I don't know if I've mentioned over the years - probably have - that I was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. The beginning of my migration south started in college. I went to school in Maryland. At the time my family
thought I was going way far South - at least it felt like that to them. (Northerners feel anything past Delaware is the South LOL! I guess you gotta be from NY or NJ to make such distinctions. Heck if you are from New Jersey you definitely distinguish if you're from Northern Jersey or South Jersey. It's a fact - ask anyone from NJ) And if your parents and family are all New Yorkers - well, going to Maryland for school - it was almost like going to a foreign country.
Now I live in the great state of Virginia - Northern Virginia to be exact. And while there are a few folks who are actually from NoVA - its quite a conglomeration of people from all points on the map - or at least that's the way it seems to me. It is rare to meet someone who was born here!
The reason I'm talking about North & South - well it's the "y'all". Never said y'all growing up. These little expressions started creeping in to the vocabulary - heck I don't know when it happened. But it is there. And you'll hear a lot of y'all-ing going on round here. And I kinda like it.
(Tracy - where are the cards? Can we get to the cards please?) Yes. There are cards - you know there will be cards.
I recently purchased some adorable papers and a few embellishments from Doodlebug. ( yes Doodlebug of the sugar-coated cardstock fame here on my blog). I needed to make some cards to send to some family. I've got a list of people I try to card monthly - the dear ones I don't always get to see - some I rarely get to see (they're back up North ;-)). I wanted to use a cute little Papertrey Ink set called
Nuts for You. The set has this darling squirrel, acorn, and leaf.
I thought the papers Doodlebug came out with recently, called
Friendly Forest, would be perfect. I've got a few more cards to make but thought I'd share a couple I've got made here.
The "hello" on the first card was made using my Silhouette Portrait. I thought the big sentiment would look cute with those adorable Mini Doodle-Pop cardstock stickers. Oh they are cute. (can you see the plaid on the
leaf - sooo cute. I love plaid in all of its shapes and forms) That little
fox is so precious I'm going to have trouble mailing him off. (musn't hoard, musn't hoard...)
On the second card I used Papertrey Ink's
Stenciled Alphabet Blocks Die to create the banner. I used some more of the patterned papers behind each letter. And the squirrel is sitting on sort of a crazy quilt of patterned paper but I love it. There are so many pretty papers in the pad I wanted to use them all.
One last card - I used some more of the papers to create the last card. I used a sentiment and tree trunk die from Papertrey Ink's
Trendy Tree Tops. (I haven't pulled that set out for a while - yay for using some older stuff). I did use a circle punch for the tree top and made my own little banner for the sentiment (I inked that cardstock up with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink so it would work better with the cream background in the papers).
Alrighty. That's all for today. Y'all have a good one!
I'd already decided I'd wanted to make it bright and happy and use those PTI Shakers & Sprinkles stamps and dies and sprinkles - a shaker card was in order. I'd chosen some Doodlebug Sugar Coated Cardstock in Tangerine (the color is gorgeous - I swear you could squeeze a glass of juice from it) for the die cut word on the front of the shaker. I cut that word out but added several diecuts cut from white cardstock to give it a little heft and make it stand on its own. The background sunburst inside the shaker is patterned paper that came with the Shakers & Sprinkles kit. I added the stamped words ("I hope your day is" and "with sunshine" in Hawaiian Shores Ink. I decided using black ink would give it that Halloween look I was trying to avoid). I cut out the shaker frames and put it together using some of the "sprinkles" that came with the kit and also added some clear sequins I had in my stash. Finally, I tried a few different combos for that background the whole thing sits upon. I had been working on some scrapbooking and had a 6x6 pad of Hip Hip Hooray Doodlebug paper on my drawing table. There was one piece of paper that had orange polka dots I thought would work and I really liked the look - done. I've made a lotta shaker cards in my time and I have to say this was probably the easiest one I ever made. The dies with the adhesive foam sheets (also PTI) really made it so much simpler. One last thing - I stamped the inside of the card as well as the envelope. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Keep it Simple: Birthday set and the sunburst and twinkling stars are from the Shakers & Sprinkles kit. I often am in such a hurry I don't stamp the inside so it was nice to do it for this card. And I love stamping the envelopes for my cards - kinda bumps up the anticipation for the recipient yaknow? They know something special is inside right? I think she's going to like her card.
Back again with my Happy Autumn card.
Hey there. I just wanted to show a few more "fall" cards using that Doodlebug Friendly Forest patterned paper and some Mini Doodle Pop cardstock stickers.
Yes I've been busy and too busy to blog. But I have been making things whilst having new appliances installed, taking extensive car trips to weddings in far off states, and various and sundry other adventures. I've also been taking an online card class - playing with Copic markers. All very fun but occupying every spare moment. I thought I'd jump on here to share a card I made recently using that Papertrey Ink Shakers & Sprinkles kit. I'm a little in love with the stamps and the dies and the wonderful papers in the kit. For this card I combined it with the PTI Cupcake Collection. I decorated the cupcake with some "sprinkles" (glue pen with glitter) and cut out the word "Sprinkles" using some of my beloved Doodlebug sugar coated cardstock. It certainly adds a wonderful bit of sparkle - so "birthday" dontcha think?
If you've been following along with my progress on the Year of Cards gifts, you may have noticed I'm not making the cards in any particular order. I look at the Papertrey Ink Birthday Classics stamp sets I've gotten thus far and pick a month at random - whatever I'm feeling like at the moment. I had been holding off on June's edition til now just because I knew exactly what I wanted to make. (It would be quick and easy and I could hold off til I had 5 or so months already completed was my reasoning.)
And when I had the chance finally to get to use the kit - to make a birthday card for just the sweetest friend on the PTI board - Little Mabel (yes that be you Sandy!) - I jumped on it. I really wanted to do a shaker card (what the kit is all about to be sure) but my moments were limited and I wanted to get the card to her on time. (The kit does make the shaker a much more doable thing for sure but I really have to sit down and take my time - and that wasn't happening in the last week and a half). For the sparkly Sprinkles die cut word I used some Doodlebug Sugar Coated cardstock - omg - that stuff is just awesome. So easy to use and fabulous results. No mess just cuteness! I added this side view photo so you could see the word die closer (I actually cut 3 or 4 out of white cardstock to get a little thicker and more stable die cut) and when i was done stamping and assembling I decided to throw on a few clear sequins to add to the sparkle.
My husband has a large family and there are several during the month of July. And for July birthday cards you kinda think summer-y stuff right? Popsicles are summer-y 
this one is for my older sister. I used Wild Asparagus papers cardstock stamped with Purple Onion designs Paisley stamps (its hard to see - I versamarked them). The alphas, tabs, and holly and berries are made using Quickutz (the font is Zoe).
