On the farm banners

When Papertrey Ink first sneak peeked their On the Farm set last month, I thought for sure that I wouldn't be buying it. Sure, we have cattle on my mother-in-law's farm, but I didn't think this set would be terribly versatile. As the week went on though, I saw how different designers used the set and I started to cave. (Of course, it didn't help that Sage kept saying: "A horse and cow stamp set? Buy it!")

Then, Melissa Phillips posted this card... and I knew that I had to have this set. I love how she created a banner with the set!

So, when I pulled the set out yesterday to make a birthday card for my soon-to-be nine year old nephew, I knew I wanted to use this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: pocket cards with the Barn Die, as well as include a banner.

Here's my card:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (lemon drop, rustic white, pure poppy), stamps (on the farm, distressed stripes), impression plate (simple stripes), twine and dies (barn, tag sale #5.) I also used some Crate patterned paper.

Here's a close-up of the banner:

And when you pull out the barn....

.... the doors open up to reveal...

On the back we signed it from Uncle Cam, Aunt Leigh and your "country" cousins: Austin, Jonah and Sage. :)

After I finished the card, I decided to pull out some of my photos that we took at the Brandon Fair. In setting up this layout with photos of Jonah on a horse, I thought that here, too, would be a great place to add  another On the Farm banner.

I used Bo Bunny (background), Crate Paper (green and off white), American Crafts (orange woodgrain) and Simple Stories (stripe, star, off white banners) patterned paper. I also used Papertrey Ink stamps (on the farm), twine and dies (tag sale #5.) I also used some Pink Paislee chipboard letters.

For my journaling, I cut a piece of patterned paper out of the background (behind the photos and the block of patterned paper) and trimmed it down to 2.25" tall and printed my journaling on it. Then, I adhered it to the layout. I'm not quite sure why all of the lines didn't line up, though.... (If you'd like to read the journaling, you can click on the photo to see it bigger.)

And here's a close up of the banner. I had cut out the star from a sheet of patterned paper and adhered it to the banner. Then I thought it needed a little something extra. I was thrilled with how the 100% country stamp fit perfectly!

So, thanks to Melis for the inspiration and to you all for looking!

A thank you pocket card -- MIM #68

I made another pocket card for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: pocket cards. This one is for one of the volunteers in our Sunday School program.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white, sweet blush), stamps (Happy Trails, Lace Bouquet), buttons and dies (double-ended banner). The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye.

The inside pulls out like this...

Thanks for looking!

A pocket card -- MIM #68

I wanted to make a card for a friend to encourage them this week... so, I decided to make a pocket card, after seeing this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: pocket cards.

Here it is:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (sweet blush), stamps (Simply You, Lace Bouquet), ink (canyon clay, scarlet jewel), button (canyon clay) and twine. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye and the ribbon is Offray.

The inside pulls out like this, where I'll write something encouraging...

Thanks for looking!

Some baby thank you cards, part 3

When looking at the baby thank you cards that I made for his teacher (see part 1 & part 2), Austin asked if I knew she was having a boy.... I'm guessing this was based on the colour scheme I chose. So, I decided to make a few feminine ones to add to the mix, in case she has a girl. Once again, I used this great idea that Betsy shared last summer as well as this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers.

I used Crate Paper (grey) & My Mind's Eye (all others) patterned paper. I also used PTI cardstock (soft stone, rustic white), stamps (think big favourites #15, tremendous treats: birthday) and dies (layerz mat stack #5).


Thanks for looking!

Some baby thank you cards, part 2

I made a few more coordinating baby thank you cards for Austin's teacher, who's expecting a baby this summer, once again using this great idea that Betsy shared last summer for a quick way to make a set of cards, while using up scraps. I also made them using this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers.

(You can see my part 1 post here.)

I used Crate Paper (blues/grey), Echo Park (yellow polka-dots) and Cosmo Cricket (other yellow) patterned paper. I also used PTI cardstock (soft stone), stamps (think big favourites #15, tremendous treats: birthday) and dies (layerz mat stack #4).

Thanks for looking!

Some baby thank you cards, part 1

Austin's teacher is expecting her first baby this summer and I thought it would be a nice end of the year gift for her to make her some thank you cards to give away after the baby comes.

Thanks to this post by Elena, I remembered this great idea that Betsy shared last summer for a quick way to make a set of cards, while using up scraps, which happens to go great with this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers.

Don't you just love when things come together like that? ;)

So here are the first four cards that I made for Mme. Andrews, using Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white, soft stone), stamps (think big favourites #15, tremendous treats: birthday) and dies (layerz mat stack #4). The patterned paper is from my scraps (a mix of My Mind's Eye, Cosmo Cricket and Crate Paper.)

I'm not sure if this last one shows up well or not, but I stamped a little row of elephants along the bottom in my new PTI Soft Stone ink.

I'm hoping to get more done on Sunday, but today I'm off to Winnipeg to ref in a taekwondo tournament. Wish me luck!

Thanks for looking!

PTI May Blog Hop

I can't believe it's May 25th already..... this month has just flown by!

Today is the day of the PTI Blog Hop. This month's challenge was to use the following photo as inspiration for your project.

Isn't it gorgeous? It would be so fun to have dishes like this and host an outdoor dinner party-- it makes me think of Alice in Wonderland! LOL!

I was inspired by the layers of coloured/patterned "circles" and made this card, for which I also used
this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white), stamps (bb:houndstooth, on the farm (checkerboard), happy day (sentiments)), felt (simply chartreuse) and dies (from the outside in: turning a new leaf, doily details, notched flower, beautiful blooms II #2, beautiful blooms II #1, flower fusion #2). I also dug through my scraps for Betsy's challenge and chose some from different manufacturers: black & white herringbone: Crate Paper, large polka dot green: My Mind's Eye and green and white stripes: Making Memories. The large decorative brad is Echo Park.

I also loved the way the dishes all curved upwards, especially the bowl at the top holding the hydrangea blossoms. So I used my fingers to curve the petals of my diecuts upwards to mimic the photo.

Thanks for looking!

hello, sunshine

I received some new goodies from Papertrey Ink yesterday and decided to play with some of them, to make another card for this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers.

I used PTI cardstock (stamper's select white, canyon clay), ink (dark chocolate, simply chartreuse, fine linen, aqua mist), stamps (on the farm, nativity silhouettes additions, think big favourites #15), impression plate (simple stripes) and dies (flipping out.) I also hunted through my scraps for Betsy's MIM challenge and chose some from different manufacturers: Crate Paper (flip flops), Fancy Pants (tone on tone green and stripes) and My Mind's Eye (Chevron).

Thanks for looking!

Love it!

Here's a layout I made yesterday for this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers. I was also inspired by this sketch from the April Page Maps.

Here's my layout. I didn't have any patterned paper that matched Sage's top in the photo, so I decided to use it as a colour and choose others that I thought coordinated well with the purple.

I used Crate Paper from my scraps, Papertrey Ink stamps (Simply You) and dies (double-ended banner dies & Uppercase Block Alphabet-- which I took apart for the first time to make my title.) The brads are Crate (die) and My Mind's Eye (script).

Here's a close-up of the little flags I made using the double ended banner dies. I wrapped part of the patterned paper around the pin and adhered it in the back.

Here's a close-up of my journaling:

Thanks for looking!

A thank you card

I wanted to share another card that I made using this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers. I used the same patterned paper pack from My Mind's Eye as I did for yesterday's card, as well as some Papertrey Ink buttons, twine and stamps. I selectively inked the "s" from "Congrats" from Think Big Favourites #5, as well as the "thank" from "thank you" from the same set to create the sentiment.

I also used the PTI heart border die to create the scalloped border.

Thanks for looking!

A card for a couple of challenges

I wanted to share a card that I made with this week's Make It Monday at PTI: mixing patterned papers.

I decided to use some coordinating My Mind's Eye patterned paper from my stash to make it. I also used some inspiration from this card by Michelle Wooderson, for Monday with Melis Challenge #6 on the PTI forum.

I also used PTI cardstock (rustic white), stamps (Botanical Silhouettes), button, twine and dies (tag sale #5, Beautiful Butterflies).

Thanks for looking!

She makes me happy

Yes, I'm probably getting a little redundant with some of my layout titles, but it's true.

I made the following layout using some brand new My Mind's Eye patterned papers and decorative brads (which if you visit my blog regularly, you'll know that these are two of my weaknesses). I also used some Papertrey Ink goodies (my #1 weakness!) as well as this week's  Make It Monday at PTI: felt flowers from border dies.

The PTI products I used were the Simply You stamp set, Heart Border dies (to make the rolled felt flowers), Notched Flower dies, Turning a New Leaf dies, Beautiful Blooms Dies and PTI felt (Canyon Clay, Scarlet Jewel and Autumn Rose.)

Here's a close-up of my flower collage:

Thanks for looking!

Every. Single. Day.

I'm just so crazy about my daughter, Sage, and one of my favourite ways to let her know is to make a layout telling her.

I made the following layout this afternoon, for the latest challenge on the My Mind's Eye blog, to use a masculine collection for a girl's layout (or vice versa). I also made this layout for this week's  Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: felt flowers from border dies.

And, I also used a sketch that was posted on the Studio Calico Blog for NSD:



Here's my layout:

I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper and decorative brads & PTI buttons, stamps (Movers & Shakers Sentiments) and dies (heart border (to make the rolled felt flowers), double ended banner die).

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. We celebrated a nice Mother's Day on Sunday. As part of my gift, I requested that we take some photos on our front step with our camera's self-timer & tripod...

Later that afternoon, my mom and her friend, Jim, came over for a visit and stayed for supper.

2. Today marks 139 days for me without sugar & deep-fried foods....

This is going fairly well. A lot of my food options are limited, but I just make sure that I have lots of fresh fruit in the house (my favourites lately are watermelon, strawberries and grapes-- yum!) I'm always a little surprised though at what tempts me... Yesterday at supper, it was the ice cream treats my kids were having... and then later that evening, it was the leftover Lindt Easter bunner that my mom had given Sage on Sunday. It just smelled so good! But, I resisted! LOL!

I haven't gone to the clinic to weigh myself lately, but I have noticed that all of my spring clothes are fitting nicely and nothing has been too tight!


3. It's been so nice this week that we've been spending quite a few of our afternoons & evenings (before tkd) outside: going for bike rides & playing tennis.

 
4. Austin's Jr. High did a musical production of Annie Jr. this week and Austin played the part of Drake, the butler. He had spoken lines, sang, danced and was in several scenes.... and he did a terrific job! Here are a few photos:

5. I made a card for him to let him know how proud I am of him: the commitment he showed to rehearsing and the effort he put into his part-- that all paid off with truly wonderful performances!

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white, canyon clay), stamps (Label Basics, Wonderful Words Additions, Movers & Shakers Sentiments) and dies (uppercase block alphabet, seeing stars.) I also used My Mind's Eye patterned paper and decorative brad.

Thanks for looking!