A Very Pretty Valentine

I know you are all thinking I should be generating tons of Baby Buttons cards, right? Well, me too! Why have I not made a bajillion sweet baby cards with the sweetest baby card set ever? A thread over on the Papertrey forum discussing how you 'work' to create a card made me realize that a new set sits on the desk for weeks before I use it the first time. I need to think about why that is, and what is going on in my brain!

So I am making Valentine's instead, lol! This one uses alcohol inks (Copic refills to be exact!) on a felt 'pouncer', then swirled on Chromekote paper. I wish I'd left a bit more white, but I'm still pleased with this piece of paper. The heart is a rub on made for glass, don't forget to visit the glass decorating section of your craft store- they have lots of rub-ons there!



The heart rub-on is actually very sparkly, but you can't see that here. The pink base card is Papertrey's Hibiscus Burst. The black and gold paper is from my local paper store, All About Paper in North Hampton, NH. Sentiment from Heart Prints Sentiments is stamped with Archival Ink (Black); I find it slips less on the Chromekote paper, and dries well on the alcohol ink.

January Blog Hop: Inside & Out

One of the things that people love most about this hobby is gaining new inspiration. We have taken it upon ourselves to organize an evening to take place once a month that will encourage stampers to try new things and build an inspirational camaraderie within the Papertrey family!


Well! Here we are at the January Blog Hop! If you are here reading this, it is because you love the inspiration you get from the Blog Hop, and all of Papertrey's products! I am so lucky to have been home over the weekend, and also tonight, and don't have to be at work until 9:30 tomorrow morning! How perfect is that??

During this month's release there was a lot of chatter about the interior of cards and how they don't always get the attention they need. This month's challenge is to create a card that has the "total package". Create any style card you can dream up, then take it the next step. Embellish the interior and adorn the envelope. You might even want to add a little something to the back of the card!

I had to make a baby card, of course! I used a sheet of blue and white paper sitting on the desk- but it is not different from Papertrey's Spring Rain Bitty Dots paper. The large image is from Inkadinkado, colored with Prisma pencils and blended with baby oil; it's fun technique I forget about, and love it when I use it! I cut out the moon, and put it on dimensionals. The stars are Papertrey''s Star Prints, stamped on Stamper's Select with the new Lemon Tart ink, then cut out with scissors. They are layered under the moon; A Star Is Born is stamped right on the paper, it's from the Favor It Baby set. The blue paper is layered on Lemon Tart, then onto a base card of Stamper's Select.

Oh dear, I had such a hard time getting the white to photograph well in the rain, sorry! The colors are correct, but somehow that white has a blue hue!
Ahh, here's the cutest sentiment ever! It's a new one from Inside and Out: Baby. The moon is from Out On a Limb, and the single star is from Star Prints, but the little grouping of 3 stars is from It's a Celebration- bet you forgot those little stars were in there, didn't you!?! I used Lemon Tart again, but also a wee bit of Summer Sunrise.

Ah ha! Now for the back and the envelope. Because of the sheer volume and low reimbursement fee I get for the baby cards, I rarely spend any time on the backs or envies, so this was fun to do! On the back of the card I used a sentiment from Star Prints, then stamped the individual star at the end. For the envelope, I used another sentiment from Star Prints, and stamped the same 2 sets of stars in Lemon Tart and Summer Sunrise.

So kind of you to read to the end, lol- now I am off to do as you- off to see the blogs!

Cute Baby and Scrappy Card!

Doesn't that just make you chuckle? He has the same eyes and wide-set eyes as his big sister Savanna, but a tiny little mouth! His biggest sister Olivia has bright red hair, but Westley's will be strawberry, I think. I had lots of baby cuddling last night and today!

But I know you come for the cards, lol!

Believe it or not, this is a card made from the scrap heap! The leaf border background and the strawberry Sweet Baby piece were made last year sometime. They have been sitting a long time! Hibiscus Burst is the pink, New Leaf the green, and those little flowers are some of my favorites from Savvy Stamps. The Sweet Baby center is a case from Nichole Heady.

I just looked for a link to Nichole's card and the original case I did, lol, but I have done a terrible job of labeling my cards on my blog, and can't fine it! suffice to know that the original is hers, and mine just a scrappy case!

How's this for a Birthday present?

Today is my birthday, and look what the DD presented me with!! Westly Alexander! It was a long 24 hours, and she pushed for just over 3 hours before we all decided that was enough work~ she had a cesarean section at 1:06 am this morning. So, I am sorry she worked so hard and is fatiqued and had her second major surgery in 3 months- but he sure does make me smile!

Luckily, Alex has good pain coverage, and is surrounded by friends and family, and all is well. Can't ask for a better Birthday present than that!

SPICING! Nichole Heady's cards~

If you read my blog often, you know I am a Papertrey fan, you know I participate in release nights, and you know I CASE and Spice Nichole Heady's cards shamelessly. Take a look at this post, but better have a pen and paper and credit card number handy when you do!



Aren't her cards stunning? Actually, Through the Trees isn't being released until tonight, so you will need to wait up until the wee hours of the 15th to get it!



I couldn't wait for the goodness to arrive, so I SPICED! her card (So Perfect I Copied It Exactly!), but using Trees Three from SU, and a little bird from the signature stamp from Birds of a Feather. I used Enchanted Evening as my color, and cut the ribbon differently, but pretty much the same- sentiment is from Out On A Limb Sentiments.

But I really loved the red bird, so I tried another-

This one is Pure Poppy with True Black, and some of the Bitty Dots True Black paper. Sentiment is from Snowflake Serenade and continues inside, of course!

I won't be at the release party tonight, since work is short staffed and I am thinking I need some extra money this month, lol lol lol! But! I will tell everyone I need my dinner break at midnight, so I will get my order in on time!

Did you all watch Dawn McVey's video on bow tying? It's here. Lol, I thought my rendition was pretty good for a first try!

Lot's of unknown supplies here- the striped paper is Heidi Grace (I think), paper is Papertrey's Spring Raing, and the ribbon is a short piece of I don't know what. I can't find any reference to the stamp in my blog, so will have to post that later; it's a cute little thing with some blue Stickles on it.

Reverse piercing was a mistake, but doesn't matter on this card at all! Lastly, that's the SU scallop circle punch on the center.

Enjoy!

Tiny Funnies and Other Thoughts~

Couple of photos here, so be sure and scroll after the PTI card!

I thought it was high time I made a baby card with Tiny Treats: Valentine (PapertreyInk) since the newest release is soon to arrive! As always, the card is much better in real life, darn it~ I sure hope it makes you smile!

I colored the dog, boat and plane images with Prisma and Copic markers, but the little hearts are colored witha SU Pretty in Pink marker- just because it has a really fine point on one end and the heart is so small!

The bigger sailboat is from Bitty Baby Blessings, and is there just because somehow a fingerprint ended up in that spot, lol- hate it when that happens! The perfect little sentiment is from Wordsworth, a baby set that is so old it has turned yellow!

So, someone tell me why little boys want to get in the dryer?!?

'Jay? where are you?'
'In the dryer, Grandma Beth!'
'Why are you in the dryer?'
'My Mom let's me get in the dryer...'
'Well,' says I. 'I'm not so sure about that...'
'Sure,' he says, 'Turn it on!'

And lastly, another question- if you have tried the Paper Gator and/or the Zutter corner rounders, can you let me know if you like them? And, if you have arthritis and/or ligament dysfunction (that's me!), do they work ok for you? And lastly, where online have you bought them???

I am so tired of tiny little pieces of corners having to be vac'd up!

Scrap Challenge

This is for the Scrap Challenge over on Nichole's blog- here- lots of great cards from the DT and everyone else!

I had two long pieces sitting on the table- the alphabet paper is vintagy, and the piece was small enough that some of the vintagy spots just looked dirty. The animal paper was small enough that the animals that faced all different ways just had right side up next to upside down, lol- they both were going to be thrown out- but never did. So today's 'challenge' was just the thing! I must say I wasn't too creative this morning, but I am pleased that I got one more card out of those scraps!

Ribbon and card base are Aqua Mist, as are the buttons. I bought the shiny words in Michael's in the wedding/baby shower section.

So, the DD is a bit pressed to do shower Thank You's before the baby arrives and she has to create Baby announcements, lol. So, like the good Mother I am, I thought I'd help.

First, of course, I perused Splitcoast, and came across this perfect CAS card:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1571824

So here it is in Bashful Blue and SU's Bashful Blue gingham ribbon, but with baby feet from Papertrey and Papertrey's new formulation of ink in Spring Rain- really, the two colors match perfectly.


I didn't like the bow I made, and I also needed baby cards, and I tried different Cuttlebug embossing frames, so here it is as a baby card!

Alex has put her try up on her blog, so go check it out here!