Tea for Two

Breaking out a new stamp set! I've actually had Tea for Two sitting on my desk for sometime, waiting, SCREAMING to be used. I attempted to try and not make my card super thick (lots and lots of layering) with over embellishing and tying a finishing bow...think I succeeded!
Teapot detail. To add a little more depth to my teapot I decided to ink the entire image with my sage dewdrop, and then on the outer edge I added a darker tea leaves ink. Really helps the pot to stand out.
The background on the card base is Damask Designs and Text Style II. Believe it or not, I actually used 2 different browns, but the Text Style wording comes off as pinkish mauve?! It set my color scheme to go vintage with the rest of the card.
I'm off to cleaning up my garden beds and enjoy this beautiful Spring day!

Chinese Thank-you Notebooks...

Text from my sister: "update your blog, I'm BORED!"

I got a good chuckle from that, but in my own defense, I was busy painting my living room...it had only taken me 6 weeks but IT'S DONE! There are 4 walls in my living room and I was dreading the 2 walls that are peaked! Grrrr! It looks beautiful though and I looooooove the color! I will snap a quick pick...once the furniture is moved back!

Anyhow, with my absence in blogging I also didn't have a darn thing to share...NOTHING new! Still several unfinished projects sitting on my desk, but I took a break from them to work on these little dolls:). I made these up as thank-you's for the photographers who did our family shoot back in November...yeah, tad late, but at least I remembered!China Dolls and Thank you are from Hero Arts, Kanji Phrases (green background) is a new set from CTMH, PTI-Petal Power and Trajan Alpha.It was hard to shoot the brushed gold cs as it blends in with the kraft cs, but I think you can see a little bit of difference here. Look how cute these sweet peas are??Close up on the bg...PTI-Petal Power and CTMH Kanji Phrases. I used Dew drops inks in soft earthy tones (Sahara Sand & Tea Leaves) so the bg is not so overwhelming. Finished off with a simple straight stitch line.

Floral Friend Notebook...

Special notebook, for a special friend! I made this notebook several weeks ago as part of my "thank-you notebooks" parade. This is the only notebook I made in this particular pattern, but I may have to splurge and make some more. I'm NO pro with Copic markers, but lately I've been preferring to use them along with Kraft card stock and love how the color flows. Even with the fibrous texture of Kraft cs, I don't get any bleed outs or smearing...always a PLUS!
Once I colored my flowers (PTI-Friends Til' the End), I used 3 different yellows for the center and added some adhesive rhinestones. I embossed "friend", did a little edge sewing, and added a 3 layered butterfly (Martha Stewart-Large Butterfly Punch).

Friend In Bloom...

Quick post today! Helping my hubby mend after Lasik surgery yesterday. Unfortunately for him, he had the more painful PRK procedure, which doesn't hurt much for the first day, but pain will kick in later today and tomorrow is supposedly the worst. Anyhow, I did a few cards up this weekend with a few new stamp sets I received from Papertrey Ink. In Bloom and Friends til' the End were paired with this layout. There is also PTI-heart prints bg used here, but the photo doesn't show it very well. I stamped the heart prints in SU! pretty in pink BEFORE I stamped the white flowers. There are many white inks to use in paper crafting. My preference is White Cloud (Dew Drops) with this bright pink cs from SU! I stamped "friend" with Tea Leaves (Dew Drop) and sprinkled with clear embossing powder before heating. A little faux stitching and some adhesive rhinestones finish the sentiment.
This layout is probably my favorite of the 2.
Love PTI-petal power bg set. I cut out a large flower (same ink and design as what is on the pink card portion) and wanted to add a little extra depth. To achieve extra depth, I traced the insides on my flower with my Dark Pink (flower) and Pea Green (leaves) copic markers. Once I colored them in, I cut them out and used 3-D foam for even more depth.
Happy crafting!

I {heart} Valentine's Cards...

Another rendition of my last post and the Valentine notebook. I chose the same layout for these cards. The only thing I left off was the ribbon, thought it'd be a bit too heavy on such a small space. I ran out of the MM pearl brads, but found some vintage creme buttons that worked just as nice!
I'm hoping to get in my craft studio this afternoon as we are expecting a rain/sleet mix all afternoon and into the evening! Stay warm, especially up North:)

I {heart} Valentine's Notebook...

I had to laugh at myself on the last post about my hubby installing "Foxilla"...lol Just shows how little I know about computers...it was Firefox Mozilla! I still have to do some adjusting when uploading my pics and I "think" I may have corrected the change in my HTML format...THAT much I DO understand:)

Anyhoo, another Valentine notebook to share with you! I really do love this K&CO Valentine paper deck and unfortunately I wanted to get more at Micheal's and they are SOLD OUT! This paper deck, although sold as "Valentine" paper, really can be used all year round...that's why I'm addicted to it!After trimming and adhering all my cs, I did a little ink distressing and sewing before I did the stamping. For the stamping I used Dew Drop Inks (Plumeria Pink, Sahara Sand) along with my PTI stamps (Polka Dot Basics, Text Style II). The ribbon is Martha Stewart in a very soft cocoa shade.Like my previous post, I once again used my EK success double edge punch, but this time I turned the scallop design to face the top vs. the bottom. I sewed my edges for a finished look and added some pink adhesive rhinestones. The sentiment is from Verve Stamps and I used 2 shades of pink for the heart, a light pink for the entire heart and a darker pink on the outer edges. Using 2 different shades really allowed for the heart to have added depth on the card stock.

Butterfly Notebook...

ETA: Thank you for the sweet comments! I started my blog nearly 3 years ago initially just to share with friends and family and I get tickled to think there are others who get inspired by my passion and I'm happy to share! There was an email request asking what notebooks I use for altering so I thought I'd share it here in case you all want to start a stash as well! Both notebook sizes (4x6 for the smaller one, Reporter's Notebooks for the larger ones) are available at your local Staples. Keep in mind, these notebooks ARE refillable! When your page inserts are filled, simply uncoil and put your pretty cover onto a new notebook!


Last week I took full advantage of the unpredictable weather and hunkered down in my craft studio to create a few notebooks and cards. I guess you could say I'm addicted to making these notebooks and although I do have a full stash hidden away, I've barely made a dent in them. My goal this year is to use what I've got...and..."try" to not buy anymore stuff...last night was my weakness! I digress! This lovely butterfly notebook is the larger size I use, roughly 4 x 8. I like this size because it allows me to elongate my design and it worked like a charm for my frond stems.Martha Stewart large butterfly punch. I did 2 butterflies for a little added flair along with some Star Dust Stickles on the top layer. There's that darn PTI-Polka Dot basics...AGAIN! This set just stays on my desk permanently...well used...well stained...money well spent!
Added a little bit of MS satin ribbon and hand guided it through my sewing machine. This particular ribbon is very slippery when using on the sewing machine. To thread the ribbon through, I use both hands (to hold the ribbon "somewhat" straight) and my right hand AT THE SAME time to turn my sewing knob by hand. It is quite the feat, but I do love how it adds a little elegance to a simple layout. Paper here is K&CO, solid colors are SU! and the scallop at the bottom is EK double edge scallop. I'm trying to better my skills with sewing MORE than just straight lines. I took the rounded edges slowly here, and although not exactly how "follow-the-line" it should be, it works!
I hope you enjoy and create today! As I'm typing this something funky is going on with my font and underlining etc. Hubby installed Foxilla last night and I think it may be interfering with my photo editing and the HTML...grrrrr! I'm going to hit the publish button and hope for the best!

Valentine Bag Toppers...

One my New Year's Resolutions was to get things back on course and enjoy what l love! When I started out paper crafting, it was ALL about scrap booking. As I was browsing through some old photos (the kid's baby books!) the other day I realized how much I missed scrap booking! I have my nearly 6 year old's book done, and very few pages in my 3 year old's. Last week I took on the task of organizing all our photos from 2008 and had them developed! Surprisingly, nearly 300 photos only cost $44.00, which would have cost tons more had I sent them ALL in for printing. It was such a "chore" going through all my saved photos, but I picked ONLY the best shots for developing. So, now your asking yourself what all this has to do with tonight's post right? Well, tomorrow evening I'm going to a refresher course on scrap booking and I will be in the company of great girlfriends and LOTS of laughter! I wanted to bring a little something for them and I came up with these cute Valentine choco/heart bags! The bag toppers are cut with my nesty die (the largest of this design) and all stamps are from PTI (Polka Dot Basics, BG Basics Text Style II). The hearts are punched from my Valentine K&CO paper deck. The sentiment is 3 separate stamps from PTI's First Fruit. I lined all 3 stamps up together on one acrylic block. If you have the arcylic blocks with a built in grid, it comes in handy in this case! My cello bags (clearbags.com) are the perfect size to fit 4 Dove chocolate hearts.I made up an extra kit for purchase in my Etsy shop if your are interested. This kit will include enough supplies for 10 Valentine goody bags (cello bags included!). I have already assembled 2 of them, so your work is cut out for you:) To break away from my Polka Dot Basics, I decided to break out my Damask Designs set. I love how it made the whole look more "vintage" when I used SU! classic inks.

The Kiddo's Valentine Cards..

A special project shared with my oldest! Both of my girls love to craft and I knew when I saw this K&CO paper, Gracie would *squeal* with delight...actually, it was probably ME, more than her! The characters (froggy, lion, and robot) come on a full 12x12 page and I simply punched them out and added a matte on the back. There are several sheets of each design so you could be making V-day cards for days...if your crazy like that...haha! I purchased the cookie and cracker packages at Sam's and you get 36 for $9.00. If you don't want to purchase the cookie bags, and your school allows home baked goods, you could use glassine bags with these toppers. Mr. Froggy! I did the stamping and Gracie did the sticking! She picked which friend would get which animal and then glued on the button!Ms. Robot! I love the off-centered button here:)Mr. Lion!Handwriting of a sweet pea! The "to" and "from" sentiments are from an old Crafty Secrets set. Now, I haven't been making cards for "days" but I did make up an extra kit for purchase. This kit includes 10 bag toppers, all supplies (minus the cookies of course!), you just need adhesive. These toppers can also be used on glassine bags. New notebooks are also available in my Etsy Shop!

Celebrating Life...

This may be my first sympathy card I've made, but rather making it look like all the others, with trees, sky view etc. I wanted it to be a "Celebration of Life" for the recipient. My dear neighbor and friend lost her young niece last week and I just wanted to let her know we cared and are here should she need anything. I always felt that when your heart lay still, your life should always be celebrated even in death. After I had my card made I was going to attach it to a simple floral bouquet, but decided on an Edible Arrangement...have a party in her honor! All paper is SU! and stamps are PTI. I love my Martha Stewart butterfly punch! You can punch just one or several for a 3-D effect. On a last note, I wanted to share a really cool tradition that my Husband's family shares with those family members who have passed. For those of you that may not know, my Husband is Chinese (hence the picture above...haha!) and family and afterlife are immensely important in their culture. For instance, on the anniversary of his Grandmother's death, all the family members gather at her grave site and have a BIG celebration (compared to American culture!) in honor of her life. First, red incense are lit around the grave site and paper money (it has gold leaf on one side) is burned for wealth. Food is also brought to the grave site, duck, wine, fruit and cake. Not only is his Grandmother served, but they also cut a small slice for her neighbors and share!! Once the celebration is thru, the incense and ashes from the money are disposed of, however the food that has been sliced and served stays at the gravesite. The first time I went, it brought me to tears! Even though I may have a language barrier with his parents, I was overwhelmed by how gracious and amazing this tradition truly is! This all leads me to believe that when my time comes, not only will I be spoiled by my children, BUT I will also be well fed:).

Valentine Notebooks...

Time to break out the festive Valentine Papers! You can always be sure when I step away from my blog that I'm busy creating new projects! New Valentine paper from K&CO. I did a little distressing around all the edges. Sentiment is from PTI-Take Note and the circles are cut with my nesty dies. Selected a few hearts on the bottom and added some adhesive rhinestones.This particular notebook was a BIG work-in-progress! You see, my original layout called for hearts on this notebook as well, BUT after I did the Positively Pink polka dots (which look like RED if you ask me!) and added the leaves (PTI-First Fruits) it started to look like RADISHES!!!!! ACKKK! I had put this notebook aside deciding if I was going to trash or not...THEN, realized, "hey, I've got some radish paper!" So, in the end, I really like that my "trash" was revived into a sweet, little, TREASURE! The radishes are cut from a full 12x12 sheet of DCWV-Farmer's Market.PTI-Polka Dot Basics, First Fruits, Take Note, BG Basics: Text Style II I will be updating my Esty shop this week as well! I have already reduced the prices on some of my Christmas items and I will be adding some new notebooks (some of the above as well!) and a Valentine Bag Topper kit. We worked on my Daughter's V-day Cards over her break last week so I decided to make an extra kit to share if you'd be interested!

Happy Monday!

Card Trio...

Quick and simple post! This card trio is a custom request that I just finished up. I had made these before, but with a totally different layout and design. I really like that I went out on a limb and tried something new! I know I do a lot of cards/notebooks with the "stripe" theme lately, but I simplified this design and left off the sewing! Since the card base is black, I did line all the cards with SU! white cs. Fun pattern with my Cuttlebug embossing folder. I don't use these often enough!Unisex design. Sentiment is from PTI-Damask Designs.Female version. Ribbon is trimmed and tucked underneath the inside, white liner.