Compact Mini Album

This is a very belated Mother's Day gift I made for one of my friends, Heather.  I've been wanting to make one of these little mini albums made out of a powder compact that I bought at the Dollar Store.   I found a great tutorial to make one, here. 

The only thing I did differently was to take the mirror out of the compact as well as the powder.  I just popped it off with the knife end of my wine key.  This gave me a little extra room to embellish the pages. 

I've never "scrapbooked" before, I always just make cards and gifts.  My sister is the real scrapbooker, this attempt pales in comparison to the wonderful pages that she makes!  

For these two pages, I used the one of the sentiments from Pins & Needles by Our Craft Lounge.  I added a few buttons and alphabet beads to spell out Oliver's name.

For these pages, I used the Just The Ticket stamp set/die from Papertrey Ink and another button tied with DMC floss.

For the last pages, I used the You Make Me Smile stamp by Penny Black.  I embellished these two pages with some little punched hearts and one more button tied with DMC floss.  I didn't have the label punch that Shaunte used in hers, so I just make a little pull tab with a square punch and a corner rounder.



I wanted to keep the top simple so Heather could keep it in her purse.  I just cut another circle and then adhered a cardstock sticker to the top with a piece of foam tape.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink, Penny Black, Our Craft Lounge

Ink:  Stamps By Judith

Paper:  S.E.I. Granny's Kitchen and matching cardstock stickers

Misc:  DMC floss, buttons, compact, foam tape, heart paper punch, Just The Ticket Die, alphabet beads, Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping by,

You Make My Heart Skip A Beat

This card is my entry for three different challenges!  This is the first time I've entered more than one challenge with a single card. 

The Challenges:

Catered Crop Felt With Heart Recipe Swap

My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club Challenge 73

The Kraft Journal Make It Monday Emboss and Embellish

I love the Pure Innocence Stamps, I need all of them, but unfortunately I don't have them all yet (insert my whiny voice and pitiful face here).   This time I used the Jump For Joy stamp set. I stamped her, colored her with Copics and paper pieced her dress.  For the jump rope, I used some Baker's Twine.  This super sweet paper is from My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks Paper Pad.  For my fellow Red Sox fans, yes I sang our song and it was so good, so good, so good!  For the Catered Crop Recipe Swap, I used felt for the grass.  For the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club Challenge, I used the sketch.  For the Kraft Journal Make It Monday Emboss and Embellish, I embossed the kraft cardstock and the tiny kraft hearts with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.  The clouds were cut with the My Favorite Things Clouds Die-Namics.  The small hearts are from the Martha Stewart Confetti Heart Paper Punch.  I did lots of layering with foam tape and and a little machine stitching.

I need to go to bed soon, but game one of the East Finals Basketball game is on.  My Celtics are having a bit of a hard time, but it's only the first game and it's not over yet!  I have to get up at 5:00 AM tomorrow for a 7:00 AM doctor appointment, yuck!

Thanks for stopping by,



I "Heart" You

If you haven't bought the Paper Crafts Card Creations Volume 10 yet, you definitely need to go and get it!  There are tons of great cards, so many that I plan to case.  This one was inspired by Kayln Kepner, Button Birthday, on page 46.

I paper punched some hearts in two sizes.  They are attached with foam tape to the base of my card.  I didn't have the right amount/color of buttons to match my paper, so I used the Papertrey Ink Button Dies to make my own.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.

Supplies:

Stamp:  Stampin'Up-I Love You

Ink:  Tim Holtz, Stamps by Judith

Paper:  Bazzill, My Mind's Eye-Nostalgia

Misc:  Papertrey Ink Button Dies, foam tape, pinking shears, DMC floss, sewing machine

I hope everyone is having a safe Memorial Day.  God bless the Men and Women who have fought and died for our country, the Men and Women in our Armed Forces, our Veterans, and America.

Thanks for stopping by,

Button Flowers

I've been admiring of all of the button flowers over at Pinterest, and decided to make some of my own.   Then, I whipped up some simple birthday cards to show them off!

Supplies:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things-Big Greetings, Studio G-Leaf

Ink:  Versafine, Versamark

Paper:  Wasau, Teresa Collins, Little Yellow Bicycle

Misc:  Buttons, paper punches, tacky glue, My Favorite Things Scallop Border Die-Namic

Thanks for stopping by,

Greetings From Sunny Florida

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post!  I've been going through some serious crafting withdrawal.  I've been working a lot of double shifts lately as now that the snow birds are gone, business where I work is starting to slow down.  By the time I get home, I'm so exhausted and then I have to get up the next morning and do it all over again.  I also picked up extra shifts last week because I needed last Saturday off to go to the Scrapbook Expo.  It was totally awesome!!!!  Just Laura and I went and we also celebrated "Aunt's Day".  We bought lots of new goodies including paper (you can never have enough) and Scrapbuck was there with Quickutz 2 X 2 Dies for $1.00 and the 4 X 4 Dies for $3.00!  We love Quickutz, so needless to say we certainly stocked up!  My gifts from Laura included a pair of Boston Bruins earrings, dinner, and my very first pedicure.  We had such a good time.  I spent the night at our Mom's where I made my version of a skinny margarita, they were super delicious!

I recently received a great gift bag full of new stamps from Dandelion Designs.  They are truly one of my favorite companies.  I wanted to make Jean, the owner, a thank you card using some of these stamps. 

I cut the state of Florida out using the 50 States Cricut Cartridge.  The post card was made using the Papertrey Ink Button Card Die and the Postmarks Stamp Set. I stamped the little beach girl, colored her with Copics, and paper pieced her bikini.  The stamped and fussy cut the sun.  Then, I added a little yellow Stickles around the rays. 

This picture doesn't do the card much justice.  It's much nicer in real life. 

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dandelion Designs, Papertrey Ink, Custer's Last Stamp

Ink:  Memento, Versafine

Paper:  Bazzill, My Mind's Eye The Sunny Side

Misc:  Copics, Stickles, Papertrey Ink Button Card Die, pop up dots, black Sharpie pen, sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by,



Happy Day After Mother's Day!

Happy belated Mother's Day!  Here is one last card I made for my Mom.  I wanted to post it yesterday, but I had to work a double shift.  By the time I got home, I was so tired and I had to get up really early today.  Laura and I bought Mom a yarn bowl.  I am going to see Mom and Laura this coming weekend.  I will give Mom all of the cards I made for her.  Laura got a lot of really fun Mother's Day gifts from her kids, including an above the ground garden that they boys built.  It sounds very impressive.   Laura and I are going to the Scrapbook Expo on Saturday, she informed me that according to her calender, Saturday is "Aunt's Day".  I think she has a surprise planned!  I am wicked super excited about it!

This is a Michelle Wooderson inspired card.  It's much prettier in person than in the photograph.  I very carefully masked the stems/blooms onto the jar.  Masking makes me very nervous, I just think I need some more practice.  The stems and leaves were colored with Copics.  The blooms are paper pieced. 

Supplies:

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink-Limitless Labels (sentiment), Friendship Jar, Friendship Jar Spring Fillers

Ink:  Versafine

Paper:  Wasau, Authentique

Misc:  Copics, Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar Die, hearts paper punch, sewing machine, My Favorite Things Scallop Border Dienamics

Got to get back to my Celtics game and laundry.  Defense!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pinterest Inspired Mother's Day Card

I just love Pinterest, there are some the coolest things on there. Unfortunately, it's extremely addicting and I spend way too much time there.   I found this card there and used it for the inspiration for another card for my Mom.  She really likes cards!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink-Blooming Button Bits

Ink:  Memento

Paper:  Martha Stewart, The Paper Studio, American Crafts, Bo Bunny

Misc:  Nestabilities, buttons, dyed seam binding, sewing machine, computer generated sentiment, pop up dots, tags, My Favorite Things Clouds Die-Namics, Papertrey Ink Button Dies, Cuttlebug Swirls Embossing Folder

Thanks for stopping by,

Catered Crop Recipe Swap "The Letter B"

Here is my entries for the Catered Crop Recipe Swap.  The ingredients for this swap include anything with the letter B.  You can check out all of the details and the great entries here.

Two more of my fellow co-workers are expecting babies, so this was the perfect challenge for my gifts.  I purchased two pairs of baby shoes, one for a girl and one for a boy.  Then, I decided to make some fun little shoes boxes to present the little bitty shoes in, or as my Mom would say, "I tricked them up!".  The boxes were made with Scor-Pal.  I used Nestabilities (heart and circle) to cut a hole in the top of each box to reveal the contents of the box.

First, the box for the little baby girl. 

Here is the inside of the box, with the tiny little pair of Mary Janes.  They are so cute!



Supplies:

Stamp:  Studio G-Onesie

Ink:  Versafine

Paper:  Martha Stewart, The Paper Company

Misc:  Nestabilities, clear acetate, baker's twine, pop up dots, ric rak, half pearl, button, DMC pearl cotton, Martha Stewart tag, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, wired ribbon, paper doily, baby shoes, Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape

Next, up for the future basketball player.

In this all star box, a tiny pair of sneakers.  Now, the daddy of this future player is a Laker's fan, and I bleed Celtic green, so I thought blue sneakers was a happy compromise!  For a fun "boyish" bow, I used a wide shoelace.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink-Just The Ticket

Ink:  Memento, VersaColor

Paper:  The Paper Company, Recollections

Misc:  Shoe lace, baker's twine, Papertrey Ink Just The Ticket Die, basketball brad, Nestabilities, clear acetate, baby sneakers, Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape

Now, the ingredients that include the letter B:

Baby

Box

Bow

Brad

Basketball

Baker's Twine

Button

Butterfly

Boy

I can't wait to give the expecting parents these gifts.  I had a blast making them!

Thanks for stopping by,



MFTWSC70 My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Club

Here is my entry for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Club.  You can find all the details, here.

The  sentiment is from My Favorite Things Big Greetings stamp set.  I hand cut the fish tail banners.   The flowers were made using Papertrey Ink Beautiful Blooms Dies, buttons, and a little tulle.  I cut the leaves free hand from some felt and then added some machine stitching to create the center vein.

To personalize my card, I just added some glitters letters from my stash.

Supplies:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things-Big Greetings

Ink:  Versafine

Paper:  Papertrey Ink, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Crate Paper

Misc:  Pop up dots, buttons, DMC floss, tulle, glitter letters, sewing machine, My Favorite Things Die-Namics Scallop Border.  Papertrey Ink Beautiful Blooms Flower Dies, felt, Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping by,



A BIG Thank You and Some Mother's Day Gifts

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who read and/or left a comment on my last post.  It is such a honor to have you all for my friends.  I could feel your hugs through my internet connection.  You are such a wonderful group of ladies, and I'm just so appreciative of your support. 

So, I've trying to re-organize my crafty space.  It's actually my bedroom, or should I say a craft room with a bed in it!  I'm trying purge/pare down my stash.  I would find stuff and not remember buying it?!  Someone one should have a challenge blog called, "When did I buy this, more importantly, why did I buy this?".  If you know anyone that has already thought of this, let me know, I'm ready for it!

Onto my project...I made some little "gifties" for the ladies at my Mom's knitting group for Mother's Day.  My Mom likes to pass out the little surprises I send with her, she said it's like when you brought cupcakes to school on your birthday.  I only got to do it twice.  My birthday is in August and in Massachusetts, it's still summer vacation.  But, when I was in kindergarten, if your birthday was in the summer, there was a special day you could bring in cupcakes.  I remember I brought in chocolate ones with Fluff frosting.  Now, explain to me why I remember that which was 40 years ago and I can't remember buying Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Nine?  The other time was when I first moved to Florida and, on my birthday, I brought cupcakes to my sister's class to share with her students.  I think she was teaching 5th grade then.  They were Publix cupcakes and they were super delicious.

Back to the topic, the little packages I made.  I made tags with some paper scraps, a few paper punches, and the sentiment from Dandelion Designs.  I tucked some candy into a glassine bag and then wrapped some tulle around it and tied it into a bow.  I made some silver rimmed tags and added a button and a tiny paper punched butterfly.

I made 13 of these little "gifties".  One for my Mom and then there are 10 ladies in the group.  There are two extra, just in case.  What I love about these is that even though I used the same papers on each one, they are arranged different on each one.  No two tags are alike, so everyone gets one that is special just for them, just like them!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Dandelion Designs

Paper:  Scraps from my Stash!

Ink:  Versamagic

Misc: Buttons, sewing machine, paper punches, half pearls, tulle, glassine bags, Making Memories Tag Maker, candy

Thanks for stopping by,

That Wasn't Very Nice

Last night, when I got home from work, I went to check out my blog.  I've been teaching training sessions at work all week and haven't had a lot of time to craft.  But, I like to read the comments that are left on my projects.  I love to check out to see if the author has a blog of their own or who they follow.  I think it's a great way to get new inspiration.

Now, I realize that I was really tired last night, and I get overly emotional when I am tired.  I am firm believer in the right to free speech that is outlined in the First Amendment.  So, while I was reading comments, I found that someone wrote a comment that one of my projects appeared "tacky" as it had a grammatical error.  The particular project was a gift for a teacher.  For those of you that don't know, my sister (who is my very best friend in the whole world) is a teacher.  I wasn't fortunate to have children, so every one of my teacher gifts are for her, her friends, and the young teacher that she is mentoring this year.  This comment really hurt my feelings, I put my whole heart and soul into every project I make.  Everything I make, I give to the person who provided the inspiration.  I'm very fortunate to have such a wonderful family and friends who have helped me through difficult times and I get so much joy at watching them receive their gift.

When I got up this morning, I was still upset about it.  I texted Laura and told her what happened.  This is what she replied....

"We loved those...kids think it's funny...my tag is on my desk."

Laura always makes me feel better.  No one would ask for a better big sister than her!  No matter how old we get, she still protects me!

My Grandma Maggie always said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  So, the moral of this story is, if you don't like something, please keep it to yourself.  Stuff like that really hurts my feelings.

To all of the wonderful people who leave me comments, thank you so much.  I can't describe how good it makes me feel to read them.  It is such an honor to have so many followers, faithful commenters and have such talented crafters involved in my little corner of the blog world.  Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by,

New Baby Gift Bag

One of my co-workers and his wife just welcomed a new baby girl into their family.  I am bringing a gift in to him at work today, so I got up early to make this gift tag/bag.

It was pretty simple to make.  I used some Martha Stewart paper and cut out a onesie.  A little faux stitching was added using a Sharpie pen.  It was attached to a doily and tag that I cut out from the same paper pad.  A button flower was attached to the onesie.  Then, I punched some butterflies out.  I punched two of pink vellum and one of designer paper, layered them, fluffed them, added pearls, and then one was attached to the bow and one to the tag.  I wrapped some tulle around the bag and tied a big bow.  The tulle was so easy to work with, it really makes a pretty bow.



Supplies:

Paper:  Martha Stewart

Misc:  Butterfly punch, tulle pearls, Sharpie pen, heart button, leaf punch, kraft bag, pop up dots

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy Mother's Day with Blooming Button Bits

I had a lot of help from the cats in the making of this card.  They each took turns rolling on the table, walking on the keyboard as I was trying to edit the pictures, and pushing the flowers on the floor.  As I sit here now, Oscar is scratching his face on the screen and Tedy is trying to lay on the computer!  My original plans where to make this a yellow and blue card, but it just didn't seem to come together right. 

Supplies:

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink-Blooming Button Bits

Ink:  Memento, Versafine

Paper:  Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, My Mind's Eye, Recollections

Misc:  Pop up dots, half pearls, sewing machine, My Favorite Things Butterfly Die-Namics, Papertrey Ink Beautiful Blooms Dies, buttons

Thanks for stopping by,

Catered Crop "Krafty Recipe Swap" Quickfire

Here is my project for the Catered Crop "Krafty Recipe Swap" Quickfire.  The rules of this challenge was to use kraft paper in your project.  I actually used it a few times, but you can really only see one.  You can find out the details of the challenge here.

I made this for my Mom for Mother's Day.  I love paper sacks, so I thought that a sack with a matching tag would be great way to package a little gift.  For the sack, I just trimmed the top of it off that used a paper edger to make a decorative edge.  A little seam binding tied in a fluffy bow, one of my crocheted hearts, a button, and DMC floss completed the sack.

Onto the tag, using my Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Cricut Cartridge and my Gypsy, I cut out a long scalloped tag out of kraft paper and one out of designer paper.  I added machine stitching around the designer paper tag and then adhered it to the kraft tag.  My little girl is the My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Holly Girl stamp that I bought last winter.  I did a little masking with a post it note when I stamped it (twice) in order to omit the holly in my image.  The was cut using the My Favorite Things Oval Open Scallop Die-Namics.  After I colored her with Copics and paper pieced her dress, she was adhered with pop up dots onto the oval.  I also used the My Favorite Things Scallop Ribbon Border on the bottom of the tag as a decorative trim.  Instead of holding the holly, I added a crochet flower and a pretty button.  The sentiment is also from My Favorite Things, it was part of the VIP Girls Rule kit.  I used this sentiment in my Mother's Day Card last year, too, I hope Mom doesn't mind! 

For the third use of kraft paper in this project (first was the paper sack and second was the tag base), I made my own "chipboard" style letters.  Using kraft paper and the Alphalicious Cricut Cartridge, I cut M O M out four times and one time out of designer paper.  I glued the layers together and then covered them with some Diamond Glaze.  I glued them onto the tag, and the tag is done.  I attached the tag to the seam binding with a clothespin covered in designer paper and Modge Podge.

Make sure you stop by Catered Crop and check out all of the great goodies that everyone has made.

Supplies:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things-Pure Innocence Holly Girl and VIP Girls Rule Mini Set

Ink:  Versafine, Memento

Paper:  October Afternoon Little Darlings Collection, Recollections Kraft paper

Misc:  Paper sack, seam binding, small clothespin, Modge Podge, Copics, crocheted flower and heart, buttons, DMC pearl cotton, pop up dots, Diamond Glaze, My Favorite Things Die-Namics Scallop Ribbon Border and Oval Open Dies, Cricut Alphalicious Cartridge,  paper edger

Thanks for stopping by,

I'm So Grateful For You

Just a quick card to post today.  I had to get up early to go to the Dentist, yuck!  I have lots of cleaning, laundry and crafting to do.  The crafting is the fun part, but I must clean and make sure I have a uniform to wear to work tomorrow.

Supplies:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things-Framed Greetings

Ink:  Versafine

Paper:  My Mind's Eye Be Happy

Misc:  Martha Stewart Flower Paper punch, button, half pearls, pop up dots, doily, heart stick pins, DMC pearl cotton, My Favorite Things Scallop Ribbon Border Die-Namics Die, seam binding

Thanks for peeking!

Today Was A Good Day

Today was a good day.   First, I got to sleep in until 9 AM!  I've had to get up very early every day this week as I have been teaching the training class at work.  After I feed the cats, I check my email and read any updates on the blogs that I follow.  I participated, for the first time, at the Catered Crop Recipe with Brads Challenge.  I submitted the card I made for my sister, Laura, for her birthday.   Well, they posted the winners and my name was on the list!  I am so excited!  I get to be a Top Chef Designer in next Sunday's Quickfire.  The new challenge is using kraft.  You can check out the details here.  This will be a fun one for me, as I love using paper sacks!

Then my nephew, Dave, brought my sister over to visit today.  We haven't seen each since the hospital.  She looks really good, still a little weak and slow, but she is getting better every day.  We went and had the best pizza in town, and then to Violette's, the best scrapbook store ever!  While we were there, the owner, Diana, was unpacking boxes of awesome stuff.  She is now carrying Magnolia Stamps.  They just received an order from My Favorite Things.  I was able to pick up a few new goodies, I wanted much much more, but I behaved. 

Today was the inspiration for this card.  I covered some tags with designer paper.  Then, I just used some embellishments from my stash to give each tag a unique look.  A crocheted flower, a button wreath and a rosette were used as the focal point for each tag.  The tags are hung "clothesline" style on some baker's twine with mini clothespins that I "blinged" up with some pearls.

Hope you had a good day, too!

Supplies:

Stamps:   Papertrey Ink-Flower Fusion #1

Ink:  Versafine

Paper:  Wasau, The Paper Studio, K & Company

Misc:  Baker's twine, pearls, buttons, crocheted flower, pearl swirl, carnival ticket, Nestabilities, mini clothespins, sewing machine, button wreath, Cat's Pajamas Easy Rosette Die, tags, DMC embroidery floss and pearl cotton

Thanks for stopping by,