A Butterfly Birthday

Apologies in advance for the poor photography.  I had to make a birthday card for a teacher at my son's school a week ago.  This is not uncommon.  Last fall I was asked to make 28 cards (14 birthday, 14 anniversary) within a week.  That was pressure.  (Mental note, start making more birthday and anniversary cards to avoid the same issue this fall)

Onto the card I am sharing today....

This card came together really really fast.  Love when that happens.  And I love how it looked.  I also found out later that the teacher loves butterflies...Double bonus!

I used the PTI large butterfly and small butterfly dies (this was pre-Beautiful butterfly dies).  The base butterfly was die cut from vellum.  The others from PP.  Brown glittered bling forms the butterfly bodies. 

I zigzag stitched the borders before I adhered it to the card base.  I "sew" love the effect stiching on cards makes. 

The happy birthday stamp is PTI.  Ribbon is from my stash.

Finished card is 5 x 7 since 40 families needed to sign!

Love this color combo....

This layout is also one that would be easy to replicate. 

Regards,
katie

Well...it's been awhile....

Hello.

I've been away a bit.

Over two years.

What's gone on?

I ran three half marathons (Summer 2010) - PR was 2:15:05 while 8 weeks pregnant.

Had a baby (Ryan, born April 25, 2011)

Then got busy with being a mom with two active boys. 

Now I am finally feeling like sharing crafty creations again.  It's not that I stopped making things - I just didn't have time to share. 

My little guy turns1 next week.  *GASP*

So I thought it fitting that my first blog post would be the favors that I made for his class at school.  He and another friend in the class have the same bday...

The bag is from Oriental Trading.  In the bag are 5 plastic colored balls, a container of bubbles, and a crocheted "clicker" turtle made from the top of a baby food jar.

The ribbon is from Target, I stocked up during the after Christmas clearance!

Close up on the tag....

The die cut base is a SU die.  The stars are an old punch, with coordinating bling from my stash.  Cardstock from my stash.  The PP is PTI, as are the stamps.

I'm happy with how it turned out.  The total cost?  About $1/favor!
The balls my mom got at a garage sale (about 500 for $10, I used 60=$1.20), the bubbles were 2/$1 ($6), clicker turtles were made by my Grandma (free), ribbon $1.50, the other consumables were from my stash....not too bad.

I need to catch up with the blogging world.  I have lots more to share...see you soon!

SG13 - Fortune Cookie Fun

Hola chicas! Sorry for the long delay in posting. The fam and I just got back from 5 days in fabulous Las Vegas (cue Elvis music). My sister lives out there, so it's always fun to go out because we wind up seeing and doing things that a normal "tourist" wouldn't do. Bottom line...so fun. We did pretty well on the slots (we are not big gamblers), and saw the Circ show KA (awesome acrobatics, not much plot). Went to some great local bars. Fun times. I also got these boots from the boot barn on my birthday. They are super fun and look great with jeans. I got a bunch of hair "bling" as well. I will have to post some photos.

On to the sketch. This month's sketch is sponsored by The Wild Flower Patch ! This week's winner will get 5 free digi images from the store. Which will be a really sweet score for someone!

On to my card. I remembered I had to do this card the day it was due, while I was on the treadmill recouping from vacation (training for the half marathon remember). So once I finished a moderately respectable 4 miles, with an interuption from a very disgruntled almost 2 year old who wanted his mommy, I flew into my craft room and got to work. I had bought the fortune cookie and fortune cookie word set from Amuse earlier this month with my birthday discount (10% any order your bday month! Sweet) and hadn't used it yet. This sketch just called out for it. The little banner just said "place fortune here" (Although the first time I stamped the sentiment it was slightly crooked and I knew that someone...ahem Randee...would have pointed out that it was crooked). Anyway, I love this card. I love the words set from amuse. My only decision now is do I go with the demure "The cookie has spoken" on the inside, or the more risque "in bed"....hmmmm

Now it's your turn. This sketch is really easy, so if you have been hovering this is YOUR week.

Go to the sketch girl blog and post your creation!

SG12 Celebrate Today

Another sketch from the sketch girls! This month's sketch is sponsored by SassyStudioDesigns. They have fabulous digi images like the one I used in my card below. The winner of this month's sketch will get to select 4 digi images from the site! Fabulous! I have never used a digi image before, but I think my card turned out really well!

I had to use copics and colored pencils on this card. Some of the facial details needed a softer touch (the eyeshadow and blush). I love the striped chatterbox paper. I have been raided my stash of paper lately and it feels great!

So go on over to the Sketch Girl blog and post your card!

Fun Notebook Covers

I made these notebooks for the girls that I work with as a Valentine's day present. I felt that the quote was a very good reminder to those single gals that life is not all about waiting for your handsome prince. The stamp is from Paper Makeup Stamps. I love their quote stamps and their monsters. These notebook covers were easy to make and I am hoping that the girls will like them! The PP is really old Chatterbox (using the stash!), some bitty dot paper from PTI, and some berry sorbet PTI twill and buttons.

Love card

Ahhhh. I crafted for over 12 hours on Saturday. Thanks to my mom who came and helped my husband watch my son. I had so much fun with Tiffany (and even more fun watching her drool over my sewing machine :)

We went to Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights, it was a cool store with some off beat products. I got a couple stamps sets I am going to be excited about making cards with.

But I digress. I needed to make a man card. For my DH. Because he doesn't get mad at me when I tell him that I will be crafting from 9 am Saturday to 1 am Sunday and even makes me and Tiffany smoothies and homemade pizza. (delicious)

It needed to not have pink, or ribbon. But I snuck in some stiching. So I made this card. And I finished the inside too. Go me. I think he will like it.

Paper from Making Memories, stamps Technique Tuesday, button PTI.

How I use "flair"

Today's cards feature "flair", you know, like the buttons one might wear on a jean jacket. Only these are better because they have and adhesive back. Sometimes it's hard to figure out how to use these suckers. I got three sheets of them when I got the rubons from peachy cheap. And I made the card above. I had gotten the embossed heart background folder on clearance somewhere last May, glad I could bust it out. A little corner rounding and a nice bow with a PTI sentiment. The photo stinks, but I am not in a place to retake it. So I gave a bonus card.

This is a smaller card and was FAST to put together. I grabbed a scrap of Valentine paper from three years ago (stored with my other Valentine specific scrap paper- I know it's anal, but hey it works for me!) and added the foam letters from American Crafts, and the heart flair. The ribbon was an after thought because it looks naked without it.

And another thing. Some of you know I am running the Shamrock Shuffle March 21 (for those of you not familiar with the Shuffle, it's an 8K run through downtown Chicago with 36,000 others). Yesterday I asked Tiffany if she wanted to run it and she declined. Today she not only says she running it, but asks if I want to do the half marathon in Kenosha. Um....am I crazy? Apparently. So we are both signed up, and now accountable because I have just told you all about it. That race is May 1. Here's to finishing.....

Love is in the Air

So it's time for another holiday season that most people exchange cards at. Well, at least one card. I am not a girly girl, but there is just something fun about pulling out the pink, red, and white cardstock and going to town.

I got a slew of American Crafts Valentine stuff from peachcheap. I love peachycheap. (I actually got today's deal too (a ton of basic grey stuff AND free shipping for $12.99 - yes please!)

Anyway, I took my Valentine goodness and laid it out before me. New stuff makes me happy. Then I made what I am calling the Valentine Tree card. So fun. So pink and girly, yet with the sometimes annoying habit I have of making things analytical and precise (or clean and simple if you want, but I know it's the scientist in me struggling for order!)

I used a quickutz embossing plate to give the background some texture, and then stiched around that layer. I have a stash of precut scallops from my Silhouette, and so I took one of those and an oval and then used an American Crafts rubon for thefocal image. A few Melon Berry buttons, some Doodlebug ribbon, and a PTI stamp and this card was done. Actually only took like 20 minutes, including sewing. Love that! Now....who gets this card?

Sketch Girl #12 - Fun with Flowers

I saw this sketch and was like "Huh." I had no inspiration. Nada. none. I pouted. No inspiration. So I pushed it to the back of my mind and did other work related things. But I doodled constantly. And finally after turning the sketch I came up with this:

Me likely.

I was so happy with how this card came out. The flowers were from a stamp set that I got for free from Archivers. The sentiment is from PaperMakeup stamps. I used the cross stich selection on my sewing machine to sew up the sides. Colored the flowers with my copics and then added some glitter from my Spica glitter pen. I also used pop dots of different heights to give the card some dimension.

What do you all think?

Go and post your creation on the sketch girl blog!

And head on over to the other sketch girl's blogs for more inspiration!

Annie

Randee

Tiffany

Alyssa

Harriet

Bonnie

Amber

Jennie

Jessica
Sara

Julie

and guest designer Laurel

Perfect Presentations is again sponsoring this week's contest. I love the templates from this company. They make awesome presents! Go grab a few....four new templates were posted today!

With Sympathy

My friend Randee has had a very rough week. She lost her grandmother, who was very special to her. I made her this card to let her know she is special to me.

Stamps and Ribbon are PTI. Button is one of my favorite vintage finds (because she was worth it). The background paper is from the Recycled Stack from DCWV.

Fun Bag!

Ok, I am officially in LOVE with the bag it up template from Perfect Presentation! Look at this bag! It was so easy to put together. My silhouette made quick work of the cutting and then I added my score lines, folded it and it was ready to go! I made this little bag for my son's daycare teacher, it was her one year anniversary with the center. These girls work so hard and as a working mom I so appreciate that!

The paper is from the DCWV Recycled Stack. I love that stack. I layered 4 flowers of decreasing sizes to create the flower and then added one of the K and Company fabric brads. I decided to wrap some twine around the box at the last minute. It just needed something. The sentiment is from PTI. I love that you can cut a window in the bag as well. It just looks so professional!

Have a great monday!

My aversion to the color purple

Is there a color you almost never use? For me, the color is purple. I just don't gravitate towards that color. Ever. One of my friends at work needed a birthday card, and she wanted it to be purple. Oooookaayyy, I thought, now what. Luckily, I had found some American Crafts ribbon on clearance and I had some purple in my stash (hey- just because I never use the color doesn't mean I am not LOADED with supplies in the color!). So this is what I came up with. I love the cuttlebug for texturizing cardstock. This particular folder looks great for a wedding card as well. Needless to say, my friend loved the card and I made a few more of these to keep in my stash.

What's the color you are least likely to use? Maybe it's time to challenge yourself!

Stamp: PTI
Ribbon: American Crafts
Cardstock: Bazzill and Stampin Up

Valentine's Day Boxes

I know it's the middle of January. But I needed to start thinking Valentine's Day. I have to make treat boxes for Jack's teachers and the Favor Box from Perfect Presentations fit the bill! I LOVE LOVE LOVE these templates. They are easy peasy to use and Leigh Ann provides great instructions of how to assemble them- including adhesive placement. Plus, the bonus for me is that the .gsd files are available so my silhouette does the cutting for me. I have to make at least 7 of these, and I think each one is going to be different. My mother informed me that I have to make one for my grandmother as well, and I have to use some red buttons she gave me, so that one I will make soon.

I haven't decided which of these are my favorites. :)

Hearts and scallop rectangle are cut with the silhouette, stamp on the white box is PTI, stamp on the red is from the stash.

Apple of my Eye

I love this apple stamp. Its from a Unity stamp set my friend Tiffany brought over the last time we crafted together. I colored the apple with colored pencils; it's actually stamped on Kraft paper. Then I cut it out and popped it up for a little extra emphasis. I searched for the scrap of lined paper in my craft room for like 10 minutes. I KNEW I had the paper somewhere and love how this card looks. The ribbon is from May Arts and is so much fun to work with.

Have a great week!

Sketch Girl is Back! SG-10

Yay! Sketch Girl is back! Admitedly, so I am. I took a nice blog break and I am feeling a lot more creative for it!

I loved this sketch. My card just flew together. I used one of my favorite boy quotes to complete this card.

I don't know if you can see, but I used my scor-it to add some texture to the kraft cardstock. I also stiched around the edges of the sentiment and the patterned paper. I inked the edges of the card and added the small strip of cardstock that I trimmed with pinking shears. The button was the final touch. Pretty simple really.

A word on sewing. IT IS NOT HARD! Please, give it a try. I know that some sewing machines are expensive and I am blessed that my DH let me get a good one (I sew too, so it's not just for cards and scrapbook pages)- but seriously, a decent Singer machine can be had at Walmart for under $100. I know there's the sew Janome or something like that for less, but at least if you get a good machine you can do some mending or hem pants or whatever. Just my two cents!

Card details:

Stamp: Paper Makeup Stamps

Sticker: K and Company

Inke: Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper: Making Memories

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Buttons, Twine

Hop on over to the other sketch girl's blogs and see what they have created! And don't forget to post your creation on the sketch girl blog!

Alyssa www.critterlyss.blogspot.com

Harriet www.alittlethisandalotofthat.blogspot.com

Tiffany http://paperandstamps.blogspot.com

Randee http://mystampingground.blogspot.com

Bonnie http://aboutascountryasonecanget.blogspot.com

Amber www.thecountryscrapper.blogspot.com

Jennie http://stapawaytheday.blogspot.com

Jessica http://basicjess.blogspot.com

Sara http://luminousinmychaoticdreamslife.blogspot.com/

Annie www.stampingwithannieb.blogspot.com

Julie http://lastminuecrafter.blogspot.com/

and our Guest Designer Laurel! http://www.want2scrap.blogspot.com/

January's sketches are sponsored by Perfect Presentation, a new line of affordable templates that you print, cut, score, and assemble. All template purchases come with instructions that include photos to help with assembly and adhesive placement. Measurements and/or templates are included to make cutting decorative panels quick and easy. Available at www.thewildflowerpatch.com/shop

Fun with Scraps

So I was cleaning my scrap room last weekend before coming back to work, and I kept finding all of these fun scraps. Of course playing with the scraps was just as fun as organizing (I love organizing) and so I made a few quick birthday cards. These cards are small (the two with squares are about 4 x4 and the other two are 2.5 x 2.5) but that is the beauty of using the scraps- I simply made the cards as large as the scraps. I, admitedly, am a scrap hoarder. I have all these little boxes and bins and baggies of scraps. I just can't understand paying a lot of money for a piece of paper and then not using all of it. Plus its fun to let my friends go through the scrap bin and make things when they come over too! Hope your week started out fabulous! Oh- the patterned paper is from American crafts, the sentiments are from Papertrey!

I'll be your umbrella

This card came about because of a major score in the clearance bin at Archiver's. I got a 198 piece "wellies and brellas" runbo set from Autumn leaves for 75% off! It wound up being $3.50 and I got pages and pages of unbrellas and boots. Such a deal. I still had the Sage Shadow Stampin Up paper out from my holiday thank you and it matched perfectly. Love that! I love my cuttlebug as well- there's nothing like a little texture to brighten up a card! I was flipping through the SU catalog to figure out what I "needed" (sale-a-bration time seems to be the only time I order from them now) and I think many of the cards in the catalog could do with a little texture...of course that's just me. And of course this card is in my clean and simple design. I did get another 25 copics for christmas, and I have been coloring- Honest! Just nothing I want to show off yet.....

Whew! Was I really gone THAT long?

Hi Everyone! At least, hello to those still out there! I had a wonderful blog break. I did many fun holiday things. I learned to cut hair (at least my son's and hubby's). I read books (how cool is that) and I even made some cards. Not that I posted them (bad blogger). I was in a card making frenzy, I actually made and sold over 100 cards for the holidays. So that was fun. I just got back to work today after 13 days off and it was weird. I would also like to give a shout out to the stay at home moms, you guys are amazing. I had Jack with me for 5 days straight and yesterday I told my hubby that I think he really needed to go and run around with his two year old friends at daycare.

But I digress. This card I made in mass quantities to send to all the people I needed to thank over the holidays. It is deceptively simple. The hardest part was glittering the snowflake, which you could skip, but I think it really makes the card. I used the new signature greetings stamp from Papertrey- love that set. My hubby gave me 5 sets for christmas. He knew I kept a wish list and he even ordered under my name so I could get the bonus set this year! How cool is that?

I am hoping to post a bit more this month. I won't call it a resolution. I am making fun crafty things, I just am a lazy blogger. Here's to changing that!

SG9 -I totally modified the sketch...

Aye yi yi! I have been so busy. Life certainly throws things at you. Of course, you just take it as it comes right? I look at all the cards that so many of my favorite bloggers have created in the last month with a twinge of envy. Gone are the days that I spend every night in my craft room....

Today was a very fun crafty day. My friend Lori is the director of a humane society (she's also the head vet) and she called on me to summon my crafty friends to create as many cards as we could to sell at their fund raiser coming up in December. We manged to create about 100 cards! Now, many are the same, which she will package, but it is still quite a feat. I made the card above in the spirit of sketch number 9. I couldn't get the double strips to work (which is too bad because they are totally me, and on any other card I would have thrown some ribbon on, but it didn't work with this card). The little felt trees are from the dollar bin at Michael's.

Here is another card we created. I think we made 25 of these. The glittered tree is from a HUGE pack of 1000 that I got on clearance last year. It was like $2.

I love this card. It speaks to the simplicity that I am trying to approach life these days. Plus I got to color. Lori reminded me today about how we used to color in Grad school when we would be stressed out. Color as in with crayons and using a Lion King coloring book. That was fun. But so are Copics :) I may make these for my Christmas cards this year. But I think I will add a tree branch for the ornament to hang on.

Anyway, totally sorry about the bad blogging. I will try to be better!

Now go to the Sketch Girls website and see what everyone else came up with!

TTFN!

Sketch Girl 7

Hello everyone! So this week's sketch gave me some trouble. Mostly because whenever I see horizontal lines I want to use ribbon. But I couldn't make the ribbon work with this card. I love the dino stamps from My Favorite Stamps....and it paired really well with the dino paper from Basic Grey.

So my son "shared" his stomach flu with me. Not nice. So this post is short so I can go and curl back up with a hot water bottle....

I have some more cards to share later....promise!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Archiver's

Patterned paper: Basic Grey

Stamps: My Favorite Stamps, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento

Markers: Copics