PTI March Blog Hop

Once again, I'm playing along with this month's blog hop at Papertrey Ink. Our challenge this month was an inspiration challenge. We were to create a project using this photo as inspiration:

I was inspired by the bags of candy and decided to make up some Easter treat bags for my kids.

I used PTI glassine bags, cardstock (stamper's select white, harvest gold, hawaiian shores, sweet blush), stamps (BB:Chevron Stripes, Scrambled Eggs) & dies (tag sale #5, Scrambled Eggs, Egg). The patterned paper I used is Crate Paper & My Mind's Eye. The ribbon is Offray.

Here's a close-up of each one:

I was also inspired by the photo to create a scrapbooking layout, by adding a yellow chevron striped glassine bag to my layout.

I used a PTI glassine bag, American Crafts cardstock (12x12), PTI stamps (BB:Chevron Stripes, Wonderful Words Additions) & dies (tag sale #5, super star border). The patterned paper and decorative brads are My Mind's Eye and the chipboard letters are Studio Calico. The text patterned paper is Echo Park.

Here's a close-up of my journaling:

And I slipped our movie ticket stubs into the glassine bag:

Thanks for looking!

For Janelle...

One of my online friends, Janelle, is battling with cancer (you can read more about her here). Laurie decided to organize a blog hop for her to help lift her spirits. I know Janelle has a very strong faith, so I created this card for her:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (sweet blush, rustic white), stamps (happy day, beautiful blessings), button, twine & dies (happy day, beautiful butterflies, heart border die). I also used Crate (pink polka dots, floral) & My Mind's Eye (on die cuts) patterned paper.

To see all of the people participating in the hop, click here.

Janelle, I'm continuing to pray for you!
Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. I'm very excited that our spring break starts today, at 3:50pm! I'm totally looking forward to a full week off from work. We have some fun things planned: like jam-can curling for Austin & Sage tomorrow, a taekwondo sparring workshop for Sage & I on Sunday, a trip to Winnipeg for an overnight visit with my mom..... as well as lots of time hanging out at home and enjoying our above seasonal temperatures. Oh, and Jonah told me this morning that he needs me to take photos of everything we do for a project for school. No problem. :)

2. The menu-planning is going fairly well for our household, with a few adjustments. Because I do my grocery shopping on Wednesdays (our Coop offers a 5% discount on Wednesdays), I decided to change my menu week to Wednesday to Tuesday. I've made some new recipes from the binder, too. A few of them, the kids said I could remove from the binder, but this Easy Herb Frittata was a huge hit! (I just substituted the ham for turkey bacon and used a marble cheese instead.) So far, so good.

3. On Saturday, after our black belt development day, Austin & I went to the theatre and saw Journey 2 Mysterious Island in 3D. It was pretty good. I really like Dwayne Johnson (he's so gorgeous and I love how he can laugh at himself) & Michael Caine (I just love his voice!) A good family movie, for sure!

4. My friend, Kathy, hosted a Silpada Jewellery party last night. I went witih my friend, Susan, totally not anticipating buying anything. But, I fell in love with this ring (okay the direct link doesn't seem to be working, but if you scroll to the bottom of this link, it's the Light Dancer ring), so I called Cameron to see if it would be okay if I bought it and he could give it to me for our anniversary next month. He said fine, but then I wouldn't have a surprise. Yeah, I'm fine with that.... ;)

5. I made a super quick layout before work today (yes, seriously) for the latest My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge. I used some new MME patterned paper that I picked up yesterday at my LSS, which made it come together very quickly.

I used Bazzill cardstock, MME patterned paper, diecut & decorative brads. I used my brand new Papertrey Ink dies (star border) & a PTI Grunge Me Stamp.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

@ thirty-nine...

With the big four-oh looming over me this year, I've been thinking lately about my age and how I feel.

I honestly don't feel thirty-nine, unless thirty-nine feels like twenty-six, because that's often how old I feel.

(Oh and, one of the black belts at our black belt development day on Saturday thought I was 26-- her age! So sweet!)

One of the big differences that I do feel however, from twenty-six, is how comfortable I feel in my own skin. I like who I am. I am totally someone that I'd choose to be friends with.

Sage took this photo of me recently and I decided to scrapbook it & journal about me, at thirty nine... I created this layout on the back of this one, because I couldn't bear for this pretty patterned paper to go to waste....

I used Crate patterned paper & fabric brad, Making Memories chipboard letters & My Mind's Eye decorative brad ("39"). The "@" brad I made using Echo Park patterned paper, on which I printed out the "@" & a SU! build-a-brad. I also used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white, pure poppy, raspberry fizz), stamps (pretty peonies, BB:retro (on the red cardstock)) and dies (heart border die-- to make the scalloped edge on the raspberry fizz cardstock.)

Here's a close-up of my journaling:

How about you? How old do you feel?

Thanks for looking!

And another spring card...

Here's the third "happy spring" card that I made. I started it on Sunday and finished it last night.... I tried to do some stamping off to lighten the ink so it would match the patterned paper, but it turned out quite light.... This was one of those cards I'd struggled with, though, and I was happy to say: "Good enough!" ;)

I used PTI cardstock (rustic white, sweet blush) & stamps (beautiful butterflies & tag it's #2). I also used My Mind's Eye patterned paper.

Thanks for looking!

Another spring card

I wanted to share with you another "happy spring" card that I made. This one was for my wonderful friend, Marlo.

I used PTI cardstock (rustic white, aqua mist, summer sunrise), stamps (pretty peonies, tag it's #2), buttons & dies (heart border).

Thanks for looking!

Hello Spring!

I decided to make some "happy spring" cards for a few good friends this week. The weather has been so gorgeous-- above seasonal for use, for sure! For my card, I used both this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Coloured Kissing and Vannessa's Papertrey Princess Challenge: to include spring colours on my card.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic cream, simply chartreuse), stamps (beautiful butterflies, pretty peonies, tag sale #2) & dies (beautiful butterflies). The patterned paper is Crate Paper (floral) & My Mind's Eye (pink polka-dot).

Has spring arrived where you are?

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday, Darlene

It's my friend, Darlene's birthday today (she's a St. Patrick's Day baby!) and I wanted to share the card I made for her. Once again, I used this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Coloured Kissing.

I used PTI cardstock (rustic white, spring moss, sweet blush) & stamps (turning a new leaf, pretty peonies.)

I stamped the solid image of the leaves first and then I did the technique with the smallest pretty peonies image. I'm sorry it's hard to see in the photo.... it's pretty subtle!

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. It has been absolutely beautiful here this week! Our snow is melted and today, it's 16 degrees Celsius! Lovely! I went for my first bike ride of the season on Wednesday (ah, bliss!) and we're going to go for another one this afternoon.

2. I got a happy email today requesting one of my cards for publication in the Sept/Oct. issue of Papercrafts magazine!

3. This week was reportcard/parent teacher conferences which went well.

4. Tomorrow, Austin & I are going to be attending a black belt development day with our taekwondo club, which should be interesting. It's Austin's first one.

5. I wanted to share a card that I made for Leah's Papertrey Princess challenge to use the negative of a diecut on a project. I also used this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Coloured Kissing.

I used PTI cardstock (fine linen, stamper's select white, sweet blush), stamps (beautiful butterflies, turning a new leaf, pretty peonies) & dies (beautiful butterflies, mat stack #5).

Thanks for looking!
Enjoy your weekend!

Pages with Papertrey -- Sketch #7

I'm popping in today to post another sketch & layout that I designed for Pages With Papertrey. Here's the sketch:

And here's the layout I made:

I used PTI cardstock (rustic white), stamps (wonderful words additions) & dies (heart prints, double-ended banner, mat stack #4. I also used Crate Paper (background) & My Mind's Eye patterned paper (light teal, striped), Webster's alphabet stickers, some Crate border stickers & My Mind's Eye decorative brads.

If you make a layout using this sketch, I'd love to see it! You can either post a link in my comments below or here on the PTI forum.

Thanks for looking!

literally

I just love Sage's vocabulary! When she learns a new word, she tends to use it a lot. Lately, the word is "literally." And I'm amazed that each time she uses it, it's in the proper context! So, I decided to make a layout to document this.

I also knew that I couldn't let the back of the beautiful sheet of patterned paper that I used for this layout go to waste, so I decided to make another layout on the back. This was tricky, because I'd stitched on the front of the layout. So I created a panel with white cardstock, to which I adhered my patterned paper and photo, then stitched on my machine, before adhering it to the background patterned paper.

I also used this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Coloured Kissing.

I used PTI cardstock (soft stone), stamps (beautiful butterflies, bb:retro) & dies (pinking border, beautiful butterflies, block alphabet). I also used My Mind's Eye patterned paper & decorative brads.

Thanks for looking!

A card for a friend

A good friend of mine is recovering from surgery, so I decided to make her a card to take along when I went to visit her this morning. I used this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Coloured Kissing, which turned out to be a little more challenging than I'd thought. I tried several different stamps with this technique, all on one of my beautiful butterflies stamps, but I kept getting a splotchy image. I finally had some success with using a stamp from my Lace Bouquet set...

I used PTI cardstock (sweet blush), stamps (beautiful butterflies, lace bouquet, communique sentiments) & dies (beautiful butterflies, limitless layers ovals). The patterned paper is MME & Fancy Pants & the bling is Hero Arts.

Thanks for looking!

She makes me happy

I made this layout this afternoon, using this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Die Cutting Partial Images. I decided to try it using my new Beautiful Butterflies stamp set and my new My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline products.

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday: menu planning

1. I find that lately, I don't enjoy cooking.

I dislike trying to figure out (usually in the mid-afternoon) what to make for supper. I dislike trying to make supper during the most hectic & "mom-attention-seeking" hour of the day (right after school.) I dislike making meals, only to hear complaints from at least one family member (& it's not always the kids...) Basically, I dislike the whole experience.

Which is strange, because I like cooking. I like trying new things. And I enjoy eating. Very much.

So, I was thinking that I need a plan, because really, as much as I can help it, I don't like having things in my life that I dislike.

Enter: menu planning.

2. I figured that to get a handle on this new plan, I needed to organize my recipes. You see, last year, I went through years worth of the Kraft What's Cooking magazines that I get free in the mail each season. I looked through each one and cut out any recipe that I thought I might want to try, as well as the ones I'd tried in the past and liked. Then I put them all in a big pile. Note: not an efficient form of organization.

3. So, this week, I started sorting through my pile and organizing them.

I made thirteen categories: appetizers, breads & pizza, chicken, hamburger (ground beef), beef,  pork, fish, pasta, eggs, veggies, soup, salads & desserts.

I took a large white binder (which I found in my basement) and some white printer paper, in which I punched holes with my three-hole punch. I trimmed each recipe and adhered it (using my tape-runner) onto the sheets of paper. I chose to leave a lot of the photos, because I know this catches my eye when choosing recipes (& because, well, it's nice to know what it's suppose to look like when it's done.)

Some pages got more than one recipe...

whereas others only got one...

I also included recipes that I'd printed off the internet, which I just punched holes and added to the binder.

4. The binder I'd chosen has a clear sleeve in the front, into which you can slide a cover page. I decided to make something pretty for my cover (because things are just all the more fun when I can get crafty with them!)

Since I couldn't picture any "food" related stamps sets or patterned paper that I owned, I was a little stumped. Then, as I was flipping through my sheets of patterned paper, I came across the perfect sheet to use:

See, it's all ingredients! Isn't that perfect?

It`s a sheet of Crate Paper from their Farm House line. I added some sweet blush Papertrey Ink cardstock, which I stamped with my PTI bb:woodgrain stamps. Then, I cut out some PTI canyon clay cardstock using a Layerz Mat Stack 4 dies & this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Die Cutting Partial Images. To this I added a strip of PTI patterned paper (aqua mist), two Crate Paper stickers and my title, which I made using PTI dark chocolate cardstock and my PTI block alphabet dies. I had to keep it thin, since it would go in the binder, but I was pleased with the layering I was still able to do, thanks to the MIM technique and the stickers.

To organize the categories in my binder, I chose 6 shades of PTI cardstock that matched the cover (summer sunrise, sweet blush, canyon clay, ripe avocado, hawaiian shores & simply chartreuse) and diecut them using one of my PTI journaling tab dies (the largest one). I also stamped each one with versamark and a BB:Woodgrain stamp, before handwriting the category.

5. I wish I could say I`m done, but I`m not. I still have half of the pile to finish going through and adding to my binder. Of course, I`m not adding all of the recipes. If they`re unhealthy, or if there`s an ingredient in it that I won`t buy (like Bisquick or minute-rice) or don`t know what it is (like, olive tapenade), I toss it.

So, once a week, I will go through the binder (most likely on Saturday) & plan our menu for the week. The kids have been enjoying looking at the recipes on the table and suggesting we try certain dishes, so I`m thinking that maybe on Saturday evenings, while we`re still sitting at the dining room table after supper, I`ll pull out the binder and take suggestions. Maybe if they have a hand in the meal planning, there will be less complaints. A girl can dream, right?

I`m also open to checking out menu-planning sites for ideas, like this one: Shrinking kitchen.com: Menu plan your butt off. I found a great recipe there this week: Hearty Taco Casserole, which was a huge hit and will be added to our regular rotation.

So, if you`re still reading, do you menu plan? What works for you?

Thanks for looking!

Our library summer reading program

Our library holds a summer reading program every year. The kids sign up and get calendars to track how much they read. Then they can bring the calendars into the library where their reading minutes earn them "library dollars" which they can use at the "library store." They can also enter their names for grand prize draws. There's a different theme every year with a poster they add stickers to each week.

And I don't like it.

I know! Crazy, right? It's the awesome free program and I don't like it.

Keeping track of minutes read drives me nuts. My kids read a lot and really don't need a program like this to encourage them to do so. They do it anyway. And then there's all the "stuff" that gets left around... the posters, stickers, colouring pages, flimsy little toys that get broken-- all cluttering up my house. And then there's the sadness and disappointment when my kids don't win a prize (or worse, when one of them wins and the other two don't!) Yes, Austin was a grand prize winner one year, and that was great, but yeah, it isn't likely to happen again. (And really, we didn't need a two man tent anyway!)

So, this past summer, when Jonah saw that one of the prizes was a Lego Star Wars Brickmaster, I told him that I would buy him a Lego Star Wars Brickmaster if he didn't sign up for the program. Sure, we'd still make our weekly trips to the library, but no reading program. He agreed.

Sage, on the other hand, still wanted to sign up. I couldn't believe it! But she still wanted to do it. I told her she could, but I wouldn't help her write down minutes and she had to keep track herself. (I know, I'm so mean!) And I told her there could be no tears if she didn't win anything. And she was very good about it.

Last night, as I was going through my photo box, I came across a photo of the two of them at the Reading Program Wind-up at the park. I decided to scrapbook it using this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Die Cutting Partial Images.

I used My Mind's Eye and Crate Paper patterned paper and MME decorative brads. I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white), stamps (tag it's #4, Turning a New Leaf) and dies (alphabet block, Turning a New Leaf, double ended banner).

For the MIM technique, I positioned my die on my cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot half-way, and then backed it out. I trimmed off the excess cardstock with my trimmer and rounded the corner.

Here's a close-up, with my journaling:

Thanks for looking!

For Sage's teacher

Sage's teacher, Mme. Vigier, is coming back from her maternity leave tomorrow, so I thought I'd make her a card to welcome her back. Mme. Vigier has taught all three of my kids and I really, really like her, so I'm quite happy she's back! I made the card using this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Die Cutting Partial Images.

I used my Happy Day die to create the partial cut. Then I masked the diecut area and stamped my BB: Houndstooth over the background. I removed the mask and stamped the Happy Day stamp frame.

This card also works for Ashley's Embellish Colour Challenge :

I used PTI cardstock (rustic white, sweet blush), stamps (happy day, BB:houndstooth, Signature Sentiments: Dress form) & dies (happy day). The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye (butterflies, stripe, gingham) and Crate (yellow butterfly punched out with my MS butterfly punch). The little gems on the butterfly are Hero Arts.

Thanks for looking!

Hugs & Kisses

I just wanted to share a layout that I made this afternoon, using both this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: creating large frames with smaller frame stamps and this month's colour challenge on the Crate Paper blog:

Here's the layout I made, using some photos that Sage took last summer at Stanley Park, one evening when we were having a wiener roast:

I used Papertrey ink cardstock (Stamper's Select White) & stamp (Happy Day), Bazzill cardstock (dark grey), Crate Paper patterned paper and stickers, an American Crafts ampersand thicker and Fancy Pants & My Mind's Eye decorative brads.

I made the Happy Day stamp taller by stamping half of it twice and leaving a space in between the halves. To this, I added some Crate Paper stickers to create my title.

Here's a close-up of my journaling:

Thanks for looking!

Spontaneous

I made a layout this afternoon, using this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: creating large frames with smaller frame stamps. I used the technique on the large journaling label, which I extended to make it taller. I has planned on hiding the seam with a button, but when I saw that it was hardly noticeable, I decided not to bother.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white), stamps (label basics, modern wood mats, grunge me & journaling lines) & dies (uppercase block alphabet). The 12x12 cardstock is American Crafts & Bazzill, the patterned paper is Echo Park (rey on rey stripe, yellow), My Mind's Eye (blue herringbone) & Fancy Pants (title).

Here's a close up of the journaling:

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. Well, we finally got winter! LOL! Sure, we've had some cold days, but our temperatures have been very mild and above seasonal this year. However, on the weekend, we finally got snow! The kids have been very happy about this, to say the least.... Better late than never?


2. I completed two months of no-sugar/no-deep-fried-foods & am currently on day 62. :) However, I weighed myself yesterday and had only lost one pound in two (or was it three?) weeks, which was a little discouraging.


3. February is I Love to Read month and at Sage & Jonah's school, the theme this year has been fairy tales. To cap off their month, they were suppose to dress as their favourite fairy tale characters. Sage chose Little Red Riding Hood, so I made her a costume.... (I'm not going to lie-- it was frustrating! Especially because I wasn't using a pattern for the cape, just some ideas I got off the internet. But with a lot of fussing, I got it done. But the end result was definitely worth it....)

For Jonah, I found an idea online to make him a Big Bad Wolf costume using a brown hoodie. We went to the thrift store and scored a dark grey hoodie (a perfect match for my Smokey Shadow felt) for $1.50. We added some ears, eyes, a nose and some teeth ("All the better to eat you with!") We also added a Hello my name is... tag on the front to cover the NorthFace emblem.

Here are some photos I took before they went to school... (they were such troopers, seeing as it wasn't warm out that morning!) I apologize for the "over-exposed-ness" of the photos. I took these, thinking they were fine, and then the phone rang, calling me into work.... Anyway, sorry they're not the greatest.

That name tag just totally makes me smile!


4. On the weekend, I'd brought my crafting supplies upstairs to work on making some cards. When I went to clean everything up, I decided to go through my scraps and patterned paper and reorganize them. I sort them by manufacturer, but my favourite or more popular manufacturers have changed over the years, so I needed to change some categories, etc. I ended up giving quite a bit to Sage and to Jonah's teacher. A bit painful to think of what I paid for it originally, but it felt quite freeing to pass it on.

5. While I was doing #4, I came across a few scraps from one of my favourite manufacturers, Scenic Route. They're no longer in business, but I couldn't let these pretty scraps go to waste, so I challenged myself to make a card with them, as well as with this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: creating large frames with smaller frame stamps:

I used PTI cardstock (berry sorbet), stamps (basic labels, signature sentiments: dress form) & dies (love lives here).

Thanks for looking!

Pages with Papertrey -- Challenge #7

Good morning!

Today, I'm posting this month's Pages with Papertrey Challenge, which is to use a PTI sentiment stamp on your layout. You can stamp the whole sentiment or just part of it. You can use it as a title, subtitle or an extra little embellishment, like I did here on my layout:

I used PTI cardstock (Fine linen) & stamps (Love Lives Here: Holidays). I also used My Mind's eye (cream floral & teal woodgrain) patterned paper and decorative brads, Crate Paper patterned paper (orange) and October Afternoon letter stickers.

Here's a close up of my journaling:

And a close up of my PTI sentiment stamp: I selectively inked the "Homespun" from the "Homespun Hugs" stamp:

If you play along with this month's Pages With Papertrey Challenge, I'd love to see it! Please post a link either in this thread or in my comments.

Thanks for looking!