Trick or Treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM NEMO!!!

Little Nemo had a BLAST on Thursday night walking around Grandpa's neighborhood. We hit up 10 houses that are on his Loop (not a court, a loop...lol). By the end, she was loving it and really got the hang of putting her bag out and putting the candy in it. I couldn't believe how much she got in those houses...her bag was FULL to the top and that's without Uncle Jake giving her any when we got back to the house!

We had the perfect weather for TOT and I'm so glad Lexi did so well. We went out about 6:15 and were back by 6:45 and it was still light outside so no worries about getting run over or anything! This last picture says it all "Off and running!".

Fall

Here's another Tucked Away box and set of magnets. These was were fall themed and I was really disappointed I couldn't find any new fall paper that would work for this without ordering online. I don't really have any orange ribbons or buttons or anything, so I used PTI's Summer Sunrise for the ribbon and some brads from the Making Memories Harvest Collection. The patterened paper comes from Basic Grey.

I really like this new paper I found (the flower in the front). Got it at the big Jo-Ann's sale last weekend. There's a bunch of different colored flowers on the 12x12 sheet, so I chose this once since it matched the fall theme the best. The striped paper is another one I found at the sale, too :)

Christmas Blog Hop

Whoo hoo! It's that time again! PTI blog hop! This month's challenge was to do anything and everything Christmas. Since I'm already in that frame of mind, this wasn't too difficult! :) I went back to Nichole's blog and found the Holiday Cards 101 from 2008 as my inspiration. I love Heather Nichols Jingle all the way card! I let that serve as my inspiration and came up with this...

I did a set of six cards, a notepad and envelopes to match. They'll be an early Christmas gift so the recipient has time to use the cards! I used Merry and Bright and stamped the snowflakes in Fresh Snow and Ripe Avocado on Kraft. Each piece has Fresh Snow adding a little extra detail on the edges. Then, I stamped a tree in Scarlet Jewel and cut it out and adhered it overtop a Scarlet Jewel ribbon. The sentiment is stamped in Dark Chocolate from Dawn's Signature Christmas set.

I used the same idea on my notepad, just a different layout. I made sure to attach the ribbon on the back with some tape so it'll stay when it gets opened.

The inside, I used Nichole's template to make. Such an easy thing to do and it's a great place to put those Christmas receipts in one spot! I did a little snowflake around the edge just to add a little touch.

The envelope I stamped a few snowflakes in Ripe Avocado just to tie everything together. I really like how this all turned out! Helps when you have good inspiration :)

Supplies (all PTI):

Paper - Ripe Avocado, Kraft, Stampers Select White

Ink - Fresh Snow, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Scarlet Jewel

Stamps - Merry and Bright, Signature Christmas

Other - Scarlet Jewel Ribbon, notepad

Captured Card Case

I was asked to make a set of 8 (yes, EIGHT) magnets for a birthday girl. Only stipulation was they had to be fun. Since I was doing so many, I needed a bigger box to put them in. I haven't used the captured card case lately, so I pulled that one out. It worked perfectly!

For the base of the box, I used Stamper's Select White. The top is done in Lemon Tart. I love the dp, it's one from Hobby Lobby. I actually used this back when Lexi was born and it covers one of the letters that hang on her wall that spell out her name. Amazing that I still have it! But, one of my goals is to cut down on my paper, so that means trying to use up what I have. Once I do, then I can go buy the paper I really want! :)

I did the magnets in all sorts of papers...the one on the far left is from the paper on top of the box :) I *think* they go together...I had a hard time trying to find 8 different complementary papers on hand!

To add a little extra to the box, I tied a Raspberry Fizz ribbon on and added 5 Raspberry Fizz flower buttons. Love those buttons..I think they're so cute!!

Color Challenge #18

I had a bit of time tonight to play in Dawn's Color Challenge. The colors weren't too hard, but right now, the only thing I need to make (besides some baby shower invites! yay!) are Christmas cards. So...how to turn these colors and this inspiration picture into Christmas? Here's what I came up with!

I used the card on the front of Paper Crafts Christmas publication as my inspiration. I stamped two of the trees from Merry and Bright onto some random scraps I had in my stash to get the Dark Chocolate and Green and then cut them out. I like the different sizes and on two of them, I only used the top two portions of the tree.

Underneath, I had a base of Rustic Cream, Raspberry Fizz and then Kraft. I tied the Rustic Twine around my paper and then threaded the Raspberry Fizz and Dark Chocolate Buttons onto it, tied it and trimmed it off. What do you think of the heart button? Isn't it cute? I also used the tea dye duo to ink up all my edges to give it a little bit of warmth.

Supplies used (All PTI unless noted):

Paper - Rustic Cream, Raspberry Fizz, Kraft, unknown dp

Stamps - Merry and Bright

Ink - Dark Chocolate, Tea Dye Duo

Other - Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Fizz Vintage Buttons, Rustic Jute Twine

Happy Anniversary!!

We have not one, but TWO sets of friends who are celebrating their anniversary today...both are celebrating year number 4! And, amazingly enough...both are expecting babies next year! LOL The first card is heading off to the Jackson's.

One of the really cool things about this one is that the paper is already distressed! I didn't have to do anything to it! I used two different ones from Basic Grey's Lime Rickey collection. I paired it with PTI Ripe Avocado paper, ribbon and buttons. I used Vintage Labels, too, which is quickly becoming one of my go-to sets!

I didn't put a sentiment on the outside of this one, which is rare for me. But, I wanted to let the beauty of the card shine through!

The next card is for the Palmer's. I was inspired by the bedding they've picked out for their little girl (Lexi's newest bff..ha!) coming in February. It's two shades of purple and brown circles. So cute!

I had Vintage Labels already out, so I stamped some Dark Chocolate onto Rustic Cream Cardstock and then stamped Happy Anniversary from Mega Mixed Messages and hand cut it out. Instead of using VersaMark, I went ahead and used Plum Pudding for the Polka Dot Basics background. And then added a strip of Dark Chocolate Bitty Dots ribbon.

I did pop the sentiment up on dimensionals so it wasn't a completely flat card and gave it a bit of character.

Hope you all have a fabulous anniversary and here's to many happy years!!!! We love you guys! :)

Creating with vinyl

I had my first experience using vinyl and my Cricut last week. Let me tell you, I was nervous! See, I've had ideas in my head for awhile of what I wanted to do for my sister's wedding. Of course, if you know me, I'm a procrastinator. I finally ordered the vinyl the week before the wedding. Thursday night, I was out trying to find something to put it on. And Friday I was finishing it up. But...I think it came out fabulously!!

For my vinyl, I used ebay seller, AdaboyArts. Awesome seller, btw! I had recently purchased Sure Cuts A Lot to use in conjunction with my cricut. This means that I don't have to purchase a ton of cartridges just so I can get different fonts. It works with all the fonts that I have on my computer already! (it will also do anything else, but I obviously only needed it for the fonts)

I was originally just looking for a plain board that I would paint and apply the vinyl lettering to. However, in my quest to find the perfect one, I found this awesome metal board with the scroll work already on it! They had two sizes (available at my Hobby Lobby) and I got the larger size. The best part was that I had a 40% off coupon, so it made it even cheaper! Score! :)

Thanks to Jan, I knew what all I needed to do apply the vinyl easily. She made an outstanding, easy to follow tutorial. Within no time, everything was done! (ok, I shouldn't say that...it took me a bit because I had to get everything to line up perfectly!)


I really liked how it turned out! And, I only needed a 12x12 piece of vinyl to cut this out. For reference, the letters are 5.0 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide.

Cute as a...

In honor of my 200th post (really?!?!), I wanted to put up pics of my two favorite people that I took yesterday morning. Lexi's shirt...I've had that transfer for forever...her Aunt Stephy bought it last fall. But, I've never been able to find a shirt for fairly cheap when I think about looking for one! It's the perfect transfer for her. I love it! She kept looking down and pulling her shirt out to look at it, too! LOL

Seriously...is that not the best picture? She loves her daddy!! :)

Just like Momma

happy birthday

I made this card last week for my dad's birthday. I really have a hard time making masculine cards! But, it seems as if I'm not alone :) I'm without words today, so this is all you get!

Happy Fall

I think I sat for eons trying to come up with a cute box for this next set of magnets! Steph ordered some fall magnets from me and I wanted to try and do a box to go along with it. Once I figured it out, I couldn't for the life of me get the cuts right! So frustrating! I wanted to put the leaves on more than the top, but my frustrations got the better of me :) So instead, I added the Happy Fall on the back.

The magnets didn't come out completely in the picture, but the far right one (and another not pictured) are the same paper as on the box. Instead of making a handle with the ribbon, I just tied it around the top more for decoration. I used the Tea Dye duo on the edges to give a little extra character, too.

Red White and Blue

My BIL is in Afghanistan. I hate that he's over there. I hate that my nephew asks all the time where Daddy is and he has to be told he's at work (he's three). I hate that my SIL is alone without her husband. But, I know he's doing a good thing over there. I recently sent him this card. Not one of my favorites, and imo, quite a few mistakes, but I suppose they add to the charm. He asked my SIL where I got it and was floored when she said I made it. He loved it.
I used what red, white and blue I had on hand. I really love Star Prints!! Best for masculine cards and for our soldiers. As always, my thoughts and prayers are with all of our men and women who are serving our country. I hope they all come back soon and safe and sound! They'll always have my appreciation for what they're doing.

Sweet Baby

Not sure where, but I recently saw a similar card on someone else's blog. I liked it so much that I copied off it! If it's yours, let me know and I'll give you credit! I needed a baby card, but I don't have any baby stamps and I wanted to steer clear of the pink and blue (momma isn't a pink and blue kinda girl!).
I used a bunch of coordinating papers from Basic Grey's line called Lime Rickey. I cut out 8 circles using my 1" circle punch and then used a heart punch. The background is stamped in Fresh Snow using Polka Dot Basics I. Each item is popped up on dimensionals.

I liked how non-traditional it turned out!

Supplies:

Paper - PTI Kraft, Basic Grey Lime Rickey Collection

Ink - PTI Fresh Snow and Scarlet Jewel

Stamps - PTI Mega Mixed Messages and Polka Dot Basics I

Other - 1" Circle punch, Heart punch, Taylored Expressions White brads, Corner Rounder

Matchbox Magnets

I recently did a set of magnets for Jessie. She didn't give me any directions other than she wanted 6 of them in "my" colors. LOL I decided I wanted to go back and do a matchbox again since it's been awhile since I've done one. I used Kraft for both pieces of the box and added some Paper studio dp on each edge. I used PTI Berry Sorbet and Dark Chocolate buttons sewn together as a pull.
If you notice, a few of the magnets use the paper I used on the box. My favorite one you can't see as well in the lower left corner. It says Love and Family (and if you look close enough I think it says crazy, too! ha!).

The inside was one of my favorite things...I cut up packaging from one of my PTI orders. Nothing like free packaging!

Supplies (all PTI unless noted):

Paper - Kraft, Paper Studio dp, dsvw dp

Other - Berry Sorbet and Dark Chocolate vintage buttons, linen thread