Fruit Fusion

Hi everyone and welcome to the first of this month's Papertrey Group Post. Today Nichole and the Design Team are focusing on Melissa Bickford's adorable Fruit Fusion stamp sets and coordinating dies. It's all about the fruit and you're in for a real treat this month. All of the new products will be available May 15th at the Papertrey website.

Since this is my countdown post too, I'll be featuring several projects today. As you read in an earlier post, life is a little busy for me right now. When it comes time to crank out projects during these hustle and bustle times I often have to see out inspiration to get my creative juices flowing. Recently I've been using Pinterest to bookmark all my favorite photos. So today I've chosen 4 photos as inspiration for some fruity tutti projects. If you'd like to visit my other boards you can check out my Pinterest site here. Lots of photos to inspire.

My first inspiration photo features a delightful little kitchen vignette with shiny, red apples + cute, polka dot curtains + a pink, checker blocked tablecloth.

(photo courtesy of rosylittlethings.typepad.com)

For my inspiration project I created a shabby chic apple themed card using Fruit Fusion: Apple.

Using the new Seed Packet die, I created a pink, color blocked pocket to hold an embellished tag. The apples were die cut with the new Fruit Fusion: Apple die and then stamped with two apple images from Fruit Fusion.
Each Fruit Fusion set has mixy match sentiments with very nice font selections. Medium sized tags fit the seed packets nicely...a fun way to add extra little notes.
My next inspiration photo features an advertisement with vintage looking strawberry images + lots of graphic words.

(photo courtesy of the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com)

Wanting to re-create the graphic appeal of the inspiration photo, I used vintage book paper + a font that I curved from Think Big Favorites #4 and a new sentiment coming out this month. You'll notice a new frame on my project. I placed some Fruitti Tutti strawberry patterned paper behind it which was stamped with Papertrey text background. You'll hear more about the frame in tomorrow's post from Nichole The strawberries were die cut and stamped with images from Fruit Fusion. For the background of my card I mixed in some wildflower images from Heather's new Wildflower Garden stamp set.
My next inspiration photo features some quilted picnic blankets. If you look closely you can see several fruit images mixed in. I love the color blocking and the mixy matchy look of the squares.

(photo courtesy of flickr.com via SouleMama)

For my project, I chose to mimic the quilted squares that outline the picnic basket blankets. Using a 1" square punch and lots of mixy matchy patterned paper scraps + a few new snippets from Fruitti Tutti, I lined up the squares along the bottom and right border of my card.
For the main image I used stamps from Fruit Fusion: Pear along with the coordinating die. A Vintage Button finishes off one of the chubby little pears. The background piece was created using Dawn's new Cane Print Impression Plate. I love the quilted look it gives on creamy paper + I added some additional stamps from Fruit Fusion: Pear.
Again, more fun sentiments with this set. Below you can also see the machine stitching I added to my card to give a quilted look. I definitely will be using this card design again...perfect way to use up those tiny scraps of patterned paper.
My last inspiration photo features a vintage mason jar filled with Watermelon Limeade. Looks refreshing, doesn't it? It makes those little squirter things in the back of my cheeks go crazy. This recipe is compliments of Emeril Lagasse. Bam, it's gotta be good, right?

(photo courtesy of leitesculinaria.com) (recipe can be found there too)

My inspiration project resulted in yet another 4" x 6" recipe card for my stash. I used Friendship Jar + lots of filler images + the label and jar die to create the jar, label and *sweet* stamped word. The watermelon scallops were created by hand cutting patterned paper from the Fruitti Tutti collection. Paper pieced watermelon was created with stamps from Fruit Fusion: Melon + the coordinating dies. Love that there are two dies to create both the rind and the red fruit part of the melon. A tied Vintage Button finishes off the watermelon.
When I was done with my stamping session, I had a nice little stash of fruit themed cards.
This got me thinking about all of the colorful, vintage linens I have....many of them having fruits on them.
I think it would make for a sweet, summer time gift to package up some linens and perhaps a cute, crocheted pot holder for that person that loves vintage items. It would make a great little picnic starter kit. I packaged up my 4 projects in a Papertrey Large Glassine sack...layered all the goodies together and then tied it all up with a Pure Poppy ribbon.
So colorful and kitchen-y. Hope you enjoy!

Be sure to check out Nichole's + all the Design Team blogs for even more fruit filled projects. I'll be back tomorrow for our second Papertrey Group Post. See ya then!

• Nichole Heady
• Heather Nichols
• Dawn McVey
• Lisa Johnson
• Betsy Veldman
• Melissa Phillips
• Maile Belles
• Jessica Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Danielle Flanders

Hanging in there....

Hi everyone. I know I've been absent from my usual blogging. Just wanted to pop in and say hi. As for most everyone, this time of year is extremely busy for our family. Last week I was busy preparing for Josey's graduation party. We had family in town for 3-4 days and it was a great time. This week is even busier and a little hectic for me. But we do what we have to do as parents to take care of our family. Found this quote online...definitely true for us right now.
I will be back later this week with this month's Papertrey release projects. The rest of the week has been/or will be filled with family happenings. So far this week we've had a death in the family + a small family gathering/funeral. Our dear distant cousin Myrtle was laid to rest at 103! What a full and wonderful life she had. The girls and I will miss our wonderful visits with her.

Yesterday we had a track meet with 100 degree temps. Jordan is suffering from allergies/asthma and barely made it through. Josey has been suffering from dizzy spells and headaches that we can't figure out so I am making appointments to figure out what's happening with her as well. We've been in contact with neurologists and heart doctors to get us started. It's a long and emotional process when your child is sick.

And then there's the usual end of school year activities. Josey graduates this Friday and we wrap up school at the end of next week. Lots of decorating, field trips and plans to make for summer activities and sports.

In addition to our little family happenings, my mother-in-law was just diagnosed with breast cancer. We're waiting to hear what her treatment options will be after these first initial doctor's appointments. Our summer may include helping her to and from appointments and doing whatever else we need to do to help out.

With all that said.....life is busy. We live for the moment around here and enjoy it all, however hectic and busy it gets. Life is good and we feel blessed. I may have to focus a little more on family this summer so my blog posts may be fewer. Who knows.

Just wanted to say thank you for always stopping by and for leaving nice comments. Our paper crafting community is a wonderful thing and it's nice to have good friends like you! See ya later this week, my friends.

Fabric on tags...part 2

Hi there. Back today with another project using items from the Earthy Flower Fabric Kit that I had in my Etsy shop this week. Today I'm highlighting some fun techniques I used on the butterfly tag shown on the left in the photo below. In the kit there is a chipboard butterfly that I die cut using Papertrey dies. I sprayed the chipboard piece with Mister Huey spray ink. To fancy up the butterfly a bit more for my tag, I stamped a doily image from a My Mind's Eye stamp set on the butterfly. I love this look.
In the kit there is also a package of natural colored, mini wooden spools. I took a few and spray painted them for my project. I'm using Melissa Phillips' favorite color..I think it's called celery. I threaded some twine through the spool and used this as the body for my butterfly. I also edged the butterfly with glue and sprinkled on some German glass glitter for extra sparklage.
This tag will be used on a brown paper sack to house cards or small gift. I'll keep this in my stash basket for future use. Love having little gift sacks on hand. Sacks like this are perfect for fat quarters too if you need a gift for someone who sews or crafts. I sprayed my sack with white Mister Huey ink. Next I used Washi tape to adhere the tag. Using the fat cotton twine in the kit, I looped the ends and then secured with a strip of tape.
By keeping the tag and sack plain, with no stamped name, the recipient can re-use the sack and tag for more gift giving.....or if the recipient is a crafter, she can use the tag on a card or another project. Recycling at it's best. :) Enjoy!
For the rest of the week: Company coming for the weekend. We'll be celebrating Mother's Day + Josey's graduation from 8th grade + attending track meets. I'll be squeezing in Papertrey work in between all the hustle and bustle. So if it gets quiet here on the blog, it's just life happening. :) Take care, friends.

Fabric on tags..part 1

As promised, I have some ideas to share with you using items from my recent Etsy kit called Earthy Flower Fabric Kit. The kit is now sold out but here are the items all bundled together. A full fat quarter of fabric, ribbon, twines, and fun embellishments...
For those that got a kit, the shipments went out on Tuesday so be looking for your package soon.
Here's a photo of the full kit items. I'll be choosing a few items to create some fun projects for you to use as examples. If you didn't get a kit, you can easily follow along using your own supplies. I'll also link up the supplies that I sell individually in my shop. If you want to search out the fabric, it's called " The Blue Skies Collection" by Sharon Holland Designs for Paintbrush Studio. I shopped locally for mine.

I know when you get your kit (or other kits on line), you open it up, look at it and then ask yourself, "What do I do with it now?" I'd like to offer a few tips for my kit items. The little parts and pieces are just the basics, begging to be stamped, layered, sprayed, altered, painted, etc. This is the time to get out those neglected supplies and tools and see what you can do. The basics are already there, they just need a little fancying up.
My first tag to show you is the one in the forefront below. I used a Large Parcel Tag from the kit for the base. Using a punched circle as a template, I cut out fabric circles. One is layered flat onto a circle punch of ledger paper. The other fabric circle was folded and twisted and then stitched in place with twine and button. The suede leaf from the kit was glued under the fabric flower.
For the tag itself, you can alter them in many ways. I'm loving Studio Calico's Mister Huey's spray mists lately. On this tag, I sprayed a light mist and then also dripped some splatters by unscrewing the bottle and flicking the nozzle hose onto my tag. You could also try your hand at paint using an old toothbrush to flick splatters.
For the stamped labels in the kit, I added a sentiment using individual letter stamps. I just love this little set from Hero Arts. You could easily add a name or use regular stamps too.
My first layer on the tag was a piece of faux wood grain I created by using clear cardstock from Papertrey + Claudine Hellmuth paints + wood grain tool from the paint shop. The kit contains a little snippet of this. I used my sewing machine and green thread to stitch on the wood grain piece. My stamped label was stapled on using my Tiny Tim stapler. I cut off the remaining portion of the tag to save for another project.
A few more buttons + twine + the fuzzy chenille ribbon and my tag is complete. I love to use the thick cotton twine in the kit to tie through the hole in the tag. My tag is now ready to add to a gift or brown paper sack stuffed with goodies.
Lots of textures and patterns on this tag. I love the shiny-ness of the woodgrain piece and the caterpillar feel of the chenille ribbon.
And one more thing. Since the back of my tag had stitching and a staple showing I adhered my tag to some sheet music from the kit. Trimmed around the tag and punched a hole and the back of the tag is now nicely covered. Fun stuff.
Thanks to everyone who ordered a kit. Hope you enjoy! Come back soon and I'll show you some fun elements from the butterfly tag shown above.

Etsy shop update....

BIG FAVOR: My sister's friend Kimberly needs a new back yard desperately. She lives in western Kansas where it's dry and hot and all she has is DIRT! She's made it into the voting pool and needs our help. If you have a few minutes, could you please go vote for Kimberly?

The website is here. Scroll down to find Kimberly S. from Meade, Kansas. Vote for her and you'll be directed what to do next. You'll receive an email to confirm your vote. It only takes about 1 minute to do. Thanks everyone!!! If Kimberly wins, I'll be sure to post photos. The top votes gets her into the finals and than a winner is chosen from there. Let's cheer for Kimberly!

Edit: The kits are now sold out. Thank you to everyone who ordered. I'll be working on some fun samples tomorrow so stay tuned this week for some goodies made from the kit pieces.

It's been a while since I've posted any Etsy shop updates. I've got a limited quantity of Earthy Flower Fabric Kits available here. For those of you that purchase a kit, I'll be posting some ideas for you here on the blog soon. Thanks everyone!

Quick Butterfly Cards..

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend. I feel blessed that Eric and I still have our mothers in our lives. I have a few fun gifts planned but homemade cards from me is always a big hit with both the moms. I've been keeping a stash basket for extra cards but I needed a few more to round out their card sacks.

Seems both our moms like basic cards....thank you, birthday, get well, sympathy and general greeting cards that can be used for any occasion. So for sentiments I stick to the basics. They also don't care for a lot of frills. They send out lots of cards so for me to fulfill the numbers they need I keep designs for them more simple. How about I show you a few I made today? I'm using a cheery mix of supplies including The Girls Paperie patterned paper, green baker's twine, Papertrey Spring Mix Vintage Buttons, Rustic White cardstock, Papertrey butterfly dies, various PTI sentiments and my sewing machine.
Here's a few fun details from my card designs today. Rounded corners to soften the edges of this pretty paper.
Die cut butterflies in two sizes from patterned paper.
Machine stitching down the center of the butterflies with the ends of the thread left long. Buttons sewn on with embroidery floss.
And do you remember me talking about my little scrap basket? I throw in leftover scraps, die cut borders, punches, and all sorts of little snippets. I keep it nearby at all times and reach for little pieces and parts to use on projects. If it gets too full, I make up a bunch of tags for Etsy or simply purge some pieces.
Today I dug out these little gems of patterned papers and a die cut doily.
I stitched little pieces to my sentiment strips of patterned paper. Very mixy matchy. A few fun pops of extra color and pattern here and there.
Added to the tops of my cards for a very eclectic mix.
And finally I added the butterfly embellishments on top of some paper doilies.

A stack of envelopes and they're ready to sack up. Are homemade cards on your gift giving list? I'm thinking I need to make up a batch for teacher gifts too. Hope you enjoy!

Honey Bees Revisited

Happy May Day. Welcome to the 1st of the month Papertrey Senior Design Team post. Today we're visiting another golden oldie...Honey Bees.

Honey bees and honeycomb are very popular images right now in the crafting world. I love how Papertrey designs stamps with a timeless look. You can always reach for your stamp sets and know that the images will be right in style, even if the stamp sets are from years past. Today I created a general greeting card that features buttery yellow hues...perfect for the summer. I heat embossed the bee and honeycomb images on a die from the Button Card Collection. This was layered onto a stamped button card from Button Boutique. Vintage Buttons in Lemon Tart and a snippet of patterned paper finish off the button card. The background paper for my card base is from Dotty Biscotti.
A pretty Lemon Tart ribbon finishes off the card.
If you'd like to see what the rest of the PTI gang has created with Honey Bees, check out these Senior Team blogs right here:

• Nichole Heady
• Heather Nichols
• Dawn McVey
• Lisa Johnson
• Betsy Veldman

butterfly tag with sack..

TGIF. Hi there. Man, it's been a busy week. I am preparing for the biggest garage sale that we've ever had. I decided time to tackle the play room and purge toys from the girls' littler days. I've had a very hard time of it because each little toy brings back so many memories. And with Josey graduating from 8th grade this year, it's even harder because my little girls are growing up so much. My dear husband has taken pity on me and has dedicated an area of the attic for us to store our favorite toys. We're keeping way too many, I know, but perhaps in a few years we can go through the items again and the emotional attachment will have lessened.

For today I have a gift sack and tag ensemble that I made with one of my button cards.

I used brown paper sacks from my shop and attached the button card to a large manila tag that has been layered with old sheet music. A glittered small clothespin attaches the layered tag to the sack. A layered butterfly with more of the sheet music finishes off the button card.
Hope you enjoy! Back to sorting + pricing + loading all the junk up. I will be soooooo happy when this stuff is out of my house! Have a great weekend everyone!