Fancy Flourish Card Set

I am so proud of this! I made the little holder all by myself, out of my own head! Now I am not saying no one else has every thought of this simple holder but I came up with mine right out of my imagination. LOL. The things that make me happy. Working in 3D is not my best skill.
This is the little holder. Its made from two sheets of PTI spring moss cardstock. I stamped it with Fancy Flourishes in avocado ink. The little flower is from the Bird Watching set. The sentiment is from Vintage Picnic.
There are four cards and envies inside. There are two of these thank you cards. The flourish is from Fancy Flourishes, the stars are from Its a Celebration. The sentiment is vintage picnic.
The other two cards are happy birthday. Same stamps here as used on the holder.
And here is the whole ensemble. Now I just need a worthy recipient.

Little Birdie

The fabulous Nichole Heady, over at Papertrey ink, has a new stamp set out called Everyday Button Bits.  The idea is to use buttons to make different things.  I ordered it but it hasn't come yet so in the meantime I made my own cute little birdy with a sharpie marker and some coloring.  The stamps here are from PTI's Bird watching.  I stamped in dark chocolate on rustic cream paper then colored it all in with my copic markers.  The bird is made with a hibiscus button and turquoise rhinestone (hero arts).   The rest of him I drew.

How About a Little Hand Coloring?

I broke out my prisma pencils for this one.  Its funny, I have had these pencils since my college days- they last forever.   I stamped my card in PTI fresh snow ink on Kraft.  Then I waited very impatiently for it to dry.  When it was dry I colored with my Prismas and added some stickles.  The stamps are PTI's Garden of Life. 

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

This little guy was born six years ago today!  I can hardly believe it, my baby is six!  He was an easy baby and he is a sweet little guy now.
Here he is earlier in the month at his grandfather's house.  He is at that age where these are the only faces we see when the camera comes out.   It cracks me up everytime.
Here is the lego cake.  Not my best effort.  It was so time consuming to make but its done and he is happy so thats what matters!

Dawn's Color Challenge

I have just been feeling inspired lately!  I stopped by Dawn's blog and saw she had up a new color challenge.  Today's colors are spring moss, raspberry fizz, scarlet jewel, and cream.  When I first got them out I was thinking... ugh NO!  But I love how this turned out.  The stamp set is Star Prints with the exception of the tiny star.  The tiny one is from Its a Celebration.  Thanks for stopping by, let me know if you participated in Dawn's challenge.  I would love to come see your creation!

Stop and Smell the Flowers

How about a little more Penny Black?  Aren't these little hedgies adorable?   I stamped them on white (stampers select from PTI) and then colored with my copics.  I mounted them on some PTI bitty boxes patterned paper that I had punched with my ek success bubble bunch.  The whole thing is then mounted on spring rain cardstock and finished off with a sentiment from PTI's vintage picnic sentiments.  The ribbon is PTI satin hibiscus burst.

*** Tomorrow is my son's birthday.  He is turning 6!  Where has the time gone?  Anyway today I will be in the kitchen whipping up a lego star wars cake.  I hope it turns out!  If its not completely embarrassing I will post some pics of it tomorrow.

Kristina Werner Color Challenge

Kristina Werner's Color Challenge can be found here. I don't have Stampin Up colors so I used PTI in the colors I thought matched best.  

Card deets:  Stamps:  Women of Life  

Ink: black, spring moss  

Buttons:  doodlebug (red)  PTI all others  

Ribbon:  PTI lemon tart  

Cardstock:  select white, spring rain

Sewing On Cards

Do you sew on your cards?  I have here the first card I have ever sewn on, it will probably be the last.  I guess I just don't get it.  So much work!  I did this by hand but I do own a machine. I actually know how to sew.  Not well mind you, I wont be winning any awards, but I can put together a halloween costume from a pattern or make a patchwork quilt.  I have sewn pillows and slip covers.  But sewing, well its alot of work.  I am basically a lazy person.  I don't want to drag out my giant sewing machine to put a tiny line of stitches on a piece of paper.  My hat is off too those of you who do.  I have seen some awesome stuff with stitches out there but this lazy girl is sticking to glue dots.

Card deets:  PTI: Bird Watching, Vintage Picnic, Kraft, Rustic Cream cardstock.  Basic Grey pp. DMC embroidery floss, copic markers, dark chocolate ink. 

Spoil Yourself with Scarlet Jewel

Who loves Penny Black?  ME ME ME!!!  My first love is PTI... but close behind that I love Penny Black!  Love this little kitty and mouse in the tub.  They crack me up.  I colored them up with my copics.  They are mounted on PTI bitty boxes and PTI scarlet jewel.  Scarlet jewel saddle stitch ribbon is tied in a bow.  The sentiment is all Penny Black.  I screwed it up ... worse embossing job ever... but other than that I love the card.  

Tea for Two Owls

I am so happy that my wise owls love tea!  I used chocolate and scarlet ink.  I colored them up with my copics and then adhered them to a scarlet jewel card base.  I used some PTI black and white dp and colored it with my copics.  Tied the whole thing off with some saddle stitched scarlet ribbon.

Wise Owl Takes Tea

I think Wise Owl is one of my favorite sets from PTI.  Of course if you ask me tomorrow that could all change.  Today Mr. Owl is taking tea with the cup from Everyday Classics.  The sentiment is from Tea for Two.  He is stamped in dark chocolate and scarlet jewel.  I colored him with copics.  The patterned paper is Bitty Boxes.  Oh how I love that paper.   To round out everything we have a bit of button twine and three scarlet jewel buttons.   

This is the first card I made after getting my craft table back!  There is no other furniture in the living room or dining room.  I told my husband if he could just finish the baseboards on the craft table wall and put my table back I would not nag at all about the completion of the rest of the room.  His vacation is over and he doesnt have a day off until Thursday so it might be awhile til the room is totally finished.  He works twelve hour days with an hour commute so working on work days is out.  Anyway in honor of the new floor I took my picture there.  See how pretty?  I am in love.

My Top Ten This Week

In an effort to be more grateful....

10.  Hanging with my good friend Jen at the free waterpark with our kids.

9.  My husband used his vacation time to install our new floor.

8.  I didn't have to sleep in a sleeping bag at all this week!

7.  New haircut!

6.  New yummy salad recipe

5.  My spin instructor's kid is recovering nicely from his surgery.

4.  I scored two slipcovers for my couch at $10 each!  Thats a savings of over $300 dollars!

3. I scored a new holder for my stamps at Ikea already put together and 25% off.

2.  Good books

1.  Happy kids

Hope you all had a great week!

Basket of Birthday

Another one from my Vintage Picnic stamping frenzy. I think this is the last of them (I need my craft table back so I can make more!). I used all PTI. CS: spring rain, kraft, and white. PP: lemon tart boxes. Ink: dark chocolate. Scarlet jewel buttons, jute twine and lots of copics for coloring. Stardust stickles on the flowers. Thanks for stopping by!

Complete Randomness

Last night I made this for dinner. Oh YUM! This one is a keeper. Thanks to Mara for bringing it to my attention. A warning though, this makes a huge mess! Or maybe its just me, but all that chopping and dicing... well there was stuff everywhere. Totally worth it though.
This is my son and our newest addition, Betta Fish Pip. My son has been harassing me for a pet of his own for awhile now. Never mind that we have two cats inside and countless strays outside, the boy wanted something of his very own. So now we have this cute little fish and the boy is happy.
And this is our new floor! Its actually finished now that I am typing this. The floor is in but we still need to put down all the trim and baseboards. I painted the baseboards earlier and am hoping the hubs gets the trim in tonight... well I know it wont be done tonite but enough so that I can put in the craft table. Oh how I miss my table. Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Kitty

I made this last week. Let me tell you, I have been without my craft table two days and I am going insane!!! Please, please let the hubs work quickly! Anyway this one features a penny black stamp (acrylic). I can't remember the name of the set. The sentiment is from vintage picnic. The cardstock is PTI summer sunrise, the pp is also PTI. The little rhinestones are a mystery. We gave this card to my daughter's friend for her birthday.

*** Did you see the Bachelorette last night? I am beginning to think Jillian is not playing with a full deck. How did she miss all the signs of Wes being an a$$? And further more why was she having such a hard time believing what he was outright admitting??? She gave up Jake for this loser?? I dont think Jillian is going to be finding true love this go around.

Just Because Strawberries

I love the color on this one!  PTI's new pp is awesome, those little grid boxes are so versatile!  I stamped it up with Vintage Picnic and then colored with my copics.  I made the little flower with some scraps, a brad, and a SU  punch.  The ribbon is pure poppy saddle stitch.  The picture is a little bright because I took it outside.

Some bad news (crafting wise anyway):  My dh decided to rip up the carpet and lay down some pergo.  Now I am thrilled with this!!  However my crafting table and all my stuff had to be boxed up until he is done... probably two weeks.   I am so sad about that!  I am already itching to color... however my dining room table is also in the garage along with my craft table, coffee table and sofas- so really no where for me to work.  I do have some previously done stuff to update the old blog-o but no new stuff for awhile.  Keep your fingers crossed that he works quickly!

You've Got Mail

Made with PTI's new Vintage Picnic.  I just love this set, especially the fonts for the sentiments.  I can see this one getting lots of use.  I made the background strip with the sentiment stamped repeatedly on Kraft cardstock.  I aged it a bit with PTI's tea dye ink.  I colored the basic with copics and added some PTI buttons and twine.  

A basket of thank you

Another card using PTI's vintage picnic.  Love this set!  So much fun to color.  Everything here is PTI with the exception of the rhinestones (no clue, sorry) and the copics I used to color.  I also used the vintage tea dye ink to go around the edges of everything.   Color choice is very different then what I normally use.  These colors are opposite on the color wheel, I am more of colors that are next to each other kind of girl.   Hope you are having a great weekend!

A 4th Birthday

My dad's birthday is on the 4th of July.  Happy Birthday Dad!   He used to tease us that they only had fireworks on his birthday.  I was ok with that though, I told him it was because his birthday was at night and mine was during the day.   Hahaha, the genius of a 4  year old.   On to the card:  The stamp set is the new Vintage Picnic, I finally got to play with it!   Patterned paper is bitty boxes.  Cardstock is kraft and select white.  The blue is by Bazzill.  The buttons come from doodlebug but the twine is from PTI.  That little star stamp near the sentiment is from the Wise Owl set.  I colored the image with my copic markers.  I love to color.  Have a happy 4th this weekend!

Kraft and Hibiscus

I made this one a while ago. It uses all PTI. Stamps sets: Everyday Classics, Borders and corners, Birthday Basics, and Polka Dot Basics. Ink is Hibiscus and Fresh Snow. I have a brand new order sitting on my kitchen table but have been gone so much I havent had time to do anything with it!! Today, my friends, today I play.

We got back from camping last night. It was exhausting. My children loved it and thats why I went. When we arrived home our a/c was not working so now I have a new problem to solve. Hopefully it wont cost me an arm and a leg.

I got a call from my principal before I left and she said things were looking good although they were not a done deal. Should I go get unemployment? I am entitled... I just cant make myself do it. Of course the way Arnold is driving my state into the ground, I am fairly certain there will be no money left. sigh. Ok sorry for the rambling! Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with some new PTI goodness.

Hi and Bye!

Hi all!  I spent the last week in Columbia, California at Columbia College.  I was teaching science to a bunch of elementary teachers like myself.  Its part of a wonderful grant called K2-STARTS.   Alot of fun, but man am I worn out!  On Thursday we took an all day field trip up the mountain to Kennedy Meadows.   Lots of stops along the way to learn about the geology of the area.  We saw so many cool things!  These pics were taken with my iphone- so not the best quality but you get the idea.  The top pic is from a place called Darden vista?  I think- it was something like that.
This picture is on the middle fork of the Stanislaus River at a place called the catacombs.  I was looking straight down about 50 feet into a churning white water patch of river.  Dangerous place!!  If you fell in you wouldnt be coming out.   

Anyhow the blog-o will be quiet for the next five days or so as tomorrow I am being dragged on another camping expedition- this time with the family.  Hopefully I will be back to regular blogging in another week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Another Teacher Gift

I made this little notecard ensemble for my daughter's teacher.  She has two teachers so I made a different set for each.  I needed to get them done, as I will be out of town all week and grandma will be on kid duty.

I made the holder out of Bazzill cardstock.  I prefer PTI but I need a 12x12 piece to make this particular box.  Its funny, I used to love Bazzill back when I scrapbooked but now... I am PTI all the way- so much thicker.  I used some paper from Marcella by K.  I have had it forever, it came in a pack and no doubt I saw it on sale at Big Lots.  I have so much paper!    Those little flowers are by prima (they are so old too!).  The rhinestones are from my stash, I have no clue who they are by.  The gingham ribbon is from American crafts- another big lots steal.  The stamp sets are all by PTI- Floral Frenzy, Fancy Flourishes, and Butterfly Kisses.  They are stamped in PTI fresh snow with sentiments in Dark Chocolate.  The letter stickers are from American Crafts (I got them at big lots yesterday- a dollar a pack!!  They also had Thickers- 2 dollars a pack!! I had to restrain myself as I was with my hubby.  LOL).  Here are a few close ups of each thing.

Teacher Gifts

Its that time of year when you need to break out the teacher gifts. As you know I am a teacher myself so I always try to give things I would want. Its not that I dont love apple mugs, but once you have 5 or 6 you really don't need anymore. I work in a very low income area, so its not often that I even receive gifts. The best one I ever got was a heartfelt letter from a single mom of a troubled boy in my first grade class. I still have it. Anyway I always try to include a letter or note telling the teacher thank you for his/her time. The more I like the teacher the more I write, LOL. My kids arent actually out of school until next week (they are year round). However my son is leaving his daycare this Friday. We had such a bad experience with our first day care, but this daycare (actually a Kindercare center) was marvelous from day one. They had a friendly, knowledgeable staff, a wonderful director, and best of all my son loved it. If the kid is happy, mama is happy. Because my son interacted with so many different teachers I had quite a big basket of goodies.
This was the card that went with the basket.  Most of the products are PTI.  The patterned paper is basic grey, urban prairie.  The stamp set is from bird watching.  The blue ink is from dew drops.  The pink ink is color box.  The brown is PTI dark chocolate.
These are the gift boxed.  I got them on sale at Michaels.  I embellished them with a bit of basic grey pp.  I then stamped the top with the sentiment from Star Prints and the butterflies from Butterfly kisses (both PTI).  I punched them out and layered them on some bazzil cardstock.  I then adhered the whole thing to the takeout box.  The boxes are filled with candy.  Next I put in some homemade cookies, that I bagged and tied with ribbon purchased at Mike's.
Here is the whole set up in a cute little (actually big!) basket from Mike's (40% off!).  I tied it with some left over ribbon.  I hope they liked it!

Wishing You

I made this one a while back.  It was part of a set I was going to give away... I can't remember if I ever did!  This one is all PTI.  The stamp sets are Wishing You and Polka Dot basics.  Melon Berry, spring moss, and white cardstock.  Inks were summer sunrise, lemon tart, black, spring moss, ripe avocado, and melon berry.  The ribbon is melon berry bitty dot.  Enjoy!

I made a bunch of bird cards yesterday... however I have been lazy and havent photographed a thing.  Hopefully I will get to that tomorrow.  Starting Saturday I will be out of town for a week teaching science to other elementary teachers.  I can't wait!  I am not taking my computer so I wont have any posts while I am gone.  I am taking my iphone so at least I can get my daily blog and facebook fix.   Have a good week!

More time in exercise hell

Things NOT to do at spin class (unless you enjoy jelly legs, a racing heart, and a pool of sweat at your feet).
1. Do NOT say, "Yes we enjoyed sub X, she really worked us hard."
2. Do NOT say, " Heck yeah Michele is hard, she is brutal."
3. Do NOT say, " I was crying last night in Kevin's class."
Apparently these things rile the spin teacher and bring out their competitive nature. They seem to want to prove that their class will make you cry too, that Instructor X may be brutal but they are beyond brutal. Ask me how I know this? Ah yes, I have uttered all of the above phrases. I find it best to try not to converse with the teacher at all. Best to not attract attention, lest the instructor stand at your bike and glare at you to go faster. Sometimes they not only glare, they yell. Positive yelling to be sure, but yelling all the same. And don't even think about trying to leave, they come and hunt you down. That wasn't me personally, but two other girls who decided the music wasnt to their liking. Michele went out, hunted them down, drug them back, changed the music, and then made us all pay. I have another class tomorrow. The dreaded Michele again. This is my first Wed. morning class (normally at work). I am looking forward to getting the exercise out of the way early on. Wish me luck!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

All supplies PTI.  Cardstock: Vanilla, black, and leaf.  Ribbon: Leaf  Ink: Vanilla.  Sets: Star Prints.

More Birds

Another card using my Bird Watching and Flourish sets from PTI.  I also have the sentiment from Around and About.  CS colors are Melon Berry and Dark Chocolate with a little rustic cream.  Melon Berry Bitty dots finishes it off.  Thanks for stopping by today!  

P.S.  I was at the gym earlier being tortured by the spin instructor (Michele) and I was writing a blog post about it in my head.  Maybe if my kids give me a minute I will have some exercise torture for you to laugh at tomorrow.  Have a great day!

Birdie Notecard Gift Set

Edit:  I made the labels card by putting a piece of folded cardstock in the the cuttlebug with the die.  Place the die over the fold just a bit... if you look at my pic you can see on the left hand side where the fold is.  You need to keep some of that fold intact so the card can open and close.   HTH!  (P.S.  if you use heavy PTI cardstock roll it through the machine several times to make sure it cuts through.)
This is the card that went the gift set.  I made this for my principal.  She has had such a rough year, this year.  I suspect it will only get worse as the budget crisis in California continues.  She is a lovely woman, who works very hard.  Even though we don't always see eye to eye I greatly respect her and all she has tried to accomplish.   Onto the card:  I cut it out with my nesties label one.  I cut a smaller label in rustic cream.  I stamped it (PTI's birdwatching) in dark chocolate and colored it up with copics.  The sentiment is from Mixed Messages.  I tied on some sweetblush twill and then a lovely aqua mist button.  But this is just the beginning....
Next we have the card folder.  I learned how to make this from a talented crafter named Samantha.  You can find a link to her blog in my sidebar, under my favorite reads.  The folder is made from two sheets of cardstock, sweet blush and lemon tart.  I stamped with spots and dots on both the yellow and the pink, but for some reason you cant see it on the pink.  I added an aqua mist scalloped piece for interest.  The closer is a wonderful basic grey magnet that I picked up for sale cheap at Big Lots.  The houses are colored with copics and that little bird is from hero arts.
Here is a look at the inside of the folder.  I have four cards and four envelopes in there.  Can I just tell you how thrilled my principal was with this?  I was so happy to see how much she liked it.


Here are two of the cards from the notecase. I just love how they turned out. I used PTI's birdwatching and sentiments from Mixed messages. I colored with my copics and added some cute button embellishments. Thanks for stopping by!

Quickie Post

On the way out the door for my last day of school/work!   I leave you with this little card made with PTI's bird watching and fancy flourishes.  Also used my new nesties Label one dies!  Love those!  Happy Thursday!

Bless Your Nest

Another coworker is having a baby!  I am so not a baby card person... but I do like the way this turned out.  This is using PTI's bird watching set.  The grid on the dark chocolate is from a stamp from the Spots and Dots set.  So easy to make backgrounds with that one.  I am so in love with my Label One nesties.  I saw them in stock at my LSS and snatched them right up.  A little ripe avocado twill ties everything together.

***Non Crafting Ramblings***

Tomorrow I am skipping work for a meeting down in Sonora, thats about 2 hours from me.  I will be up early as the meeting starts at nine.  I hope I don't get lost!  Hoping also that the meeting does not take forever.  I am missing 6th grade promotion.  I like to see it but its not the end of the world if I miss out.  Thursday is the last day of school.  We have a big softball game, staff vs. the sixth graders.  I play... its rather pathetic but the kids have a good time.  Friday we will be off again, headed to my inlaws.  My sister in law is tying the knot and Saturday is her bridal shower.  Wow... have china and flatware prices gone up, I about died when I saw the list!  LOL.  We settled on some flatware for her.  After the weekend I have a week of leisure while my kiddies finish up their school year (they are year round).  They are out for the year on June 26th.  So June promises to be a busy month.  Hopefully not too busy for some quality stamping time!

Card and a Confession

Lets do the card first- less embarrassing!   I love this card.  In fact I loved it so much I made three more, almost identical with different sentiments.  I am really pleased with this set... and to think it was almost the one I axed.   Deets on the card:  All PTI ingredients with the exception of Copic markers, floss, and buttons.   CS is spring moss, ocean tides, and rustic cream.  Ink: dark chocolate, spring moss, and ripe avocado.  Ripe avocado twill.  Some buttons pti and some are from MM.  Floss is DMC.  Ok now its confession time...

Have you ever been completely embarrassed by the sheer number of crafting stuff you own?  Today I cleaned the pit that used to be my front room.  Its now home to my craft table and multitude of craft stuff.  When I craft I tend to get a bit crazy, messy, and out of control.  And I will admit I do not always clean up after myself right away.  Well today I decided I had to clean up because otherwise I would be crafting on the floor, I had not even six inches of desk space.   I had found this little shelf out in the garage, a cast away from quite some time ago.  I thought it might be good to hold my stickles.... I thought they would take up one shelf!  HAHAHA.... as you can see from the picture they take up two full shelves and some of them are double stacked.  Yes folks, I own 27 bottles of stickles.  Who on God's green earth needs that  many stickles???  Apparently I do.  Lets say I paid $2 a bottle for those little guys.  Thats $54 in glitter glue!  I feel like a moron.  (But I do love the way they look all lined up there!)  You would not believe the number of prima flowers I own... I am not even ready to confess that sin... or the quantity of patterned paper (that I never use but keep right on buying!)  And we definitely aren't disclosing number of ink pads, stamp sets, and acrylic blocks I have managed to amass in a short 18  months.   Ok confession time is over.  I sure hope I am not alone in this sickness!  Thanks for stopping by and peeking into my madness today.

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

Its another Raspberry Suite Color Challenge!  I just love these colors together.  I am a big fan of pink and brown.  I used PTI's hibiscus, kraft, dark chocolate, and cream.  PTI ink in the same colors and copic markers.  I also used some dark chocolate twill.  Yum!  I chose PTI's Bird Watching Stamp Set.  I love this set, so much fun!

More Yellow Flip Flops

I apologize for my lack of posts lately!  All I can say is its June, the month in which most teachers are at the point of exhaustion.  I have four days of school left.  Still wondering what the future holds, job wise.  Lots of waiting ahead.  Anyhow... my new card here is made with PTI's Day at the Beach, Lemon Tart Cardstock, Summer Sunrise and Lemon Tart Ink.  Prima flower, lemon tart button, and summer sunrise bitty dot paper.   Thanks for stopping by!

New Baby Card

Broke out PTI's Bird Watching again.  Mixed it up with the next and eggs from Birds of a Feather.  Added some Bitty dot paper.  Flowers from Prima, pearls from hero arts.  Ink from dew drops.  Hope you like... I haven't had much time to do anything lately.  Its the end of the school year which means I work a lot more putting together the yearbook, breaking down the science supplies, etc.   Thanks for stopping by!