.  Alas,  my mom lives three hours away so I am on my own.  Lucky for me, I don't have to go to work until tomorrow.  Hoping to be partially recovered by then. So what do I have to show you? Lets start with this:  

That's my new nephew.  Isn't he adorable?  We call him baby Z.  That picture was from my husband's 40th birthday.  He is officially old.  LOL... yes, yes, I know 40 isn't old...

Next up we have my kitty, Duncan. He is attention starved. Every time I turn around he is there, begging to be petted. Its a good thing he is so cute.

This is science! We are using some new materials I got donated through Donor's choose. Have you heard of Donor's Choose? They are awesome. There is a link to their website at the top of my sidebar on the right. Check them out, a great way to see your charitable contribution put to good use, right away.

This is my hubby's head. He likes to celebrate Halloween this way. The black was sharpie and it did take a day or two to come completely off! LOL!  Thanks for stopping by today and reading my randomness.  Hoping to get crafty just as soon as I get well.  Have a wonderful week!

Halloween Make It Monday

Hello friends! Its Make It Monday over at Papertrey ink. Today's challenge was making your own background paper, which just happens to be something I love to do, so I decided to play along.  My background paper is made with the little characters from Tiny Treat Halloween.  The little stars are from Star Prints and Love Lives Here Christmas.  I colored with my copics, just quickly, it really didn't take very long.  Next I stamped the big Mat Stack 4 in Virdian Leaf green.  I added the little Jack O Lantern and the sentiment.  To get the green mat I traced around my Mat Stack die and then hand cut with scissors, not as easy as die cutting but it gets the job done.  Thanks for stopping in today!  Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Early Halloween Blog Friends! I thought I would share some quick little favor baskets that I made for work.  Sorry for the less than stellar photography.  It was late, I was tired.  My messy table is in the background... my excuses are many, but the result is the same! LOL! These are made with a combination of stamps.  I used the Mat Stack One and Two sets along with some Waltzingmouse- Wanda's Pantry.  I love those stamps.  Claire is a genius.    I used the PTI Favor It 1 box.  Its my favorite because it only takes one pass through the machine for the whole box. 
Most of the patterned paper is from Authentique.  It was gifted to me from the lovely and talented Michelle Phillippi.  The Favor It box fits perfectly on a 6x6 sheet.  And I found at that I can cut two boxes with one pass by doubling up the paper.  YAY!  Less work.  I put these together with my ATG gun.  It didn't take too long, I did it while watching Dr. Phil (yes I admit it!)

More Christmas

Hey there blog friends! Its been a few days. I had a really busy weekend. My sweetie turned 40. Its so weird to me, we have been together since we were 21 so its just bizarre. I mean I remember sitting in my college dorm room talking to him about how old 40 was! LOL, guess I will be eating some more words, eh? Anyway... todays card is more of PTI's Love Lives Here Christmas set. I love those little ornament stamps. So cute! I was hoping to get all inky this weekend, but nada. Maybe today after work- otherwise it will be a quiet week here on the blog, cause I got nothing! Have a great day!

Love Lives Here Christmas

Good morning friends! I have a few more Christmas cards for you today. Today I am using PTI's Love Lives Here Christmas set.   I bought it for that pine bough, but it turns out I love almost every stamp in the set.  I do not love the angel.  Don't know why.
And here we have a less fancy version. I personally like the spiced up one but I thought I would show both. Thanks for stopping by.

Waltzingmouse Christmas Cottage

Yes, I am still obsessed with this stamp! I love everything about it.  This house is stamped on Rustic White paper.  Rustic White is super soft, so if you color on it with copics, be very careful.  After coloring the house I pulled out my liquid pearls and went to town.  It dried a little more silvery than I expected but I still like it.  I mounted the card on Pinefeather cardstock.  I have to admit I am not fond of this color but way back when I bought a 24 pack and I need to use it up.  What I would give for a better hunter green. LOL
Close up of the house and the liquid pearl craziness! Thanks for stopping by today!

More Little Bitty Bird in Winter

Hello blog friends!  Earlier this week I was a creating machine, so hopefully the blog will be all updated this week!  One thing I was working on was making "Winterberry" creations without actually buying the set.  I really like the set but I have so many similar things and honestly I only use Christmas stamps for about 3 months a year.  So I pulled out some similar sets and went to work.  The tree and birds are from Little Bitty Bird.  The berries and sentiment are from Rustic Branches.  The star is from Love Lives Here Holiday (yes I caved last month, but I held strong this month!).  The snowflakes are from Rustic Snowflake.  I drew in the drifts with an American Crafts paint pen and then added white ink with my fingers.  A little copic coloring on the birds and the tree and thats it.  Oh I also used some of the three million yards of bakers twine that I thought would be an awesome purchase last Christmas.  At this rate I will have some for Christmas 2050.

Little Bitty Bird in Winter

Want the new PTI Winterberry set look without the price?  Try using the Little Bitty Bird in combination with the older Rustic Branches.  Rustic Branches has the lovely little tiny open circle for berries.  LBB supplies the branch and birdie.   The snowflakes are from Rustic Snowflake and the sentiment is from Tiny Treats Christmas.  Snow drifts are made with a pencil and some white cardstock.  Add some stickles and you are all done.  All supplies PTI except for the copics and the stickles.  The idea for this card came from Heather's blog on this post:  http://pinefeather.typepad.com/pine_is_here/2011/10/introducing-winterberry-tag-its-9.html

Waltzingmouse Christmas House 2

Good Morning blog friends! How are you all this week? I am worn out!! And guess what? I have my copic marker, intermediate class this Sunday! I am so excited, I hope this will improve my coloring! Today I have another copic heavy card for you. Its simple in design but the coloring takes quite a while. Not one for mass production, to be sure. I created this little scene with stamps from Waltzingmouse's Christmas Cottage.  I stamped the snowman first because he is in the front.  I masked the snowman and then stamped the house.  I masked the side of the house and stamped the trees.  I got out my fine line copic multiliner and added the snow to the sides and the path way in the front.  Claire has a great pathway stamp for the regular house and I almost pulled it out but then I saw it had grass.... and since I was thinking snow.... I just drew in my own.   The whole thing is colored up with copic markers.  The background is colored too.  I own the air brush system but not a compressor so I rarely use it as I am always out of canned air.  I used some crystal stickles to give the snow some sparkle.  Thanks for stopping in!

Christmas Kitty

Good Morning Blog Friends! Another Christmas card for you today. I picked up this stamp at a recent clearance at my LSS. I am so sorry I don't remember the maker. I looked at the stamp and it doesn't say. I threw away the packaging when I put it into a CD case. If I find out, I will edit the post to let you know. I found it! Its by Laurence Attrill. Here's a link. Basically what we have here is a lot of copic coloring and not much else. You know me, simple is the way I usually go. Thanks for stopping by!

Waltzingmouse Christmas Cottage

Hello Blog Friends! Happy Monday!  My Mondays are generally happy because I start my work week on Tuesday! Today I was lucky enough to get in some crafting.  I had planned to craft yesterday but instead put my sad sewing skills through a workout as I worked on my son's Halloween costume.  Today though I broke out my new WMS- Christmas Cottage and got to work!  I love these little cottage sets.  So so cute!  For this card, I stamped the cottage on kraft paper and then got to work with my copics.  Coloring on kraft is kind of tricky.  The paper is a lot softer and so there is more bleeding.  You have to really watch how much ink you lay down and also how close to the line you are.  All the bright white is from my Signo Gel pen.  I think it did a fine job with the snow.  I added a sentiment at the top and thats it!  Actually even though its a simple card, it did take a good 45 minutes to color.  Definitely not for mass production! Thanks for stopping by today.  I made more than one card today so I should be able to update at least a few times this week.

For My Drinking Buddies...

Hello blog friends! How is everyone out in blog land today? I have got some serious crafting to do later today after I finally get my chores done. For some reason I am moving slow today. I've got new WMS stamps all over my desk and I want to play with them. First though I need to hit the grocery store, vacuum, and finish the laundry. Enough with the mindless chatter, on to today's cards. I don't know about you but I love a good happy hour with my girls. I don't go every Friday or anything, but when we do go its always a really good time!   So I love this little sentiment on the first card!  These stamps are all from My Favorite Things.  I got them at a deep discount from my Local Stamp Store.
The main difference between the two cards is the glitter on the glasses. I LOVE glitter. I might go back and put some on the non-glittered card. We are having a big happy hour this Friday so maybe I will actually use these cards. Thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome Sunday.

Happy Halloween- Waltzingmouse Style

Hello blog friends! I got my WMS order last night! LOVE, love, love these new little cottages designed by the fabulous Claire Brennan.  I combined two sets to make this little scene and then I added that tree from MSE to create a little "mash up".  The cottage is from the Cottage Home set and all the Halloween elements (not the tree) are from Hocus Pocus.  Aren't they fabulous???  Lots and lots of copic coloring, some distress inking, and thats it.  The card size is a 5.5 square.  My scene was too big for a regular A2.  Thanks for stopping in today!

More Christmas and Some Sad News

Hey friends! I have another Christmas Card for you today. Another PTI set, Love Lives Here, Christmas. Its one of those cards that I found very difficult to photograph. I make no claims to being a photographer! Anyway I used the sending you die to cut the arch and then just stamped it up. Quick, easy and flat for sending!

Now for my sad news, my grandpa- my last biological grandparent- passed away yesterday. He had lived a long life but its always so sad when the good ones go. I will miss him. The picture below is of him, my late grandmother, me (age 3) and my brother (newborn). That's how I remember my grandpa. He was an awesome person.

More Lights!

Hi! Good Morning Blog Friends! I have another couple of cards using PTI Holiday Lights. Same basic idea as yesterday, with some variation on the theme.   On the first one I used a Spellbinder's rectangle to emboss a rectangle on the background.  I then masked and stamped on the light cord and the star lights.  After they were stamped I came back in with some stickles.
On the second card I extended the cord a little bit with my black pen. Next I hand drew in a black frame. I again added stickles to the lights. Thats it! Easy Peasy! Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Lights

Hello bloggy friends! Thanks so much for your comments yesterday. Comments always make me way happier than they probably should, LOL. And thanks Joyce, for agreeing with me about the spelling of layers with a z. I just can't stand it. Its kind of like cheese its- the actual box has it written as Cheez Its. I just can't stand it! LOL Today I have a Christmas card for you.  I have actually made a few Christmas cards over the last few weeks.  I took pictures when I had the camera out for Make it Monday yesterday.  Today's card uses a new set from PTI.  It was designed by Dawn McVey.  I think its called Holiday Lights.  I love how the string is separate from the light bulb stamps.  If I could change anything, I would add a light bulb that could be colored.    Anyway this card is quick and easy- perfect for mass production- if I did that kind of thing (I don't).  Cord is stamped in silver, lights in pure poppy and virdian leaf.  A little bit of scoring and silver sentiment and we are all done.  As always, thanks for coming by.