Blog Hop Entry

Well, I haven't had time to make a new card for the blog hop but I do have a Scor-Pal and love it. I am going to re-post a card I made before and I think that the use of the Scor-Pal was good. I made a frame around the center items and then made holes in the front so that I could run ribbon through the holes.

Thanks for looking! This is a short post but I'm super busy with a lot of other things going on around here. I'm supposed to be getting a light tent soon. Thanks Niki Estes for the suggestion! The FedEx website says that it's been on a truck for delivery since last Friday....hmmmm. Strange.


Supplies:
All PTI stuff

Father's Day Card

Well, I wasn't going to post this until after Father's Day but I realized my dad and my FIL don't look at my blog so it's okay!

I have ordered a light tent and am so excited. I bought it for my purse business but am also going to use it for my cards and paper products.

I need to get started on some purses because I'm going to start having Plaid Parties. They are similar to Stampin' Up parties where the hostess can earn benefits for merchandise sold at their party. Oh, and I just got a really cool design for some new business cards. I ordered my design from nbcreative on etsy.com. If you haven't been to etsy yet, you should check it out. Everything sold there is handmade and I could literally spend all day just surfing around. It really inspires and encourages me to expand my own purse business.

I've been busy with a knitting project. I've been meeting with a great group of ladies at the local B & N where we sit and knit on Thursday nights. I'm getting ready to start my second big project. I just am about finished with a drop knit scarf. I will post pictures when I have the last stitches bound off.

This past weekend I went to Nashville with my Bunco friends. We rode on the General Jackson, saw the Peking Acrobats on ship which was cool!, got my first pedicure, played at Dave & Busters, and watched Made of Honor (cute). On Sunday we ate at the Aquarium restaurant which is such a cool experience. It feels like you are eating underwater.

Okay, now onto the card. I submitted this card for the PTI GSS contest but did not win with this card. I still really like the vibrant colors. I'm really looking forward to next month's GSS because my SIL is pregnant and I'm going to make a goodie basket for her. (cover your eyes April :)).

This card uses only Papertrey Ink supplies. Race over to the site because their products rock :).

Close up...I just love close ups:

Hoppy Birthday

Edited to add: This ensemble was highlighted as an honorable mention on Nichole's blog. I feel so honored and the other projects are great. Go check them out here: Capture the Moment.

This is another entry I had for this month's PTI submissions. Today's project was a gift bag set for a boy's birthday. The project was supposed to be a boy's birthday card...there's where I went wrong :). However, once I thought of stamping on the tissue paper my mind was on a gift bag. I did make a little card though. I just got out a kraft bag and put the front decoration on. I stamped the frog from Pond Life stamp set all over the place...on the tissue paper, on the card, and on the front of the bag. I used the Spring Moss ribbon, ink, and paper along with the white cardstock. I had some Me & My Big Ideas rhinestones that coordinated very well with the colors.

Close up of tissue paper

Kraft bag

Little card

Mother's Day Shadow Boxes

Here are the shadowboxes that I made for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I think that she liked them. I used all PTI products, which is now my staple product even though I have a ton of other great stuff that I need to start using! I highlighted Garden of Life and just love these flowers! Alli and her designs rock! I used Berry Sorbet, Aqua Mist, and Summer Sunrise. I used Lemon Tart on all of the shadowboxes. I have been meaning to find a way to reuse the acrylic cases that the stamps arrive in from PTI. I looked at them and immediately thought of home decor and the shadowboxes seemed to fit. I put a band around the case and stamped the polka dots with Polka Dot Basics in Lemon Tart. I used my lovely Nestabilities that I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have them. All of the products are PTI so I won't include a supply list.


Close-ups of each box...which one do you like best?

It's Been Too Long

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted a card or any project. I am going to post a few peeks of the Guest Star Stamper entry that I've submitted this month. I'll post all of the pictures once the entries are shown on the Papertrey Ink site.

Knitting

I am getting back into knitting after making a scarf and then not taking it any farther. I've seen so many cool patterns and there are so many things that I want to make that I am back into it. A few other ladies and myself have started to meet at the local Barnes & Noble...Starbucks, chattering, and knitting is a great combination. If anyone that reads this lives in or near Elizabethtown and wants to come to the knitting group, please let me know. We are trying to grow our group. We will be meeting this coming Thursday for some more fun.

April Blog Hop

Well, tonight is the night for the Blog Hop and I hope everyone is ready for a lot of fun. Paper Trey Ink has been one of my new loves when it comes to stamping and card making products. The Blog Hop is a fantastic way to share inspiration with other crafters. Go check out the Blog Hop and chat it up with everyone tonight on the Paper Trey Ink forums: www.papertreyink.com and just click on the forum & gallery link at the top of the page. If you like my projects, you can also vote on the forum starting at 8 tonight.

I couldn't stop once I got started with the small squares. I would have made more but it got to be too late last night. I'm so excited about how many possibilities there are with these squares.

Here are my projects:
Fatherly Tree

PTI circles
PTI white cardstock
acrylic sheet
brown felt
Frosted Lace Stickles
Father stamp is from PTI Mixed Messages stamps
Palette Ink Burnt Umber
Blocked pattern

Supplies:
PTI squares
Liquid Applique
PTI Paper Tray stamp set
PTI white cardstock
Happy Life
Palette Ink Burnt Umber

MIA

Sorry I haven't been around for the past few days. I've actually been working hard on getting up to date with some purse orders. I also went to a knitting group on Thursday night. That was a blast but I have so far to go! I basically relearned how to cast on with the help with two of the ladies that are in the group. I am hoping to make a card or two tomorrow but I'm still working on the purses and I really need to finalize my thesis project. I have already turned in my thesis but I have to be ready for my 10 minute presentation for Tuesday evening. I hope it all goes well. I will be walking on air to my car when it's over.

Note Card Set

Well, I didn't win the GSS contest. I was terribly bummed out this morning but I'm getting over it...I'm going to share with you the second project that I made for the contest. This one is for Mother's Day but shhhh....don't tell my mom or MIL. First of all, the clear containers are from Easter. My DH bought chocolate eggs for his students, they came in these containers, and I snatched them up...convincing him that I could do something with them. Recycling is good, huh? I also used my brand new square Nestabilities which I have fallen in love with. I now have the whole set of squares and the whole set of circles. I bought both of them at www.ucutathome.com because you get a 40% monthly coupon so I treat myself each month to a new set of Nestabilities. Anyway, the rest of the set is somewhat self-explanatory but I would like to do a tutorial sometime soon. Maybe for the next release if I can afford to make a purchase. I made 12 stickers (two sets of 6) to go with the set and tied Berry Sorbet twill around each set of 6 stickers. I used a notepad that was already sitting on the desk and just revamped it to match the rest of the kit. I had bought the little wooden containers at Michael's for 50 cents...yeah, I totally have about 20 of them :). I decorated a pen, made 6 mini-cards to put inside the decorated container, and used my Scor-Pal to make levels for the different parts of the kit. There are going to be quite a few pictures so please bear with me.

On the college front, I took my exam tonight and I think I aced it. It started at 4:30 and I was out of there at 5:03. It was cake. Just to turn in a paper tomorrow and present my thesis next Tuesday.


Stickers

Decorated Pen

Notepad

Wooden Box

6 Mini Cards

Supplies:
wooden container
PTI cardstock
Palette ink pads
PTI patterned paper
Scor-Pal
Acrylic box
PTI ribbons
PTI Bags, Boxes & Tags stamp set, Wedding Day set, Papertray set
Nestabilities

PTI GSS Submission

How about them acronyms? :) I actually entered two projects into the Paper Trey Ink Guest Star Stamper contest for the month. Last month, I entered a card but I realized that I wanted to do something bigger and better. With Mother's Day and a Wedding not too far off, I decided to focus on those projects. The first project I made was a wedding gift set. I had bought $ frames from the Dollar Tree and then I painted each of the individual frames white. Then, I used Wedding Day by Alli Miles. I chose three different stamps: the butterfly, the square image, and the swirl fern image. I used my new wonderful square Nestabilities and made three pictures using the Wedding Day set. I popped up the center image all together. You can really see the detail of what's behind of each popped up image. You can see what I did by looking at the card because I used the same images. I did add Spring Moss and the fern. Hope you like them! I will share the note set tomorrow.


Close up of the card, I like how the ribbon turned out:

Supplies:
All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted...
square Nestabilities
Palette Ink in Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, and Aqua Mist
Frame from The Dollar Tree
White acrylic paint

Personal Ramblings

No card or project for today but I have a couple of things that I'm excited to share. However, they are for the PTI Guest Star Stamper submission and I don't want to share them until they are all released in the gallery over on the PTI forum. I'm just going to share a few personal things and then call it a night. This weekend, I've finished my 25 page thesis and an eight page paper for another class. I had turned in another ten page paper last Tuesday so I have a huge sense of accomplishment right now. I do have a final exam on Tuesday in my linguistics class, but I am in no way concerned about it. The professor gave us the exact questions and it's just a matter of reviewing the materials. My final project will be presented on April 22nd and I do need to get my Powerpoint and eight minute talk ready along with a handout. Since the paper is already done, I will just have to pick an interesting aspect. I feel like these past two and a half years have crawled by, but now it seems like it went quickly. I am thrilled that my Master's degree is almost finished and I can start to really focus on some other things.

Okay, enough rambling for today...I promise to share the big project I've been working on either Tuesday or Wednesday. I may also try to make a card to post for tomorrow as well. I am so excited to start creating even more than I already am. Also, I'm going to my first knitting group on Thursday and am excited about that as well.

Tagged by Choice

Niki Estes was tagged and offered for anyone to be tagged. Since I have never been tagged before, I figured I would play. I'm not saying I'm terribly interested and that my seven random facts are interesting but you can learn more about me.

1. I will finish my Master's degree in Spanish on April 22nd with a final presentation of my thesis at University of Louisville, where I've been attending for two and a half years.
2. I'm from Ohio and all of my family lives there. I live the farthest away of even the extended family and 90% of me wants to move back there.
3. I teach Spanish at the elementary level to students in K-6 although I taught high school for a year and 5th grade for a year. This is my third school within four years.
4. I have lived in Costa Rica (summer of 2007) and Spain (Aug. 2002-Dec.2002) and loved living abroad, especially in Spain.
5. I love most any type of craft...I enjoy cardmaking, scrapbooking, cross stitching, knitting, crocheting, altering, beading, sewing, quilting, punchneedling, I will try most anything.
6. Oh, it gets tough toward the end...The best vacation I have ever been on was when I was still an undergrad in college. My mom, dad, brother, and I traveled to New Mexico to visit my great aunt and uncle. We went through almost twenty states, visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse in progress, Pike's Peak, White Desert in New Mexico, and just saw a lot of scenery and states.
7. I have my own business called Plaid Leaf Purses. I am self-taught and was given the business. I want to start having Plaid Parties...sort of like Stampin-Up or Tupperware parties except with purses.

Happy Birthday!

Well, it's no one's birthday but I have a card ready for the next one. I just love PTI...I know...I'm a broken record. I don't have much to say tonight as I want to work on a project that's taking a lot of my time. I'll just share the card and not ramble!


Supplies:
PTI white cardstock
PTI Sweet Blush paper, ribbon, and ink
PTI It's a Celebration and Simple Alphabet stamp sets
Palette Noir ink
Diamond Stickles