So In Love...

I have only made two Valentine's cards so far - I know I am in a bit of a slump. Well, it is more like any free time I have has been devoted to fixing up our house to put it on the market soon - which I am dreading considering the market we are in... But I am learning quite a bit about home repairs. This past weekend I taught myself how to grout tile and it was actually pretty fun. I have aspirations of tiling a dresser now, just the top, an old one that would look really cool all purtied up!

Anyway, this card was actually made for no real reason other than I love my hubby. I gave it him back in December. I hid it in his laptop - a sure fire way to ensure that he sees it! As soon as he got to work he called me to say how much he appreciated and loved it. He was having a very tough few weeks at work and I thought he needed a little pick-me-up. It worked, try it!

Anyway, I read on Michelle Wooderson's blog a while back (she has fabulous tips if you have never visited) about using empty space to its fullest. Can't find the exact post, but check out her blog. So, I tried her trick with this one. I made a heart stencil and placed it behind the stamped image and sponged the heart shape with Versamagic Dew Drops Pixie Dust. It really gave the image more of a WOW factor that just simply stamping those stick figures. What do you think? I was pleased with this one, except that bow now that I look back at the pic. Oh well, he liked it!

Thanks for visiting today! Have a fabulous hump day!

What I used:

Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White, My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus, SU! Cool Caribbean and Chocolate Chip Base

Stamps: Clearly Wordsworth Love Collection, SU! So Many Sayings

Ink: Staz On Timber Brown, Dew Drops Pixie Pink

Accessories: Ribbon American Crafts reversible, Stickles in Aqua, Tonic Distresser, Sponge, Stamp-a-ma-jig

More Butterfly Kisses...

I did this one a while back for my grandmother's birthday, she turned 83 in October. I am just so glad that my kids are able to know her. She lives about 5 hours away, but we see her every time we go home to visit (yes I still call Philly home - weird huh!). Anyway, I saw a similar card somewhere a while back and loved it, (I am not taking credit for this concept, so if it is like yours, let me know). I loved the ribbon down the side. I did use different colors, and changed the layout of the butterfly a bit.

I really like the Kraft paper with the butterfly, it feels natural to me. This didn't take me too long to do, I just had to wait for the paint to dry before doing anything else. I don't have white ink that shows up so opaque on light papers, ( I have three different white inkpads and they all seem transparent to me) so I used white acrylic paint by Making Memories, called Spotlight.

The purple papers are both from a pack I bought at Michaels a while back, not very heavy paper, but perfect for layering. I made the doted paper with a dot stamp from Technique Tuesday's mini set called "Icing On The Cake." A dotted background stamp is definitely on my long list of things to buy - and when I say long, I mean long! I am trying to be good :-) ***I went to M's yesterday and only spent $9 - that's being good right??? :-)

I love these butterflies from Papertrey's Butterfly Kisses. I come back to them over and over again - my mom just bought her first set from PTI and guess which one she bought - you guessed it! She has always been a butterfly person too!

Well, I hope you are enjoying some of my creations. I am going to get started on Valentine's this week. Can't wait, I love hearts and all shades of red. I have quite a few ideas - now to just fidn the time to do it...

On a side note, I have been cleaning out drawers and downsizing our house a bit; what a great feeling that is to free myself of the clutter and all the unwanted things I just put in drawers so I don't have to look at them. Now to tackle the closets! I am on a mission!

Have a fabulous day!

Here is what I used:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Butterfly Kisses, Technique Tuesday mini Icing On The Cake

Paper: Kraft, PTI Stamper's Select White, Shades of Purple from The Paper Company (Michaels)

Ink: Dew Drops Cloud White for sponging around edges and dotted backgorund, Brilliance Graphite Black

Supplies: Making Memories Paint in Spotlight, Ribbon is Bobbin ribbon from Joanns

I Feel Validated as I Walk on Cloud Nine!

Ok so earlier this week I wrote about my goals for 2008, and one of them was to be mentioned on Nichole Heady's blog. Goal number 1 - check! Go check out her blog and see...

My card, which I posted yesterday, tied with another FABULOUS project by Barbara Schram - loved it! by the way - and we get free stamps and more importantly recognition on Nichole's blog! I was really more excited just to be mentioned on her blog as a finalist in the contest, she picked my card - YIPPEE! Winning wasn't my motivation here, nor did I think I would - but hey, who doesn't want free stamps! Now which set to pick - I have almost all of them!

I love Nichole's designs and PTI in general. I have to say that it is by far my favorite stamp company, and I am a bit bummed because now that I have found a company whose designs are so totally my style, we are about to sign a contract to build our new house and that means we must tighten those purse strings! UGH!!!!!!! A girl can still afford at least $40 a month right??? ***An aside - Nichole,Julie, Jane - please do not up that "free shipping" limit! :-)

Anyway, so I am stoked! And I feel validated. Have you ever asked yourself "Why do I do this?" - I do all the time. I truly love creating anything, doesn't matter what it is, just to create makes me feel good - no great! I need it! But sometimes I look at everything I have and wonder why I have it all? What purpose does it serve? Am I the only one benefiting from it? I sure hope not - I hope people enjoy getting a card or homemade gift made especially for them by me. I would if someone did it for me - I would cherish it.

Okay, well I will leave you with another project that I made using PTI stamps - Spiral Bouquet.

This was made for my mother-in-law, Suzanne. She lives in Arizona, and has kind of a dessert color scheme: turquoise, dusty pink/corals, tans and browns throughout her home. Believe it or not, I got the frame at the Dollar Store! Love that place!
Thanks for visiting!

Here is what I used:

Stamps: Papertrey Spiral Bouquet

Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Dew Drops Spanish Olive and Pink Grapefruit

Accessories: SU! Color Spritzer, Black Marker, Fantastix Blender Pen, tape, frame from the dollar store

OMG - Can You Say Papertrey Honorable Mention???

I was having a really bad morning, got very little sleep last night, was running late for my MOPS meeting, DD wouldn't put her shoes on, then she spilled my coffee on the floor (guess it was better than spilling it on herself), and it was snowing outside (OK - we liked that part, but it never sticks around here so not much to be excited about). At MOPS my day was looking brighter - we talked about food co-ops, which some friends and I are seriously considering starting. I was excited about that...

Until...

I got home, and my day got even better!

There was a message from a friend when I got home saying that she sent me some info via email, so while I was making lunch for the kids I fired up the computer. Opened my email and almost fell to the floor - before I could finish the email I was on the phone with my mom (the one person who truly can understand why this was so great!). I got an Honorable Mention on Nichole Heady's blog for PTI's Guest Star Stamper! YIPPEE! I am on CLOUD 9! This is so totally one of my goals for 2008 and here I am - Yeah!

To some this may not be such a big deal; for me this is HUGE! If you haven't already, check out her post here and if you read this before the deadline - VOTE! For me of course - he-he! No seriously, there are some really awesome projects on there. I saw Barb Schram's project on SCS last week, and remember thinking how awesome that key was!

Here is the card I submitted:

Super simple using PTI's new set Sweet Love. The base is obviously Kraft, the Swirl is Autumn Leaves Swirls I think. Both the swirl and the sentiment were stamped with Dew Drops Jumbo Java. I stamped the hearts with Dew Drops Pearlescent Poppy on Vanilla cardstock. I cut them out, used my eyelet setter to make the wholes in the card (since my 1/8" punch didn't reach), tied some SU! hemp twine through them, popped them up on dimensionals and wallah! I used a corner rounder on the two edges to keep the curvy lines of the heart soft. Simple and versatile! You can use it for a man or a woman!

I am soooooooo excited! You know the saying "it's just nice to be nominated"? In this case it truly is! I don't expect to win, but man this is waaaaaaaay cool!

Thanks for visiting!

ETA: The Swirl is actually from Technique Tuesday's set Whirlygigs. Sorry about the mix-up...

Time For an Overhaul...

WOW - has this blog ever been in a vegetative state! Time to give everything an overhaul in 2008! Including my blog!

I set some goals for myself this year that I feel are completely achievable. I was feeling in a bit of a slump towards the end of 2007, lots of adjustments needed to be made, and I am learning that it is an ongoing process. Time management was and continues to be my biggest problem. I don't know how that happened, I used to be great at it! It could be the two kids that have since come along, as well as the current house, and the one we are building - hmmm, maybe that's it!

How do people do it all - I found myself asking that question quite often. I see these women who have it all together, or at least appear to anyway, but I am finding that it is just that an "appearance." Someone actually asked me the other day "How do you do it all? I can barely get myself dressed in the morning!" - you can imagine my astonishment! So, I actually appear to have it all together to someone - gave me a little sense of reality :-) (not to mention happiness!)

Anyway, one of my goals for 2008 is to post more on both SCS (Splitcoaststampers) and on my blog - so here I am with my first of 2008! I really do want this to be a place where family and friends can see what we are up to, but also a place that I can post my work.

Which leads me to a few of the other goals I have set for myself - I want to be published in a papercrafting magazine in 2008 - perhaps Papercrafts or Cards Magazine or even some start up would be fabulous! I have questioned many times (still do), as I am sure most people do, whether my stuff is really all that worthy. So, I am putting myself out there and hope at least one project is!

But to get there from here I need to make a name for myself. So I will submit stuff on-line, as in SCS or contests and see what happens. As I have learned in the "real world" it's good to "know" a lot of people and it can't hurt in the virtual world either! One specific goal I have is to submit my stuff to Nichole Heady at Papertrey, such as the Guest Star Stamper contest she has every month. I love her stamps and her creations, and getting recognition on her blog and site is like the Hollywood of Papercrafting :-) !

I have some personal goals too, things I want to accomplish with my kids, my husband, my friends (old and new) and my family who all live so far away. I really feel 2008 is going to be a banner year for me - and it really is all about how you feel isn't it?!

Thanks for visiting and see you soon!