Christmas Tag-a-rama

I did promise to share some tags I was making for my sister and her family - so here we go:

Here are the two tags for my nephews using PTI's Tag Sale #6 die along with dies from PTI's In the Meadow. I used some patterned paper from Memory Box (Tinsel). When I was done assembling I took a glue pen and ran lines over the pattern in the paper then sprinkled on some ultra fine glitter. In the first pic you can't see the lines - you just see the shimmer - but in this second pic I was able to get those lines visible in the photo.  In real life you don't see the lines unless you're holding it at just the right angle - but that's really what I was going for - the overall shimmer.

Next we have the tag for my niece, the boys younger sister. She is 4 and a girly girl. She loves anything pink and sparkly! So I decided she should have a pink polka-dotted Christmas tree. Why not! I used some of PTI's Raspberry Fizz cardstock and stamped (in Versamark)on the polkas using PTI's Polka Dot Basics - then used some white embossing powder. I cut out another Tag Sale #6 and attached some Cosmo Cricket patterned paper (Jolly by Golly). I used some Crystal Glitter from Walmart on the bottom area (adhered with Modpodge), added the pink tree then finished it off with the little die cut snowman die from In the Meadow.  All three tags are stamped with a sentiment from Fillable Frames #9 (they're  also got the To: From: stamped on the back of each tag.)
Finally I wanted some little tags to also go on these packages that say don't open til Christmas (they are quite the imps these 3!)

I cut out the tags using the die from Fillable Frames #9 using papers from PTI's New Leaf Pattern pack. I cut out small rectangles with an EK success punch and used those as reinforcers for the tags. The image is a Holiday Seal stamp from Catslife Press. I stamped in versamark and embossed with white ep. Finally I attached some bakers twine.  Then I took a white gel marker and wrote in the date.
Alright then. Thanks for stopping by - have a good one!
Edited to add - I just realized the first two tags would be good for the Make it Monday challenge - so consider these entered ;-)
 

Snowflake Sparkle Ornament

I'm trying to get a package together to send my sister - some of the Christmas presents are already there. But I've got one gift here that needs a little decoration and I need to make some tags for the gifts already at her house. So today I put together a little package decor that also doubles as a tree ornament. I used Papertrey's Damask Snowflake dies. I combined some modpodge with some ultrafine glitter and painted that on - I think you can see the shimmer - it's pretty. For the sentiment I used PTI's Happiest of  Holiday set. I really love this set and have given it a bit of a workout. I wanted to highlight the word Christmas so a little masking was required. I added some ribbon to the back and another snowflake on top of that to finish it off.
Tomorrow I've got to get those tags done - hopefully I'll have a few to share then. Have a good one!

Make it Monday #94 Detail Glitter Technique

So I've been trying to get back to making Christmas cards - and I managed to get one made today. I pulled out PTI's Mistletoe & Holly (for the image) and Happiest of Holidays (for the sentiment). I wanted to use a favorite color combo - aqua and red. I stamped the main image with versamark and clear embossed it. Then I stamped the mistletoe berries in versamark but I used white embossing powder this time. (Here it looks a little off white - I'm thinking that's got to do with the aqua..... regardless). I used the Mat Stack 1 die to cut out the sentiment shape (wish I'd gotten the Mat Stack Layerz 1 to mat that but I digress) and stamped the sentiment in red. I mounted that on some foam tape - but before I attached it I wrapped some bakers twine around the card. I finished the whole thing off by adding some Ultra Fine glitter to the berries (I used a Martha Stewart glue pen to adhere it). I really wish the photo shows the shiny embossing powder  and the glitter - you'll just have to believe me when I say it's a little magical. Sort of sugarplum-esque.
Okay... off I go. Have a good one!

Sympathy Cards

Always a hard thing to make aren't they?

One of the first sets I think I bought from Papertrey Ink was With Sympathy. I've unfortunately used that set a lot. It's a wonderful stamp set that has such perfect sentiments. It also has a companion set - With Sympathy:Loss of a Pet. I bought that set right away - it's a $5 set - PTI has so many great little $5 sets. And I thought I might have a use for it on occasion. When I bought it I'd asked my sister, who is a veterinarian, if she sent out sympathy cards to her patient owners? (When we'd lost two different cats to illnesses our veterinarians here sent so many cards and it was very touching and appreciated). She told me that she did. At the time I'd said I'd make her some using this set - she's very crafty but I knew she'd never get a chance - she's a busy girl - 3 little ones as well as being a vet - she rarely has time to craft. Well, as it happens I never got a chance either. Till now. I made a whole set of cards for her. I know she'll appreciate it - although I hope she never gets the chance to use them really. She takes the loss of her patients pretty hard. But if the need arises she'll have a card to send handy. I used some Fine Linen pattern pack papers, the Card Base-ics #2 die and the Buttoned Up #1 die - all from PTI. I altered the Card Base-ics die cut a little - trimmed it down about 1/4 inch on all sides to create the look I wanted - but i still wanted those notched corners. I have a punch from StampinUp which put those corners back. I also used some black embroidery floss for the die cut buttons and I clear embossed the paw prints. Here's a few more pics

Okay that's all for today - hope you have a good one!                                                                                         

Make it Monday #93 Splitting Die Cuts

a real quick post here (i'm supposed to be making dinner ;-)) Another birthday card for that nephew who is turning 13 (this one is from my mom). I used the Celebrations die to cut the shape for the sentiment - I actually cut it out using kraft cardstock and some striped patterned paper I had. I cut apart the striped diecut and adhered it to the uncut kraft diecut. Then I stamped the large sentiment onto the kraft cardstock. I assembled the rest of the card and added the small sentiment at the bottom. Both sentiments are from the Celebrations stamp set.
ok.. i better get on that dinner! Oh yes - I was trying out the Papertrey Make it Monday challenge on Nicole Heady's blog!

Star Birthday Tag and Card

I've mentioned before I have numerous nephews haven't I? Yes I know I have. I'm quite lucky. (I've also got some amazing nieces but it's not one of their birthdays so I'll have to talk about them another day.) One of the nephews (my sisters eldest) is about to turn 13 - an auspicious occasion to be sure. For me it is hard to believe but yet it is so (I've got one nephew who is 36 but each one's 13th birthday seems to be a marking point now doesn't it?). I wanted to send him a fun card and make a tag for his gift - which is already on its way to him (my sister, who lives on the other side of the country, is used to wrapping my gifts :-( but I don't always get a tag in the mail - well I am this year!) I had Betsy Veldman's recent post about chalkboard art on the brain so I made this tag. Used Papertrey Ink stamps and number dies. The tiny white embossed heart is from the superstar border die from PTI but the larger red star is EK success papershaper punch. The tag was a #6? shipping tag I covered over with kraft and black cardstocks.

On to the card - I used the Boy Basics Simple Circles and 2012 Birthday tags stamp sets as well as the Coverplate Circles die. I stamped the main image in two different colors and clear embossed them (yes you can emboss dye ink you just gotta be quick about it!) then I cut them apart and reassembled so I had a two color image.  The "celebrate" was embossed with white ep (i stamped that in versamark).
Ok - I really gotta run - laundry and making dinner are next up on the agenda.
Have a wonderful day!

A birthday card

How are you? Survived Thanksgiving I see. Me too. Although I'm too pooped to pop (a family expression - means I'm tired!). Actually I am gaining a little steam. I had to work yesterday (Friday) and when I got home, I did veeery little LOL. I was makin up for Thursday when I did a lot. Anyway earlier in the week, before Turkey, stuffing, pies etc I quickly made a card for my dear Aunt (who is also my Godmother). She will be celebrating her 94th birthday on Monday and I wanted to make sure I got that card in the mail by yesterday. So I made the card and set it aside to mail. With all the turkey day festivities etc I totally forgot to put it in an envelope and address it. On my way home from work yesterday afternoon I realized it. eek! I got home, quickly pulled out an envelope, addressed it and ran it out to the mailbox - fortunately the mailman hadn't been by yet. So the card - I used 2 Papertrey Ink sets: Autumn Abundance and Tagged Sentiments. I also used the Scarlett Jewel Pattern Paper pack and Mat Stack 3 and Mat Stack 3 Layerz dies. I colored the image using Prismacolor pencils for the flowers and vase and copics for the leaves. I took this pic right before I put the card in the envelope - inotherwords reallllly fast. Shame cos I was quite pleased with my coloring with the pencils and you can't really tell here.
Anyway - I need to get a move on. I have some online shopping to do LOL! I'm trying to avoid the stores as long as I can. The online shopping - I know what I'm buying today (2 birthday gifts and 3 Christmas) for a niece and 2 nephews. I'm just not prepared for the mall yet! Have a wonderful day.

Happy Winter Birthday

I had some of that Spring Rain cardstock on my drawing table from the card from yesterday so I thought I'd make a birthday card for my husband's aunt. Her birthday isn't until the end of December but ya know - when the spirit moves you, you gotta go with it! I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Winter Hills - I sooo wanted to use that house image stamp again as well as the wonderful sentiment - Happy Winter Birthday (I don't know why I love that but I do!). I stamped the image onto the Spring Rain cardstock and used my Prismacolors (and a little mineral spirits) to color that in. Then I used the wee snowflake stamp in the set to stamp a partial background in Versamark on the left side of the card. I embossed that with white embossing powder. I used one of the Half & Half dies to cut out the white cardstock you see on the right side of the card - well actually I cut it out twice. I mounted the image onto the long piece and stamped the sentiment on the short white piece.  I liked the card but felt it needed something else and tried a variety of different ribbons and finally settled on using some bakers twine. (It kind of solved my dilemma having chose to color that barn and door in the image in a red prismacolor pencil - pulled it all together - see what i mean?) alrighty. I'm off to bake - today it's Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins for Thanksgiving (I gotta fit this stuff in when I can LOL) Have a good one!

editing to add a revised photo:
okay - so here on the left I've made a little change. I'd resisted tying that bakers twine - but today the card was sitting on my table still and I said what the heck. I took a piece of the twine and wrapped it around my hand 3 times then took that and tied it on the piece I'd already attached to my card - then snipped the ends. I'm happier with this faux bow then the original version of the card.  I should say at this point this twine is the real deal twine. On a huge spool - just like they used to used in the bakery when I was a kid. I see the kinds available now - so much thicker and very nice but I've got a huge spool of this - so use what you have, right? ok I need to make a birthday card now before I have to shut down my little craft room for Thanksgiving LOL. Too much cooking, baking etc for any craft time. Anyway - to all my fellow Americans - have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

a change of pace

Taking a break from the Christmas stuff to make a card for a baptism. One of our nephews had a little boy not long ago and he will be baptized this coming weekend. Unfortunately, in a state too far away so we will be unable to attend :-( But of course a card is not out of the question right?
Now I have a lot of stamps but I don't have anything appropriate for the occasion. I know... I've actually looked off and on over the years but never found anything quite right. So I went in search this morning but still came up empty. My backup plan was to find a paper or an embellishment to use. On that score I got lucky and found some lovely crosses from Jolee's. So I got that and a package of faux pearl embellishments (Recollections) and got down to business. I printed the sentiment on my computer onto some vellum and clear embossed it. I cut out those frames using Papertrey's Mat Stack 3 and Mat Stack 3 Layerz. Also embossed a piece of cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.
Okay that's all from me today - I'm off to make a lasagna for Wednesday - yes Wednesday - cos I'll be too busy to cook with all the Thanksgiving prep and will still have a house full of hungry people! Have a good one!

Love Lives Here Holiday Ornament

So I have been playing with PTI's Love Lives Here: Holiday and Tag Sale #4 to make some ornaments for family for Christmas. I fell in love with some ornaments that Erin Lincoln did with this set - you can see it here if you click on the little thumbnails below the set image. So as I said I've been playing around with the stamps a little and here's what I made so far.

Yes I added a little bit of a face - so sue me. I just wanted a face on this sweet angel but isn't that what is so nice about stamps - you can make anything  you want!


Which brings me to the next thing. The little sentiment you see here - well I altered it a little. It's from PTI's Happiest of Holidays - an absolutely wonderful set! Those lines on the banner weren't long enough to make me happy for my purposes here (and there were some other pesky words in the way LOL) So again I'm altering things up. Here's a pic of the stamp as is next to the ornament I made.
So I stamped the sentiment then extended the lines with a pen then cut out the parts of the sentiment I wanted to keep, distressed a little with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen and voila... sentiment that suits my needs :-)

Ok I gotta run. Have a date with some chocolate chip cookie dough and my Mom :-)

Thanks for looking!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

can't you just hear Judy Garland singing?
ok so now you can

 

Love "Meet Me in St. Louis" don't you? 

Seeing as I've been on a vintage music sheet kick I thought I'd throw in the music itself.

Alright - on to the card...

which coincidentally has sheet music for this song in the background. And in the foreground - Papertrey Ink In the Meadow die of that cute sledder as well as the hill itself...and the sentiment is from PTI's Think Big Favorites #20

Christmas Tree

So I'm back with another card today - a little more vintage Christmas sheet music too.
I used PTI's In the Meadow stamp set and dies again. I just love the sentiments in this set - as well as the timeless images. You can't beat a silhouette sometimes. So much information in a shape - just the impression and your mind fills in the rest. Genius.
Anywho...Like yesterday, I printed out the sheet music and used a little TH Antique Linen around the edges.
For the tree - I originally tried stamping the snowflakes using versamark (as you see in the bottom section with the sentiment) but I just wasn't liking it. So I tried again with the Fresh Snow inkpad - I think it ties the tree to the sentiment nicer. I also clear embossed both the snowflakes and the sentiment. When I was done with all that I thought it needed something. I remembered seeing someone's card where they put a little cardinal in the tree and I thought that might finish it off - he looks kinda cute (and the red ties the background to the foreground - so that was that).

Dashing through the snow

Oh it's a wonderful thing when you have a little time and you can make a few cards right? You get into that zone and you make stuff you like :-)
So today I have a card that came together so nicely for me and I love it. I think I shall make a few more of these. I was looking around for some sheet music online - something Christmas-sy (is that a word?). I do have some vintage sheet music in my stash but not Christmas. I found it in no time (isn't the internet a wonderful thing?)and printed some up and here's what I did with it.
I used Papertrey Ink's In the Meadow stamp set & dies for the sentiment and sleigh, some of their Scarlett Jewel cardstock and patterned paper. I'm not sure if you can see it but I used some Tim Holtz Antique Linen ink to distress around the edges of the music sheet (even though it was a lovely aged yellow right off my printer it needed the edges darkened up). I adhered the sleigh with pop dots. Then I took a long look and decided it needed perhaps some ribbon? Nah.. then I knew what would finish it off - some german scrap I had in my stash. I do so wish there was a die for that! LOL It's similar to a rick rack or a pinked edge but that really isn't the look I was going for - and that german scrap is embossed with the lovliest beading detail yaknow? So there you have it -  sortofa clean and simple vintage card. I'm gonna try a few more of this type card with some more of the stamps/dies in that set.
Have a lovely day!

2 More Christmas Cards

 Hi there! Today I've got 2 cards to show you. Both cards feature sentiments from Papertrey Ink's Happiest of Holidays stamp set. I also used the Fabulous Frames die for both cards. On this first card I used some PTI New Leaf patterned paper and I dug around in my stash and found a tin of Prima Holiday Poinsettias (which also contains some lovely holly). Quick easy card right?

The next card I used a few of the patterned papers in the Scarlet Jewel patterned paper pack and tied on some gold ribbon. Another quick one but I really like how it came out.
Okay... Have a wonderful day!

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Well I finally am back to share 2, yes 2 cards. One Christmas and one Thank You card. I made this first one with a PTI set called Winter Hills. Best thing about that set is aside from the wonderful images it has such a variety of sentiments for all kinds of occasions - total bonus. With that said, I was flipping through my stamps and wanted to use this wonderful sentiment from an older PTI set called Home for the Holidays (a holiday addition to the Boards & Beams set). It just seemed so perfect with a little Fine Linen gingham patterned paper. I colored the image with some Prismacolor pencils and distressed the edge of the image with my fingers. Pretty simple card but I am pleased with it.



Now onto the Thank You....

We had a lovely visit from my husband's Aunt on Monday. She is such a wonderful woman and the very best house guest ever. And she never comes empty-handed as she is impeccably good-mannered as well. A few bottles of wine and the most wonderful rooster tin sculpture. I'm in love with him. I need to snap a pic to share. At any rate I needed to thank her for said Rooster (kicking myself I didn't purchase that fabulous On the Farm set PTI came out with a few months back - that Rooster in the set would have been the ultimate in appropos thanking!) and came up with this card. I don't know if you can see the yellow in the background patterned paper but that is what dictated my choice of a mustard ink for the main image here. I originally tried the "red" ink I used in the card above but it wasn't a good match. The sentiment image is from Tagged Sentiments. (That patterned paper is from my very old stash of Chatterbox papers - sigh - I loved Chatterbox....)
Okay now back to folding laundry... Have a good one!

Christmas Cards: Door Wreath

I was playing around with the 2012 Holiday Tag set from Papertrey. I am in love with the wreath in the set. And I decided it needed a door. I've seen some really nice door dies in my travels on the internet but I never bought one. So I had to make my own. Or at least my concept of a door. Anyhow, this is what I came up with using the wreath stamp, some Scarlet Jewel cardstock and patterned paper, as well as the Think Big Favorites #20 (I love the design of this sentiment) all from Papertrey Ink. Oh yeah - I decided to cut a hole in the stamped wreath image so I used a circle Nestabilities.Oops forgot the sentiment is stamped on the PTI Christmas Label die. Such a pretty shape dontcha think?
Hoping you have a fun Saturday! Thanks for stopping by.

You Are Just 2 Sweet - Thank You

I needed a thank you card for a friend and made an attempt yesterday - an hour later, sewing machine taken apart... I had to stop. So today - new day - try another card idea and no sewing machine (i'll have to deal with mine later) and I came up with this card. I kinda like it. Sometimes me and mixing patterns don't mix. But Idunno - I do kinda like it.  I used PTI's Tagged Sentiments and a StampinUp set Mixed Bunch. I stamped the little flower from Mixed Bunch in both ink and Versamark and I like that combo. The gingham patterned paper is from the Fine Linen patterned paper pack. Oh yes - I did use the Limitless Layers circle collection from PTI to cut out the circle and scalloped circle. Ok ... off to see about some ironing (I know... that's not fun!)

Tags as Gifts

so after seeing Dawn McVey's wonderful tag set (giving tags as a gift... isn't that a great idea?) I had to give it a try. As time is at a premium these days I thought I might be able to do this quickly - and I did! I did have to overcome the lack of the wonderful Essential Pillow Box die (which is going on my wish list - it would be so handy to have!) by finding a template online.
My pic isn't great but you get the idea. I cut out the template, and used some patterned paper from PTI as well as the 2012 Holiday Tag set. I cut out a few ovals and the scalloped ovals so I could use them on the pillowbox as well as the tags. I stamped the ovals with the image from the Holiday Tag set. Then I assembled the box, wrapped the patterned paper around the box like a belly band and attached the stamped image. Box done.
For the tags I cut out a few of PTI's tag sale #6. Cut some more of the patterned paper and some coordinating cardstock and attached those to the tags. I stamped the "peace love joy" as well as the little design image in a matching color ink  and all I had to do was glue on tag reinforcer (that comes with the tag die) and I was done.
Really a very quick little project and sooo cute!
I want so much to have a little more time to make MORE tags. Right now I need to run along. Thanks for looking and if you're in the path of Hurricane Sandy (the winds are ripping outside and I'm hoping we keep our power on....) stay safe.

It's October and I've made a Christmas card!

I know.. it's absolutely shocking. But given the way things are goin round here I thought I'd better try to start as soon as possible. And believe it or not this card took 10 minutes. I know. Another shocker. I may actually be getting good at this. Reminds me when I was in school in drawing class and we'd have a model and the drawings were timed. 5 minutes... change pose. 5 minutes... another pose. But drawing and card making are quite different LOL. So on with the card. I wish I could recall whose card I saw where they were stamping off using this same set: Mistletoe & Holly from Papertrey Ink. I just can't for the life of me remember whose card I saw but it stuck with me. I do like the effect stamping off gives and I think it can give some nice depth. But in the end I actually decided to use two colors for the holly leaves LOL! Then stamped the sentiment (which is from Happiest Of Holidays - also Papertrey Ink) and the leaves. And voila.. card done. I think I'm going to make a few of these :-)

Fastest card I've ever made

I have a tendency to take a very long time making cards. "Long" is a relative term I suppose however in my case "long" means over an hour... sometimes even longer. I don't think I'm alone here - but I also think there are those who don't take near that amount of time. This tendency is problematic for me these days. I have zero time for crafting. I'm making anything in stolen moments (heck I'm writing this blog in a stolen moment ;-)). My scrapbooking progress would have totally stalled if I hadn't switched over to a different method (something like Project Life - using divided page protectors where I just slide in the pics). But card making - well that's a totally different animal. The other day I needed a fast - and I mean fast - anniversary card. I could've broken down and .....eek - bought a card from a store. That would just kill me given my little craft room is filled with endless stamps and card making materials. Anyway, I had a stamp set from Papertrey that I'd purchased fairly recently and knew I would use for the card. I picked out a couple of Papertrey dies and some patterned paper and cardstock and I made this card in probably 10 minutes. Really! Now it is a very simple card but you know - I like it. (I should say the card was for a 2nd wedding anniversary - hence the 2). And I'm not sure what creation I'd have come up with given more time but I'm pleased and I know the recipients will be satisfied - what more can I ask?  Okay.. stolen moment over. Gotta get back to my real life ;-) Thanks for stopping by.