Funky Carriages

I am a baby card junkie, of course. I'll buy anything I see that I think will work on a baby card. I like 12 x 12 paper since if I'm clever I can get 6 cards from one sheet! But, I confess, I am not a fan of 'off' colors. There seems to be a lot of mauve, lime, and odd purple baby papers out there at the moment! I made two of these, and put the paper back in the file for another day~

Paper is Heidi Grace Shimmer Paper, Baby Buggies. I thought the Lockhart carriage looked similar to the funky carriages on the paper, even though they faced opposite ways, lol! The paper colors are weird, so I went to my 12 x 12 paper stash and found cs that is reasonably close. The green is Papertrey's Spring Moss; the blanket is colored in Prisma marker Limepeel which matches Spring Moss rather well! Sentiment is from SU. The girl card has cute little flowers, and the boy card has some Dew Drops. Those little flowers match Papertrey's Raspberry Fizz, and are from Savvy Stamps. They also make blue flowers that match Spring Rain (PTI)or Bashful Blue (SU) well, too! I used some clear Stickles on the sentiment and the carriages as well.

Sadly, I am still not well- although better!- and am off to the Dr. again today... wish me luck at getting better!

Flourishes babies!

The Rock A bye Baby set from flourishes has to be one of my all time favorites for making quick baby cards- sweet to look at and easy to color! I usually watercolor them, but this times used Prisma markers for the textiles and watercolor crayons for the moon.

The girl version is made with a piece of Memory box paper mounted on SU's pink Pirouette on a Basic Gray card base. The scallop circle (Nestability) under the moon has pearls in each of the scallops- now that wasn't easy! I think they were made to be able to line up or swirl around, but it meant they had sticky you could see between them! I had to trim that all off, what a pain! Still, with some dotted organdy ribbon, this became a sweet card!

This layout I cased from Sharon Johnson (notimetostamp), you can see her girl version here

Paper and ribbon all Papertrey; the embossing is the Cuttlebug Swirls folder.

11 so far!!

Well, well, well! Isn't that just the prettiest site you have ever seen? 5:15 pm on Saturday night, and I have 11 of the 12 I need Sunday night done! Well, almost- no insides, and no signatures, but hey! Almost done!!

The first card I'll show you is CAS- clean and simple! With the SU punches, took all of 5 minutes, max. Inks are Lavender Moon, Spring Rain, spring Moss and Lemon Tart. Sentiment is from Baby Favors. Stars are from the Anniversary set. All from Papertrey, of course!

The last of the vine background!

Here's a baby boy card using the last of the vines background paper I made for this week's Blog Hop. This Sweet Pea stamp is one of the Studio G $1.00 stamps from Michael's~ what a great find this one was! Spring Rain Bitty Dots paper with Spring Rain cs layers and New Leaf Bitty Dots ribbon. See the post below to see how I did the bg paper.

Sweet!

March Blog Hop

Sorry, now we're all out of sequence, but I thought the vines bg paper wasn't clear enough on the other photo- so scroll down to read the Blog Hop info!!

Woo Hoo! Blog Hop, again! Although, I now feel like my life is passing by in 30 day increments, and they are way too fast, lol!

This month we were to make background papers, then make projects out of them. I know a lot of folks will be jumping to Guidelines, and Guidelines 2. I went to a BG I've done before, leaves and vines-

This BG paper uses the vines from Beyond Basic Borders. They were stamped in Landscape and New Leaf. The little flowers from Out On a Limb were then stamped around- Spring Rain on one side and Pink Toile on the other. Maybe I shoulda' ordered the Hibiscus ink?!? The sweet pea is from Green thumb, of course, and the baby face is from Bitty Baby Blessings.

I have been out sick for a week, with no baby cards made, and 12 babies in cribs at the hospital as we speak... 2 down and 10 to go, lol!!

I have been remiss with Background Basics Stars. It's just background papers waiting to happen- and has seen very little ink at my house- not sure why. I used 2 of the single images, plus the grid from Guidelines- just to keep me straight. Colors are Ocean Tides and Pink Toile. Sweet baby feet are from Sympathy: Loss of Child, but the 'Welcome Little One' is from one of the dollar sets at Michaels. Sigh, these two don't count in my needed 12 by tomorrow night as I made them a few days ago and took them in last Sunday.

I've taken off the word verification and moderation for the night- hope it makes comments go faster. Enjoy the hopping- I'm off to hop around myself!

A Pink Bunny

Had a wee bit of a set back- felt worse than the day before. Craig got me some different cough syrup today, which helped a lot. Sat in the rocking chair for 1/2 of the day... I have to be better soon, I just have to.

Each of us, I'm sure, has a stash of things from when we first started- and we just can't bear to throw them away; for goodness' sake, they now have sentimental value! The SU Spring Showers (or was that Flowers?) paper is left over from a set of wedding invitations my DH made. She used 2 sheets from each pack of papers- at almost 200 invitations, can you imagine the pile of leftovers she had?!? My pile is still over an inch thick, lol! The pink fuzzy yarn is from my first CTMH order, I think. This may well be the first time I have used it. Card base is SU's Old Olive, but the lighter green is Papertrey's Spring Moss. Bunny is a Sizzix die, the Baby Girl paper and grosgrain ribbons are from American Crafts.

Another Papertrey Casual Challenge!

Hey, look at me! I made a card! Actually, I made 3, but I have to save 2 for the Blog Hop later this week, lol lol! I am going to go to work tonight, so I am not going to be sick any more!

I used Berry Sorbet cs along with paper from the 12 x 12 pack of Pink Patterns. I think Pink Patterns may be the only 12 x 12 paper Papertrey has left! The Hoppers from House Mouse were stamped on Stamper's Select in Versafine Onyx black, then colored with Prisma marker Deco Pink and 20% Warm Grey. I do think the pink marches Sweet blush better when used in smaller amounts. The colored image is then layered in Sweet blush. The heart border punch is Fiskars, the scallop border punch is Stampin' Up! Berry Sorbet and Sweet Blush twill finish off the front.

The challenge 2 weeks ago was to make a card an odd size, and to pay attention to the envelope and the inside. This card is 7.25 by 6.5, and I was lucky to have this funny size parcel envelope around. the cute little bunny is a stamp I got eons ago, from Holly Pond Hill. It is so small it is hard to use, but works well on this envelope!. colored in SU markers. Why didn't I use the Prisma pink?? Because I was too lazy last night to heat the the Versafine on the envelope, and if I had used a Prisma without setting, the black would run!

The inside of the card is lame, I know... sorry! The cute bunny sentiment is from a SU bunny set.

Feeling Green!

Phew! I have been sick for 5 days now, and I refuse to be sick any more. Plus, I have to go to work Sunday and Monday night, and there is no way they will let me call in sick again. So! There you have it! That's all the good news. The bad news is that I am still feeling pretty bad... so I am hoping that creating my own myth of wellness will work by tomorrow night when I arrive at work!

I made this card the day I started to feel sick- I should have wondered! It uses Papertrey's Bitty Baby Basics and It's a Boy! from Hero Arts. SU's Dots N Dashes paper, plus their Green Galore and Glorious Green cs. I colored the carriage with Certainly Celery and going Gray markers, as well as Prisma's #13 Poppy Red and 20% Warm Gray. Buttons are from Earth Elements and Rich Regals. There is Stickles Fruit Punch all over the carriage, not sure if you get that in the photo.

It feels good to be back upstairs, lol, just wish I could breath!

Sick, sick, sick

The bad news: My head hurts. My throat hurts. My eyeballs feel like they are going to pop out of my head. My head feels like a balloon stretched to the limit. Believe it or not, inside of my nose hurts. My hands hurt. My back hurts. I want to curl up and sleep, but I already did that twice today, and it's only 2 o'clock. The 2 little boys next door (my two grandsons) are home from school today, coughing and spewing and spitting up. Both of their parents had to go to work. =80 You have got to be kidding me?!?

The good news: I'm not coughing. I had a flu shot. I don't have to go to work again until Thursday night. I didn't get thrown up on much. My daughter came home from work early because she doesn't feel well, either. It isn't as bad a week as my other daughter: www.flyingchanges.blogspot.com

Back to bed.

Papertrey March GSS: Scrapbook page

Public Service Announcement: No baby should sleep on it's tummy or on a surface this soft. This is a staged photo!! Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Crib Death) has been linked to sleeping on the tummy or on soft surfaces!

Phew! Thanks for listening! Even before Jayson was born I had this scrapbook page in my head~ the layout and the sticker is from David Walker. The layout is from an ad that showed the products. I used a 12 x 12 sheet that is a pretty good match for Spring Rain. I created the background papers with Faux Ribbon and Polka Dot Basics on 8.5 x 11 white. Inks are Spring Rain, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart, a wee bit of Summer Sunrise and Lavender Moon. The larger animals from Bitty Baby Basics were stamped on the 2008 Bitty Polka Dot matching papers, then cut out. The 'Oh Baby' is the sticker shown in the ad, from Creative Imaginations. I edged the two layers in Lavender Moon and Spring Rain. Spring Moss Swiss Dots ribbon goes along the bottom, with some random buttons tied with yellow floss on top. Lastly, I Love You from OOAL Sentiments finishes the page!

I took the photo when he was asleep, by placing him down on my bed then kneeling to be at mattress level. I think he is about 6 weeks old in the photo. I am so happy to have this page finished, since Jayson turns three next week!

Happy New Baby

Here's more duckies, lol. I must have spring on the brain now! Indeed, it snowed again Tuesday, almost another foot. Then Wednesday it all melted and the mud was a foot thick and I pretty much sunk up to my ankles trying to get to the car and there were ducks waddling around the car, front and back, as I tried to drive out of the puddle in the driveway... ok, maybe not, but that's the way it felt. Sheesh. It's a mess out there!

Papertrey Aqua Mist and Lemon Tart. Unknown and difficult to work with printed paper- but this is the last of it, thank goodness! Sentiment box from SU's For a Friend. Ribbon is Aqua Mist Saddle Stitch (I keep calling it Double Stitched, but the correct name is Saddle Stitched!). Unknown Little flower brads- the stamp has flowers between the letters, so you could just color them in yourself.

I may try this as an Easter card as well, can't you just see little duckies with eggs??

Taken With Teal

Darn, I'm not sure what happened to the colors, here! The colors are SU's Taken With Teal and Certainly Celery. Stamps are Inkadinkado and Savvy Stamps for the sentiment. SU's little label punch for the file folder tag. SU printed paper, but I searched the stash and can't remember which set it is from (if you know, let me know!). Stamped with Versafine Onyx Black, then colored with prismas and Copics- all kinds of colors! the Prima flower is hiding a baby bottle, since none of the cards I sell to the hospital can have bottles on them. A double sided Marvy ribbons, which is the perfect color for the card!

I have made a ton- well maybe 10 or so- baby cards in the past 2 days, so I will show them all to you, proud mama that I am! After I do some more I will start working on Easter and Mother's Day cards- need about 20 each, then onto the order for 30 Birthday cards I got recently!

Another try for Clean & Simple!

Nothing special here- just trying to limit mysef to a clean and simple baby card, lol!

That, and get over the fact that we had close to a foot of snow here again. Big giant fluffy snow, pretty to look at, but hefty on the tree branches. I kept waiting for the 'lectricity to go out, but it stayed on. It started as the school bus came, and I kept waiting for a call from the school, but they kept tham all day. I'm sure at this point any time there is going to be a school closing there will be a couple thousand irate mothers on thephone. Kaleb says 'kids were falling down all over, it was coming from the left, and it was coming from the right'!

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone!

Baby Star!

Along with some of the 'stuff' that has to go in the upcoming 'spring cleaning' are some of the majillions of images stuck on the hard drive. Here is a card from back in June of 2008...

Bitty Baby Blessings paper and stampset, Spring Moss as the layer and Stamper's Select as the base. Not sure what it was colored with, but I think it must be watercolor crayons- I bought some at ArtMart in St. Louis that match Lemon Tart and Summer Sunrise. Could also be a SU watecolor crayon.

Unknown brads and 'itty buttons.

Casual Midweek Challenge # 45

This weeks challenge on the Papertrey Ink forum was to make a spring card using the New Colors New Leaf and Melon Berry. You can get these colors here! Now, I must confess a few things: 1. These colors are not going to be my favorites, lol, they are not 'baby' enough! 2. They are great together, but not stupendous together as baby cards. 3. I can't do spring this week, it snowed a foot again on Monday. 4. I am under my mandatory production for baby cards this week, lol, so baby it is!!

I have been very aware this week that I am out of space, and own tons of things I never use. I have also gained 30 pounds over the past 2 years, but that's another story. I am hoping to slim down my possessions, as a way to avoid slimming down my waist, I guess. I decided to look around at what hasn't ever been used, and this Boss Cuts die popped out of a box. This card turned out so cute I think I will keep the die! It doesn't take up much room, anyway!

The background is Papertrey's Polka Dot Basics stamped with SU's Craft Whisper White. The duck is cut from Lemon Tart, and the 'string' is black. The sentiment is one of my favorites, from Penny Black. Some of those wonderful Papertrey Perfect Match buttons fill in the tires!

You really should enlarge this card to see it better, it came out the better of the two, but I'm not sure you get that in the photo. Uses Papertrey's Quilter's Sampler Additions, I'm so glad I got that set! I used SU's Green Galore marker and Prisma Salmon Pink #122 for the quilt squares. The carriage is from Bitty Baby Blessings and is stamped in Vintage Cream, then paper pieced with more Melon Berry cs. It's mounted on Melon Berry as well.

Well, I think that is the end of my non-spring New Leaf and Melon Berry cards. I am next going to try and get 4 boy cards done, so I think I will put the Melon Berry away for now!!

Little Feet

Ok! The Team loved the going away card, but not it is back to baby cards! I have only 3 for the week, so I need 7 more by Sunday night, lol!

This is the first time I have used only Pink Pirouette without any other color~ it is a superb color! I will need to stock up in late summer, I think, because I believe I like it just a bit better than Pretty In Pink; it's a wee bit less intense, which is good for a baby card!

The card base is Pink Pirouette texture, the layer is one of the PP prints. Baby feet are by Inkadinkado, stamped in PP on Papertrey's Stampers Select. The Pitter Patter sentiment is from Savvy Stamps and is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. It's cut out with a Nestability ribbon slider, the ribbon is Papertrey's Sweet blush ribbon.

Sweet and simple!

A RAK from Sandy!

About 30 years ago, ok, maybe a tad bit longer, the DH asked me why the mail was so important... don't you know what's coming? Gosh, to this day there is something exciting about getting the mail, and some disappointment when there is just sale flyers. For me, even catalogs hold promise! I told you a while ago how disappointed I was thinking I was getting a Birthday card in the mail that turned out to be a baby shower invitation, lol!

Well bless my soul, look what came to me last week! A sweet RAK from Sandy in Epping! She used Papertrey's (a girl after my own heart!) Guidelines to stamp a bg and a cute little note card, and then even stamped it on Shrinky plastic and made a Guidelines embellishment! She scored between the Guidelines squares, a technique I will surely imitate soon!

Ahhh, I love mail!

Oregon

Wow, I am so tired I can hardly see. I worked 2 nights in a row, and haven't slept enough since Sunday! I need to be back at work at 0600, so I need to head to bed now!

One of the physicians is moving out to Oregon, and we are having a little 'party' for him Saturday. I've made a card for us to give him- my idea of what the woods of Oregon might look like, lol!

All of the stamps are Stampscapes, except one of SU's Lovely as a Tree Stamps is in there, too. They are all stamped with Versafine Onyx black on PTI's Stampers Select. Coloring was done with watercolor pencils and crayons as well as with prisma pencils- a little bit of everything! Sky is sponged with PTI's Lemon Tart, then I masked a rising moon and sponged again with Summer Sunrise, and SU's Tangerine Tango. The yellow cs is PTI's Summer Sunrise, but the blue and green cs are from my stash.

I have been tempted this evening to lightly sponge some white craft ink over the top edge of the water- mist rising. I may still! And, after seeing this photo, I will go back and work on the poor little tree in the right foreground!

ETA: Danisha asked how long it took to make. I started stamping the scene one evening, and watercolored the cabin and the water and the trees that night. The sky was done the second evening, then I just let it sit for a third evening, just looking at it now and then. I layered it the fourth evening, after I did some more coloring around the edges of the trees. You can still see that I had some halos around the trees and the weater, as well as the rock in the water. I would say a total of 2 or 3 hours coloring, and as usual, about 20 hours thinking about it!


The inside~

Quilt Star Tutorial

Dalek over on SCS asked how I made the center of the quilt card, so here is a quick tutorial on how to do it! Quick is definitely the adverb here!

First draw a grid with 4 x 4 cells. The ones shown here are one inch square. This finished star will be 4 inches square when done.

My center star had to fit amidst the 3/4 inch squares of Papertrey's Quilter's Sampler, so I had to do math, lol. The star pattern must be 4 x 4 blcoks (or cells), so if you have a certain center dimension you want, say 5 inches square, then divide that number by 4. A 5.5 x 5.5 inch card would have a 5 inch square quilt star, so 5 / 4 = 1.25, so each cell of your grid would be 1.25 inches square. If you are math challenged, not to worry, just make the squares even and make your card fit the star you end up with!

Clear as mud? If so, sontinue on! If not, leave me a comment and I will get back to you!

Quilt Star Tutorial

Draw an X in the center 4 blocks.

Replicate the X lines at each of the 2 center squares above the X, leaving the corner blocks plain. I hope you can see it better than I can explain it! Now you can see your star pattern!

Identify the trapezoid shapes by coloring them in. I have done two different patterns/colors since my center star was two different papers, but you really only need to identify one, since you may only need one pattern.

Quilt Star Tutorial

Now you will cut your pattern apart in three places to get your pieces to use. The first is the corner square, you will need 4 of these for your finished star. Of course, this is just a square, so if it is a perfect measurement like an inch, you don't really need to cut it out.

Next would be the long triangle, you will need 4 of these as well.

Last is the trapezoid, you need 8 of these, in whatever color/paper pattern you want. Be aware that this may not fit together perfectly depending on how you cut and trace your trapezoids. Just do the center of the star first, then glue the square and triangle on top in the right spot to give a perfect edge along the outside.

Phew! Hope this all makes sense! Don't hesitate to ask questions!!