Thankful ...

Hi! So excited that it is almost Friday ... and that there is a little bit of weather on the way ... hoping for a delay so I can sleep in but not have to lose a day off later in the school year! I know many of you with kids are so thrilled they are back in school ... so I laugh to myself that we all wish vacation was longer while you think "my kids are driving me nuts!" :-)

Anyway, I recently got some Melissa Frances rub ons when Emma's Paperie had a 25% off everything sale ... I love the handwriting feel to them and they are really easy to use. I decided to use some papers from the kit I bought from Melissa Phillips. I mentioned earlier how I love her stuff. This card took a pretty long time to put together ... I think I was nervous about mixing those papers together and how to make it sort of collage-y feeling. (Click photo to enlarge)

I accidentally put the rub on sentiment a little lower than I should have ... and then I was irritated about how it was turning out. To try and add some balance, I added the flourish in the top right corner of the die cut. And while I still wish I had placed the sentiment a little higher, I am happy with how it turned out.

Taking Melissa's suggestion at using florals from the craft store, I bought a hydrangea bloom for like $5 that had a bazillion (well maybe like 100) blooms on it. I ripped them all off and put them in a ziploc for future use. Here, I used a button for the centers and I smeared some Stickles on them to add some sparkliness. I also added some Stickles along the edges of the polka dot scrap and did some stitching around the edge of the panel and along the bottom edge of the pink strip ... mostly because my ribbon tension was a little too tight and I wanted it to lay flat! :-)

I plan on attempting more girly, lovely cards like this one ... I have a lot of hydrangeas to use up! With that said, I will still be working a lot in my comfort zone since those cards tend to get put together a lot faster! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Rub ons: Melissa Frances
Stamps: PTI Fancy Flourishes, Polka Dots Basics II
Ink: PTI Chai, Dark Chocolate; Versamark
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Kraft card stock; patterned paper - unknown (from a kit)
Accessories: PTI Sweet Blush grosgrain, buttons; twine, hydrangea bloom (craft store); Star Dust Stickles; sewing machine; apron lace edge punch

Pink & Bling ...

Ok ... so pink and bling are great. But, I fear I may have gone overboard with this one ...What do you think?! :-) I like it but also think something is missing or "off" about it. Maybe the scale? I do love all the glittery goodness and and polka dots, though!

Keeping it short and sweet tonight ... hope you are all surviving the first week back from the holiday ok! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Giga Guidelines, Signature Greetings, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Raspberry Fizz; Versamark
Paper: Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush
Accessories: Sweet Blush grosgrain, Hibiscus Burst buttons; glitter (Taylored Expressions); rhinestones (KaiserCraft); foam tape

I'm dreaming of ...

... snowflakes! There is a *slight* chance of snow here on Friday morning. Is it bad for a teacher to hope for a snow day!? LOL Doubt whatever we get, if anything, will involve a late start or day off, but one can dream, right?! :-)

Speaking of flurries, Paige on the CARDS blog challenged us to create a card with snowflakes. Here's what I came up with ... I used my new Cricut Expression (thanks Mom!) that I got for Christmas to cut out the flakes and the label shape. I edged the shape with some white ink and stamped some flourishes around the snowflakes before gluing them down. I added a little bling and a sentiment and called it good. The center panel is mounted on foam tape for a little dimension as well.

I created several more cards with a similar layout that you'll be seeing in the next few days ... just flowers instead of flakes!

Hope you are all enjoying the new year and being back to work! :-) Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used (all PTI unless noted):
Stamps: Stocking Prints, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: Fresh Snow
Paper: Kraft cs, Aqua Mist Bitty Box paper
Other: Kaiser Craft rhinestones; foam tape; Cricut (Accent Essentials cartridge)

Quick & Easy Birthday

Hiya! I don't know about you, but I am savoring my last day before reality tomorrow. Although, I will have to spend a few hours today getting some lesson plans together. Ho hum. :-)

Anyway, I made a couple of quick and easy birthday cards using a background that I got in a swap. I just cut the background in half and mounted it on a piece of Berry Sorbet card stock, punched the edge, and mounted it on an SU! Kiwi Kiss card base. This card is actually a 3.5 x 5" card and I am currently making almost all my cards in this size ... not sure why, but just love it. I think this background was made with the first anniversary set from PTI, but I am not for certain and I love that there is a scored grid on it. The sentiment is from Vintage Picnic and is on foam tape for a little dimension.
Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Vintage Picnic (sentiment)
Paper: SU! Kiwi Kiss; PTI Berry Sorbet, patterned paper from a swap
Other: PTI Berry Sorbet stitched ribbon; SU! Scallop edge punch

2 Sketches 4 You #42

Hello again! Back to post a card for the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch challenge ... here's the sketch for this week ...
I did flip the sketch for my card ... I used some Basic Grey Wisteria papers for this one along with some Vintage Cream card stock. Everything got a little extra "age" from some Chamomile and Chai ink. And I must say the silk May Arts ribbon is like a dream. I wish I had gotten some thicker widths when I ordered some to try out! :-) Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my card! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: PTI Vintage Picnic (sentiment)
Ink: PTI Chai, Chamomile, Dark Chocolate
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream card stock; Basic Grey Wisteria patterned paper
Other: May Arts silk ribbon; twine; SU! Scallop Edge punch; 3/4" circle punch; sewing machine

Another Happy New Year Card

Hi again! Only one more day left before its back to the grind. How sad! LOL Anyway, one more new year's card for you ... the same as yesterday's post but a different color scheme. This one uses the Wisteria papers from Basic Grey. I think I like this one the best. :-) Thanks for dropping by - enjoy your Saturday friends!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: SU! A Brand New Year
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, PTI Chamomile & Chai
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, Basic Grey Wisteria
Other: Corner rounder punch, Taylored Expressions glitter, 2-way glue pen, Wright's twill tape, sewing machine

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 y'all! We rang in the new year pretty quietly after a long ride back to NC from visiting family in NJ, but that was quite alright with me. :-) We did watch the action in Times Square, which was neat since we did visit the City and walk right through there on Tuesday ... I will try to post pictures of that part of our trip soon!

This afternoon, I whipped up a few New Years cards. This one was the first prototype.
I decided to make the rest of them with a cream card base and add some glitter with a 2-way glue pen to jazz it up a bit. I ended up making 8 of them all together - 6 in this colorway. The glitter on "new year" doesn't show up well, but if you click on the photo you may get a better view. Thanks for checking in - I hope everyone's had a great first day of 2010! :-)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: SU! A Brand New Year
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; PTI Chai & Chamomile
Paper: SU! Kiwi Kiss, PTI Vintage Cream, Making Memories (Funky Vintage- Ruby Collection) patterned paper
Other: Wrights Twill Tape, corner rounder, SU! scallop edge punch, 2-way glue pen, Taylored Expressions glitter, sewing machine