S'More Invitations

Jordan's birthday is coming up so it was time to make the invitations. She loves to have her party out in the timber behind our house. At a glance from our back deck, you see nothing but trees. But once you cross a bridge and enter the timber, it's a wonder land for kids! We've cleared out a big area for the kids and have added a tree house, a tire swing, forts for paintball, a fire pit and a hammock. It's great fun! For Jordan's birthday, we always do a nature scavenger hunt, chop wood (the boys LOVE that!) and have a weenie roast complete with S'mores. Jordy likes to invite both her girl and boy friends, so we tend to keep the invitations neutral in theme.

I started the invitations out with a S'more stamp from SU!, the JustRite Stampers Brayton alphabet font and the small alphabet set. For the focal point of the invites, I used a round wooden stamper and the Small Alphabet from JustRite Stampers to spell out *time for s'more fun*. I was able to customize my stamper exactly the way I wanted to and it matches the s'mores perfectly! For the s'mores I used some Liquid Applique and burned it with my heat tool. The circles were cut and embossed with a Spellbinder's circle die template. The s'mores were colored with Copic markers. They look real, Jordy loved that part!!

Then for the pocket insert of the invitations, I used the Brayton font with a wooden rectangle stamper from JustRite. I spelled out *you're invited* and stamped that on the top portion of the insert. I created a pocket card invitation using brown card stock and Cosmo Cricket's Happy Camper patterned paper. Stitched ribbon is from Papertrey Ink.
I typed the rest of the invitation on the computer.
I like to include the activities that we'll be doing at the party so that the kids will know to wear old clothes. Nothing fancy here, just a good ol' time....getting dirty....getting back to nature.
Here's the little pile of the invites. I can't wait for Jordan's party!!!

His and Her Get Well Robes

How about some His and Her get well robes? I needed to fill up on some Get Well cards in my stash basket and Karen Lockhart's Robe stamp came to the rescue. I love how it's gender friendly...I can use it for male or female cards. It can be colored, like I've done with my awesome Copic markers.....it can be paper pieced with male or female like patterned paper.....you can add plaids, stripes, polka dots......the possibilities are endless! Here's my female Get Well card, using Melissa Frances patterned paper, Papertrey Spring Moss ribbon and a Karen Lockhart sentiment.
And here's the male version of my Get Well card, using patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket and twill ribbon from Papertrey.
And I don't know about you, but the head colds and allergies are acting up around here like crazy. I've been needing lots and lots of Get Well cards! I hope today finds you feeling GREAT!!

Garden of Life Birthday Cards

Sometimes it's just fun to grab a bunch of supplies and see what you come up with. That was the case with these two cards. I had a bunch of leftover supplies sitting out so I decided to just have some fun. I used Alli's Garden of Life stamp set from Papertrey. The swirly stamp and the solid image make the most fun flower, one of my all time faves. For both cards, I used PTI's Stamper's Select White Cardstock for the base card. Ink colors were PTI Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist and SU!'s Old Olive. The strip of patterned paper along the bottom of the cards is PTI Chocolate Remix and the polka dot green paper is from October Afternoon.

The embellishments were the most fun! I usd snippets of my ribbon finds from Archiver's along with some stitched buttons that I turned into flower buds. I used Papertrey's Leaf Ribbon to make cute little leaves for the flowers. So cute, I love that ribbon and want to use it on everything!!
I you all have a fabulous weekend! We're enjoying the beautiful weather here in Kansas and I hope Mother Nature calms down a bit for those in all the stormy weather! We're headed to the high school football game tonight then Jordan and I are leaving at 6:30 AM tomorrow with my mom. We're meeting my sister at the big arts and crafts show this weekend. We look forward to it every year! Josey's hanging out with dad as she doesn't care for this kind of entertainment!

Here's some answers to a few questions I had a while back:

All of the fun ribbon that I've been using lately that is not from Papertrey is probably from Archiver's. I purchase it by the yard and many of the brands are May Arts, Maya Road and Making Memories.

The three tierd basket that I use for my centerpiece decorations is from a shop in Atchison, Kansas called Nell Hills. It's so awesome!!

The new little shop I found that is fun to visit is called the The Nesting Place and it's located at the Lebo, Kansas junction of I-35 and the Lebo exit. Such a cute little place to visit. Each season, the interior is painted a new color and they totally make over the shop. I could visit it every day!

Yes, you can use your Cuttlebug with the Nestabilities. Nichole has a wonderful tip sheet of all the *sandwich* combinations that will work with your machine. Just link to the Nestabilities section at the Papertrey website and the information is right there.

Yes, I do sleep. I get all my work done while the girls are at school on the days I don't sub. I work pretty fast and try to get it all done so I can be at the girls' activities at night, pick them up from practices and fix supper for my family. It's all great fun and I enjoy every minute of it!!

Mini Magazine Holders

My friend at the high school switched jobs this year from being a history teacher to the school librarian. She's been working hard getting the library all organized this year. Her birthday was last week so I made her a little gift...library themed. This is a little mini magazine holder. I got the template HERE from Becky Roberts' blog called Inking Idaho, such a fun idea!! I used my Just Rite *from the library of* border stamp and the Times New Roman alphabet for the initials of my friend. I used the small wooden stamper to hold my border and alphabet stamps. What perfect stamps for a librarian!! I decorated my box with Jenni Bowlin papers, vintage looking black ribbon and some Prima flowers. The size of the box is just perfect to hold a few small notecards. I used more papers from Jenni Bowlin, some black and white gingham ribbon, Spellbinder's scallop circle dies and the same monogram stamper and border for the notecards. My friendLOVED her little gift!

Pears and Honey

Edit: The flecked look of ink over the pear image was done with a marker and SU!'s spritzer tool (I can't think of the technical name of the tool) . You could also use the Copic Airbrush System with a marker to achieve the same affect. Just one little spray is all you need.

Jordan asked me all summer...."Mom, have you ever had pears with honey?" I kept telling her no, I'm not a real pear fan. She said they were awesome and that Grandma Anne fixed them that way for her, straight off her pear tree. Then finally when the pears were ripe this summer, I got Jordan some Bartlett pears. We cut them up and drizzled on some honey. Oh were my taste buds happy! This is such an awesome snack, almost pretty enough to be a fancy dessert. I had to make a recipe card for Pears and Honey, not because I needed the recipe really, but because I wanted to remember Jordan's little story. I used Karen Lockhart's Pears stamp and colored all the pears with Copic Sketch markers, using a stipple type brush stroke. I just dotted the colors on instead of coloring neatly. This is what gives the pears that splotchy, sun kiss look...zoom in to get a better look. Patterned papers are from Wild Asparagus, just punched circles cut in half. Ribbon is Spring Moss from Papertrey Ink.
If you haven't tried pears with honey, add it to your list this week. Yummo!!!

Family Tradition..Baking Sugar Cookies

The merriment continues at Papertrey Ink! The entire PTI Design Team has blog posts about their favorite holiday tradition. Be sure to visit Nichole's blog for all of the links. One of my family's favorite holiday traditions is making and decorating sugar cookies. I usually make a homemade sugar cookie recipe and frosting, but sometimes the need arises for something quick and easy. Plus the girls thought it would be fun this year to invite some friends over for a cookie exchange.

I thought these Snowman Sugar Cookie Kits would be fun! Each guest would receive a decorated PTI Egg Box that holds a jar of frosting and two separate jars of sprinkles....a snowman cookie cutter......and some Sugar Cookie Mixes.
For the front of the box, I used Nichole's Made of Snow stamp set. I stamped the snowman using the stocking cap and then paper pieced a polka dot scarf. To simulate our real sugar cookies we made for samples, I used some baby blue Stickles for frosting and some blue seed beads for sprinkles. I popped the *cookie* up on a metallic silver Spellbinder's cut rectangle. I thought this resembled a metal cookie sheet.
Here's the closeup of our *cookie* snowman, the new silver card stock and the beautiful Silver Sheer Ribbon released this month.
For the lining of the box, I used my craft knife to join four of the circles into one big square. I then stamped the chipboard lining with Pine's new Rustic Snowflakes. Two jars of sprinkles and one jar of frosting fit perfectly inside. The lid does not fit on top so I just tuck it under the box. After the frosting and sprinkles have all been used, the box can be used for a Christmas decoration, a gift box or maybe to hold some small ornaments.
And here's Miss Jordan, sampling the snowman cookies we made. Poor Josey was at volleyball practice this particular afternoon so she got one cookie I think! Eric came in shortly after this photo was taken and the cookies vanished!! But never fear, the cookie dough and fixings will come around again come December. There's nothing better than being snuggled in our home, listening to Christmas music (Jordan singing Feliz NaviGOD..LOL) and baking cookies with my family. These are the days that memories are made of.
All of these supplies can be purchased at Papertrey Ink:

Made of Snow stamp set, Rustic Snowflakes stamp set, Egg Box, Silver Metallic Card Stock, Silver Ribbon, Everyday Blessings Patterned Paper, Spellbinder's Rectangle Die Template.

Holiday Gift Ensemble

SPECIAL NOTE: I'VE GOT TWO POSTS TONIGHT SO BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FOR ANOTHER POST TITLED *WINTER WHITEBOARDS*. YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!!

It's time to think about upcoming gifts for the holiday. I have a very fun and useful project today.....be sure to check out Nichole's Blog for links to the other Papertrey Designers' holiday gift ensembles too. I am certain there will be lots of new ideas for you to try this season.

Every year I make a Holiday Planner for myself and a few close friends and family members. I use this planner to write wish lists, plan menus and make grocery lists, keep track of Christmas crafts, make my Christmas card mailing list, etc. I carry it around everywhere I go and it's so nice to have all my holiday happenings in once place. Once my friends and family saw my Holiday Planners, it wasn't long before they wanted one too. So now I make these up and give them out around October as an early holiday gift. They've come to be a favorite, and well anticipated gift among friends and family. This is the planner, a 5" x 8" lined, junior notepad, found at any office supply store. I embellished the front cover with a cute holiday house using the Papertrey Boards & Beams stamp set and the new Home for the Holidays stamp set. This is a companion set to Boards & Beams with lots of fun holiday additions to turn any house into a fully decked out holiday home. I stamped and then colored my house image with Copic Sketch Markers. I then stamped the holiday windows and doors, colored them with Copics, and then cut them out. You then simply adhere them right over the regular windows and doors. It's kind of like making paper dolls, so fun!! I then cut out my house and adhered it to some of the new Holiday Polka Dot Petite Cardstock. Isn't it cute paper? I then adhered my focal point square to a die cut and embossed large, square Spellbinders Die.

I used more of the polka dot paper along the bottom of my Holiday Planner and then used the PTI Trajan Monogram Edition stamp set to spell out *Holiday Planner*. I always do the consonants in one color and the vowels in second color. Just a fun way to mix things up a bit and add some festive color. I added PTI Pure Poppy Luxe Satin Ribbon to finish off my project. The base layer on the planner front is PTI Spring Moss card stock.
For the inside of my planner, I created a pocket that I can store all kinds of goodies like receipts, wish lists from family members and little note cards.
And don't forget the back of the planner. I used the *handmade by* stamp from Pine's new Rustic Snowflakes set and Spellbinder's Oval Dies to create a little label for the back. I'll be sure to sign my name before I give my gifts away.
Here's some wish lists that I created for my family. Each wish list was stamped with our names and then I added a strip of the polka dot paper to tie in with my Holiday Planner cover. I cut the wish lists out with Spellbinder's long rectangle dies. A few snowflakes from the Rustic Branches set were added beside the names.
I think I'll also tuck in a few small note cards. These images are from the Rustic Snowflake stamp set, along with Pure Poppy Luxe Satin Ribbon. You never know when you might need a little gift card or thank you note during the holiday season.

Okay, are you ready for some instructions on how to create your own Holiday Planner? Here we go. Below is a template I've created for the measurements, score lines and cutting lines. You can zoom in to get a closer look.

Note: Junior notepads can vary slightly in size. Although most are approximately 5" x 8", there are different thicknesses and flaws in cutting. You will want to measure your notepads and tweak the measurements where needed. I needed to add about a 1/16" to my cuts to ensure that I covered my notebook properly. The thickness of my notepads was more than 1/4" also so I made adjustments there too. If you always start your score marks at the left 1" side and use your proper measurements, you'll do okay. Whatever you end up with for measurements on the far left section is what creates the pocket. It doesn't have to be exact.

You will cut this main piece for the notebook cover out of one sheet of solid card stock measuring 8" x 10". I used PTI Pure Poppy. You will also cut a 5" x 8" piece of the same color card stock to cover the back of the notepad.

Once you have your pieces cut, score all edges and fold on the score marks. It's best to use a bone folder to get a nice crisp fold. The Scor Pal and the bone folder that comes with it works great for scoring and making nice crisp folds.

To assemble the notebook cover, place a strip of sticky tape along the right edge of the 1" sections, along the 8" length. This attaches to the back of your notepad, with the 1/4" section becoming the spine of your note pad.

You will use a strong adhesive to then adhere the 5" x 8" piece on the back of the notepad. You can add the *hand stamped by* label later.
Turn your project over. You will place another strip of sticky tape as shown below, along the bottom lower right edge of the card stock. You then fold this piece to right to create your pocket. You can scroll back up to my finished project to see the pocket and it's contents. Now the notebook is nicely covered. You can then embellish the front of the notebook, and the pocket as desired. I also cover the top binding of the notebook with a strip of patterned paper. The approximate measurement for this piece is 7/8" x 5", but again, you will want to measure first to ensure proper dimensions.

Once you have made one of these planner notebooks, they are easy to recreate. I make them all the time for gifts and change out the seasonal embellishments. They're useful, inexpensive to make and the recipient LOVES them!! I hope you try them out this holiday season!!

Winter Whiteboards

Hi everyone! I'm excited to be showing you another Papertrey countdown post! The BIG release is September 15th at midnight EST. Be sure to check out Nichole's BLOG for more release information!

Today I'll be showing you ideas using the Merry & Bright stamp set designed by Melissa Bickford. Melissa has designed a wonderful Christmas tree set with different sizes and sections that gives you the ability to mix and match the patterns and colors. The paper piecing capabilities for this set are endless. So let's see some samples and then I'll show you some tips for paper piecing!

When I last visited Archiver's in Overland Park, Kansas, I was waiting for Jordan in the hallway near the restroom. The employees had made this fun whiteboard using a 12" x 12" photo frame, decorative papers and die cuts. All the design elements go under the glass and then you write on the outside glass just as you would a white board. They clean up great, much better than an actual white board. The idea was fabulous so I'd like to show you my versions of what I'm calling Winter Whiteboards.

Here are my samples all shown together. The larger frame is a 12 x 12 frame that I found at Michael's. It was $20 but was on sale for 30% off. The smaller frame measures 5" x 7" and I purchased mine at Wal Mart for $2.50.
Here's my 12" x 12" Winter Whiteboard. I used a full sheet of 12" x 12" green card stock for the background, similar to Stampin' Up's Old Olive color. The patterned paper is a 12" x 12" sheet of PTI Everyday Blessings paper. If you don't have the 12" x 12" papers, you could easily piece together smaller sections from the 8" x 8" pads that are available now. I backed my paper with a pinking edged decorative paper from Making Memories, available at Archiver's. The textured vinyl stickers are Daiquiri Thickers by American Crafts. Hot cocoa anyone?
And below is a close up of some wonderful trees from the Merry & Bright stamp set. I paper pieced all three trees by stamping the images onto patterned paper and cutting them out. I'll show you how to do that in a little bit. I finished off the frame with a horizontal strip of Papertrey Dark ChocolateTopnotch Twill and then overlayed that with Papertrey's Leaf Ribbon. The little *Holiday Greetings* stamp is also from the Merry & Bright stamp set. And here's my smaller Winter Whiteboard below. I used the same techniques as my larger Winter Whiteboard but switched it up with some glittered chipboard letters and some PTI ribbon loops at the top of my frame. I thought these smaller versions would be perfect for the girls' room to write holiday messages. These smaller Winter Whiteboards will make fabulous gifts for Christmas. There's probably about $5 bucks worth of supplies so they're economical also...saves you $$ for GAS! LOL!! I always think a handmade gift at Christmas time is a wonderful gesture. Perfect for friends, family, teachers, coaches, maybe a doctor's office or secretary, at your desk, a librarian.....and change it up for the seasons too!
And for my last project, I made a matching card, sized 4.25' x5.5". I paper pieced the trees and used leftover supplies from the Winter Whiteboards for embellishments. I added some stitched buttons for a finishing touch.

And here's some of that awesome Ranger Glossy Accents that I like so much. If you add this to your paper pieced projects, it makes the elements look like epoxy stickers. Fun!
Okay, onto the paper piecing tips. Paper piecing is showing up everywhere. There's something about a hand cut element that just pops off a project. Here's how you do it.

Stamp your images onto the paper of choice. I'm using PTI Everyday Blessings patterned paper for these examples. Below is a good photo showing you the stamps in the Merry & Bright stamp set. Some of the trees have separate elements like the one on the left and some are solid trees like the smaller one on the right.

Next, stamp smaller elements onto the trees, like the polka dots I used on the left side. If you are going to be placing your paper pieced items onto like colors of cardstock, a good tip is to shade the stamped image a little bit darker. I'm using a BG10 Copic Sketch Marker for my sample. By adding elements to the stamped images before you cut, you're able to work on a larger surface area and not lose little pieces.
Then start cutting. I use very sharp, very fine tip scissors. My favorite little pair of scissors right now are my Color Bee precision tip scissors from EK Success. For stamped images with straight edges, you simply cut around the images. I like to leave a tiny amount of space between my cut line and the stamped images. Some like to cut right up to the stamped image line though, it's your preference.
Here's the tricky part of paper piecing...cutting INTO small areas. My best tip that I can offer is to cut INTO the spaces with tip of your scissors. Each cut is a single cut with the end tip of the scissors. Keep your scissors parallel with each straight line to get nice, crisp lines that follow the lines of your stamped image. You want your paper pieced embellishment to look like it's a purchased *sticker* of sorts.......not like you're cutting out hearts for the first time in Kindergarten class. Ragged edges do not look nice on your finished projects. :)
Here are three samples below that I did. The first sample has three separate tree sections, stamped on one style of patterned paper. The middle example has three separate tree sections, however I stamped each section onto different styles of patterned paper. And notice the tree top. I was able to tilt the tip to make a funky little tree. That's the great thing about acrylic stamps, they are flexible and you can do fun stuff! For the third example, I stamped my tree sections onto white card stock and cut them out. This gives a more soft, subtle effect. For all of the tree bases, I used a rectangle tree trunk stamp from the Merry & Bright set. One more tip I have to offer is to pop up your paper piecing with pop dots. The raised areas create a fun focal point on your projects and really make your images stand out.

I know you will LOVE the Merry and Bright set this holiday season. The possibilities of designs are endless and I know you'll have fun mixing and matching the patterns.