Valentine's Day Cards

I've been trying to get some ideas gathered for Valentine's Day treat bags for the boys' classrooms, and in the interim....can't you just feel the pink and love in the air???  As a matter of fact, today is Pink Day in my youngest son's classroom, and all the kids are asked to wear pink in honor of their special day.  This is a dream come true for most, if not all, of his female classmates, but not so much for the boys, heh.  And as luck would have it, my youngest (Caden) is currently home with a nasty stomach bug.  Apparently, he has not minded missing Pink Day because, and I quote,"I'm a boy and boys stay very far away from pink shirts and pink pants and pink things in their hair."  Coming from a 5 year-old, it's a bit comical, so I won't argue with him at this point. :)

And speaking of pink, I've already written a few days ago how I've become newly acquainted with pink and all the cuteness that goes with it, so I came up with this little card:

This paper collection I used, oh have MERCY!, is by Glitz and it is the current apple of my eye.  Of course it's loaded with pinks, but there is also this light taupe-y color that is just barely mixed in that gives the collection a bright, yet nostalgic, look.  I love it, and paired with Papertry Ink paraphernalia, I love it even more (how do you like those little bitty hearts floating about behind the big heart?  CUTE!).  The stamp set is Papertrey Ink's With All My Heart, coordinated with their layering hearts dies.  PTI's heart border was cut from another all-time favorite: Authentique's Lively paper collection.  There are several browns and greens in that collection, which is a wonderful combination in anything: cards, clothing, nature, food, you name it!!

Hope you like the card....enjoy!  And have a nice day! 

CASology Challenge this week!

I've missed participating in CASology's challenges for weeks and for various reasons (children sucking the life out of you, anyone? LOL), but this week I got lucky because I already had a card made that fits quite nicely with this week's theme: winter! How appropriate! I made this card a couple of weeks ago because I had a new winter-themed stamp that I've been trying to use throughout the holidays, but didn't succeed in doing anything with it until recently.

In any case, I think it totally fits CASology to a T: clean and simple! I really enjoy clean and simple cards, and even though I don't often go the simple route, doing the challenges at CASology always brings in new inspiration and new knowledge!

Here is the card I'll be posting on their site:

Since I loved Papertrey Ink's Candy Cane Christmas stamp set so much this past holiday season, I thought I'd pair the very inviting cup o' joe (because I love coffee in the cold winter months!) with the cute Northwoods sentiment; I plan to use this layout for winter hellos to my friends and family, and that also gives me the opportunity to use PTI's stamp set a little longer! :D

Thanks for stopping by...hope you like the card!  Enjoy!

(Other items used: snowflakes from Papertrey Ink's Snowflake Medley stamp set and matching dies; the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Aspen Frost collection)

January Musings and lots of Inspiration

I haven't posted in a long time.  I've been on an inspirational kick lately, so I wanted to share a few more cards with the community.  Pinterest has been a regular 'go-to' site that I've been dropping an obscene amount of lurking-time into, paired with the fact that my local scrapbook store has been getting some fresh, beautiful paper collections to die for....that spelled out serious card-making time!

I am in love with Basic Grey's "True Love" paper collection.  Apparently I like pink - who knew? - and it is even more fantastical when it's paired up with teals and aquas.  I also recently purchased Papertrey Ink's Limitless Layers Hearts dies, which is such a winner in my book.  Often times I think the many size options in my other dies sets will forever see no action in my die-cutting machine, but these PTI hearts dies?  It's guaranteed I will use each and every one of them repeatedly.  Since I'm definitely more of a card maker than a scrapbooker, sizes in the neighborhood of about 3 inches will always be more attractive to me, and this is why I can appreciate PTI's business approach of keeping such layers within the 3-inch mark.

For this first card I'd like to share, I used the above mentioned paper, along with the hearts dies:

The heart border is another PTI die (love!) and the canceled postmark to the bottom-right is another PTI stamp collection (called Postmarks): another great stamp set!  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention a very important thing: Papertrey Ink (aka PTI) came out with a GORGEOUS stamp set called 'With All My Heart.'  I was taken by surprise by this set because I won't normally gravitate toward a "valentine-y" type stamp set, and hearts are typically not my thing.  I guess I've expanded my horizons, or something, because now I'm all over that AND pink (which is not a "regular," either).  The images in this set are very versatile, but what's also brilliant is that there are many 2-step stamping opportunities with the images, and I LOVE this feature.  Honestly, I'm surprised more companies don't do this for potential buyers; I would imagine most stampers are like me where they'd rather stamp a flower THEN a leaf, than stamping an entire flower and leaf with just one color (unless it's a lined image, but that wasn't my point :)))

Authentique is another paper company I love, and they came out with a collection called "Renew" (and it's a mountain of gorgeous paper!).  Again, the teals are just oozing out of this collection, and I am absolutely in love with all their patterns.  I will say one thing: I noticed that their newer lines don't feel quite as thick and as textured as their previous releases, which makes me a little sad - all in all, I still love working with it, and the quality is still awesomely USA-made.  Here is a picture of what I came up with:

For the clouds, I used a Die-Namics Clouds trio die; the loopy die for my pseudo-sun is a Memory Box die (I believe it's called Whimsy Circle); then of course there is also the proverbial Spellbinders scalloped/regular circles thrown in for good measure.  My sentiment is from 'Bring on the Sun' by Technique Tuesday (another FANTASTIC USA-made company!).  I really like how this card turned out and luckily for me, I was given the chance to showcase it for the next Demo Day at Photo Scraps - 11am on Saturday the 19th.  If you are anywhere near Carroll County in Maryland, come by and say hello - I'll be there up to my eyeballs in Authentique (and loving it!).

Hope you like the card...enjoy, and have a nice day! 

Using Up The Scraps

I just wanted to post a card I recently made solely out of scraps.  Not a single new fresh sheet of fancy designer paper was harmed in the making of this card, heh. And honestly, it's been long overdue.....most of my scraps are hardly scraps at all, since most are only missing a corner, or there is less than a half that was used.

In any case, I recently got my hands on another die (surprise, surprise) and that inspired me to make the card below. The die is from Memory Box and it's called "Lavish Branch."  Other dies used: Tiffany Border by Cheery Lynne, Flower trio by Memory Box, and Half and Half by Papertrey Ink (love!). The sentiment is one of those mixed messages sets by Hero Arts but I forget the name......

Hope you like it...enjoy!  Happy New Year to all!

Make-It-Monday #96

I decided I would join this week's Make It Monday challenge at Papertrey Ink.  I've been making Christmas cards non-stop for 2 weeks straight, so I've developed a copious amount of scraps that are perfect for this challenge: patchwork die cuts.  It also helps that I'm really into die-cutting lately, so I couldn't let this week go by without joining the fun.

For this card, I used Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #6 to work on my die cuts; the sentiment comes from the Peaceful Pinecones stamp set, and I also used the Background Basics Tin Types for a little texture behind the tag.  For the embellishments, I *think* the wooden snowflakes are by Studio Calico and the button is from Basic Grey.  The red lacey thing you see behind the tag is actually a snowflake (called Snowflake 2) by Cheery Lynn Designs.  Patterned papers are from Authentique (Festive collection) - another great company making great products...you guys rock. :D

I always love seeing what Papertrey Ink comes up with every Monday.  Most weeks are pretty hectic for me, especially with the holidays coming up at supersonic speed, and I have to stay away (I hate to ask this, but isn't it still November?  No?).  However, when I can make time to play a little, I always feel so inspired (which will typically lead to 3 or 4 more card creations - yeaaah!).  Hopefully I'll be able to play next week - looking forward to it!!

Drowning In Paper

I've finally admitted to myself that I have too much paper - patterned, cardstock, and everything else in between.  I know I'm not alone in this, as I often hear other crafters lamenting about the cute new papers that are currently on the market, and however shall I be able to buy just one, or even two?  This is why I've been trying very hard to stay steer clear of any craft stores: because I will typically have no willpower when it comes to paper.

When I started stamping and card-making, it was like I was giving myself a more legitimate reason to buy paper.  In the past, and way before I began papercrafting, I was always buying washi just for the patterns.  I occasionally did some origami, but since I was living in Guam and the Japanese market was pretty much a monopoly, washi was all over the place and I would buy it just to have it.  I remember a lot of gift-wrapping, and even journaling, which was always fun.  I still have a crate-full of that paper from long ago, and it has held up quite well.  I've been giving some of the bulk washi to my kids for origami, but I think for the most part they'd rather draw dragons, monsters, and army men freeing the people from said dragons and monsters on regular construction paper, heh.

Nowadays I've replaced the washi craziness with another craziness: heavyweight patterned paper.  Thankfully I have a long list of people who will be receiving hand made cards and gift tags this year, and I've been slowly using up my Christmas paper.  Here is a card I made this morning from the last bits of Echo Park paper that has been sitting around:

Of course my more current cards are totally riddled with Papertrey Ink products, because apparently I'm a fanatic, heh.  I used the Snowflake Medley dies, the peppermint stir sticks from the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set (my current favorite), and the sentiment from the Happiest of Holidays set (the tag is from Pink Paislee).  For these last sets of cards, I was trying to start with a smaller canvas just to see if I would approach it with more ease, and I think it was a bit easier than starting with the typical A2 size.  I think making smaller cards is my current "thing," so we'll see where that leads me.  The huge 12x12 layouts won't be my thing for a long while, and in the meantime smaller is less intimidating. :)

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

"Time" for some CASology challenge!

I have about an hour to enter my card in the challenge over at CASology's website - and I chose a pretty appropriate stamp set: Tim Holtz's Elements of Time to go with their trigger word this week: time. :D

I don't think I ever used this stamp set before, and I remember buying it a year ago, maybe even two, when a stamp show came to town over a weekend in September.  I still love Tim Holtz, but channeling his style comes rarely, even though his products have attracted me the most over the years.  These online challenges really get my mind working, so not only do they help me use the stash I already have, but also give me an opportunity to learn new techniques and new ways to look at things in general.

I wish I would have taken the deadline more seriously (speaking of time, as a matter of fact) for this challenge since I practically started and finished this card within 20 minutes ago, but I've been wanting to do more embossing as of late, so I incorporated that element into this as well:

I don't think it's my greatest work, but I do like the monochromatic effect going on...plus, the little metal embellishment complements my Rusty Hinge ink (which I love but never really get to use on other projects).  I'll be sending this to my brother up in New Jersey, whom I have to remind that we can't be letting too much time go by before another family reunion! :)

Hope you like the card...enjoy!