Library Card Bookmarks

Hey everyone. Are you adjusting to Daylight Savings Time? I actually like it because it means it stays lighter longer...and that Spring is just ahead. Makes me all happy just thinking about my flowers and green grass.

If you noticed in my last post, I've added some new items to my shop. Lots of new staple, go to items that will be fun for cards, gift wrapping and my Project Life. I'll be using these products on upcoming projects here on the bloggo so that I'll get some sample ideas built up. First up today I have some fun bookmarks to show you using my new Library Cards. I also have some Bookmark Kits available which will make it very easy to recreate my projects today.
Here are 2 completed bookmarks that I created for my reds. We've started a new nine weeks at school which means a new reading goal must be reached as part of the girls' grade. Although my girls are straight "A" students, their love of reading is just not there. They would rather be playing sports, wrestling with Charlie or be playing out in timber, etc. But I have a great librarian friend who picks out THE best books for the girls. Once they actually get started on a good book they can't put it down. Spring Break will be here soon and I'm hoping the girls can get in some good reading time. I thought some cute bookmarks clipped to a coin envelope with some new Amazon/bookstore cash might prompt them along.
Teenagers love personalized items so I used my little Hero Arts mini alphabet stamps to stamp on the girls' names. I used scrap strips of patterned paper to line two sides of the bookmarks, stitching around the entire bookmark with my sewing machine.
Using stamps from Studio Calico, I stamped the "You Are Here" sentiment and big arrow creating a fun way to mark the page in the book.
A few little additional punches, snippets of a doily, part of a carnival ticket, small white tags, Jenni Bowlin's tab punch and some Studio Calico Mister Huey splatters finish off the bookmark fronts. All you need to remember is to keep the embellishments pretty flat so that the finished bookmarks don't cause any damage to books.

On the backs of the bookmarks I added some patterned paper that coordinates with the fronts + some of the corner rounded index cards that come with the Bookmark Kits. Here, the girls can write down their reading goals, new book suggestions, etc.
I think the girls will LOVE these bookmarks. I'm also thinking about making a few for my adult friends that love to read. Maybe even a few as alternative birthday cards for the girls' friends. Or if I get really crazy I might invite the girls' friends over for Spring Break to have a little crafting session. We'll see. ;)

Hope you enjoy!

Road Trip Mini Album....days of the week

Hey there, back again with a quick little post to show you how I made numbered day embellishments for our road trip this summer. I started with these two Martha Stewart punches (available at Michael's) + some old ledger paper from my stash. Each punched circle was stamped with mini alphabet letters from Hero Arts.
Day 1 uses a punched & stamped circle from the kit. Day 2 uses a carnival ticket. Day 3 uses layered, punched circles. Day 4 uses a white tag with a mini staple + stitching. Day 5 uses a metal rim tag (coming to my Etsy shop soon). Day 6 uses a small manila parcel tag + a Studio Calico sticker from the first road trip kit.

Very easy to assemble and took very little time. These will be fun little markers for each day of our vacation. I'll probably just staple them onto my pages with my Tiny Tim stapler.

Sooo.....any road trip plans for you this summer? Whether your road trip consists of a one day trip or 2 weeks on the road, it's all FUN!! I know I probably won't fill my mini album with one trip's worth of stuff so I'm hoping to keep a few pages open for an upcoming road trip to my sister's house in western Kansas. A weekend of quilting fun for the girls + hunting for the boys & reds. I'd love to hear what you have planned!

thinking of you button card

Hi there, back today with a card made from Button Boutique. If you purchased any of the button accessories last month at Papertrey, have you had a chance to create a project yet? Link me up in the comments section as I would love to visit your blog/gallery and take a peek.
I love all the stamps that fit nicely on the button card die. The possibilities are just endless as to what you can create. To top off the button card, I used real buttons and layered fabric buttons. The button dies cut through paper, fabric, thin chipboard, fun foam as Piney showed us, cork and so much more. Under my button card I added a doily die cut with a stamped sentiment.
To finish off the bottom of my card I used a scrap piece of a die patterned paper from Green Boutique. I stitched this onto carnival tickets that were embellished with a 25 cent stamp from the Button Boutique set. A Ripe Avocado ribbon finishes off the card.
I've been needing a few more stash cards so I can't wait to ink up this set again.....and more images from the Friendship Jar Spring Fillers.

We've had company this week so I am wayyy behind on my Papertrey creations. So here's to lots of mojo and fun stamping time! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Papertrey Favorite

Hi friends. Let the Papertrey anniversary festivities begin. First off, I'd like to give a huge welcome to Danielle Flanders. She will be joining the Papertrey Design Team and I can't wait to see how she works her magic on the Papertrey goodies.

Today the Papertrey Design Team will be sharing their favorite creation from 2010. Boy, this was hard...so many favorite projects to choose from. I narrowed my selection down to this card which uses the Up, Up & Away stamp set and coordinating dies.
I created this set of cards for some graduation cards for some of the girls' friends. Just perfect for teenage girls.
Love how the balloon images are so easily cut with the coordinating dies. And the cloud dies are just an added bonus. I used the Sunshine Impression Plate to create the fun circle texture on the clouds.

The texture and dimension on this card is just fantastic. I love that cards don't have to be just flat anymore.

Here I've used Get to the Point to create a fun arrow. It fits right in with the hot air balloon theme. Going UP? Some fun PTI ribbon, carnival tickets from my Etsy shop and sequins finish off the card. Patterned paper is from The Girls Paperie.
Hope you enjoy. Be sure to check Nichole's blog for a fun challenge and a chance to win the ultimate card kit!

More October Papertrey Projects

Hey friendies, I have another post today featuring a few more October Papertrey projects.  All of the new products from this month can be found here.  This first card uses Becky's Merry Little Christmas stamp set, dies and Christmas Prints.  Carnival Ticket is from my Etsy shop.

This next card features a background created with Pine's new Holly Jolly and Fillable Frames #9 stamp set.  Candied Apple Carnival Tickets are here.

Love the look of stitching right over the Carnival Tickets.  Buttons and ribbon are the new Pinefeather color.

This next features one of my favorite flowers from Nichole's Year of Flowers sets..the marigolds.  If you love to use your Copics on the flower sets, try stamping the floral images onto patterned paper and then adding definition to the image with your Copics, then cutting out the images.  So fool proof and quick.  Here, I've just basically outline each flower petal with a darker yellow color and then did some blending with lighter yellows and my colorless blender.  Stamping just the line images as background paper really adds an interesting look too.  

This card makes for a wonderful birthday card for my aunt this month.  I used a signature set from Dawn along with some snippets of patterned paper on the inside of the card.  So fun to open the card and find even more goodness on the inside.

Thanks again to all of  you for your kind words to me the past few days.  You guys just rock!!  I'm off to get some things around the house and shop today.  My mom goes in for shoulder surgery later this week and I want to be all caught up so I can play nurse.

2010 Halloween Inspiration Station

Hi friends, it's October which means Halloween is coming.  I love all things spooky and scary....orange and black......frightful and delightful.  Pumpkins and gourds, witches and bats, black cats and ghosts.....it's all so fun!  Without further delay, it's time to show you my 2010 Halloween Inspiration Station.  I use this old wooden carrying tray with inserts to keep all my Halloween goodies tucked inside.  By keeping themed supplies all in once place, you get a good idea as to what supplies you actually have on hand.  It's fun to go shopping in your own boxes and bins.  Plus, it's very inspiring to see all the goodies grouped together.  You can pick and choose from all the trinkets and baubles and papers.  Of course I don't use each and every item that I tuck into my Inspiration Stations.....I just use what inspires me at the moment and the rest goes back into my stash when the holiday is over.  Fun stuff!

You all know that I love me some tags!  This season, I've aged a stash of tags so that they look worn and tattered.  The tags shown below are Small and Medium Manila Parcel Tags, Medium Orange Parcel Tags and Large Metal Rim Tags from my Etsy shop.

Love the little baubles and embellishments tucked into vintage jello molds.  Here I have felt ghosts, old checker pieces, bats, glittery flowers, buttons and rhinestone sequin buttons.

Vintage ribbons and laces and ric racs are always fun.  I've added some burlap in there too for so me great texture.

Vintage buttons in jars and jello molds....Martha Stewart glitters.

And my faves this year that I'm hoarding.....Bingo cards of all sorts and these vintage playing cards with the number 13 on them.

A little stash of my Rustic Clothespins, dyed in yellow and orange....

And Halloween papers of all sorts...some of my faves this year are from The Girls Paperie.

I love this old orange and black tin that I got a garage sale...perfect for tucking in a few Halloween goodies to display on my desk.

And how about a few projects made with my Halloween goodies?  I just love these little stuffed felt ghosts that I got on clearance last year from Making Memories.  I used them front and center on a few collaged tags.  Simply slap on some papers, sticker borders, ric rac, flowers, buttons.....an Orange Soda Carnival Ticket under the ghost....and stitch up the sides with dark thread to keep it in place.

I tied the tags to some Brown Paper Sacks that I will fill with candy bars or homemade treats.  I've got a few friends that I'm sure would love some fun Halloween mail!

I used black Wrinkle Ribbon, a snippet of orange lace and Kraft Silk Ribbon to tie the tags around the sacks.  As you can see in the background below, border stickers make for some quick and easy accent pieces....I used snippets on my tags and across the sack fronts.  Such cute little goody bags....with a vintage flair.

Hope you enjoy!  Please feel free to share what your plans are this Halloween.  Jordan's birthday party is finally is this weekend and we're making caramel apples, mummy looking pigs in a blanket and witches fingers....I haven't gotten much further than that.  I think I'll get out my Halloween decorations so it will look festive when her little friends come over!

Ghosts on a stick....

Hey guys, we're at 41 posts!  Woohoo, looks like we'll make it to 50 so stay tuned for my recipe card for Pumpkin Blondies tomorrow.

And someone asked, "Also, will there be a Holiday/Christmas stamp set that comes out soon to go with the Friendship Jar set?"  Well, well, well..........three holes in the ground.  (My dad always says that)........so you want a holiday Friendship Jar set.  That would require like a bo-zillion comments before I could make commentary on that question.  I guess you'll have to wait and see........

Hi friends, what's up today?  I felt like playing hooky all day....where does one escape to when you don't want to work but you work from home???  That is the question.  

So I went ahead and made this card...it was fun work so that is okay.  :)  I hadn't used the adorable little ghost image from Friendship Jar Fall Fillers yet so I got it all inky today.  I also got my hands on some of The Girls Paperie Toil and Trouble Halloween collection at Scrapbooks, Etc in Topeka, Kansas over the weekend.  I knew they had the paper and when I saw it in person it was one of those *elbows out, nobody come near this paper while I shop* moments. It's that good and I love it that much!

My first line of business while making this card was to stamp the sticks and ghosts first, then color them with my handy dandy Copic Sketch markers.  The colors I used were:  W00, W1, W3, YR18 and E30.  If you live near Topeka, you can get your Copic markers at Scrapbooks, Etc too.  Gotta love and support our local shops.  :)  Tell them Mish sent you.

Annnd, I digress but you also gotta love fresh goodies out of the oven.  I had to run up and grab me a Pumpkin Blondie.  Jordan is home from school today but is better now so we did a little baking.  If I receive 300 comments on this post, I will post the recipe tomorrow.  Along with a recipe card.  :)  Okay, may 50 comments.  50 comments would be good.  

Back to the card.  It just dawned on me today that you don't have to make the jars look see through.  Why not die cut a jar with patterned paper, stamp the jar outline and call it good.  I think my black and white jar looks very chic and decoupaged.  Will definitely try this look again.   For the jar embellishments, I used a ziggy zag jar topper die cut and a matching gingham label with stamped sentiment, all with the Friendship Jar Fall Fillers line.  The Baker's Twine is Chocolate from PTI. Buttons are PTI's Terracotta Tile.

 For the inside of my card, I embellished it with scraps of the patterned papers, some PTI sentiments and my Orange Soda Carnival Tickets. The carnival tickets use more Fall Fillers stamps...the eyeballs and the 5 cent eyeball stamps.

Hope you enjoy my Halloween card today.  It's almost October, have you started with your Halloween projects yet?

Happy Birthday Pumpkin Card

Hi friends, we've had some beautiful Fall weather here.  Definitely makes me think of pumpkins.....and all my yummy recipes to make with pumpkin.

Today I have a pretty birthday card that I made for my mother in law for next month.  I'm really into this rustic pumpkin color and love to combine it with green.

The stamps used are Vintage Picnic, using some paper piecing on the picnic basket.  The plump little pumpkins were colored with Copic markers.  When doing a focal piece like this, I stamp the pumpkins....then color them with my handy dandy Copics.....and then adhere the paper pieced basket over the top.  My base cardstock is Terracotta Tile.

I always love to use my scrap papers to embellish the inside of the card.

And here are the Copic colors I used to color in the pumpkin image.  Hope you enjoy!  It's the perfect time to use those Fall themed stamps.

I'll be trying out lots of new pumpkin recipes this Fall.....got any good ones you'd love to share??  Post them in the comment section.  :)  Have a great weekend everyone!

A Sunday in September...

Last Sunday my dad picked me a bouquet of wildflowers from the nearby pastures. He told me every flower that was in the bouquet....broom weed, goldenrod, sunflowers and some others that I can't remember.

Fresh picked flowers are the best kind. Thanks Dad! They look so pretty in my old watering can.
I also got a few mum to sit on the porch along with my little pumpkins and strawberry corn from the patch.
This beautiful, vibrant mum really took off this year. So pretty. And Eric you need to weed eat, buddy.
One of my favorites in the fall is this Live Forever plant. That color is beautiful.
And my coleus is hanging on too. It will be gone at the first freeze though.
Ahhhh, so much inspiration and color. My flowers inspired today's kit called A Sunday in September. Fun colors that remind me that Summer is trying to hang on.....but that Fall is on it's way.
The contains all the supplies to create five of the finished gift sacks as shown below. A strand of Cotton Twine is also included so that you can create a garland and hang all five finished sacks on the string with my Marigold Rustic Clothespins. This would be so cute for a little party where guests could take a little gift home with them.
Each gift sack would include a Brown Paper Sack, a lined card for writing a message, supplies to assemble a cute tag and the Marigold Clothespin. You can cards, candies, vintage hankies or linens, crafting supplies, et into the sacks. Lots of possibilities. Stamped images are left up to you to customize as you wish.
Also included in the kit are extras like a sampling of my Fabric Tape and extra yellow and manila tags to add to cards that could coordinate with the gift bag.
All packaged and ready to go. You can find them in my Etsy shop HERE.