PTI's Make It Monday

Good evening! I'm back after the fall/winter long-haul at work.  The run from mid-November to December is absolute insanity. I didn't even think about trying to blog.  But I really missed it and promised myself to get back to it in the new year.

Thus, here I am!

I was cruising through the blogosphere yesterday and stumbled across this week's Make it Monday Challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog.  I always love the cards she makes with this incredible rainbow patterns, whether die cut or stamped.  She made this week's challenge a how-to on using these patterns and even supplied us with a few tried and true color combos! Score!

I pulled out one of my scalloped dies and went to town.  I added some score tape and glitter to give it a little pizazz and a simple light gray sentiment.

Sorry for the non-chatty post. I have so much to say, but am lacking in energy. Still suffering from a bit  of jet lag (hello Australia!) from my winter break adventure. More on that to come. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Inside & Out- Thank You
Paper- Whisper White, Soft Stone, Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Summer Sun, Ripe Avocado, Ocean Tides
Ink-Going Gray
Accessories- glitter, dimensionals, score tape

Stamp-a-Faire- Knots

After a quick lunch break, I'm back with card number two for Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire. I am having such a blast playing along with the challenges and earning some badges!

Speaking of badges, this second card also helped me earn my first badge. Yay! This challenge was all about ribbon and using ribbon in new, fun, familiar, and exciting ways on our cards.

I chose to work with Dawn's challenge since it was a bit nostalgic for me. When I was first getting into stamping and blogging, I stunk at tying bows. Terrible.  Even the memory of some of my first months of cards makes me shiver.  Dawn had posted a how-to video waaay back when and I must have watch that ribbon-tying video at least a dozen times.  Armed with ribbon in hand, I practiced and practiced... And goodness, I'm so glad I did!  


Thanks Dawn for the fun challenge!


The roomie and I are off to a friend's house for a little bit to take part in some Christmas in July movie madness! We're lining up some of the BEST cheesy Christmas movies and dreaming of cooler weather. Sounds perfect!

I'll be back to the stamping this evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Tag-Its #1, Inside & Out- Thank You, Mat Stack 4 Collection
Paper- Smokey Shadow, Whisper White, Aqua Mist Pattern Pack, Aqua Mist
Ink- Basic Gray, Aqua Mist
Accessories- Turning a New Leaf die, ribbon, dimensionals, nestabilities, Mat Stack 4 die, score tool

Stamp-a-Faire- Make-n-Take

Good morning stamping friends!  I am up a little earlier than normal this morning to take part in Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire.  A day when the stamping community "goes to stamp camp" in the comfort of our own homes (and air-conditioning!).

Nichole started bright and early (hello 7a.m. on the east coast!) and I most definitely was not up at 4a.m. stamping.  Nope.  Not during the summer! I mozied on out of bed around 9 o'clock!  I figured the stamping could wait for me. :)

Our first warm-up challenge was a make-n-take.  Nichole gave us all of the card paper colors, dimensions, and instructions to get us crafting. I, unfortunately, don't have the featured stamp set (yet!), so I pulled out my other favorite floral set, Rosie Posie.  I think I could use this stamp set on every card. Love!  I stamped the largest flower, and since it didn't have any middle stamping options, I got a little creative with my copic markers, adding some highlighting with a few oranges and pinks.  I have to admit that I have never used copics on top of solid stamps before. I can proudly admit that I am a new convert! 

I pulled out leaves from Turning a New Leaf, little dots from Harvest Berries, and a sentiment from Signature Greetings. I am usually not a Raspberry Fizz paper fan, but I love how this card turned out! 

Thanks for the warm up, Nichole! 

Next, off to earn my first "summer stamp camp" badge! Yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: Rosie Posie, Turning a New Leaf, Harvest Berries, Signature Greetings

Paper- Raspberry Fizz, Whisper White, Velum

Ink- Orange Zest, Memento Tuxedo Black, Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose

Accessories- score tool, score tape, corner rounder punch

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge- Sketch #2

Good morning. It's a Disneyland day here, and I'm heading out a little later this morning to partake of some Disney tension-relief. My roomie is playing there a little later today in Carnation Plaza, and I'm going to support her in the audience as well as have a little unwinding time with good friends and family both before and after.

But before I depart, I have this card to share with you. This was another card created last night for yesterday's challenges over on Nichole Heady's blog. I wasn't so sure about this sketch at first... Not a lot to work with. But I ended up loving the minimal work involved! It was a quick and easy card once the dp was picked out. Which, of course, once more is CC Social Club. I can't stop using this paper!

I used an ek success punch for the ridged top (really need to find my pinking shears...), some sewing machine action (first try at the wonky sewing!), and ended up adding a little asymmetrical action to the sentiment. Along with some time and a button because the sentiment felt lonely.

It's supposed to be an overcast, dreary, drizzly day. Love it! It's the perfect Disneyland weather: It keeps the crowds down. lol

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Signature Greetings
Paper- Ripe Avocado, Vintage Cream, Bitty Dot dp (simple chartreuse), Cosmo Cricket Social Club dp
Ink- Basic Black
Accessories- twine, button, sewing machine, ek success punch

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge- Sketch #1

Good evening! I'm popping in with a card I whipped up for today's challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog. She gave us five sketches to play along with to help celebrate Papertrey's Anniversary (and there are prizes!), and after staring and staring at the sketches, finally decided to give this one a go. Mostly, the color purple was speaking to me tonight, and I felt the call of my rustic dots dp, which meant I needed a sketch that would accommodate both. :)

This was a pretty simple card to throw together. Not many layers, only a little bit of embellishing, some stitching, and voila! I used Bitty Baby Blessings and paper pieced the pram, as well as used a few copic markers to be the accent colors. The poor bottom half of my card felt like it was missing out on all of the love, so I added some stickles dots along the bottom of the chevron. The perfect little bit of bling for a baby girl card without drawing too much attention away from the main image. The picture doesn't do the sparkle justice. Oh, and please ignore the wonky stitching along the bottom. I totally spaced on which way my sewing machine feeds (my head is definitely NOT attached to my body these days....) and ended up creating a rather crazy line in the moment of panic when it started feeding the opposite direction that I was anticipating. Sheesh.

I am looking forward to be "all there" again. The last week and one half has been rough in that department. I feel like I have simply been going through the motions, lackluster. Sleep is still tough. I keep having momentary panic attacks when in the "in between phase," between sleep and awake. That's when I remember my grandma is gone... And it stops my heart. I'm panicked. Devastated. Inconsolable. Every time. I have to calm myself, pray, ask for peace so that I can sleep. And then it happens again.... *sigh*

Being awake is, somehow, easier. I find myself praying and talking to God all throughout the day. As a friend. A father. A comfort. Is there a way to pray in my sleep?

Ugh, sorry for the emotion outpouring. Typing it out somehow feels therapeutic. Cathartic. Have I ever mentioned to you that I process out loud? My poor mom and roomie bear the brunt of this little personality trait. Thanks for being the listening ear tonight.

May the rest of your Friday find you blessed and loved. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Bitty Baby Blessings
Paper- Lavendar Moon, Vintage Cream, Plum Pudding, Rustic Dots dp
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories- buttons, twine, copic markers, tea dye stains. stickles, sewing machine, nestabilities

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge- Color

Good morning! I'm still furiously trying to keep up with the slough of challenges being posted over on Nichole Heady's blog to help celebrate Papertrey's Anniversary. Yesterday, the challenge was of the color variety. Ugh, how I struggle with these! I need a sketch! I need a source of inspiration! I stare at color and freak. out. To help myself along, I went ahead and printed the inspiration page and took it over to my stash of dp to see what would match ANY of them. Thankfully, I found one. One!

All of the papers on this card come from one paper pad. I found a sketch that I thought would accommodate such a variety of colors (aka- lots of panels!) and got down to business. And this particular business took me for-ev-er. Ugh. But it's done. I'm laying it to rest. The color combo scared me, I used it, and I'm moving on! lol

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Harvest Berries, Inside & Out: Birthdays
Paper- Smokey Shadow, Canyon Clay, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye 6x6 Darling Dear
Ink- Basic Gray
Accessories- baker's twine, buttons, dimensionals, Harvest Berries die

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge- Day 2, con't

Good morning. I have another card to share with you that I made for yesterday's challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog. In honor of Papertrey's 5th Anniversary, we had to create a card using one of the downloadable images and at least one other PTI product.

I chose to work with Heather Nichols's little birdie image. I added some red to the polka dots and flower with a copic marker to help it match the dp just a little bit more.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers this morning as we are having the graveside burial service this morning. Appropriately, it is raining. Emotions will be running high once more, but I think we are all glad that this is the last service and we can go on remembering instead of mourning and crying.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- None!
Paper- Ocean Tides, Fine Linen, Pure Poppy, Cosmo Cricket Social Club dp
Ink- None!
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, copic marker, jewel, PTI digital download

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge- Day 2

Good afternoon! I am so excited to play along with a few of the challenges being held this week over on Nichole Heady's blog in honor of Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary! I was unable to play along yesterday, but wanted to join in with today's challenge.

Today, we had to choose one (or more) of the downloadable images and use it on our card along with at least one other Papertrey product. Easy peasy. Other than the little bit of bling on my card and one circle nestie, every single product I used is from Papertrey: cardstock, ink, die cuts, ribbon, twine, buttons...

I started by choosing my image and then pulling out a bunch of dp that pulled colors from the image. This is definitely a color combo a bit out of my comfort range, but I'm so glad I went for it! Quite frankly, Raspberry Fizz usually scares me... It's SO bright! But toned down around some Melon Berry and Pure Poppy, it looks so much nicer. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies-
Stamps- Mat Stack 2 Collection
Paper- Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Melon Berry, Dotti Biscotti dp, Pretty Pastels dp
Ink- Pure Poppy
Accessories- ribbon, twine, buttons, dimensionals, nestabilities, Mat Stack 2 die, jewels

PTI Color Challenge- 4

I have one last card for the Papertrey Release color challenges. I submitted it long ago, but forgot to share it with you! This was Nichole's color combo, which was definitely a stretch for me, but that's why I chose to work with it. In a really sick way, I enjoy a color challenge that scares me, lol.


I kept things really clean and simple since these colors were so bold. I popped up the birdcage to allow the ribbon to run behind it, and to compete with the crazy dimension of the wrinkled ribbon (a new favorite ribbon treatment!). I added a strip of jewels to the bottom of the cage for some bling. The celebrate sentiment is from Mat Stack 2 Collection.

I'm off to Reno this weekend to go visit a dear friend, as well as attend an Elton John concert! So stinkin' excited! Elton John! It's President's Weekend here in the US, so we have a three-day weekend, and I'm taking full advantage of it, because there are no more breaks until Spring Break in April. Gotta squeeze my travelling in where I can.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Love Birds, Mat Stack 2 Collection (PTI)
Paper- Vintage Cream, Kraft, Melon Berry
Ink- Close to Cocoa, Melon Berry
Accessories- ribbon, jewels, scallop edge punch, dimensionals, tea dye stains

PTI Color Challenge- 3

It's me again. I'm back with yet another card for the PTI color challenge. This color combo comes straight from Melissa Phillips. Such a gorgeous combo... And it naturally made me think of leaves and flowers. I think that darn Hibiscus Burst is determined to grow on me with all of these color challenges. I do have to admit that I don't mind it so much on this card. Perhaps because it's the flower color, and it's nicely balanced out by some greens (which are complimentary colors).

Blooming Button Bits got dusted off for this card. A few buttons, pink jewels, a sneaky sentiment off of the side, ribbon color with my copics. Did I mention I don't like HB... I don't own any ribbon or buttons in this color... So where did the buttons come from? Sweet Blush and (don't tell) Raspberry Fizz. Sneaky, sneaky.

I'm benchmarking kids today, which I have to sickly admit I always enjoy. I have a sub, which allows me to sit and read one on one with each of my kiddos. This middle of the year benchmark is my favorite... Growth is SO visible. It's also relaxing to sit and read all day instead of teach, hehe.

Here's hoping your day has a few moments to relax. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages
Paper- Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Whisper White, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- Old Olive, Spring Moss
Accessories- ribbon, copics, jewels, buttons, medium scallop die (PTI)

PTI Color Challenge- 2

Good evening! I'm back with my second card for the color challenge issued over on Nichole's blog to help celebrate Papertrey's anniversary. This combo was a little tricky, but I wanted to try it out. I'm not sure this is my most favorite card I have ever created, but I got tired of fiddling with it. I think it's the dp in the background... It may be just a tad too busy. Am I being overly critical?! lol

Well, and there's Hibiscus Burst on here, with most definitely is not my favorite color. I usually avoid it all all costs! It's just so... bright! It's the same reason I never like SU's Melon Mambo. (Wow, I'm a whiner tonight!).

I'm keeping this post short. It's off to dinner for me, and then back to stamping to try and get a few more cards in before the deadline in the wee hours of the morning.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Giga Guide Lines
Paper- Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel, Hibiscus Burst, Distressed Dots dp, Razzleberry Fizz dp
Ink- Crushed Curry
Accessories- ribbon, scallop edge punch, jewels, Mat Stack 1 die

Sweet Sunday Sketch #103

Good evening (night!). I'm sneaking in tonight with a late post so that I can play along with Papertrey's release challenges. Nichole issued a color challenge to us all tonight and we only have one day to complete it! Eek! I'm hoping to have some more time tomorrow afternoon/evening to make a few more cards for the challenge, but I'm pretty proud of myself for finishing one tonight before bed. :)
This color combo was from Maile Belles. So soft and gorgeous, isn't it? It immediately made me think of a baby card (what doesn't these days?!), and that's what it ended up being. Four out of the five college roommates are getting together this weekend to have a baby shower for J (one of the four). I've been needing a card to go along with my gift and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to whip one up. Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch also worked wonderfully with this card. I'm so glad to have that big circle with a rectangle on top! Phew! lol

I stuck with some twine in lieu of ribbon, and stamped the horizontal panel with some Crushed Curry and Text Style. I love the subtle effect that the yellow created! The buttons are also Harvest Gold (isn't that swirly one amazing?!).

Thanks all from me! It's off to bed. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Itty Bitty Blessings
Paper- Kraft, Fine Linen, Pretty Pastels dp, Distressed Dots
Ink- Plum Pudding, Crushed Curry
Accessories- twine, buttons, nestabilities, dimensionals

Sweet Sunday Sketch #59

Good evening! Phew am I glad today is over. It was a really windy day down here in So Cal, and that equals crazy kids. Something about the wind always winds them up... We were all fighting today, lol. Then after school it was straight off to a union meeting regarding our RIF notices. There's nothing quite as fun as sitting for two hours and listening to how your job is on the line, lol. But I know they are on my side and will do all they can to fight for our jobs.

I came home to work on report cards, all determined, ready, and in the mood to crank them out only to discover that our website is down due to problems and they are running a fix as we speak. Who knows when I'll get on there tonight.... Grrr! At least I know I'm not the only one frustrated tonight.

So, what's a girl to do with some unexpected free time, lol?! Why, Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch! I really wanted to give this one a try, but was stumped on colors for some reason. So I cruised through some older color challenges I had saved for future use and stumbled across this one. This color combo was actually one of the challenges from Nichole Heady's blog back in early February. I never got around to playing around with it at the time, so it was good to conquer it tonight.

I suppose I should jump back over to our school website and see if they have finally fixed our online report card program. I really would love to get some serious work done on mine tonight... Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- Verve: Serenity, PTI: Turning a New Leaf
Paper- Enchanted Evening, Spring Rain, Aqua Mist, Rustic White, Kraft
Ink- Enchanted Evening, Bashful Blue
Accessories- ribbon, button, twine, ek success edge punch, tea dye ink, jewels

Viva la Verve!

I'm back with my first Viva la Verve card for the month of February. I'm slightly behind on these (eek!)... It's definitely time to catch up. I noticed that week 2's sketch and inspiration pictures lined up perfect with another Papertrey color challenge! Yay for killing two birds with one stone!

For this month's Viva la Verve, we're walking through dining rooms. And I tell ya, the inspiration pictures that Amber finds for use are absolutely stunning! I think I'm going to use another one of the pictures for this week as my week one inspiration picture. I loved the colors in it!

I really needed some craft buttons, lol. But I had to make due with Aqua Mist... which wasn't too bad since I found these really neat buttons in my Aqua Mist stash: shapes, glitter, and texture! I'm working some more on my tying bows with one single piece of ribbon... I think I'm getting the hang of it. This is my first one that actually resembles one from Dawn's tutorial, hehe. I originally had my sentiment on a little tag to hang off of the bow, but it just didn't feel right there. I chopped off the "tag" portion and turned it into a little rectangle and stuck it in the bottom corner.

Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Blooming Button Bits, Giga Guide Lines, Mega Mixed Messages
Paper- Very Vanilla, Kraft, Bitty Dots dp
Ink- Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Aqua Mist
Accessories- buttons, ribbon, nestabilities

Sweet Sunday Sketch #55

Good evening! Sorry for the long silence. I took a little trip up to Portland, Oregon to do some wedding dress shopping with my sister. She's getting married this summer and the shopping had to be done as soon as possible... Which was this last weekend.

What a blast the weekend was! It was so incredible to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. My mom and Sue (mom-in-law) were also there for the shopping. We actually found her dress at the first store, but did the dutiful other store shopping just to make sure she had really found "the one." It's gorgeous and I so wish I could post a picture! Let's just say it is absolutely perfect for my sister. :)

I've so missed my stamping! I haven't made a card in almost a week. Sitting at the Delong's house in Washington yesterday, I promised myself I would make one today. Thank goodness there were tons of inspiration launching points out there just waiting for me! I began with a fun color challenge from Nichole Heady over on her Papertrey Ink blog. I chose her color combo as it really struck me as visually interesting, a challenge, but doable. hehe I think I'm definitely going to play around with this one a bit more! I love the richness of it!
Secondly, I headed on over to Karen Giron's blog to check out this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch. Love it! And so perfect for a color challenge. Just the right amount of panels. Since this was a PTI challenge, I pulled out some PTI stamps (yes, more button bits!), and stamped away. The polka dots and raspberry leaves were done using Versamark.

Thanks so much for stopping by and putting up with my mini vacation!
Supplies- Stamps- PTI: Turning a New Leaf, Polka Dot Basics, Blooming Button Bits, Mega Mixed Messages
Paper- Scarlett Jewel, Raspberry Fizz, Terracotta Tile, Dark Chocolate, Very Vanilla
Ink- Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, nestabilities, dimensionals, EK Success edge punch