Show and Tell

Confession, Concerns, and the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

First of all, if you clicked over here for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop you'll want to scroll down, down, and down some more. There is a card in here — I promise. But if this is your visit, you'll be wondering (to quote Nichole Heady) what you've stumbled upon. Briefly, I was dianosed with an inoperable brain tumor on August 1 of this year — which caused the blog to take a new direction. Well, not completely new. I still do something crafty most days... at least so far. But now we have been starting out with some medical updates, some scripture, some spiritual thoughts, and some ramblings of someone who is looking at life through a new lens. So — you've been warned. If you want something to think about, you may want to read. If all you want is a little crafty inspiration — scroll until you get past all the "talk". :)

Now let's get into the format that has become the new normal. Today is Thursday, August 25. It also is the day of my first radiation treatment. We'll talk more about that later.

So — first of all, confession is good for the soul, right? And I'm going to just lay out all the ugliness right here. Yesterday I was crabby. And ungrateful. And selfish. And self-centered. And greedy. And just overall not very nice. And I'm ashamed of myself. And I'm horrified that it's so easy to slip into that sort of behavior. And so hard to get out of it. 

Here's the scenario. A meal was going to be delivered. I look forward to each and every meal — they've all been so delicious — but for some reason I've been sort of fixated on this one... Pork Sliders. Don't ask me why — I can't explain it. I was really, really looking forward to those little sandwiches. 

Britt was going to be here for dinner — and for the rest of week, too. And, that's a very, very good thing that we've been looking forward to. And Ken invited our church elder and his wife to dinner. And then he invited Britt's high school friend (and maid of honor), Ruth — who lives nearby, to come and eat. And then my selfish greed set in as I (in my mind) saw that I had to share those yummy pork sliders with even more people. And I was ugly about it. 

As I look back on that now, I'm not sure exactly what my problem was. I guess that's the way sin and selfishness are, isn't it? Not rational. Fixated on self and on imagined "wrongs" to your own person. And this is all embarrassing to admit — but I've been pretty committed here to just laying it all out... so you get what you get. And now you're getting the ugly truth.

And here's the way the story ended up. I served myself first (of course! :(  It's easy to justify things like that when you're "sick"), taking what I wanted (although I did pracice some measure of self-control by taking just one little sandwich so everyone else could have at least one) and sitting down to eat. And then later I had one more slider. And, your know what? There is still left-over pork, a couple of rolls, and all the fixin's. Kind of a loaves and fishes type of thing. Which, of course, adds to my shame. Yes — my faith is not always large. But my selfishness is. Oh, Lord. Help me to be gracious and kind and generous! I do not like the "me" that came out yesterday! (Oh — I should probably say that I did relax and have a great time with our company and I'm so grateful that they came... that they prayed over me and encouraged me... it was a special evening for me. Even though I was quite out-of-sorts as the evening started.)

Now, let's get into some scripture for today. It's gonna be kinda long, I think. Actually, maybe I should break it up into pieces. We'll do that.

Psalm 40:1-3

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord."

The pit of despair is somewhere that I've tried really hard not to go to — but I can tell you that, at times, that takes a tremendous amount of effort. If those around me are observant, they've noticed that every so often the praise and worship music will start playing through my computer speakers. That's part of my defense against enemy attacks... I try to intentionally focus on my Savior... on what He has done and continues to do on my behalf. And since this brain tumor has affected my balance somewhat, "He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along" has an extra special meaning. :) "Many will see what he has done and be amazed" and "put their trust in the Lord" — yes, that's my prayer through all of this. Lord, be glorified.

Psalm 40:4-5, 8-10

"Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,... O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them....

"'I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.'

"I have told all your people about your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as you, O Lord, well know. I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness."

and this is from tomorrow (I couldn't resist looking ahead :) ) —

"Lord, don't hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me."

And I'm so glad that I added that bit from tomorrow's reading — because here's the deal. This treatment has the usual side-affects — fatigue, hair loss, stuff like that. Then there's one more that, to me, is pretty scary. Blindness. They'll be radiating — or whatever — close to my optic nerve. Things could go awry. And — really, I don't want to be blind. And — as I'm typing through tears — I'm trying to surrender that. And I'm begging the Lord to spare my eyesight. But — if I truly want to be faithful, do I have to be willing to be blind? If God can use me more without my sight, shouldn't I be OK with that? Talk about a crisis of faith. So — you can lift me up in prayer as I try to surrender what I want for the greater good of what the Lord might want. Of course, I want His will to include good health, long life, and good vision — but I have to be willing to sacrifice my desires. And it's a struggle. So — please pray for me.

I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm not going to get into writing about taking meals to people and stuff like that today. This is going to be too long already. But I'm so thankful that you stop by, read my ramblings, and give me words of encouragement. You cannot know how much those conversations mean to me — whether I chime in or not. You all have become such a huge part of my life over the past few weeks and I'm incredibly grateful for each little bit of interaction. I'm so fortunate and blessed to have so many wonderful people on this journey with me. It would be incredibly lonely to walk this road without all of you — and, of course, without my Savior. That would be impossible. So — thanks so much for traveling with me. I sure do love all of you!

 

OK — if you've been waiting for my entry into this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, here it is. Finally, huh?

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This month, again, was a picture inspiration — so here's the picture that Nichole provided. I'm hoping that it's pretty obvious how I used the elements in the photo to inspire me. Because this post is wordy enough without me pointing out the obvious!

Now, it seems I can always find a way to improve something I've created — these days more so than ever before — but I'm fairly satisfied with this one. (Except for a few relatively minor placement issues that I'd change, but... whatever...)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Damask Designs, Iconic Images, Fillable Frames #9, Fillable  Frames #12); cardstock is PTI (Fine Linen, Stampers Select White), Stampin' Up (Poppy Parade), and Creative Memories (Metallic Silver); ink is SU (Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade) and PTI (New Leaf, Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst); ribbon is PTI (1/4" silk); also used PTI's Fillable Frames #9 die and Picnic Plaid impression plate.

And that is probably, again, more than enough for one day. I'm posting earlier today, selfishly, so that prayers — specific prayers — can begin. I think my appointment begins around 3:50 this afternoon (Eastern) and is scheduled to last about 45 minutes. There are last minute calibrations to be made and then the actual radiation takes about 10 minutes. My head is covered with a mesh mask that is snapped to the table — with the idea that it keeps me immobile. When the initial calibrations were made, it seemed to me that there was a lot of play in the mesh and that maybe I moved (because I could) and I find that a little disconcerting. So — you can pray for peace and stillness for me and accuracy for the radiation treatment. 

Thank you so, so much for visiting my little blog and for all the encouragement you leave in my email box, on my Facebook account, and in the blog comments. You absolutely cannot know how much that means to me. Sending love and hugs to each and every one of you!!

 

April Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

[Edited to add some links to pictures of Mike's furniture... you'll see them below.]

The theme this month is masculine. Not my strong suit. But I've been trying. Actually, I've had quite a few masculine cards to make lately, but since some are for upcoming birthdays I'll hold off on posting them and just go with this thank you card for today.

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It seems like we often think of leaf sets to be used only in the fall with those gorgeous autumn colors, but with the trees now wearing their leaves again (at least here in North Carolina) I'm struck by all the shades of green represented in the landscape. That was my first inspiration for the card. Then since it will soon be on its way to my woodworking brother-in-law, I used the woodgrain impression plate for a little added interest. And, as a side note, I impressed the card when it was already folded so just holding it is a real tactile experience because the woodgrain can also be seen and felt on the back of the card... it also looks pretty cool when it's opened and you see the woodgrain traveling all the way through (Cuttlebug sandwich from bottom:  A plate, B plate, folded card front side up, impression plate, Spellbinders tan mat, extra cardstock shim, B plate). To make writing a little less bumpy (due to the woodgrain) and a little more visible (due to the dark card base), I added a panel on the inside of the card for my message of appreciation to Michael.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Leaf Prints, Through the Trees, Background Basics: Retro); cardstock is PTI (Dark Chocolate, Rustic White); ink is Stampin' Up (Always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake); also used PTI's Leaf Print dies and Woodgrain impression plate.

Now you may be asking, why do I need to write a note to Michael? Because I've been the recipient of his talents quite a few times and I just don't feel like I've adequately let him know what all his handmade pieces mean to me.

Like the mirror that we received for Christmas I don't know how many years ago.

 
He made it while he was still "lawyering" fulltime. Working with wood was a great release for him after the hours and hours and hours that he spent at the office.

Then when he was diagnosed with cancer, told to put his affairs in order and basically go home and die, he set his affairs in order, but he didn't go home and die. Instead he went home and kept building things. A desk for his wife (Ken's sister) with beautiful inlays in the top. Then a chair to go with it. And a bookcase. And, when he was still alive, he began making side tables for people who visited him in the hospital — 
and, apparently, for people who invited them to Thanksgiving dinner. My table sits in a place of honor in the living room, next to the chaise I like to curl up in when I'm doing my daily Bible reading.

And then he and Lynne came to Thanksgiving dinner again the next year.

 
And instead of bringing a casserole (all the way from Indiana), he brought this beautiful cookbook stand. Or — a hot chocolate mix-marshmallows-measuring cup stand, as it is now. :)

Shortly thereafter, I received a random box in the mail.

 
It held this pencil cup with the circle of wood inlaid into the side. To say that I treasure these items would be an understatement. So — I'll send Mike a link to this blog post, but I'll also send him the card. Just so he knows how much I appreciate the time and the effort and the love that he has put into these beautiful, pass-on-through-the-generations, pieces of his handiwork.

If you'd like to take a little look at Lynne & Mike's blog, you can see it here. They take turns posting. Sometimes about his treatments (which have restarted when the cancer began to grow again). Sometimes family stories. Sometimes Lynne's insights from her years as a high school English teacher. Some entries are spiritual in nature. Some show other pieces of furniture that Michael has made (here's one) — like a dining table for their lake house. And sometimes all those things mixed up in bits and pieces for one post. If you visit, be sure to say hi — and tell them Janelle sent you. :) (Prayers are appreciated, too!)

Thanks so much for visiting here today. If you care to join the blog hop for more masculine cardmaking inspiration, you can check all the links on Nichole Heady's blog here. See you again soon!

It's Friday!

And it's also the day of the February Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. Yippee! The theme this month is scallops — and since I hate to miss a Blog Hop, I quickly put a scallop-y card together this morning before leaving for work.

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Here's another view, so you can see a bit of the inside:

 
Just a simple strip of Bitty Box Basics paper that shows when the card is closed. And, I got to incorporate some sets that I received in my latest order. Fun!

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Mini Scrapbook Series: Tabs, Background Basics: Retro, Bitty Background Blocks, Fillable Frames #5, Flower Fusion #1, Button Boutique); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White); patterned paper is PTI (Bitty Box Basics in Lavender Moon); ink is PTI (Enchanted Evening, Tea Dye Chamomile) and Stampin' Up (Mauve Mist); ribbon is PTI (Aqua Mist Swiss Dot); also used a little bit of PTI's Rustic Jute button twine and PTI dies (Large Scallop Border, Fillable Frames #5, Flower Fusion #1, Button Boutique pinked square); butterflies were punched from scraps long ago and embellished with kaiser clear rhinestones.

Now I'm leaving work and heading to the grocery store to buy some healthy food. Because working in a preschool has become detrimental to the effort to lose 10 pounds before our daughter's wedding this summer. The staff and the parents are out to sabotage me. 

 
Tell me, could you resist a moist banana cupcake with buttery, cream cheesey icing? Especially when the teacher went to all the effort to present them on her cupcake stand? I thought not. Bet you couldn't have stayed away from the Cranberry Muffins that a mom brought Monday either. Or — how about the thickly iced sugar cookies from Thursday and Friday? Or the Vanilla Pound Cake from Tuesday and Wednesday? Yikes! No wonder the scale is not going in the proper direction!

That's all for today. Thanks so much for stopping by! I've started on the post about last weekend's bridesmaid dress shopping adventure and hope to have it ready to share tomorrow. There's something crafty in it, too. :) See you then!

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge

I was going to entitle this post "Simply Stationery" in reference to the Papertrey Ink stamp set that I'm using and make some wise crack about how that is stationery with an "e" as in paper to write letters on as opposed to stationary with an "a" which would refer to me sitting on the couch all night long... but the Blog Hop directions that Nichole's laid out said to title the post as above and being the rule-follower that I am, I thought I should comply. :)

So the challenge this month was to pull out a PTI set that hasn't yet seen ink, or a little-used set, or a long-neglected set, and breathe new life into it by creating a new project. And, as I said above, I chose to use "Simply Stationery".

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This was quite simple and while it doesn't use much of the Simply Stationery set (just the little red decorative line), it does use some of it. That's OK, right?

And because it was so easy — and because I had already die cut lots of teacups some time ago — I made a whole set. One for every color of Divine Twine that I had.

 
Cute, huh? I'm planning to send these to my mom for her to gift to her "secret" (a ministry at her church where every widow is paired up with someone for a year who leaves little periodic surprises to let the widow know that someone loves and is thinking about her). I know that Mom's "secret" is a tea-drinker, so I think she'll really like these cards. And Mom likes to leave little surprises for her secret friend periodically, too — just to let her know that she appreciates the love, thoughts, and prayers. I'll probably create a little folder for them to be enclosed in — but that'll have to be a project for another day.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Simply Stationery, Mega Mixed Messages, Warm Happiness Too); cardstock is PTI (Kraft, white); ink is PTI (True Black) and Stampin' Up (Crumb Cake, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Glorious Green, Melon Mambo, Orchid Opulence, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip); baker's twine is from The Twinery (Maraschino, Mandarin, Peapod, Pink Sorbet, Lilac, Lemondrop, Caribbean, Cappuccino); also used PTI's Teacup die and a Scor-Pal.

Then another easy one-layer card using Simply Stationery. Parlez-vous Francais?

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I've actually made cards very similar to this before but can't remember if I posted them (and was too lazy to go look...). So simple, so fast, and — I think — so effective. And, just in case you don't speak French (because you've just seen the extent of mine), here is the card with her English-speaking sister.

 
:)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Simply Stationery, Trajan Alphabet, Mega Mixed Messages); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace); baker's twine is from The Twinery (Lemondrop).

I think that's enough for tonight. Although, I feel like I'm nowhere near being finished with Simply Stationery. I have another half-finished card and several more ideas. Now to find the time...

Hope you have a great evening and if you're "hopping", enjoy all the inspiration out there! Thanks so much for stopping by — I love reading your comments!

December Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Wow — I feel like it's been forever since I participated in a PTI Blog Hop. It also feels like ages since I posted anything here on the ol' blog. I have a feeling that I may be making up for lost time over the next week or so. Gotta take advantage of time off from school!

Anyway, the challenge for this month's blog hop is to create something using Christmas leftovers. No, not that kind of leftovers... the kind that litters the floor around your Christmas tree after all the opening of gifts has been done. You know, pieces of gift wrap, tags, Christmas cards, ribbons... that leftover stuff.

I got busy in the craft room today and came up with four cards using some of our things that may have been destined for the trash heap. First, though, I need to show you a picture that I would have like to have posted before the holiday... just ran out of time.

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These are the tags that I made to tie onto the gifts for those in my immediate family. The "to" and "from" info was written on the back.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Banner Builders, 2008 Christmas Tags) and Stampin' Up (Medallion); cardstock is PTI (Kraft, white) and SU (Green Galore); ink is SU (Melon Mambo, Craft White); baker's twine is from The Twinery; also used PTI dies (Banner Builders, Limitless Layers, Tag Sale 1 & 2) and SU's 1-3/4" circle punch.

Now, can you believe that my two children didn't treasure their tags enough to take them with them when they left?!? The poor tags were laying forlornly on the coffee table, so I confiscated them and recycled them... one into a thank you card (which will probably be sent to the original tag recipient tomorrow... haha) —

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (2008 Christmas Tags, On Ice); cardstock is PTI (Kraft); patterned paper is Crate Paper (Snow Day Collection); ink is Stampin' Up (Craft White, Melon Mambo); gemstone is Kaiser. 

and the second tag was made into a birthday card.

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This card kept evolving — mainly to cover mistakes. And, as I look at the picture, I still see several imperfections, but I'm just not too into do-overs — so this is good enough.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Banner Builders, On Ice); cardstock is PTI (white); patterned paper is Basic Grey (green at heart); ink is Stampin' Up (Green Galore, Melon Mambo); also used PTI's Double-Ended Banners die.

Next I have a thank you card that I made for my mother-in-law using the card that she sent us. It would've been nice if I'd thought to photograph it before I cut it up, but maybe you can get the idea of what it originally looked like from the photo to the left.

 

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Daily Designs, Fillable Frames #7); cardstock is PTI (Spring Rain); ink is SU (Craft White, Forest Foliage) and VersaMark; also used PTI's Take Three die, Heat 'n Stick Powder and Martha Stewart's crystal glitter.

After making the card for my mother-in-law, I felt inspired to use the money card from my mom to make her thank you note. The photo to the left shows how I used a large circle punch to cut a portion of the card from the inside. (The money, of course, will — I'm sure — go directly to Papertrey Ink... as will the check from my mother-in-law. I'm helpless against PTI's marketing tactics!)

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AND TELL:  stamp is from Papertrey Ink (Fillable Frames #7); cardstock is PTI (VIntage Cream) and Stampin' Up (Pink Pirouette); felt is PTI (Pure Poppy); also used PTI's Large Rickrack die, Marvy's 2-1/2" circle punch (the pink one), SU's 1" circle punch, a 1/8" circle punch, Sizzix's Snowballs embossing folder, and a bit of baker's twine from The Twinery.

I have tons more to say and so, so many pictures to show you from our trip to New York City... but those will have to wait for another day. This is already long enough.

Thanks so much for stopping by — and if you're looking for more ideas of what can be done with your holiday paper leftovers, check out the other blog hop participants listed on Nichole's blog, here. You'll find no shortage of inspiration there!

Have a wonderful evening and — 
a BIG (and belated) Merry Christmas from the Hayes family!

Now I'm off to do something with these leftovers...

 
:)

September PaperTrey Ink Blog Hop

The theme for this month's blog hop is to show off a skill that you learned from a fellow stamper/blogger. It was hard to know what direction to go in as there is so much inspiration out there, but I decided to show a technique that I love and have shown before — something I learned from PTI stamp designer, Alli Miles — creating embossed medallions on your card using metal dies like Spellbinders Nestabilities.

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Alli's technique can be found here. I changed it up a bit by using a classic circle and a classic scalloped circle nestability die in combination with each other. You can also use PTI dies with this technique, but the effect will be a different. I hope to get a chance to play with that idea more in the near future.

 
I was quickly able to create this set of five cards this morning, so a set like this can be a great last-minute gift. It's a super technique to make cards that will pack a visual punch and still be easy to mail as they are just one layer. When I give card sets as gifts I like to make sure that they're flat and lightweight so that the recipient doesn't have to worry about extra postage. (By the way, I used this year's PTI anniversary set which is not available for purchase, but Papertrey Ink makes so many sets with circular images of the same size that you can easily substitute any of them.)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Round and Round Anniversary Set); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream); ink is PTI (Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Terra Cotta Tile, Simply Chartreuse, New Leaf); also used Spellbinder's Nestabilities dies (Classic Circles, Classic Scalloped Circles) and Prisma glitter.

And, if you're interested, there are some other cards that I've made using this technique here (slightly different as the medallion is cut out and mounted), here (more masculine), and a bunch of Christmas cards here, here, here, here, and here.

So that's it for me for today. I hope to get around to see who everyone else has been inspired by later today — and gain a ton of inspiration for myself. (If you stumbled upon this post and don't know what in the world I'm talking about, go here to read more and find the links to other participating blogs.) Thanks for visiting!  

 

Brown Bag Challenge - PTI Blog Hop

This month's challenge for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is to create a project using a basic brown paper lunch bag. Here's mine...

 

 

 

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a little goodie bag for a teacher's first week of school. Getting back into the teaching routine is hard. Treats help. :) 

Here's a picture of the side. I stamped the apple background on the bottom 3" of each side of the bag. The top is folded down about four times and the gap between the folded top and the stamping is covered with a 1-1/4" band of black cardstock, stamped with the alphabet pattern. Large eyelets were applied to each side of the folded section for the ribbon to thread through, forming the handle. The bows were made with twill ribbon stamped repeatedly with the "I love school" sentiment and tied with twine that had been threaded through buttons.

I'm pretty pleased with this little project and am quite sure that it will wind up as a door prize at tomorrow's preschool staff meeting — our first of the new year.

Edited to add:  After the third comment wanting a peek into the bag, I guess I'll have to confess that it's not all that exciting... just a few things that I happened to have on hand. A large dark chocolate-cranberry-almond bar. Microwave popcorn. A small bag of snack mix from Target. Starburst. Neccos. That's it. Hopefully it's the thought that counts. Right?

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (School Time); cardstock is PTI (True Black, Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Real Red) and PTI (True Black, Fresh Snow, Spring Rain); ribbon is PTI (Summer Sunrise grosgrain, Fresh Snow twill); buttons are PTI (Pure Poppy); twine is PTI (Rustic Jute); also used SU's Real Red marker, a heart paper clip from Staples, and eyelets from my stash.

Since it's Blog Hop night, I'll refrain from more pictures and chit chat. If you just happened to chance upon this post and want to see paper bag projects done by others, the Blog Hop list of participants is on Nichole's blog here.

And, if you're interested in some other projects by me that use brown lunch bags — or parts of them — you can look at previous posts here, here, and here.

That's it for now. Tomorrow I'll resume our regularly scheduled programming with more baby shower decorations and more pictures from my trip to Oregon. Hope to see you then!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

PTI July Blog Hop

The theme for this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is to use office supplies in your project.

This idea is not original to me. I saw the really cute ones made by Becky on Inking Idaho (this post) and had to try some of my own. Office supplies used:  1-3/8" x 1-7/8" sticky notes, 1" binder rings, star shaped paper clips.

Edited to add:  I realized after reading some comments that I might not have made it clear that these hold little post-it note pads. Haha. That's what happens when you post in a rush. Little (important) details can get left out!

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Oh, this was fun, fast, and easy. In fact, I had a hard time stopping. Hmmm. I may have to make a few more, too. Maybe about 27? (Shhh. Don't tell the preschool staff!)

I used the larger punch of the Crop-a-dile. The ring did go through the smaller hole — it just didn't seem to have much freedom of movement, so I went with the larger hole instead. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (School Time, Teacher's Apple, Star Prints); patterned paper is October Afternoon (Farmhouse); ink is Stampin' Up (Real Red) and PTI (Dark Chocolate); also used sticky notes, binder rings, and paper clips from Staples and a Crop-a-dile.

And then, because they were so quick & easy, I had to make a special one to give to my mother-in-law this weekend. Just for fun.

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Here are the measurements I used. I cut the cardstock 2-1/4" x 3-1/4" and then scored it 1-9/16" from each of the short edges. I divided the little sticky pads into fourths, but probably could have done thirds (which is what Becky did) and still had it fit in this little folder and be punched by the Crop-a-dile. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Take Note, Floral Fusion); cardstock is PTI (Berry Sorbet, Vintage Cream); ink is PTI (Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, Tea Dye Duo, Vintage Cream); also used sticky notes, binder rings, and paper clips from Staples, a Crop-a-dile, and PTI's Tea for Two Label die.

We just got back from a weekend trip to Florida, so I better unpack, etc. Just wanted to be sure I was ready for the hop! 

I've a busy week ahead of me, but hope to have some creative time to share. Thanks for visiting — and have a fabulous evening!

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge

 
This month's challenge was to use a favorite PTI color combination. I have so many "favorites" but a current involves two new colors:  Hawaiian Shores & Simply Chartreuse — a match made in heaven.

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We've been on the road and these are cards that I quickly made before leaving town — for the blog hop and for our hosts on this little trip. Besides loving the colors, I love the little leaves that I cut by hand from the "leftover" edge after cutting the rickrack stems.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Giga Guidelines); cardstock is PTI (Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse); ink is PTI (Fresh Snow, True Black); gemstones are from Kaiser (green) and K & Co. (blue); fabric covered brads are K & Co.; also used PTI's rickrack and Beautiful Blooms II Flower #3 dies and white tissue paper. 

That's it for tonight. I'll be back with regular posts soon.

Thanks for stopping by and if you're blog hopping, enjoy all the great color combinations that are bound to be out there! (If you want to "hop" the links will be on Nichole Heady's blog after 8:00 p.m. Eastern time tonight, click here.)

Felt

Tonight is Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop — this time with an emphasis on felt. I carved out a little time on Sunday afternoon to play with the Hawaiian Shores felt that I purchased from PTI when it was first released — as it's sat in its package in a drawer making me tremble a bit. Why did I find it so scary? No idea. I've crafted with felt before, but never felt like this. Mostly the plastic feeling felt in the chain craft stores. Wool felt is new to me. And because it sounds special, it seems scary. Anyway — who has the time to analyze their feelings about felt? Let's just get on with it, for goodness' sake!

May is such a busy month, there just wasn't a lot of time to be original. But there was just enough time to try making a new flower that I'd been wanting to attempt for awhile.

SHOW

 
To get the mottled look on the friend tag, I placed it face down on my stamp pad and lightly tapped it. Fresh Snow ink softened the edges of the grey tag. I made the flower from memory after reading Betsy Veldman's tutorial (here) a couple months ago. I'd been wanting to try it and decided that this was the perfect opportunity. The die cut apple was a leftover from a gift-packaging project (here) and since it just happened to be sitting out, it got used. Now I have a cute little tag ready to dress up a plain gift bag sometime in the future.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Mixed Messages, Background Basics: Geometrics); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Going Grey), Bazzill (textured Red Devil), and PTI (Vintage Cream); ink is SU (Basic Gray, Going Grey) and PTI (Fresh Snow); buttons are PTI (Hawaiian Shores, Pure Poppy); ribbon is PTI (Vintage Cream saddle stitch); felt is PTI (Hawaiian Shores); brad is Making Memories; twine is PTI (Rustic Cream); also used PTI's Mat Stack 2 and the medium Flower #2 dies, Provo Craft Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die, and the A Child's Year Cricut cartridge.

And, that's all I have for tonight. It's our last week of school and there's still much to do. I should be able to get back to regular posting next week. Yippee!

Thank you so much for stopping by!