Life is Sweet

Just popping in today to share a layout for July's Pages With Papertrey Challenge.

This month's challenge is to include some journaling cards on your layout.

Here's the layout I made, using both one of the journaling cards

that I got for free with my Papertrey Ink order.

which I paired with some We R Memory Keepers journaling cards.

I used my PTI Journaling Card 1 die to die cut the PTI card "Life is sweet". 

The WRMK cards came in a pad, but I noticed they were slightly larger than 

the PTI Journaling Card 1 die, so I die cut them all with the die, too,

so that they were all the same size.

I printed out my title on some vellum, die cut it with the journaling Card 1 die

and adhered it to the WRMK card. 

I stitched it in place with a zig zag strip.

I die cut one of the Life Is Beautiful butterflies from another WRMK journaling card

and added a few decorative brads to finish it off.

If you create a layout for this challenge, please link it up here in the comments 

on my blog or here on the PTI forum.

Thanks for looking!

My Mom's Birthday

Today is my mom's birthday.

To celebrate, we're going to Winnipeg

and taking her out for lunch at Santa Lucia.

Here's the card I made for her.

I used some gorgeous (& fun to use!) new stamps from Altenew called Painted Flowers.

The sentiment is Wet Paint from Papertrey Ink.

The sequins are Pretty Pink Posh (6mm Pink Blush, 4mm Pink Peonies).

After lunch, I'm taking the kids to go and see

How To Train Your Dragon 2-- should be a great day!

I'm also linking all three of these cards to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thanks for looking!

A New Challenge

I was very excited to be contacted recently by Jackie Rockwell 

who asked if I would be interested in joining her design team 

for a new challenge blog called Tag You're It! Challenge. 

The challenge involves creating a project that includes a tag 

(so, a tag, card, scrapbooking layout, etc.)

based on a project using a tag shared on the challenge blog.

Since I love using tags on my projects,
I thought this would be a wonderful fit for me. :)

To start off, there's a mini-challenge where we're encouraged

to create a project (that includes a tag)

based on this super sweet tag by Karin Åkesdotter:

With it being the last day of school,

I wanted to give Jonah & Sage's teachers some butter crunch,

as is my custom. ;)

I was inspired by the shading Karin did on the background of her tag,

so I chose some Heidi Swapp patterned paper that did the same thing,

but went from aqua at the top to yellow near the bottom.

I also loved the white border on her tag, so I made a similar one

by layering the coloured tag (which I die cut slightly shorter)

over a white tag (both tags are PTI's Tag Sale 5).

The sentiment is from PTI's Summer Sweetness stamp set, 

which I stamped in aqua mist, and the die cut word 

is one of my new PTI Wet Paint die cuts.

Be sure to head over to the Tag You're It! Challenge blog
to check out the rest of the amazing DT
& what they created for the mini-challenge.

Thanks for looking!

Cas(e) This Sketch #82

Today, I'm sharing the card that I made for

 CAS(E) This Sketch #82 by N@ Ali:

Now, it might not look it, but this card was actually quite tricky 

& took me a while to complete!

I combined several sets for this card: PTI's City Scene for the buildings,

Simon Says Stamp Stylish Simon (the sweet dog I paper-pieced) &

Mama Elephant's Wanderlust for the sentiment.

The trickiest part wasn't the buildings (although I do find them quite challenging

to stamp right!), but it was making the speech bubble from the tiny speech bubble die from 

PTI's Bubble Talk dies. 

I ran it through my die cutting machine part way, then trimmed out the sides and ran

it through again to die cut the other end. 

(It took me at least five tries to get it right!)

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, July 3rd to link up your card.

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop

It's the 25th, which means that I'm playing along with the Papertrey Ink blog hop.

This month's challenge was to be inspired by this photo:

And, Nichole also provided three sketches 

and two colour combos to go along with it.

I have to admit, I was inspired more by the sketches & colour combos

than by the photo itself.

I ended up making three cards -- one for each sketch. :)

For my first card, I used the second sketch & the first colour combo.

I loved the overlapping frames and immediately thought of the slide frame die.

I'd originally thought of using three of the same frame, but it didn't fit very well on my card,

so I pulled out some Crate Paper chipboard slide frames to go along with it.

I also used my new Wet Paint die, which I die cut three times from orange zest

cardstock and layered together.

For my stamped sentiment, I stamped the "your" from Wet Paint and I masked the 

"summer"  from the "sweet summertime" stamp from Monthly Moments: June.

As a finishing touch, I inked some Pretty Pink Posh wooden stars with 

my Tim Holtz blending tool and the inks listed in the colour combo.

For my second card, I used Danielle's Make It Monday: Vellum Overlays technique, 

along with the third sketch and the second colour combo.

For this card, I used some Heidi Swapp patterned paper that matched

the colour combo perfectly.

I love that the patterned paper said "choose happy" and thought it would be fun to add

the vellum overlay over top. 

I stamped the "today" from Wet Paint II on the vellum in Versamark & heat embossed it in white.

I die cut the new Monthly Moments: Tabbed die cuts from the Heidi Swapp

patterned paper and adhered it to the vellum. 

I stamped part of the "y" from "today" onto the last tag and heat embossed it in white, as well.

I added some stitching and some Pretty Pink Posh sequins 

(4mm lemon meringue, pink blush & 4mm marshmallow).

Here's a close up of the overlay over the patterned paper:

And for my last card, I once again used Danielle's Make It Monday: Vellum Overlays technique,

the first colour combo and the first sketch.

I decided to make another "enjoy summer" card and used the same die as on my first card.

However, I also decided, instead of the wedged circles in the sketch

to use my new Summer Sweetness stamps and dies.

I masked and stamped the "summer" from the "enjoy summer" sentiment in 

Summer Sweetness and heat embossed it in white.

I die cut the Wet Paint die & the popsicles from white card stock.

I kept this one fairly simple, but love how it turned out!

I'm also linking all three of these cards to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thanks for looking!

A wedding card

Today, I have a wedding card to share that I created using some Chickaniddy Crafts products.

Supplies: 12x12 Gold Foil Paper (CN14SP001); Twirly Girly Paper (TG14OS03, TG14OS07), 

Date Night Clear Stamps (DN14ST01)

I started with some white card stock as my base. 

I cut a piece of Tea Party patterned paper to layer over top. 

Then, I added a strip of white card stock and lined it up with the stripes in the patterned paper. 

I cut some thin strips of the gorgeous Goldie Lox Foil Paper and adhered them to my card. 

I die cut the  PTI "forever" die from the gold foil paper as well, and adhered it, 

along with a sentiment strip from the This And That patterned paper.

Then, I had some fun heat embossing the stamped flowers and leaves 

in white on the gold foil paper. 

I cut these out by hand and adhered them to my card. 

I just love how they turned out!

Tip: The gold foil paper is perfect for die cutting! 

I like to put some sheet adhesive to the back of the foil paper before die cutting it. 

Then, once it's die cut, all I have to do is peel it off and stick it to my card!

Thanks for looking!

Cure for the Monday Blues #22

I'm super excited to be guest designing for The Cure for the Monday Blues!

I have enjoyed playing along with Taheerah's fabulous inspirational challenge (click!), 

and was so thrilled when she asked me to guest design for her this week!

I was inspired by the colours, the diagonal stripes on the table legs, the shapes on 

 those drawers and that super sweet photo with the sun on it.

Here's my card:

I used the backs of various circle stamps in my collection to stamp my background

in aqua mist, harvest gold, sweet blush & berry sorbet.

I die cut my diagonal patterned paper using the top part of the tag from the 

Pretty Pink Posh's Stitched Duo 1 dies.

I stamped the sentiment using Papertrey Ink's Wet Paint stamp set.

I stamped the sun (from Papertrey Ink's City Scene) onto sweet blush card stock and cut out by hand.

A few Pretty Pink Posh sequins (6mm Pink Blush, 4mm Lemon Meringue) finish it off.

For my card, I also used Poppy Sketch #7,

which Pretty Pink Posh is sponsoring:

I'm linking this up to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: You Gotta Have Friends.

Thanks for looking!

Congrats X2

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I recently started 

selling my cards in a localshop in my town.

Well, I stopped in this week to see how things were going 

(And my cards are selling -- yay!)

The owner also suggested I makes some cards for grad.

So, on Friday night and yesterday morning, I made about eight grad cards.

Here are two of them.

For both of these cards, I used some Heidi Swapp patterned paper
and journaling cards (which I die cut using my PTI Journaling Card 1 die).
I also stamped on both of them with PTI's Wet Paint III.

On this one, I added a Heidi Swapp acrylic butterfly, which
I stitched in place with my sewing machine.

I'm linking this up to the 

 Moxie Fab World's Photo Pocket Page Challenge
and to this week's Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge:

Thanks for looking!

Be happy

Today, I have a super quick card to share that I made using a couple of the 

monthly moments cards that I got in one of my Papertrey Ink orders this spring.

I die cut the journaling cards using my Journaling Card 1 die and

layered them over some white and ripe avocado card stock.

I stamped the "friend" (from Wet Paint III) in ripe avocado.

Some stitching and enamel dots finish it off.

I'm linking this up to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: You Gotta Have Friends
and Moxie Fab World's Photo Pocket Page Challenge.

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

It's been another busy week.... and I've taken surprisingly few photos. ;)

1. I have some stamps & dies for sale, if you'd like to check them out here.

2. I have a couple of afternoons of work booked and then it looks like 

I will be off for summer! I cannot wait!

3. Jonah auditioned for the Grade 7&8 Jazz Choir for next year.... and made it!

We're all so excited for him!

He also decided that he wants to join Band in the fall.... and wants to play the double bass.

So, in preparation, he's going to be taking electric bass lessons this summer.

How cool is that?

4. We've been busy making plans for summer.... 

These include: swimming lessons at the beach, 

a visit from my older brother & his family, Sage going to camp, 

dog-watching Lucy for a few weeks, a trip to Minneapolis for 

a couple of days, oh and there are three birthdays in there, too.... 

Should be a good one!

5. We had our last Sunday School for the year this past Sunday.

As a farewell for my group, I made them some cards using some Reverse Confetti 

Let's Chill stamps & dies.

These first two were the styles I made for the boys (five of them.)

I used some My Mind's Eye patterned paper for the backgrounds.

I cut the banners using Tag Me.

I die cut my card stock using the Doin' The Wave Confetti Cuts and 

then die cut these with the Let's Chill Confetti Cuts.

Then, I covered them with Glossy Accents and let them dry before adhering them to my card.

The girls (five, as well) got these styles.... the same design, but with some

more girlish colours.

In the inside, I told them how much I enjoyed having them in my group this year.

 I  also sewed some pockets with the striped patterned paper 

and tucked a coupon for an ice cream treat at our local DQ into each one. 

Needless to say, they were a hit. :)

Thanks for looking!

Cas(e) This Sketch #81 & Fusion

*Note: this is my second post today. Please scroll down or click here
to see my Chickaniddy Crafts Card Sketch post. Thanks!


We're so excited to be partnering up with Fusion this week at CAS(E) This Sketch!
Here are the combined challenges...

I was inspired by the colours and the sparkle & shine
from the inspiration photo to make my card.

I started with some Heidi Swapp patterned paper as my background.

I diecut my banner using the end of the largest tag from Reverse Confetti's Tag Me 

from vintage cream cardstock.

I stamped some leaves on the banner using Wplus9's Spring Floral set 

and heat embossed them in seafoam white.

Then, I stamped the flower (heat embossing it in seafoam white as well) and the centres in gold.

The leaves are stamped in classic kraft.

I fussy cut this out by hand and adhered it to my banner.

The sentiment is from PTI's The Sweet Life.

Some Pretty Pink Posh 6mm Metallic Gold Sequins and

 4mm Metallic Gold Sequins finish it off.

Here's a close-up so you can see all of the shine:

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

& inspiration photo and to play along, if you'd like.

You have until Thursday, June 26th to link up your card.

Thanks for looking!

Chickaniddy Crafts June Card Sketch

Today, I am sharing a card that I made using this month's card sketch 

at Chickaniddy Crafts.

I decided to tweak the card and didn't add the rectangular strip on the left hand side. 

Here's my card:

Supplies: 12x12 Gold Foil Paper (CN14SP001); Twirly Girly 6x6 Collection Pad (TG14PD01), 
Twirly Girly Paper (TG14OS04, TG14OS08), Sticker Sheet (TG14EB02)

I started with a solid piece of patterned paper as my background. 

To this, I added a piece of the gorgeous Goldie Lox Foil Paper and 

then a piece of paper from the Twirly Girly Paper Pad. 

I die cut some more Gold Foil paper using a die and slipped the star journaling card behind it. 

I added the "girlie" sticker, along with some star stickers to finish it off.

Gotta love that shine!

I'm also linking this up to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: You Gotta Have Friends.

Be sure to check out the Chickaniddy Crafts blog to see the cards that 

Kathy & Savannah made with the sketch.

Thanks for looking!