Getting back in the swing of things

I am such a fair weather blogger.  I apologize to anyone who follows my blog - I must be really boring.

My goal for 2012 is to post more than once every 2-3 months.  I'm actually hoping to get back to post every week.  

Here's to hoping.

Anyway, I've also been sucked in Pinterest.  If you don't know what that is, it's a website where you can create virtual pin boards of your interests (get it: pins + interests = Pinterest?)  I've been a pinning crazy person over there - it's so easy to get stuck on that site for 2+ hours.

Well, the first project I want to show was inspired by something I pinned - a lollipop card.  Here's the link to the blog it was originally found on: http://daydesigns.blogspot.com/2011/07/cas-ual-fridays-challenge-11-sweets.html  I thought it was absolutely adorable and I needed to do something like it because I had some baker's twine on hand.  I was originally thinking of doing hearts because of Valentine's Day - which I might still do because it's a cute idea. I had these star shapes in red line tape that I'd bought from Texas Jody Lynn (her blog's in my blog list) and since I've had them for 3 years and not really used them, I figured that was a better choice than running a sheet of tape through my Cricut. 

So after I got the baker's twine taped down and ran my backgrounds through my Cuttlebug, I realized that they weren't very Valentine-y.  More birthday-y, especially with the birthday sentiment I had.  So they became birthday cards.  

OH, running the orange background through the Cuttlebug was an adventure.  It's Impressability plate - which needs the tan embossing mats to actually make an impression into the cardstock.  Well, they went missing and I had to tear the Dungeon apart to find them.  Or rather, clean up.  My work table is cleaner than I think I've ever had my work table since rearranging.  I found them on the corner of a table - the other table, not the one I cleaned off. *shakes head*

Supplies: Stamps: PTI - Everyday Classics. Paper - Georgia-Pacific White, PTI Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Orange Zest, Harvest Gold.  Ink: Palette Noir. Embellishments: Cuttlebug embossing folders, Impressability plate, red line stars, baker's twine, lollipop sticks, Diamond Glaze, PTI ribbon.

While on Pinterest, I came across a pin that linked back to Nicole Heady's blog (she's one of the owners of PTI.)  It showed a technique where you stamp an image in white ink on colored cardstock, then outline the image with Copics. Which looks really elegant.  So I decided to try it last night with the leftover cardstock from the lollipop cards.  The issue I discovered is that you need to do this on darker cardstocks - Harvest Gold is too light of a color for the white to show.  I liked how this looked so much that I made 15 more cards today in most of the other PTI cardstock colors I own.  

Stamps: PTI - Year of Flowers Morning Glory and Lily of the Valley.  Paper: GP White, PTI Pure Poppy, New Leaf and Orange Zest.  Ink: SU White White craft.  Embellishments: EK Success punch, Copics.

So that's it for right now.  

I'll be back hopefully later this week with a tutorial on how to make a snowflake wreath (another Pinterest find that I tweaked.)

 

Yay for days off

Yep... I took a day off today. It's a Use or Lose situation at my work, so I'm working on the using them all up. :)

It's so nice. I finally made it to the post office - I've had a box of 40-some cards that was destined for the troops sitting on my floor for almost a month.

I picked up 11 more Copics at a local store. :)

I also made some cards that I've photographed and am actually about to post here. I know, I'm in shock too.

So after I put the new Copics into the basket, I was flipping through my cardstock to find a color combo that inspired me. I pulled Old Olive, So Saffron and then decided that Groovy Guava (one of last year's In Colors) would be a great pairing. It's such a summer color combo.

One of the things I knew I needed to make was a graduation card and following the inspiration of Joan B (who's in my blog roll), I used the stars from Papertrey's Anniversary set, Everyday Classics.

My first card looked so great, I had to do another - this time a birthday card. I already have a Christmas order - an assortment of cards to be given to a coworker's mother. So this card's going into that pile.

Stamps: PTI - Everyday Classics. Paper: So Saffron, Old Olive, Groovy Guava, Vintage Cream, dp. Ink: So Saffron, Old Olive, Groovy Guava. Accessories: dimensionals, quickie glue pen, glitter, spiral punch.

Hope everyone's week is going well,

Pictures

I promised pictures of the bag and card that I'll be giving to my sister-in-law-to-be tonight. Before I went to bed, I packaged everything up nicely, wrote in the card and sealed the envelope.

Before I took a picture of the card. *HeadtoDesk*

I'm such an idiot sometimes.

Anywho, here's the bag - plain white from Michaels. I added the satin ribbons at the top and bottom of the bag and they go all the way around the bag. If you can't tell, the wedding colors are chocolate brown and sage/moss green.

The focal point of the bag is cut out with square Nesties.

I've had this stamp set for over a year and it's a little tricky to use for cards. But it's perfect for a bachelorette party! The tissue paper is stamped with the bra and undies too - as is the card. It all goes together. Which is surprising - I generally don't do this.

Stamps: Gina K/Langley Boy - Thanks for Your Support. Paper: PTI Dark Chocolate and Select White, SU Mellow Moss. Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, SU Mellow Moss marker. Accessories: Square Nesties, ribbon, red line tape, Stickles, bag, tissue paper.

As I think I mentioned last night during my squealing post - did I mention I got my PTI Anniversary set? - this weekend is VSN over at Splitcoast.

I couldn't resist using my new set for the first challenge - Double up - make 2 identical cards. I had some Making Memories ribbon out on my table from earlier in the week and I realized that it was very close to PTI's Berry Sorbet in color. And I was off.

Stamps: PTI - Everyday Classics. Paper: PTI - Berry Sorbet, Spring Rain, Craft, Vintage Cream. Ink: Spring Rain, Berry Sorbet. Accessories: dimensionals, ribbon.

The 3rd VSN challenge was to use black, white and red - and ONLY black white and red. Do you realize how many shades of red there are????? I was nearly pulling my hair out trying to find a red dp that would be okay with PTI's Pure Poppy. I settled on using some Real Red dp that I got last year.

Stamps: PTI - Quilter's Sampler and Additions. Paper: PTI - Select White, Pure Poppy, SU - Basic Black. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: dimensionals, brads, Sakura Glitter pen, R29 Copic.

EEK! I just noticed the time and I have about 10 minutes to get to my hair appointment.

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

*Running by squealing... with a cd case in my hands*

Yep, I FINALLY got my Papertrey anniversary set in the mail today. It's all assembled and ready to be inked.

Speaking of inking... it's Virtual Stamping Night at Splitcoast. If you're looking for some inspiration or just want to make a bunch of cards (there are 16 challenges) head on over. It's a blast!

Pictures coming soon!

An Inspiration Challenge

I generally don't do the IC challenges on Splitcoast, but today's challenge was interesting. It was your choice of Faviana prom dresses.

After sorting through 10 pages of dresses, I found this one: Style 6222

The warm colors really caught my attention, the gold detail at the bottom is pretty. I want this dress... if only I were small enough to fit in it.

Anywho, back to the card. To get the shimmer of the actual dress, I spritzed my Really Rust cs with Sugar Cookie Glimmer Mist (only because the Peach Delight stuff was being stupid and not spraying.)

The images and sentiment come from PTI's first anniversary set Simple Little Things. They're stamped on vellum with Versamark ink and embossed with gold ep. I kinda wish I had PTI's Damask set - that would have been PERFECT!

I added a simple knotted ribbon as an accent.

And it didn't take me forever either. I'm proud of myself.

Stamps: PTI - Simple Little Things. Paper: Really Rust, Ruby Red, vellum. Ink: Versamark. Accessories: Glimmer Mist, gold ep, ribbon, corner rounder punch, Mono Multi.

In other news, I've found a home for some of my old cards! Keri Sereika (Sereikastamper on SCS) has a hubby in the military and she's running a card drive for cards to send to the troops. Well, since I'm sitting on a LOT of cards with blank insides (which is what is asked for), I'm going to send off a bundle soon.

Hoping everyone stays healthy and that H1N1 flu stuff stays far away (preferably disappears altogether)

Another card... finally

Today's Ways to Use it Challenge (WT) on SCS was to use white - ALL white.

At first thought, it was a little freaky. I know all white cards are classy and sophisticated, but I want COLOR! Following Julia's (the hostess) example, I grabbed my Glimmer Mist. My quilt and the Primas are sprayed with Sherbet and Spring Violet.

I'm in love with the Quilters Sampler stamp sets by Papertrey. It's so much fun to make your own quilts with paper. To add a little more variety in my quilt blocks, I colored parts of them in with my Copics.

Stamps: PTI - Quilters Sampler. Paper: Select White. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Glimmer Mist, dimensionals, Copics, Primas, lace, brads.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day,

Another Tuesday Color Challenge

***Don't forget! My blog candy is still open - if you want to enter, please comment on the Sunday April 5th post. You have until Sunday/Monday to enter!****

So, onto the business at hand - today's Color Challenge. Which surprisingly didn't contain any In Colors, greens or pinks - Emily the hostess loves those colors. The colors for today are/were: Bashful Blue, So Saffron, and Close to Cocoa.

I started off with the cardstock and then hopped over to where I've stashed my dp. Thankfully spring break at daycare's been good to me (so far) and I haven't lost all my brain cells (yet.) So I remembered I still have a stash of Le Jardin dp from SU - and that 2 of the colors in the paper are So Saffron and Bashful Blue.

I then remembered one of the PTI stamp sets I fell in love with as soon as I saw it - Quilter's Sampler. I think I like it so much because I can't sew a straight stitch on a machine, so this is the easy way to create a cute quilt without it looking like a 5 year old wacked out on sugar made it.

The quilt squares are stamped in Palette Dark Chocolate on the dp and cut out. I colored in parts of the blocks with Copics to add more depth.

The sentiment is also on another piece of Le Jardin dp and it's also from the Quilter's Sampler set.

Stamps: PTI - Quilter's Sampler. Paper: Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Vintage Cream, Le Jardin dp. Ink: Palette Dark Chocolate (PTI). Accessories: buttons, corner rounder punch, Copics, dimensionals.

Here's hoping that your week is nice!

Fun with Embossing Powder Day

Well, that's what it turned out to be today.

A coworker and I are going to a scrapbooking event next Saturday and she asked me to decorate some chipboard letters for the front of her engagement album. No prob, she gave me the letters yesterday and asked if they could be purple, teal and silver. The purple and teal letters were inked with Brilliance Moonlight White before being sponged with Taken with Teal and Elegant Eggplant inks. They were then embossed with a combination of UTEE and glitter. The silver letters were done with 2 layers of embossing powder.

Ink: Versamark, Taken with Teal, Elegant Eggplant, Brilliance Moonlight White. Accessories: Raw Goods chipboard, embossing powders.

I miss having time/energy to just go down to my Dungeon and just play, so while I was there, I felt the need to experiment. A teacher at the school left a box of manilla shipping tags out for anyone to take if they wanted. Hmm... 10 tags for $2 at Rubbernecker or however many I want for free???

My first tag card is using PTI's With Sympathy. The sentiment and swirly vine were inked in Versamark ink and embossed clear. I then sponged PTI Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, and Dark Chocolate over the tag to make the embossing stand out. The hole in the tag is filled in with an antique copper snap and I added some smaller snaps down the edge to coordinate.

Stamps: PTI - With Sympathy. Paper: PTI - Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate, manilla tag. Ink: Versamark, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate. Accessories: clear ep, snaps, dimensionals, cropadile.

Now for my other card. Same color scheme (I like the way the yellows cover the tag), but I went a little wacky.

I stamped a rose stamp I got from Rubbernecker in Versamark, embossed it in clear, and sponged the tag with PTI Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise and Dark Chocolate inks. I decided I didn't like the way it was looking, so I grabbed my SU markers and colored in the leaves and stem with Old Olive and the petals of the rose with More Mustard.

I STILL didn't like it - too much color, too defined, I don't know, I just didn't like it. So I grabbed my spray bottle of water and spritzed the tag down. After 2 sprays, I was finally happy and I took my embossing tool to it to dry it.

I still can't use that hand-held sewing machine to sew a straight line - and to think I wanted a sewing machine for Christmas. The button is threaded with a very thin piece of Lemon Tart cardstock.

Stamps: Rubbernecker - rose. Paper: manilla tag, PTI Dark Chocolate, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise. Ink: Versamark, Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, SU - Old Olive & More Mustard. Accessories: hand-held sewing machine, dimensionals, spray bottle, clear ep, button.

I think it's time to organize the Dungeon. I have too much stuff and it's all over the place. Time for an overhaul. This definitely needs to be photographed as well - befores, middle of the mess, and afters.

Wishing everyone a warm weekend (because I'm not having one),

Work Takes Over

Again.

Seriously, 'tis the season for daycare teachers to get sick (or really busy.) So while my hours have been cut, I'm one of the first people they call to pick up hours.

Speaking of work, I have a work-related project to share. Daycare has it's own little portable on the grounds of an elementary school and up until this school year, all the kids have been in it. This school year, the oldest kids (3-6 graders: my group) were moved over to a room in the elementary school. Everyone over at the school has been nothing but nice to us, so I thought I'd make a little treat to show my appreciation.

Beate had a tutorial a while ago about how to make boxes to hold the Ghiradelli squares. These boxes are adorable - and easy to make.

Stamps: PTI - Heart Prints. Paper: dp, Select White, PTI kraft. Ink: Raspberry Fizz. Accessories: tacky tape, corner punch, dimensionals, sponge.

I like to cook. I don't seem to do it very often, but I like to cook. I just got a recipe for white chicken chili and it calls for ground cumin - I have whole cumin seeds in the house. Well, I could fork out the $5 for a bottle of ground cumin (which is silly because I have the whole seeds) or I could get something to grind them up. So I picked up an inexpensive coffee grinder when I was at the store yesterday.

Problem? My new coffee grinder is identical to the one in the house used for coffee. I don't think the coffee drinkers will appreciate cumin-flavored coffee - and I really don't want coffee-flavored spices. I added some SU rub-ons to the body of my coffee grinder to make it stand out.

Accessories: SU rub-ons.

Papertrey Ink's 2nd anniversary is coming up this weekend - and they're having this huge bash to celebrate. Nichole's blog has been filled with contests to win some of the new products they're carrying. Friday's challenge was to create a card using the colors Ocean Tides, Summer Sunrise, Pure Poppy and Ripe Avocado.

I created a gatefold card out of Ocean Tides cardstock and stamped butterflies on it (not that you can really tell, they seem to have disappeared.) The white panel was cut with a Classic Rectangle Nestability die and punched with SU's spiral punch. All the stamps come from PTI's With Sympathy set.

Stamps: PTI - With Sympathy. Paper: Ocean Tides, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Select White. Ink: Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise. Accessories: ribbon, tacky tape, rhinestones, glue pen, spiral punch, rectangle nestabilities.

I've had a hard time concentrating on most stuff over the weekend. I found out on Friday that my grandmother had another stroke and was taken to the hospital. She's already had 2 relatively minor ones (at least), so everyone in the family's pretty worried. Mom flew out there and it seems like Grandma's going to be okay.

Wishing everyone a good week,

*Gasp* A mid-week post

It's weird - I have time to stamp in the mornings again. And I also have time to post my stuff. So - hopefully - this will be an incentive for me to post more than Sunday nights.

If only this extra time in the mornings didn't come with the loss of work hours. But I'm okay.

It's a Color Challenge day and today's colors are Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, and Garden Green. Okay... this is going to be interesting because I don't own PP and BB inks. I have a small amount paper, but no inks. Then I remembered that I'd experimented with these colors earlier - and found the combos.

Stamps: PTI - Heart Prints. Paper: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Garden Green, Select White. Ink: Garden Green, Brilliant Blue & Tempting Turquoise (Pacific Point), Bashful Blue & Sage Shadow (Baja Breeze). Accessories: ticket corner punch, brads, dimensionals, stickles.

The other 2 cards I made on Sunday when I was playing with my new stash of PTI.

Stamps: PTI - Made of Snow, Heart Prints. Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Aqua Mist, Select White. Ink: Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, Palette Noir. Accessories: rhinestones, dimensionals, ribbon.


Stamps: PTI - Snowfall Additions, Made of Snow. Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Select White. Ink: Brilliance Moonlight White, Aqua Mist. Accessories: brad, ribbon.

That's all for today.

Hoping you're warm wherever you are,

TLC198 - Wineglass Shade

When I saw this technique posted at 8:30 this morning, I thought it was GREAT. I wanted to do this technique and upload it NOW!

Unfortunately, I didn't have a lunch packed, I hadn't eaten breakfast, and my car had snow on it still. All things that needed to be taken care of before I left for work at 9:45.

I promised myself I would do this challenge when I got home from work.

I did it!

I used SU's vellum cardstock and traced the pattern that Lynn (the TLC hostess) was kind enough to give us. I cut it out and scalloped the bottom using the a corner rounder punch with the guide taken off. It's a little tedious using this punch to make scallops, but I knew I could follow the curve of the vellum.

I stamped my snowflakes with Ripe Avocado ink. Since Palette inks don't dry as quickly on vellum as they do on regular cardstock, I sprinkled the snowflakes with Heat and Stick powder. After melting this with a heat gun, I added crystal glitter. I then assembled the shade, adding Bellas Baubles in pickle and clear rhinestones to the centers of the snowflakes.

It's simple, but I really like how this turned out.

Stamps: PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: vellum cardstock. Ink: Ripe Avocado. Accessories: heat and stick powder, tacky tape, crystal glitter, baubles, rhinestones, corner rounder punch.

I'm not really looking forward to the freezing rain/snow combo we're starting to get now through tomorrow night. Can it be April weather now????

Wishing everyone safe driving,

Work in progress

Which is obviously what I am.

But this is more on the lines of Christmas gifts. My work Christmas party is on December 1st; which means my heinie (which isn't little) needs to get in gear if I'm planning on doing anything for my Secret Santa person. So yesterday (Sunday) I sat down in my very messy dungeon and made part of my Secret Santa gift: a set of monogrammed cards with a holder for them.

This holder originally started out as the holder from the Au Chocolat tote and cards OSW on SCS - found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243314&highlight=Au+Chocolat+tote I changed some things. There are supposed to be 2 handles - one on each long side - and I switched it to a piece of ribbon. The flourish is Tim Holtz Grungeboard inked in Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters and the initial (which happens to be the initial of my Secret Santa person) is Basic Grey BonBon chipboard covered in Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Peeled Paint.

Stamps: None. Paper: PTI - Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Pink Patterns dp. Ink: Berry Sorbet, Distress Ink - Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters. Accessories: Tacky Tape, ribbon, brads, dimensionals, Grungeboard, Basic Grey chipboard, Distressed paint - Peeled Paint, mono multi glue.

The cards that go into the box are monogrammed with the help of Papertrey Ink. Borners and Corners Monogram Edition and Ambassador Monogram sets were a big help.

Stamps: PTI - Borners and Corners Monogram Edition, Ambassador Monogram. Paper: Select White, Sweet Blush. Ink: Palette Noir, Sweet Blush. Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, ribbon, dimensionals.

Wishing for a better day tomorrow,

It's All About Becca

Yesterday's Featured Stamper and today's Technique Lovers challenge were the same person: Becca Stamps. Her gallery is great and I had a blast making my card yesterday.

The card of Becca's I CASEd (Copy and Selectively Edit) is this one: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/971519

I changed the colors, stamps, ribbon, well, pretty much everything but the sketch.

Stamps: Verve Visual - Thankful Blossoms. Paper: Lavender Lace, Wild Wasabi, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla. Ink: Palette Noir, Lavender Lace. Accessories: Tacky Tape, microbeads, glitter, corner rounder punch, brads, dimensionals, ribbon.

Today's Technique Lovers Challenge is based on a tutorial she has on her blog, Amazing Paper Grace. You can see it http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/circle-frame-tutorial/ Her video tutorial is fabulous - I watched it once and understood it enough to go and create.

I don't have that many decorative corner punches. Actually, I have 3 corner punches: a corner rounder, a ticket corner, and a stair step. I decided to use the stair step.

The tutorial says to use a circle Nestability die to cut your circle. Unfortunately, I just ordered my circle nesties on Saturday and they're not in my hot little hands yet, so I used my Coluzzle. I punched out the inside of the circle and taped it into place on a piece of Cryogen White shimmer cardstock (bought at Eclectic Paperie.)

I stamped the largest snowflake from PTI's Snowflake Serenade in the center of my medallion and added a rhinestone for some more sparkle.


Stamps: PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: PTI - Pure Poppy, Cryogen Shimmer White. Ink: Pure Poppy. Accessories: Coluzzle, stair step corner punch, rhinestone, ribbon, dimensionals.

Hope that everyone had a safe and fun Halloween and that the week's great for you all!

The Sunday... errrr, TUESDAY Catch-up

The television is not my friend - especially on Sunday and Monday nights. Yes, those are my main television watching nights, but when I have cards to show and I have every intention of uploading said cards online... next thing I know, it's after 11pm and I need to get ready for bed.

*sigh*

The Featured Stamper on SCS this Sunday was Speedystamper - and I have to say I loved her gallery. I've been having trouble trying to find cards on Sundays that I want to CASE (Copy and Selectively Edit) - mostly because the cards I really like happen to be either CASEd from someone else or a Sketch Challenge.

I found two cards this week!

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1084228 This is the original card. I changed the colors, the sentiment, the stamp set... well, pretty much everything but the sketch.

Stamps: PTI - Out on a Limb. Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Select White, acetate. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Burnt Umber Palette, Tempting Turquoise. Accessories: Brads, word window punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder punch, tacky tape, stickles, dimensionals.

The other card I CASEd is here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/864818 My card is a regular size card (4.25"x5.5") I loved the blended sky - which I did on glossy cardstock in a combination of Blue Bayou and Soft Sky. I found this Hero Arts stamp at Michaels and really liked it, so I stamped it in Palette Noir ink.

Stamps: Hero Arts - Travel Collage. Paper: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Glossy white. Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Palette Noir. Accessories: dimensionals, ribbon, sponges.

Here's to a great Tuesday (and a little warmer weather here)

A quickie post - I have about 25 minutes before I need to leave for work and I'm not completely ready to go.

This is the card I made on Wednesday night with Tuesday's color challenge: Pink Piroette, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip.

I stamped the rose (from Rubbernecker) in Burnt Umber Palette and colored it in with Pretty in Pink and Old Olive markers. The sentiment (from PTI's Mixed Messages) is stamped in Old Olive.

The frame for the rose is cut out with square Nestabilities and popped up on dimensionals over the image.

I decided to make this card into a shaker card with part of a shaker kit I bought from Jody Morrow (texasjodylynn) and a Heidi Swapp ghost star. It worked really well, but I misjudged where everything needed to be, so I have tails hanging off the edge of the card. Ooops.

Stamps: Rubbernecker - Valentine Rose, PTI - Mixed Messages. Paper: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Select White. Ink Burnt Umber Palette, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink marker. Accessories: nestabilities, dimensionals, brads, microbeads, ghost star, shaker kit.

Have a great Friday!

It's a Quilted World

I am totally in love with Papertrey Ink's Quilter's Sampler stamp set. I think it's great that the stampers who can't sew a straight line to save their souls *raises hand because this is SO me* can create little quilts. This set has been at the top of my PTI cd stack.

This first card I made because I heard that a friend on SCS's husband died. I made this card to send to her.

Stamps: PTI - Quilter's Sampler, Quilter's Samper Sentiments. Paper: Basic Gray, PTI Select White and Aqua Mist. Ink: Charcoal Palette, Aqua Mist. Accessories: brads, ribbon, Nestabilities, paintbrush, dimensionals.

One of the things I'm a little frustrated about when dealing with the Palette inkpads is that you can't squeeze them to get some ink to color. I'm always afraid of cracking the lid, but I tried something new and it worked. You take a dry, small, stiff-bristled paintbrush (my paintbrush has 1/4" bristles) and brush some color directly from the inkpad and then color in the quilted squares.

After I figured out that dry paintbrush works to color in the quilt blocks, I sat down with my stamp set, all my colors of PTI ink (which is Palette formula), and paintbrush in front of the tv and colored in a bunch of quilt blocks.

One of the last sets of quilt blocks I colored in were these. I really liked the combo of Aqua Mist with Berry Sorbet.

Stamps: Quilter's Sampler, Quilter's Sampler Sentiments. Paper: Basic Gray, PTI - Select White, Aqua Mist, Berry Sorbet, Everyday Blessings dp. Ink: Berry Sorbet, Charcoal Palette, Aqua Mist. Accessories: ribbon, dimensionals, Sakura sparkle gel pen.

The ribbons on my cards are tied with a technique for stay put knots. I found a link on SCS to a tutorial and watched it. It's so easy to do - and saves a lot of hassle from regular tying.

Wishing you great creativity,

World Alzheimer's Day

Today is World Alzheimer's Day and Cammie (she's over in my blog roll) has a PHENOMENAL blog candy going right now - it's bigger than any I've seen offered. You really have to see it to believe it - and trust me, you'll want to enter!

My grandmother has Dementia, which is pretty close to Alzheimer's. It's hard to handle - even from a distance (I live about a 14 hour drive away from my grandparents.) When I went to visit them in July - we were having a reunion - it was if the Grandma I had always known had disappeared. Thankfully she still has my grandfather to take care of her.

So I made a card for him in thanks for all he has to do.

I made a gatefold card with a piece of Pure Poppy cardstock from Papertrey. it's such a rich red - I'm in love. My main image is the oak tree from SU's Lovely as a Tree and the sentiment is from SU's Much Appreciated. The tree is stamped in PTI's Dark Chocolate and the sentiment is stamped in Pure Poppy. The tree is sponged with Pure Poppy and Dark Chocolate - the edges of the panel are sponged with Dark Chocolate as well.

The background is a stamped with SU's Print Pattern in Versamark and embossed with Winter White ep. I then sponged Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Inks over the piece to enhance the pattern. The card is held closed by Basic Grey magnets.

Stamps: SU - Lovely as a Tree, Much Appreciated, Print Pattern. Paper: Very Vanilla, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate. Ink: Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, Versamark, Tea Dye Distress Ink, Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Accessories: sponge, brads, white ep, tacky tape, Basic Grey magnets.

The other card I'm showing today is for a friend of mine from church who just lost her husband. I just got Quilter's Sampler and Quilter's Sampler Sentiments from Papertrey earlier this week. I wanted to use this to make a card for her. The quilt blocks are stamped in Palette Noir and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and baby oil. I added some Frosted Lace Stickles to add some sparkle. The loops of ribbon are stapled onto the bottom layer behind the quilt. The sentiment is stamped in Lavender Moon ink.

Stamps: PTI - Quilter's Sampler and Quilter's Sampler Sentiments. Paper: Sweet Blush, Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Lavender Moon. Accessories: stapler, prismacolor pencils, baby oil, dimensionals, ribbon, stickles.

Hoping for a smooth week ahead,