Thursday, December 16, 2010

Bring on the tooth fairy!

I promised my daughter we'd make a pillow to hold her teeth, now that number SIX is about to come out. Have I mentioned she's not yet five?

I "conveniently" forgot to remind her to put the first five teeth under her pillow, given that she gets a lot of treats and presents already, but everyone asks her what the tooth fairy has brought her, so this time she wouldn't be distracted :p

Anyway, she wanted an owl, and this is what we decided on. She picked the colours, I did the work ;)

I used the Pink Cat Studio Cuddles digital image (for paper piecing) that I received when PCS was first trying the electronic/hand-cut files. Do you remember this card and this layout? I didn't have a marker that worked well on the felt (and I wanted to work fast) so I printed out the shapes and quickly cut them out.

Then I spent the time embroidering the entire thing. This is only my second embroidery project - my daughter's stocking was the first!

I made a little pocket (to the right of the owl) to hold the tooth.

I used PTI felt for everything I could, and the cheap felt I had for the rest. Wow, the difference is AMAZING! PTI felt is so thick and sturdy. I wish I had more colours so I could have done the entire thing in their felt!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A couple quick tags

My daughter and I made some Toblerone Shortbread cookies, and I made up these tags quickly to give some cookies as gifts. My daughter added the artwork on the green tag :)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A few cards




I played teacher for some friends and came up with a few cards for everyone to make. These were my samples. Most supplies are PTI and SU. The reindeer card is The Cat's Pajamas.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Holiday Swap!

I participated in a holiday swap over at the PTI forum. The suggested cost was $15, and we gave a list of things we like, things we covet, and things we love. My giver was Ally, and this is what I received in the mail today!

She packaged up Birthday Bash Sentiments, some of the fun leaf ribbon, a sweet jar of buttons, some rustic twine, and a yummy tin of Kisses! And check out her beautiful card - isn't it gorgeous?

Thanks so much Ally, I really love it!

I've already mailed off my gift, and I will post a photo as soon as I know she's opened it.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

A Trio of Tags

I made these for the November 2010 Papertrey Ink blog hop. The theme is tags! There's another reason I made these, about which you'll hear soon.

I used the PTI Tag Sale 1 die, and one of the PTI Limitless Layers dies. Also Background Basics: Christmas, one of my new favourite sets! I thought the pink, green, and grey was a fun colour scheme for Christmas.

Here's a look at the base of the tags, which I really like. I created a background out of different borders stamps from BB: Christmas.

All dies and stamps are PTI, ink, paper, and ribbon (except the pink, which is from Michael's) are SU.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Crafting with friends...


...is my favourite way to craft! My friend Renée was over with her daughter (Chloe's best friend) and while the little girls were painting, I convinced Renée to make a few cards! Now she doesn't like to admit it, but she's a very crafty girl (ask her to see the Advent calendar she made for her daughter!)
She used mostly PTI products, and this is what she made!
The first card also has stamps from Pink Cat Studio. Don't you LOVE those glittery snow drifts?
I think the first card here could be something sold at Ikea. And the last card is my favourite. I think I'm going to copy it myself!

Of course the girls couldn't stay away from the stamps, so they decorated envelopes:

I had a few pieces left over from another crafty night (photos from that coming soon!) so I made this today:
I just LOVE Background Basics: Christmas! That wee mouse is adorable.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Merry Little...Spring?

I was very excited to purchase PTI's Merry Little Christmas. And the first card I made with it?

It's not yet winter, and I'm already looking forward to spring!

Don't you love the PTI Sunshine Impression Plate? And the scalloped border of felt? I used my favourite dotted flourish (from Holiday Button Bits) for the grass, and the sentiment is from Mini Scrapbook Series: Journaling Circle.

All supplies are PTI (except Chocolate Chip, Almost Amethyst, and Lovely Lilac inks.)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Mini Notecards

See, I told you I'd post soon! I felt guilty after my last post, so I decided to do this one quickly.

I've also decided to make a change when listing the supplies in my projects. I'll point out tools/supplies of interest, but I won't be listing them all. I'm trying to spend less time on the computer and more time actually creating!

So I have made a few cards over the last several months, but not many. I preferred to enjoy the beautiful summer outside, and mostly ignored my poor crafts room.

Anyhoo, even with the recent heatwave this week, I'm determined to get back into the crafts room and make the most of all my supplies!

I started with something simple (I think I started making these cards in July, by the way!)

I had a set of embellishments that coordinated well with some SU notecards, so I basically just put the two together. I added some PTI stamps and dies, embossing/impressing, and came up with these.

These ones are fairly simple, just basically the store-bought embellishments stuck on the card. I also stamped the envelopes, using the PTI 2009 Anniversary set.
I decided to also make some of my own embellishments - the two below with butterflies (the other two are more store-bought ones.) The butterfly die is PTI, the scalloped circle is a Nestie. I used embroidery thread for the antennae. The PTI car die and stamp came in handy, as well as some simple circle Nesties:
When I was done, I decided to make a couple totebags to hold the cards. I just free-handed them, although I've done something similar before following a pattern, so these were fairly easy:
So, there you go! I have some more cards ready to be posted, part of a large set that I started making back in, oh, June or so!

Win some PTI!

Oh hi! Remember me? Uh, yeah, it's been awhile. Anyway, I have several cards to post, I just haven't had time to get them uploaded. Soon, I promise. And I still owe you guys some blog candy.

Anyway, until then, check out Moonlight Creations for your chance to win some blog candy!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Happy Days

This card was created for Ted's Happily Ever Challenged #6 - which is likely the most unique challenge in which I've ever participated! Check out the challenge for the deets, but basically I had to use orange, dry embossing, colouring, and a vehicle.

Well, how perfectly perfect. I just happen to be on a car stamp kick! So yup, you guessed it, another Enjoy the Ride card! One of these days I'll try using another set and layout!

Anyhoo, pretty self-explanatory. It's hard to see, but I coloured the bumper, headlights, and windshield (and used the kissing technique on the body again - does that count as colouring?) I coated the headlights and windshield in Crystal Effects.

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, A Little Argyle (PTI),
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die , Woodgrain impression die(PTI), Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Crystal Effects, Chocolate Chip ribbon (SU), pencil crayons (Media)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Baby on Board

This is one of my favourite cards in this series of "Enjoy the Ride."
I love how the arygle turned out, and the fun kissing technique on the car, and the bling. So happy with it!

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, A Little Argyle (PTI),
Paper: Hawaiian Shores (PTI), Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Fresh Snow, Berry Sorbet, Hawaiian Shores (PTI)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die (PTI), clear rhinestones (Kaiser)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Be Happy

Hee. I told you I was in love!

This time I used Polka Dot Basics II for the background and the kissing. It's hard to see, but I also used the dotted argyle stamp to add some interest to the background.

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, Polka Dot Basics II, A Little Argyle (PTI),
Paper: Hawaiian Shores (SU)
Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Berry Sorbet, Ocean Tides, Fresh Snow (PTI)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die (PTI), Dew Drops (Robn's Nest)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Just Moved

Yup, it's another card using my new favourite sets! This time I didn't add any texture to the car body, but I did use Dew Drops for the headlights!
(for those on the PTI forum, you'll notice my Hawaiian Shores ink is still a bit temperamental - I did smoosh it, but the colour separated a bit again)
I really like how the inside turned out - especially the outline of the car in the corner.

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, A Little Argyle (PTI),
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Berry Sorbet(PTI), Soft Sky, Green Galore (SU)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die (PTI), Dew Drops (Robn's Nest)


Ooh, I've passed 20,000 hits on my blog!!! I'll have a little blog candy giveaway very soon.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Birthday Boy

Another card using Enjoy the Ride. This time I added the new PTI Woodgrain impression plate!
With this card, I again "kissed" the car body with the woodgrain stamp. I also used clear dome stickers for the headlights (I wish I could remember where I got these! I have several sizes, these ones fit perfectly in the headlights.)

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, Background Basics: Woodgrain (PTI),
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Sahara Sand, (SU), Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die, Woodgrain Impression Plate (PTI), clear dome stickers (unknown)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I'm in love

With a stamp set (or three)! Papertrey Ink's April release included Enjoy the Ride, Background Basics: Woodgrain, and A Little Argyle. As soon as I unwrapped them, I was inspired! I created SEVEN cards in less than two days. Crazy, right?

Oh, and did I mention there's a matching PTI die for the CAR in Enjoy the Ride? Awesome, right???

So here are the first two. I made them at my aunt's house, and gave them to her, so I couldn't get a normal photo in my crafts room. Both use the same layout, just different colours.

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, A Little Argyle, Background Basics: Woodgrain (PTI),
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Ruby Red, Bayou Blue (SU), Fresh Snow (PTI)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die (PTI)


I knew as soon as I saw the woodgrain stamp set that I wanted to use it for "kissing." This is a super easy technique. Ink up a solid stamp (such as the body of the car) and then take a clean (un-inked) stamp and touch it to the inked stamp. This removes the ink from the solid stamp, and leaves the image of the un-inked stamp. Cool beans, eh?
Don't you LOVE the argyle? This stamp set is so much fun to use. I also edged both cards in white ink. Oh, and notice the wee license plate? The Enjoy the Ride stamp set includes a bunch of little sentiments to fit in the license plate, as well as larger sentiments that go along with them.

Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, A Little Argyle, Background Basics: Woodgrain (PTI),
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Pink Passion, Blue Bayou (SU), Fresh Snow (PTI)
Accessories: Enjoy the Ride car die (PTI)


I plan to post the other cards over this week, to spread them out a bit. I've been super busy at work, so I haven't been in my crafts room since Saturday!

ps. I'm closing in on 20,000 hits to my blog. Expect a wee bit of yummy candy when I do!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fun project

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm bookmarking it for future use. Great for a fun birthday party decoration! Modern Colourful Mobiles
(image from Project Wedding)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

PTI April Blog Hop


This month's PTI blog hop challenge was to use tissue paper. I decided to use a technique I taught my 4 year-old daughter, which is to just cut the tissue paper into small squares, crumple them up, and adhere them to the paper.I had the picture of a rainbow in my head, so that's what I came up with. I added a strip of cardstock (run through the Xyron to make it sticky) covered it with glitter, and then stamped a sweet sentiment with two colours. I had a brad that matched Hawaiian Shores ink, so I snapped off the prongs and stuck it on with Crystal Effects.

Speaking of my daughter, here's a tissue paper project she started a couple weeks ago. We took a sturdy box (originally had card supplies in it) and covered it in layers of Mod Podge and tissue paper squares. Several layers. We still need to put something on the top, likely "Chloe's Treasure Box", as that's what she's declared it to be.
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (PTI),
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Hawaiian Shores (PTI), Dark Peony (Colorbox)
Accessories: glitter (SU), brad, tissue paper (unknown)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Age is a work of art

This card is for the Papertrey Pals challenge #6 - to use flowers! That's an easy one :)

This card started with the large scalloped piece, which I was going to use for this card, but decided on a softer colour palette. Everything was based off of the colours and the bold stripes.

It's hard to see, but I popped up one end of the banner (under the "H") to give it lots of dimension.

And of course I had to decorate the inside of the card:

Stamps: Birthday Basics, Polka Dots Basics II, Forest Friends (PTI),
Paper: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White cardstock, Summer Picnic DSP (SU)
Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue (SU), Ripe Avocado (PTI)
Accessories: Polka Dot Basics II Impression Plate, Lg scalloped border die, blue button (PTI), butterfly (Making Memories), Cuttlebug (Provocraft), felt flowers (SU), brad (unknown)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

From A to Z

Just a fun card. I saw this idea on a card somewhere (a magazine?) Just the front part, though. The inside I came up with all on my own (although I'm sure I'm not the first!). Let's see if you can figure out what's on the inside by the end of this post (yes, there's a photo to show you).

Anyway, for this card I used some Basic Grey "Card Folders" die cut letters (given to me by a friend). They were punched out of a large sheet, so I had to sand the edge of each one to get rid of the little tabs where they were attached. I did some extra sanding here and there to distress them even more.

Then I stamped one of the text images from PTI's Text Style II in Blush Blossom (hard to see in the photo) to add more detail to the letters. I stamped the background with the SU Linen background stamp, also in Blush Blossom. Click the photo to see a larger version with more detail.
To make the "hi" letters really pop, I used some leftover stamp bits (as described in this post). Aside from the popped up message, notice anything else unique about the front of the card?

I'll give you a minute to go back and look.

...

...

...

Okay, time's up. Here's a photo of the inside of the card (did you guess what was there?)

Hold on, I'll wait while you go back and look at the front again. Did you notice that the 'u' was missing? Hee hee! I'm pretty proud of that one.


Stamps: Text Style II (PTI), Linen (SU), small alphabet (Studio G)
Paper: Card Folders letters (Basic Grey), yellow cardstock (unknown)
Ink: Blush Blossom, Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Accessories: none

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Thanks for {owl} you do

This card is for this week's SFYTT sketch as well as Ted's Mother's Day challenge (a card with no flowers or pink/purple). I wanted to use PTI stamps for this card (to better tie into Ted's challenge), but didn't have any that really worked.

The colour restrictions were easy - my mom LOVES green, so I went with an earthtones palette. I used a sheet of DSP from the Welcome Neighbor pad as my inspiration.

I even decorated the envelope to match!
And the inside of the card:

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Picture This, Kind & Caring Thoughts (SU)
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Whisper White cardstock, Old Olive, Welcome Neighbor DSP (SU)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Summer Sun (SU)
Accessories: Scalloped Edge, Small Heart, Heart to Heart punches (SU)

Monday, April 5, 2010

Dreams come true

I'm late, but this card is for Becky's Compose a Card #7. I broke out my new PTI black felt (so luxurious!) but had to wing the sandwich, as I snapped my C plate a couple days ago! I managed to cut out the felt circles, but it wasn't a clean cut with my improvised shims.

I used my favourite "matching thread" trick, which is to use a sliver of matching cardstock or paper to thread the buttons - in this case I used the patterned paper. Click on the photo for a close-up. It's hard to see, but I used one of the new PTI Impression plates on the patterned paper.

And here's the inside. I'm trying to dress the insides up a bit more, so this was fun:
Stamps: Birthday Basics, Text Style II (PTI), Pop Fashion (Pink Paislee)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Spring Rain (PTI), patterned paper (K&Company)
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue (SU)
Accessories: Black felt, Polka Dot Basics II Impression Plate, Lg scalloped border die (PTI), corner rounder punch (EK Success), buttons (Making Memories), Cuttlebug (Provocraft), circle, scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

Friday, April 2, 2010

My updated crafts room!

Yay, it's finally done! Before I share the photos, I thought I'd share my previous crafts desks/rooms.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of my first craft cabinet, which was a small Ikea computer desk that had a large desk surface that folded up to cover the opening. Not a helpful description, I know ;)

Anyway, this was my second desk (housed in the spare bedroom), including my ribbon storage (dowels and hanging on clips) and my12x12 paper holder made out of that wire cube shelving stuff. You'll notice in the photos below that I still use almost all of this stuff!

And here's the first version of my crafts room, in our new house. The peg board is one of my favourite items!

And finally, I'd like to introduce you to my updated crafts room.
You can see some progression photos here and here. So, would you like a tour?

Here's the view from the door. Notice my nearly-constant companion Ginger insisted on being in the photo.

Starting just behind the door, my punches stored on Ikea Bygel rods. I have my flat/border punches in a Bygel basket. As you can see, I have lots of space for more punches. Yay!

ps. Little tip (from my friend Carrie) instead of attaching a row of Bygel rods to the wall, attach a piece of wood (MDF works well) and then install all the rods on that. Less holes in the wall. Oh well, lesson learned ;)

Below my punches is a short Billy shelf from Ikea (this width is discontinued), which stores all my SU and PTI stamps behind the doors, and my Cuttlebug and all dies/accessories above.
Here's my new desk. I've gone from an L-shaped desk to a shorter (but much wider) desk (Mikael from Ikea). Peg board and accessories are from Home Depot. I can't say enough about peg boards - love 'em!

Close up of my new ribbon storage. A Ribba picture ledge from Ikea. Ribbon ordered in rainbow (ROYGBIV). The small hutch unit on my desk came with the old L-shaped desk. I kept it because it's so useful! I forgot to take a photo, but the bottom basket on the far left holds all my adhesives - you can never have too many adhesive options ;)

There's even storage space under the desk! Wire cube shelves hold boxes of photos and other stuff. The drawer unit on the right holds paper scraps and memorabilia to be scrapped.

To the right of my desk: Making Memories organizer, shelves from Canadian Tire, my wire cube unit (now holds my stamp binder, paper trimmers, cutting mats, etc.)

Below I have a filing cabinet that houses my 8.5x11 cardstock, in rainbow order, of course. I've separated SU from PTI. There's also some felt hiding in there.

The bottom drawer has my insane sticker inventory (rarely used - oops?) and room for more paper ;)
On the wall beside, non-spooled ribbon hangs on paperclip clamps on a couple little hook racks (very old from Ikea). All my wee embellishments (eyelets, brads, flowers, etc) are in garage organizers from Canadian Tire. Both are organized in ROYGBIV order, of course ;) Below that are my old ribbon spool storage shelves, Bekvam from Ikea. They now hold Stickles and overflow ribbon spools.
A new addition to the room, the much loved Expedit unit. Thanks to some helpful Internet friendz, I was able to make my Cropper Hopper paper holders fit (by putting them in sideways.) Four Kassett boxes hold envelopes and other miscellaneous stuff. My scrapbook albums all fit in a single section (obviously I haven't been scrapbooking enough!) and the final three are for kid-related craft stuff.
Here's the sewing table-slash-overflow crafting area. You can see my card display above, Deka from Ikea.
Also in the room are Chloe's craft desk and her craft drawers. Here she's decoupaging a box with Mod Podge and tissue paper. Anything to keep her busy while I craft ;)

And finally, the HUGE storage closet that's full of miscellaneous junk and another drawer unit that holds gift wrap stuff, extra supplies (doubles of ribbon, tape, etc), and other things.
So, there it is, my updated crafts space. Hope you enjoyed the tour! For more craft storage ideas, check out the Crafty Storage blog (shameless plug, I'm a reporter on the team.) I recently posted about an amazing crafts room that is just SIXTEEN square feet. It's amazing!