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I recently subscribed to Papertrey Ink's newsletter and found out this past Monday that they were doing a Make-It-Monday (MIM) challenge.  I knew about MIM videos I've seen posted on youtube in the past, but I wasn't aware they ever had challenges tied to them.  Well, in short, I decided to participate in this week's challenge.  It involves creating your own garland, and this particular challenge interested me a lot because I'm always trying to stretch my basic dies/stamps, using them in various ways to make them more versatile with each new project.  Some stamps/dies work better than others in the versatility department, but it's always fun to take on that little journey to see how many looks you can achieve from one such tool.  

For this challenge, and since Fall is close at hand, I thought I'd use BoBunny's 'Apple Cider' paper collection.  Fall happens to be my favorite time of the year, mainly because of the  changing of colors throughout the countryside, but also because of that crispy cool weather that makes my cup of coffee taste all the better!

I used my little Tag-Its #7 stamp set, along with some images from the Postmarks set and the postage stamp die, to create my garland.  For the garland itself, I simply made a little hole in the middle of the postage stamp and passed some hemp cord through it.  I didn't make any alterations to the stacked Primas, but I did spray some Glimmer Mist on the two tiny paper flowers to the right (a packet of 20 for 25 cents...thank you, Clearance Section @ Michaels!!).  I plan to hand-deliver this card to my mother-in-law, who lives in central PA where all the beautiful colors of Fall are!

I hope you like the card...enjoy!

Non-Crafting Thought of the Week

Today was the first day of school for my boys.  What excitement!  Naturally it all started off with me waking up an hour late, heh - they weren't late getting to school, though...thank goodness!!  Despite their pseudo-whining about summer ending, the boys are thrilled to be reunited with their friends and to finally have a structured day filled with all kinds of new knowledge for their brains to soak right up!  I will say, however, that it's starting to get a little weird because my youngest is now in pre-school, and I now officially have all my mornings to myself, by myself.  I think the last time my schedule was this consistent and predictable was 9 years ago, before my oldest was born.  It's the typical question that then follows: where did all this time go?  But more importantly: what do I do with all this free time now?  Aside from the fact that I could easily eat up the hours tending to dust bunnies under the furniture that have gone unnoticed for, well, "some time," I'm  thinking I have to reacquaint myself with my gym membership.  In fact, when was the last time I even went?  It had to be before school ended in June, so I guess it's been since June?  Wow.  I did hit the track a few times over the summer with my husband and the boys, but once a week is hardly anything worth mentioning.  Thank goodness I'm even saying anything about the gym - in fact, I'm eager to start up again tomorrow.  Looking forward to my date with the elliptical. :P  

Avocado Arts

I tried a clear stamp set I recently snagged at my local craft store.  I'm pretty sure Avocado Arts never made a "mini" stamp set before, so when I saw the smallness and cuteness of the packaging, I ran with it, heh.  This set is called "You Mean So Much" and it has 5 images, which includes two sentiments: "Thank You" and "You Mean So Much To Me."  The remaining 3 images are what I think look like 'ecclectic' florals, and they're great!  After looking through my scrap pile, I came up with this:

Not obeying the urge to paper-piece the flower was the real challenge for me.  I will typically paper-piece 95% of my card projects because I always think my cards look a little 'flat.'  And ironically, I've always labeled myself a stamper, but as of late, I hardly stamp any of my cards, save for the occasional sentiment.  With this card, I think I went back to my stamping roots and quite like what came to life - it was very refreshing to just take a small piece of cream cardstock and stamp away the blankness, without worrying about the hassles of cut-n-pasting!  The big flower is a nice size for such a small stamp set, and I love how I have the option to paper-piece and build up the flower for a future project.  Hope you like it...enjoy!

Demo Day Card

Here is the card I made for this month's Demo Day at Photoscraps in Eldersburg, MD.  I'm definitely not a pink-y type girl, but Authentique's "Lively" paper collection is absolutely to die for.  You'd be reaching for pink, too - trust me!  Aside from the pinks, the collection also has some green tones, as well as brown and orange - it's just begging to be transformed into a fun and happy greeting card.

For this project, I used my trusty kraft paper for the base, Tim Holtz's Distressed Tattered Rose and Peeled Paint ink pads, Memento's Love Letter ink pad (for the card's  sentiment...and what a red, folks!), the "Lively" paper collection, Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Lobster (for the Prima flowers), coral buttons from Joann's, and various dies from Sizzix and MFT Die-namics.  Hope you like it.......enjoy!

Non-Crafting Thought of the Week

This is my first year doing football.  Well, I should correct that statement: *I* am not technically on the field trying to tackle anyone....my middle boy, Kyle, has taken some interest in the sport, so we signed him up this year.  We've already gone through the mini camps, and are just finishing up with the 4-days-a-week practices.  I have to say, I'm surprised I actually like being out there watching the kids play; Kyle really enjoys it.  Do I get tense when the kids get knocked around and fall flat on the ground?  Absolutely!  Especially when it involves my child!  But now that I'm up close and personal with the football gear, I have to admit that it definitely cushions them up pretty nicely.  Here's to a great football season, come rain or shine......Go, Wildcats!!  

Gimme Some Papertrey!!!

Okay, I admit: I'm getting very acquainted with the 'purchase' button over at papertreyink.com.  Personally, I think their designers are brilliant, innovative and very generous when it comes to sharing their talents.  I like browsing through the design team's blogs and various pictures of their creations: page after page filled with little gems!  I've gotten so much inspiration from them over the years, but my very first purchase happened just late last year.  And it's true: while their stamps are simply gorgeous (high quality photopolymer AND made in the good ol' US of A!), I have to say their cardstock is truly unmatched.  I've been looking for a great cream-colored cardstock for a long time now, and at first I was hesitant to purchase this kind of stuff online (crafting paper? going through the mail?  Um, no.).  I suppose I'm that type of customer who needs to physically see and touch the merchandise before making that purchase.  In any case, I decided I'd give Papertrey Ink's paper a try, and I'm SO glad I did.  I was impressed with how they packaged the paper: safely tucked inside a cocoon of cardboard.  Nice!  I went with their rustic cream paper, and not only did the color far exceed my expectations, it is a true heavy base-weight (I'm assuming) 110-pound paper.  Lovely to work with, and it feels so luxurious!  The next color I'm gunning for is their vintage cream.  It's hard to get a clear idea of how this cream will look like based on an internet photo, but hey: it's Papertrey, and I'd be willing to bet it's just perfect.

Looking better, for sure!

It looks like I managed to make my blog page look a mite better than when I started.  I'll save the worries of creating a header for another day.....

In the meantime, yesterday I got my hands on some new paper collections from Authentique.  Anyone else in love with Authentique?  Honestly, I don't believe it's difficult to fall in love with this company.  Just the feel of the paper alone is enough to hypnotize you!  I came home with their new 'Enchanted' line, just in time for some spooky Halloween cards.  I also grabbed a few papers from their 'Curiosity' collection, which has a school theme going on.  I felt it had a more masculine feel to it, with all the blue tones, and since I only have sons, that paper was just calling my name!  With school starting in just a few short weeks, I plan to make some 'hello' cards for my boys to give to their teachers on their first day of school.  Back in grade school, many MANY moons ago, I used to write intro letters to my teachers, and they loved it!  With all the computer writing and e-mails we do all day long, I think these teachers will enjoy receiving a simple hand-written card from their students.  And look at that, the card will be homemade, too!

My Page Looks Blah.

I am in the process of trying to figure out how to embellish my rather boring page.  I keep visiting these other pages and they are gorgeous, with blinkies and swirls and fancy backgrounds.  I'm no expert when it comes to computer things, but how hard can it be?  I found a site called shabbyblogs.com and they had all kinds of backgrounds and headers that were all gratis.  I'm pretty sure I cut and pasted the code properly, but my page is still a sea of blankness.  I'll have to do more research and ease my way out of the boringness.  In the meantime, I have a card class and a card "Demo Day" that I'm preparing for this month for my local craft store which has kept me busy.  If anyone is in the Eldersburg, MD area, come check it out!  Their addy is on their site, at photoscrapsblog.blogspot.com.  If you scroll down a bit, you will see a picture of my cards; for this set, I used Authentique's 'Lively' paper collection.  What a great collection!  I love the pinks and vivid greens matched up with the earthiness of brown - and let's not forget the sumptuous feel of the paper itself.  Pure luxury!