My Favorite Things

Dearest Dad

 

It's the first of the month and that means another Senior Design Team Challenge for the Papertrey team.  This month is all about "Dearest Dad", whether it be our own dad or a dad in our life.  I've got a project for my Dearest Dad but first, I thought I'd tell you a bit about him.  :)  (He's gonna love this (NOT!) when my Mom tells him I wrote a whole blog post about him!  Hee.)

I love my dad.  He's mellow and down-to-earth and he'd do anything for you if he could.  He's extremely patient.  He's quiet and above all else, I have always known that my Dad loves me, he loves my siblings and he loves my mom.  The above photo was taken of Dad and me a couple years ago.  Thankfully, we both have much less of a double chin now!  LOL.  
 

 

Here's Daddy-o reading us The Christmas Story from the Bible on Christmas Day.  It's a family tradition that we've had for as long as I can remember.....we always read the Christmas Story before we open gifts.  (You can imagine how much it pained us, as kids, to wait on the reading of The Story while staring at all of those unopened gifts!  Haha.  I'm so grateful today though, for that beloved tradition.

 

My Dad is a grandpa now -- "Pops" as the grandkids call him.  This is Dad holding his first grandson (and 2nd grandbaby) a little over a year ago.  

 

And here's "Pops" w/"baby" Malachi at Malachi's first birthday a few months ago.  My, how time flies.  I have to say that it's really been the coolest thing to sit back and watch my parents become grandparents.  It's so fun to see how they interact with the "littles" and how the littles talk to Grandma and Pops!
 
 

This is my mom and dad maybe a year or so ago.  We all went out w/the Nikon and took a bunch of family pictures.  Thank goodness for the invention of the camera remote.  Anyway, aren't they cute?  :)

 

Good grief, this picture makes me laugh out loud.  Literally.  As I was going thru my files and found this photo, I busted out laughing!  For Father's Day last year, the whole gang went to my Dad's favorite restaurant -- Jumpin' Catfish!  LOL!  They serve things like catfish (obviously), crawfish, chicken livers, frog legs, etc.  (EW!)  But on Dad's Day, we go where Dad likes to eat.......so Jumpin' Catfish, it was.  (I stuck with the catfish, thank you very much.)

Anyway, I'm not sure if that thing on the window is supposed to be a crawfish or a shrimp or what exactly, but we couldn't resist getting a picture of Dad with it!  Haha.

 

I showed you this photo not too long ago, of my Dad performing a wedding ceremony.  My Dad hasn't been a pastor my whole life.....but I think he's pretty much always had the heart of a pastor.  I love that about him.

  

And this is a recent photo that Mom sent to me.  This one is so funny to me.  For my entire lifetime, my Dad has been a fisherman.  Not a hunter.  Everyone that knows him well, knows how much he loves to fish.  In fact, before my brother came along when I was 12 years old, I was the daughter that opted to go fishing with Dad most of the time.  We sure did have a lot of fun on those fishing outings.  I'll never forget the time that he and I got caught out in a rainstorm.....I think I was about 6 years old.  We came home SOAKING wet and when we got home, he realized that he didn't have his house key and the front door was locked.  We had to stand on the front porch, DRIPPING wet, waiting for Mom to come open the door and I remember telling Dad that "WE" were gonna be in big trouble when Mom saw us.  *grin*

I'll also never forget the trip when Dad and I went fishing with Grandpa (Dad's Dad) and Uncle Gary (Dad's brother).  We were in the car on the way to the fishing hole, when we passed a farm.  Oh gosh----I'm laughing out loud as I type this!!  I looked out the window and commented (to my 3 grown-up male relatives in the car) about the horse that was up on top of that other horse and wasn't that funny???  "LOOK DAD!  Did you SEE that?!"  Obviously, I wasn't very old then either, and had no clue as to what those horses were REALLY doing!  Hahahaha!  But I did think it was pretty strange that my Dad, Grandpa AND Uncle all completely ignored me at that moment!  No one said a word!  Oh my goodness....I can only imagine what was going thru their heads at the time!  Hahaha.  I wonder if my dad remembers that.

Anyway, the funny thing about the photo above is that while my Dad was never a hunter and was always a fisherman, in recent years, he's taken to hunting.  It's so hard to picture my Dad in hunting garb and it's even harder to imagine him actually HUNTING (and all that hunting involves - ahem), but he's really begun to enjoy it in recent years and I have to say that I'm really happy for him.  You see, my Dad was always the type that when he would get birthday money from relatives, he would pay a bill with it or buy something "for the family" rather than splurging on something for himself.  He's always been an extremely hard worker and was always the first to sacrifice so that we would be taken care of.  

 

This brings me to my project.  Now that my siblings and I are all mostly grown (my "baby" sister just started driving....Eek!), we've discovered the perfect gift for Dearest Dad.  We have all started buying him gift cards to Bass Pro Shops!!  We get him gift cards to Bass Pro for his birthday, for Father's Day, for any time that warrants giving Dad a gift!  It's perfect because he's pretty much forced to spend them on himself for a change and we love that!  This way, he can buy whatever fishing OR hunting gear he wants and we aren't trying to figure out what in the world to get him.  It's a total win-win!!  Even Dad says that it's really THE thing he would most like to have so we're all happy.  

 

Since Dad's been getting Bass Pro gift cards from all of us for a couple of years now, we've often teased him that if he saved them long enough, he'd be able to buy a boat!  So.....I thought this year, for Father's Day, it'd be fun to package his gift card in one of Papertrey's nugget tins, so that he can not only store all of those gift cards he'll receive inside it, but he can also track how much money he's got in gift cards as he collects more and as he spends some of them.  He saves those cards and saves them and he'll go in and shop around and not buy anything for 2 or 3 visits until he finally decides on just the perfect thing.  This will allow him a handy little place to store the gift cards until he's ready to bite the bullet (no pun intended!) and buy something new.  I couldn't resist, however, putting "Boat Fund" on the front of Dad's gift card holder!

 

I stamped "boat fund" using the Outlines Alphabet stamp set with versamark ink and then heat embossed the letters with clear embossing powder.  Then, I took my E57 Copic marker and colored the letters in.  On the bottom part of the aqua mist card stock, I stamped some Background Basics: Woodgrain with versamark ink.  The fish from Masculine Motifs was stamped in dark chocolate ink, cut out and after I punched a small hole in the fish, I threaded it on a bit of rustic jute button twine to look as though it's a fish on a stringer.

 

Inside the cover of the tin, I adhered a piece of Ledger Paper that I printed off from the Color Couture Vol 1 Download.  This will give Dad a place to track how much money he currently has in gift cards as he adds more cards and/or spends some!  Handy, right??  I stamped more fish with versamark ink on the kraft card stock that I used to line the bottom of the tin.  As you can see by the photo, the tin is large enough to accommodate two stacks of gift cards so Dad will have plenty of room to store his gifts.

 

As for the card I made to coordinate with this gift, I wanted to use a lot of the same elements so I started with a kraft card base and added a bit more ledger paper as well as a strip of dark chocolate card stock.  The sentiment is from Masculine Motifs.

 

I chose to stamp 4 fish and thread them on the twine to look like a whole stringer of fish.  That's what every fisherman hopes to bring home after a day of fishing, right....a stringer full of fish??  :)

You won't want to miss visiting Nichole Heady today to see her post about this challenge, as well as the other girls on the Senior Design Team.

Betsy Veldman
Heather Nichols
Mish Wooderson
Lisa Johnson 
and our guest designer, Ashley Newell

Thanks so much for popping in today!  Hopefully your creative juices are flowin' just a bit, with ideas for projects you can make for the dad in your life.

Have a goodie!

{Boat Fund gift card holder supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, dark chocolate, kraft, vintage cream, Color Couture Vol 1 Download-Ledger Paper
Stamps: Background Basics: Woodgrain, Masculine Motifs, Outlines Alphabet
Ink: versamark, dark chocolate
Other: nugget tin, rustic jute button twine, E57 Copic marker, corner chomper

{Happy Father's Day card supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, kraft, vintage cream, Color Couture Vol 1 Download-Ledger Paper
Stamps: Masculine Motifs
Ink: versamark, dark chocolate, hawaiian shores
Other: rustic jute button twine, corner chomper

Memorial Day Bonanza -- Stamp Set Giveaway!!

Hello there, Dear Friends....

I hope that you're thoroughly enjoying your weekend so far!  It's Memorial Day tomorrow, here in the US, and therefore a long holiday weekend for us.  Thank you so much, to each of those serving in the military -- to you and your families.  Thank you for giving so much and for sacrificing so much, so that we can all enjoy the freedoms that we do in this country.  We can't thank you enough for all that you do.  

Bartley and I got to see our favorite "littles" a few days ago -- my little niece and nephew.  I couldn't resist sharing a couple photos with you.  Malachi (age 1, pictured below) hasn't quite become a fan yet of getting his picture taken.  However, as you can see in the photo above, his big sister, Ally (age 2), has gotten really good at smiling for the camera!!  Perhaps the paparazzi of aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents that are constantly taking their pictures, has a little something to do with it!  Hee.  Seriously though......is that photo not the cutest??  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect picture of the little dolly!  Sigh....I love my niece and nephew.

 

Above....Malachi and Mama, riding the chicken at a local park.  :)  Don't you love the sunglasses and binky combo???  Haha.

Bart and I have had a ball so far this weekend, getting some shopping done, having a few fun meals out, eating our fair share of gelato, and even relaxing a bit.  We're looking forward to spending some time with his side of the family today.....and as for tomorrow??  Well, tomorrow is allllll ours.  We have no plan.  We have no agenda.  We're just gonna wing it and I can't wait!  Love those days with no plan at all!  They're pretty rare, aren't they? 

 

Sooooo, in honor of the Memorial Day weekend.....and because I'm feeling thankful for our military families and cute toddlers and my hottie hubs and gelato.....and because I love ya so gosh-darn much.....how about we do a giveaway???  

One winner will receive the following EIGHT Raspberry Suite stamp sets:

• Signature Christmas
• Studio Style
• Damask Designs
• Signature Greetings
• Top Ten
• Say It With Style
• Delightful Dahlia
• Background Basics: Woodgrain

Since Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer in the US, all you need to do to be entered to win is to leave a comment on this post and tell me what you're most looking forward to this summer.  Edited: If you're on the opposite side of the world from me and are headed into winter, just tell me what you're looking forward to this winter!  HA.

Contest will end on Tuesday, June 1 at 9pm CST (which should allow those of you that are out celebrating this weekend and not near your computers, to get back to your computers at work on Tuesday to get entered to win!  Heeee.).  One winner will be randomly selected.  Only one comment per person.  

Thanks so much for visiting me today.  Enjoy your weekend, Peeps!

 
 

A Doily Card (& a giveaway!)

 

Hello there!  How the heck are you?  Goodness, it's been a busy week and I've missed chatting with you.  Just popping in quickly with another little doily card to share with you.  This one has some fun goodies on it!  

I've had the idea bouncing around in my head all week that I wanted to pair one of my Christine Middlecamp-inspired doily embellies with this fabulous Circle Lace stamp from Hero Arts and I must admit that I love how it turned out!  I stamped the large doily image in fresh snow ink on lavender moon card stock.

As for the embellie, I started with one of Martha Stewart's die-cut lace tags and distressed up the edges with a bit of vintage touch tea dye ink.  Next, I used a circle nestabilities die to cut out the circle from more lavender moon card stock and then I stamped that layer with Polka Dot Basics and plum pudding ink as well as a bit of vintage touch tea dye ink around the edges of that layer.  Then, I used some vintage book print and the Beautiful Blooms II #3 dies to create the floofy (yes, floofy) little flower.  To finish off the flower, I added a lavender moon button and a bit of rustic cream button twine.

These other two fabric covered buttons were sent to me in a little pack of beauties from AesaLina over at Pixiepetals.  And not only that, but she's offering a giveaway here on my blog today!  
 

 

One winner will receive the Vineyard Pixiepacket (pictured above).  She's also got more of these little packets as well as lots of other beauties in her Etsy Shop so even if you don't win, you can pop over to her shop and get some.  

All you have to do to be entered to win is to leave a comment on this post!  You can tell me what you're doing this weekend, if you're in the US and doing something fun for our Memorial Day weekend......you can tell me something funny that happened to you this week......you can even tell me what your favorite color of eye shadow is!  The choice is yours!  ;)  Just leave me a comment and one randomly selected winner will receive this little packet from AesaLina.  (Thanks again, AesaLina!)

Contest ends Saturday May 29 at 9pm CST.  Please, only one comment per person.

All righty, forgive me for not sticking around longer to chat but we're off to a little impromptu family gathering.  Time for me to put my "Auntie" hat on and go play with "the littles"!  You know I can't wait!

Much love,

 

{Thanks For All You Do supplies}
Paper: lavender moon, vintage book print
Stamps: Hero Arts - Circle Lace; PTI - Autumn Abundance (sentiment), Polka Dot Basics
Ink: fresh snow, plum pudding, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Beautiful Blooms II #3 dies, lavender moon button, rustic cream button twine, Martha Stewart die-cut lace tag, circle nestabilities die, fabric buttons from Pixiepetals Etsy Shop
 
 

Love You

Hi-ya!  Back again with another fun little lace doily card to share.  This has turned into a fun little series!  I'm having a ball using my little Christine Middlecamp-inspired embellies.....I hope you're enjoying seeing this little series as much as I'm enjoying sharing them!  :)

For today's card, I started with a berry sorbet card base.  The sentiment is one from Beth Silaika's new Get To The Point Sentiments set and I stamped it in berry sorbet ink.  I then added a melon berry layer of card stock, stamped with my favie pattern from Background Basics: Retro (also in berry sorbet ink) and I added a strip of stamper's select white card stock along the bottom, that I die cut with the medium scallop border die.  I inked up all of the edges with vintage touch tea dye ink and adhered a single strip of berry sorbet saddle stitch ribbon along the bottom of the melon berry panel.  The ribbon is adhered with a strip of 1/2" scor-tape that I ran across the melon berry card stock and then laid the ribbon on it, adding a few little ruffles on the left and wrapping the ends around to the back of the card stock.

 

As for my little doily embellie itself, there's a circle of berry sorbet card stock behind the doily, die cut with a circle nestability die.  The flower is a poofy flower that I created using vintage book print (Pam and I hunted at her local Goodwill store for a couple of good, vintage-y childrens' books.  I think she paid a whopping sixty-two cents for TWO books!) as well as a berry sorbet button and rustic cream button twine.  (See my video tutorial here for how to make poofy flowers)  The leaf was die cut with the Delightful Dahlia large leaf die from Bitty Box Basics patterned paper in dark chocolate.  Who says leaves always have to be green??  Hee.

That's it for today, Dearies.  Thanks so much for popping in to see me! 

Smooches!

 

{Love You supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, melon berry, stamper's select white, bitty box basics, vintage book print
Stamps: Get To The Point Sentiments, Background Basics: Retro
Ink: berry sorbet, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Delightful Dahlia dies, medium scallop border die, berry sorbet saddle stitch ribbon, berry sorbet button, rustic cream button twine, corner chomper, circle nestabilities die, Martha Stewart die-cut lace tag
 
 

Sincere, Heartfelt Thanks

 

(click on photo to see larger)

Hey there Peeps,

I'm back today with another card using one of the doily embellies I made inspired by the cool tutorial series that Christine Middlecamp is doing on her blog right now using these adorable little Martha Stewart die-cut lace tags.  They look like little doilies and I was so inspired by Christine's beautiful little works of art that my friend Pam and I decided to whip a few of them up ourselves, while I was at her house visiting last week.  (Thanks so much, Christine, for the beautiful inspiration!)

So here we are today, with another of my little doily embellies put to work on a card.  Happy sigh......seriously, if your mojo decides to take a hike, I highly recommend sitting down to make a few embellies like this.  You don't really have to think in terms of a "layout" - be it cards or scrapbook pages.  You just create the little pretties and before you know it, you'll have all kinds of different ideas for another embellie and another and another.  And THEN, when your mojo has returned, you've got a beautiful stack of embellishments just waiting to be used on your project.  And not only that, these little gems are likely to make it a lot easier to put a card or scrap layout together, because the embellie you choose to work with will sort of dictate the color combo for your project.  Nice!

 

 (click on photo to see larger)

My embellie today consists of a layer of hawaiian shores card stock behind the doily, die cut in a circle with a nestabilities die.  I inked up the edges of the doily with vintage touch tea dye ink.  For the flower, I used the Beautiful Blooms II #1 dies (the small and medium dies) to cut a flower from pure poppy card stock and another from raspberry fizz felt.  I stitched them together with rustic cream button twine and a raspberry fizz button on top.  (Don't you love that button?!)  The ribbon is a little strip of spring moss classic grosgrain ribbon, folded in two and adhered to the back of the flower with scor-tape.  I added a few little red rhinestones to finish the embellie off.

I stamped the dotty background using the background stamp from the Round & Round stamp set (Papertrey's free anniversary set from this past year)....I stamped it in versamark ink on kraft card stock.  I used the medium scallop border die on hawaiian shores card stock for the trim/sentiment strip along the bottom of the card.  The sentiment is one from Big & Bold Wishes.  

All righty then....guess I'd better get a bit more work done.  I hope you're doing well and your week has gotten off to a great start!

Toodle-loo,

{Sincere, Heartfelt Thanks supplies}
Paper: kraft, hawaiian shores, pure poppy
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, Round & Round
Ink: versamark, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Beautiful Blooms II #1 dies, medium scallop border die, spring moss classic grosgrain ribbon, raspberry fizz felt, rustic cream button twine, raspberry fizz button, red rhinestones, Martha Stewart die-cut lace tag, circle nestabilities die, sewing machine/thread 
 

Hey There...

 

Hey there!  I have a fun project to share with you today!  You may know that I went last week to visit my friend Pam for a few days (and to meet my friend, Jenn from Canada, for the first time).  While I was there, we did a decent amount of kicking back and relaxing which felt soooo good.  (Thanks, Pam!)  One morning, Pam and I were both lounging, feet up, laptops on our laps, checking email and bopping around to our favorite blogs, when I came across a new series of posts that Christine Middlecamp is doing and I immediately had to show Pam.  We were so inspired by the adorable little doily embellies that Christine had been making using Martha Stewarts "Die-Cut Lace Tags", that we decided to run right out to Michael's, buy the Martha tags and come home and make our own doily embellies!  FUN!  I don't know how long we were in the studio.....several hours, I'd say, but it was so much fun just creating these little embellishments that we could frame or use on projects or whatever!  So......I thought it'd be fun to do a little series this week here at the blog-o and show you various cards that I'm using these little embellies on.  

 

For today, I decided to use this pink felt flower embellie.  I used the large die from the Beautiful Blooms II #1 die collection and die cut 5 flowers from raspberry fizz felt.  One at a time, I scrunched them up in the centers, stitched 4 of them together with a needle and button twine just at their centers, and then stitched them all to the 5th flower which I left flat.  Then, I adhered that big ole vintage-y pure poppy button to the center with a big piece of Scor-Tape, and then added red rhinestones the the center of the button.  I distressed the edges of the Martha tag with a bit of vintage touch tea dye ink and adhered the felty flower directly to the Martha tag with more Scor-Tape.

 

And here's how I used this little beauty on a card!  I started with a white card base, stitched a bit of patterned paper from the Simple Valentine collection and added my flower embellie.  The sentiment is one I stamped using the Big & Bold Wishes stamp set and I inked up all of the edges with more vintage touch tea dye ink for a bit of a distressed look.
 
 

I know it's hard to capture in the photo, but the rhinestones on the button just sparkle in real life!  Such a pretty little flower.
  
 

Before I go, I thought I'd show you a few pictures from my little get-away.  Our first day together, we went shopping and stopped at Maggiano's for lunch.  Have you had Maggiano's??  It's a-ma-zing.  LOVE.  (Dear Maggiano's, please open a restaurant in Kansas City.  Thank you.)  This is Pam on the left, me in the middle and Jenn on the right.  Now, if the server taking this photo had chosen to, she could have stood up to take this photo, thus eliminating the camera strap, water glasses, bread bowl and sugar holder from the photo and instead captured the three HUGE plates of lasagna we had in front of us (which is what we asked her to get a picture of) but alas, she instead chose to SQUAT in front of our table to snap this photo.......and we all know that when you've asked someone to do you a favor and take a photo of you, you can hardly tell her exactly how to take said photo......and so, you just politely say thank you and wish you had more photoshop skills so you could completely remove all of the 'clutter' from the photo yourself!  Hahaha!!  But at least you get the idea.....right??  ;)

 

This is Jenn and me and our twinsie glasses.  I got to do Jenn's make-up both mornings that she was there......what fun!  AND, we had a ball shopping for make-up at MAC.....and Sephora.....and ULTA.  LOL.  Jenn's totally gone glam now!  

 

Ahhh........the breakfast of champions.  After all, the box says "America runs on Dunkin'".

 

Pam and I dropped Jenn off at the airport and then had serious plans to stop off at Dunkin' Donuts for a few Munchkins (donut holes).  When we stood at the counter to order, I thought Pam would order like 6 Munchkins....3 for each of us.  But no -- she ordered a box of 25!  Well who am I to argue with MORE munchkins?  So I did all I could to help her eat those 25 munchkins over the next day or so......munchkins for breakfast, munchkins for dessert after lunch, munchkins for a bedtime snack, etc., etc.  I didn't want her to have to bear the burden of eating them all herself.  I'm super kind like that.

 

Here's Pam in her studio -- she calls it The Zone.  I had so much fun working in The Zone with her, making our little embellies.  I'm not sure if she'll invite me back though....I used plenty of her supplies.  Hee.

 

And lastly, here is me with Gracie (left) and Sophie (middle).  Sophie loved me.  Gracie tolerated me.  Hahaha!  Actually, she just took longer to warm up to me than Sophie did but goodness, these girls are sweet.  They climb right up on the back of the couch to lay behind your head while you're sitting on the couch.....or they climb right up in your lap and wait patiently for you to pet them!  Haha.  Oh.....and they snore.  A lot.  Loudly.  Just sayin'.....

Thanks so much, Pam, for such a fun girly getaway!  

And thanks to all of YOU for stopping by to visit me today!  Hope you're doing well!  Whatchya been up to???


  

{Hey There supplies}
Paper: stamper's select white, hawaiian shores, simple valentine
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes
Ink: hawaiian shores, vintage touch tea dye
Other: raspberry fizz felt, beautiful blooms II #1 die collection, pure poppy button, button twine, red rhinestones, Martha Stewart die-cut lace tag, sewing machine/thread
 

Card Creations 8

Hello there, Peeps, and a very happy Saturday to you!  We've been enjoying a low-key Saturday together here at the McVey ranch....so good to be home with my 'boys'.  Riley's been very lovey-dovey since I got home (sweet doggie boy) and I'm loving spending time with Bartley.  We went to a favorite local hang-out for dinner last night as well as our fave gelato shop, followed by a little shopping for a new iPhone cover -- I'm on the hunt for a fun new one.  Do you have a favorite iPhone cover?  Leave me a link in the comments section, if you do!  I'm thinking I'd prefer a hard case....no silicone.....and a bright cheery color.  *wink*  Would love your suggestions, if you've got a cool cover you love.

Have you seen this issue of Card Creations Vol. 8 yet?  WOW!  This one is loaded with inspiration!!  My copy came while I was out of town and I've given it a good once-over and I can't wait to peruse it again and again.  I've got several cards published in this issue, and now that it's for sale on news stands, I can share one of those cards with you.

 

This card includes several things that I absolutely love.  I stamped the teapot from Tea For Two with berry sorbet ink and after I cut it out with paper snips, I used vintage touch tea dye ink on the edges.  The super cute library card is a freebie download that Heather Nichols offered on her blog awhile back.  So sweet of her -- I just love it!  I printed it out on vintage cream card stock, cut it out and used it on my card.  So easy!  I stamped sentiments from Say It With Style on the library card in berry sorbet and dark chocolate ink and then adhered the teapot to the library card with foam adhesive, before adding a few rhinestones to finish it off.

The polka dots are from Polka Dot Basics II, stamped on Stampin' Up!'s going gray card stock with Papertrey's vintage cream ink.  I used Fiskars apron lace punch to create the scalloped border across the top of the card.

 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.  We're off to our friends' house in a bit, to enjoy dinner with them, out on their patio.  Should be fun.....it's soooo warm and sunny today!

Take care, Dearies!!

{You Make Me Smile supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, vintage cream, Stampin' Up!-going gray
Stamps: Tea For Two, Say It With Style, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: vintage cream, berry sorbet, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: berry sorbet classic grosgrain ribbon, rhinestones, digital download-library card, Fiskars apron lace punch, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread 

Custom Coffee Cozies

Hi-ya!  

Have you noticed how coffee cozies are popping up all over the internet these days?  Etsy is full of them.....stitched ones, crocheted ones, fabric ones, velcro ones, button ones....the list goes on and on.  Now that Papertrey has begun carrying its own line of 100% wool felt in its Perfect Match colors as well as its own line of exclusive dies, creating your own custom coffee cozies is not only easy, but it's also soooo fun!  Custom coffee cozies are not only cute, but they're functional and you can create one for yourself or make them for others -- they make adorable gifts!  The best part is that the design options just keep growing with each passing month, as Papertrey continues to add more felt colors and more dies to their product line!  I created a pair of cozies -- one for me and one for a dear friend's birthday.  I've put together a complete tutorial for you today, so you can whip one of these little gems up for yourself or a friend.  Let's get right to it, shall we?  

Here's what you'll need to get started....

 

I stopped in at our local Starbucks for a grande-nonfat-no whip-mocha-frappuccino and while I was there, I asked them for a couple of empty venti cups and lids.  :)  Having the cup in hand to create the cozy around, makes the process much easier.  

For this size cup, I started out with a strip of dark chocolate felt measuring 2 1/2" x 11 1/2".  Papertrey's felt comes in rolls measuring 5" x 30" so I just cut off an 11 1/2" strip, folded it in half length-wise and then cut along that fold creating two 2 1/2" strips.  (You'll only need one strip per cozy though.)

I wanted to add scalloped borders to this cozy, so I used the small and large scallop border dies to die cut two borders from vintage cream felt, these also measuring 11 1/2" long.  The dies themselves are 9" long so you'll want to run the die/felt thru your die cutting machine, then reposition the die moving it down your partially cut felt piece and run it thru your die cutting machine again to continue the scallops.  You'll also need some straight pins.

 

I laid the dark chocolate felt on the scalloped strips and pinned them both in place.  Then, I stitched them up with my sewing machine, using a simple straight stitch.  Keep in mind that if you don't have a sewing machine, you could easily hand stitch these felt pieces in place as well.

 

Here's a shot of what the front of the strip will look like after you've stitched the borders in place.

 

Now here's where the cup comes in......I wrapped the strip around the cup WRONG side out and pinned it in place, creating a line with the pins.  Then I stitched along side those pins.

 

Here's what the cozy looked like after I stitched it -- see where the pins are and how I stitched just inside the line they created?  

 

After removing the pins, here's what the cozy should look like on the cup.  (Keep in mind that it's inside out at this point.)
 

 

Next, you'll want to flatten out the two flaps and iron them flat just a bit.  Be careful not to keep the iron on for more than a few seconds at a time so you don't scorch the felt.

 

Now you can flip the cozy right side out.  Here's what it should look like at this point.  

 

Here's what it looks like on the cup.  Now comes the fun part!  You can decorate it however you'd like!!  You could add felt stripes or felt rick rack, a row of buttons, felt flowers, felt butterflies......really, the possibilities are endless!

 

I chose to create a cheery little felt flower by stitching together folded up raspberry fizz felt flowers that I die cut using the Beautiful Blooms II #2 die collection.  There is a large flat flower as the back layer with four folded up large flowers on top.  I stitched a simply chartreuse button over the top of all the layers to hold everything in place and while I still had the needle and button twine out, I stitched 3 leaves to the back of the flower.  The leaves were die cut from simply chartreuse felt with the large leaf die in the Delightful Dahlia die collection.

 

I used the same needle and rustic jute button twine to stitch the flower to the cozy with just a few stitches.  Ahhhhh.......I LOVE how this turned out!  Wouldn't you be proud to give this little gem away to a loved one?  

 

 

For the second cozy, I followed the same steps to create the basic cozy only this time, I used raspberry fizz felt for the main strip and dark chocolate felt for the scalloped borders.  To create those borders on this one, I used the medium scalloped border die as well as the eyelet lace border die.

 

For the accents on this one, I decided to add a couple of stacked butterflies created from vintage cream and simply chartreuse felt and the butterfly die.  I simply stitched them in place by hand with rustic jute button twine and added buttons in the same colors as the butterflies.

 

Here are the two little beauties together........ahhh.  Aren't they so cheery and happy?!  I love, love these colors together and can't wait to give my dear friend her custom coffee cozy as a birthday gift!

I hope you've enjoyed this COZY little project and are feeling a inspired to get a little COZY with some felt yourself!  :)  Tuck one of these coffee cozies in your car and you'll be all set next time you run thru the drive thru at your local coffee shop!

Thanks so much for visiting me today!  I hope you'll come again soon.

Take care, peeps...

  

A Girly Getaway

This is me and my friend Pam Wilson last year.  (Goodness, I've lost some weight since then!)  She's a sassy little dear and I love her.  I've told you before about how we "met".  And last year, she came to visit us.  

This is what Pam and I do best when we're together or just on the phone......

 

We LAUGH.  OUR HEADS OFF!  

And today, I'm gonna get on a plane (well two technically, but who's counting?) and go visit my friend Pam for a few days and I can't wait!!  And not only that, but I'll get to meet another friend for the first time.....my friend Jenn.  We've "known" each other online for years now -- as long as I've known Pam, but at Pam's we'll get to meet in person.  Heck, I think Pam is gonna make us sleep in the same bed.....something about only having one guest room.  

Hahaha.....I can't wait to spend some time with these dear girls.  I'll definitely take pictures of all of our antics.....wouldn't want you to miss out! 

Hope you have a fantastic day, Peeps!

 

Papertrey May Release Projects

Hi-ya Peeps!!  Ahhhh........it's release time at Papertrey Ink and what a fun countdown it's been, huh?  All of the new goodies you've been seeing on my blog this week are now available for purchase at Papertrey Ink!!  

I've been so busy showing you Aloha and Color Couture projects this week that now I've got a few projects to share with you that feature some of the other stamp sets from this month's release.  First up is the beautiful Up, Up & Away stamp set designed by Nichole Heady.....how I love this one.  Whether you're a "colorer" or not, this set has images to suit your preferences.  For this card, I used the solid balloon images -- I love the slight distressing Nichole added to these images when she designed the set.  

 

I went for a soft and sweet little color combo of berry sorbet, melon berry, dark chocolate and a few little sweet blush clouds in the background.  I also used the new coordinating hot air balloon die to cut out the balloons, but I cut the basket portion off the bottom of each balloon since I chose to stamp the baskets on the layer behind the balloons.

 

Next up is another set designed by Nichole Heady -- Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley.  I stamped the image on raspberry fizz card stock and then went back over it with a Copic marker for a bit of shading and then I stamped the flowers again on rustic cream card stock so I could cut them out and layer them on the fizzy card stock.  Now, some of you may think I'm a little crazy to cut those teeny flowers out but believe me when I say it wasn't hard at all!  I just adhered each one directly to the raspberry fizz layer as I cut them out so I could keep it straight as to where each flower went.  ;)

 

I added a bit of raspberry fizz Dotty Biscotti patterned paper over on the left, that I cut with the medium scalloped border die.  I stamped the sentiment as well as the flower image in dark chocolate ink to coordinate with my dark chocolate ribbon.

 

Ahhh....next up is a fun card for a guy.  We have a family member turning 30 in a couple weeks and I used Beth Silaika's new Get To The Point (& Sentiments) stamp sets to create a hip little birthday greeting for him.  The sentiments, numbers and arrow are all from the set.  I stamped the "happy birthday" greeting inside the frame image from Luck of the Irish and I created the stripey paper along the bottom with the Distressed Stripes stamp set.

 

The "BIG" and "30" are stamped on rustic cream card stock that I die cut using the new Mat Stack 2 die (designed by Lisa Johnson).  I love how perfectly the rectangle frame from Luck of the Irish fits on this die cut!  All that was left for me to do was distress up the edges of everything with vintage touch tea dye ink.

 

Lastly for today is a thank you card I created using Alli Miles' new Take Three: Summer stamp set.  The sentiment, birds and background flower are all stamps from Alli's set.  You can also see a bit of scallop-ness peeking out from the left side of the birds.  That was created from plum pudding card stock with the new Eyelet Lace Border die (also designed by Lisa Johnson).  Lastly, I added a few little purple rhinestones to the bird images to give them a bit of bling.

 

I hope that you've enjoyed this week and all the fun projects that we've been sharing with you.  The new website and gallery aren't quite up and running yet (See notice on Nichole's blog) so the Design Team members have the rest of their release projects posted on their blogs today so you can enjoy some more crafty inspiration!!   Head on over and pay 'em each a visit!  :)

Debbie Olson 
Erin Lincoln
Lisa Johnson
Kim Hughes
Betsy Veldman
Melissa Phillips
Mish Wooderson
Niki Estes
Maile Belles
Heather Nichols
  

Have a fabulous weekend Peeps!

{Thanks For the Lift supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, berry sorbet, melon berry
Stamps: Up, Up & Away
Ink: dark chocolate, melon berry, berry sorbet, sweet blush
Other: melon berry buttons, rustic jute button twine, medium scallop border die, hot air balloon die

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, raspberry fizz, Dotty Biscotti
Stamps: Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley
Ink: dark chocolate
Other:  medium scallop border die, dark chocolate grosgrain ribbon

{Big 30 Happy Birthday supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, kraft, hawaiian shores
Stamps: Get to the Point, Distressed Stripes, Luck of the Irish
Ink: dark chocolate, spring moss, hawaiian shores, vintage touch tea dye
Other:  dark chocolate topnotch twill, mat stack 2 die, corner chomper

{Many Thanks supplies}
Paper: lavender moon, plum pudding, stamper's select white
Stamps: Take Three: Summer
Ink: plum pudding, versamark
Other: eyelet lace border die, rhinestones