My Favorite Things

Lovey Thank You's

Hello there!!  Yesterday I told you about my sister who's birthday is on Valentine's Day and I showed you the birthday card I've made for her this year.  I had so much fun making her card and I was loving that color scheme so much, that I decided to make her a whole set of little thank you note cards in the same colors because....well, everyone needs a thank you note sooner or later, right?  :)

 

I used a combination of Polka Dot Basics II stamps and hearts from Simple Valentine and the sentiment I chose is from Papertrey's free anniversary set last year, Everyday Classics.  I also mixed in some bitty box basics patterned papers and kept all of my colors to plum pudding, lavender moon, kraft and vintage cream.  Each note card is a little different but they're all using basically the same supplies.  Makes it so easy to whip up a set of cards!

 

Here are the envelopes that I included in the set.  LOVE them!!  I just stamped a strip of the Polka Dot Basics II down the left side of the front of the envelope and then added a couple hearts from Simple Valentine at the bottom.  I also used some Vintage Touch tea dye ink around the edges of the envelopes, just like I did on the edges of the cards.  It really gives them such a warm, vintage feel.

These cards are 3 1/2" x 4 7/8" and fit in Papertrey's A1 envelopes.

 

And here are the cards, all lined up like little toy soldiers.  Ahhh....makes me happy!  Hopefully they'll make my sister happy too!  Ha.

I've got big plans to hopefully finish up the last of the Christmas shopping and then get all my wrapping done in the next couple of days.  I'd like to have it all finished by the weekend so we can really enjoy the week of Christmas and take it easy a little.  We'll see how it goes.  ;)  

Hope your day is a MERRY one!  I'm off to check some things off of my list!

{Note Card Gift Set supplies}
Paper: kraft, vintage cream, plum pudding, lavender moon, bitty box basics, A1 envelopes
Stamps: Simple Valentine, Polka Dot Basics II, Everyday Classics
Ink: plum pudding, lavender moon, vintage touch tea dye
Other: plum pudding classic grosgrain, lavender moon classic grosgrain, corner chomper, SU! scalloped edge punch, Fiskars apron lace punch, EK Success-dotted scallop punch, diamond lace punch & embossed curve punch 

December Papertrey Release Project

Hello there, Friends!  How are you??  It's the day after the big release day at Papertrey Ink which means that Say It With Style is available for purchase now!  The day after release day always means trying to catch up on a few things around home that have been shoved to the back burner during the Countdown.  One of those things is our Christmas cards, which I'm determined to get ready to go in the mail today.  :)  

Before I tackle that project, I wanted to show you one of the other cards I made for this month's release.  One of my sweet sisters happens to be a Valentine baby.  Her birthday is Valentine's Day and for her entire life, we've always headed to Hallmark to hunt down one of the two special "Valentine Birthday" cards in their Valentine section.  There are usually only about two styles to pick from so the trick is to get to the store and snag one before they're gone......and hopefully it's one that you like too!  Ha!  

Now that I'm a card maker, I like making Diann special Valentine Birthday cards myself and this is the one I made for her this year.  She loves purple so that was my starting point and of course, it had to have hearts on it.  

Side note:  When we were little, my mom devised a "secret code" so that she could label Diann's and my Christmas gifts without actually writing our names on them, so we wouldn't know who's was who's until Christmas morning.  Mom's "secret code" was that some gifts had a star on them and some had a heart on them.  Hmmmm......I wonder which ones were Diann's!!!  LOL!  Sorry for the little side ramble there, but I just thought of that and it made me smile.

Heather's new Simple Valentine set came along at just the perfect time for me to get Diann's Valentine Birthday card made and now I'll be all set when her big day rolls around.  (Diann, if you're reading this, try and act surprised when you see your card in real life!  Ha!)  I paired the word "Valentine" from Simple Valentine with the "birthdays are the best" sentiment from the new Blooming Button Bits set to create my own custom sentiment that reads "Valentine birthdays are the best!"  FUN, huh???

 

I kept the card pretty simple and really let those little hearts up the side of the card shine.  I used my two-way glue pen to add glitter to the centers of a couple of the hearts and to outline a couple others.  Then I added a few purple rhinestones from Kaiser Scrapbook and the scalloped kraft strip along the bottom was punched with my diamond lace punch from EK Success.

I hope she likes her birthday card....I must admit that I had a great time thinking of her while I made it.  :)

Hope you're all having a great day!  Those Christmas cards aren't going to address themselves so I guess I'd best get to it.

Take care, Peeps!

  

Say It With Style - Day 5

Hey There!  

It's the last day of the countdown to release day at Papertrey Ink!  That means that tonight is THE NIGHT!  Tonight at midnight EST, Say It With Style and all of the other new stamp sets that you've been getting sneak peeks of this week, will be available for purchase at Papertrey!  

In the meantime, I have a few more projects to share with you that I'm really excited about!  Right now is the perfect time to make a few gift sets of note cards for gift giving.  Even if you don't need these for specific Christmas gifts, sets like this one are so great to have on hand for those last minute gifts that have a tendency to pop up.  Heck, even after Christmas, gift sets of note cards are so great to have on hand in your secret stash, so that you're all set with little gifts for birthdays, teachers, etc.

 

This is another fun sentiment from Say It With Style!  If you come around here often, then you've probably heard (read) me say "Hey there" before.  I just love it and it's so fun on a card too, don't you think??  These are two separate stamps so the placement of each is totally up to you.

 

For my cards, I decided to make them monochromatic.....goodness, I love monochromatic everything!  Anyway, I paired the Say It With Style sentiment stamps with one of the stamps from Background Basics: Diamonds.  I also layered a bit of bitty box basics patterned paper on each card and distressed the edges of everything with some vintage touch tea dye ink.

Once you have your basic card design figured out, then you can "assembly line" the rest.  Go ahead and cut all of your card stock and patterned papers, stamp each piece that needs stamping, do your machine stitching all at the same time (if you choose to do the sewing), and ink up the edges of everything.  By doing everything assembly line style, you'll whip out your note card sets in no time flat!

 

You can see here that I've got all of my bits and pieces cut and stamped and inked.  All that's left is to assemble the other 3 cards in my set.

 

And here are all of the cards together, along with the coordinating large square envelopes from Papertrey.  The envies are 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" and my cards measure 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".  Ahhhhh......seeing them all together like this makes me so happy!  

 

Ok, so I had to make another "Hey There" card!  I kept the colors on this one veeeery neutral by using dark chocolate, spring moss, kraft and rustic cream.  I cut out the tag shape using my Cricut Expression and the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridge.  Then I used my scalloped edge punch from Stampin' Up! along the bottom of the tag.

 

The dotted patterned paper is from the Turning a New Leaf collection and the leaf stamp is from the Turning a New Leaf stamp set.

 

While I was creating the tag for the previous card, I decided to make an entire collection of gift tags that could be packaged in a nugget tin and can be given as a very practical gift!  What do you think of this collection of tags???  Oh my Lordy bees........LOVE!  There is seriously something about a color coordinated set of goodies that just makes my heart beat a little faster....especially when said goodies include polka dots and one of my favorite fonts ever!!  Hee.

 

Here are close-up shots of each individual tag.  For my colors, I used aqua mist, ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, scarlet jewel and rustic cream.  By keeping to those 5 colors of card stock, ink and accessories, it made it really easy to put these 5 tags together.  I cut the tag out with my Cricut Expression (it's the same shape I used on the previous card) but I cut these tags out on the 5 1/2" setting.  Then, by scalloping the bottom edge of each tag, that trimmed off just enough of the tag itself, to allow them to fit inside the nugget tin.

This first tag has Polka Dot Basics II and a leaf image from Turning a New Leaf on it.  Both sets are seriously SO versatile.  

 

This next tag has more dots and a couple of aqua mist buttons.  The scallop across the top was punched with my Fiskars apron lace punch.

 

On this next one, I stamped a couple of different patterns from the new Background Basics: Hearts stamp set that Nichole introduced yesterday.....the hearts on the bottom of the tag and the love text across the top of the tag are both from that set.

 

More dots here and a flourish from the Fancy Flourishes set.  When creating these tags, I made sure to select sentiments from the set that could be associated with occasions where gifts are given.  Each tag could easily accompany a gift for various occasions such as birthdays, etc.

 

This tag has some itty bitty dots stamped from Polka Dot Basics II (why don't I use those teeny dots more often??) and a pattern from Background Basics: Diamonds.  The large scallops on the aqua mist card stock were punched with my EK Success embossed curve punch.  I added a couple of ripe avocado buttons to the bottom of the tag.  On tags like these, is another great place to use those jumbo buttons in your collection.

 

Here you can see one of the tags hanging on a plain old gift bag.....the tag sure dresses it up, right?  I added a little bow around the handle to finish things off.  Don't you think this would be so fun to give to someone special??

 

Here are the tags all bundled up in their little nugget tin.  All I added to the outside of the tin was the pink bow.  With the clear top in the tin, there's no need to cover up the cute tags inside.....why not let them shine?!  That's what that clear lid is for!  ;)

All righty, Peeps.....that's all I have for you today.  I hope that you've thoroughly enjoyed yourselves this week as you've gotten lots of sneak peeks at Say It With Style!  Are you excited to get stamping with a set of your very own?  I hope you've gained some inspiration this week and I can't wait to see YOUR projects using this new Raspberry Suite stamp set!

Today, Nichole Heady is showing you a few more ideas for how to use Say It With Style over on her blog.....you won't want to miss that!  Becky Oehlers is featuring this set as well, and Heather Nichols will have one last sneak peek post about her new set too.  Kim Hughes will also be sharing one last peek at her new Click Simple templates.

Also, don't forget that tonight, starting at 10pm EST is the Papertrey Release party over in the Papertrey Forum.  I'll be there and I'd love it if you'd come by and chat!!  

Have a fabulous day, Friends!

{Hey There Note Card Set supplies} 
Paper: rustic cream, ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, summer sunrise, berry sorbet, bitty box basics
Stamps: Say It With Style, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, summer sunrise, berry sorbet, vintage touch tea dye
Other: large square rustic cream envelopes, sewing machine/thread 

{Hey There Card supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, kraft, spring moss, turning a new leaf patterned paper
Stamps: Say It With Style, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: spring moss
Other: spring moss vintage buttons, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Cricut Expression, Tags Bags Boxes & More cartridge, spring moss topnotch twill ribbon, rustic jute button twine, SU! scalloped edge punch

{Gift Tag Set supplies}
Paper: ripe avocado, scarlet jewel, aqua mist, raspberry fizz, rustic cream
Stamps: Say It With Style, Polka Dot Basics II, Fancy Flourishes, Turning a New Leaf, Background Basics: Diamonds, Background Basics: Hearts
Ink: ripe avocado, scarlet jewel, aqua mist, raspberry fizz, vintage cream
Other: nugget tin, aqua mist & ripe avocado buttons, rustic jute button twine, scarlet jewel classic grosgrain ribbon, aqua mist classic grosgrain ribbon, raspberry fizz saddle stitch ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch, SU! scalloped edge punch, Cricut Expression, Tags Bags Boxes & More cartridge

Say It With Style - Day 4

 

Hello there!  I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far.  I've got a few more Say It With Style cards to show you today.  

I decided to pair the "U Rock!" sentiment from Say It With Style with the "Sweetie Pie" sentiment from My Punny Valentine and I stamped them both inside the circle label image from Spooky Sweets II.  I love that I can pull out these sets from past holidays and can pair them with new sets to get more mileage out of them!  Can't you see giving a card like this to a daughter after a great report card or recital or school concert?  

The color combo of melon berry, hibiscus burst and vintage cream is such a pretty one and would be perfect for a girl of any age.  I also stamped a background pattern with an image from the Giga Guide Lines stamp set.

 

Next up, I've got an elegant congratulations card to show you.  I started with a card base of gold shimmer card stock.  I took a piece of vintage book print and stamped some Polka Dot Basics II in lemon tart ink (I just love how cream colored that looks!) and layered it on my card front.  The sentiment panel has another sentiment from Say It With Style, and I stamped the brown flourish image from Vintage Labels on either side of my sentiment.  They go together so well, don't they?  ....that sentiment font and the label flourish....love!

 

I used vintage cream classic grosgrain ribbon, however the button I used is lemon tart.  I love that I was able to keep the entire card very gold/cream/shimmery even though I used a bit of gold, a bit of vintage cream and a bit of lemon tart -- 3 totally different colors.

Wouldn't this card be ideal for a special anniversary, maybe even a golden anniversary?   

 

Lastly for today, one more pair of sentiments from Say It With Style -- the "LOVE YOU" stamp paired with the "Tons!" stamp.  Cute, right??  :)  So perfect for the loved ones in your life....kids, spouses, parents, bff's.  That's the great thing about this font -- it's just so versatile.  You can make both masculine and feminine cards with it and it just works!

 

I used a couple of the hearts from Heart Prints on this one and paired it with a background stamp that Nichole will be telling you more about.  ;)  There really is nothing to putting this card together but I love the effect of all of the really simple elements when they're pulled together.

I did use my Heidi Swapp edge distressor to rough up the edges of my kraft panel.  Such a handy little tool and it only cost about $3 at Archivers.

 
Thanks for stopping by today.  What are you thinking about Say It With Style, now that you've seen several days of projects using this set?  Can you see yourself using these sentiments on your own projects?  Do you have a favorite?

All right, Crew, that's all I have for you today, but we have one more day of sneak peeks until the big Release Day so I'll see you back here tomorrow!  Nichole Heady will have lots more to share with you today, plus Heather Nichols has another peek at her new set and Kim Hughes will have a peek at her new Click Simple template.

Take Care,

 

{U Rock! Sweetie Pie supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, hibiscus burst, melon berry
Stamps: Say It With Style, My Punny Valentine, Spooky Sweets II, Giga Guide Lines
Ink: hibiscus burst, melon berry, dark chocolate
Other: hibiscus burst classic grosgrain ribbon, hibiscus burst buttons, Fiskars apron lace punch, pinking shears

{CONGRATS supplies}
Paper: gold shimmer, vintage cream, vintage book print
Stamps: Say It With Style, Vintage Labels, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: lemon tart, dark chocolate, pure poppy
Other: vintage cream classic grosgrain, lemon tart button, rustic jute button twine, corner chomper

{LOVE YOU Tons! supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, kraft, vintage cream
Stamps: Say It With Style, Heart Prints
Ink: dark chocolate, aqua mist
Other: aqua mist saddle stitch ribbon, dark chocolate button, rustic jute button twine, heart punches

Tiny Treats

Hi All!  Happy weekend!  Today is group post day for the Papertrey Ink design team girls, and this month, we're focusing on the new Tiny Treats stamp set that Nichole Heady designed.  She asked each of us to create a simple Valentine treat that you could reproduce quickly and easily for Valentine's Day parties, the kids in your children's class at school, etc.  And then, we were to show you a year-round project using the same set.  I'm excited about what I have to share with you today....the Tiny Treats set packs a pretty powerful (and adorable) year-round punch! 

First up, let's talk about my treat project.  One snackie treat that I LOVE is dark chocolate covered pretzels, particularly the ones from Harry & David.  Have you tried them??  They're sooooo good and I like that I can just have a few at a time and that's all I need.  (Though it would be no trouble at all to eat the whole bag!  HA!)  So for my treat project, I decided to package some of those dark chocolate pretzels in one of Papertrey's very handy 8 oz. square clear top tins.  Now, you may not want to make these for all the kids in your children's class at school, but how great would these grown-up treat tins be for a Valentine party at the office, or even just to leave on a few of your co-workers desks?!  Wouldn't these just brighten someone's day?  

I created a little tag by stamping the label image, two of the heart images and a sentiment from Tiny Treats.  After I'd layered the image on dark chocolate card stock, I used my pinking shears to trim around the label, creating a cute little tag for my tins.  And, a great use for those BIG buttons in your collection is to add them to the center of a simple bow like I did on this tin.  They make a big impact in a snap!  This cool button was one I found in my spring moss button jar.  Love!

 

So, now that I've shown you a Valentine treat, how about a project using Tiny Treats, that you could create year-round?  

 

I created this sweet baby boy card by stamping rows of some of the more boy-appropriate images from the set and layering them on the card front.....airplanes, dogs, frogs and dinosaurs!  Aren't the images so cute when grouped together like this?  Throw in some Polka Dot Basics II and a baby sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages and voila!  Instant baby boy card!  

 

I created the tag much in the same way that I did for my treat tin, by using my pinking shears to trim around the circle portion of the label.

I hope you've gotten a few ideas for how you could use Tiny Treats for yourself.  Be sure to go visit all of the other design team members for LOTS more inspiration using this fun and versatile stamp set!

NICHOLE HEADY
Heather Nichols
Mish Wooderson
Melissa Phillips
Betsy Veldman
Debbie Olson
Becky Oehlers
Geny Cassady
Kim Hughes
Niki Estes
Lisa Johnson

I have a second post today (scroll on down if you missed Day 3 of my Say It With Style peeks) and I'll be back tomorrow to share more projects too!

Take care, Peeps!

{Be My Valentine Tin supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, vintage cream
Stamps: Tiny Treats
Ink: raspberry fizz, dark chocolate, spring moss
Other: 8 oz. square clear top tin, raspberry fizz classic grosgrain ribbon, spring moss button, rustic jute button twine, pinking shears

{Baby supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, dark chocolate, ripe avocado, vintage cream
Stamps: Tiny Treats, Polka Dot Basics II, Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: ripe avocado, dark chocolate, vintage cream, aqua mist
Other: aqua mist topnotch twill ribbon, pinking shears 

Say It With Style - Day 3

Hiiiii!  I'm back with more Say It With Style sneakie peeks!!  Let's get right to it.  Did you know that you can use this new stamp set to create FUNNNNNN backgrounds??  And you can even use those 'backgrounds' as the focal point of your card, like I did here!  Seriously, how fun is that paper?!  

 

I started out with a panel of vintage cream card stock cut down to the size I wanted for my card.  I stamped the first sentiment, "LOVE YOU", right in the center of the card stock.  Next, I stamped words above and below the "LOVE YOU", and then stamped a dark chocolate heart image (from Heather's new Simple Valentine set) on either side of each word.  Then, I stamped words next to the existing words, filling in the entire card stock row by row, being sure to stamp brown hearts on either side of each word.

 

I used my corner chomper (which I LOVE) to round the corners on the panel and then layered the sentiment panel on a strip of kraft card stock and a paper from Heather's new Simple Valentine patterned paper.  The only thing left to do was to add some pink rhinestones to the hearts.  I positioned some of the rhinestones on the left side of the heart, some in the center of the heart and some on the right side.  

 

Next up is a cheery little "Hi!" card that could be sent to brighten someone's day, just because.  Don't you just love getting cards like that in the mail?  I know I do.  I don't get them out of the blue like that very often, but I know that when I do, it makes me so happy.  It makes me want to be more diligent about sending out cards like this to those around me that I care about.

 

I used the tree image from the Beyond Basic Borders set and a paired it with a little bird image from Birds of a Feather.  I stamped the bird on a separate bit of card stock and cut him out so that I could add him to the tree with a bit of foam adhesive.  I love that he's popping out of the tree.  :)  I also added three little green rhinestones to the tree to finish it off with a bit of bling.

 

And lastly, I created a set of little note cards to fit in Papertrey's 5 1/8" x 3 5/8" kraft envelopes.  My cards measure 3 1/2" x 4 3/4".  Goodness, but little note cards like this are fun to make!

 

I first decided on my color scheme of melon berry, berry sorbet, dark chocolate, aqua mist and vintage cream.  I used the "THANK YOU" sentiment from Say It With Style and alternated stamping it in either melon berry or berry sorbet on each card and alternated those same colors in the buttons that I selected for each card.

The beautiful leaf image is from the Turning a New Leaf stamp set.  Boy, I love how the leaf image looks with my THANK YOU sentiment.  Such a fun combo!

 

To finish off my cards, I used a bit of vintage touch tea dye ink on the edges and a scalloped strip of bitty dot basics patterned paper in aqua mist.  I used just a touch of the aqua mist on each card, but I think it was just the punch of color these note cards needed!

All right, that's all of the Say It With Style peeks for today but I'll have more for you again tomorrow.  Also, it's group post day for the Papertrey girls so be sure to scroll up to see my Tiny Treats post and check out what all of the other designers have to share with you today as well!

Chat with you tomorrow, Friends!

{LOVE YOU supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, kraft, vintage cream, simple valentine patterned paper
Stamps: Say It With Style, Simple Valentine 
Ink: pure poppy, raspberry fizz, hibiscus burst, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, corner chomper

{HI! supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, ripe avocado, spring moss
Stamps: Say It With Style, Beyond Basic Borders, Birds of a Feather, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: ripe avocado, berry sorbet, vintage cream, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Fiskars apron lace punch, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread

{THANK YOU note card set supplies}
Paper: melon berry, berry sorbet, vintage cream, bitty dot basics
Stamps: Say It With Style, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: melon berry, berry sorbet, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: melon berry & berry sorbet buttons, corner chomper, SU! scalloped edge punch

Say It With Style - Day 2

Hi there!!  Welcome back for more sneak peeks at my newest stamp set, Say It With Style, which will be available for purchase on the 15th at Papertrey Ink!  For today, I've got several fun projects to share with you so let's get started.  This first card is so cheery, don't you think?  The "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" sentiment is just large enough to be featured as the focal point all by itself!  I just added a little butterfly punched out with a Martha Stewart punch, a little adhesive pearl and a row of dark chocolate buttons.  The cutie background paper is one that you got a peek at yesterday (I LOVE it!).....watch Nichole's blog for more info about that.  :) 

 

This card is really so simple, but you can see how the scale of these sentiments can help you to create cards that are not only cute but also quick and easy!

 

Next up is a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card and a little 3" x 3" square gift enclosure card.  I created them both using sentiments from Say It With Style.  The larger card would be perfect for a graduation, and promotion, a new home, etc.  Lots of possibilities!  I stamped the dots in spring rain ink and then stamped a leaf from the Turning a New Leaf stamp set over the dots in ripe avocado ink.

 

I used my embossed curve punch from EK Success to add the large scalloped strip on the left and added two little rhinestones to one of the leaves for a finishing touch.

 

The sentiment on this little note card was originally designed to be paired with a large "HAPPY" sentiment that you'll soon see in Say It With Style.  That way, your sentiment would read "HAPPY for you" which could again be used for a number of different occasions such as a new baby, new home, new job, etc.  But as you can see, by just using the "for you" sentiment by itself, it's just perfect for little gift enclosure cards!  Don't you just love sentiment sets that give you lots of options and versatility?!

 

Lastly for today, I have a soft and sweet card just perfect for sending to a loved one or maybe a close girlfriend.  I paired up two more stamps from Say It With Style to create this fun sentiment and of course, you could also just use the "FABULOUS" word by itself.  I stamped the dots from Polka Dot Basics II in versamark ink and then stamped the flourish from Fancy Flourishes over the top.

Is that a gorgeous button, or what?  (I've said it before but goodness, I love Papertrey's buttons!  

I don't think it's showing up in the photo, but I heat embossed a pattern from Background Basics: Diamonds with clear embossing powder on the black panel.  It gives the card a bit of shine and shimmer.

I hope that your week is going well.  It's almost the weekend (YAY!) and I'll be back tomorrow with more Say It With Style projects to share with you.  For today, be sure to stop by Nichole's blog for tons of inspiration plus Heather's got lots more to share with you about her newest stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by today!

{HAPPY BIRTHDAY supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, vintage cream
Stamps: Say It With Style
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: dark chocolate buttons, rustic cream button twine, SU! scalloped edge punch, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Kaiser Scrapbook pearl, corner chomper

{CELEBRATE/for you supplies}
Paper: ripe avocado, vintage cream
Stamps: Say It With Style, Polka Dot Basics II, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: spring rain, ripe avocado
Other: spring rain topnotch twill, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, EK Success embossed curve punch, sewing machine/thread

{You are so FABULOUS supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, true black, sweet blush
Stamps: Say It With Style, Polka Dot Basics II, Fancy Flourishes, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: versamark, true black, sweet blush
Other: sweet blush classic grosgrain ribbon, sweet blush button, rustic cream button twine, clear embossing powder, corner chomper

Introducing Say It With Style!!

Hi-ya!  I am thrilled to introduce you to the newest stamp set in my Raspberry Suite line-up, Say It With Style!  This set is a collection of large sentiments as well as some smaller words that can be paired with the large sentiments to create even more sentiment options!  I think you'll find that this set to be extremely versatile and stylish and will be a great addition to your stamp collections!  I can't wait to show you all sorts of fun projects this week using Say It With Style!

First up today, I have a card to share with you that features both Say It With Style as well as a brilliant new stamp set that Nichole Heady designed.  The flowers and leaves are all from Nichole's set -- See Nichole's blog for more info about this one!  The Hi-Ya! sentiment is from Say It With Style.....don't you just LOVE that font??  OH, it's just my favorite font EV-AH!  :)  

 

You can also see a flourishy-leaf image stamped behind the flowers on this card....that image is from Turning a New Leaf and I stamped it in two places in Versamark ink to give the card a bit more dimension.  The patterned paper along the bottom of the card is from the In Bloom collection.

 

Next up is a totally fun card with a cheery color combo and a sentiment that totally makes me smile...."SMOOCHES!"  This sentiment is so great for a loved one, a friend, and even cards for Valentine's Day, which will be here before we know it!  This layout is one that can be reinterpreted in so many different ways and I just love that.  By changing the colors, pattern, sentiment, etc., you can create such different looks in a snap.

 

Another great thing about the scale of the sentiments in Say It With Style is that they could easily be used on scrapbook layouts!  Besides the fun new sentiment from Say It With Style, there are likely a few other things on this card that you might not recognize.....stay tuned this week to Nichole's blog for more info, and that's all I'm gonna say about that!!  *WINK!*

 

This last card for today is one that gives you a peek at one of Say It With Style's sentiment building possibilities!  You could easily use the word "SMILE" by itself or you can pair it with "You make me" to create a second sentiment option!  More bang for your buck!!

 

On this cheery card, I die cut the pink card stock using my top note die from Stampin' Up! and then I embossed it using my Swiss Dot embossing folder.  The poofy flower is one that I made using a scalloped circle punch and a bit of stamping with my Damask Designs stamp set.  The finishing touch to my sentiment panel was a row of pearls from Kaiser Scrapbook.

All righty, that's all I've got for you today.  Be sure to check out Nichole's blog for lots of inspiration using one of her new stamp sets from this release.  Betsy Veldman has a sneak peek for you too, and Heather Nichols has a look at her newest stamp set as well!

I'll be back tomorrow with more Say It With Style peeks!  I'd love to hear your first impressions of the set! 

See you tomorrow!!

{HI-YA! supplies}
Paper: raspberry fizz, vintage cream, In Bloom
Stamps: Say It With Style, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: raspberry fizz, ripe avocado, summer sunrise, versamark
Other: summer sunrise vintage buttons, rustic jute button twine, SU! scalloped edge punch, corner chomper, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls

{SMOOCHES supplies}
Paper: summer sunrise, pure poppy, dark chocolate, hibiscus burst, vintage cream
Stamps: Say It With Style
Ink: dark chocolate, summer sunrise
Others: summer sunrise topnotch twill ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch, corner chomper

{You Make Me SMILE supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, hibiscus burst, dark chocolate
Stamps: Say It With Style, Damask Designs
Ink: dark chocolate, hibiscus burst
Other: vintage cream saddle stitch ribbon, SU! top note die, Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls, corner chomper, SU! scallop circle punch, Making Memories brad 

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #20

Hi there!  It's time for another Raspberry Suite Color Challenge!  I have some fun and funky colors for you today.....definitely a warm and cozy color combo since it's so COLD outside!  

I will be using Papertrey's Terra Cotta Tile, Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream and Kraft but as always, you can feel free to use whatever brand of crafting goodies you have on hand.  You'll just want to keep your colors as close to these as possible.

Have a great time with this challenge!  EVERYONE is invited to play along!  I can't wait to see what you create and when the challenge is over, I'll have cards to share with you that both Nichole and I created for this challenge.  FUN!

Also, I'll be back late tonight (midnight EST) with the first of this week's Countdown posts where you'll get peeks at my newest Raspberry Suite stamp set!  See you soon!

 

P.S. Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments and emails regarding our Christmas tree and decorations.  I appreciate each one of them!  It was so fun getting to share those Christmas pictures with you.

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, December 16 at 9pm CST.

Christmas Time is Here

Hello there, Dear Ones....how are you today?  I have a very long post for you today, one that is filled with pictures of the Christmas decorations around our home.  Some of you asked to see, so....here you go!  :)  If Christmas decorations bore you, then you might want to skip this post!  LOL!  Don't say I didn't warn you -- there are a lot of pictures!  Hee.

The first couple are of one of my favorite features of our home in the winter.  We have two fireplaces here (the other is in our bedroom -- romantic, right? ....until you want to go to sleep and then the fireplace is still burning bright!  Haha!).  Anyway....that was a little side-track.  So this is the fireplace in our family room.  On the mantle above the fireplace, sits our big tv and to the left of the fireplace there, is our Christmas tree.  Remember the story of our tree?  And that link also has the tutorial on how we put our Christmas lights on the tree. (LOTS of lights.  Those years of working visual displays in retail paid off!)

Anyway, you can see why I love this room in the winter time.  Glittering Christmas tree, cozy crackling fireplace and Christmas movies all at the same time!  Mmmmm.  LOVE.

 

What a great fire -- I know it looks sorta weird in the picture, but that really was a gorgeous fire that night!

 

Some of the ornaments on our tree.  We have a lot of them and most of them are vintage inspired, which I absolutely love.  It seems that we add a few to the collection each year and yes, the tree is quite full of lights and ornaments but OHHHH, how it sparkles!!  Having so many shiny glass ornaments just adds to that sparkle and when you turn out most of the other lights in the room, the tree really is spectacular!  Happy sigh....

If you're just starting out, buy those really inexpensive glass ornaments.  They usually come in big boxes and you can get silver or gold or different colors, but they'll really go a long way to adding sparkle to your tree for not much money.  Then you can do like we've done over the years and added new, more meaningful ornaments and retired some of the cheaper plain glass balls to make room for the new ones. That way you can still have a pretty tree without feeling like you have to spend a fortune all at once.

 

Here's our tree in all it's glittering glory.  I had to lay down on the floor to get this shot, but I'm really glad I did -- I like it a lot!

 

A couple more tree shots -- the top half and the bottom half.

 

 

And here are a few close-up ornament shots.  I apologize for the blur in some but I didn't want to use the flash and wash out the colors of the lights glowing on the tree.  

 

 

See how old-school some of the ornaments look?  I just love that.  

 

The above photo has an ornament in the upper right that's not old-school at all, but is a John Hancock Tower ornament -- we bought it on a weekend getaway in Chicago one year.  I love that memory!

 

The tree and the fireplace.  Ahhhh.  The photo below, may well be my favorite photo of this entire series.  Isn't it cool???

 

The fire is just so glowy and cozy while the camera is focused on the tree.  Totally an accident -- I was just shooting lots of pictures that night, but I looooove how that one turned out!

 

It may be hard to tell, but the above photo has a bright pink mercury glass (vintage-inspired) ornament right in the center.  We found it at Nell Hill's several years ago and bought about a dozen of them.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me to put those bright pink, vintage-looking ornaments all over our tree each year.  They're SO pretty!  (And the best part is, they were only a couple bucks or so each!)

 

This is our dining room table.  I have a two-tone red runner in the center of the table and have red and white candles, ornaments on the trees, candle holders, etc. that we've collected over the years.  I love the whole red/white centerpiece.  By grouping like colors of your decorations, you can really make more of a statement with what you have on hand.

 

You can always shop for fun additions to your decoration collection after Christmas when things are really on sale.  Plus, it'll be so fun to get those bargains out next year for the first time and you'll feel so great about the deal you got on them!  :)

 

Damask votive holders.....so me, right?  

 

This is in our living room -- the piano is in this room and we have two little end tables on either side of the love seat that I like to put little trees on.  On this table, I also added a plate of 'ribbon candy' candles that we found one year.  There is also a glittery santa in the frame -- that is a vintage looking Christmas card that I framed!  I think my SIL gave me the cards a long time ago and one year, I decided to frame a couple of them.  Why not, right?  They're such pretty cards!

 

I call these trees "the white trees" as all of the decorations on them are white and silver.  Again, they're REALLY inexpensive decorations but by grouping the colors together, they have maximum impact.  (Now, let me just back up and say that I don't do a color theme at all on our big tree!!  I LOVE that our big tree is full of COLOR -- lots of colors of lights and ornaments...that's just what makes me happy!)

 

This is also in the living room.....the sofa and the coffee table in front of it.  Here, I grouped some mercury glass candy dishes and candle holders that we've collected with some cool new wood-look candles (Nell Hill's) and a cute little woodland tree with green glitter on it.  I love the contrast of the rustic tree/candles with the shiny silver from the mercury glass.

 

 

This is the little tree that greets you by the front door.  One year, I found a great deal on a set of 3 of these tall, skinny trees.  I think they were about $15 for a 2ft, 3ft and a 4ft tree!  So, I have mini trees all around the house and those are what I do little themed color schemes and such on.  This one is just white lights and inexpensive satin ornaments.  The ornaments came in a huge box of 50 for maybe $5.  I got them years ago, I think from Walmart.

 

This is the hutch in the dining room....it's where the Nativity scene is set up.  We had a Nativity scene growing up and it was always so fun for us kids to set up the stable with some hay in it and then place each figure just where we wanted it.  Happy memories.  Do you let your kids do this?

 

The photo above is back in the family room -- it's the side table right by the love seat.  That's my laptop in the photo, right next to a vintage brown/cream bowl filled with vintage-looking ornaments.  OH, this photo makes me happy.  Isn't that just about the best teal/green color ever??? 

 

These blue and silver ornaments are currently sitting in this wood bowl on the kitchen table.  I think my sister gave us that bowl.  (My Grandma had wood bowls that we'd eat popcorn out of when we were kids.  Goodness, we thought those were the coolest bowls ever.  And my other Grandma still has some wood silverware that I have to admit, my siblings and I still fight over....just a little bit.  I want to eat with the wood-handled fork!)  Anyway, I'm rambling again, but the mini ornaments all came from Crate & Barrel.....some last year and some this year.

 

This fun little birdhouse was a gift from a friend a few years ago.  It's currently on the kitchen table too.  

 

A few more ornament shots.....that Santa is another one of my favorite ornaments.

 

The Eiffel Tower is another fave, not because it's vintage in any way but because it reminds me that we have stood on the Eiffel Tower in real life and that's another fabulous memory.  The glittering bird is a new addition this year....it's really, really sparkly in real life.

 

And lastly, another rather large, but beautifully sparkly vintage-inspired ornament that we bought on our last trip to Nell Hill's.

Do your ornaments bring back many happy memories for you?  Do you add a new ornament (or a few!) each year that will bring you many more happy memories in years to come?  

I hope I haven't bored you today with all of these pictures of our decorations but some of you had asked and you know I love to take pictures and share with you!  

I hope that you're having a great day so far.  I've got some work to do in the studio....time to get crafty!

Take care and we'll chat again soon!

 

New Raspberry Suite Stamp Set Preview!!

 

It's preview time!!!  I have another stamp set in the Raspberry Suite line-up coming out this month and I can't wait for you to see it.  It's super stylish and versatile and will hopefully be a very useful addition to your stamp collections!  And don't you just love that FABULOUS font???  :)  Sneak peeks of projects I've made using this new set will start here on the 10th and this set will be available for purchase from Papertrey Ink on the 15th!  

  

Life is Like a Song...

Hi there!  Happy MONDAY!  I have a little card to share with you today that I whipped up yesterday when I spent some time in the studio.  I used some of the new Turning a New Leaf patterned papers and a bit of vintage book print.  I also had the little brown flower and brad hangin' around my desk, so I layered them on one of my scalloped book print circles to create a fun little flower feature.  The leaves are just hand cut from spring moss card stock and I distressed them with my Heidi Swapp edge distressor.  I used some vintage touch tea dye ink on the flower and patterned papers to distress them a bit as well.  

And don't you just love that sentiment and the little music notes?  Those are from the Birds of a Feather stamp set.

 

I also whipped up some more embellies yesterday while I was in the studio -- my "Spot of Tea" embellies.  :)  These use a polka dotted teapot image from the Tea For Two stamp set, the teacup image from Papertrey's free anniversary set last year -- Everyday Classics, as well as one of the new background patterns from Background Basics: Diamonds.  I think these embellies are almost sold out in my Etsy Shop, but if so, don't worry.  I have some Cozy Comforts embellies coming up next.  :)

 

I hope you all have a fabulous Monday.  I'm SO happy to report that all of the Christmas decorating is now finished here at the McVey ranch and I'll have lots of photos of our Christmas tree, etc. to share with you soon!  I also have another color challenge coming up this week so stay tuned for that!!

Smooches,

{Life is Like a Song supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, spring moss, vintage cream, turning a new leaf, vintage book print
Stamps: Birds of a Feather
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: berry sorbet saddle stitch ribbon, SU! scalloped circle punch, Heidi Swapp edge distressor, Bazzill paper flower, Making Memories brad

Cozy Fires and Christmas Movies

Hi there,

Happy Saturday night (or Sunday) to you!  It was a big day at our house....today was the day that our cord of wood was delivered for our fireplace(s).  Firewood delivery day makes me so happy every year -- it's the kickoff to a season of cozy nights tucked indoors in front of a crackling fire and I just LOVE it!  It may sound dumb but I really do get so excited for that wood to be delivered each year and it's finally here!  I'll have to share pictures of one of our cheery fires next to the glittering Christmas tree....it really is quite a cozy scene.  

Bart was gone reffing a basketball game for awhile this afternoon so while he was out, I whipped up a few sheets of these poofy flower embellies, some with ribbon leaves.  I'll get them up in my Etsy Shop just as soon as I finish this post.  And for the record, they'd also look super cute in your baby's hair!  :)  Just check out this adorable little model:

 

This is our niece, Ally, on Thanksgiving.  Auntie (that's me) made her a flower with a little foam adhesive on the back of it to stick on her shirt and when she got tired of it on her shirt, we tried it out in her hair.  :)

 

And here's the little dolly sitting in her high chair waiting for Thanksgiving lunch.  Hee.  So serious.   (Feed me!)

 

Have you gotten the December issue of CARDS Magazine yet??  Goodness, this is fun issue just loaded with inspiration!  I was totally excited to see several Raspberry Suite stamp sets used on cards that were published in this issue too!  Take this card on the cover, for instance, that Sarah Martina Parker created using a Damask Designs sentiment and pattern.  Cute, right?!!  (Congrats on your cover, Sarah!)

One last thing before I go....I finished reading A Taste of Fame the other day, which was a fun little read.  This was the second book in the Potluck Catering Club series, which followed the 3 books in the Potluck Club Series and all of them were quite entertaining.  If you've read the other books in this series, you won't want to miss this one for sure!

Hope you all have a fabulous Sunday tomorrow.  Bart and I have church in the morning followed by a bit more Christmas shopping and then I think I'll snuggle up next to him in front of a fire tomorrow night while we watch the season finale of The Amazing Race!  :)  What are your plans for tomorrow, Peeps?

  

In the Spotlight #19

 

Hey There, Peeps!  I've got this week's Spotlight cards to share with you for Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #19 but first, I thought I'd share the cards that Nichole and I made for the challenge when she was here visiting.  We stayed up late one night making cards......goodness, what a fun time we had!  Here's the card I made for this challenge.  I loved layering all of these colors together!  So much fun!  The sentiments I chose are from the new Big & Bold Wishes stamp set and I also stamped some Giga Guide Lines, some Background Basics: Diamonds and some Polka Dot Basics II.

 

Next up, here's the card that Nichole created.....a soft and sweet, shimmery birthday card.  

 

She worked all of those colors into her card by using strips of card stock and buttons.  By keeping the brown as the main color on her card, she was able to balance all of the other colors by using them in smaller bits.  She also heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder (that is, after I inadvertently handed her the clear embossing powder first!  Oops...Hee!).  Anyway, once I'd given her the correct powder that she'd asked for :) she was able to use a bit of VersaMark ink to emboss the sentiment (from Signature Greetings) in white.  

And don't you just love how shimmery and glittery those strips are?  She used a two-way glue pen to apply glue to the strips and then poured on the glitter.  SO cute!

 

 All righty, so enough about our cards!  Check out who's In The Spotlight this week.....

 

A. Anthea
B. Dana F.
C. Dawn W.
D. Julie Batta
E. Lisa Forsythe
F. Natascha
G. Paloma Gomez
H. Rosemarie Diehl
I. Winter Sims
J. Cindy Holshauser

Thanks so much to each of you that played along this week!!  You make my job of choosing cards to spotlight, soooo tough!  Can't wait to do another challenge though....don't forget, Nichole played along for this next challenge too!  Can't wait to show you her cute card!

Before I run out to tackle some more Christmas shopping today, I wanted to mention a new card drive that my dear friend Jennifer McGuire is hosting with the help of some friends.  They've found 8 children and their families who could use some cheering up as they face some very serious illnesses.  Check out THIS POST at Jennifer's blog to read all about how you can send a card and brighten someone's day.  There are prizes for those that send cards too, so you don't want to miss out!

Thanks, Friends!  Hope your week is going well.  I'm off to shop and then will hopefully get to make some more embellies this afternoon.....I know some of you are anxiously awaiting more of them in my Etsy Shop.  Thanks so much!  I have practice at church tonight, for the upcoming Christmas Eve services that I'll be a part of.  So much to do, so little time!  *wink*

Have a goodie, Peeps!

{Hey There supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, raspberry fizz, spring moss, lavender moon, aqua mist
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, Giga Guide Lines, Background Basics: Diamonds, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: versamark, raspberry fizz
Other: lavender moon topnotch twill ribbon, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, corner chomper, SU! scalloped edge punch

{Celebrate Your Day supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, raspberry fizz, spring moss, lavender moon, aqua mist, stamper's select white
Stamps: Signature Greetings
Ink: versamark
Other: white filigree detail embossing powder, vintage buttons: aqua mist, spring moss, lavender moon, raspberry fizz; glitter, Fiskars apron lace punch, corner chomper

         

Cards Magazine November Pub

Hello there, sweet friends...

I have a little card to share with you today that was published last month in the November issue of CARDS Magazine.  It's been busy, busy around here....my mother-in-law stayed with us for a few days for Thanksgiving, which meant lots of family get-togethers while she was in town (love that!) and then there was the Christmas tree to put up, followed by some work I had to get done for a deadline and the end result was that I didn't get to blog for a few days.  I missed you guys!  How are you doing?  I'm getting antsy to get crafty in the studio again -- it feels like it's been a long time since I got to play with paper!

As for this card, I created the rumply flowers with papers that I'd stamped Guide Lines Two images on and the sentiment is a cute one from Mega Mixed Messages.

 

Hope your week is going well so far.  We've got our Christmas tree up and oh, how I love it!  I still have a bit of decorating to do around the house, but there seems to be a never-ending list of various other projects that need to be done before I can finish the decorating.  It'll get done though....I need to get busy Christmas shopping too!  Have you started yet?  I'm feeling behind.  I'd have liked to have finished my shopping by now, just so I wouldn't have to worry about it in December.  Hmm....maybe one of these years, I'll get everything done EARLY!  What a concept, right?!  Haha!

Take care, Dearies!  Chat soon.

 

Get Sketchy Blog

Hi there!  How was your Thanksgiving???  (Or for those of you outside the US, how was your Thursday?)  :)

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.....family, fun, food, and maybe even a NAP after all of that food and fun!  LOL!  This year, we road tripped and spent part of the holiday with my side of the family at my sister's house which was great because it gave us lots of time with 'the babies' (my niece and nephew).  Ally (almost 2yrs old) was SO excited to see each family member walk thru the door at her house....SO cute!  We also got to spend some time in the evening with Bart's side of the family.  We have so much fun when we get together.....we laughed and laughed and laughed.  I just love that!  I hope that your day was in some way filled with family or fun or laughter or all of the above!  :)

Recently, I was invited to play along with the girls at the Get Sketchy Blog and create a card using their sketch #16.  Here's the sketch:

For my card, I used a bit of vintage book print and stamped a background pattern from Papertrey's First Fruits stamp set over the text.  The leaf image is also from First Fruits......I've always loved that background pattern and leaf.  The great sentiments I used are both from the new Big & Bold Wishes stamp set.  Love those sentiments!

I had so much fun making this card!  Thanks, Get Sketchy (& Bree), for having me!

Happy Friday, Dearies....may your weekend be a fun & restful one.  :)
 

{Sending You supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, dark chocolate, vintage cream, vintage book print
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, First Fruits
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy
Other: pure poppy vintage buttons, rustic jute button twine, dark chocolate luxe satin ribbon, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Fiskars upper crest punch
  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello there and to those of you that are reading in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!!  I have a couple of fun cards to share with you, the first of which describes what I'm feeling today......THANKFUL.  I have SO much to be thankful for and YOU are on that list!  I could go on and on about the things in my life that I can be thankful for....I'll bet we all could come up with a pretty long list if we thought about it for a bit, right?  Among the things that I'm most thankful for are my relationship with God, my hottie husband who shows me daily how much he loves me, my family, our friends, the freedom that we have in this country, our cozy home, our sweet doggie-boy, etc.  I really could go on and on.  

But for today, I just want to make sure that each of you, my dear readers, know how thankful I am for you!  I'm thankful that you stop by and share a bit of your day with me.  I'm thankful for the friendships that have developed with so many of you over time.  I'm thankful that some of you take time to leave me a note here at the blog-o.  I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity to get to 'know' so many of you, even if it's online only.....some of you are right here in my town and some of you are on another continent and to each of you, I want to say THANK YOU.  I pray that whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving today or not, that you would be able to take a few minutes today to reflect on the things in your life that you're most thankful for.   And if you feel like it, I'd love to hear what those things are!

 

So, now that I've gotten all mushy on you, I should tell you about today's cards!  :)  Mandy over at Limelight Papercrafts recently asked me to participate in one of their sketch challenges and I was happy to play along!  In fact, I got so carried away working with the goodies that Mandy sent me, that I made two cards using the sketch.

On the first card, I used a kraft note card from Jillibean Soup and some patterned papers and a stitched brad from Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry line.....are those papers pretty or what?  Ahhh......so cheery.  I stamped a leaf image from Papertrey's Turning a New Leaf stamp set on a butterfly that I die cut using my Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die from Stampin' Up!  Then, I attached the brad to the center and added some tiny pearls (Kaiser Scrapbook) to create a little butterfly trail.  I thought the sentiment, from Papertrey's First Fruits stamp set, was so perfect for today.....for conveying how I'm feeling.  Thankful.

 

As for my second card, it's lots more Basic Grey papers from the same 6x6 Nook & Pantry paper pad as well as another one of their stitched brads.  Those things are so cool!  This time, I put a big brad in the center of a flower that I punched out with my Marvy extra jumbo flower punch.  The ribbon on this card is Papertrey's ocean tides classic grosgrain......is that a great color match or what?  And the sentiment stamps are from the Giga Guide Lines set.

The girls at Limelight would love it if you'd play along with their sketch this week!  Besides using the sketch, they're focusing on patterned paper and they've even got a prize to give away so be sure to check it out!  

Thanks so much, to Mandy and the Limelight girls for including me this week!  I had so much fun!

Have a wonderful, wonderful day, Sweet Friends!

{THANKFUL supplies}
Paper: Jillibean soup note card, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry patterned papers, Papertrey vintage cream
Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, First Fruits
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: Basic Grey Nook & Pantry stitched brad, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls, EK Success diamond lace punch, SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die, corner chomper

{Birthday Wishes supplies}
Paper: Jillibean soup note card, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry patterned papers, Papertrey rustic cream
Stamps: Giga Guide Lines
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: ocean tides classic grosgrain ribbon, Marvy extra jumbo flower punch, Fiskars apron lace punch, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread

Starry Birthday Card

 

Hi there, Dearies!  I have a starry little birthday card to share with you today.  Technically, I suppose you could even use this card for other special occasions too.  I paired some stars and a sentiment from the Star Prints stamp set with a background pattern stamp from Background Basics: Diamonds, some In Bloom patterned paper and a bit of vintage book print.  Such a fun little hodge-podgy card.  :)  

I love those great big rhinestones too....

And just a little sneakie peek at some of the embellies coming soon to my Etsy Shop.  Scrunchy little pom pom flowers with ribbon leaves.  FUN, right??  :)

Have a goodie,

{It's Your Day supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, in bloom patterned paper, raspberry fizz, vintage book print
Stamps: Star Prints, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: raspberry fizz, summer sunrise
Other: summer sunrise classic grosgrain ribbon, x-large star punch, SU! scallop edge punch, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones  

 
 

 

Pom Pom Flowers

 

Howdy!  I have a totally fun project to share with you today!  Wendy Smedley had the cutest paper flower arrangement posted on her blog the other day including a tutorial for how to make these cute little flowers on a stick, that you could put in your flower arrangement.  I loved the flowers so much, but decided to leave off the stick part and just make them flat to use on my cards and now I am in LOOOOOOVE with these little poof-ball flowers!!  Aren't they FUN?!

I made my flowers out of vintage book print (a book I bought at a thrift store) and stamped Polka Dot Basics II and Damask Designs on a couple of the layers in my flowers to give them a little pop of color.  The pattern stamped across the bottom of the card is one of my favorites from Background Basics: Diamonds and the sentiment is from Signature Greetings.  SUCH a fun and simple card!  Give these flowers a try....I bet you'll love them too!  And if you love 'em but don't want to make them yourself, not to worry.  I'm planning on making oodles for my Etsy Shop because I love 'em so much, so keep an eye out if you're interested!  :)

Hope you're having a great week.  As Thanksgiving quickly approaches here in the US, I'm looking forward to spending the holiday with both sides of our family.  Can't wait!  Are you getting ready for the holiday festivities at your house?

{Hope Your Day is Fabulous supplies}
Paper: kraft, bitty box basics, vintage book print
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Diamonds, Polka Dot Basics II, Damask Designs
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage cream, berry sorbet
Other: berry sorbet saddle stitch ribbon, SU! scallop circle punch, Marvy extra jumbo scallop circle punch, Making Memories brads

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