My Favorite Things

Honey Bees Revisited

Hello there!  I'm not sure where the last month went, but it flew by and now it's the first of a new month, which means that it's time again for another Senior Design Team challenge at Papertrey.  This month, Nichole has challenged us to pull out our Honey Bees stamp sets and take them for a spin again!

I used lots of various stamps from the set to create my little scene for today's card.....grass, flowers, honey bees and even a pair of sentiments.

Along the top of the garden scene, I added a strip of In Bloom patterned paper that I die cut with the small scalloped border die.  Just under the scallops, a skinny strip of dark chocolate card stock was added to not only add a bit more detail, but also to help reiterate the dark chocolate in my color scheme.  You might also notice a strip of Dotty Biscotti patterned paper tucked behind everything and peeking out the sides of the card.  

The label was die cut using an angled labels die and stamped with a coordinating image from the Label Basics stamp set.  The "You're as sweet as honey" sentiment from Honey Bees was a perfect fit with room left over to not only stitch the label to the garden scene but also to add a hawaiian shores button!  

Taking the sentiment one step further, I added the "Thank You" just under the label.  I love how well the two sentiments work together to create a great "thank you" theme.

 

To the centers of some of the flowers, I stamped the tiny dot image from Honey Bees, and to the centers of a few others, I added some pink rhinestones for a bit more dimension and bling.

There are also a couple of fun details along the bottom of the card.  I wanted a bit of pattern on the kraft card base, but didn't want to take away from or distract the eye from the grass along the bottom of the garden scene, so the solution was to stamp some more grass along the bottom of the kraft card base.  By stamping this grass in versamark ink, it didn't distract from the colors in the garden scene, but added a bit more dimension.  

To finish things off, I stitched two lines along the bottom of the grassy panel, just for some texture. 

I hope you've been inspired today to pull out that Honey Bees stamp set and give it some love, or perhaps it's time to add Honey Bees to your wish list!  ;)

Don't forget to head over to Nichole Heady's blog as well as visit each of the other girls on the Senior Design Team!

Lisa Johnson
Betsy Veldman
Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

{You're As Sweet As Honey supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, rustic cream, kraft, dark chocolate, Dotty Biscotti, In Bloom
Stamps: Honey Bees, Label Basics
Ink: dark chocolate, orange zest, hawaiian shores, raspberry fizz, spring moss, versamark
Other: small scalloped border die, angled labels die, hawaiian shores button, rustic cream button twine, raspberry rhinestones, sewing machine/thread

Today....

* Today I'm enjoying the bit of sunshine I see outside and wondering if the sun will decide to stick around and show us her pretty face for awhile because it's been awfully gray and rainy and chilly for kind of a long time now.

* Today I'm thinking about how much I'm looking forward to this weekend -- our annual planting weekend.  It's the weekend when Bartley and I will head to the nursery, pick out our flowers and plants for this year, load up the back end of the SUV with our treasures, and spend the day Saturday getting them all safely planted in their new homes.  This, of course, partly depends on the crazy weather and whether the sun will finally decide to stick around for awhile.  I love our annual planting weekend, not just because of the gardening that happens and the beautiful results when we're finished, but also because of all the one-on-one, uninterupted time Bart and I will have together.  No TV.  No distractions.  Spending the whole day outside, working together on a big project with the whole day stretched out before us to talk and laugh and just BE together while we work.  I love weekends like that.

* Today I'm looking forward to spending some time with my sweetie-pie niece and nephew while they're here at my parents' house for a few days.  I love those littles and it's been several weeks since I saw them last.  Can't wait to kiss their squishy little chubsy cheeks.

* Today I'm excited about new product releases coming soon and the crafty projects that are brewing in my head.  I'm only wishing that the rush of ideas would come during the waking hours instead of during the night when I'm supposed to be sleeping.  Ahh.....but we can't control creativity, can we?  It comes when it wants to.  :)  Thank goodness for the notepad and pen in my nightstand, and the iPhone that can serve as a flashlight to write and sketch by.  

 

* Today I'm grateful for dear neighbors that feel like family and I'm looking forward to spending time with them over dinner this evening.  Their out-of-town relatives are coming to town to visit and they'll all treat us like a part of the family too.  A treasure, neighbors like ours.

* Today I'm loving this delicious minty, teal-y green color used on so many of the Portrait collection's patterned papers and trims and embellishments by Crate Paper.  (as seen on today's card)

* Today I'm looking forward to my elliptical time so that I can get back to the really good book that I started this week by Liz Curtis Higgs, because as you know, I read while on the elliptical.  The story is getting good, and I'm anxious to read some more.  I'll share more about the book after I finish it.  I don't like to promote books here at the blog-o unless I've actually read the whole thing.  ;)

 

* Today I'm rejoicing with one of my besties who just had baby #4 during the night and I'm praying for the baby and their family, as it's looking like he'll be having a bit of surgery to help his heart in a couple of days.  I'm wishing I could hug her neck and hold her hand, but since they can't have visitors right now, I'm praying for her instead.  I wish I could do more for her than "just" pray, but sometimes praying is the most important thing we can do.  Sometimes I forget that.

* Today I'm thinking of you, dear readers.  I'm grateful you stop by to share a part of your day with me.  I'm wondering what you're up to and I'm wishing you well.  I hope your day is a happy one.

xo,

 

*All supplies on today's card are by Crate Paper (Portrait collection), except the "hello, friend" sentiment stamp which is from Papertrey's Mat Stack 4 Collection.

Whole Lotta Color

Hello there, Dearies.....

Just poppin' in quick with another Crate Paper card to share with you.  This one uses more fun Emma's Shoppe goodies......I seriously love the all of the color packed into that collection.  

Emma's patterned paper, trim stickers, chipboard stickers......

The sentiment is one that I stamped on an Emma's Shoppe sticker, it's from the Fillable Frames 1 Additions stamp set from Papertrey.

So today, I thought I'd show you our Japanese Maple.  It lives in our front flower bed....right by our front door, in fact.  Typically, the leaves look kind of dark red, as in the photo above.  In fact, they're usually so dark that the tree basically looks burgundy.  Maybe even darker than that.  It's usually dark.  Really dark.  However, the other day, we pulled in the driveway and the sunlight was hitting the leaves on the tree just right so that the leaves were a bright red!  I couldn't wait to run in and grab the camera to capture the brightness....the leaves fairly glowed!  

See.....

Sigh.  I love how bright and colorful the tree was, even if it was just for the afternoon.  :)

Wishing you a bright and colorful kind of day!  

Toodles,

 

Spoiler Alert: More Papertrey Anniversary Set Peeks

Hello there!  Happy Monday-after-Easter!  I hope your weekend was lovely.  

Ours was quite nice.  Bartley and I went to the Plaza for dinner on Friday night and soooo enjoyed having dinner outside at one of the restaurants there.  In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we decided to go back to the Plaza to do a little power-walking for some exercise on Saturday since it was so nice out.  Of course, walking around the Plaza always means taking the Nikon along and when we came around the corner and saw these gorgeous tulip beds, I couldn't resist snapping a few piccies.

After we'd gotten our "workout" done, we headed to one of my favorite stores to visit in town, Nell Hill's.  I've told you about Nell Hill's before....it's a home decor store and they change out the decor in all of the rooms quite often, so there's something different to see every time you go.  

Right now, they have giant mirrors all over the place at Nell Hill's -- either hanging on the walls or standing on the floors -- so I snapped several photos of Bart and me while we walked around and shopped.  I'm sure this was Bart's favorite part of the day!  Hahaha.

Here, I even cut off part of Bartley's poor head.  Nice.  :)

Anyway, it was a great day to just spend some time together.  Then, yesterday we had church and I sang at both services.  Check out this song by Natalie Grant -- I sang it at the close of the services yesterday....such a great song.

After church, my family came over for lunch and of course, my Mom & Dad brought Easter candy for everyone.  We had a ton of fun opening our Easter bags filled with plastic eggs and trading candy back and forth!  I posted a picture of the Easter candy fun on Twitter, in case you missed it.

All right, so now that I've caught you up on my weekend, how about a card, yes? 

 

This is another card made using Papertrey's anniversary set, Botanical Silhouettes, that is being sent to those customers that earned the set with their purchases last year.  

For this little poppy card, I started out with a kraft card base.  The poppy & stem images as well as the two sentiments (all from Botanical Silhouettes) were stamped on a piece of patterned paper from the Library Ledger collection.

 

Next to the sentiments, I added one of the vintage-looking postage stamps I created awhile back.  I love the small touch those little stamps add.  

 

 

Along the top of each of the flowers, I added a few touches with a Sakura gold glitter gel pen.  It's very subtle, but very pretty when the light hits it.

 

 

Along the bottom of the pure poppy card stock layer, I used an Edgers #1 die to die cut the pretty edge.  After adding the ledger paper to the pure poppy card stock, a bow of dark chocolate grosgrain ribbon was tied around the whole panel before it was adhered to the card front with foam adhesive.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend filled with joy and hope and loved ones and maybe even some Easter candy.  ;)

Have a great week, friends!  

{My Friends supplies}
Paper: kraft, rustic cream, pure poppy, library ledger
Stamps: Botanical Silhouettes, Postmarks
Ink: pure poppy, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: Edgers #1 die, postage die, dark chocolate classic grosgrain ribbon, Sakura gel pen 

Crate Paper Guest Designer!

Hi there!!  There's a great big blog post over at the Crate Paper Blog today, that you just might want to check out.  ;) 

I was asked to be the Guest Designer over at Crate Paper for April and I have been soooo excited for today to come, so that I could finally tell you all about it!!  I was so happy when the crazy-talented Christine over at Crate asked me if I'd be the Guest Designer (how could I say no to THAT?!!) and was over the moon when that box full of Crate Paper's newest product lines arrived on my doorstep!  Talk about a FUN mail day! 

I'm not kidding when I say that these newest Crate Paper lines are some of my favorites ever!  The colors.  The details.  GAH!

I didn't waste any time whipping up some cards with those new goodies, and while I've got 5 cards for you to see over at the Crate blog today, that's only just the beginning.  I'll be sharing more with you in the days to come because I can't seem to get enough of the luscious colors and patterns and textures on all of these Crate goodies!

Are these little sneakity peeks whetting your appetite just a bit?

Are you curious to see these cards in their entirety?

Head over to the Crate Paper blog to see these cards in full -- there are lots more photos for you to see, plus you can learn how I put them together and perhaps even learn a bit more about me while you're there.  :)

Go ahead......pop over to Crate.  I'll wait right here for you.  Then, come back and let me know what you thought!  Ha.

Happy Friday!  And Happy Easter Weekend!

P.S.  Thank you again, to Christine and all of those at Crate Paper that made it possible for me to work with you this month.  It was a joy and I'm extremely grateful!

SPOILER ALERT: Botanical Silhouettes (Papertrey's 2010 Anniversary Set)

Hi there!  So sorry -- I intended to get this posted yesterday but it just didn't happen!  Anyway, I'm posting a few photos of some gorgeous redbud trees that were in bloom here last week, so that the photos of my card for today, won't be the first thing to pop up in your email or your blog reader or here at my blog -- whichever the case may be for you, depending on how you read this little blog-o.  

I'm giving you ample time to look away......to save this post for later (because you'll want to see it at SOME point).....

You see, today, I've got a card to show you using Papertrey's new anniversary set.  And while I would definitely not be one of those people, I realize that there are some people out there that like to wait and see the free stamp set for the first time, when they pull it out of their mailbox, rather than online at someone's blog or website. 

So if you're one of those people that doesn't want to see the set until you have it in your hot little hands, then consider yourself warned.....  :)

These redbud trees are at the entrance to our subdivision and when they flower each year, they make me so happy!  They're planted in two rows, alternating between purple redbuds and white redbuds.  The purple ones are my favorites.  You're not surprised by this, in the least, are you?

If you're still reading but you don't want to see the card that is coming, you might consider looking away sometime soon.  Just sayin'......

I mean really, aren't they spectacular trees?  I {heart} them very much.  In fact, I'd like to have one in our yard.  I've said so to my handsome husband many times over the 10 years that we've now been married.  

So last fall, he came in one day after mowing and said, "Well, it looks like you might finally get your redbud."  I had no idea what he was getting at and that's when he told me that our golden raintree in the backyard was dead!  We have no idea what happened to it.  It looked healthy as a horse one week and was dead the next.  (Well, as much as a healthy tree could resemble a healthy horse.  Oh, you know what I mean.)  

Anyway, we were hoping that perhaps the tree was just playing dead :) and would actually come back to life this spring, but no such luck.  It's currently deader than a doornail.  Sad.  Very sad.  It's another tree that Bartley planted years ago and is so beautiful at certain times of the year when it takes on a bright gold color.  I must say that I think it's awfully sweet of my hottie hubs to be willing to replace Mr. Golden Raintree with Miss Redbud.  Very thoughtful indeed.

This is your last chance.  If you are still reading this, you are about to see a card photo showcasing Papertrey's anniversary set.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

 

Yesterday, the Papertrey 2010 Anniversary Set was unveiled over in the Papertrey Gallery!  You can see all of the Design Team Girls' projects there.  The set is one that customers were able to earn for free based on their purchases during 2010.  (The set will not be available for sale.)  It's solely a reward for those purchases made last year and will soon be sent to those customers that earned the set!  Keep an eye out at Nichole's blog for all of the details.

So this is the first card I made using Botanical Silhouettes.  It's a gorgeous and very versatile set!  I can't wait to play with it some more!

For my card, I die cut some rustic cream card stock with the mat stack 5 die and stamped it with a stem and flower, as well as a sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes.  A bit of glitter and a rhinestone were added to the flower and vintage touch tea dye ink was added to the edges of the die cut.  

The mat stack layer was added to a piece of patterned paper from the Sugar Plum collection, and that was adhered to the front of a lavender moon card front.

Along the bottom of the card, I added a strip of plum pudding patterned paper from the 2008 Bitty Dot Basics collection, that I first die cut with the small scalloped border die.  Over that, I adhered a strip of plum pudding twill ribbon.  Tucked into the corner of the card for a small accent, are a couple of stamps I created using the Postmarks stamp set and the postage die.  You might notice a few of the little images for the postage stamps from Postmarks, are mini versions of some of the components from the Botanical Silhouettes set!  Don't you just love it when things coordinate like that?  :)

I hope you've enjoyed today's Botanical Silhouettes card.  I'll be sharing a few more with you in the days ahead!  Did you earn this set?  Are you anxiously awaiting it's arrival on your doorstep?  If so, you're gonna love it!  Nichole always does such an amazing job when designing the yearly anniversary set!

I've got a little something up my sleeve for you tomorrow, so I hope you can stop back by!  ;)

Have a goodie,

{With Sympathy supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, lavender moon, 2008 Bitty Dot Basics, Sugar Plum
Stamps: Botanical Silhouettes, Postmarks
Ink: plum pudding, ripe avocado, vintage touch tea dye
Other: small scallop border die, mat stack 5 die, postage die, plum pudding topnotch twill ribbon, lavender moon button, glitter, Kaiser Scrapbooks rhinestone, corner chomper 

Favorite Things

Hi there!  Happy Tuesday, Peeps.  I've got a few of my favorite things to share with you today.  First up, is a DVD series that I can't say enough good things about.  It's called Downton Abbey and was made for PBS.  I've seen it for sale at Sam's Club or you can buy it on Amazon here.

Now before I begin raving to you about how much I love this series, let me first just say that there are some "adult situations" involved in the story line of this series.....things that you might not want to have to explain yet to your, say, 8 year old.  Obviously, the series was made for PBS so it's "clean" in terms of what you see, but I just wanted to throw that out there in case you want to watch it first to decide if you want to let your kids see it.

That having been said, this series is soooooooo, so good.  My bestie recommended it to me because she knows how much I love to read historical fiction.  She was just sure that I'd enjoy it, and not only did I enjoy it, but Bartley did too!  Now that says a lot, doesn't it?  Haha.  It's a collection of 7 episodes on 3 DVDs (over 6 hours of viewing) and it's interesting enough that you might even be able to get your hubs to watch this one with you like mine did (if you've got a hubs, that is).  

The story centers around a very wealthy family in the early 1900's.....back when telephones and electricity were just being introduced.  It begins with the sinking of the Titanic and the story focuses not only on the wealthy family that lives in the the castle known in the movie as Downton Abbey, but also follows several story lines surrounding the lives of the many servants that work for the family.  I found the stories completely captivating.......I'm not kidding.  You'll totally get sucked in......in a good way.  The clothes are fantastic, the house castle -- unimaginable in it's beauty and size, the plots so enthralling.  I was SO bummed when we got to the end of the 3rd DVD.  In fact, we watched the first few episodes over the course of a few evenings.  But one night, we watched the 4th episode and then the 5th.......and then the 6th, but we were "for sure" going to bed after this one......I'm sure you can see where this is going.  We got to the end of the 6th episode and Bart asked if I wanted to go ahead and watch the last episode (even though it was way past our bedtime).  I left it up to him since he has to get up much earlier in the morning than I do.  He immediately pushed "play".  Haha........granted, he said he was just doing it for ME because he know how much I wanted to watch the last one!  Lol.  Stinker.  He enjoyed them almost as much as me.  

Also, a little side note.....the castle in the movie is actually Highclere Castle in England, owned by a real Lord & Lady.  :)  It's open to the public at various times throughout the year, except....wouldn't you know it.......when we're going to be in England coming up!  Tragic.  Especially after watching the movies, I would have loved to have seen inside the real castle.  Anyway, be sure to watch the "special features" on the DVD for behind-the-scenes looks at the castle, the cast, etc.

One last tidbit for you, to save you stress and anxiety after you watch Downton Abbey and are searching like mad online to find out if the series is continuing.....(not that I speak from experience)....

Downton Abbey will return for an 8-part second season which began filming in March and is scheduled to air sometime this fall, with a Christmas special to follow.  Bart and I may have done an online search the day after we finished the series, hoping to find out if the story would be continuing.  Or we may not have.  :)  Either way, we were thrilled to find out that the story isn't finished and we'll get to see it again this fall.  Trust me, you're gonna want to watch this series.  It's a goodie!

 

   

Ok, so now that spring is {sort of} upon us, (though you wouldn't necessarily know it by looking out my window on this super gray, drizzly day), it's got me reaching for bright reddish-pinks and pinky-purples for my toes.  I have a couple of OPI nail polishes that have been favorites for a few years now, so I thought I might share them with you.  Pompeii Purple is a hot fuchsia pink with purple-y undertones.  And Peru-b-ruby is a bright pink with a touch of red.  Both are bright and summery and just perfect for toes right now!

Purity Made Simple one-step facial cleanser by Philosophy is another beauty product that I've been using for maybe 5 years now.  It's a gentle cleanser that takes off all make-up including eye make-up.  It's a bit on the spendy side, but I buy the gigantor 32oz. bottles so they're a little less per ounce and if you keep an eye out, you can sometimes get free shipping when ordering direct from Philosophy.  Plus the giant bottles come with a pump so they're super handy to keep in the shower.  I love bottles with pumps.  :)

Ok, so that was a completely random smattering of my favorite things!  Ha.  I'll be back with crafty posts for you every day for the rest of the week, so I hope you'll join me tomorrow!

See you soon,

 

P.S.  This is, in no way, a paid endorsement.  Just sharing a few things I love....because I have a feeling some of you might love them too!

Your Studio Storage Questions Answered

Hi there,

Since my previous post on the new cubby storage unit in my studio, I've received quite a few emails and blog comments with questions.....most of the questions being duplicates.  I figured the most efficient thing to do, would be to answer your questions here, all at once.  If you have any other questions, just leave a comment on this post and if I can answer it, I'll come back and edit this post with my answers.  Sound good?

Let's start with the most popular question....  ;)

Q: Where did you get the button jars you're using to store your buttons in?

A: The jars are 1/2 pint (8oz.) Ball canning jars.  They can be purchased in packs of four at Walmart.  I usually pay just under $5 per 4-pack of jars.  They are the perfect size to hold one full bag of Papertrey's buttons.  As you can see in the photo, each jar holds a different color of the buttons.  Not only are they just the right amount of space for all of the buttons in one bag, but the wide mouth on the jar is also perfect for digging thru the buttons when you're searching for just the right one to use on a project!

 

Q: Besides your new cubby where else are you storing all your stamps? In particular wood ones.

A:  The majority of my Papertrey stamps are stored on the bookshelves opposite my desk (click link below to see previous studio tour, including the bookshelves I'm referring to).  All of my Hero Arts stamps are either out on a display shelf (they're so pretty to look at), or they're in a drawer just to conserve space.  As for my Stampin' Up! stamps, I'm in the process of moving them out of the studio because I just haven't been using them and the "real estate" in this room is just too valuable.  If it's in here, I'd like it to be something I use often or something pretty that inspires me.  I haven't decided for sure yet, what I'll do with all of those Stampin' Up! stamps, however I'm considering selling them here.  If that's the route I take, I'll be sure to let you all know.

With the moving of the button jars to their new home and shuffling things around in the studio, as well as purging out some supplies that I'm not currently using, I've still got a few more areas of the studio to get organized.  Once I finish all of that, I'll likely do another studio tour blog post.  This post shows you the last studio tour.  All of the furniture/shelving is still the same in here now, but quite a bit of the crafty supplies have been reorganized since these photos.

Q: Where do you find those little canning jars? I've never seen any quite like that and they look perfect. Also where did you find the candy jars too?

A: Regarding the canning jars, see above.  As for the vintage-style "penny candy jars", those were also purchased at Wal-mart.  They're made by Anchor Hocking and were about $5 or $6 each.  I also have a smaller variety (same jar, just smaller) that I have 3 of, but I don't remember where I got those.  The large jars are perfect for storing all of my Papertrey felt.  I just leave the rolls of felt in the bags they come in (along with any scraps I generate while creating, and then pop the bags right in the penny candy jars.  

Just like the new Pottery Barn cubby, I love storage that is not only functional, but also pretty and inspiring!

Q: Is there an inexpensive sewing machine that you can recommend?

A: I bought my Singer sewing machine maybe 7 or 8 years ago when I couldn't find ready-made curtains for our home that I loved.  I decided to make my own and a friend of mine whose mother is quite a good seamstress came over and taught both her daughter and me how to sew curtains in the style I wanted and with fabric I loved.  That being said, when I initially bought the sewing machine, I needed something that would actually do a good job sewing fabric.  (So I wasn't shopping for a small machine to only sew on paper for cards)  However, we ended up buying this Singer (regularly priced at about $400) on clearance at Wal-mart for $99 or so.  It's Model-2638, though I don't believe they make this exact model anymore.  It was a GREAT deal and it's served me well over the years.  I mostly just use it to sew on cards/paper these days, but I know that it could handle any fabric project I threw at it, with just the addition of a sharp new needle.  All that being said, my advice if you're looking for a sewing machine to use in paper crafting, is to look for "more machine than you might initially need", that is on clearance or a crazy sale.  This way, you're prepared if a fabric project ever comes up, plus, you're likely to be better off in the long run with a quality machine that isn't likely to give you a lot of problems.  Just my two cents.  :)

All righty, Crew.....  

Hope your week is off to a great start!! 

xo,

 

New Studio Storage

Hi there!!  I have been so excited to share some new storage with you that we've recently hung up in the studio.  (And by "we", I really mean "Bart".)  

This is the Cubby Organizer from Pottery Barn.  It comes in two finishes -- weathered white and natural stain.  Obviously, this is the weathered white.  

I fell in love with this cubby last year and Bart surprised me with it for Christmas.  (Yes, 4 months ago)  It's been waiting patiently, all this time, to be hung.....partially because I needed to decide where I wanted it, and partially because Bart doesn't have a lot of time for honey-do's during the sports seasons when he's so busy reffing.  But now that basketball season is behind us and now that I figured out where I wanted to put the beauty, it was time to get it hung up and we found the perfect spot in the studio.  If I'm being honest though, I kinda want another one for the family room.  If I'm being honest.... 

Here's what it looked like, hanging in the studio, right before I filled it up.

The cubby is hanging over the second desk in my studio.  This second desk is just to the right of the large table I work at.....this table is where I sit to use my sewing machine and when I want to use the large computer monitor instead of just my laptop.  

As you can see, the cubbies are the PERFECT size to hold two button jars each.....I love, love, LOVE how well the old-time-y canning jars work with the old-time-y cubbies!  I feel like I get to go shopping for buttons in my own little old-time-y general store every day!  So fun.  Plus, you can see that the cubbies are also perfectly sized to hold CD cases, which is perfect since Papertrey's stamp sets are all stored in......CD cases.  :)  I've got all of the sets that I've designed stored in the cubbies on the bottom left.  And the one cubby on the bottom right holds the Year of Flowers series.  I love that I can change things around as my storage needs change, but for now, I'm loving how much crafty goodness is on display in these cubbies.

On either side of the cubby are a couple of Eiffel Tower art pieces -- the one on the right is actually a bulletin board where I keep several important papers that I reach for often.

Honestly, the cubbies create such an inspiring visual display, that it makes me smile every time I walk in the studio.  Plus, I love that I can change out the items/cards on the top shelf any time, just to change things up a bit.

Not only that, but the cubbies currently house a few "pretties" such as some vintage McCoy pottery and mercury glass but as I need to store more buttons and stamp sets, I can remove the decorative items to allow for additional storage.

And a pretty wall-hanging that Bartley bought me last year.  Actually, we'd seen it in a local crafty store (Urban Arts & Crafts) and I fell in love with it but we didn't buy it.  My sweet hubs went back one day after work and bought it for me, and then brought it home as a surprise!  What a guy.  Anyway, I hadn't decided exactly where I wanted it to go until last weekend either, so while he was already hanging things up, he hung this up for me too.  It's hanging on the wall right above my desk (just to the left of the cubby), so I get to look up at it every day.  You can't see it in the photo, but it's got a hint of glitter on it too......so pretty.  

And below it, on a shelf at the back of my desk, are my old school candy jars filled with Papertrey felt.  Yum!

Wishing you a relaxing weekend.

xo,

Papertrey April Release Projects

Hi there!  

Just poppin' in with the rest of my projects from this month's Papertrey Ink release.  Did you get to order some new goodies yet?  :)  All of the products you've been getting peeks at this week are available for purchase now.  You can see them all here!

First up today is a card featuring the My Hero, My Dad stamp set by Tiffany Pastor.

The leaf prints stamp set and die were also used here, paired with some buttons.  Both buttons came from a bag of dark chocolate buttons!  Ha.  Yes, I know the one on the left isn't remotely dark chocolate, but it came in that bag and it certainly worked well for this card!  It's just been hanging out in the dark chocolate button jar waiting for just the right purpose.  :)  

The 2011 stamp is from Heather Nichols' new Library Ledger Year Additions set.

Next up,a fun little number showcasing Tag-Its #3 by Heather Nichols.  Both the sentiment and circle wreath are from that set.  

I also added some Damask Designs to the die cut leaves just for kicks.  :)  Plus, can I just say that it's really fun to make your own little fluffy, layered flowers in whatever colors, papers, felt, buttons, twine, etc. that you'd like?  I kinda dig it.  

Sending you sunshine......I love that.

I couldn't resist adding a bit of melon berry felt, die cut with my Rick Rack Die, along the bottom of the card, as well as some scallops and a bit of stitching.

This one features Grunge Me by Tiffany Pastor paired with the guitar from Lisa Johnson's Boy Basics: Rock On.  

Love those paint splatter stamps, paired with torn paper and the texture of the brads.

Totally had my rock star brother in mind when I made this one.  

This birthday card was made for my brother-in-law, using Ad Sense by Lisa Johnson plus some Boy Basics: Simple Circles, also by Lisa.

The "sign" image has a coordinating die - shown here - as well as the cute little "limited edition!" image and die.

The circles were stamped on some white card stock die cut with the coordinating Simple Circles Border die.

And lastly for today, a little boy birthday card using Train Tracks by Beth Silaika.  The images were all stamped with versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder and then colored in with Copic markers for a bit of added dimension.

Brads added to the center of each wheel, made for a really fun finishing detail.  

Have you got big weekend plans?  I'll be back tomorrow to show you pictures of some new storage I recently put to use in the studio.....I love, love it!  Can't wait to show you.

See you then.....

{Happy Father's Day! supplies}
Paper: kraft, rustic cream, dark chocolate
Stamps: My Hero, My Dad, Leaf Prints, Library Ledger Year Additions
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: mat stack 1 die, leaf prints die, dark chocolate buttons, rustic cream button twine, Making Memories brads 

{Sending You Sunshine supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, berry sorbet, dark chocolate, pure poppy
Stamps: Tag-Its #3, It's Official, Damask Designs
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy, berry sorbet
Other: Spiral Notebook Page die, Turning a New Leaf dies, Beautiful Blooms II #1 die, Flower Fusion #3 die, small scallop border die, rick rack die, pure poppy button, poppy baker's twine, melon berry felt, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls, sewing machine/thread, corner chomper 

{You Rock supplies}
Paper: stamper's select white, soft stone, guide lines grid, smokey shadow
Stamps: Boy Basics: Rock On, Grunge Me
Ink: true black, smokey shadow, pure poppy
Other: Rock On die, Making Memories brads 

{Limited Edition Happy Birthday supplies}
Paper: kraft, stamper's select white, dark chocolate
Stamps: Ad Sense, Boy Basics: Simple Circles
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy, hawaiian shores
Other: Ad Sense dies, Simple Circles Border die, Making Memories brads 

{Happy Birthday Train supplies}
Paper: new leaf, dark chocolate
Stamps: Train Tracks
Ink: versamark, dark chocolate
Other: clear embossing powder, Making Memories brads, Copic markers (YG91, YG93, YG17), paper piercer/mat