Monthly Moments -- April

Hi there!

Today, I want to share Monthly Moments spread for April that I made using

some of Chickaniddy Crafts's super pretty Twirly Girly patterned papers.

Supplies: Twirly Girly Paper (TG140S08,TG140S11,TG140S12)

The Twirly Girly patterned papers worked perfectly with my photos!

For my left hand page, I printed a collage of photos.

I printed my journaling directly onto the Never Grow Up patterned paper

using some text boxes and trial & error.

I trimmed a strip from the same patterned paper as a border and diecut my month

 using the back of the Itty Bitty Ballerina patterned paper & my PTI April die.

For my right hand side, I used a page protector with 6 3x3 pockets.

I trimmed some Piggy Tails patterned paper  -- the music notes were just so perfect!

I added some stamped embellishments to finish them off:

the top one is PTI's A Few Pointers stamps & die

and the bottom one is from PTI's Monthly Moments: February stamp set.

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

It's been a while since I've posted a "Five for Friday."

1. It's been a busy week. I've been working a few days, cleaning the house/purging/getting ready for a garage sale next weekend & trying to find a little time to craft.

2. Yesterday, I got to go along with Jonah's grade on their field trip to Winnipeg. 

We took this selfie on the bus. I love it!

We went to the zoo.

And the Legislative Building.

It was such a great day!

3. Today, I'm off to Winnipeg (again!) but this time with Sage's field trip.

We're going to the Children's Museum.

4. I've been totally loving the summer weather we've been experiencing lately! 

I'm going for lots of bike rides and walks (I've hardly used our van at all!)

And, I'm loving the fresh fruit-- every day for lunch I have a big bowl of watermelon, strawberries and grapes. It's the best!

5. I have one crafty thing to share.

After the kids were in bed last night, I hurried downstairs to my craft area to make a card 

for Case Study Challenge #193:

I just had to CASE this card by Wida, since I've loved it every since I saw

it on her blog and pinned it. 

And now, I was given permission to CASE it (love this!), so I just had to play along.

Here's my card:

I stamped some text background (PTI's Text Style) in hibiscus burst.

I stamped the Wplus9 Spring Blooms in Delicata gold ink, with their centres in aqua mist.

The SSS Hello die was die cut from hawaiian shores card stock.

Some Pretty Pink Posh sequins (4mm Aquamarine, 6mm Aquamarine, 6mm Pink Peonies)

& some stitching along the top finish it off.

I'm linking this up to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Tomorrow, we're back in Winnipeg (three trips in three days for me!)

to volunteer at a taekwondo tournament.

Then, on Sunday, we'll be crashing at home, I'm sure!

Thanks for looking!

Cas(e) This Sketch #78

Here is the card that I made for

 CAS(E) This Sketch #78 by Julie Day:

Here's my card:

I started by inking the edges of my PTI stamper's select cardstock in aqua mist.

Then, instead of the wavy lines in the sketch, I stamped a feather from WMS Fine Feathers

in aqua mist, ME Ocean, PTI Ocean Tides & SU! Island Indigo.

The sentiment is also from Fine Feathers.

Some Pretty Pink Posh 6mm Clear Sparkling Sequins & 4mm Clear Sparkling Sequins

finish it off.

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see the rest of the DT's takes on the sketch 

and to play along, if you'd like.

You have until Thursday, June 5th to link up your card.

I'm linking these up to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thanks for looking!

Chickaniddy Crafts May Layout Sketch

I have layout to share today that I made using this month's Chickaniddy Crafts sketch

& the wonderful  Twirly Girly & Date Night collections. 

Here's this month's sketch:

I decided to tweak the sketch by rotating the sketch 90˚ to the right. 

I also switched out two photos for some patterned paper journaling cards.

Here's my layout:

Supplies: Twirly Girly Paper (TG140S09; TG140S04, TG140S08);  Twirly Girly Mini Sticker Tags (TG14EB04); Date Night Paper (DN140S09, DN140S01), Date Night Clear Stamps (DN14ST01)

I layered some white card stock over the patterned paper and 

stitched it in place with my sewing machine.

I cut some 3x4"journaling cards from the Twirly Girly Keepsakes patterned paper 

to add instead of photos.

Tip: use patterned paper as inspiration to create coordinating embellishments.

I was inspired by the floral patterned paper to create some similar looking flowers with some dies & Chickaniddy Crafts patterned paper. I die cut the white flowers from the white flowers on the Date Night Awesome Blossom paper and then added the layers of solid coloured patterned paper. I stamped the centres using the Date Night clear stamps.

I trimmed down some of the mini tag stickers to add to my panel and 

stamped the date with my date stamp.

For my journaling, I created a frame from the journaling card by 

diecutting the ballerina with a rectangle die. 

I typed my journaling on the computer, printed it out on card stock 

and slipped it under the journaling card.

For my title, I die cut some alphabet dies and a "happy" die from the solid pink

 on the back of the itty bitty ballerina patterned paper. 

I love these panels of solid colour-- they make it so easy for everything to coordinate perfectly!

Be sure to stop by the Chickaniddy Crafts blog to see Kandis' & Allie's takes on the sketch.

Thanks for looking!

A few things to share...

This weekend, I stopped by Marni Luhu, this super cool gift/jewellery store

in my town and asked the owner if she'd be interested in selling my cards.

I'd packed up a bunch of them in a container and she flipped through them

and kept saying things like: "These are so fun!"

I'm happy to share that she will be selling them in her shop,

just as soon as I can get them in some clear cellophane bags.

As I was pulling the cards together, I came across a few

that I'd submitted for publication and never posted on my blog.

Here's one of them:

I used some Fancy Pants patterned paper for my background.

The chipboard is My Mind's Eye.

I added the banner (diecut from the same FP patterned paper with the PTI double-ended

banner die and stamped with a sentiment from PTI's Road Trip).

Some MME enamel dots finish it off.

I'm linking this up to this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Vacations/Travel.

And, I also want to share a quick card that I made last night 

for this week's Case Study Challenge:

Here's my card:

This was so quick to make! 

I trimmed down an Elle Studio embellishment to 5.5" tall and adhered it so some 

Simon Says Stamp woodgrain card stock.

A few of the spaces were open, so I filled them with stamps:

The "thankful for this" at the top is from PTI's A Few Pointers.

The "The World is more Beautiful...." is from PTI's Life is Beautiful.

And, lastly, I stamped 2014 with my date stamp.

A die cut heart (using the smaller heart from Reverse Confettti's Love Note Confetti Cuts 

with some Heidi Swapp patterned paper), a button and twine finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

A little Watercolour

I'm just popping in today to share a card that I made using Reverse Confetti's

All About You & Petals 'n Posies stamp sets.

I wanted to create a dark night scene using some watercolouring.

So I started with some watercolour paper and paints.

When those were dry, I stamped and heat embossed my sentiments and "stars" (they're actually flowers from the Petals 'n Posies stamp set in white.

Then, I stamped the larger "stars" and heat embossed those in gold.

The "YOU" was diecut from white cardstock with Mama Elephant's Inline Alphabet dies.

I layered the watercolour panel over some gold shimmer cardstock.

A little stitching finishes it off.

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop

Once again, I'm participating in the Papertrey Ink Blog hop.

This month's challenge is...

I decided to use my brand new Life is Beautiful stamps & dies, 

along with my Chevron Stripes, to make my card.

I stamped the chevrons in Versamark & heat embossed them in white.

Then, with my Tim Holtz blending tool, I added some aqua mist & hawaiian shores ink.

I die cut the butterfly from Melon Berry card stock and inked it in Melon Berry ink around the edges.

I stamped my sentiment in aqua mist, cut it out and adhered it to the butterfly,

using some dimensional adhesive for the "beautiful".

Some Pretty Pink Posh 4mm & 6mm Marshmallow sequins finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

Make It Monday #165

Today I have a card to share that I made using my brand new

PTI Life is Beautiful stamps & dies, along with this week's 

Make It Monday: Artsy Watercolour Backgrounds.

I started by stamping my butterflies in aqua mist & summer sunrise on watercolour paper

and then stamping their details in tropical teal & orange zest. 

Then, I took a paintbrush dipped in water and had some fun extending the images.

I also added some of the ink around the edges of the card.

The little butterfly was stamped in limeade ice.

The sentiment is from Framed Out #12.

Some Pretty Pink Posh 4mm & 6mm Marshmallow sequins finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

Monthly Moments -- March

Today, I am sharing the Monthly Moments spread for March that I made using a mixture of Chickaniddy Crafts's wonderful Twirly Girly & Date Night collections. 

To explain: Monthly Moments is what I call my version of the pocket scrapbooking I do.
It's very simple. I used a 9x6" album and create one spread per month.
One side of the spread has pockets that I tend to fill with the "bigger" highlights of the month.
The other side is in one large page protector and includes a 6.5x6.5" photo collage of photos I took during the month and then some journaling, documenting the highlights.

Here's my spread for March:

Supplies: Twirly Girly Paper (TG140S12; TG140S04, TG140S07, TG140S11);  Twirly Girly Sticker Sheet (TG14EB02); Date Night Paper (DN140S05); Date Night Sticker Sheet (DN14EB02); Date Night Mini Sticker Tags (DN14EB04)

Date Night Clear Stamps (DN14ST01)

On the top left hand side, I added a collage of photos of my son.
To these I added a strip of Twirly Girly Piggy Tails patterned paper and a ticket sticker from Date Night (so perfect for this!) I printed my journaling on my computer directly onto the Twirly Girly Keepsakes patterned paper.

To include the month, I used a die cut from card stock and adhered it to some 

Twirly Girly Piggy Tails patterned paper.
I added a star sticker from the Twirly Girly Sticker Sheet.

The bottom pocket is 4x6, so I trimmed down my 4x6" photo and added the journaling card from
the Date Night Cutest Couple patterned paper, on which I printed my journaling.

Below my photo collage, I stamped with the flowers and leaves stamps from the Date Night clear stamps to create my own patterned paper border along the top.
I added the date panel from Twirly Girly's This and That patterned paper and circled the month by hand.
I printed my journaling onto white card stock and adhered it to the "important" journaling card from Twirly Girly's Never Grow Up patterned paper.
A couple more Twirly Girly star stickers and a Date Night Mini Sticker Tag finish it off. 

Thanks for looking!

Cas(e) this Sketch #77

Here is the card that I made for

 CAS(E) This Sketch #77 by Gayatri Murali:


Here's my card:

I started by stamping some PTI Scribbled Circles in aqua, mint, lemon yellow & pink

and diecutting the bottom edge with my PTI pinking shears die.

I stamped my sentiment from PTI's Wet Paint.

I ran my panel through my diecutting machine with my PTI Simple Stripes IP.

To each scribbled circle, I added a coordinating sequin from

Pretty Pink Posh Springtime Mix sequins.

Visit CAS(E) this Sketch to see the rest of the DT's takes on the sketch 

and to play along, if you'd like.

You have until Thursday, May 29th to link up your card.

Thanks for looking!

Chickaniddy Crafts May Card Sketch

I have card to share today that I made using this month's Chickaniddy Crafts sketch

& the wonderful  Twirly Girly & Date Night collections. 

Here's this month's sketch:

I decided to tweak the sketch by changing up the bottom edge of the banner and

by having the banner as a layer over all of the patterned paper strips.

Here's my card:

Supplies: Twirly Girly Paper (TG140S05; TG140S06, TG140S08, TG140S11, TG140S12) ; Twirly Girly Alpha Stickers (TG14EB01) Twirly Girly Mini Sticker Tags (TG14EB04); Date Night Clear Stamps (DN14ST01)

I cut some strips of patterned paper for my background and adhered them to a 

4.25x5.5 panel of solid pink patterned paper. 

Then, I stitched these in place with some zigzag stitching.

I diecut my cardstock panel and added some letter stickers and a trimmed sentiment sticker.

I stamped the flowers & leaves from the Date Night stamp set onto the same 

solid pink patterned paper and cut them out by hand.

I stamped the leaves in a lighter grey onto my cardstock diecut and then adhered 

the stamped flowers & leaves in place.

Tip: Create some dimension with your stamps by stamping 

some of them on the background and fussy cutting others.

Be sure to stop by the Chickaniddy Crafts blog
to see Savannah's & Kathy's takes on the sketch.

Thanks for looking!

Just Be You

Today, I have a card to share that I made using one of my very favourite

Reverse Confetti stamp set: All About You,

which I paired with the super pretty Petals 'n Posies .

I started with some Basic Grey patterned paper as my background.

Then, I diecut the largest tag from Tag Me Confetti Cuts, but when I ran it through

my diecutting machine, I ran the bottom part half way through, then stopped and turned it around, so

I could run the top part through, but only after moving the die down so I could elongate my tag.

(I love this technique-- it really helps me to get more out of my dies!)

I stamped part of my sentiment on my tag and the other part on the Tag Me banner diecut.

Then, I stamped my flowers, using the Petals 'n Posies stamps and

the coordinating Petals 'n Posies Confetti Cuts and added them to the tag.

I finished it off with some Pretty Pink Posh Light Pink twine.

I'm also linking this up to this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Die Crazy.

Thanks for looking!

Pages with Papertrey Sketch #33

So, my term as a design team member for Inspired Blueprints ended in February,
but for some unknown reason, the owner stopped posting sketches on her
blog in January, which means that I have four layouts I made with her sketches
that never got posted.

So, I thought I'd share one here today, for this month's Pages With Papertrey Sketch #33:

I used the sketch to scrapbook some photos that I took last summer

on top of the ferris wheel at our local Corn & Apple Festival.

Look how red everyone's cheeks are -- it was so hot that day -- like 39°C with high humidity.

I was telling people that this is what it felt like all of the time in the DR Congo!

I stuck very closely to the sketch, but I swapped out one of the photos for

some patterned paper.

I used some Crate Paper patterned paper and chipboard for this layout.

For my title, I used my Papertrey Ink Headline Alphabet dies.

I love this little chipboard ferris wheel -- so perfect for my layout!

The banner below it is a PTI double-ended banner die cut with a Elle's Studio sentiment

stamped on it in Versamark and heat embossed in white.

If you create a layout using this sketch, please link it here in the comments

or here on the Papertrey Ink Forum, so I can check it out!

Thanks for looking!