Peaceful Lane

Meal Plan for Primal Living

2012-01-02T16:49:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I'm enjoying this last day of vacation with my kids and husband. I'm going to be very sad to see them go back to work/school, I love having them home here with me. The house is just too quiet when they're all gone.

I thought I would give you some ideas of what kinds of things my family eats now that we're living a Primal lifestyle.

First let me say that eating whole foods definitely takes a bit more planning and preparation than getting your meals from a box, bag, or from a take out restaurant. I certainly have mixed feelings about that fact. Some days I enjoy spending lots of time in the kitchen, with the pay off being delicious, healthy meals for my family. But there are times when I don't even want to step foot in my kitchen, and that makes this lifestyle a bit more challenging. I realize that many of you work full time, and don't have the amount of time to dedicate to cooking that I do. I hope that you'll find some workable ideas in the information that I post here.

One thing that I've started to do is to dedicate 2 nights a week where I make the same meal, each and every week. For example, every Sunday I now make a pot roast. This is my families favorite meal, so they don't mind eating it every week. The other weekly meal we have are cheeseburgers made from grass fed beef. Again, my family loves them and doesn't mind eating them once a week. The reason I'm telling you this is that I've found that by doing this, there are 2 meals each week that I don't have to even THINK about! I don't know about you, but part of what I don't like about cooking is feeling like I always have to come up with something new. That's certainly not how I grew up, my mom repeated meals quite often, but for some reason I worry that my family will get bored if I cook the same things over and over again. So even though yes, I do still have to cook these 2 meals, the only thought I need to put into it is pulling the meat out of the freezer, and making sure I have vegetables in the house to serve with it. Get the idea? I suggest you try doing this with your families favorites.

Now I'm going to list some of the foods we typically eat, broken into sections by BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, and SNACKS.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast might be one of the more difficult meals to wrap your head around if you've decided to give up grains. Believe me, my family (especially my kids), LOVED their cereal before we started eating like this. And it was "convenient" for mom. But we've all adjusted quite nicely without it, and are healthier for doing so.
EGGS: Most mornings that's what we eat for breakfast. Whether it be scrambled, fried, or omelets, with added veggies, meat, or with cheese melted over top, eggs are our go to breakfast. My 15 year old son, who gets up earlier than the rest of us, has been cooking his own eggs on school days for several years now. It's an easy dish to teach older kids how to make for themselves. I still cook my daughters eggs each morning for her before school, she's not quite as reliable in the kitchen yet ;) Also, there are many make-ahead recipes like this one, that you can have ready and waiting in the fridge or freezer.
YOGURT: I buy 2 kinds of yogurt, the raw milk whole stuff from the farm, and Chobani Greek individual servings with fruit. I love the convenience of the Chobani Greek, even though it does contain some sugar. I don't eat it, but my kids do and I'd rather have them eating something that I consider fairly healthy like Greek yogurt with some sugar in it than other things they could be eating. My husband and I love the raw milk yogurt! I usually stir in some berries, sliced almonds, coconut, and a bit of stevia to sweeten.
SMOOTHIES/SHAKES: Almost every morning I make myself what I call a "coffee shake". For the past few months I've been on a pumpkin coffee shake kick. To make it, I pour a cup of milk in my blender (raw milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or unsweetened almond milk), a spoon of instant coffee granules, a couple of big spoons of canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, pure vanilla extract, and stevia to taste. I top it off with a bunch of ice cubes, and then blend (the more ice cubes you use the thicker it will be). I LOVE this drink. Some mornings if I don't feel like cooking eggs I add a couple of raw eggs to the blender too. I have no qualms about consuming raw eggs because I know where my eggs come from. Plus I've been eating raw eggs my whole life (cookie dough, cake batter anyone?) Adding the eggs makes a complete meal, and one that I can take with me in the car if I need to. My other favorite coffee shake is made with milk, coffee granules, cocoa powder, a couple of drops of peppermint oil, and stevia to taste, along with the ice cubes. Peppermint mocha shake; delicious! There are tons of fruit and vegetable smoothie and shake recipes on the internet, many of them completely primal friendly. A favorite of my kids is plain yogurt, frozen bananas and strawberries, and sweetener if necessary (honey perhaps?) I've also been experimenting with green smoothies lately, and have been really enjoying them.
CAVEMAN CRUNCH: I made this recipe a few days ago as a kind of substitute for cereal, and my kids LOVE it! Just make sure to teach them about serving size, 1/3 cup is very filling!!
PANCAKES: Yes, you can still have things like this, although personally it's not something I would eat everyday. But there tons of recipes on the internet (just google paleo pancakes), and you'll find plenty of recipes to try.
LEFTOVERS: This is something that I didn't do before I started eating primal, but now I do it all the time. I simply eat leftovers of what I had for dinner last night. There are no rules regarding breakfast, nothing that says you must eat "breakfast food". Just as I love sometimes eating breakfast foods for dinner, nowadays I don't mind at all eating dinner food for breakfast!

LUNCH

I will admit that my kids still buy the school lunches. They just do not want to pack, and I don't force them to. I figure that at least they're eating much healthier at home, and if the time comes that they say, "Mom, I really want to pack a healthy lunch", I will be more than happy to do that for them. As for me, many days I don't even eat lunch to be honest. If I'm not hungry, which some days I'm not because I ate a late, big, filling breakfast, then I just skip lunch. I'm not afraid of skipping meals anymore after learning about this concept. When I do eat lunch more often than not it's something fairly light like a salad or a cup of soup (Primal friendly, of course). I often cook myself liver for lunch too, I LOVE it, and since my kids are only so so on it I do them the favor of not making them eat it too often. Btw, I tried lamb's liver for the first time last week, and I have to tell you that it is THE BEST liver I've ever tasted!! It's very very mild in flavor, and the texture wasn't as mealy/grainy as some other livers. I highly recommend that if you like liver but have never tasted it to give it a try!

DINNER

Our dinners these days usually consist of some kind of meat or seafood, and at least 2 different kinds of vegetables, often one of them being a more starchy veg such as sweet potatoes. Some of my family favorites are roasts (beef or pork), roast chicken, broiled salmon, and burgers. I've also found myself making tons of soups and stews in the colder weather. Often I make them in my crock pot. Just add any meat to your crock pot (nitrate free smoked sausage, ground beef, beef cubes, cubes of raw chicken, ham cubes, etc.), then add lots of chopped veggies such as carrots, celery, onions, turnips, mushrooms, kale, tomatoes, really any combination that you think would taste good together, then fill the pot with some good stock, and any herbs you like. I do this at least twice a week, and I love using the crock pot so I can get it started in the morning and not have to worry about it all day! You can even prepare (chop) everything the night before and have it ready to start cooking in the morning. Other ideas for meals are things like paleo shepherds pie, meatza, paleo meatballs or meatloaf. There are literally thousands of paleo/primal recipes floating around the internet, and I feel certain as you search you'll be able to find things your family will love.

SNACKS

Gosh, what to do if you can't eat a pretzel or cracker lol! There are lots of delicious, primal foods that are out there that you can snack on. Some of my family favorites are cubes of raw milk cheese, string cheese, beef sticks and beef jerky from the farmer's market (made without nitrates, MSG, or other additives), fresh fruit and veggies, yogurt, nuts and seeds, nut butter (it's delicious on apple slices!), trail mix, smoothies, hard boiled eggs and deviled eggs, pickles and olives, and kale chips. My Pinterest Paleo/Primal board has tons of great snack ideas on it, check it out!

The laundry is calling me, so I'm going to have to stop here. Please feel free to ask me any questions you like in the comments section and I'll answer you as best I can.

Resources for Primal living

2011-12-29T13:58:00.003-05:00

So how about some tips and resources for the post I did a couple of days ago? If you didn't read that post and would like to, here's the link.

First of all, some resources.

Eat Wild   Check here to find local sources for grass fed foods.

Local Harvest    Another resource for finding local sources for organic, real food.

Real Milk   Check here to find where you can buy real (raw) milk.

Mark's Daily Apple One of the best sources I've found for information. They also have a huge, active forum where you can ask questions.

Amazon   I was amazed to learn about all the health products you can buy on Amazon!!! I'm linking you here to the coconut oil I use. I've also bought coconut flakes, coconut flour, and many other food products from Amazon. They offer great prices and fast, free shipping on many items.

US Wellness Meats    I've ordered several times from this company. The products I ordered (chuck roast bundle, liverwurst, and beef sticks) were of excellent quality and the shipping was fast.   I suggest signing up for their newsletter. In addition to informative articles it will notify you of their sales.

In addition to the above resources, I subscribe to a number of blogs that regularly offer great recipes and information. Some of these blogs are strictly paleo/primal, some follow similar eating plans such as GAPS or WAP. The ones I'm listing are some of my favorites (in no particular order), but there are MANY more out there!

Nom Nom Paleo

elanaspantry

The Food Lover's Primal Palate

Cave Girl Eats

Everyday Paleo

Paleo Parents

Nourished Kitchen

Cheeseslave

The Clothes Make the Girl

Multiply Delicious

Food Renegade

Healthy Living How To

Health-Bent

This Primal Life

Balanced Bites

Purely Primal

Daily Bites

If you are a part of the Pinterest community, look me up there, I have a board dedicated to paleo/primal recipes. I think I'm soon going to divide that board into 2 separate boards, savory and sweet, so the recipes will be easier to find. I've discovered A LOT of great paleo/primal blogs on Pinterest by subscribing to others who link to paleo/primal blogs. It's a great resource!

I think I'm going to stop here for now. Lee Anne requested some sample menu plans, and I will do that for you over the next few days. Have a good one :)

I

My New Life

2011-12-27T13:13:00.001-05:00

Today's post will be filled with lots of reading. I know that many of you won't be interested in taking the time to read, and that's OK. But I have something that's happened in my life that I'm very excited about, and I wanted to take the time and tell you about it. It's changed my life, and if it can change even one of my reader's lives, that will make me very happy!

As some of you know, the past few years have been very difficult for me physically. It seemed that when I turned the big "50", my body started to fail me BIG TIME! I've spent the past few years going through an endless round of X-rays, MRI's, spinal injections, physical therapy, chiropractic treatments, and doctor visits. What all of these things revealed was that I had osteoarthritis in many parts of my body. In my neck and lower back, in my shoulders, knees, hands and feet. I was a walking bundle of misery. In addition to this, I was entering that wonderful time of life known as menopause! I was experiencing all of the typical symptoms of menopause including hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, headaches and weight gain. Also, my depression was getting worse, and my energy had left the building. I spent many months feeling pretty darned hopeless about my life and my future.

Fast forward to August of 2011. During this time I was discovering some new recipe blogs through Pinterest. I don't remember exactly which blog I first saw this one particular website mentioned on, but I'll be eternally thankful I did! The website that taught me a new way of living is Mark's Daily Apple. The "Mark" of Mark's Daily Apple is Mark Sisson, who developed a way of eating/fitness/lifestyle, called The Primal Blueprint. Mark's approach to health is similar to a paleolithic lifestyle, but it's a bit less stringent, which is why I think it appealed to me. About the same time I discovered Mark's Daily Apple, I came across a review of a new book that was out called Wheat Belly. The concepts addressed in this book fit in quite nicely with Mark's primal way of eating, and the combination of these things convinced me to give it a try. Certainly losing some weight would be a good thing for me, but I was even more interested in experiencing the health benefits of this way of eating. I'm including a link here to many of Mark's "definitive guides to..." posts that will supply you with tons of information should you be interested in reading further. I also have lots of links in my text below to explain things more fully.

Here is some basic information on what I am and am not eating these days:

The foods/food groups that I have totally eliminated from my diet, or 99% eliminated (a girl does have to eat out sometimes, and it can be difficult to find great, whole foods when doing so), are:

grains
sugar
industrial oils
processed foods

So what do I eat these days?

MEAT:
I eat grass fed beef and lamb, pastured chicken, turkey, and eggs, and pork from happy piggies (nitrate, MSG, and additive free). I also eat lots of liver, which I discovered is really a super food! I'm very lucky to live near a farm that is dedicated to producing these wonderful products. If you can find, at the very least, a farm where you can buy pastured eggs, you will be doing your family a big favor. For those who might say they could not afford to eat these products, I can honestly say that all the money I save avoiding my off limit foods listed above more than pays for good, whole, healthy foods!

FISH:
I eat a variety of fresh/frozen fish and seafood. I also supplement with cod liver oil.

VEGETABLES:
I think I eat more vegetables now than I've ever eaten in my life! Kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, spinach, romaine, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, beets, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, cucumbers, OK, I think you get the idea, I haven't met a vegetable yet that I do not like if it's prepared properly! I buy organic when possible.

FRUIT:
I don't eat tons of fruit (I think I make up for that in my vegetable consumption however), but when I do eat fruit it tends to be berries (all kinds), apples, melons, and citrus fruits.

FAT:
I eat A LOT of fat. This makes sense because if you eliminate all grains from your diet you have to make up the calories somewhere. If you take the time to research this you will learn that healthy fats are a very important part of the diet (contrary to conventional wisdom). I eat and cook with extra virgin coconut oil, lard and beef tallow, olive oil, avocado, seeds, nuts and nut butters.

DAIRY:
On the Primal Blueprint dairy is allowed if you can tolerate it. One thing I learned is that many people who cannot tolerate pasteurized dairy products CAN tolerate raw dairy products. This is because there's something in raw milk that allows your body to deal with the lactose in milk, but this substance is destroyed in the pasteurization process. Hence why some people are "lactose intolerant". My family has switched to almost all raw dairy products that I buy at a local farm. Raw milk, cream, butter, yogurt, and cheeses. I'd never even tasted raw dairy before discovering The Primal Blueprint, and I have to tell you that it is absolutely DELICIOUS!

MISC:
I try and eat a variety of fermented foods. I've learned through my research that these things are good for our bodies. I also make bone broth, and drink it often. I occasionally partake in a nice glass of red wine, and some dark (70% or darker) chocolate (these 2 items are allowable on The Primal Blueprint, and do have some health benefits). When I need a sweetener for something, my choices are stevia, raw honey, or pure maple syrup.

Now I would like to tell you about some of the AMAZING health benefits I've experienced since I started following the Primal Blueprint on Sept. 1st:

1. I've lost 25 pounds (and that's over the holidays, folks), and have never once felt deprived doing it! And along with those pounds I've lost the horrible cravings for sugar and grains that used to plague me!

2. The pain in my joints is GONE!!! I was facing a knee replacement operation because of the pain I was in, now that has been postponed indefinitely.

3. ALL of my menopause symptoms have vanished, and I am no longer using the hormone cream I had been using to tame my symptoms.

4. I had been taking 2 different anti-depression medications to help with the depression I was suffering. I am currently just taking one of those medications, and at half dose of what I had been. Soon I will cut that dose in half again, and if I still feel terrific I will try to go without the medication altogether. I never thought this would be possible! My moods are very steady and even these days!

5. I have an abundance of energy. I used to HATE exercise, but now look forward to my daily walks.

6. I sleep more soundly.

7. My acne and rosacea have cleared up, and my skin and hair have a healthy glow they didn't have before.

I've given you A LOT of information here, yet I haven't even scratched the surface of all the information that is out there. Believe me, I've spent the past few months reading voraciously! But it's totally been worth it. The quality of the life I'm living now is leaps and bounds above what I was experiencing just a few short months ago. I wouldn't trade what has happened to me for all the world. Instead of dreading the aging process, I now look forward to my health improving as time goes by. What more can one ask for?

If you have questions for me please feel free to ask them in the comments section below and I'll answer you there, or shoot me an email. At some point I might do a post of some of the helpful resources I've discovered over the past few months.

More tags

2011-12-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

I have 2 more tags to show you using the technique that I linked to in this blog post. Once again I ask you to please excuse the blurry photos, I can't wait until my good camera is fixed!

For the tag below, I first used a stencil and Tea Dye distress ink for the diamond shape in the background. Then I stamped with Old Paper distress ink using a Waltzingmouse text stamp. Next I stamped the flower with leaves (a Unity stamp), using Fired Brick and Peeled Paint distress stains. The brown center of the flower was also done with distress stain (Vintage Photo), using a starburst stamp from Waltzingmouse's Vintage Ornaments. The sentiment (PTI) was stamped with black ink, as were the little scrolls at the top of the tag. I hand stitched some vintage lace onto the end of the tag to finish it.

The next tag uses stamps from Unity. The background is a single stamp that I inked with Old Paper distress ink. The bird was stamped using Broken China distress stain, and the sentiment was stamped with black ink.

That's all I have for today. Next week I really need to start working on some Christmas gifts if I want to get them done in time!

Tag Play

2011-12-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I wanted to share a few tags that I made last week. Basically I was "playing" when I was making these, so there are no mini masterpieces here, hee hee, just trying out a new to me technique. Did you see this blog post several months ago from Jill Foster? Jill did a wonderful video for Penny Black, using Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Stains, to make some really gorgeous tags! I loved the muted, watercolor effect using the stains and wanted to try it with some of my stamps.

***Please excuse the rather crappy pictures here, my good camera is broken and I had to use my not so good camera, and the results are the best I could give ya; hopefully you get the idea ;)

PTI fans will recognize various stamps used on these tags. I also used some Waltzingmouse stamps.

The tag below uses a set from CTMH, and the word "peace" is from Practicing Creativity.

This was a fun technique to play with, and I'm anxious to try some things with non Christmas stamps.

Thanks for stopping by today :)

2011-11-25T15:07:00.000-05:00

Happy day after Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day and were able to spend it with your loved ones.

I have a card for you today that uses PTI's Shape Up Snowman dies and stamps, and the Christmas Prints paper pad. I'd like to thank the wonderful Teresa Baseret from Inspiration Station for sending me LOTS of snowmen and word cut outs in a variety of colors, she generously offered to do that for me when she heard that I didn't own the dies or stamps. Thank you so much, Teresa, I really appreciate you!

The brown doilies behind the snowman were cut with the PTI doily die from brown paper bags. The hat and gloves were stamped with Pure Poppy ink and the PTI gingham stamp.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you're getting lots of shopping done this black Friday, if that's your thing. As for me, I try to avoid the crowds, so I'm happy to be home today crafting and watching Christmas movies :)

Breaking News!! (picture heavy)

2011-10-30T18:21:00.000-04:00

Ha ha, did the title "Breaking News" capture your attention? Well this is VERY big news in my little world! I've been "contemplating" opening an Etsy shop for going on almost 2 years now (yes, you read that right, now how's THAT for procrastination lol!), and I've finally gotten off my keister and done it! My first 2 listings are for 2 different butterfly themed card collections with envelopes, along with a gift bag that everything will come in. I used a Club Scrap kit collection called Papillon to create these cards. The papers in this kit are breathtaking and made it easy to make a beautiful finished product! Now onto the pictures. The first card collection contains the 3 cards below:

This is the bag I made to hold the cards and envelopes.

A close up of the tag. The butterfly key is from the Papillon kit.

Next, the cards included in the first collection, and some close up shots. Papertrey Ink lovers will notice that many of the stamps and dies I used are from there.

And next, collection 2.

The bag for collection 2.

Collection 2 tag close up.

Individual cards in collection 2 and some close up shots.

And finally, here is a picture of the Kraft envelope, each one is stamped with a butterfly image, and of course each card comes with an envelope. The cards are all blank on the inside, and I lined it with a piece of white card stock so that a personal note may be written to the recipient.

I found it very easy to set up an Etsy shop, did "most" of it by myself (although I did have to ask my hubby a few questions), so all of you computer challenged folks out there who might be thinking of opening a shop, take heart, if I can do it anyone can! I want to thank Karen Baker for helping me out with my Etsy shop banner too. Karen did the header for my blog, and I used her design for my Etsy shop.

I hope that having the shop open inspires me to start creating more often, I've been a bit lazy lately. If anyone has any tips for me about selling on Etsy, please let me know!

Thanks for stopping by today, and sharing my excitement :)

Whimsical Christmas Tree

2011-10-05T12:07:00.000-04:00

Hello! Today I have a whimsical card for you, well I think it's whimsical anyway, I mean how often do Christmas trees have angel wings ;)

I used the tree die from PTI and stamped it with various stamps from "Love Lives Here: Holiday" from PTI, and "Vintage Christmas" from CTMH. All of the papers I used are from Club Scraps "Memoirs" kit. The doily die cut is from MFT, and I stamped it with "Text It" from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I cut the little wings with the PTI die for Love Lives Here: Christmas.

Notice the brick background, I'm very excited about that, I made it with a stencil I recently purchased from Crafter's Workshop. It's a Julie Balzer stencil. I just recently discovered Julie's blog, and I think her work is fabulous! I'd like to try my hand at Art Journaling, and Julie is quite inspiring!

I used some clear stickers to write the sentiment "from our home to yours". I think I literally have thousands of alphabet stickers just sitting in my stash and I'm trying to make a point of using some of them up!!

MUSINGS:

I'm finding that my "style", whatever that may be, continues to change and evolve. In some ways that's exciting, and in other ways frustrating. I see so many artists who have a distinct style, so much so that when you see their work you immediately know who made the card! Part of me would love to be in that category, and maybe some day I will be, but until then I suppose I'm on a "journey" to find out who I am, artistically speaking. As long as that journey is FUN, I'm OK with it ;) How about you? Do you find that your art doesn't fit into one specific "category", and are you OK with that? I'd love to hear what you think.

Harvest Berries Christmas tree

2011-09-19T10:27:00.000-04:00

Today I have another card using Club Scrap's Memoir kit Greetings to Go pre scored/cut cards and panels. I've paired the cards with some fabulous Papertrey Ink stamps and dies, ahhh HEAVEN! I've been itching to use my Harvest Berries set since I got it last month, I think this is one of the most beautiful stamp sets I've bought from PTI! I die cut a Christmas tree with a PTI die, and stamped the largest gingko pattern on top of it. Then I added some of the berries and glittered them up a bit. The tree trunk is from Tree Trimming Trio, and the sentiment is from Merry Little Christmas.

One of the things I love about Club Scrap's Greetings to Go is that they make short work out of doing multiple cards, which in the case of Christmas cards is perfect (I made 5 of these cards in no time flat!) I know I've shared this tip before, but it's worth repeating, in order to save time stamping when you're making a background, place your stamps in a pattern on your acrylic block (rather than stamping one stamp at a time), as I did on the picture below with the ornament stamps from Tree Trimming Trio. I was able to stamp the red panels for my cards very quickly this way!

I used a 4" doily behind the tree to set it off, and finished the card with a brown waxy flax bow and a red gem.

The Kraft card bases open in the middle, here's a picture showing the card open.

Hope you've gained a little inspiration from today's post; thanks so much for stopping by!

Are you sitting down?

2011-09-16T08:58:00.000-04:00

I made a CARD! After many months of doing nothing crafty (does adding pictures to my Pinterest boards count?), I finally decided it was time to get back to it! I'm not surprised really, this time of year always puts me in a crafty mood.

I decided to pull out an old Club Scrap kit to work with, Memoirs from July 2009. This was the last kit I received from them before I stopped my membership, and it's been sitting in the box ever since. It's not a "Christmas" kit, but I thought that the paper colors of red, green, kraft, and white would work well for the card I had in mind.

I used a number of different stamp sets on my card, including Vintage Christmas from Close To My Heart, Tree Trimming Trio and Love Birds from PTI (the sentiment, and birds), a background stamp from Art Impressions, and a stamp from the Club Scrap kit. I love mixing and matching my stamps, it just seems to add endless versatility to my projects!

I did lots of inking and distressing on this, the vintage look of the CTMH stamps cry out for it! I wanted to point out a technique I used on the picture below. First I used the large collage stamp from Vintage Christmas, and stamped it on the white paper panel using green ink, then I placed the green paper panel part way over the stamped image and stamped again using Versa Mark ink to get a water mark of the image. I was just careful to line up the 2nd stamping with the 1st one so that I would get one whole tree. Does that make sense? Hope so :)

I actually made 5 of these cards all the same. Club Scrap offers a wonderful option with their kits called Greetings to Go, which includes scored card bases, pre-cut panels, and coordinating envelopes. It makes making multiples of your cards a SNAP!

I'm so happy to have been able to share this time with you today, my faithful readers! I notice that my follower count didn't go down during my long absence, I so appreciate your patience with me :)

Ricotta gnocchi

2011-06-29T19:35:00.000-04:00

No card to share today, but I wanted to post "something" on my blog before I forget how to do it ;)

One of the nice things about summer is having the leisure time to teach my kiddos various things. So today Ali and I tried our hand at making ricotta gnocchi. Up until several weeks ago I didn't even realize there was such a thing as gnocchi made with ricotta cheese. I've eaten gnocchi a number of times in restaurants, but I thought it was always made with potato. I never tried making it at home, because honestly it always seemed like a lot of work. Well I came across this You Tube video, and it seemed quite easy, easy enough for me, and even for my kids to do. I hope this link will work, it'll provide you with the very simple recipe and cooking method:

RICOTTA GNOCCHI

We followed this video pretty much to a tee, and quite honestly Ali did almost everything herself, I only had to direct her.

The only thing that I would do differently next time would be to make them quite a bit smaller, these were pretty big. But they tasted delicious! We served them with our favorite jarred spaghetti sauce, and topped them with freshly grated parmesan cheese; YUM!

As I mentioned, this is a great recipe to do with kids who are old enough to work around boiling water. Ali was bursting with pride at her accomplishment (and so was I!!)

So have you ever made gnocchi from scratch? Let me know if you give this version a try!

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T10:11:00.000-04:00

I wanted to wish all of my friends in blog land a very Happy Memorial Day! I hope you're having some nice weather this weekend, and that you have the opportunity to spend time with your loved ones doing the things you enjoy. I also hope you'll take a few moments to reflect on all the brave men and women who have offered their service, and in too many cases their lives, to protect our precious freedoms.

Sorry for my long absence from posting, but I just haven't been feeling creative at all lately for some reason, and I'm not one to force it. I'm hoping to be back to creating eventually, although with the kids getting out of school in a week, who knows. I tend to not do as much during the summer when they're at home (I'm too easily distracted by the chaos; our house tends to be the neighborhood gathering place ;) But wish me luck, I sure hope my mojo hasn't taken a permanent leave of absence!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

New Blog!

2011-05-15T11:27:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! I wanted to do this post because I'm bursting with excitement over my new blog design!! The super talented Karen Baker from The Bald Dragonfly designed my new blog header and side bar headers! I had learned of Karen's blog design abilities when I saw the work she did for Lindsay Amrhein at Note to Self. I knew I wanted something new and fresh and colorful for my blog, so I asked Karen for help. She was wonderful to work with (and VERY patient with all of my picky requests ;) I'm thrilled with the results and wanted to share it with all of you.

Thanks for stopping by to share my excitement! Hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful :)

Buttons and Bows

2011-05-13T14:39:00.000-04:00

Hello! I'm finishing my guest designer spot at Simply Scrapping Crafts with the May 11th card challenge, which is to use "buttons and bows" on a card. As you'll see, I took the challenge quite literally ;)

I bought these beautiful, striped twill May Arts ribbons at the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store. I love the colors of citrus, especially when lemon, lime, and orange are combined. For my card I stamped some polka dots on Kraft card stock using Fresh Snow ink (PTI), and then placed the bows on them. Each bow is topped with a coordinating PTI button and some twine. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

I want to thank Clare for inviting me to guest design for Simply Scrapping Crafts, it was a real pleasure!

Happy Birthday

2011-05-10T16:17:00.000-04:00

My card today is for 2 challenges, Lawnscaping Challenge #9-Let's Party, and The Play Date Cafe Challenge #80.

I used the cupcake card die from PTI to make my card, using Terracotta Tile and Summer Sunrise card stock. Decorating the cupcake was the FUN part! For the bottom, I used PTI's Polka Dot Basics, stamping the open circles in black, and then filling them in with Fresh Snow ink. For the top of the cupcake, I stamped the flower trio stamp from Lawn Fawn's Sew Lovely stamp set, over and over again to cover the top. Then I colored in the flowers with a Copic marker. The banner, birds, and sentiment are from Lawn Fawn's Bannerific and Sophie's Sentiments stamp sets. I finished the card with some buttons and a bit of lace.

This was so fun to make, and I can see myself making a lot more of these cupcake cards! The design possibilities are endless :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

CASE Study Challenge #38

2011-05-07T16:05:00.000-04:00

I was really thrilled when I saw that Sarah Martina Parker was going to be the May muse over at CASE Study because I'm a huge fan of Sarah's work! As my faithful readers know I'm on a bit of a quest to master that "shabby vintage" look that Sarah does so beautifully (and seemingly effortlessly I might add)! And I'm happy for every chance I get to "practice". So on to my card...

I tried to capture the essence of Sarah's lovely card by using a doily, a pretty flower, some ribbon, and a bit of stitching, all elements that go into making a fabby shabby card imo! The patterned paper for my card is from Fancy Pants, and over top I added a piece I cut from a 12X12 transparency I got in a scrapbook kit a long, long time ago (sorry, don't know who made it).

The chipboard butterfly is from Pink Paislee, and the beautiful cabbage rose is from Frog Feathers Etsy shop. I'm so happy I bought these roses in so many colors, I just LOVE them!

This card was made for a customer of mine for her Mom's birthday, so I personalized it by adding the little "Mom" tag, from Papertrey Ink's Tiny Tags.

Something I hardly ever do is finish the inside of a card, but my customer requested this particular sentiment, from PTI's Signature Series: Dress Form.

I added another Pink Paislee die cut, and the dashed swirly heart stamp is from Wplus9.

And there you have it. I love how this card turned out, and I hope my customer and her Mom do too! I hope you'll all try and channel your "inner Sarah", and play along this week at CASE Study!

Impression Obsession "Favorite Image" challenge

2011-05-05T14:27:00.000-04:00

Today I have a card for the latest IO challenge, which is to use your favorite IO stamp. I'm currently the happy owner of 8 IO Cover-a-card background stamps, but there are many more that I really want! I'd also like to try some of IO's other stamps (they come in rubber and clear), because I've seen their DT produce some great samples with them! I'm trying to be patient, but I'm like a kid in a candy store, I want it all and I want it NOW lol! Anyone relate?

So onto my card. I used 2 of IO's cover-a-card background stamps, 2 of my current favorites as a matter of fact, Gingham, and Distressed Corduroy. I love the fact that these stamps can cover an entire A2 sized card in one shot! Yet they can be used for the tiniest items, like the center of my flower which I stamped with the Distressed Corduroy.

For the sentiment, I used Papertrey Ink's Basic Labels and Tag-its #3.

The bird was cut with the dove die from PTI's Peace Be Still die set. The flower was made using PTI's Bloom Builders #1 and Terracotta Tile felt. The leaves were stamped using the larger leaf image from Delightful Dahlias. I added some PTI twine, which I twisted tightly around my piercing tool to make it curly.

This is one of my all time favorite color combos too, definitely has a fall feel, but I love it!

Thanks for visiting me today, I always LOVE when you stop by :)

Love you Dad

2011-05-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

I was very excited and honored when Clare (Bearydo Paperie), asked me to be a guest designer at Simply Stamping Crafts! The May 4th card challenge is "Masking". It's not a technique I use often, but I've seen some fabulous cards made using it! I decided to keep my card very simple for those who have never tried this technique.

I used "You're the Man" stamp set from Practicing Creativity to create my card. First I stamped the license plate image on a post it note and cut it out. Then I stamped the license plate on my card. I covered the stamped image with the post it note image, and then stamped the screws over top, staggering the placement. This is "masking", where the post it note covered the license plate image on the card none of the ink from the screws showed up, and the screws appear to be placed behind the license plate (hope that explanation makes sense ;) To finish my card, I stamped the sentiment inside the license plate. As I said, this is a super simple example of masking, be sure to check out the DT creations over at Simply Stamping Crafts. Better yet, try your hand at this technique and play along with the challenge!

CASE Study Challenge #36

2011-04-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

This is my 2nd post today. I didn't want to miss the deadline to play along with the CASE Study challenge. I've been loving Silke Ludlow's fabulous inspiration pieces, like the one below!

Silke's Card

For my card below, as you can see I used the same layout as Silke's. I chose patterned papers from The Girl's Paperie. For my focal image I cut a piece of pretty rose paper in a circle. I wanted to give the roses a bit more dimension so I fussy cut more roses and popped them up with foam, letting a piece hang over the edge of the circle. The butterfly is cut with a PTI die, from some Basic Gray Hello Lucious paper. The sentiment is from PTI.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out, hope you enjoy it too!

Birthday Wishes

2011-04-26T11:37:00.001-04:00

Today I have a card for two different challenge, Impression Obsessions "Do the Polka" challenge, and Card Pattern's Sketch Challenge #112.

For the IO challenge, you are supposed to use polka dots on your card. I stamped an image from Papertrey Ink's Spring Friendship Jar Fillers on some polka dot patterned paper for that requirement. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Up Up and Away.

Also, you must use at least one IO stamp on your project. I used their "Vines" Cover-a-card, stamped in Weathered Wood Distress Ink on the orange patterned paper. All of the patterned papers on this card are from My Minds Eye Stella and Rose collection.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by today :)

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T11:21:00.000-04:00

Last weekend my mom and sister and I were at the farmer's market and I saw a cage with lop eared bunnies huddled together in a corner. They were so adorable, I couldn't resist buying one. I told myself I was buying it for my daughter, but my mom and sister insisted I was really buying it for me ;)

On the day I bought him, my daughter was in school. When she arrived home I sat her down, and said "honey, do you think you have room in your heart to welcome a new member to our family?", and she said with alarm "did Steve DIE?" (Steve is her hamster lol!) My mom and sister and I cracked up when she said that lol. I assured her that Steve was alive and well, but there was a new pet waiting on the back porch. She went outside and was thrilled and delighted when she saw the bunny! She decided he should be named Peter (the man we bought him from assured us it's a boy). Peter is very gentle and sweet, and we're delighted to have him with us :)

I want to wish all of my blog readers a very HAPPY EASTER! When I woke up this morning the sun was shining and I was overwhelmed with the knowledge that HE IS RISEN! This is such a joyous occasion to me, to know that Christ conquered the grave, and gave us the precious gift of eternal life! I'm incredibly thankful for that! May your family enjoyed a blessed and joyous day!

baby boy

2011-04-21T17:24:00.002-04:00

A customer asked me to make 20 baby shower favors for a shower she's hosting, and this is what I came up with.

I used Papertrey Ink's Favor it Box 1 die to make the box. The heart tree is from 2010 Love Tags, the tiny bird is from Wonderfully Whimsical, and the "baby" and "boy" stamps are from Limitless Labels. I did a little bit of Copic coloring on these, and I think they turned out pretty cute, hope my customer likes them :)

Wedding Wishes

2011-04-20T10:12:00.003-04:00

I made today's card for the current Lawnscaping Challenge, "Calling All Critters". No doubt about it, Lawn Fawn makes some of the cutest critter stamps in the industry, and I own a few of them, so I had to play along with this FUN challenge :)

I used 2 Lawn Fawn stamp sets for my card, Critters in the Sea and Sophie's Sentiments. For the background I used Papertrey Ink's Polka Dot Basics and Hero Arts Envelope Pattern, both stamped with Versa Mark ink. The top hat is a die cut from Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden pack, and I made the veil with tulle and pearls.

I think this turned out real cute, don't you :)

sweet kind wonderful YOU

2011-04-19T14:12:00.002-04:00

Today I have a card for 2 challenges, the CR84FN24 challenge and Sasya's Sketches#58.

I love the soft, dreamy colors in the inspiration piece below!

And as soon as I saw this sketch from Sasya, I knew I wanted to make a card with it, it's SO pretty!

And now onto my card. I'm practicing my vintage shabby card making skills again ;)

I used A LOT of different products and papers to create this card. The patterned paper comes from 3 different lines, Webster's Pages, Pink Paislee Old School, and Basic Grey Nook & Pantry. I love mixing papers from different manufacturers, it's almost like a game seeing what goes with what :)

The die cuts pictured in the close up above are from Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden. I've seen them used on different blogs and just had to get me some.

Below is a close up of the pretty Webster's Pages paper. I love how much detail they put into their papers, it makes it so easy to create beautiful cards! I did a lot of stitching on this card, and shabby inking to give it a vintage look.

The large rose is from the Etsy shop Frog Feathers, and the small rose in the center is from Prima. I used 2 colors of shabby vintage seam binding, a light blue and an aqua. The leaves were cut using Papertrey Ink's Turning a New Leaf die, and the word "You" is a stamp from Big & Bold Sentiments.

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I'm enjoying making this style of card, but I am finding one downside to it. I'm a slow card maker to begin with, and making a card like the one above seems to take FOREVER! I can make 3 CAS cards in the time it takes me to make one vintage shabby card. But oh well, I love both styles and will continue to create as the wind blows...

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

CASE Study Challenge #35

2011-04-18T11:44:00.003-04:00

Today I have a card for the current CASE Study challenge. You can see Silke Ludlow's inspiration piece HERE at CASE Study.

I wanted to do a fruit themed card like Silke's, but when I looked to see what fruit stamps I own I realized that's an area where I'm sadly lacking. So I used the strawberry paper from Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety Mini Deck, and cut a jar with PTI's Friendship Jar die. All of the patterned papers for my card are from the Garden Variety pad.

I added a few details, like the gingham double bow, some buttons, stitching, and embossing.

I used the "well preserved" sentiment from Friendship Jar so I can use this as a birthday card for one of my more "mature" friends ;)

Hope you have a fabulous day; thanks for stopping by!

WIshing you a lovely day

2011-04-14T12:07:00.003-04:00

I created a card for CR84FN23 using the fabulous color inspiration below!

My inspiration for my card definitely came from Sue Lelli's lovely lace card, which you can see if you click on the CR84FN link above! The lace background on my card is an Impression Obsession Cover-a-card stamp, in this case I used pink card stock and stamped the lace stamp in black. Isn't it pretty?! Once again, I'm just thrilled with my IO stamp purchase and can't wait to buy more! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

I also used the IO rose stamp on the center panel, and the IO greenery stamp on the pink card base (stamped with Versa Mark ink for a soft effect).

I made a double bow with some PTI Sweet Blush satin ribbon, and some polka dot ribbon from my stash. The tag is from PTI, I stamped the word "sweet" from "sweet baby", and then the word "friend" (both from Tiny Tags). The black flower is from the Frog Feathers Etsy shop. I recently bought lots of these flowers in lots if different colors from them, and they're beautiful!

I've been enjoying playing around with the shabby vintage style lately. I'm really drawn to that look, even though it doesn't come naturally to me. But I'm determined to learn how to not only do it, but to do it well! My current blog obsession is Viola Mahr, which I found through Melissa Phillips blog (she's another favorite!) Vio's blog delights me every time I visit, and I hope to someday be able to make a card as lovely as the ones she makes :)

That's all I have for today. We finally have some sunshine here today, and I've been so happy to be out in it! Took a long walk, and when my daughter comes home from school this afternoon we're going to plant some pretty flowers!

Have a great one!

Birthday Wishes

2011-04-10T16:55:00.002-04:00

As soon as I saw this beautiful image from the current Play Date Cafe challenge, I knew I wanted to create something using it! I have this fabulous paper that I bought several years ago from Club Scrap that has the perfect colors for this challenge. Blue and green is one of my favorite color combos; when I see it I always think of nature.

I also used the current sketch from Waltzingmouse Sketches for my card.

You can see a close up of the paper and focal point here. I used lots of items with a natural feel, including card board to cut the MFT doily, netting, and some pretty jute flowers and twine.

I made the butterflies using a variety of different size butterfly dies, all from Papertrey Ink.

The sentiment "Birthday wishes", is from Waltzingmouse Stamps. It's the only stamping I did on this card!

I had a lot of fun making this, and love how it turned out! Hope it inspires :)

CASE Study Challenge #34

2011-04-10T09:37:00.003-04:00

The new muse at CASE Study is Silke Ludlow!!! I've been a huge fan of Silke's work for quite awhile now. Not only is she super talented, but she's one of the sweetest gals I've met in the crafty world!

Please go here to see Silke's beautiful card for this week. When I first saw it I thought I might go along with the butterfly theme, but then I decided to go in a different direction. I based my card on the layout of Silke's, along with the bright punch of color against a neutral background.

I also decided to take my card in a more masculine direction (several of the men in my life have birthday's coming up), so I used a few button accents instead of a bow.

The cake making elements and sentiment are from Papertrey Ink, and the patterned paper is from Basic Gray's "life of the party" 6X6 paper pad.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Celebrate Your Day!

2011-04-09T16:27:00.003-04:00

I made a card for Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger today. I love the picture below, so colorful and homespun, and I tried to give my card that feeling.

I used Papertrey Ink's Delightful Doily stamps, and a sentiment from Signature Greetings. The background is a piece of cardboard box, cut to the card base size (5X6), with pieces of the top ripped off randomly.

Other than hand cutting the doilies which I did last night while watching TV, this card came together VERY quickly, which I love! I am the Queen of SLOW when it comes to making most cards, and I hate that lol!

Hope you're having a delightful weekend, and please stop back soon :)

Impression Obsession and CR84FN

2011-04-07T13:06:00.003-04:00

I have to tell you how EXCITED I am to be playing along today with the Impression Obsession challenge using my brand spanking new IO Cover-a-card stamps!!! I've been wanting to own some of these stamps ever since I laid eyes on them on Daniela Dobson's blog. So I saved up my craft budget and was able to purchase SIX of them! I swear the day they arrived in the mail I sat for an hour just STARING at the rubber lol! Seriously, I haven't been this excited over stamps in I don't know how long!

I'm also playing along with CR84FN challenge. The beautiful colors for this challenge worked perfectly for the IO challenge, the theme of which is "encouragement".

So onto my card. As I mentioned, the theme of the Impression Obsession challenge is "encouragement". I used a sentiment from Verve Stamps which I think works perfectly.

The IO Cover-a-card stamps that I used were the Distressed Corduroy and Roses. First I stamped the corduroy using Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink, then I stamped the roses using PTI Dark Chocolate ink. If you click on the picture below you can see a bigger image, the detail of these stamps is really amazing! If it's possible to be in LOVE with stamps then I'm in love with these lol!

I finished my card with some shabby seam binding, and a Prima rose. The rose is white, so I inked it up with some of the Tea Dye ink to change the color to go better with my card.

I'm sure I'll be using the rest of my Impression Obsession stamps over the next few weeks so you'll be able to see more. There are SO many more that I want, but I was thrilled to be able to buy the six I did :)

it's your day!

2011-04-06T12:33:00.002-04:00

My card today uses Sasya's Sketch #57. I haven't played along with Sasya's Sketch since I was on their DT, but I couldn't resist this pretty sketch!

For some reason I had a difficult time getting pictures I was happy with of this card. I really think I NEED to get a light box so I can get some consistency with my card pictures.

So I made sure to include some close up shots, hopefully you can see the details on the tiny tags. I used "it's the little things" paper pad from Fancy Pants for this card.

This is really cute in real life, hopefully it shows up decently on your computer screen ;)

Now I'm off to run some errands before the rain starts here, we're supposed to have rain for the next few days, sigh, I'm so ready for some warm, sunshiny days...

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #41

2011-04-05T08:29:00.002-04:00

Today I'm playing along with the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge, and this week were challenged to make a set of mini cards!

I chose to make mine for Christmas. I used several Waltzingmouse stamp sets, including my favorite "peppermint" circle from Faux Fun Circles :)

I find that as the holidays approach, one can never have too many gift tags and cards, so I'm happy to have a little head start :)

Hope you're having a lovely day; thanks so much for stopping by!

CASE Study Challenge #33

2011-04-04T08:35:00.003-04:00

I made my card today for the current CASE Study challenge. This is our last time CASEing Julee Tillman's beautiful work.

My card didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned it, if I had it to do over again I'd change a few things, but I did make a fun discovery while making it that I wanted to share with you all!

What I loved about Julee's card this week was the monochromatic colors and the beautiful layout, so that's what my card is based upon. Instead of shades of green, I used shades of blue. All of the patterned papers are from the Sassafras Lass Indie Girl line.

Now for my "discovery"! If you're familiar with Close To My Heart stamps, then you know that each year they release a set of tiny stamps called an incentive set. Those stamps are offered to consultants first to give out as customer rewards, but eventually they make it into the Close To My Heart catalog for customers to purchase. I was a consultant for CTMH at one time, and I have several of these sets. As you can see below, many of the little stamps fit PERFECTLY into PTI's Tiny Tags! If you don't already own any of these you could check with a CTMH consultant to see which sets are currently available. FUN, yes?

So that's all for now. I'm looking forward to seeing who the April "muse" will be over at CASE Study. I've really been enjoying playing along with them this past month :)

Enjoy your day, and thanks for stopping by!

Card Patterns Sketch 109

2011-04-03T09:25:00.003-04:00

Today I'm playing along with Card Patterns.

I used my new PTI Label Basics for the first time (thought I could get away without buying this set, who was I kidding?!) I stamped the daisies from Friendship Jar Fillers inside the label. The sentiment is from Up Up and Away.

The paper for this card was among my "buried treasures", containers of 12X12 paper I bought back in my scrapbook days. This is Basic Grey's Fusion line, I've always loved the colors and patterns in this one. I used some of the large daisy pattern paper on the background, and the butterfly is cut from Fusion paper too. I also used some pretty daisy lace trim that I had in my stash.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It's still cold here, but at least the sun is shining. HURRY up and get here SPRING!!!

hey, little lady!

2011-04-02T19:20:00.005-04:00

I'm playing along today with the Simon Says Stamp Challenge! This week is a sketch challenge, and also to use Penny Black stamps if you have them. Unfortunately I don't own any Penny Black stamps yet (although I would love to!), but I love the sketch and wanted to play along anyway :)

I received some new 6X6 paper pads in the mail this week, including "it's the little things" from Fancy Pants. The paper in this pad is AWESOME, and destined to be an all time favorite of mine. The image of the little girl with her doll is from a Crafty Secrets paper pad that I won as blog candy.

The crown is a Unity stamp, and I made the flower from PTI satin ribbon and felt. The sentiments are all from Tiny Treats: Birthday.

I'm wanting to say that this is not my typical style of card, but it seems that I don't have a typical style lol! Lately I've really been mixing things up between shabby vintage, clean and simple, whimsical, you name it. There are just so many different styles that I love, and I want to try my hand at them all. I suppose that's OK, and even though I might never be recognized for "my" style, I'll have a whole lot of fun along the way creating as the mood strikes me :)

Unity stamps for sale!

2011-03-31T11:59:00.004-04:00

I need to purge my stamp collection and am offering some of my Unity stamp sets at a great price! All of these stamps are in excellent condition and come from a smoke free home. The first 4 sets are 10.00 each, and that INCLUDES SHIPPING in the US! Sorry for the disparity in picture sizes, I got these pics from different places, these first 4 sets are approx. comparable to a 4X6 sheet size:

These next 5 sets are 15.00 each, and that INCLUDES SHIPPING in the US!! These are all full sheets of 8.5 X11 deeply etched red rubber on cling mount:

Unity stamps are lots of fun to play with, and if you've never tried them now would be the perfect time! You can email me at djaquay@yahoo.com if you are interested in any of these. I'll accept Paypal, but would PREFER Papertrey Ink gift certificate, as payment.

PS. I'm willing to ship internationally, but you will need to pay the shipping costs.

Let your dreams take flight!

2011-03-30T09:53:00.003-04:00

Today I have a card for CR84FN21. I LOVE these colors, they're so vibrant and have such a WOW factor! You can check out the details here.

For my colors, I used PTI's Simply Chartreuse, Scarlett Jewel, and Rustic Cream. The distressed polka dot background stamp is from Unity Stamps. The flowers and butterfly outline are from Wplus9, and the sentiment, solid butterfly, and gingham are from Papertrey Ink.

The butterflies were actually stamped using 2 different stamps. The outline is one stamp, and the solid center is another stamp. I really love how these turned out!

Thank you, Mona, for provided us with such wonderful color inspiration each week, it's a pleasure to play along with your challenge!

Inspiration from the card aisle challenge!

2011-03-29T16:23:00.003-04:00

Laurie from Soapbox Creations is having a fun challenge on her blog, and you can read all about it here. She's challenged us to take a store bought card (aack, what is that lol?!!), and use it as inspiration to create our own card. Sounds like fun, yes?

So I decided to use a card that my mom bought for my daughter for her birthday. Here's a picture:

I think I was attracted to the above card because of the bright colors, the stripes at the bottom, and the sparkle. Also, I like how they put the sentiment on a piece of notebook paper, very trendy!

At first glance you might think that my card looks nothing like the store bought card, but it's all in the details folks ;)

1. My sentiment is placed on "notebook paper", just like the store bought card.

2. I used a bright, warm color on top, and purple on the bottom. I added vertical "stripes" to my purple card stock by stamping a piano key border stamp from Waltzingmouse stamps.

3. I used a white border between the top and bottom.

4. I added swirly bling to my card.

5. The main element on the top part of my card is white, just like the white horse on the store bought card.

The "rock" themed stamps are all from Close To My Heart, and the "Birthday Girl" stamp is from Butterfly Dreams (PTI). I made this card with one of my daughter's friends in mind who has an upcoming birthday. All of her friends are really into music right now, so I thought this would be fun for her!

So what do you think? This is not my typical style, but it was fun to go a little crazy with this one ;) Thanks Laurie, for hosting such a fun challenge!

Lawnscaping Challenge #6: Color Splash

2011-03-29T14:25:00.002-04:00

Today I'm playing along for the first time with Lawn Fawn's Lawnscaping challenge! I have several Lawn Fawn stamp sets, and I love them dearly, they're so cute and whimsical! This current challenge is a Color Splash, use all neutrals with just a splash of color.

The base of my card is Fresh Linen from Papertrey Ink, which I consider to be a neutral color. I stamped the cute dress form image from Sew Lovely over the entire card base. I cut the Mat Stack base from Raspberry Fizz card stock (my color splash!) I stamped "you're sew lovely" in black, and the needle in Raspberry Fizz ink.

That's all for now, but I'll be back in a bit with another challenge card...

Hi there!

2011-03-28T09:18:00.004-04:00

Hi there, friends! I have a couple of cards that I made for Joy's first challenge on her blog, Less is More. She's asked us to honour someone in the craft world who has inspired us. You can read the details of her challenge here.

The person who's work I decided to honor is Dawn McVey! I think of all the talented folks in the craft world, Dawn's work has influenced me the most. I discovered her when I discovered Papertrey Ink, and I've been a huge fan of her work ever since. I love her bold use of color, and her clean, but never too simple and never boring, designs! The card of Dawns that I was inspired by today is this one. When I saw it I knew I'd have to make some cards showcasing some of my favorite patterned papers. The sweet little pinked squares (PTI die), are perfect for this card layout!

The papers for both of my cards are from Webster's Pages (Spring Market and Country Estate). I LOVE working with WP beautiful designs!

Here is a close up shot so you can see the background stamp I used on this card, it's the Envelope Pattern stamp from Hero Arts. I stamped it in white on the Kraft card stock; I love the subtle texture it adds to cards!

One of the fun things about using these pinked squares with WP papers is that you can focus in on their wonderful little vignettes they feature on so many of their papers. Love that!

I want to thank Joy for this fun challenge! I hope that she has many more to come. If you've never been to Joy's blog be sure to stop by today, her work is outstanding!

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #40

2011-03-27T17:12:00.002-04:00

My card today is for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #40. It's another banner sketch, this time large banners. Be sure to check out the FABULOUS work of the WM Sketch DT!

For my card today I designed my banner using Crate Paper (Emma's Shoppe). I don't own any of the large banner dies that are on the market, but it's quite easy to make a triangle pennant by hand. The little scallops on the side of the pennant were cut with PTI's Eyelet Lace Border, and the large scallop across the top was cut with PTI's Banner Border die.

I used Waltzingmouse Stamp's Pic-Nic Patterns to stamp the pattern on the Kraft paper using white ink. I also used a stamp from that set to make my sentiment banner (stamped in yellow), and the "Birthday Wishes" sentiment is from Fancy Phrases. The sentiment actually says "Belated Birthday Wishes", but I only inked up the 2 words instead of all 3. Remembering that you can do this will add a lot more versatility to your stamp collection.

The pretty roses that adorn the top of my banner are from my sweet blogging friend, Christina. If you've never been to her blog, be sure to take a peek, she does gorgeous work!

I had to put butterflies on this card because it's a birthday card for my Aunt Shirley, and she LOVES butterflies. Her birthday is on April 1st, and she'll be 75 years old.

I hope that you've enjoyed a relaxing weekend, we did here at our house! Thanks for visiting me today :)

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

2011-03-25T07:02:00.002-04:00

Hello! Today I have a Mother's Day card for you. I'm playing along with CASE Study Challenge #32. I decided to use the layout of Julee's beautiful card as my inspiration. I adore all the shabby layers!

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamps Mother's Day/girlie challenge.

I recently bought Emma's Shoppe by Crate Paper 6X6 paper pad, and have been itching to use it. All of the patterned paper on my card is from that collection.

I used a variety of dies and stamps from PTI and Waltzingmouse Stamps to embellish my card.

My first use of PTI's new Tiny Tags die and stamps; I'm in LOVE!!!

Have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Put on your party hat!

2011-03-24T15:07:00.003-04:00

Today I'm playing along with the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger challenge! If you've been visiting my blog for any length of time then you know they had me at the lime green and polka dots lol!

Keeping with the festive idea of cupcakes, I decided to make a happy little birthday card! And if you saw my last post, you'll notice that I'm using up more of my ribbon scraps here ;)

The party hat and sentiment are from Unity Stamps. I paper pieced the party hat, and placed it atop some PTI die cuts.

It doesn't really show up here, but I used my glitter pen to fill in the letters of "party hat!" I stamped the lime green card stock with some white polka dots (PTI).

Thanks Moxie Fab World for this wonderful trigger, I had a lot of fun making this card!

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #39

2011-03-22T13:53:00.003-04:00

Today I have a card to share that I made for Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge.

I haven't gotten into the banner craze that's been sweeping the craft world, I don't even own a banner stamp set, but lately I've been trying to think of ways to use the little ribbon scraps that I inevitably save, and I thought they would make cute little banners! I used several different Waltzingmouse stamp sets on my card, along with PTI ribbon and card stock. The parentheses around the cupcake are rub ons. I don't think parentheses are "in" anymore, but I'm never above using what I think will look best on my cards, no matter how "untrendy" it may be ;)

OK, so I've only used a small fraction of my ribbon scraps on this card, but still, it feels good to use something that would otherwise be thrown in the trash can.

I'm off to think of more uses for ribbon scraps...

CASE Study Challenge #31

2011-03-18T13:27:00.003-04:00

This challenge at CASE Study inspired me to pull out my new Webster's Pages Yacht Club papers and play along!

Obviously my inspiration came from the sailboats on Julee Tilman's adorable card, but I also copied the basic card layout too. All of the paper, except for the Kraft (PTI), is from Webster's Pages Yacht Club line. I only used one stamp on my card, the rope border, which is from Practicing Creativity. The charms are from my stash, and worked perfectly with the theme!

I purposely left a sentiment off this one. I think it will make a great "guy" card, and I can use it for a birthday, or Father's Day.

We're supposed to reach almost 70 degrees here today! This weather is definitely giving me "Spring fever"! Enjoy your weekend folks :)

Make it Monday #6 Impression Plate tricks

2011-03-17T14:30:00.003-04:00

I made a card for Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday "Impression Plate tricks" challenge! I love PTI's impression plates and wish I owned them ALL!

The stamps from PTI's Guide Lines Two work beautifully with these large coaster buttons, don't you think? I stamped the flower stems using the leaves/stem from Flower Fusion #1. The top part of my Kraft panel was embossed with PTI's Linen and Canvas Impression plate. The sentiment is from Giga Guidelines.

This was a quick and easy card to make, but I think it packs a punch thanks to the pretty images from Guide Lines Two!

IO "Anything but a Card" challenge

2011-03-17T14:00:00.002-04:00

I'm participating in Impression Obsession's Thursday challenge, "Anything but a Card". This is my first time playing along with an IO challenge. I mentioned in my last post that I recently had a chance to play with some of their large background stamps. I don't own any (yet!), but I did have the samples that I stamped to bring home and play with :)

For my project today I made a favor box using PTI's Favor it #2 die. The box is stamped with IO's Greenery cling stamp. The little birdhouse is cut with a PTI die, using the small bit of gingham paper I had left from yesterday's card (stamped with IO's Gingham cling stamp). I used card board to make my die cut frame, and felt for the bird. All dies are from PTI.

I love how everything came together for this project, and the natural feel of it, right down to the twig from my back yard ;) My MIL loves birds and nature, so I plan on filling this box with some chocolates and giving it to her.

Hope you're having a lovely day today; thanks for stopping by!

hello friend, happy birthday

2011-03-16T13:24:00.002-04:00

Isn't this week's sketch from Card Patterns pretty?!! As soon as I saw it I knew I'd have to make a card inspired by this beauty :)

This past weekend I attended a get together near Washington, DC, where I got to meet some Papertrey Ink forum friends! While there I was able to cut some dies that I don't own, including this circle tag from PTI. Also while there, our gracious hostess Deb let me try some of her Impression Obsession background stamps (that's the red gingham paper you see here). I LOVED these large stamps and plan on buying some soon!

If you look on the left side of the circle tag, you'll notice a ruffled doily. I made this using the Parisian Doily die from PTI and a thin brown paper bag! The bag is thin enough that you can easily ruffle it just by "scrunching" or "pleating" it, and taping it down onto whatever card stock shape you like. I used a doily cut in half, but you could use a whole doily cut just to the center for a much fuller ruffle. I really love how this turned out and plan to do it again!

The patterned floral paper is from Daisy D, and the bottom edge of my card is cut with the PTI medium scallop border die.

Hope you're enjoying your day. We're looking forward to some beautiful, spring like weather for the next few days here in PA; I'm so happy about that :)

Thank You

2011-03-09T15:13:00.003-05:00

When I saw the colors for the current CR84FN challenge I knew I'd have to play along. Yellow is my favorite color, with orange being a close second (yep, I like BRIGHT!)

I'm also using Clean & Simple sketch #130. I turned the sketch upside down for my card.

I enjoyed playing with PTI's new button dies for this card. There are so many different stamps that can be used to decorate the buttons, the possibilities are really endless!

I love the pretty, floral Daisy D paper I used here. A friend gave it to me a long time ago, just one sheet, so I was hording it. But I thought it was perfect for the color challenge so onto my card it went :)

Hope today finds you doing well. Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-04T13:10:00.004-05:00

Just trying out a few new PTI dies today (the doily peeking out on the left and the stack of 3 buttons in the middle of the flower). I think I've grown to love PTI's dies as much as their stamps :)

The papers are all from PTI Library Ledger paper pad, and the Happy Birthday sentiment is from Club Scrap.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Spring

2011-03-03T15:08:00.003-05:00

Well, technically it's not Spring yet, but I sure have been dreaming about it lately. Longer days, warmer weather (not hot, I hate hot, but warmer than Winter!), and pretty flowers popping out of the ground! I can't wait for Spring to arrive!!

I got a PTI order in the mail today, and I couldn't wait to stamp the gorgeous flowers from Friendship Jar Spring Fillers. As you've heard me say often here, I'm not so great at coloring, so I decided to let these pretty pastel patterned papers do the work for me. I like the result, a breath of SPRING :)

Are you looking forward to Spring? It's my 2nd favorite season, Fall being my favorite, and Summer being my least favorite, I just can't take the heat ;)

Make it Monday #4, card #3

2011-03-02T12:38:00.002-05:00

Today I gathered a bunch of wildflowers...

and wrapped them in a pretty doily...

and tied the doily with a bow...

I'll deliver them to my Mom (or perhaps my Mother-in-Law, they both love flowers)...

on Mother's Day...

I'll shower them with pretty flowers...

and with my love...

in gratitude for all they've done for me.

I made this card for the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday challenge #4: Creating with Fun Foam. The foam lends itself beautifully to being cut with PTI's Larger Than Life die, the flowers have instant dimension! The Rustic White card base is stamped in Spring Moss ink with Distressed Stripes, and the Spring Moss card stock panel is embossed with the Tin Type Impression plate.

Have a lovely day...

Make it Monday #4, card #2

2011-03-01T12:24:00.002-05:00

I wanted to try my hand at another fun foam card for Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge. This time I wanted to try making a flower with the Bloom Builder die and fun foam.

I used digi papers from the PTI January Color Couture collection for the scalloped border and Mat Stack 4 base. I embossed the white center panel with the PTI Tin Type Impression Plate. The orange flower and white scalloped circle under the button were both cut with fun foam, as was the thin banner under the sentiment. I added some 1/8" Scor Tape strips to the flower petals, and underneath the thin banner, and then sprinkled them with Prisma glitter to add some sparkle to my card. It looks VERY pretty in person, prettier than I was able to photograph it.

I'm having fun working with the fun foam, love the little bit of extra dimension it adds to my projects! Hope you'll try your hand at it too because I'd love to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Make it Monday #4 Creating with Fun Foam

2011-02-28T11:50:00.004-05:00

This week's Papertrey Ink Make it Monday challenge is all about using fun foam! Heather Nichols made a great video, which you can view here, plus find out the details of the challenge.

I raided my daughter's art drawer and found some cheap, dollar store fun foam sheets. These aren't as nice as the fun foam you can buy in the craft stores, but they worked for the challenge ;) I cut my foam using the balloon and cloud dies from Up, Up, and Away, and then stamped over the balloons using black ink. The "grass" is made with the PTI Rickrack border die, and I added some tiny flower brads to my card, just for the fun of it :)

I like how this turned out, although the balloons show all the little scratches in my cutting plate, but I figure it just adds "texture" to my card, right ;) I wish I could have taken a better picture, but it's rainy and dreary here today, no sunshine to be found. Hope you'll be able to play along with this "fun foam" challenge!

Card Patterns: Sketch 104

2011-02-27T18:11:00.003-05:00

I haven't played along with Card Patterns in quite awhile, but I was really drawn to this particular sketch for some reason, and decided to try my hand at it.

I've been wanting to use my new pinked edge square die from PTI, and thought that the PTI January Color Contour digi papers would look pretty cut with it.

For my background paper I printed this striped digi paper from My Time Made Easy onto PTI Kraft card stock. Then I stamped the large rose and leaf from Year of Flowers: Roses, using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I love the soft, subtle look of it!

The strip across the center was made with some PTI Hawaiian Shores felt and a Martha Stewart border punch. I topped it off with some soft brown velour ribbon. I used the same ribbon for the tabs on the right side of the panel. I used the PTI Signature Series: Dress Form die to cut out my dress form. As you can see I cut it out of a leftover piece of my background paper, and I just LOVE how it looks!! The sentiment is from Signature Series: Butterfly.

This card is quite large (an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet folded in half), but I have some envelopes that size, so when I need lots of room to work I like to go with that size.

Thanks so much for stopping by today :)

Party decoration (on the CHEAP!)

2011-02-27T11:19:00.003-05:00

My sweeties 10th birthday party was a smashing success! I wanted to share a quick decorating idea with you, one that I came up with at the last minute, and anyone could do with things you already have around the house.

As I've mentioned before, Ali is gaga for MONKEYS! She has lots of stuffed monkeys, so I decided to gather them all up and hang them from the light over our kitchen table, as a decoration for her party. Of course I could have used balloons or streamers, but I think the monkeys looked really cute "swinging from the chandelier" ;)

I hung them in different positions, and although this is not the greatest picture, I think you get the idea. No cost decorating, gotta love that!

Here's a picture of the "party girls". This is such a fun age, pre-teen, still so carefree and innocent. I wish I could keep them like this forever ;) My Ali is second from the left.

Hope you all have a fabulous Sunday!

Papertrey Ink February Blog Hop

2011-02-25T09:38:00.003-05:00

It's time for the February Papertrey Ink blog hop! Here are the details of this month's challenge:

This month we decided to dedicate the Blog Hop to scallops! We want to see your best use of scallops, of any sort, on a project! This can include scalloped borders, offset-scallops, stamped scallops, scalloped mats, scalloped frames, layered scallops, scalloped tags or anything else you can dream up! You can use dies, patterned scissors or even circle punches in a row to achieve your special look. We are looking forward to seeing all of your amazing creations!

The first thing that popped into my mind when I thought of scallops was a scallop PURSE!

I decided to use a PTI plastic stamp box for the base of my "purse". I chose Egg Hunt papers to decorate it. I made a felt flower using PTI dies and felt and buttons.

I'm going to be giving this to my daughter Ali tonight at her birthday party (I plan to tuck a little gift inside). So to personalize it, I used a metal letter "A" and connected it with some chain to the handle. The handle is made of some twill that I bought a long time ago from Club Scrap. The silver grommets were part of the twill, but I added large metal decorative brads to the grommet holes to attach it to the purse.

I didn't photograph the back of the purse, but it's also decorated the same as the front (minus the felt flower and metal "A").

I hope that my little darlin' likes this; I think it will make a nice birthday keepsake for her :)

Happy hopping, I can't WAIT to see what everyone else has created!!

go bananas!

2011-02-23T14:21:00.003-05:00

My little girls birthday is Saturday and I wanted to make a little something she could take in to her classmates. My friend Bethie suggested a bookmark for each classmate, and when I told her I didn't have the PTI bookmark die she very sweetly offered to mail me hers. Thanks girlfriend :)

Ali is CRAZY for monkeys at the moment, so I knew I had to use the cute little monkey from the PTI stamp set, Tiny Treats: Birthday. I also used Turning a New Leaf, stamped with New Leaf ink, to create a "jungle" look.

The sentiment "read a book" was stamped with an alphabet stamp set from Lawn Fawn. I made 27 of these, but I did it over several days so the job didn't seem too daunting. At first I was going to just use brown ink to stamp the outline of the monkey to avoid coloring them all, but I tried coloring one with Copics and LOVED how it looked, so of course I had to then color all of them!

I hope the kiddos like these, and that it reminds them that reading is FUN :)

Make it Mondays #3

2011-02-22T10:32:00.003-05:00

I made this card for Papertrey Ink's Make it Mondays challenge #3, Glitter Strips with Scor Tape. You can read the details of the challenge here.

I've been itching to use some of PTI's January digi paper, so I printed several of the patterns for my card. I used Scor Tape, both 1/8" and 1/4", on my center strip, along with some Prisma Glitter. I used PTI's Year of Flowers: Roses to stamp the rose bud and sentiment. The sketch I used to make my card is from Verve Stamps.

We got several inches of snow last night and my kids had a two hour school delay this morning. As much as I love snow, I think I'm ready for Spring to arrive, how about you?

Favor-it Card

2011-02-18T11:50:00.002-05:00

Did you see this post on Betsy Veldman's blog?!! OMG, isn't she the most creative crafter EVER??? She constantly amazes me with her ingenious ideas!

Of course I had to pull out my PTI Favor-it dies and see what I could come up with ;) The first thing that came to my mind is how much the Favor-it die #1 reminds me of a purse. So I decided to make a card for my sister; her birthday is March 17th and she LOVES purses!

I love the purses that are popular right now with the rolled flowers on them, so I decided to make my version of one of those. I used a rolled flower die from MFT to make my little posies using PTI Harvest Gold Felt. I stamped the Aqua Mist purse with some polka dots, and then ran it through my Vagabond using PTI's Linen and Canvas texture plate. Makes it look like a real fabric purse, don't you think?

The patterned paper is from PTI's Egg Hunt paper pad, the sentiment tag is Fillable Frame #9, and the sentiment is from Signature Series: Dress Form.

With temps in the 60's here in PA today, this card with it's fresh, Springy colors is just what I was in the mood for. I think my sister will LOVE it!!!

Hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend, and thanks for stopping by today :) :)

for the birthday GIRL

2011-02-13T14:56:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! Hope you're all having a great weekend! I have a tag to share today that I made for my daughter's birthday, which is coming up in less than 2 weeks. She's going to be 10, my oh my, where does the time go?!!!

Do you remember the Color Couture digi paper that PTI released this past summer? This was some of my favorite digi paper ever, and I remembered I had some printed and left over in my stash, so I used it to make a flower with PTI's Bloom Builders #1 dies. I'd planned to use Kraft card stock with a PTI tag die for my tag, but I find the tags a bit on the small side for some projects. So I pulled out an Avery shipping tag and used it instead, and I love how the flower fits on this! I'm hoping eventually that PTI will come out with a bigger tag die (hint hint :)

This was a lot of fun to make, and I know my little girlie will LOVE it!

PTI Think BIG Challenge

2011-02-12T12:24:00.002-05:00

The anniversary celebrations continue at Papertrey Ink, and today Nichole has challenged us to THINK BIG! You can read the details for this contest here.

I've had the Bloom Builders #1 die collection from PTI for awhile now, but haven't used it yet. And when I saw this challenge I thought, what better way to go BIG than with a big, beautiful flower! I also wanted a Valentine theme (I'll be giving this to my MIL for Valentines Day), so I used the postage stamp image from the 2010 Love Tags stamp set and the "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment from Love Birds. The patterned papers are from Bo Bunny and PTI.

Here's a close up of the flower which shows the detail on those cute, Valentine papers. You can also see I added a bit of PTI Pure Poppy bakers twine to my card.

That's all for now, hope everyone has a weekend filled with "BIG" fun :)

Make it Mondays #1 Card #3

2011-02-10T13:16:00.002-05:00

I made another card for the current PTI Make it Mondays challenge, this time with a "love"/Valentine theme.

I stamped some love/Valentine sentiments on a notebook page I cut from PTI's notebook die, using Library Ledger paper.

I'm planning on giving this card to my Mom for Valentine's day, I think she'll like it :)

The prize for this challenge is so wonderful (a 250.00 PTI gift certificate!), and after seeing all the fabulous products coming out this month, I sure could use it!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by my blog :)

"It's a LOVE thing" PTI button challenge

2011-02-10T12:59:00.004-05:00

There's a really fun challenge, with a FABULOUS prize, going on over on Nichole Heady's Papertrey Ink blog today! You can check out the details here.

I LOVE all the new button products that are about to be released from PTI, just amazing and fabulous stuff! But then I think all of their products are amazing and fabulous :)

So I came up with this Valentines card to have that one little extra chance to win an unbelievable prize package, one that I would LOVE to win!!!

Just a note, some of you have asked how I'm liking my new Vagabond machine, and all I can say is "LOVE"!!!! I embossed the hearts you see here on this card; the Vagabond does a great job with embossing, AND cutting. Of course I love that I I'm saving my poor aching neck and shoulders from having to crank, but another thing I absolutely love about the Vagabond is that it stays put! With my Cuttlebug I always had to hold it down when I was cranking things through (even with the suction cups on the bottom, could never get them to stick). With the Vagabond, just one easy touch of a button and the sandwich glides smoothly and quietly through the machine. I can't say enough good things about the Vagabond!

Make It Mondays #1 Card #2

2011-02-09T08:55:00.003-05:00

I created another card for the first Papertrey Ink Make it Mondays challenge! This time I filled a jar with "many thanks" :)

I used papers from PTI's Library Ledger paper pad, along with the jar from Friendship Jar. The zig zag border is cut from the Banner Borders die. I've been trying to think of creative ways to use those dies and I like how it looks on this card. I added some Pure Poppy felt hearts and a bit of rustic twine to finish my card.

So there you have it. Hope everyone is enjoying all the fun contests and announcements from PTI this week, I know I sure am!

Make It Mondays #1

2011-02-08T13:59:00.003-05:00

Papertrey Ink has started a fun new challenge program called Make It Mondays! I'm really happy about this, it will give me the extra motivation I need to pull out my PTI stamp sets and PLAY!

This first challenge is to use a bunch of different sentiment stamps on a card. My card today features a birthday theme!

My favorite birthday cards tend to be bright and colorful, and I think I've achieved that here. LOVE me some primary colors :) I also added a couple of strips of 1/8" scor-tape on the bottom of my card and put some prisma glitter on them for a bit of sparkle. Also notice that I trimmed the 4 corners of my card to mimic the shape of the Mat Stack label.

I hope you'll play along with the PTI Make It Monday challenges, you can find out the details here! This first week features a VERY special prize for one lucky winner, a 250.00 PTI gift certificate!!!

PTI Anniversary (Beth's Tag)

2011-02-07T08:46:00.003-05:00

OOPS! Somehow I missed posting this card last night for the PTI Anniversary challenge, but I still wanted to share it because I love it! I thought that Beth's "fairytale" tag deserved to go on a "fairytale" card, and that's what I tried to make here. The glittery butterfly and hearts don't show up nearly as well here as I'd like, but the card is really pretty in person.

Thanks for stopping by today!

PTI Anniversary (Dawn's Tag)

2011-02-06T21:46:00.005-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

This card features part of Dawn's tag. I say part because I cut a smaller circle from the center of her tag, and then added the Hawaiian Shores felt flowers underneath. This card is based on a sketch from the Clean and Simple blog.

WHEW, that's all of them! It's amazing what a chance to help design a PTI stamp set can do to motivate a girl lol! I might repost some of these terrible pictures later after I've had a chance to take some decent shots in sunlight. They really are prettier than they look here.

PTI Anniversary (Melissa's Tag)

2011-02-06T21:41:00.005-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

This card features Melissa's tag. Again, I didn't color this tag, but used rainbow colored papers instead to add color to my card.

PTI Anniversary (Tiffany's Tag)

2011-02-06T21:35:00.006-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

This card features Tiffany's tag. I didn't color this tag at all, instead I used bright patterned paper to add lots of color to my card.

PTI Anniversary (Alli's Tag)

2011-02-06T21:29:00.005-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

This card features Alli's tag. I actually colored this one with Copics (something I avoid because I'm not very good at it lol!)

PTI Anniversary (Nichole's Tag)

2011-02-06T21:25:00.005-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

For this card I used Nichole's tag. This card is very simple, but I wanted it that way, it's a birthday card for my brother, and he's a very simple kind of guy :)

PTI Anniversary (Heather's Tag)

2011-02-06T20:49:00.002-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

This card features Heather's tag. I think this tag is my favorite of them all.

I used my new doily die from MFT for this card, LOVE! I'm hoping PTI comes out with some doily dies soon ;)

Another post to follow soon :)

PTI Anniversary (Lisa's Tag)

2011-02-06T20:43:00.003-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

My 2nd project features Lisa's tag.

I decided to paper piece Lisa's tag instead of coloring it. The patterned papers are from Bo Bunny.

Stay tuned for another post!

PTI Anniversary (Maile's Tag)

2011-02-06T20:33:00.002-05:00

Today is the 2nd day of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary celebration, and they've come up with a very special challenge for us! You can read the details here.

For this first project I used Maile's tag.

Love how this one turned out, stay tuned for 8 more tag posts ;)

Papertrey Ink Favorite!

2011-02-05T09:55:00.004-05:00

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 4th Anniversary, and today the festivities have begun! Nichole asked us to pick our favorite project of the past year and share it on our blog for a chance to win a fabulous prize! You can read about the details here.

I love this little Easter egg tree card :) When I decided I wanted to hang eggs from the cute tree from Wonderfully Whimsical I realized I didn't have any eggs tiny enough to fit the bill. So I cut the egg from the "handmade just for you" stamp in Egg Hunt, and it was the perfect size!

I know we were supposed to pick our "favorite" project, but I couldn't pick just one, and decided to include this whimsical CLOUD ice cream cone :) I made this for the May PTI blog hop, where we were challenged to use felt on our project. The PTI cloud dies reminded me of scoops of ice cream, and so my cloud ice cream cone was born (giggle).

Hope you've enjoyed taking this little stroll down memory lane with me. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to seeing what PTI has in store for us for the coming year! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Papertrey Ink!!!

Love Birds

2011-02-01T14:43:00.003-05:00

I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to have made a card today! I know that a lot of you said that it didn't look like my mojo was gone based on the PTI Jan. blog hop card I shared, but believe me, I have REALLY been struggling to do anything crafty for quite awhile now. I was even beginning to wonder if I should start selling my beloved craft supplies and give up this hobby! And that thought made me very very sad :(

So I forced myself to sit down today and create something, anything, just to see if I can get the feeling back. I'm pretty pleased with this card, because I got to ink up a new stamp set, use some new dies, and break open a new paper pack!

I fell in love with this sketch from Cardabilities the moment I saw it. And the first thing that came to my mind was to use PTI's Love Birds stamp set. I've been wanting some bird cage stamps for quite awhile, so I was thrilled when PTI released these (along with matching dies!)

Rather than make my entire card "shaped" like the sketch, I decided to try out PTI's new Edgers #1 dies on the bottom of my card. I LOVE these dies and am VERY excited to see what they come up with next!

The patterned papers are from the Bo Bunny Crush Collection. I cut the leaves with a Martha Stewart punch, and used some PTI dies to cut the flower and heart from Pure Poppy felt. The card is finished with a bit of ruffled ribbon under the bird cage.

I hope that I can keep some crafting momentum going and be back soon with another card. Wish me luck!

PTI January Blog Hop

2011-01-25T09:45:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I've been MIA for quite awhile now! It seem that my mojo has vanished (GASP)! I suspect it's sitting on a sandy beach in the Caribbean, gazing at the blue water and drinking a mojito. I sure do hope it comes back soon...

In the meantime, I've somehow managed to muster up a card for the January PTI blog hop!

This challenge really appealed to me. I'm sure we all have lots of under used, under loved stamp sets sitting on our shelves and in our drawers. So this was the perfect opportunity to pull out one of those sets and show it some inky LOVE :)

I love the sweet little chairs in the "Chair-ished" stamp set. I made one card with this set when I first received it, but it's sat unused since then. I decided I wanted to do a chair background for my card. I placed 4 of the chairs on a long, thin, acrylic block, stacked on top of each other. I simply stamped the center row first, and then worked out from each side of the center, staggering the stamping rather than lining up the same chairs next to each other. Make sense? This is a much more efficient, quick way to stamp a background rather than trying to stamp one chair at a time.

The card base if Fine Linen. I also used another under used stamp on my card, Fillable Frame #1, stamped in Hibiscus Burst. The frame underneath the sentiment is Fillable Frame #10. The "Thank You" stamp is from Kitchen Sink Stamps, and "you are chair-ished" is from "Chair-ished". I finished the card with some bakers twine and a Hibiscus Burst button.

So that's it for now. Hopefully my mojo will be back soon, tanned, rested, and ready to play ;)

Stamped brown bags

2010-12-23T15:20:00.002-05:00

I had enough items left over from the Christmas goodie boxes I made for my daughter's class here, to make 4 more gifts. I didn't want to make more of the boxes, so I decided to stamp some 6x9 flat paper sacks and put the items in there. My daughter will give these to a few of her close friends.

I think these turned out SO cute! I stamped the reindeer in brown ink, and used a red colored pencil for his nose.

One of the unique features of this gift is that the candy cane and ribbon are used as closures for the bag. The only long handle punch that I own is this swirl punch that you see below, so I used that to make the openings to slip the ribbon and candy cane through. I did add a glue dot under each candy cane to hold it to the bag since the holes are pretty big. If you have a smaller hole punch that can reach in far enough that would work better.

Below is another bag, this time using a snowman stamp and PTI Fresh Snow ink. I used McGill Canyon Cutters to cut the tops of the bags.

I added a couple of jingle bells to each bag, I love the tinkling sound they make :)

WHEW! I think I'm actually finished with all my gift packaging now! Time to relax and start enjoying all of the holiday festivities to come over the next few days.

I hope that each of you, my dear blog readers, has a joyous holiday, and I pray that 2011 holds many blessings for you and your families!

Last minute gift idea

2010-12-23T09:31:00.002-05:00

I have a quick, last minute gift idea for you this morning. Yesterday as I was moments away from leaving for my physical therapy appointment, I decided I wanted to take a little something to the staff. They've been so kind and they work very hard, and I wanted to show my appreciation.

I grabbed a Ball jar, and hung some candy canes around the rim. Then I emptied a bag of Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses into the center of the jar. I took a strip of fabric that I had in my fabric stash and tied it around the rim of the jar. Tied on a tag (yes, another one of those that I had left over from last year, another recommendation for having tags on hand at all times), and that was it, a gift ready to go. It literally took me 2 or 3 minutes to put together!

I know I said yesterday that this would be my last post until after Christmas, but I'm working on something at the moment that I'll share with you later today ;)

Diane

Another gift idea

2010-12-22T11:54:00.003-05:00

So, are you almost ready for Christmas? I "think" I am done making/buying gifts, I just have to finish some wrapping.

I bought a few boxes of the lotions you see below, they're small (stocking stuffer size), but they smell oh so YUMMY! I buy these at my hairdressers salon.

I decided to split up the package into several gifts. Two of the bottles fit perfectly into a medium PTI glassine bag.

I added a doily onto each bag to pretty it up :) The package below is for my Mom, I tied her Barnes and Noble gift card onto the front, along with some white stems I bought at Michaels. The gift card holder is one that I made last Christmas but didn't use.

These little packages were fun to individualize, I think each one has it's own personality. Below is a 3x3 gift card I also made last year and had left over.

And one last package, the tag below was also left over from last Christmas. It's been so great to have these things handy to put together quick, last minute gift packaging! Lesson learned, I need to make a bunch of tags for all occasions to have at the ready at all times ;)

So that's all for today. One last quickie post tomorrow featuring a super easy last minute gift idea, and then I'll be taking a few days off for Christmas. See you tomorrow :)

Christmas Treat Jars

2010-12-21T08:57:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope this Tuesday before Christmas finds you all finished with your decorating, and shopping, and baking, and wrapping (yea RIGHT lol!) If you're like me, you'll be working on things up until the very last minute ;)

Today I have a fun post for you. There's a certain snack mix that I LOVE to make at Christmas (I'll include the recipe at the end of this post). It's one of the most delicious treats ever! So during the past year, knowing that I would want to make it for Christmas gifts, I started saving glass instant coffee jars as I emptied them. I make coffee protein shakes almost every morning for breakfast (it's kind of like a Starbucks frappuccino, only cheaper and healthier!), so I was able to save quite a few of these to recycle.

Decorating these jars was a lot of fun! I was able to use up some of my older Christmas paper.

I used 12x12 sheets, and when you wrap it around this size jar, there is about a 1 inch gap in the back, but that's OK, it looks like many actual jar labels that don't quite fit all the way around.

I added various borders, trims, ribbons and tags to these jars. The large tag on the jar below is one I had made last Christmas. I had several of these left over and it was handy to have them ready to use this year. Here is the post if you'd like to see how I made these.

I love how the ball fringe looks on this jar, I wish I had this in every color of the rainbow!

Another fun part of making these jars was decorating the lids. These Martha Stewart doilies were the perfect size for the lids. Then I added various stamped PTI Christmas tags on top.

These are Spellbinder snow flakes.

Love how this one turned out.

If you don't have any jars on hand, another quick and easy way to package the snack mix is to use a mini bread loaf pan with a lid. On the sample below I just wrapped a piece of patterned paper around the pan that coordinated with the tag. Some pretty ribbon tied in a bow finishes the presentation; easy peasy!

OK, now for that snack mix recipe I promised. If you love a salty sweet combination, you will ADORE the flavors in this mix. When I make this I have to get it packaged quickly because it won't last around this house lol!

SUGARED CRANBERRY TRAIL MIX

1 cup whole almonds
2 cups small pretzels
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Spread almonds evenly on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 7 to 8 min. or until nuts are slightly darker in color. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 225. In a large bowl, combine almonds, pretzels and cranberries. In a small bowl beat egg white until foamy. Pour over pretzel mixture, toss until well coated. In another small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over pretzels; toss to coat well. Spread on greased baking sheet. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely on pan. Store in an airtight container.

A couple of things about this recipe, first, I ALWAYS double it! The only part I don't double is the cranberries, use a heaping cup full; personally I think 2 cups is too much. Also, you can substitute other nuts for the almonds. This year I did a mixture of half almonds and half pecans. And lastly, I use a jelly roll style pan to brown the nuts AND bake the mix in (no need to dirty 2 pans!)

That's all for today folks. I have another gift packaging idea for you that I'll share tomorrow; see you then!

Howdy, Pardners!

2010-12-18T11:26:00.001-05:00

Chrsitmas treat holders

2010-12-17T09:50:00.004-05:00

Good morning! Even though this project isn't entirely finished, I wanted to post it in case any of you would like to copy this idea for Christmas :)

I'm always looking for ways to recycle the plastic boxes my PTI stamps come in. Believe me, I have TONS of these things sitting around lol! So I came up with these goodies bags for my daughters class mates. In all I made 26 of them, and was SO happy to use up 26 boxes! Below are the 4 different designs I made.

I filled them with a variety of items. Most of these were dollar store finds, so it really didn't cost that much! I still want to add a homemade cookie in a glassine bag but I haven't made those yet.

To make these, I flattened the plastic box and trimmed off the top closure plus a bit more (used my Tonic guillotene cutter). I only decorated the fronts of the boxes, that saved on time and paper.

I punched holes in both sides of the box, and used another dollar store find to make the handle. Aren't these pine pipe cleaners cute! These were really a lot easier than doing ribbon handles, plus I love that they stand up on their own! I also bought silver and gold pipe cleaners and used the silver on the box above.

I put some red paper shreds in the bottom of each box as a "nest" for the goodies :)

I used PTI's Tiny Treats Christmas stamps to make these, and did some quick Copic coloring. I really LOVE how they turned out, and I hope Ali's classmates do too!

Do you have some fun plans for the weekend? We're going to be doing our baking, Christmas cookies, mini loaves, and some treat mixes. I'll have more ideas to share with you in a few days ;)

Gingerbread House

2010-12-16T08:35:00.003-05:00

We finally got around to finishing our gingerbread house last night and I wanted to share a few pictures! This has become a tradition in our family, making one each year. My husband does the work of assembling the house, and then Ali does most of the decorating (hubby and I do a bit too). Connor, who is 14 now, doesn't seem to want to be bothered with it anymore (sniff sniff, why do they have to grow up)!

We always buy a kit, although years ago I actually made one from scratch (that's a lot of work though!) Kit's are the way to go imo!

If you have little ones but haven't started this tradition in your family, I highly recommend it! It really isn't difficult to do, it makes a festive decoration for the holidays, and my kids love taking it apart and eating it on New Year's Day ;)

Thank you cards

2010-12-13T19:30:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! I was totally smitten with some card sets that Dawn McVey recently posted on her blog here and here. So I CASED a couple of her designs, just changing colors and a few of the stamps, and came up with these quick Christmas gift sets.

I recycled some PTI stamp boxes (the 15.00 size), to package the cards. Each box contains 3 thank you cards with envelopes. I used ribbon to decorate the outside of the box, and I put some red paper shreds to fill in the extra space (the box is 6X6 but the cards are A2 size).

The first card you see below in the gift box is the one Dawn made in Plum, Lavender, and Cream; I decided to use Pure Poppy and Berry Sorbet for my card.

For this next card Dawn used Aqua, Kraft and Cream, and again I went with the Pure Poppy and Berry Sorbet. I also used a different border stamp on mine (it's from Waltzingmouse Stamps). I don't have a picture of the 3rd card in the set, unfortunately I couldn't get it to photograph well at all.

I'm so grateful to Dawn for sharing these card sets, it really helped me to make some gifts super FAST!

sip, stir, enjoy!

2010-12-09T13:34:00.002-05:00

Today I have a fun project to share! I made cute little holders for some spiced apple cider packets I picked up at the store recently. It's nice to have little gifts handy this time of year, you never know when you'll need one (or two or three :)

So to make these I used a 5 1/2 X 7 inch flat paper sack. I folded it not quite in half and stitched around the sides and bottom, making a pocket to slip the cider packet into. You wouldn't have to stitch across the bottom, I just did that for decorative purposes.

Next I attached a 4" paper doiley, and tied some gingham ribbon around the bag. I added the Mat Stack (using PTI Mat Stack 1 and patterned paper). Then I added the PTI Harvest Gold felt, and finally the cute little image from Tiny Treats Christmas on top. I finished the packet off by tying on a Harvest Gold button with some twine.

I really love how these turned out. I love the homespun feel of the brown bag, the doiley, and the gingham ribbon and button. I think it makes a very sweet little gift :)

If anyone is interested, I have these Kraft paper sacks and doilies for sale. I'm selling them in sets of 50 paper sacks and 30 doilies (see below). The price is 10.00, which includes shipping in the US! I'm asking for a 10.00 PTI gift certificate as payment, and I'll get them out in the mail to you right away so you can make your own holiday goodies :) Please email me at djaquay@yahoo.com if you're interested. I have a limited number of these sets available.

That's all for now, hope this day finds you happy and healthy!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-07T11:56:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! I've missed you all, it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I've been having some shoulder problems (I have a torn labrum in my right shoulder), and I haven't felt much like crafting because of the pain I've been experiencing. The good news is that I started physical therapy yesterday and I'm really hoping that it helps, and that I won't need surgery!

My card today uses 2 of my favorite new stamp sets, Merry Little Christmas from PTI and Musical Backgrounds from Waltzingmouse. The pink background paper is from Webster's Pages. I love how soft and feminine and "pink" this card is; I'll probably give it to my Mom for Christmas :)

Even though I haven't felt much like crafting myself, I've really been enjoying visiting blogs lately and seeing all of the beautiful Christmas creations out there! I'm always amazed at the many talented folks who I'm blessed to know :) I hope that you're all enjoying your December, and don't forget to cherish each minute and take time to smell the roses (or should I say pine cones ;)

Blessings,
Diane

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T12:23:00.002-05:00

I want to wish my wonderful blog readers a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am truly thankful for each and every one of you. I'm thankful that you take time out of your busy days to visit my blog. And I'm especially thankful when you take the time to leave me a comment! Your comments warm my heart and brighten my days :)

Before I leave for my family Thanksgiving festivities I want to share one last Thanksgiving project I put together yesterday.

These are treat bags for the kids. They're filled with orange flavored jelly pumpkins. I used the label die from the Tea For Two collection (it's a great, small size for these little bags), and stamps from PTI and Marks' Finest Papers. I tied the bags off with some thick twine.

Whatever your plans are for today, I hope that your heart will be filled with gratitude for the abundant blessings God has given us :)

give THANKS

2010-11-22T10:48:00.003-05:00

Today I have some Thanksgiving favor boxes to share.

I made 11 of these for the adults who will attend Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house (I'm going to do something different for the kids). I'm planning on filling them with mints.

They were very easy to make thanks to wonderful products from PTI (favor box die, leaf die, and Mat Stack die!)

I used some PTI Dotty Biscotti paper, along with Basic Grey Indian Summer, and white card stock. I stamped the white card stock base with the smaller leaf stamps from PTI Leaf Prints before assembling.

I realized that I don't have ANY Thanksgiving stamps in my collection when I started to design these boxes! I need to remedy that ;)

Tips & Tricks

1. When stamping a random pattern on plain card stock, as in the boxes above, you don't have to stamp each stamp individually. You can arrange several stamps close together on a large acrylic block (I used 4 different leaf stamps from Leaf Prints). This will cover your paper much quicker than stamping 1 at a time!

Happy Birthday!

2010-11-17T08:33:00.003-05:00

When I saw this card by Dawn McVey I fell in love with everything about it, the colors and papers she used, the Mat Stack stitched across the top with the sentiment, and I had to make it! But I needed something that would be easily mailable. As pretty as the ruffly felt is, there's no way to mail that in a regular envelope. But I still wanted something white and pretty at the bottom, so I decided to make it with several layers of scallops. I think it turned out really pretty, and it's oh so MAILABLE! Love that :)

I also LOVE that beautiful flourish stamp from PTI's Big and Bold Holiday Wishes! I think it really "dressed up" the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have some fun things on your agenda for today!

City Crafter Challenge Blog Guest Designer

2010-11-15T22:33:00.002-05:00

Good morning friends! I'm delighted to have the opportunity to be a guest designer this week for the City Crafter Challenge Blog! The challenge theme this week is "Little Children", and the sponsor is CircusBoard.

My card features a sweet digital image and digital paper from the CircusBoard kit, "Child's Garden". I printed the image on semi gloss printer paper, and cut it with a Spellbinder Nestability label. I inked the edges with some vintage tea dye ink from PTI, then I added some glue around the edge and sprinkled it with glass glitter. I love the bit of sparkle it adds to my card!

I also used stamps from Lawn Fawn on this card (birds, banner, sentiment). I thought they worked perfectly with the digital image. The card is finished with a bit of lace tied in a bow.

I'd like to thank Kirsty for inviting me to guest design for CCC this week, I'm very honored! And I hope you'll consider entering the challenge, I'd love to see your "little children" inspired cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Fall thank you

2010-11-15T19:46:00.003-05:00

I have a simple, fall thank you card to share today. The layout for this card was inspired by the fabulous Dawn McVey; you can see her card here!

I used some of my favorite fall paper from Basic Grey (Indian Summer), and a leaf die and Leaf Prints stamp from PTI. The sentiment is also from PTI. I love how the twine finishes off the card :)

Be still...

2010-11-15T08:37:00.003-05:00

I have a super simple card for you today.

The sentiment is a Plain Jane from Verve, and the frame, which was stamped with PTI Raspberry Fizz ink, is from Gina K. I paired the stamped images with Basic Grey's Green at Heart paper. I think the paper works beautifully with the sentiment, don't you? I topped it off with some PTI Summer Sunrise silk ribbon.

Have a wonderful week :)

Feel better, Friend

2010-11-13T18:35:00.003-05:00

I fell in love with the layout of this card by Maile Belles, and wanted to recreate it. I pulled out PTI Scattered Showers and came up with this card.

Super quick and easy, I used PTI Terracotta Tile to stamp the umbrella, and some brown bakers twine and a PTI die cut cloud finish the card. I think this is a sketch I'll be using again!

Season's Greetings

2010-11-12T12:27:00.003-05:00

Today I have yet another card to share with you where I used the beauty of Webster's Pages paper to help me make a card!

This was so easy, all I did was use some Waltzingmouse Stamps and a Spellbinder label, and this card was done! It just doesn't get any easier than that. I love the beautiful birds and birdhouse, and the flowers and holly on this paper. It doesn't scream Christmas, but whispers it in a lovely, subtle way, don't you think?

Hope you've enjoyed the series of cards I've shared using Webster's Pages papers. If you have any cards that combine your own stamping with beautiful patterned papers, please leave a link in the comments, I'd love to see them!

Celebrate the Season

2010-11-11T13:47:00.002-05:00

I've been dying to try out my new PTI ornament dies! I don't have the coordinating stamp sets, but I think these dies work really well without the stamps.

I love the way this ornament coordinates with the Spellbinder Label 13 die. I added some little pink gems to give it a bit of sparkle. I used both Sweet Blush and Ocean Tides ribbon to add to the fun feel of the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly background paper.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Diane

Merry Christmas To You

2010-11-10T13:42:00.003-05:00

Today I have 2 Christmas cards to share with you. First, my inspiration for the layout of these cards came from this card by Heather (the card is about half way down the post).

I actually debated about ordering the 2010 Holiday Tags. I have the 2009 set and haven't used them much, but there are some images in the 2010 set that I fell in love with and had to have!

All of the patterned papers I used on these cards are from the Basic Grey Jovial 6X6 pad. I'm totally in love with this collection, I just love the distressed country cabin look!

That's all for today, thanks so much for stopping by :)

Tips & Tricks

1. I thought I'd share a few tips for mixing and matching patterned paper. I don't know if there are "rules" to this topic, but this is what I do. First, I look at the size and pattern of what's on the paper. If I'm mixing 3 papers, I go for small, medium and large sized pattern. For example, take a look at the first card. The deer are my large pattern, the dots are medium, and the thin stripes are small. The second thing I do is to mix patterns. For example, I wouldn't use a small and large floral pattern together. I would mix a flower, a stripe or plaid, and then perhaps a polka dot. On my card above you can see I mixed the deer with dots and stripes. Like I said, this is just what I do and it works for me, and hopefully it will help some of you who may be patterned paper shy :)

2. Don't forget to think of your stamps when it comes to making backgrounds. For example, on my second card I used the sentiment "holiday wishes" to stamp a background on the card stock. I used a light, vintage tea dye ink to stamp the sentiment because I wanted a very muted look. I then stamped over the sentiments with my handy dandy random speckles stamp. I use that A LOT when I want a more distressed look (it's also great for hiding smudges and boo boo's ;)

3. Just one more little tip, when choosing the round label to use on these cards I went with the one I did because I knew I wanted to use the Victorian Lace border die too. See how the pattern of the border die and the circle die match? I think this helps to give your card a tied together look, which I love.

peace

2010-11-09T16:34:00.002-05:00

Today I have a Christmas card that was cased from Dawn McVey's bag project here.

I love the Pure Poppy and Hawaiian Shores together. I used white embossing powder for the word "peace" at the bottom so it would stand out more against the poppy.

That's all for today, I'll be back tomorrow with yet another Christmas card!

Tips & Tricks

1. Inspiration for cards can be found in many places, in this case I loved Dawn's bag and based my card on that. Try looking at tags, bags, boxes, scrapbook pages, etc., to see what inspiration you can find.

2. If you feel your sentiment needs a little something more to make it stand out, try "underlining" it. For this card I used some pearls, but you could also use small buttons or brads, another stamp (such as a line stamp), some thin ribbon, or a line of stitching.

One-Layer Wednesday 27: Christmas Kindness

2010-11-08T09:08:00.002-05:00

Today's card is for the current One-Layer Wednesday Challenge. This weeks challenge is a special one! You can read all the details here.

I used Waltzingmouse Stamps Frame-It stamp set for this card. Oh how I LOVE this set! It makes card making a snap! The tree is from PTI (Tree Trimming Trio), and the ornaments were cut using a circle punch and some gold specialty paper. For the card base I used a beautiful, hand made note card from Shizen Designs. You can't really see it on the picture but there are flecks of gold in the paper that look lovely with the gold ornaments.

Have a fabulous day, and thanks so much for stopping by!