Show and Tell

welcome

Wow — it's been awhile!

First I'll show you today's card and then I'll tell you where I've been. Since I haven't crafted for awhile, I really needed some inspiration. Dawn McVey came through with a color challenge just in time!

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I made this card for this weekend's company — my exchange student "sister" Treesna is visiting from Indonesia! More on that another day.

AND TELL:  supplies are Papertrey Ink unless noted -- stamps are from 2009 Autumn Tags and Vintage Picnic Sentiments; cardstock is Kraft, Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, and Vintage Cream; printed paper is Bitty Box Basics Dark Chocolate; ink is Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate, and Vintage Cream; ribbon is Dark Chocolate twill; also used Fiskar's Apron Edge Punch, Provo Craft Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, Scor-Pal, Scallop Scissors, Spellbinder's Labels Three Die, K&Co. red rhinestones.

So, here's some of what I've been busy with.

Monday I took the day off work and my brother, mom, and I went to Lowe's Motor Speedway. I've lived here for 22 years and it was my first visit there. Crazy, huh. I guess you can tell I'm not a big NASCAR fan.

Here we are in the winner's circle. Oh, if only that $1,000,000 check was for real. I think I could make a bit of a dent in my craft product wish list with a third of that amount!

After leaving the speedway, we visited the nearby Hendrick Motorsports facility where we walked through their museum, gift shops, and auto shop viewing areas for cars 5, 88, 24, and 48 (if you don't speak NASCAR — and I'm certainly not fluent — that's Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson). You would not believe how clean those buildings are — especially where they are putting the cars together. They are just crazy clean. Spotless.

This is the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Unfortunately, they weren't running rafts and kayaks the day we were there, though, so there were no rapids in the man-made river. But, the restaurant was open. Fried pickles. Homemade potato chips. Sweet potato fries. And, oh, dinner, too.

 

After Bob went back to Oregon, Mom and I visited the Billy Graham Library. Such an inspirational place. And, as you can see, the weather has been beautiful.

That's it for tonight. I really need to get some sleep. Mom, Treesna, and I will be hitting some more Charlotte area sites tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! I hope to get on a more regular posting schedule next week.

 
 

Moving Toward Fall

The weather this week has been more like October than like August. I even took a sweatshirt with me to the Panthers game on Thursday night. Unheard of. Sure beats sweltering in the afternoon sun — which is what I'll probably be doing on Sunday, September 13, when the Panthers play the Eagles.

I have a couple of cards for you today, both using the colors from Dawn McVey's latest Raspberry Suite Color Challenge. Love these colors together. I think I'm ready for the change of season.

I didn't set out to make two cards. It just happened. I had certain elements that I wanted to use, but couldn't get them to work on the same card — so I divided them up and made two little cards instead. They're just 3-3/4" square — a fun little size!

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AND TELL:  all materials are Papertrey Ink — stamps (2009 Autumn Tags), cardstock (Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Summer Sunrise, Vintage Cream), patterned paper (BItty Box Basics Dark Chocolate), ink (Summer Sunrise, Vintage Cream), ribbon (Vintage Cream saddle stitch), rhinestones (orange); also used Stampin' Up's 1-3/4" circle and ticket corner punches, Fiskars Apron Edge punch, and Spellbinder's Nestabilities Labels Three. 

And, here's the second card.

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Love this one. To add a little interest underneath, I tried stamping the tags in varying degrees of darkness. And, since four buttons of the same size were boring, I jazzed up a large button with adhesive gems. I've seen others do it, and it does add a touch of class, don't you think?

AND TELL:  everything is Papertrey Ink unless noted differently — stamps (2009 Autumn Tags), cardstock (Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream), patterned paper (Bitty Dot Basics Summer Sunrise), ink (Dark Chocolate, Vintage Tea Dye Duo), buttons (Dark Chocolate), rhinestones (orange), Rustic Jute Button Twine; also used Stampin' Up's Bigz Lattice die and Modern Label punch and K&co. adhesive pearl.

So much to do today. A few last minute details at school. Gotta get to Curves before noon as I promised myself I would get to 800 workouts before school starts and today is my last chance to be at 800 before Tuesday as they're closed the rest of the holiday weekend. (I know, I like to cut things close.) Need to run up to IKEA for a few little things. Dinner tonight at our regular Monday night company's house. Her parents are in town — her mom's making some swags for her living room today and cooking her birthday dinner tonight while her dad is pressure washing her back deck and painting the concrete on her side porch. I'll post some pictures if I can get my camera working. We're having issues. :( 

Ken's up at the church (school) now waiting for me so I best get going. Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for coming by today! Hope you get a chance to stop by again soon. Bye.

It's Katy's Day!

When I started my blog in April 2009 (just 4 months ago!), my first regular reader and commenter (that wasn't related to me) was a young lady in Florida named Katy. I don't remember exactly when she found me, but over the months I've enjoyed checking her blog and keeping up to date on her family as well as her crafting. She's active on the Papertrey Forum and I'm amazed at how she is always ready with a link that answers someone's question. And she's always spot-on. We even got to meet briefly at the CHA SuperShow (which I wrote about here — including a picture of us together).

Through our communiciations during the weeks leading up to CHA, I learned that her birthday is August 26. When I found that out, I knew that I needed to create a card for her. Just when I was getting ready to start, Dawn McVey's latest color challenge came through — so this card meets that challenge, but it's really inspired by my fondness for Katy and her encouragement to me over the past several months.

I also used sketch CPS130 from Card Positioning Systems. 

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To make the patterned paper, I stamped Background Basics Text Style in Melon Berry and then randomly stamped images from Floral Fusion over the writing. Since the little pink flowers seemed too bright when I first started, I stamped each one off one time on scratch paper before stamping "for real" (Hibiscus Burst ink). The sentiment was stamped first with Spring Moss and then stamped again (slightly down and to the right) with Vintage Cream to create sort of a shadow effect.

Here is a little peek of the writing panel I attached inside the card.

AND TELL:  supplies are from Papertrey Ink unless noted — stamps (Floral Fusion, Background Basics Text Style, Star Prints); cardstock (Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, Melon Berry); ink (Melon Berry, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, Tea Dye Chamomile); ribbon (Hibiscus Burst satin); gems (clear rhinestones); also used Fiskar's Apron Edge punch, Stampin' Up's die Lots of Tags Label 3. 

Thanks for stopping by today — and if you get a chance, click on the link to Katy's blog (in first paragraph above) and wish Katy a happy birthday! She's a sweetie and she deserves the best!

Tomorrow I'll start showing you the gift that I made for Ken's mom for her birthday. It's similar in nature to what I gave to my mom (here), but with that bright-colored, trendy, Evelyn twist. Have a great Wednesday!

Raspberry Suite meets Clean and Simple

I needed a few thank you cards and to get me jump-started decided to combine Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14 with the Clean and Simple sketches FTL54 and FTL5.

This first card will be sent off to our niece, Sarah, and her husband, Bob, who hosted "the sisters" for dinner last Friday night. 

 

 

 

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Simply Stationery, Floral Fusion, Mother); paper is PTI (Vintage Cream) and Stampin' Up (Perfect Plum, Baroque Burgundy); ink is Stampin' Up (Baroque Burgundy, Eggplant Envy, Pink Passion); gems are from my stash.

These next cards will be going to each of my sisters-in-law as just a "thank you and wasn't that sister weekend fun" type of note. 

I feel like these need a little explanation. They started out as a regular notecard that closely followed the sketch with the single line drawn for the border, but just seemed too plain. I decided to do some squiggles around the lines — which helped somewhat — but I think my little chickadee image was just too small to really carry off all that blank space. So — I decided to cut off the back of the card and make them into more of a postcard style. I'll start writing my notes there on the front. Now I'm much happier with the design. And I do like the way I positioned the wing to leave just one hole in the button uncovered, making an eye. (Remember, you can click on a picture to make it bigger.) I do love those Papertrey Ink buttons. The variety in each bag is astounding and there are always some unique buttons to inspire me.

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AND TELL:  stamps are from PTI (Everyday Button Bits); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream); ink is Stampin' Up (Pink Passion, Eggplant Envy); buttons are PTI (Scarlet Jewel); also used Stampin' Write Markers (Pink Passion, Elegant Eggplant). 

 

I mailed these cards on Wednesday, so hopefully they'll have been delivered and opened before all the recipients check my blog (assuming they do check the blog!). And I hope they went through the mail OK. Do any of you cardmakers out there worry about your cards after you put them in the mail? And do you have any good tips for mailing them? If my cards have any doo-dads on them I always slip an extra piece of {cheap} cardstock in the envelope to help smooth the bumps out and to protect them a bit. I have used a padded envelope before, but it cost me 10 times the regular postage! That seemed excessive to me. So far no one that I've sent a card to has mentioned that it has been damaged or that it arrived postage-due — so I'm assuming that I've been doing OK. Anyway, I'd appreciate any tips or recommendations that you all can give me. I've been making cards for some time, but only recently started actually mailing them. (Now, I know some of you can relate to that!!)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your sweet comments. I love reading them! Have a great Friday. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with the Christmas card that I'm taking to Stamp Club. Hope to "see" you then!

Happiness Tasted

Thanks for stopping by today! This  card is for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #12. Here is her inspiration photo and the colors to use:

And here is my card.

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A nod to my favorite beverage. I drink it all day. All year. Love, love, love coffee. To customize the sentiment a little I just inked selected parts of the stamp. Easy to do with clear stamps. I meant to do the cup's shadow in one of the challenge colors (stamped off to lighten it), but it's been a busy week and my brain defaulted to my usual shadow color — and you know that I don't do do-overs.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Warm Happiness); cardstock is from PTI (Vintage Cream) and Stampin' Up (Cranberry Crisp, Certainly Celery, Pink Passion); patterned paper is PTI (Bitty Box Basics); ink is Stampin' Up (Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, Going Gray, Chocolate Chip); ribbon is PTI (Vintage Cream Saddle Stitch); also used Fiskars Apron Edge punch. 

But the sentiment got me thinking about a few other things that I just love — so for more "happiness" I went to my kitchen.

I love my coffee pot. I love it mostly because it's red. Red isn't my favorite color, but I do like to have a splash of red here and there. The coffee pot is my kitchen splash.

I also love my mixing bowls. They're heavy stoneware. I especially love the blue ones. They were a splurge a few years ago, ordered from Stonewall Kitchen. At the time they had all different colors and varieties of stoneware bowls. The selection there isn't as wide anymore, but there are still a couple of nice choices. (Oh, I have a third — smaller — blue bowl. Must be in the dishwasher right now.)

And, Ken thinks this is hilarious, but if you open our freezer — this is what you see:

 

One cannot have too much ice cream. Right? I took this picture both with and without the flash and ultimately decided to use the one with the flash. I think it looks like it should be accompanied by the sound of angels singing. :) 

So those are a few things in my kitchen that make me happy. What kind of happiness does your kitchen hold?

all things are possible

Even completing a card with Dawn's colors for her 11th challenge!

 

Now, would you ever think to put these five colors together? I'm not sure that I would. But they somehow worked and I'm pretty pleased with the card I came up with — although it ended up way different from how it started out. (We won't even go there — it was looking way ugly!)

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I was having trouble getting the card to stand up and I don't have one of those cool vintage frogs (for arranging flowers) like Dawn does, so I grabbed the next best thing — a JustRite circle stamper. Well, it worked. Then I had to travel all over my house just to get a background and lighting that worked, too. So, photographing the card took almost as long as making it.

Here's a peek of the inside.

I just recently started doing a little something extra in here. It's kinda fun trying to figure out how to carry the cover theme over into an inside corner. And, by putting a light neutral liner on the inside, I hope that the card will be easier for the recipient to read. (I think of these things now that my eyes have gotten older!) 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Damask Designs, Polka Dot Basics, Heart Prints Sentiments); cardstock is PTI (New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz) and Stampin' Up (Going Grey); ink is PTI (True Black) and SU (Real Red); ribbon and buttons are PTI (True Black Satin, Hibiscus Burst); the black hemp is from Stampin' Up; tools used include EK Success Embossed Curve Punch and Stampin' Ups Sizzlits Dies (Lots of Tags Label 1, Birds & Blooms Scallop Circles).

Today I'm going to try to put together something patriotic that I can share with you tomorrow. 

Have a fabulous Friday and a fun-filled (and safe!) USA holiday weekend! 

Classic Birthday Card

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I need a birthday card this week. The recipient is a tailored, classy lady that I work with — she always looks so put together and, well, perfect. (She doesn't "do" the computer, but if she did she'd be laughing her head off right now!) She's like my "Ken" (husband) at work — the other half of my brain. The part that keeps me (or tries to keep me) sensible and in line. 

We had a conversation about stamping and crafting at work today. She really doesn't get it. Her comment was why would you want to make something when you can just go to the store and buy it? Obviously, she did not get any crafty genes whatsoever! Can you imagine having no need to create??!! Yikes! What would I do with my time? Where would I spend my money? (Ken, no need to comment — these are rhetorical questions, OK?)

Well, while my co-worker doesn't have the need to create, hopefully she'll appreciate the thought and time that went into making a card just for her. I think she will.

AND TELL:  stamps (Simply Stationery, Border & Corners Squares, Mother), cardstock (True Black, Vintage Cream, New Leaf), ink (True Black), button (New Leaf), and ribbon (New Leaf satin) are all from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for visiting today. Hope you come again soon!

Just Because

 

Here is my card for Dawn McVey's latest color challenge — and then I'm taking a break from challenges. I think I went a little crazy on them last week. This week I'm just going to be more relaxed. We'll see how that works for me.

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Damask Designs, Background Basics: Text Style); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Vintage Cream) and Stampin' Up (Pink Passion); ink is Stampin' Up (Pink Passion), Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate), and Versamark with clear embossing powder; buttons are Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate); and then natural hemp, circle nestabilities, and Stampin' Dimensionals were also used

The background was stamped in pink using the Text Style stamp, then over-stamped with an image from Damask Designs using Versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

I like stringing a series of buttons together with floss, ribbon or, in this case, hemp twine.

That's about it. I went to a baby shower for my neighbor this morning and have that card to share another time. I should've taken a picture of the cake — it was beautiful and scrumptious!

Happy Sunday to you!