Monday, September 15, 2008

Thanksgiving Frame

Another PTI release has come and gone. I enjoyed making my projects since I know exactly what I want to use them for. All of the projects looked so nice. I placed my order last night at 12:08 a.m. and am so excited to get my stuff.

My project today is for Thanksgiving. I had this frame that I found at the Everything's a Dollar Store. It comes with three different colored frames but I liked the olive green against the black so I traded out the little frames. I found some coordinating buttons from my stash and used the First Fruits set. I love the pineapple and I just popped up the greenery. It looks nice on the entertainment stand.


Close up

Side view (my favorite view)

Supplies:
Dollar store frame
PTI First Fruits
PTI cardstock
PTI Perfect Match ink
Rhonna Farrer buttons
Twine from Wal-mart beading section

Sunday, September 14, 2008

GSS Submission: Spooky Treats Vials and Containers

Here's one of the GSS submissions that I entered for this month. I made two other projects that you can see over in the gallery at PTI and I'll also post them for the next couple of days. I had a specific purpose for every project I made for this month and I felt like it was easier to create a project when I already knew what I wanted to make. The first project is for a girl's night that I'll host in October. I get together each month with a group of gal pals. The past two years we played Bunco but now that our group is smaller, we just get together and play a game. I wanted to create some centerpieces that could hold some candy treats for my guests. Of course, I had to use Spooky Treats and Spooky Treats II. I actually used both of the stamp sets for this project.

First, I got out the wooden containers and painted them with black Making Memories paint. I created an insert that would hold the vials upright. I measured the height and width of the paper then used my Scor-Pal for my lines. I put the corks on the top to determine where to cut the circles. I used Shrinky Dinks for the first time and LOVE them! I just want to play with these all the time now and my friends can't believe I didn't play with Shrinky Dinks growing up (I'm an '80s child.)

I coordinated each container because I'm a perfectionist :). I also put my Essential Glue Pad to use to stamp the saying on the front. I stamped onto the paper with the glue pad and then covered it with Martha Stewart Onyx glitter. It's amazing how well the glue pad works.

I used the circular labels from Spooky Secrets I to attach to the top of the cork and tied the Shrinky Dinks around the vials with a bit of ribbon.

Here are the pictures of my project. Just bear with me because there are a lot of pictures:

Spring Moss and Summer Sunset tops of the vials:


Close ups of the front with the glitter:


The Shrinky Dinks (Not just for kids!):


Supplies:
Wooden boxes from Michael's
PTI cardstock
PTI ribbon in Aqua Mist and Summer Sunset
PTI Perfect Match Palette Ink
PTI Spooky Sweets and Spooky Sweets II stamp sets
Shrinky Dinks
Black ribbon from stash
Bazzill black paper
Nestabilities
Essential Glue pad
Martha Stewart Onyx glitter
Vials are from Martha Stewart but I bought them last year in Halloween clearance section

On another subject, my DH and I went to the hospital yesterday to see our new nephew. He's just adorable and he's such a good baby. I can't wait to see him again. My sister-in-law had a C-Section so she's in a bit of pain but she said it's so worth it. My brother-in-law is just so happy he can't stop smiling, actually both of them are so very happy. It's also the first baby in the family so it's extra special. We love them so much and they are going to be such great parents.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Lauren's Saturday Sketch Challenge

Good Saturday morning! My husband and I are headed to Lexington to see our little nephew. I'm an aunt for the first time. He was born Friday morning at 9:21 and we are so excited to be go see him.

Today is also Lauren's Saturday Sketch Challenge. The sketch for this week was challenging for me but I was able to come up with something tonight. I used PTI products, of course! I haven't used kraft paper as the base in a while so I got that out and then used the Remember stamp set. I love the poppies and the 2-step stamping turns out so well. I added some sparkles with Spica atYou glitter markers. I love combining buttons with brads or other things so I put the prongs of the brads through some green buttons. I think it's my favorite part of the card. For the flower part of the sketch, I stamped a poppy onto vellum and then cut it out and popped it up.

Without further ado, here's the sketch! It's so fun to participate and it gets you to work outside of your comfort zone sometimes. It really sparks my creativity.

Here's my interpretation of the sketch.

Close up of the vellum flower

Supplies:
PTI cardstock
PTI Remember stamp set
PTI ribbon
Brads from Joann Fabrics
Spica atYou marker in black
Rhonna Farrer buttons
velvet brads

Join in the fun! Thanks for looking and you can go look at the other ladies' blogs too to see what they did with the sketch:
Lauren Meader: http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder: http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com
Maria Levine: http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton: http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque: www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com
Kim Gasper: http://stampinintherain.blogspot.com
Alicia Weimen: http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com
MacKenzie Bruckler: http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 5, 2008

Lauren's Saturday Sketch Challenge

It's that time of the week again and honestly it's about all I have time for right now. With the school year in full swing, I'm staying really busy and since it's a new job, I am planning, grading, and doing more than ever. Oh well, I enjoy teaching and my job so it's worth it. I just wish I had more time for being crafty.

I was able to get Photoshop Elements 6.0 with a great teacher discount at Best Buy last weekend and I'm still trying to figure out how in the world it works so I don't know that my pictures will be the best. I got the "Missing Manual for Photoshop 6.0" so we'll see if that helps. If anyone has any suggestions or places online that I go for tips, please let me know. Thanks!

The sketch for this week is:


I used the new PTI set, First Fruits, which is great! Coordinating patterned paper is available too and it's just beautiful. I overlapped the Chocolate Brown and Summer Sunset. I love how PTI coordinated their monthly colors but all of the colors can be worked together to make a beautiful combination. On a different note, I tried the rocking method for the first time with the chocolate brown and spring moss. I'm not sure that it turned out the best or that I even did it the right way but I'll learn. I used my Essential Glue pad for the leaves on the background to glitterfy them with some Martha Stewart glitter. Then, I stamped the individual leaves throughout. When I was making this, I wished that I had smaller versions of these things. I think that's about it!

A close up of the glittery leaves:


Join in the fun! Thanks for looking and you can go look at the other ladies' blogs too to see what they did with the sketch:
Lauren Meader: http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Tamara Harder: http://tamarastamps.blogspot.com
Maria Levine: http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Dawn Easton: http://www.TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com/
Kirsten Dubosque: www.kirstendubosque.blogspot.com
Kim Gasper: http://stampinintherain.blogspot.com
Alicia Weimen: http://www.happystamp.blogspot.com
MacKenzie Bruckler: http://midnightscramper.blogspot.com/