Something New!

Finally I made it to my craft table! I have been so busy and also I am easily sucked into other things like this computer or a good novel. Anyway today I have for you a cute little all occasion card featuring new stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I used WM offbeat backgrounds to complete the plaid background in PTI's sweet blush and berry sorbet on PTI cream cardstock. I stamped WM Very Vintage labels on PTI cream with PTI berry sorbet. I cut it out by hand (but then I ran down to my local stamp store and picked up the coordinating spellbinder label four dies... shhhhh... dont tell my hubby.) The cute little accents are also from WM very vintage labels. The sentiment is from PTI's Wishing You. The ribbon is PTI berry sorbet, swiss dot. Before I go I would like to add that Claire, owner of Waltzingmouse has wonderful customer service. Her shipping is speedy fast, she replies to emails quickly, and she took care of a small problem with one of my stamps quickly and efficiently. Not only that but she is a terrific person and an amazing designer. If you have been hesitant to order from her, rest assured she is top notch.

Need a Laugh?

This is me and my kitty Tiger. The kids wanted to get him this little chicken hat for Halloween. As you can probably tell, he won't be wearing it. He was mad! I almost thought he was going to give me the paw. Thats all I got today, no cards, no crafty stuff. I am treading water at work, lots of new responsiblities = me working harder and longer hours. Add in my two kids, the usual chores and I just am not having any free time lately. However I got two new sets of stamps from Waltzing Mouse Stamps by the fabulous Claire so I should be getting inky this weekend. My husband intercepted my package yesterday (I try to keep these things on the down low) and he said, "What on earth are you getting from the UK?" I said, new stamps in the quietest whisper voice to which he rolled his eyes. Clearly my little hobby is getting out of hand. :)

PTI World Card Making Day Challenge 1 & 2

Nichole Heady from PTI is running a contest on her blog for World Card Making Day (yesterday).  You still have time if you want to enter!  You could win the entire October Release!  Wouldn't that be sweet?!  The first challenge was to make a card inspired by Japan, japenese art, etc.  I pulled out my Out On a Limb set because it reminds me of Japanese cherry blossoms.

Card Deets: All products PTI unless noted.  CS: Hibiscus burst, vintage cream, dark chocolate.  Ribbon:  Hibiscus satin.  Ink: Hibiscus, dark chocolate, spring moss.  Ranger stickles and liquid pearls.

Challenge 2 Mexico

The little spots and dots background here reminds me of Mexican tiles. The bright and bold colors of the gems say Mexico to me as well. Imagine my surprise when I saw the website later and saw the next challenge was India... LOL I guess I could have used this for that one as well! But it was slated to be Mexico, so thats where its staying. All materials PTI except for the galaxy gold ink and rhinestones (K&co.)

Wedding Time

I think I mentioned that my sister in law (my husband's younger sister) was getting married this weekend. Both my kids were in the wedding along with the groom's niece and nephew who just happen to be the same age and same genders! Isn't that funny? So the big day was yesterday, in Tahoe, California. If you have never been to Tahoe, you should definitely go. Its some beautiful country. I thought I would share a few pictures from the big day.
The bride and her parents walking her down the aisle.
My two kids, aren't they so cute?

Here they are at the hotel right before the wedding.

My sister in law and her new husband at the reception.  I love how happy they look!

New Papertrey Goodness

Look at all this yummy PTI goodness!  I havent had much crafty time lately but I did manage to make a couple of  Christmas cards when my box of PTI goodies landed on my doorstep Tuesday.  I was a bad girl.  I skipped the gym and stayed home and made cards.  The rest of the week has been full of school.  Today I work and then tomorrow we leave to go to Tahoe for my Sister In Laws wedding.  Wedding all weekend long and then Monday I volunteer in both kids classes and meet with my nutritionist (diabetes and insulin pump issues).  So no signs of slowing down.  

CARD DEETS:  PTI cardstock in new leaf and rustic white.  Stamped with Tree Trimming Trio

in spring moss and pure poppy.  Sentiment in new leaf. Hero arts rhinestones and PTI satin ribbon in pure poppy.

Yippee! A Card!

Well I had planned a crafty weekend... but life got the best of me once again.  I did get this one card made.  It took me two hours!  Way, way longer then normal.  This one is for my sister in law who is getting married on Saturday!  Yay!  My daughter and son are both going to be in the wedding.  I just know they are going to be frieking adorable.   Anyway back to the card.  I started by stamping that small strip of pp.  I actually made a full sheet of that using PTI's grid line cardstock, guidelines 1, aquamist and enchanted evening ink.  The card base is enchanted evening.  The oval from Wedding Day is stamped on aquamist cs.  All the other stamps are also from the Wedding Day set.  The ribbon is enchanted evening twill with some of the silver that PTI sold last christmas (um yeah first time I have used it... me thinks maybe I buy too much?).  The bling is from Heidi Swapp.  It was orignally a circle.  I made it become oval.  Hope you  like!

Helllloooooooo

Wow, work is taking its toll on my blog! I apologize for the lack of posts. The problem is I haven't had time to make anything! We are two weeks into the school year and I am already swamped! On top of that I have my first illness of the year, some kind of horrid head cold. I am not complaining because trust me, I am happy to be employed. Hoping this weekend to get some new things made, maybe get them photographed so we have something pretty to look at next week. In the meantime here is my grateful list for this week!

Ten Things I am Thankful For (In totally random order!)
1. New stamps from PTI
2. An Ha1c of 6.8
3. Cute new pants that were on sale
4. My sewing machine
5. That my mom taught me how to sew
6. My friend, Louise, for making me laugh
7. My friend, Asa, for his high standards
8. My husband for bringing me lunch on Friday
9. My boss for giving me some leeway on my arrival time so I can drop my kids at school.
10. My cat

Celebrate Fall

I don't know about you all but I am ready for some cool weather! We had a nice summer, not too many days in the triple digits... but I am really ready for some sweater weather. A little wind and maybe a tad bit of rain. This card uses some of the newer papertrey products. The pp is from their August collection. The sentiment and stamp is from Autumn Abundance. I stamped in dark chocolate and fresh snow. I colored with my copics. The acorns have a little bit of stickles on them.

A Cherry Gift Ensemble

My friend's little girl was turning a year old this past weekend. I always like to give a homemade gift when I can, usually along with something store bought. We bought the one year old a couple of our favorite board books by Sandra Boynton and then I made her this cute little onesie.
Ever since I bought Everyday Button Bits from Papertrey Ink I had thought those cherries would look fabulous as a T-shirt or a onesie. Since this one is for a little girl who is less than three I made doubly sure to sew those buttons on extra tight. We wouldn't want them to end up in someone's mouth. I stamped the leaves on in palette viridian green. I sewed on some scarlett jewel buttons and then I stamped the sentiment (from Studio G) in palette noir. It really didn't take long at all, most time consuming was the securing of the buttons. When I finished I made a matching gift bag an card. The Kraft bag is from Target. They run about 50cents. I stamped it with PTI Polka Dot basics in Scarlet Jewel. I then cut a label from my Label one dies and added on the cherry leaves and scarlet jewel buttons. Same studio G sentiment. I added some scarlet jewel satin ribbon to the bag and then glued on the label. The card was made in the same fashion except the sentiment is from PTI's Everyday Button Bits.

Rosemary for Remembrance

Hard to believe its been 8 years. My thoughts are with those who paid the ultimate price and their loved ones who are still paying. May God Bless America

Happy First Day of School to Me!

I made these for the staff at the elementary school where I teach. I love my coworkers! I can't wait for this school year to begin!
Deets: Hero arts apple, copics, PTI cardstock, Martha Stewart and PTI ribbon, PTI sentiment

Moxie Fab Challenge

The Moxie Fab Blog (here) is having a challenge. You still have time to participate if you hurry. The deadline is Labor Day. The challenge is to make a Christmas card. This is such a challenge for me in the summer. I do not work well out of season. I don't think I could ever be on a design team for this very reason. I do not feel Christmasy in August or September or even in October! But the prize for this challenge is 4 sets of PTI stamps! 4 sets! So I got out my Waltzingmouse Gingerbread men. Actually these aren't even mine. Claire gave them to my daughter but I make her share with me.
Card details: I used Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy cardstock and ribbon. The gingerbread man and sentiment is from Waltzingmouse stamps. He is stamped in PTI dark chocolate on Kraft. The white is PTI fresh snow, the red is pure poppy. The pp is from my stash and bought so long ago I have no idea where it is from. The snowflakes are from PTI's rustic snowflake.

Ruffled Ribbon

Ruffled Ribbon seems to be in lately, doesn't it? I made mine with PTI grosgrain. I took a couple pieces of embroidery thread and ran a running stitch through the top of the ribbon. Pull to ruffle. I hate to sew on paper so I stuck it down with sticky tape. All materials are PTI. I used dimensionals to pop up the pp. Colored the flowers with copics. I like it, alot.

Feeling Grateful

It's been awhile since I have had a grateful post... in no particular order, here are ten things I am grateful for today.

10. My job! Helping kids, playing scientist, a paycheck... whats not to like?
9. My coworkers: I am lucky to work in a place where I adore the people around me.
8. Toby Keith: Saw his concert last Friday night. It was awesome!
7. Starbucks black ice tea: my favorite summer drink
6. My son's first grade teachers: what a difference a year makes, these teachers rock!
5. My husband: sat through Toby Keith (he hates country music) with a smile on his face, he is a keeper!
4. My son can ride his two wheeler!
3. My daughter treating her brother so well lately.
2. My copic marker air gun. LOVE it!!!!
1. Bootcamp- making me feel awful for days, but leaving me with some nice muscles!

I hope you have a terrific Thursday! Hopefully I will have some new cards in the next few days, thanks for stopping by!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

Dawn has issued another color challenge over at her blog. The colors are summer sunrise, dark chocolate, vintage cream, and kraft. I decided to make a baby card. Very non traditionally colored, but I like the way it turned out.

Itty Bitty Baby

Here is a set I rarely use.  There aren't many babies popping out around me lately!  It is such a cute set though.  My friend Stacey just had her shower for her third baby, who is due very soon!  I made this little gift bag for the shower gift.  Sorry for the bad picture... the one that had the card in it looked even worse!  Anyway the bag was super easy to make.  I picked up a plain kraft gift bag at Target.  It was 50 cents.  I adhered a strip of spring rain cardstock, some spring rain gingham ribbon.  Before adhering I punched the top of the cs with my trusty fiskars punch.  Next I added three ovals of pti linen vellum.  I stamped the three animals on various pti patterned paper and cut them out.  I glued them to the vellum and stamped the sayings underneath.  I then glued the ovals to the bag.  The whole project took me maybe 15 minutes.  Looks pretty good for a 50cent bag, right?

Autumn Blessings

Here is a card I made a few days ago. I have just loved coloring the images from PTI's new set, Autumn Abundance. Here I stamped in dark chocolate on cream cardstock. I colored with my copics and then punched it out with a spellbinders classic oval. The whole thing is mounted on PTI's scarlet jewel cardstock.

A Little Update

So last week I got my job back!  YAY!  That is why I haven't been posting as much, I am now if full swing preparing for the new school year.  There have been trainings, meetings, and classroom prep.  I have one more week off.  We start the day after labor day.  Its so hard to leave the lazy days of summer and jump into the swing of teaching again- but I always look forward to it.  New challenges, new beginnings, fresh paper, sharp pencils- I love September.

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to the PTI blog hop! If you want details go here. This month's challenge was to make something inspired by fall. These mums and these colors just scream fall to me. I used Lauren Meader's Timeless Template, Get a Handle on it. I made the base with Vintage cream cardstock. I added panels using the new Autumn patterned paper. The mums are stamped in dark chocolate. They are from the Autumn Abundance set. I colored them with copics and mounted them on summer sunrise cardstock. The ribbon is from my stash. The yellow flower and leaves are by prima. Thanks for stopping by!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

Dawn McVey has another color challenge up on her blog. This time the colors are melon, moss, pink, and cream. I used all papertrey ink products on my card. The stamp sets are polka dot basics and Fall Elegance.

Little Mouse takes Tea

Isn't this guy the cutest thing ever?  I got this stamp (Its all one stamp) from My Favorite Things.  It is the first stamp I have purchased from that company.  I really like it... especially the size.   It was so much fun to color.  I colored with my copics and then mounted up everything on PTI's spring moss and scarlet jewel.  The ribbon is scarlet jewel satin.  Stamp and sentiment are from MFT.  Thanks for popping by!  I am off to the gym.... hope I come back in one piece!

Happy Birthday Amy Jo!

It's my friend Amy Jo's birthday today! I made her a little gift that I will show you below. Of course its not in her hands yet because I am waiting for the new PTI cream envelopes to be delivered, so I can tuck some inside. In a minute I will get to the project details but first I want to give a little shout out to my friend.
AJ and I met on the internet. Its so crazy. We were on a message board for kids due in August of 2000. We have been friends ever since. She is one of my best friends. I know I can call her no matter the time of day or night. I know she always has sensible advice and a shoulder to cry on. She is so fun and funny too. She does nice things for people all the time. When we met up in St. Louis, she drove my favorite Iowa ice cream specialty (A cherry bon bon sundae from Whitey's) all the way from LeClaire IA to St. Louis packed in dry ice. I devoured the thing upon arrival. Anyway I just want to say I love ya AmyJo and I hope you have an awesome birthday!

This is the box of cards that I made AJ. I got the box template from the talented Stampin' Gal Val. Its free and super easy to use. I made it with Mind's Eye papers that I got from Beverly at Precious scraps. The rest of the paper is PTI cardstock. The A is stamped from a set from MM. The other stamps are from PTI's borders and corners circle and Birds of a Feather.Here we have one of the single cards. Same materials as those above with the addition of some prima flowers and a PTI dark chocolate button.

This is what the insides look like. I lined them so she wouldn't have to go find a gel pen to write.

Last but not least, tied off with an ocean tides twill bow. I think this is my favorite card. Thanks for stopping by my long winded post!!

Love You

Made this with the left overs from Dawn's last color challenge. It uses the stamp sets, Beyond Borders and Bird Watching. Cardstock and ink in cream, scarlet jewel, plum pudding, and raspberry fizz. Its for my hubs. We are celebrating 14 years of wedded bliss today. 14 years! How can that be?? I got married at 22, which apparently is very young, according to everyone around me. We met in college, lived in the same dorm. Started dating after a month or so... dated for a year... got engaged and the rest is history! I have the best husband out there. He is so neat and tidy, way better wife than me, LOL. He is also the best dad around. I chose well. Thanks for stopping by and listening to me go on and on!

Plain Jane

Hello there!  I have a little plain jane card for you today... she is not fancy but I like her anyway.  The card base is melon berry.  The strip of green is spring moss.  They are stamped with beyond basics borders in their coordinating ink.  Add a couple of matching buttons and some lovely twine and you have yourself a card.

Back to School!

Hello friends! It is back to school today for my kiddos! (I work in a different district which does not start until September 8th, if /when I get my job back.) This is the first year I have made first day gifts. What do you think? I, as a teacher, have never gotten a first day gift so I know I would be thrilled- but then I would be thrilled with anything! LOL!This first one is made with Basic Grey and DCWV paper.  I've got some MM ribbon and some cute PTI  and Doodlebug buttons.  Stamps are from MM.
This paper is from ???.  I got it out of my stash.  The accent paper is DCWV and PTI cardstock.  Stamps from MM.  Ribbon from PTI.  Buttons from PTI and Doodlebug.
This background paper is from Rusty Pickle (they are smart enough to print their name on the back! haha!) Accents by DCWV, cardstock by PTI.  Ribbon and buttons by PTI.  Other ribbon from Michaels.  Thanks for Looking!

A Card and a Story

First up the card.   I made this last week when I had out Beyond Basics Borders to work on Dawn's color challenge.  Everything here is from PTI.  Colors are Cream, Kraft, Melon Berry, and Spring Moss.  Little different then my norm, but I like how it turned out.  If you like to read about me being tortured at the gym, read on!  If not, have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

A Gym Story

So the Friday before last I was at the gym, in my normal spin class, just spinning away and almost (well not even almost) enjoying my exercise routine when the instructor, Kevin, announced a new class he would be doing.  The new class was at the new gym which is a good 15 minutes closer to me.  The new class had a nice bland name: Sports Conditioning.  Now really, that doesn't sound too difficult does it?   I asked Kevin, " is there a lot of choreography?".  No, not at all he tells me.  This is good because I have two left feet, am beat deprived, and have a brain that has trouble with the simplest of verbal directions.  I am convinced my eyes see everything backwards because I have trouble figuring out even the most of basic of dance steps, even while I watch the person demonstrate.  What can I say?  I have issues.  So Kevin tells me this class will be great, wonderful, take no special skill, and that I most definitely can do it.  Hmmm,  I think what he meant to say was, "this class will kill you, its a special kind of hell I thought up to torture my worst enemy, even the most seasoned athletes will hit the floor crying and grabbing the their quadriceps while screaming in pain."

Since I was unaware of what he meant to say I went to the class.  It was at 5:30 last Thursday.  That is three full days ago.  It still hurts to stand up.  It hurts to sit down, bend over, walk up or down stairs, walk in a straight line, brush my hair, roll my eyes, and a bunch of other things too!  Yes friends, Sports Conditioning, really translates to Death Class.  There were crunches, lunges, weights, some horrid, horrid thing called mountain climbers, there was stepping up and down on a step...super fast, until you couldnt catch your breath, there were curls, flys, and a multitude of other things meant to make your arm muscles quiver.  By the time the class was over my legs were jello.  I was surprised that I managed to walk out of there on my own power.  I was by far the worst in the class... BUT all the other people in there looked they were about to die as well, and this includes the girl with the rock hard body who looked like she could knock me on my butt with a flick of her finger.   She left early.  I finished the damn class (amazing what potential humiliation will do for you).  I finished and I limped out on my own two feet.  I went home and sank into my favorite chair, where I had to sit the rest of the night because it was impossible for me to move again.  I sat there until Friday.  On Friday I had to get up and host a slumber party (because I am a glutton for punishment).  I stood all through the party... if I had sat I would have been unable to get up again, for any reason. 

I went back to the gym yesterday, you know... a little hair of the dog.  Just as a bloody Mary can perk up a hangover, a little elliptical and weights can help you once again be able to sit and stand.  Now don't get me wrong... it still hurts (ALOT!) but at least I can get out of the chair.  So let this be a lesson to you... Sports Conditioning = Death (or something very close to it that hurts twice as bad.)

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I can't believe she is 9 and starting the 4th grade on Monday!  If ever there was a mini me it is this girl.  Sometimes I look at her and I feel like I am looking at myself.  Of course she does many things much better than I did at that age.  She is also much more kind to her little brother than I ever was!  Currently she is obsessed with American Girls, Hannah Montana,  and Taylor Swift.  We celebrated with a sleepover in which no one slept, including me!  At least I dont have to do another until next year.  Happy birthday baby girl!

Blue Eyed Owl

The last in my frenzy of wise owl projects. This one uses both Wise Owl and Vintage Picnic. The patterned paper is Urban Prairie by Basic Grey. Cardbase is Aqua Mist cs from PTI. Hibiscus burst twill tied around the top. I dont know about this guys eyes. I rarely use these eyes because I think it makes wise owl look a little strung out, maybe he has had too much coffee.

Many Mini Owls

Still playing with Wise Owl. I hardly ever use the little guys, don't know why, I guess I just like the big guy so much. This time I stamped the little guys in a row on Stamper's Select White. I colored them in with my copics. Everything is mounted on hibiscus burst paper. I used stripes of urban prairie paper. I tied the whole thing with hibiscus burst twill. I stamped the sentiment with dark chocolate. The sentiment is from Vintage Picnic.

Wise Owl in the Flowers

After the Papertrey Princess challenge the other day I had Wise Owl sitting out on my craft table. (Let it be known I rarely put anything away- just ask my husband.) I couldnt resist using him to create a few more cards. Wise Owl truly is one of my favorite sets. I also wanted to use up some of this basic grey Urban Prairie patterned paper. Somehow I bought both the 6x6 and 12x12 pads. This paper is from the 6x6 pad.
Details: I stamped the stems in ocean tides on stampers select white. I stamped the flower in dew drops chalk ink, mango. I created a base of aqua mist. I cut the pp to size and glued it on the base. I adhered the strip of flower. I stamped thank you (From Vintage Picnic) on the flowers in dark chocolate. I stamped Wise Owl on a piece of scrap white. I colored him with copics and cut him out. I stamped his belly on the pp, cut it out and adhered it. I popped him up with pop dots.
Thats all I have for today. The kids and I are off again, this time heading to my BFF's house, to visit with her and her twin boys. I have a couple of posts set up to run in my absence. Summer is coming to end here, school for my kiddos starts up on August 17th. I still have my own fingers crossed that I will have a job come September. Thanks for stopping by!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14

Dawn McVey has issued another color challenge over at her blog. I love the colors from this week's challenge, so pretty!
Here is my card, I used a couple of different sets.  Everything you see here is from PTI.  The cardstock is scarlet jewel, raspberry fizz, plum pudding, and vintage cream.  I stamped the fizz pieces with the leaves from Beyond Basics Borders in Scarlet Jewel.  I stamped the cream with the same leaves in Plum Pudding.  The little branch is in Scarlet Jewel on Cream.  The birds are stamped in fizz and plum on their respective cardstocks.  I cut them out and popped them up with pop dots.   The ribbon is Plum Pudding satin.  Sentiment is from Beyond Basics Borders.

Kitty in the Bath

I made this right before I left for St. Louis. Kept meaning to post it but then I would make something else and it would get pushed to the side. The main stamp is from Penny Black's clear stamps. The sentiment is from PTI's Vintage Picnic sentiments. I colored the image with my trusty copics and then cut it out with a Nesties Label 1 die. The patterned paper is by MM and the CS is by PTI (Spring Rain). Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Princess Challenge

Wise Owl Takes a Picnic

This is for the papertrey princess blog challenge over at Serendipity.

The challenge was to use an owl.  I love my wise owl set.  It has always been one of my favorites.  I paired it up with the basket and flowers from Vintage Picnic.  Both sets are by PTI.  The patterned paper is from basic grey (urban prairie).  Everything else is by PTI. I used copics to color the images and paper pieced the bellies and the baskets.

We Interrupt Your Crafting to Bring You This:

Pictures from St. Louis! I took a trip with several of my very good girlfriends to St. Louis Missouri. It was so so so much fun! I just got back home last night (from an extended trip to my mom's...) so I have been gone for awhile. I thought I would share a few pics before I headed over to my crafting table to play with my stamps.This is me (in the hat) with my friend Amy.  We were so happy to make it to St. Louis.  Neither of us are seasoned travelers!  We navigated two airports, a bus, two shuttles, and two airlines as well as the St. Louis Metrolink.
Group picture of all of us.  Taken by some guy who claimed to be a photographer.  It did turn out rather nice, so maybe he wasn't lying.  I am in the center looking like the shortie of the group but really Edie (pink roses) is shorter than me.  I met all these lovely ladies on the internet... its a story that sounds so silly.  We met on a message board when we were pregnant with our year 2000 babies.  That would be my daughter, who is now 9.   We are from all over the country.... Connecticut, New York, Maine, California, and Iowa.  There are 2 girls missing from our little group, they couldn't make it out to St. Louis.

Hoping to be back soon

Me and two of the girlies in St. Louis, I am on the right.
Hello! How I have missed my blog! And crafting too! I have been in St. Louis, for a wonderful girls weekend with some of my best friends. We did all kinds of fun touristy stuff including: going to the top of the arch (SCARY!), eating out, drinking fruity beverages, riding the metro, taking in the zoo. So much fun, so little time. I got back to California Sunday night and drove straight to my mom's house where I am visiting and taking care of some unpleasant business. Sorry to be vague but its really not fit for a public blog. Anyway I hope to be back to crafting by the weekend time. Thanks for all your lovely comments on my challenge card. Your comments make me happy! (Yes I am that pathetic!)