Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop

 Here is my entry into this month's blog hop.  It has been a long time since I played along.  Too long.  Maybe that will bring me luck in the contest.  Anyway, here is my take on the inspiration photo.  It was a beautiful photo.  Lots of luscious blues and silver and white and green.  Love all those colors.  I am a blue kind of gal.  I used a very old stamp set that is not PTI.  I used Rustic Wreath die cut and Tropical Teal CS, White CS, and lots of pretty sequins and silver pearls.  I think it is awesome and festive.  Couldn't decide if or where to put a small sentiment, so I left it off.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  There are so many blessings from God to be thankful for.

Childhood Cancer Fundraiser Auction Winners

Here are the winners from the auction last week.  I will contact you individually with your totals.

Susie Hilsman: red and blue card set in the file holder
Lisa Spence: cake of your choice coupon
Kim Saint: 3 dozen cookies coupon and Fruitful card set
Gwen Sibert: prayer journal, flower thank you notes, and special request Tenn. football cards
Deidra Sibert: beer card set
Leslie Kubik: pink and gold card set
Beth Ann Parnell: 10 card set
Melody Still: 10 card set and Sunshine gift bag and card with lemon cookies
Andrea Eckardt: teacher thank you, beautiful blooms notecards, 10 card set, flower thank you cards
Margie Arney : special request kids birthday cards

Thanks to all of you we raised $293.  Wow!!  That is pretty good.  Thank you all so much for participating.  I will be thinking about next years event, and hopefully I can figure out  more accurately what you might want to bid on going forward.

3rd Annual Sibert Childhood Cancer Awareness Fundraiser September 20-26th

Hi, Friends and Family.  It is that time of year again for our annual Childhood Cancer Awareness Fundraiser.  Some of you may be new to this, so I thought I would give you some background info.  We started doing this fundraiser because we are so grateful to God for the fact that our son's brain tumor is not cancerous, because so many childhood brain tumors are very malignant and vicious.  In our recovery journey from John's brain tumor surgery 3 years ago and regular check ups with his neuro-oncologist, we have met and read about so many children who are suffering from different types of pediatric cancers.  It breaks our hearts to see so many children and their families when we go for our visits.  We wanted to do something to help them, even something small.  We are so thankful for our good prognosis, but know very well that it could have been so very different and we could be fighting a whole different battle.  Please join us to help give hope and a cure to these children.

Our fundraiser is a kind of auction of handmade card sets, gifts, and baked goods.  Here is how it works:
1.  Starting September 20th- September 26, I will be posting different card sets and items in their own separate posts here on my blog.  Each item will have a minimum bid amount.

2.  You will simply click on the comments section to bid on these items.  You may start at the minimum bid amount or go ahead and bid higher.  Bidding wars are encouraged and are always done in a friendly manner.  Check up on the items you want frequently to make sure you get the chance to bid up and win them before the week is up.

3.  At the end of the week, I will see who has bid the highest for each of the  items and post the winners.  Please make sure I get your email address, so I can contact you to give you your total donation amount and make arrangements to deliver your items.  If you live out of town, you will have to pay for shipping costs as well as your donation amount.

4.  If you do not want to get any of the items I have posted, but want to donate to our fundraiser, simply go to this link and you can donate directly to the Alabama Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorder Research Fund.

5.  All donations will go to benefit the Children't Hospital of Alabama Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorder research department.  We specify that all funds be used for neuro-oncology (brain tumors and brain cancers).


Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Thank you so much for your participation in doing this.  Your generosity is such a blessing to so many people and motivates me to keep doing this.  Our goal this year is to raise $650.  I think we can do it!


Here are a couple of photos as a sneak peek of all the cards I have made for you to bid like crazy on.  It's a lot.

MIM: pocket tags with pull out embellishments

Whew!  I can't believe I got to play along with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge this week.  Seems like forever since I had time to craft along with all of you.  Here is my take on the challenge.  I used a card design I found from a Stampin' UP! and My Favorite Things design team member.  I used Christmas dsp from SU!, stamps from my PTI Tinsel and Tags and Christmas sentiments stamps.   I used the PTI holly leaves and vintage ornaments dies.  I kind of like how it turned out.   Love the mix of patterns.  I have to admit mixing patterns is kind of scary.

Hope everyone is having a blessed week.  Can't wait to see what you all come up with too.

Masculine cards and more

Still playing with the designer papers from my paper share today.  I think I came up with a few clever ideas.  I did not copy anyone's cards that I know of here, they are my designs.  Might explain the subtle design flaws, but it feels good to flex my own creative muscles every once in awhile.  ;)

I also wanted to crank out a few masculine designs and when I saw that watercolored splat/blotch piece of paper, it just called out for masculine cards to be made out of it.  I sure wish I had a whole paper pack of just that print.  I love the soft yet wonderful masculine tones.  Feels woodsy in a way.

I am also entering one of these cards into the MFT Summer Card Class contests on breaking up straight lines with some curves or soft elements.  I have lots of straight layers, but the focal point softens them with it's curves in die cuts and patterns.  I like it.

Hope you all are enjoying your last few days of summer before school starts back.  Have a lovely day.

Papers: Stampin' UP! soft suede, grey, lost lagoon, sahara sand, hello honey, mint macaron, night of navy, kraft, mellow moss, and English Garden dsp

Stamps: SU! watercolor wings, PTI Cold Brew, Queen Bee, and a Think Big Favorites set.

Plaid Builder love

I tried so hard to resist getting the new Plaid Builder stamp set from PTI as well as the Bowl of Sunshine set and a few other goodies, but they were just too much temptation for me.  I love them.  I have had a fun time playing with them and making some pretty cards in the last few days.   Don't you just love the beautiful clean lines of those plaid patterns.  So easy.  And that bright cheery fruit is just delicious.

My only complaint with the plaid builder set is that it is time consuming to make several card front sized pieces to play with, so instead of making 2 of each card, I usually just have time to make 1.  I will work on that and see if I can't be a little more efficient.  Enjoy the samples.  I case'd several of the wonderfully talented ladies on the PTI design team and substituted elements where I didn't have what they used.   The scale image is from a Clear and Simple Stamps set I got awhile back.  May have to get the Second Helping of Sunshine set for Christmas.  I love fruit and anything food related. Can't wait to try my hand at some masculine cards next.

Playing with designer papers

I joined a new Stampin' UP! 2015-16 catalog paper share this year.  I got a sample of all the new designer series papers.  I really like several of the stacks.  Often times I order a whole package and then have a hard time using those papers.  Call it hoarding, call it creativity block, or just having too much of a good thing to use them up.  While I really like several of the designer series paper packs, I am not going to order any of the whole packages.  Why?  For those very reasons stated above.  Even with just a small sized piece of the papers from the paper share, I struggle to figure out how to use them on cards.  I spend a lot of time culling Pinterest trying to find ideas.

Here is what I have come up with in using several of those papers.  I am quite happy with the results and hope to continue using them up entirely in the next few weeks.  That way I can feel good about having bought the paper share and that I actually used it.  Score!  I am meeting my goal of using up my stash.  

Using some of the Go Wild papers.  I got this card idea from Inge Groot from Stampin Cards and Memories.

Pretty Petals DSP stack.  Several ideas from Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty.

School House DSP and card idea from Inge Groot.  I am loving the Joy fold card technique.  Fun way to make a card.

Bohemian DSP.  

English Garden DSP.  I got several ideas from different people.  

Something old and something new...something borrowed

I have been trying to carve out some stamping time and use some of my new goodies as well as some old supplies that needed some serious attention and love.  Here is what I have made.  Most of these are CASed from different blogs and Pinterest boards I look at from time to time.

I hope to showcase some more stuff in a couple of weeks.  I am seriously behind in making cards and gifts for my annual childhood cancer fundraiser that I normally hold in September, as it is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.  I might have to postpone that for the end of September or October.  Life around here just hasn't allowed for much stamping time.  With school starting in a couple of weeks, I don't know how much time I will have to craft as we put together the finishing touches on our new school schedule/classes/routine.  Trying to enjoy these last few days with my sons when we all have lots of free time.

Got my new Papertrey goodies in the mail yesterday and had to play with them.  I have some close friends, who also homeschool their children, and we like to try to get together regularly for coffee or lunch to catch up.  I thought this card would be great to set up a get together date.  A little more personal than a text or email.  

After playing with the Cherry on Top dsp and making some birthday cards, this donut pattern was begging to be made into a donut and coffee card.  "We go together like...coffee and donuts!"  I thought it was clever.  

Another new set of papers and stamps from PTI to celebrate a love of coffee, or we need to get together over a cup of coffee.

I was inspired by Becky Roberts of Inking Idaho blog to make some one sided notecards.  She just posted some she made recently, and I thought I should do the same.  I used up some of my old supplies (Beautiful Blooms dsp and stamps from PTI).  They have been sitting on the shelf for way too long.  I really like how these turned out.  They were a bit time consuming but I made 12 of them. 

Last but not least, I am trying to  wear out the new butterfly dies and stamps, and had to play with the Butterfly Basics s: simple, elegant, and colorful.  I got to use up some DSP from Stampin' UP! that I have been hoarding.  It feels so good to be using my stash.  I am bad at hoarding, buying too much so a lot of it gets neglected, and just not knowing what to do with supplies once I get them.  I know you all can relate to that overwhelmed feeling of having too many choices and projects you want to make.  

That is all for now.  Hopefully I will be back in a couple of weeks with some guy cards (guy beverages to be exact), some kids cards (to encourage them through the school year), and whatever else I can make up.  

My Paper Pumpkin July 2015

So I have been waffling about resigning up for the My Paper Pumpkin monthly subscription program.  Last month's kit took me off the fence and into the yes zone.  It was really pretty and fun, and I wish I had gotten it.  This month, I hit the subscribe button to test the waters again.  It is a mystery as to what Stampin' UP! is going to send out.  I wasn't disappointed in the kit that arrived today.  Super cute coffee themed stamps, which I will add to my collection, and some pretty simple but cute cards too.  I put together 4 cards fairly quickly.  I like them.  I think they could be stepped up a little bit or maybe stamped differently, but for following the directions, they turned out pretty cute.   I am going to play around with the other supplies for the remaining 4 cards and see if I can make a bit more of a wow factor.  All in all, I am happy with the surprise.  I got some cute stamps (love that succulent style plant), and a cucumber crush ink cube (score), so I think it was well worth the subscription.  Can't wait to see what comes next month.

These little beauties are about to become a little birthday gift.  Now to make a gift bag with the gift bag punch board.  

Some cute new cards

I purchased a paper share of the new Stampin' UP! designer series papers.  Yesterday, I got a chance to finally play with them.  The new Cherry On Top papers are super bright and festive for birthdays, but some of the monochromatic prints could be used for other occasions.  I am a little proud of the fact that I didn't copy anyone on these cards.  They are my originals.  Yippee!  I think they turned out pretty nice.  And the festive prints went very well with some of my Papertrey Ink stamps that were needing some love too.

This card uses the new Vegetable Garden papers.  Love the vintage look, and so I busted out my Garden Variety stamps by PTI and my matching SU! papers to make this card.  I am pretty happy with the result.  

This last card doesn't use any dsp, but rather some new stamps from SU! I got for free.  This is the new Watercolor Wings set and I used it for this simple but elegant card.  The butterfly is a three step stamp, and I used Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, and Island Indigo for the layers.  I used the new Mint Macaron color for the accent layer, some espresso bakers twine, and sahara sand for the card base.  I even stamped a little butterfly inside.  There are two sizes of butterflies in this set.  Lovely. Pretty cool, right?  Can't wait to use this in more color combos and layouts.  The sky is the limit.  

Just got my new Paper Pumpkin kit in the mail and will be churning out a few cards here this afternoon as I bake cookies.  Check in later for those creations.

Happy July 4th.

Happy July 4th: Independence Day!  I am still proud to be an American, to belong to the great heritage our Founding Father's set up and fought for.  I sure do pray we can regain that heritage. We are about to lose it forever by allowing our freedoms to be taken away by activist judges and lawmakers.

Here is a card I made to celebrate this day.  Have a fabulous Independence Day!  Enjoy and thank God for your freedom and your American Heritage.  They are gifts from Him.

Stampin' UP! Fresh Prints Card Set

I am trying so hard to be good and use up some of these beautiful designer paper packs I can't seem to resist and then can never figure out how to use up all the papers on cards.  I have been culling the Pinterest boards looking for ways to use up this Fresh Prints Paper Stack.  Here are the cards I have CASE'd so far.  I don't have many Stamping' UP! stamps, so I cull my PTI stamp collection for suitable alternatives.  Sometimes they work just as well, and sometimes they will at least do.   The Fresh Prints stack has some beautiful basic patterns in the red and coastal cabana that I am saving for holiday cards, but I wanted to use up some of these more unusual prints in creative ways.  Hope you like them.

Here is the pretty little "case" I made for the cards.  I dug out one of the My Timeless Templates I bought from Papertrey Ink several years ago.  I have tons of these templates, and I need to use them more.  Super easy and classy packaging.  I used my Clear and Simple Stamps: File It Stationary set for the cool tag that indicates it is a boxed set of 8 misc. all occasion cards.  Nifty, huh?

June Papertrey Blog Hop

I loved the inspiration photo for this month's PTI Blog Hop.  Those little shoes are so pretty, and the color combo is just clean and sophisticated.  I couldn't mess with something almost perfect, so I recreated the overall look of the shoes in my card.  I used the Watercolor brushstrokes set, some dies, and smokey slate and black inks to make this little beauty.  Hope you like it and continue throughout the day to hop around the blog hop.

Supplies:

PTI: butterfly dies (various), leaf die (Sending You), black button, best wishes from Lovely Labels, and brushstroke stripes from Watercolor set from Maile.  Can't remember specific names and don't have time to look them all up. Naturals white paper, canyon clay paper, ripe avocado paper.

SU!: smokey slate ink,  vanilla paper.

A lovely flower morning

Just thought I would post the gorgeous colors I have popping up all along my flower beds and my planters.  I love how Dawn McVey takes these beautiful pictures of her flowers and shares them.  I got inspired to save the intricate beauty of God's creation in my yard today so I can go back and look at them and have a moment of thanksgiving for His goodness.

 I love flowers.  I love their color, their form, their unique beauty, the way they bloom, everything.  If I could surround myself with them everyday I would.  Enjoy my photos and have a blessed day.

I have 4 of these loaded with blooms along the back of my house off the side of our screened in porch.

This is my lone light lilac colored hydrangea from the new plant I got last summer.  I hope I get some more blooms.  They are so pretty.

My annual geranium pick for my front planter.  Love that bright pink.

All of the above lilies are in my front flower beds.  They are hidden by my dwarf Japanese maple tree so I need to did them up and replant them.  My favorite is the dark burgundy one.  So lovely.

More geraniums in my front porch planter.  Sigh.. they make me happy.

I have a calla lily forest on the side of my house by the driveway.  They keep making more plants and I just love them.  So elegant and stately.  They keep when cut too.