My Favorite Things

Peachy Keen

Hi-ya Peeps.....I have a happy little Thank You card to share with you today!  I have been back at it, making more embellies so I thought I'd show you a couple of them paired up on a card today.  I punched out the flowers with my Marvy flower punches and on the smallest (cream) flower, I stamped a Giga Guide Lines medallion.  Then I balled them all up, unfolded them a bit and stitched the layers together with a sweet blush button.  The small scalloped circle is one that I punched out with my Marvy extra jumbo scalloped circle punch (the yellow punch) and stamped some Polka Dot Basics II on it before adding a threaded button to the center of it.  

I couldn't resist using the "Thank You" sentiment from the Big & Bold Wishes set to finish off my card!  

 

I love this soft and sweet color combo of Papertrey's sweet blush, melon berry, kraft & vintage cream.  So girly!  

I made up several sheets of these embellies and put them in my Etsy shop last night.  There are just a few left in case any of you are interested and for some of you, this color combo may not be your cup of tea, so hang tight....there are lots more embellies to come.  :)

Have a FABULOUS day, my friends!
 

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: melon berry, kraft, vintage cream, bitty box basics
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, Giga Guide Lines, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: sweet blush
Other: melon berry classic grosgrain ribbon, sweet blush vintage buttons, rustic cream button twine, extra jumbo scalloped circle punch, flower punches-extra jumbo, mega, giga; Fiskars apron lace punch

 

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #19

 

Hello there!!  Happy Weekend....

Several of you clever girlies had the same idea for the next Color Challenge that we did when Nichole was here visiting this week........to use the Pioneer Woman t-shirts that we were given at her cookbook signing, as our inspiration!!  The colors in the shirts are so pretty together and I know it may seem like a lot of colors for some of you to work into one card, but hopefully your creative juices will get to flowing and you'll come up with something adorable and have some fun while you're at it!  

Nichole and I had so much fun when we stayed up until the wee hours paper-crafting one night while she was here and we have BOTH created cards to share with you using these colors!!  How fun is that?!  And, here's something else to look forward to....not only did we both make cards for this challenge, but we've got cards made and ready for Color Challenge #20 as well!  YAY!  

 

All righty, here are the colors for this week's challenge......that's me in the photo, wearing the t-shirt and holding Papertrey's card stock up next to the shirt so you can see how well the colors coordinate!  Are you ready to get started??  I can't wait to see what you do with P-Dub's t-shirt colors this week!!  (Thanks, Ree, for the inspiration.....and for the t-shirt!)

ETA: I will be using Papertrey's colors -- raspberry fizz, dark chocolate, spring moss, aqua mist & lavender moon, however as always, you can feel free to use whatever brand of supplies you have on hand.  You just want to be sure that your colors are as close of a match to those in the challenge, as you can get.  And for this challenge, you can feel free to add in a bit of white or cream if you need to, but the bulk of the card should feature these 5 color challenge colors.  Have fun!!  :)

Color Challenge deets:

Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com,  www.papertreyink.com,  www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Friday, November 27 at 9pm CST.

A Pioneer Weekend - The Other Stuff

 

Hello there.....one more post for you today.  This one is totally dedicated to my dear friend, Nichole, and will give you a glimpse at all of the other fun things we did while she was here visiting for a few days.  Oh, how I love this girl.  Who knew a few years ago, how much we'd have in common and how close we'd become?  I certainly never would have guessed it but I'm so, so thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring this girl into my life because she's become so dear to me.  She's such a great mom, a loving wife and a HARD worker, so my goal when she came to visit was to make sure that she got to rest, relax and have FUN!  And since she & David and Bart & I are all such foodies, taking her to some of our favorite restaurants was at the top of the list of things to do as well.

When she planned her trip to come here, it was scheduled around the fact that The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) was going to be here doing some book signings on her new cookbook tour on Monday.  Sunday night after we picked Nichole up at the airport, we headed straight for our favorite Mexican restaurant and then we stopped for gelato on the way home.  Mmm, mmmm, good!

Monday morning when we got up, our first order of business was our first appointment with The Pioneer Woman.  After that, Nichole and I headed to a few stores that I thought she might enjoy.  First up, Dean & Deluca.

It was SO fun to see her taking in all of the sights and flavors in this gourmet foods store.  Here she is in front of the honey selection.....being a tea drinker, she was just about in heaven!  :)

After Dean & Deluca, we stopped in at Crate & Barrel for a bit of a browse and then we headed to lunch at Andre's.  I've told you about Andre's before.

 

Andre's is a chic little Swiss confiserie where you can purchase all sorts of Swiss confections but they also have a great little tearoom with a very European feel about it.  I just love it there.  The menu is very limited but changes daily.  On this day, we both opted for the cheese pie, creamed spinach (a first for me), and a tasty green salad.  So good.

 

Here is Nichole as she selects a tea bag for some hot tea to go with her lunch.   

 

I, on the other hand, couldn't resist the Mocha.  I can never resist the Mocha.  Isn't it just beautiful?  And it's every bit as tasty, too.  

 

This is one of the fancy little pastries that we had for dessert.  A pastry is included with the purchase of your meal, and they bring out a tray for you to choose from that has about a half dozen different little treats.....each one as beautiful as the next.  When we left Andre's, we stopped in at Archivers -- a must see for a paper-crafter who doesn't have this store in her own town.  

 

That same night, we had another Pioneer Woman book-signing event to attend but Bart went with us to that one.  I know.....he's a gem, right?  He wasn't the ONLY guy there.  Marlboro Man and P-dub's boys were in attendance as well!  :)

Before we walked across the street to the book-signing, we walked around the Plaza for a bit, stopping in at Anthropologie, Paper Source and the Better Cheddar and then we went to McCormick & Schmick's for a fabulous seafood dinner.  For you foodies out there, we had grilled salmon with a spinach orzo......oh my stars, I could have eaten buckets of that orzo.  Buckets.  It was just that good.

After dinner, we went to our second appointment with The Pioneer Woman and while we were sitting in the auditorium waiting for our turn to meet Ree, Bart suggested that we stop at the Cheesecake Factory for some cheesecake on the way home.  Can you see why I love this man???  (Seriously, it's a darn good thing we don't eat like this all the time!!)

 

We selected slices of cheesecake to take home to have with coffee/tea while we stayed up late chatting.

The next morning we slept a bit later and then did some blogging after breakfast.  Bart came home early that day and he took us to Oklahoma Joe's for some of our favorite KC BBQ.  

 

After lunch, we hit the road for a little road trip to Atchison, Kansas where we visited Nell Hill's and then on the way home, we stopped in at the Briarcliff Nell Hill's store as well as Urban Arts & Crafts.  Here are some shots in the Atchison Nell Hill's store.

 

 

Bart found a cozy chair to hang out in.....but he didn't sit for long because he had photographer duty.  He's such a great sport.  :)

 

He snapped this one of us in one of the cozy rooms at Nell Hill's.  After all of the shopping, we headed for some Kansas City steak at Hereford House and when we were done with dinner, we went home to relax for awhile followed by a little late-night paper crafting.  :)  

Bart was such a dear to play photographer once again before he headed for bed and left us in the studio for some crafty time.    It was getting late and I think we were getting a little loopy.....Nichole suggested we take "Senior Portraits"!  Now I have to interject that this is usually Mish's suggestion when we're all together.  Mish always suggests that we strike some super silly senior portrait pose for the camera and boy, we've laughed until we cried over some past Senior Portrait moments!  So the following are our Pioneer Weekend Senior Portrait photos!  LOL!

(Yes, those are my glasses that Nichole decided to use in her Senior Portrait....she looks so studious, don't you think???)

And this?  This is my ridiculously cheesy Senior Portrait photo.  Emphasis on ridiculous.  And cheesy.  Oh my goodness, we were laughing so hard.  I have to say that these past few days with one of my best friends in the world was such a treat.  We didn't have any work we had to do.  We didn't have anything on the agenda other than fun.  I will remember so many moments about this weekend for years to come......so many snapshots in my mind of quiet, cozy chats over coffee/tea, so much laughter, so much inspiration.  This was definitely a weekend to remember!

 

Spending time with this girl is just good for my soul.  There's just nothing like having a friend that 'gets you'.....a friend that likes her brownies the same way you do and her steak cooked the same way as you.  A friend who can quote Anne of Green Gables with you and who can make you laugh till you almost wet your pants!  

I'm so, SO glad you got to come visit, Nichole.  You're a peach and I can't wait till we can get together again!

 

A Pioneer Weekend - Cookbook Signing #2

 

Hi there,

I'm back today with my account of what Nichole and I have officially dubbed "The Pioneer Weekend".  My sweet friend Nichole came to visit us from Tennessee for a couple of days so that she could go with me to the two cookbook signings with Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman), who just released a new (#1 bestselling!) cookbook, which is beautiful by the way!  Ree was doing two events here in Kansas City Monday and we were fortunate enough to get tickets to go to both events.  

I told you about the morning cookbook signing, and now, I've got lots of pictures to share from the evening event.  It was held on the Plaza and Ree spoke for a bit before the book signing, answering readers' questions about life on the ranch, cooking, etc.  She was warm, engaging, funny and she even did her Ethel Merman impersonation!!!  Hilarious......and SO good!  Haha!

 

After she spoke, the event sponsors gave away a few door prizes and then Ree began signing cookbooks for the 500-600 (?) people that were in attendance.  Here's what she looked like at the signing table.......classy, elegant and SO down-to-earth.  (And she had great hair!)  :)  

The event coordinators were only allowing 50 people at a time to get in the line to get their cookbooks signed and we were placed in order based on the number on our tickets, which meant that we were going to have to wait for quite awhile before it was our turn.  We were sitting in a big auditorium filled with people, so we settled in for some people watching and chatting.  We were pretty entertained to see the unofficial line that formed around by Marlboro Man (Ree's husband).....hundreds of women lined up to get The Pioneer Woman's chaps-wearing husband's autograph and to get their picture taken with him.  

 

While Marlboro Man was signing autographs, he was also *trying* to keep an eye on their "punks", as P-dub calls them......their two little boys.  If we were entertained by the mob around Marlboro Man, we were reeeeally entertained by The Punks.  Notice the UFC fighting gloves?  LOL!  (I think someone might have brought those as a gift for them.)  It gets better....just wait.  ;)

 

Here, they decided to commandeer the microphone on the podium.  Just look at the look of glee on big brother's face.  They proceeded to make all sorts of little boy noises in the mic.  Haha!

 

Later on, when they had to quit playing with the microphone, they decided to have a UFC match over in the corner.  I couldn't resist taking pictures......they were cracking me up!  Just look....

 

Getting ready to kick big brother....

 

"Put up yer dukes."  He's also got sharpie marks on his cheek, though I'm not sure if he put them there himself, or if big brother helped him with that!  :)

 

 

It was about now that the hollering started.  :)  So funny, these Punks!  And so darn cute!!!  They might be little but they're fiesty!

 

 

Here we are....me, Ree and Nichole.  She couldn't have been nicer and I'm so thrilled that we got the chance to meet her.  

 

In the above photo, I'm sure she was telling me something terribly witty and charming but I was just trying to avoid saying something totally dorky.  Not sure I succeeded!  

One other really fun surprise that evening was that Ree brought "The Pioneer Woman" t-shirts for everyone in attendance at the evening event!!!  How sweet is that?  Nichole and I did our best to model the t-shirts for you....

Aren't those cute shirts??  Thank you SO much, Ree.....for coming to Kansas City, for doing both book signing events, for bringing some of your crew with you -- they kept us entertained while we waited (hee!) and for bringing us these fun t-shirts.  We're so grateful!

And lastly, in true Pioneer Woman fashion, I leave you with 'the butt shot' so that you can see what these cute shirts said on the back of them.

P.S.  Stay tuned for more on the other fun things Nichole and I did while she was in town for our "Pioneer Weekend"!  That post is coming later this evening.

The Pioneer Woman and Mishie

Good morning!!  I just wanted to take a minute to pop back in with a second post this morning to share a bit about our day yesterday!  Nichole is still here visiting from Tennessee.  When she decided to come, she planned her trip around the fact that The Pioneer Woman was to be here yesterday on her book tour (she just released a cookbook that is already a #1 Bestseller), and we didn't want to miss out on meeting her!!  As it turned out, there were two events here in Kansas City yesterday -- a mid-day event and an evening event last night.  Nichole and I knew that we wanted to attend both (I have LOTS more pictures to share with you!!) and when we were planning things, I called Mishie to tell her that P-Dub was gonna be here.  Well, Mish decided that she'd drive 'to town' for the day so that she could attend the mid-day event with us too!  We were all so excited to not only get to spend the day together, but to also get to meet Ree Drummond together too!  

The problem came when Mish woke up yesterday morning only to realize that they had really bad icy road conditions out in the country where they live, so she decided she couldn't make the trip.  It was going to be too dangerous.  We were soooo sad that Mish couldn't come, so when Nichole and I were getting ready to go, I joked that we should somehow take Mishie's picture with us and put her in all of the photos with us.  I was JOKING.  Nichole, however, thought it was a smashing idea!  LOL!  Soooo......I found a picture of Mish that I didn't think she'd kill me for using, blew it up, printed it out in black and white on card stock and we adhered it to a dowel rod so that she could pose in all of the photos with us!  Hahahaha!!

The above photo shows where the first Pioneer Woman event of the day was to be held.....a little Western wear shop that honestly, I didn't know existed.  We drove out to the event, stood in line to get our tickets and our pre-ordered cookbooks and then we waited to meet the guest of honor.

 

Here's Ree signing a cookbook for one of the ladies in front of us.  Isn't she so pretty?  She is a total gem and we were so thrilled to meet her!  And she's funny in real life too!  ;)  She was a total sport about taking a picture with our 'stick friend'!  (and I think Mishie really looks like she's enjoying herself here too, right?!)

 

Like I said earlier, there was also an evening event that Ree spoke at -- she answered questions from readers and then it was followed by another book signing.  Between all of us, we had 4 cookbooks for her to sign, so we were able to get two of them at the morning event and 2 at the evening event.  I have lots of pictures from the evening event to share with you including a few of Marlboro Man (Ree's hubs) and her Punks (her little boys).....I'll share those photos soon.  But for today, I wanted to show you what else "Mishie" got to do on her big day out!  LOL!

 

Here, we stopped in at Dean & Deluca.  (more pics later)  Here's me, "Mishie" and Nichole.  I think Mish would have sampled some of the gourmet foods with us.  She didn't eat much yesterday morning though.  

 

Here she is, laughing with Nichole at Crate & Barrel.  I think she's contemplating a Christmas ornament purchase at the moment.  (Meanwhile, the Crate & Barrel ladies are looking at Nichole and I like we're off her rockers!)

 

And here are the three of us at lunch.  We went to Andre's where Nichole and I both ordered the cheese pie.  I'm sure Mish would have loved the cheese pie too.  She was kind of quiet at lunch, but I think it's just because she was having so much fun!  *wink*  This was also the first time I've ever been with Mish at Archivers when she didn't buy something!  LOL!

In all seriousness, we had a great day and I'll share lots more later, but we just wanted to let Mishie know how much we missed her on our adventures and that we were thinking about her all day.  It wasn't the same without her!

Nichole and I have more fun planned for today including a bit of studio time so I'd better run.  

Take care, Peeps and have a great day!

Sweet Mail....and other random musings

 

I told you all not long ago that I recently got a Post Office box so that I'd have an address that I could share with you all, because I frequently get requests for my address.  So far, in my post office box, I've received 2 pieces of junk mail, 1 coupon for a free Chipotle burrito (yay!), this beautiful card by Heather Ruwe and the gifts and card in the photo below, from Rachel Sztonyk!  SO sweet of these girls to send me cards and treats.  I wanted them both to know how much I appreciated them and how much fun I had trying to figure out what to do with the key that showed up in my post office box, telling me that I had a package in one of the post office lockers!  (Who knew the post office had lockers?!)  LOL!  Thank you both, Rachel and Heather!

 

I also wanted to tell you to check out THIS CARD and THIS CARD by Mary Vogel.  She made both using my new Vintage Ornaments stamp set.  WOWWWWW!  SO pretty!

I also wanted to thank each of you (including my dear neighbor -- thanks, Pam!) that have let me know that a version of (the Australian cookie....er....biscuit!) Tim Tams are distributed by Pepperidge Farms in the US and are sold at Target.  Bart brought home a package of the Classic Dark variety and I now say that there's no need to bother with any of the other varieties of Tim Tams.  Classic Dark are the only way to go.  :)  They are delish!  And for the record, what we call cookies here in the US, the Aussies call biscuits.  But Aussies....if cookies are biscuits, then what do you call the 'biscuits' that we eat for breakfast with gravy???  :)

Next topic.....(I told you this was a random post!).....I mentioned awhile back that my sweet, hottie hubs bought me a Pandora bracelet for my birthday back in June.  He got me a beautiful purple Murano glass bead (his favorite sports team wears purple!  HAHA!!) and a few silver beads (I'm a total silver girl.  No gold here unless it's white gold.) and my sis & bil gave me a dark green bead too.  Well, since then, I've been a good little girl and haven't bought myself any additional beads for my bracelet.  That's all about to change though!!!  Check out THESE BEAUTIES!!!

 

They're wood beads!!  OH, aren't they just gorgeous??  You KNOW how much I love brown.  I wear it.  I use it on cards.  Brown is my black, I always say, so these beads would go with so much that I wear!  Bartley and I were at the mall the other day so we popped in to the Pandora store and saw these for the first time.  They're SO pretty in real life and that soft yellow one.......perfection.  In real life, it's soft and buttery enough to be fairly neutral.  It looks awesome paired with a couple of the browns.  I'm sorry to ramble on and on about jewelry but goodness, these were just too fun to not chat about!  :)

And lastly today in this long list of randomness, I wanted to let you International readers know that I have lowered the international shipping charges in my Etsy Shop by quite a bit.  I was under the impression that my packages would be heavier than they are, so I was pleasantly surprised when shipping a package to Italy last week, that the shipping was much lower than I thought it would be!  SO, if my earlier shipping charges scared you away, you might check them out again. 

And stay tuned to my Etsy Shop because I've got lots more fun embellies coming soon!!  :)  

Toodles!
 

Got Sketch? Blog

Hi there,

I was excited to get to play along with the sketch last week at the Got Sketch? blog!  Here's the card I created using their sketch.  Check out this post to see lots of other fun cards using this sketch as well!  

For my card, I stamped some Polka Dot Basics II in summer sunrise ink on white card stock and paired it with some ripe avocado In Bloom patterned paper.  The butterfly was cut with my SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die and layered with a dark chocolate button and the sentiment is from my Mod Squad stamp set.

Hope you're all having a great day today!  I'll chat w/you again soon...
 

Paper: aqua mist, ripe avocado, dark chocolate, stamper's select white, In Bloom
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II, Mod Squad
Ink: summer sunrise
Other: Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die, dark chocolate button, rustic cream button twine, corner rounder punch, Fiskars apron lace punch  

Papertrey - November Release Projects

 

Hi-ya Peeps!!  Happy Sunday!  Did you see THIS POST up at Nichole's blog this morning????  I'm soooo excited -- she's coming here for a visit this week - today, in fact - and I can't wait!!  She'll just be here for a few days, but we've got a "busy schedule" (haha!) planned that mostly includes relaxing, chatting and LAUGHING!  :)  There are a few adventures on the agenda too....OH, and when one foodie visits another foodie, great food is a priority as well!  You can be sure I'll be taking pictures this week so I can share our adventures with you after my sweet friend heads back home.  In the meantime, I'm making a few last minute preparations around the home front before we head to the airport to pick her up.  

I have a couple of cards to share with you today that focus on some of the other new stamp sets that were released last night at Papertrey Ink.  The first one features Big & Bold Wishes, that Nichole designed.  Talk about a FUN stamp set -- I can't wait to play with it some more!  And of course, there's some Background Basics-Diamonds on this one too.  I cut out the large circles with my Martha Stewart circle cutter and then punched out the small circles with my 1" circle punch.  I then adhered the circles to the back side of the large circles to create the look of a scalloped border.  

 

This next card features Christmas Friends, designed by Tiffany Pastor.  I stamped the largest flourish image directly on some patterned paper from the Holiday Cheer collection.  I also stamped the little birdies and then cut them out, and added a little rhinestone to one of them.  Cute, cute!

You can see complete supply lists for these cards in my gallery at Papertrey Ink.

All righty, that's all I've got for you today.  I need to tidy up the studio a bit just in case Nichole and I can break away from relaxing and chatting, long enough to stamp something!  ;)  

Hope you all have a great Sunday!
Toodles,

Signature Greetings - Day 5

Hi-ya!  Welcome back to day 5 of sneak peeks at Signature Greetings, my newest stamp set in the Raspberry Suite line-up!  I'm so thrilled to hear that so many of you are excited about this new set.  I can't wait to start seeing the projects YOU make with it!

I was so inspired by this cute apron from Anthropologie, that I decided to make all of my cards for today's post using this same color scheme -- aqua mist, ripe avocado & vintage cream!  The apron also reminded me of this cute card that my sweet friend, Betsy Veldman, made not too long ago.  Pretty, right?  So, with all of that inspiration floating around in my head, here's what I came up.....

 

 

This sweet sentiment from Signature Greetings is not only a thoughtful one to use on cards but it's a pretty one too.  :)  I stamped it in ripe avocado ink on an aqua mist card base.  My card measures 3.5" x 5.5".....such a cute little size!  I love it!  I stitched on a piece of vintage book print from an old book of children's stories that I picked up at a thrift store.  The book is pretty thick and will surely keep me in book print for my crafting for a long time to come!  :)

 

Just check out all of these gorgeous buttons that I found in my ripe avocado button jar!!!  They're sooooo pretty, each with different textures and even some bling thrown in there.  That's the great thing about Papertrey's bags of vintage buttons -- there are so many little button treasures in each bag.  You never know what you might find!  If you haven't gotten any yet, I highly recommend them.....and they're such a great value too!

 

Next up is this little 4" x 4" square card featuring the "You Are a Blessing To Me" sentiment from Signature Greetings.  I stamped it in ripe avocado ink on a vintage cream panel and then stamped a leaf image from Turning a New Leaf in spring moss ink before layering the buttons, bling and flower on top.

 

And just check out THESE buttons -- they're the shape of leaves!!  Holy cow, how cute are those?!  I didn't even know they were in my jar!  I found them while digging for buttons for the previous card!  Haha!

 

This card is sooo simple but has such a beautiful sentiment that really gets to take center stage: "I'm So Grateful For You".  Goodness, I could send this card to quite a few people that I'm grateful for.  How about you?

 

The aqua mist panel is stamped with Giga Guide Lines in aqua mist ink and the card front was embossed with my swiss dot embossing folder.

 

And lastly, you saw this "So Sweet of You" sentiment the other day, but I couldn't resist using it again....I just love it.  I cut out the sentiment die cut with my Cricut Expression and the Storybook cartridge.  I stamped the sentiment first with ripe avocado ink and then added the flourish (from Fancy Flourishes) with versamark ink.  And of course, there are some Polka Dot Basics II here as well as some Damask Designs.  

I hope you've enjoyed this week's countdown projects!  Tonight is the big night -- it's release night at Papertrey Ink when all of the new products you've gotten glimpses of this week will be available for purchase.  The fun starts at 10pm EST when the release party kicks off in the Papertrey Forum.  I'll be there to chat and would love it if you'd come say hi!

Hope you have a GREAT day, Friends.  Be sure to stop in for one last sneak peek post at Nichole's blog as well as Alli Miles' and Tiffany Pastor's blogs.

See you tonight in the forum!!
 

{Hope Your Day is Fabulous supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, ripe avocado, vintage book print
Stamps: Signature Greetings
Ink: ripe avocado, vintage touch tea dye
Other: ripe avocado buttons, rustic jute button twine, ripe avocado topnotch twill ribbon, EK Success embossed curve punch, sewing machine/thread

{You Are a Blessing To Me supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, vintage cream, in bloom
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: ripe avocado, spring moss, vintage touch tea dye
Other: ripe avocado vintage buttons, Cricut Expression/Accents Essentials cartridge, Fiskars apron lace punch, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, sewing machine/thread

{I'm So Grateful For You supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, aqua mist
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Giga Guide Lines
Ink: aqua mist
Other: aqua mist luxe satin ribbon, aqua mist vintage button, swiss dot embossing folder, corner rounder punch

{So Sweet of You supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, ripe avocado, vintage cream
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Damask Designs, Polka Dot Basics II, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: ripe avocado, aqua mist, versamark
Other: Cricut Expression/Storybook cartridge, SU! scallop edge punch, sewing machine/thread 

Home Made

NOTE: This is the SECOND POST for today so be sure to scroll on down to see my Signature Greetings - Day 4 post!  

Hello there,

It's another Group Post night for the Design Team Girls at Papertrey Ink!  Today, our assignment was to create a house using the new Home Made Timeless Template and the coordinating Home Made stamp set designed by Nichole Heady, as well as a card using the stamp set!  When you purchase this Timeless Template (available on Nov. 15), you will get an inspiration download filled with Home Made houses made by each of the design team members!  Included in that download are all of the supply lists and instructions for recreating each of our projects!

Nichole also asked us to create a card using the Home Made stamp set and this is what I came up with!  This set works so well for creating cute little homey-themed cards.  I can't wait to create some more with it!

 

For my card, I used some new terracotta tile card stock for my card base.  I stamped the "stones" image along the bottom of the 'house' and then added my windows and door.

 

For the roof, I printed the roof piece from the Timeless Template and then hand cut it out to resemble a roof shape for the front of this card.  I LOVE how easy it was to use that part of the template as a roof on my card!  FUN!

 

For the windows, I stamped the curtains first on vintage cream card stock with terracotta tile ink and then stamped the window frames in dark chocolate over the top of the curtains.  After I cut them out, I inked up all of the edges with some vintage touch tea dye ink.  

This was such a fun card to make!  Hop on over to Nichole's blog to see what she created with this super ingenious new stamp set and template and then you'll want to check out what the other Design Team girlies have created too!

Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols
Debbie Olson
Betsy Veldman
Melissa Phillips
Niki Estes
Lisa Johnson
Becky Oehlers
Lauren Meader
Geny Cassady

Be sure to scroll on down to see more peeks at Signature Greetings and I'll be back tomorrow for one more day of peeks before the official release!  

Take care,
 

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage cream
Stamps: Home Made
Ink: terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: terracotta tile classic grosgrain, Home Made Timeless Template

Signature Greetings - Day 4

Hello!  It's Day 4 of sneak peeks at my newest stamp set (available Nov. 15), Signature Greetings!  You may recognize this first sentiment, "You Make Me Smile", from the first sneak peek preview of this set that Nichole showed on her blog last week.  I just love this sentiment.....so great for so many people and for so many reasons!

 

I created my own layered 'flower' out of circles that I stamped, roughed up the edges with my Heidi Swapp edge distresser, inked with distressing ink, stacked up and stitched a button to.  :)  I paired up some new terracotta tile and berry sorbet card stock with dark chocolate, vintage cream and kraft on this card.  And I'll bet you'll notice a couple of patterns on this card (that I TOLD you I can't seem to stop using) from the new Background Basics: Diamonds set that Nichole designed (also available Nov. 15).  On the cream panel, that pattern is stamped in VersaMark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Then I used some vintage touch tea dye ink around the edges before I stitched it to the front of my card.

 

Next up is a bold and bright card with a sentiment that is SOOOO much fun!  Can't you just see using this sentiment for the awesome girls in your life?  Your BFF, your mom, your sisters, your daughters, your nieces, friends at church or in your neighborhood???  The list goes on and on!  This sentiment could also be used on birthday cards, thank you cards, encouragement cards, etc.  If you had this sentiment, who would you make a card for with it????

 

This card is so simple but it packs a lot of punch.  I used some In Bloom patterned paper in ripe avocado for the background.  The butterfly is die cut with the SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die from summer sunrise card stock. Then I stamped some text from Background Basics: Text Style II on it, followed by a flourish from Fancy Flourishes.  The button detail is actually two buttons stacked and threaded together, and then adhered to the butterfly.  So cheery, right?

 

Lastly for today is another simple card with an elegant flair.  I stamped the background pattern using Giga Guide Lines.  This beautiful sentiment (also from Signature Greetings) is stamped in plum pudding ink on lavender moon card stock with a border from Vintage Labels stamped around it in lavender moon ink.  A few Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones were added to the centers of the medallions as well as to the sentiment panel.

 

What are you thinking about Signature Greetings now that you've seen 4 days of sneak peeks?  Are there sentiments that you're feeling would be a perfect fit for your stamp collection?  Did you have a favorite project or sentiment from today's post?  I'd love to hear from you!

I hope you have a fantastic Friday and I'll be back again tomorrow with one last day of Signature Greetings sneakie peeks for you before the official release!  Also, don't forget to check in with Alli Miles and Tiffany Pastor to see more looks at their new stamp sets too!

Have a goodie!
 

{You Make Me Smile supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage cream, kraft
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: berry sorbet, dark chocolate, versamark
Other: clear embossing powder, terracotta tile vintage button, rustic cream button twine, terracotta tile classic grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder punch, sewing machine/thread

{Girly, You Rock! supplies}
Paper: ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, summer sunrise, stamper's select white, in bloom
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Text Style II, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: ripe avocado, summer sunrise, versamark
Other: raspberry fizz luxe satin ribbon, summer sunrise vintage buttons, rustic cream button twine, EK Success diamond lace punch, SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: plum pudding, lavender moon, vintage cream
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Giga Guide Lines, Vintage Labels
Ink: plum pudding, lavender moon
Other: lavender moon classic grosgrain, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones

Communique Curves Inspirations

NOTE: This is the SECOND POST for today so be sure to scroll down to see Day 3 of Signature Greetings sneak peeks!!!  ;)  

Hi there!!  It's Group Post night for the Papertrey Design Team girls!  Nichole challenged each of us to create a holiday card using Alli Miles new stamp set - Communique Curves as well as a card for a different occasion using the coordinating set, Communique Curves Sentiments.  By keeping the layout the same, all you have to do is swap out your colors and the sentiment and you can really maximize your studio time!  Why reinvent the wheel, right?  If you've got a great layout that you love, don't be afraid to use it again!!  Just look for ways to change it up a bit with the patterns and colors you use!

 

Here, I've made my Christmas version of this card with a pretty wreath image and the "Home for the holidays" sentiment from Communique Curves.  I kept it nice and simple and let the Rustic Snowflakes patterned paper background really shine!  

 

 

For my second card, I used the same wreath image with a Happy Birthday sentiment.  Same layout but this time I chose a patterned paper from the Autumn Abundance collection.  

 

It was so easy to create this second card because I kept the basic layout just like the first card which allowed me to whip out two projects in much less time than it normally would have taken and yet, the cards have each got a totally different look. 

For tons of inspiration, check out the projects that Nichole and the rest of the design team girls have created to share with you!!

Betsy Veldman
Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillips
Lisa Johnson
Lauren Meader
Niki Estes
Geny Cassady
Becky Oehlers
Debbie Olson

And don't forget, I'll be back tomorrow with more Signature Greetings cards to share with you!!  Can't wait to see you then!

 

{Home for the Holidays supplies}
Paper: spring moss, ripe avocado, vintage cream, rustic snowflakes
Stamps: Communique Curves
Ink: spring moss, ripe avocado, vintage touch tea dye
Other: pure poppy classic grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder punch, EK Success diamond lace punch

{Happy Birthday supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, dark chocolate, vintage cream, autumn abundance
Stamps: Communique Curves
Ink: dark chocolate, orange zest, vintage touch tea dye
Other: aqua mist classic grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder punch, EK Success diamond lace punch
 

Signature Greetings - Day 3

Hi-ya Friends!  Are you enjoying Papertrey's Countdown Week so far??  I'm having so much fun sharing peeks at the stamps from my new Signature Greetings set with you!  Countdown week is always soooo much fun and I'm loving hearing what you think of the projects and the new stamps!

For today, I've got a couple new sentiments to share with you from Signature Greetings, that I don't think you've gotten a peek at anywhere else yet!  Up first is this super sweet baby sentiment, "Congrats on Your New Little Bundle".  This sentiment can work for baby cards, adopted baby cards, and even adopted pets cards!  *smile*

 

For this sweetie baby card, I paired the sentiment with a dotty butterfly with a soft and satiny center.  Swiss dots, a scalloped & stitched border and a soft background pattern round out this card and I kept the color palette really soft and feminine.  Notice that background pattern?  That's another new one from Nichole this month.....she's had a few peeks at this new set on her blog already!  I can't stop using it!  I'm just giving you fair warning!  LOL!

 

Next up is a fun little thank you card.  I wanted to create a cheery little tag for my focal point so I cut out a tag from Aqua Mist card stock with my Cricut Expression and then stamped another of those new backgrounds (that I can't stop using!) on the tag in spring moss ink.  The flower is one I die cut from a piece of old book print using my birds and blooms die from Stampin' Up.  I layered a JUMBO spring moss button in the center (which I LOVE!) and added a few little green rhinestones.

 

There are so may textures on this card from the satiny ribbon to the fibers in the button twine, the shiny rhinestones to the natural look of the kraft card stock, the colored patterns and the printed text.....there are so many teeny details but they all work together to create a simple but fun thank you card.

 

Lastly for today is a card featuring a sentiment that I just LOVE!  "You Are a Peach"  Can you think of someone in your life that is a Peach?  Someone that is truly a dear?  Someone that you could send a sweet little note to, to let them know how much they mean to you?  :)  There are quite a few Peaches in my life and I can see this sentiment getting a lot of use on cards around here!

I loved pairing these colors together for my 'peachy' card......hibiscus burst, berry sorbet, sweet blush and vintage cream.  The touches of glitter and vintage touch tea dye distressing ink just makes this card so soft and shimmery.

 

The flowers from the In Bloom stamp set were stamped on hibiscus burst and berry sorbet card stock.  I used a glue pen to add glitter to the flowers after I'd cut them out and then I added some Kaiser Scrapbook pearls to the centers.  The background panel is sweet blush card stock with Background Basics: Text Style II stamped on it.  I added a strip of In Bloom patterned paper in berry sorbet across the top of the card.

All righty, Nichole has a fun group post to share with you today!  You'll also want to check out these girls for more fun sneak peeks: Lauren Meader, Alli Miles and Tiffany Pastor.

That's it for today but I'll be back tomorrow with LOTS more fun stuff to share with you!  Do you have a favorite project from today?  Or a favorite sentiment from Signature Greetings, that you could see yourself putting to good use?  

Thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!  See you soon! 

{Congrats on Your New Little Bundle supplies}
Paper: kraft, vintage cream, melon berry
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: sweet blush, dark chocolate
Other: sweet blush vintage button, sweet blush luxe satin ribbon, corner rounder punch, Fiskars apron lace punch, sewing machine/thread, swiss dot embossing folder, SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die

{Thank You For Being So Thoughtful supplies}
Paper: kraft, dark chocolate, bitty box basics, vintage book print
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: dark chocolate, spring moss
Other: spring moss vintage button, rustic cream button twine, aqua mist luxe satin ribbon, Cricut Expression/Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridge, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Fiskars upper crest punch, SU! scallop edge punch, SU! Birds & Blooms die

{You Are a Peach supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, hibiscus burst, berry sorbet, sweet blush, in bloom
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Text Style II, In Bloom
Ink: sweet blush, hibiscus burst, berry sorbet, vintage touch tea dye
Other: hibiscus burst classic grosgrain ribbon, SU! scallop edge punch, Prisma glitter, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls

Signature Greetings - Day 2

Hello Peeps!!  Welcome back to Day 2 of sneak peeks at my newest stamp set, Signature Greetings, which will be available for purchase on Nov. 15 at Papertrey Ink!  It's been SO fun to hear from some of you about what your initial thoughts on this new set are!  Thank you for taking the time to comment and tell me what you think.....it really means a lot to me!

I'm ridiculously excited to share this first card with you!  Is it fun or WHAT?!  Oh my lordy bees, I love this card.  Love the colors, the stamp sets, the polka dotty flower....all of it!  Hee.  I started with an aqua mist card base and adhered a strip of In Bloom patterned paper along the bottom in orange zest.  Next, I cut out the brown die cut with my Cricut Expression and the Storybook cartridge.  I stamped this FUN new sentiment from Signature Greetings in VersaMark ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Such a fun way to really make a sentiment POP!  And can't you think of a ton of people that you could use this sentiment for???  I have lots of people I could make cards for using this one!  

Next up, I stamped some of these fabulous leaf images from Nichole's new stamp set, Turning a New Leaf (check out Nichole's blog today for more info about this set!), and then I cut them out.  I adhered them to the card front with foam adhesive and then I punched out a flower with one of my Marvy flower punches.  I stamped dots on the flower using orange zest ink and then I wadded the flower up, un-wadded the flower (smile), and then stitched a button to the center of the flower with some button twine.

 

Ahhh......it's just so happy and cheery, don't you think?  Happy is good.  :)

 

So, next I thought I'd share a couple of cards that I made for a couple of the men in my life.  On Sunday after church, my family got together for lunch to celebrate a couple of November birthdays.  We were missing a few of our crew that day but we still had a great time celebrating my Dad's and my brother's birthdays.  

Photo L-R: Bart, Me, Dad, Mom, Brother-in-law Chris, Sister Grace (that sort of sounds like she's a nun.....but she's not a nun.  Haha!), and that's my brother, Dave. 

Anyway, my Dad and my brother are now the two easiest people in the world for us to shop for because they each have a favorite store that they love to get gift cards from!!  LOL!  My Dad loves Bass Pro Shops......he's mostly a fisherman who occasionally hunts so he can go into the Bass Pro Shop and can spend hooooooours looking at all the fish in the tanks, the stuffed animals on display everywhere, and thennnnnn he can spend a few more hours debating and debating about what to spend his gift cards on.  I say gift cardS because he has a stack of them!  We all give him Bass Pro cards for all holidays, because it's just what he loves!  And honestly, I love giving him this gift because for my entire life, my Dad has hardly spent any money on himself.  If we ever pooled our money and gave him cash, he'd pay a bill or buy something for 'the family' rather than for himself.  And when I shop for him in the fishing department, I shop for fishing lures based on how bright and shiny and pretty the colors are!!  LOL!  So really, getting him these gift cards is the PERFECT gift for Dad because he can get what he wants and he HAS to spend it on HIM!  

 

So for the birthday boys' cards, I decided that I wanted to incorporate the gift cards into the actual design of the cards.  Here's what I came up with for my Dad.  I used the new "Celebrate Your Day!" sentiment from Signature Greetings and paired it up with the Trajan Monogram Edition stamp set to spell out "DAD".

 

I wanted to sew a pocket on the front of the card that would hold the gift card so I constructed this 'top panel' that I later adhered to the front of my card.  I started with a piece of dark chocolate card stock and laid a piece of soft stone card stock on top of it.  I slid the gift card in between the two and drew a pencil line across the soft stone panel to show where the bottom edge of the gift card was, to serve as a guide when I stitched the pocket.

 

I stitched up 3 sides of the pocket and as you can see, the soft stone panel was much longer than necessary, but it doesn't matter because I covered that whole panel with other layers of card stock.

 

I added a piece of card stock stamped with leaves from the Turning a New Leaf set, as well as a strip of dark chocolate which I adhered a row of buttons to with glue dots.  Lastly, I added one more soft stone layer to the bottom of the card, where I stamped my sentiment.  My Dad thought it was pretty cool that his gift card was 'built in' to the front of his birthday card!

 

Now some of you may have heard (read) me refer to my brother as the Rock Star.  :)  He's in a band and is super talented so I wanted to give him a card that was a little more edgy and I thought the "Dude, You Rock!" sentiment from Signature Greetings was just PERFECT for him!!  The other thing that's PERFECT for him is a gift card to Guitar Source where he can buy guitar cords and drum sticks and pedals and all sorts of other things that I know nothing about!  Haha!  Again, for David's card, I wanted to build the gift card into the card I created, but this time I decided to put the gift card inside the birthday card.  

(For purposes of these photos, I used Dad's Bass Pro gift card because we hadn't bought David's Guitar Source gift card yet....but with the magic of television....er.....blogevision, I think you'll get the point!)  *wink!*

 

I started with a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base made from smokey shadow card stock.  I opened the card and will show you how to mount the gift card on the top portion of the card when it's opened up, leaving the bottom portion to write your birthday greeting just like you would on any card.

I placed the gift card just where I wanted it to be mounted inside the card and with a pencil, drew a small line diagonally across the bottom left corner of the gift card.

 

Next, I did the same thing on the opposite corner -- the top right corner.

 

Then, I used a cutting mat and craft knife, to cut a little slit in what is the inside of the front of the card base.  By laying this ruled mat across my pencil line, all I had to do was drag the knife right next to the 'ruler' to ensure that my line would be straight.

 

I repeated those steps on the other side, creating two slits inside the front flap of the card.

 

You can see in the above photo, how the gift card can easily be slid into those slits so when the card is opened, this section is on top and the part that you'd write your greeting on is just below this.

 

And the above photo shows what the front of the card looks like.  Still with me??  :)

 

Now, you may think that those slits and the corners of the gift card are ugly, but they don't matter one bit because when you mount your decorative panel to the front of the card with foam adhesive, you can't see those slits at all!  How simple is that?!!

 

I created the striped panel by stamping lines from the Faux Ribbon stamp set and the 'flourishy' images you see stamped in white are more leaves from Turning a New Leaf!  I thought they were kind of grungy and rockerish.  (Yes, I made that word up!)  Ha!

Now, be sure and pop over to Nichole's blog to get a peek at projects that she's made using my Signature Greetings set and her Turning a New Leaf set!  Heather Nichols will also have peeks at both sets for you!  Plus, Lauren Meader will have another fun project to share, and Alli Miles and Tiffany Pastor both have sets coming out this month too!  Lots of creativity for you to check out!

That's all I've got for you today.  Did you see a new sentiment from Signature Greetings that you could see yourself using??  I hope that you've enjoyed this super girly card and two 'boy cards' too and I hope that you're feeling inspired to incorporate gift cards into the design of your cards now!  Just think of the Christmas possibilities!  

Hope you have a great day, Friends.

I'll be back tomorrow with more Signature Greetings fun!
 

{So Sweet of You supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, aqua mist, vintage cream, In Bloom, terracotta tile
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Turning a New Leaf, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: versamark, orange zest
Other: vintage cream button twine, vintage button, Cricut Expression/Storybook cartridge, marvy flower punch

{Celebrate Your Day! Dad supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, soft stone, terracotta tile
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Turning a New Leaf, Trajan Monogram Edition
Ink: dark chocolate, versamark
Other: wood buttons, corner rounder punch, sewing machine/thread

{Dude, You Rock! supplies}
Paper: smokey shadow, pure poppy, soft stone, bitty box basics
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Turning a New Leaf, Birthday Basics, Faux Ribbon
Ink: smokey shadow, true black, pure poppy, fresh snow
Other: corner rounder punch

Introducing Signature Greetings!!!

 

Hello there and welcome to Day 1 of Papertrey sneak peeks as we count down to the official November release at Papertrey Ink!  For the next 5 days, I'll have lots of fun cards to share with you featuring my newest stamp set in the Raspberry suite line-up......Signature Greetings -- a follow-up set to Signature Christmas!!  This one covers quite a few different occasions and I'm thrilled to be able to share them with you this week!  I think you'll find this set to be extremely versatile!

On this first card, I stamped my sentiment, "I Love You So Much", in dark chocolate ink.  This sentiment could be used for lots of different loved ones....spouse, kiddos, parents, etc.  And don't you love the pairing of the text with the hand-writing?  Ever since I was little, I've loved to write and write and write....sometimes when I was growing up I'd practice writing favorite letters over and over or favorite words.  Did you ever do that?  I have to say that I love this sentiment so much....it's such a great size and the writing/text combo is such that it could work well on fun and playful cards like this one as well as much more elegant cards too.  ....and for some reason, the 'L' reminds me of Laverne and Shirley!  Hee!

I absolutely LOOOOVE stamping pure poppy ink on raspberry fizz!!  It's bold, it's bright, it's cheery......but it's a little loud!  LOL!  By using a kraft card base, I was able to use splashes of those bright colors while keeping the card well balanced.  Don't you just love that look??

 

I stamped several patterns (stay tuned to Nichole's blog this week for more on those!  *wink!*) and then punched them out with various circle punches and layered them on the card with foam adhesive.  Before I adhered the largest circle though, I heat embossed a leaf image (more on that at Nichole's blog this week too!) with clear embossing powder to add another bit of dimension to the card.

Goodness, but these colors make me happy!

 

I was having so much fun with these colors and patterns that I decided to make another card that is a totally different layout but uses some of the same elements.  Isn't it fun to see how you can create different looks with stamps from the same sets?  This one features more leaves as a backdrop for this fun patterned flower and another new sentiment from Signature Greetings!  This sentiment is one that you can use for several different occasions such as a birthday, an anniversary or even a New Year's card!  Can you think of other occasions that you might use this stamp for?

 

The red layer on my flower has an image stamped on it from Giga Guide Lines and the pattern on the pink layer is one that Nichole will be telling you more about later this week.  ;)  I wanted to bring the kraft color in again somewhere on the card to tie the flower layer in with the rest of the card, so I tied a bow with 6 strands of rustic jute button twine.  The color of the jute coordinates with the kraft card stock perfectly, making it a great option for using in place of ribbon!

 

Lastly for today, this card features another new sentiment from Signature Greetings -- "Congrats You Did It!"  I paired it with one of the sentiment stamps from a new set that Nichole is featuring today on her blog....it's called Big & Bold Wishes.  The fun flourishy image I stamped on either side of my sentiment is from that same set....such a great stamp to use to really highlight your focal point!  You won't want to miss seeing what Nichole has made with this set today!  I added a few gemstones as a finishing touch to complete the look.

 

I love how well these two sentiments work together!  Can't you just imagine all of the possibilities for a card like this one?  Graduation, wedding, childbirth, landing a new job......lots of occasions that you could use these sentiments for!  With sentiments this versatile, you get so much bang for your buck!  Always a good thing!

Don't forget to pop over to Nichole's blog for tons of inspiration -- she's showcasing a new set today that is so fun!  Lauren Meader also has a fun peek for you today too!

Well, that's your first glimpse at Signature Greetings!!  What do you think so far??  I'd love to hear your feedback!

Hope your day is wonderful!  I'll be back tomorrow, same time, same place, with more fun Signature Greetings cards for you!

Take care, Sweet Friends,
 

{I Love You So Much supplies}
Paper: kraft, raspberry fizz
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: pure poppy, dark chocolate, versamark
Other: clear embossing powder, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Martha Stewart circle cutter, various circle punches

{Hope This Year... supplies}
Paper: raspberry fizz, pure poppy, kraft, vintage cream
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Giga Guide Lines, Background Basics: Diamonds, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: pure poppy, versamark
Other: Marvy flower punches, Making Memories brad, rustic jute button twine, Fiskars apron lace punch

{Congrats You Did It supplies}
Paper: aqua mist
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Big & Bold Wishes
Ink: dark chocolate, versamark
Other: saddle stitch ribbon, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, EK Success embossed curve punch

Moxie Fab Vintage Ornaments!

Hey there!  Happy Monday to you!!  It's a Moxie Fab Monday around here because the Papertrey Girls have been invited to help Cath celebrate her one year blogiversary over at the Moxie Fab World blog!!  Cath is featuring several fab Papertrey sets -- Holiday Tree, Holiday Button Bits and Vintage Ornaments/Vintage Ornaments Additions -- and each of us on the Papertrey design team has made a project using one of those stamp sets!!  You can check out all of our cards on this post over at the Moxie Fab blog and you can bop around to check out each designer's blog for more info about the cards.  :)

BUT, you'll really want to rush over and leave a comment at the Moxie Fab blog because not only is Cath giving away all of those featured stamp sets to a couple of lucky winners, but she's also giving away each of these projects that we contributed!!!  You could win a project made by each of the Papertrey Girls!  How fun is that?!

As for my project, I stamped my ornaments in hibiscus burst ink on white card stock and then stamped the layering images over the top of that in pure poppy ink!  Adding a bit of Palette Glitter was the perfect finishing touch!!  Oh, and of course, the sentiment is from Signature Christmas.  I love the colors on this card!  Can't wait to hear who wins it!!  Good luck to each of you!  

Hope your Monday is truly fabulous!  Thanks also to those of you that have been ordering goodies from my Etsy shop.  If I've received your payment, I'll be shipping your order out asap!

Have a goodie, Peeps!
 

P.S.  Don't forget that tonight at midnight, EST begins the official Papertrey Countdown!  See you then!

{Christmas Blessings supplies}
Paper: hibiscus burst, pure poppy, stamper's select white
Stamps: Vintage Ornaments, Signature Christmas
Ink: hibiscus burst, pure poppy, dark chocolate
Other: rustic jute button twine, Palette Glitter, SU! scalloped edge punch

Random, Random Sunday

 

Hello, All....

Lots of random bits to share with you today.  Meant to share some of this yesterday but ended up spending the day with my hottie hubs, relaxing and cheering on our (his) favorite football team!  ;)

I finished this book last week -- How Sweet It Is by Alice Wisler, and I have to say that it was soooo, so good.  Such a fabulous story of heartache, hope and healing.  This one had me totally sucked in.  I just love that.  

Did you see this post over at the Moxie Fab World blog?  Cath is chatting about this new A Card a Day book that Paper Crafts Magazine is releasing and I was so excited to have several of my cards be a part of this new book!  Cath is also showing several cards from the new book, including one of my contributions.  Can't wait to see the whole book in person!

AND, over at the Paper Crafts blog, they're featuring a few more cards from A Card a Day, so you can get a peek at another one of my cards over there.  :)

 

And, I've been busy making embellies this weekend.  I have several sheets of these two color combos of teapots that I'll be putting in my Etsy Shop as soon as I finish this post so watch for them there, if you are interested.

 

I also have some of these little flower embellies that I'll be putting in my Etsy shop too!

 

Hope you're all doing well this weekend!  Take care and I'll chat with you again soon!

 

A Sneakie Peek and Teapot Embellies

 

Happy Friiiiiiiiiiiday!!  

Ahhhhhh.........it's that time again!!  Time for you to get a peek at the latest stamp set in the Raspberry Suite line-up!!  This one will be available on Nov. 15.  What do you think so far????  :)

So I'm back at it with more embellies today, only this time they're happy little teapots!  I love making these little guys!  

 

And here's a fun little card you can make using one of these cheery embellies.  Again, more Polka Dot Basics II and a sentiment from Tea For Two.  I used a wide strip of ScorTape (1/2") and some of my Martha Stewart glitter in Smoky Quartz to create the glitter stripe.  I also used some Vintage Touch Tea Dye inks to distress up the edges a bit.

 

I'll be putting this card and this sheet of teapot embellies (plus a few others when I get them finished up) in my Etsy Shop this morning, so keep an eye out if you're interested.  :)

 

 

If you love the teapots but cutting them out isn't really your thing, then these just might be the perfect embellie for you!  {smile}

Hope your weekend is a fantastic one!  

Toodle-loo!
 

{Tea For Two supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, kraft
Stamps: Tea For Two, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: vintage touch tea dye, dark chocolate, berry sorbet
Other: Cricut Expression/Storybook cartridge, Martha Stewart smoky quartz glitter, berry sorbet vintage button, rustic cream button twine
 

Butterfly Embellies

Hello!  I hope you're all having a really great week.  I made some super fun butterfly embellies to show you today!  I wanted to show you how you can make a card really ADORABLE by keeping the card itself quite simple and adding a blinged out embellishment that will make the recipient say WOW!

 

This card measures 3 1/4" x 5 1/2".  All I stamped on the card base was a row of aqua mist dots from Polka Dot Basics II and a sentiment (that I LOVE!) from Cupcake Collection.  Then, I just added my big, bold butterfly and voila!  Cuteness!  Wouldn't a set of these little cards make a fun gift?

 

I had so much fun making my butterfly that I made a whole sheet of them.  I'll be putting both the card and the sheet of butterfly embellies in my Etsy Shop as soon as I finish this post.  If making your own embellies isn't really your thing but you love the look, you could whip up your own cards in just minutes with my hand-made embellies!  

 

 

 

I'm thinking about putting lots of other embellies in my Etsy Shop too, so let me know if you like this sort of thing!

Have a great day, Friends.  Take time to do something a little crafty today!  I bet you'll be glad you did!  

Smooches,

 

{Hey There, Cupcake supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, raspberry fizz, kraft
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II, Cupcake Collection, Giga Guide Lines
Ink: dark chocolate, aqua mist, versamark, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Martha Stewart smoky quartz glitter, aqua mist vintage button, rustic jute button twine, SU! Bigz Butterflies die

A Joyful Garland

Hello, Dearies....

I have a fun project to share with you today!  I decided to try my hand at making a garland.  Can you believe I've never made one before?! ....but I have to say that it was quite fun and a bit addicting too!  I think I just might have to make another one of these!

 

I used Vintage Ornaments to create fun little tags to go between each of the J O Y lettered panels.  I punched two holes at the top of each panel, and then threaded them all together with raspberry fizz classic grosgrain ribbon.  

 

The letters are ones that I cut out with my Cricut Expression and Storybook cartridge, and then I covered them with glitter using my Glue Pad.  It was so fun to mix and match papers and embellishments to create the panels and make each one a bit different.

 

 

I also used ScorTape to put stripes of Martha Stewart smoky quartz glitter on some of the panels.  I love the vintage look of that goldish glitter!

 

 

 

 

I snapped these photos of it hanging on the mantle in our family room, but for now, it's taken up residence on the birdcage hanging on the wall of my studio.  I'm thinking I'll put this happy little JOY garland in my Etsy shop, so keep an eye out if you like it!  (Or feel free to email me if you're interested.)

 

Hope you're all having a fabulous day.  It's beautiful and crisp and sunny here today.  I'm tucked into the studio with a pile of new stamps to play with and a list of assignments, so I'd best get back to it, but I wanted to pop in and visit with you for a quick bit.  

Take care, Dolls,

{JOY Garland}
Paper: rustic white, kraft, dark chocolate, bitty box basics, bitty dot basics
Stamps: Vintage Ornaments, Polka Dot Basics II, Giga Guide Lines
Ink: raspberry fizz, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Kaiser Scrapbook gemstones, Martha Stewart smoky quartz glitter, Prisma glitter, Storybook cartridge/Cricut Expression, SU! scallop edge punch, corner rounder punch, pinking shears, Fiskars apron lace punch, raspberry fizz classic grosgrain ribbon, vintage buttons, hemp twine, Prima flower

Miss M's Sketch

 

Hey there!!  Do you remember my little friend 'M'?  Emma is Savitri's little girl and we all got to have lunch together a few months ago.  Since then, M has started hosting her very own sketch challenges!  Cute, right?  I had hoped to play along last time and ended up missing the deadline.  So today, I was determined to play along.  Here's M and her sketch:

And here's my card!  If you want to play along too, just leave your entry in the Mister Linky widget over at Savitri's blog on THIS POST.

I used lots of Making Memories goodies on this one......a felt snowflake embellie, chipboard buttons and glittery patterned paper.  The sentiment is from my Vintage Ornaments stamp set.  

 

I'll be putting this card in my Etsy shop as soon as I finish this post so watch for it over there if you're interested.  I have a few other cards that you've seen recently, that I'll be putting in my shop today as well.  :)

Hope you're all having a happy Tuesday!  I have oodles of paperwork to tackle today and then, a yummo box of new Papertrey goodies awaits me!

Take care!

 

Fun With the Fam

Hey there!  It's Monday.  Has your week gotten off to a good start?  I have some fun pictures to share with you today.  We got to spend quite a bit of time with my family on Saturday.  On our way to the get-together though, we stopped at World Market.  A couple of you sweet readers mentioned that you thought World Market sold Tim Tams -- the yummy Australian cookies that we've gotten kind of fond of (wink!), so we stopped in to see if we could buy them here.  Turns out, we CAN!  Only in the US, they're called Arnott's, which is the name of the company that makes them.  When we found the cookies, we turned around to discover that we can also buy Vegemite here too!  Haha!  Bart's not a Vegemite fan, but I tried it myself for the first time earlier this year and I have to say that I didn't hate it.  LOL!  It was pretty different, but I'd try it again.  :)  We've shopped at World Market for a long time and never realized we could get these fun Australian goodies right here in town.  Fun!

Oh, and since I know some of you will ask, yes Bart is on crutches in the photo above.  His knee still hasn't quite healed up since his surgery this summer so his doctor instructed him to use crutches for two weeks to see if his knee will get better.  He wants to determine if it's the bone bruise that they saw this summer and if it's not better in two weeks, then it's probably not the bone bruise and he'll have to have another MRI to see if something else is going on.  So, there you have it......sorry for the side-track, but I know you girls -- one of you (or 20!) would have asked!  Hee.

 

So, I thought it might be fun to take along some supplies so that us girls could work on a little project at the get-together.  My sisters and I worked on sets of Christmas gift tags - ones that they could use themselves or give as gifts.  This is my sister, Gracie, gettin' glittery. 

 

We created quite a mess on the kitchen table, but I think we all had fun.  :)  The boys were all sitting right behind us in the living room, watching tv, so we could all talk and laugh and carry on, but we were getting a little girly project done at the same time.  

 

This is my sister, Diann (the babies' mama).  This was a great time for her to get to work on a crafty project because there were enough of us there to help keep track of the babies so she could actually have a little mama time.

 

Baby Ally (hardly a baby at all -- can you believe how BIG she is?!) had her first stamping lesson!  See the stamped tag on her shirt?  I used some dimensionals to stick it on her.  Ha!  You can also see a few stray dimensionals left on her shirt.  :)  She liked her tags....for awhile anyway!

 

Here are the little tins of tags that we made.  I only took two stamp sets -- 2009 Holiday Tags Collection and Signature Christmas -- but look at all that we were able to create!  I'm thinking of using mine on cards instead of as tags.  

Can you see the girls in your family working on a project like this, say at your Thanksgiving gathering?  That way, you'd all have tags ready to roll when you wrap your Christmas gifts!

 

Here's Ally and Aunt Glory (my youngest sister).  Styyyyyylin'!

 

And look how big this guy has gotten!  This is baby Malachi.  What a sweetie.

 

Nap time!

 

After we got done crafting and eating, it was time to play some games which included a few on the Wii.  Even Ally got in the spirit!  Cuuuuute, right???

And so, I'll leave you with this for today.......

 

Smooches!! 

Good Reads

  

Hi there!  Hope you're having a great weekend so far!  I thought I'd pop in with fun little book review for you!  I just finished Stretch Marks by Kimberly Stuart and I have to say that it was SUCH a fun read.  Definitely chick lit.....a bit of humor, a bit of a love story, plenty of issues to work thru, a baby on the way.....all in all, I found that I didn't want to put this one down.  It was really a really fun read that also had a great ending and a great message as well.  Plus, it takes place in Chicago (you know how I love that city) so when they mentioned having "deep dish from Lou's", I grinned from ear to ear!  I'm sure they were referring to Lou Malnatti's -- our fave pizza in Chicago!  ;)  And the other Chicago references were really fun too, especially having just been there for a visit.  Anyway, check this one out if you want a really fun, sometimes funny, read. 

            

I also want to recommend the 86 Bloomberg Place series by Melody Carlson.  This series is about 4 young women, after college, that end up living in a house together, and all that they go thru as they learn what it's like to be out 'on their own' for the first time.  There is plenty of drama (you can imagine -- with 4 girls, all strangers, living in the same house) and plenty of fun too.  

These books are not only fun reads that you might enjoy, but now that Christmas is fast approaching, these would make great Christmas gifts for some of the girls on your Christmas list.  I love giving books as gifts.  I think they're sort of 'the gift that keeps on giving' since they're something that the recipient can enjoy for several hours or days or even weeks.  Plus, the great thing about books like these by Christian authors is that you can rest assured that they're clean and not the least bit smutty!  (I'm not one for smut.)  :)

Hope you have a great Saturday, Peeps!  We'll be heading out after awhile, to see a couple of our favorite babies!  (My niece and nephew!)  

Toodles!
 

In the Spotlight #18

Hello there!!!  

Back today with this week's Spotlight post, highlighting a few of the super cute cards from the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #18.  

Here's the card I created for this color challenge.  Did you know that you can make cute little flowers with the Giga Guide Lines set, just by stamping the medallion images and cutting them out?!  How fun is that?  Just another way to stretch your stamping dollar......not only is this set great for creating backgrounds, but it's also perfect for making your own embellishments!

 

I stamped the flowers in raspberry fizz ink on vintage cream card stock.  I added some glitter to the little 'petals' on the flowers.  I layered them with some hand-cut leaves and a label die-cut from my Storybook cartridge that I cut out with my Cricut Expression.  These were fun colors to work with!  I hope those of you that played along enjoyed your creative time too and for those of you that like to check out what everyone else created, you don't want to miss checking out this list of beauties!  And seriously, there were so many great entries this week....I had a really hard time narrowing it down.  If you're looking for inspiration, go back to the list of color challenge entries and check them out!

And for the first time in the history of the Raspberry Suite Color Challenges, one sweet girl ended up with TWO cards In the Spotlight!!  Maile Belles entered two Christmas tree cards that are both absolutely darling!!!  Thanks, Maile, for sharing your talent with us......I loved your cards so much!

Check out who's In the Spotlight this week.....

 

A. Amy O.
B. Ashley Cannon Newell
C. Ashley M.
D. Dana F.
E. Julie Batta
F. Karen Walker
G. Maile Belles
H. Maile Belles #2
I. Maureen P.
J. Melanie S.
K. Michelle Woerner
L. Naomi Chokr
M. Rieca
N. Sarah Martina
O. Tracey Kuzniak

Thanks so much for hangin' with me today, Dearies!  Hope you have a great weekend!  It looks like we're gonna get to spend some time with my family this weekend and I can't wait.  Haven't seen my sweetie niece and baby nephew for way too long!

Take care!
 

{Birthday Wishes supplies}
Paper: kraft, vintage cream, dark chocolate, new leaf, bitty dot basics
Stamps: Giga Guide Lines
Ink: dark chocolate, raspberry fizz, vintage touch tea dye
Other: dark chocolate vintage button, new leaf vintage button, hemp twine, Fiskars apron lace punch, Storybook cartridge/Cricut Expression, Kaiser rhinestones, Palette glitter, sewing machine/thread

Gettin' Quilty

Hi-ya Peeps!!  How are you doing?  

Over the last couple of years, I've gotten quite a few requests for my mailing address so I finally bit the bullet and got a post office box that I could share with you.  Just thought I'd post it here, in case any of you were wanting it or have asked for it in the past.  If you'd like to contact me via snail mail, feel free to use the address below!  (And Aussies...feel free to send chocolate Tim Tams!  Hahaha!!  Just kiddin'.....our sweet Aussie friends sent us a package of goodies today, including a couple packages of Tim Tams.  Thanks, John & Lynn!  So excited about those darn cookies!)  :)  Anyway, here's the address:

Dawn McVey
P.O. Box 3032
Olathe, Kansas  66063

For future reference, you can find this address in the left hand side bar, above my picture, on the 'contact me' page. 

So now, let's talk cards, shall we?  I've been a busy little bee working in the studio this week.  Most of the projects aren't ones I can share just yet, but at the end of the day today, I was determined to squeeze in a card to share with you here.  I've been seeing lots of adorable 'quilty' cards in blog-land lately so I wanted to try my hand at one too.  Papertrey has quite a few of these great coordinating patterned papers that made it so fun to put this together!  I took a piece of card stock that was the size I wanted my quilted piece to be, and then I started adhering 1 3/8" punched  squares on the diagonal, with a bit of mono-adhesive.  The easiest way to get your squares laid out diagonally is to start with a square in the middle of the bottom edge of the card.  If you turn your square diagonally, you can line up the points along the bottom edge of the card.  Then, just use that first square as your guide for placing the rest of the squares.  Once you have them all adhered, trim off all of the edges of the squares and then stitch away!

I didn't want to do too much to cover up the fun quilty piece, so I just went with a simple (but eye-catching, thanks to that great font!) sentiment and a few buttons.

That's it for tonight.  Hope you all have a fabulous Friday! 

Take care, Crew,
 

{Gratitude supply list}
Paper: rustic cream, vintage cream, orange zest, bitty dot basics, bitty box basics, in bloom
Stamps: Spiral Bouquet
Ink: orange zest
Other: dark chocolate vintage buttons, corner rounder punch, 1 3/8" square punch, sewing machine/thread

Inspiring Friends

Hi All!  Happy Tuesday to you!  I have a happy little wintery card to share with you today.  I have some very inspiring friends and I feel super, SUPER blessed to be on the Papertrey Design Team with so many of them.  Recently, my fun friend Mish did a post on her blog all about the cozy color combo of red and cream and I found it super inspiring.  It also reminded me of this beautiful post that my sweet friend Betsy did a little while back, also focusing on the same color combo and I couldn't resist whipping up a little card myself, using red and cream.  :)

For my little card, I stamped a tag from the 2009 Holiday Tag Collection and then stamped the 'let it snow' sentiment twice on the tag.  I stamped it on vintage cream card stock and layered it on a scalloped circle that I'd punched out, also from vintage cream card stock.  By using a little vintage touch tea dye ink on both layers, it gave them just a tad bit of definition, so you can see that they're two different layers, while still being able to keep that cream on cream look.  If I'd layered the tag on red card stock, it would have blended into the red polka dotted background and I really wanted it to POP!

The 'Warm Winter Wishes' sentiment is from the Stocking Prints stamp set.  I love how well it works with the 'let it snow' thought stamped on the tag.  What a fun little card to send to a friend or loved one this winter.  :)

So, how's your day going?  I'm loving hearing from so many of you sweet Aussies about possibilities for our trip next year!  It's gonna be fun, of that I'm certain!  

I've got more paper crafting to do, so I'd better get back to it.  I'm loving spending some time in the studio today.....it's been a little while.  :)

Take care, Dearies and we'll chat again soon!
 

{Warm Winter Wishes supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, vintage cream, bitty dot basics
Stamps: Stocking Prints, 2009 Holiday Tag Collection
Ink: pure poppy, vintage touch tea dye
Other: vintage cream saddle stitch ribbon, 1 3/4" circle punch, super jumbo scalloped circle punch, corner rounder punch, sewing machine/thread

Look Out Aussies, Here We Come!

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

G'Day, Mates!!  I am very excited to tell you that Bart and I are currently in the process of planning a trip to Australia for March 2010!!!!  We can't wait to go visit our dear Aussie friends that visited us here in the States earlier this year!  Bart found a great deal online for air and hotel so we're tentatively considering 3-4 days each in Sydney, the Gold Coast and Cairns.  Can't wait to see the beautiful Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef!  Also, very excited to snap photos of kangaroos (that aren't in a zoo!!  Haha!).  :)  

We're also considering trying to figure out a way to meet up with some of you sweet Aussies who have told me to be sure and let you know if we ever head your way.  If you have any interest in meeting or if you have any suggestions for where we might consider meeting, feel free to leave a comment.  We'll just have to see what we might be able to work out.

Just thought I'd share that bit of fun news today!  Hope you're all having a fabulous Monday.  I spent mine running errands and getting caught up on some things.  Very exciting.  Hee.  

Take care, Peeps!

 

Colorful Fall

Hello, dear friends!  Happy FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDAY!  :)  Can't wait for my handsome husband to get home from work today.  It's almost the weeeeeeeeekend!  Yay!

I've got a few fun photos to share with you today.  First up, let's talk about a card, shall we?  I used some more of that fun plaid patterned paper from the Autumn Abundance collection and laid out the little squares sort of quilt style and stitched them up.  I just love all of the layers and textures on this card and obviously, I was on a bit of a kick with this color combo.  :)  Don't be afraid to just GO WITH IT if you're crafting and you make a card with a certain color combo and you're loving it.  If you've already got supplies out in that color family, it's so quick and easy to whip up a few more cards in that same color scheme.  You'll add cards to your collection, knock out some birthday cards for your birthday list or whatever, and you'll be keeping it simple since you've already got those supplies out and ready.

 

I also have some Polka Dot Basics II stamped on this card.  That was a scrap that was laying on my desk just waiting to be used and the sentiment is another from Star Prints.  

 

And now, I'd like to tell you the story of what we've affectionately begun referring to as 'The Little Burning Bush That Could'!  This little burning bush is planted just to the left of our Autumn Blaze Maple (which sadly only has 7 leaves left on it this morning -- fall just doesn't last long enough, does it?!).  Another plant that I've always wanted since I was little, was a burning bush.  (Obviously I have a thing for brightly colored plants and trees.  I know.....you never would have guessed that about me, right???  Haha!)  Anyway, we planted this sweet little guy about 5 years ago and I was so thrilled.  I just couldn't wait for fall to roll around so we could watch this little gem blaze.  However, the dear, sweet, lovable, totally cute (dirty rotten) rabbits that inhabit our yard had other plans for our burning bush.  The dear, sweet, lovable, totally cute (dirty rotten) rabbits munched away on our bush while we slept, and when we discovered their handiwork, they'd stripped our little bush nearly bare.  The only leaves that remained were those that were too high for them to reach, even when they sat up on their precious (no good) haunches.  Sooo........it was a rough year for our little bush.  Bart promptly put a chicken wire fence around it to protect it from our darling little friends (enemies), the rabbits, and it fought for it's life.  There was no change in color that first year, in the leaves it barely hung on to.  In fact, there was no real change in color the second or the third year, even though it had managed to re-grow it's leaves those years.  By the 4th year, Bart finally took down the chicken wire fence and now that it was a little more mature, the rabbits didn't seem so interested in munching on it.  There was just the tiniest hint last year, that it was thinking about changing colors in the fall, but then it changed it's mind and didn't do much 'burning' at all.  

However, this year.....THIS YEAR, our sweet little bush is burning like crazy!  Just look at that color!  It's soooo beautiful and makes me SO happy, especially now that our beautiful Autumn Blaze is almost bare.  

And that, my friends, is the story of The Little Burning Bush That Could.  :)

 

And just because I feel kinda bad for those of you that live in places that don't get to experience the beautiful fall colors that we get here in the midwest, I thought I'd show you a few of our neighbors' trees too.  Just check out that orange!!  Isn't it gorgeous?!!  Also, notice that big pile of leaves already fallen underneath the tree!  I snapped these few photos in between rain showers yesterday.  It rained off and on (more on, than off!) allllll day yesterday and that soft, gentle rain is making the leaves fall off the trees.  If the leaves will hang on a little longer, I'm hoping to snap a few photos around our neighborhood today, to show you some more awesome color.  I just LOVE it!

 

I'll leave you with this one last shot......a few of the trees in our neighbors' yard.  Just look at all of the different colors represented in those trees!  I'm so thankful that God saw fit to bless us with so many colors in nature.  They sure do make me happy and they get me itching to get a little crafty with color too!

Hope you all have a FAB weekend!  Looking forward to a little jaunt with my hottie hubs and our boy tomorrow.  I'll take pictures!  

Toodles!
 

{Wish Big supplies}
Paper: kraft, vintage cream, aqua mist, autumn abundance
Stamps: Star Prints, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage cream, vintage touch tea dye
Other: aqua mist luxe satin ribbon, orange zest vintage button, rustic cream button twine, SU! scalloped edge punch, EK Success diamond lace punch

A Fall Flower

Hi there, Peeps!

I've gotta be quick today because we need to have dinner and then I have to run off to church for worship team practice tonight but I wanted to pop in and share a fun little card with sort of a fallish flower.  I punched the flowers out with my Marvy Flower Punches and used orange zest card stock for the largest layer, some plaid patterned paper from the Autumn Abundance collection and a bit of vintage book print for the smallest layer.  I stamped some Background Basics: Text Style II on the card front, added a strip of cream card stock stamped with some orange zest Polka Dot Basics II and I just love that sentiment from Star Prints!  I hope that you are 'enjoying life' today!

I just wadded up those flower layers and then opened them back up a bit, and after I'd flattened them back out some, I distressed the edges with some Vintage Touch Tea Dye inks.  It was a cinch!

I also forgot to show you the new purse I got when in Chicago the other day!  Sorry for the 'purse talk', for any men that might be reading this, but these are important things we discuss here at the Raspberry Suite blog-o!  Haha!

 

It was kind of hard to get a decent picture of it because it's kind of a shiny black, but I just love the old-school clamp/clasp at the top of the purse.  Reminds me of the purses my great-grandma used to carry!  Oh, and the best part about this purse is that I got it at Aldo, which means that it didn't come with a hefty designer price tag!  ;)

All righty.....I'd better get a move on.  Have a great night, Dearies.......chat soon!
 

{Enjoy Life supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, orange zest, dark chocolate, vintage cream, autumn abundance patterned paper, vintage book print
Stamps: Star Prints, Background Basics: Text Style II, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: dark chocolate, aqua mist, orange zest, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Marvy flower punches, aqua mist vintage button, rustic cream button twine, Fiskars: apron lace punch, sewing machine/thread

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #18

HI there!!!  Thought it was about time we had another color challenge around here!  I took this photo in Chicago when we were there last week -- it's just one of the many huge planters they have all around Michigan Ave., filled with all manner of lush, fall foliage.  I just LOVED the colors in this one and the fabulous cabbage-y stuff (Is it really some type of cabbage?), the cool squiggly sticks and grasses and even the weird greed pod-looking things!  LOL -- don't I sound like a gardening pro with those descriptions?!  :)  

Anyway, this photo was just screaming 'color challenge' to me!

Just like always, you can participate using any brand of products you happen to have on hand, but I'll be using Papertrey's new leaf, raspberry fizz, dark chocolate, kraft and vintage cream.  I have these colors of card stock all laid out on the table next to me and they look GORGEOUS together!  So rich!

I absolutely can't wait to see what you all come up with this time!  

Enjoy!!

P.S.  Last time, there were quite a few entries that weren't linked properly.  Please, read the instructions below to make sure you're playing by the rules.  Thanks, Dearies!  :)

Color Challenge deets:
Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com,  www.papertreyink.com,  www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Wednesday, October 28 at 7pm CST.